Consumer Buying Behaviour
Project Layout & Format
Spring 2016
Instructor: Dr. Eman Ismail
TA: Ms. Asmaa
1. General Notes
 This project is a group work.
 Submit your papers on the due dates. If the student failed to submit due dates 2 marks will be
deducted for each day of delay.
 Feedback comments will be ready one week after submission.
 The student should fulfill the instructor comments or he/she loses marks on the final paper.
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Attach the Phase outline on the delivered copy to the TA or the Instructor. Check the covered points and
justify or clarify why you haven’t covered the unchecked ones.
ASK QUESTIONS IF THERE IS SOMETHING STILL VAGUE.
2. General Format & Layout
 Font: Times New Roman, Regular which means not Italic or tilt.
 Text Size: 12
 Main Title size 14 or 16, Bold.
 Subtitles: 12 or 14, Bold.
 Alignment: justified to both left and right sides of the page.
 Line Spacing: Single.
 Page spacing: Not more than 1.5 cm from all sides.
 Page numbering: make sure that all pages are numbered except the Cover page.
 The Order should be as follows: The Cover Page, then the Table of Contents (Including the Topics
as per detailed in the coming bullet point), then the Content of the project itself as explained later.
 The content text should be bulleted and numbered as below:
example:
Phase One:
1) Introduction
2) Segmentation
2.1 Segmentation Variables
2.1.1. Demographic
2.1.2. Psychographic
2.1. 3….etc
2.2 Segmentation based on Needs' related sets
2.2.1. Identifying Product-Related Needs Set
2.2.2. Grouping Customers with…etc.
2.2.3. …etc
3) Cultural Values
3.1. Other-Oriented values
3.2….etc
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…etc
4) Reference Groups' Influence
4.1.Informative
4.2…etc
5) Perception
5.1.
5.1.1. ..etc
6) Attitude & Influencing Attitudes
7) Situational Influences
8) Recommendations
9) References
10) Appendices (if any)
3. The Cover Page
 Cover Page should include the University logo in the upper left of the page.
 In the middle of the page, please insert the logo (if applicable) and the name of the selected
Company for your project in your selected font & size or the same agreed specs.
 Then below the above, write your name, student ID, GROUP, Course Code, and the Instructor's
name & Teaching Assistant's to whom you are presenting the project.
 The Second Page shall be a completion part to the Cover Page, this shall contain your names
corresponding to a personal photo.
 NOTE THAT THE FINAL PROJECT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED UNLESS THE ABOVE IS
CONSIDERED.
4. Table of Contents & Page numbers
 Make sure to include a table of contents of main covered topics with matching page numbers,
considering the same agreed font & layout specs.
5. The Project Content/Outline
GOOD LUCK 
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Consumer Behaviour
Project outline Spring 2016
The first step in this project is to select a specific product (good or service)
Avoid selecting the following products:
- Juice
- Soda drinks
- BMW
- Rolex (premium watches in general)
- Milk
It is recommended to select services such as:
- Cafes
- Clubs
- Circus
- Hospitals
- Hotels
- Universities
- Schools
Phase 1 Outline
I. Introduction (not more than 2 pages)
Introduce what is the project about and give a brief about the company, product and history of the
industry.
II. Market Segmentation (Determine your target market according to different segmentation basis)
a- Demographics
b- Psychographics
c- Behavioral
In addition it is crucial to segment market based on need related set (i.e. the needs satisfied by your
product) by:
a- Identifying Product-Related Need Sets
b- Grouping Customers with Similar Need Sets
c- Describing Each Group
d- Selecting an Attractive Segment(s) to Serve
III.Cultural Values (Apply the concept by determining what are the cultural values that your product
can benefit from and what are their implications)
a. Other-oriented Values
b. Environment-oriented Values
c. Self-oriented Values
d. Recommendations on Marketing Strategies
All applicable cultural values should be related to specific marketing strategy as shown in the marketing
strategies’ table in the appendix
Phase 2 Outline
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I- Reference Group Influence (Ch. 7)
Analyze types of reference group influences used (or can be used) by the company in relation to their
promotion (IMC) strategies
a) Informative influence
b) Normative influence
c) Identification influence
II- Learning Theories (Ch. 9, p. 331-336)
What are the suitable learning theories for your product?
What are the theories used by the company?
What theories do you recommend the company to use?
