CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Q: Situational influences are factors particular to a ______ and ______ that do not follow the ______ attributes of the consumer and the stimulus.

A: Time and place; temporary conditions; enduring.

Q: What are situational influences?

A: Temporary conditions that impact the consumer decision process.

Q: What are the four main types of situational influences?

A: Communication, Purchase, Usage, and Disposition situations.

Q: The Communication Situation involves what?

A: The environment in which a consumer receives information (like TV shows, emotional context, or mood).

Q: The Purchase Situation refers to what?

A: Where, when, and with whom a purchase is made.

Q: The Usage Situation refers to what?

A: The setting in which the product is used.

Q: Give an example of a usage situation.

A: Drinking tea when you’re sick or celebrating after finals with a soda.

Q: The Disposition Situation refers to what?

A: How a consumer gets rid of a product or its packaging.

Q: Why is the disposition situation important?

A: It affects repeat purchases and environmental image (e.g., recycling).

Q: What are the five situational characteristics that influence consumer behavior?

A: Physical surroundings, social surroundings, temporal perspectives, task definition, and antecedent states.

Q: What is meant by “physical surroundings”?

A: Store atmosphere — lighting, layout, music, temperature.

Q: What is crowding?

A: When too many customers or too much merchandise cause discomfort.

Q: What are “social surroundings”?

A: Other people present during a purchase or consumption situation.

Q: What is embarrassment in social surroundings?

A: Negative emotion caused by purchasing socially sensitive items like condoms or tampons.

Q: Temporal perspectives refer to what?

A: Time-related influences, such as time of day, year, or time pressure.

Q: Time pressure tends to increase brand _______.

A: Loyalty.

Q: Task definition refers to what?

A: The purpose of purchase (self-use, gift, work, leisure).

Q: Consumers give gifts for what reasons?

A: Role expectations, special occasions, and to elicit return favors.

Q: What is a ritual situation?

A: A socially defined occasion that triggers a set of interrelated behaviors with symbolic meaning (e.g., birthdays, weddings).

Q: What are antecedent states?

A: Temporary moods or conditions like feeling tired, broke, or happy.

Q: What are the two types of antecedent states?

A: Moods and momentary conditions.

Q: What is the first step in creating a situational marketing strategy?

A: Identify the different situations that might involve the consumption of a product.

Q: What are the steps in situational marketing strategy?

A: Identify situations → Determine product use → Segment by situation → Evaluate potential → Develop marketing strategy.

Q: What is the purpose of person-situation segmentation?

A: To tailor marketing efforts to specific contexts in which consumers use or buy products.

Q: Problem recognition occurs when there is a difference between what two things?

A: The actual state and the desired state.

Q: The actual state refers to what?

A: What you have or experience now.

Q: The desired state refers to what?

A: What you want or wish to have.

Q: What are the three types of consumer decision-making?

A: Habitual, limited, and extended.

Q: What is habitual decision-making?

A: Low-involvement, routine purchases based on brand loyalty or inertia.

Q: What are “brand loyal” purchases?

A: Purchases made repeatedly from the same brand due to satisfaction or trust.

Q: What are “inertia” purchases?

A: Purchases made out of convenience or habit, not brand attachment.

Q: What is limited decision-making?

A: Moderate involvement with some information search; often driven by boredom or small needs.

Q: What is extended decision-making?

A: High involvement, extensive information search, and detailed post-purchase evaluation.

Q: Magnitude of the problem is determined by what?

A: The size of the gap between actual and desired states.

Q: Relative importance is determined by what?

A: The priority of that problem compared to others in the consumer’s life.

Q: What are the four marketing strategy responses to consumer problems?

A: Discover, respond, help recognize, and suppress problems.

Q: What are the three methods to discover consumer problems?

A: Activity analysis, product analysis, and problem analysis.

Q: What is human factors research?

A: Observing consumers through cameras or recordings to find problems they may not realize exist.

Q: What is emotion research?

A: Using surveys and interviews to understand the emotions connected to consumer problems.

Q: What is generic problem recognition?

A: A problem that many brands can solve.

Q: What is selective problem recognition?

A: A problem that only one brand or company can solve.

Q: What are the two main types of information search?

A: Internal and external search.

Q: What is internal search?

A: Using memory and past experiences to make a decision.

Q: What is external search?

A: Seeking information from outside sources like ads, reviews, or friends.

Q: What are the five primary sources of information?

A: Memory, personal, independent, marketing, and experiential sources.

Q: What are the four consumer decision categories?

A: Awareness set, evoked set, inert set, and inept set.

Q: The brands a consumer seriously considers make up the ______ set.

A: Evoked set.

Q: The brands a consumer dislikes make up the ______ set.

A: Inept set.

Q: The brands a consumer feels indifferent about make up the ______ set.

A: Inert set.

Q: What are the six marketing strategies based on consumer search patterns?

A: Maintenance, Disrupt, Capture, Intercept, Preference, and Acceptance.

Q: Which strategy aims to retain current customers?

A: Maintenance strategy.

Q: Which strategy attempts to break consumer habits?

A: Disrupt strategy.

Q: Which strategy provides info at the point of purchase?

A: Capture strategy.

Q: Which strategy tries to reach consumers early in the process?

A: Intercept strategy.

Q: Which strategy aims to build brand preference before purchase?

A: Preference strategy.

Q: Which strategy involves educating consumers about new products?

A: Acceptance strategy.

Q: What are the three general choice processes?

A: Affective, attitude-based, and attribute-based.

Q: What is affective choice?

A: Choosing based on feelings or emotions.

Q: What is attitude-based choice?

A: Choosing based on overall impressions or heuristics.

Q: What is attribute-based choice?

A: Choosing based on comparing product features.

Q: What are compensatory decision rules?

A: Allow trade-offs; a weakness can be offset by a strength.

Q: What are non-compensatory decision rules?

A: No trade-offs; one weak attribute can eliminate a brand.

Q: What are the four types of non-compensatory rules?

A: Conjunctive, Disjunctive, Elimination-by-Aspects, Lexicographic.

Q: What are the four outlet selection options?

A: Point-of-purchase materials, price reductions, outlet atmosphere, and sales personnel.

Q: What is a stockout?

A: When a desired product is unavailable.

Q: What are three costs caused by stockouts?

A: Substitution cost, transaction cost, and opportunity cost.

Q: What are common consumer reactions to stockouts?

A: Substitute brand, delay purchase, switch stores, or feel frustration.

Q: What is post-purchase dissonance?

A: Doubt or anxiety after a purchase decision.

Q: What factors increase post-purchase dissonance?

A: High involvement, similar alternatives, and consumer anxiety.

Q: How do consumers reduce post-purchase dissonance?

A: Justify purchase, downplay alternatives, or return product.