Format for the Written Assignment

Written Assignment

The written assignment is designed to help you apply the theories and concepts which you learn to the realm of marketing. This assignment must be typed/word processed using double-spacing and they must be ready on the assigned day (e-mail submissions are acceptable). Assignment sheets are at the back of this syllabus.

Format for the Written Assignment

The assignment MUST have three parts:

PART 1. The first part is a single page "EXECUTIVE SUMMARY” describing the major results and findings of your assignment. Ask yourself what are the KEY issues or questions to be answeredin the assignment, then summarize what you found out about EACH key point. Do not explain what you DID, but what you FOUND. This should be in the form of an inter-office memo to LarryMarks, Director of Marketing.

PART 2. The second part of the assignment is a detailed WRITTEN REPORT on the assignment. This section will specifically answer the questions asked in a logical and clear style. Follow these guidelines:

a) Use a series of headings and sub-headings that match each of the items in the assignment. This will help you to be certainthat I follow your work and to help me see that you have coveredall the issues.

b) Do not provide lists of data or to use figures without explaining them in the body of the report. When you use a table or list or figure label it with a heading (e.g., Table 1, A List of Competitors’ Products), REFER to it in the body of the report (e.g., see Table 1) and place it AFTER you refer to it (NOT BEFORE).

c) Whenever you use data, information, or ads which you got from an article or a text CITE the source of that information in the body of the report. Do not use footnotes; they are too hard to create. Instead use this format: "The VALS typology has proven to be very useful to the insurance industry” (Ad Age 2001), or "According to Kotler (2006...)”. Then the names you cite will appear in the bibliography.

PART 3. The third section will include all DOCUMENTATION which is necessary to support your assignment. This might be a bibliography of research sources, the completed questionnaires, advertisements you used, and so forth. When you do a survey supply the actual completed questionnaires in this section.

Please, REVIEW the above information BEFORE EACH assignment.

Criteria for Grading Written Assignment

The assignment will be graded on three criteria. The first criterion is the CONTENT. Did you read and understand the assignment and does your paper completely fulfill the requirements? Is your report clear and do your ideas demonstrate logical reasoning? The second criterion is writing STYLE. In business (as in most fields) effective communication is critical to success. For these assignments, you must use proper spelling, grammar, and proper sentence structure. These are NOT “informal communications.” If you are not sure about the quality of your writing, check a style manual, have someone proofread your work, or take your assignment to the Writing Center ( ; by appointment, 10 a.m. to 12, Monday through Thursday in 318 Satterfield, call 330-672-1787 or in the Library Information Commons area, Monday through Thursday, 12 to 2 p.m.). The third criterion involves the PRESENTATION of the assignment. This is the equivalent of "packaging.” Are the assignment neat, the tables well formatted, the diagrams clear, etc.? The assignment you turn in should be a product that you would be able to show to a potential employer as a demonstration of the quality of your work.

A Comment on Sources of Materials

In some of the assignments you are asked to obtain advertisements to demonstrate a concept. As hard as it is to believe, in the past some people have gone to the library and cut ads (or articles) out of our magazines. Needless to say this is totally unacceptable and will result in disciplinary action. If you can not find an ad in a current edition of a magazine feel free to copy an ad (or article) from library or other sources. You must cite the source of your ads either in the paper or on the advertisement itself. That is, for every ad you use, you must provide a bibliographic note on the magazine or the web site that it came from. If it is more than a year old, also note where you got the magazine.

Finally if you have ANY questions about any of this talk to me.

Thinking about the Written Assignment for

Marketing 35035 ­­ Buyer Behavior

Dr. Lawrence J. Marks

Inter-office Memo

From: L.J. Marks

To: The New Products Research Group

Subject: Initial Research on Project 35035

Congratulations on being selected for this new research group. As you know you will be developing important information that will both help us to enter a new market and to better understand our consumers and their decision processes.

As you plan for this new entry, I would like you to think about how consumers feel about our competition. What do they like and dislike about their products? The objective is to help you visualize consumers’ attitudes about our competition's brands and to determine the competitions’ strengths and weaknesses.

NOTE: Use the following three guidelines in selecting your product.

Pick a product:

(a) which is an involving one for the consumer. This would include products which are expensive, risky, complex, OR which make a statement about the person buying and using it, and

(b) which you can find information on and advertisements for.

Refer to the examples on the next page for some ideas (not all equally good).

Thinking ahead at this point will make your job easier throughout the term.

