This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)
Module BUSI2211: Behavioural Science for Marketers
Department: Management and Marketing
BUSI2211: Behavioural Science for Marketers
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tied | 2 | 20 | Available in 2025/2026 | Durham |
Tied To
- N509: Marketing and Management
- N510: Marketing and Management with Placement Year
- N511: Marketing and Management with Study Abroad
Pre-requisites
- None.
Corequisites
- None.
Excluded Combinations
- None.
Aims
- To explore consumer interactions with the products and services of everyday life, and with the marketing of those products and services.
- To understand consumers' responses - psychological and physiological - to a range of marketing stimuli and ways in which those responses vary in different situational contexts.
- To engage at a critical level with the latest behavioural science research into consumer behaviour and marketing practice
Content
- Historical Foundations of Behavioural Science Marketing
- Evolutionary Consumer Psychology
- Understanding Consumer Motivations
- The Cultural Unconscious and the Culture Code
- Consumer Neuroscience and the Neuromarketer’s Toolkit
- Products, Packaging and Brain-friendly Brands
- Sensation, Perception and Sensory Marketing
- The Neuro-logic of Consumer Decision-Making
- The Emotional Consumer
- Behavioural Science Marketing in Action.
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- An understanding of the psychological, biological, situational, environmental and socio-cultural influences on behaviour;
- A critical awareness of the decision-making processes that individuals undertake and the models which seek to interpret this behaviour;
- An appreciation of why and how this understanding of psychology is important for marketing.
Subject-specific Skills
- Ability to observe, interpret and demonstrate marketing psychology in action.
- Ability to critically evaluate their own behaviour as consumers.
- Ability to develop and evaluate marketing strategies in the light of consumer psychology theory and behavioural science research.
Key Skills
- Creativity and problem-solving (e.g. by thinking laterally and innovatively).
- Active and reflective learning.
- Presenting in both the written and oral/visual form.
- Group work/teamwork and leadership skills.
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- This module is delivered in a blended action-learning format. Weekly workshops scheduled in TEAL spaces combine lecture-style input with group exercises and activities, introducing students to key concepts in behavioural science marketing and providing students with hands-on experience in the use of consumer research frameworks. The weekly workshops are supported by online asynchronous content and related activities, focusing on current themes and developments in the field and on real-world application to enhance employability.
- The assessment format is the production of a digital output equivalent in workload to a written work of 3000 words. Specifically, students draw on concepts from the weekly workshops, undertaking a comprehensive analysis of consumer behaviour toward a product or service of their own choice, culminating in a set of behavioural science marketing proposals for a client brand.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAL Workshops | 10 | Weekly | 2 hours | 20 | Yes |
| Online Learning Activities | Self-directed | 8 | |||
| Preparation and Reading | 172 | ||||
| Total | 200 | ||||
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production of a media output | 100% | Production of a media output to propose behavioural science marketing ideas for a client brand | Equivalent to 3,000 words | 100% |
Formative Assessment
Students undertake a series of group activities during the weekly workshops, designed to inform the individual piece of desktop research that is the main summative assignment; feedback is continuous and involves a strong peer review element.
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.