Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the HNC/D programme you are required to submit an assignment for each module. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

After completing the module you should be able to:

LO 1 Understand buyer behaviour & the purchase decision-making process
LO 2 Be able to use market research techniques
LO 3 Be able to assess market size and future demand
LO 4 Be able to measure customer satisfaction

Scenario

Wearable technology is said to be the 'next big thing' in technology take up by consumers and businesses although recent history seems to show a limited level of take-up in some territories - leaving this as a niche market only - why is this? Conduct some research into the Google Glass and other technology wearables, upcoming developments in the market and the potential for these products going forward. Respond to the marketing intelligence issues raised below:

Task 1

a. As regards the purchase of wearable technology, explain how this might differ if wearable technology were being bought by an organisation for its staff in a B2B scenario in comparison to a B2C purchases situation.

b. From a consumer or business point of view, identify common buyer motives as detailed in marketing books (external/internal stimuli, psychological, sociological, economic factors, cultural, lifestyle, etc) and explain how these relate to the adoption/purchase of wearable technology.

Task 2

a. Use at least two established sources of secondary research, for example from the EBSCO link on ilearn, or an established newspaper or market report to highlight any trends in the wearable technology market going forward. Following on from this, assess these sources in terms of their validity & reliability as regards the information they provide using appropriate theory.

b. Following on from the above, plan and conduct some detailed analysis as regards the wearable technologies market, assessing market size, trends and activity along with levels of competition in terms of participants and their key strengths, evaluating the opportunities & threats for firms in the market going forward.

Task 3

a. Using relevant primary research techniques, prepare a market research plan & a customer satisfaction survey to obtain information on potential customer uptake & satisfaction in purchasing wearable technology (likes/dislikes/needs/uses/ relevance to the individual, understanding of the value of the technology to them personally, perceived uses, etc). This must include the design, execution & analysis of a customer satisfaction survey.

b. Within your satisfaction survey you must also evaluate the relationship between the level of brand loyalty, corporate image & repeat purchase as regards wearable technology - Do consumers stick with the brand linked to their phone - Apple for example? If not, what might drive them to change?

c. Conclude by evaluating your research plan, the method of research in assessing customer response and the success of your survey including an evaluation as regards the validity & reliability of the data gathered, identifying any alternative techniques/methods (at least one must be discussed here) you might use in any future research.

Student Guidelines

1. You should write this assignment using headings & subheadings but not as a formal report

2. You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook which is in the Induction Area). Please also refer to the ‘Guide to Unfair Practice in Assessment' on the module page on ilearn.

3. You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the Bournemouth University (BU) Harvard system. The ‘My Study Skills' area contains the following useful resources; Study Skills Guide (containing a BU Harvard Referencing section) and a BU Harvard Referencing Interactive Tutorial. You must use the BU Harvard Referencing method in your assignment.

4. You should use diagrams and tables of figures where appropriate ensuring to reference their source using the BU Harvard Referencing method.

5. You are required to write your assignment within 4000words in order for your research and summarising skills to be developed, and for effective time management. You are required to ensure that the assignment addresses all of the assessment tasks. In the interests of good academic practice, an assignment submitted with excessive word counts (i.e. more than 10% in excess of the limit) will be returned to you. You will be given a maximum of 48 hours to edit the work to reduce the word count to the permitted maximum. In the event that the submission is still regarded as excessively long then, in line with advice received from Pearson, we will be unable to accept it for marking and you will receive a Refer grade for Non-Submission.