MKT8001

Buyer behaviourFaculty of Business and Law

Introductory bookSemester 1 2013

Published byUniversity of Southern QueenslandToowoomba Queensland 4350Australiahttp://www.usq.edu.au

© University of Southern Queensland, 2013.1.

Copyrighted materials reproduced herein are used under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, or as a result of application to the copyright owner.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission.

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Table of contentsPage

Essential information 1

Introduction 2Welcome 2Course personnel 2Course resources 3Course structure 5

Faculty of Business and Law guidelines 6

Study schedule 7

Assessment 9Assessment schedule 9Examination 9Submission details 9Assignment 1 11Assignment 2 15

MKT8001 – Buyer behaviour 1

Essential informationThe topics in the following list provide important information that will assist you with your study. You can access a handout containing the information on your StudyDesk through the ‘Essential information (study materials)’ link <http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/file.php/1/sitefiles/DeC/essential_info/essentialhandout.pdf>. You will need your UConnect username and password to access the file. Please make sure you read this information carefully before commencing your study.

● Getting started

● Course specification

● Support

● UConnect

● Assignment submission

● Grading levels

● Course evaluation

● Residential schools

● Library

● Referencing APA

● Referencing Harvard AGPS

● Optional purchase of study materials

● USQ policies and procedures

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Introduction

WelcomeWelcome to Buyer behaviour. This, for many of you, will be the first course you have undertaken in the marketing specialisation for your MBA, MBus or Graduate Diploma. We hope that you will find it interesting and useful for your future studies and working life.

Buyer behaviour or consumer behaviour as it is often termed, has been an integral component in marketing studies in universities and learning institutions around the world for many years. Its place in the application of marketing is also clearly and significantly defined if the central philosophy of the marketing concept is to be embraced by marketers. That is, to ‘… understand the needs and wants of consumers …’.

The study of Buyer behaviour derives many of its concepts and methodologies from the behavioural sciences of psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics and social psychology. Thus the study of buyer behaviour is often said to be multi-disciplinary.

This course will examine buyer behaviour both from the individual consumer perspective and from that of the organisation. The course will examine the processes used by individuals and by organisations when making decisions as well as the factors that impact on and influence these processes.

I am sure that you will find the study of buyer behaviour both fascinating and useful for you as student as well as a consumer in your own right.

Course personnel

Course examiner – Melissa Johnson MorganWelcome to University and to the Faculty of Business. I have taught marketing to undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA and PhD students in Australia, Malaysia, South America, North America, China and Taipei. I began my teaching career in Australia and then moved to the USA where I lived and worked for six and a half years. I have worked as a consultant for online curriculum development at several major universities both in Australia and the USA, and my predominant teaching interests have been Global Marketing, e-Commerce, Marketing Strategy and Consumer Behaviour. I completed my PhD in the area of sports marketing and consumer behaviour and have a continued interest in both these areas.

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Course moderator – Jane Summers

Course resources

The textThe set text for this course is Solomon, M, 2011, Consumer behavior. Buying, having and being, 9th Global edn, Pearson, New Jersey. This text should be regarded as compulsory reading and the study schedule will outline the designated chapters to read for each module.

In addition you are also required to purchase the latest edition of the Communication skills handbook by Summers and Smith. This little book will prove invaluable as an aide in your postgraduate studies, with information on referencing, essay, case study and report writing and general presentation information for assignments.

Study materialThe study material includes introductory material (which you are reading now), and study modules. These materials provide the basic framework for the course. The material presented in the study modules should not be considered as a substitute for the text, so it is important to devote time to reading the respective chapter each week. Other resources that you can access include information on assessment requirements, the learning objectives of each module, activities and exercises to help you understand the important material and additional material to extend and complement the text. In addition you are encouraged to continue to visit the course home page where you will find live news feeds, updated examples, the discussion board and other relevant information for your study this semester.

Additional referencesTexts

There are many different consumer behaviour texts that you can access to supplement your studies in this course. The library has a good selection and in addition, the online databases provided by the library also give you access to many academic journals and business press articles. If you are having difficulty with this aspect of your studies, I advise you to access the library from the USQ home page, and then select the site that gives you access to the Faculty of Business and Law librarians. There is a lot of helpful information there to get you started.

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Journals/magazines/newspapers

Below is a list that is far from exhaustive, but might get you started with your searching for additional information.

