Part 1 Tasks (Objectives from Phases 1-4): My Personal Customer Profile.

Using the information that you have researched about your own buying behavior during Phases 1-4, it is time to create your personal customer profile.

For this Key Assignment draft, you are compiling all of your ideas related to social, group, and anthropological views of consumer behavior and the influences and effects of social class, family structure, cultural background, and group identification.

You are also considering how technology, the economy, and political factors influence your consumer behaviors, create customer retention, and help you understand your own consumer behavior.

The profile is designed to explain your personal buying habits and behaviors-essentially why you buy.

Your customer profile will include the following sections:

Section I: Why Do I Buy? My Buying Behaviors and Attitude

This section will include information about what motivates you to purchase products or services. It will show how your cultural and societal influences are interrelated in your buying choices. Katz (1937) noted that consumer attitudes exist to satisfy one of these 4 functions: Utilitarian, Value-Expressive, Ego-Defensive, and Knowledge.

Section 1 should include the following:

• Your photo
• An analysis of 3 purchases that you made recently with reasons why you bought the products or services
• Explain 1 societal influence that affected the purchases.
• Explain 1 group influence that affected the purchases.
• Explain 1 cultural influence that affected the purchases.
• An analysis of your buying attitude and its influence on your consumer buying decisions.

Choose 1 of the buying attitudes in the following table, and explain why you buy. Include an example of a product or service that matches this buyer attitude and purchasing behavior.

Section 2: What Speaks to Me? My Communication Style

This section examines your personal communication style and how it affects your buying choices. This section will also include what type of advertising messages and appeal influence your purchase decisions.

Section 2 should include the following:

• An explanation of what advertising appeal attracts your attention the most and why.
• An analysis of how a brand can get your attention quickly and effectively to make you a lifelong, loyal customer.
  • Include an example of an ad that appealed to you and why. It can be a print ad, social media site, television or radio commercial, direct mail piece, or any communication that "spoke" to you and made you consider purchasing the product.

Section 3: What Can I Buy? My Demographic and Psychographic Profile

This section includes your demographic and psychographic information.

Section 3 should include the following:

• Your demographic statistics:
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Income
  • Marital status
  • Education
• Your psychographic factors:
  • Lifestyle interests
  • Habits
  • Hobbies
• Analyze your present social class and its influence on your lifestyle choice and purchasing decisions, including how your customer profile influences purchases. Consider the following:
  • Your personality traits
  • Your social class
  • Your lifestyle
  • Your cultural background
  • Your family roles and influences

Section 4: My Likes and Product Preferences

This section looks at how your behaviors, attitudes, communication style and demographic and psychographic information draw you to certain products.

Section 4 should include the following:

• Develop a product preference section analyzing how your behaviors, attitudes, communication style, and demographic and psychographic information draw you to certain products.
• Explain what brand fits each of your product preferences or lifestyle choices and why.
• Conduct this analysis for the following categories of products:
  • Car
  • Education
  • Technology
  • House
  • Food and beverage
  • News

References

Dean, G. (2010). Understanding consumer attitudes. Retrieved from the Marketography

Evic, U. (2011). Guide to advertising appeals - The 7 ad appeals explained. Retrieved from the Ezine Articles

Katz, D. (1937). Attitude Measurement as a Method in Social Psychology. Social Forces, 15, 479-482.