CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

                                                      

BA 424                                                                                                                       Kimberly Folkers, MIM, FLMI

Fall 2009                                                                                                                                Associate Professor of Marketing

MWF 1:15 p.m.                                                                                                                                                            WBC 215

Office:  WBC 108                                                                                                                                Phone:  352-8424 Email:kimberly.folkers@wartburg.edu

Office Hours:  MW 2:30-3:30; TH  3:00-4:00 p.m.  Other times by appointment.

 

Prerequisite:  BA 353 Marketing.  Psychology 101 recommended.

 

Text:  Consumer Behavior, Hawkins and Mothersbaugh, McGraw Hill Irwin, 11th ed., 2010.  Available as an ebook at Coursesmart.com or as a hard copy in the bookstore.

 

Text Companion Site: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073381101/information_center_view0/

 

My Wartburg and Email:  We will be using the my.wartburg site for our course for the posting of many course materials.  Be sure you know how to access this site and check it regularly.  Also, please check your Wartburg email account regularly as I will be using it to communicate with the class throughout the term.

 

Turnitin.com:  Please be aware that I will be submitting student work to Turnitin.com

 

COURSE OUTCOMES:

At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:

 

-Explain the connections between the study of consumer behavior and the broader social sciences. (Journal article write-ups)

 

-Articulate an understanding of the cognitive, psychological, sociological, and environmental factors that shape consumer behavior. (Journal article write-ups, Exercises, Project, Consumption Journal)

 

-Apply this understanding to an analysis of a specific consumer purchase process.    (Exercises, Consumption Journal, Project)

 

-Appreciate the connection between making strategic, ethical marketing decisions and having a sound knowledge of consumer behavior concepts.   (Project)

 

COURSE STRUCTURE:

4 exams (total points may vary slightly)                                           400   points

Consumer Behavior Project                                                                400     "  

Personal Consumption Journal                                                         80      “

Two article write-ups (20 pts. each)                                              40     "

Exercises                                                                                                 80     “

Participation                                                                                          100     “

                                                                                  TOTAL           1,100  points

 

Note:  Possible points for exercises may vary as the semester progresses

 

EXAMS:  Exams will be given as scheduled on the syllabus.  Any change in exam dates will always be announced in advance.  The only make-up exams given will be if you have a doctor-excused absence.  Chapter exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short essay.  We will discuss the format and subject matter of each test beforehand and I will distribute a review sheet to help with your test preparation.

 

No hats may be worn during exams, all personal electronic devices must be off and placed on your desk face down, and you may not leave the classroom during an exam unless it is an emergency.  Please come prepared with extra pencils, Kleenex, etc., in order to be comfortable during the exam.

 

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR PROJECT – ANATOMY OF A PURCHASE DECISION: You will form teams of four students for this semester-long project.  Groups must be formed by Wed., Sept. 16.

Project Methodology:

Once your group has been established, identify a consumer purchase decision that you will analyze throughout this project, for instance, purchasing a car, new flooring for a home, a college. (See list below for unavailable topics.) A project proposal is due Wed., Sept. 23. The proposal is a one-page description of the purchase decision focus your group has chosen and an outline of your initial plan for researching this focus.  You must outline your plans for pursuing primary and secondary data related to your chosen purchase and include a beginning bibliography/literature review.

 

Your work throughout the term will be to analyze the consumer behavior related to this purchase process and to develop an understanding of the consumers making this kind of purchase.  Your analysis will require a thorough understanding of consumer behavior concepts and critical thinking skills to apply the concepts to a specific category of product purchase. This knowledge base will grow gradually during the term as we cover new material.  The project will also require that you seek input from secondary research sources - CB articles, websites, books, as well as, primary data sources, in particular, qualitative research – firsthand feedback from consumers who have engaged in your particular purchase process, input from marketers involved in the product category and its purchase, and your own firsthand observations and insights.   You must have a minimum of eight substantive secondary data sources related to your topic and a minimum of 15 primary data sources, all cited in APA style.

 

Important: Your project focus is NOT to analyze a specific brand.  It is to analyze the consumer behavior concepts that apply to making a type of purchase decision.

