MKTG2112 Consumer Behaviour
The Complete Exam Bible · S2 2026MKTG2112 Overview
- University of Sydney
- S2 2026
- 11 chapters
- Marketing
MKTG2112 Consumer Behaviour is the University of Sydney Business School's second-year examination of how people think, feel, choose, buy, use and dispose of products and services — drawing on cognitive and social psychology, sociology, anthropology and demography to explain (and responsibly influence) consumer decisions.
- Assessed by Participation incl. Business Research Component (BRC) 2% (BRC) + participation · Early Learning Assessment 5% + 5 more
- Key terms Consumer behaviour, Involvement, Attitude (Aₒ), Reference group
- How to prepare Treat MKTG2112 as a 'learn to apply, not just recall' subject.
- Most asked How is the final exam run, and is it open book?
How MKTG2112 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Participation incl. Business Research Component (BRC) | 2% (BRC) + participation | Ongoing across Weeks 1–13; the BRC means either participating in a research study or submitting a research-paper review (BRC due late in semester, around Week 12). The remaining participation marks accrue across the semester — confirm the exact split in your unit outline |
| Early Learning Assessment | 5% | Individual online quiz held early in semester (around Week 3); checks the foundational concepts |
| Consumption Journal and Coaching | 10% | Individual reflective journal with coaching, submitted mid-semester (around Week 6); applies the theory to your own consumption |
| Individual Insight (one page) | 5% | Individual one-page insight task, submitted around Week 8; distils a single consumer insight |
| Group Presentation | 10% | Group presentation delivered around Week 10 |
| Consumer Report (group) | 25% | Group written report submitted near the end of semester (around Week 13); applies course frameworks to a real consumer brief |
| Final exam | 35% | BYOD online exam in the exam period — a Canvas quiz sat inside the Respondus LockDown Browser in a physical venue, access-code gated; short-answer / essay questions (~1 page per question) with part-based mark allocations; open- vs closed-book status and any hurdle subject to confirmation in your unit outline |
What MKTG2112 covers
The whole subject → one exam-ready map. Each topic links to its free chapter guide.
Foundations & the Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour
Week 1 · Solomon Ch 1–2. What CB is, the purchaser/user/influencer roles, pre/consumption/post stages, the interdisciplinary lenses, a segmentation intro, and the dark side — consumed consumers, shrinkage, counterfeiting, anti-consumption, greenwashing and addiction.This opening topic defines what consumer behaviour is — how people think, feel, choose, buy, use and dispose of products and services — and frames the whole unit as learning to see (and responsibly influence) consumer decisions through several disciplinary lenses.
- What consumer behaviour is: thinking, feeling, choosing, buying, using and disposing of products, services and experiences
- Consumer roles: the same product can involve a purchaser, a user, an influencer and a payer — often different people
- Consumption stages: pre-consumption (need recognition, search), consumption (purchase/use), post-consumption (satisfaction, disposal, advocacy)
- The interdisciplinary lenses: cognitive psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology and demography
- Market segmentation (intro): identifying groups of consumers similar in one or more ways
- The dark side: consumed consumers, shrinkage, counterfeiting, anti-consumption, addictive/compulsive consumption
The Marketer's Grail: Customer Journeys & Influencing Purchase
Week 2 · Solomon Ch 10. The buying decision sequence, the Awareness–Consideration–Purchase–Retention–Advocacy journey, paid/owned/earned touchpoints, Ehrenberg's laws, the light-to-loyal ladder and CRM/advocacy.If the ultimate goal of marketing is to influence behaviour, this topic is the map of where to do it.
