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UCL Executive Programme in Behavioural Science

Course Overview

Today, consumers are driven by very different motivational factors than they were few years ago. Tech-aided communication is constantly changing the way consumers think, feel, and behave in retail space. Our rewired brains have adapted to a new, digital world where our sense of time, ability to focus, and capacity for attention have shifted gears. Consumers have become used to constant interruption and multitasking, and therefore less tolerant towards ambiguity.

These changes in psychological states have greatly altered the expectations of consumer experience. How does one get in touch with this new era of consumer wants and needs? How does one understand the new relationships that people have with products and brands? How does one enhance the clarity of their marketing communications?

The programme is centered around providing a top level understanding of the processes happening in the consumer’s mind. It goes above and beyond traditional methods to explain buying choices, and equips you with the tools and models needed to grasp the interaction of conscious and nonconscious thoughts. The aim of the programme is to build the knowledge required for assessing the key psychological factors which drive consumer choice, and improve one’s means of acquiring quality insights about consumer behaviour. This will help to improve business strategy, enhance consumer experience, and narrow the gap between consumer wants and needs.

Course Aims

The Executive Programme in Behavioural Science has been designed to provide an understanding of the key psychological drivers of consumer behaviour. It will equip you with an understanding of how today’s digital era shapes the way we express ourselves, and how we connect with retailers. It will bring together the very models which will help to acquire deep psychological insights, and translate them into valuable information which marketers can use to help sculpt the consumer’s journey.

Programme Outline

The Programme will be insightful and follow an applied approach. Participants will be challenged to ‘connect the dots’ from theory to practice and ultimately, have a creative hands on experience in its meaningful application. The core of the Programme is not only to provide students with theories, models, and psychologically informed insights, but also to challenge them to develop the necessary toolboxes and processes.

As a result, participants will become proficient at creating ideas, testing and adapting those ideas and then formulating strategies to implement them.

This Programme consists of 6 x 3 hour evening sessions followed by a full day practical application Saturday. Extra readings will be required in order to meet the objectives of the Programme (25 hours of learning in total).

The sessions will take place at University College London.

Session 1 will explore the key psychological processes of attitude formation. This includes widely established paradigms of attention, memory, and learning.

Session 2 will tap into the nonconscious drivers of behaviour. Specifically, it will define the influence of emotion, arousal, and information processing which alters behaviour change.

Session 3 will outline how identity and the self impact upon consumption. As part of that, it will delve into product versus context driven choices, and aging.

Session 4 will examine the processes of decision making. It will reveal the dynamics of goal directed behaviour with an emphasis on hedonic versus utilitarian choice models.

Session 5 will investigate the relation between colour, aesthetics, and personality. It will look into the ways to enhance consumer experience.

Session 6 will provide an overview of Consumer Neuroscience, outline most common ways to measure ongoing brain processes, and update with central pieces of research that have been released in the field of neuroscience and marketing.

Practical application Saturday - This workshop will provide students with the opportunity to realise how their newly learned skills can be applied in a real world setting. It will encourage them to learn how to gain optimum results from the course.

Who is the Programme for

This programme will be attractive and relevant to any business or policy professional whose success is primarily measured in terms of their ability to influence, persuade and produce change. Participants of previous similar programmes have included Marketing and Brand Managers, Sales Directors, Local and National Government officials, Client Services Managers, Business Development Managers, HR Professionals, CSR staff, Entrepreneurs and Owner Operators.

Qualification

Participants who complete the programme will receive a signed certificate of attendance from CPD'@'PaLS at University College London.

Programme Directors

The programme will be led by two of the UK’s leading experts in the science and practice of Behavioural Science, Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos and Laura Zaikauskaite.

Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos is a Consumer and Business Psychologist based at University College London (UCL). His research, teaching and consultancy work specialise in Business, Consumer, Branding and Occupational Psychology. He has a specialist knowledge in the contribution of social identity and group membership to a range of organisational processes including leadership, communication, organisational change, advertising and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A).

Read Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos on the BBC's One Show, and What to Buy and Why

Laura Zaikauskaite is a Consumer Psychologist and researcher, whose work empowers the voice of the consumer and inspires brand growth. By bringing together key theories from Psychology, Neuroscience, and Marketing, she helps to design creative strategies to capture the interaction between conscious and nonconscious thought, and gain deep psychological insight into the consumer’s mind. Laura is interested in how captured behavioural insight can be redesigned into value-centric communication strategies and help to improve our wellbeing, health, and ethical practices. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Visit FAQs section for any queries.

How to Apply

Download an Application Form here and send it to CPD'@'PaLs.

Course Enquiries

CPD'@'PaLS
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
University College London
Chandler House
2 Wakefield Street
London WC1N 1PF

Tel: +44(0)20 7679 4204/4020
Email: pals-cpd@ucl.ac.uk
Fax: +44(0)20 7679 4010

CPD at PALS