1. Senior High 4-H Consumer Decision-Making Contest
Objectives: As a result of participating in the Consumer Decision Making Contest, contestants will…

2. OBJECTIVES
As a result of participating in the Consumer Decision Making Contest, contestants will…
Demonstrate skills in making decisions based on facts
Apply knowledge and experience in consumer education by analyzing consumer situations
Experience making choices among selected marketplace options
Develop and strengthen their reasoning ability in consumer skills
Demonstrate their ability to organize thoughts and express them orally in a clear, confident manner.

3. Life Skills which can be applied…
Ethical Decision-making
Communicating
Achieving Goals
Responsibility
Teamwork
Healthy Lifestyle Choices

4. 4-H Project Connections
Consumer Education
Communications
Nutrition, Health and Fitness
Food Science
Engineering and Safety Science
Personal Development
Computers and Technology
Line and Design
Clothing and Textiles
Photography
Leadership
Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries

5. Who May Participate?
Any 4-H members who were in grades 9 through 12 on January 1, current year of Regional Contest
A team consists of three or four persons (three scores will be used for a team)
Incomplete teams can compete for individual awards.
Each County can enter up to 3 teams in the Regional Contest.
Each Region can send 4 teams to the State Contest

6. State Winner State Runner-Up
Represents Tennessee in the Western National Roundup
Consumer Decision Making Judging - January 2018
State Runner-Up
Represents Tennessee in the Western National Roundup
Family & Consumer Science Bowl - January 2018

7. Eligibility for National Contest
Contestant must already have passed his or her 14th birthday, and may not have reached his or her 19th birthday, as of January 1 of the year in which the next National 4-H Competitive Event is held.
January, 2018 in Denver, CO

8. What does the contest involve?
Part I-Place or Ranking (Hormel Slide)
A Situation or Problem is presented
Four Articles or Options of one kind will made available to help solve the situation/problem
Students will rank the four given items according to which best meets the need
Each class will count 50 points per participant.
10 minutes allowed per class**

9. Part II Oral Reasons
Each participant will give oral reasons.
4-H’ers will explain to a judge why they decided on a certain placing.
Each class of reasons will represent 50 points
Reasons Classes will be designated
Blank note cards provided
10 minutes allowed for studying**
2 minutes maximum to present oral reasons

10. Part III Group Think
In an area with a judge(s), each team will be given a situation to evaluate as a group to determine and present a consensus answer.
The team must make a decision on how to solve the problem
The team is scored based on team participation and the team process
10 minutes total time**

11. Suggested Use of Time for Group Think 3 minutes read and think through
3 minutes to discuss
2 minutes to come to consensus and plan presentation
2 minutes to present
A flip chart or dry erase board will be provided as a tool for the team. It’s use is optional.

12. Group Think Score Sheet
Team Participation 40%–Participation
Reading
Discussing
Summarizing
Team Process 60%–Alternatives
Criteria
Solution
Participation

13. Total Scores 50 points for each placing 50 points for oral reasons
100 points for regional group think
200 points for state/national group think
Three scores count for each placing and for oral reasons – so if there are 4 team members, the lowest score is dropped.

14. (State may only require one set oral reasons due to time constraints)
State/National
Regional
4 placing classes
1 set oral reasons
1 Group Think
6 placing classes
2 sets oral reasons
1 Group Think
(State may only require one set oral reasons due to time constraints)

15. 2017 Regional Study Topics Western Region Wearable Technology
Family Cruises
Bicycles
Backpacks
Central Region
Cleaning Products
Fast Foods
Toys
Selecting Healthy Snacks
Eastern Region
Jeans
Checking Accounts
Formal Wear
Disaster Preparedness

16. Suggested Training Focus study on regional categories,
Use photos, real objects, product labels,
or text to “show” options.
Use resource information available on Central Region website
Team members can help develop scenarios.
Build notebook of classes for future use.

17. Tools for creating classes
Search amazon, wal-mart, etc. for items for your class.
Go to local stores to actually see the item – take photos
Use the hormel website to determine scores based on your placing and cuts
Three pairs in each class – top pair, middle pair and bottom pair. Establish a ”Cut” between each pair.
CUTS range from 1 to 7 in value. The cuts represent the level of difference between each choice. A cut of 7 is a world-class difference, a cut of 1 is barely any difference.

18. Oral Reasons
There is no absolute set of reasons for any class. Even when a class is placed differently from a perfect score, the reasons given can still garner the participant a good score.
Guidelines for a good set of reasons is to include:
opening statement
comparison of each pair (the why)
identify faults/allow grants
closing statement

19. Resources
Central Region Internal Webpage:
State FCS Internal Resources Webpage:
Western Regional Roundup 2017 Consumer Decision Making Contest:
Minnesota 4-H CDM Webpage: