NBS8636 : Digital Consumer Behaviour
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Saurabh Bhattacharya
- Owning School: Newcastle University Business School
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
- Capacity limit: 150 student places
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 5.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
An essential component of marketing is understanding consumer behaviour. This course stimulates a critical assessment of fundamental consumer behaviour concepts and theories from the point of view of consumers living in a digital world. The course examines consumers' decisions in a digital world, the processes underlying these decisions, and the psychological and sociological factors that influence buying behavior. Students will learn about various external and internal influences affecting consumer behaviour, considering the impact of social media, online communities, and always-on mobile connectivity. Such influences include social groups, online research and communication, social class, culture, perception, motivation, attitude, and self-concept. The course also examines the impact of digital marketing on society, both domestic and global.
Outline Of Syllabus
- Digital consumer behaviour Foundation-I ["Always-on” consumer]
- Digital consumer behaviour Foundation-II [Consumer & Social Well-being]
- The Digital Consumer-I [Consumers' Perception and Learning & Memory in a Digital Context ]
- The Digital Consumer-II [Digital Technology's impact on Motivation and Affect and The Self]
- The Digital Consumer-III [Digital Consumers' Personality, Lifestyles, and Values]
- Choosing and Using Products in a Digital World-I [Leveraging digital marketing to shape attitudes and persuade consumers]
- Choosing and Using Products in a Digital World-II [Non-linear journey in a digital world, How the digital world impacts Buying, Using, and Disposing]
- Society and Cultural Influences [The power of online communities in influencing consumer opinions; Influencing and influencers]
- Data Analytics (Sentiment Analysis: Understanding consumer behavior at every step of the process improving the quality of your service for customers.)
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 25:00 | 25:00 | Exam Preparation (Practice Papers, Taught content revision, etc.) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 7 | 2:00 | 14:00 | 5 PIP lectures and 2 Synchronous Online Lectures. Each of 2 hrs. |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 24:00 | 24:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | Two 2 hour seminars (Sentiment Analysis). |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured non-synchronous discussion | 5 | 1:30 | 7:30 | Digital Activity: Recorded Material (Updated Annually) |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 25:30 | 25:30 | N/A |
| Total | 100:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Student knowledge of digital consumer behaviour will be acquired largely via regular PIP and synchronous lectures and asynchronous lectures. Small group sessions will support students in determining if the emotional tone of consumers’ messages are positive, negative, or neutral (sentiment analysis). Learning will be supported through directed reading and independent study.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Examination | 90 | 1 | A | 100 | In-Person PC Exam having MCQs & open-ended questions. Negative marking for wrong answers to MCQ questions. If a move to completely online Exam necessary, same format but not in-Person. Inspera Platform will be used. |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical/lab report | 1 | M | Students will receive verbal feedback on sentiment analysis output during the small group seminar sessions |
| Computer assessment | 1 | M | Students will receive a practice paper to support them in their exam preparation. Also, they will receive answer key of the practice paper. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The In-Person PC-based Exam at the end of Semester 1 allows students to demonstrate their understanding of the key concepts, theories, and analytics associated with consumers in a digital world. The Exam will have both Multiple-Choice Questions and Essay Questions. The Multiple-Choice Questions will have negative marking for wrong answers. PC-based exams are also safer in terms of plagiarism. Also, since students will receive graphs and tables related to Sentiment Analysis (as one of the essay questions), handling these will be easier in a PC-based Exam as compared to a written exam.
The formative assessments in this module relates to the analysis of case studies in which digital consumer behaviour-related analytics (especially sentiment analysis) will be critically applied during the small group seminar sessions. Feedback on the sentiment analysis output will be orally communicated during these sessions. This will help to inform students’ understanding to assist with exam preparation. Students will also receive practice paper that may support in their exam preparation. Answer key to the practice paper will be provided.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NBS8636's Timetable