What is a consumer psychologist and what education is needed to become one?
Consumer psychologists are professionals who study how individuals, groups or large companies and organizations make choices. They analyze how people decide what products to buy, services to use and businesses to trust. Consumer psychologists look at factors that are known to influence purchasing choices, such as:
Social motivators
Cultural values
Media campaigns
Emotional reactions
Personal brand associations
They study how these factors influence the decision-making process. The data they gather is used to help understand consumer behavior, predict trends, develop marketing strategies and more. Ryan Hamilton, a Marketing Professor at Emory University and expert in consumer psychology, told us that having a genuine interest in understanding those factors and their effects is what draws people to this specialty.
“Studying consumer psychology is typically motivated by a sincere love of the topic, Hamilton said. “People are drawn to these questions of human decision-making: ‘How do people make choices?’ How do they evaluate options and decide among them?’ For me, that is just an inherently fascinating subject.”
If you’re interested in discovering the answers to those questions, consumer psychology might be a great career path for you.
There are a few different roles that consumer psychologists can tackle. Some consumer psychologists work in universities and conduct research, while others might work for companies to help design marketing materials. However, consumer psychologists never see patients and they don’t work in clinical settings.
There aren’t any license requirements for consumer psychologists, and multiple educational backgrounds will qualify you to work in the field. You’ll typically need at least a bachelor’s degree, but you’ll have several majors to choose from. Once you’ve earned your bachelor’s degree, your next step depends on what path you’d like your career to take.
Consumer psychology education paths
Earn your bachelor’s degree
A bachelor’s degree is a great foundation for a consumer psychology career, especially in a related area such as marketing, psychology, sociology or economics. No matter what your major is, it can be a good idea to make sure your degree includes coursework in a few key areas if you know you want to be a consumer psychologist:
“For some of these consumer psychology roles for market research firms, tech companies, places like that, all you need is an undergraduate degree in a related discipline like marketing, psychology or economics and enthusiasm for the subject,” said Hamilton.
Next, earn your master’s degree or MBA
A master’s degree can expand your knowledge base and advance your career. It can be a good choice if you want to move up to higher-level roles. Some consumer psychologists earn a graduate-level degree in consumer psychology or a Master of Psychology with a specialization in consumer studies. Other professionals choose to earn a Master Of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in consumer behavior. Some universities offer graduate-level degrees in areas such as behavioral economics that can also be used to gain some roles in consumer psychology.
Consider a doctoral degree
Consumer psychologists who want to work at universities and conduct research will need to earn a doctoral degree. Similar to a graduate degree, you can look into PhDs in psychology with concentrations in consumer psychology or into schools that offer PhDs in consumer psychology. Programs that offer PhDs that mix economics and psychology can also help you advance your career.
“People who want to do this for pure research purposes, with the goal of understanding consumers at large, need a PhD,” Hamilton said. “That could be in marketing. It could be in psychology, in sociology or maybe even another related discipline. But a PhD is how you get into those roles.”
Hamilton also said that some marketing roles dedicated to consumer behavior will also look specifically for psychologists who’ve earned PhDs.
What is being a consumer psychologist like?
Consumer psychologists can take on different challenges depending on their specific role. Ryan Hamilton told us that consumer psychology roles fall into three different groups.
“So there are people who do research, and that’s mostly academics, university jobs. Then you have consumer psychologists who work for companies, often their behavioral science divisions. You find a lot of these roles in financial services, social media companies, video game companies, market research firms and tech companies,” Hamilton said. “There are also people who might not have the word psychologist in their job title, but who need the skill set and knowledge for the role. These are jobs in things like market research, brand management and consumer experience management.”
Consumer psychologists can take on a range of tasks. The exact details of your day in this professional will vary, but can often include:
Conducting market research. Market research is a tool consumer psychologists use to find and analyze the right target audience for a product or service.
Developing marketing strategies. Consumer psychologists test ideas for marketing messages and observe the results. They develop strategies based on their work.
