Overview
Consumer Behaviour is the study of individual, group, and organisational processes involved in selecting, securing, and using products and services. Understanding why, what, and how consumers purchase is fundamentally critical to marketers and policymakers. In this unit you will examine both the internal and external factors that influence buyer behaviour using consumer decision making models as a framework. Furthermore, you will develop critical understandings on elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, marketing and economics relating to the decision-making processes of buyers, as well as the roles emotions and cognitions play in buying behaviour.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prereq of MRKT11028 or MRKT11029
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Staff review of the learning and teaching resources.
The learning and teaching resources.
The teaching staff should try to incorporate more real-life examples, in order to facilitate students' learning and understanding of more theory-driven contents.
- Assess the contributions of social sciences in the development of consumer behaviour principles
- Identify critical situational influences that shape purchase and consumption decisions of consumers
- Apply models of consumer decision making to specific examples of consumer behaviour
- Evaluate the influences of internal and external factors on thoughts, feelings, and actions of consumers
- Outline how consumer behaviour principles can be used as conceptual frameworks for developing effective marketing strategies.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | |||||
| 2 - Presentation - 30% | |||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Presentation - 30% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Consumer behaviour: Implications for marketing strategy
Edition: 7th (2014)
Authors: Quester, P, Pettigrew, S, Kopanidis, F, Hill, S & Hawkins, D
McGraw-Hill
North Ryde North Ryde , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 9781743076811
Binding: Other
Additional Textbook Information
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.lewis@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Consumer Behaviour and the Role of Situations
Chapter
1 and 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Consumer Decision Making - Problem Recognition and Information Search
Chapter
3 and 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Consumer Decision Making - Choosing, Purchase and Post Purchase
Chapter
5 and 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Perception
Chapter
8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Learning and Memory
Chapter
9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Motivation, Personality and Emotion
Chapter
10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Attitude and Attitude Change
Chapter
11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Society, Demographics and Lifestyles
Chapter
12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Households and Social Class
Chapter
13 and 15
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Group Influence and Communication
Chapter
14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Culture and Cross-Cultural Variations
Chapter
16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Revision Week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Task Description
Assessment Task 1—Online Quiz
Due date: Online quiz starts at 9am AEST Monday Week 5 and closes at 3pm AEST Monday Week 7 in Moodle
Weighting: 20%
Time: 60 minutes
Details
The online consumer behaviour quiz ensures that students engage the conceptual material in the following chapters of the textbook: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9. The quiz includes 40 questions and has a time limit of 60 minutes.
Please see below for some important advice for the quiz.
- You can practice a sample quiz in the unit Moodle site.
- The quiz can only be taken once so do not open the quiz until you are ready to complete the entire quiz.
- Responsibility for access, ISP, browsers, connection and the computer you use (irrespective of who owns it) remains with the student. Failure of equipment is not grounds for special consideration, extension of quiz or special arrangements. Use of computers/computer labs on university campuses does not absolve students of their responsibility for having reliable and continued access to the worldwide web.
- Refer system access problems (e.g. Moodle login or password issues) to the Technology and Services Assistance Centre at tasac@cqu.edu.au as early as possible.
- “My computer has frozen up during the online quiz – what do I do?” The first thing to do is “don’t panic”! Contact the Unit Coordinator immediately for assistance identifying the nature of the problem, your full name, student number and campus. Any omissions of this required information may delay a response.
- If a student requests a reset of the quiz and the Unit Coordinator agrees to that request, but subsequently the student does not complete the quiz within the deadline, it will be deemed that the quiz has not been completed
and a score of zero will apply. Note that the determination of whether the online quiz result was affected by technical difficulties will be solely the prerogative of the Unit Coordinator. Simply doing poorly in the quiz and then asking for a reset will not be considered.
1
Other
Week 7 Monday (23 Apr 2018) 3:00 pm AEST
As soon as quiz has been completed.
You will be given 60 minutes ONLY for the quiz.
The total score for the quiz is 20 marks (40 questions × 0.5 mark per question = 20 marks).
