MKT 333 Consumer Behavior Johnson EXAM 1

What is Consumer Behavior? How do we define it?

the scientific study of consumers

reflects the totality of consumers' decisions with the respect to acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities, experiences, people and ideas by (human) decision-making units (overtime)

What types of consumer activities does CB cover?

Consumer behavior covers before consumption and after consumption. Before consumption many things have an influence on you. Your friends, the past, reviews, and much more. After consumption getting rid of stuff and clothes wearing out also covers consumer behavior. The experience and ideas are all about consumer behavior. Also look at Pg. 9 in consumer behavior slides

What are the domains of consumer behavior?

( 1) the psychological core,
( 2) the process of making decisions,
( 3) the consumer's culture, and
( 4) consumer behavior outcomes.

What does Frank Kardes say about CB?

"Predicting human behavior is a difficult
and complicated enterprise, abounding
with uncertainties, risks and surprises..."

What types of marketing activities are influenced by CB?

Market Segmentation
Target Marketing
Positioning
Product Development
Advertising
Promotion
Pricing
Distribution
Satisfaction
Loyalty

Why should we care about CB?

You will learn what makes consumers "tick."

You will learn how to influence others (for good) and change their behaviors.

You will learn how to be more persuasive in a variety of real-life situations (job interviews, presentations, sales, and many more).

You will learn why YOU do the things YOU do and
how to improve your own decision-making abilities.

What is the key to marketing success?

The key to marketing success is to ANTICIPATE the unarticulated needs and wants of consumers and provide them with products and services that satisfy them. (Steve Jobs)

How do consumers respond to products and or services?

AFFECT (feelings), COGNITIONS (thoughts), BEHAVIOR (actions)

What is the role of intuition in studying CB?

Intuition / vivid information is a start, but it must be combined with scientific research and analysis

What are the characteristics of hypotheses

1. Should be empirical statements -- i.e., susceptible to observation. The hypotheses should not be normative.

2. Generality, It explains a general phenomenon, rather than a single occurrence.

3. plausible - it shouldn't defy logic.

4. specific, meaning that the concepts are carefully defined.

5. testable, and it cannot be a tautology.

What are the different methods of studying CB?

1) Participant Observation
2) Survey
3) Focus Group
4) Interviews
5) Experiment

Focus Groups

A strategy to obtain data from a small group of people using interview questions

Strengths:
Quick, easy, and cheap

Weaknesses:
socially manipulate (moderator can impose their will on subjects)

Observational Methods

procedures for systematically watching behavior in order to summarize it for scientific analysis

1) obtrusive - people know theyʻre being watched

2) inobtrusive - people don't know they're being watched

Surveys

Questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions

Strengths:
doesn't require bringing people to you for study

Weaknesses:
non-response error

Interviews

a formal meeting in which one or more persons consult, question, or evaluate another person

Strengths:
rich, detailed data

Weaknesses:
internal validity and external validity down

Experiments

a technique that tests predicted relationships among variables in a controlled environment

strengths - internal validity

Weaknesses -

How do external validity, internal validity, realism of context, depth of data, reactivity, etc. impact the choice of research method?

Internal and external validity are concepts that reflect whether or not the results of a study are trustworthy and meaningful. While internal validity relates to how well a study is conducted (its structure), external validity relates to how applicable the findings are to the real world

Exposure

The process by which individuals come into contact with a stimulus

What influences our exposure to marketing communications?

...

How do consumers limit their exposure to marketing efforts?

selective exposure
consumers are bombarded with 5000 messages everyday
consumers filter messages intentionally and unintentionally

selective exposure

The process by which individuals screen out messages that do not conform to their own biases.

why study exposure in marketing?

We want to maximize "hits" & minimize "misses."
We need to understand the habits and behaviors of consumers to know how to reach them

attention

the process by which an individual devotes mental activity to a stimulus

What are the different characteristics of attention?

1) Selective - pay attention to other sources; exclude others

2) Can be divided - brings down the quality of attention paid

3) Limited - it is impossible to pay attention to every stimulus

What is the Door Study? What do we learn about attention from it?

