Economics & Business · Year 9

Active learning ideas

Marketing and Consumer Influence

Active learning lets students see marketing tactics in real-world contexts, turning abstract concepts like branding and scarcity into tangible examples they can dissect and debate. This hands-on approach builds critical evaluation skills by moving from passive observation to active analysis of how messages shape behavior.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HE9K02

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 45 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Ad Analysis

Display 10-15 real advertisements around the room. In small groups, students rotate to analyze each ad for techniques like emotional appeals or false scarcity, noting target audience and influence tactics on sticky notes. Groups then share top findings in a whole-class debrief.

To what extent do businesses manipulate consumer choice through advertising?

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk, circulate with a notepad to jot down common techniques you hear students identifying to guide whole-class sharing later.

What to look for

Provide students with three different advertisements (e.g., a social media ad, a magazine ad, a TV commercial transcript). Ask them to identify one marketing technique used in each and explain how it aims to influence the consumer.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Carousel Brainstorm
• 30 min · Pairs

Branding Challenge: Pairs Pitch

Pairs select a plain product like a water bottle and create a 2-minute brand pitch with name, slogan, and visuals to inflate perceived value. They present to the class, who vote on willingness to pay more and explain reasons.

Critique the ethical implications of targeted marketing strategies.

Facilitation Tip

For the Branding Challenge, require pairs to draft three versions of their pitch: one factual, one emotional, and one aspirational to demonstrate technique awareness.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'To what extent do businesses manipulate consumer choice through advertising?' Facilitate a class discussion where students use examples of specific ads and marketing strategies to support their arguments, considering both business intent and consumer autonomy.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Carousel Brainstorm
• 40 min · Small Groups

Ethics Debate Carousel: Rotations

Set up four stations with statements on targeted marketing ethics. Small groups spend 5 minutes per station debating agree/disagree, rotating and building on prior notes. Conclude with class vote and reflection.

Explain how branding creates perceived value beyond a product's intrinsic worth.

Facilitation Tip

In the Ethics Debate Carousel, assign each role a color-coded card so students rotate with clear expectations about advocating, rebutting, or neutral inquiry.

What to look for

Ask students to write down one example of a brand they recognize and explain how its branding (logo, slogan, associated imagery) creates perceived value beyond the product's basic function. They should also state one ethical concern they have about targeted marketing.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Carousel Brainstorm
• 35 min · Individual

Consumer Survey: Data Hunt

Individually, students survey 5 peers on product preferences before/after viewing sample ads. They compile data in small groups to graph shifts in choices and discuss marketing impact.

To what extent do businesses manipulate consumer choice through advertising?

Facilitation Tip

During the Consumer Survey, provide a simple tally sheet so students practice recording data efficiently before analyzing patterns in small groups.

What to look for

Provide students with three different advertisements (e.g., a social media ad, a magazine ad, a TV commercial transcript). Ask them to identify one marketing technique used in each and explain how it aims to influence the consumer.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teaching this topic works best when students confront their own responses to marketing first, then analyze those reactions through frameworks like the AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). Avoid lectures on techniques—instead, let students discover them through guided questioning. Research shows concrete examples stick longer than abstract definitions, so prioritize analyzing real ads over hypothetical scenarios.

Success looks like students confidently identifying techniques in unfamiliar ads and articulating how these strategies influence decisions. They should connect techniques to consumer behavior and discuss ethical implications with evidence from their analyses.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Gallery Walk: Ad Analysis, watch for students assuming ads only present factual information.

  During Gallery Walk: Ad Analysis, have students annotate each ad with two columns: one for factual claims and one for emotional or persuasive elements to highlight hidden influences.

• During Branding Challenge: Pairs Pitch, watch for students believing branding only changes a product's appearance.

  During Branding Challenge: Pairs Pitch, ask pairs to present how their branding creates perceived value (e.g., status, trust) beyond the product itself, using before-and-after comparisons.

• During Consumer Survey: Data Hunt, watch for students thinking consumers always resist marketing tactics.

  During Consumer Survey: Data Hunt, guide students to compare their own survey responses with peers to identify biases they might not recognize in their own choices.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Carousel Brainstorm