Project 1: Researching Consumer Buying Behavior
Step 3: Review Marketing Information on Consumer Buying Behavior

As you read through the following materials, begin to think about how this information will apply to the report you will prepare for

Erik

and

Tarek

. To successfully complete the report, you’ll need an understanding of

marketing

. You’ll also benefit from a keen understanding of 

digital marketing

, 

consumer buying behavior

, and 

evaluating business attractiveness

.

As you conduct your analysis of ACME’s consumer environment, remember that there are two types of market research: 

primary and secondary research

. Both types of research are required in real-life, and each of them has its pros and cons. However, for this Project, only secondary research is required.

Finally, to fully understand ACME’s position, read about 

offerings

—what a company provides its customers, be it a product, a service, or a mix of both. Also consider the 

differences between a product and a service

. You know that a product can be more than just a physical good, it can be a service attached to a physical product, a “pure” service, an idea, a place, an organization, or even a person.

After you have read these materials, proceed to the next step, where you will begin your analysis of the specified consumer markets

Step 4: Conduct a Consumer Buying Behavior Study

INBOX: 1 New Message

From: Tarek Fahmy, Head of New Product Innovation, ACME

To: You

How are things going?

As previously mentioned, I would like you to conduct an analysis of the consumers in our main markets. Your analysis should consider both current and potential product users and should address the following questions:

1. What needs are being met by the product purchase? What are the benefits to the consumers? Make sure that you differentiate between features and benefits; go beyond manifest motives and consider latent motives.

2. Who is involved in the purchase process? Who are the influencers? Who are the buyers? Who are the end users?

3. Where are the products sold, and what are the distribution channels?

4. How often are the products purchased? Is there seasonality to sales?

Deliverable: By the end of Week 1, I need you to produce a six-page preliminary consumer buying behavior report (excluding cover page, reference list, tables, graphs, and exhibits) explaining your findings on consumer needs, wants, and preferences in these markets. Make sure that your report is specific to consumers of ACME’s potential product and not to consumers in general.

Support your work with the course readings and at least two scholarly sources and eight reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard Business Review, as well as the UMUC Library databases, such as Hoover’s and ABI/INFORM. All sources need to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.

Expecting your best efforts on this,

Tarek
 

Step 5: Complete Your Value Proposition

Early in Week 2, submit a one-page

value proposition

to Erik.

INBOX: 1 New Message

From: Erik Knops, CEO, ACME

To: You

Just a quick note,

I wanted to clarify that a customer-focused value proposition explains the reason why a customer purchases a product or uses a service (i.e., the value that a company delivers to its customers).

Deliverable: Based on your research of consumer needs in our main markets, describe your value proposition, or the benefits that ACME and its potential new product would provide to customers. Remember, a value proposition is essentially the promise that is made to the customer. Also provide a half-page recommendation to ACME on whether or not to manufacture that product.

Support your work with the course readings, scholarly sources, and reliable nonscholarly sources, such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard Business Review, as well as the UMUC Library databases, such as Hoover’s. All sources need to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list. The value proposition should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.

I know these are tight turnarounds, but I have no doubt you’ll knock this out,

Erik

Submit your report to the dropbox located in the final step of this project.

In the next step you will finalize your consumer buying behavior report and write an executive summary.

Step 6: Complete Your Final Consumer Buying Behavior Report

Deliverable: By the end of Week 2, combine the first two deliverables into a single report after making any necessary corrections and edit them to ensure that there is clear flow of ideas from one section to the other. In addition, prepare a one-page executive summary (following the cover page) that highlights the most important findings of the report. APA style should be applied to in-text citations and in the reference list.

Your final report to Erik should be eight to nine pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, the reference list, and appendices. Any graphs, tables, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.

Submit your report to the dropbox located in the final step of this project.

Finding Refrigerator Market Information

To find documents that discuss the market for high-end* and/or smart* and/or home refrigerators in the three regions of interest (the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany), you can run searches in OneSearch and ABI/INFORM Collection along the lines of:

(“high-end refrigerator*” OR “smart refrigerator*” OR “household refrigerator*” OR “home refrigerator*” OR “domestic refrigerator*”) AND (market* OR “customer behavior” OR “consumer behavior” OR “customer attitude*” OR “consumer attitude*” OR “customer preference” OR “consumer preference*” OR “customer research” OR “consumer research” OR “buying behavior*”) AND “united states”

and:

(“high-end refrigerator*” OR “smart refrigerator*” OR “household refrigerator*” OR “home refrigerator*” OR “domestic refrigerator*”) AND (market* OR “customer behavior” OR “consumer behavior” OR “customer attitude*” OR “consumer attitude*” OR “customer preference” OR “consumer preference*” OR “customer research” OR “consumer research” OR “buying behavior*”) AND (“united kingdom” OR britain OR england OR wales OR scotland OR “northern ireland” OR british OR english OR welsh OR scottish OR irish)

and:

(“high-end refrigerator*” OR “smart refrigerator*” OR “household refrigerator*” OR “home refrigerator*” OR “domestic refrigerator*”) AND (market* OR “customer behavior” OR “consumer behavior” OR “customer attitude*” OR “consumer attitude*” OR “customer preference” OR “consumer preference*” OR “customer research” OR “consumer research” OR “buying behavior*”) AND german*

In some cases, your search results may include links that lead you to information about market reports rather than to the reports themselves. The Library generally isn’t able to obtain market reports since such reports are quite expensive, but report announcements often contain information about the reports’ contents, and that information could be useful for your project 1 research. For example, this December 2016 press release from a UMGC Library database mentions a $5950 market report. The full report isn’t available from the UMGC Library, but the report contains several general pieces of information that could be useful for project 1 — for example:

“High replacement demand and the resulting obsolescence of conventional freezers & refrigeration units is expected to have a positive impact on the high-end product growth segment over the next nine years.”

“The high-end refrigerators segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of over 7% from 2016 to 2025. Increasing demand for frost-free and double-door refrigerators is expected to open new growth avenues in this segment.”

“Key players are focusing on product transition owing to favorable component pricing coupled with continuous efficiency in the manufacturing process.”

So be sure to take a look at press releases for market research reports — but be sure to check their dates, to make sure that they’re recent enough for your assignment requirements. You should also, of course, focus on finding information about the market for high-end/smart home refrigerators in the specific areas of interest (the U.S., the U.K., and Germany).

If you aren’t able to find enough information about high-end refrigerators in particular, you may find it helpful to broaden your searches. Relevant additional search terms include:

kitchen appliances

home appliances

domestic appliances

major appliances

hard goods

durable goods