Marketing (available from newsagents, see below for subscription details)

Professional Marketing (official magazine of the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI))

Journal of Marketing

Journal of Consumer Research

Journal of Consumer Marketing (not held in USQ Library yet)

Advances in Consumer Research (proceedings)

Business Review Weekly

Australian Business

Financial Review (Tuesday – Marketing and Media Section)

The Australian (Friday)

Timetable and work programmeIn this introductory material you will find a study schedule for Buyer behaviour. This study schedule contains a summary of your work for the semester. It will include the following:

● A full list of the topics to be covered in the 13 week course, together with the date of the beginning of each week.

● The relevant chapters to read in the text have been specified.

● The respective modules are stated.

● Assessment dates are noted.

Important noteStudents undertaking Buyer behaviour should be aiming to put in about 7 hours per week in study. This may be more or less depending on the topic and or the assessment due dates. A suggested allocation might be:

● Text reading – including summarising the main points 2 hours● Study modules – reading the respective articles and highlighting the main

points; review and discussion questions outlined in the study modules

2 hours

● Assessment (continued work on assignments throughout the semester) 2 hours● Article readings/private study 1 hour

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Course structureYou have probably already noticed that this course is called Buyer behaviour and yet your textbook is titled Consumer behaviour. Some of you may be wondering why this is and what the difference is between the two terms. Many of you would have come across the concept of ‘consumer behaviour’ from your studies in Marketing Management, and also possibly have noticed many text books that have been written about this concept. Both the terms ‘buyer behaviour’ and ‘consumer behaviour’ refer to the concept of attempting to understand how and why purchase decisions are made and what factors are important in influencing these decision processes.

This course will examine the buying processes from both the individual consumer and the organisational buyer perspectives, in an attempt to give you a more complete picture of these processes and how they may differ. Thus, the reason that we chose to use the term ‘buyer behaviour’. We felt it better described the content of this course as investigating the behaviour of buyers in general, not that specifically confined to the behaviour of individual consumers.

During this course you will be attempting to better understand how buying decisions are made for various classifications of products and services under different buying conditions and situations. By understanding how, why, where and when buying decisions are made, as well as the main factors that impact a target market’s decision process, marketing managers are better able to design marketing strategies that will be more efficient and effective.

One final suggestion during the study of this course. Try at all times to relate the concepts being discussed to your own work and/or buying experiences to gain a far richer understanding of the material being presented. This will also help your learning processes immeasurably.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy studying Buyer behaviour !

CommunicationShould you need to contact the Course Examiner at any time during the semester you can do so on (07) 4631 1299 or email: <morganm@usq.edu.au>. For general course related enquiries and questions about course content or assignments please use the course discussion board (you will see relevant topic areas for your messages). For requests for extensions or personal issues please contact me using my email address shown above. I will not be checking the email option on the course home page, so please do not use this function.

EvaluationThere is an evaluation survey for this course that can be submitted electronically. We would appreciate your comments on this course.

Please complete the evaluation at the end of the semester. It can be located from MKT8001 course home page under UConnect. Click on the Evaluation button.

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Faculty of Business and Law guidelinesStudents should read USQ Regulations pertaining to Assessment and Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at <http://www.usq.edu.au/currentstudents>. Students should also read the Faculty of Business and Law Guide to Policies and Procedures which can be found at <http://www.usq.edu.au/business-law/student/policies>.

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Study scheduleWeek Module Activity/Reading Assessment

125 Feb – 1 Mar

1. Buyer behaviour: introduction and overview

1

24–8 March

2. Consumer perceptions, learning and memory

2

311–15 March

3

418–22 March

3. Consumer motivations and values

4

Reminder: End of week 4 is the last date to drop S1 courses without academic or financial penalty.

525–29 March

4 Consumer personality and lifestyle

5, 6 Assignment 1 – Consumer analysis (20%)

61–5 April BREAK

78–12 April BREAK

815–19 April

5. Consumer attitude development and change

7

Reminder: End of week 8 is the last date to drop S1 courses without academic penalty.

922–26 April

6. Consumer decision making

8

1029 Apr – 3 May

7. Situational and group influences on consumer decision making

9

116–10 May

10

1213–17 May

8. Organizational and household decision making

11 Assignment 2 – Case Study (30%)

1320–24 May

9. Influence of subculture on consumer decision making

12, 13 & 14

1427–31 May

10. Consumers and culture 15, 16

153–7 June REVISION

16–1710–21 June EXAMINATION PERIOD

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Assessment

Assessment scheduleThe assessment for Buyer behaviour will be two assignments and a two (2) hour final examination.

