Consumer Psychology (MSc, PDip)

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Course Overview
Key Facts
Course Outline
Why Choose This Course?
Course Fees
Find Out More

MSc in Consumer Psychology The Psychology of Consumer Decision Making How To Apply to this MSc

Course Overview

The MSc in Consumer Psychology is a dynamic, employment and skills-focused programme suitable for recent graduates or current professionals. You will learn how to investigate and enhance the experiences of consumers including retail consumers, service users, employees, clients and more.We also train you to identify and communicate decision-grade information and tangible solutions to a variety of stakeholders.

Consumer Psychology

Consumer psychology is the study of how we relate to the transaction of goods and services we use every day. Our goal is sustainable consumption, the basis of long-term mutually beneficial relationships.In the MSc in Consumer Psychology, we train students to become practical and powerful problem-solvers in a variety of industry and organisational contexts. You will be ready to identify insights from consumer theory and data analysis and you will be conscious of the constraints on solutions (cultural concerns, sustainability) in your context.

Work-Based Research

The MSc in Consumer Psychology will empower you to transition to a role focused on consumer experience and data analysis. In order to do this, we provide opportunities to apply your skills to genuine industry issues. In the International Business Project, you will work on Global Virtual Teams addressing issues provided by multinational companies. In the Work-Based Research Project, you will work with our industry partners here in Galway and beyond to apply data analytics and consumer insights to their challenges. We will empower you to improve yourself, your organization and society. Our recent graduates work in a variety of settings including consumer research, sales, recruitment and the public sector.

The Programme Team

Our interdisciplinary programme is based in the School of Psychology at University of Galway and integrates contributions from our IdeasLab, the Irish Centre for High Performance Computing, and the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics. You will work on global virtual teams solving business problems through X-Culture and learn from guest lecturers from local and international companies and organisations.

Applications and Selections

Applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System.

Guidelines on the requirements for applying to this course, which include an academic reference, a current CV, and document critically appraising a piece of your previous work informed by statistical analysis, can be found here.

Who Teaches this Course

Dr Natalie Walsh, Director of Entrepreneurial Development, IdeasLab
Dr Bruno Voisin, Irish Centre for High Performance Computing
Dr Jane Conway, Psychology

DR. DENIS O'HORA

Ph.D., B.A.

LECTURER BAR/COLLEGE LECTURER
School of Psychology
Room 1032
Arts Millennium Building
NUI Galway
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Dr OONAGH MEADE

BA., M.Sc., PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher
Arts Millennium Building Extension
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Dr Chris Noone

B.A., M.Sc, PhD

Lecturer Above the Bar
School of Psychology
Arts Millennium Building Extension
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Dr Elaine Wallace

Senior Lecturer
Dept. of Marketing
Room 322, St. Anthony's
NUI Galway
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DR LORRAINE MORGAN

Dip, MSc., PhD.

Senior Lecturer
J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics
University of Galway
Galway
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Requirements and Assessment

Key Facts

Entry Requirements

Applicants will require a NQAI Level 8 degree, or equivalent, with a minimum classification of 2.2 in BA or BSc Psychology with Graduate Basis Membership of the Psychological Society of Ireland OR 2.1 or above in a psychology-related discipline. Graduates from other disciplines (e.g. Commerce, Accounting, Economics, Data Science, Mathematics, Marketing, or Business) whose degrees contain at least one module of taught statistics, mathematics and/or research methods and have a 2.1 or above can also apply.

Additional Requirements

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Duration

1 year, full-time

Next start date

September 2024

A Level Grades ()

Average intake

QQI/FET FETAC Entry Routes

Closing Date

Please view the offer rounds website.

NFQ level

Mode of study

ECTS weighting

Award

CAO

Course code

MSC-PSY (MSc); PGDS-CPSY (PDip)

Course Outline

The MSc programme content is concentrated into three pillars:

consumer insight and understanding,
data collection and analysis and
the development of employability and transversal skills.

Consumer Insight and Understanding

The top line of modules in the graphic provide training on consumer psychology, human decision making, the effects of culture and the challenges of encouraging and supporting sustainable consumption. These modules and our module on brand management address up-to-the-minute research and include applied coursework addressing real-world challenges.

Data Collection and Analysis

Industry is more data-focused than ever before. You will be trained to use R, a statistical language that enables data collection and cleaning and complex data analytics. You will also become familiar with a variety of means of accessing consumer data, whether through digital tools (such as Google Analytics), surveys, focus groups or in-person experiments (e.g., eyetracking).

Employability and Transversal Skills

Our students complete work-based research with X Culture in the first semester when they work on Global Virtual Teams to address market expansion and other challenges for multinationals. They then work with companies and organisations in Galway and beyond to complete an in-depth work-based project. Our modules on Tools and Insights and Strategy and Innovation give our students the inside track on skills employers are looking for right now. Our studentsdevelop a rounded skillsetproducing a wide variety of coursework from reports and essays to videos and presentations, working solo or on teams. We provide continuous mentorship to help our students identify strengths and weaknesses and develop themselves.

