Consumer Behavior — Winter 2019

What is Consumer Research? Explain Consumer Research Process in detail.

List and explain how new technologies are enabling marketers to understand and satisfy consumer needs in a better way than before.

Explain Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with reference to motivation and state examples of how marketers position th eir offerings for different levels of the hierarchy

Why are consumers’ needs and goals constantly changing? What factors influence the formation of new goals?

Describe personality trait theory. Give five examples of how personality traits can be used in consumer research.

Compared with the mass media, what are the advantages and unique features of new media?

Discuss the role of extrinsic and intrinsic cues in the perceived quality of : - ( a ) Wines ( b ) Restaurants ( c ) Cell phones ( d ) Graduate education

How can the principles of (a) classical conditioning and (b) instrumental conditioning be applied to the development of marketing strategies?

You are the owner of two furniture stores, one catering to upper-middle-class consumers and the other to lower-class consumers. How do social-class differences Page 1 of influence each store’s (a) product line and styles, (b) advertising media selection, and

payment policies?

Explain a model of Consumer Decision Making.

Explain how the product manager of a breakfast cereal might change consumer attitudes toward the company’s brand by (a) changing beliefs about the brand, (b) changing beliefs about competing brands, (c) changing the relative evaluation of attributes and (d) adding an attribute.

CASE STUDY: The Viewer’s Voice Influences TV Programming American TV producers broadcasted entertainment programs supported by advertising fees for over 60 years. Much like a book or a movie, the contents of these programs were without significant input from the audience—the receivers of these communications. Generally, Nielsen ratings have been used to gauge the “success” of TV programs and determine the advertising rates on various broadcasts. After watching them, many viewers frequently discussed TV programs at their offices’ water coolers, and some may have even talked back to their televisions while watching. But, the writers and producers of these programs had no reliable and continuous way to listen to what viewers were saying. Today, online Web sites such as www.televisionwitoutpity.com (TWOP) give consumers a forum to discuss, rate, complain about, and occasionally compliment scores of TV shows and even some movies. TWOP is an online site where vast numbers of viewers can virtually “gather” after or even during a broadcast and discuss their views about a particular show. Because the viewers who post their comments are very involved with the programs they watch, the producers of TV shows can read their postings, get a sense of their publics’ reactions to plotlines, dialogues, and other show features, and incorporate such feedback into the content of future show episodes. Since TV shows are filmed several weeks prior to broadcast, writers can now change yet-to- be-broadcast programming to address concerns expressed by viewers’ TWOP posts. For example, if a given story line on the highly popular show Mad Men appears to bore or irritate viewers, the story line can be shortened and concluded sooner than planned.

How does the communications’ feedback that TV shows’ writers and producers (the communications’ sources) receive through Web sites like TWOP differ from input derived from conventional fan mail and standard TV shows’ ratings?

For a TV show of your choice, apply the concept of source credibility to current viewer comments posted on TWOP.

Should television programmers and producers consider the comments viewers post on TWOP in designing future broadcasts? Why or why not?

Compare and contrast the Nielsen rating or a given episode on a TV series with the comments posted about the same show on TWOP. Are the two measures of viewer feedback consistent with one another or not? Explain your answer. Page 2 of