Chapter

Case s tudy : Four-on-the-Floor

Y-Ex MBA Chula 17/1

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CASE ONE : FOUR-ON-THE-FLOOR

A t o n e t i m e , t h e t y p i c a l p u r c h a s e r o f a n a u to m o b i l e w i t h a m a n u a l t r a n s m i s s i o n wa s a n i n d i v i d u a l w h o wa n te d to s av e m o n ey o n h i s c a r ( a n a u to m a t i c t r a n s m i s s i o n c a n s o m e t i m e s a d d m o r e t h a n $ 1 , 0 0 0 to t h e p r i c e o f a c a r ) o r wa n te d b e t te r g a s o l i n e m i l e a g e ( m a n u a l t r a n s m i s s i o n s u s u a l l y o f fe r s l i g h t l y b e t te r g a s m i l e a g e ) . To d ay, t h o u g h t h e b u ye r o f a m a n u a l - t r a n s m i s s i o n v e h i c l e i s m o s t l i ke l y to b e a n a f f l u e n t , c o l l e g e - e d u c a te d m a l e a t l e a s t 4 5 ye a r s o f a g e . I t h a s b e e n w r i t te n t h a t D r i v i n g a s t i c k s h i f t - r e f l e c t s a p r e o c c u p a ti o n w i t h a u t h e n t i c i t y a n d t h e u n r e f i n e d t h a t p r ov i d e s i t s o w n c a c h e t i n o u r p l a s t i c , m a te r i a l i s t i c s o c i e t y. T h e d r i v e r o f a m a n u a l t r a n s m i s s i o n c a r i s a l s o s ay i n g to t h e wo r l d I w o u l d r a t h e r d r i v e t h e c a r t h a n h av e t h e c a r d r i v e m e . Re s e a r c h r e s u l t s a l s o r ev e a l t h a t ow n e r s o f c a r s w i t h m a n u a l t r a n s m i s s i o n s a r e m o r e l i ke l y t h a n t h e av e r a g e U . S . c o n s u m e r to c o o k f r o m s c r a t c h , d o t h e i r ow n f i n a n c i a l p l a n n i n g , a n d e n g a g e i n s o l o l e i s u r e a c t i v i t i e s , s u c h a s j o g g i n g a n d s k i i n g . T h ey a l s o l i ke to m a ke t h e i r ow n b r e a d a n d p a s t a a n d p r e f e r b u y i n g f o o d s t h a t r e q u i r e m o r e wo r k ( e . g . , t h ey b r ew c o f f e e r a t h e r t h a n s p o o n o u t i n s t a n t c o f f e e ) .
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QUESTION?

Which traits do you believe owners of manualtransmission vehicles might score higher or lower on than the general U.S. population?

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CHARACTERISTICS OF DRIVERS WHO DRIVE MANUAL TRANSMISSION VEHICLE

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CHARACTERISTICS OF DRIVERS WHO DRIVE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION VEHICLE

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MANUAL TRANSMISSION

VS.

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Dogmatism

Social Character (Inner-Directed)

Need for Uniqueness

Social Character (Other-Directed)

Optimum Stimulation Levels (OSL) Consumer Innovativeness

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Manual Transmission Driver Automatic Transmission Driver

DOGMATISM
A personality trait that reflects the degree of rigidity a person displays toward the unfamiliar and toward information that is contrar y to his or her own established beliefs.

Driver who normally drive manual transmission have a higher degree of dogmatism trait as they tend to be who they are and push back whatever opposing their beliefs.

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SOCIAL CHARACTER (INNER-DIRECTED)

Consumers who tend to rely on their own inner values More likely to be innovators Tend to prefer ads that stress product features and benefits

Driver who normally drive manual transmission have a higher degree of social character (inner-directed) trait as they rely on their inner value:
I would rather drive the car than have the car drive me

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SOCIAL CHARACTER (OTHER-DIRECTED)

Consumers who tend to other for direction Less likely to be innovators Tend to prefer ads that feature social acceptance

Driver who normally drive manual transmission have a lower degree of social character (other-directed) trait as they doesnt want to change themselves just because of others or society.

