Consumer Behavior Minor

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Consumer behavior studies inform decision makers in the business, government and non-profit sectors on how consumer decisions, preferences, activities and other behaviors are influenced by factors such as culture, subculture, demographics, sensation, thinking, conscious and unconscious information processing, knowledge organization, beliefs, interpersonal communication, learning from experience and values. This is an interdisciplinary field, drawing on such disciplines as marketing, psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, linguistics, ethnic studies, gender studies, geography, history, cognitive science and communications to understand the experiences of contemporary consumers across the world.

To enroll in this minor, students must have completed a minimum of 32 units of college-level courses and have a minimum overall GPA of 2.75.

This minor requires 18-20 units.

Required Courses

MKT 450 Consumer Behavior and Marketing Units: 4
PSYC 100Lg Introduction to Psychology Units: 4

Electives

Complete at least 10 units consisting of at least three courses from the list below subject to the following constraints:

A minimum of 18 units (including MKT 450 and PSYC 100Lg ) must be unique to the minor (i.e., not be countable toward requirements for the major). This does not include any prerequisites for courses listed.
At least 16 units of all courses taken for the minor are not offered by the student’s major department. For Business Administration and Accounting majors, courses with prefixes of BUAD, DSO and MKT are considered to be offered by the student’s major department.
No more than two of the courses chosen from the list below may be offered by the same department.
At least one of the courses chosen below has a prefix other than COMM, MKT and BUAD.
Courses taken at institutions other than USC (i.e., International Exchange programs and transfer credits) cannot substitute for any of the minor requirements.

Comparative Literature

Data Science and Operations

DSO 427 Designing Spreadsheet-Based Business Models Units: 4
DSO 455 Project Management Units: 4

Economics

ECON 340 Economics of Less Developed Countries Units: 4 *
ECON 346 Economics of Transition and Development: China Units: 4 *
ECON 405 Neuroeconomics Units: 4 *
ECON 415 Behavioral Economics Units: 4 *
ECON 420 Experimental Economics Units: 4 *
ECON 432 Economics of Happiness Units: 4 *

English

ENGL 392 Visual and Popular Culture Units: 4

History

HIST 380 American Popular Culture Units: 4

Information Technology Program

ITP 115 Programming in Python Units: 2
ITP 249 Introduction to Data Analytics Units: 4
ITP 310 Design for User Experience Units: 4

Marketing

MKT 385x Marketing of Creative Disruption and Innovation Units: 4
MKT 402 Introduction to Marketing Analytics Units: 4 *
MKT 404 Happiness and Wellbeing in the Marketplace Units: 4
MKT 405 Advertising and Promotion Management Units: 4 *
MKT 410 Professional Selling Units: 4 *
MKT 465 Global Marketing Management Units: 4 *

Policy, Planning, and Development

PPD 245g The Urban Context Units: 4

Psychology

PSYC 240gx Scientific Inquiry and Reasoning in Health Care Units: 4
PSYC 355 Social Psychology Units: 4 *
PSYC 422 Human Judgment and Decision Making Units: 4 *
PSYC 451 Formation and Change of Attitudes Units: 4 * **
PSYC 454 Social Cognition Units: 4 * **
PSYC 456 Conservation Psychology Units: 4 *

Sociology

SOCI 155gm Immigrant America Units: 4
SOCI 210g Science, Technology, and Social Conflict Units: 4
SOCI 242g Sociology, Demography and Health Units: 4 *
SOCI 305m Sociology of Childhood Units: 4 **

Notes:

^* Prerequisites required

** Courses not offered regularly

(Prerequisites will not be waived for upper-division courses; students must complete the prerequisite courses needed in addition to the courses for this minor.)

Total requirements: at least five courses: 18-20 units

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