consumer behavior exam 2

Attitudes

evaluations held towards objects, issues, people, actions, products/services/ads

Characteristics of attitudes include:

favorability, accessibility, confidence, persistence, resistance

ABC Approach to Attitudes

suggests that attitudes encompass one’s affect, behavior, and cognitions (or beliefs) toward an attitudinal object

ABC Approach - Affect

feelings about an object

ABC Approach - Behavior

consumers’ actions and intentions to behave

ABC Approach - Cognitions

beliefs that the consumer has about an object

Hierarchy of Effects (High-involvement)

Cognition – Affect – Behavior

Hierarchy of Effects (Low-involvement)

Cognition – Behavior – Affect

Hierarchy of Effects (Experiential)

Affect – Behavior – Cognition

Hierarchy of Effects (Behavioral Influence)

Behavior – Cognition - Affect

The conscious formation of attitudes can involve

Internal sources (memory), external sources (search, word-of-mouth), and contextual cues (environment, packaging)

Attitude-Toward-the-Object Model attributes

Number of attributes and beliefs about object

Strength of belief that an object possesses the attribute

Evaluation of the attractiveness/goodness of attribute

Do Attitudes Always Predict Behaviors?

no, consistency depends on attitude strength, accessibility, social norms, and situational constraints.

Theory of Reasoned Action (or behavioral intentions model/ TORA

to improve the ATO model, focusing on behavioral intentions, subjective norms, and attitude toward a particular behavior

Dissonance Reduction

Resolving psychological discomfort caused by inconsistency between attitudes and behavior by altering either the attitude or the behavior

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

suggests that there are high effort vs. low effort routes to persuasion (i.e., central route vs. peripheral route)

Central route (high involvement) - ELM Model

Careful evaluation of message arguments driven by cognitive responses, leading to enduring attitude change

peripheral route (low involvement) - ELM Model

involves little thought about the persuasive communication with temporary attitude change results, surface level attractiveness

Balance Theory

consumers are motivated to maintain perceived consistency in the relations found in a system

Balance theory is based off consistency principle:

human beings have a preference for consistency among their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors

Message effects on persuasion

how the appeal of a message and its construction affect persuasiveness (sex, humor, fear, violence)

Source effects on persuasion

characteristics of a source that influence the persuasiveness of a message (credibility, attractiveness, likeability, meaningfulness)

Message and Source Effects: sex appeals

persuasive even if they consider them offensive reactions can depend on various factors (gender, level of nudity)

Message and Source Effects: humor appeals

attract attention, create positive moods, enhance attitude toward a brand, and enhance purchase intentions (can decrease credibility of the message)

Message and Source Effects: fear appeals

Can backfire, effective when introduces the severity of the threat, explain the effectiveness of a coping strategy, and show how easy it is to implement the desired response

Message and Source Effects: violence effect

female consumers are less receptive to violent scenes; younger consumers are generally more receptive to violence in advertising

Source likeability affects persuasion more for consumers with:

low need for cognition

Source meaningfulness can matter because of the matchup hypothesis

source feature is most effective when it is matched with relevant products

sleeper effect (low credibility sources)

memory of the source can decay more rapidly than the memory of the message

reference group

individuals who have significant relevance for a consumer (that can have an impact on an individual’s behavior and evaluations)

Group influence

the ways in which group members influence the attitudes, behaviors, and opinions of others within the group

Mere Presence Effect

Consumers are more likely to buy brand names, less likely to have contact with products, and more likely to rush their decisions in the presence of others

The Spotlight Effect

Others can even have a big effect when we mistakenly believe that they really notice us

Types of Influence: Value-expressive/identification

wish to identify with a group / person

Types of Influence: Normative social influence

meet society’s / group’s expectations

Types of Influence: Informational social influence

information to help make decisions; e.g., WOM about consumption experiences, product recommendations

Types of Groups: Primary

involve frequent contact (e.g., very strong social ties)

Types of Groups: Secondary groups

involve less frequent contact (e.g., professional organizations, social clubs)

Types of Groups: Formal groups

a consumer officially joins (include a set of stated rules, accepted values, codes of conduct that members are expected to adhere to)

Types of Groups: Informal groups

have no membership or application requirements, and codes of conduct may not exist (e.g., groups that meet regularly to exercise)

