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1. Find someone (a friend is OK) who you can talk to for about 10 minutes in a q

ID: 421160 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Find someone (a friend is OK) who you can talk to for about 10 minutes in a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Identify a product that you think is relatively highly involving for that person.

2. Elicit the decision criteria that person would use if they were considering buying a brand in that product category. You might say... "Imagine you were going to buy ___________. What characteristics would you consider in selecting a brand of ____________ to buy for yourself?

3. Then ask the person... "What are the two (or three) most important characteristics you would consider?”

4. Next, ladder off each of these characteristics. "Why is ___________ important to you?” "What does ___________ get for you?”

5. Keep asking these "why” questions until the consumer "stops.” Be sure to ask for an explanation if you do not understand what the person means by an answer.

6. Draw out the means-end chains that you have identified for the "high” involvement product.

7. Now do the same thing for a "low” involvement product, like paper clips, milk, or gasoline.

8. In your paper, discuss the differences you see in this consumer's meanings for the high and low involvement products.

Did you notice any differences in the measurement process? Assume that a substantial number of consumers shared these meanings. What implications would your data have for developing marketing strategies?

Subject: Consumer Behavior

Explanation / Answer

It i observed that the high involvement products have a longer means - end chain in comparison to the low involvment chain. The difference is due to the fact that a consumer applies greater thought process when the involvement in the purchase process is higher. He /she considers more aspects of the product and seeks greater information on them. On contrary, the low involvement product has only one or two characterstics at the most, to consider, because they are of less improtance to the consumer, given the nature of involvment.

The data shows that a high involvment product should have different type of customer communication involving fine points of the product, which may help him / her to higher extent in decision making process. The inclusion of greater product information will help him / her to compare the product with similar products in the marketplace to make an informed decision by  differentiating it. In marekting a low involvement product, few core characterstics are usually sufficient. The examples are those of a car, in which the cusomer makes detailed enquiries like engine power, suspension, fuel economy, comfort, brand value, colors, ergonomics,afer sales support etc. whereas the same customer while buying a pack of milk is concerned about the freshness and purity of the product, without going into details.