Seventh Canadian Edition
Consumer Behaviour
Buying, Having, Being
This page intentionally left blank
Seventh Canadian Edition
Consumer Behaviour
Buying, Having, Being
Michael Solomon
Saint Joseph’s Univesity
and the
University Of Manchester (UK)
Katherine White
University of British Columbia
DarRen W. Dahl
University of British Columbia
With Contributions from
JUDITH LYNNE ZAICHKOWSKY, SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
AND
ROSEMARY POLEGATO, MOUNT ALLISON UNIVERSITY
Toronto
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 V0C0
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Solomon, Michael R., author
Consumer behaviour : buying, having, being / Michael Solomon,
Katherine White, Darren W. Dahl. — Seventh Canadian edition.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-13-395809-6 (bound)
1. Consumer behavior—Textbooks. I. Dahl, Darren W. (Darren William),
1968–, author II. White, Katherine, 1974–, author III. Title.
HF5415.32.S64 2015
658.8’342
C2015-906355-8
ISBN 978-0-13-395809-6
Brief Contents
Section 1
Consumers in the Marketplace
Chapter 1
An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour 1
Section 2
Consumers as Individuals
Chapter 2
Perception 33
Chapter 3
Learning and Memory 61
Chapter 4
Motivation and Affect 93
Chapter 5
The Self 120
Chapter 6
Personality, Lifestyles, and Values 150
Section 3
Attitude Change and Decision Making
Chapter 7
Attitudes 183
Chapter 8
Attitude Change and Interactive Communications 209
Chapter 9
Individual Decision Making 242
Chapter 10
Buying and Disposing 277
Section 4
Consumers in Their Social and
Cultural Settings
Chapter 11
Group Influence and Social Media 309
Chapter 12
Income, Social Class, and Family Structure 341
Chapter 13
Subcultures 376
Chapter 14
Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour 410
Chapter 15
The Creation and Diffusion of Culture
441
Contents
About the Authors
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments
Sensory Marketing: Harnessing Perception for a
Competitive Advantage 35
xi
Sight 35
Smell 39
Hearing 40
Touch 41
Taste 42
xvi
Section 1
Consumers in the Marketplace
Exposure
Chapter 1
An Introduction to Consumer
Behaviour 1
Introduction
Segmenting Consumers
Interpretation
Marketing and Culture 9
The Meaning of Consumption 10
The Global Consumer 10
Marketing Ethics and Public Policy
4
9
12
Needs and Wants: Do Marketers Manipulate Consumers?
Do Marketers Create Artificial Needs? 15
Are Advertising and Marketing Necessary? 15
Public Policy and Consumerism 15
Consumer Activism and Its Impact on Marketing
The Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour
Learning and Memory
17
The Learning Process
18
23
Taking It from Here: The Plan of the Book
Chapter Summary 27
Key Terms 27
Review Questions 28
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 28
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 29
Notes 30
Section 2
Consumers as Individuals
Perception
33
33
Sensory Systems
34
25
61
61
Behavioural Learning Theories
How Do We Find Out about Consumers? The Role of
Consumer Research 23
Chapter 2
14
Chapter Summary 55
Key Terms 56
Review Questions 56
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 57
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 57
Notes 58
Chapter 3
Addictive Consumption 19
Compulsive Consumption 20
Illegal Activities 20
Primary Research
51
Stimulus Organization 52
Perceptual Positioning 54
4
Marketing’s Impact on Consumers
47
Personal Selection Factors 49
Stimulus Selection Factors 50
2
Consumers’ Impact on Marketing Strategy
Introduction
Attention
1
Consumer Behaviour: People in the Marketplace
What Is Consumer Behaviour? 3
44
Sensory Thresholds 45
Subliminal Perception 46
62
Classical Conditioning 62
Associative Learning 63
Marketing Applications of Conditioning 65
Instrumental Conditioning 67
Four Types of Learning Schedules 69
Applications of Instrumental Conditioning
Principles 70
Cognitive Learning Theory
71
Is Learning Conscious or Not? 72
Observational Learning 72
Applications of Cognitive Learning Principles
The Role of Memory in Learning
73
74
Encoding of Information for Later Retrieval 75
Memory Systems 76
Storing Information in Memory 77
Analogical Learning 79
Retrieving Information for Purchase Decisions 80
Products as Memory Markers 82
Measuring Memory for Marketing Stimuli 84
Chapter Summary 85
Key Terms 86
Review Questions 87
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
87
Contents
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Notes 90
88
Key Terms 144
Review Questions 144
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 144
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 145
Notes 147
Chapter 4
Motivation and Affect
Introduction
93
93
The Motivation Process
Drive Theory 95
Expectancy Theory
Chapter 6
93
Motivational Strength
Personality, Lifestyles, and
Values 150
94
Personality
95
Motivational Direction
Consumer Involvement
95
Brand Personality
105
111
Values
Chapter Summary 115
Key Terms 115
Review Questions 115
consumer behaviour challenge 116
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 116
Notes 117
Chapter Summary 177
Key Terms 177
Review Questions 178
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 178
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 179
Notes 180
120
120
Does the Self Exist? 120
Self-Concept 121
Multiple Selves 122
Self-Consciousness 124
Consumption and Self-Concept 124
Self–Product Congruence 125
The Extended Self 126
The Digital Self 128
Wearable Computing 128
Gender Roles 129
Androgyny 131
Female Roles 132
Male Roles 133
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Consumers
Body Image
135
Body Cathexis 135
Ideals of Beauty 136
Working on the Body 140
Chapter Summary
143
172
Core Values 173
How Values Link to Consumer Behaviour 174
Ways to Classify Values 174
Conscientious Consumerism: A New Core Value? 174
Materialism: “He Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins” 176
Chapter 5
Perspectives on the Self
163
Lifestyle: Who We Are, What We Do 163
Products Are the Building Blocks of Lifestyles 166
Psychographics 167
Conducting a Psychographic Analysis 168
AIOs 169
Uses of Psychographic Segmentation 170
Psychographic Segmentation Typologies 171
VALS™ 171
Geodemography 172
109
The Self
160
Lifestyles and Psychographics
Levels of Involvement: From Inertia to Passion
The Many Faces of Involvement 106
Segmenting by Involvement Levels 107
Strategies to Increase Involvement 108
151
158
Personality of Positioning
104
Types of Affective Responses 109
How Social Media Taps into Our Emotions
Discrete Emotions 112
150
Consumer Behaviour on the Couch: Freudian Theory
Motivational Research 152
Trait Theories 154
Needs versus Wants 95
Types of Needs 96
Motivational Conflicts 96
Classifying Consumer Needs 99
Motivation and Goal Fulfillment 101
Affect
vii
Section 3
Attitude Change and Decision Making
Chapter 7
Attitudes
183
The Power of Attitudes
183
The Functions of Attitudes 183
The ABC Model of Attitudes 185
Product Attitudes Don’t Tell the Whole Story
133
Forming Attitudes
189
Not All Attitudes Are Created Equal 189
Levels of Commitment to an Attitude 190
The Consistency Principle 190
Attitude Models
195
Multi-attribute Attitude Models
195
187
viii
Contents
Using Attitudes to Predict Behaviour
199
Evaluation of Alternatives
The Extended Fishbein Model 199
Obstacles to Predicting Behaviour in the Theory of Reasoned Action
Types of Normative Influence 202
Chapter Summary 204
Key Terms 204
Review Questions 205
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 205
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 206
Notes 207
Chapter 8
Attitude Change and Interactive
Communications 209
Changing Attitudes through Communication
Decisions, Decisions: Tactical Communications Options
The Elements of Communication 210
209
Consumer Interactivity 212
The Increasing Role of the Consumer
New Message Formats 214
Levels of Interactive Response 214
The Source
211
218
222
Sending the Message 222
Constructing the Argument 224
Types of Message Appeals 226
The Message as Art Form: Metaphors Be with You
231
232
Information Search
247
248
How Much Search Occurs?
253
298
242
242
Section 4
Consumers in Their Social and
Cultural Settings
244
Stages in Consumer Decision Making
Problem Recognition
296
Chapter Summary 301
Key Terms 302
Review Questions 302
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 302
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 304
Notes 305
Individual Decision Making
245
284
Disposal Options 298
Lateral Cycling 300
Chapter 9
Types of Consumer Decisions
278
293
Perceptions of Product Quality 294
Acting on Dissatisfaction 295
The Real Value of Happy Customers 296
Total Quality Management: Going to the Gemba
The Evolution of Product Ownership 297
Product Disposal
Chapter Summary 235
Key Terms 235
Review Questions 236
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 236
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 237
Notes 238
Perspectives on Decision Making
277
277
Postpurchase Satisfaction
The Source versus the Message: Sell the Steak or the
Sizzle? 232
Consumers as Problem Solvers
Introduction
Physical and Social Surroundings 279
Temporal Factors 280
Antecedent States: If It Feels Good, Buy It . . .
Shopping: A Job or an Adventure? 285
E-commerce: Clicks versus Bricks 286
Retailing as Theatre 287
Store Image 288
In-Store Decision Making 290
The Salesperson 292
215
The Elaboration Likelihood Model
Support for the ELM Model 234
Chapter 10
Situational Effects on Consumer Behaviour
213
Source Credibility 216
Hype versus Buzz: The Corporate Paradox
Source Attractiveness 219
The Message
Chapter Summary 270
Key Terms 271
Review Questions 271
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 271
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 273
Notes 274
Buying and Disposing
210
An Updated View: Interactive Communications
201
256
Identifying Alternatives 256
How Do We Put Products into Categories? 257
Product Choice: Selecting among Alternatives 261
Evaluative Criteria 262
Cybermediaries 263
Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts 264
Choosing Familiar Brand Names: Loyalty or Habit? 267
Decision Rules 267
244
Chapter 11
Group Influence and Social
Media 309
Reference Groups
309
Types of Reference Groups
310
Contents
When Reference Groups Are Important
The Power of Reference Groups 316
Conformity 318
Social Comparison 320
Resisting Conformity 323
Opinion Leadership
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Notes 372
314
Subcultures
326
328
Age and Consumer Identity
328
Social Media and Consumer Behaviour
Online Social Networks and Online Communities
Digital Opinion Leaders 333
331
332
Regional Subcultures
Chapter 12
Income, Social Class, and Family
Structure 341
Social Class
377
391
Ethnic Subcultures and Consumer Identity
341
Income Patterns 341
To Spend or Not to Spend: That Is the Question
Consumer Confidence 345
376
Age Cohorts 378
Children: Consumers in Training 379
The Youth Market 380
Gen Z 382
Gen Y 382
Gen X 386
The Mature Market 386
Baby Boomers 387
The Grey Market 388
Grey Power: Seniors’ Economic Clout 388
Chapter Summary 334
Key Terms 335
Review Questions 335
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 336
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 337
Notes 338
It’s Not Just Money
376
Subcultures, Microcultures, and Consumer Identity
Word-of-Mouth Communication
Factors Encouraging WOM
Negative WOM 329
Buzz Building 329
371
Chapter 13
323
Identifying Opinion Leaders
ix
342
Ethnicity and Marketing Strategies 395
Ethnic Groups in Canada 396
The Effect of Immigration on Canadian Diversity
Ethnic Stereotypes 402
394
400
Chapter Summary 403
Key Terms 403
Review Questions 404
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 404
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 405
Notes 406
346
Picking a Pecking Order 346
Social Mobility 347
Components of Social Class 353
Chapter 14
How Social Class Affects Purchase Decisions
354
Class Differences in World View 354
“What Do You Use That Fork For?” Taste Cultures, Codes, and
Cultural Capital 357
Online Social Capital
Status Symbols
358
361
Problems with Measures of Social Class 362
Problems with Social Class Segmentation: A Summary
Family Structure
Chapter Summary 369
Key Terms 370
Review Questions 370
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
371
Aspects of Culture
410
411
Factors That Differ Across Cultures
363
411
426
Marketing Across Cultures: Think Globally or Act
Locally? 430
Adopting a Standardized Strategy 430
Adopting a Localized Strategy 431
When Does Global Marketing Work Best?
363
Household Structure 364
Family Age 365
Family Size 365
Non-traditional Household and Family Structures
The Family Life Cycle 367
Understanding Culture
Values and Norms 411
Myths and Rituals 415
Sacred and Profane Consumption
Language and Symbols 428
357
How Do We Measure Social Class?
Cultural Influences on Consumer
Behaviour 410
433
The Diffusion of Consumer Culture Across Cultures
366
Chapter Summary 436
Key Terms 436
Review Questions 436
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 437
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 437
Notes 438
434
x
Contents
Chapter 15
The Creation and Diffusion
of Culture 441
Cultural Selection
441
How Do We Know What’s “In”? 441
Culture Production Systems 443
High Culture and Popular Culture 446
Product Placement 448
The Diffusion of Innovations
450
How Do We Decide to Adopt an Innovation?
Types of Innovations 453
The Fashion System
451
Chapter Summary 462
Key Terms 462
Review Questions 463
Consumer Behaviour Challenge 463
Case Study: Marketing in Practice 464
Notes 465
Appendix I:
Appendix II:
455
Cultural Categories 455
Behavioural Science Perspectives on Fashion
A “Medical” Model of Fashion 458
Cycles of Fashion Adoption 459
456
Sources of Secondary Data (available online)
Careers in Consumer Research
Glossary 469
Product, Services, Corporate, and Celebrity Index
Subject Index 493
467
479
About the Authors
Michael R. Solomon, Ph.D., is Professor of Marketing in the Haub School of Business
at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Before joining the Saint Joseph’s faculty
in the fall of 2006, he was the Human Sciences Professor of Consumer Behavior at
Auburn University. Before moving to Auburn in 1995, he was chair of the Department
of Marketing in the School of Business at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New
Jersey. Professor Solomon began his academic career in the Graduate School of
Business Administration at New York University (NYU), where he also served as
Associate Director of NYU’s Institute of Retail Management. He earned his B.A. degrees
in psychology and sociology magna cum laude at Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in
social psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1996 he was
awarded the Fulbright/FLAD Chair in Market Globalization by the U.S. Fulbright
Commission and the Government of Portugal, and he served as Distinguished Lecturer
in Marketing at the Technical University of Lisbon. He held an appointment as
Professor of Consumer Behaviour at the University of Manchester (United Kingdom)
from 2007 to 2013.
Professor Solomon’s primary research interests include consumer behavior and
lifestyle issues; branding strategy; the symbolic aspects of products; the psychology of
fashion, decoration, and image; services marketing; marketing in virtual worlds; and
the development of visually oriented online research methodologies. He has published
numerous articles on these and related topics in academic journals, and he has
delivered invited lectures on these subjects in Europe, Australia, Asia, and Latin
America. His research has been funded by the American Academy of Advertising, the
American Marketing Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the International
Council of Shopping Centers, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. He currently sits
on the editorial or advisory boards of The Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of
Marketing Theory and Practice, Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty, and Journal
for Advancement of Marketing Education, and he served an elected six-year term on
the Board of Governors of the Academy of Marketing Science. Professor Solomon has
been recognized as one of the 15 most widely cited scholars in the academic behavioral
sciences/fashion literature, and as one of the 10 most productive scholars in the field
of advertising and marketing communications.
Professor Solomon is a frequent contributor to mass media. His feature articles
have appeared in such magazines as Psychology Today, Gentleman’s Quarterly, and
Savvy. He has been quoted in numerous national magazines and newspapers,
including Advertising Age, Adweek, Allure, Elle, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Mirabella,
Newsweek, the New York Times, Self, Time, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal.
He frequently appears on television and speaks on radio to comment on consumer
behavior issues, including appearances on The Today Show, Good Morning America,
Inside Edition, Newsweek on the Air, the Entrepreneur Sales and Marketing Show,
CNBC, Channel One, the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, the WOR Radio
­Network, and National Public Radio. He acts as consultant to numerous companies
on consumer behavior and marketing strategy issues and often speaks to business
groups throughout the United States and overseas. In addition to this text, Professor
Solomon is coauthor of the widely used textbook Marketing: Real People, Real
Choices. He has three children, Amanda, Zachary, and Alexandra; a son-in-law,
Orly; and three granddaughters, Rose, Evey, and Arya. He lives in Philadelphia with
his wife Gail and their “other child,” a pug named Kelbie Rae.
xii
Ab o u t t h e A u t h o r s
Katherine (Kate) White is professor of marketing and behavioural science at the
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia. She holds a Professorship
in Consumer Insights, Prosocial Consumption, and Sustainability. Kate is trained as a
social psychologist and she completed her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia,
her M.A. at the University of Waterloo, and her B.A. at Simon Fraser University. Kate
teaches courses in consumer behaviour, consumer insights, marketing strategy, and
sustainability marketing at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. She has
also consulted on various marketing and behaviour change projects with clients such
as the City of Calgary, My Sustainable Canada, DDB Canada, and Big Rock Brewery.
Kate’s research is focused on the application of social psychology to understanding consumer behaviour. In particular, her research interests focus on social influence,
social marketing, and sustainability marketing. Her published work has appeared in
top-tier journals including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. In addition, her
work has been presented at over 50 national and international conferences.
Kate recently received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholar and has been
identified as a “Young Scholar” by the Marketing Science Institute. This latter honour
is given to young academics identified as potential leaders of the next generation of
marketing researchers. Kate is associate editor at the Journal of Marketing Research
and is on the editorial boards of Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of
C­onsumer Psychology. She has been ranked number 15 worldwide for publications in
the A-level marketing journals by the American Marketing Association.
Kate is mother of twin daughters, and in their spare time they like to travel. When
the girls were two they went on Semester at Sea, a program run through the University
of Virginia. They spent a semester at sea and travelled to Spain, Morocco, Ghana,
South Africa, Mauritius, India, Singapore, Vietnam, China, and Japan. Follow Kate on
Twitter @White_K8
Darren Dahl is the senior associate dean of Faculty, director of the Robert H. Lee
Graduate School, and BC Innovation Council Professor at the University of British
Columbia. Darren completed his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia and his
B.Comm. at the U­niversity of Alberta.
Darren’s research interests are in the areas of new product design and development, creativity, consumer product adoption, the role of social influence in consumer
behaviour, and understanding the role of self-conscious emotions in consumption. His
research has been presented at numerous national and international conferences, and
published in various texts and such journals as the Journal of Marketing Research,
Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Management Science, and Journal of Consumer Psychology. He is currently editor in chief of the Journal of Consumer
Research and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, and International Journal of Research in Marketing. He has been
ranked number one worldwide for publications in the A-level marketing journals by
the American Marketing Association.
Darren teaches courses in consumer behaviour, marketing research, and strategic
marketing analysis at the undergraduate, MBA, and executive education levels. He has
won awards for both his research (e.g., Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar) and
his teaching (e.g., 3M Award for Excellence in Teaching) efforts. Before coming to UBC
he held a faculty appointment at the University of Manitoba for four years and has been
a visiting professor at Stanford, Columbia University, Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology, and Thammasat University in Thailand. Darren has consulted and
organized education programs for a number of nonprofit and for-profit organizations,
such as Cathay Pacific, Procter & Gamble, Xerox, General Electric, Vancouver Public
Health, Teekay Shipping, Lululemon Athletica, Earls Restaurants, Agent Provocateur,
Daehong Advertising–Korea, and LIC India.
Preface
This is the seventh Canadian edition of Consumer Behaviour. The changes over all
these editions have really made this a unique text that captures the Canadian identity.
The textbook still carries Michael R. Solomon’s trademark of vastly interesting
examples and issues. We have tried not to interfere with his winning style, but have
definitely added our own twist. Chapters 12 and 13 are presented with a distinctly
­Canadian focus. Throughout, we have integrated successful Canadian stories. In a­ ddition,
the “As I See It” boxes, which present the point of view of consumer researchers, are all
from scholars at Canadian universities. The cases presented at the end of each chapter all
represent real companies and issues that have a distinctly Canadian focus.
THE “BUYING, HAVING, BEING” APPROACH
AND OBJECTIVE
As the book’s subtitle, “Buying, Having, Being,” suggests, our version of this field goes
beyond looking at the act of buying to having and being as well. Consumer behaviour
is more than buying things; it also embraces the study of how having (or not having)
things affects our lives and how our possessions influence the way we feel about ourselves and about each other—our state of being.
In addition to understanding why people buy things, we try to appreciate how
products, services, and consumption activities contribute to the broader social world we
experience. Whether shopping, cooking, cleaning, playing basketball, hanging out at the
beach, or even looking at ourselves in the mirror, our lives are touched by the marketing
system. And, as if these experiences weren’t complex enough, the task of understanding
the consumer multiplies dramatically when a multicultural perspective is taken. In
addition to the numerous examples of marketing and consumer practices relating to
consumers and companies, chapters contain boxes called “Consumers in Focus” that
highlight ways in which consumption impacts us as individual consumers.
The book also emphasizes the importance of understanding consumers in formulating marketing strategy. Many (if not most) of the fundamental concepts in marketing
are based on the practitioner’s ability to know people. After all, if we don’t understand
why people behave as they do, how can we identify their needs? If we can’t identify
their needs, how can we satisfy those needs? To illustrate the potential of consumer
research to inform marketing strategy, the text contains numerous examples of specific
applications of consumer behaviour concepts by marketing practitioners, as well as
examples of windows of opportunity where such concepts might be used—perhaps by
alert strategists after taking this course! Many of these possibilities are highlighted in
special features called “Marketing Insight.”
FEATURES OF THE SEVENTH
CANADIAN EDITION
The seventh Canadian edition of Consumer Behaviour retains and updates the best elements
of the previous edition.
As I See It: We have asked fellow researchers to share their current work and explain
how it relates to the various theories of consumer behaviour.
End-of-Chapter Cases: These cases highlight current real-world marketing and consumer issues and have a distinctly Canadian focus. The questions at the end of each case
ask students to use concepts they learned in the chapter to address real-world questions
and problems.
xiv
p r e fa c e
Consumers in Focus: These examples highlight implications for marketing and
consumption on individual consumers.
Marketing Insight: These examples help to highlight how principles of consumer
behaviour are relevant in real-world marketing contexts.
Learner objectives: Learner objectives at the start of every chapter help students focus
on key skills and topics as they make their way through the chapter material.
Full-colour figures, photographs, advertisements, and illustrations: Throughout each chapter, key concepts and applications are illustrated with strong, full-colour visual materials.
Chapter Summary: This feature provides a concise review of the chapter’s key topics.
Key Terms: Key terms are bolded within the text and listed at the end of each chapter
with page references. All of the key terms are collected together in the glossary at the
back of the book, and are boldfaced with their page references in the subject index.
Review Questions: These straightforward questions draw attention to key concepts
and theories in each chapter.
Consumer Behaviour Challenge: Each chapter contains two sets of questions that challenge the student to apply the key issues covered. Discussion Questions encourage
dialogue about important issues in consumer behaviour. Experiential Exercises connect learners directly to the marketplace and communities that provide the contexts
for consumer behaviour. Many new questions have been added for this edition.
Indexes: A subject index and a product, service, corporate, and celebrity index reference
all information and examples in the book.
ADDITIONAL LEARNING AIDS
Ne w to th is E dit io n
MyMarketingLab Resources
MyMarketingLab delivers proven results in helping individual students succeed. It
provides engaging experiences that personalize, stimulate, and measure learning for
each student. MyMarketingLab includes powerful learning resources, including online
simulations to help students work through and master key business topics, a Study
Plan for student self-study, and a wealth of engaging assessment and teaching aids to
help students and instructors explore unique learning pathways. MyMarketingLab
online resources include:
•
Study Plan. MyMarketingLab offers students an engaging and focused self-study
experience that is driven by a powerful new Study Plan. Students work through
assessments in each chapter to gauge their understanding and target the topics
that require additional practice. Along the way, they are recognized for their mastery of each topic and guided toward resources in areas that they might be struggling to understand.
•
Decision-Making Simulations. Decision Making Mini-Simulations walk students
through key business decision-making scenarios to help them understand how
marketing decisions are made. Students are asked to make important decisions
relating to core marketing concepts. At each point, students receive feedback to
help them understand the implications of their choices in the marketing environment. These simulations can now be assigned by instructors and graded directly
through MyMarketingLab.
•
Business Today Video Database. Business Today is a dynamic and expanding
database of videos that covers the disciplines of business, marketing, management, and more. In addition to the videos that are specifically correlated to this
text, you will find new videos posted regularly. Check back often to see up-to-date
video examples that are perfect for classroom use.
P r e fa c e
•
Writing Assignments. Each assisted-graded writing assignment is based on a question from the text and provides the perfect framework for instructors to efficiently
assign, review, and grade students’ written work. Questions are accompanied by a
clickable rubric that allows instructors to review written work, provide immediate feedback, and assign a grade quickly and consistently.
•
Learning Catalytics. Learning Catalytics is a “bring your own device” student
engagement, assessment, and classroom intelligence system. It allows instructors
to engage students in class with a variety of questions types designed to gauge
student understanding.
•
Glossary Flashcards. These provide a targeted review of the Key Terms in each
chapter. The Glossary Flashcards allow learners to select the specific terms and
chapters that they would like to study. The cards can also be sorted by Key Term
or by definition to give students greater flexibility when studying.
•
Pearson eText. The Pearson eText gives students access to their textbook anytime,
anywhere. In addition to note taking, highlighting, and bookmarking, the Pearson
eText offers interactive and sharing features. Rich media options may include videos, animations, interactive figures, and built-in assessments, all embedded in the
text. Instructors can share their comments or highlights, and students can add
their own, creating a tight community of learners within the class.
The Pearson eText may include a responsive design for easy viewing on smartphones and tablets. Many of our eTexts now have configurable reading settings,
including resizable type and night reading mode.
Supplements
This edition of Consumer Behaviour is accompanied by a complete supplements package.
For Instructors
Computerized Test Bank: Pearson’s computerized test banks allow instructors to filter
and select questions to create quizzes, tests, or homework. Instructors can revise
questions or add their own, and may be able to choose print or online options. These
questions are also available in Microsoft Word format.
Instructor’s Resource Manual with Video Guide: The Instructor’s Resource Manual with
Business Today Video Guide contains lecture notes, field project ideas, and answers to
the questions in each Consumer Behaviour Challenge.
Learning Solutions Managers: Pearson’s Learning Solutions Managers work with faculty
and campus course designers to ensure that Pearson technology products, assessment
tools, and online course materials are tailored to meet your specific needs. This highly
qualified team is dedicated to helping schools take full advantage of a wide range of
educational resources by assisting in the integration of a variety of instructional materials and media formats. Your local Pearson Education sales representative can provide
you with more details on this service program.
PowerPoint Slides: More than 150 slides highlighting key concepts featured in the text
are available electronically in PowerPoint.
Image PowerPoint: The Image PowerPoint contains all the advertisements featured in
this edition, as well as all the figures and tables.
xv
Acknowledgments
The Canadian authors would like to thank Michael R. Solomon for continuing to
provide updated, relevant material and interesting revisions. We also owe much to our
colleagues who wrote many interesting articles that were incorporated into this
edition, including David Hardisty and Lindsey Boyle. We may have missed many
additional important papers and hope our colleagues will point out to us where these
can be added to the text for future editions. We especially thank all our colleagues who
contributed to the As I See It boxes:
Tandy Chalmers Thomas, Queen’s University
Peter Darke, York University
Robert Fisher, University of Alberta
Gerald Häubl, University of Alberta
Scott Hawkins, University of Toronto
Bonnie Simpson, Western University
Brent McFerran, Simon Fraser University
Annamma Joy, University of British Columbia, Okanagan
Steven Kates, Simon Fraser University
Sandra Laporte, HEC Montreal
Anne M. Lavack, Simon Fraser University
Kelley Main, University of Manitoba
Antonia Mantanakis, Brock University
Mehdi Mourali, University of Calgary
Monica Popa, University of Saskatchewan
Malcolm C. Smith, University of Manitoba
Sarah J.S. Wilner, Wilfrid Laurier University
We also thank the following colleagues who provided reviews of the seventh edition:
Dr. Mark Cleveland, Western University
Magdalena Cismaru, University of Regina
Steven M. Kates, Simon Fraser University
Duane Weaver, Vancouver Island University
Pat Browne, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
We appreciate the work of the staff at Pearson Canada, including Carolin Sweig,
Karen Townsend, Keriann McGoogan, Jessica Hellen, Monika Schurmann, and Joanne
Tang. The authors also wish to thank Judith Lynne Zaichkowsky and Rosemary Polegato
for their excellent work on the first five Canadian editions of this work.
Michael R. Solomon
Katherine White
Darren W. Dahl
C HAPTER
1
An Introduction to
Consumer Behaviour
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand that consumer behaviour is a process.
2
Be aware that marketers need to understand the
wants and needs of different consumer segments.
3
Understand that popular culture is both a product of
and an inspiration for marketers.
4
Understand that the Internet has changed patterns
of consumer behaviour.
5
Understand that there are many ethical issues to
consider in the domain of marketing and consumer
behaviour.
6
Understand that various behaviours can have
negative impacts on consumers and society, and
these are sometimes referred to as the “dark side”
of consumer behaviour.
7
Understand that many different research
methodologies can be used to understand
consumer behaviour.
Introduction
Gail has some time to kill before her accounting class, so she pulls out her iPhone to see
what’s going on in her social networks. Between studying for her accounting and marketing exams, she hasn’t checked out anything interesting in days—even her Facebook friends
around campus have been quiet. Enough of the serious stuff, she decides. It’s time for some
really educational surfing.
So, where to go first? Gail goes straight to Pinterest to see if anyone has pinned any
new styles on her Shoe-aholic board. She’s just about to jump to Gen Y Girl when she
gets a text from Jewelmint.com to notify her that the site has a new jewellery option for
her that’s based on the profile she filled out when she registered. Sweet—it’s a bracelet
recommended by actress Allison Williams from Girls. With her PayPal account, it doesn’t
take Gail long to throw the pendant in her cart and order it—and to share a photo of her
haul on Facebook. On a whim, Gail opens the Tinder app on her phone—yes, as usual,
plenty of guys want to meet up if she “swipes right.” Not happening with these dweebs—
a flurry of left swipes and she’s done. As Gail glances at the clock, she realizes she’d better come back to the real world or she’ll miss her exam. Okay, enough time for one quick
post before she runs to catch the campus shuttle: Gail logs on to RateMyProfessors.com
and writes a quick but glowing paragraph about how great her Consumer Behaviour professor has been this semester . . . not to mention that awesome textbook the class has
been using.
2
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
Consumer Behaviour: People in the Marketplace
This book is about people like Gail—and you. It concerns the products and services we
buy and use, and the ways these fit into our lives. This introductory chapter describes
some important aspects of the field of consumer behaviour and some reasons why it’s
essential to understand how people interact with the marketing system. For now,
though, let’s return to one “typical” consumer: Gail, the business major. The preceding
vignette allows us to highlight some of the aspects of consumer behaviour we will
cover in the rest of the book. Gail is a consumer; let’s compare her to other consumers.
•
For some purposes, marketers find it useful to categorize her in terms of her age,
gender, income, or occupation. These are descriptive characteristics of a population, or demographics. In other cases, marketers would rather know something
about Gail’s psychographics, which can include aspects of a person’s lifestyle,
interests, attitudes, values, and personality. These could include her interests in
clothing or music, or the way she spends her leisure time. Knowledge of consumer characteristics plays an extremely important role in many marketing applications, such as when a manufacturer defines the market for a product or an
advertising agency decides upon the appropriate techniques to employ when it
targets a certain group of consumers.
•
Gail’s friends strongly influence her purchase decisions. The conversations we
have with others transmit a lot of product information, as well as recommendations to use or avoid particular brands; this content often is more influential than
what we see on television commercials, magazines, or billboards. The growth of
the Web has created thousands of online consumption communities, where members share opinions and recommendations about anything from Barbie dolls to
baseball fantasy league team lineups to iPhone apps. Gail forms 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.
•
As members of a large society, such as Canada, people share certain cultural values, or strongly held beliefs, about the way the world should function. Members
of subcultures, or smaller groups within the culture, also share values; these
groups include teens, French Canadians, or “prairie people,” and even hipsters
who listen to Arcade Fire, wear Band of Outsiders clothing, and eat vegan tacos.
•
Every day, Gail comes into contact with information about many competing
brands. Some don’t capture her attention at all, whereas others are just a turnoff
because they don’t relate to “looks,” people, or ideas with which she identifies.
The use of market segmentation strategies means that an organization targets its
product, service, or idea only to specific groups of consumers rather than to
everybody—­even if it means that other consumers who don’t belong to this target
market aren’t attracted to it. That’s why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream
(and even candied bacon flavour!).
•
Brands often have clearly defined images, or “personalities,” that advertising,
packaging, branding, and other marketing elements help to shape. Even the
choice of a favourite website is very much a lifestyle statement: It says a lot
about a person’s interests, as well as something about the type of person she
would like to be. People often purchase a product because they like its image or
because they feel its “personality” somehow corresponds to their own. Moreover, a consumer may believe that if she buys and uses the product or service, its
desirable qualities will “magically” rub off on her. When a product or service
succeeds in satisfying our specific needs or desires, we may reward it with many
years of brand loyalty, a bond between product and consumer that is very difficult for competitors to break.
•
The appearance, taste, texture, or smell of the item influences our evaluations of
products. A good website helps people to feel, taste, and smell with their eyes. We
may be swayed by the shape and colour of a package on the store shelf, as well as
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
by more subtle factors, such as the symbolism in a brand name, in an advertisement, or even in the choice of a cover model for a magazine. These judgments are
affected by—and often reflect—how a society feels people should define themselves at that point in time. Many product meanings lurk below the surface of the
packaging and advertising; we’ll discuss some of the methods marketers and
social scientists use to discover or apply these meanings.
What Is Consumer Behaviour?
CO 1
The field of consumer behaviour covers a lot of ground: It is the study of the processes
involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires. Consumers take many forms,
ranging from an eight-year-old child who begs her mother for a Frozen Elsa doll to an
executive in a large corporation who helps to decide on a multimillion-dollar computer
system. The items we consume include anything from canned peas to a massage, democracy, Juicy jeans, Reggae music, or a celebrity like Taylor Swift. Needs and desires to be
satisfied range from hunger and thirst to love, status, or even spiritual fulfillment. And, as
we’ll see throughout this book, people can get passionate about a broad range of products.
