marketing chapter 7

How to create a new position in a crowded space

- situation defined categories (e.g. breakfast foods) - goal defined categories (e.g. bond with children) - diagnostic attributes (distinguish one brand from others)

Factors that influence the recall of attribute information

1. accessibility or availability 2. diagnosticity 3. salience 4. vividness (concrete words, pictures or instructions to imagine-- easier to recall than less dramatic information) 5. goals (the consumer's goals will determine which attribute is recalled from memory)

What kind of information is acquired in external search?

1. brand name information 2. price information 3. information about other attributes (info that is relevant to their goals)

Four major types of information that we recall

1. brands 2. attributes 3. evaluations (likes and dislikes) 4. experiences

3 variables affect the extent of external information search

1. consumer knowledge 2. cognitive abilities 3. demographic factors

six factors increase our motivation to conduct an external search

1. involvement and perceived risk 2. perceived costs and benefits 3. consideration set 4. relative brand uncertainty 5. attitudes toward the search 6. discrepancy of information

Two types of external search

1. prepurchase search 2. ongoing search

Where can we search for information?

1. retailer search (stores or dealers) 2. media and social media search 3. interpersonal search (friends, relatives, neighbors, etc.) 4. independent search (books, non-brand-sponsored websites) 5. experiential search (using product samples or trials or experiencing the product online)

situational factors that might affect the search process include:

1. the amount of information (consumers do more searching if amount of information increases) 2. the information format (presenting information in a manner that reduces consumer effort can enhance information search and usage) 3. the time available (consumers who face no time restrictions have more opportunity to search) 4. the number of items being chosen (when consumers are making a decision about multiple items, research suggests that they will conduct a more extensive search with less variability in search patterns than if the decision involves the purchase or use of only one item)

Is external search always accurate?

No because consumers tend to search for external information that confirms rather than contradicts their overall beliefs

How much do we engage in external search?

The degree of search activity is usually quite limited, even for purchases that are typically considered important

The greater the discrepancy between the actual and the ideal states, and the higher the level of motivation, ability and opportunity (MAO)....

The more likely consumers are to act

prepurchase search

a search for information that aids a specific acquisition decision (e.g. consumers seeking to buy a new car can get information by visiting dealers, searching online, checking quality ratings, etc.)

ongoing search

a search that occurs regularly, regardless of whether the consumer is making a choice (e.g. a consumer might consistently read automotive magazines, visit automobile websites, etc. because they have a high degree of enduring involvement in cars)

salient attribute

attribute that is "top of mind" or more important (e.g price is a highly salient attribute for many consumers)

attribute determinance

attribute that is both salient and diagnostic (an attribute can be highly salient but not diagnostic e.g. "telling time"; can be both e.g. Dunkin Donuts' new breakfast sandwich that emphasized eat-on-the-go convenience but also the use of egg whites, a salient attribute for health-conscious consumers)

searching by brand

consumers acquire all the needed information on one brand before moving on to the next

searching by attribute

consumers compare brands in terms of one attribute at a time, such as by price

cognitive abilities

consumers with higher basic cognitive abilities, such as high IQ and the ability to integrate complex information, not only are more likely to acquire more information than consumers with little or no knowledge but also are able to process this information in more complex ways

demographics

consumers with higher educations tend to search more than less educated consumers do

We don't automatically process at attribute level

e.g. zoo animals vs. non-zoo animals demonstration

consumer knowledge

expert consumers search less because they already have more complex knowledge stored in memory

attitudes toward the search

extensive search activity appears to be strongly related to the belief that "when important purchases are made quickly, they are regretted" while others hate searching and do little of it

perceived costs and benefits

external search activity is greater when its perceived benefits are high relative to its costs; will continue to search until they perceive that the costs outweigh the benefits

involvement and perceived risk

higher situational involvement will generally lead to a greater prepurchase search; when consumers face riskier decisions, they engage in more external search activity

consideration set

if the consideration set contains a number of attractive alternatives, consumers will be motivated to engage in external search to decide which alternative to select

confirmation bias

tendency to recall information that reinforces or confirms our overall beliefs rather than contradicting them, thereby making our judgment or decision more positive than it should be

diagnostic information

that which helps us discriminate among objects (if all brands of computers are the same price, then price is not diagnostic, or useful, when consumers are making a decision)

problem recognition

the perceived difference between an actual and an ideal state (critical stage in decision process because it motivates consumers to action); occurs if consumers become aware of a discrepancy between the actual state and the ideal state; expectations and aspirations stimulated by personal motivations and our culture and environment

external search

the process of collecting information from outside sources, for example, magazines, dealers, ads

internal search

the process of recalling stored information from memory; almost all decision making involves some form of memory processing (we have very limited capacity or ability to process information)

inhibition

the recall of one attribute inhibiting the recall of another

consideration (or evoked set)

the subset of top-of-mind brands evaluated when making a choice (rather than remembering all available brands in any given situation, consumers tend to recall a subset of two to eight brands)

actual state

the way things actually are

ideal state

the way we want things to be (e.g. having an excellent camera or wearing attractive clothing)

online processing

when a consumer is actively evaluating a brand as he/she views an ad for it

relative brand uncertainty

when consumers are uncertain about which brand is the best, they are more motivated to engage in external search

discrepancy of information

whenever consumers encounter something new in their environment, they will try to categorize it by using their stored knowledge. If it does not fit into an existing category, consumers will try to resolve this incongruity by engaging in information search