Consumer Behavior Midterm Exam Due: Friday, March 16th at 5pm *Turn in to Kim Weavers mailbox in the Marketing

Department office This exam consists of multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. Please answer the questions to the best of your ability using a computer with 12 point Times New Roman font and at least 1 inch margins. While this is an open book and open notes exam, you may not consult with other students or other people regarding this exam. A maximum length for your answer has been specified for the short answer and essay questions. To help ensure fairness across students, I will not read anything that exceeds that length. That is, if the question specifies one page, I will stop reading at one page. If the question specifies 3 sentences, I will stop reading after the first 3 sentences.

The Virginia Tech Honor Code applies during this exam. Please re-write the pledge in the space below, along with your name. The Virginia Tech Honor Pledge is: I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.

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Multiple choice: Please select the alternative that best answers the question. Select only one option per question. PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING SPACE TO WRITE THE LETTER OF YOUR ANSWER FOR THE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS: 1) D 2) B 3) D 4) E 5) D 6) A 7) E 8) C 9) E 10) E 11) A 12) D 13) C

Multiple choice: Please select the alternative that best answers the question. Select only one option per question. 3 points each 1) Consumers in which of the following social classes are the most likely to use coupons: a) upper class b) lower class c) upper-middle class d) lower-middle class e) all social classes use them equally

2) The order in which response alternatives are presented in a survey can affect consumers answers to market research questions. Which of the following is a true statement? a) There is a primacy effect for all surveys regardless of whether they are administered in written or verbal form b) There is a primacy effect for surveys administered in written form and a recency effect for surveys administered in verbal form c) There is a recency effect for all surveys regardless of whether they are administered in written or verbal form d) There is a recency effect for surveys administered in written form and a primacy effect for surveys administered in verbal form 3) People with a(n) _____ are interested in their growth and development, have more hopes and aspirations, and favor the presence of positive outcomes. a) prevention focus b) positive focus c) ought focus d) promotion focus e) c and d only

4) Exploratory studies are conducted when ______. a) research is being conducted in a foreign country b) the population chosen has never used the product in question c) the population chosen has never taken part in a study before d) the company cannot find secondary data e) the researcher is not sure what questions to ask

5) If a company wants to generalize its results from a sample of respondents to the population as a whole, that sample must be _______ the population. a) descriptive of b) taken from c) equal to d) representative of e) pertinent to

6) In a _________, every member of the population has a known and equal chance of being selected. a) simple random sample b) judgment sample c) convenience sample d) systematic random sample e) cluster sample

7) According to the textbook, demographics help to ______ a target market, whereas psychological and sociocultural characteristics help to __________. a) describe the values of; locate it b) understand the needs of; describe how it will react to a particular advertising campaign c) generate a new advertising campaign for; generate new packaging for products d) identify the benefits of a product for; whether or not that target market will purchase that product e) locate; describe how its members think and feel

Please read the following mini case before answering questions 8-11 below. Please select the alternative that best answers each of the questions. Sunshine Cruise Lines is a cruise operator that offers three-to seven-day cruises along any of five Caribbean routes. It has developed a reputation as a party cruise operator and the majority of its revenue comes from vacationing college students. Sunshine would like to scale up its reputation to attract more families and a more mature, affluent clientele, while continuing to cater to the college student crowd. In order to do so, Sunshine has begun offering cruises specifically geared toward families, with babysitting services, day time programming for younger children, and a separate games room with pool tables and ping pong to appeal to older children. Having found that a preponderance of its family passengers book through travel agents, Sunshine specifically promotes these family cruises through travel agencies that will be able to fully explain the benefits of a Sunshine cruise to potential buyers. Sunshine also has remodeled a number of its smaller ships to offer more spacious cabins with more luxurious fittings. These small First Class Cruises, which do not allow children, offer not only a gourmet chef, but a string quartet to serenade passengers during their evening meal and a pianist to provide background music during their evening cocktails. These First Class Cruises are advertised in business and travel magazines and have a dedicated website for travel information and reservations. 8) Sunshine is trying to _______ itself as a cruise carrier for young families and affluent empty nesters as well as for college spring breakers. a) target b) segment c) reposition d) microsegment e) countersegment 9) Sunshine offers different services to meet the needs of different market segments, advertising each with a different campaign and strategy. This is known as ___________ a) benefit segmentation b) mass marketing c) rate of usage segmentation d) concentrated marketing e) differentiated marketing

