MKT510 Customer behavior

MKT530 Customer behavior

Assessment item 1 Personal Consumer Audit

Value: 10%

Due date: 14-Mar-2018

Return date: 06-Apr-2018

Length: 750 words

Submission method options

Alternative submission method

Task

In Week 1, post a message on the discussion forum answering the Getting to Know you questions. Then by the end of Week 3 post your Personal Audit answers on the discussion board and submit your report via Turnitin.

Step 1: Week 1 - Getting to know you
Post answers to the following questions on the forum in Week 1.
Please start a new post with the title “Assessment 1 Responses”
(This is to introduce yourself and to answer a couple of questions about the industry you would like to work in when you graduate).

1. Hi my name is …
2. I live in (city/town and country) ...
3. I am completing a degree in ...
4. Ideally, when I finish my degree I would like to work in the ...  industry
5. The firsy place I would look for information about organisations in this industry is ... (E.g. online, talk to friends)

Step 2: Week 1 to Week 3: The Personal Audit
1. In your own words define and discuss Consumer Behaviour using the assigned textbook and at least five (5) other academic resources (academic journals, etc)
2. Conduct a personal audit of your consumer purchasing decision process for three familiar products including your (a) choice of mobile phone; (b) choice of university and (c) choice of your favourite restaurant. Such a description needs to “dig deeper” than simply, “My friend told me to buy the iPhone, so that’s what I did”. Additional questions should include for example, Why an iPhone? What else could have been purchased? What else have you purchased before? Did you intend to buy an iPhone, or something else? You should delve “further” into your purchase decision than simply these questions. In addition, you need to contrast how your purchase decision differs to someone else you know.
3. Beyond the ‘audit’ you are required to incorporate some of the early consumer behaviour concepts that you have learned - and assess against your own behaviour. How do they fit? Are you an exception?

Step 3: End of Week 3
Submit the completed assessment via Turnitin.

Rationale

The objectives for this assessment are for students to:

• Engage with the subject


• Get to know their fellow students


• Use the Discussion Forum


• Experience collecting information and identifying themes in data


• Use Turnitin to submit an assignment


• Start thinking about how to apply an understanding of consumer behaviour to real life situations

This assessment also serves as an early engagement trigger. A failure to submit this assignment will alert me that you might not be engaged in this subject, and I will contact you to discuss your progress.

Marking criteria

Presentation

Ensure your Assessment 1 report format is as follows (marks will be deducted unless the following is included):

• Title Page: Subject details, assessment number, your name and ID number - these should also be included in the header OR footer of each page of your assignment.


• Defining Consumer Behaviour


• Examples of Consumer Behaviour Decision process


• Incorporate Consumer Behaviour theory and assess against own student behaviour

 

Requirements

Submit the completed table via Turnitin by 11:59pm of the due date.

 

Assessment item 2

Consumers as social beings

Value: 30%

Due date: 07-Apr-2018

Return date: 01-May-2018

Length: 2,000 words

Submission method options

Alternative submission method

Task

Social influences impact product and brand purchase decision at all stages of the consumer purchase decision process.

Questions:

1. You are required to identify at least two social influences that are relevant to the consumers of your firm or the firm you intend to work for (choose one product/service if more than one is offered by your firm) and analyse, specific to your firm, how the two or more social influences (culture, social class or reference groups) impact on the consumer purchase decision process.

2. Draw on the theories in chapters 2-4 to discuss how marketers (in your firm) can apply this critical understanding of social influences on consumer behaviour to improve/enhance your firm's marketing strategies (4 Ps or 7 Ps, targeting, market segmentation).

Hints:

• Make sure that you draw sufficiently on theoretical concepts of consumer behaviour in your analysis.


• When you are discussing particular concepts make sure that you define them first.


• Adhere to the word length.


• The paper must be accurately referenced with relevant up-to-date sources, using the APA 6 style.


