Delve into behaviour change and the tactics you can use to attract, understand, and influence your customers.
722 enrolled on this course
![Image of a female sitting at a table looking worried and holding a calculator in one hand and the other hand is holding her head.](https://ugc.futurelearn.com/uploads/images/16/7f/header_167f694d-7f79-4d54-a7cd-3c222c871383.jpg)
Duration
3 weeksWeekly study
2 hours100% online
How it works
Cognitive Psychology: Employee and Customer Behaviour
Explore the psychological factors that influence behaviour
This three-week course will help you explore the role of the subconscious and emotions in decision-making and strategies for capturing the attention of your customers.
With this knowledge, you’ll be empowered to not only attract the customers you want, but understand, anticipate, and meet their needs completely.
Discover priming as an influencing tactic
Investigating the concept of priming in psychology, you’ll learn to identify a prime and distinguish it from an influence that people are consciously aware of.
You’ll discuss examples from everyday life as well as examining a number of studies showing priming effects. With this knowledge, you’ll start to think about how you could design your own prime.
Examine the SALIENT checklist and anchoring
With an understanding of primes, you’ll then explore how to use a wide range of them using the SALIENT checklist.
You’ll discuss the role of salience in decision-making and the components of salient messages before examining the role of anchoring and peak-end evaluation.
This knowledge will help you to apply concepts to your organisation.
Assess what affects behaviour change
Exploring the role emotions play in decision-making, you’ll debate the relationship between rational behaviour and emotions.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to identify key ways you can change behaviour and also critically evaluate whether it’s right to do so.
Syllabus
Week 1
Priming
Welcome
Welcome to Cognitive Psychology: Employee and Customer Behaviour. In this first week on priming, Paul will take you through the unconscious influences on our behaviour and whether they can be harnessed to create behaviour change.
The least conscious element of MINDSPACE
Priming is a very contested area of psychology. This week, Paul will give you a thorough oversight of research and real-life examples, including why a successful study may not work a second time.
Evidence for priming
In this activity, we will discuss a number of studies that have shown priming effects and you will start to think about how you could design your own prime.
Controversy over prime studies
In this activity, we will look at the controversy over prime studies. You will be able to engage critically with priming studies and will develop a basic knowledge of the issue of replication.
The SALIENT checklist
In this activity, you will learn about the SALIENT checklist, and you will start to think about how to apply primes to change behaviour.
Wrap up
In this activity, we will briefly summarise what you have learned about priming this week and look forward to salience, the topic covered next week.
Week 2
Salience
Introduction to Salience
In this activity, you will be able to discuss the role of salience and framing in our decisions.
Making things salient
In this activity, you will be able to examine components of salient messages and how to use messages salient to the general public. This activity is focused on applying salience to change behaviour.
Salience and heuristics
You will examine heuristics and biases that influence how they focus their attention. Additionally, you'll learn how events and elements of our experience influence our attention, making sense of probabilities.
Attention
In this activity, you will be able to discuss the importance of attention. Our attention is a scarce resource and our brains use shortcuts to direct our attention. These work well most of the time, but not always...
Wrap up
In this short activity, we will wrap up what you have learned about salience and attention. We will then briefly introduce Affect or emotions, the topic to be covered next week.
Week 3
Affect
Introduction to affect and emotion
In this activity, we will introduce affect and emotion. You will identify the most used understandings of emotions and highlight the role emotions play in making decisions.
Are emotions rational?
In this activity, we will debate the relationship between rational behaviour and emotions, including the meaning of the former.
The neuroscience of affect
In this activity, you will engage with some of the basic contours of neuroscientific findings with regard to affect.
Affect in practice
In this activity, you'll examine how to use affect to change behaviour, but also whether you always should.
Wrap up
In this short activity, we will summarise what you have learned about Affect.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
Learning on this course
On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Describe what a prime is and distinguish it from an influence.
- Discuss a number of studies which have shown priming effects.
- Discuss a wide range of primes using the SALIENT checklist.
- Apply primes to change behaviour.
- Explore components of salient messages.
- Investigate the role of anchoring and peak-end evaluation, and ways to apply them in your organisation.
- Debate the relationship between rational behaviour and emotions.
- Explore the neuroscience of affect.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for anyone wanting to better understand customer needs and motivations and will be particularly useful if you are a team manager.
If you want to develop your knowledge of this subject further, you may be interested in these courses. They feature related subject matter and share the same overall learning outcomes:
Who will you learn with?
Paul is a Professor of Behavioural Science. His main research interests are human behaviour and happiness. Author of bestselling Happiness by Design and Happy Ever After, host of Duck-Rabbit podcast.
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Ways to learn
Choose the best way to learn for you!
Subscribe & save
$244.99 for a whole year
Automatically renews
Develop skills to further your career
- Access to this course
- Access to 1,000+ courses
- Learn at your own pace
- Discuss your learning in comments
- Tests to boost your learning
- Digital certificate when you're eligible
Cancel for free anytime
Buy this course
$54/one-off payment
Fulfill your current learning need
- Access to this course
- Learn at your own pace
- Discuss your learning in comments
- Tests to boost your learning
- Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible
Limited access
Free
Sample the course materials
- Access expires 5 Mar 2025
Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades) Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply. |
Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)
Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
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