This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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The New Consumer

Code: 43402 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
4314947 Strategic Planning in Advertising and Public Relations OB 0

Contact

Name:
Estrella Barrio Fraile
Email:
estrella.barrio@uab.cat

Teachers

Nicolas Lorite Garcia
Aurea Gomez Cardona
Patricia Luján Bellon
Sara Vinyals Mirabent
Albert Vinyals Ros

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

The ones contemplated in the master's teaching plan.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This module addresses the figure of the new consumer, understood as a person who, thanks to the new digital environment, is hyperconnected and has evolved towards a profile that is more informed, aware, sensitive and demanding of companies. This new consumer is transforming the relationship between the company and its public, in which responsibility (economic, social and environmental) and agility in the responses are the protagonists.

From this approach it is expected that at the end of the master's degree students will be able to:

  • Identify the different types of consumers and consumers from the persuasive and psychological point of view.
  • Analyze the behavior habits and needs of consumers and consumers under the perspective of "Shopper understanding studies".
  • Know the new consumer trends and emerging segments.
  • Strategically apply persuasive communication aimed at the new "consumer" and consumer model.
  • Know the representation of diversity in advertising and its intercultural dynamizinf effects.
  • Identify the function of social advertising as a transformative entity and its effects on consumer awareness in their collaboration on key issues such as childhood vulnerability and syphilis.
  • To understand the identity dialectics between ads and consumers to create persuasive messages.
  • To identify different effects that bias advertising interpretation.
  • To understand how organisations articulate their communication strategies for inclusive communication based on the role of advertising as an agent of social transformation.
  • To understand CSR as a strategic, transversal and transformative element for organisations and to approach its communication in a strategic way in order to connect with the new consumer.

Competences

  • Analyse the main consumer behaviours.
  • Be able to evaluate inequalities for reasons of sex or gender to design solutions.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Work in a team, showing respect for the roles of its members (workload, responsibilities, merits, etc.) and its dependencies.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Become familiar with the professional routines of strategic planning in advertising and PR, based on working in teams.
  2. Identify and be able to analyse the structure causes and effects of violence against women and other gender violence.
  3. Identify the most suitable advertising for the new consumers.
  4. Integrate the different disciplines in the study of consumer behaviour.
  5. Know and use the contributions of women and gender studies in the discipline.
  6. Know how to carry out an adequate and informative treatment of sexist violence, excluding elements which could create unhealthy interest and avoiding banality.
  7. Know how to collect, systematise, conserve and disseminate information about women, works written by women, documents referring to the laws and policies of equality and those generated by research into gender studies, evaluating gender bias which may be included in existing searches and descriptors.
  8. Know how to distinguish in theoretical and empirical analyses the effects of sex and gender variables.
  9. Know how to identify the intersection of gender inequality with other inequalities (age, class, race, sexuality and identity/gender expression, functional diversity etc.).
  10. Know how to use inclusive and non-sexist language.
  11. Know the ethical boundaries that researchers must take into account in their approach to consumers.
  12. Segment consumers on the basis of their habits, lifestyles, needs, gratifications and motivations.
  13. Work on the productive skills of scientific teams conducting research into communication, which require collaboration and teamwork.

Content

1. Status of the "Consumer" from the perspective of Communication: Commercial communication model vs. corporate communication model. Audiences vs. target. Intangible values.
2. Consumers: Characteristics and typology. Habits and behaviour. Needs and desires: "Shopper understanding studies". Consumer identity and cognitive biases, two key determinants in decision-making.
3. Managing emotions in persuasive communication: Psychological models of consumer behaviour.
4. New consumer trends: the responsible consumer.
5. The new consumers: Inclusive communication strategies based on the role of advertising as an agent of social transformation.
6. Anthropological approach: the creation of identity through consumption.
7. Effectiveness of communication for the new consumer: Media planning.

NB: The contents of the course will be sensible to the aspects concerning gender perspective.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master Classes 18 0.72 1, 11, 3, 4
Problem solving (cases) 16 0.64 12, 3, 13
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 7 0.28 1, 12, 11, 3, 4, 13
Type: Autonomous      
Elaboration of works 45 1.8 12, 3, 13
Personal study 56 2.24 1, 11, 4, 13

The teaching methodologies of the module are:
• Master classes.
• Problem solving classes (cases).
• Tutorials.
• Study and personal work.
• Preparation of works.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Case study 30% 2 0.08 1, 12, 11, 5, 3, 4, 8, 6, 10, 9, 7, 13
Final module work 40% 4 0.16 1, 12, 11, 5, 3, 2, 4, 8, 6, 10, 9, 7, 13
Practical excercise 30% 2 0.08 1, 12, 11, 5, 3, 2, 4, 8, 6, 10, 9, 7, 13

The subject evaluation system is based on the following percentages:

A) 30% practical exercise
B) 30% case study
C) 40% final module work

A (30%) + B (30%)+ C (40%) = 100% FINAL GRADE OF THE MODULE

PLAGIARISM. VERY IMPORTANT:

The student performing any irregularities (copy, plagiarism, identity impersonation,...) will be graded with 0 for this assessment act.In the event of several irregularities, the final score for the subject will be 0.


Bibliography

Aljure, Andrés. (2016). El plan estratégico de comunicación. Barcelona: UOC.

Anarte Ortiz, Maria Teresa. (2008). Psicología aplicada a la publicidad y las relaciones públicas. Universidad de Málaga: Servicio de Publicaciones.

Añaños, Elena. y otros (2008). Psicología y Comunicación Publicitaria. UAB: Servicio de Publicaciones.

Barletta, Marti (2006). Marketing to Women. USA: Dearborn Trade Publishing.

Barrio, Estrella; Enrique, Ana-María. (2021). The strategic value of corporate social responsibility (CSR): the present and future of its management. Profesional de la información, v. 30, n. 3, e300312. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.may.12

Barrio, Estrella. (2019). Responsabilidad Social Corporativa. De la noción a la gestión. Barcelona: UOC. https://elibro.net/es/ereader/uab/105597

Cernuda, Gemma (2014). Ellas deciden. Barcelona: Empresa activa.

Chavez, Brenda (2017). Tu consumo puede cambiar el mundo. Barcelona: Península.

de Fina, A., Schiffrin, D. & Bamberg, M. (2006), Discours and identity.  Cambridge University Press.

Lorite García, N. (2021). Publicidad, diversidad fenotípica y dinamización intercultural en Cataluña en tiempos de crisis y cambios. Cuadernos.Info , (48), 139-165. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.48.27671

Lorite García, N., Grau Rebollo, J. & Lacerda J. (2018). Representation of sociocultural diversity in audiovisual advertising: materials for inclusive treatment. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, 425-446. DOI: 10.4185/RLCS-2018-1263en

Morató, Jordi (2016) La comunicación corporativa. Barcelona: UOC.

Schiffman, L. G., & Kanuk, L. L. (2005). Comportamiento del consumidor. Pearson Educación.

Sinek, Simon (2013). La clave es el por qué. Barcelona: Península.

Sotillo, Sandra (2021). La era de la confiança. Cómo convertirse en una empresa TrusMaker. Madrid: ESIC.

Turow, J. (2012). The daily you: How the new advertising industry is defining your identity and your worth. Yale University Press.

Vinyals, A. (2019). El consumidor tarado. Barcelona: Amazon.

Zaltman, G. (2003). Cómo piensan los consumidores". Empresa Activa, Barcelona.


Software

No specific software

Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TEm) Theory (master) 30 Spanish first semester afternoon