"MARS701 ASSESSMENT#2 – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSQuestionI am getting confused as to what a consumer behaviour issue or problem for the company is?Is the company supposed to have had a problem in the past or are we discussing a potentialproblem and how they can deal with? Answer: Note that the term ‘issue’ doesn’t suggest that it has to be a problem (in a negativeway). Consumer behaviour issue refers to any issue related to how consumers purchase, useand dispose their product or service during the consumption process. Simple issue like howconsumer make choice could be an interesting issue to be explored. Once you have identified the CB issue you wanted to explore, for example, how consumersmake smartphone purchase choice, the next task is to think about which BEHAVIOURALaspects you would observe so as to address this consumer choice making issue. Observationcould be conducted at various stores, for example, watching how customers buy/choosesmartphones, who do they go shopping for smartphone with, how long do they take to makedecision (or leave the store without buying any), their interactions with other customers in thestore or the interactions with retail staff, etc are all crucial BEHAVIOURAL aspects to beobserved. Don’t let go even nitty gritty details. You will find the above links to guidelines onhow to conduct observation useful: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cas/anth/nuevosouth/upload/studyingcustomerbehaviorinretailstores- 090623023217-phpapp01-slideshare.pdf(see sub-heading "observation" page177)http://www.djsresearch.co.uk/services/service/Observationhttp://www.quirks.com/articles/a1989/19891204.aspxEssentially, It doesn’t matter which company/brand/industry you are working on so long asthe issue you are looking at is CB related and importantly, the issue could be addressed (atleast partially) through observation. Note that some issues are rather difficult to be addressedby merely through observation. For example, it is difficult to observe attitude and perception,we can only ask questions to gauge consumer attitude and perception through survey. Question“What exactly is a CB issue and how is it different to behaviour?”Answer: Consumer behaviour issue refers to any issue related to how consumers purchase,use and dispose their product or service. The term ‘issue’ refers to an important topic,concern, theme, case, point, or even trend or phenomenon that are of CB relevance for debateor discussion. Since the assessment involves an observational field work, the CB issue or topic chosenshould be one that could be addressed (partially) through observation. It is the behaviouralaspect that are often observed by researchers – the way in which consumers act, react, and response to stimuli (or towards others e.g. retail staff, other customers, etc) during theobservational field work.Question“I’m wondering about how you said consumer behaviour issues could be positive ornegative. This is because there is a part where we have to write recommendation in the essayand I don’t know how you could write about it with positive issues???”Answer: For assessment 2, consumer behaviour issue refers to any issue related to howconsumers purchase, use and dispose their product or service. It could be a positive, neutralor negative issue. For example, a positive issue may be that you observe a trend towardssimplicity / minimalism (this is positive as it helps in the sustainability issue). In therecommendation section, you may discuss the implications of this minimalism trend (ofcourse based on your observation findings) e.g. its impacts on retail strategy, logo &packaging design, etc and how marketers should capitalise on this opportunity.In sum, if you are talking about a negative issue, you will suggest how to overcome thisnegative issue in the recommendation. In contrast, if your issue is a positive one, you maydiscuss the implications of the issue and how to further turning the positive issue intobusiness / marketing opportunity.Question Also does the company have to be a NZ based company?Answer: It makes sense to choose a company that is NZ based so that the physicalobservational field work could be conducted.Question Do we have to address all of the 3 consumer behaviour concepts in the discussion part listedbelow: -environmental analysis -segmentation, positioning-marketing mix developmentAnswer: Please note that environmental analysis, segmentation, positioning and marketingmix development are marketing concepts (as opposed to CB). Examples of consumerbehaviour concepts include perception, attitude, motivation, learning, etc.You’re required to:- Identify a key CB issue you will address in this report; - Conduct the observational field work;- Collate the findings;- Relate your observational findings or insights to 1-3 CB concepts (e.g. explain how theseCB concepts can be used to explain the findings); and - Provide recommendations that address the CB issue QuestionIn the discussion section, we first mention about our observation - where it was time etc whatwe observed, then we go into CB concepts which are relevant to our observation? Is thatcorrect? Answer: YesQuestion I just want to ask whether i can use this consumer consumption issue for my assessment.People buying more and more fast fashion clothing (thanks to Cheap materials and labor)People buy more clothes because it’s cheaper and only last for a few washes. Clothing wasteis piling up / even second hand clothing don’t know what to do with our leftovers. No waythey can sell it off, so they ended up shipping half of their stuffs overseas. This affects skiesand water (water pollution and carbon footprint). Not to mention this affects workers aroundthe world too. We as consumers have a habit of $5 tank tops that produce more waste thatsomeone was paid pennies to make. this is more