10) Sunshine has divided the potential market into ________ and developed two completely new cruise options to meet the vacationing needs of families and upper-class adults. a) demographic segments b) rate of usage segments c) benefit segments d) geographic segments e) sociocultural segments

11) Sunshine specifically markets its party cruises to college students in January and February in anticipation of spring break. This is an example of ________. a) usage situation segmentation b) demographic segmentation c) rate of usage segmentation d) sociocultural segmentation e) benefit segmentation 12) Advertising for diamond engagement rings specifies that a man should spend about 2 months salary on a ring for his finance. Which of the following is true? a) This is based on a Victorian custom, originating in England in the 1600s b) This is an American custom, originating with Thomas Jeffersons engagement c) Originally, the two months salary was given to the brides family as a dowry, but in modern times the custom has become to spend it on a diamond for the bride instead d) It is a custom completely created by marketers e) Both a and c

13) Which of the following statements is true about spokespeople? a) When message comprehension is low, the expertise of the spokesperson has little impact on the receivers attitude b) A physically attractive model always enhances message credibility c) Consumers with strong ethnic identities are more likely to be persuaded by endorsers with similar ethnicity than individuals with weaker ethnic identities d) The endorsers credibility substitutes for corporate credibility, therefore, companies are sure to hire highly credible spokespeople to overcome the lacking credibility of the company itself e) As long as a celebrity is giving the testimonial, it doesnt matter whether or not the specific wording of the endorsement lies within the recognized competence of the spokesperson

Short answer. The maximum length for your answer is outlined for each part of each question, please type your response using 12 point times new roman font. 5 points each 1) Define the constructs of reliability and validity (one sentence each). Discuss these constructs in the context of observational research (two sentences maximum). Reliability is the degree to which a measurement instrument is consistent in what it measures. Validity is the degree to which the measurement instrument accurately measures what it is designed to measure. A data collection instrument is reliable if it collects from respondents the appropriate data needed to answer the questions stated in the objectives of the research process. A data collection instrument is reliable if it produces the same findings (i.e., the respondents responses and behaviors) if the same questions are asked of a similar sample. 2) In one sentence, define the concept of a meme. Give an example (maximum one sentence). How do memes spread (two sentences)? A meme is a unit of cultural information that can be passed from person to person. An example of a meme is a catch phrase known as, Whassup? (from the Budweiser commercial shown in class). Memes are spread through various communication vehicles such as mass media (i.e., television, newspapers, Internet), persuasion (from marketers), and word-of-mouth (i.e., through social networks). Memes are most effectively spread when they are spread through opinion leaders and viral marketing (i.e., chain emails) and when they strongly affect individuals emotions (i.e., surprising, emotional, and foster dissonance reduction). 3) What is an attitude (one sentence)? How does the computer attitude measurement exercise from class add to our ability to measure attitudes beyond traditional measures (two sentences)? Define facilitation and inhibition (one sentence each for a total of two sentences maximum). An attitude is a learned predisposition (overall evaluation) of an object, issue, person, or action that is favorable or unfavorable. The computer attitude measurement exercise helped us identify that we have subconscious attitudes along with the attitudes that we explicitly acknowledge. The attitudes that we explicitly acknowledge are sometimes different from our subconscious attitudes for various reasons (i.e., we are embarrassed to explicitly acknowledge some attitudes). Facilitation is explicitly acknowledging a particular attitude (i.e., though verbal or written communication). Inhibition is subconsciously expressing an attitude (i.e., choosing the first thing that comes to mind without considering other possibilities).

