MKT20025

Consumer Behaviour
Assignment Requirements
S2, 2023

Note:
All assignments are to use a report-style format and follow the
APA referencing system

If chatGPT or other AI software is used, it must be declared

(referenced) and the student may have to undergo a viva (oral
test) with the convenor. If the above are not satisfied, the
work will receive zero.
 Assessment Briefs
ASSIGNMENT 1: Social Marketing Report - 35% (2000-2200 words)
Changing the Behaviour of Students at Home
TASK: Apply the Consumer-Based Social Marketing Framework to design a program that would
encourage you to adopt a new environmentally-friendly behaviour at home
Due dates: Segmentation table – for practice in week 2 – Monday 7th August (in class)

Report due Friday 1st Sept (week 5) 2023 before midnight, via Turnitin on Canvas

When purchasing goods or services, we can do so in a way that is environmentally sustainable, or not so sustainable.
There are also things we can do differently in our lives, or which refer to the actions we take. These actions, or
behaviours, are the focus of this first assignment. Environmental sustainability issues are pervasive in business, and
in our world. Social marketing provides a framework to bring about necessary changes in behaviour for societal and
environmental wellbeing. The study of consumer behaviour provides a solid foundation for the application of social
marketing efforts. The Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) framework provides both a process and toolbox
for Marketers to use to bring about improved environmental outcomes by influencing behaviours that are more
environmentally-friendly.

Your task

Draw upon your knowledge of CBSM to design a program that would encourage you to change your own behaviour,
which may also influence the behaviour of other household members, towards an improved environmentally-
friendly behaviour at home. To complete this task, you therefore need to reflect upon yourself and the things that
influence and motivate your behaviour at home and share these reflections alongside your analysis using the CBSM.

You will need to use the CBSM framework (first 3 steps) and the tools for influencing behaviour change to complete
this task. Be sure to first think about ‘what’ (the behaviour) you want ‘people like you and your household’ (the
target market) to do!

1. Decide on the behaviour you want to target

2. Identify any barriers and benefits to this behaviour – frame these against the barriers in the CBSM. Use the SCT
or SOC to supplement the CBSM for bonus marks.
3. Using the CBSM toolbox, design a program that would help overcome these barriers and thus motivate you, and
others in the same segment of households, to adopt the new behaviour

Write this as though you are a Marketing consultant hired by your local council to influence household behaviour
towards an improved environmental outcome. Be sure to provide your client with clear recommendations on what
should be involved in your CBSM program. In other words, your report should be written at a professional level
as though it was for a real client.

You need to produce a well-articulated, succinct business-style report containing:

• Cover Page (Title and name, date etc)

• Executive Summary (no more than 1 page)
• Table of Contents (no more than 1 page)
• Introduction and background: provide the purpose of the report, provide facts n stats about the
environmental issue you will be addressing (relevant to Melbourne your local council area), introduce the
CBSM framework which will be used to guide the report, and which will also help you delineate the scope.
• Segmentation: introduce segmenting, segment the market via a table, evaluate the segments via a table,
choose a target market (one household segment to reach).
• Identify the behaviour you want households to adopt and why (significance should be drawn from the
environmental issue identified in the Introduction – ensuring the new behaviour would address the issue and
is not a combination of many behaviours). In other words, be sure to choose a SINGLE behaviour.
• Identify the barriers and benefits faced by the target market if they were to try to adopt this behaviour: the
barriers of why you do not already adopt the behaviour (use the CBSM barrier types to guide your discussion),
and the benefits that would ensue if you started to adopt the behaviour. As stated above, students could also
use the SCT or SOC theory to embellish this discussion (will attract up to 2.5 bonus marks).
• Recommendations: using the CBSM toolbox, provide two Social Marketing recommendations for your client
(Local Council) to implement that you feel will best bring about the change in your (and your household’s)
behaviour. Students could also use Exchange Theory (ET) to justify each recommendation (will attract up to 2.5
bonus marks). Be sure that each recommendation contains 4 elements: Statement, Description, Justification &
Implementation details
• A brief conclusion
• Full reference list (note that a minimum number of journal articles are needed for each grade point – see
rubric).
• Appendices if required (note: these should be supplementary reading only and not form a substantive part of
your report)

Be sure to review the assessment rubric to optimise the best way to approach these sections.

