Question

Topic: Customer Behavior

Msc Thesis Topic About Consumer Society

Posted by Anonymous on 2/16/2014 at 2:32 PM ET 250 Points
Hello!

I'm currently pursuing my diploma in Marketing MSc. I have two semesters left, but time has come to choose a thesis topic and i'm getting quite desperate.

I'm interested in the field of consumer behaviour, and what i'd really love to write about is the relation between happiness and consumption, but in a critical way - more like a criticism of the modern consumer society and the artificially-made demand for goods in hope of pursuing happiness and never actually finding it - i love reading, studying and talking about this topic.

Now, my problem is that you could probably write a great book about this, but this is definitely not a good topic for a thesis, because it's too wide, too general and it's been done before (happiness and consumption).

Do you have any suggestions that are somehow related to this topic - maybe a specific question that could make an interesting thesis and research topic?

Thanks in advance for your answers!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by mgoodman on 2/16/2014 at 4:10 PM Accepted
    Pick a specific product and look at consumer motivation (to purchase) and overall satisfaction (after purchase). If you can select the topic based on what you'd like to do after you get your degree, that would be ideal, because the thesis would demonstrate that you have particular knowledge of value to the company and that your interest in the company is genuine.
  • Posted by Mike Steffes on 2/16/2014 at 11:21 PM Accepted
    Maybe something about how different personalities can attain optimal happiness by purchasing in a specific product development phase. You know...visionaries, innovators, etc.; and beta test, first production version, revised models, etc. This probably truly works best (or even, only) for innovative products, how marketing can be tweaked for the optimal target personalities as things develop, or the other way around. There might be an interesting question in that sort of product/personality interplay, somewhere.
  • Posted by saul.dobney on 2/17/2014 at 7:39 AM Accepted
    In a thesis be careful about pre-judging outcomes as it will bias the design and lower the quality of the study. You might find it easier to pick a brand, or a supposed effect to see how it translates into perceptions during or after use. Eg knowing the brand, do consumers feel more refreshed after drinking Coke or Pepsi than an own-brand - you can mix the brands and products under test to see if the brand image, rather than the product is driving the effect. You can play similar games eg on sports apparell - does wearing Nike vs Adidas vs a no-name brand make you better at darts for instance, or affect spectators expectations of who will win?

    By the way, if your view of happiness and consumption is correct, how does that make you feel as someone pursuing marketing as a career?

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