Co nsum e r Be h av i o u r Is a P roc e s s
In its early stages of development, the field of consumer behaviour was often referred
to as buyer behaviour, reflecting an emphasis on the interaction between consumers
and producers at the time of purchase. Marketers now recognize that consumer behaviour is an ongoing process, not merely what happens at the moment a consumer hands
over money or a credit card and in turn receives a good or service.
The exchange, in which two or more organizations or people give and receive
something of value, is an integral part of marketing.1 Although exchange is an important part of consumer behaviour, the expanded view emphasizes the entire consumption process, which includes the issues that influence the consumer before, during,
and after a purchase. Figure 1–1 illustrates some of the issues addressed during each
stage of the consumption process.
FIGURE 1–1
Some Issues That Arise during Stages in the Consumption Process
CONSUMER’S PERSPECTIVE
MARKETER’S PERSPECTIVE
PREPURCHASE
ISSUES
How does a consumer decide that
he or she needs a product?
What are the best sources of information
to learn more about alternative choices?
How are consumer attitudes toward
products formed and changed?
What cues do consumers use to infer
which products are superior to others?
PURCHASE
ISSUES
Is acquiring a product a stressful or
pleasant experience? What does the
purchase say about the consumer?
How do situational factors, such as time
pressure or store displays, affect the
consumer’s purchase decision?
POSTPURCHASE
ISSUES
Does the product provide pleasure or
perform its intended function?
How is the product eventually disposed
of, and what are the environmental
consequences of this act?
What determines whether a consumer
will be satisfied with a product and
whether he or she will buy it again?
Does this person tell others about his or her
experiences with the product and affect
their purchase decisions?
3
4
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
CO 2
Goodwill: Understanding Consumer and
Business Buyer Behavior
Marketing
Insight
Successful companies understand that needs are
a moving target. No organization—no matter how
renowned for its marketing prowess—can afford
to rest on its laurels. Everyone needs to keep innovating to stay ahead of changing customers and
the marketplace. BMW is a great example. No one
(not even rivals like Audi or Mercedes-Benz) would
deny that the German automaker knows how to
make a good car (though they may not agree with
the company’s claim to be “the ultimate driving
machine”). Still, BMW’s engineers and designers
know they have to understand how drivers’ needs
will change in the future—even those loyal owners who love the cars they own today. The company is highly sensitive to such key trends as the
following:
• A desire for environmentally friendly products
• Increasingly congested roadways and the
movement by some cities such as London
to impose fees on vehicles in central areas
• N ew business models that encourage
consumers to rent products only while they
need them rather than buying them outright
BMW’s response: The company committed
more than $1 billion to develop electric models
like its new i3 commuter car and i8 sports car.
These futuristic-looking vehicles are largely made
from lightweight carbon fibre to maximize the
distance they can go between battery charges,
and 25 percent of the interior plastic comes from
recycled or renewable raw materials.2 In addition,
BMW launched a car-sharing service called
DriveNow, which started in Germany and is now
available in San Francisco.3 Drivers use a computer chip in their licences to hire a car and leave
it wherever they are when they no longer need it.
That’s forward thinking.
The Benjamin Hotel in New York City offers a
“Dream Dog” program that pampers not only
guests, but also their dogs. The hotel is segmenting based on both income and lifestyles,
and is appealing to higher-income consumers
who enjoy travelling with their pets.
© Design Pics Inc/Alamy
Consumers’ Impact on Marketing
Strategy
Why should managers, advertisers, and other marketing professionals bother to learn
about consumer behaviour? Very simply, understanding consumer behaviour is good
business. A basic marketing concept states that firms exist to satisfy consumers’ needs.
These needs can be satisfied only to the extent that marketers understand the people
or organizations that will use the products and services they are trying to sell—and do
so better than their competitors.
Consumer response is the ultimate test of whether a marketing strategy will succeed. Thus, knowledge about consumers is incorporated into virtually every facet of a
successful marketing plan. Data about consumers help marketers define the market
and identify threats to a brand and opportunities for it. And, in the world of marketing,
nothing is forever. This knowledge also helps ensure that the product continues to
appeal to its core market. The purpose of understanding consumer behaviour is to predict the future. Anyone can see what is happening at present, but in consumer behaviour we are also focused on tomorrow. Throughout this book, we will highlight takeaways
from consumer behaviour for marketers in boxes entitled “Marketing Insight.”
Segmenting Consumers
The process of marketing segmentation identifies groups of consumers who are similar
to one another in one or more ways and then devises marketing strategies that appeal to
one or more groups. As our society evolves from a mass culture in which many consumers share the same preferences to a diverse one in which we have almost an infinite number of choices, it’s more important than ever to identify distinct market segments and to
take care in developing a marketing mix that resonates with each of these segments.
As we’ll see later, building loyalty to a brand is a very smart marketing strategy, so
sometimes companies define market segments by identifying their most faithful customers or heavy users. As a rule of thumb, marketers use the 80/20 Rule: 20 percent of
users account for 80 percent of sales. This guideline often holds up well but varies by
product category. At the very least, it is relevant for the marketer to be aware of who
the heavy users of the product category are.
As we’ve already seen, demographics are statistics that measure observable
aspects of a population, such as birth rate, age distribution, and income. Statistics
Canada is a major source of demographic data on families. This information is a­ vailable
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
TABLE 1–1
A Statistical Picture of the Average or Typical Canadian Consumer
• The typical Canadian is a woman who is 39.9 years old.
• The average Canadian worked approximately 36.6 hours per week in 2012.
• The median annual income of a Canadian was approximately $31 320 in 2012.
• In 2013, the average Canadian household spent $16 387 on shelter.
• In 2013, the average household spent $1229 on personal care.
• In 2013, the average household spent $3550 on clothing and accessories.
• In 2013, the average Canadian spent $2407 on health care.
• The average household spent $3922 on recreation in 2013.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Individuals by total income level, by province and territory (Canada) (CANSIM Table 111-0008). Ottawa: Statistics
Canada, 2015, www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil105a-eng.htm; and Statistics Canada, Average household
expenditure, by province (Canada) (CANSIM Table 203-0021 and Catalogue no. 62F0026M), Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2015. All computations,
use, and interpretation of these data are entirely that of the authors.
at www.statcan.gc.ca. The changes and trends revealed in demographic studies are of
great interest to marketers, because the data can be used to locate and predict the sizes
of markets for many products, ranging from home mortgages to brooms and can openers. Imagine trying to sell baby food to a single male, or an around-the-world vacation
to a couple making $35 000 a year!
Table 1–1 provides a statistical snapshot of the “typical” Canadian consumer,
based on data compiled from Statistics Canada. As you go down this list, you will
quickly see that many characteristics do not apply directly to you. How different are
you from this consumer?
In this book, we’ll explore many of the important demographic variables that
make consumers the same as or different from others. We’ll also consider other important characteristics that are not so easy to measure, such as psychographics—­
differences in consumers’ personalities, attitudes, values, and lifestyles. For now, let’s
summarize a few of the most important demographic dimensions, each of which will
be developed in more detail in later chapters.
Ag e
Consumers of different age groups obviously have very different needs and wants.
Although people who belong to the same age group differ in many other ways, they
tend to share a set of values and common cultural experiences that they carry throughout life.4 In some cases marketers initially develop a product to attract one age group
and then try to broaden its appeal later on. That’s what the energy drink Red Bull has
done. Red Bull was originally introduced in bars, nightclubs, and gyms to the product’s core audience of young people. Over time, the drink became popular in other
contexts, and now the company is sponsoring the PGA European Tour to broaden its
reach to older individuals. It’s also handing out free cans to commuters, cab drivers,
and car-rental agencies to market the drink as a way to stay alert on the road.5
Ge nd e r
Many products, from fragrances to footwear, are targeted at either men or women. Differentiating by gender starts at a very early age—even diapers are sold in pink versions
for girls and blue for boys. Many brands that initially appeal to only one gender eventually seek to expand their market share by appealing to the other gender, too. Take,
for example, Lululemon, originally a women’s clothing brand that now actively targets
the male market.6
5
6
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
Fa mily S t r uctu r e an d Lif e Stag e
A person’s family structure and marital status are two other important demographic variables,
because they have a big impact on a consumer’s spending priorities. Young singles and
newlyweds are the most likely to exercise; go to bars, concerts, and movies; and consume
alcohol. Families with young children are big purchasers of health foods and fruit juices,
while single-parent households and those with older children buy more junk food. Home
maintenance services are most likely to be used by older couples and dual-career couples.
S o cia l C l ass an d In co me
People grouped within the same social class are approximately equal in terms of their
incomes and social standing in the community. They work in roughly similar occupations, and they tend to have similar tastes in music, clothing, art, and so on. They also
tend to socialize with one another and share many ideas and values regarding the way
life should be lived.7 The distribution of wealth is of great interest to marketers because
it determines which groups have the greatest buying power and market potential.
Et h nicit y
Multiculturalism and Canada go hand in hand. This country comprises immigrants
from all over the globe. Canada accepts nearly 1 million immigrants and refugees
every four years, by far the highest per capita rate of immigration in the world.8 We are
diverse in our languages and in the cultural consumption that stems from our different
ethnicities. For example, English is now a minority language in Vancouver. The growth
of the Asian market in Canada has led to trilingual labelling of some products. Since
Canadians blend together from many different racial and cultural backgrounds, we
also blend together in our consumption heritage, as signified by food. As a culture, we
are just as likely to enjoy eating sushi as pyrohy (a.k.a. perogies) or lasagna.
Ge o g r ap h y
The climate changes drastically from region to region in Canada, which makes segmenting some products by region a profitable strategy. For example, while more snow
blowers and fur coats are sold east of the Rocky Mountains, more umbrellas and raincoats in the west. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are a must in regions around the
Great Lakes. On the Prairies, it is not unusual for people to have two or more freezers
in their basements; many people who live in farming regions preserve the food they
produce for winter and year-round consumption.
Within regions, there are some different cultural pockets and hence differences in
food tastes. New Brunswick has the highest consumption of sliced white bread, while
Alberta leads in bubblegum sales. Most corn flakes are sold on the Prairies, and linguini has its highest sales in Toronto. Quebecers consume the least amount of frozen
french fries, preferring the real thing.9
Life sty l e s
Consumers also have very different lifestyles, even if they share other characteristics such
as gender or age. The way we feel about ourselves, the things we value, the things we like
to do in our spare time—all of these factors help determine which products will push our
buttons, or even those that will make us feel better. As one example, the car company VW
decided to market to consumers who followed the program Pimp My Ride and enjoyed the
activities involved in restoring cars into tricked-out street machines. To do so, it released a
series of online viral ad videos featuring a German engineer and his assistant “unpimping”
autos belonging to those who enjoy this specific lifestyle. By poking fun, the VW brand
attracted individuals to watch the ad and pass it along to others with similar interests.
Se mg me nti n g b y Relati o nsh ips an d Bi g Data
Marketers are carefully defining customer segments and listening to people in their
markets as never before. Many of them have realized that a key to success is building
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
relationships that will last a lifetime between brands and customers. Relationship
marketing involves making an effort to interact with customers on a regular basis, giving them reasons to maintain a bond with the company over time. The cosmetics
brand Sephora practises the notion of relationship marketing by providing its most
loyal customers with product rewards, personalized beauty recommendations, and
even a special gift when it is their birthday.
One way marketers attempt to create relationships with consumers is through
database marketing, which tracks specific consumers’ buying habits very closely and
crafts products and messages tailored precisely to people’s wants and needs based on
this information. Walmart stores massive amounts of information on the 100 million
people who visit its stores each week, and the company uses these data to fine-tune its
offerings. We all generate massive amounts of information that hold tremendous value
for marketers. You may not see it, but we are practically buried by data that come from
many sources—sensors that collect climate information, the comments you and your
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Courtesy of Royal Oak Burial Park/Trapeze
Communications
7
8
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
friends make to your favourite social media sites, the credit card transactions we
authorize, and even the GPS signals in our smartphones that let organizations know
where most of us are pretty much anytime, day or night. This incredible amount of
information has created a new field that causes tremendous excitement among marketing analysts (and other math geeks). The collection and analysis of extremely large
datasets is called big data, and you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the next few
years. Hint: If you have aptitude or interest in quantitative topics, this will be a very
desirable career path for you.
Here are some of the types of relationships a person might have with a product:
•
Self-concept attachment: The product helps to establish the user’s identity.
•
Nostalgic attachment: The product serves as a link with a past self.
•
B:9.25”
Interdependence: The product is a part
of the user’s daily routine.
•
Love: The product elicits emotional S:7”
bonds of warmth, passion, or other strong
positive feelings.
T:7.5”
Technologies like Bluetooth connectivity
allow consumers to interact with products
more intimately, which in turn strengthens
their relationships.
Courtesy of The Procter & Gamble Company
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C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
9
Marketing’s Impact on Consumers
Does marketing imitate life or vice versa? After the movie The Hangover became a big
hit, consumers indicated an interest in replicating the same experiences as the characters in the film, including trying to get on the roof of Caesar’s Palace!10 For better or for
worse, we all live in a world that the actions of marketers and the media significantly
influence. Throughout this book, we will highlight the ways in which marketers influence consumers in boxes entitled “Consumers in Focus.”
We are surrounded by marketing stimuli in the form of advertisements, stores, and
products competing for our attention and our dollars. Marketers filter much of what
we learn about the world, whether through the affluence they depict in glamorous
magazines or the roles actors play in commercials. Ads show us how we should act
with regard to recycling, alcohol consumption, and even the types of houses and cars
we wish to own. In many ways we are also “at the mercy” of marketers, since we rely
on them to sell us products that are safe and that perform as promised, to tell us the
truth about what they are selling, and to price and distribute these products fairly.
Marketing and Culture
CO 3
Popular culture, consisting of the music, movies, sports, books, celebrities, and other
forms of entertainment consumed by the mass market, is both a product of and an
inspiration for marketers. Our lives are also affected in far-reaching ways, ranging
from how we acknowledge cultural events such as marriage, death, or holidays to how
we view social issues such as air pollution, gambling, and addiction. The Stanley Cup,
Boxing Day shopping, federal elections, container recycling, and tweeting are all
examples of products and activities that touch many lives.
This cultural influence is difficult to overlook, although many people do not seem
to realize how much their views of the world around them—their movie and musical
heroes, the latest fashions, food and decorating choices, and even the physical features
they find attractive or ugly in men and women—are affected by marketers. For example, consider the product icons that marketers use to create an identity for their products. Various mythical creatures and personalities—from the Pillsbury Doughboy to
Sasquatch—have been at one time or another central figures in popular culture. In fact,
it is likely that more consumers could recognize such characters than could identify
past prime ministers, business leaders, or artists. Although the characters never really
existed, many of us feel as if we “know” them, and they certainly are effective “spokes­
characters” for the products they represent.
Consumer-generated content, in which consumers themselves voice their opinions about products, brands, and companies on blogs, podcasts, and social networking
sites such as Facebook, and even film their own commercials that thousands view on
In an example of consumer-generated
content, this “Pug Goes For the Chips”
Doritos tortilla chip advertisement (made by
a consumer) tied with a corporate-funded
Bud Light commercial for first place for
Super Bowl Advertisements in the USA Today
Ratings.
Used with permission of Frito-Lay North America, Inc.
10
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
sites such as YouTube, is also an important part of marketing’s influence on culture.
Doritos has utilized consumer-generated ads in its Super Bowl advertising since 2006,
and these ads often score top honours as the ad that the most viewers remember.11
Videos like the one for Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” have shown that anyone can
produce content that, even if strongly disliked by the majority of consumers, finds its
way into the broader North American culture.
The Meaning of Consumption
One of the fundamental premises of the modern field of consumer behaviour is that
people often buy products not for what they do but for what they mean. This principle
does not imply that a product’s basic function is unimportant, but rather that the roles
products play in our lives go well beyond the tasks they perform. And the deeper
meanings of a product may help it to stand out from other, similar goods and services.
Other things being equal, a person will choose the brand that has an image (or even a
personality!) consistent with his or her underlying needs.
For example, although most people probably couldn’t run faster or jump higher if
they were wearing Under Armour as opposed to Nike athletic gear, many diehard loyalists swear by their favourite brand. These arch-rivals are largely marketed in terms of
their images—meanings carefully crafted with the help of legions of rock stars, athletes, and slickly produced commercials—and many millions of dollars. So when you
buy a Nike “swoosh,” you may be doing more than choosing athletic wear; you may
also be making a lifestyle statement about the type of person you are or want to be.
Our allegiances to particular sneakers, musicians, or soft drinks help us define our
place in modern society, and these choices also help us form bonds with others who share
similar preferences. This comment by a participant in a focus group captures the curious
bonding that can be caused by consumption choices: “I was at a Stanley Cup party, and I
picked up an obscure drink. Somebody else across the room went ‘Yo!’ because he had the
same thing. People feel a connection when you’re drinking the same thing.”12
The Global Consumer
One way the consumer experience has changed in the past 10 years is that, ever-­
increasingly, consumers can connect with other consumers and have similar experiences with other consumers around the globe. Increases in social media usage and
e-commerce have made it so that consumers can not only find information about products and events around the globe, they can also purchase them (through internationally
accessible websites) and experience them (through media such as YouTube). This has
given rise to a global consumer culture, in which people around the world are united by
their common devotion to brand-name consumer goods, movie stars, and celebrities.13
For example, Beyoncé has seen global success with international album sales and concert tours that sell out worldwide. Likewise, football star Messi, who plays for FC Barcelona, has been an effective spokesperson for Samsung products around the world.
We owe much of this interconnectedness to developments in technology that
allow us to link with companies—and with each other—regardless of our physical
location. U-commerce is the use of ubiquitous networks, whether in the form of wearable technology or customized advertisements beamed to us on our cell phones (“Hey,
you’re walking by McDonald’s. Come on in for today’s burger special”), that enable
real-time connections in business and consumption behaviour.14
The rise of global marketing means that even smaller companies are looking to
expand overseas—and this increases the pressure to understand how customers in
other countries are the same as or different from the customers in the host country.
In the restaurant industry, for example, Shakey’s pizza restaurants are mushrooming in
the Philippines, and food from the International House of Pancakes is selling like hotcakes in Tokyo. This book pays special attention to the good and bad aspects of this
cultural homogenization.
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
V irt u a l C on su mp tio n
Electronic marketing increases convenience by breaking down many of the barriers
caused by time and location. You can shop 24 hours a day without leaving home
and you can find a product online at an e-tailer in another country and order it for
delivery—whether you are at home or somewhere else around the globe.
And it’s not all about businesses selling to consumers (B2C commerce). In addition, virtual consumption has greatly facilitated consumer-to-consumer activity (C2C
commerce). Just as e-consumers are not limited to local retail outlets in their shopping, they are not limited to their local communities when looking for friends. An
excellent example of this is the e-commerce website Etsy, where consumers can market their products, from jewellery to baby toys, to other consumers.
Picture a small group of local collectors who meet once a month at a local diner
to discuss their shared interests over coffee. Now multiply that group by thousands,
and include people from all over the world with a shared passion for sports
memorabilia, Barbie dolls, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, refrigerator magnets, or
massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) such as League of Legends. These are
examples of virtual brand communities. League of Legends alone has 27 million
people playing each day.15
The Web also provides an easy way for consumers around the world to exchange
information about their experiences. Sites like Yelp, Amazon.com, and RateMyProfessors.com enable consumers to share their thoughts and feelings on everything from
restaurants, to books, to the professor they had last semester.
If you’re a typical student, you probably can’t recall a time when the Internet was
just a static, one-way platform that transmitted text and a few sketchy images. Today
the Internet is exploding in terms of possibilities and is the backbone of our society.
Widespread access to devices like personal computers and smartphones ensures that
consumers of practically any age and living in virtually any part of the world can create and share content. But information doesn’t just flow from big companies or governments down to the people; today each of us can communicate with huge numbers of
people by a click on a keypad, so information flows across people as well.
This type of information flow across people has been referred to as a horizontal
revolution. This horizontal revolution is characterized in part by the prevalence of
social media. Social media are the online means of communication, conveyance, collaboration, and cultivation among interconnected and interdependent networks of people, communities, and organizations enhanced by technological capabilities and
mobility. There is little doubt that the digital revolution is one of the most significant
influences on consumer behaviour, and the impact of the Web will continue to expand
as more and more people around the world log in. Many of us are avid Web surfers, and
it is hard to imagine a time when texting, tweeting, Facebooking, or pinning favourite
items on Pinterest were not an accepted part of daily life—not to mention those who
compulsively check in on FourSquare at their local Starbucks 10 times a day!
Facebook, the largest social media platform, offers synchronous interactions (ones
that occur in real time, as when you text back and forth with a friend) and asynchronous interactions (ones that don’t require all participants to respond immediately, as
when you text a friend and get an answer the next day), photo sharing, games, applications, groups, e-retailing, and more, and currently has more than 1.3 billion active
users.16 And people aren’t just joining social communities; they are contributing, too!
YouTube users upload more than 100 hours of video every minute of every day. That’s
roughly equivalent to 504 000 full-length movies uploaded weekly. Consider these
mind-boggling social media stats:17
•
If you were paid $1 for every time an edit was made on Wikipedia, you would
earn $360 per hour.
•
It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million listeners. TV took 13 years to reach 50
million users. The Internet took four years to reach 50 million people. In under
nine months, Facebook added 100 million users.
•
Social media activity has overtaken porn as the number-one online activity.
CO 4
11
12
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
Social media has not only changed the way
in which consumers interact with each other,
but also how they interact with and think
about brands.
© Twin Design/Shutterstock
•
If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest country in the world,
bigger than the United States and Indonesia.
•
Eighty percent of companies use LinkedIn as their primary recruiting tool.
•
23 percent of teens consider Instagram their favourite social network.
•
80 percent of Pinterest users are female, and 92 percent of Pinterest posts are
pinned by women.
•
Six billion hours per month are spent watching YouTube videos.
•
There are 400 million Snapchat snaps being sent every day.
This is all exciting stuff, especially because social media platforms enable a culture
of participation—a belief in democracy; the ability to freely interact with other people,
companies, and organizations; open access to venues that allows users to share content,
from simple comments to reviews, ratings, photos, stories, and more; and the power to
build on the content of others from one’s own unique point of view. Of course, just as
with democracy in the real world, we have to take the bitter with the sweet. There are
plenty of unsavoury things going on in cyberspace, and the hours people spend on
Facebook, on online gambling sites, or in virtual worlds such as Second Life have led to
divorce, bankruptcy, or jail in the real world.
The Internet is also changing how we interact with products themselves. The term
“the Internet of things” has been used to refer to the growing number of smart, connected, and interactive products available to consumers today.18 For example, the market for wearable technology is expanding, and home audio providers such as Sonos are
taking advantage of cloud technology to allow greater convenience and access to
music.19 In another example, Google has purchased Nest, a smart thermostat system
that programs itself around the user’s behavioural patterns. The purchase of Nest by
Google indicates that the company has an interest in moving beyond its core competencies toward smart, connected product offerings as well.20
CO 5
Ethics
Marketing Ethics and Public Policy
In business, conflicts often arise between the goal of succeeding in the marketplace
and the desire to conduct business honestly and to maximize the well-being of consumers by providing them with safe and effective products and services. Accordingly,
many universities and corporations are now focusing very intently on teaching and
reinforcing ethical behaviour.
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Busine ss Eth ics
Business ethics are essentially rules of conduct that guide actions in the marketplace—
the standards against which most people in a marketplace judge what is right, wrong,
good, or bad. These universal values include honesty, trustworthiness, fairness,
respect, justice, integrity, concern for others, accountability, and loyalty.
Ethical business is good business. Consumers think better of products made by
firms they feel are behaving ethically.21 But just what is ethical behaviour? Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell. For example, when you download songs from musicsharing sites such as Pirate Bay, are you stealing? The film and recording industries
think you are!22
Notions of right and wrong do differ across people, organizations, and cultures.
Some businesses, for example, believe it is all right for salespeople to persuade customers to buy even if it means giving them false information, while other firms feel
that anything less than total honesty with customers is terribly wrong. Because every
culture has its own set of values, beliefs, and customs, ethical business behaviours
are defined quite differently around the world. For example, one recent study found
that because of differences in values (more on this in Chapter 6), Mexican firms are
less likely to have formal codes of ethics and more likely to bribe public officials
than are American or Canadian companies. On the other hand, different attitudes
about work and interpersonal relationships mean that Mexican companies are also
more likely to treat lower-level employees better than do their NAFTA partners to
the north.23
These cultural differences certainly influence whether business practices such
as bribery are acceptable. In Japan, it’s called kuroi kiri (black mist); in Germany,
it’s schmiergeld (grease money); Mexicans refer to la mordida (the bite); the French
say pot-de-vin (jug of wine); and Italians speak of the bustarella (little envelope).
They’re all talking about baksheesh, the Middle Eastern term for a “tip” to grease
the wheels of a transaction. Giving “gifts” in exchange for getting business from
suppliers or customers is common and acceptable in many countries, even though
this practice may be frowned upon in Canada. Recently, more than 800 business
experts were asked to identify the countries where this practice is most flagrant.
Russia and China emerged at the top of the list, with Taiwan and South Korea close
behind. The “cleanest” countries were Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria,
and Canada.24
Pr e scr ib i ng Et hic a l S ta n da r ds o f Co n d uct
Professional organizations often devise a code of ethics for their members. For example, the American Marketing Association’s Code of Ethics (see www.marketingpower.
com) provides guidelines for conduct in many areas of marketing practice, some of
which are as follows:25
•
Disclosure of all substantial risks associated with a product or service
•
Identification of added features that will increase the cost
•
Avoidance of false or misleading advertising
•
Rejection of high-pressure or misleading sales tactics
•
Prohibition of selling or fundraising under the guise of conducting market research
Intentionally or not, some marketers do violate their bond of trust with consumers. In some cases these actions are actually illegal, as when a manufacturer deliberately mislabels the contents of a package, or when a retailer adopts a bait-and-switch
strategy, whereby consumers are lured into the store with promises of inexpensive
products with the sole intent of getting them to switch to higher-priced ones.
Industry is increasingly coming to realize that ethical behaviour is good business in the long run, since consumer trust and satisfaction translates into years of
loyalty. However, many problems remain. Sometimes consumers’ buying behaviour
is not consistent with their positive attitudes about ethical products. In a survey
13
14
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
The Canadian Code of Advertising Standards
helps to ensure that the ads you see and
hear are truthful, accurate, and fair.
Reproduced with permission of Advertising Standards
Canada.
Marketing
Insight
One of the biggest ethical issues facing many
marketers today relates to how much they
can—or should—know about their customers.
Virtually anyone who surfs the Web or carries a
smartphone shares reams of personal information with all sorts of companies (whether he or
she knows it or not). Social network sites such
as Facebook and major companies such as
Apple have come under fire for their privacy
policies. Still, it’s unclear whether many
­“digital natives” (i.e., those born and raised
during the age of digital technology, who are
highly comfortable and familiar with computers
from an early age) are that concerned about
whether others know where they are or what
they buy.
Some online data and tracking firms are
concerned about what gets shared—and they
want to preempt any consumer backlash that
might prevent them from gathering valuable
data. Several major firms are banding together
to form the Open Data Partnership, which will
allow consumers to edit the interests, demographics, and other profile information collected about them. It will also allow people to
choose to not be tracked at all.27
ASC helps protect Canadians from false messaging
in advertising. Because among all the pretty words
and pictures – truth matters.
Advertising Standards Canada
adstandards.ca
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One of the most common and stinging criticisms of marketing is that marketing techniques (especially advertising) are responsible for convincing consumers that they
“need” many material things and that they will be unhappy and somehow inferior
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
people if they do not have these “necessities.” The issue is a complex one and is certainly worth considering: Do marketers give people what they want, or do they tell
people what they should want?
Do Marketers Create Artificial Needs?
The marketing system has come under fire from both ends of the political spectrum.
On the one hand, some believe that advertising contributes to the moral breakdown of
society by presenting images of hedonistic pleasure, thus encouraging the pursuit
of secular humanism. On the other hand, some argue that the same deceitful promises of
material pleasure function to buy off people who would otherwise be revolutionaries
working to change the system.28 Through advertising, the system creates demand that
only its products can satisfy.
One response to this argument is that a need is a basic biological motive, while a
want represents one way society has taught us to satisfy that need. For example, while
thirst is biologically based, we are taught to want Coca-Cola to satisfy that thirst rather
than, say, goat’s milk. Thus, the need is already there; marketers simply recommend
ways to satisfy it. A basic objective of advertising is to create awareness that these
needs exist, rather than to create the needs.
Are Advertising and Marketing Necessary?
As social critic Vance Packard wrote, “Large-scale efforts are being made, often with
impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and
our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry and the social
sciences.”29 This criticism may be even more relevant to online communications,
where a simple click delivers a world of information to us.
Goods are arbitrarily linked to desirable social attributes. One influential critic
even argued that the problem is that we are not materialistic enough; that is, we do not
sufficiently value goods for the utilitarian functions they deliver but instead focus on
the irrational value of goods for what they symbolize. According to this view, for example, “Beer would be enough for us, without the additional promise that in drinking it
we show ourselves to be manly, young at heart, or neighbourly.”30
As we saw above, one response to this particular argument is that products are
designed to meet existing needs, and advertising merely helps to communicate the
­products’ availability. According to the economics-of-information perspective, advertising is an important source of consumer information.31 This view emphasizes the
­economic cost of the time spent searching for products, arguing that consumers are
­willing to pay for advertising because the information it provides reduces search time.
Public Policy and Consumerism
The welfare of the consumer is protected by many laws at the federal, provincial, and
municipal levels. Regulations put forth by these governmental agencies sometimes
overlap and are constantly changing. The main thrust of regulation is to protect the
consumer from unfair business practices and to protect the broad interests of society.
Laws that involve “cooling-off” periods for signing purchase agreements try to protect
average consumers from getting into things they later regret. Other laws, such as the
labelling of harmful products (e.g., cigarettes), are meant to protect the health of
­Canadians. Some of the various laws are outlined in Table 1–2.
The field of consumer behaviour can play an important role in improving our
lives as consumers.32 Many researchers assist in formulating or evaluating public policies such as those that ensure that products are labelled accurately, that people can
understand important information presented in advertising, or that children are not
exploited by program-length toy commercials masquerading as TV shows.
15
16
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
TABLE 1–2
Examples of Federal Government Legislation Intended to Enhance Consumers’ Welfare
Year
1949
Act
Purpose
National Trademark and True
Sets out who is authorized to use the national trademark “Canada Standards” and how
Labelling Act
it is to be used. The act also empowers the governor in council to regulate how the content and quality of goods are required to be labelled or described when advertised.
1953
Food and Drugs Act
Protects consumers from purchasing food, cosmetics, drugs, and therapeutic devices
that are passed off in a deceptive or misleading manner or pose a risk to human health.
1969
Hazardous Products Act
Fosters consumer safety through the banning of products that pose unacceptable hazards
to the consumer. Products that have a limited potential to harm individuals because of
improper care or use are required to be affixed with labels warning consumers of the
nature of the danger.
1970
Establishes minimum safety standards for motor vehicles and their components through
Motor Vehicle Safety Act
the setting of specific design and performance requirements.
1970
1970
Consumer Packaging and
Sets out regulations for the packaging, labelling, and sale of prepackaged goods to
Labelling Act
consumers.
Textile Labelling Act
Requires all textile products that are offered for sale to consumers to bear labels attesting
to the amount and types of generic fibres contained within the product. The act also
places conditions on the importation, advertising, and sale of these types of products.
1971
Establishes standardized forms of measurement for use in trade in Canada and assures
Weights and Measures Act
the accuracy and correct use of all equipment used for this purpose.
1973
Precious Metals Marketing Act
Sets the quality and grading standards to be followed in the identification and marking
of precious-metal items.
1986
Competition Act
Prohibits misleading advertising and deceptive marketing practices in promoting the
supply or use of a product or service or any business interest.
2000
Personal Information Protection
Offers consumers the opportunity to know what information is being collected about
and Electronic Documents Act
them by regulated businesses, to opt out of businesses’ information-collection practices,
and to correct inaccurate information.
2003
Physical Activity and Sport Act
The objectives of this act are to encourage, promote, and develop physical activity and
sport in Canada.
2010
Canada Consumer Product Safety
The purpose of this act is to protect the public by addressing or preventing dangers to
Act
human health or safety that are posed by consumer products in Canada, including those
that circulate within Canada and those that are imported.
Sources: Based on Revised Statutes of Canada (Ottawa: Queen’s Printer for Canada, 1985), © Queen’s Printer for Canada; Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, “Federal Legislation and Programs Relating
to Consumer Protection,” March 1973, rev. February 1975; Department of Justice Canada, “2012 Annual Statutes,” rev. April 2012, http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/index2012.html.
Of course, to a large degree consumers depend on their governments to regulate
and police safety and environmental standards. Protecting consumers is more problematic this century as the majority of manufacturing has moved offshore. Millions of
­Chinese-made toys are regularly pulled off shelves because of lead paint or basic design
flaws.33 MEGA Brands used to be a darling of the Canadian stock exchange, but financial losses from product recalls of poorly manufactured and designed toys hurt the
company for a period of time. These problems are not limited to hard goods. A major
Chinese supermarket chain in Canada had to pull a possibly tainted baby milk formula
after 6000 babies were sickened in China. The Chinese-made brands were suspected of
containing melamine, a chemical that makes the product appear to have higher protein
levels than it actually does.34
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
17
Consumer Activism and Its Impact on Marketing
Adbusters is a not-for-profit organization that advocates for “the new social activist
movement of the information age.”35 Adbusters sponsors numerous initiatives, including Buy Nothing Day and TV Turnoff Week, intended to discourage rampant commercialism. These efforts, along with biting ads and commercials that lampoon advertising
messages, are part and parcel of a strategy called culture jamming that aims to disrupt
efforts by the corporate world to dominate our cultural landscape. The Culture
­Jammers Manifesto proclaims opposition to the so-called mind-polluters: “On the rubble of the old culture, we will build a new one with a non-commercial heart and
soul.”36 Indeed, Adbusters was at the forefront in starting the Occupy movement seen
in 2011 in a number of North American cities.
