SMU MBA ASSIGNMENTS

Answer  :   VALS Theory & Concept

 

VALS: A science of using the demographics and psychology profiles to understand the consumers in a better and in a proper way. VALS was developed by Arnold Mitchell and his colleagues at Stanford Research Institute which is a world’s largest research institute in California City. It was developed in the year 1978 and there have been the use of Abraham Maslow’s philosophy as well the David Riesman — one of the Harvard sociologists. They have divided the buyer in different groups on the basis of the traits of personality which are values and the lifestyles. They have done the research on the basis of questionnaires in 4 demographic and 35 attitudinal questions. The VALS have been updated with more than new and innovative data’s and surveys of more than 85000 surveys per year. Thus VALS is known as: 

V: VALUES

 

A: ATTITUDES

 

L: LIFE

 

S: STYLES

 

Mitchell have used the strategy of statistics, marketing research, attitudinal and demographic questions, that has become very much helpful for the consumers of America into nine types of lifestyle and that are as below with the sustained %age of the consumers.

 

1.       Survivors (4%)

 

2.       Sustainers (7%)

 

3.       Bloggers (35%)

 

4.       Emulators (9%)

 

5.       Achievers (22%)

 

6.       I-am-me (5%)

 

7.       Experiencers (7%)

 

8.       Societal Conscious (9%)

 

9.       Integrated (2%)

 

The major tendencies of the groups with higher resources are as follows:

 

1.       Innovators: These are the successful people who are always active in their activities in all their works. They are the people who have high self belief, high self confidence and high self esteem. Their purchases always use to reflect the tastes of cultivation. They are basically related with up-scale and niche oriented products and services. They have the great volume and highest amount of income, they have very good image of creativity and they have finer tastes in their life. They never depend on others and they follow the strategy of high character.

 

2.       Thinkers: They are very much mature and satisfied people who have financially strong resources and they are motivated from their ideals. They are very much responsible in their duties honestly and whole heartedly and they are very much professionalized in terms of education. They value their responsibilities, order, they spent their free times in home with their gamily and give them time as well they have all the information and ideas about the world and they are practical in terms of buying and they take decisions optimally.

 

3.       Achievers: They are the people who are very much goal-oriented and want to become successful in their fields of work. They are that type of consumers who have a high resource group and they also get motivated by their achievements. They focus on both their family as well their career that gets satisfaction from their jobs and families. They are bit conserved and reserved from their nature and they respect each individuals as well the authorities in their workplace. They believe in completion of their work and in satisfying with their needs as well as achievements and satisfaction.

 

4.       Experiencers: These people are basically very young, highly energetic from their nature and also from their activities. These people are very well organized and enthusiastic as well make the environment also energetic. They have high income and higher amount of resources where they get motivation from their self-expression, from their self-abilities and self-activities. They are coming in the age group of 25 — 35. They have lot of energy and they seek fun and excitement with high income on fashion, entertainment and socialization. They spend most of their money in friends, hang-outs, foods, music, movies and many more.

 

The major tendencies of the groups with lower resources are as follows:

 

5.       Believers: When we talk about believers, they are the people who have low resources who are very much conservative sort of nature. They have lot of superstitions and they believe in Gods and traditions as well as cultures to live their life. Their incomes are also modest. They have high belief on family, church, community or nation and they always think about all these.

 

6.       Makers: These people are always down to earth and never feel superior in terms of achievement, education, profession, qualification, relationship or any other because these types of people are very practical and they like to do their own work themselves. They favour mostly the American made goods or products which have practical as well as functional benefits and uses.

 

7.       Strivers: These people have low resources and they are very friendly and fun-loving entertaining people who always use to make the people laugh by some sort of jokes or funny talks. They also like to have style in their style and personality so they always appreciate stylish products and greater material wealth.

 

8.       Survivors: These people have very low incomes and they are very much old in age. They are most eldest of all the segments but the positive thing about them is they are brand royal and they look for change.

 

Thus VALS have been defined which has been divided on the basis of lifestyles and attitudes of the consumer.

 

 

Three types of consumer

 

 

Three different types of consumers exist in the market today. Each type of consumer has specific characteristics, tendencies and preferences.

 

 

 

When it comes to identity theft, credit card numbers and bank account information stolen through electronic means is becoming more popular than the traditional check fraud schemes. It seems that there is a new press release every day indicating a corporation has had customers’ financial information stolen. Check forgeries and alterations, however, are still a problem in the banking world and an issue that consumers should be aware of.

Especially in difficult economic times, the loss or theft and cashing of a single check can cause enormous financial difficulties for a family. Even if the money is eventually reaccredited back to the banking customers, the time period in which it takes to file a dispute can ensure that the consumers fall behind on other bills or monthly obligations. This is why homeowners facing foreclosure should be aware of the different types of check fraud, in case they become a victim.

 

The first type is when a thief forgers a consumer’s signature on a check and then cashes is. In these cases, it is the bank that will be forced to take the loss. The general theory is that, because the bank making the payment has the customer’s signature on file on a signature card, pointing out a forgery should not be difficult. Of course, in practice banks never scrutinize signatures.

 

A forged signature is considered ineffective and cannot bind the banking customer. Banks are allowed to withdraw funds from a consumer’s account only if the check is properly payable, and a check with a forged signature does not count as properly payable. And the bank is in the position of being able to examine the consumer’s signature card to be able to spot potential forgeries.

 

Thieves that forge endorsements of checks are also a problem in the banking industry. This may happen in cases where the check is lost or stolen after the customer has signed it. As with a forged signature, however, a check with a forged endorsement is not properly payable. If the bank debits the checking account, it should later be reaccredited for the amount of the check.

 

A final type of check fraud is when a check is altered after it has been written. The most frequent alternation, not surprisingly, is when the amount is changed. For example, $5.00 becomes $500, and “five dollars” is changed to “five hundred dollars” written on the check. In cases where the alternation is made fraudulently, the consumers may have no obligation at all. However, in other cases, the banking customer may be debited for the original intended amount of the check. Of course, this makes it worthwhile for wrongdoers to alter checks, in the hopes of getting away with the larger amount.

 

Forged signatures, forged endorsements, and alterations of checks are the three prominent types of check fraud that consumers should be aware of. If there is any suspicion that any of these actions have occurred, the first action should be to begin disputing the account debits with the bank. Many of these issues can be resolved by working with the bank, but there are also strict statutes of limitations in which to begin the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q2. Discuss Freudian theory of personality. Give practical examples wherever possible.

Q3. Describe cognitive learning theory and cognitive response model.

Q4. Describe diffusion process and adoption process.

 

Q5. Explain briefly about communication process and barriers to communication.

 

 

Q6. Discuss cross cultural influences & Explain cultural differences in Non-verbal communications.