k

Consumer behavior

The totality of consumers' decisions with respect to the acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods and services, time, and ideas by (human) decision making units [over time]

Characteristics of consumer behavior

Dynamic; may involve several people; involves decisions

Consumer decisions (to acquire, use, or dispose)

Whether, what, why, how, when, where, how much, how often

Model of consumer behavior: internal influences

Needs, product knowledge and experiences, personality

Model of consumer behavior: external influences

Time, society, social class, reference groups

Model of consumer behavior: processing information

Exposure, attention, perception (encoding); interpretation, categorization, comprehension; integration (attitudes, emotions, intentions); storage and retrieval (memory)

Model of consumer behavior: decisions

Problem recognition and information search; judgment and decision making; post-decision processes and consumer behavior outcomes

Groups interested in consumer behavior

Brand/marketing managers; academics; consumers; government regulators/public policy makers; ethicists/social advocacy groups; legal profession

Applications of consumer behavior (why study it)

Market segmentation; target market selection; positioning; product or service decisions; pricing decisions; distribution decisions; promotion decisions

Marketing implications of consumer behavior

Developing/implementing customer-orientation; segmenting the market (profitability, characteristics, customer satisfaction of each segment); selecting the target market

Motivation

Goal-directed arousal; associated with involvement in a decision (cognitive vs. affective; enduring vs. situational)

Ability

Extent to which consumers have the resources necessary to make a decision or behavior happen (knowledge, intelligence, education, money)

Opportunity

Extent to which the situation allows for decisions to be made or behaviors performed (conducive to thoughtful decision making)

Cognitive ability

Ability to think about a decision; high when consumers have knowledge, intelligence, and education

Action ability

Ability to enact a purchase decision; high when consumers have money

MAO facts

Relevant to a specific decision or behavior; independent entities (knowing motivation does not predict ability)

Financial planning example: motivation

Belief social security pensions won't be around; want to avoid financial risk; more self-employed

Financial planning example: ability

Higher wages (money); education from workshops, money management shows, seminars, newsletters

Financial planning example: opportunity

Financial freedom (more likely to do own planning); availability of services targeted at consumers

Why care about MAO? (High M + High A + High O)

Extensive exposure and attention; extensive attempts to comprehend; high-effort attitude formation; enduring memories; effortful search; effortful decision making (low MAO gives the limited/non-effortful versions)

When is motivation high?

Decision is relevant to needs (social vs. non-social/functional, symbolic, hedonic), values, and goals; or is seen as risky (economic, social, psychological, physical); high motivation means consumers feel involved

When is opportunity high?

Consumers not under time pressure; non-distracting environment; information is straightforward and not too complex; information is likely to be repeated

Personal factors affecting motivation

Personal relevance; self-concept; values; goals; needs; perceived risk

Perceived risk

The extent to which the consumer is uncertain about the personal consequences of buying, using, or disposing of an offering

Circumstances causing increased perceived risk

Lack of information; newness; high price; complex technology; brand differentiation

Types of perceived risk

Performance; financial; physical (safety); social; psychological; time

Risk reduction strategies by the consumer

Reduce consequences of failure (buy low priced items); increase certainty of outcome (buy the same brand)

Risk reduction strategies by the manufacturer/retailer

Reduce consequences of failure (long warranty); increase certainty of outcome (free sample); increase the risk or reduce certainty of outcome of a competitor's product

Need

An internal state of tension caused by disequilibrium from an ideal or desired state

Challenges to identifying needs

Lack of awareness; problems inferring needs from behaviors; cross-cultural complications

Solutions for identifying needs

Projective techniques; observations; storytelling; interviews; means-end chain method

Means-end chain model: attributes

Concrete and abstract

Means-end chain model: consequences

Functional and psychosocial

Means-end chain model: values (benefits)

Instrumental and terminal

Means-end chain example (Mach3 razor)

Spring suspension for triple blades -> close shave -> be well groomed; lubricating strip -> smooth, soft shave -> be comfortable

MAO and communication objectives: exposure and attention

Easy with high MAO; hard with low MAO

MAO and communication objectives: brand name awareness

Moderate with both high and low MAO

MAO and communication objectives: brand knowledge

Moderate with high MAO; hard with low MAO

MAO and communication objectives: brand attitudes

Hard with high MAO; easy with low MAO

MAO and communication objectives: loyalty and referral

Easy (if satisfied) with high MAO; hard with low MAO

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 1, brand exposure

Objective: generate exposure via marketing mix

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 2, brand name awareness

Objective: create/enhance brand name recall/recognition

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 3, brand knowledge

Objective: create/enhance brand knowledge and claim recall/recognition

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 4, brand attitudes

Objective: create/enhance (or change) brand attitudes

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 5, intentions

Objective: create/enhance purchase/usage/disposition intentions

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 6, decision making

Objective: create purchase/usage/disposition

Hierarchy of communication effects: stage 7, post-decision evaluation

Objective: enhance repeated decision likelihood; create loyalty

Exposure

The process by which the consumer comes in physical contact with a stimulus

Simmons

Research source for likely exposure

Nielsen/Arbitron

Research source for actual exposure

Factors influencing exposure

Position of an ad; product distribution; shelf placement

Ways to increase exposure probability

Repetition/media mix; tactics like unusual placement and road blocking

Wearout

Too much exposure

Attention

The process by which an individual allocates part of his or her cognitive resources (mental activity) to a stimulus

Properties of attention

Limited; capable of being divided; selective

When is enhancing attention most important?

