Select TWO products which you have recently bought or rented

Case Assignment

Select TWO products which you have recently bought or rented, ONE a High Involvement purchase, and ONE a Low Involvement purchase, in the following product categories:

HIGH INVOLVEMENT(expensive or otherwise important): Examples:

· Automobile,

· Home or apartment,

· Jewelry

LOW INVOLVEMENT(relatively inexpensive or routine):

· Candy bar

· Fast food

· Newspaper or magazine

Excluding the title page, any appendices or references write a four page paper in which you do the following:

First Page

Applying the teaching materials, explain why the first product you chose was a High Involvement purchase and why the second was a Low Involvement purchase. (10%)

Using the five stage model of the Purchase Decision Process in the model of consumer buying behavior described in Module 1, describe in detail the process you went through in buying each product. Bear in mind that the purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate the depth of your understanding of the teaching materials. (20%)

Second Page

Identify and discuss the differences between the way you went through the purchase decision processes for the two products. (20%)

Third and Fourth Pages

Assume now that you are a marketer of both of the two products that you have discussed in the previous pages. Applying only the teaching materials, (specifically the presentation “Uses of a Model of Buying Behavior”), explain how you might use your understanding of the Model of Consumer Buying Behavior for the two products. (Note that the presentation “Uses of a Model of Consumer Buying Behavior” is relevant to this part of the assignment). (50%)

List at the end all of the references you have cited in the body of the paper.

Note that the weight that will be assigned in grading to each of the sections of the assignment is indicated as a percentage after each one.

Ensure that you include on the title page:

· the name of the university, (Trident University International).

· the course number, (MKT301),

· the term, (Winter 2012),

· the Module number, (Module One),

· the words inboldabove including both the two sets of high and low involvement products and the section starting “First Page” and ending “…of the assignment.”

· the brand names of the two products you chose for each type of involvement, e.g. “High Involvement: Samsonite luggage; Low Involvement: Del Monte canned fruit

· your name,

· the name of the professor or instructor to whom the paper is submitted, (your assigned Professor or Instructor) and

· the date on which it was written.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU INCLUDE ALL THE INFORMATION INDICATED ABOVE.

Assignment Expectations

The notes associated with the question indicate that, as for other assignments in the course, you should demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the taught materials in the specific context of this assignment. The emphasis in my grading is primarily on whether you show that you understand what is being taught. In that regard some relevant concepts and frameworks to demonstrate your understanding of in this assignment include:

· The difference between goods and services.

· What is meant by Involvement and why it might be high or low.

· The stages of the Purchase Decision Process, (PDP) and

· How a potential buyer might follow this process

· How the differences between High and Low Involvement affect the way someone might follow the PDP

· How marketers might use their understanding of the model of buying behavior including the PDP to:

o Segment a market, including explaining what is meant by segmentation and why segmentation can be useful in marketing.

o Influence purchase probabilities as indicated in the relevant presentation.

Bear in mind that the main goal of the assignment is for you to use it to demonstrate your learning and understanding of the background materials. In order to do well in this assignment you MUST apply and demonstrate your learning from the background materials.

I know that there’s a lot in Module 1 to cover, but this forms the grounding for the remaining modules, so once you have conquered this, the rest will be a lot easier.

SLP 1

SLP Assignments

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to do something completely different? Well here is an opportunity for you to combine your wondering with analysis and perhaps to put some flesh on those dreams.

Your SLP assignment in MKT301 is to develop a marketing strategy for a service business which you will (hypothetically) manage. That is to say, you are to assume that you will be free to start a one-person business and are to examine yourself, develop a service business concept (for profit or not – the choice is yours) which you will provide, and develop a marketing strategy for it. You can assume that this will be a one-person business consisting of you alone, or that you will employ others.

In doing this project your fundamental goal is to demonstrate your understanding of and learning about what is being taught in the course.

Over the session you will conduct the necessary marketing analysis for your strategy and present this in your SLP. In each module you will complete a section of the marketing strategy, building on the sections previously completed in prior modules. What you are to submit in each module is as follows:

· MOD01:Title page, MOD01 section (see below), References & Appendices.

· MOD02:Title page, MOD01 + MOD02 sections, References & Appendices.

· MOD03:Title page, MOD01 + MOD02 + MOD03 sections, References & Appendices.

· MOD04:Title page, MOD01 + MOD02 + MOD03 + MOD04 sections, References & Appendices.

· MOD05:Title page, MOD01 + MOD02 + MOD03 + MOD04 + MOD05 sections, References & Appendices.

Thus in Module 01 the marketing strategy paper submitted only consists of the sections indicated below. For Module 02 the paper will consist of the sections you submitted for Module 01, plus those required for Module 02. For Module 03 it will consists of the prior sections for Modules 01 and 02 plus the new section for Module 03, and so on.

We expect your learning in this course to be cumulative and that this will be reflected in the SLP. Thus what you learn in later sections of the course will build on what has been learnt earlier, and as you progress through the course you should consider revising earlier sections of the SLP.