- The 'grail': the ultimate goal of marketing is to influence behaviour and purchase
- Buying decision sequence: need recognition → information search → evaluation of alternatives → purchase → post-purchase
- Customer journey map: Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy
- Touchpoints classified as Paid / Owned / Earned (and Physical / Digital)
- Ehrenberg's laws of marketing: new customers start as light buyers; brands compete inside an evoked set
- Double jeopardy: small brands have fewer buyers who are also less loyal
To Whom? Segmentation, Targeting & Personas
Week 3–4 · STP, consumer-rooted vs consumption-specific bases, the Sizeable/Identifiable/Stable/Congruent/Accessible targeting test, personas, and turning data into insight via index/over-indexing (Roy Morgan Asteroid).Once you can map the journey, you must decide whose journey to serve.
- STP: Segmentation → Targeting → Positioning
- Market segmentation: dividing a market into distinct subsets with common needs, then targeting one or more
- Consumer-rooted bases: demographics, age cohort, geographic/geodemographic, personality, lifestyle/psychographics (VALS), values
- Consumption-specific bases: usage rate, usage situation/occasion, benefits sought, brand loyalty, level of involvement
- Criteria for effective targeting: Sizeable, Identifiable, Stable, Congruent, Accessible (must satisfy all)
- Personas: research-grounded archetypes of a target segment that guide strategy
Individual Decision Making: EKB, Involvement, Risk & Decision Rules
Week 5 · Solomon Ch 9. Habitual/limited/extended problem solving, involvement, the six perceived-risk types, the EKB model, internal vs external search, evoked vs consideration set, and compensatory vs non-compensatory decision rules.This topic opens the consumer's head: how much effort a purchase deserves, and how the choice is actually made.
- Three decision types by effort: habitual behaviour → limited problem solving → extended problem solving
- Involvement: the perceived personal importance/relevance that drives search and effort
- Six perceived-risk types: financial, performance/functional, physical, social, psychological, time
- The EKB model: problem recognition → information search → evaluation → purchase → post-purchase
- Information search: internal (memory) vs external (sources) — consumers minimise costly effort
- Sets: total → awareness → evoked set → consideration set → choice (plus inert/inept sets)
Attitudes & Attitude Change: ABC, Fishbein, TPB & ELM
Week 6 · Solomon Ch 8. The ABC tri-component model, cognitive dissonance, the Hierarchy of Effects, the Fishbein multi-attribute model (Aₒ = Σ bᵢeᵢ), TRA → TPB, the Elaboration Likelihood Model and attitude-change strategies.Attitudes are the lasting evaluations that steer behaviour, and this is the unit's most model-heavy topic.
- Attitude (Aₒ): a lasting, general evaluation of an object, person, ad or issue
- ABC tri-component model: Affect (feeling) + Behaviour (intention) + Cognition (belief)
- Cognitive dissonance: tension from inconsistent components; changing one flows on to the others
- Hierarchy of Effects: Think→Feel→Do (high involvement), Do→Think→Feel (low), Feel→Do→Think (experiential)
- Fishbein multi-attribute model: Aₒ = Σ (bᵢ × eᵢ) — belief strength × attribute evaluation
- From TRA to TPB: intention = attitude + subjective norm, plus perceived behavioural control → behaviour
Learning & Memory: Conditioning, Cognitive Learning & Memory Systems
Week 7 · Solomon Ch 4. Classical conditioning (generalisation, discrimination, extinction), operant conditioning and reinforcement schedules, cognitive and observational learning, the sensory/STM/LTM memory systems, schemas and nostalgia.Consumers learn brands, and brands rely on being remembered.
- Learning: a relatively permanent change in behaviour or long-term memory from experience (incidental learning = unintentional)
- Classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus eventually evokes the response alone
- Conditioning concepts: repetition strengthens, extinction decays, stimulus generalisation vs discrimination
- Operant/instrumental conditioning: behaviour shaped by consequences — positive/negative reinforcement, punishment, extinction
- Reinforcement schedules: fixed/variable ratio and interval (loyalty programs, gamification)
- Cognitive & observational learning: problem-solving/insight; modelling others' rewarded behaviour (influencers)
Motivation, Values & the Self
Week 8 · Solomon Ch 6–7. The need–drive–goal process, utilitarian vs hedonic and biogenic vs psychogenic needs, drive vs expectancy theory, Maslow's hierarchy, motivational conflict, values, and the self-concept (actual vs ideal, extended self).Why consumers act at all is the question here.
