COURSE UNIT TITLE

: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR APPLICATIONS OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
DBA 6411 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR APPLICATIONS OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS ELECTIVE 3 0 0 6

Offered By

Business Administration (English)

Level of Course Unit

Third Cycle Programmes (Doctorate Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUMEYRA DUMAN

Offered to

Business Administration (English)

Course Objective

This course aims to introduce students the relationship of psychology and economics within the framework of behavioral economics. Behavioral economics aims to understand the departures from traditional economic models by integrating human psychology with economics. Behavioral economics has been widely grabbing attention by scholars especially after Nobel Prize in Economics (2002) was awarded to Daniel Kahneman for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty. Behavioral economics is a broad research area which has implications on consumer behavior, organizational behavior, law etc. This course aims to focus on the consumer behavior applications of behavioral economics. To reach this objective, articles, books, web material will be used to discuss the major themes of behavioral economics and link theory with practice. Essentially this course will question the consumer judgment and decision making, in other words the biases in rational consumer theory specifically from a marketer's point of view.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   At the end of this course, it is expected that students; Apply critical thinking and problem solving skills to individual judgment and decision-making
2   Provide an understanding on integrating psychology with economics to better understand customer insights
3   Discuss biases in consumer decision making and implications for marketers
4   Integrate different disciplines on understanding judgment and decision making
5   Question standard economic models in terms of understanding biases in consumer decision making

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Introduction
2 Psychology and Economics
3 Decision Making Under Risk and Uncertainty
4 Loss Aversion, Reference Dependence, Framing
5 Loss Aversion, Reference Dependence, Framing
6 Heuristics and Biases
7 Mental Accounting
8 Midterm Exam
9 The Endowment Effect
10 Procrastination
11 Procrastination
12 Nudging
13 Intertemporal Choice
14 Behavioral Game Theory

Recomended or Required Reading

Most of the readings throughout the course will consist of articles assigned for each week's subject. However, the following books are recommended to understand the topics:
Wilkinson, N. (2008). An introduction to behavioral economics. China: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Ariely, D. (2008). Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. New York: Harper.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lecture, discussions

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE MIDTERM EXAM
2 STT TERM WORK (SEMESTER)
3 FIN FINAL EXAM
4 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE MTE * 0.30 + STT * 0.30 + FIN* 0.40
5 RST RESIT
6 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.30 + STT * 0.30 + RST* 0.40


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

1. MIDTERM EXAM: Midterm exam will be based on essays and discussions, which evaluate understanding, synthesis and evaluation of the lecture material and articles discussed in the class.
2. TERM PROJECT: According to the reading list that will be provided by the instructor, students are expected to read the related articles for each week before coming to the class. They are expected to prepare a written report and contribute to class discussions related to the articles.
3. FINAL EXAM: Students will be assessed on their knowledge of concepts through essay type questions.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

1. Attending at least 70 percent of lectures is mandatory
2. Plagiarism of any type will result in disciplinary action.
3. Students are expected to participate actively in class discussions.
4. Students are expected to attend to classes on time.
5. Students are expected to prepare ahead of time for class.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

sumeyra.duman@deu.edu.tr

Office Hours

To be announced later

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 14 3 42
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 14 2 28
Preparation for midterm exam 1 20 20
Preparation for final exam 1 30 30
Preparing assignments 14 2 28
Preparing presentations 5 2 10
Midterm 1 2 2
Final 1 2 2
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 162

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5
LO.155335
LO.255335
LO.355335
LO.455335
LO.555335