Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

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Example Question:
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy has been conceptualized as a set of needs that an individual fulfills
sequentially with higher order needs being fulfilled once lower order needs have been satisfied.
Which are these five needs? Give examples of advertising claims (from any category) that aim
at the satisfaction of the specific need.
Model Answer: Maslow’s need hierarchy includes:
1. Physiological: Example: Coke is Refreshing
2. Safety and Security: Example: Volvo is safe
3. Social: Example: Bud is for when you are having a good time
4. Self-Esteem: Example: BMW is the ultimate driving experience!
5. Self-Actualization: Example: Join the Army: Be the best you can be.
1. Zelle is a United States-based digital payments network owned by Early Warning Services, a
private financial services company owned by the banks Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One,
JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo. They ran a promotional
campaign in the NY subways focused on positioning the service as one to give gifts. They are
also at the same time running an email campaign along with their member banks.
Some traditional ways of sending and receiving money include bank issued checks (some have
a fee associated to issue), personal checks (take time to get credit, and the check issuer
normally has to purchase a check book), inter-bank wire transfers (can take a few days to be
credited, and both the sender and receiver are charged, and there are sometimes limits on how
much you can send per day/ per month), and cash. Some newer, digital and mobile forms
include PayPal and Venmo (transfer to a receiver’s back account can take a few days, and
sometimes can be associated with a fee). Currently, Zelle is free and instantaneous, but you
need to have a bank account to use it. You send and receive money to a person’s email address
or mobile number using the bank’s website or your mobile phone app, and they receive it
instantly, without a fee. The maximum amount you can transfer is $2000/ day, but there is no
restriction about the amount transferred per month. PayPal is frequently used to pay vendors
(e.g., sellers on Etsy), and Venmo is frequently used by the younger demographics to share
expenses. After initial set up these peer to peer payment methods are equally easy to use. (0.5
points each)
a) What are Zelle’s PODs versus PayPal OR Venmo?
b) What are EITHER PayPal’s or Venmo’s PODs versus Zelle?
c) What are the POPs between Venmo OR PayPal and Zelle?
d) What could have been one other position (other than gift giving) that would have
allowed Zelle to take advantage of its PODs?
2. In 2009, luxury brands were hit by the global economic slowdown. One of these brands, a
manufacturer of high-fashion clothing targeted to the middle-aged affluent woman is considering
a way to grow. They are considering a) reaching out to the Millenials (those born in the 1980s
are now in their 20s), b) producing cosmetics and fragrances targeted at their core customer,
and c) starting a line of men’s shoes. Categorize these different business opportunities using the
product-market grid. One has been categorized for you. Label the axes and each box (1
point). Which of the boxes is not populated? Suggest one option for the firm to consider in
the box that they have no options currently under consideration (1 point).
New Men’s Shoes (diversification)
Existing
EXISTING NEW
3. Dr. Raghubir is Co-Chairing the Association for Consumer Research Conference in Seattle in
Oct 2023.[1] This year the Co-Chairs have been charged to come up with a budget structure
that will yield a net profit of $50,000.
There are two sources of revenues: registration fees and sponsorships. Priya and her co-chairs
expect that they will get sponsorships totaling $58,500, from their schools, marketing societies,
journals, foundations, and exhibitors.
In 2019, the last time an in-person conference was held, the total costs (fixed as well as variable
costs) were $915,000, of which $15,000 was invoiced back to various organizations, yielding a
total cost of $900,000 that needed to be covered through sponsorship and registration. Priya,
Keith and Lan expect total expenses to increase by 15% in 2023 reflecting inflationary trends
(with the same ratio applying to the amount that can be invoiced back to various organizations).
