Jesus Macias
Coloton Byrne
Consumer Behavior
Term Paper
November 10, 2013

For this research project we both picked our samples to be people who we previously knew. We decided to go with this approach because it was someone that we could see every day and have some background information on them to help explain the things they do on a day to day basis. We watched them for a period of 4 weeks to observe the purchases and the patterns of their lifestyles. For the sake of keeping our sample’s identities CJ’s sample will be referred to as Bob and Jesus’s will be referred to as John. Since we both knew Bob and John before starting this experiment we had some background knowledge of what kind of family they came from and why they do the things they do. Bob is 20 year old Caucasian male who is a member of the generation Y from Minnesota. He lives in a house that his parents bought. He doesn’t pay rent but lives with roommates who do. He is high school educated but pursuing further education and is attending college at SMSU. He also is a college athlete so most of his free time is taken up by that, so he doesn’t work during the school year. Bob would be classified in the middle class on his own but comes from a farming family who is well off and falls under the upper middles class. His lifestyle reflects that of his family’s because he was brought up living like that. Bob’s financial situation is secure because he can usually ask for assistance from his parents if he himself can’t fully afford what he wants. With having that as a back-up plan it increases his purchasing power because he can pretty get what he wants within reason. Most of his planned purchases are triggered by his family when it is a significant purchase, but also by himself because most of the products that he purchases are for him. Most of his unplanned purchases are triggered by his friends because sometimes he feels the need to purchases the same products that his friends just bought. He makes a lot of ‘spur of the moment’ purchases when he finds something similar to something he already owns and has the need to buy it because it’s the newest version. John is also a 20 year old Caucasian male from the generation Y who came from Nebraska. He has completed high school and is currently attending college here at SMSU. He comes from a family where both parents are self-employed and are making a good living. They live just out of town on a lot where they built their house 15 years ago. He himself only works during the summers on his uncle’s farm and lives off of that money during the school year. His parents used to help him financially with some necessities but do not anymore so this affects his purchases. Since growing up in a newer home with a family that falls under the upper middle class he has tendencies to make purchases that reflect the ones his parents would make when it comes to certain brands or products. But now he is practically on his own financially so he has learned to make smarter purchases because without the help from his parents he is now in a lower class and realizes that he can’t afford the more expensive brands. He also can’t make as many random purchases as before because he has to pay for necessities because he is away from home. He currently lives in a house that he rents with 3 other guys and they split up the bills evenly four ways. The combination of being on his own financially and paying for bills has affected his lifestyle because he is more conservative when it comes to spending money. He minimizes his purchasing power because of the lack of willingness to go out and spend money on nonessential items. For most of his planned purchases he himself triggers them because they are typically for him and it is his money that will be funding those purchases. He still looks to his family for advice on whether it’s a good purchases or what he should look for to get the most out of his money. There is a combination between his friends and himself that trigger unplanned purchases. Sometimes he gives into peer pressure and makes purchases that he wouldn’t have made by himself. He will rarely make unplanned purchases but he had bought a post season St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt when they made it to the World Series because they are his favorite baseball team. When comparing Bob and John we saw some similarities but also a lot differences. Both of them are the same age, attend the college, and are Caucasian males. Even though they both come from families that make a comfortable living, their purchasing power are vastly different. This is because John does not receive the extended financial benefits from his family that Bob does. In other words John is more financially independent than Bob and has more responsibilities. For instance John pays for his own bills and rent whereas Bob’s parents bought the house and pays the bills. John has become accustomed to realize that he is at a lower class than his family but Bob is still associating himself with the same class that his parents are in. Which leads Bob to eat out a lot but John would rather cook a meal at home to save money. Bob seems to lack self-control when it comes to making unplanned purchases because he wants to have the newest thing but John will be more conservative and be pleased with what he already has. The businesses that would appeal to Bob would fall into the categories of athletics, hunting, and apparel from SMSU. The athletic companies that would be most suited to get the attention of Bob would have to sell football equipment and apparel because he plays football at the college level. Not only is it suited for him but he has to wear it every day for practices and games. Bob likes to hunt and also likes to have top brand items so the hunting companies that would appeal to him would have to be well-known companies. SMSU apparel is ideal for him because he plays football at SMSU and represents the school on a day to day basis. The best way to market to Bob would be through magazines/catalogs and also online promotions through the internet. They can accomplish this by revealing coupons or discounts on their website. John does have some similarities to Bob when it comes to comparing the businesses that would be ideal for him. For instance SMSU apparel would also be ideal for John because he is an assistant football coach at SMSU and represents the team and school on and off the field. He wears it on a day to day basis much like whether it is in class or while he is working in the office. Athletic companies would also appeal to John because he lives an active lifestyle whether it is running around on the field with the players or exercising on his own time. These businesses would be able to market to John the same way as they would to Bob. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Bob falls under two categories which are Belongingness and Esteem. “Belongingness motives are reflected in a desire for love, friendship, affiliation, and group acceptance” (Hawkins 2013, p.353). Bob portrays these motives when he makes purchases that his friends do. He wants to make sure he is accepted by them. The category esteem is defined as, “desires for status, superiority, self-respect, and prestige. These needs relate to the individual’s feelings of usefulness and accomplishments” (Hawkins 2013, p.353). He shows these needs when he desires to make purchases of higher end products. John also falls under the esteem category but unlike Bob he does not fall under the belongingness category. He however does fall under another category which is the self-actualization category. John shows the needs from the esteem category when he sets a goal and succeeds in reaching it. He also shows a desire for a status as he is a young coach trying to establish himself. The self-actualization category, “involves the desire for self-fulfillment, to become all that one is capable of becoming (Hawkins 2013, p.353). He shows this desire by trying to do so much as a student and a coach. He is always trying to over achieve the goals that he sets. Both John and Bob do experience post-purchase satisfaction. Since most of their purchases are made by themselves and for themselves they make sure that they are going to like what they buy. John makes sure of that since he is on his own financially and doesn’t want to make a poor decision and waste money. From doing this research experiment on these two individuals we learned that family and friends influence can make an impact on their purchases. Going over all the research we collected we think that Bob needs to learn how to conserve his money more and not rely on his parents financially. As for John we think that he shouldn’t be overly conservative with his money spending because spending money now could help him out in the future to meet his goals.

Works Cited Hawkins, D. L., & Mothersbaugh, D. L. (2013). Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin