Guidelines

You will be asked to observe your purchases over the duration of two months – these could be products or services you bought for yourself or for a gift (suggestion write down 2 purchases a week in a notebook or word file along with some notes about each purchase). You will not be asked to provide your journal entries to me, but rather use the journal to help you write your assignment. Your task is to provide a brief reflection (800-1000 words) on what was significant, why, and how your understanding evolved over the course of the semester (that is youre expected to apply the concepts and theories examined in the course, not merely talk about purchases you made).

Pick 3 or 4 different purchases to discuss (they don’t have to be big purchases, chances are you may not have had to purchase anything major. It could be anything that you bought which made you think about the purchase, yourself, or consumer behavior in general). When discussing each purchase, apply 3-4 different concepts or theories studied in class per purchase (e.g. attitudes, decision-making stages, cognitive dissonance theory, appeals used in advertising, etc.). You should not only refer to these concepts and theories, but also provide a brief explanation demonstrating your understanding of the concept or theory – this should be in your own words, don’t feel like you need to provide the full definition.

Please highlight each term or theory in italics or bold.

You should apply a minimum of 10 different concepts and or theories total.

While applying the concepts, try not to be repetitive – for example, if you bought a new technology product and engaged in all five steps of the decision-making process (from problem recognition to post-purchase evaluation), don’t discuss the five stage process for other purchases you included in your assignment as they won’t be counted twice.