Types of Groups: Aspiration groups

those in which a consumer desires to be a member (appeal to a consumer’s ideal self)

Types of Groups: Dissociative groups

those to which a consumer does not want to belong

Strategic Marketing Considerations: Admiration strategies

highly visible, widely-admired figures

Strategic Marketing Considerations: Membership strategies

(e.g., brand communities) focus on “ordinary” people

Strategic Marketing Considerations: Avoidance strategies

focus on undesirable people using a competitor’s product

Types of Social Power: Referent

A consumer admires the qualities of the group and emulates their behavior (e.g., new student joins a club on campus and imitates the behavior of its members)

Types of Social Power: Legitimate

Specific agreement regarding membership, and punishment for non-conformity is understood (e.g., housing association charging dues)

Types of Social Power: Expert

groups possess knowledge that members seek (e.g., seeking out medical information online)

Types of Social Power: Rewards

Groups have power to reward members for various behaviors (e.g., MVP award in sports)

Types of Social Power: Coercive

Groups have power to sanction group members for breaking rules or failing to follow expectations (e.g., football players are also expected to act a certain way off the field)

Normative social influence

Going along to get along (energy conservation example)

Social Proof

We determine what is correct, in part, by finding out what others think is correct (best sellers, reviews, influncers)

Pluralistic Ignorance

Sometimes when we see other people doing or saying nothing, we do or say nothing

Word-of-Mouth Communication (WOM)

the information about products, services, and experiences that is transmitted from consumer to consumer (more reliable)

Guerilla marketing

refers to the marketing of a product using unconventional means

Buzz marketing

generating excitement among consumers

viral marketing

uses online technologies to facilitate WOM

Stealth marketing

guerilla marketing tactic in which consumers do not realize that they are being targeted for a marketing message (EX: product placements)

Stealth marketing: shilling

compensating consumers to talk about or promote products without disclosing they are working for a company

Stealth marketing: infiltrating

Using fake identities in online discussions to promote a product

WOM Agents: opinion leaders

consumers who have an influence on the behavior of others relating to product adoption and purchase

WOM Agents: market mavens

consumers who spread information about all types of products and services that are available in the marketplace

WOM Agents: surrogate consumers

those who are hired by another to provide input into a purchase decision

The Correspondence Bias

Inferring correspondence between others’ actions and underlying mental states

Culture

set of principles, beliefs, values, expectations, knowledge or behavioral norms shared by a group of individuals

Culture matters because

it can increase cohesion, commitment to shared goals, and coordination

Consumer culture

Commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying (performs important functions that shape the value of consumer activities)

What does culture do?

gives meaning to objects, gives meaning to activities, facilitates communication

cultural sanction

a penalty associated with performing non-gratifying or culturally inconsistent behavior

cultural norm

specifies appropriate consumer behavior in a situation within a specific culture

Socialization

a process of learning through observation of and the active processing of information about lived experiences

Enculturation

learning of the culture of one’s own society

Acculturation

refers to the learning of a new or “foreign” culture

core societal values (CSVs)

reflect a commonly agreed-upon consensus about the most preferable ways of living within a society

Dimensions of cultural values (CSV)

individualism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence-restraint

High Long-Term Orientation (LTO)

Value future rewards over shorter-term rewards

Low Long-Term Orientation (LTO)

Society is more oriented in the present

High indulgence restraint:

Tends to value happiness, extraversion

Low indulgence restraint

Tends to value restraint, reserved personalities

High-Arousal Positive (HAP) States:

European Americans and Western cultures place a higher value on excitement, enthusiasm, elation, and active energy.

Low-Arousal Positive (LAP) States:

East Asian cultures place a higher value on calm, peacefulness, serenity, and relaxed states

High power distance:

Society values the division of authority and privilege, tend to show deference to those with higher status

Low power distance:

Society blurs distinction between those in different social classes, tend to be more egalitarian

Standardization:

consistent brand name, uniform packaging, standardized advertising

Localization:

Adapt to meet demands of specific country’s consumers

Glocalization:

Combination of globalization (i.e., standardization) and localization; brand and product/service distributed globally but also adjusted to accommodate consumers in local market

Microcultures

Regional differences, generational cohorts, social classes, family

Divergence

A situation in which consumers choose membership in microcultures in an effort to stand out or define themselves from the crowd