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Part 1 - Consumer Behavior: How People Make Buying Decisions

Learning Outcomes

Model of Consumer Behavior: Environmental factors. Student can use the model of consumer behavior to identify those environmental factors most likely to affect the consumer decision making for a specific product or service.

Model of Consumer Behavior: Consumer factors. Student can reference the model of consumer behavior to identify the consumer factors most likely to affect the decision making for a specific product or service.

Role of Involvement in purchase decisions. Student can identify the role of consumer involvement applicable to a specific product or service offering and how that level of involvement affects the type of decision making.

Consumer decision-making process. Student can identify how marketing strategy can influence each of the steps in the consumer decision-making process.

Directions

Refer to the product or service you selected at the beginning of the semester. This week, you want to take a closer look at what consumer factors may be relevant for customers who are considering buying your product or service offering. This will require some critical thinking on your part based on your own behavior if you are a customer yourself, or you may want to talk to others who have purchased the product. Sometimes you can find clues when looking at the marketing messages that may be addressing some of these factors.

Prepare your assignment beginning with a title page with your name and the name of your product or service. Then answer each of the following eight questions (four in part 1 and four in part 2) in order and number the beginning of your response to each question. You do not need to repeat the question. The paper should contain approximately 5 pages of analysis for the responses to the eight questions.

Consumer Behavior Model: Environmental factors. Refer to the week's readings and the model of consumer behavior and identify two of the most important environmental factors you think are relevant to the customers of your product or service offering. Explain your choices.

Consumer Behavior Model: Consumer factors. Refer to this week's readings and the model of consumer behavior and identify the three most important consumer factors you think are relevant to the customers of your product or service offering. Explain your choices.

Role of involvement in consumer decision-making. Identify the level of involvement a customer of your product or service might use to make a purchase/no purchase decision. Then, discuss which type of buying behavior is most consistent with that level of involvement.

Consumer decision-making process. Go through the six steps of the purchase process outlined in the readings and identify where marketing can influence each of the six steps.   For example, if a consumer just identified a need for your product in step one, then the company can advertise how your product fills that need. Or, if a consumer purchased your product, the consumer can be called and asked about their satisfaction with the product and if there is any dissatisfaction steps can be taken to ensure the customer satisfaction. Be sure to be more specific with respect to your product or service than this example.