 

Project Logistics: 

Groups will be asked to share feedback with the rest of the class at regular intervals throughout the term as we cover relevant material and chapters.  Each group member is responsible for at least one report during the term.  At the end of the term each group will be asked to write a final paper, not to exceed 20 pages, covering key findings and insights about the purchase process and the consumers engaging in this process, and a 2 page executive summary that focuses on what marketers should know about consumers and how they approach the purchase. Each group will have 20 minutes to present their executive summary and key findings to the class. 

Note:  All papers will be submitted to Turnitin.com for analysis.

 

Your group will turn in four rough drafts throughout the term.  Due dates:

Wed., Oct. 7 Ch. 1, 8-10

Wed., Nov. 4 Ch. 11-13

Wed. Nov. 18 Ch. 14-18

Wed. Dec. 2 Ch. 2-7.

Work is due at the beginning of class and should be turned in “hard copy.”  I will provide feedback on each rough draft in a timely manner.  These returned rough drafts must be kept and turned in as part of your final portfolio – see below.

 

Thurs., Dec. 17 Final Paper and Project Portfolio due at beginning of final session

Final Project Portfolio must be submitted digitally and include:

                -final paper with citations in APA form

                -transcripts of interviews with consumers and marketers

                -any visuals used in presentation, including PPT slides

                -rough drafts of paper with my feedback (submitted hard copy)

 

Project Grades:

Individual Assessment                       100 pts.   (based on self, peer, and instructor evaluation)

Group Assessment                              300 pts.   (based on depth of analysis, quantity and quality of secondary and

                                                                                  primary data collection, quality of writing mechanics,

                                                                                  accuracy/relevancy of connections to CB course concepts)

Project Total:                                        400 pts.  

 

Sustainability Focus: 

The Business Administration and Economics Department’s Corporation Education Day event focuses on “sustainability.”  We will be looking at sustainability and green marketing throughout the term.  You will see in Ch. 2 and 3 of the project outline that there are specific references to sustainability and there may be other sections of your project that connect with this focus as well.  Your project must include reflections on the degree to which the consumer behavior related to the purchase process you have researched is impacted by sustainability/green marketing considerations.

 

Project Outline:

There is a project outline attached to the syllabus that provides some probing questions that may be helpful as you analyze the purchase process and the typical consumer decision making related to that type of purchase.

 

I reserve the right to fire any group member who is not actively participating in the project process.  This would result in a 0/400 for the project and would seriously jeopardize the possibility of passing course.

 

Unavailable topics:

Purchase processes not available this term - dog, life insurance, home theater, furniture, cell phone, MP3 player, refrigerator, flooring, college, teeth whitening, golf clubs, nail salons, sports drinks, SUV’s, computers, personal trainer, boats, bicycles, beer, digital cameras, laundry detergent, a home, airline tickets, Lasik eye surgery, hybrid vehicles, and sporting event tickets.

 

PERSONAL CONSUMPTION JOURNAL: This is an incremental three-part assignment.  Part One requires that you keep a personal consumption journal for one month. You will make two entries a week for four weeks.  Each entry is worth 5 pts.  Parts Two and Three will require you to analyze the data collected in your four weeks of journal entries.  Details will be posted on my.wartburg at appropriate times during the term.  Points and due dates are allocated as follows:

                Part One                 40 points - 4 weeks of entries - Weeks 1-2 Fri., Sept. 25; Weeks 3-4 Mon., Oct. 19

                Part Two                No points  Mon., Oct. 19 (include with Weeks 3-4 entries)

                Part Three              40 points   Fri., Nov. 13

 

SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLE WRITE-UPS:  Each of you will be responsible for reading one article from the Journal of Consumer Psychology (on-line access) and one article from the Journal of Consumer Marketing (in-library hard copy access).  For each article you will be required to complete a 20 point write-up.  Details will be covered in class and the format for the write-up posted to my.wartburg.  Due dates: Journal of Consumer Psychology article Mon., Sept. 28; Journal of Consumer Marketing article Fri., Oct. 9. 

 

EXERCISES:  Included will be a Personal Observation Exercise, a Store Observation Exercise, and other exercises as noted on the syllabus.  See syllabus for due dates and point values.  Assignment details will be posted on my.wartburg and discussed in class.