like a sustainable issue but i am just wondering if this meeting the brief of theassessment? Answer: From your description, I see that you are looking at sustainable consumption issue –yes, this is an appropriate and interesting CB issue in which you may write your report fromthe social marketing perspective.Although you may write this report for a particular company or brand, but you may take aslightly different approach. That is, you look at a specific CB issue (in your case – how toencourage sustainable consumption) in a particular industry (i.e. fashion industry) withoutspecifying any brand/company. In this case, recommendations (on how to encouragesustainable consumption) will be drawn to the fashion industry as a whole rather than to aspecific company / brand. You may also provide suggestions to other stakeholders such associal marketers and policy makers who are keen on sustainability issues.QuestionIs this report solely going to be based on primary research ( my observation ) or can isupport my findings with secondary research as well? Answer: You're encouraged to read academic articles or textbook so that you have a clearerunderstanding of the CB concepts - these are secondary information sources. If you meant to supplement your findings with insights from the online forum/blogs - this isgreat but please be reminded that the discussion should focus on the physical observationalfield work.QuestionI was wondering by additional academic information it also included Kotler's Marketing 9thedition text book? that's where bulk of this assignments theory referencing would be comingfrom. Answer: Journal articles and textbooks are part of the academic sources. Please have a look atthe study guide - Appendix A shows the marking guide for the individual report. One of thecriteria is: Research and Reading – shows good research ability and wide reading; well developedreference list, applicable and balanced. Clearly, you need to demonstrate wide reading and hence counting on just one text book isinsufficient. Although I don't have a specific requirement for the minimum number ofreferences, I would expect at least five different sources of academic reference (mixture ofjournal article and textbook). You may also include other Internet sources. QuestionJust wondering how many theories will be needed for the report?Answer: Relate your findings to 1-3 CB concepts. I am looking at the depth of discussionrather than the number of concepts you included in the report. QuestionIt is hard to bulk up my observations as when I did them, only three customers mentionedanything about animal cruelty to the store attendants, most people are in store because theylike the products and want to purchase them. Answer: Note that some issues are rather difficult to be addressed by merely throughobservation. For example, it is difficult to observe perception and attitude, we can only askquestions to gauge consumer attitude through survey. Please note that you’re not required toconduct a survey. You’re stuck basically because you have chosen a topic i.e. perception toanimal cruelty which is difficult to be addressed by a mere observation. QuestionAm I allowed to use screenshots from social media to back up/add to my observations?Answer: While it is a good idea to supplement your findings with insights from the onlineforum/blogs but please be reminded that the report should be on the physical observationalfindings. QuestionWhen making recommendations, are we stating what the company can do to possibly fix theseCB problems? Answer: Yes. QuestionI don’t really understand what to write about in the executive summary - do you summarisewhat your key findings were and what you recommend etc or are you setting up the report inthe first place detailing how you did the observation? Answer: Executive summary is to be written last. Here are two useful links:http://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/writingresources/exec_summaries.cfmplease look at the second example – exe summary for a marketing report:http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4bi1.htmlJust a note – the one page executive summary is written SINGLE SPACING (while othersection like introduction, discussion, recommendations and conclusion are double spacing).Write one paragraph for each of these components: project summary/background + process +findings/conclusion + key recommendations (so this adds up to 4 paragraphs). Lastly,headings and sub-headings are not needed so long as you cover the key elements.Question Im struggling to understand and find what consumer behaviour concepts are?Answer: Have a look the content pages of any consumer behaviour text book from thelibrary, you'll have a good idea of what constitutes CB concepts. A few examples of CB concepts - attitude, motivation, learning, perception, personality,emotion, self and identity, etc. You will find these concepts familiar if you have attended myclass consistently.Question One last questions sorry - is 2,500 - 3,000 words just a guideline? I have just finished myreport and I am sitting on 3,588 words. Can you please confirm if I will be penalised for this,as it is over 10% word count?Answer: There is no penalty for a report exceeded 10% word count.Question Can you please give me an example on how this assessment works?Answer:Example 1:Step 1: You decided to study consumer frustration as a CB issue. That is, you wanted toknow what contributes to this problem by conducting an observational field work - to bediscussed in the introduction section.Step 2: Upon the completion of the field work you would have gathered some findings /insights from the observation. Discuss these findings and integrate them with 1-3 relevant CBtheories e.g. motivation and attitude. That is, you use these concepts to explain the findings -to be included in the discussion section"