Assignment:
This assignment is in two parts: part 1 is a reflexive diary; part 2 is an individually written
2,000 word assignment. Both parts need to be submitted for your assignment to be
complete.
Part 1:
You are required to keep a reflexive diary over a period of five days. This diary should
reflect on your consumption practices each day. What did you buy, eat, watch etc each
day? Did you make any consumption decisions that were unusual for you? What ethical and
responsibility issues did you consider during these consumption practices. What ethical and
responsibility issues do you think these purchases might raise. Your reflective diary should
be no more than 2000 words and may contain images, photographs or other visual
elements that support your discussion.
Your diary should be completed BEFORE MONDAY 31st OCTOBER and submitted online by
this date. It should also be submitted as an appendix to your assignment.
Your diary will not be graded but it will be read in conjunction with part 2 of the assignment
(the critical reflection) and you will be graded on the extent to which your observations
noted in your diary inform your critical discussion.
Part 2:
Working with your diary, identify one consumption practice of yours that you wish to
explore within your written assignment. Then critically evaluate the effects on the
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environmental sustainability, social impact and individual well-being of your chosen
consumption practice, considering the influence of and impact on different stakeholders of
this practice.
You MAY wish to think about the following questions as you prepare to complete the
assignment. Please note: these are here to help you start thinking about your chosen topic
NOT as a set of questions that you should specifically address in your assignment.
a) What are the ethical, social, or environmental issues that are pertinent to your
chosen consumption practice?
b) In what parts of the marketing or consumption process do these issues arise?
c) Who are the relevant stakeholders connected with this consumption practice in
what ways are they, or could they be affected?
d) Can the different theories or frameworks covered on the module be useful in
understanding and evaluating the issues you have identified?
Guidelines and things to remember
1. Choosing a consumption practice – You are required to examine one consumption
practice within your critical reflection. You have the scope to choose a focus that you
find of interest but you should ensure that you clearly articulate what consumption
practice you are choosing to focus on and why your diary reveals that it is of interest.
You might, for example, look into the consumption of clothes, music or food
products, stating which specific good or services you wish to focus on. You could
look at travel, sports, gaming, the consumption of junk food or any other form of
consumption that features in your diary and proves an interesting avenue for critical
discussion.
2. Help with assignment – part of the workshops on this module will be dedicated to
working on your assignment. For example, we will discuss the diaries and what you
might include and how to record it and how to analyse what you have written and
choose a topic for discussion.
3. Format of the dairy. You are free to choose any format you like for the dairy. It
should be submitted online by MONDAY 31st OCTOBER 2022. This will not be
graded but will form part of your formative assessment.
4. Appendix In addition to your critical reflection, you must also submit your diary as
an appendix. IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT THIS YOUR ASSIGNMENT WILL BE
INCOMPLETE AND YOU WILL LOSE MARKS.
5. Structure of critical reflection. There is no specified structure, but good submissions
would be expected to have the title at the beginning, an introduction, a main body, a
brief conclusion, a list of references (Harvard style), as well at the diary included as
an appendix
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6. References – This is an academic piece of work and therefore you must use academic
literature to underpin your evaluations and discussions. In addition to the material
covered during classes and in the resources list, you are expected to look for
additional relevant literature.
You must have a minimum of 10 academic peer reviewed journal articles that are
well referenced in your assessment submission. If you have fewer than 10 academic
peer reviewed journal articles, you will receive a 5% penalty.
You can, of course, have more than 10 peer reviewed journal articles. However, do
remember that in order to gain marks it is about how well you use the references,
rather than quantity. It is about how well you understand the articles you have read
and how well you integrate the points they make into your assignment. If you either
don’t read or read the articles in a very cursory manner and then just insert the
references into your assignment hoping they are in roughly the right places, it is
unlikely that you understand the articles and the points they are making, and this is
unlikely to get a good grade.
7. Word Count: Your critical reflection MUST NOT exceed the 2,000 word limit. This
excludes the title page, tables, illustrations, references and appendices. The reason
for this is that a key part of this assignment is for you to write in a concise and
focused way.
8. Referencing: Please use the Harvard System throughout your assignment. You
should consult http://www.i-cite.bham.ac.uk/Harvard.shtml to learn how to
reference your work appropriately and
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/referencing/icite/harva
rd/index.aspx for specific guidance on using the Harvard method of referencing.
9. Submission window – the end of the submission window is submission is 12 noon
on Thursday 17th November 2022. Penalties apply for late submissions. Any
coursework submitted beyond this deadline will be subjected to a mark deduction of
5% for every day it is late, unless there are university-approved mitigating
circumstances that have been agreed.
