Consumer Behavior (C) Spring 2015

Assignment 1: Consumer Shopping Behavior

Submission Deadline: Thursday, 2nd July, 2015

Your task is to interview 5 people from amongst your friends and family. The objective is

for you to learn about the shopping behavior and preferences of consumers in Pakistan.

This will allow you to observe the purchase factors that consumers face and their

associated requirements and behaviors.

Before the interview, choose a product category as well as a specific set of people that you

will interview. Each participant should belong to the same sample. E.g. you could choose

cereals as the product category, and then choose middle aged housewives as the sample.

Interview 5 people from your sample, so you can identify patterns or unique behaviors.

Consider these things when you develop your interview questions:

For grocery related items:

1. Do they usually go shopping alone, or in groups?

2. How much time do they take in selection when they are alone?

3. How much time do they take in selection when they are in a group?

4. If they are in a group, do they consult with the group members?

5. If they are in a group, do they have disagreements on what to buy?

6. Do they just look at products on shelves and then pick up the one they want, or do

they pick up a few products, read the ingredients and details, and then select a

product?

7. Do they ask salespeople for help or advice? (if yes, then how frequently)

8. On average, how many products do they buy during one trip? (do they like to buy in

bulk or make frequent trips to buy items as needed)

9. Do they purchase products for their functional value or to enhance their social

status/appearance?

If you are observing clothing products, then also consider:

1. How many clothes, on average, do they try?

2. Do they ask for feedback from their friends/family/salespeople?

3. How many clothes do they buy in one trip?

4. Do they buy multiple items of the same type of clothing (e.g. 2 jeans, or 2 shirts) or

do they buy different items (e.g. 1 jeans and 1 formal shirt)?

You can also ask any other questions that come to your mind. Also write down any

spontaneous answers that your interviewee might give.

Beyond these general behavioral questions, include some questions that can identify how

people are affected by concepts from perception, learning, memory, motivation, and values

in their shopping behavior. Think of factors like price, brand image, popularity, advertising,

store environment, how the products are displayed, and effect of social pressure etc.

As this is an assignment dealing with finding out preferences and habits, there are no

specific models or theories that you are required to apply. Rely on your own common

sense. However, you are welcome to use any concept from the class (lectures and textbook)

that we have studied so far. You grade will depend on your level of scientific insight and

informed analysis.

Extract insights and patterns based on the answers you get (i.e. general inferences from the

specific answers you get). This is an important part of the assignment. You will be judged

on how insightful, perceptive, and valuable your analysis is.

Deliverables

This is an individual assignment

Submit a 2 to 3 page typed document with your analysis of the findings. Also submit

your interviews

The assignment must be typed and formatted in a professional manner.

Handwritten assignments will not be accepted