Consumer Behavior

What affects retrieval from LTM

*Accessibility:* the likelihood and ease with which information can be recalled from LTM. It can be enhanced by rehearsal, repetition, and elaboration. It is related to the strength and number of incoming linkages. When a concept is linked to other concepts in memory, its accessibility increases as a result of the multiple retrieval pathways.

four types of self-concept

*Actual self-concept:* who I am, *ideal self-concept:* who I would like to be, *private self-concept:* how I am or would like to be to myself, and *social self-concept:* how I am seen by others or how I would like to be seen by others.

strategies that can be used to change the cognitive component of an attitude

*Change beliefs:* involves shifting beliefs about the performance of the brand on one or more attributes. *Shift importance:* Most consumers consider some product attributes to be more important than others. *Add beliefs:* this involves adding new beliefs to the consumer's belief structure.

strategies that can be used to change the affective component of an attitude.

*Classical conditioning:* a stimulus the audience likes, such as music, is consistently paired with a brand name. *Affect toward the Ad or Web Site:* liking the advertisement generally increased the tendency to like the brand. *Mere exposure:* presenting a brand to an individual on a large number of occasions might make the individuals attitude toward the brand more positive.

five types of message appeals to influence or change attitudes.

*Fear appeal:* use the threat of negative consequences if attitudes or behaviors are not altered. *Humorous appeals:* ads built around humor appear to increase attention to and liking of the ad, particularly for those individuals high in need for humor. *Comparative ads:* directly compare the features of benefits of two or more brands. *Emotional appeals:* designed to primarily to elicit a positive affective response rather than to provide information or arguments. *Value expressive versus utilitarian appeals:* *Value expressive*- attempt to build a personality for the product or create an image of the product user. *Utilitarian appeals*- involve informing the consumer of one or more functional benefits that are important to the target market.

individual factors affecting attention?

*Individual factors* are characteristics that distinguish one individual from another. *Motivation:* a drive state created by consumer interests and needs. *Ability:* refers to the capacity of individuals to attend to and process information.

two dimensions of VALS

*Primary motivation:* determines what in particular about the self or the world is the meaningful core that governs his or her activates (achievement, ideal, and self-expressions). *Resources:* reflects the ability of individuals to pursue their dominant self-orientation (high or low, financial, physical, and mental resources).

personality traits

*Sincerity:* down to earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful *excitement:* daring, spirited, imaginative, up to date *competence:* reliable, intelligent, successful *sophistication:* upper class, charming *ruggedness:* out of doors, tough

situational factors affecting attention and how do they affect attention?

*Situational factors* include stimuli in the environment other than the focal stimulus and temporary characteristics of the individual that are induced by the environment.*Clutter:* represents the density of stimuli in the environment.*Program Involvement:* refers to how interested viewers are in the program or editorial content surrounding the ads.

the stimulus factors affecting attention

*Size:* larger stimulus are more likely to be noticed than smaller ones. *Intensity:* the intensity of a stimulus can increase attention (e.g. loudness, brightness, and length). *Attractive visuals:* individuals tend to be attracted to pleasant stimuli and repelled by unpleasant stimuli. *Color and movement:* both color and movement serve to attract attention, with brightly colored and moving items being more noticeable. *Position:* refers to the placement of an object in physical space or time. *Isolation:* separation a stimulus object from other objects. *Format:* refers to the manner in which the message is presented. In general, simple, straightforward presentations receive more attention than complex presentations. *Contrast and Expectations:* consumers pay more attention to stimuli that contrast with their background than to stimuli that blend it. *Interestingness:* In-store displays that use "tie-ins" to sporting events and movies appear to generate considerably more interest, attention, and sales than simple brand signs. *Information quantity:* represents the number of cues in the stimulus field.

3 factors determine which stimuli an individual will attend to

*The stimulus:* physical characteristics of the stimuli itself; *the individual:* characteristics which distinguish one individual from another; and the *situation*.

High involvement results in...

*central route* to attitude change by which consumers deliberately and consciously process those message elements that they believe are relevant to a meaningful and logical evaluation of the brand.

McGuire's Psychological Motives

*consistency:* A basic desire is to have all facets of oneself consistent with each other. *attribution:* deals with our need to determine who or what causes the things that happen to us and related to an area of research called attribution theory. *categorize:* People have a need to categorize and organize the vast array of information and experiences they encounter in a meaningful yet manageable way. *stimulation:* People often seek variety and difference out of a need for stimulation. *expression:* deals with the need to express one's identity to others. *reinforcement:* people are often motivated to act in a certain way because they were rewarded for behaving that way in similar situations in the past. *affiliation:* refers to the need to develop mutually helpful and satisfying relationships with others.

methods used to measure the cognitive attitude

*multiattribute attitude model* suggest that the more positive beliefs associated with a brand, the more positive each belief is and the easier it is for the individual to recall the beliefs, the more favorable the overall cognitive component is presumed to be. For example, a consumer perceives Diet Coke to have the follow levels of performance and desired performance.

Low involvement results in...

*peripheral route* to attitude change in which consumers form impressions of the brand based on exposure to readily available cues in the message regardless of their relevance to the brand or decision.

difference between positive and negative framing of messages

*positive:* EX: Whole milk is natural and not processed is the negative frame. *negative:* Instead of using the term used cars, you use pre-owned

ethical concerns that arise when using reference group theory to sell products

1) Group influence is strongest when the use of product or brand is visible to the group. 2) Reference group influence is higher the less of a necessity an item is. 3) In general the more commitment an individual feels to a group, the more the individual will conform to the group's norms. 4) The more relevant a particular activity is the group's functioning, the stronger the pressure to conform to the group norms concerning that activity. 5) The individual's confidence in the purchase situation.

components of an attitude

3 components: *cognitive* (beliefs): consist of a consumers beliefs about an object;* affective* (feelings): feelings or emotional reactions to an object; and *behavioral* (response tendencies):ones tendency to respond in a certain manner toward an object or activity.

brand community

A nongeographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among owners of a brand and the psychological relationship they have with the brand itself, the product in use, and the firm.

information processing

A series of activities by which stimuli are perceived, transformed into information, and stored. It has 4 major steps: exposure, attention, interpretation, and memory.

methods used to measure the behavioral attitude

Actual behaviors and response tendencies are most often measured by fairly direct questioning. For example, consumers might be asked about their intentions to buy Diet coke: Definitely will- definitely not.

psychographics

Attempts to develop quantitative measures of lifestyle. Studies typically include: attitudes, values, activities and interests, demographics, media patterns, and usage rates.

factors that determine and influence lifestyle

Demographics, subculture, social class, motives, personality, emotions, values, household life cycle, culture, and past experiences.

Fun theory

Fun enhances motivation to do good by increasing the level of involvement.

nature of short-term memory in terms of its endurance and capacity

Information in working memory decays quickly. The short-lived nature of SRM means that consumers must constantly refresh information through maintenance rehearsal or it will be lost.

relationship between involvement and motivation

Involvement is a motivational state caused by consumer perceptions that a product, brand, or advertisement is relevant or interesting. Needs play a strong role in determining what is relevant or interesting to consumers. Consumer involvement increases attention, analytical processing information search, and word of mouth.

ad avoidance

It depends on numerous psychological and demographic factors. It is increased by lifestyle (busy and hectic), social class (higher), and demographics (men and younger consumers). Consumers tend to dislike advertising when it is perceived to be boring, uninformative, and intrusive. Marketers seek to gain exposure by placing their brands within entertainment media, such as movies and television programs, in exchange for payment or promotional or other consideration.

