MKF2111 Buyer Behaviour

How MKF2111 is assessed

What MKF2111 covers

The whole unit → one oral-exam-ready map. Each topic links to its free chapter guide: the theory in plain say-it-out-loud English, a real example to apply it to, and the CB terminology that scores.

The whole unit cycles through one recurring framework: the Psychological Core (motivation/MAO, exposure-attention-perception, knowledge & schemas, memory, attitudes), the Judgment & Decision-Making process (problem recognition, search, low- and high-effort choice, post-purchase evaluation), Consumer Culture (demographics, psychographics, social influence) and CB Outcomes & Issues (innovation adoption, well-being and ethics).

The stakes are unusual: it is assessed by a 4% Research Experience exercise, 11% weekly IFA tutorial quizzes, a 35% individual Consumer Diary project (Part 1 10% + Part 2 25%, applying theory to your own consumption), and a 50% in-person oral examination at Caulfield campus that carries a threshold hurdle — you must pass the oral itself to pass the unit.

The oral is marked on a five-band rubric (ZERO / UNSATISFACTORY / PASS / GOOD / OUTSTANDING) across three topics plus communication, rewarding students who can explain a Consumer Behaviour theory in their own words, apply it to a relevant real-world example, and deliver it clearly.

So fluent explanation and a crisp example beat rote formula-cramming — and the 35% Consumer Diary tests the same "apply theory to real consumption" skill. (Verify the exact oral window and slot-booking dates in your unit outline, since they are set per offering.)

Worked example · free

Oral-exam answer: explain Prospect Theory and apply it (gain vs loss framing)

Key terms

The master framework (What affects consumer behaviour?)

The unit's organising spine that every week plugs into: the Psychological Core (motivation, perception, knowledge, memory, attitudes) → the Process of Judgment & Decision Making (problem recognition, search, choice, post-purchase) → Consumer Culture (demographics, psychographics, social influence) → CB Outcomes & Issues (innovation adoption, well-being, ethics).

MAO (Motivation, Ability, Opportunity)

The three inputs that together set the consumer's depth of processing. High motivation + ability + opportunity → effortful (central) processing; low MAO → shallow (peripheral) processing. The same idea reappears in attitudes (ELM) and decision-making (low- vs high-effort).

ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model)

Attitude formation depends on MAO. High MAO → central route: effortful analysis of strong arguments forming enduring, hard-to-change attitudes. Low MAO → peripheral route: superficial cues (attractive source, music, number of arguments) forming weak, easily-changed attitudes.

Compensatory vs non-compensatory choice

A compensatory rule lets a strength offset a weakness — overall value = Σ(Importance × Rating), pick the highest total. A non-compensatory rule lets one weakness eliminate an option (conjunctive = clear a minimum on every attribute; lexicographic = best on the most important attribute wins).

Loss aversion (Prospect Theory)

Outcomes are coded as gains or losses from a reference point, and the value function is steeper for losses, so a loss hurts roughly twice as much as an equal gain feels good. It drives gain-vs-loss framing effects and the asymmetry where a price rise hurts demand more than an equal price cut helps it.

MKF2111 FAQ

Questions students ask in each MKF2111 chapter

What exactly does 'buyer behaviour' cover — just buying?

No. It covers the whole sequence: selecting, purchasing, using and disposing of products, services, ideas and experiences — and the psychological, social and cultural reasons behind each step. Disposal and use matter as much as the purchase, which is why sustainability and post-purchase satisfaction are part of the unit. Chapter 01 · Introduction to Buyer Behaviour

What's the difference between motivation and ability?

Motivation is whether the consumer wants to engage (driven by needs, goals, values, relevance, risk); ability is whether they can — the financial, cognitive and other resources to process or act. A consumer can be highly motivated to compare mortgages but lack the financial literacy (ability) to do it deeply. Chapter 02 · Motivation, Ability & Opportunity (MAO)

What's the difference between the absolute and the differential threshold?

The absolute threshold is the minimum intensity needed to detect a stimulus at all (e.g. the faintest sound you can hear). The differential threshold is the minimum difference between two stimuli that you can notice — and the just noticeable difference (j.n.d.) is that smallest detectable change. Weber's Law describes the differential threshold. Chapter 03 · Exposure, Attention & Perception

What's the difference between a schema, brand image and brand personality?

The schema is the full associative network of everything a consumer links to the brand. The brand image is the most salient slice of that network — the associations that dominate. Brand personality is a specific kind of association: the human-like traits, captured by Aaker's five dimensions. They nest inside each other from broad (schema) to specific (personality). Chapter 04 · Knowledge & Comprehension: Schemas, Brands & Conditioning

What is the 'basic level' and why does it matter for positioning?

