Better Marketing for Consumer Wellbeing
Objectives
This is an elective course aimed at providing students with scientific knowledge on wellbeing and how consumption & marketing impact wellbeing positively or negatively. The course aims to answer 3 questions: 1) what factors contribute to human wellbeing? 2) how does consumption impact our wellbeing as consumers? 3) how can marketing become a catalyst for individual and social wellbeing? The purpose of this course is to equip students with fundamental concepts of wellbeing drawn from current scientific sources and our current scientific knowledge on the impact of consumption and marketing on wellbeing. Students should then be able to apply this knowledge in their personal and professional lives as marketers, enhance their self-understanding as consumers, and broaden their perceptions of how marketing can contribute to better individual and social outcomes. This course aims to impact students through a) empowering them to understand how their own behavior as consumers affects their wellbeing in order to improve their life, and b) by enabling them to bridge academic insight with impactful application through marketing tools.
General characterization
Code
2661
Credits
7
Responsible teacher
Sofia Kousi
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
n/a
Bibliography
Happy Money: the new science of smarter spending , Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton, The Oneworld Book, 2014
The things we love; How our passions connect us and make us who we are , Aaron Ahuvia, Little Brown Spark, 2022
Teaching method
A variety of teaching and learning methods will be used in this course: lectures, educational videos, in-class exercises, academic papers, and other experiential learning exercises, as well as presentations of group work, and guest lectures. Active learning principles will also be used through the development of the group project and the application of theory into a new product creation idea.
Evaluation method
45% group project
20% individual reflection
35% individual final exam
Subject matter
Fundamentals of wellbeing (types of wellbeing, factors influencing wellbeing, consumer wellbeing, wholebeing and self-determination theory)
Consumption and wellbeing: income, materialism, minimalism & voluntary simplicity, circular economy & waste, hedonic sustainability
Consumption types: objects vs experiences, consumption of time, hoarding
Negative impact of marketing on wellbeing
Consumption and its impact on meaning, self-esteem, self-expression
Prosocial spending: spending on others
Product design for wellbeing: sustainability & vulnerable populations (elderly, kids, etc)