Working by yourself, choose a consumer product or service about

sections is part 4 and 5 ONLY
Project is on Apple's iphone marketing strategy

Course Project

Objectives

Working by yourself, choose a consumer product or service about which you either know something or on which you can find good research. This project supports all of the Course Objectives in the course and is due the end of Week 7. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, but if you read all instructions, the course text, and weekly lectures; fully participate in discussions; refer to rubrics; and do your own research as expected at a graduate level, you will not have problems with this Course Project.

Your assignment is to complete a thorough but tightly focused marketing strategy for either a product or service focusing on consumer behavior. To help you in the process, you will find an excellent document entitled Appendix B: Consumer Behavior Audit, which is found in your course textbook on page 731.

You may use either a product or service with which you are actively involved in your business or one from another business. Develop a tightly focused, strategically oriented paper that reflects graduate-level writing. I will be looking for depth and breadth of your findings and arguments. When you do not have access to inside information, I will be looking for logical, business-oriented writing that shows that you are a thinking, educated, marketer. Do not write in any section that "I could not find needed information." If you are not comfortable speculating, then choose another product or service. I encourage you to take an educated guess, and I will properly reward quality guesses. So, write in depth, give examples, back up your statements with logic, use citations from your research, and really pack facts into this paper.

There is an excellent document in the Files section of the Course Menu entitled MKTG578 Consumer Behavior Course Project Key Content Considerations. Please download this to gain additional insights helpful to your crafting an excellent graduate-level submission expected in this course.

Mechanics

· Double space, 1-in. margins with 12-point type (Times New Roman is requested).

· You must put your name, a subject title, institution, and professor’s names on your paper in the form of a cover sheet.

· Use the seven topics in the requirements outline as headings for clarity, as well as the subtopics as subheadings.

· This assignment is due in Week 7, and it should be submitted for grading by Sunday of this week.

Grading

· The assignment is 20% of your course grade.

· Please refer to the grading rubric below to see how you will be graded.

· Late papers are not accepted unless you have made prior arrangements with your professor.

Course Project Outline

Use the seven topics in the outline below as headings for clarity, as well as the subtopics as subheadings.

Headings and Subheadings	Additional Instructions
1: Market Analysis · Company · Customers · Competitors · Conditions	Utilize concepts from Intro to Marketing and Chapter 1 of your course textbook to complete this.
2: Market Segmentation · Segmentation Criteria · Segments · Attractiveness Analysis · Target Market	Use culture, demographics, and the other external influences, as well as self-concept and lifestyle information, to accomplish this.
3: Product Positioning	Put this in the form of a statement.
4: Impact on the Consumer · Perception · Learning and Memory · Motivation, Personality, and Emotion · Consumer Attitude Assessment · Self-Concept and Lifestyle Assessment	Apply Chapters 8 through 12 for this discussion.
5: Consumer Decision Process	This is where you apply Chapters 13 through 18.
6: Marketing Mix · Product or Service · Place · Promotion · Price	This is where all of your conceptual discussion comes true in the marketplace. What does your product or service look like? Where are you selling it and why? How are you communicating with your consumers and why? What price signals are you sending? How do you service the customer through the decision process and post purchase?
7: Market Plan Assessment · Competitor Response · Anticipated Results and Contingencies	Forecast the future. Finally, you get to recommend a "go" or "no go."

Guidelines

· Papers must be 8 to 12 pages in length (this would be roughly one page per area included in the report), 12-point font (Times New Roman is preferred), and double-spaced, as well as include a cover page, table of contents, introduction, body of the report, summary or conclusion, and a reference list in APA 6th edition format.

· Even though this is not a scientific-type writing assignment and is mostly creative in nature, references are still very important. At least eight authoritative, outside references are required (anonymous authors or web pages are not acceptable). These should be listed on the last page titled References.

· APA 6th edition format and citations are required and you can refer to www.apastyle.org for help.

· All DeVry University policies are in effect, including the plagiarism policy.

· Papers are due during Week 7 of this course.

· Any questions about this paper may be discussed in the Course Q & A Forum topic or you can contact me through e-mail or phone call.

· This paper is worth 200 total points, and it will be graded on quality of research topic, quality of paper information, use of APA 6th edition citations, grammar, and sentence structure.

Grading Rubrics

Week 7: Your Course Project will be evaluated as follows and must include all sections.

Category	Points	Description
Content	120	Quality work includes all required sections and demonstrates clarity of thinking; understanding; the application of consumer behavior concepts; and a creative but realistic use of all relevant course concepts. Quality work will have significant scope and depth of research to support any statements. Relevant illustration or examples are encouraged. The content presented on each subheading must demonstrate an understanding of the material.
Documentation and Formatting	40	Quality work will include a title page, proper in-text citations, and a reference page. It must follow all APA 6th edition guidelines. You are required to have a minimum of eight research scholarly references as reflected inproper citations and a reference page.
Organization and Cohesiveness	20	The Course Project is well organized using headings, subheadings as given in the outline in the Files section of the Course Menu, and good paragraph structure.
Editing	20	Your paper demonstrates graduate-level writing, including proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, and good sentence structure. Quality work will be free of any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Sentences and paragraphs will be clear, concise, and factually correct.
Total	200	A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.

Best Practices

The following are the best practices in preparing this paper.

· Cover Page: Include who you prepared the paper for, who prepared it, your institution, and date.

· Table of Contents: List main sections and subheadings of your paper and the pages in which they are located. The illustrations should be included separately.

· Introduction: Use a header on your paper. This will indicate that you are introducing your paper. The purpose of an introduction or opening is to

1. introduce the subject and why the subject is important;

2. preview the main ideas and the order in which they will be covered; and

3. establish a tone for the document.

Include in the introduction a reason for the audience to read the paper. In addition, include an overview of what you are going to cover in your paper and the importance of the material. (This should include or introduce the questions you are asked to answer on each assignment.)

· Body of Your Report: Use a header titled with the name of your project. Example: "The Development of Hotel X - A World Class Resort." Then proceed to break out the main ideas. State your main ideas, major points in each idea, and provide evidence. Break out each main idea you will use in the body of your paper. Show some type of division such as separate sections that are labeled, separate group of paragraphs, or headers. You would include the information you found during your research and investigation.

· Summary and Conclusion: Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and major support points from the body of your report. Minor details such as illustrations and examples are left out. Summarize benefits of your ideas and how they affect, for example the tourism industry.

· References:Use APA 6th edition format and for quick reference visit www.apastyle.org for help.