FT-GDipMM13

1. FT-GDipMM13 Consumer Behavior Individual Assignment Guidelines (30%) 1800-2500 words Due Date: 16th Feb 14, 2359hrs! (Sun) Quiz Revision: 14th Jan, Quiz: 15th Jan Exam Revision: 10th & 11th Feb

2. The Question Consumer Behaviour Individual Assignment (30%) Students are required to develop a Consumer Behaviour Report to be submitted to the Managing Director of a Mid/High Involvement Brand & Product Line/Model of your choice that outlines the key consumer behaviour related issues facing the company. The Report will cover the following areas: • 1. Situation Analysis of the Company & Product • 2. Selected Target Market Profile • 3. Description of Target Market Decision Making Process • 4. Personal & Social Influences on Buying Behaviour • 5. Psychological Influences on Buying Behaviour • 6. Marketing Strategy Recommendations • Your Report should be about 1800-2500 words not including Appendixes and Referencing. You will be required to provide a minimum of 3 in-text references as part of your written report.

3. Crash course in CB • Common Influencers of consumer behavior: • 1. External/Social Influences: Culture & Lifestyle, Practice of society (festivals), Family, Friends, Social Class, Social/Domestic Roles • 3. Personal Influences: Age, Income, Occupation, Education, Gender • 4. Internal/Psychological Influences: Motivation, Personality, Perception, Learning & Attitudes • PLUS: Decision-making process (DMP)

4. Submission details Assignments are to be submitted to www.turnitin.com Class Name: FT GDipMM13 Class ID: 7430826 Password: julian Plagiarism % must not exceed 25% NOTE: DO NOT provide Kaplan Assignment Coversheet, just provide student name & number on cover page Assignments are to be uploaded in a single file, saved and named: (name_student no)_CB_ assignment E.g: Ang_Soontong_CT12345_CB_assignment Remember to email a copy to: jcstbr@gmail.com

5. Formatting Assignment is to be presented in a Report format Refrain from using 1st person perspective Use headings and sub-headings Reference your work including in-text citations and end-text bibliography in accordance to Harvard/APA referencing guidelines

6. Formatting Type your quotations in italics and separate into another paragraph: For example: (In-text citation) Burns (2010,pg 281) describes sales promotion as short-term incentive that adds value to a product… This suggests that the targeted consumer can be induced to try out the new products launched… This source has to be reflected at the end of your assignment reference (‘End-text’ Referencing): M Burns, 2010, Consumber Behavior 5thedn, Harper Collins Publishers, Massachusetts, USA.

7. Formatting Use a variety of resources, including textbooks, websites, news articles etc Textbooks are still de-rigor, so have several textbooks at your disposal Do not cite wikipediaas an academic reference! Form a framework of your assignments and begin to fill in the blanks. Adjust as needed.

8. The Question Consumer Behaviour Individual Assignment (30%) Students are required to develop a Consumer Behaviour Report to be submitted to the Managing Director of a Brand/Product of your choice that outlines the key consumer behaviour related issues facing the company. The Report will cover the following areas: • 1. Situation Analysis of the Company & Product • 2. Selected Target Market Profile • 3. Description of Target Market Decision Making Process • 4. Personal & Social Influences on Buying Behaviour: (e.g. Culture, Friends) • 5. Psychological Influences on Buying Behaviour: (e.g. Motivation, Learning, Attitudes) • 6. Marketing Strategy Recommendations: (e.g. Build Brand Identity, Develop Positioning, Marketing Mix etc...) • Your Report should be about 1800-2500 words not including Appendixes and Referencing. You will be required to provide a minimum of 3 in-text references as part of your written report.

9. 1. Situation Analysis • Steps: • 1. Introduce the company & its background (Singapore-based, real company) • 2. Perform a brief SWOT/Environmental analysis (PEST/Porter’s 5 forces) • 3. Describe the marketed Products/Services provided: Its Benefits, USP, Competitive Position in the market

10. 2. Target Market Profile • Steps: • 1. Identify a current/potential market segment (group of customers) targeted by the company, its products and/or services • 2. List out their Segmentation characteristics in terms of Demographic (personal), Psychographic (personality) & Behavioral (benefits sought) variables • Hint: Profile of target market could include: buying power and willingness to purchase product.

11. 3. Target Market DMP • Steps: • 1. Based on your selected target market segment, describe the consumer decision making process (DMP) for a consumer(can be first time) of the product/service. • Basically, IMAGINE how a first time buyer for the brand might go through the Decision Making Process, would they eventually choose your brand/model or not?

12. 3. Target Market DMP • Decision Making Process 5 Stages includes: • 0. Cause of Problem Recognition: Out-of-stock, New Stage in life, Interest in new products/complimentary products, Marketer & Market Initiated • 1. Problem/Need Recognition • 2. Information Search • 3. Evaluation of Alternatives • 4. Store selection & Purchase Decision • 5. Post-purchase behavior: Cognitive dissonance

13. 3. Target Market DMP • 3. Discuss the DMP process(5 stages) that the target consumers are likely to move through when buying this product (especially for the first timer) • 4. Also outline how long you would expect each stage to take and what specific criteria (e.g. Sufficiency in information, Budget, Brand recognition, Size etc) would need to be met in order for these buyers to move to the next stage.

14. 3. Target Market DMP • ADDITIONAL TIPS: Consider the following in your discussion and other information relevant to the DMP: • What triggers problem recognition? • What needs are consumers seeking to satisfy? • What types of information are they likely to search for and where, what form does this information need to take? • What evaluative criteria are likely to be used to make the decision? (e.g. Price, Product Features, Brand Name) • How is the product purchased and would this impact on the final choice (credit, cash etc…)? • Is store choice likely to effect the decision in any way? (if applicable) • Would you expect there to be any decision loops where customers return to a previous stage and why does this occur? • Are there positive or negative post-purchase issues that consumers will experience? (If yes, what are the causes?)

15. 4 & 5. Personal, Social & Psychological Influences • Based on stage 3, where the consumer decision process of the target market segment was explained and justified, you are now required to examine the impact of a few important influencing factors on the process. • Identify Personal/Social (2-3) & Psychological (2-3) influences on the decision-making process • Discuss in detail how and where these factors impact on the decision process for your selected product and the target market segment. What implications arise from your analysis? • (Examples: cultural influence, learning, social class-status, reference groups; friends & family, motivation; opinion leadership; tri-component attitude model, etc)

16. 6. Marketing Strategy Recommendations • Recommendations • Finally, you are required to provide recommendations for the marketers of this product in terms of how they might utilise this information in developing or modifying current marketing strategies/tactics that can be applied to ANY two stages of the DMP. • For example: PLANET FITNESS CENTRE • Using a complimentary session at the Gym to accelerate purchase decision, Using well-trained sales staff to provide information professionally to facilitate positive experiential memory retention... • TWO specific recommendations are required with justification.

17. The End! Any questions???