Marketing Honours: Add Lifelong Value to your Career!

Think about the benefits in being recognised as expert.

An honours year lets you differentiate yourself from other graduates. It is a point of difference on your CV and recognition that you have skills and knowledge above and beyond your peers. This point of difference is immediately apparent to employers and endures throughout your career.

Studying honours means you can become really involved in a topic that interests you. Along the way you should develop new skills in research, writing, analysis and presenting. These outcomes will be achieved through one to one collaboration with an academic who will guide your learning and the development of your thesis, and by your attendance and participation at workshops, seminars and courses.

2011 Marketing Honours Students
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An honours year is very challenging, but it is not all about the grindstone. Honours also provides you with an avenue to make lifelong friends (from marketing and other disciplines).

Marketing's honours coordinator is Ulku Yuksel. Please make a time to meet the honours coordinator to discuss your potential in the honours program.

Below are details on what the honours year is all about, how Marketing selects students, what you will learn and some examples of where an honours degree in Marketing may take you.

Why Honours in Marketing Adds Lifelong Value to your Career

A Marketing Honours degree is an additional one year of study based in the discipline which is undertaken once the pass degree has been completed. Obtaining "Hons" after your degree will set-you apart from ordinary students in the graduate job market, and be a great benefit over the course of your career.

Our past honours students have gone on to a wide range of careers within marketing and wider business roles in world class companies such as:

Microsoft
Proctor and Gamble
AC Nielsen
Clemenger

Honours is also a important entry point for a possible academic career and about 20% of PhD students enrolled in the Faculty have completed University of Sydney Honours programs. Marketing's honours students have also been accepted into courses at other leading Universities such as Oxford to further their studies on their chosen topic.

If you think you may want to pursue an academic career, you don't have to do a PhD straight after honours (maybe try working in industry or government first,) but successfully completing honours makes undertaking a PhD and a potential career path in academe a real possibility in the future. Don't forget Tertiary Education is Australia's 3rd biggest export earner and an academic career provides some great benefits and experiences.

Honours class 1 is generally accepted as the standard for admission into postgraduate studies (research Masters and PhD) throughout Australia and abroad, although those obtaining Second Class Honours (Division 1) are sometimes successful at gaining admission. To be able to compete for postgraduate scholarships such as the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), however candidates as a rule, require First Class Honours.

Preparation for Final Honours Year in Marketing

Prerequisite Units of Study for Eligibility for Final Honours Year

There are no prerequisite Honours units in Marketing; however, students must have completed a major in Marketing.

Application Process for Final Honours Year

Students can talk to the Honours Year Co-ordinator at any time during the year, but applications must be made only during semester two of your final year of study. By registering your interest with the Honours Co-ordinator, we will be able to contact you with relevant details closer to the application deadline and assist you develop your application.

The closing date for applications for Final Honours Year is the last working day in November.

Honours Year Application Process

Key Dates
Meet with the Marketing honours coordinator to Discuss Honours	By appointment, throughout the academic year
Honours Awareness week presentation	Likely September (exact date to be confirmed)
Formal Expression of interest applications sent out/available	Aim for the end of September
Students return Expression of Interest applications to the SIO before:	The end of November
Discuss you application with the honours coordinator (remote applications; can be done via phone)	From mid September and mid November
Marketing Discipline meet to discuss candidates	Likely mid-late December
Decision letters sent out	Late Dec - early Jan
Deadline for students to accept offer	TBA

We encourage you to start work as early as possible in the year.

Entry Requirements

Entry to honours is based on a high level of academic achievement in Marketing during the Pass degree. In Marketing we also talk to prospective students about the reasons you wish to pursue honours study, possible topics for a thesis and learn about your commitment to extracurricular activities (e.g. work experience, volunteer work and sports/hobbies). This allows us to assess your wider suitability for the effort required to excel during the honours year and helps to guide finding you the most appropriate supervisor.

To be eligible to study honours, students must have:

Completed a pass degree with a minimum Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 65 per cent across all senior units of study taken;
Completed a marketing major with a minimum of 70 per cent across your marketing units;
No failures in any Marketing units of study

Applicants from other institutions:

We welcome applicants from other Universities and assess applications on a case by case basis. Students from other Universities should contact the Student Information Office for further details.

