This document summarizes the results of a daily diary study tracking the purchase behavior of two students, Riva and Roy, over one week. It finds that while they share some similarities, such as preferring to pay in cash and shopping in the afternoons, there are also differences influenced by their living situations and social circles. The study analyzed criteria like frequency of purchase, planned vs impulse buys, influence of others, and satisfaction. Studying consumer behavior provides important insights for businesses and helps consumers make informed choices.

1. Notre Dame University
Faculty of Business Administration
Department of Management & Marketing
Term Paper:
Daily Diary of Purchase
Presented to:
Dr. Joyce Mnessa
Presented by:
Naja Faysal
Course:
Consumer Behavior (MRK 311)
-Fall 2005-

2. Introduction:
The results of the Daily Diary used by the two individuals: Riva Khattar and Roy
Habib, shows a significant insight on their Purchase Behavior. These results are
summarized in the table and charts above, and they obviously show differences in their
Purchase Behavior habits as well as they show some similarities. In the coming
paragraphs you will see a detailed analysis of the results; the Purchase Behavior of how
individuals in the same society can differ and which attributes interfere their behavior.
We will also discuss frequency of purchase, time of purchase, payment mode, frequency
of planned vs. unplanned purchase, reliance on impulse purchases, extent of individual
decision making, and level of satisfaction after purchase. We will also recognize how
studying Consumer Behavior can be a critical issue for the success of any business.
Overview on the study
Riva and Roy are two samples of the society; they are randomly selected so they
are not wide representative. Therefore, we cannot generalize the results among the whole
society. But, we can take an overall view of their Purchase Behavior and analyzing
attributes related, that interferes in their behavior for example: social class, life style,
financial situation (purchase power) etc…
Overview on the samples:
Riva is an NDU student, aged between 18 & 25 years old, living in her parent’s
House in Awkar, she is from a relatively high social class with a high income. Her life
style gives her the buying decisions yet, her friends, family, and others may trigger her
Purchase Behavior.

3. Roy on the other side is another NDU student with the same age category; living in a
rented apartment in Zouk Mosbeh, he is also from a relatively medium to high social
class family with a moderate income. His life style is extremely different than Riva since
he lives alone, his family is abroad, he is responsible for himself and for the apartment he
lives in. He has different buying triggers.
Mode of Payment
Although the differences in life styles, Riva and Roy have many similarities in
their Purchase Behavior; they both use the Lebanese Pounds more than US Dollars; Riva
spends 60% of her total spending amount using the Lebanese pounds and Roy Spend
83.6% of his total spending amount using the Lebanese pounds (we subtract the Rental
Fees since they are on a monthly basis). They also pay cash more than barter or any other
mode of payment, and this applies to a big part of the Lebanese society; Riva only uses
cash as her mode of payment. Roy uses his master card for 13% of his payments. Using
other modes of payment like credit cards is still the new trend, and it is increasing day
after day. Credit cards have become a part of the lifestyle; in this case Roy is more
knowledgeable of the benefits of owning a credit card.
Time of Day
Another significant similarity between Riva and Roy is their time of purchase
each day; where they both have very similar results. Riva buys 81.25% of her total
buying in the afternoon (pm) and Roy buys 60.86% of his buying in the afternoon (pm)
as well. This is also a significant attribute showing that the purchase time of university
students that are in the same category of Riva and Roy is mostly in the afternoon and

4. businesses that serves this target segment should take this attribute into consideration and
make the stores stay open until really late afternoon.
Day of Week
Riva and Roy both purchase under the trigger of need recognition. So they don’t
have a specific day in the week to buy. They just act when they have an unsatisfied need.
In the above table you can see that Riva has done the maximum buying decision on
Thursday and Roy on Wednesday, and of course neither Riva nor Roy have planned to
make these decisions on a specific day of the week. In contrast they react on their need
recognition trigger and they make their buying decisions accordingly. We don’t disregard
that some individuals may choose a day in the weekend for example to shop, but in the
regular week of university there is no such thing as a ‘shopping’ day.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
We also should focus on the types of goods and services purchased. In this case
we have to refer to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which categorizes the needs into 5
categories: Physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self
actualization needs. By observation of the goods and services purchased by Riva and Roy
we can see the following:
• Riva’s physiological needs (food, water, sleep) are being provided for by her
family, where Roy is living alone; he has to pay for his food, water, and sleep. For
Roy, he buys his food and water mostly from near mini-markets and restaurants
(ex: Mini Market Joseph and Moulin D’or) and he buys his sleeping needs
through renting.

