Consumption Assignment Brief

Key objective of assignment: The assignment is designed to understand the impact of the current
pandemic on the consumption choices of Pakistani households. Specific objectives of this assignment
are as follows:

The study aims to understand:

1. The effect of pandemic on the spending priorities of households;

2. The products and services that households buy during Covid19.
3. Their feelings about the products they want to buy, but no longer can; and,
4. Their key considerations in deciding where to buy from;
5. Their experiences of shopping during Covid19.

Key points:

 Key task: The assignment requires extracting insights from households belonging to SEC A, B and
C.
 Work distribution: You are required to work in groups where each member will choose a
particular socioeconomic class and conduct three in depth interviews with the decision-making
member of the household. This is typically the female head of household (FHH).
 Methdology: You will conduct in depth interviews of FHHs, purposively recruited for the
purpose of your study. The interviews must be conducted online or with those who you
regularly meet with (please avoid meeting unfamiliar people for this work; your health is
important) and must be recorded to facilitate subsequent transcription. The interviews will
follow a broad interview guide that will enable an unstructured, conversational style of an
interview.
 Data management: The transcriptions will be analyzed to find key themes that help substantiate
each of the five objectives mentioned above. You will also extract typical quotes that represent
the thoughts of participants from each type of households.
 Findings: Your findings will be presented as a comparison of how the pandemic has impacted
households of different socio-economic backgrounds and subsequently identify the key
guidelines for marketers in Pakistan.

Grading Criteria

3 mark: Introduction (clearly identifying the household interviewed, how they were approached,
geographic location)

3 marks: Clear identification and discussion of purchase categories (for example; homecare, personal
care, basic staples) and household behavior for each as well as the change recorded post pandemic

3 marks: Clear understanding of challenges faced post pandemic, change in purchase criteria and
shopping as well as consumption behavior; strategies adopted by the TG to handle the challenge

3 mark: Comparison of households’ spending and consumption style

3 marks: Strong recommendations for brands based on insights collected from the BOP households