Consumer Behaviour Analysis: Developing Organisational Success

Knowledge and Skills Outcomes

1. Knowledge outcome

You will be able to develop your understanding of consumer behaviour in marketing and how this contributes to organisational success

2. Intellectual /transferrable skills outcome

You will be able to consider a complex consumer behaviour issue and propose feasible alternative options for consideration.

Here’s what you have to do:

1 Choose a current consumer insight topic (see suggestions below).

2 Agree your choice of consumer insight topic with your Seminar Tutor

3 Write a 3 part report to analyse patterns of consumption and behaviour within your consumer insight topic. The details below explain what the report should cover.  

Current Consumer Insight Topics – choose one:

·Vintage fashion – second hand/pre-loved clothing  

·Cycling and other forms of sustainable transportation

·Cafes and bars – eating and drinking out of the home post-Covid

·Festivals and/or concerts in a post-Covid world

·Technology in the home

·Sustainable food consumption

·Alternatively if there’s a current topic related to consumption/consumer behaviour that you want to explore please discuss and agree it with your tutor.

Assignment Details

Please read below before you start your Consumer Behaviour Assignment:

Assignment Scenario

You work as part of the Customer Insight Team for a large media and market research agency, which serves a wide range of business clients (large and small, niche and mainstream) across a number of markets. Your manager has asked your team to prepare a new range of consumer insight reports. Your job is to provide ONE consumer insight report. You can focus on a particular set of issues with your topic, and you can focus on specific groups and/or country if you wish, e.g. families, male, female, or over 55s, UK, or another country where you have good access to high quality market information. Your clients want insights into the behaviour of customers (consumers/shoppers), which combines up to date information on your sector along with theoretically sound analysis of the macro and micro influencing factors that shape the sector’s customers (consumers and shoppers) behaviour and patterns of consumption. In addition, you are asked to consider how the shopper environment (online as well as offline) might be improved to capitalise on the insights into customer behaviour that you identify in parts 1 and 2 of your report, and encourage new customers.

Since the documents created by your team are to form a package of reports, it is essential that your work adheres to the format specified below.

Choosing a Consumer Insight Topic

How should I structure and present my work?

Use the Sections below to structure your report. (Note: the words in italics below need to be deleted from the final version of your report. Words in bold should be used in your report.)

Add in appropriate images to ensure that the report is visually appealing.

Please don’t put your name on your work so that we can mark anonymously. You may, if you wish, include your student ID number (excluding the first three letters).   

Please note that your work will be checked by Turnitin and other academic conduct assessment tools. Since your clients are paying large fees for the reports it is imperative that the report is well referenced, in your own original words, and direct quotes are appropriate and not excessive.

Part 1 Weighting 30% suggested word count in the region of words 750-900 words

Current macro-influences [macro-influences focus on culture and society] on patterns of consumption and consumer/customer/shopper behaviour related to [your chosen topic e.g. sustainable food].

[Make sure you use up to date market data (e.g. from Mintel) and theoretical concepts (e.g. from the core text and academic papers, weeks 1-3). You will need to think about issues such as the social context in which consumption takes place, culture, social norms, the impact of family values, reference groups and consumer tribes etc. and how they influence consumers’ consumption patterns].  

Current micro-influences [micro-influences refers to individual psychology factors such as perception, learning, attitudes etc.] on patterns of consumption and consumer/customer/shopper behaviour related to [your chosen topic e.g. sustainable food].

[Make sure you use current market data (e.g. from Mintel) and theoretical concepts (e.g. from the core text and academic papers, weeks 4&5,8&10). You will need to think about issues such as perception and learning, attitudes and intentions, personality traits, and how they influence consumers’ consumption patterns pre-decision making, during the customer purchase journey, and post purchase (including disposal of products)]

Implications/recommendations for marketing, focusing on the shopper environment in the context of [your chosen topic e.g. sustainable food].

[A report that recommends how marketers could use your insights to explore the implications for understanding customers and influencing shoppers in their shopping environment, especially in terms of enticing new customers to try products/brands they may not have used before. Make sure you think about online and offline shopping environments]    

[10% of the overall grade is allocated to presentation including logical structure, English expression, use of images, charts and diagrams, referencing and appropriate use of visuals (photographs, figures etc.)]

Assignment Details

[Use Harvard referencing to document your sources - your list should be in

alphabetical order, and each entry should have a corresponding in-text citation. Each reference needs four essential components: who (author), when (publication date) what (title), and where (city + publisher, URL, DOI, Name of newspaper, etc.)]

[You are expected to reference the core text: Szmigin, I., & Piacentini, M. (2018). Consumer Behaviour (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, Mintel Reports or equivalent, relevant peer-reviewed journal articles and relevant trade press e.g. Marketing Week, news sources.]  

[If you use appendices present them at the end of your report. It is not essential to use appendices]

How do I know what ‘good work’ looks like?

We have uploaded some extract exemplars from previous students’ work (anonymised). We hope that they will help you understand what we’re looking for – and what good looks like. Please note that the previous assignment brief was different to your assignment brief – so make sure you follow the instructions for YOUR assignment for 2020.

What support is available?

The formative assessment gives you an opportunity to obtain detailed feedback on a draft of part 1. See below for details of the formative assessment. Please note that tutors do not pre-mark drafts of the final document but will discuss your work with you throughout the module and up to a week before the deadline. Individual meetings are scheduled towards the end of the so please book one of them.  

How will we support you with your assessment?

The formative assessment links closely to the final assessment. You receive audio feedback on the formative assessment, and you can book a one-to-one (or a small group) meeting with your seminar tutor. Support is also given each week in class, usually towards the end of the session. The seminar activities and core texts directly support the assessment and must be studied carefully. FAQs and/or assignment exemplars are available on Moodle.

We provide personalised feedback on the formative assessment. In addition we will discuss with you your work, check your references, and comment on an outline structure but beyond the formative assessment detailed comments on drafts of work are not provided. So make sure you submit your formative assessment if you want tutors to comment on your work.

Marking and Assessment on this Module

Who will assess your work?

Your work will be assessed by a subject expert who will use the marking grid provided in this assessment brief (see page 8).  When you access your marked work it is important that you reflect on the feedback so that you can use it to improve future assignments.

What influences the mark awarded?

Your work must demonstrate knowledge of:

–Concept(s) – use relevant consumer behaviour academic papers and textbooks – especially (but not limited to) the ones we use on the module

–Context – use market reports (e.g. secondary sources such as Mintel or Statistica), and other sources including company websites. But also use your own observations of patterns of consumption related to your topic (please note you are not expected to carry out primary research).

Show you know about relevant ideas covered on the module, show you understand them, attempt to critique them and compare them with other ideas, in your own words, to creatively answer the tasks set.  

Marking and feedback process

Between you handing in your work and then receiving your feedback and marks within 15 days, there are a number of quality assurance processes that we go through to ensure that students receive marks which reflects their work. A brief summary is provided below.

·Step One – The module and marking team meet to agree standards, expectations and how feedback will be provided.

·Step Two – A subject expert will mark your work using the criteria provided in the assessment brief.

·Step Three – A moderation meeting takes place where all members of the teaching and marking team will review the marking of others to confirm whether they agree with the mark and feedback.

·Step Four – Work at level 5/6 then goes to an external examiner who will review a sample of work to confirm that the marking between different staff is consistent and fair.

·Step Five – Your mark and feedback is processed by the Business School Office and made available to you