100 Hot Consumer Behavior Essay Topics

In this article you will find a brief overview of consumer behavior research and consumer psychology examples as well as a practical guideline on how to write an essay on consumer behavior. Most importantly, this article will provide you with 100 hot consumer behavior essay topics that will make choosing a topic so much easier for you. This list is a real gem if you are looking for:

• essays topics
• topics for presentation
• assignment topics
• topics for projects

Consumer Behavior Research

Consumer behavior is social science that involves marketing, psychology, sociology, ethnography, behavioral economics, and anthropology. The concept of consumer behavior involves intentions, decisions, and actions connected with purchasing goods and services, using them, and disposal activities. In essence, any behavior associated with purchasing anything can be considered as consumer behavior.

When we investigate consumer behavior, the topics of research include, but are not limited to:

• Motives of purchase
• Impact of the society/social group on purchase intentions
• Usage rates
• Possibility of repurchase
• Word of mouth
• Ethnographic factors of consumer behavior
• Methods of impacting and predicting consumer behavior
• Consumer decision styles
• Role of emotions in consumer behavior
• Customer loyalty

Consumer Psychology Examples

In the market environment, customers seek to purchase goods and services to meet their needs, while sellers strive to develop marketing strategies that would be the most impactful in motivating consumers to buy. That being said, marketing strategies are often designed to make the product more appealing to customers by influencing emotions and feelings.

Consumer psychology examples include the ways in which marketing campaigns influence consumer behavior. Appealing to customers by making a marketing campaign touching, emotional, or funny, are all examples of consumer psychology.

Let us consider several examples of consumer psychology, both good and bad, to get a better understanding of how marketing manipulates feelings of customers.

• Successful consumer psychology example

Procter & Gamble’s “Thank you, Mom” Campaign is emotional and strong, focusing on how mothers support their children no matter what. This campaign was tied to the 2018 Winter Olympics and promoted inclusion, diversity, and family values.

• Consumer psychology failure example 

One of the most notable marketing failures of the 2010s is, without a doubt, Pepsi commercial in 2017. The ad exploited unity, freedom, and diversity as a way to communicate to every customer, depicting a carbonated soda as an element equally important as protest, democracy, and equality. An attempt to manipulate customer feelings was so obvious that the ad was taken down after a severe backlash.

How to Write an Essay on Consumer Behavior: Outline

Generally, just about any essay includes 3 major parts, namely introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion. Whichever of the hot consumer behavior essay topics you choose and whatever length your essay is, you can use the following outline to construct a logically structured essay that will engage your readers and will reflect your topic to the full.

1. Introduction

1. Hook – the first sentence or two in your introduction that grabs readers’ attention. Can be a quote, relevant statistical data, interesting fact about your topic, a question, or a strong statement. Hook is like a good ad campaign – it sells the rest of the essay to your readers and motivates them to continue reading. Hook also demonstrates your skills of presenting your topic of choice
2. Presentation of the topic – reveal what you will write about. Make sure to be clear and concise
3. Topic background – reveal the general perspective in which you will research specific concept or phenomenon
4. Thesis statement – a sentence that contains the main idea of your essay
5. Transitional hook – typically the last sentence in an introduction that smoothly connects the introduction with body paragraph. Refer to what you will write about in the body paragraph to bridge the introduction with the rest of the paper

2. Body paragraph – the number of body paragraphs can vary depending on essay length, while their general structure and elements are uniform

1. Topic sentence – reveal in the nutshell what the paragraph is about
2. Details about the sub-topic, such as statistical data, findings from relevant and credible sources, interim conclusions, etc.
3. Concluding sentence – summarize the paragraph
4. Transition sentence – ensure logical transition between body paragraphs. Concluding and transition sentences can be merged into one sentence.

3. Conclusion – summary of your essay. Don’t simply rewrite your main findings, but reveal them in logical sequence, demonstrating connection among facts, cause and effect relationships, and concepts. Restate your thesis statement with regard to the findings you write about in your body paragraphs.

How to Research Consumer Behavior

Here is a list of 7 unconventional sources of information about consumer behavior that will help you find out more about your chosen topic:

1. Customer review websites and customer reviews for different products
2. Conduct a survey on survey website, such as Survey Monkey
3. Interview your friends, family, or basically anyone you would like to
4. Social media pages of brands and customer comments on them
5. Blogs on products and brands
6. Newspaper articles on market trends
7. Your own experience – you are a customer and your opinion is a source of information that matters

Consumer Behavior Essay Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Research your topic in various sources
• Outline your essay before writing
• Reconsider thesis statement after writing every body paragraph
• Don’t simply paraphrase thesis statement in conclusion, but restate it with regard to information you’ve researched in body paragraph
• Make introduction and conclusion clear and concise, optimal length for each is around 10% of the essay
• Use citations not only to avoid plagiarism, but to demonstrate your dedication and hard work researching your topic
• Write your introduction after completing the body paragraph and conclusion – this is a secure way to write an introduction that represents your paper in the best way possible because you know what the paper is about
• Proofread your essay to make sure you avoid grammar mistakes

