MRKT20021 Consumer and Organisational Buyer Behaviour

While we are all consumers in day to day life, few of us fully understand the internal and external mechanisms driving us to behave in certain ways and make specific buying and consumption decisions - what drives us to study, to our choice of car, to body art or even to socially undesirable behaviours such as compulsive gambling? What of the organisational buyer who purchases for business rather than for personal consumption - are different combinations of forces driving their decision? Are our decisions impacted by internal drives within ourselves or by forces in our external environment such as family and culture. In reality it is often a combination of these influences, thus it is important to understand not only where those influences are coming from, but also how they interact with each other to result in a consumer decision. To facilitate thorough understanding, students are exposed to models and frameworks of consumer decision-making and the effects that various individuals and external influences may have on their actions and decisions. The literature for the course derives from various other academic disciplines such as psychology, sociology and anthropology adapted to relate to the specific needs of marketing. Both the individual parent disciplines and their adaption to the marketing world have been subject to much academic debate. Students are expected to review the development of theories and debates, reflect critically on the material and fully understand the implications and application of the theory to the marketing management context.