MKT20025

Assignment 1: an Individual 3,000 word report

(30 marks)

In any purchase of any product, consumers tend to go through five stages of the consumer
decision-making process. However, there are many internal factors (needs & motivation,
personality & self-concept, perception and attitudes) and situational factors (retail environment)
that may influence this process.

Working individually, please select one of the three following products:

1. H&M
2. Tiffany & Co.
3. TWG Tea

Once you have selected the brand, apply it to the consumer decision-making process, including
the different behaviour theories and concepts covered in the key lectures (Lecture 1 to 4) to
produce a report. This report is about understanding the target customers of the selected brand
in terms of their psychological profile (needs & motivation, personality & self-concept, perception
and attitudes) and how the brand can influence the target customers’ consumer decision making
process (CDMP).

1. Introduction: Briefly explain why a good understanding of consumer behavior is a

requirement of any organisation, including the selected brand. Briefly describe the product
selected above including a brief background about the brand. Who are the key target
consumers that the brand can focus on – think about the common characteristics of the
key target customers? What are possible types of the decision making process that the
target customers have with this purchase? Briefly define the scope of the report.
2. Using the five-stages of the CDMP as an overall framework, you then identify and apply
how the following psychological influences (needs & motivation, personality & self-
concept, perception – including perceived risks and attitudes) may become active in a
particular stage of the CDMP. For example, the first stage of the CDMP is the need
recognition and thus, the needs and motivations of the target customers may become
active in this stage. With the product and the key customers in mind, what are needs and
motivations that they are likely to have or want to be satisfied? Explain.
3. Also, some situational factors (retail environment) can potentially influence this process.
In your opinion, how do these situational factors become active in a certain stage of the
CDMP? Explain.
4. Key recommendations: What recommendations would you make to the brand in order to
facilitate/influence the target consumers to purchase and become satisfied with the
selected brand?

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 Instructions

The main aim of this assessment is to test your ability to describe and apply insights about
consumers using the theoretical principles of consumer behaviour discussed in the key lectures
(Lecture 1 to 4) to construct your report. This report is about understanding the target customers
of the selected brand in terms of their psychological profile (needs & motivation, personality &
self-concept, perception and attitudes) and how the brand can influence the consumer decision-
making process (CDMP) of the target customers.

1. Select a brand from those listed above. Your role is to assist the selected brand in trying to
understand its target customers better.

2. Look at the assessment rubric. You then conduct some research on the selected brand. In
particular, you are required to find at least 5 academic journals that relate to the CDMP,
psychological influences (needs & motivation, personality & self-concept, perception and
attitudes) and/or external environment. Keep in mind that they relate to theories (not the brand)
and you then can apply those theories to the brand selected. If you aim for HD, please try to find
about 8-10 journal articles.

3. The written report must be presented in a professional manner. Please consider the font
size, spacing, margins, design and referencing (Harvard system of referencing). Importantly,
you must always keep back-up files in a safe place (cloud storage, dropbox and/or hard-drive).

4. The assignment must be written in a report format. See the recommended structure on the
next page. Your final report should be about 3000 words in length (plus/minus 10%).

5. If you need to make an application for special consideration, then it must come with a
doctor/psychologist certificate. Please send an email to Edith (elim@swinburne.edu.my) It
must be submitted before the due date.

6. Any request for a remark must be done within 10 days after the mark release with some
explanations/comments.

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Recommended structure

Executive summary – it is generally a page long and includes your key findings and should be
written last (excluded from word count)

Table of contents

Introduction

 Company and a product description

 Describe the key target customers and their demographic profiles
 CB definition
 Scope of report

Body of the report

 Use the five stages of the consumer decision making process as an overall framework
 Apply and integrate the psychological influences (needs & motivation, personality &
self-concept, perception and attitudes) and external environment to the particular stages
of the CDMP.

Key recommendations

 Logical, theory-based, creative and actionable recommendations will receive more

marks, this may include:
o What is the recommendation?
o How can it be implemented?
o Why should it be implemented?
 Remember that recommendations should be drawn from the discussion.

Reference (excluded from the word count)

 Harvard system of referencing

 At least 5 academic journal articles (recommended 8 to 10 for HD)
 Other information (website, newspaper articles, etc.)

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