MKTG2112 · Consumer Behaviour
Foundations & the Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour
This opening topic defines what consumer behaviour is — how people think, feel, choose, buy, use and dispose of products and services — and frames the whole unit as learning to see (and responsibly influence) consumer decisions through several disciplinary lenses. It also confronts the "dark side": consumed consumers, shrinkage, counterfeiting, anti-consumption, addiction, greenwashing and the public-policy questions around them. It is examined as short-answer / essay, so you must define the field, name the consumer roles and consumption stages, and discuss an ethics/dark-side issue with a real example.
What this chapter covers
- 011. What consumer behaviour is: thinking, feeling, choosing, buying, using and disposing of products, services and experiences
- 022. Consumer roles: the same product can involve a purchaser, a user, an influencer and a payer — often different people
- 033. Consumption stages: pre-consumption (need recognition, search), consumption (purchase/use), post-consumption (satisfaction, disposal, advocacy)
- 044. The interdisciplinary lenses: cognitive psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology and demography
- 055. Market segmentation (intro): identifying groups of consumers similar in one or more ways
- 066. The dark side: consumed consumers, shrinkage, counterfeiting, anti-consumption, addictive/compulsive consumption
- 077. Public-policy & ethics: privacy, CSR, greenwashing, social marketing, sustainability and activism
- 088. Consumer power and consumer rights — and why marketers carry a responsibility to influence ethically
Consumer roles, stages & a dark-side issue (short answer, 7 marks)
- 3 marks (1 per correctly assigned role pair)Map the roles: the teenager is the influencer (drives the request) and the user (consumes it); the parent is the payer and purchaser. Note that one product can split these roles across people — a core foundations point.
- 2 marksLocate the stages: the purchase is the consumption stage; drinking it daily is continued consumption/use, and feeling unwell is post-consumption (dissatisfaction, possible disposal of the brand and negative word-of-mouth).
- 2 marksName and justify a dark-side issue: addictive/compulsive consumption (daily reliance on a stimulant) and the public-policy concern of marketing potentially harmful products to young consumers — a question of CSR and responsible targeting.
Key terms
- Consumer behaviour
- The study of how people think, feel, choose, buy, use and dispose of products, services, ideas and experiences that satisfy needs and wants. It is interdisciplinary, drawing on psychology, sociology, anthropology and demography.
- Consumer roles
- The distinct parts people play around a single purchase — purchaser, user, influencer and payer. The same person may play several, or the roles may be split across people (a child influences, a parent pays).
- Consumption stages
- Pre-consumption (need recognition and search), consumption (purchase and use) and post-consumption (satisfaction, disposal and advocacy). The model frames where in the cycle a marketing action can intervene.
- Market segmentation (intro)
- The process of identifying groups of consumers who are similar to one another in one or more ways, so a marketer can serve a chosen group with a tailored offer. Developed fully in the segmentation topic.
- The dark side of consumption
- The harmful or unethical side of consumer behaviour — consumed consumers (people exploited for commercial gain), shrinkage (losses from theft), counterfeiting, anti-consumption, and addictive/compulsive consumption.
- Greenwashing
- Misleading consumers into believing a product or company is more environmentally responsible than it is. A public-policy and ethics concern that sits alongside privacy, CSR and sustainability in the dark-side discussion.
Foundations & the Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour FAQ
What is the difference between a consumer and a customer in this unit?
The unit takes a broad view: a consumer is anyone who is involved in the use or experience of a product, while purchasing is just one role. The roles framework (purchaser, user, influencer, payer) makes this concrete — a customer who pays at the till may not be the person who uses the product or who influenced the choice, which is why marketers study consumers, not just buyers.
Why is consumer behaviour described as interdisciplinary?
Because no single field explains a purchase. Cognitive psychology explains how consumers process information and decide; social psychology explains group and reference-group influence; sociology and anthropology explain culture, rituals and meaning; and demography explains who consumers are. The unit deliberately layers these lenses, and exam answers are stronger when they name which lens they are using.
Why does a marketing unit spend a whole week on the 'dark side'?
Because the same tools that influence consumers can harm them, and the unit frames marketing as influence that must be exercised responsibly. The dark side covers consumed consumers, shrinkage, counterfeiting, anti-consumption and addiction, plus public-policy issues — privacy, CSR, greenwashing, sustainability and activism — so you can recognise where influence crosses an ethical line.
How is this foundations topic examined?
As short-answer / essay. Expect to define consumer behaviour, name the consumer roles and consumption stages and apply them to a scenario, and discuss a dark-side or public-policy issue with a real example and a justification. Use the IDEA/TEAS structure and avoid simply listing the dark-side phenomena — pick one and explain it.
Exam move
Lock down the vocabulary first, because every later topic assumes it: be able to define consumer behaviour in a sentence, list the consumer roles and the three consumption stages, and name the interdisciplinary lenses. Then practise applying them to short scenarios — assign roles, place behaviours on the stage model, and identify which disciplinary lens is at work. For the dark side, prepare one worked example for each of two or three phenomena (e.g. greenwashing, addiction, counterfeiting) with the public-policy concern it raises, so an exam question on ethics has a ready, justified answer rather than a list.