In 2019, the conference attendance was 1260 participants. They expect this number to be
stable as the historical growth in the conference attendance will be offset by those with COVID
concerns as well as inflation concerns.
a) What is the total revenue Raghubir and her co-chairs need through registration to
be able to end the conference with a profit of $50,000? (1 point)
b) What is the average registration fee they should charge to be able to end the
conference with a $50,000 profit? (1 point)
4. Some years ago, when new Masters students came to campus, Think Coffee offered them a
$5 coupon towards their first cup of coffee. Assume, it cost them $1 to produce a cup of coffee
that they sell for $5. How would you characterize this upfront cost/ coupon discount? In what
ways do you think Think Coffee expected to make up this cost over time? Illustrate with a
numerical example, assuming, for simplicity, that there is no discounting ($1 at the end of the
year = $1 at the start of the year), the average customer has a 2-year life span, drinks 3 cups of
coffee/ week for 28 weeks, and that Think Coffee also sells baked good for $2-$4 (at a 50%
margin), and larger cups of coffee for $7 (with a cost of production of $1.25). Make your own
assumptions (e.g., Think Coffee’s market share of the Master’s students’ coffee consumption),
and follow through with them. I am looking for all the different routes through which Think Coffee
expects to recoup its initial investment in the $5 coupon.
5. Examine the following data regarding an average consumer’s preference of two brands
and their ratings of the importance of four attributes. Higher numbers indicate more
favorable ratings and greater importance. All ratings are elicited on a 10-point scale (1 =
Not good/ Not important; 10 = Very good/ Very important).
Rating for
Brand A
Rating for
Brand B
Importance
of the
attribute
Price 3 7 5
Speed 8 6 9
Range of
options
9 3 2
Health
perceptions
4 5 6
Based on this data calculate what the predicted market share for Brand A will be using
the Fishbein-Ajzen model. You may use the last two columns to show your workings for
partial credit in the event of arithmetic errors.
6. Give two ways that Brand A can improve its market share using the above data, and
work through how much its share will increase. (1 point for each)
Method 1:
Rating for
Brand A
Rating for
Brand B
Importance
of the
attribute
Weighted
Average A
Weighted
Average B
Price
Speed
Range of
options
Health
perceptions
Σbiei
Share
Method 2:
Rating for
Brand A
Rating for
Brand B
Importance
of the
attribute
Weighted
Average A
Weighted
Average B
Price
Speed
Range of
options
Health
perceptions
Σbiei
Share
7. What is Prospect Theory and how does it apply to prices where there are a) two losses,
b) where it has two gains, c) a large loss and a small gain, and d) a small loss and a large
gain? Illustrate with an example (half point for each):
1. Two losses:
2. Two gains:
3. Large gain, small loss:
4. Large loss, small gain:
8. Brand Relationships: Consider a brand that you would consider a friend, versus one that
you are in a happy marriage with. Name the brand and describe why you characterize the
relationship in the manner that you do. Explain how the implications of what would happen (i.e.,
how you would behave), differ for these brands if there is either a crisis associated with the
brand, or if the brand is in short supply and difficult to find.
a. Friend:
b. Happy Marriage:
c. Implications of differential reaction to crisis and/ or shortage:
9. Affective advertising arouses emotions. It’s efficacy is often characterized using an
inverse U-shaped function (see below, with efficacy on the Y-axis and level of arousal on the
X-axis). While this is true for both positively as well as negatively-valenced affective advertising,
the reasons are different.

a) Why would high-arousal positively affective advertising backfire? Give an example (0.5
points).
b) Why would high-arousal negatively affective advertising backfire? Give an example (0.5
points).
c) Give an example of how companies can continue to leverage high levels of positive arousal
without it backfiring. (1 point)
10. Depict (with an example from a product category of your choice) what is meant by the
Hierarchy of Brand Benefits with Laddering. Label each level and give an example. Describe the
implications of understanding branding this way using the space below. An example from Coke
has been provided to you.
Product Category:
Brand:
Specific Attribute:
Specific Functional Benefit:
Personality:
Self-Expression:
[1] Actual fact, actual figures, current problem I am facing.