Assessment Date WeightingAssignment 1 (Consumer analysis) 29 March 2013 20%

Assignment 2 (Case study) 17 May 2013 30%

Two hour final examination End of semester 50%

Late assignments will receive a penalty of 5% for every working day they are late. Extensions will only be granted in extreme circumstances. If you require an extension, it is preferred if you request one, prior to the due date of the assignment. In the case of medical considerations, credit will only be given for the dates shown on the medical certificate.

ExaminationThe final examination consists of a closed book 2 hour exam. Further information regarding the format of the exam and the relevant modules and chapters covered will be posted on the course discussion board.

Submission detailsFor this course, all students submit assignments electronically (via EASE) as outlined below.

Details outlining electronic submission can be found at <http://www.usq.edu.au/studydesk/help/assignments>. Please take a moment to read through this information. Be sure to label your assignment files carefully and please note that you can submit each assignment once only.

You will receive a confirmation message when your assignment has been submitted.

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Assignment 1

Consumer analysisDue date: 29 March 2013

Weighting: 20%

Length: 2000 words (approximately)

TaskFor this assignment you will be required to apply your knowledge of the first four modules of the course (and the first six chapters of the text), to critically analyse your own purchase behaviour.

You need to select one significant purchase that you have made in the last 12 months. It might be significant due to the importance of the product, or the expense involved or the time it took to make the purchase decision. In other words, the decision to purchase the product or service should represent a high involvement decision for you and could be anything from a car, to a piece of clothing, a holiday or a phone.

Once you have identified the significant purchase you will focus on, you are required to use consumer behaviour theory to critically analyse a set of internal influences on your decision process in relation to the purchase. The internal factors to consider include perceptions, learning and memory, motives and values, self concept, personality, and lifestyle.

Your analysis should relate the internal factors above to three general stages of the purchase and consumption process:

● Prepurchase

● Purchase

● Postpurchase.

Please note that not all of these factors will influence every stage of the process. In your analysis, you should focus on two issues. The first is how that set of internal factors influenced your prepurchase, purchase and postpurchase processes. Second you should try to identify examples where marketers have attempted to target these factors with their marketing strategy and influence your purchase decision. Remember to discuss not only those issues related to what you purchased but specifically why that brand, from that place etc.

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Assignment formatThis assignment is not a formal report, or an essay, and therefore does not require an introduction or conclusion. You should include the following items and sections in your assignment:

● Title page (including your name, student number and title of the assignment)

● Purchase decision description● name the product, service or experience and explain why it was a significant

purchase decision.

● Prepurchase stage● Outline how any/all/some of the internal factors ( perceptions, learning and memory,

motives and values, self concept, personality, and lifestyle) impacted on all the activities leading up to the purchase decision

● Purchase stage● Outline how any/all/some of the internal factors ( perceptions, learning and memory,

motives and values, self concept, personality, and lifestyle) impacted on all of the actual purchase processes (this may include where your purchased and how you paid or who went with your etc.).

● Postpurchase stage● Outline how any/all/some of the internal factors ( perceptions, learning and memory,

motives and values, self concept, personality, and lifestyle) impacted on any processes, experiences, evaluations etc. that you went through after you purchased the product.

● List of references● Your assignment should contain at least three academic references (textbooks and or

journal articles, or high quality online sources) to theoretically support your analysis.

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Marking criteria for assignment 1

Learning goal Evaluation Weighting

Problem solving 4-5 – Student has identified a suitable purchase and has been correctly identified each stage of the process and matched this with influencing factors.

3 – Student has not fully justified the significance of the purchase or outlined each stage of the process. Some influencing factors are identified.

0-2 – Student has not chosen a suitable purchase and has not correctly outlined each stage of the purchase or identified relevant influencing factors.

/5

Critical thinking 4-5 - Student has correctly identified and discussed the theoretical frameworks that explain the influencing factors at each stage of the process.

3 – Student has identified and discussed some of the theoretical frameworks that explain the influencing factors at each stage of the process. There may be a lack of appropriate supporting discussion or a lack of understanding of the theoretical concepts.

0-2 – Student has not understood or discussed the theoretical frameworks that explain the influencing factors at each stage of the process.

/5

Reflective practice 4-5 – Student has been able to reflect on their own purchase behaviour and relate their cognitive and behavioural activities to the relevant consumer behaviour theory.

3 – Student has been able to reflect on some of their thoughts or actions in relation to the purchase but has not been able to fully or effectively explain their cognitive and behavioural activities in relation to all the relevant consumer behaviour theory.

0-2 – Student has not been able to reflect on their own cognitive and behavioural purchase activities at all and has not been able to relate their actions to consumer behaviour theory.