Don’ts

• Rely solely on your opinion, opinions of your interviewees, or results of a survey if you conduct one – it is unprofessional and you will most likely miss a lot of aspects of the topic
• Write lengthy intros and conclusions – your intro is supposed to intrigue and interest, while conclusion remind of major points rather than include actual research
• Avoid topic sentences – these are important elements of essay structure
• Ignore coordinating thesis statement after writing the paper – it can turn out to be out of touch with your body paragraph content

100 Hot Consumer Behavior Essay Topics

The topics below are designed to be versatile, interesting, topical, and truly compelling for essays, presentations, assignments, and projects.

Let’s get started! 

1. Influence of price on consumer behavior
2. Price change and consumer behavior in luxury goods market
3. Customer luxury value perception
4. Mass marketing of luxury and consumer behavior
5. Prestige-seeking consumer behavior
6. Customer behavior and marketing strategy in luxury segment
7. Review and analysis of successful/unsuccessful examples of marketing strategies in luxury segment
8. Self-concept in consumer behavior
9. Symbolism and market behavior
10. Impulsive purchasing
11. Attachment and consumer behavior
12. Cross-cultural consumer behavior
13. Cultural dimensions and consumer behavior: the role of indulgence
14. Convergence and divergence in consumer behavior
15. Greenwashing as a marketing strategy
16. Consumer reaction to “green” brand claims
17. Current problems in consumer behavior
18. Consumerism as a form of consumer behavior
19. Risk taking in consumer behavior
20. Consumer value and consumer behavior
21. Consumer behavior trends in online shopping
22. Sensory marketing and consumer behavior
23. Consumer perception of price
24. Consumer perception of quality
25. Brand extensions and brand relatedness
26. Mainstream vs trendy products and consumer behavior
27. Personal values and consumer behavior
28. Word of mouth and electronic word of mouth as a factor influencing consumer behavior
29. Brand ambassadors and consumer behavior
30. Corporate social responsibility as a factor influencing consumer behavior
31. Brand image and consumer behavior
32. The role of customer trust in consumer behavior
33. The impact of negative online reviews on product perception and purchase intention
34. The role of social media peer communication in shaping consumer behavior
35. Is consumer behavior rational?
36. The role of value maximization in consumer behavior
37. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and consumer behavior
38. Impact of prior experience on purchase intention
39. Neuromarketing in consumer behavior
40. Neuromarketing and ethics
41. The role of aesthetic taste in consumer behavior
42. Customer retention methods
43. Effects of sexual advertising on consumer purchase intentions
44. The role of packaging in consumer purchase intention
45. Brand sustainability as a positive factor of consumer purchase intention
46. Product placement and its effect on consumer behavior
47. Innovations as a factor influencing consumer behavior
48. Color-emotion associations
49. Pink for girls, blue for boys: gender differentiation of children’s’ goods
50. Marketing power of emotions
51. Emotions and brand attitude
52. Measures of purchase intention
53. Customer satisfaction measures
54. Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty
55. Customer loyalty and repurchase intentions
56. Brand familiarity and purchase intention
57. Smartphones, e-waste, and disposal activities
58. How fast fashion brands attract customers
59. Perceived quality and purchase intention
60. Organic food customer perception
61. Purchase intention and celebrity endorsements
62. Social media influencers and consumer behavior
63. Do customers care about business ethics?
64. Purchase intention and controversial products
65. Consumer animosity
66. Impact of the country of origin image on consumer behavior
67. Determinants of purchase intention
68. Repurchase intention in services
69. Customer satisfaction and repurchase intention
70. Consumer clothing disposal behaviors
71. Personal factors of consumer disposal tendencies
72. Masstige brands and consumer behavior
73. Brand advocacy development
74. Customer relationship management trends
75. Purchasing power and consumer behavior
76. Economic conditions and consumer behavior
77. Education level of consumer behavior
78. Consumer decision style overview
79. Hedonistic decision style
80. Brand-conscious customer choice
81. Social status and consumer behavior
82. Impact of sales associates on consumer purchase intention and behavior
83. Product life cycle and consumer behavior
84. New product adoption types
85. Factors that cause brand-switching
86. Online consumer behavior types
87. Guerilla marketing and consumer behavior
88. Concept of brand awareness and its impact on consumer behavior
89. Impact of the Internet on buying process
90. Perfectionist consumer decision style
91. Behavior of a healthcare customer
92. Consumer behavior of Generation Y
93. Shopping behavior of baby boomers
94. Generation Y vs Baby Boomer consumer behavior
95. Brand loyalty of Millenials
96. Brand awareness and social media
97. Generation Z consumer behavior
98. Future consumer trends 2020
99. Situational variables and consumer behavior
100. Methods of predicting consumer behavior