Harvard Business School 9-596-039
Rev. January 29, 1997
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Consumer Behavior Exercise (A)
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The purpose of this exercise is to broaden your understanding of consumer behavior by
bringing you face-to-face with a customer. The first step is to find a person who is not a member of
this course, and who has recently bought a product or service of the kind defined in the box below.
This customer could be an institutional/industrial buyer if you prefer.
Your assignment is to conduct a depth interview of about 30-60 minutes in length with this
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customer. The goal of the interview is to understand the decision process that governed the purchase
of this product or service in terms that can be useful to a marketing manager.
The list of questions on the back of this sheet is intended as a broad guide around which you
can structure your depth interview. It is not to be followed dogmatically. Nor is it complete and
exhaustive of the types of questions you need to ask, or the level of detail for which you need to
probe. Rather you should try to stimulate a lively and open discussion around these key question
areas from which you can: (a) develop a deep understanding of the purchase decision process; and (b)
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surface the factors, in the environment and in the customer's psyche, that really determined why the
customer acted the way s/he did.
Be prepared to report briefly and concisely to the class on your key insights. You will
probably find it useful to summarize your thoughts in writing (1-2 pages).
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A. A mundane product or service costing less than $5.
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This exercise was prepared by Professors John Deighton and Susan Fournier.
Copyright © 1995 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to
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This document is authorized for educator review use only by Rafique Khuhro, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology until August 2016. Copying or posting is an infringement of
copyright. [email protected] or 617.783.7860
596-039 Consumer Behavior Exercise (A)
General Discussion Areas
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Your task is to audit the choice process.
Who was the decision making unit?
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Who bought the product or service?
• Identify all those who played a role in the decision process. What role did they
play?
What motivated the purchase?
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• What problems did the product/service solve? What functions would it
facilitate?
• What attributes seemed important?
Characterize the decision.
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• Was it a first-time decision? A review of a previous decision? A careful
decision? A casual decision? Was the amount of deliberation appropriate to the
decision?
Characterize the decision-making process.
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• What triggered the process?
• Was there an information search? How was the search conducted? How much
information was collected? What sources were used? When in the process was
information gathered?
• How many alternatives were evaluated? Why those?
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• How was the final choice determined?
Where did the consumer buy?
• Why there?
• Which came first: where to buy or what to buy?
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This document is authorized for educator review use only by Rafique Khuhro, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology until August 2016. Copying or posting is an infringement of
copyright. [email protected] or 617.783.7860