Module Learning Outcomes:
The aim of the assignment is to assess the extent to which you meet the learning outcomes
outlined for this module. Consequently, this assignment will assess the following learning
outcomes:
LO 1. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of the ethical issues in marketing and
consumption.
LO 2. Explain the complex and dynamic influences that impact upon the socially and environmentally
(ir)responsible decisions made by marketers and consumers.
LO3. Discuss conceptual frameworks related to ethical, sustainable and social marketing as
well as consumption.
LO 4. Apply relevant theoretical frameworks to diagnose and solve responsible marketing and
consumption problems
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Grading Criteria:
The assignment will be assessed according to the marking criteria below.
? Critical awareness of relevant responsibility issues, challenges and ambiguities in marketing
and consumption. Good assignments will demonstrate a critical awareness of their chosen
topic (from those covered in the module) and the diverse ethical, social and environmental
issues, challenges and ambiguities involved in marketing and consumption.
? Critical discussion of relevant concepts in the fields of ethical, sustainable and social
marketing and consumption. Good assignments will show understanding, critical discussion
and justification of the use of relevant concepts and theories in the field. As a result, they
will show good understanding of the interrelationship between marketing and society, and
of responsible marketing.
? Ability to apply relevant theoretical frameworks to diagnose and solve responsibility issues
in marketing and consumption. Good assignments will show congruence between the
literature reviewed, the theories used, and the issues identified.
? Good assignment will show good awareness of and linkages with the information recorded
in the reflexive diary.
? Ability to search for, synthesise, and critically evaluate relevant literature. Good
assignments will show the ability to search for, synthesise, and critically evaluate relevant
existing literature from a range of reliable sources. The assignment will also show a
demonstration of the ability to undertake independent research, build an argument on
responsible marketing and consumption.
? Structure and clarity of expression. Good assignments will be clearly written, well
structured and presented in a good format. The assignments will show a logical flow
between sections, making it easy to follow key arguments. The assignment will have no
spelling mistakes and will be grammatically correct. They will meet the requirements
outlined in the guidelines above. References.
? Good assignments will have at least the required 10 peer reviewed journal articles. Use
Harvard referencing correctly for both in-text citations and the reference list. They will also
demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the articles read and be able to integrate
these into their discussion in a clear and coherent manner.
Feedback to Students:
Both Summative and Formative feedback is given to encourage students to reflect on their
learning that feed forward into following assessment tasks. The preparation for all
assessment tasks will be supported by formative feedback within the tutorials/seminars.
Written feedback is provided as appropriate. Please be aware to use the browser and not
the Canvas App as you may not be able to view all comments.
Plagiarism:
It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand correct referencing practices. You are
expected to use appropriate references and keep carefully detailed notes of all your
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information sources, including any material downloaded from the Internet. It is your
responsibility to ensure that you are not vulnerable to any alleged breaches of the
assessment regulations. More information is available at
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/registry/policy/conduct/plagiarism/index.aspx.
TOP Tips:
? When writing your critical reflection, make sure you stay on topic. You can help
yourself do this by setting out clearly in the introduction the consumption practice
and corresponding issues topic you are going to explore.
? You then need to ensure you have a structure that ensures that you stick to what
you have said you will discuss.
? Always ask yourself if what you are writing is of relevance to the topic
? Start the assessment early. Use the resources list and other materials to decide
what topic is of interest and start reading and making notes. Do not leave it until the
assignment is imminent, this will leave you insufficient time to produce a good piece
of work.
? Putting the assignment off will only increase the workload in later weeks of the term
? It is always important in any written academic work to draft and re-draft work so
that the writing is as clear and as logically structured as possible
Frequently asked questions
Finding Peer Reviewed articles
Q) What do I do if I don’t know how to find peer reviewed articles
A) Make an appointment with a University of Birmingham librarian if you wish to get a good
start (week one) on the assessment or if you are 1) having trouble finding academic peer
reviewed journal articles or 2) unfamiliar with the library databases. Please note that the job
of the librarian is not to find articles for you.
Minimum of 10 academic peer reviewed journal articles
Q) What does ‘peer review’ stand for?
A) Peer review is when a journal article is reviewed by experts in the field. If the article does
not meet the standards required by the journal, the article will fail peer review and not be
published. Thus, when an article is peer reviewed it means that quality assurance is offered
to those that read the published article.
Q) Do books, websites, published theses, textbooks, working papers, non peer reviewed
journal articles, magazines, lecture slides, government reports or newspapers count as
academic peer reviewed journal articles?
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A) No. These are not academic peer reviewed journal articles.
