Inside an innovative psychology master’s degree exploring consumer behaviour and sustainability

Sponsored by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore 

In the rush to build a more sustainable world, advances in technology are often the dominant topic. However, for every scientific innovation there will be a need to educate people, enabling them to change their behaviour and accept new products and ways of doing things. 

To tackle this need to bridge the gap between science and society, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is offering a new two-year MSc programme: Consumer behaviour: Psychology Applied to Food, Health and Environment. 

This programme provides an alternative to studying a generic psychology degree, with specific focus on how the next generation of psychologists can assist with the wider societal transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. 

To learn more, we spoke to the programme director Professor Guendalina Graffigna. 

Why should students consider this particular aspect of psychology?  

Sustainable development and global health goals cannot be achieved by technological development alone. Psychology and social sciences are crucial for behaviour change and acceptance of innovation in food and health sciences. We want to train a new generation of psychologists specialised in bridging the gap between science and society.  

Said in other terms, we believe that future psychologists will have to support society in this more sustainable and healthy transition and also will have to consider the influence of health, food and environmental factors in determining mental wellbeing.   

What are the benefits of the programme’s interdisciplinary nature?  

Future psychologists will have to work in teams with other healthcare professionals, and will need some literacy about science and innovation in order to help citizens and patients improve their lifestyles.  

It’s therefore fundamental to provide an interdisciplinary training to future psychologists in order to ensure they have some understanding of science, nutrition, medicine and environmental sciences.  

What skills can this programme offer compared to a more generic psychology degree?  

The master’s degree offers advanced training in disciplines of psychology key to behaviour change towards sustainable consumption, healthy eating and wellbeing.  

Examples include: 

• Consumer psychology 

• Clinical and health psychology 

• Decision-making psychology 

• Nudge theory 

• Community and social psychology 

The degree also covers advanced research methods (e.g. qualitative and quantitative research methods, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, big data, neuroscientific tools for consumer research).  

Finally, students can learn the fundamentals of nutrition, consumer health, food sciences and economics. 

What steps have been taken to ensure this programme is future-proofing graduates?  

Hands-on experiences will be key for all students in the programme and in the master thesis preparation. The possibility to access the consumer science lab, together with the hard science lab will offer a full professional and scientific experience to students.  

The degree follows an experiential learning approach that includes case-study analysis and presentations of companies and organisations. Students can participate in an internship in a company, health agency or another local, national and international organisation.  

Courses are offered in English and classes take place in Cremona, at the heart of the Italian Food Valley in the new international and multidisciplinary campus of Università Cattolica.  

The master’s will offer a full ‘glocal’ experience because we will bring together the global world with the specificities of our local community, our values and culture. 

How does this programme help graduates achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals?  

Today our society is faced with complex challenges to deal with: climate change, energy crisis and aging population are just some of the problems.  

This level of change requires behavioural experts who can integrate a solid understanding of decision-making levers and psychology with knowledge about health, environment, and the global economy.  

This master’s degree aims to train psychologists so they’re able to understand all of this and to assist with implementing initiatives about health and wellbeing.