 

READINGS:  Throughout the term I will assign articles for outside reading.  These readings will be posted on My.Wartburg and whenever possible will include a hot link to the article or a full text download.  We will discuss article assignments as they come up during the term.

 

In addition, you may want to read from the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Marketing News, Advertising Age, Strategy Business, Trendwatching.com, New York Times, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and other marketing and psychology journals for additional background material.

PARTICIPATION AND ATTENDANCE:  100 points will be used to evaluate your participation in class discussions and involvement in assigned exercises.  You are an important part of the learning process and your input adds to our discussion of the text and other material.  Be sure to come prepared every day. 

 

Attendance is required.  Please call me BEFORE class if you will be gone for any reason.  After three unexcused absences I will deduct 1/3 of a letter grade from your final grade for each additional unexcused absence. 

 

Groups should use time immediately before and after class to communicate with each other.  Also, there will be days when I will give in-class time to meet and this will not always be announced in advance. 

 

CLASSROOM CONDUCT:  No cell phones, ipods, mp3 players, laptop computers, or any other personal  electronic device may be on during class time.   Even though you may think texting in class is “invisible” to others please be aware that it will be noted and will deduct from my assessment of your participation.  During exams any cell phones brought to class must be placed on your desk, face down.  Please be respectful of your classmates during lectures, classroom discussions, small group discussions, and in your project work together – listen actively and minimize “sidebar conversations.”  Please arrive on-time for class and do not leave the classroom unnecessarily during class time - in a 65 minute class period it should not be necessary to leave the classroom for a break unless the circumstances are dire.

 

LATE PENALTIES:  Any assignment turned in late will be subject to a "25% per day" penalty.  (Note:  Assignments are due at the beginning of class on due dates.  If not turned in at the beginning of class, they will be considered late and will be subject to the 25% penalty.)

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY/ETHICS:  You are to exhibit academic integrity in all aspects of this course.  This includes honesty in test taking, original work in assignments, and citing of sources in papers.  Failure to abide by these standards will result in failing the assignment or the course, depending on the circumstances.  Remember that Wartburg students have adopted an Honor Code which states “By attending Wartburg College, students are demonstrating their dedication to the Honor Code.  The Honor Code reminds students of their responsibility to promote academic honesty by opposing cheating and plagiarism and reporting dishonest work.”  Please abide by this code in all work related to this course.

 

Wartburg Honor Code

As a matter of personal commitment, students, faculty, and staff of Wartburg College are expected to demonstrate four simple principles:

1) All work submitted must be your own.

2) When using the work or ideas of others, including fellow students, give full credit through accurate citations.

3) Maintain academic honesty both on examinations and class assignments.

4) If you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification.

 

Please note that all student work will be submitted to Turnitin.com for analysis.

 

COMMITMENT TO STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students requesting instructional accommodations due to disabilities must arrange for such accommodations by contacting Pathways Associate for Testing and Advising Carla Coates.  She can be reached at the Pathways Center, 314 Vogel Library, Wartburg College, Waverly, IA 50677, 352-8230, Carla.coates@wartburg.edu.   Presenting documentation of a student’s disability early (before the beginning of classes) is helpful and often necessary to secure needed materials in a timely way.  Accommodations should be requested PRIOR to affected assignment due dates.  For more detailed information, please see http://www.wartburg.edu/pathways/testing/AccomodationProcessStudents.pdf

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:

NOTE:  This syllabus may be subject to some changes to allow for Outfly, etc.   All changes will be discussed in advance.

 

PART ONE  INTRODUCTION 

 

WEEK 1

 

Wed., 9-9                              Intro, Ch. 1 Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy

                                                Be sure to read the text Preface, pages iii-iv

                                                Personal Consumption Journal discussion

                                                Readings assigned – New Info Shoppers; The Consumer Decision Journey; Age of

                                                Prudence; Understanding the Post-Recession Consumer

                                                Personal Observation Assignment discussed

 

Fri., 9-11                                 Ch. 1

                                                Project discussion

                                                Discuss readings

                                                               

PART THREE INTERNAL INFLUENCES  CH. 8-12

 

WEEK 2

 

Mon., 9-14                             Ch. 8 Perception 

                                Personal Observation Exercise assignment due (20 pts.)