Firms themselves are becoming increasingly interested in Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR), by which they voluntarily choose to protect or enhance their
positive social and environmental impacts as they go about their business activities.
This is often driven by consumer demand, as companies attempt to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Companies such as Lush, the Body Shop, and American
Apparel have successfully differentiated themselves on ethical attributes. While some
marketers donate their own money to good causes (corporate giving), others promise
donations to charity as purchase incentives (a form of cause-related marketing).37
Other firms have taken a green marketing approach in which marketers offer
products in ways that are less harmful to the environment and position their brand on
the basis of sustainable attributes. Some firms have focused their efforts on reducing
wasteful packaging. For example, Unilever recently committed to an ambitious plan
for reducing by one half the waste associated with the packaging and disposal of its
products by 2020.38 Other companies, such as Patagonia and Seventh Generation,
have been very successful in positioning their offers on the basis of sustainable attributes. Some consumers are skeptical of green marketing efforts as a result of greenwashing, which occurs when companies make false or exaggerated claims about how
environmentally friendly their products are.39
Social marketing refers to using marketing techniques normally employed to
sell beer or detergent to encourage positive behaviours such as increased literacy or
to discourage negative activities such as drunk driving.40 A Swedish project aimed at
curbing adolescent drinking illustrates social marketing at work. The Swedish
­Brewers Association invested 10 million Skr (about $7.5 million) in a cooperative
effort with the Swedish Non-Violence Project to change teens’ attitudes about alcohol consumption. Consumer researchers working on the project discovered that
Swedish adolescents freely admitted that they “drink in order to get drunk” and
enjoyed the feeling of being intoxicated, so trying to persuade them to give up alcohol would be a formidable task. However, the teens reported they were also afraid of
HELP SEND EVEN
MORE KIDS TO CAMP
BUY A COFFEE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3
© Tim Hortons, 2015
Tim Hortons uses cause-related marketing to
support sending kids in need to camp.
All Tim Hortons trademarks referenced herein are owned
by Tim Hortons. Used with permission.
18
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
FrogBox is a Canadian company that offers
consumers eco-friendly, reusable moving
boxes. The company is a great example of a
successful green marketing enterprise, and
it also engages in cause-related marketing
by donating 1 percent of gross revenues to
frog habitat restoration.
Courtesy of www.frogbox.com
losing control over their own behaviour, especially if there was a risk of being
exposed to violence. And, while worries about the long-term health effects of drinking didn’t concern this group (after all, at this age many teens believe they will live
forever), female adolescents reported a fear of becoming less attractive as a result of
prolonged alcohol consumption.
Indeed, some consumer researchers are themselves organizing to not only study
but to rectify what they see as pressing social problems in the marketplace. This perspective is called Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). It promotes research
projects that include the goal of helping people or bringing about social change. Consumers are not objects of research, but collaborators who work with the researchers to
realize this change. Adherents of TCR work with at-risk populations, such as children,
the disadvantaged, and the disabled, or on such topics as materialism, consumption of
dangerous products, and compulsive consumption.41
CO 6
The Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour
In late 2008, a crowd waiting to take advantage of a big holiday sale at a Walmart store
in New York trampled a temporary worker to death as people rushed to grab discounted merchandise off the store’s shelves. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the man’s
family claimed that in addition to providing inadequate security, the retailer “engaged
in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd
and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem.”42 Just how far will people go to
secure a bargain?
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Despite the best efforts of researchers, government regulators, and concerned
industry people, consumers’ worst enemies are sometimes themselves. Individuals are
often depicted as rational decision makers, calmly doing their best to obtain products
and services that will maximize the health and well-being of themselves, their families,
and society. In reality, however, consumers’ desires, choices, and actions often result in
negative consequences to the individual or the society in which he or she lives.
Some consumer activities stem from social pressures, such as excessive drinking
or cigarette smoking, and the cultural value put upon money can encourage such
activities as shoplifting or insurance fraud. Exposure to unattainable media ideals of
beauty and success can create dissatisfaction with the self. Many of these issues will
be touched upon later in the book, but for now let’s review some dimensions of what
has been called the “dark side” of consumer behaviour.
Addictive Consumption
Consumer addiction is a physiological or psychological dependency on products or
services. This type of addiction includes addiction to alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes,
and many companies profit from selling addictive products or by selling solutions to
addiction. Although most people equate addiction with drugs, virtually any product
or service can be seen as relieving some problem or satisfying some need to the point
that reliance on it becomes extreme.
This advertisement from Mothers Against
Drunk Driving (MADD) highlights some of
the negative consequences of alcohol
consumption.
Courtesy of MADD
19
20
S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
Consumers
in Focus
Yik Yak is a hugely popular social app that has
invaded numerous high schools and college
and university campuses. The downside is that
it fosters cyber-bullying because it does not
require users to post a profile, so they remain
anonymous. It sorts messages only by geographic location and only posts within a
1.5-mile radius, so it’s ideal for a school environment. Offensive “yaks” that derogate students by name, encourage violence, or make
sexually suggestive comments appear more
often than they should. It’s like a graffitidefaced bathroom wall at the student union—
but on digital steroids.
Psychologists have compared social media addiction to chemical dependency, to the
point where it induces symptoms of withdrawal when users are deprived of their fix. As
one noted, “Everyone is a potential addict—they’re just waiting for their drug of choice to
come along, whether heroin, running, junk food or social media.”43 Indeed, a survey
reported one in three smartphone owners would rather give up sex than their phones!44
And as many of us realize, this fixation grows by the “enablers” around us as they exhibit
the same behaviour. Indeed, one study documented that college students were much more
likely to pull out their phones when someone they were sitting with had just done so.45
Compulsive Consumption
For some consumers, the expression “born to shop” is quite literal. These consumers
shop because they feel compelled to do so rather than because shopping is a
pleasurable or functional task. Compulsive consumption refers to repetitive
shopping, often excessive, done as an antidote to tension, anxiety, depression,
or boredom. “Shopaholics” turn to shopping in much the same way as those with
addictions turn to drugs or alcohol.46
Compulsive consumption is distinctly different from impulse buying, which will
be discussed in Chapter 10. The impulse to buy a specific item is temporary, and it
centres on a specific product at a particular moment. In contrast, compulsive buying is
an enduring behaviour that centres on the process of buying, not the purchases themselves. As one woman who spent $20 000 per year on clothing confessed, “I was possessed when I went into a store. I bought clothes that didn’t fit, that I didn’t like, and
that I certainly didn’t need.”47
In some cases it is fairly safe to say that the consumer, not unlike a drug addict,
has little or no control over consumption. The products, whether alcohol, cigarettes,
chocolate, or diet colas, control the consumer. Even the act of shopping itself is an
addicting experience for some consumers. Much negative or destructive consumer
behaviour can be characterized by the following three common elements:48
1. The behaviour is not engaged in by choice.
2. The gratification derived from the behaviour is short-lived.
Consumers
in Focus
One of the negative effects of marketing on
consumers is that it can lead to distorted views
of body image, especially among young girls.
Although there are many cultural factors influencing how young women view themselves,
marketing and advertising surely play a role.51
In one intriguing study, the incidence of disordered eating rose dramatically after Western
television was introduced in Fiji.52
The website www.about-face.org attempts
to call out companies that promote unrealistic,
unattainable, or demeaning images of women.
Its gallery of offenders includes brands such as
Diesel (for suggesting “stupid” women are sexy),
PETA (for objectifying women, although they are
nice to the animals), and American Apparel (for
advertising clothing with models wearing very
little of it). Their gallery of winners, on the other
hand, offers examples of marketers who have
gotten it right, portraying women in positive,
realistic, and attainable ways.
3. The person experiences strong feelings of regret or guilt afterward.
Gambling is an example of a consumption addiction that touches every segment
of consumer society. Whether it takes the form of casino gambling, playing the slots,
betting on sports events with friends or through a bookie, or buying lottery tickets,
excessive gambling can be quite destructive. Taken to extremes, gambling can result in
lowered self-esteem, debt, divorce, and neglected children. According to one psychologist, gamblers exhibit a classic addictive cycle: They experience a high while in
action and a depression when they stop gambling, which leads them back to the thrill
of the action. Money is the substance that hardcore gamblers abuse.49
A $3.5 billion lawsuit against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation on
behalf of more than 10 000 problem gamblers gives a glimpse into the devastating
effects of addictive consumer gambling.50 Families have lost their livelihoods, and
suicide is sometimes seen as the only option. Although the government has created a
self-exclusion program in which problem gamblers can self-identify and ask to be
barred from any gambling facilities, this has not been effective. Provincial governments
across the country now rely heavily on gambling to finance projects. No one seems to
have a good solution.
Illegal Activities
C o ns u me r Th eft
In North America, a retail theft is committed every five seconds. Shrinkage is the
industry term for inventory and cash losses from shoplifting and employee theft.
This is a massive problem for businesses, and the cost is passed on to consumers in
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
As I See It
Courtesy of Simon Fraser University/Journal
of Consumer Research
Eating is an inherently social activity. Most meals are consumed with
others. As the obesity rates in most
developed countries reach epidemic proportions, understanding
why we make the food choices we
do is crucial. Past research
strongly suggests that obesity is
driven largely by the overconsumption of food. However, given that
people eat many meals in a social
or public setting, it is surprising
Brent McFerran, Assistant
Professor, Simon Fraser University that little research has examined
how our food choices are shaped
by those around us.
In order to test how the body
type of others affects our food consumption, we used a professionally constructed obesity prosthesis (commonly known as a
“fat suit”) that was worn by a confederate (fake participant) in
our studies. The suit allowed a single female to portray both a
thin (size 00) and obese (size 16) consumer, with identical
clothes tailored to fit each body type. Participants believed the
confederate was another participant. The confederate (sometimes wearing the suit, sometimes not) then took either a large
or small quantity of food, and then the participant made her
choice.
What we found was that people used the other’s choice as a
guide that informed their own choice of how much to put on their
plate. Larger portions chosen by others led participants to greater
consumption, and smaller portion choices by others were associated with eating less. However, the magnitude of this effect
depended on whether the confederate was thin or obese. When she
took a small portion, participants took more when she was obese
than when she was thin. However, when she took a large portion,
people ate more when she was thin than when she was obese.
Importantly, our study showed that it is not simply eating
with heavy people that makes you eat more (or less); it depends
on what these other consumers choose. If a heavy-set colleague
eats a lot, he or she is a better lunch partner than a thin colleague
who orders the same dish. On the other hand, a thin colleague who
eats lightly is more likely to cause others around him or her to
order less. Perhaps ironically, the most dangerous people to eat
with are not those who are overweight, but rather those who are
thin but eat large portions.
Thus, from the perspective of self-regulation, it’s important to identify situations where you are likely to be vulnerable to overconsumption. As a matter of maintaining a healthy
body weight, small food-intake decisions have a larger impact
on weight than people realize. This research gives us a clearer
picture of how such cues operate, which is important to
understanding and moving toward the goal of a healthy body
weight.
Courtesy of Simon Fraser University/Journal of Consumer Research
Brent McFerran, Darren W. Dahl, Gavan J. Fitzsimons, and Andrea C. Morales, “I’ll Have What She’s Having: Effects of Social Influence and Body Type on the Food Choices of
Others,” Journal of Consumer Research 36 (April 2010): 915–929.
the form of higher prices (about 40 percent of the losses can be attributed to employees rather than shoppers). A comprehensive retail study found that the most frequently stolen products are tobacco, athletic shoes, logo and brand-name apparel,
designer jeans, and undergarments. It is estimated that, in Canada, about $4 billion
is lost per year to shrinkage, which is equivalent to an average loss of $10.8 million
per shopping day!53
The large majority of shoplifting is not done by professional thieves or people
who genuinely need the stolen items.54 About three-quarters of those caught are
middle- or high-income people who shoplift for the thrill of it or as a substitute
for affection. It is common among adolescents. Research evidence indicates that
teen shoplifting is influenced by factors such as having friends who shoplift. It is
also more likely to occur if the adolescent does not believe this behaviour is
morally wrong.54
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S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
Adbusters, a not-for-profit magazine based
in Vancouver, promotes a specific form of
anticonsumption with its “Buy Nothing Day.”
It has recently been promoting “Buy Nothing
Christmas.”
Courtesy of Adbusters Media Foundation
Still another growing form of fraud is the abuse of exchange and return
policies. A number of big companies, including GUESS and Staples, are using
software that lets them track a shopper’s track record of bringing items back. They
are trying to crack down on “serial wardrobers” who buy an outfit, wear it once,
and return it; customers who change price tags on items and then return one item
for the higher amount; and shoppers who use fake or old receipts when making a
return. The retail industry loses about $16 billion a year to these and other forms of
fraudulent behaviour. Retail analysts estimate that about 9 percent of all returns
are fraudulent.56
A ntic o n s u mpti o n
Some types of destructive consumer behaviour can be thought of as anticonsumption,
which involves rebelling against the idea of consumption itself. Anticonsumption
can range from product tampering, in which innocent consumers are hurt or killed, to
graffiti on buildings and subways, to simply boycotting a particular brand. Anticonsumption can also take the form of political protest, in which activists alter or destroy
billboards and other advertisements that promote what they feel are unhealthy or
unethical acts. In one notable example of anticonsumption, consumers boycotted the
Abercrombie & Fitch clothing brand after CEO Mike Jeffries commented that it was an
exclusionary brand–only for “cool, good-looking people.” In response, a grassroots
movement emerged, encouraging consumers to donate their Abercrombie clothes for
homeless people to wear. The #Fitchthehomeless campaign has over 8 million views
on YouTube.
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
How Do We Find Out about Consumers?
The Role of Consumer Research
As noted above, marketers often wish to find out about consumers’ attitudes, opinions,
behaviours, and preferences because by understanding the consumer, the marketer is
best able to appeal to relevant needs. To this end, marketers often engage in various
forms of consumer (marketing) research. Two ways this can be done are by collecting
primary data and by collecting secondary data. When the data is collected by the
researcher specifically for the research question at hand, this is called primary
research. However, sometimes the marketer can find the information needed by going
to a preexisting source of information collected for another purpose. When the
researcher uses data collected by another entity to answer a new research question,
this is called secondary research. For example, as noted above, when the Government
of Canada collects statistical information regarding its citizens, marketers may use this
information to provide insights about the consumer in ways that inform marketing
strategy (www.statcan.gc.ca).
Primary Research
A number of options are available to marketers and consumer researchers who
want to collect primary data regarding consumers. As we will see, common techniques include surveys, focus groups, interviews, observational research, qualitative methods, and experiments. One of the goals of primary research is to uncover
consumer insights. The term consumer insight refers to more than just observing
what consumers are doing; it involves probing deeper to understand the underlying motivations for a given behaviour. For example, a consumer insight would
not just describe the types of consumers drinking Tim Hortons coffee, but would
­also describe why they drink the coffee. What conscious and unconscious motives
do they have for drinking this particular brand? Does it reflect their underlying
values or identity in some way? Armed with this information, marketers can better
appeal to consumers’ needs.57
Su rve y Re s e a r c h
One common method of data collection is using surveys. A survey is a method of
data collection in which the respondents self-report answers to a set of questions
posed by the researcher. The most common forms of surveys include written
surveys, online surveys, and phone surveys. Surveys can encompass a variety of
types of questions, including those calling for open-ended responses, those
requiring fill-in-the-blanks, and those using rating scales. As with any data
collection technique, surveys have pros and cons. This research method usually
allows researchers to collect data from a lot of people within a relatively short
period of time, but may not allow consumers to provide as rich and detailed
responses as other research methods.
Fo cus G ro ups
Because of some of the limitations of the survey method, researchers sometimes turn to
focus group research. Focus groups usually involve small group sessions with approximately six to twelve consumer participants. The session is guided by a moderator who
leads a group discussion involving a product, concept, or marketing message. Focus
groups are often used when a new idea or product is being tested, or the researchers
want to generate new ideas for what strategic direction to take next. As you might
guess, one benefit of focus groups is that they tend to elicit more rich, detailed, and narrative feedback from consumers. One drawback, however, is that social influence can
play a role, dampening the expression of consumers’ true individual attitudes (see
Chapter 11 for a discussion of some of these effects).
CO 7
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S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
Int e rvi ews
One other research technique is to utilize in-depth interviews. Like focus groups,
interviews involve direct contact with the consumer. In contrast to focus groups, this
approach involves a one-on-one interaction with an interviewer and respondent.
Interviews allow the researcher to collect rich, in-depth data, but minimize any
impacts of group factors influencing consumer response. Interviews can be particularly useful if the topic is sensitive, embarrassing, or polarizing in some way. The
downside of interviews is that the research process can take much longer and is much
more expensive if each consumer is being asked questions one at a time.
Ob s e rvatio n al Resear ch
Marketing
Insight
One qualitative method that can help marketers
uncover true insight into the underlying motivations of their consumers is called the Zaltman
Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), developed by Gerald Zaltman, Professor Emeritus at
Harvard Business School. The technique is said
to uncover consumers’ conscious and unconscious motivations by examining their metaphorical associations. The ZMET usually asks
participants to collect a set of visual images
that represent their thoughts and feelings about
the focal topic, for example a particular brand.
Each subsequent step in the ZMET process asks
the respondents to look at their images in a different way, leading to deeper insights into the
consumer’s mind. Take a look at what Zaltman
says about the technique at www.youtube.com/
watch?v=NQzYclR8ufM.
Another technique commonly employed by marketers is observational research. In
this type of research consumer behaviours are directly observed, in either a natural
context (e.g., at the mall) or a controlled setting (e.g., a lab that observes how children
play with new toy products). One drawback of surveys, focus groups, and interviews
is that they all involve the consumers themselves reporting on their attitudes, behaviours, or experiences. One issue with this is that consumers may not always express
the truth, perhaps because they wish to present themselves positively to the researcher,
because they don’t recall everything accurately, or because they are not consciously
aware of all the factors influencing their behaviours. Observation has the benefit of
directly tracking and measuring real behaviours.
One specific type of observation involves ethnographic research, in which
researchers observe and record how consumers behave in real-world contexts, often to
understand the meanings consumers ascribe to different consumption experiences.
Sometimes the researcher goes as far as to immerse him- or herself in the consumption
setting, observing people in context over long periods. A famous example of this
approach is Intuit’s “Follow Me Home” program, in which the researchers asked purchasers of Intuit’s software products if they could follow them home to observe how
they interacted with and used the software.
A final type of observational research is centred in technological forms of behavioural observation. Scanner technology and clickstream data gathering are two examples of this type of observation method. Stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart utilize
membership cards to observe consumer purchases in an effort to build large databases
that track their customers’ needs and spending habits. As a result, Shoppers can offer
information, products, and services that are more relevant to its customers. Google
analytics is an example of an observation research system that tracks consumer behaviour on websites and provides the using organization with information on clickthrough
behaviour and length of time spent on specific webpages.
Qu a l itativ e Resear ch
Researchers also can use other measures to get at more subjective aspects of consumer behaviours and experiences. One such technique is storytelling, in which
consumers are asked to tell researchers about their experience with the product.
Another technique is role-playing, in which consumers are asked to put themselves
in a particular role (e.g., “Imagine you are a mother of an active family”) and act out
how they would respond to a particular marketing stimulus (e.g., a mechanized vacuum that does the cleaning for you). Other avenues for gathering information include
asking consumers to provide photos or pictures in ways that represent their consumption experiences or to keep a diary that tracks responses and behaviours over a
period of time. Believe it or not, when seeking ideas for a new line of deodorant,
Unilever asked female consumers to keep an “armpit diary,” tracking their shaving
habits and deodorant usage over time. It turned out that the women reported concerns with the condition of their underarm skin, and a new moisturizing line of
deodorant was born.58 All of these are examples of what is called qualitative research,
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
because they tend to tap into the more subjective, experiential, and narrative aspects
of the consumption experience.
When marketers want to collect qualitative data regarding consumers’ responses
to marketing stimuli and they believe consumers will have trouble in providing
accurate, unbiased responses, they use projective techniques. These involve the
presentation of an ambiguous, unstructured object, activity, or person that a respondent is asked to interpret or explain. For example, if marketers wanted to test potential brand names, they might ask consumers to report, as quickly as possible what
words come to mind when they see a particular target word. The goal here is to
choose words congruent with brand image and to not trigger negative consumer
reactions. Other projective techniques can involve picture interpretation (i.e., consumers are asked to describe what they see in a visual image) and sentence completion tasks (e.g., “All golfers are ______”). Such techniques are used when the
marketer wants consumers’ subjective reactions to things like brand names, colours,
and advertising images.
Exp e ri me nta l Res e a r ch
A final research technique involves conducting experiments, which are used when
the researcher wants to make cause-and-effect claims. For example, if the marketer
has a hunch that positive consumer responses to a brand of beer are due to the
newly designed label and not other factors such as the taste, brand name, or consumers’ moods, an experiment might be an effective strategy to determine if this is
the case. In an experiment, the researcher uses random assignment to put participants into groups or experimental conditions. This means each person has an equal
chance of ending up in any of the experimental conditions. And, if random assignment to conditions (i.e., a “no label” condition, an “old label” condition, and a “new
label” condition) is done properly, each group should not differ on important ­factors
(e.g., the average age, gender breakdown, self-esteem levels, beer-drinking habits,
etc. should be similar in all three groups) before the experimental “treatment”
is given.
The researcher then holds everything constant across the different experimental
conditions—they are all treated the same by the experimenter, they view the beer
product in the same shaped bottle, they all sample one ounce of the product served at
the same temperature, etc. The only difference is the key manipulation of the causal
factor the researcher wants to examine. In our example, one group might view a beer
bottle with no label, one group would view the bottle with the old label, and one
group would view the bottle with the new label. If the experimenter ensures that the
different experimental conditions start out being similar in nature (via random assignment) and keeps everything constant across the groups, except for the administered
experimental manipulation (i.e., no label, old label, new label), then any differences
across the groups can be attributed to the manipulation. In an experiment, the variable
that the researcher manipulates (label type) is called the independent variable. The
variable that the researcher measures (in this case, taste evaluations) is called the
dependent variable.
Taking It from Here:
The Plan of the Book
This book covers many facets of consumer behaviour, and many of the research
perspectives briefly described in this chapter will be highlighted in later chapters.
The plan of the book is simple: It goes from micro to macro. Think of the book as a
sort of photograph album of consumer behaviour. Each chapter provides a “snapshot”
of consumers, but the lens used to take each picture gets successively wider.
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S E C T I O N I Consumers in the Marketplace
FIGURE 1–2
The Wheel of Consumer Behaviour
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
An Introduction to
Consumer Behaviour
Perception
Learning and Memory
Motivation and Affect
The Self
Personality, Lifestyles, and
Values
CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
Chapter 11 Group Influence and Social Media
Chapter 12 Income, Social Class, and Family
Structure
Chapter 13 Subcultures
Chapter 14 Cultural Influences on Consumer
Behaviour
Chapter 15 The Creation and Diffusion of Culture
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Attitudes
Attitude Change and Interactive
Communications
Chapter 9 Individual How Consumers Form
and Modify Their Attitudes, as
well as Decision Making
Chapter 10 Buying and Disposing
The book begins with issues related to the individual consumer and expands its
focus until it eventually considers the behaviours of large groups of people in their
social settings. The topics to be covered correspond to the wheel of consumer behaviour presented in Figure 1–2.
Section 1, “Consumers in the Marketplace,” provides an overview of how consumers
influence marketing, and how marketers influence consumers in the marketplace.
Section 2, “Consumers as Individuals,” considers the consumer at his or her most
micro level. It examines how the individual receives information from his or her immediate environment and how this material is learned, stored in memory. In addition, it
examines how internal consumer characteristics such as motivation, the self-concept,
personality and values can drive consumer behaviour.
Section 3, “Consumers as Decision Makers,” explores how consumers form and
modify attitudes, as well as how consumers use the information they have acquired to
form attitudes to make decisions about consumption activities.
Section 4, “Consumers in Their Social and Cultural Settings,” further expands the
focus by considering how the consumer functions as a part of a larger social structure. This
structure includes the influence of different social groups to which the consumer belongs
and with which he or she identifies, including social class, ethnic groups, and age groups.
In addition, this section will look at consumers in their broader cultural contexts.
MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Chapter Summary
Consumer behaviour is a process.
• Consumer behaviour is the study of the processes involved
when individuals or groups select, purchase, and use or
dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
• A consumer may purchase, use, and dispose of a product,
but these functions may also be performed by different
people.
arketers need to understand the wants and needs of difM
ferent consumer segments.
• Market segmentation is an important aspect of consumer
behaviour. Consumers can be segmented along many
dimensions, including product usage, demographics (the
objective aspects of a population, such as age and gender),
and psychographics (psychological and lifestyle characteristics). The importance of relationship marketing means
that marketers are much more attuned to the wants and
needs of different consumer groups over the long term. This
is especially important as people are empowered to construct their own consumer space—accessing product information where and when they want it and initiating contact
with companies online instead of passively receiving marketing communications. In addition, consumers may be
thought of as role players who need different products to
help them play their various parts.
Consumer behaviour is related to other issues in our lives.
• Marketing activities exert an enormous impact on
individuals. Consumer behaviour is relevant to our
understanding of both public policy issues (e.g., ethical
marketing practices) and the dynamics of popular culture.
• The Web has transformed the way consumers interact with
companies and with each other. Online commerce allows
us to locate obscure products from around the world, and
consumption communities provide forums for people to
share opinions and product recommendations. The benefits are accompanied by potential problems, including the
loss of privacy and the deterioration of traditional social
interactions as people spend more time online.
• Consumer behaviour can also have a “dark side,” which
includes outcomes such as addictive consumption, compulsive consumption, and illegal activities.
Marketers look for consumer behaviour insights through a
variety of research methods.
• Secondary research refers to research that has been conducted by another party and can be applied to the
research question at hand. Primary research is research
that is conducted specifically to address the research
question at hand.
• While the majority of consumer research has traditionally been conducted using surveys, a number of other
research methodologies are being used by marketers
that seek consumer insight. Focus groups, in-depth
interviews, observation, qualitative methods, and experimental approaches represent additional research methods that can be utilized to understand consumer
behaviour.
Key Terms
80/20 Rule p. 4
Culture jamming p. 17
Popular culture p. 9
Anticonsumption p. 22
Culture of participation p. 12
Primary research p. 23
Asynchronous interactions p. 11
Database marketing p. 7
Projective techniques p. 25
Big data p. 8
Demographics p. 4
Psychographics p. 5
B2C commerce p. 11
Dependent variable p. 25
Random assignment p. 25
Business ethics p. 13
Diary p. 24
Relationship marketing p. 7
C2C commerce p. 11
Ethnographic research p. 24
Role-playing p. 24
Cause-related marketing p. 17
Exchange p. 3
Secondary research p. 23
Compulsive consumption p. 20
Experiments p. 25
Shrinkage p. 20
Consumer addiction p. 19
Focus groups p. 23
Social marketing p. 17
Consumer behaviour p. 3
Green marketing p. 17
Social media p. 11
Consumer insights p. 23
Horizontal revolution p. 11
Storytelling p. 24
Consumer-generated content p. 9
Independent variable p. 25
Survey p. 23
Consumption communities p. 2
Interviews p. 24
Synchronous interactions p. 11
Corporate giving p. 17
Marketing segmentation p. 4
Corporate Social
Responsibility p. 17
Observational research p. 24
Transformative Consumer
Research (TCR) p. 18
Photos or pictures p. 24
U-commerce p. 10
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S E CT I ON I Consumers in the Marketplace
Review Questions
1. Provide a definition of consumer behaviour.
9. What is meant by the term global consumer culture?
2. Explain what is meant by the phrase “consumer behaviour is a process.”
10. Provide two examples of important legislation that relate
to Canadian consumers.
3. What are demographics? Give three examples of demographic characteristics.
11. Define social marketing, and give an example of this
technique.
4. Define market segmentation.
12. Define consumer addiction and give two examples.
5. What do we mean by an exchange?
13. What is shrinkage, and why is it a problem?
6. What is popular culture, and how does this concept
relate to marketing and consumer behaviour?
7. The chapter states that “people often buy products not
for what they do but for what they mean.” Explain the
meaning of this statement and provide an example.
8. Describe two types of relationships a consumer can have
with a product.
14. Define anticonsumption, and provide two examples of it.
15. What is the difference between primary and secondary
research approaches? What does the term consumer
insight mean?
16. Describe the different types of observation approaches
used by consumer behaviour researchers.
17. When would you want to use experimental research methods?
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. A company introduced a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day
called “Crazy for You.” This toy aroused the ire of mental
health advocates because a straitjacket restrains the
cuddly bear’s paws and the stuffed animal comes with
institutional commitment papers. Supporters of the company’s decision to keep selling the bear say opponents
are too “politically correct.”59 What do you think?
2. Not-for-profit organizations routinely rely on generous
corporate donations, and it’s common to name facilities
after benefactors. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital
in Ohio is no exception; its name recognizes the Nationwide insurance company’s $50 million donation. Now
the hospital is adding the Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department and Trauma Center, and there is also
the Limited Too & Justice Main Lobby. Abercrombie &
Fitch is notorious for alluring young people with its provocative advertising. The Campaign for a CommercialFree Childhood opposes this partnership. The group’s
director commented that “Abercrombie & Fitch is really
among the worst of corporate predators. A company
with such cynical disregard for children’s well-being
shouldn’t be able to claim the mantle of healing. . . .
And, personally, I find it very concerning that they
named their hospital after an insurance company.” 60
What do you think? Does this cross an ethical line, or
does it matter where the money comes from so long as
the end result is beneficial?
3. Name some products or services that are widely used by
your social group. State whether you agree or disagree
with the notion that these products help to form group
bonds, supporting your argument with examples from
your list of products used by the group.
4. Although demographic information on large numbers of
consumers is used in many marketing contexts, some
people believe that the sale of data on customers’
incomes, buying habits, and so on constitutes an invasion of privacy and should be stopped. Comment on this
issue from both a consumer’s and a marketer’s point
of view.
5. List the three stages in the consumption process.
Describe the issues that you considered in each of these
stages when you made a recent important purchase.
6. What aspects of consumer behaviour are likely to be of
interest to a financial planner? To a university administrator? To a graphic arts designer? To a social worker in a
government agency? To a nursing instructor?
7. A book bemoans the new wave of consumer-generated
content, labelling it “the cult of the amateur.” It compares the social networking phenomenon to the old
story about the monkeys: If you put an infinite number
of monkeys in a room with an infinite number of typewriters, eventually they will (by hitting keys randomly)
reproduce all the major works of literature. In other
words, the large majority of user-generated content is at
about the same level, and the future of professionally
produced, quality work is in doubt. Do you agree or disagree with this assertion?61
8. Do marketers have the ability to control our desires or the
power to create needs? Is this situation changing as the
Internet creates new ways to interact with companies? If
so, how?
C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
9. An entrepreneur made international news when he set up
a website to auction off the egg cells of fashion models
to the highest bidder (minimum bid: $15 000). The site
was targeted to people who wanted to have very attractive
babies because they believed this would maximize their
children’s chances of succeeding in our society. Is the
buying and selling of humans just another example of
consumer behaviour at work? Do you agree that this service is simply a more efficient way to maximize the
chance of having happy, successful children? Should
this kind of marketing activity be allowed? Would you sell
your eggs or sperm on a website?
10. Red Bull announced it will be adding a line of enhanced
waters to its existing line of energy drinks. What research
methods could you use to test consumer reactions to this
new brand extension?
Experiential Exercises
11. To what degree will consumers trade lower prices for less
privacy? Car owners can now let insurance companies
monitor their driving using a new technology in exchange
for lower rates. Customers who sign up for Progressive’s
TripSense program get a device the size of a Tic Tac box
to plug into their cars. The device will track speed and
how many kilometres are driven at what times of day.
Every few months, customers unplug the device from the
car, plug it into a computer, download the data, and
send it to the company. Depending on results, discounts
will range from 5 to 25 percent. In Great Britain, a major
insurer is testing a program called Pay as You Drive. Volunteers will get a device the size of an iPhone installed
in their cars. The gadget will use global positioning satellite technology to track where the car goes, constantly
sending information back to the insurance company.
Cars that spend more time in safer areas will qualify for
bigger discounts.62 Of course, the downside to these
efforts is that the insurance companies may be able to
collect data on where you have driven, how long you
stayed in one location, and so on. Conduct a poll of 10
drivers of various ages where you describe these programs and ask respondents if they would participate to
receive a discount on their insurance premiums. What
reasons do they give for and against the idea? Do you
find any differences in attitudes based on demographic
characteristics such as age or gender?
12. While you’re talking to car owners, probe to see what
relationship (if any) they have with their vehicles. Do
these feelings correspond to the types of consumer/product attachments we discussed in this chapter? How are
these relationships manifested? (Hint: See if any of the
respondents have nicknames for their cars, or if they
“decorate” them with personal items.)
13. Conduct your own observational research. Choose a service
provider or retail store (think Starbucks) and observe customers’ natural behaviours. What insights can you draw
from observing customers in a natural setting? Did you
observe anything that might give you insight into how to
improve customer experience?
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Know Your Limit
The career management centre at the Sprott School of Business at Carlton University had just posted the listing of students who had received an internship interview opportunity
with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), and
Kirk Kristofferson was thrilled to see his name on the list. Finishing off his third year of study in the Marketing option, Kirk
was eager to get some real-world experience, and the OLG
had seemed like a reasonable place to apply. Kirk knew that
he would have to put some time in to prepare effectively for
the interview. He needed to do research on the organization,
gaming itself, and the specifics of the internship opportunity—
an analyst position in the responsible gaming division of the
organization. Kirk wasn’t really a gambler and had rarely
played the lottery, bet on sports, or visited a casino. In fact, he
was a bit unclear on where he stood with respect to the notion
of government-sponsored gaming. Kirk knew that gambling
was a morally sensitive topic to some people, and he realized
his research for this opportunity would help him define his
attitudes toward both the company and the gaming products it
provided the public.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
The OLG is an agency created by the Government of Ontario
that is responsible for 24 gaming sites and sales of lottery products at over 10 000 retail locations across the province. Its
­central mission is to make life better for people across Ontario.
