Consumer Experience Decision Summary Paper: Spring 2018

You will choose a recent purchase that you made and introspectively narrate your own thought
processes and activities to describe your progression through the five-step consumer decision-
making process from the book on page 318. So, you will use concepts from this model (e.g., key
terms covered in the text), and explain how they relate to your thoughts and resulting actions
from the beginning of the pre-purchase process, the shopping and point of purchase, and post-
purchase consumption and experience with a product purchase of your choice.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that you understand the concepts described and can
apply the consumer purchase decision process framework to one of your own recent product
purchases. These assignments are designed to encourage you to think about and apply the
concepts and principles that are discussed in the textbook and in class. You should integrate the
text readings into your introspective analysis of your purchase process.

The body of the paper in which you describe your consumer decision-making process (the five-
step process from the book on page 318) must include the following elements described in the
numbered bullet points below. If your decision-making process did not sequentially follow the
conventional consumer decision process model, or if you skipped a distinct step, explain what
was skipped, or combined with other steps, and why.

You must cite each concept you discuss in the body of the paper to indicate where that concept
corresponds to the text material. Citation requires only the page # of where the term or concept
is discussed in the text we use by Solomon, 12th edition.

PAPER LENGTH: Both parts of the paper together should be 4 - 5 pages, when typed in
12” pitch font, double-spaced, with 1” margins. That is approximately a total of 1000 –
1250 words.

CEJ Decision Summary Paper Part 1

Provide the following introspective descriptions and discussion on ONE product purchase that
you have selected to use as your example for this paper.

Identify and describe both the level of involvement for your product purchase and identify each
different types of perceived risks that you experienced which contributed to your level of
involvement.

1) Identify and describe the level of problem solving that you engaged in for information
search, evaluation and your selection for this product purchase.

2) Reflect upon how the strategic marketing mix used played a role in:

a) Helping you to discover your consumer problem (or opportunity), in responding to

your consumer problem, or in attempting to suppress your consumer problem.
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CEJ Decision Summary Paper Instructions
b) What role did the marketing mix play, and how helpful were any elements of the
promotional component of the marketing mix in assisting you with information search?

3) Reflect upon perception that you held about the brand you purchased prior to beginning your
information search. Did interaction with the marketing mix, or interaction with other
consumers change or enhance your perceptions of the brand? Describe how that occurred.

4) For the product category and brand that you purchased, provide a pictorial Associative
Network to illustrate all the associations that you have with the product category in which
you purchased (See p. 132 in Solomon text as an example.) Provide this on a separate page
in the body of the paper. Refer to this illustration as Figure 1.

5) For the Associative Network, Figure 1, provide examples of all levels that are relevant:
brand-specific, ad-specific, brand i.d., product category, evaluative reactions. Briefly
discuss the examples of each by each level or category.

CEJ Decision Summary Paper Part 2

Provide the following introspective descriptions and discussion on ONE product purchase that
you have selected to use as your example for this paper.

Describe your level of knowledge about the product category at the time you recognized a
problem. How did that shape the amount or degree of your information search?

1) Describe the extent of your information search both internal and external information
searches.

2) Think of any examples of how you were passive and the information came to you. Did it
prompt you to interact with communications from any medium? (brand web site, reviewers’
sites, email promotions, radio or television call-to-action promotions, salesperson’s contact to
you, etc.)

3) Provide an example of how you were more active in information acquisition, where you
looked, which mediums.

4) Describe the evaluative criteria that you looked for in response to your identified problem.
Which criteria became your determinant attributes?

5) Identify and describe all Heuristics (rules-of-thumb) and other decision rules you recognize
that you used to make your purchase (e.g., compensatory vs. noncompensatory)

6) What type of brand loyalty, if any, did you have for the brand you purchased?

7) Identify and describe the “retail scene” for your purchase and the influential situational
factors. Describe if you used a multi-channel outlet.
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CEJ Decision Summary Paper Instructions
8) Include how you evaluated the retail outlets available for the purchase. Explain why you
chose the retail outlet that you did.

9) Describe how the brand image of the retail outlet affected your choice.

10) Summarize your post-purchase processes including product consumption, your

evaluation of the purchase and your level of satisfaction.

11) Refer to your satisfaction level and state how likely you are to repurchase this same
product.

12) Recall whether you have engaged in word-of-mouth (WOM) about this product to others
via online media or more personal WOM with friends, relatives and acquaintances.