Consumer Behavior Final Study Guide

Consumer

One who, or that which, consumes; as, the consumer of food.

Consumer Behavior

The study of processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and wants.

Pre-purchase

The phase before a consumer decides to make a purchase.

Purchase

The action of buying products or services.

After-purchase

The phase following the completion of a purchase.

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information.

Self-awareness

The capacity to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.

Mirror Self Recognition

The ability of an animal or human to recognize themselves in a mirror.

Persuasion

The process of convincing someone to do or believe something.

Situational Influence

The effects of situational factors on consumer decision making and behavior.

Emotional Response

A reaction that involves feelings that can affect consumer behavior.

Perception

The process by which sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted.

Sensation

The immediate response of sensory receptors to basic stimuli such as light, sound, and texture.

Stimulus

Any object or event that elicits a sensory or behavioral response.

Sensory Threshold

The minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected on a given sensory channel.

Absolute Threshold

The smallest level of stimulus that can be detected.

Differential Threshold

The ability of a sensory system to detect changes or differences between two stimuli.

Subliminal Perception

Occurs when a stimulus is below the level of consumer awareness.

Haptic Senses

The sense of touch; the most basic of senses affecting product experience and judgment.

Trade Dress

Colors or designs associated with specific companies that help identify their products.

Gestalt Psychology

The study of how people derive meaning from the totality of a set of stimuli rather than from any individual stimulus.

Perceptual Vigilance

The tendency to be more aware of stimuli that relate to our current needs.

Perceptual Defense

The tendency to see what we want to see and ignore what we don’t want to see.

Exposure

The extent to which people notice a stimulus that is within range of their sensory receptors.

Attention

The degree of processing activity that is devoted to a particular stimulus.

Mental Schema

Mental templates or organized structures of beliefs and feelings that reflect experiences.

Consumer Behavior

The study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources.

Sensory Marketing

Companies consider the impact of sensations on consumers' product/service experiences.

Color Coordinates

A system for defining colors numerically, such as RGB (red, green, blue) values.

Attention Attraction

Techniques used to capture consumers' attention in a sensory-overloaded environment.

Figure-Ground Principle

When one part of a stimulus dominates (figure) while other parts recede (ground).

Closure Principle

Consumers fill in missing elements to complete a familiar figure.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior caused by experience.

Behavioral Learning Theories

Theories that assume learning takes place as a result of responses to external events.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an eliciting stimulus to produce a response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally elicits a response without any conditioning.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairings with the UCS, elicits a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has become a conditioned stimulus.

Instrumental Conditioning

A learning process in which behavior is influenced by its consequences, leading to reinforcement or punishment.

Positive Reinforcement

When a behavior is followed by a desirable event or state, increasing the likelihood of that behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

When a behavior leads to the removal of an undesirable event or state, also increasing the likelihood of that behavior.

Punishment

Consequences that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Extinction (in learning)

The reduction in the frequency of a behavior that occurs when reinforcements are no longer provided.

Cognitive Learning Theory

A theory that focuses on learning as an internal mental process involving problem-solving and decision-making.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs through observing the behaviors of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency for stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus to evoke similar conditioned responses.

Repetition in Marketing

Increased exposures to a brand which lead to higher awareness and learning but can lead to wear out if excessive.

Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

A study that demonstrated the role of observational learning in children's behavior.

Motivation

The processes that cause people to behave as they do, arising when a need is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy.

Goal

A current state of commitment to expend effort to affect one's relationship with an end-state.

Approach-Approach Conflict

A situation where a person must choose between two desirable alternatives.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

A situation where a person desires a goal but simultaneously wishes to avoid it.

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

A situation where a person faces a choice between two undesirable alternatives.

Psychological Factors

Elements that influence consumer behavior, including motivation and the need to satisfy certain desires.

Motivation vs. Desire

Motivation is behavior-oriented, while desire is only the start of the motivation process.

Tension Reduction

The process that occurs following the arousal of a need and leads to behavior aimed at achieving a goal to relieve tension.

Consumer Co-Value Creation

Involving consumers in the process of co-creating value by linking them to the meanings behind marketing efforts.

Feedback

Responses or outcomes that provide information about the success of a behavior in achieving a goal.

Emotion

An internal state that generates physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes in response to a stimulus event.

Physiological changes

Different bodily responses including patterns of brain activation, neurotransmitter production, and nerve system activity that result from emotions.

Cognitive appraisal

The interpretation of a situation that influences emotional experience by providing meaning to the event.

Behavioral responses

Actions resulting from emotions, such as fight or flight, seeking help, or facial expressions.

Basic emotions

Fundamental feelings that are universally recognized, including happiness, sadness, fear, and surprise.

Function of emotion

Emotions play essential roles in human behavior, including association building, providing information, and mood regulation.

Application of emotion in consumer behavior

The way emotions influence purchase decisions through association building and emotional responses.

Facial color

An efficient mechanism to visually transmit emotion, aiding in the communication of feelings.

Fear

An emotion that triggers physiological responses geared towards fight or flight when faced with danger.

Sadness

An emotion characterized by feelings of loss or helplessness, often resulting in a desire for social support.

Self-Concept

Beliefs a person holds about his/her own attributes, and how he/she evaluates these qualities.

Self-Esteem

Positivity of a person’s self-concept.

Body Image

A consumer's subjective evaluation of his/her physical self.

Extended Self

External objects considered a part of us.

Ideal Self

Conception of how we would like to be (forever changing).

Actual Self

More realistic appraisal of the qualities we have.

Real Self

Who I am; how we think, feel, look and act.

Ideal Self

Who I want to be; an idealized image that we have developed over time, based on what we have learned and experienced.

Masculinism

Study of male image and the complex cultural meanings of masculinity.

Sex-typed traits

Characteristics we stereotypically associate with one gender or the other.

Sex-typed products

Take on masculine or feminine attributes.

Agenic roles

Men are expected to be assertive and have certain skills.

Communal roles

Women are taught to foster harmonious relationships.

Conscious Mind

Consists of all the mental processes of which we are aware.

Unconscious Mind

Comprises mental processes that are inaccessible to consciousness but that influence judgments, feelings, or behavior.

Id

Pleasure principle (the party animal).

Superego

Our conscience (prevents the id from seeking selfish gratification).

Ego

Mediates between the id and superego (the referee).

Freudian Theory Marketing Implications

Marketers use unconscious motives underlying purchases & Symbolism in products to compromise id and superego

Symbolic Mistress (Dr. Ditcher)

Dr. Ditcher concluded that men saw the convertible as a possible symbolic mistress; it set them daydreaming of youth, romance, adventure.

Personality

Person’s unique psychological makeup and how it consistently influences the way a person responds to his/her environment.

Trait Theory

Measure personality in terms of specific psychological characteristics—traits.

Trait

Any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs from another.

Openness to experience

A Big Five Trait that is imaginative, creative and has broad interests.

Conscientiousness

A Big Five Trait that is careful, reliable, hardworking and well-organized.

Extraversion

A Big Five Trait that is sociable, fun-loving, affectionate and talkative.

Agreeableness

A Big Five Trait that is good-natured, selfless, sympathetic and forgiving.

Neuroticism

A Big Five Trait that is nervous, worrying, highly strung and insecure.

Brand Personality

Set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person. Examples are sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, ruggedness.

Persuasion

An active attempt to change attitudes.

Reciprocity

The principle that we are more likely to give if we first receive.

Reject-and-retreat technique

A persuasion technique involving a change from a larger to a smaller request.