This is accomplished in a number of ways. Foremost, the gaming activities of the OLG produce revenues that go directly to the
government and nonprofit organizations and are used to support health care, sports and recreation, and cultural programs.
Further, OLG operations generate substantial employment
and economic benefits in the host communities where their
operations are located. Finally, the OLG provides a distinct
form of entertainment that certain segments of the population
enjoy and find value in. Importantly, since 1975, lotteries and
casinos have generated more than $28 billion for the benefit of
the citizens of Ontario.
29
30
S E CT I ON I Consumers in the Marketplace
The OLG was the product of the merger of lottery and
casino operations in the province in the year 2000. Since that
point in time, the corporation has managed and developed a
number of products and brands that broadly cover all aspects
of gaming in the province. Lottery brands include traditional
brands (e.g., Lotto Max, Lotto 6/49, and Ontario 49), instant
scratch-and-win tickets, specialty games (e.g., Keno), and
sports betting (e.g., Pro-Line and Pro-Picks). Casinos (e.g.,
Brantford, Great Blue Heron Casino) and slot operations at 14
racetracks across the province represent the other central
aspect of OLG business. The OLG has identified four priorities
that underlie the management goals of the organization: public
trust (facilitating trust through integrity of their operations),
player experience (providing entertaining gaming), partnership
(being active partners in the communities where they operate),
and profits (returning significant dividends to support public
initiatives).
Know Your Limit; Play within It
Though the OLG is a Crown corporation controlled by the
Government of Ontario, it hasn’t escaped strong criticism
from interest groups concerned with the negative impacts
that gaming can create for individuals and communities.
Indeed, critics of legalized gambling generally denounce
gaming for causing harm to society. Harm here is typically
discussed in terms of the regressive nature of gaming as an
implicit tax on those lower in socioeconomic status, the fostering of illegal activities that gambling provides, such as the
potential for fraud and money laundering, and, perhaps most
concerning, the societal toll that problem gamblers can take
on families and their communities (e.g., divorce, bankruptcy,
lost productivity).
Given these concerns, the OLG is strongly committed to
finding the appropriate balance between profitability and
social responsibility. Specific values of the organization centre
on integrity, respect, and accountability, and through the
“Know Your Limit, Play within It” initiative, the organization
makes an effort to ensure that players understand how the
games work and recognize their own gambling behaviours.
For those with possible gambling problems, the OLG tries to
ensure that players know where and when to get help. Working in partnership with government and independent agencies, the corporation provides information and tools in the
prevention of problem gaming, and helps players make
informed decisions when playing.
Interview Preparation
Kirk was intrigued after reviewing the history, background, and
current operations of the OLG. He hadn’t realized how big an
operation it managed, and how central the company had
become to the revenue model of the provincial government.
The organization would certainly provide a great experience
over the summer, and exposure to all aspects of the business
function. However, Kirk couldn’t quite resolve the uncomfortable feelings he had about working in an industry that created
significant problems for a specific segment of the population.
He did admire the efforts the OLG had made with respect to
responsible gaming, but he knew that this effort didn’t completely resolve the problems gambling created. Further, he
wondered if the company was truly sincere in its efforts. He
had read reports online that casinos didn’t really enforce the
outlined regulations and policies concerning underage players
and those with addiction problems.
What was the real story on responsible gaming? Kirk
imagined he should ask questions in the interview regarding
the success and failures of the company in this regard. He
wondered if working directly in that business unit would
alleviate his fears, or if it would only magnify his concerns.
Preparing for the interview had certainly raised Kirk’s awareness and curiosity with respect to the OLG and its role in the
community.
1. What types of questions would you ask the OLG if you
were interviewing for an internship? Would it make a difference to you if the internship was in casino operations or
in responsible gaming? Why?
2. Some argue that gambling is a dark consumer behaviour
due to the negative impact of this behaviour on some segments of the population. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
3. Whose responsibility is it to regulate gambling behaviours?
The consumer? The government? Somebody else?
4. Provincial governments across Canada have become
dependent on gaming revenues to fund government programs. Do you see this as problematic? Why? What
responsibilities does government have in mitigating the
negative outcomes that surround gaming?
No te s
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C H A P T E R 1 An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
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and Randolph J. Trappey III, “Compulsive Consumption of a Consumer Service: An
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S E CT I ON I Consumers in the Marketplace
52. Anne E. Becker, Rebecca A. Burwell, David B. Herzog, Paul Hamburg, and, Stephan E. Gilman,
“Eating Behaviours and Attitudes following Prolonged Exposure to Television among Ethnic Fijian Adolescent Girls,” The British Journal of Psychiatry 180 (2002): 509–514.
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C HAPTER
2
Perception
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand the difference between sensation and
perception.
2
3
4
5
Understand that perception is a three-stage process
that translates raw stimuli into meaning.
Understand that subliminal advertising is a
controversial—but largely ineffective—way to
persuade consumers.
6
Understand that marketers can appeal to each of the
sensory systems in a variety of ways.
Understand that a variety of factors can influence
what stimuli consumers will pay attention to.
7
Understand that we interpret the stimuli to which we
do pay attention according to learned patterns and
expectations.
Understand how the concept of a sensory threshold
is important for marketing communication.
Introduction
Whether it’s the taste of President’s Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunk Cookies, the sight of
a Tom Ford perfume ad, or the sound of the music group Maroon 5, we live in a world
overflowing with sensations. Wherever we turn, we are bombarded by a symphony of
colours, sounds, and odours. Some of the “notes” in this symphony, such as the loud barking of a dog, the shades of the evening sky, or the heady smell of a rose bush, occur naturally. Others come from people: The person sitting next to you in class might sport tinted
blond hair, bright pink pants, and a vanilla-chocolate scent.
Marketers certainly contribute to this commotion. Consumers are never far from advertisements, product packages, radio and TV commercials, or billboards that clamour for
their attention. Each of us copes with this bombardment by paying attention to some stimuli and tuning out others. And the messages to which we do choose to pay attention often
wind up differing from what the sponsors intended, as we each put our “spin” on things by
taking away meanings consistent with our own unique experiences, biases, and desires.
This chapter focuses on the process of perception, in which sensations are absorbed by the
consumer and used to interpret the surrounding world.
Sensation is the immediate response of our sensory receptors (those in our eyes, ears,
nose, mouth, and skin) to such basic stimuli as light, colour, and sound. Perception is the
process by which these sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted. The study of
perception focuses on what we add to or take away from these raw sensations as we choose
which to notice and then go about assigning meaning to them.
Most marketers would agree that, oftentimes, perception can be more influential than
sensation in determining consumer preferences. Coke and Pepsi, for example, are almost
identical in chemical composition, and blind taste tests consistently show that most consumers don’t have the sensory ability to tell the difference between a cold glass of Coke
CO 1
34
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
and a cold glass of Pepsi.1 Below a certain temperature, all we can detect is the cold,
the sugar, and the sensation of the bubbles on our tongues. Thus, based on sensation
alone, it is difficult to distinguish the two brands of cola. Anecdotally, however, most
of us have a very strong preference for one brand of cola over the other. This is where
perception comes into play.
One “neuromarketing” study,2 using brain-scanning (fMRI) technology, found
that when no brand name was presented prior to tasting cola beverages (i.e., consumers relied only on sensation), the reward centres of the brain lit up and Coke and Pepsi
were equally preferred. But, when explicitly told the brand name before drinking,
more consumers preferred Coca-Cola, and an entirely different part of the brain lit
up—the medial prefrontal cortex. This is the area of the brain responsible for thinking
and judging. Culturally learned meanings about the brand influenced consumers’ ultimate perceptions of Coca-Cola.
Thus, based on sensation alone, consumers might equally prefer Pepsi and Coke.
However, our ultimate preferences are also shaped by our perceptions—how we organize, interpret, and form associations about the brand.
Sensory Systems
CO 2
Like computers, people undergo stages of information processing in which stimuli are
input and stored. Unlike computers, however, consumers do not passively process
whatever information happens to be present. Only a very small number of the stimuli
in our environment are ever noticed. Of these, an even smaller number are attended to,
and even these might not be processed objectively. The meaning of the stimulus is
interpreted by the individual, who is influenced by his or her unique biases, needs,
and experiences. As shown in Figure 2–1, three stages—exposure, attention, and interpretation—make up the process of perception. Before considering each of these stages,
let’s step back and consider the sensory systems that provide sensations to us in the
first place.
External stimuli, or sensory inputs, can be received on a number of channels. We
may see a billboard, hear a jingle, feel the softness of a cashmere sweater, taste a new
flavour of ice cream, or smell a leather jacket. The inputs picked up by our five senses
constitute the raw data that generate many types of responses. For example, sensory
data emanating from the external environment (hearing a song on iTunes) can generate internal sensory experiences when the song triggers a young man’s memory of his
first dance and brings to mind the smell of his date’s perfume or the feel of her hair on
his cheek.
FIGURE 2–1
An Overview of the Perceptual Process
SENSORY
STIMULI
SENSORY
RECEPTORS
• Sights
Eyes
• Sounds
Ears
• Smells
Nose
• Tastes
Mouth
• Textures
Skin
Exposure
Attention
Expectations
Interpretation
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
35
Sensory Marketing: Harnessing
Perception for a Competitive
Advantage
Guests at Omni Hotels are in for a host of luxurious experiences. When they visit the
hotel chain’s website to reserve a room, they will hear the sound of soft chimes playing. On entering the lobby they’ll be hit with the scent of lemongrass and green tea and
view elaborate floral displays. In their rooms they will find eucalyptus bath salts and
Sensation Bars—mini-bars stocked with items such as mojito-flavoured jelly beans
and miniature Zen gardens. In a joint promotion with Starbucks, guests find small,
scented stickers on the front pages of their free copies of USA Today—a blackberry
aroma suggests they start their day at the hotel with a cup of Starbucks coffee “paired
with a fresh muffin.”3
Welcome to the new era of sensory marketing, in which companies pay extra
attention to the impact of sensation on our product experiences. From hotels to
carmakers to brewers, companies recognize that our senses help us decide which
products appeal to us—and which ones stand out from a host of similar offerings in
the marketplace. In one example of this, the Boeing 787: Dreamliner caters to a
multi-sensory experience by giving customers a more spacious experience, using
more natural lighting, ensuring a smoother ride, maintaining optimum cabin
humidity and pressure, and reducing noise by 60 percent. The results are such that
the Dreamliner has been known to counteract the experience of jet lag! In this section
we’ll take a closer look at how some smart marketers use our sensory systems to
create a competitive advantage.
Sight
CO 3
Sure, Apple’s products usually work pretty well—but that’s not why many people buy
them. Sleek styling and simple, compact features telegraph an aura of modernity,
sophistication, and just plain “cool.” Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in
advertising, store design, and packaging. They communicate meanings on the visual
channel through a product’s colour, size, and styling.
This ad for a luxury car emphasizes the
contribution made by all of our senses to
the evaluation of a driving experience. In
addition to the five channels of sight, sound,
touch, smell, and taste, the ad mentions the
“sixth sense” of intuition in its treatment of
the “power of perception.”
© 1993 by Lexus, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, USA,
Inc., used by permission. © Harry Vamos
36
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Method used visually pleasing aesthetic
product innovations to shake up the stale
household cleaners market.
© Method Products
H ow P e r c e ptio n C an B e “Co lour ed ”
Colours influence our emotions directly. Evidence suggests that some colours
(particularly red) create feelings of arousal and stimulate appetite, and others (such
as blue) are more relaxing. Products presented against a backdrop of blue in
advertisements are better liked than those shown with a red background, and crosscultural research indicates a consistent preference for blue as consumers’ favourite
colour whether they live in Canada or Hong Kong.4 People who complete tasks
when the words or images are displayed on red backgrounds perform better when
they have to remember details, but when blue backgrounds are used they excel at
tasks that require an imaginative response. Olympic athletes who wear red uniforms
are more likely to defeat competitors in blue uniforms, and men rate women who
wear red as more attractive than those who wear blue. In one study, interior
designers created bars decorated primarily in red, yellow, or blue and invited
people to choose one to hang out in. More people chose the yellow and red rooms,
and these guests were more social and active—and ate more. But partygoers in the
blue room stayed longer.5
Colours are rich in symbolic value and cultural meanings. For example, red represents good luck to the Chinese and is often the main colour in their celebrations. Such
powerful cultural meanings make colour a central aspect of many marketing strategies.
Some reactions to colour come from learned associations—in Western countries black
is the colour of mourning, while in some Eastern countries, notably Japan, white plays
this role. In addition, the colour black is associated with power and may even have an
impact on people who wear it. Teams in the National Hockey League who wear black
uniforms are among the most aggressive; they consistently rank near the top of the
league in penalties during the season.6
We know that perceptions of a colour depend on both its physical wavelength
and how the mind responds to that stimulus. Yellow, which is in the middle of
wavelengths detectable by the human eye, is the brightest colour and attracts
attention. The Yellow Pages were made yellow to heighten the attention level of
bored telephone operators.7 Further, some reactions to colour are due to biological
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
37
Renova first differentiated itself from competitors by introducing black-coloured toilet
paper that conveyed an air of sophistication
and exclusivity. Now the company has added
multiple colours to its offerings.
Courtesy of Renova SA
differences. Women tend to be drawn to brighter tones and are more sensitive to
subtle shadings and patterns, because they see colour better than men do; men are
16 times more likely to be colour-blind than women. Age also influences our
response to colour. As we get older our eyes mature and our vision takes on a yellow
cast. Colours look duller to older people, so they prefer white and other bright tones.
This helps to explain why mature consumers are much more likely to choose a
white car; Lexus, which sells heavily in this market, makes 60 percent of its vehicles
in white.
The choice of colour is frequently a key issue in package design. These choices
used to be made casually. Today, however, colour is a serious business, and many
companies realize that their colour choices can exert a big influence on consumers’
assumptions about what is inside the package. When introducing a white cheese as a
“sister product” to an existing blue Castello cheese, a Danish company launched it in
a red package under the name of Castello Bianco. The red package was chosen to provide maximum visibility on store shelves. Although taste tests were very positive,
sales were disappointing. A subsequent analysis of consumer interpretations showed
that the red packaging and the name gave consumers the wrong impression about the
product type and its degree of sweetness. Danish consumers had trouble associating
the colour red with white cheese. Also, the name Bianco connoted a sweetness that
was incompatible with the actual taste of the product. It was relaunched in a white
package and given the name White Castello. Almost immediately sales more than doubled.8 Table 2-1 lists other colour associations, along with how marketers use them.
Some colour combinations come to be associated so strongly with a corporation
that they become known as the company’s trade dress, and the company may even be
granted exclusive use of these colours. Think of Tiffany and Co. and a distinct shade of
blue comes to mind, one that is trademarked by the company. As a rule, however,
trade-dress protection is granted only when consumers might be confused about what
they are buying because of similar colouration of a competitor’s packages.9 Cadbury
Canada overhauled its packaging, adding its signature purple colour and logo to all its
brands. Survey results showed that while consumers know Crème Eggs and Caramilk
bars as Cadbury brands, people did not associate Crispy Crunch, Crunchie, and Mr. Big
with Cadbury. Therefore, rebranding was necessary to associate all brands through the
signature purple colour.10
38
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
TABLE 2–1
Marketing Applications of Colours
Colour
Associations
Marketing Applications
Yellow
Optimistic and youthful
Used to grab window shoppers’ attention
Red
Energy
Often seen in clearance sales
Blue
Trust and security
Banks
Green
Wealth/Serenity
Used to create relaxation in stores
Orange
Aggressive
Call to action: subscribe, buy or sell
Black
Powerful and sleek
Luxury products
Purple
Soothing
Beauty or anti-aging products
Source: Adapted from Leo Widrich, “Why Is Facebook Blue? The Science Behind Colors in Marketing,” buffersocial (April 25, 2013), https://blog.
bufferapp.com/the-science-of-colors-in-marketing-why-is-facebook-blue, accessed February 23, 2015.
H ow Y o ur Ey es Mak e Yo u E at Mo r e
Our eyes play tricks on us, and these perceptions can have caloric consequences.11
When pouring or eating foods from larger boxes, the size of the box implicitly suggests
that it’s appropriate or “acceptable” to eat more—and we do! One study gave a number
of moviegoers free medium-size or large-size popcorn buckets and revealed that those
eating out of the large-size buckets ate 45 percent more popcorn.12 Even when 14-dayold popcorn was used, people still ate 32 percent more from the large-size buckets
even though they said they hated the popcorn.13 The same thing happens at parties.
MBA students at a Super Bowl party were offered Chex Mix either from huge gallonsize bowls or from twice as many half-gallon bowls. Those dishing from the gallonbowls ate 53 percent more.14
These visual illusions also influence how much we pour and drink. Take drinking
glasses, for example. When we pour into a glass, we tend to focus on the height of the
liquid we are pouring and not the width.15 If we are given two glasses that both hold
24 ounces, for instance, we will tend to pour over 30 percent more into the shorter,
wider glass than the taller glass, because we focus on the height and don’t account for
the width. Even the pros get tricked by this illusion. When 48 bartenders were asked to
pour a “shot” of alcohol into either a wide tumbler or a tall highball glass, they poured
27 percent more gin, whisky, and vodka in the wide glasses than in the tall ones.16
While 100-calorie snack packs have been
very popular among consumers, packages
that allow for smaller serving sizes can
sometimes, ironically, encourage consumers
to eat more.
AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
Visual cues in packaging can also impact consumption in other ways. Take the
trend of using smaller snack packs and 100-calorie serving sizes in the marketplace.
Although intuition tells consumers that smaller packages should help them to eat less,17
when multiple small packages are available consumers often eat much more of the product.18 In fact, it is those consumers who are most concerned with dieting and their
appearance who eat the most snack foods when they are presented in small packages.
Researchers find that this is because these consumers assume the small packages will do
the job of controlling their food intake for them, so they give up their own control of
watching what they eat and often end up eating more than one package!19
Our eyes continue to trick us even when it comes to variety. When we see an
assortment of foods, for example at Thanksgiving dinner or an all-you-can-eat buffet,
this abundance suggests it’s appropriate to eat more. College students who are given
bowls of M&Ms that have ten colours of M&Ms will eat 26 percent more than those
given the same-size bowls with seven colours—even though all M&Ms taste the same.
Also, students given six different flavours of jellybeans took and ate 85 percent more
when they were mixed up than when they were neatly organized by flavour.20
The bottom line: When it comes to how much we eat and drink, our eyes often
have more to say than our stomachs.21
Smell
We’ve all heard of the “Axe Effect,” since we’ve been bombarded with commercials
showing women chasing men who use Unilever’s personal-care brand. Can it possibly
be for real? A British researcher reported that women rated men who used Lynx
deodorant (Axe’s British counterpart) as more attractive than men who used a “placebo” deodorant with no fragrance. Before you run out to the store, guys, keep in mind
that the women didn’t actually meet the men face to face; they watched 15-second
videos of the men describing themselves. The men in the videos were instructed not to
bathe for 48 hours, and those who used the unfragranced deodorant to hide their
“scent” rated themselves lower in self-confidence than did the Lynx users. A Unilever
consumer scientist explains, “Deodorant is supposed to make you feel good about
yourself and give you confidence in the mating game, which is what Axe says.”
Important note: The Axe Effect worked only for women who watched the videos
with no sound—those who actually heard the men talk didn’t show a preference,
which supports the idea that self-confidence is translated into body language, which
in turn is translated into attractiveness. As one of the researchers joked, “One way you
could look at it is that the Axe Effect works as long as you’re very quiet.”22
Odours can stir emotions or create a calming feeling. They can evoke memories or
relieve stress. Some of our responses to scents result from early associations that call
up good or bad feelings, which explains why businesses are exploring connections
between smell, memory, and mood. It has been suggested that ambient scent can influence not only moods, but consumer cognitions as well.23 Researchers have found that
pleasant scents can increase recall of brand names,24 particularly when the scent is
combined with a visual image.25
We process fragrance cues in the limbic system, the most primitive part of the
brain and the place where we experience immediate emotions. One study even found
that the scent of fresh cinnamon buns induced sexual arousal in a sample of male students!26 In another study, women sniffed T-shirts that men had worn for two days and
reported which ones they preferred. The women were most attracted to the odour of
men who are genetically similar to themselves, though not too similar. The researchers
claimed the findings were evidence that we are “wired” to select compatible mates,
but not those so similar as to cause inbreeding problems.27
Researchers have found that the sense of smell can also lead to different behavioural reactions to stimuli. One study found that consumers who viewed ads for either
flowers or chocolate and who also were exposed to congruent (i.e., flowery or chocolatey, respectively) odours spent more time processing the product information and
39
40
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
The “Got Milk?” campaign harnessed the
power of smell by releasing the scent of
chocolate chip cookies at bus shelters.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
were more likely to try different alternatives within the relevant product category.28
Other researchers have discovered that “clean” scents such as citrus-scented Windex
can lead people to engage in morally “virtuous” acts such as reciprocating a favour or
being willing to volunteer for a worthy cause.29
As scientists continue to discover the powerful effects of smell on behaviour, marketers are coming up with ingenious ways to exploit these connections. Ad companies
spend about $80 million per year on scent marketing; the Scent Marketing Institute
estimates that number will reach more than $500 million by 2016.30 Marketers have
leveraged the potential power of smell by using such strategies as microencapsulating
scents in direct mail communications31 and introducing scratch-and-sniff advertisements in newspapers.32 Playing with scents can be a tricky business, however. For
example, the “Got Milk?” campaign got creative by releasing the scent of chocolate
chip cookies in tandem with its ads on bus shelters. However, the marketers were
forced to pull the scents in response to complaints by various social-interest groups:
groups trying to ban all public scents, anti-obesity organizations, diabetes organizations, and advocates for the homeless who argued that the smell would leave these
people hungry and unable to purchase food.33 There is also evidence that certain
smells may be more effective when targeted toward one of the sexes. A vanilla smell
diffused into a women’s clothing store and a spicy, honey smell diffused into a men’s
clothing store almost doubled sales. When the scents were reversed, sales fell to levels
below what they were when no scent was infused.34
Hearing
Sounds can impact consumer behaviour in a variety of ways. Consumers buy millions of
dollars’ worth of sound recordings every year, advertising jingles maintain brand awareness, and stores and restaurants often play particular types of background music to create desired moods.35 In one example of using sound, BMW has begun to use an “audio
watermark” at the end of its TV and radio ads around the world. The company wants to
establish what the brand sounds like “so all of its messages end with a melody . . . underscored by two distinctive bass tones that form the sound logo’s melodic and rhythmic
basis.” BMW claims this sound signature represents “sheer driving pleasure.”36
Music and other sounds affect people’s feelings and behaviours. Some marketers
who come up with brand names pay attention to sound symbolism, the process by
which the way a word sounds influences our assumptions about what it describes and
its attributes, such as size.37 For example, consumers are more likely to recognize
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
41
The advertisement reads: “To applaud the
22 athletes of Team EDF for their performance in 2010, close and reopen these two
pages several times very quickly.” This print
ad does a creative job of using sound to
connect with consumers.
Courtesy of Havas Worldwide Paris
brand names that begin with a hard consonant, like a K (Kellogg’s) or P (Pepsi).38 By
decomposing brand names into individual sounds called phonemes, one study showed
how even these cues affect consumer evaluations and convey unique meanings about
inherent properties of the product. For instance, consumers infer that brands containing the vowel sound of short [i] weigh less than brands containing the vowel sound of
[a].39 Other research shows that brand names with repetition in their phonetic structure (think clothing brand “Bebe” and “Jelly Belly” candies) produce positive affect
when spoken aloud, leading to increased preference for the brand.40
Touch
Common observation tells us that tactile stimulation is an important sensory channel.
Moods are relaxed or stimulated on the basis of sensations of the skin, whether from a
luxurious massage or from the bite of a winter wind. Touch has even been shown to be
a factor in sales interactions. In one study, diners who were touched by servers gave
bigger tips, and food demonstrators in a supermarket who lightly touched customers
had better luck getting shoppers to try a new snack product and to redeem coupons
for the brand.41 On the other hand, an accidental touch from a stranger (especially a
male) leads to more negative evaluations of products a shopper encounters in a
store.42 Another study found that participants who simply touched an item (an inexpensive coffee mug) for 30 seconds or less created a greater level of attachment to the
product that boosted what they were willing to pay for it.43 This was proposed to be
caused by an endowment effect. Endowment usually occurs when consumers ascribe
more value to something simply because they own it. Simply touching and engaging
with the product also increases endowment effects. Indeed, the power of touch even
translates to online shopping, where touchscreens create a stronger feeling of psychological ownership compared to products consumers explore using a touchpad or a
mouse.44
Haptic (touch) senses appear to moderate the relationship between product experience and judgment confidence, confirming the common-sense notion that we’re more
sure about what we perceive when we can touch it. (Of course, this is a major problem
for those who sell products online.)45 These researchers found that individuals who
scored high on a “Need for Touch” (NFT) scale were especially influenced by this
Consumers
in Focus
Consumers respond positively to leisure activities that allow for a full sensory experience. In
some specially equipped movie theatres, viewers of films like Pirates of the Caribbean and
Marvel Superheroes: 4D won’t just watch the
action, they will feel the actors’ movements in
their seats. Their chairs will pitch forward,
backward, and side to side, and they will experience freefall when a character leaps off a
cliff.
42
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
The classic contoured Coca-Cola bottle
attests to the power of touch. The bottle was
originally designed so that people could
identify it by touch alone.
© Rufus Stone/Alamy
dimension. Those with a high need for touch responded positively to such statements
as the following:
•
When walking through stores, I can’t help touching all kinds of products.
•
Touching products can be fun.
•
I feel more comfortable purchasing a product after physically examining it.46
One study found that product judgments by individuals who do not normally possess a compulsion to touch products (low autotelics) are influenced by the “feel” of a
package, while those who do have a compulsion to touch items (high autotelics) do
not rely on this cue to infer a product’s quality. Subjects were each given a glass of
water in a flimsy cup that also holds a straw. Half of the subjects were told to hold the
cup and drink from the straw, while the other half were told to leave the cup on the
desk and drink from the straw. Participants who had been identified as high autotelics
rated the water the same, regardless of whether or not they touched the cup. However,
low autotelics rated the water as worse if they had the opportunity to touch the cup
while drinking from it.47 How can we explain this finding? Presumably, those who
like to touch have learned over time that “you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
The Japanese take this idea of touch a step further when they practise what they
call Kansei engineering, a philosophy that translates customers’ feelings into design
elements. In one application of this practice, the designers of the Mazda Miata focused
on young drivers who saw the car as an extension of their bodies, a sensation they call
the “horse and rider as one.” After extensive research, the company discovered that
making the stick shift exactly 9.5 centimetres long conveys the optimal feeling of
sportiness and control.48
Taste
Jones Soda: Marketing & Consumer
Behavior
Our taste receptors obviously contribute to our experience of many products, and
people form strong preferences for certain flavours.
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
Courtesy of Antonia Mantonakis, BSc, MA, PhD
As I See It
Life is experienced serially, and
consumers often make choices
between options—wines, cars,
houses—that they consider one
at a time in sequence. When a
consumer is sampling food at
Costco, sampling wine at a winery, or simply picking a favourite contestant to vote for on a
reality television show, does the
order in which the consumer
tastes, smells, or hears the
Dr. Antonia Mantonakis
options influence which one is
Brock University
selected as the favourite?
We tried to answer this question in a recent study.1 One group
of participants sampled two wines and then chose their favourite.
Another group sampled three wines before choosing a favourite,
another sampled four, and another sampled five. In fact, unknown
to the participants, all the wine samples were the same wine from
the same bottle (no participants picked up on this). This ensured
that any differences in preference could be attributed to the wines’
positions in the sequence and not to some other factor, such as the
taste of the wine. The results revealed that when a consumer samples a sequence of options, the first option has an advantage, especially for short sequence lengths (e.g., when sampling two or three
wines). This is called a primacy effect in terms of consumers’ perceptions and subsequent choices. However, consumers tend to prefer the last option when sampling longer sequence lengths (e.g.,
when sampling four or five wines). This reflects a recency effect in
terms of consumer perceptions and choices.
But the results of this study are more complex. We also
looked at whether the preference pattern for early and late items
occurs for consumers of all levels of expertise. Would we find this
pattern of results if the consumers were experts? We expected
that people who were more knowledgeable about the choice
options would try harder than less sophisticated judges to discriminate between them. Because of this, the more “expert”
judges would show the strongest bias for options late in the
sequence, even without knowing how many options would be
sampled.2 The results confirmed that the more “expert” judges
were more biased to choose the last option.
Whether you’re a winemaker hoping to discover which position
in a tasting sequence gives your product the greatest advantage, or
a realtor deciding how to present homes in a strategically planned
order, it is a good idea to showcase what you want to sell first. The
first option sampled automatically becomes the favourite. However,
as more options are sampled, the likelihood increases that a later
option will “beat” the first, and this is especially the case for knowledgeable consumers. As a result, it’s best to showcase what you
want to sell last if there are many options to choose from.
1
Antonia Mantonakis, Pauline Rodero, Isabelle Lesschaeve, and Reid Hastie, “Order in Choice: Effects of Serial Position on Preferences,” Psychological Science 20(11)
(2009): 1309–1312.
2
Antonia Mantonakis, Matthew Philp, Isabelle Lesschaeve, and Reid Hastie, “Consumer Evaluation and Decision Process When Engaging in a Sequential Sampling Scenario,”
Academy of Wine Business Research International Conference (2011, June), Bordeaux, France.
Specialized companies called “flavour houses” keep busy trying to develop new
tastes to please the changing palates of consumers. And scientists are right behind
them, developing new devices to test these flavours. Alpha MOS sells a sophisticated
Welch’s gets creative by incorporating
the actual taste of the product into this
advertisement.
Courtesy of Welch Foods, Inc.
43
44
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
electronic tongue for tasting, and is working on what the company’s executives call
an electronic mouth, complete with artificial saliva, to chew food and dissect its
flavour. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo use the tongue to test the quality of corn syrups, while
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Roche use the device to develop medicines that
don’t taste bitter.49
Changes in our culture also determine the tastes we find desirable. For example,
consumers’ greater appreciation of different ethnic dishes has contributed to
increased desires for spicy foods, so the quest for the ultimate pepper sauce is a hot
taste trend. The “heat” of peppers is measured in units called Scovilles. In 1912,
Wilbur Scoville asked a five-person panel to see how much sugar water it would take
to eliminate the hotness of a pepper. How’s this for a hot tip: It takes 7497 litres of
sweetened water to neutralize a teaspoon of Da’ Bomb, which claims to be the hottest
sauce ever made.50
Marketers have also discovered various ways to influence consumers’ perceptions
of the taste of the product itself. For example, a subtle cue such as the colour of a product (e.g., a darker versus more natural colour of orange juice) can influence perceptions of the actual taste of the product, even when the true taste of the product is
exactly the same!51 Other work finds that advertisements that refer to more than one of
the senses (“Stimulate Your Senses”) lead to more positive taste perceptions than
advertisements simply referring to taste alone (“Long Lasting Flavour”).52
Exposure
Exposure occurs when a stimulus comes within the range of the individual’s sensory
receptors, so that he or she has the potential to notice it. We are capable of noticing
stimuli that we are exposed to for even a very short time—if we choose to do so. Before
we consider what people may choose not to perceive, let’s consider what they are
capable of perceiving.
When marketers need to decrease the size of
a product, they often test to ensure that the
changes are not perceptible by the average
consumer (i.e., they ensure that the changes
are below the JND).
Smneedham/Getty Images
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
Sensory Thresholds
If you have ever blown a dog whistle and watched pets respond to a sound you cannot
hear, you know that there are some stimuli people simply are not capable of perceiving. And, of course, some people are better able to pick up sensory information than
others. The science that focuses on how the physical environment is integrated into
our personal, subjective world is known as psychophysics.
When we define the lowest intensity of a stimulus that can be registered on a sensory channel, we speak of a threshold for that receptor. The absolute threshold refers
to the minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected on a sensory channel. The
sound emitted by a dog whistle is too high to be detected by human ears, so this stimulus is beyond our auditory absolute threshold. The absolute threshold is an important
consideration in designing marketing stimuli. A billboard might have the most entertaining copy ever written, but this genius is wasted if the print is too small for passing
motorists to see from the highway.
The differential threshold refers to the ability of a sensory system to detect
changes in a stimulus or differences between two stimuli. The minimum change in a
stimulus that can be detected is also known as the JND (just noticeable difference).
The issue of when and if a change will be noticed by consumers is relevant to
many marketing situations. Sometimes a marketer may want to ensure that a change is
noticed, such as when merchandise is offered at a discount. In other situations, the
fact that a change has been made is downplayed, as in the case of price increases or
when a product’s size is decreased.
A consumer’s ability to detect a difference between two stimuli is relative. A
whispered conversation that might be unintelligible on a noisy street can suddenly
become public and embarrassing knowledge in a quiet library. It is the relative difference between the decibel level of the conversation and its surroundings, rather
than the loudness of the conversation itself, that determines whether the stimulus
will register.
In the nineteenth century a psychophysicist named Ernst Weber found that the
amount of change necessary to be noticed is systematically related to the original
intensity of the stimulus. The stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the change must
be for it to be noticed. This relationship is known as Weber’s law and is expressed in
the following equation:
Consider how Weber’s law works with respect to a product that has had its price
decreased for a special sale. A rule of thumb used by some retailers is that a markdown
should be at least 20 percent to make an impact on shoppers. If so, a pair of socks that
retails for $10 should be put on sale for $8 (a $2 discount). However, a sports coat selling for $100 would not benefit from a mere $2 discount; it would have to be marked
down to $80 to achieve the same impact.
The main point of Weber’s law is that it is the ratios, not the absolute differences, that are important in describing the least perceptible differences in sensory
CO 4
45
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing
Insight
Some companies try to camouflage price
increases by shrinking the size of packages
instead of charging more. Sometimes marketers use code words to announce a change: They
may label the smaller packages as “greener”
because there is less plastic or cardboard in
a smaller box, more “portable” when they
squeeze products into little carry bags, or
“healthier” because smaller amounts translate
into fewer calories.