cognitive learning

It encompasses all the mental activities of humans as they work to solve problems or cope with situations. It involves learning ideas, concepts, attitudes, and facts that contribute to our ability to reason, solve problems, and learn relationships without direct experience or reinforcement.

short-term memory

It has a limited capacity to store information and sensations. It is more like a computer file that is currently in use. It is an active, dynamic process, not a static structure

product positioning

It is a decision by a marketer to try to achieve a defined brand image relative to competition within a market segment. Marketers decide that they want the members of a market segment to think and feel in a certain way about a brand relative to competing brands.

reference group

It is a group whose presumed perspectives or values are being used by an individual as the basis for his or her current behavior.

personality

It is an individual's characteristic response tendencies across similar situations. It is a trait.

lifestyle

It is basically how a person lives. It is how a person enacts her or his self-concept, and is determined by past experiences, innate characteristics, and current situation.

low-involvement learning

It is one in which the consumer has little or no motivation to process or learn the material. Do I care?

maintenance rehearsal

It is the continual repetition of a piece of information in order to hold it in current memory for use in problem solving or transferal to long-term memory

motivation

It is the reason for behavior

long-term memory

It is viewed as an unlimited, permanent storage. It can store numerous types of information, such as concepts, decision rules, processes, and affective (emotional) states.

How do perceptual maps help with positioning and repositioning

It offers marketing managers a useful technique for measuring and developing a products position. It takes consumers perception of how similar various brands or products are to each other and relates these perceptions to product attributes.

brand image

It refers to the schematic memory of a brand. It contains the target market's interpretation of the product's attributes, benefits, usage situations, users, and manufacturer/marketer characteristics.

Weber's Law

It states that the ratio of the increment threshold to the background intensity is a constant. So when you are in a noisy environment you must shout to be heard while a whisper works in a quiet room.It posits that for any change in that stimulus to be recognized by the public the price would have to rise by a uniform percentage.

ethical issues arise in using the self-concept in marketing

Marketers have been criticized for focusing too much attention on the importance of being beautiful, with beautiful being defined as young and slim with a fairly narrow range of facial features.

script

Memory of how an action sequence should occur, such as purchasing and drinking a soft drink to relieve thirst, a special type of schema. They are necessary for consumers to shop effectively.

exposure

Occurs when a stimulus is placed within a person's relevant environment and comes within range of their sensory receptor nerves. It provides consumers with the opportunity to pay attention to available information but in no way guarantees it.

attention

Occurs when the stimulus activates one or more sensory receptor nerves, and the resulting sensations go to the brain for processing. Consumer attention is selective.

consumer-generated content

Online social media allow users not only to form, join, and communicate with groups and individuals online, but also create and distribute original content in ways not possible in the past. It is changing the marketing landscape. Marketers no longer completely control the communications process but now are both observers and participants in an ongoing dialogue that often is driven by consumers themselves.

How are social media affecting WOM?

Online social media and the internet continue to transform interpersonal communications and WOM. Traditional mass-media advertising still plays a role, particularly at the earlier stages of the decisions process, including building brand awareness.

chapter opening about power of perception

Some consumers are on a vegetarian or vegan diet and want to eat "meatless" products. In 2002, Gardenburger's competitor came out with a food containing mycoprotein, which is "mushroom of origin." However, Gardenburger justified it as "edible protein derived from fungus," which is misleading and could potentially damage those who legitimately use mushrooms in their meatless products. Interpretation can be a highly subjective process.

various reasons why possessions become part of the extended self

Souvenirs often become part of the extended self as representations of memories and feelings. Gifts often take on important meanings as representations of relationships. Some products become embedded with meaning, memories, and value as they are used over time, as with an old baseball glove. Also products that are acquired or used to help consumers with major life transitions are likely to become a part of this.

interpretation

The assignment of meaning to sensations. It is related to how we comprehend and make sense of incoming information based characteristics of the stimulus, the individual, and the situation.

