CNSRSCI 657 Exam 1

industries & groups that are relevant to consumer behavior

Marketing managers
b. Ethicists and advocacy groups
c. Public policy makers and regulators
d. Friends & family

Applications of Consumer Behavior

Product development
b. Brand positioning
c. Pricing
d. Distribution

What is Motivated Reasoning and give an example?

Processing information in a way that allows consumers to reach
the conclusion they want to reach, whether true or not
‒ Example of motivated reasoning is confirmation bias, seeking
information that supports own conclusion

What is meant by felt involvement? Name 2 defining aspects

Felt involvement is the consumers experience of being motivated.
• Enduring – interest over the long term, coffee culture
• Situational – temporary, in the moment than gone, grocery shopping
• Cognitive – dedicated thinking, related to a goal, learning about a
new puppy
• Affective – willingness to expend emotional energy about an offering
or activity, planning a vacation, or deciding where to go to college

Drivers of motivation

Needs
b. Values
c. Goals
d. Personal relevance

Universal Characteristics of needs

Internally or externally activated
b. Dynamic
c. Exist in hierarchy
d. Can cause conflict

Types of need conflicts

Approach-avoidance conflict
c. Approach-approach conflict
d. Avoidance-avoidance conflict

What is Appraisal Theory?

Emotions are determined by how we think about or “appraise” the
situation/outcome and its relevance to goals
• Feel joy or pride when outcome is consistent with goal
• Certainty: Is the outcome certain to occur or not?
• Compatibility: Is the outcome relevant to what is expected?
• Agency: Was I the cause of the outcome?

High effort behavior

involves considerable effort, a willingness to spend time and
money.
‒ Examples include buying a car, renting an apartment, or planning a
vacation

low effort behavior

very little effort and is often done subconsciously. Often characterized by the use of short cuts.
‒ Examples include shopping for food and household products or
walking

What are three characteristics of low effort thinking?

Consistent with the concepts of fast thinking and snap judgements
• Represents the majority of our everyday actions
• Don’t actively process messages, often below conscious
awareness
• Unwilling/unable to use effort or emotional resources to
process a message or idea

High effort hierarchy

Beliefs(think)→Attitudes(feel)→ Behavior(do)

Low-effort hierarchy

Beliefs(think)→ Behavior(do)→ Attitudes(feel)

Stages of decision making

Problem recognition
b. Information search
c. Decision-making
d. Post purchase evaluation

What are snap judgments

Instantaneous judgments, very quick
• Unconscious, occur “below the surface”
• More the rule than the exception
• Rely on “thin slices” of experience, or very small
amounts of information

What are the two systems of thinking that drive human judgment
and decision-making as described by Daniel Kahneman in
Thinking, Fast and Slow?

A theory about how our thinking and actions can arise in two
different ways, or as a result of two different processes.
The two processes consist of system 1, an implicit (automatic),
unconscious process, and system 2, an explicit (controlled),
conscious process.

What are the characteristics of system 1?

System one is fast, intuitive, and automatic thinking.
• Automatic
• No sense of voluntary control
• Little or no effort
• Mood or feeling affects the operation of system
• Fast
• Error prone
• Often driven by emotions

What is system 2 and the characteristics?

System two involves thinking that is more complex and takes
concentration.
Characteristics:
Slow
Deliberate
Rational
Conscious
Reflective
Where learning takes place
Can also make mistakes!

What is the priming effect?

An implicit memory effect in which exposure to a stimulus
influences a response to a later stimulus. Can
influence behavior by activating certain concepts or ideas in the
mind, which then affect subsequent actions or decisions.
Example:
At the entrance of a grocery store are a display of fresh fruits and
vegetables with a sign that reads “Healthy Choices." Consumers
might be more inclined to choose healthier food options because
the concept of health has been primed in their minds.

How are self-control and cognitive effort (System 2) considered
divergent forms of mental work?

Both of these are forms of mental work and rely on the same constrained
resources of effort, which can cause conflict
• When cognitive effort is high (a lot on our mind), cognitive strain sets in and self-
control is reduced
• In these situations were are more prone to give in to the vulnerabilities of S1 such as selfish choices, superficial social judgements

Explain the concept of overconfidence and its significance in our
everyday behavior. What are the misconceptions at play?

According to Daniel Kahneman, overconfidence is “the most significant of
the cognitive biases”
• Tendency of individuals to have too much confidence in judgments,
abilities, or beliefs
• Everyday phenomenon based on our need for coherence
• Examples include exaggerated knowledge or expertise in a particular
domain and positivity bias
• Some of our own misconceptions driving overconfidence:
ꟷ Illusion of understanding – belief we have a greater understanding of complex
phenomena than reality. False sense of coherence
ꟷ Planning fallacy causes people to underestimate the time needed to get things done
ꟷ Illusion of validity leads us to overestimate the ability to predict future outcomes

What is the endowment effect?

a form of emotional bias in which
people give more value to things merely because they own
them.
They form a sense of attachment and belonging and are less
willing to part with things. This attachment can happen within
the first few seconds of placing that object in their hands!