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CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS
The degree to which consumers are receptive to new products, new services or new practices

Driver who normally drive manual transmission have a lower degree of consumer innovativeness trait as they have no interest in new products or practices.

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OPTIMUM STIMULATION LEVELS (OSL)

A personality trait that measures the level or amount of novelty or complexity that individuals seek in their personal experiences, High OSL consumers tend to accept risky and novel products more readily than low OSL consumers.

Driver who normally drive manual transmission have a higher degree of OSL trait as they value experiences and complexity of what theyre doing.

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NEED FOR UNIQUENESS

Consumers who avoid appearing to conform to expectations or standards of others

Driver who normally drive manual transmission have a higher need for uniqueness as they prefer not to change themselves to drive automatic transmission vehicle which is extremely popular. Driving manual transmission will differentiate them from general US population.

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CASE2:
PRODUCT TESTING ON THE INTERNET

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CHAPTER 5

Product Testing on the Internet

PROCTER&GAMBLE (P&G) IS OFFERING A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTS AND/OR PRODUCT V E R S I O N S O V E R T H E I N T E R N E T T H AT S Y O U C A N T B U Y AT Y O U R L O C A L R E TA I L S T O R E . BUT A CONSUMER CAN GO TO THE P RO C T E R & G A M B L E W E B S I T E ( W W W. P G . C O M ) A N D UNDER SERVICES AND OFFERS A CONSUMER CAN CLICK ON TRY AND BUY THEN,FOR A NUMBER OF P RO D U C T S, P & G W I L L O F F E R YO U A F R E E SA M P L E , A CENTS-OFF COUPON,OR THE ABLIT Y TO PURCHASE THE ACTUAL PRODUCT ONLINE. IF THE PURCHASERS OF A NEW ITEM OFFERED ON T H E W E B S I T E G I V E I T G R E AT R E V I E W S , T H E N P & G W I L L C O N S I D E R M A K I N G T H E P RO D U C T AVA I L A B L E I N R E TA I L S T O R E S .

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Product Testing on the Internet

O N E S U C C E S S F U L N E W P R O D U C T T H AT W E L A U N C H E D A S A R E S U LT O F O N L I N E TESTING IS CREST WHITESTRIPS,A HOME T O O T H - B L E A C H I N G K I T. D E S P I T E I T S $ 4 4 R E TA I L P R I C E , P & G WA S A B L E TO S E L L 1 4 4 , 0 0 0 WHITENING KITS ONLINE OVER AN EIGHTMONTH PERIOD,THEREBY PROVIDING E V I D E N C E T H AT T H E P U B L I C W O U L D N O T B A L K AT T H E P R O D U C T S R AT H E R S T E E P PRICE. W H E N T H E P R O D U C T W A S F I N A L LY I N T R O D U C E D N AT I O N A L LY I N T O R E TA I L STORES,CONSUMER SPENT ALMOST $50 MILLION ON KITS IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS.
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Question ?

What personality traits do you believe many of the consumers who buy and try products found on the Procter&Gamble website might share in common?

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RELATED PERSONALIT Y TRAITS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Innovativeness Consumer Ethnocentrism Dogmatism Social Character Need for Uniqueness Optimum Stimulation Variety Novelty Seeking
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INNOVATIVENESS
A personality trait that reflects the degree of rigidity a person displays toward the unfamiliar and toward information that is contrary to his or her own established.
In this case: P&G web site shows their product innovations which are attracted to the customer who is innovativeness type. Using (or Testing) the new products before the other persons could indicate the degree of acceptance to new products
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SOCIAL CHARACTER: OTHERS-DIRECTED

Other-directed personality Person depend upon the people around them to give direction to their actions.

In this case: In P&G web site, Among looking for new product to test, theres also product review section. Customers can share their opinions toward the product which are the value information to other users.
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VARIET Y-NOVELT Y SEEKING

Consumer with high variety-seeking scores are also more likely to be attracted to brands that claim to have novel features or multiple uses or applications . In this case: P&G has a lot of consumer brands which customers could find the variety of products which is suit for their needs.
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