just noticeable difference

The minimum amount that one brand can differ from another with the difference still being noticed. Generally, individuals do not notice relatively small differences between brands or changes in brand attributes.

sensory discrimination

The physiological ability of an individual to distinguish between similar stimuli. It involves such variables as the sound of stereo systems, the taste of food products, or the clarity of display screens

classical conditioning

The process of using an established relationship between one stimulus and response to bring about the learning of the same response to a different stimulus. This procedure would have you pair the unknown brand repeatedly together with some other stimulus that you know already automatically elicits positive feelings or emotions, such as popular music in an ad.

self-concept

The totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings having reference to himself or herself as an object.

elaborative activities

They are the use of previously stored experiences, values, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings to interpret and evaluate information in working memory as well as to add relevant previously stored information. It serves to redefine or add new elements to memory. Basically, you're using the knowledge you already know to interpret something more deeply

characteristics of opinion leaders and how do they influence consumers

They have greater long-term involvement with the product category than the non-opinion leaders in the group. They tend to be more gregarious than others which may explain their tendency to provide information to others. Also have higher levels of exposure relevant media than do non-opinion leaders. Opinion leaders around the world appear to possess similar traits

characteristics of market mavens and how do they influence consumers

They provide significant amounts of information to others across a wide array of products, including durables and nondurables, services, and store types. They provide info on product quality, sales, usual prices, product availability, store personnel characteristics, and other features of relevance to consumers. They are extensive users of media. Also more extroverted and conscientious, which drives their tendency to share information with other.

WOM

Word of mouth communication; it involves individuals sharing information with other individuals in a verbal form, including face to face, phone and the internet.

consumption subculture

a distinctive subgroup of society that self-selects on the basis of a shared commitment to a particular product class, brand, or consumption activity.

Cognitive

a process whereby stimuli are placed into existing categories of meaning.When DVD players were first introduced, most consumers probably grouped them in the same category as VCRs, but with further experience put them in separate categories.

high-involvement learning

a situation in which the consumer is motivated to process or learn the material. I want to learn it and I'll remember it better.

elaboration likelihood model (ELM)

a theory about how attitudes are formed and changed under varying conditions of involvement.

Identification influence

also called value-expression influence, occurs when individuals have internalized the group's values and norms. These then guide the individuals' behaviors without any thought of reference group sanctions or rewards. For example, many of Tim's friends regularly consume health foods so he decides that health foods are good for you and begins to consume them regularly.

attitude

an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual, and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of our environment.

Viral marketing

an online "pass it along" strategy. It uses electronic communications to trigger brand messages throughout a widespread network of buyers.

smart banners

banners ads that are activated based on terms used in search engines. Such behavioral targeting strategies are available for general web sites as well and appear to be effective. *Involvement:* personal interest or relevance to the consumer

What does the VALS system measure

based on enduring psychological characteristics that correlate with purchase patterns. The *three primary motivations* are ideal motivation, achievement motivation, and self-expression motivation.

strategy that can be used to change the behavioral component of an attitude

based primarily on *operant conditioning*. The key marketing tasks is to induce people to purchase or consume the product while ensuring that the purchase or consumption will indeed be rewarding. Coupons, free samples, point of purchase displays, tie in purchases and price reductions are common techniques.

How is memory constructed

because of limited capacity you can only pick up the relevant information learned.

Brand communities

can add value to the ownership of a product and build intense loyalty. If a consumer anticipates the benefits in advance and values them, he or she is much more likely to buy the brand. Once a member becomes a member of a brand community, remaining in the community generally requires continuing to own and use the brand.

extended self

consists of the self plus possessions; people tend to define themselves in part by possessions. Thus, some possessions are not just manifestation of a person's self-concept; they are an integral part of that person's self-identity.

source credibility

consists of trustworthiness and expertise. A source that has no ulterior motive to provide anything other than complete and accurate information would generally be considered trustworthy.

problems associated with missing information

consumers may assign it a value based on a presumed relationship between that attribute and one for which data are available; they may assign it the average of their assessments of the available attributes; they may assume it to be weaker than the attributes for which data are supplied; or any of a large number of other strategies may be used. Companies can make direct claims that are false.

