Instruction
US Ethnic Subculture Exercise:
This assignment consists of two parts:
1) Visit the U.S. Census website (www.census.gov). What data are available there on the following US Ethnic subcultures? Which of this is most useful to marketers? Why?
a) Native Americans
b) African Americans
c) Hispanics
2) Visit the Pew Hispanic Center website at www.pewhispanic.org. Search for “Country of Origin Profiles” and prepare a report describing the characteristics of Hispanics from two nationality groups (e.g., Mexico and Cuba).
Discuss what you found, how marketers could/would use this information, and WHY you believe this information is important for marketers to comprehend and apply. This report should be NO more than one page in length. You are encouraged to merge and integrate the information you found on each site into one discussion.
Submit your attached Word document to the assignment submission link in Week 9 folder.
Consumer Decision Process Exercise:
Application of the Buyer Decision Process
The purpose of this exercise/assignment is to apply the stages and variables of the consumer/buyer decision process to your decision to enroll at MSU. I want you to identify the activities and processes you progressed through in each stage of the process, and discuss how you went about making your decision to attend MSU.
I have outlined each of the stages, with a brief description to remind you the activities/processes involved in each stage.
Problem Recognition:
The buying process begins when the buyer senses a difference between his or her actual state and a desired state. Identify the stimuli that triggered your interest in college. Would you classify your actions as Nominal, Limited, or Extended decision making at this stage?
Information Search:
The consumer can obtain information from personal, commercial, public, and experiential sources. Identify your sources of information and the importance of each source of the information. How much of your search was internal versus external? What kind of cost/benefit analysis occurred?
Evaluation of Alternatives:
The consumer sees a product/service as a bundle of product attributes. How did you evaluate college alternatives? Which of the five Decision Rules did you apply?
Purchase Decision:
The consumer makes a decision. How did you make your decision about (major and university) MSU? Justify your response. Which of the three general decisions that can be made did you use: simultaneous, item first/outlet second, outlet first/item second? What role did outlet image, location, atmospherics or sales personnel play?
Post-Purchase Behavior:
The consumer will be satisfied or dissatisfied with the product/service after purchasing it. Discuss your level of satisfaction about college. Have you experienced post-purchase dissonance? Examine the evaluation process. Would you consider yourself: satisfied, dissatisfied, or non-satisfied? Why? Justify your response.