Consumer Research

Consumer Research

Assignment 1 (Individual Essay)(50% of the final mark):

Overview of the assignment:

You are required to write an individual assignment of no more than 2,000 words (excluding the list of references or bibliography, but including supporting material in appendices) where you analyse and critique the research and methodologicalchoices in two academic marketing articles on a specific theory in marketing discussed in class (confusion in marketing).  This theory will be discussed in class towards the start of the module. 

Confusion in marketing is a body of knowledge about marketing practices which has been developing during the past 30 years or so.  It raises important ethical, moral and legal questions about marketing practices and interactions between customers and providers, and in the process of doing so challenges some of the precepts of the marketing discipline.  A session at the start of the module will be dedicated to an overview of the theory and its significance to marketing theory, market and marketing research, and marketing practice.  You are advised to come prepared to this session, having read some articles on confusion.  Attending this session will be critical to your understanding of the theory and will therefore significantly facilitate your planning and writing up of the assignment in the later part of the module. 

You will need to choose two articles on confusion in marketing published in any reputable marketing journal (i.e. a journal which is listed in the ABS list – the ABS list will be discussed in class and a copy of the list will be placed on ELE for your convenience).  You are expected to analyse, critically evaluate and compare the methodologies applied in the two articles on confusion of your choice.  You are also expected to assess the contribution of the two articles to practice.

The analysis, critical evaluation and comparison of the methodologies applied in the two articles should cover the following methodologies issues: the research designs, methods of data collection, sampling choices, criteriology matters, ethical issues applied in the two articles and other aspects of methodology discussed in class during weeks 1-11. 

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This assignment will be based on in-class discussions about methodology (weeks 1-11) and the theory of confusion in marketing (week 2), presentation(s) of the guest speaker(s), and consumer research literature. Your everyday life consumer experiences, any questions discussed in-class can also be used to raise questions and concerns in the assignment. The assignment should include a full list of references in a consistent format, to be added at the very end of the assignment.

Students are allowed to exceed the word count limit by 10% (the +/- 10% rule therefore applies to this assignment). 

Academic marketing articles to be assessed in the assignment:

Copies of some articles representing the theory of confusion in marketing will be placed online for students to read and consult during the process of planning and writing up the assignment.  Although a number of such articles will be available for students to read and discuss on ELE, each student may choose other articles for their assignment (as long as they have been published in a marketing journal which is listed in the ABS list).  Eachstudent will need to choose only twoacademic articles for this assignment.  Students are neither expected nor allowed to analyse more or less than two articles of their choice. 

In assessing the two articles, you will need to draw on the general literature on research designs, data collection, methods of data collection, as discussed in class.  In order to get a good grade for this assignment, you will need to back up your arguments with readings from that literature – both readings presented in class and ones that you have sourced in the University library and from other reputable academic sources. 

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Format of the assignment:

You are expected to critically evaluate and compare the methodologies applied in the two articles that you have chosen.  You will also need to discuss the contribution of both articles to practice.

There is no specific format in which the assignment should be presented.  That is, it could be written as a report (with headings and sub-headings) or in the format of an essay (with no or few headings). 

There is also no specific structure recommended, as such an assignment could be organised in various ways, each of them being equally legitimate and acceptable. 

What is crucial though is that, in your assignment,you:

1.    Identify and properly label the methodological choices in the two articles (research designs, methods of data collection, sampling and data collection, criteriology issues, ethical aspects/problems/complications/issues).  ‘Labelling’ for instance refers to stating that an article used an ‘interpretivist research design’ (research designs will be discussed in week 3 of term).

2.    Analyse and reflect upon the methodological choices in the two articles (research designs, methods of data collection, sampling and data collection, criteriology issues, ethical aspects/problems/complications/issues).  ‘Analysis’ and ‘reflection’ mean that you are expected to discuss these choices, i.e. for instance assessing their correctness and appropriateness.  You are therefore asked to critique, or alternatively – support, the methodological choices in the articles. 

When assessing the two articles, in addition to being expected to analyse and express your views about the respective research designs, data collection, sampling, etc. in the two articles, you also need to think about the research problems / research objectives / research questions in each article, and assess them against the methodological approach taken in the article (that is, you need to reach a conclusion whether the research problems / research objectives / research questions identified in each article have been adequately addressed through the research designs that the articles’ authors have chosen).

Since BEM3010 is a module on research and analysis (a methodology module), in your assignments you will need to focus on the sections in both articles which talk about their respective research designs, data collection, sampling, etc.  An example of such a section and how to read / analyse it will be shown in class. 

It is up to you how you organise your assignments visually.  You may decide to clearly mark each section with headings, or may opt for writing an assignment which has no headings.  Irrespective of the approach that you take, you will be expected to cover the issues noted above.

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