                                                Perception Exercises assigned

                                               

Wed., 9-16                             Ch. 8 Perception

                                                PROJECT GROUPS FORMED

 

Fri., 9-18                                 Ch. 9 Learning, Memory, and Product Positioning

                                                Perception Exercises due

                               

WEEK 3

 

Mon., 9-21                             Ch. 9

                                                STORE OBSERVATION EXERCISE DUE  (20 pts.)

                                                Exam 1 Review Sheet posted

                                                                                      

Wed., 9-23                             Project Work Day

                                                PROJECT PROPOSAL DUE – emailed to kimberly.folkers by 4:00 p.m.

                                                ONE PAGE DESCRIPTION OF PURCHASE DECISION FOCUS AND INITIAL     

                                                PLANS TO RESEARCH THIS FOCUS (see Project Details in syllabus)

 

Fri., 9-25                                 Project Work Day

                                                PERSONAL CONSUMPTION JOURNAL

                                                WEEKS 1 & 2 DUE  (Drop off in box outside my office by 2:45 p.m.)

                                               

 

WEEK 4

 

Mon., 9-28                             Ch. 10 Motivation, Personality, and Emotion

                                                Read Sustainability article for Corporation Education Day  (MW)                            

                                                Journal of Consumer Psychology article write-up due (20 pts.)

Wed., 9-30                             Ch. 10

                                               

Fri., 10-2                                 Exam 1 Ch. 1, 8-10  (100 pts.)

                                               

 

WEEK 5

 

Mon., 10-5                             Ch. 11 Attitudes and Influencing Attitudes

 

Tues., 10-6                             Corporation Education Day Convo – Sustainability-11:30 a.m.–required– Neumann Aud.

                                                 

Wed., 10-7                             Ch. 11

                                                PROJECT ROUGH DRAFT DUE CH. 1, 8-10

               

Fri., 10-9                                 Ch. 11

                                                Journal of Consumer Marketing article write-up due (20 pts.)                                

               

WEEK 6

      

Mon., 10-12                           Ch. 12 Self Concept and Lifestyle

                                                Projective Test Exercise

                                                Exam 2 Review Sheet posted

 

PART 4 CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS CH. 13-18

                 

Wed., 10-14                           Ch. 13 Situational Influences                                            

                                                PART TWO OF JOURNAL POSTED

 

Fri., 10-16                               Homecoming Alumni Panel – 11:45 Marketing Careers  (shortened classes due to

                                                                                                                                                                Inauguration)

                                               

                                               

WEEK 7

 

Mon., 10-19                           Ch. 13

                                                PERSONAL CONSUMPTION JOURNAL -WEEKS 3 AND 4

                                                DUE        (Please turn in Weeks 1 and 2 entries, too)

                                                PART TWO “LIST” DUE

 

Wed., 10-21                           Exam 2 Ch. 11-13  (100 pts.)

                                               

Fri., 10-23                               Ch. 14 Consumer Decision Processes and Problem Recognition

                                                Decision Process Exercise

                                                MID-TERM COURSE EVALUATIONS

 

                                               

WEEK 8

 

Mon., 10-26                           Ch. 14

 

Wed., 10-28                           Ch. 15 Information Search                 

                                               

Fri., 10-30                               Fall Break-No Class

 

WEEK 9

 

Mon., 11-2                             Ch. 15

                                                                       

Wed., 11-4                             Ch. 16 Alternative Evaluation and Selection                                  

                                                PROJECT ROUGH DRAFT DUE CH. 11-13

                                                Exam 3 Review Sheet posted

 

Fri., 11-6                                 Ch. 16

                                               

                                               

WEEK 10

 

Mon., 11-9                             Ch. 17 Outlet Selection and Purchase                                              

                                                                               

Wed., 11-11                           Ch. 18 Post purchase Processes, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Commitment

 

Fri., 11-13                               Ch. 18

                                                PERSONAL CONSUMPTION JOURNAL

                                                PART THREE - “AD ANALYSIS” DUE        

 

               

WEEK 11

 

Mon., 11-16                    Exam 3 Ch. 14-18  (100 pts.)

