MKTG6007 · Consumer Behaviour
The Complete Exam Bible · S1 2026Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Behaviour teaches the psychology of how people acquire, use and dispose of offerings — the MAO engine, perception, learning & memory, motivation & attitudes, the consumer decision process, post-purchase behaviour, social & cultural influence, and the self. There is no exam: the unit is assessed entirely by applied work, headlined by the 30% Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge. So this guide teaches each model the way the assessments reward it — defined plainly, anchored to a real brand, then pointed at the move that earns marks: name the behaviour, name the CB mechanism, back it with evidence.
What MKTG6007 covers
Nine chapters → one application-ready map of the consumer-behaviour theory MKTG6007 grades you on. Each links to its free chapter guide.
How MKTG6007 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Diagnose a habit with CB theory — the move every task rewards
- +1Name the behaviour precisely. Not “snacking” — a cue-triggered, low-effort consumption habit: the 3 pm slump is a recurring cue.
- +1Diagnose the learning. Classical conditioning — the 3 pm cue (CS) has been paired so often with the sugar reward (US) that the cue alone now triggers the craving (CR).
- +1Add the operant layer. The behaviour is sustained by operant reinforcement — the sugar hit rewards the act, making it more likely to repeat (a habit, not a decision).
- +1Read the MAO & attitude. It is low-MAO, peripheral-route processing; the stated wish to stop is an attitude that fails the TORA/TOPB intention–behaviour gap.
- +1Design the intervention. Use cue control (remove the 3 pm trigger) and substitute a new reinforcer (a walk, a tea) so the loop is re-routed, not just resisted.
- +1Evidence & reflect. Baseline first, keep a dated log of cue–feeling–context, then read the result through the disconfirmation paradigm — mechanism, not willpower.
Key terms
- MAO (Motivation, Ability, Opportunity)
- The unit's spine framework: a consumer processes an offering deeply only when all three switches are present. It is a logical AND, not an average — high motivation and ability still produce nothing if opportunity is missing.
- EAPC chain
- Perception's four links — Exposure → Attention → Perception → Comprehension. Each is a precondition for the next, so a message that fails does so because one link broke (never seen, ignored, too faint, or misread).
- Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
- Persuasion travels one of two routes set by the consumer's MAO: the central route (high MAO, processing the message's merits, building strong attitudes) or the peripheral route (low MAO, leaning on cues like source, music or repetition, building weak ones).
- Compensatory vs non-compensatory rules
- How consumers combine attributes into a choice. A compensatory rule lets a strong attribute offset a weak one (a weighted sum); a non-compensatory rule does not — fall below a cutoff on a key attribute (conjunctive, disjunctive, lexicographic, elimination-by-aspects) and you are out, however strong elsewhere.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- A loyalty metric from one question — “how likely are you to recommend us, 0–10?” NPS = %Promoters (9–10) − %Detractors (0–6); passives (7–8) are excluded. It measures long-term advocacy, where CSAT measures short-term satisfaction with one touchpoint.
MKTG6007 FAQ
Is MKTG6007 hard?
Conceptually it is approachable — the models are intuitive once anchored to a brand. The difficulty is that there is no exam to revise for: every mark comes from applying a theory to a real consumer with evidence, so the challenge is precision and analysis, not memorisation. Pure description of a campaign or habit is the most common way to lose marks.
How is MKTG6007 assessed?
Entirely by applied and continuous work, with no final exam. The biggest single piece is the Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge (30%) — a self-experiment written up as a CB-theory blog post — alongside a group written report (25%), a group oral (20%), the LookBook portfolio (18%), an open-book quiz (5%) and a small research component (2%). Confirm this year's exact split in your unit outline.
What is the Changing Consumer Behaviour Challenge (CCBC)?
The headline 30% assessment: you change one of your own consumption behaviours over the semester (cutting spend, reducing sugar / social media, exercising more), document the journey with a dated log, then write it up as a mock blog post that interprets the whole experience through CB theory. It is an n=1 self-experiment — rigour comes from honest evidence and tight theory, not sample size.
What theories does MKTG6007 cover?
The psychological core: the MAO framework, the EAPC perception chain, classical/operant learning and memory, motivation (needs, Maslow, the means-end chain), attitudes (the ABC model, the ELM, TORA/TOPB), the consumer decision process and its biases, post-purchase behaviour (dissonance, satisfaction, NPS), social and cultural influence, and the self (self-concept, personality, lifestyle/psychographics, ethics & CSR). The set text is Hoyer, MacInnis & Pieters.
Is using AskSia for MKTG6007 cheating?
No. AskSia is a study reference written in our own words — we host none of your lecturer's files, and Sia teaches you the method (how to pin a CB theory to a real consumer with evidence) to earn the marks; it does not complete or submit your assessments.
How to study for the exam
Because there is no exam, do not study to recall — study to apply. Pick one real behaviour now (ideally your CCBC behaviour) and read every model asking “how does this explain me doing this?” For every chapter, drill the one move the markers reward: (1) name the consumer behaviour precisely, (2) name the CB mechanism that explains it (cite the model — MAO, habituation, operant reinforcement, peripheral-route attitude, a non-compensatory rule), (3) back it with concrete evidence. The killer combo for habit work is operant + classical + cue control; the killer trap across every task is pure description — “this ad is colourful and fun” instead of “this ad uses peripheral cues to build a low-effort affective attitude via mere exposure.”