Learning theories are:
a. Classical Conditioning: the process of using an established relationship between one stimulus (music)
& response (pleasant feelings) to bring about the learning of the same response (pleasant feelings) to a
different stimulus (the brand)
Ex: Coca Cola ad with Nancy Agram song
b. Operant Conditioning: rewarding desirable behaviors such as brand purchases with a positive
outcome that serves to reinforce the behavior
Ex: Reinforcement could be like Buying 2 & Getting 1 Free
c. Iconic Rote Learning: the association between two or more concepts in the absence of conditioning
Ex: “El Ghasil ya3ni Persil”
d. Vicarious Learning / Modeling: Consumers observe the outcomes of others’ behaviors & adjust their
own accordingly
Ex: A consumer carefully watches the reactions that other co-workers have to her friend’s new briefcase
before deciding to buy one
e. Analytical Reasoning: Individuals engage in creative thinking to restructure & recombine existing
information as well as new information to form new associations & concepts (Using rational thinking)
Ex: Carrefour puts a big stand in its entrance with a comparison of its prices (of rice, macaroni, bread …)
versus its competitors, at the end the total price of Carrefour will be the lowest.
II- Attitude and Influencing Attitudes (Ch. 11, p. 396 – 409 and p. 416 - 420)
What are the suitable attitude change strategies for your product?
What are the strategies used by the company?
What strategies do you recommend the company to use?
a. Attitude Change Strategy
Change the Cognitive component: done through 4 basic marketing strategies
i. Change Beliefs: shift belief about the performance of the brand on one or more attributes
o Generally done by providing facts or statements about performance
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o Changing one belief about a brand may result in other beliefs changing to remain consistent with the
changed belief
o Target weaker brand beliefs that are more vulnerable to persuasion attempts
ii. Shift Importance: Marketers try to convince consumers that those attributes on which their brands
are relatively strong are the most important
iii. Add Beliefs: Add new beliefs to the consumer’s belief structure
Ex: IBM introduced a “shock absorption” feature to protect its laptops
iv. Change Ideal: change the perceptions of the ideal brand
Change the Affective component: 3 basic approaches are used
i. Classical conditioning: cf. part 1 of phase 3
Ex: A stimulus the audience like, such as music or picture, is consistently paired with the brand name.
Over time, some of the positive affect associated with the music will transfer to the brand.
ii. Affect toward the Ad or Website:
o Using humor, celebrities, or emotional appeals
o Using vivid colors with rich sensory content
iii. Mere Exposure: simply presenting a brand to an individual on a large number of occasions might
make the individual’s attitude toward the brand more positive (“Familiarity breeds liking”)
Change the Behavioral component: usually done through operant conditioning
o Using coupons, free samples, point-of-purchase displays, tie-in purchases, and price reductions
b. Types of Appeals Used
Fear Appeals: the threat of negative (unpleasant) consequences if attitudes or behaviors are not
altered
Humorous Appeals: ads built around humor appear to increase attention to & liking of the ad
Comparative Ads: directly compare the features or benefits of two or more brands
Emotional Appeals: designed primarily to elicit a positive affective response rather than to provide
information or arguments
Value Expressive vs. Utilitarian Appeals:
o Value-expressive appeals: it attempt to build a personality for the product or create an image of the
product user
o Utilitarian appeals: it involves informing the consumer of one or more functional benefits that are
important to the target market
III- Situational Influences (Ch. 13, p. 488 – 492)
Apply situational factors by discussing what the company is applying (with regard to specific marketing
strategy) and recommend other strategies that could be applicable to your product.
1- Physical Surroundings
Apply this part on the retailing set where the product is sold or on the product itself if it is a
service
a. Colors:
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o Certain color and color characteristics create feelings of excitement, arousal, relaxation, increase
sales and customer satisfaction
o Warm vs. Cool colors
b. Aromas: scents or odors
o Scented environment produced a greater intent to revisit the store, higher purchase intention for
some items, and a reduced sense of time spent shopping
o Pleasant scent increased time spent evaluating the band (attention), which in turn increased memory
c. Music:
o Music influences consumers’ moods, which influence a variety of consumption behaviors
o Tempo: slow vs. fast music
o Musical preferences of the target audience
d. Crowding:
o Marketers should design their outlets in ways that will help reduce consumers’ perceptions of
crowding
IIII- recommendations
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