The basic level is the most intuitive category level people naturally think in (e.g. 'car' rather than the broader 'vehicle' or the narrower 'sedan'). It matters because if a brand cues the right basic category, shoppers comprehend and trust it instantly; the prototype sits at this level, so positioning near it speeds recognition while positioning away from it signals difference. Chapter 05 · Knowledge & Memory

When does the central route beat the peripheral route?

When MAO is high — the consumer is motivated, able and has the opportunity to think — the central route dominates and strong arguments form durable, change-resistant attitudes. When MAO is low, the peripheral route takes over and cues like an attractive spokesperson or catchy music drive a weaker, more changeable attitude. So the marketer matches argument-led vs cue-led messaging to the audience's MAO. Chapter 06 · Attitudes

What's the difference between the awareness set, consideration set, inept set and inert set?

Starting from all brands (the universe), the awareness set is the brands the consumer knows; from those, the consideration (evoked) set is the few they would actually buy. The inept set is brands they know but reject; the inert set is brands they know but feel indifferent about. The marketer's job is to move a brand into the consideration set, not just awareness. Chapter 07 · The Consumer Decision Process I: Problem Recognition, Search & Low-Effort Choice

When do consumers use compensatory vs non-compensatory rules?

Compensatory, attribute-trading rules need high MAO — the consumer is motivated, able and has time to weigh everything (V = Σ Imp × Rating). When MAO is lower or the choice set is large, consumers fall back on non-compensatory shortcuts (conjunctive cut-offs, lexicographic top-attribute) that are faster but let one weakness eliminate an option. So the same buyer may switch rules as effort changes. Chapter 08 · The Consumer Decision Process II: High-Effort Choice

Why does the same product satisfy one customer and disappoint another?

Because satisfaction is relative to expectations, not absolute. The expectancy-disconfirmation model says identical performance produces satisfaction when it beats a low expectation and dissatisfaction when it misses a high one. This is why over-promising in ads backfires: it raises the reference point the experience then fails to clear. Chapter 09 · The Consumer Decision Process III: Post-Decision Processes

What's the difference between individualism and collectivism, and why does it matter for ads?

Individualist cultures have an independent self-construal (you are defined by your own traits and goals), so appeals to standing out and personal achievement resonate. Collectivist cultures have an interdependent self-construal (you are defined by your group), so appeals to belonging, family and harmony work better. Running an individualist appeal in a collectivist market (or vice versa) is a classic cause of campaign failure. Chapter 10 · Consumer Culture I: Diversity & Social Structure

Why are psychographics more useful than demographics?

Demographics describe who a consumer is (age, income), but two people with the same demographics can want completely different things. Psychographics describe why — their values, lifestyle (AIO) and personality — which predicts behaviour and ad response far more precisely. The strongest targeting combines both: demographics to reach, psychographics to resonate. Chapter 11 · Consumer Culture II: Psychographics & Social Influence

What's the difference between adoption and diffusion?

Adoption is at the level of one consumer — the decision process by which an individual or household takes up a new product (awareness → trial → adoption). Diffusion is at the level of the whole market — how that innovation spreads across the population over time, traced by the S-curve and the adopter categories. One is micro, the other macro. Chapter 12 · Innovation, Consumer Well-Being & Ethics

How to study for the exam

Treat MKF2111 as a say-it-out-loud subject, because the 50% hurdle exam is oral and marked on explanation, application and delivery — not on recall.

(1) Build a per-topic example bank: for all 12 weeks, write one vivid real-brand example you can apply each theory to (mere-exposure, ELM, TORA, prospect framing, expectancy-disconfirmation, the chasm, reference groups, brand extension), so you never freeze for an example in the room.

(2) Drill the three-beat answer — DEFINE the theory in your own words → APPLY it to your example → state the marketing IMPLICATION — out loud, against a one-minute timer, since logical sequencing and clear delivery are scored separately as Communication. (3) Use the Consumer Diary as live oral practice: it tests the same apply-to-real-consumption skill, so the examples you develop there can resurface in the oral.

(4) Learn the master framework cold (Psychological Core → Judgment & Decision Making → Consumer Culture → Outcomes & Issues) so you can place any topic in the unit's spine and link across topics for the OUTSTANDING band.

(5) Keep the few quantitative anchors ready (Weber K = ΔS/S; TORA A = Σ(b×e) and SN = Σ(NB×MC); multi-attribute V = Σ(Importance×Rating)) — you may not be asked to compute, but being able to say what each term means signals competent CB terminology.

(6) Rehearse with a partner who fires follow-up questions and record yourself; an oral is a performance, and the marks reward fluency you can only build by speaking, not re-reading.

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