5. • Safety needs for both Riva and Roy are provided for by the government. There
might be additional security expenditures for both Riva and Roy but in this
specific week additional security was not evident.
• The social needs are mainly satisfied by hanging out with friends, lovers, etc… in
Riva’s case, her outings this week were Crepaway and she also hung out with
friends to do some shopping. This life style attribute has an influence on her
purchase decisions where her companionships can widely shape her decisions.
Her Social needs have also shaped her behavior when she bought flowers for her
friend.
• We also see Roy’s outings are quite different; the table shows that he can hang
out to a near restaurant (Moulin D’or) as well as life style restaurants (Crepaway).
He also likes to watch movies (Espace) and clubbing (Lila’s). His friend’s
birthday (companionship) influenced his Purchase Behavior.
• Esteem needs contributed tremendously on Riva’s purchase decisions; she spent
on dressing outlets (Bershka, Sport et Loisirs, Quava, Mango, Skin Bijousc) and
hair and nails care outlets (Coiffure Joseph Saad, Salon Harout and Rami) these
representing 62.9% of all her week’s spending. This means that her self respect
and prestigious needs are very important and it shapes 62.9% of her purchase
decisions. Esteem for Roy is different; during this week, the table doesn’t show
any self respect or prestigious purchase decisions. For sure esteem needs exists in
his life but as we observe, the level of esteem needs is much lower than that for
Riva.

6. • Self actualization needs that affect the purchase behavior of Riva and Roy doesn’t
exist in our study, and this is logical since neither Riva nor Roy are in the suitable
period of their lives to achieve and satisfy the self actualization needs.
Geographical attribute
Geographically, both Riva and Roy buy from near-home retailers. They know that
they might find a better price and more variety in special stores and shopping malls but
they sacrifice variety and price to save time, this is another significant point on their
buying habits and their life styles.
Frequency of Purchase
In this study, Riva and Roy are asked to fill a daily diary of every single purchase
they make. After tabulating the data we found that Riva has made 32 purchase decisions
and Roy made 23 decisions. It’s obvious that Riva has made more purchase decisions
than Roy and thus spending more resources to satisfy her needs. By the end of the week
Riva spent 1,312,500 L.L. and Roy spent 444,000 L.L.. Riva’s frequency of purchase in
this week is 4.57purchases/day, where Roy’s frequency of purchase is 3.2purchases/day.
Planned vs. Impulse Purchase
The table shows that Riva has made 22 planned purchase decisions and 10
impulse purchase decisions with a percentage of 31.25% of purchases were unplanned.
Where Roy has made 13 planned purchases and 10 impulse purchases with a percentage
of 43.4% of his purchases were unplanned. This is significant because we can conclude
from these percentages that Riva has more willingness to buy than Roy and she plans to

7. buy goods and services more than Roy. Where in turn, his impulse purchase decisions
contribute to a bigger percentage than those of Riva; thus, he is not willing to buy 43% of
the goods and services he already bought. These impulse purchases contribute to a big
percentage of the whole amount spent during the 1 week. It is interesting to know how
Roy spent 43.4% of his total spending without the intention of buying the goods and
services. In the next paragraphs you will see an important attribute that causes individuals
to buy goods and services without planning.
Influence on Purchase
Riva’s 53.1% of her purchase decisions took place with someone with her at
purchase time, and only 25% of the whole actually influenced her purchase. According to
the study, Roy is influenced a lot more by people with him during purchase time. 39.1%
of his purchase decisions took place with someone else present and 30% of the whole
actually influenced his purchase. Thus, Roy buys less than Riva with people with him
during purchase time but he is influenced more than Riva by people with him during
purchase time.
Level of Satisfaction
The Daily Diary shows that both Riva and Roy, most of the time, have post-
purchase satisfaction and this is due to the nature of their buying. They both didn’t take
too high risks in their buying, they were mostly buying items they have already tried
before, or they have tried the outlet and became loyal.

8. The study also shows that planned purchase has a more positive feeling after satisfaction
than impulse purchase. Where 90% of the negative feeling is caused after purchase, for
Roy, it was because of unplanned purchases and influences by other people.
Conclusion
Each and every day, all of us are confronted with a myriad of consumer behavior
issues. Whether you are deciding which television show to watch, driving by billboard
advertisements, listening to the radio, or serving the internet, you are interfacing with
topics of relevance to the study of consumer behavior.
This study is a small sample of what is called consumer Research, which is
essential in all businesses. It has proven an important role in determining the success of
all businesses; you have to know who the consumer is that you want to serve. What are
psychological, demographical, and geographical characteristics? What are his motives
that shape his buying behavior? These are a great importance to business. In this exercise
we learnt about our buying habits and how they are influenced. We also learnt the
frequency of our purchase, the mode of payment, our planned vs. unplanned purchases
etc… and it was interesting.
In conclusion, studying consumer behavior helps you not only to be a marketing
professional but also to be a smarter consumer.
It can also affect many areas of your life.