The door study basically shows us that CHANGE BLINDNESS is real
we fail to notice massive changes right in front of our faces

What is multitasking? Why is it a myth?

Multitasking amounts to quickly shifting our focus from one thing to another and back again

It is a myth because it is IMPOSSIBLE for the brain to concentrate on two things at once

Each time we shift back and forth, we miss and lose critical information, due to changing focus of attention

What are the different types of multitasking typically used by drivers?

1) Visual:
Checking a navigation system or radio station

2) Manual:
Reaching for a phone or other item in the car

3) Cognitive:
Takes focus away from driving, such as texting

How does Multitasking impact drivers?
- distraction and car crashes?
- distraction and risk of crashing?
- distraction and time with eyes off the road?
- distraction and distance a car travels?

we're severely overconfident in our ability to text and drive

80% of car crashes attributed to phone or not paying attention

our risk of crashing is 23 times higher when you are driving and using your phone

At 55 mph our car travels the length of a football field in 8 seconds

77% Adults, 55% teens think they can text while driving

Personal Implications for avoiding distractions

strive to ALWAYS be PRESENT, in mind and body, no matter what you are doing

What is the attention economy?

to compete for attention, firms intentionally design platforms and devices to be addictive (i.e. creators who apologized)

ways to make stimuli personally relevant?

Appeal to needs, values, & emotions

Use spokespeople the audience can connect with.

ways to make stimuli pleasant?

use attractive people, appropriate music, appropriate humor

ways to make stimuli surprising?

use novelty, unexpectedness, make consumers think

ways to make stimuli easy to process?

increase prominence, contrast, minimize competition

what is the prominence effect?

people attend to the most prominent attributes

prominent stimuli stand out to the relevant environment (alligator painting at bottom of escalator)

what is sensory overload?

In general, people can pay attention to 7 +/- 2 pieces of information and have it make it all the way to memory

how do firms unethically compete for attention

Tech companies are currently exploiting behaviorism research from the 1950s and 1960s to condition consumers (B.F. Skinner) Increasing dopamine hits

What is addiction?

the relentless pull to a substance or activity that becomes so compulsive it ultimately interferes with everyday life

how does addiction work?

it works via rewards and reinforcements

Triggers the brain's reward system, creating a sense of pleasure
(release of neurotransmitter dopamine)

Creates a feedback loop that makes it more likely to continue the activity due to the sense of reward that follows

What is a Skinner box? How does it work?

small animal chamber constructed by Skinner to allow sustained periods of conditioning to be administered and behaviors to be recorded unsupervised

positive reinforcement - rat presses button, gets food
negative reinforcement - rat presses button, turns off an electric shock

what is shaping in operant conditioning?

rewarding increasingly specific behaviors

how does shaping take place in technology?

Tech company executives have admitted to manipulating "dopamine hits" and "social-validation feedback loops" to keep us hooked.

what can we do to affectively manage technology in our everyday lives?

develop awareness, make a plan, experiment new strategies

What is perception?

the process by which incoming stimuli are registered by sensory perceptors (five senses)

What is an absolute threshold?

the minimum stimulation needed for a stimulus to be perceived

what is a differential threshold?

the intensity difference needed between two stimuli before individuals can perceive that they are different

"just noticeable difference" JND

(level of volume change needed in order to notice the volume has changed)

What is Weber's law? (conceptually)

the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different

Webers Law (mathematically)

k = change in intensity / base intensity

what is the threshold of perception (k) for most marketing contexts?

.10 or 10 percent

How does Webers law impact perceptions of product or packaging changes?

Making sure no one can notice changes in the size of packaging. Some examples we went through in class were the package changes of weight and size to make cheaper or better quality food. The better the quality the less you will get for the same price. This can happen in other situations too.

what is selective perception?

the tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one's interests, background, experience, and attitudes

What is sensory memory?

sensory experiences stored temporarily in memory

echoic memory - very brief memory for things we hear

iconic memory - very brief memory for things we see

What is short term memory?