How can individuals mitigate the risks associated with the bias of
overconfidence?

By recognizing overconfidence as a cognitive bias
• Slowing down and critically evaluating our confidence
• Actively seeking out diverse perspectives and information

When it comes to MAO, name three influences/detractors
related to opportunity?

Lack of time
Distraction
The amount of complexity
Repetition
Control of information

Name two examples of perceived of buying and consumption?

New offering
High price
Complex technology
Brand differentiation

Factors that influence exposure

Position of an ad
c. Product distribution
d. Shelf placement

Examples of selective exposure

. Zipping: Fast-forwarding through ads
b. Zapping: Switching channels during ads
c. Cord-cutting - Streaming over cable/satellite television

Characters of attention

Attention is limited

Attention must be selective

Attention can be divided

What are ways of attracting attention in marketing, communication, such as advertsing?

Personal relevance
b. Pleasantness
c. Element of surprise
d. Easy to process

What are some factors that influence visual perception?

Package size and shape
Distinctive lettering/font
Color
Appearance of being new or worn

What is meant by differential thresholds such as Just Noticeable
Difference (JND)?

Intensity difference needed between two stimuli before they are perceived to
be different
Examples:
• The smallest difference of quantity of salt in a soup for us to perceive a
difference in taste
• Turning up the TV or radio volume and not noticing a difference until a
certain point
To quantify the difference threshold, psycho-physicist Ernst Weber developed
what is known as the Weber’s Law or Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

What is meant by comprehension?

Identify the stimulus and understanding the message

What is meant by source identification?

Determining what a perceived stimulus actually is, such as if it is a
marketing message. SI helps us rapidly determine which stimulus are
relevant to us.
Many techniques make it harder for consumers to determine if it is a
marketing message or not including:
‒ Product Placement
‒ Advertorial
‒ Informercials
‒ Social media messages (consumer generated vs. marketing
sponsored)

What are consumer inferences?

conclusions consumers draw or interpretations they form based on a message, name, logo or whole mktg mix.
Examples:
• Brand names and symbols
• Product features and packaging
−Product attributes
−Country of origin
−Package design
−Price

What are the three types of memory most relevant in consumer
behavior?

Sensory: Temporary & automatic – all 5 senses
2. Working: Short lived - only 20-30 seconds
3. Long term: Permanent, episodic and semantic

What are the two forms of explicit memory that are key concepts
in marketing and advertising?

Recognition

Recall

What are different techniques used to enhance memory?

Chunking
b. Rehearsal
c. Recirculation
d. Elaboration

Associated with retrieval failures

Decay
b. Interference
c. Primacy effect
d. Recency effect

What are some examples of retrieval cues?

Brand name
Logos
Package
Images
Familiar branding and typefaces

Cognitive models of attitude formation

Elaborating on an experience
• By analogy
• Individual values
• Your own social identities
• Analytic processes

What is the Theory of Reasoned Action (TORA/TRA) Model?

Theory of reasoned action (TORA/TRA) Model: An expanded
view of how, when, and why attitudes predict behavior
‒ Behavior is determined by behavioral intentions that is
driven by attitudes and subjective norms (what we
perceive others want us to do)
‒ Normative influences play a significant role in how
people behave

Message strategies

Strong argument
• One-sided messages
• Two-sided messages
• Comparative message

What is meant by peripheral route to persuasion?

Focusing on other, more simple aspects rather than the key message arguments.Peripheral cues: Easily processed characteristics of a message, such as source or visuals

What is meant by thin-slice judgements?

Evaluations made after very brief observations, e.g., quick impressions of people or products
Consistent with Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of Snap Judgements

What are ways consumers acquire simple beliefs?

Simple inferences: beliefs based on peripheral cues or simple
associations, analogy of brand based on COO (e.g., wine)
2. Heuristics: Simple rules of thumb that are used to make
judgments, popular brand must be good
‒ Frequency heuristic: Belief based on the number of reasons
for liking
‒ Truth effect: Consumers believe a statement simply because
it has been repeated a number of times
3. Based on an endorsement

What are three characteristics of communication that influence attitudes?

Communication source - unlike HL processing, use little
effort/simple cue in judging
2. Message – message itself can influence attitudes in a number
of ways,
3. Context - How and in what situation the message is delivered
can also influence attitudes

What factors influence affective (emotionally based) attitudes?