Conducting consumer behavior research. Consumer psychologists ask questions and gather details about people’s past behaviors to predict future consumer behavior. This can include tasks such as creating customer surveys.
Presenting research. Some consumer psychologists present data about consumers to companies, government boards, and other groups. They might also organize and lead focus groups and write research papers or journal articles.
Consumer psychologists and AI
Advertising has changed rapidly in recent years. Companies have more ways to reach consumers than ever before, and commercials aren’t limited to breaks in TV shows. Today, we see ads on websites and our social media feeds that are based on our browsing history. Those ads appear thanks to technology, such as algorithms, consumer information databases and artificial intelligence (AI). It’s why you’ll see ads for shoes hours after you close that shopping tab. AI and algorithms’ ability to deliver advertisements in this way has affected the marketing world, and will likely continue to do so in the years to come.
However, Hamilton said AI is a tool and not a replacement.
“There are people who argue that consumer psychologist skills are less useful or less necessary going forward. My view is a little different. I think that there’s still a very important role,” Hamilton said. “All datasets always look backwards. That means algorithms and such can be great predictors when not a lot is changing. But the nature of marketing is that we want things to be different tomorrow than they were today. We’re introducing new brands, changing the approach, the delivery, the channels and the communication.”
“We’re constantly shaking things up. So for that, you need this deeper understanding of people in dynamic environments. That doesn’t mean there’s not a use for algorithms and data. It’s a very useful tool. I think a marriage of all these tools can help us gain a greater understanding.”
Consumer psychologist salary
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn’t specifically track salary data for consumer psychologists, and your wages as a consumer psychologist will depend on factors such as your degree level, your location and your employer.
Additionally, consumer psychologists often work under other job titles. Comparative salaries for these types of roles, per the BLS as of 2023, include:
Career
Median Annual Salary
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$74,680
Psychologists
$92,740
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other
$79,870
Marketing Managers
$157,620
How to stand out as a candidate for a consumer psychology job
A strong educational background is always a plus for any job candidate. Your previous experience may also take you far. Another way to boost your career as a consumer psychologist is to develop your skills in developing and running experiments that look at consumer behavior.
“I would characterize it as two sets of advantages,” Hamilton said. “A high-level degree is the knowledge base, and it’s valuable to know all the theory that’s been developed. But then the other is the skill set that’s associated with behavioral science. That’s being able to run good experiments and know how to go in and test people’s hypothesis.”
Frequently asked questions
Besides marketing, what else can I do as a consumer psychologist?
Consumer psychologists can find roles in a variety of places. While many jobs in the profession are marketing-based, there are other options. For instance, some government roles rely on consumer psychologists to research claims of false advertising. Other consumer psychologists work with government agencies to develop programs such as public safety campaigns. Additional roles can sometimes be found in fields such as copyright law or educational programming.
How did consumer psychology start?
A psychologist named Ernest Dichter is often credited with pioneering the field in the mid-20th century. Dichter applied the work of psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud to the world of advertising. He is credited with coining the term “focus group,” and his influence is said to have led to the idea that companies need to have a brand and an identity in the market.
What resources are available for consumer psychologists?
It’s always a good idea to stay connected and up-to-date in your field. For consumer psychologists, joining the Society for Consumer Psychology (SCP) can be a great way to do just that. The SCP offers conferences, continuing education, an industry journal, webinars and more.
Are consumer psychology and organizational psychology the same?
Consumer psychology and organizational psychology share some similarities. Professionals in both fields study human behavior and often work with large companies. However, organizational psychologists study how companies operate. They are focused on the workplace and its dynamics.
Getting started
If you’re interested in the psychology of what leads people to purchase one item over another and other consumer choices, consumer psychology might be the right career for you. A bachelor’s degree is a great place to get your career started. It can help you discover answers to questions about human decision-making and start you down the path to fascinating roles in this field. When you’re ready, our find schools button can show you school programs that help you meet your education and career goals.
