Consumer Behavior Chapter 16
blind test
A ______ is one in which the consumer is not aware of the product's brand name.
any
All brands that meet or exceed the performance level for ___ key attribute are considered acceptable(disjunctive decision rule)
WHICH
Each decision rule can yield a different consumer choice so marketers must understand ______ rules are being used by consumers in a given target market in order to position a product properly
Disjunctive Decision Rule
Establishes a minimum level of performance for each important attribute (often a very high level, which makes it hard for a given brand to achieve); next all brands that meet or exceed the performance level for ANY key attribute are considered further
with desired benefits.
Evaluative criteria are typically associated ______
brand alliances
Firms with a limited reputation can sometimes form _______ with a reputable firm and gain from the quality associated with the known brand.
Competitive context
Generally speaking, the lower the variance across compet- ing brands on a given evaluative criterion, the less influence it is likely to have in the decision process.30 For example, you might think that the weight of a note- book computer is important. However, if all the brands you are considering weigh between 4 and 5 pounds, this attribute may suddenly become less of a factor in your decision.
Rb = E WiBib
Marketing equation
Compensatory Decision Rule Conjunctive Decision Rule Disjunctive Decision Rule Elimination-by-Aspects Decision Rule Lexicographic Decision Rule
The 5 decision rules
elimination-by-aspects.
The ______ decision rule requires the consumer to rank the evaluative criteria in terms of their importance and to establish a cutoff point for each criterion.
importance
The _______ that consumers assign to each evaluative criterion is of great interest to marketers.
affective choice, attitude-based choice, and attribute-based choice
The three choice processes are
lexicographic decision
The________ rule requires the consumer to rank the criteria in order of importance
bounded rationality
a limited capacity for processing information
Compensatory/Non-compensatory
two things decision rules can be
rank ordering scales, semantic differential scales, and Likert scale
A variety of methods are available for measuring consumers' judgments of brand performance on specific attributes. These include:
Advertising effects
Advertising can affect the importance of evaluative criteria in a number of ways. For example, an ad that increases attention and elaborative processing of an attribute can increase its perceived importance and/or influence in the decision.31 As we saw in Chapters 8 and 9, contrast, prominence, and imagery are just a few of the tactics that can be used to enhance attention and elaboration.
Conjoint Analysis
In __________, the consumer is presented with a set of products or product descriptions in which the evaluative criteria vary.
Lexicographic Decision Rule
Requires the consumer to rank the evaluative criteria in order of importance Consumer then selects the brand that performs BEST on the most important attribute. In cases of a tie, the decision moves to the next most important, etc. Very similar to 'elimination by aspects' except with a focus on MAX performance at each stage instead of minimum acceptable performance
just noticeable difference (j.n.d.).
The minimum amount that one brand can differ from another, with the difference still being noticed, is referred to as the ______
assumption 3 of rational choice theory
The optimal solution does not change as a function of situational factors such as time pressure, task definition, or competitive context.
Usage situation
The situation in which a product or service is used (Chapter 13) can have important influences on the criteria used to make a choice. For example, speed of service and convenient location may be very important in selecting a restaurant over a lunch break but relatively unimportant when selecting a restaurant for a special occasion.29
1. tangible 2. intangible
The type of evaluative criteria a consumer uses in a decision varies from __1__ cost and performance features to ____2____ factors such as style, taste, prestige, feelings generated, and brand image.
High involvement
______ decisions tend to utilize a compensatory rule
Low involvement
_______ decisions tend to utilize non-compensatory rules
direct
_______ methods include asking consumers what criteria they use in a particular purchase or, in a focus group setting, noting what consumers say about products and their attributes.
Consummatory motives
________ underlie behaviors that are intrinsically rewarding to the individual involved.
Perceptual mapping
__________ is another useful indirect technique for determining evaluative criteria. First, consumers judge the similarity of alternative brands. This generally involves having the consumer look at possible pairs of brands and indicate which pair is most similar, which is second most similar, and so forth until all pairs are ranked.
Instrumental motives
activate behaviors designed to achieve a second goal
Strategy for compensatory decisions
affords a marketer more flexibility by emphasizing one's strengths and still winning even when not best on possibly the most important criterion; must still attempt to match or exceed competitors whenever possible
affective choice
tends to be holistic in nature, the evaluation of such products is generally focused on the way they will make the user feel as they are used. The evaluation itself is often based exclusively or primarily on the immediate emotional response to the product or service.6 Decisions based on affect use the "How do I feel about it" heuristic or decision rule.7
metagoal
the general nature of the outcome being sought.
- Which evaluative criteria are used by the consumer. - How the consumer perceives the various alternatives on each criterion. - The relative importance of each criterion.
Before a marketing manager or a public policy decision maker can develop a sound strat- egy to affect consumer decisions, he or she must determine
Strategy Elimination-by-Aspects Decision Rule
Critical to meet or surpass the consumers' requirements on one more of the criteria used than the competition; you need to know your competition really well; can also: Attempt to alter the relative importance that consumers assign to the criteria
rational choice theory.
