INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:

1. This End-of-Course Assessment paper contains ONE (1) question and comprises FIVE (5) pages (including cover page).

2. You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Title, Your PI, Your Name, and Submission Date.

3. Ensure that you submit your End-of-Course Assessment by the deadline. After the 12-hour grace period, 10% of the total End-of-Course Assessment mark will be deducted for each 24-hour block or part thereof by which your submission is late. Submissions with more than 50 marks deducted will be awarded 0 marks.

4. You are allowed multiple submissions to Turnitin before the deadline. After the deadline, only one submission is allowed, and only if you have not already made a prior submission.

5. If you fail to submit your End-of-Course Assessment, you will be deemed to have withdrawn from the course.

Question:

In 2023, scam cases in Singapore surged by 46.8%, rising from 31,728 in 2022 to 46,563, according to the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Despite widespread media coverage and numerous warnings, the number of scams reached a record high in 2023, with total losses surpassing $2.3 billion since 2019.

To tackle this, the National Crime Prevention Council launched an anti-scam campaign in January 2023, urging the public to “ACT” against scams. The ACT acronym in the campaign tagline outlines how people can “Add” security features such as the ScamShield app, “Check” for signs of a scam, and “Tell” the authorities and others about scams.

Source: Chua, N. (2024, February 18). Scam victims in S’pore lost $651.8m in 2023, with record high of over 46,000 cases reported. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com

a) Examine the anti-scam campaign by assessing its marketing mix components —Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Based on this analysis, propose concise strategies to optimise the campaign’s messaging and effectiveness across each element of the marketing mix.

Refer to the following resources to learn more about the campaign –
• https://www.mha.gov.sg/home-team-news/story/detail/mha-cos-2024-advancingthe-fight-against-scams/
• https://www.police.gov.sg/Media-Room/Police-Life/2024/02/Three-Things-youShould-Know-About-the-Annual-Scams-and-Cybercrime-Brief-2023
• https://www.police.gov.sg/Advisories/Crime/Scams
In addition, you may consult other relevant news articles and websites to supplement your knowledge of the campaign.

The assessment report should contain no more than 1,500 words (excluding references). It will be graded in terms of content and quality of arguments, as well as the quality of scholarly writing, e.g. use of APA citation style, list of references, etc. All sources utilised for the report must be cited and referenced. (60 marks)

b) Assume that you are part of the Singapore Police Force communications team. You are tasked to evaluate the previous anti-scam campaigns before designing the campaign message for 2025/2026. To start, prepare a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for the campaign.

The analysisshould contain no more than 800 words (excluding references). This analysis will be graded in terms of content and quality of arguments, as well as the quality of scholarly writing, e.g. use of APA citation style, list of references, etc. All sources utilised for the analysis must be cited and referenced. (20 marks)

c) Design an appropriate anti-scam campaign message for 2025/26 based on Mattson and Lam’s (2016) five aspects of developing persuasive messages.

Your campaign message (one image with text copy) should be accompanied with a textual explanation and justification of the image. The justification for the proposed campaign message design should contain no more than 500 words (excluding references).
You will be graded not on the aesthetics of the campaign message image, but on how well you evaluate and justify your design. (20 marks)

Students’ Notes
This ECA is not about regurgitation – a mere rephrasing of key points will not produce a satisfactory answer. Instead, you should show an application of what you have learned in this course on your topic or issue.

When writing your ECA, you may wish to assume that your readers:

• are generally well-informed in the area of communication,
• know little about the topic or issue.

Presentation

Pay attention to language, organisation, APA citation and referencing in your writing.

The total length of the ECA should not exceed 2,800 words, including quotations but excluding references. Marker will not mark any work beyond the word limit. Your ECA must use Times New Roman, 12-point font size, double-spacing and 1-inch margins (2.54 cm) on both sides. Include a word count at the end of the essay and number your pages on the top right corner.

References

Referencing is important as it allows your reader to trace the source of the ideas you have cited. Take a look at an academic journal article and see how the referencing is done.

For more information on APA style in-text citation and referencing, you can visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

Resources
Useful resources may be found in SUSS library (online library resources) and Google Scholar. Statistics can be found in publicly available reports by the ministries or statutory boards. You may wish to consult the librarian at the SUSS Library or the National Library Board.