• A guide to the APA style of referencing and how to avoid unintentional plagiarism can be found at the Student Services website http://student.csu.edu.au/library/integrity/referencing-at-csu  or in pdf format

Rationale

This assessment task covers topics 1, 2, 3, and 4 and has been designed to ensure that you are engaging with the subject content on a regular basis. More specifically it seeks to assess your ability to:

• Analyse the buyer decision process and critique effects of situational influences on consumer purchases;


• Evaluate a variety of external factors and their influence on consumer behaviour;


• Examine social influences that affect consumer buying decisions;


• Demonstrate a theoretical understanding and practical application of important aspects of consumer decision making and behaviour and


• Understand how the marketing or management actions of a firm may need to be changed in order to meet social impacts of consumer behaviour on decision making.

 

Marking criteria

 

Presentation

1. Include a brief introduction (no more than 100 words)


2. Academic essay format should be used. However, headings and subheadings, charts and/or figures are allowed.


3. An ideal assignment is your opinion, supported by evidence from respected/reliable sources, expressed in your own words, and fully referenced as to the source of ideas, facts and quotations. ‘In your own words’ is critical in displaying your understanding of the material, rather than being expert at copy and paste.


4. Use Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri 12pt font; 2.5 cm margins all round, 1.5 spacing.


5. Include a brief conclusion (no more than 150 words).


6. References should be included at the end of the assessment on a new page. A guide to the APA style of referencing is available in pdf format. Further details on how to reference and avoid unintentional plagiarism can be found at the Student Services website. http://student.csu.edu.au/library/integrity/referencing-at-csu. A 'How To Write a Report will also be included on Interact2.


7. Any use of Wikipedia as a source for the assignment will result in an automatic zero mark, as it is not a reliable source.


8. The introdiction, conclusion, references and tables are not incuded in the word count.

Requirements

Submit Turnitin by 11:59pm on the due date.

Assessment item 3

Highlights and Participation

Value: 20%

Due date: 06-May-2018

Return date: 29-May-2018

Length: 1500 words

Submission method options

Alternative submission method

Task

This is an individual student assessment. Class participation is assessed by a student's engagement in the Discussion Board facilitated by your lecturer, contributions to questions posed by the lecturer or general questions asked during Adobe Connect discussions.

• This assessment is designed to test your knowledge, skills or capabilities of the materials covered during lectures and Adobe Connect sessions.


• You are to submit each week the ‘Highlights’ of one article you have read for each topic covered from Weeks 3 to 8.
  ‘Highlights’ are a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings and provide readers - your fellow students and lecturer with a quick textual overview of the article.


• Each ‘Highlight’ will be limited to a maximum of 250 words.


• The presentation format will be bullet points which describe the essence of the research (e.g. key learnings from the reading, results, conclusions and practical implications) and highlight what is distinctive about it. Other students are also invited to post their responses and comments in the blog on a week to week basis.


• Articles must be selected from any of the following academic journals (most of these are available on line:
  
  • Journal of Advertising
  
  
  • International Journal of Consumer Studies
  
  
  • Journal of Consumer Affairs
  
  
  • Journal of Consumer Psychology
  
  
  • Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
  
  
  • Journal of Consumer Research
  
  
  • Journal of Consumer Behaviour
  
  
  • Journal of Consumer Marketing
  
  
  • Advances in Consumer Research
  
  
  • Journal of Advertising Research
  
  
  • International Journal of Advertising
  
  
  • Journal of Interactive Advertising
  
  
  • European Journal of Marketing
  
  
  • Industrial Marketing Management
  
  
  • International Journal of Research in Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of Marketing Research
  
  
  • Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Marketing Science
  
  
  • International Marketing Review
  
  
  • Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management
  
  
  • Journal of Interactive Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of International Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of Marketing Management
  
  
  • Journal of Services Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of Strategic Marketing
  
  
  • Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
  
  
  • Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing
  
  
  • Public Relations Review
  
  
  • Asia Pacific Public Relations
  
  
  • Journal Journal of Public Relations Research
  
  
  • Corporate Communications: an international journal
  
  
  • Journal of Marketing Communications
  
  
  • Journal of Retailing
  
  

Rationale

This assessment is about encouraging students to develop their ability to critically think and their collaborative learning skills. The intent of the assessment is designed to provide insight into the learning objectives: that is to be able to explain and critically discuss the role of consumer behaviour in the overall marketing and business strategy, and to evaluate theoretical concepts underlying consumer behaviour.