POSSIBLE PRODUCT CATEGORIES

Household Appliances

Automobiles Motorcycles, Trucks, Vans and their Major Accessories

Bicycles, Skateboards

Banks, Investment Services

Home Computers, Computer Software, VCR's, DVD’s, DVR’s, MPEG players

Personal Care Products and Appliances

Perfume and Colognes

Men's or Women’s Cosmetics

Home Furnishings

Piano, Organ

Jewelry

Men’s or Women’s Apparel

Photographic Equipment (e.g. digital cameras)

Sports and Leisure Equipment, and so on.

These are simply possible product categories. If you would like to work on some other products, feel free to talk to me about them.

Inter-office Memo

From: L.J. Marks

To: The New Products Research Group

Subject: Subcultural Analysis

To better understand how we might position our offering, I have been thinking about specific subcultures which we might target. Are any of our competitors doing anything currently in this area? How effective are their efforts? If we decide to market to one or more subcultures is there anything we might do better than the competition?

Please see the attachments for details as always if you have any questions talk to me.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the variations which are required in marketing to subcultures.

1. EITHER select a subculture and compare it to the mainstream American culture OR select two subcultures for analysis (e.g. Black and Hispanic; Youth and Older). The brands can be the same ones or new ones (if you cannot find appropriate ads for the brands).

2. Look through some magazines/web sites which are oriented toward the mainstream consumer and the consumer in the sub-culture (or oriented to the two subcultures) and find (and include in the report) an ad for a brand in your product category which is aimed at each group. Think about the two ads for the groups and how you might explain the differences between them. The IDEAL situation would be to find the identical brand advertised to the two groups although this is not always possible.

MORE THINKING

Inter-office Memo

From: L.J. Marks

To: The New Products Research Group

Subject: Consumers' attitudes towards product attributes and brands

To help us develop a new product in this area, it would be very useful to find out more about the key attributes how consumers feel about these and how the existing brands "stack up.” I think we need something more sophisticated than what was used in the investigation of the product category. Look into this as soon as you can.

In addition, I have just told the president that we can be ready to make a presentation to her of the results of our efforts to date. She would like to see a mock-up advertisement for our new brand. This is quite important to us and I don't want to be caught off guard so in your written report explain and justify all aspects of the concepts in the ad. That way we'll be prepared for ANY questions which she might have during your verbal presentation.

See the attached pages for further information and check with me if you have any questions.

THE WRITTEN PROJECT

OBJECTIVES: To integrate the material discussed during the term and apply it to a marketing problem.

For the final assignment you are to create a new brand of your product and to develop a print advertisement for it.

You are to turn in both your print ad and a written explanation of the factors you considered in developing the brand and the advertisement. The assignment should cover the topics mentioned below. In creating your new brand and advertisement you should carefully consider what you have learned about the factors which influence consumer behavior. These factors should STRONGLY influence all aspects of your effort and be discussed in your assignment.

In developing your brand and ad first select define and describe the market segment. Think about and describe the important characteristics norms and values of this market segment's culture culture-culture social class and reference groups as appropriate. These should be used in developing an appropriate advertising message. Also you should think about and describe the life style of this market segment as this will influence your message. Think about the attributes that your brand should have based on all of these factors and discuss them.

As you create the print ad and the copy think about what you have learned about information processing and perception and attitude formation and change. You should EXPLAIN how your ad addresses these aspects of consumer behavior (i.e. attention, comprehension, yielding, and retention). Also, think about the decision process. How does your brand name ad and copy spark problem recognition and influence search, the evaluative process, and the final decision? What beliefs should the consumer have about your brand based on the visual and copy aspects of your ad? How should this affect the consumer's alternative evaluation, behavioral intention, and choice? In what media would it run to aid exposure and search given the life style and media habits of your market segment?

You must turn in both your print advertisement and a written explanation and analysis of your work based on the topics mentioned above. You will not be graded on your artistic ability but rather on how you justify your brand ad and copy in terms of the material covered. This should suggest to you that you carefully consider the various factors and present them in the assignment in an acceptable manner (i.e., good grammar and style as well as content).

Please GO BACK AND REVIEW the format for the written assignments to be sure that you follow the correct format. The project must have an executive summary an introduction a detailed written report, a conclusion, and a documentation section. See me if you have any questions.

EXAMPLE OUTLINE

Executive Summary

Introduction (including information about the product category/brand)

The Target Market (described)

The Norms and Values of the Target Market’s

Culture

Subculture

Social Class

Reference Groups

The Lifestyle of the Target Market

The features and attributes of the new brand and how they related to this target market

The AD (described)

The ad and information processing

Attention

Comprehension

Yielding

Retention

The ad and the decision process

Problem Recognition

Search

Alternative Evaluation

Choice

Expected beliefs and attitudes created by the ad

The details

How these should affect behavioral intentions and choice

The media selection

Where?

Why?

Conclusions

1