Overview
This applied business course examines how consumers and organizations identify, evaluate, and secure genuine value in purchasing decisions. Students distinguish price from total cost and assess quality, opportunity cost, unit pricing, discounts, rebates, warranties, financing charges, shipping, fees, subscription terms, depreciation, resale value, and intrinsic value.
The course analyzes behavioral influences on purchasing, including anchoring, scarcity claims, framing, social proof, impulse buying, and loss aversion. Students use comparison tools, effective-price calculations, product-review and seller-reputation analysis, contract evaluation, and ethical negotiation methods across retail, services, used goods, travel, technology, and business procurement contexts.
Learning Outcomes
- Distinguish genuine bargains from misleading promotions by evaluating price, quality, total cost, and risk.
- Calculate unit prices, percentage discounts, effective prices, financing charges, and projected ownership costs.
- Evaluate competing products, services, sellers, reviews, warranties, contracts, and subscription terms using relevant evidence.
- Analyze behavioral influences and contextual factors that affect perceptions of value and purchasing decisions.
- Construct a purchase decision matrix that incorporates personal priorities, opportunity costs, uncertainty, and resale value.
- Negotiate purchasing terms within applicable ethical and legal boundaries.
- Synthesize comparative evidence into a defensible recommendation for a consumer or organizational purchase.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Seminar | 2 hours | Fortnightly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Value comparison report | 20.00% |
| Assignment | Deal audit | 15.00% |
| Quiz | Quizzes (4 × 5%) | 20.00% |
| Test | Negotiation simulation | 15.00% |
| Deliverable | Purchase decision matrix | 10.00% |
| Capstone | Capstone recommendation | 20.00% |
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.