Persuasion and Customer Decision Making

This survey course examines rules and approaches used in decisions by consumers and managers. Topics include the basic structure of decisions; distortions and biases in decision making; the influence of persuasion in decisions; interpersonal processes of persuasion in a business context; and the application of persuasion and decision making to the formation of agreements and deals. The course relies on lectures, readings, class discussions, and role-playing games that ask students to interact in pursuing transactions and exchanges. Through these games, students will develop skills for individual decision making as well as an appreciation of competitive and cooperative interactive contexts.