For example, Kraft brought out “Fresh
Stacks” packages for its Nabisco Premium
saltines and Honey Maid graham crackers.
Each holds about 15 percent fewer crackers
than the standard boxes for the same price.
But Kraft notes that, since the new packages
include more sleeves of crackers, they are
more portable—and adds that as an added
benefit the smaller boxes supply crackers that
will be more fresh when you get around to eating them. In another example, companies
such as Lays often decrease the number of
potato chips in a bag to increase profits.56
A packaging expert noted that typically,
when a country comes out of a recession, companies respond with a new, “jumbo” size that
is even more expensive per gram. Then the process begins again. “It’s a continuous cycle,
where at some point the smallest package
offered becomes so small that perhaps they’re
phased out and replaced by the medium-size
package, which has been shrunk down.”57
discrimination. The differential threshold varies not only with consumers’ sensitivity and type of stimuli, but also with the absolute intensity of the stimuli being compared. The use of Weber’s law in selling goods is important. Manufacturers and
brand managers endeavour to determine the relevant just noticeable difference for
their products for two reasons: first, so that reductions in product size, increases in
product price, or changes in packaging are not readily discernible to the public; and
second, so that product improvements are perceived by the public. Unfortunately,
most of the time companies are looking to give you less, below your JND. The package on the store shelf may register the same to your brain, but the amount inside the
package has gone down. This is how companies tend to pass on their rising costs to
customers. Not only are cereal boxes slimmed down, but consumers are dealt more
air in their chip bag, fewer sheets of paper towel on the roll, thinner garbage bags,
and even smaller squares of toilet paper.53 Even Coca-Cola has reduced the size of its
355-millilitre can by 7 percent to 330 millilitres in the Hong Kong market to save on
the cost of aluminum.54
Weber’s law, ironically, is a challenge to green marketers who try to reduce the
sizes of packages when they produce concentrated (and more Earth-friendly) versions
of their products. Makers of laundry detergent brands have to convince their customers to pay the same price for about half the detergent. Also, because of pressure from
powerful retailers such as Walmart that want to fit more bottles on their shelves, the
size of detergent bottles is shrinking significantly. Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and
Henkel all maintain that their new, concentrated versions will allow people to wash
the same number of loads with half the detergent. One perceptual trick they’re using to
try to convince consumers of this is the redesign of the bottle cap: Both P&G and
Church & Dwight use a cap with a broader base and shorter sides to persuade consumers that they need a smaller amount.55
Subliminal Perception
CO 5
The topic of subliminal perception, the perception of stimuli below the level of consumer consciousness, has captivated the public for more than 50 years, despite the
fact that there is virtually no proof that it has any effect on consumer behaviour.
In fact, most examples of subliminal perception that have been “discovered” are not
subliminal at all; they are quite visible. Remember, if you can see it or hear it, it is not
subliminal, because the stimulus is above the level needed for conscious awareness!
Nonetheless, the continuing controversy about subliminal persuasion has been important in shaping the public’s beliefs about advertising and the ability of marketers to
manipulate consumers against their will.
The public’s fear of unconscious manipulation began with a widely popularized
experiment that was performed in a New Jersey drive-in movie theatre in September
1957. During a showing of the movie Picnic, a firm called the Subliminal Projection
Company inserted messages that said “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Eat Popcorn” for 1/3000
second every five seconds. This rate was too fast for viewers to be aware that they had
seen the images. Supposedly, sales of popcorn increased by almost 20 percent and
consumption of Coke by almost 60 percent. These claims created an uproar as journalists and social critics expressed fears that social scientists would team up with advertisers to invade privacy and control consumers against their will. As one magazine put
it at the time, consumers’ minds had been “broken and entered.”58 This experiment
was never replicated, and the executive responsible for the test later admitted that he
had made up the results.59
Subliminal messages can supposedly be sent on both visual and aural channels.
Embeds are tiny figures that are inserted into magazine advertising by using highspeed photography or airbrushing.
In addition to these subliminal visual messages, many consumers and marketers
seem to be fascinated by the possible effects of messages hidden on sound recordings.
An attempt to capitalize on subliminal auditory perception techniques is found in the
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
47
This beer ad pokes fun at the myth of
subliminal advertising.
© 2005. Molson USA, LLC
market for self-help cassettes. These tapes, which typically feature the sound of waves
crashing or some other natural setting, supposedly contain subliminal messages to help
the listener stop smoking, lose weight, gain confidence, and so on. However, there is
little evidence that any subliminal stimuli transmitted on the auditory channel can bring
about desired changes in behaviour.60 In a major study conducted to obtain a definitive
answer on the effect of subliminal persuasion, groups of people were recruited to a
double-blind weight-loss experiment involving tapes with subaudible messages. One
group had real weight-loss messages in their tapes, while the other just listened to the
ocean. After many weeks of listening to the tapes, there were no differences in weight
loss between the two groups.61
Clearly, there are better ways to get our attention. Let’s see how.
Attention
CO 6
As you sit in a lecture, you might find your mind wandering. One minute you are concentrating on the instructor’s words, and the next you catch yourself daydreaming
about the upcoming weekend. Suddenly, you tune back in as you hear your name
being spoken. Fortunately, it’s a false alarm—the professor has called on another student who has the same first name. But she’s got your attention now!
Attention refers to the extent to which the brain’s processing activity is devoted
to a particular stimulus. As you know from sitting through both interesting and “less
interesting” lectures, this allocation can vary depending on the characteristics of
both the stimulus (the lecture itself) and the recipient (you with your mental state at
the time).
Consumers
in Focus
Are you a “media snacker”? A recent study found
that consumers in their twenties switch media
venues about 27 times per nonworking hour—
the equivalent of more than 13 times during a
standard half-hour TV show. As a Unilever marketing executive put it, “If you have consumers
who are snacking on short amounts of time with
different types of media channels, we have to
think about how to communicate in short,
‘snack-like’ bits of messaging.”62 That means
the fight for your attention—or what some marketers refer to as an “eyeball economy”—gets
tougher every day.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Although we live in an information society, it’s possible to have too much of a
good thing. Consumers are often in a state of sensory overload; that is, they are exposed
to far more information than they are able or willing to process. In our society, much
of this bombardment comes from commercial sources, and the competition for our
attention is increasing steadily. The average adult is exposed to about 3500 pieces of
advertising information every single day—up from about 560 a day 30 years ago. Many
younger people in particular have developed the ability to multitask, or process information from more than one medium at a time as they attend to their smartphones, TV,
instant messages, and so on.63 One study observed 400 people for a day and found that
96 percent of them were multitasking about a third of the time they were using media.64
Marketing researchers are struggling to understand this new condition, trying to figure
out how to reach people doing many things at once.
One potential response to anti-smoking ads
such as this might be perceptual defence on
the part of smokers. This happens when
people block out the marketing message if it
is threatening in some way.
Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2013 Tips From Former Smokers campaign.
RECORD YOUR
VOICE FOR LOVED
ONES WHILE
YOU STILL CAN.
Terrie, Age 52
North Carolina
Smoking causes immediate damage to your body.
For Terrie, it gave her throat cancer. You can quit.
For free help, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
#CDCTips
www.cdc.gov/tips
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
49
As we’ll also see in later chapters, marketers are constantly searching for ways
to break through the clutter and grab people’s attention. For example, marketers are
coming up with innovative ways to get consumers’ attention in ways that go viral
(i.e., the marketing message gets passed along from consumer to consumer). In one
example, the video “First Kiss,” which showed pairs of strangers kissing for the first
time, had 95 million views on YouTube. The quirky and unexpected nature of the
video led to its going “viral.” However, the brand behind the video, Wren, later came
under fire when it came to light that the video featured actors rather than just everyday people.65
Marketers are also using techniques such as guerrilla marketing to get noticed.
This involves using communications that are unexpected and unconventional in ways
that target consumers in unexpected places.
However, the brain’s capacity to process information is limited, and consumers
are able to pay attention only to certain stimuli. The process of perceptual selectivity
means that people attend to only a small portion of the stimuli to which they are
exposed. Consumers practise a form of psychological economy, picking and choosing
among stimuli to avoid being overwhelmed. How do they choose? Both personal and
stimulus factors help.
Personal Selection Factors
Experience, which is the result of acquiring stimulation, is one factor that determines
how much exposure to a particular stimulus a person accepts. Perceptual filters based
on consumers’ past experiences influence what they decide to process.
Perceptual vigilance is a factor in selective exposure. Consumers are more likely
to be aware of stimuli that relate to their current needs. These needs may be conscious
or unconscious. A consumer who rarely notices car ads will become very much aware
of them when he or she is in the market for a new car. A bus shelter ad for a fast-food
restaurant that would otherwise go unnoticed becomes relevant when one waits to
catch the bus close to dinner time.
The flip side of perceptual vigilance is perceptual defence. This means that
people see what they want to see—and don’t see what they don’t want to see. If a
stimulus is threatening to us in some way, we may not process it or we may distort
its meaning so that it is more acceptable. For example, a heavy smoker may block
Converse uses elements such as novelty and
size to grab the consumer’s attention.
Wolfram Steinberg/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Calgary Zoo’s “There’s No Substitute” campaign took advantage of both novelty, by
using humorous and unexpected imagery,
and size by putting ads on large billboards.
THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE
FOR THE ZOO.
Courtesy of the Calgary Zoo
out images of cancer-scarred lungs because these vivid reminders hit a bit too close
to home.
Another factor affecting exposure is adaptation—that is, the degree to which consumers continue to notice a stimulus over time. The process of adaptation occurs
when consumers no longer pay attention to a stimulus because it is so familiar. Almost
like drug addiction, a consumer can become “habituated” and require increasingly
stronger “doses” of a stimulus for it to continue to be noticed. For example, a consumer en route to work might read a billboard message when it is first installed, but
after a few days it becomes part of the passing scenery.
Generally, several factors can lead to adaptation:
•
Intensity: Consumers become habituated to less-intense stimuli (soft sounds or
dim colours) because such stimuli have less of a sensory impact.
•
Duration: Stimuli that require relatively lengthy exposure to be processed tend to
be habituated to because they require a long attention span.
•
Discrimination: Simple stimuli tend to be habituated to because they do not
require attention to detail.
•
Exposure: People tend to habituate to frequently encountered stimuli as the rate of
exposure increases.
•
Relevance: People tend to habituate to stimuli that are irrelevant or unimportant
because they fail to attract attention.
Stimulus Selection Factors
In addition to the receiver’s “mindset,” characteristics of the stimulus itself play an
important role in determining what gets noticed and what gets ignored.66 These factors need to be understood by marketers who can apply them to their messages and
packages to boost their chances of cutting through the clutter and commanding
attention.
In general, stimuli that differ from others around them are more likely to be
noticed (remember Weber’s law). This contrast can be created in several ways:
•
Size: The size of the stimulus itself in contrast to the competition helps to determine whether it will command attention. Readership of a magazine ad increases
in proportion to the size of the ad.
•
Colour: As we’ve seen, colour is a powerful way to draw attention to a product
or to give it a distinct identity. For example, Black & Decker has a line of tools
called DeWalt targeting the residential construction industry. The line is
coloured yellow and black, instead of grey, which makes them stand out against
other “dull” tools.67
•
Position: Not surprisingly, stimuli that are in places where we’re more likely to
look stand a better chance of being noticed. That’s why the competition among
suppliers to have their products displayed at eye level in stores is so heated. In
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
magazines, ads that are placed toward the front of the issue, preferably on the
right-hand side, also win out in the race to get readers’ attention.68
Position is also key in online advertising. Sophisticated eye-tracking studies
clearly show that most search engine users view only a very limited number of
search results. When the typical shopper looks at a search page, her eye travels
across the top of the search result, returns to the left of the screen, and then travels
down to the last item shown on the screen without scrolling. Search engine
marketers call this space on the screen where we are virtually guaranteed to view
listings the golden triangle.
•
Novelty: Communications that use novel stimuli or appear in unexpected places
tend to grab our attention. These locations include the backs of shopping carts,
public washrooms, and even on other consumers themselves. An example of
novelty attracting consumers’ attention is Naked Grape wine produced by Vincor.
Point-of-sale and advertising taglines say “It takes confidence to go unoaked.”
Sales have soared for this wine.69
Interpretation
Interpretation refers to the meanings that people assign to sensory stimuli. Just as
people differ in terms of the stimuli they perceive, the eventual assignment of meanings to these stimuli varies as well. Two people can see or hear the same event, but
their interpretations of it can be like night and day depending on what they had
expected the stimulus to be.
In one study, three-to-five-year-old kids who ate McDonald’s french fries served in
a McDonald’s bag overwhelmingly thought they tasted better than those who ate the
same fries out of a plain white bag. Even carrots tasted better when they came out of a
McDonald’s bag—more than half the kids preferred them to the same carrots served in
a plain package!70
In another example of how our expectations can impact our evaluations, one
study altered beer drinkers’ taste preferences simply by telling them different information about a specific brew’s ingredients. The researcher offered bar patrons free beer if
they would participate in a taste test. Participants tasted two beers each, one a regular
draft of Budweiser or Samuel Adams and the other the same beer with a few drops of
balsamic vinegar added. Although most beer aficionados would guess that vinegar
makes the drink taste bad, 60 percent of the respondents who did not know which
beer contained the vinegar actually preferred the doctored version to the regular one!
But when tasters knew in advance which beer had vinegar in it before they took a
swig, only one-third preferred that version.71
Consumers assign meaning to stimuli based on the schema, or set of beliefs, to
which the stimulus is assigned. A schema provides a cognitive framework that
helps organize and interpret information that surrounds a particular stimulus, such
as a brand for example. A brand name can communicate expectations about product
attributes and can colour consumers’ perceptions of product performance by activating a relevant schema. For example, when the consumer hears the brand name
“Nike,” various concepts and associations may come to mind such as “athletic,”
“trendy,” and “empowering.” Identifying and evoking the correct schema is crucial
to many marketing decisions, because this determines what criteria will be used to
evaluate the product, package, or message. Nike has worked hard to distance itself
from a negative schema by separating itself from concepts such as “sweatshop
labour” (see, e.g., http://nikeinc.com), something for which it received negative
media attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In another example, ExtraStrength Maalox Whip Antacid flopped even though a spray can is a pretty effective
way to deliver the product. But to consumers, aerosol whips mean dessert toppings,
CO 7
51
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Consumers
in Focus
One factor that can influence consumers’ overall perceptions in the context of eating is the
degree to which they focus on multiple sensory
inputs as they select and eat their food. Recent
research finds that when consumers vividly
engage in multisensory imagery (i.e., focusing
on multiple sensations such as the taste,
smell, and feel of food), not only do they select
smaller portion sizes, but they also anticipate
and report that they experience more enjoyment. This has interesting implications because
encouraging a broader range of sensory enjoyment can not only lead consumers to eat less
(which has important ramifications for consumer health) and to interpret the experience
as being more enjoyable (which has ramifications for consumer well-being), but it also
leads to an increased willingness to pay more
for their selected options.74
The principle of closure is at play in the
World Wildlife Fund logo.
© WWF
not medication.72 In this case, the schema for aerosol containers could not accommodate such incongruent information. On the other hand, when menu items in a
college cafeteria were given descriptive labels (e.g., “Traditional Cajun Red Beans
with Rice” versus “Red Beans with Rice,” and “Satin Chocolate Pudding” versus
“Chocolate Pudding”) so that diners had more information about each option and
were able to better categorize them, sales increased by more than 25 percent. 73
Thus, the effective positioning of products can often create more positive associations for consumers.
Stimulus Organization
People do not perceive a single stimulus in isolation; they tend to view it in terms
of relationships with other events, sensations, or images. When Nabisco introduced a version of Teddy Grahams (a children’s product) for adults, restrained
packaging colours were used to reinforce the idea that the new product was for
grownups, but sales were disappointing. The box was then changed to a bright yellow to convey the idea that this was a fun snack, and buyers’ more positive association between a bright primary colour and taste led adults to start buying the
cookies.75
Our brains tend to relate incoming sensations to others already in memory on
the basis of some fundamental organizational principles. These principles derive
from work in Gestalt psychology, a school of thought maintaining that people derive
meaning from the totality of a set of stimuli rather than from any individual stimulus.
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
53
FIGURE 2–2
Principles of Stimulus Organization Derived from Gestalt Psychology
PRINCIPLE OF CLOSURE
PRINCIPLE OF SIMILARITY
PRINCIPLE OF FIGURE-GROUND
The German word gestalt means, roughly, “whole,” “pattern,” or “configuration,” a
perspective best summarized by the saying “The whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.” A piecemeal perspective that analyzes each component of the stimulus
separately will be unable to capture the total effect. The importance of a gestalt is
underscored when consumers’ interpretations of stimuli are affected by aesthetic,
symbolic, or sensory qualities. The gestalt perspective provides several principles
relating to the way stimuli are organized. Three of these principles, or perceptual
tendencies, are illustrated in Figure 2–2.
The gestalt principle of closure implies that consumers tend to perceive an
incomplete picture as complete. That is, we tend to fill in the blanks on the basis of
our prior experience. This principle explains why most of us have no trouble filling
in the blanks in an incomplete message or reading a neon sign even if one or two of
its letters are burned out. The principle of closure is also at work when we hear
This logo for the Pittsburgh Zoo is a clever
application of the figure–ground principle.
Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
only part of a jingle or theme. Using the principle of closure in marketing strategies
encourages audience participation, which increases the chance that people will
attend to the message. Research shows that, if marketers want to encourage brand
recall, they should omit an element of the advertisement that is directly linked to
the brand itself.76
The principle of similarity tells us that consumers tend to group together objects
that share similar physical characteristics; that is, they group like items into sets to
form an integrated whole. Green Giant relied on this principle when the company
redesigned the packaging for its line of frozen vegetables. It created a “sea-of-green”
look to unify all of its different offerings.
Another important gestalt concept is the figure–ground principle, in which one
part of a stimulus will dominate (the figure) while other parts recede into the background. This concept is easy to understand if one thinks of a photograph with a
clear and sharply focused object (the figure) in the centre. The figure is dominant,
and the eye goes straight to it. The parts of the configuration that will be perceived
as figure or ground can vary, depending on the individual consumer as well as other
factors. Similarly, in marketing messages that use the figure–ground principle, a
stimulus can be made the focal point of the message or merely the context that surrounds the focus.
Perceptual Positioning
As we’ve seen, a product stimulus is often interpreted in light of what we already
know about a product category and the characteristics of existing brands. Perceptions of a brand comprise both its functional attributes (its features, price, etc.) and
its symbolic attributes (its image and what we think it says about us when we use
it). We’ll look more closely at issues such as brand image in later chapters, but for
now it’s important to keep in mind that our evaluation of a product is typically the
result of what it means rather than what it does. This meaning, as perceived by
consumers, constitutes the product’s market position—and it may have more to do
with our expectations of product performance as communicated by its colour,
packaging, or styling than with the product itself. How does a marketer determine
Subaru opts for a unique position strategy
aimed at dog lovers.
Image courtesy of Subaru of America. Photographer
Shawn Michienzi, © 2011. Photography by Shawn
Michienzi.
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
where a product actually stands in the minds of consumers? One technique is to
ask them what attributes are important to them and how they feel competitors rate
on these attributes.
A positioning strategy—or the way the marketer wants the brand to be viewed in
the eyes of the consumer—is a fundamental part of a company’s marketing efforts as it
uses elements of the marketing mix (product design, price, distribution, and marketing
communications) to influence the consumer’s interpretation of the brand’s meaning.
Indeed, brands go to great lengths to position themselves as distinct from competitors
on attributes consumers care about. For example, although most automobile companies tend to position themselves on attributes such as speed, styling, or safety, Subaru
took a unique approach with its “Dog Tested” campaign, targeted at dog owners. The
campaign featured amusing spots of dogs driving around in a Subaru in ways that
surely appealed to dog lovers.
One issue for marketers is how to reposition their brand in a way that updates the
brand’s image for an evolving market. In one example of this, when Estée Lauder
started to be seen as an “older” brand, it hired Kendall Jenner as the face of the brand.
Not only does she give the brand a younger feel, but she also brings with her a large
following of social media fans.
Po s i tionin g D im e n s io n s
There are many dimensions that can be used to establish a brand’s position in the
marketplace.77 These include the following:
•
Price leadership: Lancôme cosmetics are sold in upscale beauty shops for a higher
price, while L’Oréal (which owns Lancôme, by the way) products are available for
much lower prices in lower-end stores.
•
Attributes: Bounty paper towels are “the quicker picker upper.”
•
Product class: The Porsche Boxter is a sporty convertible.
•
Occasions: Kit Kat is positioned as a snack to have when it is time to “Have a Break.”
•
Users: Wiser’s positions its Canadian whisky as a drink for men.
•
Design: Apple products like the iPad and iPhone are renowned for their innovative design.
MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
Chapter Summary
Perception is a three-stage process that translates raw
stimuli into meaning.
Products and commercial messages often appeal to our
senses, but many of them will not succeed.
• Perception is the process by which physical sensations
such as sights, sounds, and smells are selected, organized, and interpreted. The eventual interpretation of a
stimulus allows it to be assigned meaning.
• Marketing stimuli have important sensory qualities. We
rely on colours, odours, sounds, tastes, and the “feel” of
products when evaluating them. Not all sensations make
their way successfully through the perceptual process,
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S E CT I ON I I Consumers as Individuals
occurs when too many marketing-related messages compete for attention.
though. Many stimuli compete for our attention and the
majority are not noticed or accurately comprehended.
People have different thresholds of perception. A stimulus must be presented at a certain level of intensity before
it can be detected by an individual’s sensory receptors. In
addition, a consumer’s ability to detect whether two stimuli are different (the differential threshold) is an important issue in many marketing contexts, such as changing
a package design, altering the size of a product, or reducing its price.
• Controversy has been sparked by so-called subliminal persuasion and related techniques, by which people are
exposed to visual and audio messages below the threshold
of perception. Although evidence of subliminal persuasion’s effectiveness is virtually nonexistent, many consumers continue to believe that advertisers use this technique.
The stimuli we do pay attention to are interpreted according
to learned patterns and expectations.
• In recent years, the sensory experiences we get from products and services have become even more important when
choosing among competing options. Consumers increasingly want to buy things that will give them hedonic value
in addition to functional value.
• A stimulus that is attended to is not perceived in isolation; it is classified and organized according to principles
of perceptual organization. These principles are guided by
a gestalt, or overall pattern. Specific grouping principles
include closure, similarity, and figure–ground relationships. The final step in the process of perception is interpretation. Symbols help us make sense of the world by
providing us with an interpretation of a stimulus that is
often shared by others. The degree to which the symbolism is consistent with our previous experience affects the
meaning we assign to related objects.
Facilitating effective consumer perception is a central goal
for marketers.
• Factors that determine which stimuli get perceived are
the amount of exposure to the stimulus, how much attention it generates, and how it is interpreted. In an increasingly crowded stimulus environment, advertising clutter
Key Terms
Absolute threshold p. 45
Golden triangle p. 51
Reposition p. 55
Adaptation p. 50
Interpretation p. 51
Schema p. 51
Attention p. 47
JND (just noticeable difference) p. 45
Sensation p. 33
Contrast p. 50
Kansei engineering p. 42
Sensory marketing p. 35
Differential threshold p. 45
Perception p. 33
Sound symbolism p. 40
Embeds p. 46
Perceptual selectivity p. 49
Subliminal perception p. 46
Endowment effect p. 41
Positioning strategy p. 55
Trade dress p. 37
Exposure p. 44
Principle of closure p. 53
Weber’s law p. 45
Figure–ground principle p. 54
Principle of similarity p. 54
Gestalt psychology p. 52
Psychophysics p. 45
Review Questions
1. What is the difference between sensation and perception? How are these constructs related?
6. “Consumers practise a form of ‘psychological economy.’”
What does this mean?
2. Does the size of a package influence how much of the
contents we eat? How?
7. Describe two factors that can lead to stimulus adaptation.
3. How does the sense of touch influence consumers’ reactions to products?
4. Identify and describe the three stages of perception.
5. What is the difference between an absolute threshold
and a differential threshold?
8. Define a “schema” and provide an example of how this
concept is relevant to marketing.
9. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Explain
this statement.
10. What is a positioning strategy? What are some ways marketers can position their products?
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. Many studies have shown that our sensory detection
abilities decline as we grow older. Discuss the implications of the absolute threshold for marketers attempting
to appeal to seniors.
2. Do you agree that online retailers are at a disadvantage
with respect to sensory marketing? How can online businesses meet the sensory needs of the consumer?
3. Do you believe that marketers have the right to use any
or all public spaces to deliver product messages? Where
would you draw the line in terms of places and products
that should be restricted?
Experiential Exercises
4. Interview three to five male and three to five female
friends regarding their perceptions of both men’s and
women’s fragrances. Construct a perceptual map for
each set of products. Based on your map of perfumes,
do you see any areas that are not adequately served by
current offerings? What (if any) gender differences did
you detect regarding both the relevant dimensions used
by raters and the placement of specific brands along
these dimensions?
5. Using magazines archived in the library, track the packaging of a specific brand over time. Find an example of
gradual changes in package design that may have been
below the JND.
6. Visit a set of websites for one type of product (e.g., personal computers, perfumes, laundry detergents, or athletic shoes) and analyze the colours and other design
principles employed. Which sites “work” and which
don’t? Why?
7. Look through a current magazine and select one ad that
captures your attention over the others. Give the reasons
why.
8. Find ads that use the techniques of contrast and novelty. Give your opinion of the effectiveness of each ad
and whether the technique is likely to be appropriate for
the consumers targeted by the ad.
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Managing Consumer Perceptions at Nature’s Path
Arjan Stephens, vice-president of marketing at Nature’s Path,
an organic cereal manufacturer, sat at his desk flipping through
the sales results of the last quarter. He wondered if the recent
changes to the package design that the company had introduced to the market earlier this year had influenced the sales
numbers. Did the new package designs address the perception problems with Nature’s Path packaging that consumer
research had revealed?
The Company
Over the past decade, Nature’s Path, an independently owned
and family-run Canadian company (www.naturespath.com),
has become one of the leading manufacturers of organic
cereal in North America. Founder Arran Stephens (Arjan’s
father) had pursued a passion for food since the 1970s that
had seen him develop restaurant, retail, and manufacturing
ventures focusing on bringing healthy food choices to the
public. Underlying this mission was a central value critical to
Arran and the company he would build—namely, a
commitment to sustainability and the environment. “Always
leave the earth better than you found it” was a guiding principle
that everyone in the organization understood and followed.
The goal of the company was to create great-tasting, healthy,
certified organic food products that the marketplace would
embrace. Fiercely independent, the company resisted a
number of buyout offers from larger companies over the years,
and proudly maintained a family culture in an organization that
emphasized the importance of humanity and responsibility to
the world around us.
The company offers 150 different products under the
Nature’s Path, EnviroKidz, and Optimum branding umbrellas.
Importantly, Nature’s Path was the first cereal company to
achieve certified organic status and has successfully positioned itself in the marketplace accordingly, such that it has
become the leading organic cereal brand in North America.
With a strong base of hot and cold cereals, the company now
also offers granola bars, waffles, bread, pastries, and other
assorted food products. As the company has grown it has built
manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin, Washington, and British
Columbia and added 2240 acres of cooperative farmland in
Saskatchewan to its operation. Nature’s Path has seen doubledigit percentage growth over most of the past decade and does
over $300 million annually in sales across North America in
retail outlets ranging from Choices to Walmart.
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S E CT I ON I I Consumers as Individuals
The Problem
The amazing growth experienced by the company presented a
number of challenges to the organization. A specific concern
that surfaced in the past couple of years was the numerous
visual identities attached to the growing portfolio of brands. While
the original logo and packaging adopted by Nature’s Path was
true to the founding spirit of the company (colour selection and
imagery that communicated the centrality of family and environment), the growth in the number of branded products presented
challenges in communicating unique brand identities. Indeed,
consumer research showed that a large segment of consumers
were confused by both the multiple variations in packaging and
the lack of congruency in the labelling. One respondent indicated that Nature’s Path products represented a “dog’s breakfast” of colours, images, and text.
Further, research showed an apparent disconnect between
consumer taste perceptions inspired by the visual packaging
and the true taste of the product. Consumer test sampling efforts
by the company consistently revealed that consumers were surprised and delighted by how good the products tasted. The
expectation created by the packaging was that the cereal would
taste like “twigs and bark.” More generally, it seemed that the
original packaging provided a lack of understanding about how
the company met the taste and consumption needs of the consumer compared to the competition.
The Solution
To respond to this issue, Arjan had hired an international communications company to produce new packaging. Competitors
Kashi (owned by Kellogg’s) and Cascadian Farms (owned by
General Mills) had both strengthened their positions in the
marketplace recently, with branding and packaging that
offered a clear visual identity to the consumer. Kashi, for example, pursued a clean white look with a green masthead and
grain imagery. Nature’s Path needed to respond!
To better capture consumer attention, enable effective customer search, and cultivate more accurate perceptions of its
products, Nature’s Path launched its new product packaging in
the 2013–14 sales cycle. Building on Nature’s Path’s brand
equity and strong sense of tradition, the new packaging retained
the original company logo while better aligning all packaging
colour, format, and design elements across products. Indeed,
Arjan had asked that the original brand logo be retained as loyal
customers recognized its meaning and importance. The communications company freshened its look and ensured it was
applied appropriately. Bigger changes were seen in the rest of
the packaging decisions. Everything from the package materials
and sizing to the support colours were evolved to produce a
coherent and effective brand portfolio. Importantly, the communications company made choices that reflected the brand
essence of the company, such as deeper colour tones that were
natural and earthy, and smaller package sizes to reduce waste.
Have the changes met with success? Arjan was excited
to see how the market would respond to the new look of
Nature’s Path.
1. Using information from the case, provide an example that
highlights the difference between sensation and perception.
2. Why did Nature’s Path elect to make changes to its original
packaging? Was it correct to make changes in a way that
targets consumers’ perceptions or consumers’ sensations?
Why or why not?
3. Paying particular attention to the visual elements of branding, including logos, colour, package design, and so on, do
you feel that the packaging changes the company made
will be successful? Why or why not?
4. What are some potential alternative courses of action for
Nature’s Path? As a marketing consultant, what other
actions that might influence consumer perceptions would
you recommend to Arjan?
Used with permission of Nature’s Path Foods ® 2015
No tes
1. Samuel M. McClure, Jian Li, Damon Tomlin, Kim S. Cypert, L.M. Montague, and P.
Read Montague, “Neural Correlates of Behavioral Preference for Culturally Familiar
Drinks,” Neuron 44 (2004): 379–387.
2. Ibid.
3. Stuart Elliott, “Joint Promotion Adds Stickers to Sweet Smell of Marketing,” The New
York Times on the Web (April 2, 2007).
4. Amitava Chattopadhyay, Gerald J. Gorn, and Peter R. Darke, “Roses Are Red and
Violets Are Blue—Everywhere? Cultural Universals and Differences in Colour
Preference among Consumers and Marketing Managers,” unpublished manuscript,
University of British Columbia, Fall 1999; Joseph Bellizzi and Robert E. Hite,
“Environmental Color, Consumer Feelings, and Purchase Likelihood,” Psychology &
Marketing 9 (1992): 347–363; Ayn E. Crowley, “The Two-Dimensional Impact of Color
on Shopping,” Marketing Letters 4(1) (1993): 59–67; Gerald J. Gorn, Amitava
Chattopadhyay, and Darren W. Dahl, “Effects of Color as an Executional Cue in an
Ad: It’s in the Shade,” Management Science 43 (October 1997): 1387–1397.
5. Pam Belluck, “Reinvent Wheel? Blue Room. Defusing a Bomb? Red Room,” The New
York Times (February 5, 2009).
C H A P T E R 2 Perception
6. Mark G. Frank and Thomas Gilovich, “The Dark Side of Self and Social Perception:
Black Uniforms and Aggression in Professional Sports,” Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 54 (1988): 74–85.
33. San Francisco Examiner, December 6, 2006, www.sfexaminer.com/local/cookiescented-bus-stop-ads-crumble#ixzz1V8i3vULn, accessed August 9, 2012.
7. Marc Gobé, Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People
(New York: Allworth Press, 2001).
35. Gail Tom, “Marketing with Music,” Journal of Consumer Marketing 7 (Spring 1990):
49–53; J. Vail, “Music as a Marketing Tool,” Advertising Age (November 4, 1985): 24.
For empirical work on the effects of music on consumer behaviour, see James J.
Kellaris and Robert J. Kent, “An Exploratory Investigation of Responses Elicited by
Music Varying in Tempo, Tonality, and Texture,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 2
(1994): 381–401; James J. Kellaris, Anthony D. Cox, and Dena Cox, “The Effect of
Background Music on Ad Processing: A Contingency Explanation,” Journal of
Marketing 57 (October 1993): 114–125.
8. “Ny Emballage og Nyt Navn Fordoblede Salget,” Markedsforing 12 (1992): 24.
Adapted from Michael R. Solomon, Gary Bamossy, and Sören Askegaard, Consumer
Behavior: A European Perspective, 2nd ed. (London: Pearson Education, 2001).
9. Ronald Alsop, “Color Grows More Important in Catching Consumers’ Eyes,” The Wall
Street Journal (November 29, 1984): 37; Meg Rosen and Frank Alpert, “Protecting
Your Business Image: The Supreme Court Rules on Trade Dress,” Journal of
Consumer Marketing 11 (1994): 50–55.
10. Rebecca Harris, “Sweet Rebranding,” Marketing Magazine (November 7, 2005): 43.
11. Brian Wansink, Mindless Eating: The Hidden Persuaders That Cause Us to Lose and
Gain Weight (New York: Bantam-Dell, 2006).
12. Brian Wansink and SeaBum Park, “At the Movies: How External Cues and Perceived
Taste Impact Consumption Volume,” Food Quality and Preference 12 (January 2001):
69–74.
13. Brian Wansink and Junyong Kim, “Bad Popcorn in Big Buckets: Portion Size Can
Influence Intake as Much as Taste,” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 37
(September 2005): 242–245.
14. Brian Wansink and Matthew M. Cheney, “Super Bowls: Serving Bowl Size and Food
Consumption,” Journal of the American Medical Association 293 (April 13, 2005):
1727–1728.
