Critical Thinking Exercises
1.
Research has shown that consumers’ buying behavior changes over time, reflecting their age or stage of the family life cycle. Visit Salesfloor.com and read the summaries this site offers on age-based shopping habits. Do you agree with research findings that despite being bombarded with digital content, Zoomers still prefer to stop in store? Do you research products thoroughly through search engines, reviews, and social media before purchasing? Explain why you agree or disagree with this study’s conclusions about generational buying behavior.
2.
One way consumers evaluate alternatives is by identifying the “bundle of attributes” of a product or service. Assume that you’re in the market for a new smartphone. What would that bundle of attributes look like? In other words, what attributes do you consider important, and how would you rank the importance of these features on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the attribute of greatest importance and 1 being the attribute of lowest importance? Some attributes are already listed, but you can add your own attributes as well. Complete Table 3.2 with your rankings.
| Attributes Considered |
Importance of Attribute |
|---|---|
| Storage | |
| Battery Life | |
| Processing | |
| Price | |
| Ease of Use | |
| Durability | |
| Camera Quality |
Table 3.2 The Bundle of Attributes
3.
Delve into McDonald’s, a company mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. Does McDonald’s have an environmental sustainability statement? If so, list evidence showing how McDonald’s carries out this policy.