Consumer Behaviour Paper

Individual Assignment (Consumer Behavior in Your Life), DUE MARCH 5 (please hand in 2 paper copies and send me one electronic copy by email):

For this written essay assignment, I would like you to think about how the concepts and theories discussed in this course apply to your own behaviors as a consumer.

Please compare and contrast how these concepts and theories apply in your life either for (choose one of the following) for either (i) typical high involvement vs. low involvement consumption episodes, OR (ii) typical public vs. private consumption episodes. For example, how does the relative importance of the various concepts and theories change for high vs. low involvement episodes, OR for public vs. private episodes?

It is recommended that you look ahead at concepts that have not yet been covered in detail (i.e., post-midterm) as well as reviewing the materials covered to date during class.

The suggested layout, and length of each component is provided below. Please also include a cover page with your name, course/instructor information, and a descriptive/creative title for your assignment.

1. Introduction, overview of the remainder of your report, including your choice of either (i) or (ii) comparisons described above. 1 page

2. What are the most important psychological factors that influence your behaviors (motivations, personality and traits, individual values, decision-making style/rules, product knowledge/learning/experiences, life experiences, and so forth)? Provide examples that are clearly linked to these psychological factors, with clear explanations. 2 pages

3. What are the most important social factors that influence your behaviors (for example, cultural and generational values/customs/norms [these can be from your own culture/generation or others], family influences and life-cycle stage, social class, reference group influences [including online vs. offline], and so forth)? Provide examples that are clearly linked to these social factors, with clear explanations. 2 pages

4. What are the most important situational factors that affect your behaviors (for example, sensory inputs, relating to the four Ps of Product, Place, Price, and Promotion such as advertisements, spokespersons, sales promotions or point-of-purchase displays, brand assortment, alternative ways of satisfying a given need/want, product/brand symbolism, retailer selection, absolute vs. relative costs, and so forth)? Provide examples that are clearly linked to these situational factors, with clear explanations. 2 pages

5. What is the relative significance/importance of these different influences (psychological, social, situational) and why? How do these different influences combine to affect your behaviors, including any tradeoffs or conflicts (arising, for example, budgetary constraints, quality/price, approach/avoidance or other conflicts, such as between personal wants vs. group norms, etc.) that you might have to make? 3 pages

6. Has learning the concepts and theories (in this course) had any effect (or do you anticipate it having any future effect) on any of your thoughts and behaviors as a consumer? Explain, using examples. 1 page

7. Bibliography. Cite all sources of information and use APA citation style. This section does not have to be double spaced.

Attatched are some of the lecture slides from this course. If you need any other assistance please email me at rh984886@gmail.com for any questions