Current Consumer Behavior Report

Applying the concepts you learn by generating your own examples and linking them to the covered
material is one of the best ways to get a better grasp of the principles and develop your own thinking.
Thus, each student will be required to turn in a two part report of a current example that illustrates
concepts covered in this class. An example should be the application of current consumer trends in
behavior concepts to a real world situation. Your examples need to be relevant, creative, insightful and
tied into the material covered in this course. The first part of the report is due midway through the
semester and another by near the end of the course (check schedule on back page for date).
Each part of your paper should be in excess of 4 double spaced pages of text (not including headings or
references). You should find some of a current real life consumer issues that relates to the topics we’ve
discussed in this class. This example can be from any industry. You can use any popular business
magazine, journal, newspaper, website, business focused radio program (i.e. Marketplace on NPR) or
business focused television program for inspiration. You will need to find at least four different sources for
your information (not including your text book), hopefully from the perspective of different stakeholders
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(i.e. conservative/liberal, academic/practitioner, foreign/domestic). It should include:
Part 1 (set the stage- this part should descriptive and focus on the facts. Do Not Editorialize)
• Introduction – introduce the current consumer issue (e.g. What are consumer doing now that they did
not do not that long ago) and briefly state what it is.
o Who is your subject?
 Describe and Define the group of consumers you are talking about
• What are their MAO?
• Relevant Background
o Provide context
• Statement of the problem – What is the tension?
o A description of the consumer issue and how it affects a particular industry and company
• Why does this matter? What stakeholders does this effect?
• Discuss how this consumer trend affects a specific company
• Describe any ethical dilemmas that this may cause
Part 2 (analyze the situation- this part should focus on the analysis)
• Relate the topic to the relevant class concepts.
• State questions around this issue that may need to be tested with market research
• Discussion of Possible Options
o The benefits: why it would be a good idea to do it, including how far it addresses the problem;
o The costs, including resource requirements. It’s often helpful to include figures and graphs
here;
o The likely timescale
o The risks, both of doing it, and that might prevent successful implementation.
• Give your interpretation of the likely consequences of each of the possible strategic responses.
• Suggest changes or alterations that you might make if you were in charge of marketing.
• What social responsibility to marketers have in this situation?