Social and Consumer Psychology
Code: 104798 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Communication in Organisations | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Isabel Pellicer Cardona
- Email:
- isabel.pellicer.cardona@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This subject offers an approach to the social, relational, cultural and historical nature of the psychological processes of the person and introduces the importance of social processes in the understanding and explanation of consumer or interest group behavior.
Therefore, its main objectives are:
1) To know what the Social Psychology of consumption is: evolution, theories and methodologies.
2) To reflect on the existing relationships between social psychology and consumer or stakeholder behavior.
3) To obtain a global vision of the main variables that affect the consumer.
4) To understand the symbolic dimension that characterizes the phenomenon of consumption.
5) To understand the functioning of the basic psychological processes involved in consumer behavior, such as attention, perception, sensation, learning and memory.
6) To analyze the attitudes, motivations and needs of individuals and their implication in the purchasing decision, as well as the psychological effects of purchasing behavior.
7) To reflect on the relevance of consumption as a praxis of relationship and generation of identity in contemporary society.
8) To examine new perspectives and critical lines in the praxis and resignification of social and consumer demands.
Competences
- Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
- Display thorough knowledge of the contemporary world in its social, economic, political and cultural dimensions.
- Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
- Search for, select and rank any type of source and document that is useful for creating messages.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
Learning Outcomes
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental psychological principles of communication.
- Find what is substantial and relevant in documents within the subject.
- Identify the main inequalities and discriminations in terms of sex/gender present in society.
- Interpret and discuss documents on psychology applied to communication.
- Interpret the repertoire of emotions that can intervene in the transformation of need or desire into a willingness to buy and consume.
- Plan and conduct academic studies in the field of psychology of communication.
- Present a summary of the studies made, orally and in writing.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Submit high-quality coursework on time, which requires attention to both individual and group work.
- Work independently to solve problems and take strategic decisions on the basis of the knowledge acquired.
Content
The contents will be structured in the following blocks:
- Social psychology and consumption.
- Consumer and audience analysis.
- Consumption as a dominant praxis in global society.
- Cognitive functions and basic psychological processes.
- Decision-making.
- Social demands and contemporary trends.
A detailed schedule outlining the content of each session will be presented on the first day of the course and will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find all teaching materials and necessary information for effective course monitoring. Should the teaching modality change for reasons of force majeure according to the competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform students of any modifications to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.
Note: The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Formal lectures | 33 | 1.32 | 4, 6, 5 |
| Oral presentations | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 8, 10, 11 |
| Seminars | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 4, 6, 5, 7, 9, 3 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Follow-up and tutoring | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 8, 4, 5, 7, 10, 9, 11, 3 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Preparation of works and reports | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 2, 8, 5, 7, 10, 9, 11 |
| Reading | 30 | 1.2 | 4, 5, 11, 3 |
| Self-study | 38 | 1.52 | 4, 6, 11, 3 |
The teaching methodology includes directed, supervised and autonomous activities and will combine and integrate theoretical classes with discussion groups and directed seminar sessions, as well as tutorials.
In the seminars, work will be carried out through the Challenge-Based Learning (ABR) modality, in which students will actively participate in the preparation of an attitude report that includes group reflection and the evolution of critical thinking throughout the activity.
Moodle will be used as a fundamental communication tool.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exam | 40% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 8, 4, 6, 3 |
| Group presentation | 20% | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 8, 5, 7, 10 |
| Individual work | 20% | 0 | 0 | 2, 10, 11 |
| Seminar participation and reports | 20% | 0 | 0 | 2, 8, 5, 9, 3 |
This subject provides for a single assessment system (EU) and a continuous assessment system (EC), although the EC is recommended for a better understanding of the subject.
- Regarding continuous assessment:
Competences and contents will be assessed through the following evidence, which makes up the continuous assessment:
- Theoretical exam (40% of the mark).
- Attendance, participation and delivery of the reports of the Seminars (20%).
- Individual work (20% of the mark).
- Group exhibition (20%).
To pass the subject in the continuous assessment it is necessary to obtain a grade equal to or higher than 5 in all activities (Exam, Individual work, Group presentation and Seminars).
