School of Business and Economics

Spring – 2020
Consumer Behavior (MKT-4101)
Makeup midterm (Assignment) _SRA

Submitted by:
Mumit Shawlin
ID:111 152 229
Contents
Answer to the question no 1...........................................................................................................1
Answer to the question no 2...........................................................................................................2
Answer to the question no 3...........................................................................................................3
Answer to the question no 4...........................................................................................................4
1. You are the marketing manager of Citibank’s online Banking Division. How would you apply concepts
of providing value, customer satisfaction, and customer retention to designing and marketing effective
online banking?

Answer to the question no 1

Providing value is crucial when you are asking someone to do something online that has been
traditionally done in person. What is meant by providing value is essentially improving what is normally
on offer or the experience of carrying out a process. One of the most frustrating things about banking in-
person is queuing.

If you can ensure that online banking is faster, instantaneous even, then you have added value to
the experience. Perhaps there are other things that can be included on the website that you do not have
access to instantly in-branch. How about a spreadsheet that helps you plan out personal financing? That
would add value to the experience.

Once you have features on your website that are an improvement on in-person banking, you must
deliver customer satisfaction. This can only be achieved by having a reliable service. If the site frequently
crashes when users are doing their finances, they will lose confidence. Security is imperative too; if the
website does not have rigorous security measures in place, customers will not be satisfied. Design is
where the previous two elements can be achieved.

You might have all of these value-added features on your website but if they are not easy to find
by the user, they might as well not be there. If you are adding value by reducing queuing, it’s going to be
negated if the site is too slow. Design also encompasses security and reliability.

Marketing the website is also important. If you tell people that their bank is moving services
online, many will be put off because they don’t trust the Internet. Many will believe that the bank is trying
to save money by cutting corners. Good marketing should show that the website will make banking better
for them. If the website is marketed correctly and then the customer logs on to an easy-to-use website,
finding new useful features when they are there, then they will be satisfied and their custom will be
retained.

2. A manufacturer of a new product for whitening teeth would like to investigate the effects of package
design and label information on consumers’ perceptions of the product and their intentions to buy it.

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Would you advise the manufacturer to use observational research, experimentation, or a survey? Explain
your choice.

Answer to the question no 2

I would prefer Survey and the reasons are given below:
Using survey software to administer survey research is a powerful tool that market
researchers use to gather data. Advanced survey software providers have survey solutions for all modes of
survey research, including:  online surveys, paper surveys, phone surveys, to the more recent introduction
of mobile surveys.

Available survey solutions have led to widespread use of quantitative surveys, across all survey
modes, to collect, analyze, and use data to formulate strategies for a more effective business model, create
targeted marketing strategies, enhance customer service, and much more. Executed correctly, survey
research can benefit market researchers with reliable and useable data, and improve research ROI.

The benefits of Survey Research Cost Surveys are relatively inexpensive. Online surveys and
mobile surveys, in particular, have a very small cost per respondent. Even if incentives are given to
respondents, the cost per response is often far less than the cost of administering a paper survey or phone
survey, and the number of potential responses can be in the thousands. Extensive Surveys are useful in
describing the characteristics of a large population.

No other research method can provide this broad capability, which ensures a more accurate
sample to gather targeted results in which to draw conclusions and make important decisions. Flexible
Surveys can be administered in many modes, including: online surveys, email surveys, social media
surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys, telephone surveys, and face-to-face interview surveys. For
remote or hard-to-reach respondents, using a mixed mode of survey research may be necessary.

(Example: Administer both online surveys and paper surveys to collect responses and compile survey
results into one data set, ready for analysis).

Dependable The anonymity of surveys allows respondents to answer with more candid and valid
answers. To get the most accurate data, you need respondents to be as open and honest as possible with
their answers. Surveys conducted anonymously provide an avenue for more honest and unambiguous

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responses than other types of research methodologies, especially if it is clearly stated that survey answers
will remain completely confidential.

3. Why might a researcher prefer to use focus groups rather than depth interviews? When might depth
interviews be preferable?

Answer to the question no 3

There are variety of methods to conduct qualitative research to help understand consumer’s
opinions, beliefs, attitudes & perceptions on a given subject of interest. The most common ones
being Focus group discussions and Depth interviews.  Focus Groups are a group of interacting
individuals, brought together by a moderator or interviewer, who drives the group and its interaction to
gain information about a specific research topic. While in-depth interviews are where researcher interacts
with respondents on an individual level, one consumer at a time. Both methods are equally important
& effective.

