Assessment item 3
Report
Value: 70%
Due date:16-June-2013
Return date:
04-july-2013
Length: 5000
Submission method
options
Hand delivery (option applies to
Internal only)
Alternative submission method
Task

Your task is to write a report on the concepts of reference group influences,
demographics and lifestyle theory in the context of an online social community,
facebook. Then, based on your findings, make recommendations about how companies
can be more effective in their use of one facebook tool, the ‘like’ button.

Remember, facebook is both an online social community and a component of
many companies’ online marketing strategy. This is reflected in the documentary
“Mark Zuckerberg: Inside facebook” which we recommend you watch using youtube
before completing you report. A link to this will be provided in Interact.

Just as with the second assessment you need to research the topic. You
need to find at least 6relevant sources from academic and industry
related to the theoretical topics of lifestyles; demographics and
reference group influences (avoid Wikipedia). If you cannot find
any relevant articles, please ask for help.

You will need to have a section in your report for each area of the three
areas of theory and then a section for recommendations. Below are the specific
questions that you will need to address in each of these sections (please do not
just summarise the documentary, you need to make sure that you answer each of
the questions posed).

Reference Group Influences Section
There are three types of reference group influence, informational,
normative and identification. How does each form of reference group influence
operate in the context of facebook? Identify which influence is the most
powerful in these online communities and explain why?

Demographics Section
What demographic information does facebook collect (several types are
mentioned in the film)? How do companies related to facebook use this
information to segment the marketplace? In your answer consider the advantages
and disadvantages of demographic segmentation.

Lifestyles Section
How has facebook influenced people’s lifestyles? How have these changes
altered people’s consumption behaviour?

Recommendations Section
One of the specific tools of facebook is the ‘like’ button, what
recommendations would you suggest to make this online strategy more effective
for a company when using this tool?

Structure-Here is an example of the recommended structure of your
report

• Executive Summary
• Table of contents (use page numbers throughout the report)
• Introduction
• Group influence types
• Demographics
• Lifestyles
• Recommendations
• Conclusions
• References

Rationale

This assessment task is designed for students to:

• Integrate theory into industry to evaluate theory
• Continue to develop academic research skills
• Draw out market implications and make recommendations for a specific
  product
• Be provided with a theoretical basis for understanding buyer behaviour
• Have gained a knowledge base that helps to make effective decisions as a
  marketer;
• Be able to discuss the concepts involved in buyer
  behaviour

Marking criteria

The marking guide is out of 100 marks.

There is also a copy of this guide on Interact in the resources folder

Presentation

Report Format- see Interact Resources folder for a guide

Requirements

Referencing- Please use APA style