Class: BE (Chemical engg.

) with MBA , Semester : 9th ,Session : 2015-16

Subject : Market Research & Consumer Behaviour
Group Project
Group 1 : Zoravar Rana,Suchetana,Swati,Himanshu,Kultar,Divya
Group 2: Aashank,Abhiruchi,Akash,Deepinder,Deepika,Gaganmeet
Group 3: Parth Garg,Niraj kr. Mandal,Rajan ,Rajat,Shubhang,Prabhsimran
Group 4: Sonu Garg,Manini,Neeraj Bansal,Stuti,Survan,Mehul
Group 5: Vasu , Devanand,Manish,Tanzin,Virendra,Gagan dahiya
The Product
Your group will choose a product (good, service, combination, event, person, place, etc.)
which is currently offered for sale in the Indian market today by a specific company (it need
not be manufactured in India). Since a large part of this course is based on analysis of the
consumer through advertisements, you need to choose a product for which you will be able to
find an advertisement; you may use an ad from the Internet but be sure it can be printed out to
hand in, and that it has the elements of an advertisement and is not just a picture
After learning about the consumers who buy this product, create the concept of a product
extension. This new product must be something that is not currently marketed by that
particular company, that you think would interest the same customers who are now buying the
original product.
Writing the Assignments
Point of View
When writing the project, put yourself in the role of a marketing consultant to the producer of
the product you have selected. Write it like a business report - clear and concise.
General Format for all Six Parts
For each Part of the Project you will hand in within the first 15 minutes of class on the day it
is due, the required number of pages as stated below, typed in standard font - Times New
Roman, or Ariel Regular (NOT Ariel Narrow), single-spaced in not less than 11-point type,
with 1" margins all around.
Use plain white ordinary paper, stapled, without a binder, but with a Cover Page that includes:
Part Number - Group Number
Title of Project
(include company and new product name)
Course Code and Title
Professor's Name (spell it right!)

Date Due
Group Members
ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Last Name, First Name
Put the names of all those who contributed their fair share on
that part
(Do Not put student numbers on any papers)
Using Theory
As this is a course in an academic business programme, I am looking for evidence that you're
using the theory you are reading about and discussing. So use it and use the terms. Don't
waste space defining terms; we all have the book. Instead, use them.
Example:
Don't write: "The principle of closure implies that consumers tend to perceive an incomplete
picture as complete" (taken directly from textbook).
Don't write: "We recommend using the technique of closure for all of our advertising
messages, particularly those we will be placing in the higher class magazines, because we
know that the schema in our customer's head with respect to the organization of his or her
thoughts about the relevance of crossword puzzles and the conflicting issue of lack of time
creates a climate in which the customer will be susceptible to our message." (too long and
wordy)
Write instead:
"Closure: use in ads because customer's schema makes immediate link between crossword
puzzles and lack of time"
I will then know that
a) you know what closure is
b) you can use the term 'closure' correctly in terms of an actual product
c) what you are proposing for your product seems valid (I may not know all the ins and outs
of your individual products but I can tell when something doesn't make sense or is
inconsistent)
Using Point Form
Use of point form helps keep the writing to a minimum, and makes it easier for the person
reading it to quickly get the most important points.
Keep it short
Avoid full sentences
Use your own simplified words, not formal text definitions
Boil it down to the few main points, with sub-headings
Remember when you're working on these assignments that you're not going to be graded on
whether you get a particular topic (e.g.: differential threshold) right for a particular purchaser
of your particular product but you are being graded on whether you use the terms correctly
and seem to understand them, and you are being graded on how well you cover the material
using your own product as an example.
The six parts of the project:

Part 1 (0 marks but you can't go forward without submitting it)

LENGTH - 1 page, single spaced, See General format
Due - Tuesday in the first 15 minutes of class
Prepare a cover page like the cover page above.
In short, concise point form on no more than 1 page, do six things (number them):
1. State the brand name and product class of a specific product currently existing in
India (this is your original product), for which it would be possible to create a new
product within the product line* (this is your product extension). The product class is
the one you were assigned in class. The brand name is the specific brand name of the
product currently marketed. Add to this a few words to tell me what this thing is, if it
is not immediately obvious from its name.
2. State the current target market for the current product; then, using 6 words or less for
each characteristic, state the 3 most important characteristics of the current target
market for this product. On a separate line, state in not more than 12 words the most
important customer need that your product meets (don't analyze it; just state it); don't
tell me several needs, tell me only the most important customer need. Try as much as
you can to be sure that this most important need relates directly to the eventual
product extension you will choose.
3. In not more than 12 words, state where the current product is currently sold, both
geographically and in terms of its type of distribution.
4. State in Indian Rupees the price range at which the current product is usually sold.
5. State the single most important environmental variable that affects your current
product, out of the basic seven environments; then in not more than 3 lines explain
why it is the most important environment.
demographic, geographic, economic
natural, technological, political/legal, socio/cultural
6. State your best idea at this time for a proposed product extension to be sold to this
same target market and describe it in not more than 3 lines. You may change your
idea as you progress through the assignments, but having an idea at the start of what
you will eventually sell to this target market will help you to focus on what you
analyze about them now.
Dont forget the cover page.