Application is based on the following:

An interview or discussion with the honours coordinator
A Formal Application that includes:

An overview of a proposed thesis topic (this can be discussed with the honours coordinator and will help inform your formal application)
Insights why you want to make a commitment for the year
Additional requirements are provided during the honours awareness week presentations

A short cover letter of no more than 1 page
A Curriculum Vitae of no more than 4 pages
A brief explanation of your marks / performance to date (this is especially needed for those who may have underperformed or failed in any University subject)
A copy of the most up to date certified academic transcript with both marks and grades

Assessment of applicants is based on:

A Marketing WAM (Weighted Average Mark) of 75% is preferred, but students with a WAM of 70% are welcome to apply, ideally providing evidence of additional achievements or justification.
Performance across other units of study.
Evidence of ability to manage time and commitment to complete a complex year long project
A fit with suitable potential supervisors

Final Honours Year in Marketing

Objectives of Final Year

The Marketing Honours degree provides a specialist training programme including coursework that it is designed to provide graduates with a high level of specialist knowledge in the analytical and research skills required to solve problems in marketing practice and/or to prepare students for further studies in marketing (e.g. PhD).

The honours year allows students to develop a wide range of additional skills that are highly prized by employers in industry and government. Honours graduates are recognised as possessing levels of knowledge and skill well beyond those obtained by pass degree graduates!

These skills include:

Project organisation and management
Independence
Presentation skills
Communication and persuasion
Time management
Research and analytical skills
Problem solving capabilities
Being innovative in your approach to problems
Developing a comprehensive perspective on a topic

Structure

Overview

Marketing Honours is a combination of research, coursework, research inquiry and support from your supervisor(s) to support your presentation and authorship of a comprehensive thesis.

Assessment items	Relevant unit learning outcome/s	Weight	Likely Due Date	Other information
Draft Literature Review	1,2,3	10%	End of May	TBC
Draft Methods Chapter	2,3,4	10%	End of May	TBC
Proposal Presentation	5,6	10%	End of May	TBC
Orientation Program	1,3	0%	Wk1	(2 full days +)
Coursework	1,3,4	0%	Wk2-6	6-8 hrs each week, plus readings and activities
Marketing Theory and Philosophy	1,2	0%	Wk 2-6	3 hrs a week + 6-8 readings each week
Marketing Research Seminars	2,3	0%	ongoing	You are expected to attend these
Thesis	all	70%	Late Oct	TBC

NB. These assessment items should be considered a guide only may be subject to some change following the annual review of the honours

The Year's Focus: The Thesis!

A critical part of the Honours year in Marketing is selecting the topic that is right for you (and your supervisor). You should think about the areas in marketing you may want to work in and the subjects you have most enjoyed. You are advised to consult with the honours co-ordinator on your topic, and he will assist you find a suitable supervisor(s). The supervisor will then guide you on the development of a topic that will form the bases of your research.

The thesis is expected to present a research problem justified by an extensive review of the literature (theoretical and any industry data that may be applicable). From this you are expected to generate and test hypotheses pertaining to the topic you are investigating. You are required to present your research findings and make informed comment about your findings and their implications for theoretical knowledge (where you will be aiming to make a contribution), marketing management and other potential areas such as public policy.

Students are encouraged to propose their own thesis topic, although guidance will be provided from the Honours co-ordinator and potential supervisors. In addition, there may be opportunities to work with members of Faculty on parts of their research program.

We have a library of thesis documents from previous years; students are able to borrow these from the honours year coordinator.

Below are some of the topics studied in recent years:

Sexual appeals in advertising: Do audience personality traits make a difference
Moving out, Making Sense: The consumer re-socialisation of independent you adults
The internationalisation of high-technology firms developed through the commercialisation of academic research
An exploration into the consumption patterns of first and second generation Korean Migrants
A study of B2B relationship management in the Australian wine industry
An exploration of the use of mobile phones as a data collection method for Market Research
Background music, judgment tasks, and time perception: An empirical comparison of two theories
The heterogeneity of the satisfaction response
Effects of banks as early economic socialisation agents on youth: Long term loyalty and financial behavioural outcomes
The athlete's sport: What is its impact on the endorsement of non-sport products
An examination of consumer involvement as a state of drive or motivation

Off Your Face(book): Assessing Facebook's Role in the Development and Legitimisation of a Drinking Culture in 18 to 24 year olds.
Exploiting ambidexterity in hypercompetition
Normative vs Factual Information in Informal vs Formal Media: effects of Analytical versus Holistic thinking processes
Licence To Lie: Personal Responsibility for a Consumption Decision and Accuracy in Word-of-mouth Communication
As Weak as Water: An Exploratory and Experimental Investigation into the Effectiveness of Scientific Messages about the Murray-Darling Water Crisis

Honours Grades

The final grade of honours will be determined on the following University scale based on an aggregate of your coursework and honours grades:

Grade range	Description
90 +	Considered for University Medal
80 - 100	First Class
75 - 79	Second Class, Division 1
70 - 74	Second Class, Division 2
65 - 69	Third Class
Below 65	Honours not awarded

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