Communication sources: Physical attractiveness, likability, and celebrity
• Message: Pleasant pictures, Music, Humor, Sexual Appeal,
Emotional content, Context

What is the mere exposure effect?

Tendency to prefer familiar objects. Through repeated exposure
we become familiar and come to like the object. Also reduces
uncertainty.

Explain how moods affect attitude formation

We are more prone to like or dislike something if we are in
a good or bad mood
• Consumers in a good mood tend to ignore negative
information about brand, especially if they are not
committed
• We tend to elaborate when in a good mood and think
more creatively

Prototypical brands…

brands viewed as the best

Perceptual organization…

represents a somewhat higher, more meaningful level of
processing than simply having stimuli register on consumers'
sensory receptors

Taxonomic categories are grouping of objects in an orderly, often
hierarchical way, based on their…

similarity to one another. Fairly stable

Goal derived categories contains objects that share the same overall
goal, even though they…

may belong to different taxonomic categories. More dynamic

Consumers typically start with internal search, their memories,
involving…

a variety of information, emotion and experiences. Four
major types of information recalled: brands, attributes, our
evaluations, and experiences.

External search, outside sources, starts when internal is
exhausted, prepurchase and ongoing search

Packaging can serve as a retrieval cue by using…

vivid, memorable colors or unusual shapes

if two cars are the same price, then price is not diagnostic, or
useful…

when consumers are making a decision.
True, consumes will seek other differentiating attributes to help
make a decision, such as sought-after features.

Maslow groups needs into a hierarchy of 5 categories.

People generally fulfill lower order needs such as food, water,
sleep, before higher order needs, such as social, egoistic or self
actualization.
• However, people don’t always follow this logic and will sometimes
seek higher order needs, such as achievement, at the expense of
physiological needs, such as sleep

Echoic memory is the sensory memory…

of things we hear

Sensory memory related to sight…

is iconic memory

approach-approach conflict

the inner struggle about which offering to acquire when each can satisfy an important but different need.

Primacy

the tendency to show greater memory for information that comes first in a sequence

Prevention-focused consumers…

tend to preserve the status quo by staying with the option
they know.

What are taxonomic categories and how do consumers use them
to structure knowledge in memory?

What are taxonomic categories and how do consumers use them
to structure knowledge in memory?
Classifying objects in memory in an orderly, often hierarchical way,
based on their similarity to each other
Sports drinks
Liquid dish soap
Frozen pizza

What are attitudes, and what three functions do they serve?

Attitudes are evaluations or impressions of an object, person, issue
or action that is enduring and relatively global.
Three functions:
Cognitive – affecting our thoughts
Affective – affecting our emotions
Connative –affecting our behavior

Consumers are not always confident after decisions. Describe the
two forms of discontent that consumers have

1. Dissonance
• Post-decision dissonance is a feeling of anxiety or uncertainty
about a decision
• Consumers seek to reduce dissonance by collecting additional
information that is used to make them feel better
• Most likely to occur when there is more than one appealing
option, and the decision is important
2. Regret:
• Post-decision regret is formed when the consumer feels that
the wrong purchase decision was made
• Occurs when consumers perceive an unfavorable comparison

Name three ways consumer experiences are a powerful source of
knowledge.

Experiences that occur during consumption or disposition can
be an important source of information to the consumer.
• Information is more credible
• Experiencing an event is more involving
• Information acquired from experience is more vivid to the
consumer and is easier to remember
• Information about attributes that must be experienced
through taste, touch, or smell exert a stronger influence on
consumers’ future behavior

How do expectations and performance contribute to
disconfirmation?

any discrepancy between what a consumer
expects from a given consumption experience and the actual
performance. When expectations are exceeded by
performance, this results in positive disconfirmation known as
satisfaction. When performance fails to meet expectations, a
negative disconfirmation, or state of dissatisfaction, occurs

Define attribution theory explain how it relates to
dissatisfaction?

theory demonstrates how individuals explain
events. It is based on the factors of stability, focus, and
controllability. If the cause of the dissatisfaction with a
product or service is permanent, company related, and
under the company’s control, then consumers will be
dissatisfied whereas if the dissatisfaction is not seen as the
fault of the company or happens rarely consumers are less
likely to be dissatisfied

In what ways can consumers dispose of something?

give it away
• exchange it for something else
• recycle it
• sell it
• use it up
• throw it out
• abandon it
• destroy it

Why is it important for companies to consider both physical and
emotional detachment aspects of consumer disposition?

Disposition decisions often influence later decisions because
the disposal of a particular item often acquires another.
Product disposition behaviors can sometimes have a major
impact on society in general.
Possessions can define an individual and the emotional
detachment may be a more extensive process than the
physical separation