15. Priya Raghubir and Aradna Krishna, “Vital Dimensions in Volume Perception: Can the
Eye Fool the Stomach?” Journal of Marketing Research 36 (August 1999): 313–326.
16. Brian Wansink and Koert van Ittersum, “Bottoms Up! The Influence of Elongation
and Pouring on Consumption Volume,” Journal of Consumer Research 30 (December
2003): 455–463.
34. “The Smell of Sales,” Marketing Magazine (August 1, 2005): 6.
36. Dale Buss, “Audio Branding: BMW Uses New Sound Signature to Help Redefine the
Brand,” Brand Channel (March 20, 2013), www.brandchannel.com/home/
post/2013/03/20/BMW-Sound-Signature-032013.aspx.
37. Eric Yorkston and Geeta Menon, “A Sound Idea: Phonetic Effects of Brand Names on
Consumer Judgments,” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (June 2004).
38. Bruce G. Vanden Bergh, Janay Collins, Myrna Schultz, and Keith Adler, “Sound Advice
on Brand Names,” Journalism Quarterly 61(4) (1984): 835–840.
39. E. Yorkston and G. Menon, “A Sound Idea: Phonetic Effects of Brand Names on
Consumer Judgments,” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (June 2004): 43–51.
40. Jennifer J. Argo, Monica Popa, and Malcolm C. Smith, “The Sound of Brands,”
Journal of Marketing 74 (July 2010): 97–109.
41. Jacob Hornik, “Tactile Stimulation and Consumer Response,” Journal of Consumer
Research 19 (December 1992).
42. Brett A.S. Martin, “A Stranger’s Touch: Effects of Accidental Interpersonal Touch on
Consumer Evaluations and Shopping Time,” Journal of Consumer Research 39(1)
(June 2012): 174–184.
43. “You Can Look—But Don’t Touch,” ScienceDaily.com (January 20, 2009), accessed
January 30, 2009.
17. Rita Coelho do Vale, Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg, “Flying under the Radar:
Perverse Package Size Effects on Consumption Self-Regulation,” Journal of
Consumer Research 35(3) (2008): 380–390.
44. Joann Peck, Victor A. Barger, and Andrea Webb, “In Search of a Surrogate for Touch:
The Effect of Haptic Imagery on Perceived Ownership,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology (2013).
18. Jennifer J. Argo and Katherine White, “When Do Consumers Eat More? The Role of
Appearance Self-Esteem and Food Packaging Cues,” Journal of Marketing, 76(2)
(2012): 67–80.
45. Alka Varma Citrin, Donald E. Stern, Eric R. Spangenberg, and Michael J. Clark,
“Consumer Need for Tactile Input an Internet Retailing Challenge,” Journal of
Business Research 56 (2003): 915–922.
19. Ibid.
46. J. Peck and T.L. Childers, “Individual Differences in Haptic Information
Processing: The ‘Need for Touch’ Scale,” Journal of Consumer Research 30
(2003): 430–442.
20. Barbara E. Kahn and Brian Wansink, “The Influence of Assortment Structure on
Perceived Variety and Consumption Quantities,” Journal of Consumer Research 30
(March 2004): 519–533.
21. This section was contributed by Professor Brian Wansink of Cornell University and is
reprinted here with his kind permission.
22. Jack Neff, “Scientists Prove the ‘Axe Effect’ Is Real. Sort of,” Adage.com, accessed
January 7, 2009.
23. Joann Peck and Terry L. Childers, “If it Tastes, Smells, Sounds, and Feels Like a
Duck, Then It Must Be a . . . : Effects of Sensory Factors on Consumer Behaviors,” in
Handbook of Consumer Psychology, eds. F. Kardes, C. Haugtvedt, and P. Herr
(Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2008).
24. Maureen Morrin and S. Ratneshwar, “The Impact of Ambient Scent on Evaluation,
Attention, and Memory for Familiar and Unfamiliar Brands,” Journal of Business
Research 49 (2000): 157–165.
25. May O. Lwin, Maureen Morrin, and Aradna Krishna, “Exploring the Superadditive
Effects of Scent and Pictures on Verbal Recall: An Extension of Coding Theory,”
Journal of Consumer Psychology 20 (2010): 317–326.
26. Maxine Wilkie, “Scent of a Market,” American Demographics (August 1995): 40–49.
27. Nicholas Wade, “Scent of a Man Is Linked to a Woman’s Selection,” The New York
Times on the Web (January 22, 2002).
28. Deborah J. Mitchell, Barbara E. Kahn, and Susan C. Knasko, “There’s Something in the
Air: Effects of Congruent or Incongruent Ambient Odor on Consumer Decision Making,”
Journal of Consumer Research 22 (September 1995): 229–238. For a review of
olfactory cues in store environments, see also Eric R. Spangenberg, Ayn E. Crowley, and
Pamela W. Henderson, “Improving the Store Environment: Do Olfactory Cues Affect
Evaluations and Behaviors?” Journal of Marketing 60 (April 1996): 67–80.
29. Katie Liljenquist, Chen-Bo Zhong, and Adam D. Galinsky, “The Smell of Virtue: Clean
Scents Promote Reciprocity and Charity,” Psychological Science 21(3) (2010): 381–383.
47. Aradhna Krishna and Maureen Morrin, “Does Touch Affect Taste? The Perceptual
Transfer of Product Container Haptic Cues,” Journal of Consumer Research 34 (April
2008): 807–818.
48. Material adapted from a presentation by Glenn H. Mazur, QFD Institute, 2002.
49. John Tagliabue, “Sniffing and Tasting with Metal and Wire,” The New York Times on
the Web (February 17, 2002).
50. Dan Morse, “From Tabasco to Insane: When You’re Hot, It May Not Be Enough,” The
Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition (May 15, 2000).
51. Joandrea Hoegg and Joseph W. Alba, “Taste Perception: More Than Meets the
Tongue,” Journal of Consumer Research 33 (March 2007): 490–497.
52. Ryan S. Elder and Aradhna Krishna, “The Effects of Advertising Copy on Sensory
Thoughts and Perceived Taste,” Journal of Consumer Research 36 (February 2010):
748–756.
53. Jessica Dickler, “The Incredible Shrinking Cereal Box,” CNNMoney.com (September
10, 2008).
54. Stephanie Wong, “The New Coke: Seven Percent Smaller,” Vancouver Sun (July 25,
2008): E2.
55. Ellen Byron, “Selling Detergent Bottles’ Big Shrink Suds Makers’ Challenge:
Convince Consumers Less Isn’t Really Less,” The Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2007),
accessed May 25, 2012.
56. Roberto A. Ferdman, “No, You Aren’t Crazy: Some Lay’s Potato Chip Bags
Actually Do Have Fewer Chips Inside,” The Washington Post (July 24, 2014),
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/24/no-you-arent-crazysome-lays-potato-chip-bags-actually-do-have-fewer-chips-inside.
57. Stephanie Clifford and Catherine Rampell, quoted in “Food Inflation Kept Hidden in
Tinier Bags,” The New York Times (March 28, 2011), accessed May 25, 2012.
30. Kara Newman, “How to Sell with Smell,” Business 2.0 (April 2007): 36.
58. New Yorker (September 21, 1957): 33.
31. Eric Pfanner, “Sending a Scent by Snail Mail,” The New York Times (November 15,
2007): C9.
59. Erv Wolk, “Can Subliminal Ads Work for You?” Modern Floor Coverings (June
1986): 23.
32. Stuart Elliot, “Movies Soon Really Will Smell: This One, in an Ad, Like a Cake,” The
New York Times (September 3, 2007): C6.
60. Philip M. Merikle, “Subliminal Auditory Messages: An Evaluation,” Psychology &
Marketing 5 (1988): 355–372.
59
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S E CT I ON I I Consumers as Individuals
61. Eric R. Spangenberg, Carl Obermiller, and Anthony G. Greenwald, “A Field Test of
Subliminal Self-Help Audio-Tapes,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 11
(1992): 26–36.
62. Quoted in Brian Steinberg, “Study: Young Consumers Switch Media 27 Times an
Hour: Survey of ‘Digital Natives’ Indicates Brands Must Step Up Creative Game
to Hold Their Attention,” Advertising Age (April 9, 2012), http://adage.com/
article/news/study-young-consumers-switch-media-27-timeshour/234008/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_
campaign=adage.
63. Jennifer Pendleton, “Multi Taskers,” Advertising Age (March 29, 2004): S8.
64. Sharon Waxman, “At an Industry Media Lab, Close Views of Multitasking,” The New
York Times (May 15, 2006).
65. Christopher Hooton, “First Kiss Viral Video Was Just a Clothing Advert Starring
Actors,” The Independent (March 13, 2014), www.independent.co.uk/news/
weird-news/first-kiss-viral-video-was-just-a-clothing-advert-starringactors-9188967.html.
69. Eve Lazarus, “Grape Exposure,” Marketing Magazine (October 31, 2005): 6.
70. Nicholas Bakalar, “If It Says McDonald’s, Then It Must Be Good,” The New York Times
on the Web (August 14, 2007).
71. Benedict Carey, “Knowing the Ingredients Can Change the Taste,” The New York
Times (December 12, 2006).
72. Robert M. McMath, “Image Counts,” American Demographics (May 1998): 64.
73. Brian Wansink, James Painter, and Koert van Ittersum, “Descriptive Menu Labels’
Effect on Sales,” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly (December
2001): 68–72.
74. Yann Cornil and Pierre Chandon (2015) “Pleasure as a Substitute for Size: How
Multisensory Imagery Can Make People Happier With Smaller Food Portions,” Journal
of Marketing Research (Accepted for Publication).
75. Anthony Ramirez, “Lessons in the Cracker Market: Nabisco Saved New Graham
Snack,” The New York Times (July 5, 1990): D1.
67. Suzanne Oliver, “New Personality,” Forbes (August 15, 1994): 114.
76. Jaideep Sengupta and Gerald J. Gorn, “Absence Makes the Mind Grow Sharper:
Effects of Element Omission on Subsequent Recall,” Journal of Consumer Research
39 (May 2002): 186–201.
68. Adam Finn, “Print Ad Recognition Readership Scores: An Information Processing
Perspective,” Journal of Marketing Research 25 (May 1988): 168–177.
77. Adapted from Michael R. Solomon and Elnora W. Stuart, Marketing: Real People, Real
Choices (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997).
66. Roger Barton, Advertising Media (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).
C HAPTER
3
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
Learning and Memory
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand why it is important to know how
consumers learn about products and services.
5
Understand that we can learn about products by
observing others’ behaviour.
2
Understand that conditioning results in learning.
6
Understand how the memory process works.
3
Understand that learned associations with brands
generalize to other products, and know why this is
important to marketers.
7
Understand that marketers use various measures
to assess our memories about brands, products,
and ads.
4
Understand that there is a difference between
classical and instrumental conditioning, and that
both processes help consumers learn about
products.
The Learning Process
CO 1
The proliferation of Internet usage has changed how consumers learn and retain information. For example, consumers can now use search tools to learn about and easily compare
information via sites such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Amazon.ca. Google and other search
engines have changed the way we learn and process information, putting vast sources of
data just a few clicks away. In addition, platforms such as Instagram, Flickr, and Facebook
make it increasingly easy to curate our memories through the photos we save and share
with others. However, the Internet may also have a downside for consumer learning and
memory. Research shows that this ease of access to online information may influence the
way our memories function. In particular, researchers have found that when people have
access to search engines, they remember fewer facts and less information because they
know they can rely on “search” as a readily available shortcut.1 This chapter examines the
processes by which consumers go about learning and remembering information.
The development of vivid memories is relevant to the study of how brand attitudes are
formed. Marketers realize that developing long-standing, learned connections between products and memorable experiences is a potent way to build and keep brand loyalty. In this
chapter, we’ll also explore how learned associations among feelings, events, and products—
and the memories they evoke—are an important aspect of consumer behaviour.
Learning refers to a relatively permanent change in behaviour that is caused by
experience. This experience does not have to affect the learner directly; we can learn
vicariously by observing events that affect others.2 We also learn even when we are not
trying. Consumers recognize many brand names and can hum many product jingles, even
for product categories they themselves do not use. This casual, unintentional acquisition
of knowledge is known as incidental learning.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Learning is an ongoing process. Our knowledge about the world is constantly being
revised as we are exposed to new stimuli and receive ongoing feedback that allows us to
modify behaviour in other similar situations at a later time. The concept of learning covers a lot of ground, ranging from a consumer’s simple association between a stimulus
such as a product logo (Sprite) and the concept of a “refreshing soft drink” to a complex
series of cognitive activities (writing an essay on learning for a consumer behaviour
exam). Psychologists who study learning have advanced several theories to explain the
learning process. These theories range from those focusing on simple stimulus–response
connections (behavioural theories) to perspectives that regard consumers as complex
problem solvers who learn abstract rules and concepts by observing others (cognitive
theories). Understanding these theories is important to marketers as well since basic
learning principles are at the heart of many consumer purchase decisions.
Behavioural Learning Theories
Behavioural learning theories assume that learning takes place as the result of responses
to external events, as opposed to internal thought processes. Psychologists who subscribe to this viewpoint do not focus on internal cognitive processes. Instead, they
approach the mind as a “black box” that cannot be directly investigated and emphasize
the observable aspects of behaviour. These observable aspects consist of things that go
into the box (the stimuli or events perceived from the outside world) and things that
come out of the box (the responses or reactions to these stimuli). Take, for example, a
McDonald’s Big Mac as the stimulus and salivating in reaction to this as a response.
This view is represented by two major approaches to behavioural learning: classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. Consumers respond to brand names,
scents, jingles, and other marketing stimuli on the basis of the learned associations or
connections they have formed over time. Similarly, people also learn that actions they
take result in rewards and punishments, and this feedback influences the way they
will respond in similar situations in the future. Consumers who receive compliments
on a product choice will be more likely to buy that brand again (i.e., a form of positive
reinforcement), while those who get food poisoning at a new restaurant will not likely
eat there in the future (i.e., a form of punishment).
CO 2
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus that naturally elicits a response is paired
with another stimulus that initially does not elicit a response on its own. Over time this
second stimulus causes a similar response because it is associated with the first
stimulus. This phenomenon was first demonstrated in dogs by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian
physiologist doing research on digestion in animals, and is shown in Figure 3–1.
Pavlov induced classically conditioned learning by pairing a neutral stimulus (a bell)
with a stimulus known to cause a salivation response in dogs (he squirted dried meat
FIGURE 3–1
Diagram of the Classical Conditioning Process
DURING CONDITIONING
Stimuli
Bell
Responses
Alerts the Dog
AFTER CONDITIONING
Stimulus
Response
Bell
(paired with)
Meat Powder
Salivation
Salivation
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
63
powder into their mouths). The powder was an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), because it
was naturally capable of causing the response. Over time, the bell became a conditioned
stimulus (CS); it did not initially cause salivation, but the dogs learned to associate the
bell with the meat powder and began to salivate at the sound of the bell only. The drooling,
caused by a sound now linked to feeding time, was a conditioned response (CR).
This basic form of classical conditioning demonstrated by Pavlov applies primarily to responses controlled by the autonomic (e.g., salivation) and nervous (e.g., eyeblink) systems. That is, it focuses on visual and olfactory cues that induce physiological
responses such as hunger, thirst, or sexual arousal. When these cues are consistently
paired with conditioned stimuli, such as brand names, consumers may learn to feel
hungry, thirsty, or aroused when later exposed to the brand cues.
Classical conditioning effects can also emerge when a product that is originally
neutral (e.g., a conditioned stimulus) is paired over time with a product that produces
an emotion-inducing response (i.e., an unconditioned stimulus). In one study, for example, participants viewed pens paired with either pleasant or unpleasant mood-inducing
music; they were much more likely to later select the pen that appeared with pleasant
music.3 Researchers have shown that classical conditioning effects can be triggered by
unconditioned stimuli such as the Star Wars theme song or pleasant pictures paired
with conditioned stimuli such as geometric shapes, colas, and toothpaste.4
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning in which consumers learn
associations between stimuli in a rather simple fashion without more complex processes such as memory or cognition taking place.5 Associative learning can occur for
more complex reactions to stimuli as well. Even a credit card becomes a conditioned
cue that triggers greater spending, especially since it is a stimulus present only in situations in which consumers are spending money. Over time, people may make associations between credit cards and the ability to make larger purchases; and consequently
have been found to leave larger tips than they do when using cash.6 Small wonder that
American Express reminds us, “Don’t leave home without it.”
R e p etition
Associative learning effects are more likely to occur after a conditioned stimulus and
an unconditioned stimulus have been paired a number of times.7 Repeated exposures
increase the strength of stimulus–response associations and prevent the decay of these
Many classic advertising campaigns consist
of product slogans that have been repeated
so many times that they are etched in
consumers’ minds. Sleep Country’s slogan is
well known, and consumers can finish the
tune once they hear the beginning of the
jingle “Why buy a mattress . . .”
Courtesy of Sleep Country Canada. www.sleepcountry.ca
64
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing
Insight
How often should an advertiser repeat ads it
places on websites? Research indicates the
answer depends on whether the ad relates to
the site’s content, and whether there are also
competing ads present on the site. The study
found support for the general idea that repetitive ad messages resulted in higher recall and
interest in learning more about the advertised
product (in this case, a laptop). However,
repeating the same ad was primarily effective
when competitors also showed ads on the site.
Otherwise it was better to vary the ad messages for the laptop (presumably because
people tuned out the ad if it appeared repeatedly). And these ads were more effective when
they appeared on a site where the content
related to the advertised product.9
associations in memory. Research indicates that the interval between exposures may
influence the effectiveness of this strategy as well as the type of medium used to communicate the stimulus–response associations; the most effective repetition strategy
seems to be a combination of spaced exposures that alternate in terms of media that
are more and less involving, such as TV advertising complemented by print media.8
Many classic advertising campaigns consist of product slogans that have been repeated
so many times they are etched in consumers’ minds.
Associative learning will not occur or will take longer if the paired stimuli are
only occasionally presented with each other. One result of this lack of association
may be extinction, which happens when the effects of prior conditioning are reduced
and finally disappear. This can occur, for example, when a product is overexposed in
the marketplace, or forms new associations such that the brand is no longer consistently paired with the original stimulus. For example, Coach has done an excellent
job of pairing its brand with high-end, luxury imagery. When Nicole “Snookie”
Polizzi from MTV’s Jersey Shore began to become well known for always being photographed with her Coach purse, Coach became worried that its former luxury-brand
association might wear off. The news media reported that Coach had carefully
orchestrated a change in her behaviour. By sending her its competition’s (Gucci’s)
products, Coach hoped to decrease the undesirable associations of Snookie being
seen using its brand!
S t imul us G en eralizatio n
CO 3
Stimulus generalization refers to the tendency of stimuli similar to a CS to evoke similar conditioned responses.10 For example, Pavlov noticed in subsequent studies that
his dogs would sometimes salivate when they heard noises that only resembled the
sound of a bell (e.g., keys jangling). People react to other similar stimuli in much the
same way as they respond to an original stimulus. A drugstore’s bottle of private-brand
mouthwash deliberately packaged to resemble Listerine mouthwash may evoke a similar response among consumers who assume that this “me-too” product shares other
characteristics of the original.
Indeed, consumers in one study on shampoo brands tended to rate those with similar packages as also being similar in quality and performance.11 This “piggybacking”
strategy can cut both ways: When the quality of the me-too product turns out to be lower
than that of the original brand, consumers may exhibit even more positive feelings
toward the original; however, if the quality of the two competitors is perceived to be
about equal, consumers may conclude the price premium they are paying for the original
is not worth it.12 In addition, consumers’ learned associations with a large corporation
can influence what they believe about its products. The company’s overall reputation
has been shown to have a particularly strong impact on brand evaluations. To a lesser
extent the same is also true of the company’s reputation for social responsibility.13
S t imul us D i scr imin atio n
Stimulus discrimination occurs when a stimulus similar to a CS is not followed by a
UCS. In these situations reactions are weakened and will soon disappear. Part of the
learning process involves learning to respond to some stimuli but not to other similar
stimuli. Manufacturers of well-established brands commonly encourage consumers to
discriminate by urging them not to buy “cheap imitations” because the results will not
be what they expect.
In a recent twist on this principle, some companies are using a strategy called
masked branding, which deliberately hides a product’s true origin. For example, think
of the Dove brand, which does an excellent job of evoking associations around positive self-esteem and body image for women. Dove is owned by Unilever, a company
that also has the brand Axe in its portfolio. The set of associations that have been created around the Axe brand relate to unrealistic body image expectations and the objectification of women. As such, Dove would prefer to downplay its true origin, which is
associated with the Axe brand.
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
65
Marketing Applications of Conditioning
Many marketing strategies focus on the establishment of associations between stimuli
and responses. Behavioural learning principles apply to many consumer phenomena,
ranging from the creation of a distinctive brand image to the perceived link between a
product and an underlying need.
These conditioned associations are crucial to many marketing strategies that rely
on the creation and perpetuation of positive brand equity, in which a brand has strong
positive associations in a consumer’s memory and commands a lot of loyalty as a
result.14 As we will see in the following chapters, a product with brand equity holds a
tremendous advantage in the marketplace.
R e p etition
One advertising researcher argued that scheduling more than three exposures is a
waste. The first exposure creates awareness of the product, the second exposure demonstrates its relevance to the consumer, and the third exposure serves as a reminder of
the product’s benefits.15 However, even this bare-bones approach implies that repetition is needed to ensure that the consumer is actually exposed to (and processes)
The “Got Milk?” campaign avoids advertising wearout by repeatedly creating positive
associations with the product, but varying
the execution of the advertisements.
MilkPEP
66
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing
Insight
The choice of a great brand name is so important that companies often hire specialists,
called naming consultants, to come up with a
winning selection. These experts often try to
find semantic associations that click because
they evoke some desirable connection. That
strategy brought us names such as Qualcomm
(“quality” and “communications”), Verizon
(“horizon,” as in forward-looking), and Intel
(“intelligent” and “electronics”). The name
“Viagra” rhymes with “Niagara,” the famous
waterfall. People associate water with both
sexuality and life, and Niagara Falls is a honeymoon mecca. Philip Morris has renamed itself
Altria Group to convey its expansion beyond
cigarettes into packaged foods and brewing.18
Appropriate semantic combinations are
getting harder to find, so some consultants are
trying to appeal to consumers’ more basic
instincts by focusing on links between the raw
sounds of vowels and consonants (called
phonemes) and emotional responses. To get at
these associations, researchers usually give
subjects pairs of nonsense names that differ in
only a single phoneme, such as Paressa and
Taressa, where the phonemes that differ are p
and t, and ask which word sounds faster, more
daring, nicer, and so on. They have found that
sounds that come to a full stop (p, b, t, and d )
connote slowness, while f, v, s, and z are fast.
The words “Prozac” and “Amazon” convey a
sense of speed (of recovery or of delivery). When
naming consultants were asked to label a new
handheld personal digital assistant (PDA), they
first thought of “StrawBerry,” because the little
keyboard buttons resembled seeds. They liked
the “berry” part of the name because they
knew that people associated the letter b with
reliability, and a berry communicated smallness
compared to other PDAs. But a linguist pointed
out that “straw” is a slow syllable, and the
product needed to have a fast connotation.
Voilà! The BlackBerry was born.19
Companies Making Fun of Themselves
the ad at least three times. As we saw in the last chapter, this exposure is by no means
guaranteed since people often tune out or distort many marketing communications.
Marketers attempting to condition a particular association must ensure that the consumers they have targeted will be exposed to the stimulus a sufficient number of times
to make it “stick.”
On the other hand, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Consumers can
become so used to hearing or seeing a marketing stimulus that they no longer pay
attention to it. This problem, known as advertising wearout, can be alleviated by varying the way in which the basic message is presented. For example, the marketer can
maintain the themes and associations conveyed by an advertising message, while
varying the actual execution of the message itself. A good example of this is the “Got
Milk?” campaign, which pairs unconditioned stimuli (attractive celebrities) with the
product (which presumably leads to the unconditioned response of positive affect),
but varies the actual celebrities used to avoid consumers getting bored or blocking out
the marketing message. Another example of this is TELUS’s “The Future Is Friendly”
campaign, which involves different message executions around cute animals to represent the brand.
C o nd it io n ing Pro duct Asso ciatio ns
Advertisements often pair a product with a positive stimulus to create a desirable
association. Various aspects of a marketing message, such as music, humour, or imagery, can affect conditioning.
Importantly, the order in which the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned
stimulus are presented can affect the likelihood that learning will occur. Generally
speaking, the conditioned stimulus should be presented prior to the unconditioned
stimulus. That is, it is more effective to present a soft drink (CS) first and then follow
with the sound of a jingle (UCS). The technique of backward conditioning, such as
playing a jingle (the USC) first and then showing the soft drink (the CS), is generally
not effective.16
Just as product associations can be formed, they can also be extinguished. Because
of the danger of extinction, a classical conditioning strategy may not be as effective for
products that are frequently encountered, since there is no guarantee they will be consistently accompanied by the CS. A bottle of Pepsi paired with the refreshing sound of
a carbonated beverage being poured over ice may seem like a good example of conditioning. Unfortunately, the product would also be seen in many other contexts in
which this sound was absent, reducing the effectiveness of the conditioning strategy.
By the same reasoning, a novel tune should be chosen over a popular one to pair with
a product, since the popular song might also be heard in many situations in which the
product is not present.17
A p p l ic at io ns o f Stim ulus G en eralizatio n
The process of stimulus generalization is often central to branding and packaging decisions that attempt to capitalize on consumers’ positive associations with an existing
brand or company name. The marketing value of an admired stimulus is clearly demonstrated at universities with winning sports teams, where loyal fans snap up merchandise, from clothing to bathroom accessories, emblazoned with the school’s name.
This business did not even exist 40 years ago, when schools were reluctant to commercialize their images. Today, it’s a different story. Many university administrators
crave the revenue they receive from sales of products that range from sweatshirts to
drink coasters. Strategies based on stimulus generalization include the following:
•
Family branding, in which a variety of products capitalize on the reputation of a
company name. Companies such as Google, Virgin, Campbell, Heinz, and General
Electric rely on their positive corporate images to sell different product lines.
•
Product-line extensions, in which related products are added to an established
brand. Dole, which is associated with fruit, was able to introduce refrigerated
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
67
juices and juice bars, while Sun-Maid went from raisins to raisin bread. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble is cleaning up with its Mr. Clean brand of liquid cleanser,
aggressively putting the name on products such as Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, for
removing crayon marks from walls and scuff marks from chair rails, and Mr. Clean
AutoDry, for leaving a freshly washed car spot-free without hand drying.20
•
Licensing, in which well-known names are “rented” by others. This strategy is
increasing in popularity as marketers try to link their products and services with
well-established brands. In response to declining print media sales, Playboy has
entered into many licensing deals with various product categories, including
wine, fragrance, and fashion.21 Maxim magazine, on the other hand, has been criticized for licensing products ranging from men’s hair dye to bedsheets
•
Look-alike packaging, in which distinctive packaging designs create strong associations with a particular brand. This link is often exploited by makers of generic
or private-label brands that wish to communicate a quality image by putting their
products in similar packages. Imitating the look of an existing successful brand is
common in today’s crowded marketplace. However, one study found that a negative experience with an imitator brand increased evaluations of the original brand.
A positive experience with the imitator had the opposite effect of decreasing evaluations of the original brand.22 Another study found that consumers tend to react
positively to “copycat brands” as long as the imitator doesn’t make grandiose
claims that it can’t fulfil.23
Of course, this strategy can make a lot of work for lawyers if the copycat brand
gets too close to the original. Marketers of distinctive brands work hard to protect their
designs and logos, and every year companies file numerous lawsuits that hinge on the
issue of “consumer confusion”—how likely it is that one company’s logo, product
design, or package is similar enough to another’s that the typical shopper would mistake one for the other. For example, Levi Strauss has sued almost 100 other apparel
manufacturers that it claims have borrowed its trademark pocket design or the distinctive tab sewn into its garments’ vertical seams.24
Companies with a well-established brand image try to encourage stimulus discrimination when they promote the unique attributes of their brand. One big issue arises
when fake products masquerade as the real thing. The International AntiCounterfeiting
Coalition, an industry group that combats piracy, estimates that trademark counterfeiting robs legitimate brand owners of $250 billion annually.25 As you might imagine,
companies like Louis Vuitton go to great lengths to educate their consumers about
the unique attributes of an original product and how to differentiate a true LV from
an impostor.
Instrumental Conditioning
Instrumental conditioning, also known as operant conditioning, occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviours that produce positive outcomes and to avoid
behaviours that yield negative outcomes. This learning process is most closely associated with psychologist B.F. Skinner, who demonstrated the effects of instrumental
conditioning by teaching animals to dance, play Ping Pong, and so on by systematically rewarding them for desired behaviours.26
Under classical conditioning, people respond involuntarily and fairly simply,
often on the basis of very automatic responses. Under instrumental conditioning, people perform more complex behaviours and associate these behaviours with either
rewards or punishments. The desired behaviour may be learned over a period of time,
as intermediate actions are rewarded in a process called shaping. Shaping occurs
when consumers are rewarded for successive steps taken toward the desired response.
For example, the owner of a new store might award samples to shoppers just for coming into the store in a way that encourages trial, then provide consumers with coupons
that stimulate low-involvement purchases, then reward consumers for signing up for a
Cops Hold Purse Parties to Catch Alleged
Criminals
CO 4
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Tim Hortons rewards customers through its
“Roll Up the Rim to Win” campaign. This is
a form of positive reinforcement, which
serves to increase the chances consumers
will perform the behaviour (buying products)
again in the future.
All Tim Hortons trademarks referenced herein
are owned by Tim Hortons. Used with
permission.
Marketing
Insight
Marketers are increasingly taking advantage of
the principles of operant conditioning. Aherk!
helps people reach their objectives by engaging
in a bit of self-blackmail: You post a goal and a
deadline on the site. You also post an embarrassing photo of yourself (they call it “the
bomb”). When the deadline hits, your Facebook
friends vote on whether you achieved your goal.
If the vote is negative, boom!—up goes your
photo for all to see. This is an example of using
punishment to encourage the consumer to
reach a desired goal. Other apps that dole out
a dose of punishment include the GymPact,
where missed workouts (tracked via smartphone) cost the user real money, and Write or
Die, a cure for writer’s block that unwrites the
words on your laptop if you sit too long without
adding more. Finally there’s the Virtual Fridge
Lock—it attaches to your refrigerator and
posts to your Facebook timeline every time you
open the door.27
rewards program, and then finally reward them again when they come into the store
and buy something more substantial.
Also, classical conditioning involves the close pairing of two stimuli. Instrumental learning occurs as a result of a reward or punishment received following the desired
behaviour and takes place over a period in which a variety of other behaviours are
attempted and abandoned because they are not reinforced. A good way to remember
the difference is to keep in mind that in instrumental learning the response is performed because it is instrumental to gaining a reward or avoiding a punishment. Over
time, consumers come to choose products that make them feel good or satisfy some
social need and to associate with people who reward them.
Instrumental learning occurs in one of three ways. When the environment provides positive reinforcement in the form of a reward, the response is strengthened and
appropriate behaviour is learned. For example, a woman who gets compliments after
wearing a certain brand of perfume will learn that using this product has the desired
effect, and she will be more likely to keep buying the product. Similarly, a user who
gets a large number of “likes” on his Facebook status for posting humorous content
will be increasingly likely to do so again. Negative reinforcement also strengthens
responses so that appropriate behaviour is learned. Negative reinforcement removes
something negative in a way that increases a desired response. For example, when the
retailer offers to pay the tax for the consumer, it is removing a negative stimulus (the
tax) in a way that encourages the desired behaviour—making a purchase today!
In contrast to reinforcement strategies that are used when marketers want to
increase a particular behaviour, punishment is used to decrease an undesired
behaviour. Punishment occurs when a response is followed by an unpleasant event.
For example, being ridiculed by friends for wearing an offensive cologne or having the
heel of your shoe rip off after buying a cheap pair would both be examples of
punishment in the consumer context. We learn not to repeat these behaviours.
In terms of positive and negative reinforcement, when a positive outcome is no
longer received, extinction of the behaviour is likely to occur and the learned stimulus–
response connection will not be maintained (as when a woman no longer receives
compliments on her perfume). Thus, either positive or negative reinforcement
strengthens the future link between a response and an outcome because of the pleasant
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
FIGURE 3–2
Four Types of Learning Outcomes
EVENT
POSITIVE
BEHAVIOUR
CONDITION APPLIED
CONDITION REMOVED
POSITIVE
REINFORCEMENT
Effect: Positive event
strengthens responses,
which are then followed
by positive outcome
Learning Process:
Consumer learns to
perform responses
that produce positive
outcome
EXTINCTION
Effect: Removal of
positive event weakens
responses, which are
no longer followed by
positive outcome
Learning Process:
Consumer learns that
responses no longer
produce positive
outcome
Str
Co ength
nne en
ctio
ns
BEHAVIOUR
NEGATIVE
BEHAVIOUR
PUNISHMENT
Effect: Negative event
weakens responses,
which are then followed
by negative outcome
Learning Process:
Consumer learns not
to perform responses
leading to punishment
n
s
ake ion
We nnect
Co
NEGATIVE
REINFORCEMENT
Effect: Removal of
negative event
strengthens responses,
which allows avoidance
of negative outcome
Learning Process:
Consumer learns to
perform responses that
allow him or her to
avoid negative
outcome
experience. This tie is weakened under conditions of both punishment and extinction
because of the unpleasant experience. The relationships among these four conditions
are easier to understand by referring to Figure 3–2.
Four Types of Learning Schedules
An important factor in operant conditioning is the set of rules by which appropriate
reinforcements are given for a behaviour. The issue of what is the most effective reinforcement schedule to use is important to marketers, because it relates to the amount
of effort and resources they must devote to rewarding consumers to condition desired
behaviours. Two general ways in which consumers are reinforced for desired behaviours are ratio schedules and interval schedules. Ratio schedules reinforce the learner
based on the number of responses that have been completed. For example, rewarding
the consumer with a free gift after 10 purchases is an example of a ratio reinforcement
schedule. Interval schedules, on the other hand, reinforce the learner after a certain
amount of time passes since the appropriate response. For example, you might be
rewarded once a year by your bank for being a valued customer.
