Entry requirements
Only open to Master’s students Psychology with specialisation Economic and Consumer Psychology
This course is offered twice a year
Description
Many psychological factors influence consumer decisions. As such, findings from Economic and Consumer Psychology can help marketers to understand how products and services can be sold and advertised. Imagine that you are hired as a consumer psychologist by a company that developed a new product or service that they would like to sell. What selling and advertising strategy would you recommend, based on your psychological knowledge? This is the focus of the present course. You will read psychological literature on how and when consumer preferences for products are influenced. Furthermore, you will learn how to apply this literature to define problems with actual marketing strategies and how improve them. At the end of the course, you will have acquired psychological knowledge and skills that are needed to develop an effective selling and advertising strategy.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, the student can:
- analyze cases within the field of selling and advertising based on theory and empirical research articles.
- give evidence-based advice on selling and advertising strategies.
- understand the ethical issues of influencing and changing behavior in the field of economic and consumer psychology.
- create an evidence-based selling and advertising plan for a new product.
- communicate about selling and advertising strategies to peers and clients in a persuasive manner.
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
Education
Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register up to 5 days prior to the start of the course.
Exams
You must register for each exam in My Studymap at least 10 days before the exam date. You cannot take an exam without a valid registration in My Studymap. Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.
Exchange students and external guest students will be informed by the education administration about the current registration procedure.
Mode of instruction
Six two-hour work group sessions and one three-hour final meeting. Knowledgde clips.
Attendance at the work group sessions is mandatory. See Brightspace for more information.
Assessment method
The final grade is based on: 3 individual written assignments (60% of end grade; related to course objectives 1-3) and 1 final group presentation (40% of end grade; related to course objective 4). For both assignments, the literature from the reading list below can be used and for the final presentation, students are asked to find additional literature and to use the knowledge clips. To pass the course a total (weighted) course grade of at least 5.5 is required, whereby the grade for the final group presentation should be at least a 6.0.
The Institute of Psychology follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. All students are required to take and pass the Scientific Integrity Test with a score of 100% in order to learn about the practice of integrity in scientific writing. Students are given access to the quiz via a module on Brightspace. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of this fraud policy.
Reading list
Sheets from the workgroups/knowledge clips and recommended journal articles (literature per week can be found on Brightspace):
Seminar: Target Audience
1. Chernev, A. (2004). Goal-attribute compatibility in consumer choice. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14, 141-150.
2. Summers, C. A., Smith, R. W., & Reczek, R. W. (2016). An audience of one: Behaviorally targeted ads as implied social labels. Journal of Consumer Research, 43, 156-178.
3. Aaker, J. L., Brumbaugh, A. M., & Grier, S. A. (2000). Nontarget markets and viewer distinctiveness: The impact of target marketing on advertising attitudes. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9, 127-140.
4. Torelli, C. J., Özsomer, A., Carvalho, S. W., Keh, H. T., & Maehle, N. (2012). Brand concepts as representations of human values: Do cultural congruity and compatibility between values matter? Journal of Marketing, 76, 92-108.
5. Zhang, W., & Rodgers, S. (2023). Linking ethnicity targeting with artificial intelligence and data collection: Perceptions and behavioral responses of black consumers. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 44(3), 373–391.
Seminar: Brand Identity
6. Malär, L., Krohmer, H., Hoyer, W. D., Nyffenegger, B. (2011). Emotional brand attachment and brand personality: The relative importance of the actual and the ideal self. Journal of Marketing, 75, 35-52.
7. Malär, L., Herzog, D., Krohmer, H., Hoyer, W. D., & Kähr, A. (2018).The Janus Face of Ideal Self-Congruence: Benefits for the Brand versus Emotional Distress for the Consumer. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 3(2), 163-174.
8. Dhar, R., & Wertenbroch, K. (2000). Consumer choice between hedonic and utilitarian goods. Journal of Marketing Research, 37, 60-71.
9. Kolbl, Ž., Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, M., & Diamantopoulos, A. (2019). Stereotyping global brands: Is warmth more important than competence? Journal of Business Research, 104, 614-621.
10. Kull. A. J., Romero, M., & Monahan, L. (2021). How may I help you? Driving brand engagement through the warmth of an initial chatbot message. Journal of Business Research, 135, 840-850.
11. Aaker, J., Fournier, S., & Brasel, S. A. (2004). When good brands do bad. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 1-16.
Seminar: Positioning
12. Wänke, M., Bless, H., & Igou, E. R. (2001). Next to a star: Paling, shining, or both? Turning interexemplar contrast into interexemplar assimilation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 14-29.
13. Van Horen, F., & Pieters, R. (2012). When high-similarity copycats lose and moderate-similarity copycats gain: The impact of comparative evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(1), 83-91.
14. Zhang, S., & Markman, A. B. (2001). Processing product unique features: Alignability and involvement in preference construction. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 11, 13-27.
15. Zou, K. Z., & Nakamoto, K. (2007). How do enhanced and unique features affect new product preference? The moderating role of product familiarity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 35, 53-62.
Seminar: Advertising
16. Nordhielm, C. L. (2002). The influence of level of processing on advertising repetition effects. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 371-382.
17. Lee, A. Y., & Labroo, A. A. (2004). The effect of conceptual and perceptual fluency on brand evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research, 41, 151-165.
18. Shapiro, S., & Krishnan, H. S. (2001). Memory-based measures for assessing advertising effects: A comparison of explicit and implicit memory effects. Journal of Advertising, 30, 1-13.
19. Wang, J., & Calder, B. J. (2009). Media engagement and advertising: Transportation, matching, transference and intrusion. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(3), 546-555.
Contact information
Contact information:
Dr. Coen Wirtz
c.wirtz@fsw.leidenuniv.nl