The Consumer as a Social Being

Task
Social influences impact product and brand purchase decision at all stages of the consumer purchase decision process.

You are required to identify at least two social influences that are relevant to the consumers of your firm or the firm you intend to work for (choose one product/service if more than one products/services are offered by your firm).

Discuss, specifically in reference to your firm, how the two or more social influences (culture, social class or reference groups) impact on the consumer purchase decision process.

Drawing on the theories in Chapters 2- 4 of the text discuss how marketers (in your firm) can apply this understanding of social influences on consumer behaviour to improve/enhance your firm's marketing strategies (use the extended marketing mix - i.e. 7 Ps and consider market segmentation).

Assessment guide

- Use essay format to answer this question
- Ensure that you draw sufficiently on theoretical concepts of consumer behaviour in your discussion.
- The word count for the assessment is 2000 words and will be strictly enforced. Marks will be deducted for assessments that are more than 10% over or under the required word count.
- As this is an academic piece of work you must reference (cite) the sources you have used. This should be done within the essay and a reference list should be included at the end of your essay/report (place before any appendices if applicable).
- Information on essay writing, referencing and other resources to assist you in this assessment and future assessment tasks can be found in the How To Student Resources folder on Interact 2.
Rationale
This assessment task covers Parts 1 and 2 of the schedule and has been designed to ensure that you are engaging with the subject content on a regular basis. More specifically it seeks to assess your ability to:
• examine social influences that affect consumer buying decisions
• demonstrate their theoretical understanding and practical application of important aspects of consumer decision making and behaviour.
• look at decisions for specific products/services help students appreciate the complexity of the decision making process for consumers.

Marking criteria

Criteria HD: 100% - 85% DI: 84% - 75% CR: 74% - 65% PS: 64% - 50% FL: 49% - 0% Max Grade
Understanding of relevant consumer behaviour theories Comprehensive/detailed knowledge of topic with areas of specialisation is depth and awareness of the concept of the provisional nature of knowledge Reasonable knowledge of topic and an awareness of a variety of ideas/contexts/frame-works Has given a factual and/or conceptual knowledge base and appropriate terminology Evidence of limited knowledge of topic and some use of appropriate terminology Lacks evidence of knowledge relevant to the topic and/or significantly misuses terminology
6
Application of consumer theories to a particular market Takes account of complex context and selects appropriate theories Takes some account of context and selects some appropriate
theories Recognises defined context and uses standard techniques for that c ontext Context acknowledged but not really taken into account Context not r ecognised as relevant
6
Consumer behaviour implications for the marketing strategy of the organisation Consistently demonstrates application of critical analysis well integrated in the text Clear application of theory through critical analysis/critical thought of the topic area Demonstrates application of theory through critical analysis of the topic area. Some evidence of critical thought/critical analysis and rationale for work Lacks critical thought
/analysis / reference to theory
6
Quality of examples Uses all available data and examples to evaluate the options. Clear criteria are applied to demonstrate reasons for final outcome. Uses data and examples to evaluate options and selections of final outcome clearly
follows from evaluation. Uses data and examples to evaluate some options and selection of final outcome is linked to the evaluation Presents benefits and disadvantages o f some potential outcomes but without p roviding clarity on reason for final outcome/choice. Little explanation of how the final outcome/choice was made OR no indication of final outcome/choice.
6
References Referencing is consistently accurate Referencing is mainly accurate Referencing is mainly accurate Some attempt at referencing Referencing is absent/
unsystematic
4
Presentation Shows a polished and imaginative approach to the topic Carefull y and logically organised Shows organisation and coherence Shows some attempt to organise in a logical manner Disorganised/incoherent
2

Presentation
Academic essay format should be used, however, headings and subheadings are allowed.