 

 

PART 2 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES  Ch. 2-7

 

Wed., 11-18                           Ch. 2 Cross-Cultural Variations in Consumer Behavior

                                                PROJECT ROUGH DRAFT DUE CH. 14-18

                                               

Fri., 11-20                               Ch. 3 The Changing American Society - Values

               

                                               

WEEK 12

 

Mon., 11-23                            Ch. 4 The Changing American Society -  Demographics and Social Stratification

                                                DRAW FOR PRESENTATION TIMES

 

Wed., 11-25                           Ch. 5 The Changing American Society - Subcultures

                                                Exam 4 Review Sheet posted

                                                Reference Group Exercise assigned

 

Fri., 11-27                               Thanksgiving Break – no class

                                               

                                               


WEEK 13

 

Mon., 11-30                           Ch. 6 The American Society – Families and Households

                                               

Wed., 12-2                             Ch. 7 Group Influences on Consumer Behavior

                                                Reference Group Exercise due

                                                PROJECT ROUGH DRAFT DUE CH. 2-7

                                                                               

Fri., 12-4                                 Ch. 7

 

 

WEEK 14

 

Mon., 12-7                             Exam 4 Ch. 2-7  (100 pts.)

 

Wed., 12-9                             Presentations 1-2

                                               

Fri., 12-11                               Presentations 3-4

 

                                               

FINALS WEEK: 

Thurs., Dec. 17 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Presentations 5-7

ALL FINAL PROJECT PAPERS DUE

PEER EVALUATIONS, COURSE EVALUATIONS       

               


Consumer Behavior Project - Anatomy of a Purchase Decision

Fall 2009 Folkers

Project Outline

 

The outline below poses a series of questions or prompts from each text chapter that may be helpful in targeting key consumer behavior insights related to your purchase process.  However, you are encouraged to develop additional questions or ways of approaching the CB concepts.

 

Note 1:  Additional project information is included in your syllabus, including due dates.

Note 2: Purchase processes not available to research this term –

dog, life insurance, home theater, furniture, cell phone, MP3 player, refrigerator, flooring, college, teeth whitening, golf clubs, nail salons, sports drinks, SUV’s, computers, personal trainer, boats, bicycles, beer, digital cameras, laundry detergent, a home, airline tickets, Lasik eye surgery, hybrid vehicles, and sporting event tickets.

Note 3: Your project focus is NOT to analyze a specific brand.  It is to analyze the consumer behavior concepts that apply to making a type of purchase decision.

 

Sustainability Focus: 

The Business Administration and Economics Department’s Corporation Education Day event focuses this year on “sustainability.”  We will be looking at sustainability and green marketing issues throughout the term.  You will see in Ch. 2 and 3 of the project outline that there are specific references to sustainability, but there may be other sections of your project that connect with this focus as well.  Your project must include reflections on the degree to which the consumer behavior related to the purchase process you have researched is impacted by sustainability/green marketing considerations.

 

Ch. 1 Introduction to Consumer Behavior

As you think about the purchase process that your group has chosen, can you begin to outline broadly your understanding of market analysis found in this category?  The market segments typically targeted for this purchase by various competitors?  The marketing strategy found in this category – product/service; promotion; distribution; pricing?  Reflect on outcomes for various constituencies related to the purchase. Begin to think about what consumption of this product/service means at a deeper level for the consumer

 

Ch. 8  Perception

What level of involvement is typically attached to this purchase?  High, low involvement?  Are there different levels of involvement across different consumers?  What must marketers do to get the attention of these consumers engaged in the purchase process?  What do consumers perceive as “just noticeable differences?”  How does “adaptation level” apply to this purchase?  Do consumers tend to habituate to stimuli more than other groups?  What impact does this have on marketing?  How does the price-quality relationship relate to this purchase?  What types of semiotics or symbolism resonate with the purchasers of this product?   Spontaneous brand switching an issue?  Subliminal perception?

