Consumer Behaviour - Assignment Example

Consumer Behaviour Discussion Questions concerns about the environment and vegetarianism are just a passing fad; a way to look cool." Do you agree? Why or why not? Vegetarianism is a way of life for those who abide by their religious beliefs. However, it is more of a bold statement of wilful behaviour and choice by University students. It satisfies their ‘need for uniqueness’. Students also have a higher need of cognition and a tendency to evaluate. So far from succumbing to a passing fad, the student community is looking beyond the trend value of vegetarianism.

Influenced by their perceived roles in society, they are aware of the far-reaching impacts on the environment, consciously leveraging this trend into positive change, for a sustainable future. 2. Some market analysts see a shift in values among young people. They claim that this generation has not had a lot of stability in their lives. They are fed up with superficial relationships and are yearning for a return to tradition. This change is reflected in attitudes toward marriage and family.

So what’s your take on this? How have these changes influenced your perspective on marriage and family? It is true that young people are largely shedding off their neo liberal face to assume a traditionalist mindset. While family structure, degree of bonding and upbringing do play a strong role in shaping attitudes and values, it is the individual exposure to real-life experiences and stability that is resulting in the changed outlook. The feeling of cognitive dissonance brought about by such exposure, is bringing a change in attitudes, with a belief the dissonance will be eliminated.

This is shaping perspectives on relationships, marriage and family, with young people returning to the values laid out by their parents and older generations. 2 3. Core values evolve over time. What do you think are the 3-5 core values that best describe Canadians now? Canada’s history has witnessed a period of self-defeating economic and political ideologies that have forced a radical rethink. Whereas, political events of the distant past laid the blueprint to its current focus on core democratic values, it is the recent spate of attack within its social edifice that has engaged Canadians in a patriotic frenzy.

Canadian core values have become the buzzwords in every walk of life and acquired the patina of widespread acceptance. Some of these core values reaffirmed by the Canadians today are equality, respect, freedom, peace and justice. The middle class majority that forms the cornerstone of Canadian democratic society has a strong eclectic immigrant profile. Yet it has been able to merge within the Canadian ethos because of these very core values adopted as missions in its fray to establish itself as an equal order in the world society.

These core values are emerging as cornerstones of the 21st century Canadian dream of achieving the status of an equal society. 4. "High involvement is just a fancy term for expensive." Do you agree? Why or why not? Consumer involvement is the individual’s perceived relevance of the object based on needs, values and interests. A degree of high involvement connotes a cognitive inclination towards relevance of ads and product information message contained within. In situations characterized by high involvement, there is an in-depth interest and attention, accompanied by a heightened pleasure value and a zealous product loyalty.

The consumer enters a ‘flow state’ where the attention is focused, with intense product, message-response and consumer-generated interactive involvement. The consumer is engaged in continuous mindless involvement with the product, as he loses track of time or value and ends up buying the product. Ads, promotional campaigns, media and mobile marketing, are leveraged to effect a cult consumer behaviour. However, high involvement does not always drive up prices or make them expensive.

So, the two cannot be considered analogous. 3 5. Which of the needs in Maslows hierarchy do you satisfy when you participate in social networks such as Facebook and MySpace? How could these sites add new features to help you satisfy these needs? Social networking sites appeal primarily to the ‘social need’ in Maslow’s heirarchy. The sense of being in a comfort zone of like-minded individuals, additionally satisfies the ‘safety’ and ‘belongingness need’. Over time, as level of involvement increases and the user engages in creative posts or threads that enhance his popularity, the needs of ‘esteem’ and ‘self-actualization’ are satisfied on the secondary level.

These sites could additionally engage in new features and ads that appeal to the senses, such as mind-blowing games and interactive apps. Through use of heightened sounds and fast-paced audio-video features synced within, consumers with high involvement can be swayed with such use of prominent and novel stimuli. Building ongoing relationships through sign-ins and attractive app or product endorsements, are other ways. 6. The chapter mentions new facial-recognition technology that marketers will soon use to classify shoppers in terms of their appearance so that they can serve up ads that appeal to people in certain demographic categories.

Is there a downside to this technique? Do you see any potential for negative applications that use, for example, racial profiling to decide which information consumers should receive? Do the potential benefits outweigh this issue? Various techniques are used to study demographic and location-based factors, with a view to market analysis and product development. However, the new facial-recognition technology, historically a citizenship tool, if used for demographic profiling can actually be a boon for market segmentation and customer information.

Even racial profiling can be used successfully for consumer-driven ads and research. Potential negative application like sharing of such data with apps developers, is a perceived downside. However, if applied in a controlled manner, the benefits to both the consumer and the brand or store owner, outweigh the negative fallouts.