- Motivation: an internal energising force that activates and directs behaviour when a need creates tension
- The process: need → drive (arousal/tension) → goal → behaviour to reduce tension (homeostasis)
- Need types: utilitarian (functional) vs hedonic (experiential); biogenic (biological) vs psychogenic (cultural)
- Drive theory ('push' from within) vs expectancy theory ('pull' toward expected outcomes)
- Maslow's hierarchy: physiological → safety → social/belonging → esteem → self-actualisation
- Motivational conflict: approach-approach, approach-avoidance, avoidance-avoidance
Me & the Gang: Groups, Social Power & Word-of-Mouth
Week 9 · Solomon Ch 11–12. The macro/meso/micro influence stack, reference groups, normative/informational/identification influence, conformity, the bases of social power, opinion leaders vs market mavens, WOM/eWOM and brand communities.Consumers don't decide alone.
- Social influence stack: Macro (culture/subculture) → Meso (networks/platforms) → Micro (people/groups)
- Reference group: an actual or imaginary person/group relevant to a consumer's evaluations and behaviour
- Reference-group types: membership, aspirational (want to join), dissociative (want to avoid)
- Three forms of influence: normative (approval), informational (credible source), identification/value-expressive
- Conformity: matching behaviour to group norms
- Bases of social power (French & Raven): referent, expert, reward, coercive, legitimate (+ information)
Kultsumption: Consumer Culture, Rituals & CCT
Week 10 · Solomon Ch 14. How culture is acquired and shared, consumption rituals (grooming/gift/holiday/rites of passage), sacred vs profane, the cultural production system and cultural selection, Consumer Culture Theory and high- vs low-context cultures.Culture is the widest lens in the unit — the shared, learned meanings that decide what feels normal and desirable.
- Culture: the accumulated shared meanings, norms, values and traditions of a society; learned and shared
- Cultural acquisition: enculturation (own culture) vs acculturation (a new culture); socialisation
- Consumption rituals: grooming, gift-giving, holiday, rites of passage; ritual artefacts
- Sacred vs profane consumption; sacralisation and desacralisation
- Cultural production system: how symbols and products are created and filtered (gatekeepers)
- Cultural selection: which products survive or fail to achieve lasting popularity
Personality & Brand Personality: Trait Theory, Big Five & Aaker
Week 11 · Solomon Ch 5. Psychodynamic/archetype/trait theories, nature vs nurture and state vs trait, the Big Five (OCEAN), CB-relevant traits, and Aaker's (1997) five brand-personality dimensions plus animism/brand-as-person.Personality explains the consistent individual differences in how consumers respond, and brands borrow the idea to give themselves a human character.
- Personality: a person's unique, consistent psychological make-up; stable through adulthood (stabilises ~age 30)
- Psychodynamic theory (Freud): id/ego/superego; the nature/genetics view
- Neo-Freudian/archetype theory (Jung): universal archetypes
- Trait theory: the quantitative measurement of stable traits; nature vs nurture, state vs trait
- Big Five (OCEAN): Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
- CB-relevant traits: innovativeness, materialism, self-consciousness, need for cognition, frugality
Perception & Sensory Marketing: JND, Weber's Law, Gestalt & Semiotics
Week 12 · Solomon Ch 3. Sensation vs perception, the five senses, absolute and differential thresholds and the JND, Weber's Law (K = ΔI/I), the exposure–attention–interpretation–response pipeline, Gestalt principles and semiotics.Perception, not objective reality, drives behaviour — and this final topic explains how stimuli become meaning.
