Consumer Psychology (MA)

Consumer psychology is the study of how we relate to the transaction of goods and services we use every day. Understanding consumers requires knowledge of consumer psychology theories, collecting and interpreting consumer data and opinions and developing meaningful interactions with consumers. In the MSc in Consumer Psychology, we train students to become data-literate consumer professionals ready to identify insights from various data sources to a variety of commercial and non-commercial organisations, addressing the needs of employees and consumers.

This MSc programme is an interdisciplinary programme based in the School of Psychology at NUI Galway. We integrate inputs from the School of Psychology, the Irish Centre for High Performance Computing, the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, and the NUI Galway Launchpad student innovation hub, as well as guest lecturers from local and international companies and organisations.

The MSc in Consumer Psychology seeks to provide students with an important competitive advantage: the ability to make more insightful business decisions that integrate a deeper understanding of human psychology. Objectives of the Programme The objectives of the programme are to:

• Develop informed problem-solvers who are comfortable working in today’s data-driven economy.
• Provide training in consumer psychology, user experience design and human decision-making to provide the student with an understanding of how consumers typically interact with products and services.
• Develop the student’s knowledge of the commercial context including unit economics and industry tools.
• Equip students with the skills to collect user data in person and online and analyse these data using R to generate novel data-based insights.
• Prepare students for the opportunities and challenges in developing sustainable solutions for consumers from different communities, cultures and contexts.

Some subjects in this course are:-

• Consumer Psychology
• Understanding Human Decision Making
• Measuring Consumer Behaviour & Engagement
• Data Analysis through R (The Irish Centre for High Performance Computing)
• Design Thinking (Launchpad Innovation hub)
• Consumers across Cultures and Contexts
• Sustainable Consumption
• Strategy and Innovation (J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics)
• Principles of Marketing (J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics)
• Tools and Insights from Industry (Industry leaders)
• Work-based Project