MKTG6007: ace the component, not just read the notes
Your complete guide to University of Sydney's consumer behaviour unit. See where the marks are, work real practice questions, and study with an AI tutor that knows MKTG6007.
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Sharpen your argument
A brand runs a low-cost impulse product and a high-cost considered product with the same detailed, argument-heavy ad. A strategist says: 'One strong persuasive message fits every purchase.' Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model, which response is the strongest critique?
The Elaboration Likelihood Model distinguishes two routes to persuasion: central (careful processing of argument quality) and peripheral (cues like source, mood or attractiveness).
A high-involvement considered purchase engages the central route, so argument quality matters; a low-involvement impulse buy leans on peripheral cues.
So the strongest critique (option index 1) is that one argument-heavy message cannot be optimal for both purchase contexts.
The weaker choice: Assuming persuasive strength is universal. The model's point is that route effectiveness is contingent on the consumer's involvement, so message design should vary with the purchase context. watch this!
One component decides 30% of your grade. This whole page is built around that.
Overview
What MKTG6007 is, and where it sits
MKTG6007 is the University of Sydney Business School's postgraduate consumer-behaviour unit. It builds the behavioural-science foundation behind marketing decisions: how consumers perceive, learn and remember, what motivates them and shapes their attitudes, how they make and evaluate decisions, and how social, cultural and self-identity factors drive consumption. The unit is theory applied to real marketing problems rather than abstract psychology.
Assessment is entirely continuous and applied. The major pieces are a Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge, a group written report and oral presentation, and a reflective LookBook portfolio, with a small out-of-class quiz and a research component. There is no exam, so the unit rewards sustained project work and applied analysis over end-of-semester cramming.
It equips postgraduate marketing students with the consumer-insight lens that brand, strategy and communications roles depend on.
Official outline: sydney.edu.au · MKTG6007 outline. Always treat the official outline and the exam timetable as authoritative.
Difficulty & time commitment
Is MKTG6007 hard, and how much time does it take?
MKTG6007 is manageable if you keep a weekly rhythm and treat the back half as the main event. The pattern is consistent: it starts gently and steepens, and the heaviest assessment is the part that separates grades.
The difficulty curve and the assessment weighting point the same way: the back half is harder and worth more. Front-loading effort there is the highest-return decision in the unit.
Is this unit for you
Who tends to do well, and who tends to struggle
You will likely do well if
- You can apply behavioural theory (perception, learning, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, motivation, decision models) to concrete marketing scenarios rather than describe it abstractly.
- You contribute reliably to group work, since the report and presentation are a large share of the grade.
- You keep the LookBook portfolio current across the semester instead of assembling it at the end.
You may struggle if
- You leave the group project and portfolio to the final weeks; the high-weight pieces reward sustained work.
- You write description without applying a named consumer-behaviour framework to the problem.
- You rely on individual effort and disengage from the team components.
- Anchor every analysis in a specific consumer-behaviour model and show its marketing implication.
- Treat the challenge and report as consulting deliverables: evidence, framework, recommendation.
- Keep portfolio entries reflective and theory-linked rather than a scrapbook.
Syllabus
The 9 topics, topic by topic
The exam-weight marker on each topic shows where the marks concentrate. The amber topics carry the highest exam weight.
T1 · Consumer Behaviour Foundations
What CB is · the MAO engine · the 6-step decision process · high vs low effort
T2 · Perception
The EAPC chain · attention & habituation · JND & Weber's Law · sensory marketing
T3 · Learning and Memory
Classical, evaluative & operant conditioning · the three stores · serial position
T4 · Motivation and Attitudes
Needs & Maslow · means-end chain · ABC model · the ELM · TORA / TOPB
T5 · Consumer Decision Making
Problem recognition · search & judgement biases · compensatory vs non-compensatory rules
T6 · Post-Purchase Behaviour
Dissonance & regret · the disconfirmation paradigm · NPS · the complainer typology
T7 · Social and Cultural Influences
Subcultures · social class · normative vs informational influence · household roles
T8 · The Self and Psychographics
Self-concept & extended self · the Big Five · lifestyle (AIO, VALS) · ethics & CSR
T9 · Applied Consumer Behaviour
The CCBC self-experiment · the group report & oral · theory-to-evidence craft
How it's assessed
Assessment structure
| Component | Weight | Format & timing |
|---|---|---|
| Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge (CCBC) | 30% | Individual · a self-experiment written up as a CB-theory blog post — the single biggest mark. |
| Group Written Assignment | 25% | Group · diagnose a real consumer problem and design a theory-grounded solution. |
| Group Oral Presentation | 20% | Group · communicate the problem, its CB explanation and the solution. |
| LookBook portfolio | 18% | Individual · a 1.5% post + 1.5% reply + 15% document tagging everyday stimuli to concepts. |
| Out-of-Class Quiz | 5% | Individual · open-book, 30 MCQ / true-false in the Week 6 slot. |
| Business Research Component | 2% | Individual — confirm the exact split and current weights in your unit outline. |
- Pass on a weighted average of at least 50%. Any component eligibility requirement is noted per component; confirm against the official unit outline.
This is a coursework unit. Coursework carries 100% of the grade and the changing consumer behaviour challenge (ccbc) is the single heaviest piece at 30%, so steady work across the semester decides your result more than any one sitting.
How to actually pass it
A weekly rhythm, two checklists, and the traps to avoid
The unit rewards consistency over cramming, and practice over re-reading. Here is the loop that works, then what to have nailed before each exam.
The weekly loop
Before the mid-semester checklist
Before the final heaviest topics
- Deliver the Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge as an evidence-plus-framework-plus-recommendation piece, since it is the single heaviest component.
- Coordinate the group report and oral presentation early; rehearse the presentation for applied-communication marks.
- Finalise the LookBook portfolio as a coherent reflective narrative, not a last-minute compilation.
- Complete the out-of-class quiz and research component on time; small weights are easy marks to lose.
The mistakes that cost marks
Backloading the project work. The challenge, group report and presentation together dominate the grade and reward sustained work; compressing them into the final weeks undercuts quality.
Description without theory. Applied marks come from applying named consumer-behaviour models. Describing consumer trends without a framework sits low on the rubric.
Neglecting the group components. A large share of the grade is collaborative. Disengaging from the team penalises both the shared mark and the individual contribution assessment.
Teaching team
Who teaches MKTG6007
No teaching staff are publicly listed for this offering. Check the official course page for the current coordinator and lecturers.
Where it fits
Prerequisites, related units & why it matters
Postgraduate marketing unit; check the handbook for program-specific prerequisites.
Your MKTG6007 study toolkit
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is MKTG6007 hard?
It is a mid-moderate postgraduate unit. There is no exam, but the grade concentrates in a few substantial project and group pieces marked against qualitative rubrics, so the work is sustained applied analysis rather than technical difficulty.
How is MKTG6007 assessed?
A 30% Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge, a 25% group written assignment, a 20% group oral presentation, an 18% LookBook portfolio, a 5% out-of-class quiz and a 2% business research component. The components sum to 100% and there is no exam.
Is there an exam?
No. Assessment is entirely continuous: a major challenge, group report and presentation, a reflective portfolio and small quiz and research components.
How much group work is there?
A substantial amount: the group written report and oral presentation together are 45% of the grade, so team coordination is a large part of doing well.
What is the LookBook portfolio?
An 18% reflective portfolio built across the semester that links consumer-behaviour theory to observed consumption; it rewards consistent weekly work over last-minute assembly.
Study MKTG6007 with Sia
Work through the core topics and the rest of the unit with a tutor that knows it and quizzes you on the topics the assessments weight most heavily.
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