- Sensation vs perception: sensation is the raw receptor response; perception selects, organises and interprets it
- The five sensory systems: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch (sensory/experiential marketing)
- Absolute threshold (minimum detectable) vs differential threshold (detecting a difference)
- Just Noticeable Difference (JND): the smallest change a consumer can detect
- Weber's Law: K = ΔI/I — the change needed to be noticed is proportional to the original intensity
- Subliminal perception (below conscious awareness — largely ineffective for persuasion)
Across the semester it builds from foundations and the "dark side" of consumption through customer journeys, segmentation and personas, individual decision making, attitudes, learning and memory, motivation and the self, social influence, consumer culture, personality and perception, all anchored in Solomon, Previte, Russell-Bennett & Payne's Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being (5th Australian ed.).
It is assessed by an Early Learning quiz (5%), a Consumption Journal and Coaching task (10%), a one-page Individual Insight (5%), a Group Presentation (10%), a 25% group Consumer Report, ongoing participation including the Business Research Component (2%), and a 35% BYOD online final exam sat in the Respondus LockDown Browser.
The exam is short-answer / essay — roughly one page per question — so marks come from structured answers (define the theory, explain its mechanism, apply it with a branded example, then draw the marketing implication) rather than from listing.
Everything taught is examinable unless explicitly marked otherwise; the final is the single largest stake, and any hurdle requirement should be confirmed in your unit outline.
Worked example · free
Apply a theory the exam way: the Fishbein multi-attribute model (short answer, 8 marks)
- 1 markIdentify the model and write the formula. Fishbein's multi-attribute model predicts attitude toward an object, Aₒ = Σ (bᵢ × eᵢ), summed over the salient attributes i, where bᵢ is the strength of belief that the brand has attribute i and eᵢ is how important/good that attribute is to the consumer.
- 1.5 marksCompute Brand X attribute-by-attribute, then sum: (5×6) + (3×3) + (4×7) = 30 + 9 + 28 = 67.
- 1.5 marksCompute Brand Y the same way: (5×4) + (3×6) + (4×3) = 20 + 18 + 12 = 50.
- 1 markState the preference: Brand X (67) > Brand Y (50), so Brand X is preferred.
- 3 marksDiagnose then prescribe for Brand Y. Its weakness sits on a high-importance attribute (Taste, e = 5), so a sound strategy is to change beliefs about that attribute — reformulate and run an "improved taste" campaign to lift bᵢ. Alternatively change the importance weights (reframe value-for-money as what matters, lifting Price's pull) or add a new salient belief (e.g. convenience).
Key terms
- Consumer behaviour
- The study of how people think, feel, choose, buy, use and dispose of products, services and experiences that satisfy needs and wants. It draws on cognitive and social psychology, sociology, anthropology and demography rather than a single discipline.
- Involvement
- The perceived personal importance or relevance of a purchase to the consumer. High involvement (e.g. a car) drives extended search and careful attribute-by-attribute evaluation; low involvement (e.g. toothpaste) leads to habitual, near-automatic choice.
- Attitude (Aₒ)
- A lasting, general evaluation of a person, object, ad or issue. The ABC model splits it into Affect (feeling), Behaviour (intention) and Cognition (belief); the Fishbein model measures it as Aₒ = Σ (bᵢ × eᵢ) across salient attributes.
- Reference group
- An actual or imaginary individual or group with significant relevance to a person's evaluations, aspirations or behaviour. Types: membership, aspirational (want to join) and dissociative (want to avoid); influence can be normative, informational or identification/value-expressive.
- Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
- The minimum change in a stimulus that a consumer can detect. By Weber's Law, K = ΔI/I — the change needed scales with the original intensity — so marketers keep an unwelcome change (a shrink or price rise) below the JND, and a welcome one (a discount or upgrade) above it.
MKTG2112 FAQ
Is MKTG2112 hard?
It is more demanding than it looks. The concepts are intuitive, but the unit is theory-dense — eleven topics, each with its own models — and the 35% final is short-answer / essay rather than multiple choice, so you must reproduce and apply theories under time pressure, not just recognise them.
