Consumer Behavior Exam 3

What is consumer behavior? How is consumption a process? How do needs and wants differ?

The study of the process involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use,or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires and to define and express their identities

How is consumption a process?

Consumption is a process because it is not a single act, but rather a sequence of stages through which goods and services are used to satisfy needs, desires, and aspirations. We buy for meaning/identity

How do needs and wants differ?

Wants and needs are different, wants satisfy something that we think or convince ourselves that we need to satisfy something and needs are things that actually keep us alive and sustained, food, water, clothing, shelter.

Why is identity an important component of our definition of consumer behavior?

It acts as a primary, often subconscious, driver of what, why, and how people buy. Consumers frequently use products, brands, and consumption behaviors to construct, reinforce, and signal their personal and social identities, a concept known as identity-based consumption.

Why is it important for marketers to understand consumer behavior?

Enables businesses to personalize the buyer's journey, predict trends, and create targeted, effective campaigns that boost sales and foster brand loyalty

What academic disciplines does consumer behavior draw insight from?

• Micro focus (Consumer research/marketing, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, decision making, social psychology, behavioral economics

• Macro focus (Consumer research, sociology, anthropology)

What major concepts are studied within the discipline of consumer behavior?

Attitudes and persuasion, consumer decision making, motivation, consumer ethics, learning and memory

Why are these major concepts important for marketers to understand?

They are important because they give us better insight into the consumer's mind (psychological) and behaviors that allow us to anticipate and drive certain trends and market directly to consumers' needs or wants.

What do we mean by a self-concept?

The belief that a person holds their own attributes and how they evaluate the self on these qualities

How does self-esteem relate to a self-concept?

Self-esteem is the positive and negative feelings of our self-concept

What do we mean by identity?

Identity is each element that contributes to our self-concept

How does identity relate to self-concept?

It relates to our self concept because each element of it that comprises our self-concept

What is the difference between an actual and ideal self?

Actual self is who you are currently and a person’s ideal self is who they desire and want to be

How does our self-concept impact play a role in our consumption behaviors?

Our self concept is impacted in our role of consumption behaviors because  it can be impacted by what marketers do. It is a filter for our consumer behaviors and is easily impacted because consumers use brands and products to define, maintain, or enhance their identities.

What is impression management?

Individuals care about and try to “manage” what and how people think about us

What is self-construal?

How we view ourselves in relation to others and society and environment

What do we mean by independent self-construal?

Independent self construal is separate and distinct and having pride in their individuality

How might self-construal impact consumer decisions?

If a person has a positive self-construal or doesn’t care about how other people see them, then they will be less likely to fall for trends and advertising.

What do we mean by compensatory consumption and how is it related to our sense of self?

How consumers react to threats to self by using consumption

What triggers compensatory consumption?

Connects because of self-discrepancy and self-discrepancies: an inconsistency between one's ideal and actual self. Self-discrepancies produce affective, physiological, and cognitive consequences that motivate consumer behavior to alleviate the self discrepancy

What strategies might a consumer employ when engaging in compensatory consumption?

Direct resolution, symbolic self completion, dissociation, escapism, fluid consumption

What is identity signaling?

Consumers have the drive to differentiate themselves from others

What kinds of products or product categories are linked to identity?

Products with high visibility that communicate taste that symbolize a certain lifestyle and (clothing, cars)

Do consumers like to diverge or converge with other consumers in product categories that are more closely linked to identity?

Consumers tend to diverge (avoid sharing tastes) with others in product categories that are closely linked to identity.

How do identity linked products impact product disposal?

Products that consumers have a connection with or have their names on tend to treat better for disposal or don’t dispose of it at all

What did Trudel, Argo, and Meng (2016) demonstrate?

People who had their names on the caps (spelled correctly) consciously disposed of their cups the correct way

What do we mean by embodied cognition?

Cognition is fundamentally grounded in the body

How might physical movement impact cognitive thoughts related to persuasive attempts?

Cognition is shaped, constrained, enhanced, and even determined by the experiences of the body in the physical environment.

What is a social identity?

The unique identity related behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs related to the groups from which we drive our sense of self

How is social identity multifaceted?

It is not a singular, static trait, but rather a dynamic, intersecting combination of various group memberships and personal characteristics that individuals hold simultaneously

What is a subculture?

A group whose members share significant beliefs and common preferences

How might subcultures relate to our social identity?

Providing a sense of belonging, a distinct set of values, and a unique style that separates members from the mainstream. They allow individuals to navigate the tension between the need to belong and the desire to be unique, offering a "middle ground" where they can form intimate communities while retaining a distinct identity.

Are social identities always active?

Not all consumer identities are active all the time

In what ways might marketing play a role in the activation of consumer social identity?

Marketing can prime or make certain identities more/less salient

How do family, age cohorts, racial subcultures, religious subcultures, and place subcultures play a role in our social identities?

• Our families play a critical role in shaping identity & consumption choices

  • Combines trends in family composition with the changes the composition makes on consumption

  • Accounts for life event experiences that create physical, social, and emotional demands, to which people must adopt.

What are racial subcultures?

Population and majority of a countries population can affect marketing and certain places have a higher density of certain racial subcultures

What is Ethnic identification?

The extent to which we are emotionally attached to our own ethnic group and how strongly they are in our identity

What do we mean by geodemography?

The statistical study of human populations, focusing on their size, composition, and distribution, including characteristics like age, income, education, and family structure

 How does a system like PRIZM help in generating segments?

A system like PRIZM (Potential Rating Index for Zip Markets) helps generate segments

What is personality?

A person’s unique character traits, psychological makeup, reflects individual differences

How did Freud think about personality?

Freud believed that unconscious drives (biological/sexual) are at the heart of human motivation and personality

What is the id?

Part of the mind is all about immediate gratification and operates on pleasure principle

What is the ego?

System that mediates between Id and Superego. Finds ways to satisfy Id in ways that  the outside world is okay with

What is the superego?

Person’s consciousness. Internalizes rules of society and tries to prevent the Id from seeking selfish gratification

How did Neo-Freudians think about personality?

Believed that social relationships are fundamental to the formation and development of personality

What is motivational research?

Relies on depth interviews to probe deeply into motivations and personality

What is the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation technique? How is this related to motivational research?

• A patented, qualitative market research tool designed to uncover the subconscious thoughts, emotions, and motivations that drive consumer behavior

• Like traditional, psychology-driven motivational research, ZMET assumes that people cannot always articulate their true needs and desires. ZMET helps them articulate what they "don't know they know" by using imagery to bridge the gap between their subconscious thoughts and conscious expression.

How does trait theory of personality conceptualize or view personality?

Focuses on the quantitative measurement of personality traits, which are the identifiable characteristics that define a person

Trait theory metrics that marketers might be interested in?

Big Five Inventory: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

How does the need for cognition impact consumers' susceptibility to misleading sales signs?

A person’s tendency to enjoy and engage in effortful thinking—significantly impacts how consumers respond to misleading sales signs, with higher NFC acting as a barrier to manipulation while lower NFC increases vulnerability. (Low and High Need for Cognition)

What do we mean by values?

Reflects what is important to us or what we consider good and bad

What is a value system?

Value system is a cultures relative importance of universal values

How might values differ depending on culture?

Cultural values define how individuals prefer to navigate life, interact with others, and complete tasks. These values differ significantly across nations, age groups, and religions, influencing everything from communication styles to work approaches

How might values be related to Individualism vs. Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Gender Egalitarianism, Assertiveness, Orientation to Time, and Being vs. Doing impact consumer behaviors?

These dimensions—ranging from individualism to time orientation—guide preferences for brand loyalty, risk-taking, status, and communication styles.

What is a lifestyle?

A pattern of consumption that reflects a person’s choices of how to spend his or her time and money

What is a lifestyle marketing perspective?

People sort themselves into groups based on how the things they like to do, how they like to spend their time, and how they choose to spend disposable income

Why do marketers care about consumer lifestyles?

It allows them to understand the "why" behind purchasing decisions, moving beyond basic demographics (age/location) to understand a consumer's values, interests, and habits

What are psychographics?

The use of psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors to form market segments

What are the five major uses of psychographics in marketing?

• Personality: Traits like introversion vs. extroversion.

• Lifestyle: Daily habits, hobbies, and routines.

• Values: Beliefs on right/wrong (e.g., sustainability).

• Attitudes: Opinions towards topics, brands, or products.

• Social Status: Socioeconomic position and aspirations.

What is a buyer persona?

A “story” about your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers

How is buyer persona be linked to psychographics, values, and lifestyles?

The ideal customer character helps you to connect with the type of person you hope to reach because it gives you a more concrete way to think about your customers.

How might AIOs play a role in understanding consumer lifestyles/psychographics?

• Using data from large samples, marketers create profiles of customers who resemble each other in their activities and patterns of product usage.

• Most contemporary psychographic research attempts to group consumers according to some combination of three categories of variables: Activities, interests, and opinions

What is the VALS Framework?

A psychographic segmentation system

What is a brand?

Name, term, sign, symbol, design, or combination of these, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller and to differentiate them from those of competitors’

What do we mean by brand elements?

The unique and identifiable components of a brand’s identity

Why is brand personality important to developing strong brands?

The set of human characteristics associated with a brand

Why should we care about brands when thinking about consumer self-concepts?

Consumers commonly compare and contrast brands on a range of familiar characteristics

What is brand resonance?

The condition that occurs when a brand truly speaks to some aspect of a consumer’s individual life or the culture in which they live

How does the brand resonance pyramid help us work toward brand resonance?

Helps marketers build brand resonance by providing a structured, sequential framework that transforms a brand from unknown to an essential, deeply-loved, and active part of a consumer's life

How do the lower tiers of the pyramid build upon one another to move consumers toward loyalty?

It ensures that brands build a solid foundation of awareness and meaning before attempting to foster deep emotional bonds, avoiding the "shortcut" of attempting to create loyalty without trust or value

What is a brand-self connection?

The degree to which a consumer incorporates a brand into their self-concept, treating the brand as part of who they are, their identity, or their personal values

How might a brand-self connection impact consumers’ thoughts or feelings about themselves?