 

Ch. 9  Learning, Memory, and Product Positioning

How do consumers learn about products/services that are options for their purchase?  How do they best learn and remember information?  How do they retrieve info?  Is info overload an issue for this purchase?  How do consumers form their evoked sets for products/services?  In which exchanges are they knowledgeable?  Not knowledgeable?  Is forgetting an issue with this purchase process?  In what way-what mechanisms at work?  Are consumers making this purchase likely to engage in a lot of cognitive processing?  What does it take for something to be salient to consumers?

Are there behavioral learning principles that impact this purchase?  Examples of marketing directed at this group that use these principles?  Classical, instrumental/operant conditioning?  Observational/vicarious learning?  What types of models might work?

 

Ch. 10 Motivation, Personality, and Emotions

What motivates this purchase?  Do marketers play a role in motivating consumers? What needs does the purchase seem to fulfill for the consumer?  Which theories of motivation seem to connect with the purchase most specifically?  Is this purchase seen as risky?  How do consumers deal with risk?  Are they risk takers?  Risk-averse?  How do they act to reduce real and perceived risk?  How does this impact marketing strategy?  Describe involvement as it relates to your purchase and related typical consumption behavior.  How do you perceive this type of purchase helps to attain a value-related goal? What personality or psychographic characteristics can be associated with consumers who make this purchase? Are there different profiles across different groups of consumers purchasing the product What connection does this have to marketing strategy?

 

Ch. 11 Attitudes and Influencing Attitudes 

What beliefs and attitudes do consumers hold about this type of purchase? Which hierarchy applies to this purchase?  Does more than one apply?  What attributes, benefits does the consumer group look for in this type of purchase?  Are they satisfied with what is currently available to them?  To what extent does the combination of attributes and benefits affect the final decision of the consumers to purchase a particular type of product/service?

Do you see connections to balance theory? For example, is the use of endorsers effective with this type of purchase?  What about social judgment theory?  Are there certain messages that would be rejected or more readily accepted by consumers engaging in this purchase process?  How well do you think Fishbein’s models would help to predict purchase behavior?  What combination of attributes would be used to evaluate the product/service?  Do consumers contemplating this purchase tend to follow the central or peripheral route to persuasion?  Give an example from each route that applies to this purchase.  How is it best to persuade consumers?  Do they respond best to certain techniques, approaches?  Are purchasers of this product/service likely to experience cognitive dissonance?  How do they resolve cognitive dissonance? (Also refer to Ch. 18 on Post-purchase Processes)  What types of marketing messages are typically utilized for products/services in this type of  purchase?  How are these messages being received by the consumers? (positively, negatively)  Evaluate some of these typical messages according to: complexity, drawing conclusions, comparative, one-sided, two-sided, fear appeals, humor appeals, vividness, abstractness, transformational nature.  Do you see differences in the way messages are created for this purchase depending on the specific product/service involved? What is the role of emotion for consumers making this type of purchase?

 

Ch. 12 Self Concept and Lifestyle

How do typical consumers of this product/service group view itself? What role does self-concept play with them?  What issues related to the self can be connected, are characteristic of the typical consumer engaged in this purchase process?  Any connection to sex roles/sexual identity?  Any body image, beauty issues?  How have the products in this category connected to consumers’ sense of self?

 

Ch. 14-16 Consumer Decision Process, Problem Recognition, Info Search, Alternative Evaluation, Selection

What triggers problem recognition in this purchase process?  What triggers the beginning of the decision making process?  Do marketers play a role in triggering problem recognition?  

 

What is the degree of search behavior that consumers undertaking this purchase engage in?  Does it differ across consumers?  What sources of information are used?  How are these sources regarded by consumers?  What factors impact on the degree of search?

 

How are alternatives evaluated in this type of purchase?  Are consumers likely to use a quantitative approach?  Qualitative approach?  Which heuristics might consumers rely on to evaluate alternatives?  Which approach is most often used in making a final choice of product/service/store? What rules used? Compensatory or non-compensatory? Give examples.  How do consumers perceive/frame gains/losses?  Is it likely that consumers will suffer from choices between this purchase and other non-comparable alternatives?  What might those alternatives be?  What role does the Internet play in consumers’ decision making, especially in search and alternative evaluation?