Note: the report is worth 30% and the segmentation table you prepare for class in week 2, which is needed for
the learning exercise in week 2, is worth 5%. For wee 2 class, the table needs to be prepared on a computer (in
preparation for a piece in your assignment) and printed, ready for the class activity. A completed table (serious
attempt) printed out will receive 5/5 marks.

Students will receive a mark for their segmentation table in the report if they did not submit in week 2, or
received a lower mark from the week 2 activity.
 ASSIGNMENT 2: Business Report - 40% (2500- 2800 words)
Influencing Consumer Behaviour – Electric Vehicles (EVs)
TASK: Apply your knowledge of the internal factors that influence consumer behaviour in the
purchase of an electric vehicle to evaluate the current Marketing efforts of a company and to inform
them of improved Marketing strategies
Due: Friday 6th October (week 9) 2023 before midnight, via Turnitin on Canvas.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are set to become the new driving norm as reducing carbon emissions becomes a globally
urgent requirement. Numerous car companies have developed hybrid cars, while Tesla surged ahead with a fully
electric luxury car range. Since then, many new players have entered the market and in Australia, Hyundai’s Kona
is the first electric SUV in the country, and Ioniq is its sedan. Similarly, Nissan have developed Leaf and Renault has
developed Zoe, although Toyota is choosing to pursue a hydrogen rather than electric car in Australia, the Mirai.
With electric car sales highest in Victoria (www.budgetdirect.com.au), and a growing acceptance across the nation,
there is an opportunity for a non-Tesla brand to dominate. Knowledge about the internal factors that influence
people when making purchasing decisions, and adopting sustainability practices, such as those learned in the study
of Consumer Behaviour, should provide insight for the development of Marketing strategies to encourage the
purchase and usage of EVs.

Your task

Select one company and one of its electric vehicle brands to be your ‘client’ (that is not Tesla!). As a marketing
consultant, you have been commissioned by this company to develop marketing strategies which will accelerate
the uptake of the company’s EV. To do so, you will apply your expert knowledge of consumer behaviour and internal
influencing factors to explain how each factor might work in influencing the purchase decision of an EV. This analysis
will inform the development of marketing strategies that you recommend the company adopts. Note that car sales
or lease are viable outcomes for the company.

Your report should be written at a professional level as though it was for a real client.

As for any business, it is important to first identify the segment most attractive for the EV company to target.
Accordingly, you will need to:

1. Segment the market and select the most appealing segment to target for the chosen brand. Create a
persona for the target market.
2. Explain the internal factors that influence purchasing, and apply them to the purchasing of an EV. Explain
how your analysis informs ‘ideal’ Marketing strategies.
3. Evaluate the current Marketing strategies of the company – compare that with the ‘ideal’ approach you
identified from your analysis to reveal ‘gaps’ in their current strategy.
4. Provide recommendations for marketing strategies the company should adopt (noting these must be in
addition to, or replace, any that are currently being implemented) that reflect a sound knowledge of how
the internal factors affect consumer decisions.

In detail, you need to produce a well-articulated, succinct business-style report that contains:

• Cover Page (Title and name, date etc)

• Executive Summary (no more than 1 page)
• Table of Contents (no more than 1 page)
• Introduction and background: provide the purpose of the report, who it is for and from, industry
background information (industry sales, client and main competitors’ market share, other relevant stats),
the framework that will be followed and the scope.
• Segmentation: introduce segmenting, segment the market via a table, evaluate the segments via a table,
choose a target market (a group of people you plan to target).
• Persona: you then need to create a persona for the target market. Return to week one lecture bites for a
refresher of personas and how to develop them.
 • Internal factors: Select and discuss 2 (of 5) internal influencing factors on consumer behaviour, drawing
upon a single, relevant theory within the factor, and apply them to the purchase of EVs for your target
market (needs and motivation, personality, perception and self-concept, attitudes, learning).