Drawing on this, several schedules are possible:
1. Fixed-ratio reinforcement: Reinforcement occurs only after a fixed number of
responses. For example, consumers might keep buying at the same store to earn a
prize, knowing that after they make 14 purchases, they get their fifteenth purchase
for free.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
2. Variable-ratio reinforcement: The behaviour of a person is reinforced after a certain number of responses, but he or she does not know how many responses are
required. People in such situations tend to respond at very high and steady rates,
and this type of behaviour is very difficult to extinguish. An example of this is the
Tim Hortons “Roll Up the Rim to Win” campaign. Consumers’ chances of winning
are based on a behaviour (buying a cup of coffee), but consumers aren’t certain
how many times they have to engage in the behaviour before they get the reward—
anything from a free doughnut to a Toyota Camry Hybrid.
3. Fixed-interval reinforcement: After a specified time period has passed, the first
response that is made brings the reward. Under such conditions, people tend to
respond slowly right after being reinforced, but their responses speed up as the
time for the next reinforcement looms. For example, consumers may crowd into a
store for the last day of its seasonal sale and not reappear until the next sale.
4. Variable-interval reinforcement: The time that must pass before reinforcement is
delivered varies around some average. Since the person does not know exactly
when to expect the reinforcement, responses must be performed at a consistent
rate. Take, for example, a loyalty club member at a spa who gets mailed a coupon
for a free facial once every eight to ten months.
Applications of Instrumental Conditioning
Principles
Principles of instrumental conditioning are at work when a consumer is rewarded or
punished for a purchase decision. For example, consumers who are rewarded in
online marketplaces with discounts, bonus products, or even involving content are
more likely to return again. Marketers often use shaping by gradually reinforcing
consumers for taking appropriate actions. For example, a car dealer might encourage
a reluctant buyer just to sit in a floor model, then suggest a test drive, and then try to
close the deal. In a particularly ingenious example of shaping, Toyota Canada
encourages consumers to take its vehicles for a weekend—a fairly big step in the
shaping process.
Fre q ue n cy M ark etin g
A popular technique known as frequency marketing reinforces the behaviour of regular purchasers by giving them prizes with values that increase along with the
amount purchased. This operant learning strategy was pioneered by the airline
industry, which introduced “frequent flyer” programs in the early 1980s to reward
loyal customers.
Frequent-buyer programs are not just about consumers earning free trips and
merchandise. Retailers can use related databases to refine everything from their
merchandise mix to their marketing strategy on the basis of their detailed knowledge
of consumers and their purchases. Costs are lowered by the ability to design focused
and personalized marketing communications to the prime customer, customer
retention programs are more effective, product launches and redesigns are more likely
to be successful, and blunders are prevented.
G a mif ic atio n
One fast-growing tactic used by companies that capitalizes on operant conditioning
principles is called gamification.28 Many organizations are going to the next level in
terms of consumer engagement by borrowing from basic principles of game mechanics
to motivate consumers across a broad spectrum of behaviours. Indeed, one survey
showed that over 70 percent of Forbes Global 2000 companies planned to use some
form of gamification in their marketing and consumer retention strategies.29
Gamification capitalizes on the desire for people to achieve increasing levels of
mastery at tasks. Gamification can take different forms: It can involve awarding points,
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
71
achievement badges, or levels; filling a progress bar; or showing the performance of
the self and others on leader boards. Here are some examples of marketers’ use of
gamification:
Store and brand loyalty. Foursquare gives people virtual badges when they check
in at a local café or restaurant. Some of them check in as often as they can to compete
for the honour of being named “mayor” of the location.
Social marketing. Recyclebank rewards consumers for doing everyday things that
are sustainable. Users can earn points for working through questions and answers
related to sustainability, by purchasing greener products, or by pledging to engage in
various green behaviours. Consumers can then trade in their points for deals at more
than 3000 local and national businesses.
Employee performance. Some restaurants use a software platform called Muse to
rank the performances of servers on a leader board, rewarding the top performers with
the most lucrative shifts.
Cognitive Learning Theory
In contrast to behavioural theories of learning, cognitive learning theory stresses the
importance of internal mental processes. This perspective views people as problem
solvers who actively use information from the world around them to master their environment. Supporters of this viewpoint also stress the role of creativity and insight
during the learning process.
An Ocean Spray commercial for diet cranberry juice illustrates how marketers can
harness their knowledge of cognitive learning theories to tweak marketing messages.
The spot features two men, in the role of cranberry growers, standing knee-deep in a
bog. A group of women who are exercising joins them. Originally the ad depicted the
women having a party, but a cognitive scientist who worked on the campaign nixed
that idea; she argued that the exercise class would send the diet message more quickly
whereas the party scene would confuse viewers who would spend too much time trying to figure out why the group was celebrating. This extra cognitive activity would
distract from the ad’s message. And, contrary to the standard advertising practice of
mentioning the product as early as possible, she decided that the main characters
The Shoppers Optimum loyalty program
from Shoppers Drug Mart is an example of
frequency marketing.
Courtesy of Shoppers Drug Mart
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
should wait a few seconds before mentioning the new diet product. She reasoned that
viewers would need a few more seconds to process the images, because of the additional action in the ad (the exercising). In a test of which ads get remembered best, this
new version scored in the top 10 percent.30
Is Learning Conscious or Not?
A lot of controversy surrounds the issue of whether or when people are aware of their
learning processes. While behavioural learning theorists emphasize the routine, automatic nature of conditioning, proponents of cognitive learning argue that even these
simple effects are based on cognitive factors; that is, expectations are created that a
stimulus will be followed by a response (the formation of expectations requires mental
activity). According to this school of thought, conditioning occurs because individuals
develop conscious hypotheses and then act on them.
On the one hand, there is some evidence for the existence of unconscious procedural knowledge. People apparently do process at least some information in an
automatic, passive way, which is a condition that has been termed mindlessness.31 When we meet someone new or encounter a new product, for example, we
have a tendency to respond to the stimulus in terms of existing categories rather
than taking the trouble to formulate different ones. Our reactions are activated by
a trigger feature—some stimulus that cues us toward a particular pattern. For
example, men in one study rated a car in an ad as superior on a variety of characteristics if a seductive woman (the trigger feature) was present, despite the fact
that the men did not believe the woman’s presence actually had an influence on
their evaluations.32
Another study also illustrates this process. Undergraduates who were on their
way to participate in a psychology experiment “accidentally” encountered a laboratory assistant who was laden with textbooks, a clipboard, papers, and a cup of hot or
iced coffee and who asked for help with the cup. Guess what? The students who held
a cup of iced coffee rated a hypothetical person they later read about as much colder,
less social, and more selfish than did those who had helped out by holding a cup of
hot coffee. Other researchers report similar findings: People tidy up more thoroughly
when there’s a faint aroma of cleaning liquid in the air, and they act more competitively if there’s a briefcase in the room. In each case, they change their behaviour without being aware of doing so.33 Indeed, the bestselling book titled Blink: The Power of
Thinking without Thinking argues that we often make snap judgments that result in
decisions superior to those we think about a lot, because we rely on our “adaptive
unconscious” to guide us.34
CO 5
Observational Learning
Observational learning occurs when people watch the actions of others and note
the reinforcements they receive for their behaviours; learning occurs as a result
of vicarious rather than direct experience. Importantly, while behavioural learning theories propose that individuals must directly experience the stimuli that
influence their behaviours, cognitive learning theories can account for vicarious
learning effects. This type of learning is a complex cognitive process; people store
these observations in memory as they accumulate knowledge, perhaps using this
information at a later point to guide their own behaviours. This process of imitating the behaviour of others is called modelling. For example, a woman shopping
for a new kind of perfume may remember the reactions a friend received upon
wearing a certain brand several months earlier, and she may base her purchase on
her friend’s experiences.
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
FIGURE 3–3
Components of Observational Learning
ATTENTION
The consumer
focuses on a
model’s
behaviour.
RETENTION
The consumer
retains this
behaviour in
memory.
PRODUCTION
PROCESSES
The consumer
has the ability
to perform the
behaviour.
MOTIVATION
A situation arises
wherein the behaviour
is useful to the
consumer.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
The consumer acquires and
performs the behaviour
demonstrated earlier by a model.
The modelling process is a powerful form of learning, and people’s tendencies to
imitate others’ behaviours can have negative effects. Of particular concern is the
potential of TV shows and movies to teach violence to children. Children may be
exposed to new methods of aggression by models (e.g., cartoon heroes) in the shows
they watch. At some later point the child may imitate these behaviours when he or she
becomes angry.
A classic study demonstrates the effect of modelling on children’s actions. Kids
who watched an adult stomp on, knock down, and otherwise torture a large inflated
“Bobo doll” repeated these behaviours when later left alone in a room with the doll;
children who did not witness these acts did not.35
For observational learning in the form of modelling to occur, four conditions must
be met (which are summarized in Figure 3–3):36
1. The consumer’s attention must be directed toward the appropriate model whom,
for reasons of attractiveness, competence, status, or similarity, it is desirable to
emulate.
2. The consumer must remember what the model says or does.
3. The consumer must convert this information into actions.
4. The consumer must be motivated to perform these actions.
Applications of Cognitive Learning Principles
Consumers’ ability to learn vicariously by observing how the behaviour of others is
reinforced makes the lives of marketers much easier. Because people do not have to be
reinforced directly for their actions, marketers do not necessarily have to reward or
punish them for purchase behaviours. Instead, they can show what happens to models
who use or do not use their products, in the knowledge that consumers will often be
motivated to imitate these actions at a later time. For example, a perfume commercial
may depict a woman surrounded by a throng of admirers who are providing her with
positive reinforcement for using the product.
Consumers’ evaluations of the people they model go beyond simple stimulus–
response connections. For example, a celebrity’s image often provokes more than a
simple reflexive response of good or bad;37 it is a complex combination of many attributes. In general, the degree to which a model will be emulated depends on his or her
social attractiveness. Attractiveness can be based upon several components, including
physical appearance, expertise, or similarity to the evaluator.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Facebook appeals to consumers by allowing
them to share and recall their special
memories.
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/Getty Images
CO 6
The Role of Memory in Learning
Memory involves a process of acquiring information and storing it over time so
that it will be available when needed. Contemporary approaches to the study of
memory employ an information-processing approach. They assume that the mind
is in some ways like a computer: Data are input, processed, and output for later use
in revised form. In the encoding stage, information is entered in a way the system
will recognize. In the storage stage, this knowledge is integrated with what
is already in memory and “warehoused” until needed. During retrieval, the
mind accesses the desired information. 38 The memory process is summarized in
Figure 3–4.
Many of our experiences are locked inside our heads and may surface years
later if prompted by the right cues. Marketers rely on consumers to retain information they have learned about products and services, trusting that they will later
apply it when they decide to buy. During the consumer decision-making process,
this internal memory is combined with external memory—which includes all of
the product details on packages, in shopping lists, and through other marketing
stimuli—to permit brand alternatives to be identified and evaluated.39 The grocery
shopping list is a good example of a powerful external memory aid. When consumers use shopping lists, they buy approximately 80 percent of the items on the list,
and the likelihood of a particular list item being purchased is higher if the person
who wrote the list also participates in the shopping trip. Marketers also found
that the likelihood of purchasing a list item increased with household size and is
FIGURE 3–4
The Memory Process
EXTERNAL
INPUTS
ENCODING
Information is
placed in
memory.
STORAGE
Information is
retained in
memory.
RETRIEVAL
Information stored
in memory is
found as needed.
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
marginally greater during holiday periods. This means that if marketers can induce
a consumer to plan to buy an item in advance of shopping, the probability of the
item being purchased is high.
Research supports the idea that marketers can distort a consumer’s recall of a
product experience. What we think we “know” about products can be influenced
by advertising messages to which we are exposed after using the products. This
postexperience advertising is more likely to alter actual memories when it is very
similar to or activates memories about the actual experience. For example,
advertising can make a remembered product experience more favourable than it
actually was.
Encoding of Information for Later Retrieval
The way information is encoded helps to determine how it will be represented in
memory. Encoding involves linking new information to existing knowledge in order to
make the new information more meaningful. In general, incoming data that are associated with other information already in memory stand a better chance of being retained.
For example, brand names that are linked to physical characteristics41 of a product
category (Coffee-mate creamer or Sani-Flush toilet bowl cleaner) or that are easy to
visualize (Tide detergent or Jaguar cars) tend to be more easily retained in memory
than more abstract brand names.42
However, memory for brand names may interact with one’s involvement in the
product class. Low-involvement products, such as household cleaners, seem to benefit
from descriptive names by being easier to remember. There is no evidence that descriptive names for high-involvement products, such as automobiles, are remembered any
better than non-descriptive names.43
T yp es of M e a n in g
A consumer may process a stimulus simply in terms of its sensory meaning, such as
its colour or shape. When this occurs the meaning may be activated when the person
sees a picture of the stimulus. We may experience a sense of familiarity upon seeing an
ad for a new snack food we tasted recently, for example. In many cases, though, meanings are encoded at a more abstract level. Semantic meaning refers to symbolic associations, such as the idea that rich people drink champagne.
Pe rs ona l Re l e va n c e
Episodic memories are memories for events that are personally relevant. 44 As a
result, a person’s motivation to retain these memories will likely be strong. Couples often have a song that reminds them of their first date or their wedding. Often
an important and compelling episodic event, such as one’s wedding, will lead to
memories that are quite vivid and unique, and are sometimes called flashbulb
memories.
One method of conveying product information is through a narrative or a
story. Much of the social information that an individual acquires is represented in
memory this way. Therefore, using this method in product advertising can be an
effective marketing technique. Narratives persuade people to construct a mental
representation of the information they are viewing. Pictures aid in this construction and allow for a more developed and detailed mental representation.45 Recent
research supports the idea that brands are more likely to be positively evaluated
and purchased when they connect to a consumer through a narrative.46 For example, Chanel created a narrative short film around a love story starring model Gisele
Bündchen. The story made the film very memorable: It was viewed over 7 million
times on YouTube!
75
Marketing
Insight
Brand names that use metaphors help trigger
stories in our minds, and research suggests
this strategy results in higher consumer evaluations compared to brand names composed of
meaningless letters or numbers. One study
reported that consumers rated cell phones from
Samsung and LG more positively after they
were the first in the industry to break the practice of naming the phones with combinations
of letters and numbers—LG’s phones sport
names such as Chocolate, Shine, Vu, Voyager,
Dare, and Decoy, while Samsung started things
off with the BlackJack, UpStage, FlipShot, and
Juke and later added the Access, Instinct, and
Glyde. During the same period these companies
increased market share in this category. Compared to other phone brands, consumers rated
these models as modern, creative, engaging,
original, cool, and easy to remember.40
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
76
Courtesy of Dr. Scott Hawkins
As I See It
Consumers confront a daily
barrage of marketing information from an increasing number of sources in a growing
variety of contexts. The number, pacing, placement, and
complexity of the messages
can quickly overwhelm consumers’ abilities to process
them. In addition, consumers
tend to view many marketing
claims as irrelevant to their
Dr. Scott Hawkins Rotman School of
current goals or of trivial
Management, University of Toronto
value. This suggests that consumers process many promotional messages with minimal levels
of involvement.
Herbert Krugman was one of the first to argue that the highinvolvement persuasion model, which portrays advertising as a
means to overcome resistant attitudes, might not always offer the
most appropriate criteria for gauging advertising effectiveness.1
He argued that information processed under high involvement can
raise consumer defences, whereas information processed under
low involvement can have powerful effects on consumers’ beliefs
because their passive acceptance of messages can (perhaps
­without their awareness) alter the way they think about products
and brands (i.e., incidentally learned information can influence
consumers as much as, or even more than, intentionally learned
information).
In a series of studies, my colleague and I examined how
participants’ level of involvement during initial exposure to marketing claims influenced what they learned and what they subsequently came to believe.2 Participants rated consumer trivia
statements (e.g., “Antihistamines have no effect on the common
cold”) as more true when they had been exposed to those statements earlier than when they had not (repetition-induced belief).
It appeared that the repetition-induced belief resulted from the
increased familiarity with the previously exposed claims. That is,
repetition increased the familiarity of claims, and familiar claims
were judged to be more valid than unfamiliar ones. Moreover,
when participants processed the information during initial exposure in a less involved way (making a comprehension rating), the
effect of repetition on belief became more pronounced relative
to the high-involvement condition (making a truth rating). Again,
familiarity with the claims helped explain these results.
However, the familiarity of a claim had much less (although
still significant) influence on participants’ beliefs under high
involvement. High-involvement processing leads to greater elaboration, which in turn leads to greater familiarity of the claim.
High-involvement processing also produces more evaluative processing, which may limit the effects of familiarity. Thus, repetition of marketing messages can have a particularly strong impact
on consumer beliefs under low involvement because consumers
are likely to rely on the familiarity associated with the claims to
assess their validity.
In another study, my colleague and I tested this interpretation by attempting to increase memory for the claims without
also encouraging evaluative processing, which increases the
accessibility of relevant prior knowledge. Repetition-induced
belief was strongest when subjects engaged in a processing task
(rote rehearsal) that increased familiarity without increasing
evaluative processing of the information. It is interesting to note
that marketers routinely use mnemonic devices such as rote repetition (“How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S”) and jingles (“I
wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener”) to increase rehearsal without inducing evaluative processing.
The power of simple repetition to build brand knowledge,
especially when consumers are relatively uninvolved in processing those messages, seems especially important in a media environment that continues to become more cluttered. In a later
study, my colleagues and I examined how greater levels of claim
repetition and the relationships among claims can influence
belief.3 We found that increasing the number of repetitions of a
claim continues to increase belief in that claim, but the greatest
impact occurs with the first exposure (i.e., there is some wearout
of repetition). In addition, we found that by varying the claims
slightly (so that there were multiple claims about related product
features that all implied a common benefit), we could increase
belief that a product had a general benefit simply by exposing
participants to more of the related feature claims. Marketers
often use “variations-on-a-theme advertising” that exposes
­consumers to multiple executions of the same brand benefit,
which will not only help keep consumers interested but may also
contribute to greater belief in the brand’s benefit compared to
simple repetition of the same advertising execution.
1
Herbert E. Krugman, “The Impact of Television Advertising: Learning without Involvement,” Public Opinion Quarterly 29 (Fall 1965): 349–356.
2
Scott A. Hawkins and Stephen J. Hoch, “Low-Involvement Learning: Memory without Evaluation,” Journal of Consumer Research 19 (September 1992): 212–225.
3
Scott A. Hawkins, Stephen J. Hoch, and Joan Meyers-Levy, “Low-Involvement Learning: Repetition and Coherence in Familiarity and Belief,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology 11 (2001): 1–11.
Memory Systems
According to the information-processing perspective, there are three distinct memory
systems: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM).
Each plays a role in processing information. The interrelationships of these memory
systems are summarized in Figure 3–5.
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
FIGURE 3–5
Relationships among Memory Systems
SENSORY MEMORY
Temporary storage of
sensory information
Capacity: High
Duration: Less than 1 second
(vision) or a few
seconds (hearing)
SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Brief storage of information
currently being used
Capacity: Limited
Duration: Less than 20
seconds
ATTENTION
Information that passes
through an attentional gate is
transferred to short-term
memory.
LONG-TERM MEMORY
Relatively permanent
storage of information
Capacity: Unlimited
Duration: Long or permanent
ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL
Information subjected to
elaborative rehearsal or deep
processing (e.g., its meaning
is considered) is transferred
to long-term memory.
Sensory memory permits storage of the information we receive from our senses.
This storage is very temporary; it lasts a couple of seconds at most. For example, a
person might be walking past a doughnut shop and get a quick, enticing whiff of something baking inside. While this sensation would last for only a few seconds, it would
be sufficient to allow the person to determine whether he or she should investigate
further. If the information is retained for further processing, it passes through an attentional gate and is transferred to short-term memory.
Short-term memory also stores information for a limited period of time, and its
capacity is limited. As with the RAM in a computer, this system can be regarded as working memory; it holds the information we are currently processing. Verbal input may be
stored acoustically (in terms of how it sounds) or semantically (in terms of its meaning).47
The information is stored by combining small pieces into larger ones in a process
known as chunking. A chunk is a configuration that is familiar to the person and can
be manipulated as a unit. For example, a brand name can be a chunk that summarizes
a great deal of detailed information about the brand.
Initially it was believed that STM was capable of processing between five and nine
chunks of information at a time, and for this reason phone numbers were designed to
have seven digits.48 It now appears that three to four chunks is the optimum size for efficient retrieval (10-digit phone numbers can be remembered because the individual digits
are chunked, so we may remember a three-digit exchange as one piece of information).49
Long-term memory is the system that allows us to retain information for a long
period of time. For information to enter into long-term memory from short-term memory, elaborative rehearsal is required. This process involves thinking about the meaning of a stimulus and relating it to other information already in memory. Marketers
sometimes assist in the process by devising catchy slogans or jingles that consumers
repeat on their own.
Storing Information in Memory
Relationships among the types of memory are a source of some controversy. The traditional perspective, known as multiple-store, assumes that STM and LTM are separate systems. More recent research has moved away from the distinction between the two types of
memory, instead emphasizing the interdependence of the systems. This work argues that,
depending on the nature of the processing task, different levels of processing occur that
activate some aspects of memory rather than others. These approaches are called activation models of memory.50 The more effort it takes to process information (so-called deep
processing), the more likely it is that information will be placed in long-term memory.
77
78
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Consumers
in Focus
Social networks like Facebook have revolutionized how people store and share memories.
However, at least some users are starting to
feel that maybe these platforms do it a bit too
well: They don’t necessarily want others (especially employers, parents, and other authority
figures) to know about all of their “awesome”
experiences. Incidentally, 75 percent of recruiters report conducting online research about job
candidates, and many use social media sites
like Facebook and Instagram to get information.51 As a result, a number of platforms,
including Wickr and Vidburs, allow photos,
messages, or videos to be viewed for a few seconds before they vanish into cyberspace. The
biggest hit is Snapchat, which posts and then
destroys more than 60 million photos or messages every day—already a tenth of the activity that occurs on the much bigger Facebook
platform. One of Snapchat’s founders explained
the thinking behind the app: “It became clear
how awful social media is. There is real value
in sharing moments that don’t live forever.”52
Ass o c iat ive N etw ork Model s
Associative network models propose that an incoming piece of information is stored
in an associative network containing many bits of related information organized
according to some set of relationships. The consumer has organized systems of concepts relating to brands, stores, manufacturers, etc. Associative network models
assume that it is the associations that form in consumers’ minds that lead to learning
about brands and products. For example, the more times a brand name (e.g., Volvo)
becomes associated with a trait or benefit (e.g., safety) in memory, the stronger the link
between the brand and the benefit becomes,53 particularly if the brand and the benefit
are uniquely associated.54
These storage units, known as knowledge structures, can be thought of as complex spiderwebs filled with pieces of data. Information is placed into nodes, which
are connected by associative links within these structures. Pieces of information
seen as similar or associated in some way are chunked together under some more
abstract category. New, incoming information is interpreted to be consistent with
the structure already in place.55 According to the hierarchical processing model, a
message—an ad, for instance—is processed in a bottom-up fashion: Processing
begins at a very basic level and is subject to increasingly complex processing operations that require greater cognitive capacity. If processing at one level fails to
evoke the next level, processing of the ad is terminated and capacity is allocated to
other tasks.56
Links form between nodes as an associative network is developed. For example, a
consumer might have a network for “perfumes.” Each node represents a concept
related to the category. This node can be an attribute, a specific brand, a celebrity identified with a perfume, or even a related product. A network for perfumes might include
concepts such as the names Chanel, Obsession, and Calvin Klein, as well as attributes
such as sexy and elegant.
When asked to list perfumes, the consumer would recall only those brands contained in the appropriate category. This group constitutes that person’s evoked set
(something we discuss in greater detail in Chapter 9). The task of a new entrant that
wants to position itself as a category member (e.g., a new luxury perfume) is to provide
cues that facilitate its placement in the appropriate category. A sample network for
perfumes is shown in Figure 3–6.
FIGURE 3–6
An Associative Network for Perfumes
PERFUMES
Young
Colognes
Tom Ford
Sensual
Victoria’s
Secret
sexy
Obsession
by CK
Floral
Girlfriend by
Justin Bieber
Elegant
Nina by
Nina Ricci
Chanel
Playful
Rich
Mercedes
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
The term spreading activation refers to the notion that the activation of concepts
can spread between different nodes in the associative network. As one node is activated, other nodes associated with it also begin to be triggered.
Meaning thus spreads across the network, bringing related concepts to mind.
These related concepts could include competing brands and relevant attributes that
are used to form attitudes toward the brand.
L e ve ls of K now l e dge
Knowledge is coded at different levels of abstraction and complexity. Meaning concepts
are individual nodes (e.g., elegant). These may be combined into a larger unit, called a
proposition (also known as a belief ). A proposition links two nodes together to form a
more complex meaning, which can serve as a single chunk of information. For example,
a proposition might be that “Titleist is a golf ball brand used by professionals.”
Propositions are, in turn, integrated to produce a complex unit known as a
schema. As was noted in Chapter 2, a schema is a cognitive framework that is developed through experience. Information consistent with an existing schema is encoded
more readily.57 The ability to move up and down among levels of abstraction greatly
increases processing flexibility and efficiency. For this reason, young children, who do
not yet have well-developed schemas, are not able to make as efficient use of purchase
information as older children.58
One type of schema that is relevant to consumer behaviour is a script—a sequence
of procedures that is expected by an individual. For example, consumers learn service
scripts that guide expectations and purchasing behaviour in business settings. Consumers learn to expect a certain sequence of events and may become uncomfortable if
the service departs from the script. A service script for your visit to the dentist might
include events such as the following: (1) driving to the dentist, (2) reading old magazines in the waiting room, (3) hearing your name called and sitting in the dentist’s
chair, (4) having the hygienist put a funny substance on your teeth, (5) having the
dentist examine your teeth, and so on. This desire to follow a script helps explain why
such service innovations as self-serve checkouts at grocery stores initially met with
resistance by some consumers who had trouble adapting to a new sequence of events.
Analogical Learning
One implication of the notion of these cognitive structures that exist in memory is that
it helps to explain ways marketers can help consumers learn new information, something that marketers often care about when introducing new and innovative products.59 One way consumers can learn about new products and features is through
analogical learning. If the marketer wants to inform or educate the consumer about a
new product, the marketer might do so by drawing an analogy (i.e., highlighting similarities) between the new product and an existing product.
In analogical learning, the existing product is called the base (as it is the original
source of knowledge) and the new product is called the target (as this is what the
existing knowledge will be transferred to). Analogical learning occurs because the
consumer can easily integrate existing knowledge from the base into the formation of
the new knowledge structure (e.g., the schema for the target) regarding the new product.60 For example, when Listerine first introduced its new Fresh Burst Breath Strips,
which dissolve on the tongue and freshen breath, it compared the new product to a
well-established and familiar existing product—Listerine Mouthwash—to highlight
the ability of the new product to freshen breath.
Analogical learning can take one of two forms. First, it may occur at the level of
attributes, which are identifiable features or properties of the product. In the example
of the Listerine breath strips, realizing that a previous product and the new product
both come in distinctive green packaging would be an example of attribute-based
learning. Second, analogical learning can occur at the level of relations. Relations refer
to how the product relates to a desired outcome. In the example above, realizing that
79
80
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
This ad from BC Hydro (British Columbia’s
main electricity provider) uses an analogy
to help consumers understand how little
sense it makes to waste household energy.
Ad Agency: DDB Canada/Vancouver B.C., Photography:
Frank Hoedl. BC Hydro. All rights reserved
Why doesn’t Wasting poWer seem as ridiculous?
Let’s be smart with our power and waste less energy by switching to ENERGY STAR® CFL and
LED bulbs, installing dimmer switches and motion sensors, and using ENERGY STAR qualified
lighting fixtures. For more tips and great deals on energy-saving products during Power Smart
Month visit powersmart.ca
Ad # P22493_BCH_Ketchup_A
28 SeP 2012
FILE NAME
TRIM
DA
P22493_BCH_Ketchup_A.indd
8" x 12.143"
kl
C
CLIENT
BLEED
AD
PIC INFO
1030
COLOURS
M
y
100%
APProved By
BIG
K
AD/CD
both mouthwash and the fresh strips can serve to freshen breath highlights a relational
analogy.61 Importantly, what types of analogies are most effective may depend on the
target market; while experts represent product information in terms of relational features, novices tend to think about products more in terms of attributes. For example, a
professional golfer will learn about a new innovative golfing product by relating its
performance (e.g., swing speed) to previous clubs that he or she has used. In contrast,
a novice golfer would be more likely to understand a new innovative golf product by
comparing its physical attributes (e.g., size of club head) to golf clubs that he or she
had previously seen.
BC Hydro
n/a
dom
Hi Res
DOCKET
LIVE
PR
FONTS
BHY GEN P22493
n/a
tb
Helvetica Neue LT PRO, Din, Dinot
PAGE
SEPS RUN
DESCRIPTION
FOLDS TO
Power Smart – Fall Awareness Print
PUB
WRITER
PROD
PROOFREAD
CLIENT
OUTPUT
1 of 1
NOTES
Body 10.511/15.767
DDB CanaDa
1600 – 777 HornBy Street, VanCoUVer, BC, CanaDa V6Z 2t3
t 604 687 7911
F 604 640 4344
Retrieving Information for Purchase Decisions
Retrieval is the process of accessing information from long-term memory. As evidenced by the popularity of the TV show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, people
have a vast quantity of information stored in their heads that is not necessarily available on demand. Although most of the information entered into long-term memory
does not go away, it may be difficult or impossible to retrieve unless the appropriate
cues are present.
Fa c t o rs I n fluen cin g R etrieval
Some differences in retrieval ability are physiological. Older adults consistently display
inferior recall ability for current items, such as prescription information, though events
that happened to them when they were younger may be recalled with great clarity.62
Other factors are situational, relating to the environment in which the message is
delivered. Not surprisingly, recall is enhanced when the consumer pays more attention to the message in the first place. Some evidence indicates that information about
a pioneering brand (the first brand to enter a market) is more easily retrieved from
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
81
memory than follower brands because the product’s introduction is likely to be distinctive and, for the time being, no competitors divert the consumer’s attention.63 In
addition, in the case of low-involvement products, descriptive brand names are more
likely to be recalled than those that do not provide adequate cues about what the product is.64
The viewing environment of a marketing message can also affect recall. For example, commercials shown during baseball games yield the lowest recall scores among
sports programs because the activity is stop-and-go rather than continuous. Unlike
hockey or basketball, the pacing of baseball gives many opportunities for attention to
wander, even during play. Similarly, General Electric found that its commercials fare
better in TV shows with continuous activity, such as stories or dramas, compared with
variety shows or talk shows punctuated by a series of acts.65 Finally, a large-scale
analysis of TV commercials found that commercials shown first in a series of ads are
recalled better than those shown last.66
Recent research on postexperience advertising effects underscores how powerful
marketing communications can be in shaping our daily experiences. Language and
imagery from ads we have seen recently can become confused with our own experiential memories so that we may come to believe that what we saw in advertising actually
was our own experience with products. One study showed that when consumers were
exposed to advertising after they had directly experienced a product, the ad altered
their recollections of the experience.67
FAMILIARITY AND RECALL As a general rule, prior familiarity with an item enhances
its recall. Indeed, this is one of the basic goals of marketers who are trying to create
and maintain awareness of their products. The more experience a consumer has with
a product, the better use that person is able to make of product information.68
However, there is a possible fly in the ointment. As noted earlier in this chapter,
some evidence indicates that extreme familiarity can result in inferior learning and
recall. When consumers are highly familiar with a brand or an advertisement, they
may attend to fewer attributes because they do not believe that any additional effort
will yield a gain in knowledge.69 For example, when consumers are exposed to the
technique of radio replay, in which the audio track from a TV ad is replayed on the
radio, they do very little critical, evaluative processing and instead mentally replay
the video portion of the ad.70
SALIENCE AND RECALL The salience of a brand refers to its prominence or level of activa-
tion in memory. As noted in Chapter 2, stimuli that stand out in contrast to their environment are more likely to command attention, which in turn increases the likelihood
that they will be recalled. Almost any technique that increases the novelty of a stimulus
also improves recall (a result known as the von Restorff effect).73 This effect explains
why unusual advertising or distinctive packaging tends to facilitate brand recall.74
Introducing a surprise element into a marketing message (such as the acronym
FCUK, which stands for French Connection, United Kingdom) can be particularly effective in aiding recall even if the stimulus is not relevant to the factual information being
presented.75 In addition, so-called mystery ads, in which the brand is not identified
until the end of the ad, are more effective at building associations in memory between
the product category and that brand—especially in the case of relatively unknown
brands.76 And the intensity and type of emotions we experience at the time also affect
the way we recall the event later. We recall mixed emotions (those with positive and
negative components) differently from unipolar emotions (those that are either wholly
positive or wholly negative). The latter become even more polarized over time, so that
we recall good things as even better than they were and bad things as even worse.77
PICTORIAL VERSUS VERBAL CUES Is a picture worth a thousand words? There is
some evidence for the superiority of visual memory over verbal memory, but this
advantage is unclear because it is more difficult to measure recall of pictures.78
Marketing
Insight
One factor that can influence recall and liking
of an advertisement is the context in which it
is viewed. Nielsen (the company that measures
who watches which media) reports that viewers
who enjoy a program are more likely to respond
positively to an embedded commercial and to
say they want to buy the advertised product.