There will be recovery of SUSPENDED ACTIVITIES in the continuous evaluation, except for the seminars.
Recovery features:
- EXAMINATION (THEORY): The recovery will be done through an examination of the same type as the one of the continuous evaluation. The mark in the resit exam will be in terms of pass or fail.
- INDIVIDUAL WORK: The recovery will be done repeating the work of the subject and / or the incorrect sections.
- GROUP EXHIBITION: The recovery will be done repeating the work of the subject and / or the incorrect sections.
- SEMINARS: cannot be recovered unless one has not been delivered for justified reasons. In this case, it will be agreed with the teachers of the subject.
- Regarding single assessment:
The assessable activities in this modality will bethe following:
1. Theoretical exam (50% of the mark).
2. Report on the attitude of a group (or group of interest) linked to a theme, to be agreed at the beginning of the course with the teacher (50% of the mark).
In order to pass the subject, in the single assessment, it is necessary to obtain a mark equal to or higher than 5 in all the activities (exam and attitude report).
There will be recovery of SUSPENDED ACTIVITIES.
Assessable: The student will be considered assessable if he/she has presented evidence of learning with a weight equal to or higher than 40% of the total of the subject.
Non-assessable: It will be considered non-assessable the fact that although the student has submitted several tests, the total weight in relation to the whole subject is less than 40%.
Reassessment: Students will be entitled to reassessment in the course if they have been evaluated on a set of activities accounting for at least two-thirds of the total course grade.
Plagiarism: The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identitytheft, etc.) that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an act of evaluation, will be graded with 0 this act of evaluation. In case of more than one irregularity, the final grade of the subject will be 0.
In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted as an integral part of assignment development, provided that the final outcome demonstrates a significant contribution from the student in terms of analysis and personal reflection. Students must clearly identify any content generated using AI, specify the tools employed, and include a critical reflection on how these technologies have influenced both the process and the final result of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty to the assignment grade, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.
Bibliography
Ariely, Daniel. (2008) Las trampas del deseo . Londres: Harper Collins Harper Collins.
Mas, Mercè Botella; Argemí, Miquel Domènech; Ibáñez Gracia, Tomás. (2012). Introducción a la psicología social (1.a ed.). Editorial UOC.
Cortina, Adela. (2002) Por una ética del consumo. Madrid: Taurus.
Molla Deseáis, Alejandro ; Berenguer Contri, Gloria ; Gómez Borja, Miguel Ángel ; Quintanilla Pardo, Ismael. (2006). Comportamiento del consumidor (Vol. 36). Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Dooley, Roger. (2011). Brainfluence: 100 ways to persuade and convince consumers with neuromarketing. John Wiley & Sons.
Dubois, Bernard; Rovira, Alex Rovira (1998) Comportamiento del Consumidor. Comprendiendo al Consumidor. Madrid. Prentice Hall, 2ª Edición.
Gil, Adriana.; Feliu, Joel . (2004). Psicología económica y del comportamiento del consumidor. Barcelona: Editorial UOC
Klein, Naomí. (2000) No logo. El poder de las marcas. Barcelona: Paidós.
Morgado, Ignacio. (2012). Cómo percibimos el mundo. Ariel.
Quiñones, Cristina. (2013). Desnudando la mente del consumidor: consumer insights en el marketing. Paidós Empresa.
Quintanilla Pardo, Ismael. (2002) Psicología del Consumidor. Madrid: Prentice Hall.
Rivas, Javier Alonso; Esteban, Ildefonso Grande. (2010). Comportamiento del consumidor. Decisiones y estrategia de marketing. Madrid: Esic Editorial.
Schiffman, León G.; Kanuk, Leslie Lazar. (2005) Comportamiento del Consumidor. Madrid: Pearson.
Torres, Joan. (2004) Consumo, luego existo. Poder, mercado y publicidad, Barcelona: Icaria.
Vinyals, Albert. (2019). El consumidor tarado. Barcelona: Amazon.
Zaltman, Gerald. (2003) Cómo piensan los consumidores. Barcelona: Empresa Activa.
Software
The use of free software tools will be encouraged whenever possible.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (SEM) Seminars | 71 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |
| (TE) Theory | 7 | Catalan | first semester | afternoon |