What is Consumer Psychology & Career Opportunities India - 2023

Consumer psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the behavior of consumers. This includes what they need and what their shopping habits are. 

How the product is packaged and the price of things can affect the behavior of consumers. Sometimes the mood of the consumer may have an impact on the products they buy. Consumer psychology started in the 1940s when a psychologist name John Watson started taking advantage of consumer’s behavior to help promote products.

Are you interested in why and how people buy some products and not others?  If so, you may be interested in the field of consumer psychology. If you are a  psychology student looking for a job option beyond a traditional career path in psychology, you can choose the path to become a consumer psychologist.

What do consumer psychologists do?

The main duty of a consumer psychologist is to get inside the mind of the consumer and study what affects their purchase.

Thus they do the following things:

Conduct Market Research

Every business needs to understand the behavior of its customers to develop products and marketing campaigns that appeal to the target audience. And consumer psychologists spend time conducting research on customers.

Consumer psychologists also conduct research about different types of products and marketing messages that appeal to these types of customers.

Research Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors

Consumer psychologists also conduct research about the attitude and behavior of consumers. And they use methods of phone surveys, focus groups, and direct observations to conduct research. 

They usually collect details about their gender, age, race, and current financial status. This type of information helps to learn more about purchasing certain products.

Develop Marketing Messages

Consumer psychologists focus on researching how to spread ideas and messages among the group. They also obtain information about a product and develop marketing messages for it. 

Through consumer psychology, these same companies understand that they have to please their initial customers as they will communicate the brand value of new products to future consumers.

(Recommendation: #1 Career Guide on Psychologists in India)

How to become a consumer psychologist?

To become a consumer psychologist you must be at least a graduate. This program normally lasts approximately four years. You may also consider pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Consumer Behavior that is a two-year program.

You can also complete a doctorate degree in psychology because this opens up many more career advancement opportunities. More and more employers are searching for candidates holding Ph.D. Or Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D). This is a 2-4 year program.

The educational background plays a very important role in determining the career path you choose. If you are interested in teaching and research you should do a doctorate degree.

So that you can research and teach at a university. If you are interested in advertising, sales, and marketing,  pursuing a bachelor's degree or master's degree is sufficient.

(Recommendation: Why does India Need Psychologists?)

Where do consumer psychologists work?

A consumer psychologist may work as a consultant or a full-time employee. Private businesses employ consultants to perform duties such as developing marketing campaigns, conducting consumer research, and analyzing data, etc. Government agencies and universities also hire consumer psychologists or they can work for advertising and marketing agencies or for corporations.

The following are some unique duties that a consumer psychologist can perform:

1. Conducting the study for a government that examines a consumer's response to advertising claims that contain miscalculations.
2. Assessing the consumer’s response to product features and helping the company to determine the best combination of product features.
3. Analyzing the advertising campaigns for an advertising agency and telling the company how they can improve their brand. 
4. Studying how consumers view different advertising campaigns and how they use products differently.

What is the salary of a consumer psychologist?

According to a report, consumer psychologists earn an average annual salary of $98,230 as of May 2019. But the salary of a consumer psychologist depends on the educational level, specialty area, and years of experience.

Consumer psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on how consumers are influenced by their environment( family, culture, etc.) Consumer psychologists explore how consumers think, feel, reason, and make selections between alternative brands, products, and retailers. And by researching this they use their mental and human behavior to promote consumer products and services. 

Finally, as a Psychologist, I would say if you are looking for career opportunities in Consumer Psychology, then it’s a good choice.