MKT401-BUYER DECISION TD
Order Description
QUESTION 1 – Decision Making
Review the survey article on impulse buying by Muruganantham and Bhakat in the International Journal of Marketing Studies (5:3:149-60) available as a pdf file, November 15, 2013, at http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijms/article/download/…/16339
Then answer the following questions:
1.Do some products make consumers more susceptible to impulse buying than others? Explain.
2.How do marketers get their brands of these products onto consumer want lists?
QUESTION TWO =Self-Image
The concept of consumer self image has several variations:
1.Actual self image – how consumers in fact see themselves
2.Ideal self image – how consumers would like to see themselves
3.Social self image – how consumers feel others see them
4.Ideal social self image – how consumers would like others to see them
5.Expected self image – how consumer expect to see themselves at some future point in time
A number of social and psychological factors drive these variations, which, in turn, affect consumers’ likelihood of purchasing different brands or patronizing different retailers.
Review the article on this issue by Achouri and Bouslama in the 2010 Ibama Business Review, available on November 15, 2013, at http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/IBIMABR/2010/627203/627203.pdf
•Considering these differing concepts of self-image and the factors that drive them, why do you think some consumers shop for clothing at Dillard’s or Macy’s when comparable products are available at lower prices at WalMart or Target?
QUESTION THREE – Creating Needs
Beyond satisfying basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing, a good deal of marketing effort is devoted to stimulating demand for products and services that satisfy psychological and social needs, i.e., to developing wants and converting them to needs. The underlying theory behind those efforts is explained by Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” presented and explained by Kendra Cherry’s 2013 article available November 15, 2013, at http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm
Molly Thompson explains how marketers apply Maslow’s theory in a short article in the Houston Chronicle, available November 15, 3013, at http://smallbusiness.chron.com/description-marketers-can-use-maslows-hierarchy-needs-39333.html
Finally, review Jeremy Peters article on the Lexus “December to Remember” campaign in the New York Times (December 15, 2005) available November 15, 2013 at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/business/media/15adco.html?_r=0
•Explain how this campaign reflects the application of Maslow’s theory.
QUESTION FOUR – Making Choices
It’s an article of marketing faith that selection is right up there with price and convenience as purchase drivers. But psychological research over the past decade indicates some clear limits to this. Read the following article:
DeAngelis, Tori (2004). Too many choices. Monitor on Psychology, 35:6(June):56. Available on November 16, 2013, at http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/toomany.aspx
1.Why can’t consumers choose among options when selection is great?
2.What are the marketing implications of Simon’s “satisficing” option?
QUESTION FIVE – Private Labels
One way consumers overcome the frustration of finding higher prices on products in grocery stores is to switch to lower-priced private label products. Thus, stores are promoting their private labeled products.
For example, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is promoting its private-label brands through new packaging and marketing at its stores, which include Super Fresh and Pathmark. This effort to boost the 10 store brands, including America’s Choice, Market Spa and Green Way, “comes at a crucial time, as [consumers] battle through the recession,” an official said. (Wong, Elaine (2009).
A&P plans more publicity for private label. AdWeek, March 24. Available November 16, 2013, at http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ap-plans-more-publicity-private-label-105488
•Once the recession ends, will the shift to private labels be temporary or permanent?