LESSON PLAN Subject: _Personal Finance

Materials/Aids Required:
Overhead projector, blank overhead sheets(2), photocopied overhead sheet with
model of consumer behavior, markers for sheet, whiteboard, markers for
whiteboard, textbook for teacher: Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing
Strategy 9th Ed., photocopied handout with model of consumer behavior(# of
copies depends on # of students), in-class assignment sheet (1 for each student)

Unit Consumer Studies

Topic Consumer Behavior

Content Identifying internal and external factors influencing consumer choice.

Objectives:
Given 5 situations of consumer behavior (in class assignment), each
1 individual student will correctly analyze the situation to determine the
external and/or internal factor(s) of influence.

After being given information and examples of external and internal

2 influences, each student will be able to accurately create two example
situations where a choice is made and the influences are stated.

Pre Requisite Learning:

Students will be familiar with the term consumer. A consumer is someone who
buys and uses goods and services.

Presentation:
Set:
(Approx. 8 min.) Begin with a guided class discussion. Tell the students to
imagine themselves in this situation. It is a situation/problem that will involve
them making a choice – They are buying a car. Then verbally ask the students
what factors will influence their decision? If the class is having trouble identifying
factors or not participating in the discussion then begin to hint at some factors.
Ex. Amount of money they have to spend, advertisements they have seen, their
perception of a good car, past experience etc. After the students provide some

Adapted from Teaching Strategies and Methods for Student Centered Instruction, Lang, McBeath, Hebert
examples of influences and there is some discussion, explain to them that there
are two types of influences, external and internal. Write out the definitions of
internal and external influences on the whiteboard. See Teacher Notes for
definitions. This discussion leads in to the development.

Development:
1. (Approx 25 min. including #2) Provide students with the lists of External
and Internal influences by showing the Overall Model of Consumer
Behavior (see attached) on the overhead. Circle the Int. and Ext.
Influence boxes to indicate what they will be learning today. Tell the
students that the rest of the model will be learned in upcoming classes.
This is done to show students how today’s class fits into the bigger picture.
Then give each student the handout of the Overall Model of Consumer
Behavior (see attached). Tell students that the arrow connecting external
and internal influences indicates that they interact with each other. Write
down on the board and discuss with students 2 examples of external and
internal influences interacting – Family (Ext.) and learning (Int.) – you learn
a lot from you family and it will be a big influence, Memory (Int.) and
Marketing activities (Ext.) – remembering an advertisement when making
a purchase. Then ask the students for an example situation/problem to
explain how the influences affect consumer choice. Ask the students for an
example situation, if an appropriate example is not given then hint at –
Buying a beverage at your local convenience store – Encourage students
to answer and if they do not then ask the students if Reference groups and
Learning may influence this. After they answer, tell them that those can
both be influences in this situation. Your friends may all be purchasing pop
drinks which may make you consider a pop drink (Reference group). Or
you may have learned about healthy eating and decide to drink water or
another healthy alternative (Learning). There are many other correct
answers
2. Go through each influence in external and internal on a blank overhead
sheet using the overhead, asking the students to provide examples of
influences that they think might fit under that influence heading. Discuss
these examples (see below) as a class. Ex. Marketing Activities –
advertisements on television or in magazines. As students provide
examples write them down on the overhead sheet to the side of the boxes.
Have students writing down this information in their notes. (study material)
Make heading – External Influences – Ask students first for each and
then go through explaining a bit about each. (see below) The following are
options in case students are not coming up with ideas. They are the main
influences within each influence heading.
Culture (Subculture) – Cultural values. What are the norms in the
consumer’s culture and what is viewed as appropriate? What are the
penalties for violating the norms?
Demographics – Age, Gender.

Adapted from Teaching Strategies and Methods for Student Centered Instruction, Lang, McBeath, Hebert
 Social Status – Income, lower class, upper class.
Reference Groups – Friends, Family, Neighbors, Teammates.
Family – Their views, how important you feel their views are.
Marketing Activities – Advertisements
Internal Influences
Perception – Interpretation, Exposure, Attention
Learning and Memory – Learning from others, things you remember,
Good and bad memories.
Motivation – Reason for behavior.
Personality – Individual characteristic responses across similar situations
Emotions – Uncontrolled feelings that effect decisions, Mad, Happy.
Attitude – Mixture of feelings, Response tendencies, and beliefs. Positive.
Negative.

