Chapter 7: Consumer Behavior
Low-involvement hierarchy
Consumers have basic beliefs about products without having strong feelings toward them
Consistency principle
Human beings prefer consistency among their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
Balance Theory
-Consumers are motivated to maintain perceived consistency in the relations found in a system -Based on the consistency principle -Marketers should carefully monitor any changes that occur in how a target market perceives an endorser
Behavioral Intentions Model (a.k.a the Theory of Reasoned Actions)
- Belief that performing behavior will lead to consequence - Evaluation of the consequence of performing the behavior - Normative belief that a reference group or person believes consumer should perform behavior - Motivation to comply with the beliefs of reference group or person
Behavioral Intentions Model
-Consumer research has been expanded to understand attitudes toward: Advertisement Company -Marketer or researcher engages in attitude tracking to track changes in consumer attitudes over time
Persuasive Techniques
1) ATO approach - ATO approach: marketers can attempt to change consumers attitudes by: - Changing beliefs or creating new beliefs about product features - Changing evaluations of product attributes 2) Behavioral influence approach -Behavioral influence approach proposes that behavior precedes cognition and affect 3) Schema-based affect approach - Attitude toward a brand or product can change if the affect found in a schema is changed. 4) Elaboration likelihood model 5) Balance Theory approach 6) Social judgment theory approach
Source Effects- Issue
1) Credibility 2) Attractiveness 3) Likeability 4) Meaningfulness
Balance Theory 2
1) Person (Peyton Manning) 2) Observer (Isaiah) 3) Object (Papa John's)
hierarchy of effects
Attitude approach that suggests that affect, behavior, and cognitions form in a sequential order High involvement: Cognition> affect> behavior Low involvement: Cognition > Behavior> Affect Experiential: Affect > Behavior> Cognition Behavioral Influence: Behavior > Cognition > Affect
ABC approach to attitudes
Affect: The affect of the message we are conveying; what is the outcome (emotion we are going to generate). Behavior: Personality, what we want to get out of a behavior of a consumer Cognition: stored in our subconscious, remember a commercial for a particular product.
Attitude-Toward-the-Object (ATO) Model (Detail)
Ao = Attitude toward the object in question bi = Strength of belief that the object possesses attribute i ei = Evaluation of the attractiveness or goodness of attribute i N = Number of attributes and beliefs
Utilitarian function
Attitudes are used as a method to obtain rewards and to minimize punishments Ex: High School boys wear cool brands so they fit in.
Functional Theory of Attitudes
Attitudes perform the following functions: Utilitarian function Knowledge function Value-expressive function Ego-defensive function
Understand how message and source effects influence persuasion.
Both source and message effects play important roles in persuasion. Message effect includes issues related to the overall content and construction of the message. Sex appeals, humor appeals, and fear appeals are all used frequently by marketers. Source effects, or effects that are attributed to the spokesperson or company, are also important. Source effects include source credibility, source likability, source attractiveness, and source meaningfulness.
elaboration likelihood model
Central cues: Information presented in a message about the product itself, its attributes, or the consequences of its use Peripheral cues: Non-product-related information presented in a message
multiattribute attitude model
Combines a number of pieces of information about belief and evaluations of attributes of an object
Define attitudes and describe attitude components
Consumer attitudes are relatively enduring evaluations of objects, products, services, issues, or people. Attitudes have three components. The first component is a cognitive component. This component consists of beliefs that consumers have about products and their features. The next component is the affective component. This component consists of the feelings that consumers have about the product and its features. The last component is a behavioral component, which describes how consumers act toward the object in question.
