Specimen answers for the examination question paper
Subject
Exploring Consumer Behaviour (ECB)
Examination
June 2013
PART ONE
Multiple Choice Questions
Total Marks Allocation – 20 Marks
Question No 1
Question 1.1
A
B
C
1 MARK
Question 1.2
1 MARK
Question 1.3
1 MARK
Question 1.4
1 MARK
Question 1.5
1 MARK
1 MARK
Question 1.6
Question 1.7
1 MARK
Question 1.8
1 MARK
1 MARK
Question 1.9
1 MARK
Question 1.10
Question 1.11
1 MARK
Question 1.12
1 MARK
1 MARK
Question 1.13
1 MARK
Question 1.14
Question 1.15
1 MARK
Question 1.16
1 MARK
Question 1.17
1 MARK
Question 1.18
1 MARK
1 MARK
Question 1.19
Question 1.20
D
1 MARK
PART TWO
Answer All Six Questions - Compulsory
1
Total Marks Allocation – 60 Marks
Question No02
Illustrate how marketers could use each of the three major learning theories.
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Consumer Learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and
consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behaviour.
Most of the learning is incidental. Some of it is intentional. Basic elements that
contribute to an understanding of learning are:
Motivation
Cues
Response
Reinforcement
Allocation
10 marks
There are 2 theories on how Individuals learn:
Behavioural Theory
Cognitive Theory
Both contribute to an understanding of consumer behaviour.
Behavioural Theorists view learning as observable responses to stimuli, whereas
Cognitive Theorists believe that learning is a function of mental processing.
3 Major Behavioural Learning Theories are :
Classical Conditioning: Includes Repetition, Stimulus generalization and Stimulus
discrimination.
Instrumental Conditioning: Instrumental Learning theorists believe that learning
occurs through a trial and error process in which the positive outcomes in the
form of results or desired outcomes lead to repeat behaviour like Repeat
Purchase or Repeat Positive Word of Mouth.
Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used to encourage the desired
behaviour. The timing of repetitions influences how long the learned material is
retained. Learning usually persists longer with distributed re-inforcement
schedule, while mass repetitions produce more initial learning.
Observational Conditioning or Vicarious Learning:
Study Text Page: Page 198- 201
Remarks:
Question No 03
Explain how personal experience, family, friends, direct marketing,
mass media and personality influence consumer attitude formation
2
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
The formation of consumer attitudes is strongly influenced by Allocation
persona/experience, the influence of family and friends, direct marketing, and
mass media. The primary means by which attitudes toward goods and services
are formed is through the consumer's direct experience in trying and evaluating,
them). Recognizing the importance of direct experience, marketers frequently
10 marks
attempt to stimulate trial of new products by offering cents-off coupons or even
free samples.
Marketers are increasingly using highly focused direct-marketing programs to
target small consumer niches with products and services that fit their interests
and lifestyles.(Niche marketing is sometimes called micromarketing.) Marketers
very carefully target customers on the basis of their demographic, psychographic,
or geo-demographic profiles with highly personalized product offerings (e.g.,
hunting rifles for left-handed people) and messages that show they understand
their special needs and desires. Direct-marketing efforts have an excellent
chance of favorably influencing target consumers' attitudes. Because the
products and services offered and the promotional messages conveyed are very
carefully designed to address the individual segment's needs and concerns and,
thus are able to achieve.
Attitudes that develop through direct experience (e.g., product usage) tend to be
more confidently held, more enduring, and more resistant to attack than those
developed via indirect experience (e.g., reading a print ad).
The Utilitarian Function:
The Ego-Defensive Function:
The Value-Expressive Function:
The Knowledge Function:
Study Text Page: 246-249
Remarks:
Question No 04
Explain the factors that affect reference group influence.
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Primary groups are intimate, face-to-face such as family and peer groups. Allocation
Informal primary groups include family and peer groups. Formal groups are
highly defined in structure, interact frequently, such a school groups, business
groups and work groups. Primary groups are more important to you.
Secondary groups are seen less frequently. Informal groups are considered
secondary and more impersonal as they only interact occasionally (i.e. shopping
groups, sports group). Secondary formal groups might include alumni
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10 marks
organizations and technical associations.
Symbolic groups are those that you can never join but that you try to take on
your values (i.e., sport team).
How do groups affect us and shape our consumer behavior?
Social Power Theory :
There are 5 basis of power, that is 5 ways in which groups influence people:
1.Rewarded power – parents often use rewards as well as supervisors
(lots of ads use reward power)
2. Coercive power (punish) – you can be punished if you don’t do what
they want
3. Legitimate power – the other person has a legitimate right to try to
influence you (i.e., religious leaders, rabbi, priest; in advertising to buy
American products or union label)
4. Referent power – persuaded by groups you’re either similar to or want
to be like (ie., sports celebrities used in advertising, Michael Jordan for
Hanes – want to be like him)
5. Experent power -with superior expertise increases trustworthiness
Study Text Page: 273-274
Remarks:
Question No 05
Discuss the dynamic nature of motivation and its impact on marketing
strategies.
