NAME(S):……………………………………………………………………………………… I. CONSUMER´S BEHAVIOR – household decision making roles Consumers often play different roles within a family (or household) decision making unit. Your task in this activity is to identify who might be involved in the decisions below and what role that they may play in that decision. ACTIVITY/TASK 1. Purchase Decision Units = Christmas presents for the kids Influencers Information gatherers Decision maker Users 2. Purchase Decision Units = A new family car Influencers Information gatherers Decision maker Users 3. Purchase Decision Units = The weekly groceries at the supermarket Influencers Information gatherers Decision maker Users QUESTIONS 1. Start by completing the above table for product purchase decisions. 2. Do you think it is important that firms need to understand the various roles in the family decision making process? Why? II. CONSUMER´S BEHAVIOR – REFERENCE GROUP INFLUENCE In this activity, you will assess the extent of group influence across various purchase decisions. Listed below is a series of situations that you may be exposed to. Your task is to determine, given the particular situations, what you are most likely to do. ACTIVITY/TASK What would be your response (if any) to the following situations/comments? 1. You notice that most of your friends buy the same brand of drink each time you go out with them. 2. When you go to your friends’ homes, they usually serve some unusual cocktails. This has become a talking point among your friends. Next week your friends are coming to your house. 3. One of the other students in class, who is an expert on the computer, tells everyone about a great piece of software that has just come out, which automatically corrects spelling and grammar while you type – and it is much better than the standard word processor software. 4. You overhear another student stating that Heinz is their favorite brand of Baked Beans 5. When you flick through a magazine, you notice that several celebrities are wearing the same style/look of clothes. 6. You start a new job. You dress very formally on the first day, but you notice that most other employees at your level dress more casually. 7. You’re about to buy a new smart phone and read in the newspaper that Apple’s smart phone is now the most popular one in the world. QUESTIONS 1. What would you do in each of the above situations? 2. What do the situations where you are influenced have in common? How do those situations differ from the ones where you are not influenced? 3. Try to find in this situation the meaning of opinion leader, opinion former and opinion follower. III. CONSUMER´S BEHAVIOR – who is an innovator? Effectively reaching innovators/early adopters will greatly assist with a faster adoption of a new product. But who are these innovators? For this exercise, your task is to describe these two innovators (using the various attributes in the table below). With this base information, we can then consider how we can leverage their networks through our marketing activities. ACTIVITY/TASK Consumer One This person has all the entertainment gadgets. They were always one of the first to buy a smart phone, a DVD player, a Wii, a Xbox, a wide-screen TV, a car navigation system, an iPod and so on. While they could wait a little longer and buy some of these products when their prices come down a little, this does not seem to be a consideration for them. They usually want to get a ‘new toy’ as soon as it comes to market. And if it’s not something new, they are usually upgrading to the latest technology. Consumer Two This person is right into new fashion trends, usually BEFORE they become popular. Whether it’s new clothes, tattoos, body piercings, and hairstyles – they’re always doing something new. Sometimes what they wear later becomes very popular, and sometimes it’s just a fad that passes quickly. QUESTIONS 1. Describe both of these consumers, using your best estimate of their following characteristics/behaviors: * Male or female? * Age? * Married/partner? * Occupation? * Hobbies? * Favorite TV show? * Outgoing/friendly? * Career focused/ambitious? * When finished, give them a segment nickname 2. Outline some of the advantages of firms promoting to and connecting with innovators. 3. Given your profile in Q1, what are some of the ways that we could communicate effectively with these types of consumers.