Homework answers / question archive / ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY Faculty of Business Studies BE201 – Consumer Behavior Tutor Marked Assessment Spring 2020-21 Read carefully the following instructions, and then answer each question in an essay format

ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY Faculty of Business Studies BE201 – Consumer Behavior Tutor Marked Assessment Spring 2020-21 Read carefully the following instructions, and then answer each question in an essay format

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ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY Faculty of Business Studies BE201 – Consumer Behavior Tutor Marked Assessment Spring 2020-21 Read carefully the following instructions, and then answer each question in an essay format. To support your analysis use relevant material from BE201 covered so far and other resources such as AOU e-library articles. INSTRUCTIONS: • • • • • • • Cut-off date: Submit this assignment no later than the cut-off date. All late submissions require approval from the branch course coordinator and will be subject to grade deductions. Word count: you should discuss the questions in no more or less than the number of words mentioned for each question (plus or minus 10%). Referencing: You must acknowledge all your sources of information using full Harvard Style Referencing (in-text referencing plus a list of references at the end). Use E-library: to get journal articles on the topic (Emerald, EBSCO…). Use at least 2 articles. Plagiarism: Remember that you should work the information from references into your own original thoughts and YOUR OWN WORDS. Plagiarism will lead to a significant loss of marks. Extensive plagiarism could mean that you failed your TMA. (Refer to AOU definitions of cheating and plagiarism at the end of this document) Essay guidance: Your response to each question should take the form of a full essay format. Avoid using subheadings and bullet points. Use BE201 textbook, slides, case study and ELibrary. Plan what you will write, and have a well-organized outline. Using PT3 form: When you have completed your TMA, you must fill in the assignment form (PT3) posted on your moodle account, taking care to fill in all information correctly. This TMA is 20% of the BE201 Course Grade. BE201 – Tutor Marked Assessment – Spring 2020-2021 Case Study: Technology and Its Impact on Consumer Behavior Often a company leadership faces unending challenges especially when it comes to rapid technological changes. Since the emergence of information technology, company communication with its customers took a turn to an unknown destination. Just think back ten years ago or even 5 years, how were businesses reaching their customers? How were customers reaching them? Compare that to how communication is passing between the two parties now and who is driving it. Technology has placed the power in the customers’ hands literally with the internet-enabled smartphones and tablets. Note, that these devices are always being improved such that the newest version offers more to the consumers, making the previous one obsolete in as little as six months. How and why has technology changed the way consumers behave? Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind as you reinvent your strategies to keep up with the consumers. Customers are connected Almost everybody is living two lives, vibrant online life and a somewhat boring offline one. We are all connected on one platform or another through our network of friends. We also own more than one device that keeps us updated. This means that we thrive on being active and informed online, and ExactTarget Marketing content verified this from a study they did, whereby 91% of consumers indicated that access to content across all devices was important. Information technology advancements fuel the connectivity that brings together the world as one big community, from smartphones to super-fast data. This trend is not about to change because now kids as young as 5 years know how to operate a smartphone, LinkedIn even lowered its age limit to 13years to capitalize on the technology adoption rate. Companies need to meet consumers where they are and satisfy their sophisticated needs. If your target market spends more time on Instagram or Twitter, be present and respond to them on the same platform. Are you doing enough to leverage technology and handle the informed consumer? Consumer expectations have changed In the past, as a company, you set the times that you were open for business, and customers had to put up with it or stay without that particular product. Technology has totally changed that, with the introduction of e-commerce and mobile phones, customers can access products at any time. They have raised expectations on what is acceptable customer service and what is not. As a business, you have to keep up with the changed consumer behaviour or be out of business. For example, if a customer wants to purchase something online at night and has a query, they expect to get instant answers. If they do not they choose another supplier from the myriad available online who can meet their immediate need. Page 2 of 3 BE201 – Tutor Marked Assessment – Spring 2020-2021 Answer the following questions: Question 1: (60 Marks – 400 words) Referring to the case study, external sources of information and BE201 course material; a. Just think back ten years ago or even 5 years and explain how were businesses reaching their customers and how were customers reaching businesses prior to technological advancement. (30 Marks) b. How and why has technology changed the way consumers behave? Elaborate your answer while discussing the strategies which may be adopted by companies to keep up with the consumers. (30 Marks) Question 2: (20 Marks – 200 words) “Technology has placed the power in the customers’ hands”. Discuss this statement while providing relevant arguments and examples (20 Marks) Question 3: (20 Marks – 150 words) As a marketing manager at Carrefour, what marketing strategy will you implement using information technology advancements to positively affect consumer purchasing behaviour? Explain while underlying the use of the Marketing Mix (4 Ps) (20 Marks) Grades deduction for: TMA Presentation: (up to 5 marks) Up to 5 marks should be deducted for poor presentation or poor organization of the TMA outline and discussion or TMA presented without PT3. Proper referencing: (up to 5 marks) Referencing should be both in-text referencing, plus a list of references at the end using Harvard style. Up to 5 marks should be deducted for poor referencing. Word count: (up to 5 marks) The answers should be within the specified word count. A deviation of 10% is acceptable; if more, a deduction of up to 5 marks will be applied.