Reading I.

Covid’s economic impact on Vietnamese consumer attitudes and behaviour

Covid has accelerated the emphasis on healthy lifestyles, sports, food and
beverages. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) in Vietnam largely grew in 2020, but at a
slower pace than in 2019. The digital transformation has accelerated the demand for online
shopping in Vietnam.
More food products have been bought online since the COVID-19 outbreak. A recent report
released by online shopping platform Shopee said that Vietnamese had become more
comfortable with buying food and groceries online, including items that are usually bought
offline. In April demand for dairy products grew seven times on their platform, the company
said.
Vietnamese often go to traditional markets to buy daily needs like meat, vegetable, cooking
oil, and rice. However, E-commerce is making it more convenient for consumers to shop
online for food items at any time, even after the social distancing period. Tran Tuan Anh,
managing director, Shopee Vietnam, said: “Social distancing has been a big part of our lives,
and we have seen major changes in the way people think about and shop for their daily
needs. In particular, buying food and groceries has become ‘online-first’ as consumers view
e-commerce as a one-stop channel for their needs. Sellers and brands are adapting quickly.”
Sellers and brands are adapting to this new normal by offering a wider variety of food
products online and using live streaming to assure buyers of quality in real time.
Questions:
1. Compare and contrast consumer buyer behavior in Vietnam before and after the COVID-
19 outbreak.
2. What should marketers do to respond to these buying behaviors in Vietnam?

Exercises
Ex 1.1. Matching: Match the words in column A with their definitions in column B.
A B
1.consumer buyer a) four Ps: product, price, place and promotion
behavior
2. consumer market b) person within a reference group, who because of special
skill knowledge, personality or other characteristics exerts
social influence on others
3. marketing stimuli c) a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to
 seek satisfaction of the need
4. opinion leader d) process by which people select organize, interpret
information to form a meaningful picture of the world
5. online social network e) all the individuals and households who buy or acquire
goods and services
6. motive f) personal words and recommendations of their trusted
friends, family, associates, and other consumers that may
influence consumers’ buying behaviors
7. perception g) online social communities like blogs, social networking
where people socialize or exchange information
8. word-of-mouth h) the buying behavior of final consumers-individuals and
influence households that buy goods and services for personal
consumption
Ex 1.2. True or False? Read the following sentences and decide whether these sentences
are true or false. Write T for True, F for False in the left column.
1. The consumer market is made up of all those who make a purchase of any goods
or products in the market.
2. Understanding consumer behavior is an essential task of marketing management
because it helps brands understand why consumers buy a product or service and
can respond accordingly.
3. Cultural factors like consumer’s small groups, social networks, family, and
social roles and status can influence a consumer’s behavior.
4. Word-of-mouth influence tend to be less reliable than influence from
commercial sources, such as advertisements or salespeople.
5. Heavy users might become a brand’s opinion leaders.
6. Almost family buying decisions are influenced strongly by women.
7. Nowadays consumers are more value conscious.
8. Consumer perception is the process by which consumers select, organize, and
interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.
 Ex 1.3 Gap-fill. Fill in the blank with one suitable word from the box to complete the

attract purchase driver

consumer buying behavior decisions and acts loyalty
individual customers business customers

following definition of “consumer behavior”.

Buyer behavior is defined as the (1)………………. conducted by individuals who (2)
………………. products or services for their own use or for their organization’s use. It’s
similar to the term “(3)……………….” which is often referred to as (4)……………….
rather than (5)………………..
Buyer behavior is the (6)………………. beyond any marketing campaign. It is essential to
understand reasons for this purchase decision and the process of the purchase of products or
services. The reasons for their (7)………………. to one specific brand also needs to be
identified if companies want to thrive and improve their business model and (8)
………………. more customers.

Act 2.2: Pair-work

1. Match consumers’ activities to the steps in the consumer buying process
i. Recognition of Need ii. Information Search
iii. Evaluation of Alternatives. iv. Purchase Decision. v. Post-Purchase Evaluation
A. compare additional product benefits J. look into available options
B. compare different stores/brands K. make a choice
C. compare prices L. make payment
D. decide if they are satisfactory M. read customer reviews
E. do online search N. surf e-commerce websites
F. find available options O. relate products to colors or styles.
G. know why they want a product P. visit different stores
H. know what they want or need Q. Report dissatisfaction with the product
I. Spread recommendations of products performance to friends
R. weigh pros and cons of different brands
Exercises
Ex 3.1: Match each type of consumers with their characteristics.
 1. Critical mass that endures adoption
2. Don’t care about failure.
3. Don’t want to fail
4. Don’t want anything new
5. Expect a lot of help and support before they are willing to
commit
6. Fashion leaders in every market segment
7. Look for WOM hearing if it’s worth it
A. Innovators
8. Looks for productivity and practical benefits more than
B. Early adopters
coolness or reputation
C. Early mainstream
9. Love exploring for the sake of exploring
D. Late mainstream
10. Make sure it’s a safe purchase – see if it really works
E. Lagging adopters
11. More concerned with coolness factor and maintaining
reputations as being ahead of the curve
12. Most resistant to change and do so only when forced
because everyone else has
13. Often opinion leader
14. Slow to adopt
15. Willing to take risks
16. Buy it because it is new.
Ex 4.2. True or False? Read the following sentences and decide whether these sentences are
true or false. Write T for True, F for False in the left column.
1. The business market is the same thing as the consumer market in terms of
involving people who assume buying roles and make purchase decisions to satisfy
needs.
2. The buying center is where consumers go to purchase their goods and services.
3. Users perform all the roles of participants in the buying center because of their
direct tie to the product and what it is supposed to do.
4. The buying process begins when someone places an order with a sales
representative.
5. With respect to proposal solicitation in B2B, the buyer invites qualified suppliers
to submit proposals
6. Business-to-business (B2B) marketers do not need to engage business customers
and build relationships with them.
7. The business marketer normally deals with a bigger quantity of buyers than the
consumer marketer does.
8. B2B marketers sometimes promote their products directly to final consumers to
increase business demand.
9. The buying decision process are influenced by internal organizational,
interpersonal, and individual factors as well as external environmental factors.
10. Gatekeepers are not allowed to prevent salespeople from seeing users or
deciders.