Students

MKTG7015 – Advanced Consumer Behaviour

2023 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Jana Bowden
jana.bowden@mq.edu.au
Room231, 4ER
Mon 1:30-2:30 by email appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
mktg8015
Unit description Unit description

Consumer behaviour is the study of factors that explain and predict consumers’ consumption related behaviour. Understanding consumer behaviour and purchase decision making is an integral part of developing effective marketing strategies. Understanding consumers enables marketing managers to critically analyse their potential or current target markets and design strategies tailored to meet their needs. In this unit, students will develop knowledge of the theories, concepts, and principles of consumer decision-making and behaviour. Students will learn to apply and analyse consumer behaviour theories and concepts to identify marketing opportunities and solve marketing problems. Further, students will develop skills to identify marketing stimuli and explain how they influence consumers’ decision- making, purchase, and consumption. Students will learn to exercise professional judgment in recommending decisive marketing actions to influence consumer behaviour.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Evaluate, explain, and share theories, concepts and principles of consumer decision-making and behaviour.
  • ULO2: Identify marketing stimuli and explain how they influence consumers’ decision-making, purchase and consumption.
  • ULO3: Synthesise relevant literature streams and conduct a research project
  • ULO4: Exercise professional judgement in recommending decisive marketing actions to influence consumer behaviour.

General Assessment Information

Late Assessment Submission Penalty (written assessments)   

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.   

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration. 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Practice-based activities 20% No WEEK 3-12
Consumer behaviour analysis report 40% No Week 13 Friday 11:55pm AEST
Literature Review 40% No Week 8 Friday 11:55pm AEST

Practice-based activities

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: WEEK 3-12
Weighting: 20%

 

Workshop activities provide opportunities to internalise your learning. These activities also allow you to engage in discussions with your peers and share your thoughts, help you explain your points of view, and develop not only your own knowledge, but also assist collaborative learning to gain a better understanding of the topic. The group component (10 marks) is based on weekly small group activities. The individual component (10 marks) is based on five 150-word answers to questions, or case study questions.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate, explain, and share theories, concepts and principles of consumer decision-making and behaviour.
  • Identify marketing stimuli and explain how they influence consumers’ decision-making, purchase and consumption.
  • Synthesise relevant literature streams and conduct a research project

Consumer behaviour analysis report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Week 13 Friday 11:55pm AEST
Weighting: 40%

 

Consumer behaviour analysis report enables you to apply the concepts and theories of consumer behaviour to a single product/brand. This assignment allows you to analyse consumer behaviours and develop your discussion with clear evidences (i.e. scholarly articles) that support, explain and critique consumer behaviour theories within the product/brand information that you have collected. Length: 2000 words ±10%

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate, explain, and share theories, concepts and principles of consumer decision-making and behaviour.
  • Synthesise relevant literature streams and conduct a research project
  • Exercise professional judgement in recommending decisive marketing actions to influence consumer behaviour.

Literature Review

Assessment Type 1: Literature review
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Week 8 Friday 11:55pm AEST
Weighting: 40%

 

The Literature review is specifically designed to facilitate your abilities to research a topic of study by identifying relevant literature (e.g., journal articles) about one specific topic that you can choose from the unit weekly topics. You are to identify gaps or limitations in previous research, and synthesize new knowledge into a written literature review. For this assessment task, you are required to discuss literature review within its appropriate and wider context, consider the theoretical underpinnings of the journal articles reviewed (and not just the results), present a coherent and structured discussion of the literature including both depth and breadth of analysis, use the review to identify gaps or limitations in prior research, and show original thought to constructively criticise existing literature. Students must support their discussion with clear evidence (e.g., high quality articles accessed from top ranking journals) that support, explain and critique the consumer behaviour theory / concept chosen. Length: 2000 words±10%

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Evaluate, explain, and share theories, concepts and principles of consumer decision-making and behaviour.
  • Identify marketing stimuli and explain how they influence consumers’ decision-making, purchase and consumption.
  • Synthesise relevant literature streams and conduct a research project

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Required Resources

 

 

Required reading:

Textbook. Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being (4th edition), Michael R Solomon, Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Josephine Previte, ISBN: 9781488616952, Publisher: Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) 2019.

Supplementary readings:

In addition to the textbook recommended above, students are also expected to be familiar with the key academic journals in the marketing discipline from which useful insights can be derived. In particular, students are encouraged to review relevant papers from the following high-quality journals, newspapers and magazines:

Academic journals: • Journal of Marketing • Journal of Marketing Research • Journal of Consumer Research • Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science • Journal of Consumer Psychology • Journal of Retailing • International Journal of Research in Marketing • Journal of Service Research • Journal of Advertising • Psychology and Marketing • Journal of Business Research • Marketing Letters • European Journal of Marketing 

Newspapers/Magazines: • Business Review Weekly • Australian Financial Review • The Australian (Marketing section) • B&T Magazine • Marketing • Sydney Morning Herald (Business section)

You can access these resources through the Library home page. Under ‘research’ select search for ‘journals’ and type the name of the journal. You can also access these via Google Scholar.

Recommended Research Databases: You should also familiarise yourself with key research databases available for access through the library. Databases recommended for your study in marketing include: • Ebscohost • Academic Search Elite • Business Source Premier • Wiley Interscience • Scopus • Web of Science • Global Market Information Database • Google Scholar (only when logged in via the Macquarie University website) 

Technology Used and Required:

Students must be familiar with Microsoft Office software or equivalent. Students are required to use power point, word processing, iLearn and Zoom.  The unit’s log on webpage address is https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/. To logon, you must first obtain a log on password from IT services or the library, then click through to MKTG8015. Please check this site each week for updated/new lecture slides, other relevant course materials and announcements during the semester.

Unit Schedule

LECTURE SCHEDULE 

 

 

 

Schedule

Topic

Week 1

Buying, having and being

Week 2

Consumer and social well-being

Week 3

Perception

Week 4

Learning and memory

Week 5

Personality

Week 6

The self: mind, gender and body

Week 7

Motivation and values

Mid-session break

Week 8

Case Study Analysis due

Attitudes and attitude change

Week 9

Individual decision making

Week 10

Buying, using and disposing

Week 11

Groups and social influence

Week 12

The influence of culture on consumer behaviour

Week 13

Consumer Behaviour Analysis due

Consumers in their social and cultural settings

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2023.03 of the Handbook