Consumer Behavior Midterm

Big Data

• The collection and analysis of extremely large datasets

Self Concept Attachment

• The product helps to establish the user’s identity

  • Nike

Nostalgic attachment

• The product serves as a link with a past self

  • Coca-Cola

Interdependence

• The product is a part of the user’s daily routine

  • Starbucks

Responsible Marketing

• combines consumer centricity (meeting consumer needs) with making a positive social and environmental impact.

Consumer Centricity

• Meeting consumer needs aka putting the customer first and at the center of everything that you do

Business Ethics  

• Rules of conduct that guide actions in the marketplace

Slacktivism

• small and relatively meaningless expressions of support for important causes, such as liking a charity on Facebook rather than making a donation or volunteering

Food Desert

• areas where people have limited access to healthful and nourishing foods.

Food Insecurity

• when people limited access to a healthy diet on a daily basis

Media Literacy

• describes the extent to which a consumer can critically evaluate the messages they receive from the web/tv (any source that tries to persuade us)

Greenwashing

• occurs when companies make false claims about how environmentally friendly their products are

Classical Conditioning

• occurs when a stimulus that elicits a response is paired with another stimulus that initially does not elicit a response on its own. Over time, this second stimulus causes a similar response because we associate it with the first stimulus

• Aka when your brain links two things together because they constantly occur back-to-back

Schema

• an organized collection of knowledge and expectations about something

• Schemas help us know what to expect without having to think through everything from scratch

Source Credibility

• A source's perceived expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness

  • Expertise: Does this person actually know what they're talking about

  • Trustworthiness: Do I believe they're telling me the truth?

Motivation

• is the process that leads people to behave as they do.

• It begins when we recognize a need or desire.

Homeostasis  

• a balanced state

Absolute Threshold

• the minimum amount of stimulation a person can detect on a given sensory channel  

Perception

• is a three-stage process that translates raw stimuli into meaning

  • Stages include: exposure, attention and interpretation to makeup the process of perception   

Episodic Memories  

• Some memories are tied to specific personal experiences

• Products and brands can become connected to: 

  •  Childhood, holidays, relationships, vacations, school/college and major life events 

• Marketing Application: Nostalgia

• Brands can reactivate postive memories consumers already have

• That’s why a song, smell, food or brand can suddenly transport you back to a particular moment

Cognitive Dissonance 

• When our attitudes and behavior don’t match

Problem w/ cognitive dissonance 

• That inconsistency can create discomfort

• We become motivated to make things fit again by changing our thoughts, attitudes and behavior

Balance Theory

• We want our relationships to ‘add up’

• Our attitudes toward a product can be influenced by how we feel about someone associated with it.

Balance Theory Example (Influencer)

• If you love a influencer and that influencer loves a brand you’ll then love that brand

Subjective norm

• Our perception of what other people expect us to do

Subjective norm depends on… (2)

• Normative belief and motivation to comply

Normative Belief

• What do I think others want me to do?

Motivation to Comply

• How much do I care what they think?

Self Pereception Theory

• When we observe our own behavior and use it to infer our attitudes

• Esentially sometimes we figure out what we believe by watching what we do

  • ‘I keep buying this brand’ → ‘I guess I must really like it’

Subliminal Perception

• Most marketers want to create messages above consumers’ thresholds so people will notice them; subliminal perception to a stimulus below the level of the consumer’s awareness

Brand Loyalty ≠ Habit

• Buying the same brand over and over can happen for very different reasons

  • Habit / Intertia - ‘I always buy this one’

Actual Brand Loyalty

• Willingness to seek it out - if one store doesn’t carry it, you go somewhere else

• Conscious preference

• Positive attitude toward the brand

• Resistant to switching

Perceived Risk

• the belief that choosing the wrong option could have negative consequences.

• The more serious the potential consequences feel, the more involved the consumer is likely to become.

• “What happens if I choose wrong?”

Types of Perceived Risk (5)

1. Monetary - will I lose money?

2. Functional - will it actually work the way I need it to?

3. Physical - could this hurt me?

4. Social - what will other people think?

5. Psychological - how will this choice make me feel about myself?

Cognitive Learning Theory  

•  Approaches stress the importance of internal mental processes.

• This perspective views people as problem-solvers who actively use information from the world around them to master their environments (unlike behavioral theories of learning)

Consumer Socialization

• is the process by which young people acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to function in the world (marketplace)

What consumers learn via consumer socialization

• What brands mean

• What things should cost and ‘good deals’

• Which products are desirable

• How advertising words

• Which brands/seem right for us

• We learn from: family/friends, media, creators and culture

How do the goods, services & ideas we consume affect our lives?

• We often buy products not just for what they do, but also for what they mean for our
  identities

• Marketers play a significant role in our view of the world and how we live in it.

• We base our consumption choices on the information that surrounds us, and the
  decisions we make are expressions of our unique identities.

• We often buy products not just for what they do, but also for what they mean for our identities.

