Topic: Using Consumer Behavior Principles to Develop a Consumer Behavior Exploratory Research Survey (25% of the final grade)

Background

Consumer behavior research can be very expensive and time consuming. How do companies decide/justify spending money on research? Many large companies that regularly conduct research begin with a very small exploratory project that is often done with the expertise that is already staffed in the Marketing Department. Once this is done and if it’s found you need a national sample then, you can pitch the CFO for the money needed to go forward. You have been put in the position of conducting the exploratory research to find if you need to hire an expensive outside Consumer Behavior Research firm to take the research to the next level. You have been assigned a brand/product item for your first consumer behavior research project (brand assigned at random by Professor). Complete sections one and three based on secondary data collected through outside research.

Section 1: Background

A) Give some introductory information about your product/brand. Include the current status of the four P’s. Not needed is historic information (company beginnings, etc.). Only current data is needed here. (This should be covered in slides 2-5, one slide for each area of the Market Mix)
B) Research and discuss the brands target market:

demographics (slide 6)
also include the geographics, psychographics and any behavior-based segmenting variables (label them by base) (slide 7)
typical decision-making aspects (How would the target go through the Consumer Decision Process? Where in the Consumer Decision Process does there seem to be issues?) (slide 8)
identify one market segment that you will discuss as a target market using segmenting variables discussed above. (slide 9)
Section 2: Consumer Influences

Identify and analyze three of the most relevant aspects of consumer influences that are relevant when marketing this brand. Provide reasoning why you believe the influence is relevant. (Each Consumer Influence should be it’s own slide 10-12)

Examples of what might be included:

Attitude
Perception
Learning/Memory/Consumer Information Processing
Motivation
Emotion
Personality
External Influences:
family
culture
social class
reference groups
situation
generation
any other external influences.
Section 3: Marketing Strategy (Identify current issues that may need consumer behavior research).

Outline at least SIX questions for each of the three Consumer Influences (from SECTION 2) relating to the brand being explored (relating directly to Consumer Behavior internal and or external factors). Each group of questions must have at least 6 closed-ended questions which explore the dimension in detail. For each question, give an explanation as to why it needs to be asked. State the question and then give the reasoning. Be sure to organize by paragraph. DO NOT question using marketing terms or concepts (ex. What are your perceptions of the brand?). Qualifying questions (demographic or otherwise) are not included in the required number but you can ask these to get the correct sample for your survey. (Slides 13-18)

Examples of areas that pair nicely with the Consumer Influences include:

advertising
consumer decision process (be specific which stage)
public relations and publicity
sponsorship
cross promotion
product distribution (specific retailer, shelving, etc.)
product placement
alternative media
pricing
sales activities
customer service
packaging
brand name, brand images, brand personality figures or celebrity endorsers
Section 4: Present and Survey Respondents

A) Complete a Consumer Behavior Survey with at least 20 questions using the questions created in Section 3. The breakdown of the questions should be 18 closed-ended questions and 2 open-ended questions. Be sure that the closed-ended questions are numerically scaled questions (horizontal scales presented, adjectives are numerically represented and the presentation is horizontal for the scale offering the + choices from left to right. Here is an example:

The taste of Coca-cola is important when choosing this brand to purchase:

Very Likely +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 Not Very Likely

B) Collect survey results from at least 10 respondents that would be a part of the main target segment discussed in section 1. In this section, tell how you implemented the instrument (survey) whether is be in person (paper), internet or social media (which one). Also comment on how the subjects were recruited to take the survey. Did you offer any incentive? Were there difficulties in doing this? What was your response rate (number of surveys mailed/posted vs. what was turned in or taken, if applicable).

(Slide 19 and 20 should represent a copy of the finished look of the survey, the one that was given to the respondents)

Section 5: Analyze Finding/Conclusion

Analyze your findings from the survey, including a minimum of one table. Discuss how your findings (even though they are from a very small sample) could be the basis for a larger research project to be conducted by the brand. A copy of the survey itself and your resulting data must be included in your presentation (results can be in table form). Last, make your recommendation if there needs to be a larger study conducted or not (and why). Identify and recommend which type of research approach should be done