HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT: BUSINESS STUDIES

Final Examination:
Assignment Based Assessment
Semester: II A. Y.: 2019 / 2020
Diploma II Year
Start Date: 1-6-2020 Time: 2 PM
Due Date: 3-6-2020 Time: 2 PM

Student Name
Student ID
Specialization Marketing
Section 1 &2

Level Diploma II year

Course Name Consumer Behaviour
Course Code BAMK2102

For official Use Only

Obtained Max. Obtained
Question No. Max. Marks Question No.
Marks Marks Marks
1 5 1 5
2 5 2 5
3 5 3 5
4 5 4 5
5 5 5 5
6 5 6 5
7 5 7 5
8 5 8 5
9 5 9 5
10 5 10 5
Grand Total
50 50
Marks

First Marker: Second Marker:

Date: Date:
Guidelines for Students to Submit the Assignment:

1) The final assessment for semester 2, 2019-20 will be done through

comprehensive assignment for a maximum of 50 marks. The schedule of the final
assessment is available in the college website. https://www.hct.edu.om/about/the-
college/announcements/final-assessment-timetable-041620

2) All the students are expected to have only one assignment at one time. In case, if
the students have more than one assignment on the same day, please report to the
exam committee through the following mail id. exam.bus@hct.edu.om as soon as
possible.
3) All students are given 48 hours to complete and submit each assignment from the
day, date and time the assignment is uploaded. Students are advised not to wait till
the last moment of the deadline to submit the assignment.
4) The students can check the assignment anytime and any number of times from the
opening of the assignment. The answer to the assignment need to be uploaded in e-
learning within 48 hours.
5) The answer to the assignment can be uploaded only one time. No requests for
resubmission of the assignment will be entertained.
6) The students may contact the following mail Ids if they face any difficulties while
related to final assignment.

For Academic related support :

Business Courses anand.kalimani@hct.edu.om
karri.krishna@hct.edu.om

For Technical Writing 1 ramil-ecot@hct.edu.om

For Technical Writing 2 khulood.aiadi@hct.edu.om

For Technical Communication jocelyn.balili@hct.edu.om

For issues related to e-mail office365support@hct.edu.om

accounts and Microsoft Teams
Any issues related to E-Learning support.elearning@hct.edu.om
Moodle
Any other IT Troubleshooting helpdesk2@hct.edu.om

7) Students may contact their respective lecturer through college email (within the 48-
hour period given) if they have any doubts and clarifications on the assignments.
8) Students should be aware that this assignment is an independent assessment.
Students are not allowed to get help from any other person during the assessment
period.
9) Students assignment will be checked for plagiarism through Turnitin software. This
assignment will be assessed as per the College Assessment Policy. Student will be
investigated in case of plagiarism as per the College policy and procedures. The
maximum acceptable similarity index is 25%.
10) In case the students face any technical issues regarding the submission of
assignment, the answer to the assignment can be mailed to the concerned lecturer
within the 48-hour period using college email.
11) Any assignment submitted after the 48-hour period will not be considered for
evaluation.
12) The assignment should be submitted only with the file in MS Word document. No
other format is acceptable at all (e.g. pictures, JPEG, PDF, etc).
13) The students need to answer the assignment in the prescribed number of words as
mentioned in the assignment.
14) The students need to follow the following format while preparing the assignment :
Font Style: Times New Roman
Font Size: 12 point for body and 14 point for Headings
Line Spacing: 1.5
Margin: 2.54cm (One inch) on all the sides
Page Number : At the bottom right hand corner of each page
Colour: All words should be in black colour
15) Students who will fail to submit their assignment as per the deadline given are
required to make an online appeal along with the valid excuses as the guidelines
which will be announced through the college website or e-learning portal within three
days from the date of submission deadline.
 Read each situation or case carefully. Answer each question using 100 to 150
words. Each question carries 5 marks.
1. ABC Company is a leading construction firm in Sultanate of Oman. It has conducted
a survey to understand its customer satisfaction. The result of the survey proves that
their customers have better level of satisfaction. However, the management do not
want to restrict their company in providing satisfaction alone. They want to provide
some other experiences that go beyond the satisfaction. The management feels that
providing such special experiences to the customers would benefit the organization
greatly.