Single-trait theories

emphasize one personality traits as being particularly relevant to understanding a particular set of behaviors. They study a single trait for its relevance to a set of behaviors.

What factors affect the strength of learning

enhanced by 6 factors: importance, message involvement, mood, reinforcement, repetition, and dual coding.

Trait theories

examine personality as an individual difference and thus allow marketers to segment consumers as a function of their personality differences.

Specific lifestyle schemes

focused on those aspects of individual or household lifestyles most relevant to their product or service.

Dissociative reference group

groups with negative desirability can influence behavior just as do those with positive desirability.

Consumption subculture groups

have (1) an identifiable, hierarchical social structure, (2) a set of shared beliefs or values; and (3) unique jargon, rituals and modes of symbolic expression. They are reference groups for their members as well as those who aspire to join or avoid them.

Multi-trait personality theory

identifies several traits that in combination capture a substantial portion of the personality of the individual.

operant conditioning

involves rewarding desirable behaviors such as brand purchases with a positive outcome that serves to reinforce the behavior.

Zapping

involves switching channels when a commercial appears.

motive

is a construct representing an unobservable inner force that stimulates and compels a behavioral response and provides specific direction to that response.

Learning

is any change in the content or organization of long term memory or behavior and is the result of information processing.

Muting

is turning the sound off during commercial breaks.

schema

it is a complex web of associations. The source of some schema is personal experience, but other aspects may be completely or partially based on marketing activities. It is the same as the brand image, what consumers think and feel when the brand name is mentioned.

survivors

lives are constricted. They live simply on limited incomes but are relatively satisfied. Frequently elderly and concerned about their health, they are not active in the marketplace. They show no evidence of a strong primary motivation. They buy familiar, trusted products. Their chief concerns are for security and safety and for being with family. They are cautious consumers who look for low prices and represent a modest market for products and services.

Laggard

locally oriented and engage in limited social interaction and tend to be relatively dogmatic and oriented toward the past. They adopt innovation only with reluctance.

Late majority

members are skeptical about innovations and adopt more in response to social pressures or a decreased availability of the previous product than because of a positive evaluation of the innovation. Tend to be older and have less social status and mobility than those who adopt earlier.

manifest motives

motives that are known and freely admitted.

Aspiration reference groups

nonmember groups with a positive attraction also exert a strong influence.

General approaches

not specific to any one product or activity, so they have broad applicability in developing marketing strategies for a wide range of products and brands. Includes VALS and PRIZM.

Stimulus generalization

occurs when a response to one stimulus is elicited by a similar but distinct stimulus.

Informational influence

occurs when an individual uses the behaviors and opinions of reference group members as potentially useful bits of information. For example, a person may notice that runners on the track team use a specific brand of nutrition bar. He or she may then decide to try that brand because these healthy and active runners use it. Use by the track team members thus provides information about the brand.

Zipping

occurs when on fast-forwards through a commercial on a prerecorded program.

risks associated with using a celebrity source

overexposure, if a celebrity endorses many products, consumer's reactions may become less positive. Another risk is that negative behavior involving the spokesperson will affect the individual's credibility and in turn, damage the firm's image.

Blogs

personalized journals where people and organizations can keep a running dialogue. People can read, comment on, and connect to your blog, creating a powerful network that also includes other topical and news blogs.

Consumer review sites

provide consumer products and service reviews in a host of different formats. Formats can include consumer reviews within online retailers such as Amazon, reviews within web sites devoted to specific topics, as well as standalone recommendation sites.

