Consumer behaviour - Robert East

A wonderful (and very unusual) balance between areas of marketing that are often at odds with each other (or, worse yet, unaware of each other) I recommend it to any student, researcher, or manager in marketing

Peter Fader, Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor; and Professor of Marketing, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Exceptional for the amount of relevant research that is presented and explained. Students who have read and understood this text are likely to be much more of use to industry

Fergus Hampton, Managing Director, Millward Brown Precis

Written in a focused and accessible form by respected marketing academics, Consumer Behaviour helps readers to develop analytical and evidence-based thinking in marketing and avoid more formulaic approaches that lack the support of research. With a strong focus on the use of research, this book will really appeal to the specific needs of higher-level students.

The book covers important material that is often missing in consumer behaviour texts. For example, whole chapters are devoted to brand loyalty, brand equity, biases in decision-making, word of mouth, the response to price and the effect of advertising. Shorter reviews cover evidence on topics such as loyalty programmes, the response to delay and retail atmospherics. Chapters are quite short and divided into sections. Each chapter contains exercises designed to draw out key ideas and consolidate understanding, and there are suggestions for further reading.

A website to support the book has an Instructors Manual that offers PowerPoint slides, discussion of exercises, computer programs, a suggested Masters-level course, and a Word file of references to assist students writing assignments.

Robert East is emeritus professor at Kingston Business School, Kingston University London and adjunct professor at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of the University of South Australia. He trained as a social psychologist and is a postgraduate of London Business School.His research has mainly focused on word-of-mouth patterns where his new evidence has shown that some widely-held beliefs are mistaken.As a teacher of consumer behaviour, he has been keen to deliver knowledge that is useful to students while not over simplifying the subject.