ABSTRACT
Consumer psychologists who work within academia invariably have a doctoral degree in marketing or related fields such as psychology. But consumer psychologists who work outside of academia don’t have a uniform academic background. There is a lot of diversity in the educational pathways of the consumer psychologists on our panel. Although having an educational background in psychology is not necessary—many learn through experience—it is not a coincidence that many consumer psychologists have studied in psychology departments or in marketing departments where the psychology perspective is dominant. Master’s programs give students more intense exposure to both substantive and methodological aspects relating to consumer psychology. At the undergraduate level, psychology majors may take intensive psychology courses, but they are unlikely to specialize in understanding the consumer perspective. In addition to understanding the substantive issues related to consumer decision making, it is also important to understand the methodologies used to study this area.