 

Ch. 13 Situational Influences/Ch. 17 Outlet Selection (Note – some of this material may fit best in the Ch. 11-13 Nov. 4 due date and some may fit best in the Ch. 14-18 Nov. 18 due date)

Physical surroundings - Store location, layout and atmospherics:  How do these elements impact the purchase process?  Describe and analyze their effectiveness in getting consumers to shop in and make their purchases in specific retail settings.  Are they consciously created?

What type of task is involved?

How does "time" come into play?

What antecedent states may exist for consumers as they make this purchase?

What about social surroundings?

In-store decision making

Typical reasons that consumers making this purchase shop – give specific examples.

 

Ch. 18 Post purchase Processes, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Commitment

After this type of purchase, how do consumers tend to respond?  Differences across consumers? How is satisfaction/dissatisfaction identified, dealt with by the consumer?  Does cognitive dissonance tend to occur with this purchase? To what extent does this type of purchase generate the need for consumers to engage in complaint behavior?  What triggers this? How is it handled by the consumer?  What resolutions might consumers expect? Identify examples.  Are there product disposition issues that relate to this purchase?  Is brand loyalty typical in this type of purchase?  Is there a difference between repeat purchasing and brand loyalty?

 

Ch. 2 Cross-Cultural Variations in Consumer Behavior

Ch. 3 The Changing American Society: Values

Identify cultural values central to this purchase.

What cultural values are relevant to this product/service?

Any cultural myths, rituals involved?

Cultural symbols used?

Is popular culture tied to this purchase?

Sacred, profane consumption?

How does/has this type product diffuse through the marketplace?  Across different cultures?  Anything facilitating or obstructing that diffusion? 

How is/would this purchase differ in another culture?

What core, universal and/or cultural values are connected this purchase? Are there core values held by consumers that impact this purchase? How do these values connect to your understanding of consumer behavior?  Does this type of purchase have any connections to typical U.S. values?  Materialism?

Sustainability and green marketing considerations – to what extent is this purchase/product impacted by issues related to sustainability and green marketing?

 

Ch. 4 Changing American Society: Demographics and Social Stratification

Special considerations related to income and social class for this purchase?

Is social class a relevant consideration for this purchase in designing strategies to market to them?

How does it impact specific products and their marketing strategies?

Analyze impact on typical consumers:

Shopping patterns, leisure, home decor, income, psychological differences and lifestyle.

Are there problems in using social class as a marketing tool with this purchase?

Is social class or income more important in marketing products/services for this purchase?

Worldview consumers making this type of purchase?  Differences across consumer groups?

Any status symbols identifiable?

 

Ch. 5 Changing American Society: Subcultures

Do different subcultures represent different target markets for this purchase? (age, ethnicity, sex, region, religion, age?)

How does membership in a subculture impact this purchase process?

What are the unique needs of specific subcultures as it relates to this purchase process?  How are the companies marketing products/services for this purchase tailoring marketing strategies to particular subcultures?

Are there any trends in subculture that marketers are monitoring or should be monitoring related to this type of purchase?

 

Ch. 6 The American Society: Families and Households

How do family and household characteristics connect with and impact this purchase process?  Where are consumers in relation to the household life cycle stages?  Is this model helpful in understanding how consumers approach the purchase process?

Who is making the purchase?  What family role(s) impact the purchase decision?

What are the power relationships?  How do the power relationships impact the purchase process?

Especially important to consider the role, power of children, if relevant to your purchase process.

What are the implications of the organizational and household decision making material for the marketing of the products, services connected to your purchase process?

 

Ch. 7 Group Influences on Consumer Behavior

What reference groups influence consumers making this purchase?

How does group influence apply to the purchases you’re analyzing?

What social influence can you identify in this purchase process?

To what extent does word of mouth communication influence consumers making this purchase?  From the marketer’s perspective:  Is it a problem?  Opportunity?  How is it managed?  Who are opinion leaders for these consumers?  Gatekeepers?  Are they different for different purchases?

Who are product innovators?  Surrogate consumers?  Market mavens?

How might marketers focusing on consumers making this purchase make use of this information?

Are there any tie-ins to the diffusion process?

To what extent might consumers be susceptible to rumors about products/services, the marketplace?  Any examples?

Do consumers shop in stores alone for the products you’re analyzing?  In groups?  What differences occur between the two?  How could this be managed by marketers?