Evaluation: be sure to include in your discussion an evaluation of the company’s current marketing
strategies for this product. To do so, you will need to:
i. Suggest the ‘ideal’ approach to apply the analysis of the theory. For example, your discussion of
‘perception’ may reveal how Gestalt principles (a theory within ‘perception’) influence
perception, and in arguing that it is relevant for the purchase decisions of EVs, suggest it could be
a good approach to heighten perception.
ii. Evaluate the current Marketing strategies in terms of whether their strategies seem to apply
knowledge of these factors well, or not – for example, do they seem to have applied Gestalt in
their current Marketing efforts?
iii. Identify a ‘gap’ or ‘shortfall’ in their current Marketing strategies. This can then be filled by your
new recommendations which you will present in the NEXT section.
• Recommendations: drawing from your analysis, provide two sound Marketing recommendations for
your client to implement that you feel will best bring about an increase in sales or leasing of its EV brand,
that reflect a sound knowledge of how the internal factors affect consumer decisions. Be sure to include
four components for each recommendation: 1) a brief statement of the recommendation; 2) a brief
explanation of your idea; 3) a justification for the recommendation from earlier analysis; 4) sufficient
details so it could be implemented by the company.
• A brief conclusion
• Full reference list (note that a minimum number of journal articles are needed for each grade point – see
rubric).
• Appendices if required (note: these should be supplementary reading only and not form a substantive
part of your report)

Be sure to review the assessment rubric to optimise the best way to approach these sections.
 Assessment 3: Video Presentation – 25% (5 minutes)
External Influencing Factors on Consumer Behaviour
Due: Friday 27th October (week 12) 2023 before 12pm midnight, via Turnitin on Canvas.

Marketers typically need to present their ideas, analysis and strategic recommendations to clients or members of
their department or organisation. To do so requires the presenter to include relevant content, deliver it well, and
use appropriate visual aids. This assessment requires you to record your own powerpoint presentation, using the
video function, to produce a professional presentation. This could end up being an item you later choose to include
in your portfolio to showcase your capabilities to prospective employers. A professional and polished video
recording is therefore required.

Your Task
Select the topic set in either assignment 1 (changing a behaviour of students at home to address a sustainability
issue) or assignment 2 (increasing the sales of a brand of electric vehicles (EVs) for your client). Now add an
additional layer of analysis by considering the external factors that influence consumer behaviour. You need to
select TWO external factors from the following list, which was covered in the course: Family, Socialisation,
Reference Groups (choose one of three), Culture, Sub-Culture, Diffusion of Innovation (choose one of three).
Discuss how these factors influence the target market, drawing upon relevant theory.

You then need to provide TWO MORE recommendations on how the company (your client) could better influence
consumer behaviour by changing their current marketing strategies to incorporate your insights regarding the two
external influencing factors you selected. Don’t forget to review your existing recommendations and ensure that
your new ones are complementary (not conflicting) with them.

Summary of requirements: You need to include analysis of TWO external factors that influence your TM then
provide TWO recommendations on how your client can better reach/satisfy them.

Presentation:
Ensure your presentation contains the following:
- A front slide with project title, your name, the client and date (1 slide)
- A brief review of your client, purpose of the first report, and your previous 2 recommendations (one line
each) (1 slide)
- Analysis of the two external factors and how they affect consumer behaviour of your TM (2 slides)
- Proposal of two recommendations for how your client could improve their current marketing strategies in
response to your analysis (2 slides)
- Powerpoint slides that summarise the above – using minimum font size of 20 (max 7 slides)
- Video recording of you speaking to your powerpoint slides (note, we require both video and audio for this
assessment)

Once you are happy with your recording (this might take a few tries before you get there), you need to upload your
video somewhere – you may try to create a youtube channel and upload it (using private settings, not public) – then
upload ONLY THE LINK to your video recording onto canvas.

Guideline for length: 5 minutes, maximum 5 content slides + title slide + references slide (7 in total)

Marks allocation guideline:

Marks will be allocated as follows:
- Content – your analysis and selection of content to include (10)
- Professional presentation – your delivery (10)
- Quality of visual aids (your slides) (5)