MKTG315 - Marketing Analysis: Evidence-Based Decisions

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

MKTG207 Marketing Toolkit OR MKTG100

Teaching organisation

150 hours over a twelve-week semester or equivalent study period

Unit rationale, description and aim

Information is regarded as a strategic asset in marketing and an essential part of marketing intelligence and analytics. This unit deals with the practical and ethical application of tools used by marketing managers to gather and analyse marketing data, measure the core factors that drive marketing activity, and to analyse the profitability of these activities. Success of organisations can lie in their access and usage of superior information, to develop competitive differential advantage. Superior information has to be gathered by employing appropriate market research methods and applying ethical frameworks that enforce informants/respondents’ dignity and wellbeing.  Marketing research involves the collection and interpretation of information about customers and competitors in local and international markets, while marketing metrics are measures that marketers establish to track performance in the marketplace. 

The aim of this unit is to prepare students for analytical marketing roles and assist them to develop skills and knowledge in managing market research data to make strategic and tactical decisions conforming to high ethical standards.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Identify and explain key marketing metrics and their use in decision making about products, customers and markets (GA4, GA5)

LO2 - Use relevant information to communicate marketing metric typologies and use different metrics within each of these typologies (GA5, GA10)

LO3 - Apply the methods of market research in a way not to compromise the dignity of participants (GA1, GA5)

LO4 - Synthesise and interpret marketing research data (GA5, GA8)

LO5 - Apply relevant marketing research methods to decision-making about products, customers and markets (GA5, GA6)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• Problem definition and information needs specification
• Primary data collection techniques
• Locate and analyse secondary data 
• Turning data into information: analysis and synthesis of Marketing Research data
• Introduction to marketing metrics
• Analysis of market-related metrics
• Product and brand-related metrics
• Margins and price-related metrics
• Advertising and web-related metrics
• Consumer-related metrics
• Research and communicate marketing metrics typologies
• Teamwork in marketing decision-making 
• Application of methods that do not compromise dignity eg in observation research 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The learning and teaching strategy is based on student engagement in the learning process by participation in weekly workshops or equivalent and participate in practical activities. These workshops or equivalent support students to actively participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge both individually and in small groups. By taking part in these workshops or equivalent, students will systematically develop their understanding of the key aspects of marketing research and build skills in marketing metrics analytics. Students will be involved in a practical data collection and interpretation project to experience the various issues in designing and conducting a marketing research project and writing and presenting marketing research findings. The experiential approach underpinning the learning and teaching strategy for this unit extends to practical analytical approaches used in marketing metrics based on ‘real world’ examples.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.

Attendance Mode

In an attendance mode, students will require face-to-face attendance in a specific physical location/s. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise.

Blended Mode

In a blended mode, students will require intermittent face-to-face attendance determined by the School. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise.

Online Mode

In an online mode, students engage in asynchronous learning and participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge, while developing their knowledge. Students are required to participate in a series of online interactive activities to enhance their learning including knowledge checks, discussion boards and self paced exercises. This approach allows flexibility for students and facilitates learning and participation for students with a preference for virtual learning.

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to demonstrate mastery of all learning outcomes and achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking of each assessment task will be in accordance with rubrics specifically developed to measure student level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each assessment item.

Students will be awarded a final grade which signifies their overall achievement in the unit. The assessment strategy for this unit allows participants to sequentially develop their knowledge and skills in marketing analysis to the point where they can conduct, interpret and report the findings of marketing research undertaken to resolve a marketing problem or to uncover a marketing opportunity in a real-world scenario. In order to develop this level of capability, students will need to demonstrate knowledge about marketing research, including research design, information collection design, data collection and interpretation. Students will also need to demonstrate ability to identify, describe, analyse and evaluate the use of key marketing metrics in an existing organisation. 

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome as indicated in the following Assessment Table.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bendle, N., Farris, P., Pfeifer, P., Reibstein, D 2020, Marketing Metrics: The Manager's Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance, 3 ed., Pearson Higher Education

Burns, AC & Bush, RF 2021, Marketing Research, 10th ed. Person Education, Upper-Saddle River, NJ.

Malhotra, N. 2021, Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, Global Edition, 7th ed. Pearson

Wierenga, B & van der Lans, editors, 2017. Handbook of Marketing Decision Models, 2nd ed. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland

Babin, B, D”alessandro, S, Winzar, H., Lowe, B., Zikmund, W. 2020Marketing Research, 5th Asia-Pacific edition, Cengage learning.

Sivarajah, U, Kamal. MU, Irani, Z., Weerakkody, V, 2017, Critical analysis of Big Data challenges and analytical methods, JBR, 70, 263-286

Berger, J. Humphreys, A. Ludwig, S. Moe, W. 2019, Uniting the Tribes: Using Text for Marketing Insight, JM, 84(1), pp 1-25

Cao, G. Duan, Y., Banna, A. 2019, A dynamic capability view of marketing analytics: Evidence from UK firms, IMM, 76, pp 72-83

Gallucci, F. Garofalo, 2018, Using the six principles of neuromarketing to better understand changing markets, Applied Marketing Analytics, V. 3,4, pp 339-352

Petersen, JA, Kumar, V, Polo, Y, Sese F. 2017, Unlocking the power of marketing: understanding the links between the customer mindset metrics, behaviour and profitability. JAMS, v. 46, pp 813-836.