Graduate Attributes

In the MSc in Consumer Psychology, we train students to become practical and powerful problem-solvers in a variety of industry and organisational contexts. You will be ready to identify insights from consumer theory and data analysis and you will be conscious of the constraints on solutions (cultural concerns, sustainability) in your context.

In order for us to make the foregoing vision a reality, we distilled seven graduate attributes that each of your modules will address in different ways. You will develop

Critical appreciation of psychological theory relevant to consumers
Expertise in data collection, management, analysis and communication
Nuanced awareness of the constraints of context
Competence in the common tools of commercial and non-commercial organisations
Knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses
Confidence and competence in identifying and requesting support
A capacity and commitment to generating positive long-term societal, cultural and environmental impact

Consumer Psychology modules ‌

Curriculum Information

Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).
Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Glossary of Terms

Credits: You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
Module: An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
Subject: Some courses allow you to choose subjects, where related modules are grouped together. Subjects have their own required number of credits, so you must take all that subject's required modules and may also need to obtain the remainder of the subject's total credits by choosing from its available optional modules.
Optional: A module you may choose to study.
Required: A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
Required Core Subject: A subject you must study because it's integral to that course.
Semester: Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year, so a three-year course will have six semesters in total. For clarity, this page will refer to the first semester of year 2 as 'Semester 3'.

Year 1 (90 Credits)

Why Choose This Course?

Career Opportunities

Industry is more data-focused than ever before. However, as the amount of data is increasing, it becomes ever more difficult to extract relevant signal from irrelevant noise. Some companies feel that they are “drowning in data”. McKinsey in May 2011 pointed out that only 20% of the data collected by companies is unique and the rest is duplicated. Every second, the haystack gets bigger and the needles are harder to find.

Many companies are "drowning in data". They need employees who understand consumers and the market in order to design tests to collect the data that matter for organisational decisions. You will refine and isolate decision-grade information. To do this, you require the combination of psychology, business and data skills provided in this programme.

Examples of the roles that graduates can obtain using this qualification include consumer psychologist, consumer research analyst, consumer planner, organisational consultant, data insights analyst, product development and design roles, sales roles—especially sales enablement and leadership.

Lucy, Tom and Mariah from the 2021-22 MSc in Consumer Psychology on a visit to All About Kombucha, with Marketing, Brand & Community Manager, Kaitlin Brozek ‌‌ _{Lucy, Tom and Mariah from the 2021-22 MSc in Consumer Psychology on a visit to All About Kombucha with Marketing, Brand & Community Manager, Kaitlin Brozek}

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Who’s Suited to This Course

Learning Outcomes

Transferable Skills Employers Value

Consumer Insights & Understanding	Data Collection & Analytics	Employability & Transversal Skills
Consumer Psychology	Measuring Consumer Behaviour & Engagement	International Business Project (X Culture)
Understanding Human Decision Making	Data Analysis through R (Irish Centre for High Performance Computing)	Tools and Insights from Industry (Industry leaders)
Consumers across Cultures and Contexts		Information Systems Strategy and Innovation (Business Information Systems)
Strategic Brand Management (Marketing)		Work-based Project
Sustainable Consumption

Work Placement

Study Abroad

Related Student Organisations

Course Fees

Fees: EU

€10,140 p.a. (including levy) 2024/25

Fees: Tuition

€10,000 p.a. 2024/25

Fees: Student levy

€140 p.a. 2024/25

Fees: Non EU

€18,500 p.a. (€18,640 including levy). 2024/25

PGDip: EU: €10,140 p.a. (including levy); Non EU €18,640 p.a. (including levy) 2024/25

Postgraduate students in receipt of a SUSI grant – please note an F4 grant is where SUSI will pay €4,000 towards your tuition (2024/25). You will be liable for the remainder of the total fee. A P1 grant is where SUSI will pay tuition up to a maximum of €6,270. SUSI will not cover the student levy of €140.

Postgraduate fee breakdown = Tuition (EU or NON EU) + Student levy as outlined above.

Note to non-EU students: learn about the 24-month Stayback Visa here

Find out More

Dr Denis O’Hora,
Psychology.
T: +353 91 495 126
E: denis.ohora@universityofgalway.ie

www.universityofgalway.ie/our-research/people/psychology/denisohora

What Our Graduates Say

Duarte Peixoto | Graduate

If you like to know more about the interchange between Marketing and Psychology, enrolling in the MSc of Consumer Psychology is probably one of the best decisions you can make. The programme gave me significant capabilities in a variety of topics: it introduced me to the fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology, Data-analytics, Corporate Responsibility and more. As we consistently connected to people working in a range of industries, I could learn more about possible careers with high-skilled individuals. This course is thoughtful, innovative and modern. And I could not recommend it more.

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