Students who keep up weekly and practise writing structured answers (define → explain → apply → implication) find it manageable; those who only skim slides struggle to write the one-page answer the examiner rewards.
How is the final exam run, and is it open book?
The final is a 35% BYOD online exam — a Canvas quiz sat inside the Respondus LockDown Browser in a physical, access-code-gated venue. Questions are short-answer / essay, roughly one page per question, with part-based mark allocations.
Because the LockDown Browser locks your device, treat it as a closed-resource exam unless your unit outline says otherwise — open- vs closed-book status is not stated in the materials we reviewed, so confirm it in your outline.
What is actually examinable?
Effectively everything: the unit states that every reading, lecture, video and chapter is examinable unless explicitly marked otherwise. The exam favours breadth-with-depth — you may be asked to apply almost any of the eleven topics — so do not gamble on which theories will appear. Build a one-page answer skeleton for each theory rather than memorising one or two in detail.
How do I avoid 'fishing' and write answers that score?
The course explicitly penalises 'fishing' — listing terms hoping one earns a mark. Use the IDEA method (Identify the question's components, Define the key theory/terms, Explain/Apply, then give 1–2 examples) or the TEAS method (Theory → Explain why it fits → Apply with an example → Strategy/implication for the marketer).
A concise, structured one-page answer that applies one theory well beats a scattered list of half-defined concepts.
Do I need to memorise formulas?
Almost none. Consumer Behaviour is a conceptual unit; the only quasi-formulas are the Fishbein model Aₒ = Σ (bᵢ × eᵢ) and Weber's Law K = ΔI/I, both simple to write inline. The marks come from naming the right theory, explaining its mechanism and applying it to a scenario with a relevant brand example — not from rote calculation.
Questions students ask in each MKTG2112 chapter
- What is the difference between a consumer and a customer in this unit?
- The unit takes a broad view: a consumer is anyone who is involved in the use or experience of a product, while purchasing is just one role. The roles framework (purchaser, user, influencer, payer) makes this concrete — a customer who pays at the till may not be the person who uses the product or who influenced the choice, which is why marketers study consumers, not just buyers. Chapter 01 · Foundations & the Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour
- What is the difference between the buying decision sequence and the customer journey?
- They describe the same purchase from two angles. The buying decision sequence (need recognition → search → evaluation → purchase → post-purchase) is the consumer's internal process. The customer journey (Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy) is the marketer's external map of stages and touchpoints. Strong answers connect them — e.g. 'evaluation of alternatives' happens during the 'Consideration' stage. Chapter 02 · The Marketer's Grail: Customer Journeys & Influencing Purchase
- What is the difference between consumer-rooted and consumption-specific segmentation bases?
- Consumer-rooted bases describe who the person is independently of the category — age, gender, income, geography, personality, lifestyle and values. Consumption-specific bases describe how the person relates to the product category — how often they use it, on what occasion, what benefit they seek, how loyal they are, and how involved they get. Strong strategies usually combine both. Chapter 03 · To Whom? Segmentation, Targeting & Personas
- How do I tell extended from limited from habitual problem solving?
- Look at involvement, frequency and familiarity. Habitual = cheap, frequent, familiar, automatic, almost no search (your usual coffee). Limited = a bit of thought using simple rules (a mid-priced everyday item). Extended = expensive, infrequent, unfamiliar and personally important, with extensive internal and external search and careful evaluation (a car, a laptop). Always justify with involvement AND perceived risk. Chapter 04 · Individual Decision Making: EKB, Involvement, Risk & Decision Rules
- What is the difference between the ABC model and the Fishbein model?
- The ABC model describes the structure of an attitude (Affect, Behaviour, Cognition) and how the parts stay consistent or create dissonance. The Fishbein multi-attribute model measures the cognitive component numerically: Aₒ = Σ (bᵢ × eᵢ). ABC tells you what an attitude is made of; Fishbein gives you a score and points to which belief to change. Chapter 05 · Attitudes & Attitude Change: ABC, Fishbein, TPB & ELM
- What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning?
