• Coventry University logo

Consumer Behaviour and Psychology

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

17,961 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours
This course is part of the program Consumer Psychology, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Business and Organisational Psychology. Find out more.

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

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

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?

Assistant Professor in Business and Organisational Psychology at Coventry University,
Dr Anne Turner - PhD, FHEA, CPsychol, BSc (Hons)
Research Interests Inc: Enclothed Cognition, remote e-workers

PhD Psychology, MSc Occupational & Organizational Psychology, BSc Psychology, MBPsS.
Associate Lecturer in Occupational and Business Psychology at Coventry University. Qualified Psychometric Test User

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • 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 and refresh the page to view this content.

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!

Do the free course
Join and complete the program
Get academic credit for an online degree from Coventry University
This course is part of the program Consumer Psychology, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Business and Organisational Psychology.

Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...