The portion of memory where incoming info is encoded and interpreted in light of existing knowledge

most info process takes place in STM, it is limited and short-lived

What is long term memory?

The part of memory where info is placed for
later use; permanently stored knowledge

Autobiographical (episodic) memory - knowledge about ourselves and our personal experiences

semantic memory - general knowledge about an entity detached from specific episodes NOT DRAWN FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

chunking

breaking information into manageable chunks
(phone numbers)

rehearsal

actively reviewing info to remember it
(speech practice)

Recirculation

info is remembered via simple repitition
(remembering jingles)

elaboration

transferring into LTM

transcience

Memory for facts and events typically becomes less accessible over time if they are not retrieved or rehearsed.

absent-mindedness

Forgetting that a stimulus occurs because insufficient attention is devoted to a stimulus at the time of encoding or retrieval

blocking

When information has been properly encoded and has not been lost, but it is temporarily inaccessible

(tip of my tounge)

Misattribution

Some sort of memory is present, but it is misattributed
to an incorrect time, place, or person.

suggestibility

Illusory memory that occurs in response to
suggestions that are made when one is
attempting to recall an experience that may or may not have occurred (police interrogation)

bias

Memories of past experiences may be colored by present mood and emotional state.

persistence (memory)

the intrusive recollection of events that we wish we could forget

What are beliefs?

The knowledge and inferences
that a consumer has about an
object, its attributes, and its
benefits (very cognitive)

Beliefs do NOT carry
valence ; they are fact
oriented.

descriptive beliefs

Formed from senses; first hand experience

informational beliefs

Comes from second-hand knowledge what we read, hear

inferential beliefs

We go beyond the info provided and make judgments

What are attitudes? and characteristics of attitudes?

When beliefs carry valence and are
evaluative, they become attitudes

Attitudes are relatively stable and enduring

The amount of affect toward a stimulus
(ad, brand, issue, person)

Favorability

the degree to which we like or dislike something

Salience

how easily an attitude can be remembered

Strength

how strongly an attitude is held

persistence (attitude)

how long an attitude lasts

resistance

how difficult it is to change an attitude

why do we study needs in marketing?

because needs lead to actions down the line

When we have a problem or need, we tap into
our beliefs and attitudes to help us resolve it.

functional needs

Needs that motivate us
to search for offerings
that solve consumption
related problems

symbolic needs

Needs that relate to
how we perceive
ourselves & how we are
perceived by others

hedonic needs

Needs that relate to
sensory pleasures

cognitive needs

Needs for mental
stimulation

emotional needs

needs for emotional stimulation (watching scary or sad movies)

physiological needs

need to satisfy hunger and thirst

safety needs

need to feel that the world is organized and predictable; need to feel safe, secure, and stable

social needs

the need for love, companionship, and friendship- the desire for acceptance by others

egoistic needs

psychological needs manifested in self-acceptance, self-esteem, success, independence, prestige, status, and recognition from others

self-actualization needs

the pursuit of knowledge and beauty or whatever else is required for the realization of one's unique potential

approach-avoidance conflict

Wanting to engage in a
certain behavior,
but also wanting
to avoid it

approach-approach conflict

Choosing
between 2
equally attractive
options that
fulfill different
needs

avoidance-avoidance conflict

Choosing between 2 equally unattractive options

what is motivation?

Motivation is an inner state
of arousal that leads to
goal-directed behavior

what is effort?

the amount of energy you are willing to expend in order to achieve a goal

AKA Involvement

what is direction?

the path you choose to achieve a goal

Enduring Involvement

We may always put
energy into some
decisions (stable)

situational involvement

We may only be
motivated to expend
energy in certain
situations (temporary)

cognitive involvement

We may be interested
in thinking about the
goal and processing
info

affective involvement

We may be willing to
expend emotional
energy

what makes consumers involved?

personal relevance!

what is the relationship between risk and involvement?

higher risk, higher involvement

performance risk

Uncertainty about whether or not the product will
perform as expected

financial risk

The extent to which buying or using an offering has the potential to create financial harm