Our group decided for our case study we would research buying a computer. Computers are a very useful tool for all college students so being up to date is essential. We used the process of Cognitive Dissonance to begin the road to buying a new PC. Cognitive Dissonance is the questions a buyer ask themselves when purchasing a product. .
In step 1 our group sat down and made a list of the name brands we would be interested in pursuing. We came up with such brands as ABS, Dell, Apple, Gateway, IBM, Compaq, Micron, and the option of having your PC custom built by a private business. As you can see most of these choices are major companies with lots of advertising. All the advertising implants a thought into a consumer's brain which allows them to recall this information when making a purchase. The other names can from personnel experience which is the consumers" best source of quality.
In step 2 the group decided what criterion was important to us. We decided as students the standard operating system would be satisfactory, we also felt fast speed internet capabilities were essential in this day and age, and also an extended media/gaming package would also be handy. That is the software we felt was necessary on a new PC. When looking for the desired hardware we used four keys. A good cabinet with power supply, a quality motherboard, and finally the amount of RAM and hard disk space. We also looked into ways of saving space, since we all know most students living conditions.
To use the most important qualities of a PC would be capabilities. All we were interested in was how fast the computer can run our games and the quality of sound our PC would produce. We also wanted a large hard drive allowing for downloads. We also wanted a recordable CD and DVD drive.
Our final choice was to have our computer custom built by a local small business. The one downfall of this option was the expense.