Brand-self connections profoundly impact how consumers feel about themselves, often acting as a tool for self-esteem maintenance or enhancement

What do we mean by conformity?

Change in beliefs and behaviors as a reaction to real or imagined group influences

How did Solomon Asch investigate group influence and conformity? What did his experiments demonstrate?

• Solomon Asch investigated group influence and conformity through a series of famous experiments demonstrating that individuals would often ignore their own senses to conform to an obviously incorrect majority

• Participants were shown a card with a line on it and a card with three other lines (A, B, and C) of varying lengths. They had to state aloud which comparison line was the same length as the standard line. The confederates were instructed to give the wrong answer on 12 out of 18 trials. The real participant was placed last or near last in the seating order, meaning they heard the majority give the same incorrect answer before providing their own.

What is a norm?

A social rule or expectation that guides how people behave in a group or social setting

What is the difference between a descriptive norm and prescriptive norm?

• Descriptive norm: Informational or perception on what people are doing

• Prescriptive norm: Refers to our own beliefs about what other people think we should be doing

How have descriptive norms been used by marketers to influence consumer behaviors?

Door card saying other people are reusing their towels and a door card just telling people to care about the environment and re-use their towels

What do we mean by normative social influence?

We can conform to fit in and gain acceptance and feel good

What do we mean by informational social influence?

We believe that a group possess components and correct information especially in ambiguous tasks

What do we mean by referent influence?

Imitating behavior of people we find attractive or group we admire

Why are reference groups important when it comes to social influence?

Comparative standard group that we look to for guidance on how to behave

What is the difference between associative, dissociative, and aspirational reference groups?

• Associative: Reference group that we want to be apart of

• Dissociative: reference group we do not want to be apart of

• Aspirational: A reference group we want to be apart of in the future

What is word of mouth (WOM) marketing?

Product information that consumers transmit to other individuals

What makes WOM better for marketers than other forms of marketing communications?

Comes from targeted consumers and from trusted sources

How does product characteristics (e.g. public nature, environmental cues, or interesting nature of the product) impact the amount of WOM for products?

Products that are more visible (public nature), environmentally friendly, or unique (interesting) tend to generate higher volumes of conversation because they offer higher social currency

How or why does sequential choice lead to suboptimal individual decisions for consumers?

The process of evaluating options one at a time rather than all at once—often leads to suboptimal consumer decisions because it limits direct comparison, increases cognitive load, and triggers psychological biases that favor "hope" over rational evaluation.

How does social influence impact the amount of food taken/consumed by individuals?

When participants got food with other people (skinny and fat) it impacted how much food they put on their plate, if a fat person was behind them then they tended to take less food because there was someone who eats more behind them and it was the opposite for a skinny person

How does body type play a role in this situation?

Consumers anchor on the quantities others around them select but that these portions are adjusted according to the body type of the other consumer. We find that people choose a larger portion following another consumer who first selects a large quantity but that this portion is significantly smaller if the other is obese than if she is thin. We also find that the adjustment is more pronounced for consumers who are low in appearance self-esteem and that it is attenuated under cognitive load.

What is an opinion leader?

A person who is knowledgeable about certain products and who other people take seriously

What is an influencer?

Someone who exert or carries influence

What do we mean by collective decision-making?

Two or more people who may have the same level of investment in the outcome -the same taste, perceptions, and priorities

How are initiator, gatekeeper, influencer, buyer, and user different in collective decision-making? Can the same person take on many roles in this collective decision-making process?

• Initiator: The person who first recognizes a need or brings up the idea to purchase a product or service. 

• Gatekeeper: The individual who controls the flow of information, including searching for alternatives and controlling access to decision-makers.

• Influencer: A person whose views, expertise, or opinions sway the final decision. They often hold technical knowledge or have a vested interest in the outcome.

• Buyer (or Decider): The person with the authority to select the supplier, negotiate terms, and make the actual purchase.

• User: The person or team who actually consumes or uses the product/service.

• One person often plays multiple roles simultaneously

What is social class?

A group of people who have similar levels of prestige and esteem and share beliefs, attitudes, and values expressed in their thinking and behavior

How do resources or capital among various social classes differ?

• Economic capital: wealth and money

• Social capital: Other people and resources

• Cultural capital: Distinct taste and practices

What do we mean by social stratification?

Creation of artificial divisions that allow us to understand the structure of society, the relative size of the different socioeconomic groups, and the types of consumer behaviors that are prevalent in each stratum

What is social status?

Where we think we stand in a society. To assess that standing, we compare ourselves and what we have with others and what they have

 How does comparison or reference groups impact perceptions of social status?

Comparison and reference groups are fundamental to how individuals perceive their own social status, acting as the subjective benchmark for evaluating wealth, achievement, and standing rather than objective measures alone

What is the difference between upward and downward comparison?

• Upward: We compare ourselves to people in aspirational groups (above us)

• Downward: Compare ourselves to people not as well off as us and who we believe to be in a lower class than us (Below us)

What do we mean by the hedonic treadmill?

No matter how much our material life continues to change, our well-being will revert to its baseline