Q) Can I use books, websites, published theses, non peer reviewed journal articles, textbooks,
working papers, magazines, lecture slides, government reports or newspapers?
A) Yes, but these will not count toward the minimum of 10 academic peer reviewed journal
articles required for the assessment.
Q) Can I use two or more academic peer reviewed journal articles from the same journal?
A) Yes. Although, you must make sure that the academic peer reviewed journal articles you
are using are of relevance to the set topic.
Q) I can’t find 10 academic peer reviewed journal articles. What do I do?
A) A good place to start is the resources list for this module and other suggested readings
that you may be given in lectures. You could also look at the reference list within the journal
articles you have already read and find and read those relevant to the topic. If you are still
having trouble finding a minimum of 10 academic peer reviewed journal articles, you should
seek assistance from a librarian (email and/ or drop by the University of Birmingham library
to make an appointment).
Q) Do I get a high grade if I use more than 10 academic peer reviewed journal articles?
A) No. What is important is NOT the number but how you use the articles to support the
arguments you make in your critical reflection. You could add 20 references but if it is clear
that you have not properly read these articles, have misunderstood what they say or they
are not well integrated into your discussion then that would not help you in addressing your
chosen topic. Just using a large number of articles does not mean you get a high mark.
Assignment Grading criteria
Q) What will you be looking for in this assessment?
A) You will find the grading criteria on page 4 of this document.
Written English
Q) I would like to improve my writing skills, where can I get help?
A) Some useful sources include (but are not limited to):
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/studentservices/disability/learning-support/effective learning/essay-writing.aspx
Quotes
Q) How many quotes are appropriate in this assessment?
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A) A rule of thumb is to not use more than one quote (of less than 30 words) per 2000
words. An overuse of quotes will undermine the assessment objective and result in a low
mark.
Q) Can I use more than one quote?
A) One quote is the maximum permitted and it should be less than 30 words. Make sure to
reference the quote appropriately.
Word count
Q) Does the word count include in-text referencing and headings?
A) Yes. The 2000 words includes in-text referencing (e.g. Jones (2020) and Kumar (2019)
found…) and headings.
Q) Does the word count include the reference list?
A) No. The word count does not include the reference list.
Q) Will we be penalised if we go over the word count of 2000 words?
A) Yes. Going over the 2000 word count will result in a penalty.
Assignment Writing
Q) In my conclusion, do I write my own opinion or not?
A) No. Your conclusion should summarise your discussion, the main points you have made
from the discussion of the literature and the examples you have used and relate these back
to the question
Q) Can I send you my draft to have a look through?
A) No. I need to be equitable to all students so if I read your material, you would be a
advantaged over other students. Also, this would undermine the objective of the
assessment which is for students to develop independent research skills.
References
Q) What style of referencing should be used?
A) Harvard referencing style must be used for in-text referencing and the reference list.
Q) Can I use ‘as cited by’ when referencing what another author has referenced?
A) No. You should only use ‘as cited by’ when you have searched everywhere to gain access
to the original article that was referenced by another author and it cannot be found. Using
‘as cited by’ is poor practice since it puts you at risk of incorrectly representing the work of
the original author (you are trusting that the author who is referring to the original author
has correctly paraphrased what the original author wrote and/ or found).
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Q) How do I do Harvard referencing?
A) Here is a link to help you:
https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/referencing/icite/referencing/
harvard/index.aspx
Q) Should my reference list be in alphabetical order (based on the first author)?
A) Yes. Your reference list should be in alphabetical order (based on the first author; NB: Do
not rearrange the author order of the academic peer reviewed journal article).
Q) Do I put academic peer reviewed journal articles or other sources in my reference list that
I did not use in my assessment submission?
A) No. Only sources that you have read and referenced in your assessment submission
should feature in your reference list.
Extensions
Q) Can you give me an extension because […]?
A) The module teaching staff are not in the position to approve extensions and have no part
in this process. If you would like to find out about extensions, please contact the
undergraduate office and the Wellbeing office who will let you know of how to apply for
one.
Plagiarism
Q) Do our assignments get put through plagiarism software?
A) Yes. The software used is ‘Turn it in’. It evaluates your work and cross checks it with all
available material (including academic peer reviewed journal articles, books, websites etc.)
and reports where material has been copied from. Students’ assessment submission would
also be compared to other assessment submissions.
Any other questions
Q) What do I do if I have a question about the assignment that is not covered here?
A) There is a discussion forum that has been created on the Canvas page. Please post your
question there and I will aim to respond to you within 3 working days. You can also speak to
me during my student feedback and consultation hours, details of these can be found on
Canvas and on the module outline
