MCD2110- Buyer Behaviour

Assignment 2
Status: Group task
Weighting: 15%
Length: 2500 maximum. This word count does not cover the reference list.
You are required to provide the word count of your assignment on your Title page.
Marks will be deducted if the maximum length is exceeded.
Due date: Week 11, Wednesday 5PM in the assignment box.
_____________________________________________________________________
Background information: Business Reports
Reports are an important tool in a decision making process. A manager may commission a number of
people to write reports on the same topic area in order to seek diversity of opinion in relation to a
particular issue.
Reports are likely to be tabled to people who may not have detailed experience or knowledge of the
topic but who will be involved in the decision making process for the issue at hand. Managers therefore
want concise information. They seek information that tells them what they need to know and why they
need to know it.
Marketers are responsible for the revenue stream (current and future) for a business. Managers do not
have time to read essays. They want the writer to present key information, detail why it is key
information and tie the key information back to the question at hand. This background information is
applicable to profit and non-profit organisations.
This word count excludes your reference list and executive summary. You are required to provide the
word count of your assignment on your Title page. Marks will be deducted if the maximum length is
exceeded.
Report format: Please refer to Chapter 7 of the Q Manual Report Writing.
http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/publications/qmanual/ch-07.php
(i). The APA referencing format will be used again for this assignment.
(ii). No transmittal document is required.
(iii). ONLY provide a reference list (i.e. not a bibliography).
(iv). YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ATTACH ASSIGNMENT 1 WITH ASSIGNMENT 2. It is merely
included to provide background information to the marker.
Assignment Requirements:
For this assignment, you are to select ONE of the brands nominated in your first assignment.
Assignment 2 is designed to enable you to apply the theoretical knowledge about the behaviour of
buyers/consumers to a specific area of marketing. This assignment will require you to apply, where
appropriate, detailed information about market segmentation, involvement, attitudes, group influences,
social class, opinion leadership, and decision making. You will need to draw upon the knowledge about
concepts, definitions, and theories of buyer behaviour that you have acquired from reading Schiffman
et al. (2011) and the additional knowledge gained in seminars and tutorials. By the end of this
assignment you should be able to develop a detailed, complex, and theoretically substantial profile of
the target market linked to your offering.
There are five parts to this assignment.
1. Executive Summary. This is a summary of the report that is given to your manager. It contains the
key points from the report. There should be sufficient information to tell your manager what is covered
in the report and its key findings, what the company should do and why. While this section is written

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last, it is actually placed before your introduction. You are strongly advised to read the Q Manual
requirements for an abstract. Remember it is a concise summary of your key findings not a plan of your
report.
2. Provide background information of the product category you have selected. This information will
include market size and trends in relation to market size, number of competitors in the market, and the
market environment. Therefore, the section should focus on the environmental (macro) aspects that will
impact the market. Also, you should briefly describe how the organisation configured its products and
how they deliver the value to their consumers. Information collected should then be used as evidence to
support the following sections of your work.
3. Segment the market using a minimum of one psychographic and/or demographic factor. You may
provide this information in a tabular form. Once a number of segments have been identified, provide an
in-depth rationale for choosing the target segment(s). Describe the company positioning strategy and
use a perceptual map to demonstrate how target consumers see the brand/company as compared to
those of competitors. Remember to discuss your perceptual map. Do not just provide a diagram!
4. Analyse buyer behaviour of target customers only using external influences (e.g. family, reference
groups, cultural, sub-cultural and cross-cultural). You are required to analyse the aspects of buyer
behaviour that are critical to developing marketing strategies for your selected product.
5. In your report you should also provide recommendations (based on sound buyer behaviour theories)
as to how the marketing activities could be improved. In particular, you need to emphasise the
management marketing decisions in the areas of offering, price, promotion and distribution strategies.
Reference list: All materials (articles, advertising, trade-press, newspapers, websites, statistical, and
annual company reports) should be referenced in your report. Because of the nature of this assignment,
it is difficult to be prescriptive about the number of references required to fulfil the tasks outlined. You
should provide a range of references and avoid over-reliance on a small number of sources (i.e. less
than 10). NOTE: Failure to adequately reference your statements will result in loss of marks.
Marks available
Task Components

% of Available Marks

Part one of the assignment Executive Summary

10%

Part two of the assignment Background Information

15%

Part three of the assignment Segmentation, Targeting,

Positioning and Profiling

20%

Part four of the assignment Buyer Behaviour (external)

40%

Part five of the assignment - Recommendations

5%

Part five of the assignment References, Layout,

Formatting, Spelling, Grammar.

10%

Total

100%

Assignment Cover Sheets

No assignment will be accepted or marked if it is not accompanied by a signed Assignment Cover
Sheet.
Return of Marked Assignments
Assignments will be returned to you during tutorial times.

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