MKT-345 explores the behavior that consumers display in searching, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products — covering the full consumer decision journey, not just the moment of purchase itself.
The full consumer decision journey
The course covers consumer behavior across the entire product lifecycle from a customer's perspective — how they search for and evaluate options before buying, how they use and judge the product afterward, and even how they eventually dispose of it.
Psychological and social influences on purchasing
MKT-345 covers the psychological, social, and cultural factors that shape consumer decisions, examining why purchasing behavior often can't be explained by rational product comparison alone.
Key topics in MKT345
- The consumer search and purchase decision process
- Post-purchase evaluation and satisfaction
- Product disposal behavior
- Psychological influences on consumer decisions
- Social and cultural factors in purchasing
- Applying consumer behavior insight to marketing strategy
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Our marketing experts help with MKT-345 consumer behavior assignments and market segment analyses.
Worked example: behavior beyond the purchase moment
- Purchase-only focus: Analyzing only what convinces a consumer to buy
- Full consumer behavior view: Also examining how satisfied the consumer is afterward, whether they'd repurchase, and how they eventually dispose of the product
- Lesson: MKT-345 teaches that understanding the full consumer journey, not just the purchase decision, reveals insights that improve long-term marketing strategy and customer retention
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Frequently asked questions
A consumer's experience with a product doesn't end at purchase — how satisfied they are afterward, whether they'd repurchase or recommend it, and even how they eventually dispose of it all provide genuinely valuable insight for marketers, since a strategy focused only on driving initial purchases while ignoring post-purchase satisfaction risks winning customers once but losing them to dissatisfaction or better alternatives afterward. MKT-345 covers the full journey because understanding these later stages is what allows marketers to build strategies for genuine long-term customer retention, not just one-time sales.
Real purchasing decisions are shaped by psychological factors (emotional associations, self-image, habit), social influences (what peers or reference groups value), and cultural context, alongside whatever rational comparison of product features and price a consumer might also do — meaning a marketing strategy built purely on rational product superiority arguments often misses these equally powerful, sometimes more powerful, non-rational influences. MKT-345 covers these psychological and social dimensions because genuinely understanding consumer behavior requires accounting for the full range of factors that actually drive real purchasing decisions, not assuming consumers behave as purely rational calculators.