MK 320 Exam 2 Study Guide: Consumer Behavior

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, theories, and models for MK 320 Exam 2, including the Self, Personality and Lifestyle, Attitudes, Decision Making, and Interviewing Skills.

Self

The essential qualities that make someone who they are and distinguish them from others.

Identity

The characteristics, roles, and associations that define an individual.

Self-concept

The beliefs people hold about their characteristics and how they evaluate themselves.

Dramaturgical Perspective

Erving Goffman's view of social life as a performance in which people present different versions of themselves depending on the situation.

Impression Management

Controlling how other people perceive us.

Collective Self

Identity based on group membership or associations (e.g., identifying as a college student or member of a team).

Ideal Self

The person you want to become (e.g., wanting to be confident and successful).

Actual Self

Your realistic perception of who you currently are (e.g., recognizing that you are hardworking but sometimes shy).

Digital Self

The identity you create and present online (e.g., an Instagram profile showing selected parts of your life).

Self-esteem

How positively or negatively someone evaluates themselves.

Social Comparison

Evaluating yourself by comparing your abilities, appearance, or accomplishments with other people.

Looking-glass Self

The process by which people develop perceptions of themselves partly by imagining how others see them.

Extended Self

The idea that our possessions, relationships, and surroundings become part of our identity across four levels: individual, family, community, and group.

Gender Roles

Social and cultural expectations about how men and women should behave, which vary and change over time.

Agentic Roles

Roles traditionally associated with assertiveness and independence.

Communal Roles

Roles traditionally associated with nurturing and maintaining relationships.

Sex-typed Products

Products marketed using stereotypically masculine or feminine characteristics.

Beauty Ideals

Cultural standards of what is considered physically attractive.

"What is beautiful is good" Stereotype

The assumption that attractive people also possess other positive qualities.

Personality

The unique and relatively stable combination of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguishes one individual from another.

Trait Theory

An approach that measures personality through identifiable characteristics that are relatively consistent over time.

Openness

The Big Five personality trait representing a willingness to try new things and experiences.

Conscientiousness

The Big Five personality trait representing organization, responsibility, and self-discipline.

Extraversion

The Big Five personality trait representing sociability and comfort interacting with others.

Agreeableness

The Big Five personality trait representing cooperation and consideration for others.

Neuroticism

The Big Five personality trait representing a tendency to experience stress or negative emotions.

Id

The component of Freud's personality theory that seeks immediate pleasure and satisfaction (the "gas pedal").

Ego

The component of Freud's personality theory that balances desires with reality (the "driver").

Superego

The component of Freud's personality theory that represents moral standards and conscience (the "brakes").

Reality Principle

The mechanism whereby the ego considers real-world consequences and finds realistic ways to satisfy the id's desires.

Archetypes

Carl Jung's concept of recognizable character patterns or symbols that appear across cultures and influence how people interpret personalities and brands.

Consumer Segmentation

Dividing a larger market into smaller groups of consumers with shared characteristics.

Brand Personality

Human characteristics associated with brands, consisting of five dimensions: competence, excitement, ruggedness, sincerity, and sophistication.

Attitude

A person's overall positive or negative evaluation of a person, product, brand, or idea.

Affect

The emotional component of an attitude consisting of feelings or emotions about something.

Behavior (Attitude Component)

The component of an attitude consisting of actions or behavioral intentions.

Cognition (Attitude Component)

The component of an attitude consisting of beliefs or knowledge about something.

Internalization

The strongest level of attitude commitment, where an attitude becomes part of someone's personal values and beliefs.

Identification (Attitude Commitment)

A moderate level of attitude commitment where an attitude is adopted to fit in with a person or group.

Compliance

The weakest level of attitude commitment, where an attitude is expressed to gain a reward or avoid punishment.

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychological discomfort that occurs when someone's beliefs, attitudes, or actions conflict.

Consistency Principle

The principle stating that people prefer their attitudes and behaviors to agree, leading them to reduce contradictions.

Balance Theory

The theory that people prefer their attitudes toward other people, products, and ideas to remain consistent.

Social Judgment Theory

The theory stating that people evaluate new information by comparing it with their existing attitudes.