Social Judgment Theory
Consumers compare information to existing attitudes about an object or issue Attitude change depends upon how consistent the information is with the initial attitude Marketers should construct messages in a manner that they fall within the targeted customer's latitude of acceptance
Theory of planned action
Expands upon the behavioral intentions model by including a perceived control component
Experiential hierarchy
Explains impulse purchases
Attitude-behavior consistency
Extent to which a strong relationship exists between attitudes and actual behavior
Message Effects and Persuasion
How the appeal of a message and its construction affect persuasiveness Advertisers use appeals such as sex, humor, fear, and violence to increase the persuasiveness of an advertisement Marketers should consider issues such as complexity of the ad, development of comparative ads, and placement of information
Attitude-Toward-the-Object (ATO) Model
Known as the Fishbein model Key elements Salient beliefs consumers have about product attributes Strength of the belief that an object possesses the attribute Evaluation of the particular attribute Formula for predicting attitudes
Behavioral Intentions Model
Known as theory of reasoned action Focuses on behavioral intentions, subjective norms, and attitude toward a particular behavior Formula B = Behavior BI = Behavioral intention A,behavior = Attitude toward performing the behavior
Compensatory model
Low ratings for one attribute are compensated for by higher ratings on another
High-involvement hierarchy
Occurs when a consumer faces a high-involvement decision or addresses a significant problem
Attitudes
Relatively enduring overall evaluations of: Objects Products Services Issues People Closely related to value Consumers have positive attitudes toward products that deliver value
Behavioral Intentions Model
SN = Subjective norm w1 and w2 = Empirical weights Theory of planned action provides an alternative approach to attitude
Describe the functions of attitudes
Several functions of attitudes are presented in this chapter, including the utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive, and knowledge functions. The utilitarian function refers to the use of attitudes to gain something that is valued. The ego-defensive function refers to the use of attitudes to protect oneself from harm. The value-expressive function refers to use of attitudes to express a consumer's core beliefs and self-image. The knowledge function refers to the use of attitudes to simplify consumer decision making.
Behavioral influence hierarchy
Some behaviors occur without either beliefs or affect being strongly formed beforehand
Ego-defensive function
The ego-defensive function of attitudes works as a defense mechanism for consumers to avoid facts or to defend themselves from their own low self-concept. Ex: Smokers discount information that suggests that smoking is bad for their health.
Knowledge Function
The knowledge function of attitudes to allow consumers to simply their decision-making process Ex: A consumer is very loyal to Apple products and believes that they the are best, thereby simplifying their search efforts.
Describe attitude change theories and their role persuasion.
There are a number of major approaches to changing attitudes presented in this chapter. The first approach focuses on the ATO model. According to this approach, attitudes can be changed by changing the strength of beliefs, about attributes by adding new beliefs to the attitude equation, by changing the evaluation of attributes, or by altering the schema-based affect for the brand/object. The second approach was the behavioral influence approach, which focuses on changing behaviors directly. The third approach was the schema-based affect approach. This approach focuses on changing affect found in product schemas. The fourth approach was the balance theory approach. This approach suggests that consumers seek consistency in systems that are comprised of three elements: the observer, another person, and an object. Attitudes toward an object are affected by the perceived relations found with the system. The fifth approach was the elaboration likelihood model. The ELM suggests that persuasion occurs as the result of processing within one of two routes: a central route and a peripheral route. In high involvement situations, the peripheral route is activated. Attitude change is usually longer lasting when persuasion occurs in the central route. The sixth and final approach to attitude change is the social judgement theory approach. This theory suggests that an incoming message is compared to an initial attitudinal position and an assimilation or contrast effect occurs depending on the perceived closeness of the incoming message to the original attitude.
Value-Expressive function
This function of attitudes enables consumers to express their core values, self-concept, and beliefs to others. Ex: A consumer supports Greenpeace because he places much value on environmentalism
Understand how this hierarchy of effects concept applies to attitude theory.
This hierarchy of effects approach explains the process through which beliefs, affect, and behavior occur. These hierarchies depend upon the consumer's buying situation. In a high involvement context, consumer's beliefs are formed, followed by affect, and finally by behavior. Low-involvement, experiential, and behavioral influence hierarchies are quite common in common behavior.
Comprehend the major consumer attitude models
Two major approaches to measuring consumer attitudes were presented in this chapter: the attitude toward the object (ATO) and behavioral intentions models. The ATO model includes three key elements: salient beliefs, strength of beliefs, and evaluation of attributes. The behavioral intentions model includes two key elements: attitude toward a behavior and subjective norms. These models are commonly used by consumer researchers who focus on understanding the elements that comprise consumer attitudes. The approaches are also used for marketing managers who develop marketing campaigns.
Persuasion
attempt to change attitudes
Source Effects
characteristics of a source that influence the persuasiveness of a message
Attitude Tracking
effort of a marketer or researcher to track changes in consumer attitudes over time
matchup hypothesis
hypothesis that states that a source feature is most effective when it is matched with relevant products
primary effect
occurs when the information placed early in a message has the most impact
recent effect
occurs when the information placed late in a message has the most impact
serial position effect
occurs when the placement of information in a message impacts recall of the information
central route to persuasion
path to persuasion found in ELM where the consumer has high involvement, motivation, and/or ability to process a message
peripheral route to persuasion
path to persuasion found in ELM where the consumer has low involvement, motivation, and/or ability to process a message
Balance Theory
theory that states that consumers are motivated to maintain perceived consistency in the relations found in a system