cbma week 2: consumer decision making

consumer behavior and marketing action ibcom

consumer decision process

1. problem recognition

2. information search

3. evaluation of alternatives

4. product decision

5. post-purchase behaviors

problem recognition

occurs when a consumer sees a significant difference between his or her current state and a desired/ideal state

1. opportunity recognition: ideal state moves upward

2. need recognition: actual state moves downward

information search

1. prepurchase vs. ongoing search

2. internal vs. external search

3. deliberate vs. accidental search

sensory-specific satiety

• a cause of variety seeking when there is relatively little stimulation in the environment of a consumer

• desire to choose new alternatives over familiar ones

evaluation of alternatives

product categorization:

1. evoked set (different brands of cola)

2. consideration set (coca cola, pepsi)

• success of brands depends on whether they belong to the evoked set of consumers

• position the brand in such a way that a consumer is able to add the brand to the evoked set

• products in an evoked set share similar features

• when faced with a new product, consumers refer to already existing knowledge in familiar product categories to form new knowledge (cola zero)

evoked set

• products already in memory

• products are comparable to each other, they belong to the same product category

consideration set

the products that are considered for purchase

evaluation of alternatives: product positioning

• the way a product is grouped with other products has implications of who the competitors are and on what criteria consumers make their choice (Colgate beef lasagne?/Redken Beer shampoo?)

• success depends on convincing the consumer that the product should be considered in the category (orange juice repositioned that could be enjoyed all day)

critique consideration sets

• consideration sets are usually small

• brand choices are contextual (wine/skyradio/coffee/cola)

• why would many ads connecting product/service to specific situations?

category entry points (CEP)

• are the reasons, triggers, or situations when consumers consider buying a product in your category (milk/snickers)

• building mental availability:

  • brands should try to connect to as many CEPs as possible

  • to get bought more often by more people

framework for generation CEPs (5W’s)

1. why?

2. when?

3. where?

4. with whom?

5. with what?

the deliberation-without-attention effect

• simple task: simple decisions are enhanced by conscious thought

• complex task: complex decisions are enhanced by unconscious thought

• conscious thinking: limited capacity, decision making requires cognitive resources

• unconscious thinking: no limited capacity, decision making requires no cognitive resources

hypothesis: conscious thinking leads to good choices when it concerns simple choices. but its limited capacity has the consequence that it is not efficient enough when it concerns complex choices