NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

BTEC HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS (RQF) ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

Unit Code, Number and Title L/618/5120 - Unit 33: Marketing Insights and Analytics

Semester and Academic Year Semester 2 / Academic year 2023 - 2024

Unit Assessor(s) Le Thi Thu Mai / Do Minh Diep
Component Number and Title MIA A1.1: Consumer decision-making process and customer
experience
Issue Date

Submission Date 10:00 am, April 12, 2024 (Week 8)

(soft-copy only via Moodle)

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Submission format

 This is an individual assignment.

 The submission format is in the form of an E-report. Please refer the “Turnitin Submission Rules”
that was posted on Moodle.
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paraphrasing, summarising or using direct quotes. A Referral Grade is given when Plagiarism is

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 identified in your work. There are no exceptions.
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guiding posted on Moodle. The Reference page is compulsory to upload on Turnitin.
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Roman 13 font size and 1.5 spacing.
 The word limit is 4000 words (+/- 10%).
 You MUST complete and submit softcopy of your work on the due dates stated on Assignment
brief. All late work is not allowed to submit. This rule is not waived under any circumstances.
 Read ALL Instructions on this Page and review the Pass, Merit and Distinction criteria carefully.
To pass the assignment, you must achieve ALL the Pass Criteria outlined in the marking sheet. To
achieve a Merit, you must achieve ALL the Merit criteria (and therefore the Pass criteria). To
achieve a Distinction, you must achieve ALL the Distinction criteria (and therefore the Pass and
Merit criteria).

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1: Investigate characteristics and influences on consumer decision-making processes in different
organizational contexts.
LO2: Apply techniques to enhance the customer experience and develop customer relationships for
marketing purposes.
Vocational Scenario
According to Mordor Intelligence (2024), Vietnam Hospitality Market has generated revenue of USD 2.69
billion in the current year and is poised to achieve a CAGR of 14% for the forecast period. After the
COVID-19 pandemic, with the fluctuations of the economic and political situation in the world, world
tourism activities had not been restored as forecast but took place slowly, especially in Asia. Vietnam
tourism has actively implemented many solutions and achieved positive results, making an important
contribution to economic recovery after the pandemic. Vietnam National Administration of Tourism
(VNAT) has promoted Vietnam tourism on digital platforms to target markets and joined important
international travel fairs in order to affirm that Vietnam is a safe, attractive destination and fully ready to
welcome tourists back after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Circular tourism is a new, highly sustainable concept, promising an effective implementation. Circular
tourism is described as a closed, continuous and complementary chain of supplies, activities, and
experiences. Its goals are to reduce waste, restore resources through tourism models and products and focus
on minimizing negative impacts on the environment via innovative methods to maximize the life cycle of
used tourism resources, towards green and sustainable tourism. Tourism, in the current early stages of
adaptation, will be shaped by three trends: new destinations and experiences; short-term, domestic tourism
and green tourism, towards sustainable development. Studies have shown that tourists are interested in
sustainable tourism and are willing to pay more to contribute to the sustainable development of the
destination. In another study caried out by the travel agency Expedia, the sustainability factor also has a
decisive impact on the choice of accommodation and travel service provider: 73% of participants preferred
hotels and motels that practice environment-friendly and community-friendly principles and 65% would
choose a service business that demonstrates inclusiveness in sustainable development.
The above data show that green tourism, circular tourism in harmony with nature and indigenous
communities, will be the main trend in the future. This is also an opportunity for tourism businesses to take
advantage of in order to quickly recover from the shock caused by COVID-19. To remain competitive in
this industry, tourism businesses have started new trends in resource utilization: using renewable energy,
switching to renewable materials such as biodegradable bags, straws and cups made from
paper/bamboo/wood and glass bottles instead of single-use plastic bottlesin hotels andrestaurants.
Therefore, they need to take this advantage to take customers’ ethical and sustainable consideration into

