• By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate topic in this Discussion Area.
• Respond to the assigned questions using the lessons and vocabulary found in the reading.
• Support your answers with examples and research and cite your research using the APA format.
• Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible.

Select any one of the following starter bullet point sections. Review the important themes within the sub questions of each bullet point. The sub questions are designed to get you thinking about some of the important issues. Your response should provide a succinct synthesis of the key themes in a way that articulates a clear point, position, or conclusion supported by research. Select a different bullet point section than what your classmates have already posted so that we can engage several discussions on relevant topics. If all of the bullet points have been addressed, then you may begin to reuse the bullet points with the expectation that varied responses continue.

• You work for a firm that produces packaged potato chips. Your firm is interested in exporting its product to a different country. You need to select a country other than the one you live in and describe the culture of that country along with the key elements of its marketing system.
  • Describe the different tastes, needs, and customs of your intended customers.
  • Would these differences be consistent or different among multiple countries in a geographic region? Explain why.

• Explain how culture influences the way consumers view the different attributes of a product. Also, explain how the culture in which individuals are raised has an impact on the products they buy. How can a seller use culture to sell a product successfully? Provide two examples showing how culture influences the purchasing process.

• Using the physiological, safety, social, and personal (PSSP) hierarchy of needs discussed in the lecture, analyze a recent purchase.
  • Explain which of the needs in the hierarchy it addresses directly.
  • Explain which of the needs indirectly influenced your decision to purchase.
  • How did the advertising of the product focus on those needs?

• Evaluate the impact of macro trends such as the globalization of businesses, international migration, and conservationism on consumer behavior. How will these trends affect the marketing of selected goods or services in the future?

• You are the business manager of a trendy hairstyle shop in downtown Chicago. As a manager, you are in charge of payrolls, paying the bills, hiring and firing, purchasing, training, and customer service. You provide a luxury service, and your average customer has different demographics from the rest of the population in the city. Due to recent competitive developments, you feel the need to learn more about your customers; you specifically want to know how they choose your services over that of the competition. You are aware of the steps in the consumer purchase behavior model and are determined to analyze them in detail. On the basis of the given scenario, answer the following questions:
  • Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model as a backdrop, with an eye on the consumer Purchase Behavior Model, determine the real motivations behind the use of the service provided by you.
  • Evaluate an additional social and cultural factor that will help you analyze your customers' behavior.
  • What service criteria do you think your customers use to select the type of service you offer? Explain your answer using an example to illustrate your point.
  • Assess methods (think about the entire marketing mix) that might be useful to encourage loyalty among existing customers.

Respond to your peers throughout the week. Justify your answers with examples, research, and reasoning.

Your initial posting should be the equivalent of 1.5 single-spaced pages (700 to 800 words) in length. Be sure to cite your sources using APA format.