Why We Buy

colors and feelings they activate in people

Color is a powerful way to draw attention to a product or to give it a distinct identity. -ex. red creates feelings of arousal and stimulate appetite & blue create more relaxing feelings

definition of priming

Cues in the environment that make us more likely to react in a certain way even though we're unaware of these influences.

market is fantasy appeals

Fantasy appeals target people who want a way to compensate for a lack of external stimulation or want to escape from problems in the real world.

Why are functionally illiterate consumers a concern to marketers?

Fuctionally illiterate refers to: a person whose reading skills are not adequate to carry out everday tasks, such as reading the newspaper or the instructions on the pill bottle. They are a concern to marketers because 1.) the consumer is at a disadvantage because they encounter difficulty in learning about the best purchase options. 2.) consumer may expierence feelings of shame and embarassment and therefore aviod mareting situations where the consumer will have to reveal that they have an inability to read a label or other written material. 3.) This an emotional burden: creates an anxiety or fear before, during and after a purchase. 4.) they may rely heavily on places they know the menu for, familiar areas (same products, choices, etc.)

Consumption Community

Growth of the web has created thousands of online consumption communities which is when members of the groups share opinions and recommendations about anything from Barbie dolls to baseball fantasy league teame lineups to iPhone apps. People form bonds with fellow group members because they use the same products. There is also pressure on each group member to buy things that will meet with the group's approval.

unconscious motives

Human behavior is the result of desires, impulses, and memories that have been repressed into an unconscious state, yet still influence actions

Conscientious consumerism

a new value that combines a focus on personal health with a concern for global health.

Lateral cycling

a process in which already purchased objects are sold to others or exchanged to other items

experiential hierarchy

an attitude is initially formed on the basis of a raw emotional reaction.

Elimination by aspects

When a buyer evaluates a brand on the most important attribute

Definition of sensory signature

A distinctive sound or aroma that an organization links to its brand identity (ex. Starbucks)

definition of response bias

A form of contamination in survey research in which some factor, such as the desire to make a good impression on the experimenter, leads respondents to modify their true answers.

3 Stages of the Process of Perception

1. Exposure: occurs when a stimulus comes within range of someone's sensory receptors. 2. Attention: the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus (needs both stimulus and recipent to cooperate) 3. Interpretation: The meanings we assign to sensory stimuli.

What are the common elements of destructive consumer behavior?

1. The behavior is not done by choice. 2. The gratification derived from the behavior is short-lived. 3. The person experiences strong feelings of regret or guilt afterward.

Why do consumers replace products that still function?

1.) Desire for new features 2.) A change in an individual's enviornment 3.) A change in a person's role or or self-image

Why do people decorate their bodies? (ex: body piercings)

1.) To seperate group members from nonmembers 2. ) To place the individual in the social organization 3.) To place the person in a gender catergory 4.) To enhance sex-role identifiation 5.) To indicate desired social conduct 6.) To provide a sense of security 7.) To indicate high status or rank

Virtual Brand Communities

A cyberspace explosion created a revolution in consumer-to-consumer activity. United by a shared passion groups that bond over things like barbie dolls memorabilia, magnets, games. Consumers are not limited to their local communities when they look for friends or fellow fans of wine, hip-hop, or skateboarding. ex. Amazon.com encourages shoppers to write reviews of books, rate your professors.

Prospect theory

A descriptive model of how people make choices. It defines utility in terms of gains and losses.

Green marketing

A marketing strategy involving an emphasis on protecting the natural environment. This involves teh development and promotion of enviornmentally freidnly products- and stressing this attribute when the manufacturer communicates with customers. Focuses less on selling and more on conserving.

Internalization

At a high level of involvement we call internalization, deep-seated attitudes become part of our value system. These attitudes are hard to change because they are so important to us.

The word "Attitude"- true or false

Attitude: is a lasting, general evaluation of people (including oneself), objects, advertisements, or issues.

elements in a tv commercial that are likely to have positive effects

Does the communication stress a unique attribute or benefit of the product? 1.) Showing convenience of use 2.) Shwoing new product or improved features 3.) Casting background (people are incidental to the message) 4.) Indirect comparison to other products 5.) demonstrations of products in use 6.) demonstration of tangible results 7.) An actor playing teh role of an ordinary person 8.) NO principle character ( more time devoted to the product.)

what is the type of fear appeal is effective?

Emphasizes the negative consequences that can occur unless the consumer changes a behavior or an attitude

What is a major distinction between customers who purchase a product because they are brand loyal and those who purchase by inertia?

Interia: describes the consumption at the low end of involvement, where we make decisions out of habit because we lack the motivation to consider alternatives. aka buying out of habit? Brand Loyalty: When a consumer is highly involved with a specific product, the repeat purchasing behavior that reflects a concious decision to continue buying the same brand. Positive attitude toward the product, rather than just simply buying it out of habit.

As a customer's product knowledge increases, what typically happens to the amount of search conducted by the consumer?

It will increase, and then decrease as the customer becomes more knowledgeable.

Be able to describe the heuristic systematic model

Peripheral route: When the listener decides whether to agree with the message based on other cues besides the strength of the ideas in the message Central route: when a person is persuaded to act based on the arguments or the content of the message.

stimulus and response

Response is the action that is resulted by the stimulus

Do sex-related ads work?

Sex-related ads can be counterproductive unless the product itself is related to sex

Serial wardrobers

Shoppers who buy an outfit, wear it once, and return it

two-sided message

The message presents both positive and negative information which can be quite effective, but marketers rarely use them

Two-factor theory

The persepctive that two separate psychological processes are operating when a person is repeatedly exposed to an ad: repitition increases familiarity and thus reduces uncertainty about the product, but over time boredom increases with each exposure, and at some point the amount of boredom incurred begins to exceed the amount of uncertainty reduced, resulting in wear-out.

the halo effect

The phenonmenon that occurs when people react to other, similar stimuli in much the same way they respond to the original stimulus

Definition of sound symbolism

The process by which the way a word sounds influences our assumptions about what it describes and attributes

definition of extinction

The process whereby a learned connection between a stimulus and response is eroded so that the response is no longer reinforced ex. when a product is over exposed in the market place so that its original allure is lost

Consumer Behavior

The processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or expierences to satisfy needs and desires.

self-concept attachment

The product helps to establish the user's identity

Nostalgic attachment

The product serves as a link with a past self

Definition perceptual vigilance

The tendency for consumers to be more aware of stimuli that relate to their current needs

Why do people recycle?

They care about the environment and want to do their part in helping the environment

Perceived risk

belief that a product has potentially negative consequences

persuasion

involves an active attempt to change attitudes. This is of course Job #1 of many marketing communications.

gestalt

meaning derived from the totality of a set of stimuli, rather than from any individual stimulus

What are the characteristics of compulsive consumption?

repetitive and excessive shopping performed as an antidote to tension, anxiety, depression, or boredom -addictive -coping method

self-image congruent

research that suggests we choose products when their attributes match some aspect of the self.

theory of cognitive dissonance

states that when a person is confronted with inconsistencies among attitudes or behaviors, he will take some action to resolve this "dissonance"; perhaps he will change his attitudes or modify his behavior to restore consistency.

Variety seeking

the desire to choose new alternatives over more familiar ones

extended self

the external objects we consider a part of our self identity.

positive reinforcement

the process whereby rewards provided

anthropomorphism

the tendency to attribute human characteristics to objects or animals. ex. Cheetah from pringles, keebler elves, mr. peanut

Psychographics

the use of psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors to construct market segments