You are required to discuss in detail what kind of feel could be offered to customers
by ABC Company beyond satisfaction. [100-150 Words] (5 Marks)

2. Raya went to her favorite apparel store to purchase a dress to attend her sister’s
wedding. There was a sale in the store which offers 50 percent off on all apparel
items. Though she came to the store with the intention of buying single dress, she has
purchased two dresses. In her sister’s wedding many of her friends and relatives
enquired about the dress. She described about the apparel items’ quality, variety and
offers available in that store. Upon her recommendation, a couple of her friends and
relatives purchased apparel items from the same store.

Identify and discuss the type of reference group role performed by Raya in this case.
[100-150 Words] (1+4 Marks)

3. Laila recently enrolled in college for her higher studies. She uses an android mobile
phone which was purchased before two years. After a semester, she felt that using
iPhone is a better choice than android mobile phone. Since most of her friends in the
college uses iPhone, her preference has changed.

Analyze the situational factor that influences Laila to change her preference towards
iPhone. [100-150 Words] (1+4 Marks)
4. Shoppers’ behavior during purchase of goods from retail outlet can be sequenced into
different stages. In each stage, the behavior exhibited by the consumer have been
classified into different types. Assume Maryam wants to buy a Rolex watch for her
personal use.
Discuss the behavioural aspects that would be exhibited by Maryam in purchase and
post purchase stage. [100-150 Words] (5 Marks)

5. Zaher is a budding entrepreneur. He would like to start an online business in Sultanate

of Oman. He knows that different types of marketing tools are to be used to influence
consumer attention towards buying products online. Physical marketers use different
marketing tools like product, people, promotion, relationship marketing, positioning,
packaging and price to influence consumers.

Discribe how Zaher can use marketing tools for his online business to influence
consumers. [100-150 Words] (1+1+1+1+1 Marks)

6. Culture of the people plays an important role in influencing purchase behaviour.

Marketing researchers have found that culture act as one of the predictor of purchase
behaviour in many products. It is known fact that apparel items purchase decision is
highly influenced by the cultural factors of the consumers.

Discuss the effect of culture on the consumer purchase decision of apparel items in
any two cultures in the world. [100-150 Words] (2.5+2.5 Marks)

7. Barka Omani Halwa is a famous traditional sweet brand. They are known for
maintaining the traditional taste. The have more than 15 branches in Oman, UAE and
Qatar. The factory produces sweets ranges from OMR 2 to OMR 10 per kg. However,
the firm is now attempting to move into producing the premium halwa with more
quantity of saffron, nuts, rosewater and dry fruits. They plan to market the premium
halwa with a price range of OMR 25 to OMR 40 per kg. In Oman, the premium brand
of halwa market is dominated by established brands like Al Diwaniya and Al Hosni.
However, the firm feels that its entry into the premium market segments should not
change the consumer perception towards its traditional products.
 Discuss the customer perception process towards the premium products of Barka
Omani Halwa. [100-150 Words] (5 Marks)

8. Eco-friendly cars are cars that have a lower negative effect on the environment than
traditional automobiles. These cars include electric cars, hybrids and cars that run on
alternative fuels. These cars have many benefits. The main benefit of eco-friendly
cars is that they use less oil than traditional cars. When the eco-friendly car “Toyota-
Prius” is launched in Oman, Mohammed purchased that car.

Determine the personality of Mohammed in new product adoption process and

explain the nature of such customers in buying and using new products.
[100-150 Words] (1+4 Marks)
9. Product buying decision involves a decision making unit consisting of more than one
people. Each people play a different role in product buying decision. In a family, a
purchase depends on the person who makes the purchase decision as well as on the
other members in the family. They make joint purchase decisions as an informal
group. Their task consists of information acquisition, search processes, the
development of choice criteria and decision making among alternatives. Identifying
the people who performs specific task in buying role is one of the important task for
marketers.

Identify and explain the buying role performed by different members in a buying a toy
car for a five year old boy. [100-150 Words] (1+4 Marks)
10. A consumer’s buying behaviour depends on many factors. The products type, price,
durability, purpose, purchase frequency etc. determine the type of behaviour exhibited
by the consumers. Similarly, the level of involvement and the amount of risk also act
as determining factors in influencing consumer buying behavior. In this context,
assume that an entrepreneur wants to buy a high priced machinery to use in his
business.

Describe with justification the type of buying behaviour that would be demonstrated
by this entrepreneur. [100-150 Words] (5 Marks)