When motivation is low (low involvement product) or opportunity is low (time pressured, distracting environment)

Methods of enhancing attention

Make the stimulus relevant; consistent with needs, values, goals; similar to consumer (source); like a drama; rhetorical questions; pleasant; visually attractive; musical; humorous; surprising; novel; unexpected; easy to process; prominent; concrete; contrasting with surrounding stimuli

Preattentive processing

Information that we process without being aware of processing it

Perception

The registration of stimuli by one of the five senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch

Absolute threshold (limen)

The lowest level of stimulation at which you can detect a difference between "something" and "nothing"

Differential threshold / just noticeable difference (j.n.d.)

Stimulation change required to result in detection of a change

Subliminal perception

Perception below the limen ("sub" = below limen)

Implications of sensing changes

Increases or decreases in product size, package, or price; changes in color, smell, taste, touch, sound; sometimes we want consumers to detect changes and sometimes we don't

Vicary

Ran the Coke-popcorn subliminal advertising experiment in the 1950s

Subliminal advertising techniques

Embedding; rapid presentations; faint presentations

Subliminal advertising: legality and research

Subliminal messages in ads are illegal in the U.S.; some research support for modest effects

Knowledge content

Schemas and associations

Association dimensions

Types; favorability; uniqueness; salience

Schema

Knowledge structure that exists for different things (companies, animals, cereals, politics); can consist of images

Schemas in marketing

Brand personality; extensions; co-branding alliances; fit with schema

Script

A special type of schema that represents our knowledge of a sequence of actions involved in performing an activity

Why scripts matter to marketers

Helps marketers understand how consumers buy and use an offering; may want consumer to consider the brand as part of the scripted activity

Taxonomic categories

Category structure involving prototypicality (e.g., retailers, students, SUV) and correlated associations, once removed

Hierarchical structure: superordinate level

Most general level (e.g., vehicles)

Hierarchical structure: basic level

Middle level (e.g., cars)

Hierarchical structure: subordinate level

Most specific level (e.g., convertibles)

Categorization by goals

Common outcomes (benefits) rather than associations; things belong in the same category if they fulfill the same consumer goal (applications: retail, online)

Differences in knowledge

Culture (associations such as wedding dresses; category members such as small cars; prototypicality such as snacks); correlated associations (status symbols); goal categories (convenience); level of expertise

Understanding (via categorization)

Inferences about other category members; elaboration (extent to which we think about something); evaluation (our affect or feelings about something); consideration set; satisfaction

Inferences (marketing examples)

Brand name selection (meaning, associations, misleading names); packaging and attributes (color such as credit cards, shape); price; imagery; wording of ads

Attitude

A relatively global and enduring evaluation of an object, issue, person, or action

Objects of attitudes

Product categories, brands, ads, stores, salespeople, packages, services, ideas

Actions of attitudes

Buying, using, disposing

Favorability (attitude dimension)

"I like it a lot"

Salience/accessibility (attitude dimension)

"I can remember my attitude toward it"

Strength/confidence (attitude dimension)

"I'm sure I like it"

Persistence (attitude dimension)

"I've liked it for a long time and will continue to like it"

Resistance to attack (attitude dimension)

"I'll like it no matter what anyone says about it"

High MAO and attitudes

High MAO leads to high elaboration, which produces salient attitudes, attitudes held with confidence, persistent attitudes, and attitudes resistant to counterattack

Challenge of high MAO

How to create favorable attitudes when MAO are high

High elaboration, thinking route

Cognitive response model; expectancy-value model

High elaboration, feeling route

Empathy

Low elaboration, thinking route

Simple beliefs, simple inferences, heuristics

Low elaboration, feeling route

Classical conditioning; mere exposure; mood

Counter arguments (CAs)

Thoughts that express disagreement with the message; lead to less favorable attitude or resistance to attitude change

Support arguments (SAs)

Thoughts that express agreement with the message; lead to positive attitudes or facilitate attitude change

Source derogations (SDs)

Thoughts that discount or attack the source of the message; lead to less favorable attitude or resistance to attitude change

Expectancy (bi)

How likely is it that an outcome will occur (scale 1 = not at all to 7 = very likely)

Value (ei)

How good or bad is it if an outcome occurs (scale -3 = very bad to +3 = very good)

Expectancy-value model

Overall attitude toward an object or action = sum of bi x ei across salient beliefs