Marking criteria

Details of the marking criteria are contained below and in the Assessment Section on Interact 2 online - Assessment 3 - MKT510 Marking Criteria

Presentation

Ensure your A3 report format is as follows (marks will be deducted unless the following is included):

1. Title Page: Subject details, assessment number and topic, your name and ID number.


2. Submit each week to the Discussion Forum and


3. Then cut and paste all responses at the end of the six weeks into a Word document and submit via Turnitin by 11:59pm on the due date.

 

 

 

Requirements

Referencing

For this assessment you are required to use APA referencing to acknowledge the sources that you have used in preparing your assessment. Please refer to the CSU referencing guide http://student.csu.edu.au/study/referencing-at-csu. Also refer to https://apps.csu.edu.au/reftool/apa-6

Assessment item 4

Consumers as individuals and decision making

Value: 40%

Due date: 27-May-2018

Return date: 20-Jun-2018

Length: 3500 words

Submission method options

Alternative submission method

Task

There are many individual factors that can influence the behaviour of consumers (needs, motivations, personality, consumer perception, learning, involvement and consumer attitudes).

1. You are required to identify at least two individual influences that are relevant to the consumers of your firm or the firm you intend to work for (choose one product/service if more than one is offered by your firm) and analyse, specific to your firm, how these individual influences (e.g. needs, attitudes, personality) impact on the consumer purchase decision process.

2. Show how these two individual influences should be considered along with consumer decision making and experiences as discussed in chapter 10 or 11.

3. Drawing on the theories in chapters 5-11, discuss how marketers (in your organisation) can apply this critical understanding of individual influences on either consumer decision making or to help implement social change or on the acceptance of new innovation, to improve/enhance your firm's marketing strategies (4 Ps or 7 Ps, targeting, market segmentation, etc.).

Provide at least two sets of conceptual/theoretical evidence and relevant examples comparing and contrasting your firm and another in the marketplace to support your discussion of each question (1-3).

Hints:

• As this is an academic writing, it is essential that your work is strongly underpinned by solid research, demonstrated understanding and application of consumer behaviour concepts.


• As a guide, use around 1000 words to answer task 1, 1,500 words for task 2 and around 1,500 words for task 3.


• Remember that you should define concepts or theories preferably in your own words before any detailed discussion of them.


• The paper must be accurately referenced with relevant up-to-date sources, using the APA 6 style.


• References should be included at the end on a separate page.

Rationale

This assessment task mainly covers topics 5-11 and has been designed to ensure that you are engaging with the subject content on a regular basis.

An understanding of consumer behaviour can play a vital role in helping companies or organisations develop and refine marketing strategies. Internal factors such as motivation, attitudes, learning and memory and personality are important determinants of choice. This assignment gives you the opportunity to examine particular internal influences in a situation of your choice. This may be in a situation related to your work or in another area of interest.

After completing this assessment, you should:

• be able to analyse the buyer decision process and critique effects of situational influences on consumer purchases;


• be able to compare and contrast consumers and organisations in terms of their markets and buying behaviour;


• be able to critically examine the stages of information processing and the internal factors that influence each stage in relation to consumer behaviour;

Marking criteria

 

Presentation

1. Include a brief Introduction (no more than 150 words).


2. An ideal assignment is your opinion, supported by evidence from respected/reliable sources, expressed in your own words, and fully referenced as to the source of ideas, facts and quotations. ‘In your own words’ is critical in displaying your understanding of the material, rather than being expert at copy and paste.


3. Headings and subheadings, tables, graphics are allowed to identify the three (3) questions you are answering.


4. Use Times Roman, Arial or Calibri 12pt font; 2.5 cm margins all round, 1.5 spacing.


5. Include a brief conclusion (no more than 150 words).


6. References should be included at the end of the assessment. A guide to the APA style of referencing is available in pdf format. Further details on how to reference and avoid unintentional plagiarism can be found at the Student Services website. http://student.csu.edu.au/library/integrity/referencing-at-csu.


7. Any use of Wikipedia as a source for the assignment will result in an automatic zero mark, as it is not a reliable source.


8. The introduction, conclusion, references and tables are not included in the word count.

Requirements

Submit via Turnitin by 11:59pm on the due date.