Marketers sometimes assume that the process underlying consumer choice follows _________. This implicitly or explicitly assumes a number of things about consumer choice that often are not true.
compensatory
The_______ decision rule states that the brand that rates highest on the sum of the consumer's judgments of the relevant evaluative criteria will be chosen.
disjunctive decision rule.
The_________ establishes a minimum level of performance for each important attribute (often a fairly high level, which sets the performance standard very high and makes it hard for a brand to attain).
indirect
Thus,______ measurement techniques such as projective techniques (Appendix A, Table A-1), which allow the respondent to indicate the criteria someone else might use, are often helpful
product and by situation
Use of decision rules for the same consumer can differ by _______
Evaluative criteria
are the various dimensions, features, or ben- efits a consumer looks for in response to a specific problem
conjunctive decision rule
establishes minimum required performance standards for each evaluative criterion and select the first (or all brands) that meet or exceed these minimum standards If decision is less important, might simply purchase the one remaining that is easiest to get OR switch to a different decision rule to narrow things to a final choice Note: is an 'easier' decision rule to use because the consumer can think about one brand at a time!
Attitude-based choice
involves the use of general attitudes, summary impressions, intuitions, or heuristics; no attribute-by-attribute comparisons are made at the time of choice
Rb
overall rating of brand b
Compensatory Decision Rule
- states that the brand that rates highest on the sum of the consumer's judgements of the relevant criteria that will be chosen - consumer "averages out" one or more very good attributes with one or more others that may not be as strong, but best overall available brand is selected -Obviously, THE most time-consuming and mentally taxing decision rule and tends to be reserved for extended decision-making situations (one study showed that a high percentage of all car-buyers used this decision rule)
Alternative Evaluation and Selection: We're now working with the RESULTS of the information search stage . This leaves the consumer with at least 3 valuable pieces of information:
- the brands remaining in the evoked set - the evaluative criteria for the decision - how each brand performs in each criteria
strategic process related to this stage
1. Identify decision rule used by majority of target market 2. Measure consumer perceptions on each criterion for each brand in the evoked set 3.Create marketing strategy to strengthen the brand position within a given decision rule 4.Leads to increased sales within chosen market segment
Strategy Lexicographic Decision Rule
Must be superior to the competition on THE key attribute and must promote this fact If not superior, must at least be roughly equal on the top attribute and then superior on as many secondary attributes as possible If you can't win on the most important, you must convince the target market that the one where you win IS the most important attribute
strategy for conjunctive decision rule
Must meet all minimum standards; and for low involvement products, focus on extensive distribution and dominant shelf space (helps as well in situations with "ties")
Strategy for disjunctive decision rule
Product design and promotion must try to assure that consumers rate our brand high on at least one of the important criteria!
B ib
evaluation of brand b on criterion i
sensory discrimination
he ability of an individual to distinguish between similar stimuli is called______
(a) are often not rational in the sense of finding the optimal solution, (b) are not optimal due to the cognitive and time limits of consumers, and (c) are malleable in that they change based on the situation.
it is important to keep in mind that consumer decisions
low involvement decisions
less attention, basic understanding of needs, fast decisions
five
true or false: consumers commonly use ________ decision rules for making a selection
surrogate indicator
An attribute used to stand for or indicate another attribute is known as a ______
assumption 2 of rational choice theory
Consumers have the skill and motivation to find the optimal solution.
'narrow the field'
Consumers may combine rules in some situations, using one rule to_________ and then a second rule to arrive at a final choice
Assumption 1 of rational choice theory
Consumers seek one optimal solution to a problem and choose on that basis.
conjunctive decision rule
The __________ establishes minimum required performance standards for each evaluative criterion and selects the first or all brands that meet or exceed these minimum standards.
more frequently
consumers who attach more importance to automobile styling relative to cost buy new cars _______ than do those with the opposite importance rankings
______ essentially methods for taking the same overall information but using different 'rules' to narrow things down to a final choice.
decision rules are
high involvement decisions
more attention, advanced understanding of needs, slow decisions
relative judgments on criteria performance
most instances, consumers rarely assign actual numbers on a brands' performance but do make ________ across brands
relatively small differences between brands or changes in brand attributes.
n general, research indicates that individuals typically do not notice _______
n
number of criteria considered
W i
relative importance (weight) of criterion i
Elimination-by-Aspects Decision Rule
requires the consumer to rank the evaluative criteria in terms of their importance and to establish a cutoff point for each criterion All brands are considered on the MOST important criterion first; those that do not meet the minimum are eliminated; process is repeated until only one brand remains
Attribute-based choice
requires the knowledge of specific attributes at the time the choice is made, and it involves attri- bute-by-attribute comparisons across brands.
do
research shows that consumers ___ use these decision rules
Compensatory
where a perceived weakness on one attribute may be compensated for by a strength (or strengths) on another (others)
non-compensatory
where a weakness on an attribute is not compensated for by the strengths of others