Latitude of Acceptance

In social judgment theory, the range of ideas someone agrees with or finds acceptable.

Latitude of Rejection

In social judgment theory, the range of ideas someone strongly disagrees with.

Latitude of Noncommitment

In social judgment theory, the range of ideas someone feels neutral or undecided about.

Need Recognition

The first step of the consumer decision-making process, defined as realizing there is a gap between your current and desired situation.

Search for Information

The second step of the consumer decision-making process, involving gathering information about possible solutions.

Evaluation of Alternatives

The third step of the consumer decision-making process, involving comparing products based on important attributes.

Choice

The fourth step of the consumer decision-making process, involving selecting and purchasing an option.

Post-Choice Evaluation

The fifth step of the consumer decision-making process, involving evaluating satisfaction after making the purchase.

Cognitive Decision

A purchase decision based on thoughtful analysis of information and alternatives.

Habitual Decision

An automatic, repeated purchase decision requiring little thought.

Affective Decision

A purchase decision guided primarily by emotions or feelings.

Universal Set

All brands or products available within a category.

Awareness Set

Brands within a category that the consumer knows exist.

Consideration Set (Evoked Set)

Brands the consumer is seriously considering purchasing.

Inert Set

Brands the consumer knows but feels neutral or indifferent about.

Inept Set

Brands the consumer has negatively evaluated and would avoid.

Compensatory Decision Rules

Decision rules (such as the ATO model) where products are evaluated on several attributes, and a strength in one attribute can make up for a weakness in another.

Non-compensatory Decision Rules

Decision rules where a weakness on an important attribute cannot necessarily be offset by strengths on other attributes.

Lexicographic Rule

A decision rule in which the consumer chooses the brand that performs best on the single most important attribute.

ex. Choosing a jacket based on your most important feature, like price. You buy the cheapest one.

Elimination by Aspects

A decision rule where options failing minimum requirements are removed, evaluating attributes in priority order.

Conjunctive Rule

A decision rule requiring a product to meet minimum standards on every important attribute.

ex. Buying a dress only if it meets ALL your requirements: under $100, black, and machine washable.

Disjunctive Rule

A decision rule where a product qualifies if it meets a high standard on at least one important attribute.

ex. Buying a handbag if it meets at least ONE important requirement, such as being designer OR made of genuine leather. or that its cheap

Grand Tour Question

An interview question that encourages someone to describe an overall experience, setting, or activity.

Typical Grand Tour

A Grand Tour question format that asks about someone's usual experience.

Specific Grand Tour

A Grand Tour question format that asks about one particular, concrete experience.

Descriptive Question

An interview question that encourages detailed descriptions in the interviewee's own words.

Structural Question

An interview question that explores how someone organizes or categorizes their experiences.

Contrast Question

An interview question that explores differences or comparisons between experiences.

Probing

Using follow-up questions or prompts to encourage an interviewee to provide more information.

Informational Probe

A follow-up probing technique that clarifies what an interviewee means by a statement.

Nudging Probe

A follow-up probing technique that encourages the interviewee to continue talking (e.g., "Go on" or "What else?").

Clearinghouse Probe

A follow-up probing technique that checks whether the interviewee has more to share (e.g., "Is there anything else you'd like to add?").

Reflective Probe

A follow-up probing technique that restates an interviewee's answer to confirm understanding.

Yes/No Rule

Avoid relying on yes/no questions during interviews. Use open-ended questions to encourage detailed responses.

How do marketers use the Extended Self?

Marketers use the Extended Self to understand how consumers incorporate external objects, brands, and experiences into their identity and self-concept. By aligning products with consumers' self-image, marketers create stronger emotional connections and brand loyalty.

How is personality measured?

Through personality questionnaires, rating scales, and trait assessments such as the Big Five.

Jung's Collective Unconscious

A theory proposing that all humans share a set of memories and archetypes inherited from our ancestors, influencing behavior and experiences.

ATO Model

Attitude-Toward-Object Model: Evaluates products by combining beliefs about attributes with their evaluations or importance.

How does Social Judgment Theory influence persuasion?

People are more receptive to messages within their latitude of acceptance and tend to resist messages within their latitude of rejection.