Note that graders are instructed to grade your work when first submitted, AND TO REVISE THE FINAL GRADE AWARDED IN THE LIGHT OF IMPROVEMENTS MADE TO THE ENTIRE SLP AS SUBMITTED IN MODULE 5. THESE GRADES CAN ONLY BE INCREASED, NOT DECREASED.

Thus graders will assign SLP grades for each module but when grading the complete SLP in MOD05, will also review the preceding sections and may adjust upwards the Final Course grade to take account of improvements in the sections for MOD01-04. Note that the final section of the project allows for you to indicate how your learning from the project has improved both through your own thinking and via the feedback provided.

Thus it is to your benefit to keep under review the earlier sections as your knowledge and understanding improves and to ensure that at least the final document submitted in MOD05 has been revised to fully reflect your learning. So that the grader can easily see where you have revised earlier sections you must draw his or her attention to these revisions e.g. by using the Track Changes feature of Word.

Excluding your title page and the prior sections (which you are required to include) each of the parts of your SLP is to be approximately three pages long. Thus the entire marketing strategy when completed will be about fifteen pages long, excluding title page, references and any appendices.

You should review the entire SLP by previewing the requirements of Modules 01 through 05 inclusive when you start the course. The entire SLP and a presentation providing detailed notes regarding each section are provided for you in the Background Info section. These required readings should be studied before starting the project

Provide the following information:

1.NAME, LOCATION & NATURE.

· Thenameof your prospective (hypothetical) service business and

· its probablelocation. Note that you’ll be asked to examine location in more detail in MOD03.

· A brief description of thenatureof the business, (“body-guard service”, “bar”, “child-care”, etc.). You will expand on this in MOD02.

(Reminder: There are detailed notes on how to approach each section of the SLP in the Background Information page).

2.SELF-ANALYSIS.For this you should:

· assess yourskills, abilities and competencies, (strengths as well as weaknesses) and

· compare these with thedemands of potential markets, and

· the offerings ofcompetitors.

Ensure that the self-analysis is relevant to the proposed service and that you make the comparisons.

3. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS.

· Identifypotential customersyou could serve.

· Identify thebenefitsthey seek.

· Describe and label yourmarketand anysegmentsthere are.

· Estimate thesize and value of thepotential market.

· Estimate thesize abnd value of the (to be)served market.

4.ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY COMPETITORS:

In a table identify the main competitors and provide a brief summary of how each competes. For example, does the competitor use low-price, reliability, reputation, high quality or some other basis for positioning itself in the market?

5. To complete sections 3 and 4 you should do someMARKET RESEARCH, i.e. talk to people and gather some data to get some relevant information for your business idea. Briefly explain what you did and indicate thesourcesyou have used.

6. Analyze theMARKETING ENVIRONMENT. The Marketing Environment is covered in a Powerpoint presentation provided for MOD01. Excluding any factors which are not important or which are analyzed in other sections (e.g. competition), analyze the other major Marketing Environment factors which need to be taken into account in the development of your marketing strategy, e.g.:

· Political factors

· Economic factors

· Social and cultural factors

· Technological factors

· Legal or Governmental factors

· Non-marketing costs (supply purchases and manufacturing)

Note that though the sections above are to be presented individually the analysis which underlies them is inter-related and you will probably have to think about yourself, the possible market, and potential and actual competitors at the same time, and to revise your thinking about them as you progress. Thus for instance for MOD01 you should expect to spend some time researching and thinking about your skills, the market and the competition together, before you can come to a conclusion about what service you will offer.

A set of notes giving guidance on each section of the SLP, and a Word document listing all the sections of the SLP for all modules are provided on the Background Info page. PLEASE READ BOTH BEFORE STARTING YOUR PROJECT.

As far as style of writing is concerned do not write an essay, you will waste a lot of space that way. Three pages is not a lot so you’ll have to decide what you think is important to include. Use the text inCAPSabove as section headings for each of the topics indicated and elsewhere use words inboldas sub-headings. What you write should be organized, succinct, and professional.

SLP Assignment Expectations

It is expected that you will explain the alternatives you considered and why you decided to make the recommendations you do.This is very important. Explaining the reasons for the decisions you have made and the analysis underlying them is a much more powerful way to demonstrate your learning than simply stating what those decisions are.

It is also expected that you will use information from the background readings as well as any good quality sources you can find to deepen your understanding of the project and cite all sources and provide a reference list at the end of the paper.

The following will be assessed in particular:

· Your demonstrated understanding of the concepts used in the project. Generally formal definitions are not required as understanding can usually be demonstrated by the way you apply or interpret the concepts.

· It is expected that you will select appropriate framework s for analysis from the teaching materials and demonstrate your understanding of them through your application of them to the project

· Your ability to conduct marketing analysis appropriate to the project. Some sections above require simple description, (e.g. name and location) while others require analysis (the rest). Graders will place more weight on analysis than description.

The criteria used for assessment will be those explained on the MOD01 Home page, namely:

· Focus.

· Breadth.

· Depth.

· Critical thinking, including selections and application of relevant frameworks.

· Effective and appropriate communication skills.