The relevance of economic and social welfare and psychological and physical welfare is becoming growingly prevalent in marketing academia and marketing practice. In this course, we discuss in which ways marketing may contribute to consumer well-being, and which obstacles still need to be overcome. Starting from insights on why a focus on well-being has entered the marketing realm and what consumer well- being actually means, we then turn our focus to understanding how some market participants are more vulnerable than others, due to, e.g., their gender, their sexual orientation, or their age. Thereafter, we will take on a behavioral economics perspective on consumer well-being, e.g. by considering consumer choice, and the concept of nudging. 

The goal of this course will be on familiarizing you with the concepts of consumer well-being and vulnerability to provide you with a heightened awareness of how marketing may be designed in a way, in which it helps to improve customers’ economic as well as emotional, environmental, physical, and psychological well-being.