Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program: Day 3 – Entrepreneurial Literacy

From Day 3 onward, participants take on the role of a seller. An issue that is covered is identifying and evaluating a business opportunity through a relative assessment of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, and competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, in light of the customer needs to be addressed. Emphasized here is the need to carefully evaluate a business opportunity and work through it before deciding to pursue it. Another central issue covered is the basic business philosophy of being customer-oriented and engaging in mutually beneficial exchanges as a means of making a profit. Different philosophies are covered here to highlight distinctions, such as a focus purely on selling or on production without paying attention to customer needs. These two broader issues set the stage for a discussion of more specific issues. The next topic covered is information gathering and research. The importance of carefully collecting and evaluating information is emphasized. Included here are ways of gathering information, such as through talking to people, observing the competition, conducting an analysis of costs, and obtaining feedback on specific ideas. Also covered here are some basic issues in asking questions when gathering information, such as planning questions beforehand, avoiding leading questions, and attempting to obtain accurate information. Role-playing is used to bring out these issues. The importance of asking oneself tough questions and looking for accurate information is emphasized. This is followed by a general introduction to consumer behavior in terms of steps in decision-making, such as need recognition, search for alternatives, and evaluation of alternatives, and the various influences on consumer decision-making.

The next major topic covered is product design, which includes basic issues, such as what a product is and what customers look for in specific products. The purpose is to understand how physical product characteristics and ingredients translate to psychological benefits for customers. The concept of customer orientation runs through all the topics discussed, such as through linking product design to benefits received by customers. Also important is the abstract benefit being served.