3. (Approx 10 min.)Give students the Influences on Consumer Choice

Assignment (see attached) with examples of situations where someone
has made a choice and some information is provided. Have them write
down on the sheet at least two influences on the decision that was made.
Ex. #1. Bill grew up in a household that always preferred Ford vehicles
over foreign vehicles. When Bill got enough money to buy his first car he
purchased a Ford truck. (External Influence was family; internal influences
were learning, memory, attitude etc.) Handout will include 6 different
examples (See handout). This is to be done individually although the first
example will be done together as a class. After the allotted time, we will go
over the answers as a class. Go through each question and pick an
influence (one that is correct or incorrect) and ask students to raise their
hand if they chose that influence. Do this for each question choosing
multiple influences for each.

Closure:
(Approx 7 min.) Ask students if they have any questions about what they learned
today. Discuss their questions. Tell students that what was learned today is the
first part of consumer behavior and next day we will be looking at the next step
(The Decision Process). Then students will be asked to provide an exit slip. For
the exit slip students will be asked to write two situations where a consumer has
made a choice and state at least 2 influences on their choice. (They will be
making their own question like the ones from the assignment). The exit slip will
be a piece of paper they take out of their binder. The students will also be asked
to write their name and the date on the exit slip. (This will be used to take
attendance). I will also ask the students whether or not my voice was loud
enough for them to hear me during the class. Options for answers include (a)
Volume was good, (b) Speak a little louder, or (c) I could not hear you.

Adapted from Teaching Strategies and Methods for Student Centered Instruction, Lang, McBeath, Hebert
Evaluation:
Obj. #1 After going through the answers for the assignment and asking
students to raise their hand, the teacher will be able to tell if
students are able to correctly identify the influences judging by the
show of hands.
Obj. #2 Based on the answers from the exit slip, it will be apparent whether
or not the students are able to create a situation involving a choice
and identify the influences.

Obj. #3

Target for Professional Growth:

Volume when speaking to class.
Evaluation:
Answers from students’ exit slips
(a) Loud enough:___
(b) Speak louder: ___
(c) Could not hear me:___

Personal thoughts on how my volume was during the class:

Other Comments:

Adapted from Teaching Strategies and Methods for Student Centered Instruction, Lang, McBeath, Hebert
 Teacher’s Notes

-Definitions
-External Influences: Influences that come from outside of the individual.

-Internal Influences: Influences that come from inside of the individual.

*Tell students that influences often are a mix of both external and individual and are very
much inter-related.

-Answers to Influence on Consumer Choice Assignment (There are other influences that
are correct as well.)
1. External – Family (Household preferred Ford)
Internal – Learning, Memory, Attitude

2. External – Social Status (Student – low income)

Internal – Attitude, Motivation, Perception

3. External – Reference Group (Friends)

Internal – Motivation, Perception

4. External – Social Status, Family (Low income family)

Internal – Motivation, Personality

5. External – Culture, Marketing Activities

Internal – Attitude, Motivation

-Reminder: Check for the number of hands displayed when going over answers to the
Influences of Consumer Choice Assignment.

Adapted from Teaching Strategies and Methods for Student Centered Instruction, Lang, McBeath, Hebert
 Influences on Consumer Choice Assignment

-Clearly identify at least 1 external and 1 internal influence for each and briefly
explain.

1. Bill grew up in a household that always preferred Ford vehicles over

foreign vehicles. When Bill got enough money to buy his first car he
purchased a Ford Truck.

2. Sally has been going to university for two years now and does not usually
have very much money left after paying her tuition. When shopping for
some new make-up she decides to buy the cheapest product. She believes
the cheaper product is no different from the expensive product because
all make-up is the same.

3. Chris is going to the skate shop to buy a new skateboard after school. At
lunch he notices that all his friends are looking at the new Tony Hawk
skateboard in a magazine and saying that is it is the best skateboard ever.
At the skate shop after school Chris decides to buy the new Tony Hawk
skateboard so that now he will have the best board out of all of his
friends.

4. Sarah is very health-oriented but comes from a lower income family so it

is tough for her to always afford the healthier food and drinks. At school
many of her class mates drink pop. She believes that it is important to
stay hydrated and takes advantage of the free water from the fountains.

5. Larry grew up around basketball, everyone in his town loves it. Larry
wanted to buy a new pair of basketball shoes. He had seen an
advertisement on television for the new Air Jordan’s. Larry believes that
Michael Jordan is the best player ever and therefore must make the best
basketball shoes ever. Larry bought the new Air Jordan’s.

Adapted from Teaching Strategies and Methods for Student Centered Instruction, Lang, McBeath, Hebert