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?
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.02The 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.03To 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).04Individual 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.05Attitudes & 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.06Learning & 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.07Motivation, 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).08Me & 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.09Kultsumption: 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.10Personality & 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.11Perception & 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.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.
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 |
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.
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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