Part 2 (15 marks)

LENGTH - 4 pages total, single spaced + copy of ad, See General Format
Due - Tuesday in the first 15 minutes of class
Choose one print ad for your company's current product and attach a copy of it to this report;
make another copy - you will need it later. In not more than 2 pages for this first part, identify
the customers for your current product and describe them in ways specifically relevant to
topics on market segmentation, relationship marketing, popular culture, meaning of
consumption and various approaches in consumer research (traditional and current approach)
and topics relevant to perception etc. that clearly relate to how the product and the attached
advertisement appeal to those customers. Do not overlap or overrun pages and stick to margin
etc. limits. Be specific;

Write in true point form and you will have room to cover all of them. Be sure you use the
terms in ways that show me that you understand what they mean. You may relate the term to
the current product, the target market, or your advertisement. Do not yet use the new
proposed product. Note that most terms will apply in some way to any product. You cannot
for example say that "schema" is not applicable or that "positioning" is not relevant. There is a
schema in every human thought, and no marketer would start any marketing project without
some idea of how to position the product in the market. For example, while one of the five
senses might not seem directly relevant for a product, it may be relevant simply in the fact
that it is NOT part of the product (think about Clinique's line of scent-free cosmetics). You
should have almost no items listed as "N/A" (not applicable).
In another two pages, choose the five most important points and write further at length (point
form or prose) describing specifically how that point relates to your product and its ad.

Part 3 (15 marks)

LENGTH - 6 pages total, single spaced, See General Format
Due - Tuesday in the first 15 minutes of class
Do some informal research for this part - interviews or survey of a small group of current
users of the product or a product similar to yours, and use the information in the first part of
this Part, which is done the same way as Part 2.
Try to gather some simple information on demographics and psychographics that might be
helpful to you when you introduce your product extension. You're looking for some early
clues to whether or not your extension would be popular with your current target market. In
not more than 4 pages, further describe your current customers in terms of concepts in
learning and memory ,Motivation, values and involvement, making specific reference to
what you found out in your limited market research. Do not include a separate analysis of the
information you find out in your research, but rather make sure it shows up in your writing to
illustrate the terms and theories you are explaining (example: "57% of our respondents said
they liked the symbolism in the ad"). As with Part 2, think in terms of your customer, the
current product, and the advertisement that reaches that customer. Ultimately these three
things should be inextricably linked: a good ad will target the reasons that the customer buys
the product.
Remember the basic rules of ethical research with human participants, even informal research
as this is: you must identify yourself and tell them what you are doing and why, you must
assure them of confidentiality, and you must tell them that they are free at any time to stop the
interview. The sample need not be large enough to be statistically significant - I'm more
interested in how you use your results than that those results be statistically significant, I do
not need to see your questionnaires or summaries of data, and I don't want to see any
statistical tables.
In another two pages, choose the five most important points and write further at length (point
form or prose) describing specifically how that point relates to your product and its ad.
Although you are writing about your current product and its consumers, you are already
beginning here to think about your new product: what you're doing here is playing amateur
psychologist, and trying to wrap your mind around the learning processes and motivation that

drives these people to buy this product, for the express purpose of selling them something
similar -- the very worst of what Marketing is often accused of doing! Your main focus here is
on the current product, but uses this opportunity to ask them briefly about their reaction to
your proposed new product - Would they be interested? How much would they expect to pay?
Where would they expect to find the product?

Part 4 (40 marks, DONE INDIVIDUALLY as an in-class

OPEN-book test by each student, using new material)
In this test, you will be asked to apply the techniques and theory you have learned in your
group work so far to a new consumer behaviour case. You will be given a brief description of
the original product and the proposed new product, just as you have been working with in
your group work. You will be asked to apply what you have learned so far.
The main thing you will be asked to do is to explain how you will use what you know about
the current target market (given to you) to market the new product to the same target group.
You need to make specific reference to theories and terminology.

Part 5 (15 marks)

LENGTH - 6 pages TOTAL, single spaced See General Format
Due - Tuesday in the first 15 minutes of class
In not more than 4 pages, develop further the concept for the line extension of the product that
you identified in Part I (repeat briefly your original reference to it, or a rewrite if you've
changed direction, so your reader knows what you're talking about). Explain why this product
would be appropriate for your target market and why you expect them to buy the new
product, specifically in terms Attitude and Attitude Change. Be specific; but be sure to cover
what you are planning as changes.
In another two pages, choose the five most important points and write further at length (point
form or prose) describing specifically how that point relates to your product and its ad.
Here, explaining is primary, but be sure to still include all the important terms

Part 6 (15 marks)

LENGTH - 6 pages total, single spaced, See General format
Due - Tuesday, in the first 15 minutes of class
Using what you learned overall, in not more than 4 pages, describe how you expect your
current customers to go through the process involved in moving from being loyal users of the
original product to (you hope) being loyal users of your product line extension including
attempts you make to change their attitude toward a new product. Be specific; think of this
partly as a summary of what was most important to you, in terms of your project.
In another two pages, choose the five most important points overall and write further at length
(point form or prose) describing specifically how that point relates to your product and its ad
and the process you have gone through to market a new product.