- Identify critical situational influences that shape purchase and consumption decisions of consumers
- Apply models of consumer decision making to specific examples of consumer behaviour
- Evaluate the influences of internal and external factors on thoughts, feelings, and actions of consumers
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Presentation
Academic research on consumer behaviour has been an important driving force behind business decisions in the real world. In this assessment task, you as a “consumer behaviour expert” will bring the latest consumer behaviour research into practice.
Please choose one of the five research articles, as listed on the unit Moodle website, that have been published in the 2017/2018 issues of “Journal of Consumer Research”, the best consumer behaviour journal in the world. Your task is to present findings of one of these research articles and apply those findings to a real-world organisation. That is, you will provide recommendations on how an organisation could benefit from applying the research findings.
This presentation should be made within three minutes and contain four PowerPoint slides. The slides should follow the structure below:
1. Student information and presentation title;
2. Findings of the research article;
3. Recommendations for the organisation;
4. Reference list using APA formatting.
You will also prepare a script (i.e., a Word document) in which you will write out what you intend to say in your presentation.
Please pay attention to the following details on presentation and submission methods:
- On-campus students will deliver their presentation in class.
- Distance education students will present in their weekly tutorial session/s.
- For all students, the Moodle submission of PowerPoint file and script will be due at 3pm AEST Monday Week 9.
However, all students may be called upon to present prior to, during, or after Week 8, depending on their local lecturer/tutor's scheduling.
Week 9 Monday (7 May 2018) 3:00 pm AEST
Week 11 Monday (21 May 2018)
PowerPoint design - 2 marks
Presentation clarity - 2 marks
Findings of the research article - 12 marks
Recommendations for the organisation - 12 marks
Correct APA Referencing - 2 marks
Total - 30 marks
- Assess the contributions of social sciences in the development of consumer behaviour principles
- Apply models of consumer decision making to specific examples of consumer behaviour
- Evaluate the influences of internal and external factors on thoughts, feelings, and actions of consumers
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Written Assessment
Purchasing a new motor vehicle is a major consumption decision and often the second most expensive purchasing decision we make, and that decision is subject to many competing influences. This assignment requires you to look at the motor vehicle choices of 3 people, and provide your analysis on those factors leading to their decisions.
Firstly, please download the 5 survey questionnaires completed by 5 different respondents (these questionnaires will be posted on Moodle from Week 5). After reading through these questionnaires, please pick 3 questionnaires/respondents (you can pick any 3 of the 5) as the target for your analysis. You will notice that these questionnaires are mainly about making decisions about 6 different motor vehicle options.
Secondly, please use the compensatory decision rule to calculate which motor vehicle option each of the 3 respondents is most likely to choose, based on the decision matrix presented in her/his questionnaire. Is this the motor vehicle s/he would have actually chosen? If there is a difference, please provide an explanation.
Thirdly, please use the theoretical areas below to analyse the behaviour of your chosen respondents. Please explain the differences between their rankings of evaluative criteria and their choices of motor vehicles, using theories from:
Demographics (age, gender, family situation, income, ethnicity etc)
Personality or Lifestyle.
Lastly, please provide recommendations to the marketer of any ONE of the motor vehicle options featured in the survey questionnaires – what are the characteristics of her/his likeliest customers and how might she/he best attract them by applying the theories of learning and memory?
Your argument and analysis in this report requires theoretical support from a minimum of 10 journal article references.
- title page;
- executive summary;
- table of contents;
- introduction;
- application of compensatory decision rule;
analysis of behaviour; - recommendations;
- conclusion;
- reference list. Remember to number all headings and sub-headings in your report.
Week 12 Monday (28 May 2018) 3:00 pm AEST
As this unit has no exam, the formal results for this last piece of assessment can only be released to students on the Certification of Grades.
Report structure, writing style, and APA referencing - 5 marks
Application of compensatory decision rule - 10 marks
Analysis of behaviour - 15 marks
Recommendations - 10 marks
Theoretical support (from at least 10 journal articles) - 10 marks
Total - 50 marks
- Identify critical situational influences that shape purchase and consumption decisions of consumers
- Apply models of consumer decision making to specific examples of consumer behaviour
- Evaluate the influences of internal and external factors on thoughts, feelings, and actions of consumers
- Outline how consumer behaviour principles can be used as conceptual frameworks for developing effective marketing strategies.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