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account when they develop appropriate marketing strategies to develop insightful understanding of their
target customers’ behavior and idenitfy factors which might influence their purchase decisions and establish
strategies to improve customer experience.
Your task
Select one tourism company in Vietnam that is offering circular tourism services to be your employer. As a
marketing executive, you are asked by the Chief Marketing Officer of your company to evaluate whether
your company’s current marketing strategies can influence consumption behaviors of your target audience
(TA). To do so, you need to explain if the company has comprehended how different individual and external
factors can influence your TA’s consumer behaviors and whether your company’s marketing strategies have
successfully responded to these factors to influence your TA’s consumer behaviors. You also need to
recommend other marketing decisions the company can make to influence their consumer behaviors more
effectively. Second, you are asked to consult ideas of developing a customer experience strategy to create
more positive customer experience for your target customers.
Assignment activity and guidance
You are preparing to write a report to the Chief Marketing Officer of your company. The report
encompasses two sections.
Task 1: The consumer-decision making process
In this section of the report, you need to discuss and analyze the following areas:
- Characteristics of your company’s customers
- TWO of the individual influences on buyer behaviour, e.g. motivations, values, the digital
environment, consumer learning, perceptions, e.g. dynamics, imagery and risk; attitudes,
lifestyles.
- TWO of the external influences on buyer behaviour, e.g. ethical considerations, climate change,
sustainability, global pandemic, group influences on buyer behaviour, e.g. reference groups,
culture, opinion leaders.
- The five-stage buying process of your company’s consumers
Hints:
- Characteristics of the company’s customers
Tips: You can use existing definitions and descriptions in books, journals or internet to identify
characteristics of your company’s customers, including types of customer, organizational context, needs,
wants, values. Moreover, you need to relate to the characteristics of customers of the chosen company.
- TWO of the individual influences on buyer behaviour
Tips: Use existing definitions and theories in books, journals or internet to identify individual factors
that can influence buyer behaviour (motivations, values, the digital environment, consumer learning,
perceptions, e.g. dynamics, imagery and risk; attitudes, lifestyles). Select and discuss 02 of these factors
that can influence customers in their buying behavior of your company’s products which are related to
health concerns. Be sure to evaluate any of your company’s current marketing strategies for these
products to see whether your company’s current marketing strategies seem to apply knowledge of these
factors well or not and whether your company’s marketing mix have been aligned with principles of
circular economy or not. For example, your discussion of ‘perception’ may reveal how Gestalt principles
influence perception, and in arguing that it is relevant for the purchase decisions of the chosen product;
and you notice that currently, the client does not use any Gestalt principles in its marketing strategies.
This recognition of a ‘shortfall’ in implementing theories about perception (or any of the influencing
factors) would lead to a recommendation of what your company can do to influence their buyer behavior
more effectively.
- TWO of the external influences on buyer behaviour
Tips: Use existing definitions and theories in books, journals or internet to identify factors that
influence buyer behaviour (ethical considerations, climate change, sustainability, global pandemic,
reference groups, culture, opinion leader). Select and discuss 02 of these factors that can influence

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 customers in their buying behavior of the products related to health concerns of your company. You
then need to provide TWO recommendations on how your company could better influence consumer
buyer behaviour by changing their current marketing strategies to incorporate your insights regarding
the two external influencing factors you selected. Don’t forget to review the existing practices, and
ensure that your recommended practices can help the company influence the buyer behavior more
effectively.
- The five-stage buying process of the brand’s (company’s) consumers
Tips: You can use existing definitions in books, journals or internet to describe the five-stage buying
process. You also need to clarify the importance of marketers’ mapping a path to purchase. More
importantly, you need to relate to how the target consumers of your company go through this buying
process and describe the consumer-decision journey of these consumers.
Task 2: A strategic customer experience
The company now is keen to understand the customer journey, customer touch points and customer
experience of their target customers. You then can analyze and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the
current customer experience strategy of the company (both online and offline ones). Based on this, you are
expected to recommend a new customer experience strategy and actions to deliver a positive customer
experience and raise satisfaction levels for their customers (both online and offline ones).
Hints
- Use definitions and theories in books, journals and articles to identify the concept of the
customer journey; the influence of digital technologies on the customer journey; the customer
touch points; and how technology is used at each touch point.
- Discuss how digital technologies can be applied to manage the customer experience.
- Analyze the current customer journey and touchpoints of the company.
- Critically analyze the current customer experience strategy that your company is conducting.
Does it have any strength or weaknesses? Why?
- Provide a set of justified recommendations on how your company can adapt iits marketing mix
to enhance customer experience and raise customer satisfaction levels. Evaluate how the
application of these will help your company achieve its objective? Are there any strengths or
weaknesses your company may have in applying these strategies or actions?

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass Merit Distinction

LO1: Investigate characteristics and influences on consumer

decision-making processes in different organisational contexts
D1: Critically evaluate the consumer
P1: Examine the stages of the M1: Evaluate how marketers decision- making process to develop
consumer decision- making understand the consumer decision- a strategic customer experience.
journey for products and services making process for a range of
from different organisations. products and services from
P2: Discuss why it is important for different organisations.
marketers to map a path to

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purchase and understand consumer
decision making.

LO2: Apply techniques to enhance the customer experience and

develop customer relationships for marketing purposes

P3: Design a customer experience M2: Design a detailed customer

strategy, selecting appropriate experience strategy, selecting
techniques to enhance customer appropriate techniques to enhance
experience to meet marketing customer experience to maximise
opportunities. marketing opportunities.

* Please note that grades are provisional. They are only confirmed once internal and external verifiers
have taken place, and the final decisions have been agreed by the assessment board.
* This grade only reflects the result of this assignment, not for the whole Unit.