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Dynamic Nature of Motivation:
Allocation
Needs & their fulfillment are the basis of motivation. Needs change, so also 10 marks
motivation. Both internal & external factors are responsible for change. The fact
is that not all needs are satisfied fully. When some are satisfied, some others
arise. Sometimes because of personal, financial, social & cultural limitations,
people can’t fulfill some of their needs, wants & goals. Failure of need fulfillment
may give rise to the following states :1.Rationalisation – trying to justify the
situation & excusing oneself,2.Aggression – getting angry & frustrated, and
resorting to unsocial actions,3.Regression – trying to settle without that
particular need & try something else,4.Withdrawal – trying to disassociate
oneself from the very thought of it.
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Study Text Page: 96-98
Remarks:
Question No 06
Explain how cross-cultural consumer analysis is conducted and how
international marketers use it.
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
The effort to determine to what extent the consumers of two or more nations Allocation
are similar or different.
Cross-cultural consumer analysis, the similarity and differences between
consumers in several nations, is important when deciding whether or not to
enter a foreign market. The analysis carefully considers the psychological, social,
and cultural similarities and differences among people.
The more similar two nations, the more likely the marketer can use similar
marketing strategies.
As a basis of similarity, marketers often look to see if a country is more collective
in its culture vs. individualistic. This is really the difference between a “we”
culture and an “I” culture. In a few slides, you can see detailed differences
between a Chinese and an American consumer.
The middle class will grow globally with the largest growth coming from China
and India.
This creates significant opportunity to marketers who provide
products and services for this middle class. In some countries, the middle class is
very large. South Korea is considered to have more than 90 percent of its
population as middle class.
We have learned in previous chapters that when someone moves to a new
country, they go through an acculturation process where they learn the customs,
rituals, and attitudes. Marketers must put themselves through an acculturation
process before trying to market to a new country. If they don’t truly understand
the values, beliefs, and customs of the society, they cannot really market
products effectively.
Study Text Page: : 372- 375
Remarks:
5
10 marks
Question No 07
Discuss the importance of post –purchase evaluation and how
consumers attempt to reduce post purchase cognitive dissonance?
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Allocation
Post-Purchase Feelings And Behavior
10 marks
You might think that once a sale has been made, a marketer's job is done, and all
of their goals have been accomplished. You're now slightly lighter in the pocket,
and their sales figures for the month just went up. Really, it's not always that
easy.
For some purchases, consumers go through a period of second-guessing their
purchase decision, wondering if the choice they made was correct or if they
should have chosen a different product to fulfill their unsatisfied need.
Marketers must implement strategies to help combat these feelings and assure
us we've made the right choice. You might recall that over time, the more
positive experiences and feelings we associate with a brand, the more likely we
are to develop brand loyalty, where that product becomes our go-to, number
one choice. The more negative experiences we encounter, the more likely we are
to develop some sort of brand rejection, where we refuse to make the same
mistake and purchase the same brand again, lest we experience the same
dissatisfaction.
Cognitive Dissonance
Most of us have experienced a form of this 'second-guessing' feeling when we're
out at a restaurant. We order something thinking it's exactly what we're hungry
for, only to look over at our dining companion's plate when the food arrives and
suddenly wish we'd ordered what they're having.
This type of feeling is also known as cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance
can be defined as the uncomfortable tension or feelings that occur when we hold
conflicting thoughts, attitudes or beliefs. So, in our restaurant example, our belief
that we made the best choice conflicts with the realization that there may have
been a tastier dish we would have liked more.
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High-Involvement Purchases
You might remember that with the many different types of consumer purchases,
there are different levels of involvement, or how much time we spend
considering alternatives before making a purchase. The level of involvement used
to make a decision can be thought of like a continuum, ranging from virtually no
thought to very high involvement, with points all along the line.
Although the menu mix-up situation I just described is a good example to
understand the type of feeling associated with cognitive dissonance, actual
cognitive dissonance is much more likely to occur in higher-involvement
decisions, rather than more spur-of-the-moment, low-involvement decisions like
a menu choice. The cognitive dissonance that occurs after high-involvement
decision-making can also be called post-purchase dissonance.
Post-Purchase Dissonance
By definition, post-purchase dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling we just
described when it occurs following a high-involvement decision.
This dissonance occurs because choosing one alternative requires you to commit
to its features and benefits, requiring you to give up the attractive features of
other possible choices.
Because post-purchase dissonance is most often associated with highinvolvement purchases, you can think of purchase dissonance almost like a scale
- the likelihood you'll experience those feelings and the stronger they'll be.
Study Text Page: 372- 375
Remarks:
PART THREE
Answer ONE question from this part
Total Marks Allocation – 20 Marks
Question No 08
Question 08– a
Your company has created a virtual reality adventure tour for use with
gaming consoles and computers. Discuss how the company might use
its marketing strategies to facilitate the adoption process in order to
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'jump start' the diffusion process.