One or the other or both needs to be employed, depending on the Research objectives and Target
segments to be researched. Focus group is recommended when the client wants to gain multiple
perspectives, unfiltered feedback of a large group. In focus groups, participants get involved in the
brainstorming activity which leads to generating ideas as participants get opened and truly and freely
share feelings/perceptions upon the subject as per their experiences. When one participant’s
opinion/perception feeds off another opinion/perception and so on, the group discussion can really dig
deep into the issue. Focus groups are generally required at concept development stage or when the
product is an innovation in the market and for products which entail group decision- making. While in-
depth interviews are recommended when client wants to understand individual decision processes. It
gives a chance to explore detailed perceptions, opinions, beliefs, attitudes and decisions and compare
differences and similarities among reference group members. It is valuable when researchers want
individual reactions placed in the context of the individual’s experience.
However, focus groups becomes impractical in a few situations as follows:
J Too many segments to cover
J Respondents too spread out – so can’t get them to a central location
J Too intimate a topic to discuss in open – not suited for a focus group
J Need to understand each respondent’s practices in depth – say, at different stages of their life

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 In such situations, the depth interviews become the only feasible option. However, depth interviews
take a lot of researcher time in terms of travelling, waiting time and spending individual time with each
respondent, leading to higher project cost. This factor, many a times plays a role in the Focus Groups vs
Depth Interview decision.

4. Most human needs are dormant much of the time. What factors causes their arousal? Find two
examples of ads that are designed to arouse latent needs and discuss their effectiveness.

Answer to the question no 4

Consumer needs can be aroused by number of different factors, however the main elements that
influence consumer preference are all around the exposure, attention and perception aspects. Furthermore,
there also have factors in6uenced exposures which are relevance, targeted internet advertising and
product distributions. Relevance some company sets the advertising around the relevant environment to
get efficiency and effectiveness, such as the home delivery advertising around the furniture retailer.
The arousal of any particular set of needs at a specific point in time may be caused by internal
stimuli (e.g. a drop in blood sugar level or stomach contractions trigger awareness of hunger need);
emotional processes (e.g. daydreaming results in arousal or stimulation of latent needs); or cognitive
process or environmental cues (e.g. fast-food commercials may arouse the need for food). Among
household products, an advertising campaign for a new laundry detergent with a popular fragrance is a
classic example of emotional arousal of needs.

Arousal of motives happens as following:

1. Physiological arousal: Bodily needs at any one specific moment in time are based on the individual’s
physiological condition at that moment. A drop in blood sugar level or stomach contractions will trigger
awareness of a hunger need.

2. Emotional arousal: Sometimes daydreaming results in the arousal of stimulation of latent needs.
People who are bored or who are frustrated in trying to achieve their goals often engage in daydreaming
(autistic thinking), in which they imagine themselves in all sorts of desirable situations. These thoughts
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tend to arouse dormant needs, which may produce uncomfortable tensions that drive them into goal-
oriented
behavior.

3. Cognitive arousal: Sometimes random thoughts can lead to a cognitive awareness of needs.

Mechanisms of arousal of motives are as following:

1. Cognitive activity: Humans engage in cognitive activities (prior knowledge, thinking and reasoning)
even when the objects of their thoughts are not physically present. This thinking, considered by some to
be daydreaming or fantasy, can also act as a motive trigger. One way this occurs is when consumers
deliberate about unsatisfied wants.

2. Situational conditions: The particular situation confronting consumers may also trigger arousal. This
can occur when the situation draws attention to an existing physiological condition.

3. Stimulus properties: Certain properties of external stimuli themselves also have the power to generate
arousal. These collative properties include the characteristics of novelty, surprise, ambiguity and
uncertainty.

Example:
Cognitive Arousal: Sometimes random thoughts can lead to a cognitive awareness of needs. An
advertisement that provides reminders of home might trigger instant yearning to speak with one’s parents.
In the basis for many long distance telephone company like Grameen phone campaigns that stress the low
cost of international long distance rates which brings one’s closer to another.

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Physiological Arousal: It’s mean bodily need at any one specific moment in time are based on the
individual’s physiological condition at that moment. For example, a drop in blood sugar level or stomach
contractions will trigger awareness of hunger need. A person who is in hot weather may turn up cold in
his room and also make a mental note to buy an air condition. And he may also select the brand of the air
condition. Like: Singer, Walton, Philips etc.

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