Overview
Consumption is a universal phenomenon of human society, and understanding consumer behaviour is fundamentally critical to marketers and policymakers. This unit explores the science of consumer behaviour, an interdisciplinary field that integrates knowledge and discovery from marketing, psychology, anthropology, sociology, demography, and economics. In this unit you will examine models and frameworks of consumer decision making, as well as the impacts of internal and external factors on thoughts, feelings, and actions of consumers. Furthermore, you will learn to implement consumer behaviour principles to facilitate the development of successful marketing campaigns.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite: MRKT20052.
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 Postgraduate 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 Student feedback.
Positive comments on the unit delivery by the teaching staff.
The teaching staff should be encouraged to keep designing and delivering engaging, practical, and relevant learning resources and activities.
- Assess critical situational influences that shape consumer behaviour
- Examine decision-process influences associated with consumer behaviour
- Analyse the influences of internal and external factors on consumer behaviour
- Use consumer behaviour principles to solve marketing problems
- Identify new trends in consumer behaviour theories and applications.
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 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - 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 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||||||
| 2 - Presentation - 30% | ||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||||
Textbooks
Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being
Edition: 3rd edn (2013)
Authors: Solomon, M, Russell-Bennett, R & Previte, J
Pearson Australia
Frenchs Forest Frenchs Forest , NSW , Australia
ISBN: 9781442553583
Binding: Other
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.
e.li@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Buying, having and being
Chapter
1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Individual decision making, buying and disposing
Chapter
8 & 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Perception
Chapter
2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Learning and memory
Chapter
3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Quiz Opens: Week 4 Monday (26 Mar 2018) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Personality
Chapter
4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online Quiz Due: Week 5 Friday (6 Apr 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Online Quiz Due: Week 5 Friday (6 Apr 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Motivation and values
Chapter
5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The self
Chapter
6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Presentation Due: Week 7 Friday (27 Apr 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Attitudes and attitude change
Chapter
7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Groups and social connections
Chapter
10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Culture and lifestyle
Chapter
11 & 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Income and social class
Chapter
12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Age
Chapter
13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Individual Report Due: Week 12 Friday (1 Jun 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Individual Report Due: Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Assessment Task 1—Online Quiz
Due date: Online quiz starts at 9am AEST Monday Week 4 and closes at 5pm AEST Friday Week 5 in Moodle
Weighting: 20%
Time: 30 minutes
Details
The online consumer behaviour quiz ensures that students engage the conceptual material in the following chapters of the textbook: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9. The quiz includes 20 questions and has a time limit of 30 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 5 Friday (6 Apr 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
On completion of online quiz.
- You will be given 30 minutes ONLY for the quiz.
- The total score for the quiz is 20 marks (20 questions × 1 mark per question = 20 marks).
- Assess critical situational influences that shape consumer behaviour
- Examine decision-process influences associated with consumer behaviour
- Analyse the influences of internal and external factors on consumer behaviour
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
2 Presentation
Assessment Task 2—Presentation
Due date: Friday of Week 7 by 5pm AEST
Weighting: 30%
Length: 3 minutes maximum
Details
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.
First, please browse the following six research articles recently published in “Journal of Consumer Research”, the best consumer behaviour journal in the world.
- Chen, C. Y., Lee, L., & Yap, A. J. (2017). Control deprivation motivates acquisition of utilitarian products. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(6), 1031-1047.
- Elder, R. S., Schlosser, A. E., Poor, M., & Xu, L. (2017). So close I can almost sense It: The interplay between sensory imagery and psychological distance. Journal of Consumer Research, 44(4), 877-894.
- Isaac, M. S., & Grayson, K. (2017). Beyond skepticism: Can accessing persuasion knowledge bolster credibility?. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(6), 895-912.
- Khan, U., & Kupor, D. M. (2017). Risk (mis)perception: When greater risk reduces risk valuation. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(5), 769-786.
- Lee, H., Fujita, K., Deng, X., & Unnava, H. R. (2017). The role of temporal distance on the color of future-directed imagery: A construal-level perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(5), 707-725.
- Siddiqui, R. A., May, F., & Monga, A. (2017). Time window as a self-control denominator: Shorter windows shift preference toward virtues and longer windows toward vices. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(6), 932-949.
Your task is to choose one article from these six articles, present findings of your chosen article, and apply these findings to a real-world organisation. That is, you will provide recommendations on how the organisation could benefit from applying the research findings.
This presentation should be made within 3 minutes and through 4 PowerPoint slides. The slides should follow the subsequent structure:
- Student information and presentation title;
- Findings of the research article;
- Recommendations for the organisation;
- Reference list.
You will also prepare a script (i.e., a Word document) in which you will write out or at least outline 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, and submit their PowerPoint file and script on Moodle.
- Distance education students will record their presentation through PowerPoint's “Record Slide Show” function, and submit their PowerPoint file (with recording) and script on Moodle.
- For all students, the Moodle submission of PowerPoint file and script will be due at 5pm AEST Friday Week 7. However, on-campus students may present in class prior to, during, or after Week 7, depending on their local lecturer/tutor's scheduling.
Week 7 Friday (27 Apr 2018) 5:00 pm AEST
Week 9 Friday (11 May 2018)
- PowerPoint design - 2 marks
- Presentation clarity - 2 marks
- Findings of the research article - 12 marks
- Recommendations for the organisation - 12 marks
- Referencing - 2 marks
- Total - 30 marks
- Use consumer behaviour principles to solve marketing problems
- Identify new trends in consumer behaviour theories and applications.
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
3 Written Assessment
Assessment Task 3—Individual Report
Due date: Friday of Week 12 by 5pm AEST
Weighting: 50%
Length: 1600 words maximum
Details
Purchasing a laptop can be a major consumption decision, subject to many competing influences. This assignment requires you to look at the laptop 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 you like) as the target for your analysis. You will notice that these questionnaires are mainly about making decisions among 5 different laptop options.
Secondly, 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 laptops, using theories from:
- Personality
- Demographics (age, gender, family situation, income, ethnicity etc)
Lastly, please provide recommendations to the marketer of ANY ONE of the laptop 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.
Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018) 5:00 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 date (06-Jul-2018).
- Report structure, writing style, and referencing - 10 marks
- Analyse the behaviour of chosen respondents using the theories of personality - 10 marks
- Analyse the behaviour of chosen respondents using the theories of demographics - 10 marks
- Recommendations - 10 marks
- Theoretical support (from at least 10 journal articles) - 10 marks
- Total - 50 marks
- Examine decision-process influences associated with consumer behaviour
- Analyse the influences of internal and external factors on consumer behaviour
- Use consumer behaviour principles to solve marketing problems
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
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?