- Classical conditioning is learning by association — a brand cue (conditioned stimulus) is paired with something that already triggers a feeling (music, an attractive scene) until the cue alone evokes the feeling. Operant conditioning is learning by consequence — a behaviour (a purchase) is followed by a reward or punishment that makes it more or less likely to recur. Classical is about feeling toward a brand; operant is about repeating an action. Chapter 06 · Learning & Memory: Conditioning, Cognitive Learning & Memory Systems
- What is the difference between a need and a want?
- A need is the underlying tension a consumer seeks to relieve (hunger, status, belonging); a want is the specific, culturally and personally shaped form used to satisfy it. Everyone needs to eat, but one person wants sushi and another a burger. Marketers can't create needs, but they shape and channel wants — which is why motivation and culture are studied together. Chapter 07 · Motivation, Values & the Self
- What's the difference between normative and informational influence?
- Normative influence is about belonging — you conform to a group's expectations to gain approval or avoid disapproval, even if privately you'd choose otherwise. Informational influence is about accuracy — you treat the group or an expert as a credible source of information to reduce your own uncertainty. The same purchase can involve both: buying a phone your friends approve of (normative) after reading expert reviews (informational). Chapter 08 · Me & the Gang: Groups, Social Power & Word-of-Mouth
- What is the difference between enculturation and acculturation?
- Enculturation is absorbing the norms, values and meanings of the culture you grow up in — the default, often invisible, learning of 'how things are done here'. Acculturation is the conscious learning and adaptation that happens when a person encounters a new culture, for example migrants adopting (and blending) local consumption habits. Marketers consider both when entering new markets or targeting diverse communities. Chapter 09 · Kultsumption: Consumer Culture, Rituals & CCT
- What is the difference between a trait and a state?
- A trait is an enduring characteristic that shows up consistently across situations and time (someone who is reliably high in conscientiousness). A state is a temporary, situation-driven condition (feeling anxious before an exam). Trait theory studies the enduring patterns because they predict stable consumer tendencies, whereas states explain momentary shifts. Chapter 10 · Personality & Brand Personality: Trait Theory, Big Five & Aaker
- Why does the unit say perception, not reality, drives behaviour?
- Because consumers act on the meaning they construct, not on objective stimuli. Two people exposed to the same ad attend to different parts, interpret it through different schemas, and respond differently. Sensation gives raw input, but the selecting–organising–interpreting of perception is where behaviour is decided — which is why marketers manage exposure, attention and interpretation, not just the stimulus. Chapter 11 · Perception & Sensory Marketing: JND, Weber's Law, Gestalt & Semiotics
How to study for the exam
Treat MKTG2112 as a 'learn to apply, not just recall' subject. (1) Keep up weekly — each topic introduces its own model, and the topics compound (decision making leans on involvement and risk; attitudes feed on beliefs; perception underpins everything), so falling behind is expensive.
(2) Build a one-page answer skeleton per theory: define it in a sentence, state its mechanism, write one branded example, and add the marketing implication — this is the structure the short-answer/essay exam rewards. (3) Drill the IDEA and TEAS methods until they are automatic, and consciously avoid 'fishing': a tight, structured answer that applies one theory well outscores a list of terms.
(4) Make a name-the-theory decoder — practise reading a scenario and instantly naming which model applies (is this EKB, ABC, TPB, classical conditioning, reference-group influence, JND?), because the exam tests recognition-then-application. (5) Use the practice exam and weekly practice MCQs as dress rehearsals, paying attention to the part-based mark allocations so you budget words to marks.
(6) Remember everything is examinable unless marked otherwise — revise for breadth across all eleven topics, then go deep on the flagship models (Fishbein, TPB, EKB, ABC, classical/operant conditioning, social influence, Weber/JND).
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