Learn about the origins of consumer psychology and examine how consumer behaviour can be influenced by a range of factors.

- Duration2 weeks
- Weekly study3 hours
Consumer Behaviour and Psychology
Understand how consumer psychology affects the lives of customers and companies
Have you ever wondered why you buy one brand of cereal over another? Or why you might react to different types of advertising? Your decisions are motivated by a number of factors. The study of these factors is called consumer psychology.
On this course you will explore what consumer psychology means and how it’s related to the rise of a consumer society. You will be introduced to basic marketing concepts and you will understand how these concepts affect the relationship between customers and the companies. And you will reflect on how consumer psychology impacts the decisions you make everyday.
What topics will you cover?
- What is consumer psychology?
- Consumer psychology and the consumer society
- Consumer-oriented marketing
- Consumer choice and decision making
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Describe consumer psychology
- Assess the importance of consumer psychology
- Explain how consumer psychology grew in parallel with the consumer society
- Distinguish between consumer psychology, consumer behaviour and marketing
- Describe consumer-oriented marketing
- Apply the concepts of market segmentation and product positioning
- Describe the process of consumer decision making
- Explain the product lifecycle
Who is the course for?
This course is for people seeking a better understanding of consumer psychology and how it affects the decision-making process of both individuals and companies.
Please note that the staff described in the ‘Who will you learn with?’ section below may be subject to change.
Who will you learn with?
Lecturer in Business and Occupational Psychology at Coventry University, Dr Anne Turner - PhD, FHEA, CPsychol, BSc (Hons) Research Interests Inc: Enclothed Cognition, remote e-workers Enclothed power
PhD Psychology, MSc Occupational & Organizational Psychology, BSc Psychology, MBPsS. Associate Lecturer in Occupational and Business Psychology at Coventry University. Qualified Psychometric Test User
Learning on FutureLearn
Your learning, your rules
- Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps, but you can complete them as quickly or slowly as you like
- Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
- Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores
Join a global classroom
- Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
- Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
- Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others
Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn
Learner reviews
Learner reviews cannot be loaded due to your cookie settings. Please enable all cookies and refresh the page to view this content.
Join this course
Free
Join free and you will get:
- Access to this course for 4 weeks
Upgrade
Upgrade this course and you will get:
- Access to this course for as long as it’s on FutureLearn
- A print and digital Certificate of Achievement once you’re eligible
Unlimited
Buy Unlimited and you will get:
- Access to this course, and hundreds of other FutureLearn short courses and tests for a year
- A printable digital Certificate of Achievement on all short courses once you’re eligible
- The freedom to keep access to any course you've achieved a digital Certificate of Achievement on, for as long as the course exists on FutureLearn
- The flexibility to complete your choice of short courses in your own time within the year
Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.
Available until 19 April 2021 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
Advance your career with a degree
Since 2017 you have been able to take a degree on FutureLearn. This free course is a bit like a starter course for a degree — it should give you a flavour of the degree subject but can also be your first step towards a degree qualification.
If you enjoy this course you can apply to join the program it’s part of to start working towards a degree on FutureLearn.
Don’t worry, you can still take the course without doing a full degree!