4) Are people more likely to make positional choices for goods or bads? (one word). In three sentences speculate as to why this might be so. Bads. Many people want less bads no matter how much everyone around them have (positional option). Also, many people will not choose the absolute option (want more of a bad just because they have less than everyone around them. For example, many people will make positional choices with respect to car break-ins because most people will want to have as few car break-ins as possible even if they have more than everyone else.

Essay questions. For each the following 4 questions, make sure to limit your answer to the word limit specified after each question. Please type using 12 point times new roman font. Questions 1-3 are worth 10 points each. 1) What is subliminal priming? Describe an example discussed in class. Does it work? If so, explain under what conditions and how. (maximum 300 words) Subliminal priming is the perception of stimuli received below the level of conscious awareness. An example of subliminal priming is evidenced in a Coca Cola study done by James Vicay in 1957. Vicay flashed, Drink Coca-Cola across a movie screen in a manner that was visible but discrete (below the level of the subjects conscious awareness) to various study subjects. The study showed that many of the subjects who were thirsty purchased Coca-Cola to drink; however, the subliminal priming did not cause the subjects who were not thirsty to purchase Coca-Cola to drink. The study showed that subliminal priming works. However, it only works when individuals want a particular product (i.e., when they are thirsty). Subliminal priming works because consumers are not always aware of the underlying drivers behind their motivations, and they often rely on the most accessible information when they go to purchase a product. Subliminal priming makes information more accessible to consumers (the ease and speed with which information comes to mind). The reason is that consumers have recently been exposed to the information, so it is the first thing that comes to mind when they go to make a purchase. Thus, the chances are that consumers will purchase the product that comes to mind first. 2) A study conducted in 1978 surveyed three groups of people: 1) lottery winners who had won significant sums of money, 2) motor vehicle accident victims who had been in car accidents and were now suffering from paraplegia, and 3) control subjects, regular people who lived in the same neighborhoods as the other groups. Results from this study showed that, a year after the event, there were little differences in self-reported happiness between the three groups. Drawing explicitly on research talked about in class, discuss why this may be so. (maximum 300 words) The type of the scale could have skewed the results. For example, if the scale was in an open-ended format, many subjects would have answered questions based on what was spontaneously accessible. Thus, the subjects might have only used broad responses including satisfied or dissatisfied instead of specific responses such as somewhat satisfied and somewhat dissatisfied. Adding these additional categories could have changed the survey results significantly. If the scale was a rating scale, the subjects might have answered differently using a 0-6 scale than an equivalent -3 to +3 scale. The reason is the subjects might have viewed the negative numbers on the -3 to +3 scale as completely unhappy, whereas, they might have viewed the lower end of the 0-6 scale as somewhat happy.

Reference periods also could have affected the survey results. The perception of what a question means changes depending on the reference period given. For example, if the subjects were asked how happy they were during the year, they might have responded more favorably because they think about many happy experiences. However, if the subjects were asked how happy they were currently, they might have responded less favorably because they think fewer happy experiences. Also, preceding questions can affect the answers of later questions because subjects use preceding questions to assess the meaning of later ones. For example, if the preceding question was, How happy are you with your marriage?, and the latter question was, How satisfied are you with life?, the subjects might have stated more happiness. One reason is that subjects think their lives are better when they think about being married. However, if the questions were reversed, the subjects might have stated less happiness. In this case, the subjects might not think about marriage before responding, so they might feel less happy. 3) Distinguish between a between-subjects and a within-subjects experimental design. For each type of design, give an example of a study discussed in class or in the textbook. What are the advantages and drawbacks of each type of experimental design? Which provides more accurate data? (maximum 300 words) A between-subjects experimental design occurs when different groups of subjects are in different conditions (they use one of the versions of the study). A within-subjects experimental design occurs when different groups of subjects see all versions of the study. Question 4 is worth 11 points 4) Some commentators have argued that marketers create needs. Using concrete research findings and theory discussed in class and in the textbook, provide three coherent and compelling arguments in favor of this statement as well as three coherent and compelling arguments against this statement. (maximum one double-spaced page or single space page)