Guidelines for Exercises I & II- MMI

Exercise I: Consumer Behavior1 (Individual Assignment)

Submission Date: Day after Session 9- 11:00 PM
The purpose of this exercise is to have hands on experience in understanding consumer behavior
by collecting and analyzing data regarding choice/ usage of a consumer product/service by
conducting a face-to face interview with a consumer. You are advised to go through chapter 4
(Analyzing Consumer Markets) of the text book- analyzing consumer markets while preparing for
the consumer interview and making the report.
Product/Service Type
Each participant is required to conduct an interview with a consumer of one of the two product /
service types listed below.
Type I: A regularly used product/service costing less than Rs. 100/You may like to consider personal care products for personal wash, fabric wash, skincare, oral
care, hair care, food products etc.
Type II: A product/service that costs over Rs.1000/- and that the customer feels, reveals
something about the kind of person he is.
You may like to consider apparels/ shoes or other accessories, consumer durables (laptop, watch,
music player, two/four wheelers or any other product) etc.
Consumer Interview
The consumer interviewed should not be from the PGP program. You have to conduct a depth
interview of the consumer on the choice process for 30-60 minutes or on the usage process for as
specified below. Although direct face to face interview you might also conduct telephonic
interviews in case of major constraints. The goal of the interview is:
To understand the decision process that governed the purchase of this product or this service and
its implications/use to a marketing manager - in the case of consumer choice- interview &
To understand how the owner or user feels about the product/service and its implications/use to a
marketing manager - in the case of consumer usage - interview.

Product/Service

Choice

Usage

(Roll Nos)

(Roll Nos)

Type I

1-15

16-30

Type II

31-45

46-60

Note: Consider class nos in ascending order

Adapted from Deighton and Fournier 1997, Consumer Behavior Exercise, Harvard Business School.

Consumer Choice - Interview

You are required to audit the consumer choice process
Given below are list of questions (Check List) that are intended to help you structure your depth
interview. The list is not complete or exhaustive and should serve only as broad guidelines. The
attempt should be to stimulate a lively and open discussion around these key questions. The
interview should help (a) develop a deep understanding of the purchase decision process and (b)
bring out the individual factors and group factors that really determined why the customer acted
the way he did.
You are required to submit a brief note (not exceeding 1000 words) on consumer choice process
based on the analysis of data collected in the consumer interview. You should also be prepared to
present the key learning in the class.

Check list
Who all does the decision making unit comprise of? What role did the members of the DMU
play?
Identify the decision maker, purchaser, influencer, user and others who played a role in the
purchase and the extent of their influence.
What motivated the purchase?
What need/want did the product satisfy?
Which attributes seemed important?

Nature of the decision

Was it a first time decision? A review of a previous decision? A careful decision? A casual
decision? Was the amount of time spent appropriate for the decision?

Describe the decision making process

What triggered the process?
Was there an information search? How was the search conducted? How much information was
collected? What sources were used? When in the process was the information collected?

Where did the consumer buy?

Why there?
Which came first? Where to buy or What to buy?

(A) Consumer Usage - Interview

Given below are list of questions (Check List) that are intended to help you structure your depth
interview. The list is not complete or exhaustive and should serve only as broad guidelines. The
attempt should be to stimulate a lively and open discussion around these key questions. The
interview should help (a) develop a deep understanding of the purchase decision process and (b)
bring out the individual factors and group factors that really determined why the customer acted
the way he did.
You are required to submit a brief note (not exceeding 1000 words) on product/service usage
(consumption) process based on the analysis of data collected in the consumer interview. You
should also be prepared to present the key learning in the class.

Checklist
You are required to audit the relationship between the consumer and the product/service
How would you describe the consumption experience?
How is the product/service used or consumed? Who uses it? When? Where? How often? What
feelings and experience surround the consumption experience?
What type of relationship does a consumer have with the product/service?
When did the consumer first use the product? How has the relationship changed or evolved over
time? What terms best describe the relationship: good, bad, mixed, love- hate, dependency, casual
partners, exploited, exploitative, good friends?
Describe some of the pleasant/satisfying customer experiences the relationship?
High quality service/product, communication, performance above expectations, affirmation of
values
Describe some of the dissatisfying/not so pleasant experience in the relationship?
Stock outs, unavailability of parts or service, inappropriate communication, quality problems, not
meeting expectations, violating norms/values
Is the customer satisfied or dissatisfied with the product/service?
What factors influenced the level of satisfaction/ satisfaction? How were expectations formed?
How are they evolving? How is the product performing /belying expectations?
What is the meaning of this product/service to the customer?
How does the product fit into the consumers life? What role does it play?
What role does the brand play in the customer relationship?
What does the brand mean to the consumer?

Exercise II: Advertising Campaign Analysis (Group Work)

Submission Date: One day after Session 15; 11:00 pm
Select a recent communication campaign (TV Commercials/ Print Campaigns/ Digital Media) of
two competing brands in a selected product category. You may consider the product category of
the brand you have selected for the project for the exercise too. You may refer Chapter 14 and 15
(Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Communications and Managing Mass
Communications) in analyzing the campaigns.
Prepare a presentation that would compare and contrast the selected campaigns on the four
points mentioned below.
(i)Overview of Brand positioning / Market share and Competitive Scenario for the selected
brands
Study the campaigns carefully and understand broadly the market situation of the category and
the strategies of the brands/offers/companies whose communication you have selected.
(ii) Inferring Marketing Objectives & communication plans behind the campaigns
What are the possible marketing objectives which you can infer from the campaigns as a whole
and its components? Is it a part of a larger communication plan? Identify other communication
tools, if any, used in conjunction with the campaign.
(iii) Analyzing Target Audience, Communication Objectives, & Message Strategy
What in your opinion are the target audiences? Please evaluate the message strategies. Are the
message strategies likely to achieve the communication objectives? If so how? If not, Why not?
and what modifications would you suggest?
(iv) Analyzing Creative Execution Methods
Comment on the creative execution methods used in the respective communication tools? Do you
think the creative executions are effective? If so, why and how? If not, why not and what
modifications would you suggest?
Submission
Prepare a PPT and submit it along with the advertisements evaluated. You may like to present the
summary of the campaign comparisons and your suggestions for modifications in a tabular
format.