Normative Influence

referred as utilitarian influence, occurs when an individual fulfills group expectations to gain a direct reward or to avoid a sanction. For example, you may purchase a particular brand to win approval from your colleagues.

repositioning

refers to a deliberate decision to significantly alter the way the market views a product. This could involve its level of performance, the feelings it evokes, the situations in which it should be used, or even who uses it.

leveraging brand equity

refers to marketers capitalizing on brand equity by using an existing brand name for new products. If done correctly, consumers will assign some of the characteristics of the existing brand to new product carrying that name.

Message framing:

refers to presenting one of two equivalent value outcomes either in positive or gain terms or in a negative or loss terms.

Stimulus discrimination

refers to the process of learning to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli.

Dynamically continuous innovation

requires a moderate change in an important behavior or a major change in a behavior of low or moderate importance to the individual. Examples include digital cameras, personal navigators, and Bella and Birch textured paints that are applied like wallpaper but without glue, using a special applicator.

Discontinuous innovation

requires major changes in behavior of significant importance to the individual or group. Examples include the Norplant contraceptive, becoming a vegetarian, the Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen car, etc.

Continuous innovation

requires relatively minor changes in behavior or changes in behavior that are unimportant to the consumer. Examples include Crest Vivid White Night toothpaste, Wheaties Energy Crunch cereal, Pria, and DVD players.

Influencers

seen by themselves and others as cool and at the center of action. They are an aspirational group for many teens, particularly the conformers, who have a high need for acceptance and adapt their behaviors and purchases to fit in with this group. Golf equipment companies make heavy use of symbolic aspiration group influence in targeting adults. They exert influence on the amateur played and weekend duffers with no illusions of turning pro.

How can one measure the self-concept

semantic differential, determine your actual and desired private and social self-concepts.

emotion

strong, relatively uncontrolled feelings that affect behavior. It refers to the identifiable, specific feeling, and affect to refer to the liking-disliking aspect of the specific feeling.

Innovators

successful, sophisticated, active, take-charge people with high self-esteem and abundant resources. They are motivated by a blend of ideals, achievement, and self-expression. Image is important, not as evidence of status or power but an expression of their taste, independence, and character. They often see brands and products as extensions of their personalities. They are among established leaders in business and government, yet they continue to grow and seek new challenges. They have a wide range of interests, are concerned with social issues and are most receptive to new products, ideas, and technologies.

Early majority

tend to be cautious about innovations and adopt sooner than most of their social group but also after the innovation has proved successful with others. They are socially active but seldom leader and tend to be somewhat older, less educated and less socially mobile than the early adopters. They rely heavily on interpersonal sources of information

Early adopter

tend to be opinion leaders and are successful, well educated, and somewhat younger than their peers. Willing to take a calculated risk on an innovation but are concerned with failure. They use commercial, professional and interpersonal information sources and they provide information to others.

Affective

the emotional or feeling response triggered by a stimulus such as an ad. For example, most Americans feels warmth when seeing pictures of young children with kittens.

enduring (product) involvement

the level of a consumer's interest in purchasing a certain product type and how committed they are to purchasing a given brand. *High involvement:* pay attention to messages, analytical reasoning, information search, and WOM.

Memory

the total accumulation of prior learning experiences.

brand equity

the value consumers assign to a brand above and beyond the functional characteristics of the product.

What factors characterize emotions

three basic dimensions- pleasure, arousal, and dominance. Factors that characterize these emotions are environmental event, mental imagery, physiological changes, associated behaviors, and subjective feelings.

latent motives

unknown motives to the consumer or were such that she was reluctant to admit them.

Innovator

venturesome risk takes. They are capable of absorbing the financial and social costs of adopting an unsuccessful product. They are cosmopolitan in outlook and use other innovators rather than local peers as a reference group. Tend to be younger, better educated, and more socially mobile than their peers. They make extensive use of commercial media, sales personnel, and professional sources in learning of new products.

methods used to measure the affective attitude

verbal scales much like those used to measure the cognitive component.For example, consumers might be asked to rate Diet Coke overall