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Products tend to go through a life cycle. Initially, a product is introduced. Since Allocation
the product is not well known and is usually expensive (e.g., as microwave ovens
were in the late 1970s), sales are usually limited. Eventually, however, many
10 marks
products reach a growth phase—sales increase dramatically. More firms enter
with their models of the product. Frequently, unfortunately, the product will
reach a maturity stage where little growth will be seen. For example, in the
United States, almost every household has at least one color TV set. Some
products may also reach a decline stage, usually because the product category is
being replaced by something better. For example, typewriters experienced
declining sales as more consumers switched to computers or other word
processing equipment. The product life cycle is tied to the phenomenon of
diffusion of innovation. When a new product comes out, it is likely to first be
adopted by consumers who are more innovative than others—they are willing to
pay a premium price for the new product and take a risk on unproven
technology. It is important to be on the good side of innovators since many other
later adopters will tend to rely for advice on the innovators who are thought to
be more knowledgeable about new products for advice.
The diffusion of innovation refers to the tendency of new products, practices, or
ideas to spread among people. Usually, when new products or ideas come
about, they are only adopted by a small group of people initially; later, many
innovations spread to other people.
Study Text Page: 396- 397
Question 08 – b
Discuss why and how a company would simulate or create opinion
leaders
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Opinion Leadership
Word of mouth – friends, neighbors, work associates
People turn to others for advise
Advertising bias – not always honest – if opinion leader, usually category specific
Allocation
8
10 marks
How measure opinion leadership?
1. self-designating method
2. sociometric method – closed community and ask people what they
think about something
3. key informant method – these are the central people
4. objective method
Opinion Leaders have:
1. knowledge and interest about the product
2. are innovators
3. demographics tend to be younger for the arts and older for medical
4. social class – tend to be of the same social class as the target
demographic
Study Text Page:
Total
Part a = 10 Marks
Part b =10 Marks
Question No 09
Question 09 – a
It has been suggested that you can tell the core cultural values of a
nation by its advertising. Discuss how advertising creates, reflects and
reinforces culture, using examples of specific ads that create, reflect or
reinforce core Sri Lankan values or customs
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Cultural factors comprise of set of values and ideologies of a particular Allocation
community or group of individuals. It is the culture of an individual which decides
the way he/she behaves. In simpler words, culture is nothing but values of an
individual. What an individual learns from his parents and relatives as a child 10 marks
becomes his culture.
Example - In India, people still value joint family system and family ties. Children
in India are conditioned to stay with their parents till they get married as
compared to foreign countries where children are more independent and leave
their parents once they start earning a living for themselves.
Cultural factors have a significant effect on an individual’s buying decision. Every
individual has different sets of habits, beliefs and principles which he/she
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develops from his family status and background. What they see from their
childhood becomes their culture.
EXAPMPLES OF BRANDS; SPA CEYLON+ IKMAN.COM + SIGNAL Sina Bowewa
Campaign
Study Text Page: 342- 344
Question 09 – b
Discuss the importance of understanding language and symbols for international marketers
wanting to sell their products in Sri Lanka or Sri Lankan marketers wanting to sell their
products offshore.
Marks Awarding Criteria:
Marks
Business people need to be careful that they never underestimate the impact Allocation
that culture can have on consumer buying behaviour. Developing your
understanding, tolerance and acceptance of cultural differences is crucial if your 10 marks
international marketing objectives are to be accomplished.
There are a number of key cultural elements that international marketers need
to take into consideration when designing products, developing promotions and
implementing distribution systems in foreign markets. These elements include
values, beliefs, thought processes, symbols, traditions, religion and language.
It is generally assumed that people are not born with a culture, but are born into
a society in which they develop certain cultural traits and beliefs. Culture has an
impact on people right from when they are born all the way into adulthood,
which gives it a highly persuasive quality. In many countries, cultural traits will
prevent a person from doing something that is common in another culture or
encourage behavior that is uncommon elsewhere.
It is important that international marketers pay particularly close attention to the
persuasive nature of culture. You can't simply assume that people will disregard
their culture just because a product you have introduced will make their life
easier. Many aspects of culture have survived thousands of years and are likely to
continue so long as they are being taught to children from a young age. Many
countries are reluctant to let go of their culture and actively try to preserve it
against foreign influence.
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Language is a particularly important factor to consider when developing
international marketing campaigns. It might not seem like a problem at first; all
you need is a good interpreter. However, language is extremely complex with
significant differences occurring not just between countries, but across different
regions. The best way to deal with language issues is to deal with people who
grew up in your target market. They are far more adept at recognizing potential
issues than translators who learnt a second language later in life.
Religion, tradition and local customs are also important considerations. You need
to make yourself aware of the local culture to ensure that you don't accidently or
carelessly offend people. It is important that you remain sensitive and tolerant to
different points of view and ensure that your brand doesn't contain any
symbolism that could be offensive in the local culture.
Study Text Page:
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