Section 2 - Identifying Keywords
Objectives
This section will help you:
➢ Analyse an assignment question and identify a list of relevant keywords
To successfully find information for your assignment you need to work out what your
assignment question is about and what you need to do to answer it. This includes
deciding what keywords best describe your assignment question. Keywords are the main
words or phrases that outline what your topic is about. You will need to read the
assessment question and details of the assessment carefully to identify the main concepts
and ideas to cover.
For your report you need to choose an industry and identify a product within that industry
to research. This means you will need to identify relevant keywords for your industry and
product to locate information.
It is also important to read the topic carefully and note words that may indicate what you
are required to do. For example, here are definitions for some common words used in
assignment topics to describe what you need to do:
➢
➢
➢
Compare - 'to note the similarities and differences of' (Macquarie Dictionary,
2001)
Contrast - 'compare by observing differences' (Macquarie Dictionary, 2001)
Analyse - 'determine the elements or essential features of' (Macquarie Dictionary,
2001)
Let‟s have a look at some example questions to analyse.
Should all product development be customer-driven?
The keywords in the above example are “product development” and “customerdriven” These are the two terms you would use in your search. The other words are not
keywords as they do not provide meaning. Using them in a search would not direct you to
information relevant to your assignment/topic.
Here‟s a more complex topic:
What are some ways by which you can measure customer preferences? Discuss
their strengths and its weaknesses.
The keywords in the above example are “customer preferences” and measure. The
word discuss tells you what you need to do in your answer to the question.
It can be useful to include words such as strengths or weaknesses in your search but
including these types of descriptive terms will not always make the search more efficient,
as you may find that authors do not describe their work in such terms. For example, an
author may be discussing a particular measurement and it‟s usefulness but may not
mention the term strength. If you cannot find results using descriptive terms, try
searching the main keywords without descriptive terms.
Some words may also indicate limits to the topic. Examples of limiting keywords
include:

Timeframes, such as current or recent. A specific time frame may be included,
such as 'the last 5 years'

geographic areas, such as examples specific to Australia

the type of materials that can be used for the assessment, such as peer reviewed
sources or newspaper articles.
This example incorporates a range of limits:
You have recently been employed as a marketer by a new sportswear company
named Boing! Your new boss has asked you analyse the current state of the
industry in Australia. Prepare a report that identifies current industry trends,
external forces influencing the industry, future product directions, consumer
profiles and companies within the market. Use sources such as market reports,
newspaper and trade articles, industry association sources and relevant academic
articles to demonstrate the link between marketing practice and theory.
Not sure what the topic is about? Start by using your textbook or other
recommended readings to gain some understanding of what the topic involves
to get you started.
Exercise 1
Choose the keywords from the following assignment topic:
Analyse the current state of the oral hygiene market. Then select a company within that
market for analysis. The company you choose must be a practicing concern with a
business to consumer (B2C) approach to its business activities.
Workspace
Highlight the keywords, limits and instructional words for your assignment topic.
Your task is to select and photograph TWO (2) examples of outdoor advertising
in your local area. It will be a good idea to choose different types of
advertisements for different products so that you can compare the analyses of the
ads. Perhaps you may like to choose one ad that appeals to you and one that does
not to give more depth to your analysis.
Outdoor advertising can include signage on street signs or other „street furniture‟
(such as seats, power poles and boxes, rubbish bins, etc.), messages in/on bus
benches or waiting areas, interiors and exteriors of buses, planes and trains, taxis
and business vehicles and signage posted on the exterior of buildings such as
shops and businesses, as well as billboards, sandwich boards, etc.
For each of the two ads, you need to:
Determine the response sought from the communication – what stage of
the buyer-readiness states model do you think the advertisement is
targeted towards)?
Analyse the message itself – does the message follow the AIDA model?
What type of appeal does it use? Examine the message format and how the
message is structured. What is the message strategy and how is it executed
(what is the message execution style)?
Identify the target audience – what personal characteristics of the
audience do you think the advertisement is specifically aiming to identify
with (for example, age segment, income level, health status, education
level, lifestyle or personality or some combination)?
Consider the consumer behaviours that the advertisement is trying to
influence – does the advertisement reflect one of Maslow‟s Hierarchy of
Needs? Does it reflect the behaviours of a particular culture, subculture or
social class? What other social influences may affect consumer behaviours
when considering the purchase of these products?
Need more help in understanding how to identify Keywords?
Look at the library‟s online tutorial “Compass” and select the link for Keywords
http://facultysite.cqu.edu.au/FCWViewer/view.do?page=6643