Applied Marketing Knowledge: Discussion Questions

1. What sort of purchasing behavior do you, as a student, exhibit? Do you stop by a convenience store and buy a soda on the way to class? This is convenience shopping behavior, and the business is located, conveniently, in your daily pathway. Do you sometimes buy a different beverage, perhaps an energy drink or a bottled iced tea? You’re exhibiting variety-seeking behavior. When the time came for you to choose your college, what sort of shopping behavior did you engage in?

2. You belong to many membership groups. You might be a member of the college soccer team or sing in a choir. Right now, you likely aspire to join the group of college graduates. Why is it so important for marketers to know which groups consumers have joined or refer to when making purchases?

3. Businesses send you thousands of marketing messages each day through the radio, TV, Internet, billboards, and bus benches. You sort through these messages, perhaps unconsciously, and decide which ones to pay attention to. This is called selective attention. Which messages are most influential right now in your life as a student? Messages regarding your social life? Personal life? Psychological factors relating to your motivation to try a new product? Cultural factors such as gender-related products? A situational factor such as a flat tire? Where would you find an example of each message?

4. Provide a recent example of a purchase you made and describe your progress through the stages of the consumer decision process model.

5. You just locked your door and are heading out to get a haircut. How do these two needs—safety through the locked door and esteem through the haircut—fit with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Why is this hierarchy helpful for marketers in understanding human needs and resulting buying behavior?