/5

Written communication skills

4-5 – Student has produced an assessment piece that is well written and follows the conventions of English grammar and punctuation. The piece of writing is supported by appropriate and correct referencing and is professional in its presentation and tone.

/5

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3 – Student has produced a piece of writing that generally follows the conventions of English grammar and punctuation. The writing will have some issues in relation to its professionalism in that there may be errors or gaps in the written flow and argument. Mostly the conventions of referencing will be followed and the piece will be of a reasonable standard.

0-2 – Student has produced an assessment piece that is not of a professional standard. There will be many errors, incorrect style and/or incorrect or inappropriate referencing used. The writing style will be clumsy and show evidence of poorly convinced ideas and a lack of attention to detail.

TOTAL /20

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Assignment 2

Case analysisDue date: 17 May 2013

Weighting: 30%

Length: 2500 words (approximately)

Case study – eftpos: The building of a brandQuinn-Allan, D 2012, ‘eftpos: The building of a brand’, in Strategic communication. Cases in marketing, public relations, advertising and media, Greenland, Bainbridge, Galloway & Gill eds, Pearson, Frenchs Forest, pp. 102–13.

This assignment requires you to read the case study and then answer the questions below. A full description of the format required for submission and the marking criteria are also provided below.

Case questions1. Outline the ‘changes’ that ePAL (Eftpos Payments Australia Limited) need customers to

make in order to capture a larger share of the plastic card payment market. You should think carefully about both the cognitive and behavioural changes that might be needed.

2. The case study suggests that plastic card payments represent a low-involvement, routine consumer decision for many Australians and that the first phase of the advertising campaign appears to have been designed with this in mind. What factors, both internal and external, do you think would impact on consumer’s choice of payment type? Do you agree that this is a low-involvement decision? Why or why not?

3. Visit the ePAL website and look at the ‘Your eftpos’ portal. http://www.eftposaustralia.com.au/your-eftpos/your-eftpos-stories Spend some time reviewing the content at this link. What sort of customer do you think the information and stories have been designed for and why? Are there any ethical issues involved in marketing this type of product/service?

4. Considering your answers to the first three questions, who do you think would be the best consumer target market(s) for eftpos to direct their efforts towards? What appeals and messages would they need to use and how could they go about trying to change the attitudes and behaviours of those markets so that they use eftpos more? Remember to use your answers to the previous questions as a guide, and ensure that you also use your knowledge of the internal and external influences on the consumer decision process to inform your discussion.

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Assignment format● Title page (including your name, student number and title of the assignment)

● Question 1

● Question 2

● Question 3

● Question 4

● List of references ● Your assignment should contain at least five academic references (textbooks and or

journal articles, or high quality online sources) to theoretically support your analysis.

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Marking criteria for assignment 2Learning goal Evaluation Weighting

Critical thinking and problem solving

9-12 – Student has effectively used critical analysis to identify the issues in the case and formulated informed answers to the questions using consumer behaviour principles and theory.

5-8 – Student has identified and discussed some of the critical factors in the case and has attempted to formulate answers based on theory. There may be a lack of appropriate supporting discussion or a lack of understanding of the theoretical concepts.

0-4 – Student has not understood the critical elements of the case and has not demonstrated an understanding of consumer behaviour theory or its application in development of answers to the questions.

/12

Applied managerial thinking

9-12 – Student has shown an ability to apply to knowledge to specific marketing applications in the case and demonstrates the ability to develop informed and ethical discussion.

5-8 – Student has shown some ability to apply theory to marketing application in the case but lacks significant justifications, or does not demonstrate sufficient ability in develop informed and ethical discussion.

0-4 – Student has not shown an ability to apply knowledge to specific marketing applications and has notdemonstrated the ability to develop informed and ethical discussion.

/12

Written communication skills

5-6 – Student has produced an assessment piece that is well written and follows the conventions of English grammar and punctuation. The piece of writing is supported by appropriate and correct referencing and is professional in its presentation and tone.

3–4 – Student has produced a piece of writing that generally follows the conventions of English grammar and punctuation. The writing will have some issues in relation to its professionalism in that there may be errors or gaps in the written flow and argument. Mostly the conventions of referencing will be followed and the piece will be of a reasonable standard.

0-2 – Student has produced an assessment piece that is not of a professional standard. There will be many errors, incorrect style and/or incorrect or inappropriate referencing used. The writing style will be clumsy and show evidence of poorly convinced ideas and a lack of attention to detail.

/6

TOTAL /30

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