Principles of Marketing

Writing Assignment

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 eight 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 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 product or service's marketing messages that may be addressing some of these factors.

• You will be relying less on what you read in the literature and more on your critical thinking skills and your ability to apply the marketing concepts to your product or service. You won't be able to find 'right' answers to the questions anywhere, so don't waste time looking. You need to reason your responses based on what you now know about your product or service, its customers and the marketing concepts discussed in the course to date.

• Prepare your assignment beginning with a title page with your name and the product or service. Then answer the following four questions in order and number the beginning of your response to each question.

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

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

Be sure to follow all of the submission requirements outlined in the syllabus and provided below again for your easy reference:

• Prepare as a word processed document (such as Microsoft Word).

• Your assignment should be the equivalent of two pages of double-spaced text, approximately 1/2 page for each of the four questions.

• Be sure your name, writing assignment number, and the name of your product or service are on the first page of your writing assignment.

• Use a simple 12-point font such as Times New Roman. Use black ink for majority of your work and only use colors if it enhances your ability to communicate your thoughts.

• If the writing assignment requires external research, be sure to use footnotes and include a bibliography. You may use MLA or APA style, or any other college-level style guide. More information about using a style guide can be found in the UMUC's virtual library accessible from your LEO classroom or at umuc.edu/library.

• Upload your word processed document in your LEO assignments by the due date in the LEO calendar.