• Marketers and social scientists use various methods to discover or apply these
  meanings

Consumer Behavior (Definition)

• It is the study of the processes involved when individuals purchase, use and dipose of products/services ideas to satisfy needs/wants

Stimulus Generalization

• When you automatically react the same way to new, similar things because they remind you of the original conditioned stimulus

Involvement

• is the perceived relevance of a product based on our needs, values and interest

Types of Involvement (3)

1. Product Involvement: a consumer’s level of interest in a particular product or product category

2. Message Involvement: is the level of attention and interest a consumer gives to a marketing communication

3. Situational Involvement: is engagement with the environment or situation where we shop for or consume a product or service

Pioneer Brand

• the very first brand to introduce a new product category, service, or technology to a market

Sentiment Analysis  

• is the process of analyzing large volumes of text to determine whether it expresses a positive, negative or neutral sentiment

Salience

• To stand out

  • Distinctive packaging, sounds, colors and creative increase salience.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Explains how our level of involvement determines the way we process persuasive messages

  • High Involvement  → More Thinking

  • Low Involvement  → Less Thinking

Routes of Persuasion - Central Route

• High Involvement

• We carefully process the message

• Focus on arguements & information

Routes of Persuasion - Peripheral Route

• Low Involvement

• We give you the message little thought

• Focus on simple cues

Theory of Reasoned Action

• Core Flow: Attitude → Intention → Behavior

  • Note: Even when you fully intend to do something, external barriers, changing circumstances, or a lack of opportunity can still stop you from actually doing it.

• Attitudes: Vary by Direction (like/dislike) & Strength.

  • Stronger attitudes = higher chance of action.

• Subjective Norms: Social pressure & peer behavior shape intentions (what we want isn't the only factor).

ABC Model of Attitudes

• A - Affect (Heart): How a consumer feels about an attitude object (emotions, attachments).

• B - Behavior (Wallet): Actions taken toward the object (or intentions to act).

• C - Cognition (Head): What a consumer believes to be true about the object (rational thoughts, reliability, facts)

Hierarchies of Effects

• Core Idea: Purchase order depends on involvement/situation.

• High Involvement: Think → Feel → Do (Deliberate decision-making - choosing a college)

• Low Involvement: Think → Do → Feel (Based on behavioral learning - buying everyday groceries)

• Experiential: Feel → Do → Think (Emotion leads, thinking comes later)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Physiological (Survival): Basic needs to stay alive

  • Water

• Safety (Security): Protection from harm

  • Car insurance

• Belongingness (Social): Friendship and love

  • Teams

• Esteem (Status): Respect, ego, and prestige

  • Luxury clothing

• Self-Actualization (Fulfillment): Personal growth and reaching your potential

  • Check off a bucket-list life goals

Increasing message involvement / ways marketers can make consumers more involved with a message 

• Money - car, laptop, college

• Consquences - ‘choosing wrong could really matter’

• Complexity - ‘need to figure this out’

• Identity / Self Image - clothing, sneakers

• Personal Importance - music / collectibles

Motivational Conflicts

• Approach-approach

• Approach-avoidance

• Avoidance-avoidance

Approach-approach

• Choose between two desirable alternatives

  • Spring break or new laptop

Approach-avoidance

• The same choice has both positive and negative consequences

  • I really want those $200 sneakers...but they're $200

Avoidance-avoidance

• Choose between two undesirable alternatives

  • Pay $2,500 to repair my old car OR take on a new car payment

Persuasion

• when a marketer deliberately tries to create, reinforce, or change an attitude

Consumer rights and protection

• Consumer Reality: We don't always act rationally; choices can have negative impacts on society, the environment, and health.

• Industry Self-Policing: Companies regulate themselves mainly to avoid government intervention

PESTLE Framework

• P - Political: Consumers vote with their wallets based on beliefs/values

• E - Economic: Market access (ability to buy/find goods) can be limited by physical, mental, economic, or social barriers.

• S - Social: Shaped by social justice movements and "cancel culture" (public boycotts for brand missteps), leading companies to drop outdated/stereotypical mascots (e.g., Uncle Ben's, Aunt Jemima).

• T - Technological: Tech (AI, automation, social media) changes consumer support and privacy concerns.

• L - Legal: Laws protect consumer welfare

• E - Environmental (Natural): Rise of conscious consumerism (buying secondhand)

Negative Affect Marketing

• Core Concept: Using negative emotions (fear, anxiety, guilt, shame) to drive consumer action.

• How It Works: Highlights a threat, risk, or inadequacy so consumers buy a product to find relief or peace of mind.

• Examples: Insurance or home security ads using fear of danger; public campaigns using guilt to change behavior.

Stimulus Generalization Strategies

• Core Concept: Consumers apply a positive response from a known stimulus to a new, similar one.

  • Family branding, product line extensions and licensing

Ethos, Pathos & Logos

• Ethos (Credibility): Appeals to expertise

  • Example: A dentist recommending a specific brand of toothpaste

• 2. Pathos (Emotion): Appeals to feelings,

  • Example: An animal shelter commercial showing sad puppies to make you feel compassion and donate.

• 3. Logos (Logic): Appeals to facts/data

  • Example: A car commercial highlighting gas mileage (40 MPG) and safety crash-test ratings.

Family Branding

• Using one established brand name across multiple different products (e.g., Campbell’s).

Product Line Extensions

• Adding new variations or flavors to an existing product line (e.g., new soda flavor).

Licensing

• Renting a famous brand name or character for a different product (e.g., Disney characters on cereal).

Multiattribute Attitude Models

• Core Concept: Overall consumer attitude is formed by combining beliefs about multiple product attributes and how important those attributes are to the consumer.

• Key Components (Fishbein Model):

  • Attributes: Characteristics of the object (e.g., price, battery life, style).

  • Beliefs (b): How strongly the consumer thinks the product possesses a specific attribute.

  • Importance Weights (I): How much the consumer cares about each attribute.

• How It Works: Consumers multiply each belief by its importance weight and add them all together to calculate their total attitude score for a brand or product.