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Market Research and Consumer Behavior

Beginner English University CertificateFREE
SkillsMarket researchConsumer behaviourCustomer insightSurvey designBuyer psychologyMarketing strategy

Is this course right for you?

Our take
IE Business School pairs the two things marketers usually learn apart: how to gather customer insight, and the psychology of why people actually buy.

Good for: Learning market-research methods alongside the psychology of buying.

Skip if: You want advanced statistics or a hands-on analytics tool course.

Putting research methods next to consumer behaviour is what makes it useful — you come away able to both run the study and interpret what the findings mean about human motivation. It's a business-school-grade introduction aimed at marketers and product people who want to understand customers properly, which also marks its edge: if you're after advanced statistics or a hands-on analytics tool, this isn't a methods-heavy or software course.

Audit it free on Coursera; the certificate sits behind a subscription (about $49/month) or Coursera Plus, with financial aid available, and records the learning rather than standing in for a marketing qualification. The psychology of buying doesn't change quickly (as of 2026).

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About this course

Market Research and Consumer Behavior pairs two things marketers need together: the methods for gathering customer insight and the psychology that explains why people buy. From IE Business School and instructor Shameek Sinha, it covers research approaches and the behavioural drivers behind consumer decisions.

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Instructor

SS
Shameek Sinha
Coursera instructor

Taught by Shameek Sinha at IE Business School, one of Europe's top-ranked business schools. The course reflects IE's marketing focus, blending research method with behavioural insight.

Frequently asked questions

Not heavily. From IE Business School, it focuses on understanding market research and why consumers behave as they do — research methods, psychology of buying decisions, and how to gather and use customer insight — more than on statistical computation. Some basic quantitative thinking appears, but it is a business-and-behaviour course, not a statistics course, so a non-technical marketer can follow it comfortably.

Marketers, product people, entrepreneurs, and business students wanting to understand their customers and how to research a market. It assumes no specialist background, so it works as an accessible introduction to consumer behaviour and market research. Anyone whose work depends on understanding why people buy — from marketing to product to strategy — gets genuine value from it.

Yes, typically — it sits within an IE Business School marketing specialization on Coursera, covering consumer behaviour and research as part of a broader marketing curriculum. You can take it standalone for the market-research and consumer-behaviour material, but it is designed within that sequence, so the wider specialization builds around it if marketing interests you more broadly.

Yes, you can audit it on Coursera and watch the lectures at no cost. The graded assignments and the certificate require a subscription, with financial aid available if you apply. Since much of the value is understanding the consumer-behaviour and research concepts, auditing gives you the substance if you want the ideas rather than the credential.

As a single course within a specialization, it typically runs a few weeks at a modest weekly pace. It is concept-focused rather than a hands-on build, so the time goes into absorbing the market-research and consumer-behaviour material, with the wider marketing specialization a longer commitment if you continue through it.
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