Devry MKTG310 final exam

1. (TCO 1) Briefly explain how marketers play a significant role in our view of the world and how we live in it. Give a specific example. (Points : 15)

Answer: We are surrounded by marketing stimuli, from television and radio commercials to online and print advertisements. In addition to promoting a product, these advertisements depict models of how people should interact in social situations, how people should dress, what people should eat, and what people should believe. For example, the marketing of cigarettes in the 1950s led many people to think of smoking as social and relaxing. Today, however, health campaigns have helped people to recognize the health risks of smoking.

 

2. (TCO 2) Describe the Asian-American ethnic subcultural group, demographically and by lifestyle, noting significant consumer characteristics. (Points : 15)

Answer:

Asian Americans represent the fastest-growing minority group. They are generally the most affluent, best educated and likely to hold technology jobs of the various subcultural groups. Segmenting the subculture: "Asian" refers to more than 20 ethnic groups, with Chinese the largest, followed by Filipinos and Japanese. Marketing problems emerge when these groups are mistakenly targeted as a single entity; some groups in fact are historical enemies. Affluence - Asian Americans are an affluent segment with average household incomes $2,000 greater than those of white Americans and $7,000 to $9,000 higher than those of blacks and Hispanic Americans. Asian Americans are conservative financially. Education - Of Asian Americans over 25 years of age, one-third have completed four or more years of college. The college graduation rate of Asian Americans is twice that of whites, four times that of blacks and Hispanic Americans.

 

3. (TCO 3) Researching the youth market has proven difficult. Outline some of the methods that have been used successfully to identify youth fashions and trends. (Points : 15)

Off course searching the youth market is very difficult. However, this method typically broken down into smaller segments depending on their age, including teenagers, college students, and tweens and young adults aged 23-34. Youth sub-segments are often described as tribes in which shared values cross national boundaries. These are often characterized by musical preferences and other attitudinal criteria. In researching youth markets several techniques have been developed to identify opinion-formers and early adopters. The 'leading edge' is especially important and influential in this fashion-conscious and media alert market. However, these opinion leaders tend to be category specific rather than general.

 

4. (TCO 4) Explain the means-end chain model. Give an example to demonstrate how the process might work. (Points : 15)

Answer:

The means-end chain model is a conceptual entity or structure which sets a connection between the user and the product. The means-end chain model consists of the products attributes, its functional consequence or immediate effects or benefits the user experiences from the product, the psychological consequence which determine the emotional effects experienced and the value which shows the mentality or state of mind a consumer of the product is hoping to achieve.

For example. You have a person and you have an ice cream. You would then evaluate the attributes of the product, such as it being cold or large. After that you would evaluate the functional consequence such as an increased alertness in the person after consuming the good. Once that is finished you evaluate the psychological consequence, which can be something of the nature of happiness in this case form the sugar's taste. The last one is value. The value in this case would be that the consumer is trying to reach a happier more energetic state of mind.

 

 

5. (TCO 5) Evaluate the effectiveness of subliminal persuasion and messages. Be sure to demonstrate your knowledge of the evidence about the success of the technique as presented in the text. (Points : 15)            

Answer:

Under very specific conditions, some clinical psychologists suggest that people can be influenced by subliminal messages. However, the technique seems unlikely to be of use in marketing contexts; effective messages must be tailored to specific individuals rather than to mass markets.

It has also been found that there are wide differences in individual threshold levels. In order for a message to avoid conscious detection by consumers who have a low threshold, the message would have to be so weak that it would not reach those with a high threshold. Next, advertisers lack control over where consumers are positioned in relationship to the source of the message; perhaps only a few would be within range of the stimulus. Lastly, consumers typically shift their attention when watching television or a movie. They might not even be looking at the screen when the message was flashed. Though there is virtually no proof that subliminal messages have any effect on consumer behavior, many consumers believe that subliminal persuasion is being used on them in some form

 

 

6. (TCO 6) Discuss the differences between autonomic and syncratic buying decisions. Explain how gender convergence affects buying decisions for a married couple. (Points : 15)

In the decision state of the Davis and Rigaux study the pattern changes significantly from autonomic to syncretic decision making, with ten decisions now being made snycratically, four atomically, two make dominant and f our female dominant.

It is difficult to identify the reasons for the difference in results between the present study and that of Davis and Rigaux (1974). At least three explanations are suggested: one, the differences are an artifact of the methodological approach; two, the differences are reflective of variations between the Belgian and U.S. cultures; three, value orientations have changed over time. Clearly, additional work must be done to clarify these issues, although the latter two explanations appear most likely.

 

 

7. (TCO 7) Retail stores put a number of items on the aisles leading to the checkout station. These are placed there to remind customers of things they may have overlooked, or to show products that customers may not have thought of buying until they are seen. Retailers know that some items are purchased on impulse. In other words, the customer simply sees a product and purchases it. Create a fourth hierarchy of effects that would combine the three components of the ABC model when a product is selected on impulse. (Points : 15)   

ABC Model:-

· Affect: how consumer feels about an attitude object

· Behavior: consumer’s intentions to take action about an attitude object

· Cognition: what consumer believes to be true about the attitude object

Fourth hierarchy of effects:

· Behavioral influence

· Behavior

· Cognition

· Affect

So relating to the example of the customer purchased items on impulse:

· Behavior - buying item first

· Cognition – belief about the product

· Affect – feels about the product         

8. (TCO 8) A woman who was raised on Kate Moss images of women, played with Barbie dolls while growing up, and watched her share of TV was overheard outside of a theater that was playing the Marilyn Monroe classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The woman said, "I didn't know Marilyn Monroe was so large and fat." Her female friend disagreed and said, "Marilyn Monroe is a classic icon of beauty." Discuss this interchange in terms of ideals of beauty. (Points : 15)

Answer:

The first woman is using an ideal of beauty associated with the thinner, waif style (e.g., model Kate Moss) that gained popularity in the late twentieth century. The second woman understands that ideals of beauty change over time. During the 1950s (when Marilyn Monroe was a popular actress), curvier, buxom women were considered to be the standard of beauty. Marilyn Monroe is still considered to be an icon of beauty today. In modern terms, a reversal of the "thin is in" trend seems to be occurring as American females put on more weight.