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Consumer Behavior(Mktg 432) Ii Question Paper
Consumer Behavior(Mktg 432) Ii
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2011
TIME : 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS Answer Question ONE and any Other TWO Questions
The Gitonga’s Buy a Food Processor
Mary Gitonga and Jane Gitonga bought a food processor on Friday, January 1990. There was no doubt about it. Then questioned after transaction, neither Mary nor Jane could remember which of them at first notices or suggested the idea of getting a food processor. They do recall that in summer of 1988, they attended a dinner party given by a friend who specialized in French and Chinese cooking. The mean was delicious, and their friend Willie was very proud of the Cuisinart food processor he had used to make many of the dishes. The item was expensive, however – kshs. 20,000.
The following summer, Jane notices a comparison study of food processors in “Better homes and Gardens”. The performance of four different brands was compared. At the same time, Mary noticed that “Consumer Reports” also compared a number of brands of food processors. In both instances, the Cuisinart brands come out top.
Later that fall, new models of the Cuisinart were introduced and the old standard model went on sale in departmental stores at kshs. 16,000. The Gitonga’s searched occasionally for cuisinarts in discount houses or in wholesale show room catalogues, hoping to find an even lower price for the product. They were simply not offered there.
For Christmas in 1989, the Gitongas travelled from Nairobi to the family house in Mombasa. While there, they received a gift of a sunbeam Deluxe Mixer from their grandmother. While the mixer was beautiful, Jane immediately thought how much more versatile a food processor would be. One private sentence to that effect brought immediate agreement from Mary. The box was (discreetly) not opened, although many thanks were expressed. The box remained unopened the entire time the Gitongas kept the item.
Bach home in Nairobi in January, Jane saw the kshs. 16,000 Cuisinart advertised by Uchumi supermarket, one of the two major full – service self service stores in Nairobi. Mary and Jane visited a branch of the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon and saw the item. The salesperson, however, was not knowledgeable about its features and not very helpful in explaining its attributes. The Gitonga left disappointed.
Two days later, Jane called the down town location where she talked to Miss Anila, a seemingly knowledgeable salesperson who claimed to own and love exactly the model the Gitongas had in mind. Furthermore, Miss Anila said that they did carry sunbeam mixers and would make an exchange for the mixer which had been received as a gift for which no receipt was available.
On the following Friday morning, Mary put the mixer in her car trunk when she left for work. That afternoon, Jane and 6-month-old Mary Jr. Rode the bus downtown to meet Mary and make her transaction. After meeting in town, they drove through the heavy rain day traffic to Uchumi Supermarket to Miss Anila, whom they liked as much in person as they did on the telephone. After a brief, dry-run demonstration of the use and operation of the attachment of the models the Gitongas confirmed their initial decision to take the item. Miss Anila however could not assist them in tracing other stores that carry the sunbeam mixer and eventually succeeded. The Gitongas happily took the Cuisinart home.
Question 1
In a MEMO to your Boss include the solutions of the following,
a) Who decided to buy a food processor, Mary Gitonga or Jane Gitonga? (2marks)
b) When was the decision to buy a food processor made? (3marks)
c) What were the important attributes in the evaluation stage of the Cuisinart brand? (10marks)
d) Would you characterize the Gitonga’s purchase decision process as Complex, Cognitive dissonance or Habitual buying behaviour? Why? (15marks)
Question 2
a) What do you understand by “Consumer Adoption process model”?
b) Assume you have secured a position of a marketing manager with a firm. During one of the board meeting you hear your Chief Executive Officer (CEO) commenting, “PLC Model and the theory of diffusion of innovation, which identifies categories of consumers (adopters) of the innovation”, is a waste. It is very expensive and more time consuming. You are determined to change his attitude.
Required:
Write a MEMO to your boss convincing him that the PLC Model and Adoption Theory of consumers is indeed indispensable to any company. By understanding consumers, managers can plan for the appropriate target market strategies and that the CEO should reconsider his statement.
Question 3
a) Explain the benefits of segmenting a market.
b) Describe the ways in which a marketing manager is dealing with low involvement brands such as cigarettes and beer would segment market using behavioural variables.
Question 4
a) The Kenyan’s consumer’s behaviour has been described in the grapevine of telecoms industry as “unique and peculiar spending patterns”. Explain this statement.
b) Describe the ways in which organization buying behaviour is different from consumer goods buying behaviour.
Question 5
a) Explain why marketers/practitioners and academicians are concerned with consumer behaviour.
b) Your Managing Director has asked you to produce a five-minute podcast that will be available for training. During conversations the managing director has suggested that this is an opportunity to showcase to the forum members your personal skills and your knowledge of factors that influence consumer buying behaviour. Therefore, a commercial standard is expected.
Required:
Write short notes on cultural, social, personal and psychological factors.
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