Nielsen studied the responses of 10 000 people
across 50 shows and 200 brands. Viewers are
almost one-third more likely to remember
brands whose products are placed in shows
they enjoy. The impact of this factor varies
across show format; it’s weaker in sitcoms but
much stronger in “lifestyle programs” such as
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. 71 It also
helps when the marketer’s message is consistent with the theme or events in the program—
and it’s even better when the advertised
product actually makes a reference to the
show. Such ads are referred to as hybrid ads.72
82
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
However, the available data indicate that information presented in picture form is
more likely to be recognized later.79 Certainly visual aspects of an ad are more likely
to grab a consumer’s attention. In fact, eye-movement studies indicate that about
90 percent of viewers look at the dominant picture in an ad before they bother to
view the copy.80
Although pictorial ads may enhance recall, they do not necessarily improve comprehension. One study found that TV news items presented with illustrations (still
pictures) as a backdrop result in improved recall for details of the news story, even
though understanding of the story’s content does not improve.81
Fa c t o rs I n fluen cin g Fo rgettin g
Marketers obviously hope that consumers will not forget about their products. However, in a poll of more than 13 000 adults, more than half were unable to remember any
specific ad they had seen, heard, or read in the last 30 days.82 Forgetting is obviously
a problem for marketers.
Early memory theorists assumed that memories fade because of the simple passage of time. In a process of decay, the structural changes in the brain produced by
learning simply go away. Forgetting also occurs because of interference; as additional
information is learned, it displaces earlier information.
Stimulus–response associations will be forgotten if consumers subsequently
learn new responses to the same or similar stimuli in a process known as retroactive interference. On the other hand, prior learning can interfere with new learning, a process called proactive interference. Since pieces of information are stored
in memory as nodes that are connected to one another by links, a meaning concept that is connected by a larger number of links is more likely to be retrieved.
But, as new responses are learned, a stimulus loses its effectiveness in retrieving
the old response.83
These interference effects help to explain problems in remembering brand information. Consumers tend to organize attribute information by brand.84 Additional attribute information regarding a brand or similar brands may limit a person’s ability to
recall old brand information. Recall may also be inhibited if the brand name comprises frequently used words. These words cue competing associations and result in
less retention of brand information.85
In one study, brand evaluations deteriorated more rapidly when ads for the brand
appeared with messages for other brands in the same category than when the ad was
shown with ads for 12 dissimilar products.86 By increasing the salience of a brand,
marketers can impair the recall of other brands.87 However, calling a competitor by
name can result in poorer recall for one’s own brand.88
Products as Memory Markers
Products and ads can themselves serve as powerful retrieval cues. Indeed, the
three types of possessions most valued by consumers are furniture, visual art, and
photos. The most common explanation for this attachment is the ability of these
things to call forth memories of the past.89 Studies find that valued possessions can
evoke thoughts about people and prior events on several dimensions, including
friends and loved ones, sensory experiences, and memories of breaking away from
parents or former partners.90 In fact, researchers are just beginning to probe the
effects of autobiographical memories on buying behaviour. These memories appear
to be one way that advertisements create emotional responses. Ads that succeed in
getting us to think about our own past also appear to get us to like these ads more—
especially if the link between the nostalgia experience and the brand is strong.91
Products are particularly important as life-markers when our sense of the past is
threatened, as when a consumer’s current identity is challenged because of some
change in role caused by divorce, moving, graduation, and so on. 92 Our
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
83
Fossil plays on consumers’ positive, nostalgic memories.
Reprinted with permission from Fossil Group, Inc.
possessions often have mnemonic qualities that serve as a form of external memory
by prompting consumers to retrieve episodic memories. For example, family photography allows consumers to create their own retrieval cues, with the 11 billion
amateur photos taken annually forming a kind of external memory bank for our
culture.
Th e Ma r ke tin g P o we r o f N os ta l gia
Nostalgia has been described as a bittersweet emotion, in which the past is viewed
with both sadness and longing. References to “the good old days” are increasingly
common as advertisers call up memories of distant youth—feelings they hope will
translate to what they’re selling today. A stimulus can sometimes evoke a weakened
response much later, an effect known as spontaneous recovery. This reestablished
connection may explain consumers’ powerful nostalgic reactions to songs, pictures, or
brands they have not been exposed to in many years.
Not only can nostalgic products connect consumers to their own memories of the
past, but they can also resonate with younger consumers. As a PepsiCo marketing
executive explained, “Retro is very cool with 20-somethings, because it ties in with
their desire for simpler, cleaner, more authentic lives. Many of them are engaged in
identity self-creation through their Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter, and other
social media, and they see nostalgia as a way to differentiate themselves.” This is why
programs such as the Pepsi “Throwback” campaign (which featured retro cans and
old-fashioned style Pepsi sweetened with beet sugar rather than cane sugar) can be so
successful.93
A retro brand is an updated version of a brand from a prior historical period.
These products trigger nostalgia, and researchers find that they often inspire consumers to think back to an era where (at least in our memories) life was more stable,
simple, or even utopian; they let us “look back through rose-coloured glasses.” 94
Recent research suggests that consumer preferences for nostalgic brands are related
to a need to belong and that consumption of nostalgic products can resolve belongingness needs.95 One example of a retro success story is the “Old Spice Guy” campaign that went viral and revived a men’s deodorant brand that is more than 70
years old.
84
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing
Insight
The head office for Fluevog Shoes, a worldfamous, fashion-forward shoe store, is located
in Vancouver. Fluevog stores are also found in
Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and New
York. Fluevog’s success illustrates the power of
applying learning theories effectively. The store
name, for example, is just difficult (and interesting) enough to pronounce to be easy to remember. (John Fluevog’s family name was adopted
from the Norwegian village from which they emigrated to Canada.) They sell memorable (i.e., fun
and imaginative) styles, with names such as
Lounge Lizards, Swingers, Wok n Roll, Angels,
Demerol (yes, it’s a nurse’s Fluevog), and Granny
Glamour, to a primarily youthful market (aged
18 to 50 years, 60 percent female).
Fluevog carries the strategy of being distinctive through to store decor and marketing
communications. Each store is designed to fit
with its neighbourhood and the previous life of
that neighbourhood. The Toronto store retained
some fixtures and furnishings from its diner
days, while the San Francisco store is reminiscent of a smoking parlour with overstuffed
couches. Fluevog stays away from runway
placements and conventional promotions, opting for wacky ads, pocket-sized catalogues,
in-store fashion shows and sample sales,
angels moulded on shoe soles, and poetry
enclosures in shoes. The company’s website
(www.fluevog.com) attracts about 2 million
visits every month.97
M e mory a n d A est hetic Preferen ces
We like ads and products that remind us of our past; prior experiences also determine
what we like now. The nostalgia index indicates that people’s tastes in such products
as movies and clothing are influenced by what was popular during certain critical
periods of their youth. For example, liking a specific song appears to be related to how
old a person was when that song was popular. On average, songs that were popular
when an individual was 23.5 years old are the most likely to be favoured; favourite
movie stars and fashion models are usually those who were popular when that individual was 26 and 33 years old, respectively; and men, but not women, also show
evidence of nostalgic attachment to cars from their youth.96
Measuring Memory for Marketing Stimuli
CO 7
Because advertisers pay so much money to place their messages in front of consumers,
they are naturally concerned about whether people will actually remember these messages at a later point in time. It seems that they have good reason to be concerned. In
one study, fewer than 40 percent of TV viewers made positive links between commercial messages and the corresponding products, only 65 percent noticed the brand
name in a commercial, and only 38 percent recognized a connection to an important
point.98 Even more sadly, only 7 percent of TV viewers can recall the product or company featured in the most recent TV commercial they watched.
Re c o gn it io n Versus R ecall
One indicator of good advertising is, of course, the impression it makes on consumers. But how can this impact be defined and measured? Two basic measures of impact
are recognition and recall. In the typical recognition test, subjects are shown ads one
at a time and asked whether they have seen them before. In contrast, free-recall tests
ask consumers to think independently of what they have seen, without being
prompted for this information first; obviously, this task requires greater effort on the
part of respondents.
Under some conditions these two memory measures tend to yield the same results,
especially when the researchers try to keep the viewers’ interest in the ads constant.99
Generally, though, recognition scores tend to be more reliable and do not decay over
time the way recall scores do.100 Recognition scores are almost always better than
recall scores, because recognition is a simpler process and more retrieval cues are
available to the consumer.
Both types of retrieval play important roles in purchase decisions. Recall tends to
be more important in situations in which consumers do not have product data at their
disposal, and so they must rely on memory to generate this information.101 On the
other hand, recognition is more likely to be an important factor in a store where consumers are confronted with thousands of product options and information (i.e., where
external memory is abundantly available) and where the task may simply be to recognize a familiar package. Unfortunately, package recognition and familiarity can have a
negative consequence in that warning labels may be ignored, since their existence is
taken for granted and not really noticed.102
Prob l e ms with Memo ry Mea sures
Although the measurement of an ad’s memorability is important, the ability of existing
measures to accurately assess these dimensions has been criticized for several reasons.
RESPONSE BIASES Results obtained from a measuring instrument are not necessarily
caused by what is being measured, but rather by something else about the instrument
or the respondent. This form of contamination is called a response bias. For example,
people tend to give “yes” responses to questions, regardless of what is asked. In addition, consumers are often eager to be “good subjects” by pleasing the experimenter.
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
They will try to give the responses they think the experimenter is looking for. In some
studies, the claimed recognition of bogus ads (ads that have not been seen before) is
almost as high as the recognition rate of real ads.103
MEMORY LAPSES People are also prone to unintentionally forgetting information.
Typical problems include omitting (the leaving out of facts), averaging (the tendency
to “normalize” things and not report extreme cases), and telescoping (the inaccurate
recall of time).104 These distortions call into question the accuracy of various product
usage databases that rely on consumers to recall their purchases and consumption of
food and household items. In one study, for example, people were asked to describe
what portion of various foods—small, medium, or large—they ate in a normal meal.
However, different definitions of medium were used (e.g., 3/4 cup versus 1-1/2 cups).
Regardless of the measurement specified, about the same number of people claimed
they normally ate medium portions.105
MEMORY FOR FACTS VERSUS FEELINGS Although techniques are being developed to
increase the accuracy of memory scores, these improvements do not address the more
fundamental issue of whether recall is necessary for advertising to have an effect. In
particular, some critics argue that these measures do not adequately tap the impact of
“feeling” ads, where the objective is to arouse strong emotions rather than to convey
concrete product benefits. Many ad campaigns, including those for Hallmark, Tim
Hortons, and Bell, use this approach. An effective strategy relies on a long-term buildup
of feeling rather than on a one-shot attempt to convince consumers to buy the product.106
Also, it is not clear that recall translates into preference. We may recall the benefits touted in an ad but not believe them. Or the ad may be memorable because it is
obnoxious, and the product becomes one we “love to hate.” The bottom line is that
while recall is important, especially for creating brand awareness, it is not necessarily sufficient to alter consumer preferences. To accomplish this, marketers need
more sophisticated attitude-change strategies. These issues will be discussed in
Chapters 7 and 8.
MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
Chapter Summary
It’s important for marketers to understand how consumers
learn about products and services.
• Learning is a change in behaviour that is caused by experience. Learning can occur through simple associations
between a stimulus and a response or via a complex series
of cognitive activities.
Conditioning results in learning.
• Behavioural learning theories assume that learning occurs
as a result of responses to external events. Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus that naturally elicits a
response (an unconditioned stimulus) is paired with
another stimulus that does not initially elicit this response.
Over multiple pairings, the second stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) comes to elicit the response as well.
Learned associations can generalize to other things, which
is important to marketers.
• This response can also extend to other, similar stimuli in
a process known as stimulus generalization. This process
is the basis for such marketing strategies as licensing and
family branding, in which a consumer’s positive associations with a product are transferred to other contexts.
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SEC T ION II Consumers as Individuals
There is a difference between classical and instrumental
conditioning.
retaining and processing information from the outside
world.
• Operant or instrumental conditioning occurs as the person learns to perform behaviours that produce positive
outcomes and avoid those that result in negative outcomes. While classical conditioning involves the pairing of two stimuli, instrumental learning occurs when
reinforcement or punishment is delivered following a
response to a stimulus. Positive reinforcement occurs
when a desired response is followed by the presentation
of a positive stimulus, while negative reinforcement
occurs when a desired response is followed by the
removal of a negative stimulus. Punishment, on the
other hand, occurs when a response is followed by an
unpleasant stimulus. Extinction of the behaviour will
occur if reinforcement is no longer received.
Our knowledge of individual products is influenced by other
products we associate with them.
Observation of others’ behaviour can result in learning.
• Cognitive learning occurs as the result of mental processes. For example, observational learning takes place
when the consumer performs a behaviour as a result of
seeing someone else performing it and being rewarded
for it.
Memory systems work.
• Memory refers to the storage of learned information.
The way information is encoded when it is perceived
determines how it will be stored in memory. The memory systems known as sensory memory, short-term
memory, and long-term memory each play a role in
• Information is not stored in isolation; it is incorporated
into knowledge structures where it is associated with
other related data. The location of product information in
associative networks and the level of abstraction at which
it is coded help to determine when and how this information will be activated at a later time. Some factors that
influence the likelihood of retrieval include the level of
familiarity with an item, its salience (or prominence) in
memory, and whether the information was presented in
pictorial or written form.
Products help us to retrieve memories from our past.
• Products also play a role as memory markers; they are
used by consumers to retrieve memories about past experiences (autobiographical memories) and are often valued
for their ability to do so. This function also contributes to
the use of nostalgia in marketing strategies.
Marketers measure our memories about products and ads.
• Memory of product information can be measured through
either recognition or recall techniques. Consumers are
more likely to recognize an advertisement if it is presented
to them than to recall one without having any cues.
However, neither recognition nor recall automatically or
reliably translates into product purchases.
Key Terms
Activation models of memory p. 77
Extinction p. 64
Response bias p. 84
Advertising wearout p. 66
Frequency marketing p. 70
Retrieval p. 74
Analogical learning p. 79
Gamification p. 70
Retro brand p. 83
Associative learning p. 63
Hybrid ads p. 81
Salience p. 81
Attributes p. 79
Instrumental conditioning p. 67
Schema p. 79
Base p. 79
Interference p. 82
Script p. 79
Behavioural learning theories p. 62
Knowledge structures p. 78
Sensory memory p. 77
Brand equity p. 65
Learning p. 61
Shaping p. 67
Chunking p. 77
Long-term memory p. 77
Short-term memory p. 77
Classical conditioning p. 62
Masked branding p. 64
Spreading activation p. 79
Cognitive learning theory p. 71
Memory p. 73
Stimulus discrimination p. 64
Conditioned response (CR) p. 63
Negative reinforcement p. 68
Stimulus generalization p. 64
Conditioned stimulus (CS) p. 63
Nostalgia p. 83
Storage p. 74
Decay p. 63
Observational learning p. 72
Target p. 79
Elaborative rehearsal p. 77
Positive reinforcement p. 68
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) p. 63
Encoding p. 74
Punishment p. 68
Unipolar emotions p. 81
Evoked set p. 78
Relations p. 79
von Restorff effect p. 81
CHA P T ER 3 Learning and Memory
Review Questions
1. What is the difference between an unconditioned stimulus and a conditioned stimulus?
11. List three types of memory and explain how they work
together.
2. How can marketers use repetition to increase the likelihood that consumers will learn about their brand?
12. How is associative memory like a spiderweb?
3. Why is it not necessarily a good idea to advertise a product in a commercial in which a really popular song is
playing in the background?
4. What is the difference between classical conditioning
and instrumental conditioning?
5. How do different types of reinforcement enhance learning? How does the strategy of frequency marketing relate
to conditioning?
6. What is the major difference between behavioural and
cognitive theories of learning?
13. How does the likelihood that a person will be willing to
use self-serve checkout at a grocery store relate to a
schema?
14. Why does a pioneering brand have a memory advantage
over follower brands?
15. If a consumer is familiar with a product, seeing an ad for
it can work both ways by either enhancing or diminishing
recall. Why?
16. How does learning new information make it more likely
that we’ll forget things we’ve already learned?
7. Name the three stages of information processing.
17. Define nostalgia, and explain why it’s such a widely used
advertising strategy.
8. What is external memory, and why is it important to marketers?
18. Name the two basic measures of memory, and describe
how they differ from each other.
9. Give an example of an episodic memory.
19. List three problems with measures of memory in the field
of advertising.
10. Why do phone numbers have seven digits?
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. In his 2005 book Blink: The Power of Thinking without
Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell argues that hallowed marketing research techniques such as focus groups are
ineffective. According to Gladwell, we usually react to
products quickly and without much conscious thought,
so it’s better to simply solicit consumers’ first impressions rather than getting them to think at length about
why they buy. What’s your position on this issue?
2. Some diehard fans were not pleased when the Rolling
Stones sold the tune “Start Me Up” for about $4 million
to Microsoft, which wanted the classic song to promote
its Windows 95 launch. The Beach Boys sold “Good Vibrations” to Cadbury Schweppes for its Sunkist soft drink,
and Bob Dylan sold “The Times They Are A-Changin” to
Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).107
Other rock legends have refused to play the commercial
game, including Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead,
Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, R.E.M., and U2. According
to U2’s manager, “Rock ‘n’ roll is the last vestige of independence. It is undignified to put that creative effort and
hard work to the disposal of a soft drink or beer or car.”108
What’s your take on this issue? How do you react when
one of your favourite songs turns up in a commercial? Is
this use of nostalgia an effective way to market a product?
Why or why not?
Experiential Exercises
3. Devise a “product jingle memory test.” Compile a list
of brands that are or have been associated with memorable jingles, such as Oscar Mayer, Sleep Country, or
Alka-Seltzer. Read this list to friends and see how
many jingles are remembered. You may be surprised at
the level of recall.
4. Identify some important characteristics of a product
with a well-known brand name. On the basis of these
attributes, generate a list of possible brand extension or
licensing opportunities. Include some that would most
likely not be accepted by consumers.
5. A physician borrowed a page from product marketers
when she asked for their advice to help persuade people in the developing world to wash their hands habitually with soap. Diseases and disorders caused by dirty
hands—such as diarrhea—kill a child somewhere in
the world about every 15 seconds, and about half of
those deaths could be prevented with the regular use of
soap. The project adapted techniques that major marketers use to encourage habitual product usage of
items such as skin moisturizers, disinfecting wipes, air
fresheners, water purifiers, toothpaste, or vitamins. For
example, beer commercials often depict a group of
guys together because research shows that being with a
group of friends tends to trigger habitual drinking! The
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SEC T ION II Consumers as Individuals
researchers found that when people in Ghana experienced a feeling of disgust it was a cue to wash their
hands. However, as in many developing countries, toilets are actually a symbol of cleanliness because they
have replaced pit latrines. So an advertising campaign
included messages that reminded people of the germs
they could still pick up even in modern bathrooms—
mothers and children walked out of restrooms with a
glowing purple pigment on their hands that contaminated everything they touched. These images in turn
triggered the habit of handwashing, and the project
resulted in a significant increase in the number of
­ eople who washed their hands with soap.109 How can
p
other organizations that work to improve public health,
the environment, or other social issues harness our
knowledge about consumer learning and habitual
behaviour to create or reenergize positive habits?
6. Collect some pictures of “classic” products that have
high nostalgic value. Show these pictures to consumers
and allow them to free associate. Analyze the types of
memories that they evoke and think about how a marketer might employ these associations in a product’s
promotional strategy.
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
A&W: The Evolution of a Brand
with the loyal customer base that had been cultivated over
the past two decades. The initial performance of the new
campaign looked good, but Paul wondered how he could
maintain the nostalgia consumers felt toward the brand
while still exciting them about the new commitment A&W
had toward a healthy product.
History
®trade-mark of A&W Trade Marks Limited Partnership
Paul Hollands, president and CEO of A&W restaurants,
­Canada, was encouraged by the report he had just received
on the new advertising campaign that had launched across
the country in the past quarter. This campaign represented
a significant shift from the nostalgia-based strategy A&W
had been pursuing over the past decade, and Paul realized
that the new strategy carried some risks. A&W had built a
strong relationship with its customers over the years, and he
was concerned that this new strategy, which focused on the
health and quality of the A&W product, might not resonate
Roy Allen and Frank Wright founded A&W in California in
1922. The first Canadian A&W restaurant opened in Winnipeg
in 1956. The Canadian restaurants were part of the American
chain until 1972, when they were sold to Unilever. As part
of this transaction, the Canadian A&W brand agreed to limit
its operations to the Canadian market. Unilever managed
the brand until a buyout by the senior management group
was executed in 1995. Currently, the organization is publicly
held and trades on the Toronto stock exchange. There are
over 800 restaurant locations across Canada, with plans to
open 20 to 30 new locations every year. A&W is the second
largest burger chain in Canada, trailing only McDonald’s in
the market.
The initial format of the drive-in restaurant was phased
out in the early 1980s, with the last drive-in restaurant closing in 1999 in Langley, British Columbia. The drive-in format was replaced with a more modern pastel-coloured
fast-food outlet that included healthier options. In the early
1980s, A&W Canada aggressively pursued shopping mall
locations while still opening some standalone operations.
Today A&Ws are still commonly found in Canadian malls of
various sizes.
In its early years, A&W Canada developed a number of
strong brand identities that were effectively used in its marketing efforts. For example, in 1975 the company launched a
campaign starring an orange-clad mascot, the Great Root
Bear. The success of this effort became a long-running campaign that featured the beloved bear accompanied by a tuba
C H A P T E R 3 Learning and Memory
with the brand. In one commercial, a husband and wife
return to the restaurant on a date, and when he honks the
horn while parking, she responds, “Oh, they don’t do that
anymore.” To her surprise, the restaurant manager
approaches the car with a burger order. Promotions also
focused on nostalgia. An initiative entitled “Cruisin’ the
Dub” invited vintage car owners with vehicles from the 50s
and 60s to meet at A&W locations.
The New Initiative
®trade-mark of A&W Trade Marks Limited Partnership
jingle. The famous tuba jingle was played by famed Vancouver
jazz, classical, and session trombonist Sharman King. The
mascot was so successful that he was eventually adopted as
the mascot of the American A&W chain as well.
The Importance of Nostalgia
It was this rich heritage of brand imagery that led the organization to take a more retro approach to its advertising and
product mix in the 1990s. Former menu items, such as the
Burger Family, were re-introduced, and marketing became
targeted toward the baby boomer generation (i.e., the cohort
of consumers in Canada born between 1947 and 1966). In
fact, it was this target segment that inspired A&W to focus
on nostalgia for the simpler pleasures of days gone by.
Although innovation was still important to the organization,
new products and approaches centred on classic burgers
rather than food fads of the day. Paul himself had been
quoted as saying, “We’re a classic heritage brand—a heritage brand is built around simple ideas that are powerful
regardless of the age.”
At this point, the restaurants were also redesigned. The
exterior features were cast in bright orange and yellow reminiscent of the 1950s. The interior was decorated with memorabilia, including pictures and news clippings associated with
this time period. Existing restaurants were renovated to match
the new style. In-store promotion focused on a product mix
that replicated earlier days. Frosty glass mugs, teen burgers,
and root-beer floats were once again part of the consumption
experience.
Advertising also focused on the baby boomer, with television commercials that featured actors from the boomer
age cohort reliving experiences and memories associated
A new advertising initiative was launched in summer 2014. At
the centre of the campaign was A&W Canada’s commitment to
healthy ingredients. Specifically, the campaign indicated to
consumers that all beef used in A&W burger products was
both hormone- and steroid-free. The campaign advertised
that A&W was the first and only national burger restaurant in
Canada to be able to make this claim. Its burgers are free of
additives, fillers, or preservatives—they are 100 percent pure
beef. Subsequent to this initial messaging, the campaign further highlighted the quality of A&W Canada’s chicken and egg
products as well.
The changes in this advertising approach emerged from
a company rethink in late 2013, as A&W strategized on how
to attract younger customers. A&W products had always
rated high among consumers on taste and quality, and given
that consumers were showing more concern for ingredient
quality in fast food, it only made sense to pursue a campaign
centred around this issue. Younger consumers are specifically concerned about ingredients, how their food is sourced,
whether it is genetically modified (GMO), and if it is organically raised. Quite simply, consumers are demanding healthier and more responsible options. The new advertising
initiative hoped to leverage this trend while still maintaining
the history and the traditional c­ ustomer base that had
enabled the company to grow.
Indeed, Paul was mindful of the balance he needed to
achieve as he moved the company forward. He wondered what
the positive reaction to the new advertising campaign would
mean over the long term. How should the company proceed?
To what extent should the organization embrace this new strategic path while retaining the elements of nostalgi that had
been so successful in the past?
1. Historically, why has the nostalgia tactic been so successful for A&W? What benefit does nostalgia provide for the
consumer?
2. What should A&W do now, given the early evidence of
success of the new advertising initiative? How likely is it
that the healthy ingredient trend will continue? Why?
3. Where does nostalgia fit into the new initiative? What
emphasis would you suggest the company gives to nostalgia moving forward?
4. What other elements of learning and memory might A&W
incorporate into its future initiatives?
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SEC T ION II Consumers as Individuals
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Consumer Research 35 (August 2008): 268–278.
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Knowledge in Children: A Cognitive Structure Approach,” Journal of Consumer
Research 12 (March 1986): 406–417.
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Transfer,” Journal of Consumer Research 24 (December 1997): 266–284.
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Formation of Product Judgments: An Analogical Learning Perspective,” Journal of
Consumer Psychology 11(3) (2001): 141–158.
61. Ibid.
62. Roger W. Morrell, Denise C. Park, and Leonard W. Poon, “Quality of Instructions on
Prescription Drug Labels: Effects on Memory and Comprehension in Young and Old
Adults,” Gerontologist 29 (1989): 345–354.
63. Frank R. Kardes, Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, Murali Chandrashekaranm, and
Ronald J. Dornoff, “Brand Retrieval, Consideration Set Composition, Consumer
Choice, and the Pioneering Advantage,” unpublished manuscript, University of
Cincinnati, 1992.
64. Judith Lynne Zaichkowsky and Padma Vipat, “Inferences from Brand Names,” in
European Advances in Consumer Research 1, eds. W. Fred Van Raaij and Gary J.
Bamossy (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1993): 534–540.
65. Herbert Krugman, “Low Recall and High Recognition of Advertising,” Journal of
Advertising Research (February/March 1986): 79–86.
66. Rik G.M. Pieters and Tammo H.A. Bijmolt, “Consumer Memory for Television
Advertising: A Field Study of Duration, Serial Position, and Competition Effects,”
Journal of Consumer Research 23 (March 1997): 362–372.
67. Kathryn R. Braun, “Postexperience Advertising Effects on Consumer Memory,”
Journal of Consumer Research 25 (March 1999): 319–334.
68. Eric J. Johnson and J. Edward Russo, “Product Familiarity and Learning New
Information,” Journal of Consumer Research 11 (June 1984): 542–550.
69. Eric J. Johnson and J. Edward Russo, “Product Familiarity and Learning New
Information,” in Advances in Consumer Research 8, ed. Kent Monroe (Ann Arbor, MI:
Association for Consumer Research, 1981): 151–155; John G. Lynch and Thomas K.
Srull, “Memory and Attentional Factors in Consumer Choice: Concepts and Research
Methods,” Journal of Consumer Research 9 (June 1982): 18–37.
78. Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Michael R. Solomon, “Utilitarian, Aesthetic, and
Familiarity Responses to Verbal versus Visual Advertisements,” in Advances in
Consumer Research 11, ed. Thomas C. Kinnear (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer
Research, 1984): 426–431.
79. Terry Childers and Michael Houston, “Conditions for a Picture-Superiority Effect
on Consumer Memory,” Journal of Consumer Research 11 (September 1984):
643–654; Terry Childers, Susan Heckler, and Michael Houston, “Memory for the
Visual and Verbal Components of Print Advertisements,” Psychology & Marketing
3 (Fall 1986): 147–150.
80. Werner Krober-Riel, “Effects of Emotional Pictorial Elements in Ads Analyzed
by Means of Eye Movement Monitoring,” in Advances in Consumer Research 11,
ed. Thomas C. Kinnear (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1984):
591–596.
81. Hans-Bernd Brosius, “Influence of Presentation Features and News Context on
Learning from Television News,” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 33
(Winter 1989): 1–14.
82. Raymond R. Burke and Thomas K. Srull, “Competitive Interference and Consumer
Memory for Advertising,” Journal of Consumer Research 15 (June 1988): 55–68.
83. Ibid.
84. Eric J. Johnson and J. Edward Russo, “Product Familiarity and Learning New
Information,” Journal of Consumer Research 11 (June 1984): 542–550.
85. Joan Meyers-Levy, “The Influence of Brand Names Association Set Size and Word
Frequency on Brand Memory,” Journal of Consumer Research 16 (September 1989):
197–208.
86. Michael H. Baumgardner, Michael R. Leippe, David L. Ronis, and Anthony G.
Greenwald, “In Search of Reliable Persuasion Effects: II. Associative Interference
and Persistence of Persuasion in a Message-Dense Environment,” Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 45 (September 1983): 524–537.
87. Joseph W. Alba and Amitava Chattopadhyay, “Salience Effects in Brand Recall,”
Journal of Marketing Research 23 (November 1986): 363–370.
88. Margaret Henderson Blair, Allan R. Kuse, David H. Furse, and David W. Stewart,
“Advertising in a New and Competitive Environment: Persuading Consumers to Buy,”
Business Horizons 30 (November/December 1987): 20.
89. Russell W. Belk, “Possessions and the Extended Self,” Journal of Consumer Research
15 (September 1988): 139–168.
90. Morris B. Holbrook and Robert M. Schindler, “Nostalgic Bonding: Exploring the Role
of Nostalgia in the Consumption Experience,” Journal of Consumer Behavior 3
(December 2003): 107–127.
91. Hans Baumgartner, Mita Sujan, and James R. Bettman, “Autobiographical
Memories, Affect and Consumer Information Processing,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology 1 (January 1992): 53–82; Mita Sujan, James R. Bettman, and Hans
Baumgartner, “Influencing Consumer Judgments Using Autobiographical Memories:
A Self-Referencing Perspective,” Journal of Marketing Research 30 (November
1993): 422–436.
92. Russell W. Belk, “The Role of Possessions in Constructing and Maintaining a Sense
of Past,” in Advances in Consumer Research 16, eds. Marvin E. Goldberg, Gerald
Gorn, and Richard W. Pollay (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1989):
669–678.
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93. Jenna Goudreau, “These Old Brands Are Poised for a 2011 Comeback: Nostalgia Will
Help Sell to Consumers Who Aren’t Happy with the Present,” Forbes (December 31,
2010), http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40856091/ns/today-entertainment.
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Tricks: Retro Branding and the Revival of Brand Meaning,” Journal of Marketing 67
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Development of Musical Tastes,” Journal of Consumer Research 16 (June 1989):
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on Age and Attitude toward the Past: Concepts, Methods, and Findings Concerning
Nostalgic Influences on Consumer Tastes,” Journal of Business Research 37
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for Early Experience as a Determinant of Consumer Preferences,” Psychology &
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97. Louise Aird, “Sole Man,” Blitz on the Business of Media Communications in BC 10
(May/June 1999): 1, 4, 5; Virginia Leeming, “San Francisco Is Latest Fluevog
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Research 27 (February/March 1987): 5–8.
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Ads,” Journal of Advertising Research 20 (April 1980): 7–13.
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accessed July 17, 2008.
C HA P T ER
4
Motivation and Affect
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand that it is important for marketers to
recognize that products can satisfy a range of
consumer needs.
2
3
4
5
Understand that there are different theories that can
be used to predict what will motivate consumers.
Understand that the way we evaluate and choose a
product depends on our degree of involvement with
the product, the marketing message, and/or the
purchase situation.
6
Understand that consumers can experience different
types of motivational conflicts that can impact their
purchase decisions.
Understand that consumers can experience different
types of affective responses, which can influence
consumption behaviours.
7
Understand that marketers can tap into various
discrete emotions to influence consumer responses.
Understand that Maslow’s hierarchy outlines how
various levels of needs can motivate consumers.
Introduction
Fitness trackers like the FitBit Force, Jawbone Up, and Nike+ Fuelband are rapidly increasing in popularity, and experts say this trend will continue in the coming years. What is the
driving force behind this trend? These devices capitalize on consumers’ health and fitness
goals in a way that makes their progress concrete and easy to track. As we will see, goals
that can be measured or tracked in some way are easier to achieve. While this example
relates to the consumer’s conscious motivation to reach a particular goal, motivations can
also operate outside the consumer’s consciousness.
To understand motivation is to understand why consumers do what they do. Why do
some people choose to bungee-jump off a bridge or go whitewater rafting in the Yukon,
while others spend their leisure time playing chess or gardening? We do everything for a
reason, whether to quench a thirst, to kill boredom, or to attain some deep spiritual experience. Marketing students are taught from day one that the goal of marketing is to satisfy
consumers’ needs. However, this insight is useless unless we can discover what those
needs are and why they exist.
The Motivation Process
Motivation refers to the processes that cause people to behave as they do. It occurs when
a need is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy. Once a need has been activated,
a state of tension exists that drives the consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate
the need.
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A want is a manifestation of a need. This ad
from Singapore reminds us that consumer
society tempts us with wants.
Courtesy of M&C Saatchi (S) Pte Ltd, Creative Director:
Terence Tan, Photographer: Jimmy Fok
This need may be utilitarian (a desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit, as when a person requires a pair of durable sneakers), or it may be hedonic (an
experiential need involving emotional responses). For example, the Tourism Las Vegas
tagline “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” highlights positioning in a way that
appeals to hedonic motives. The desired end state is the consumer’s goal. Marketers
try to create products and services that will provide the desired benefits and permit
the consumer to reduce this tension.
Whether the need is utilitarian or hedonic, a discrepancy exists between the consumer’s present state and some ideal state. This gulf creates a state of tension. The
magnitude of this tension determines the urgency the consumer feels to reduce the
tension. This degree of arousal is called a drive. A basic need can be satisfied any
number of ways, and the specific path a person chooses is influenced by his or her
unique set of experiences and by the values instilled by the culture in which the person has been raised.
These personal and cultural factors combine to create a want, which is one manifestation of a need. For example, hunger is a basic need that must be satisfied by all;
the lack of food creates a tension state that can be reduced by the intake of such products as cheeseburgers, Oreo cookies, raw fish, or bean sprouts. The specific route to
hunger reduction is culturally determined.
Once the goal is attained, tension is reduced and the motivation recedes (for the
time being). Motivation can be described in terms of its strength, or the pull it exerts
on the consumer, and its direction, or the particular way the consumer attempts to
reduce motivational tension.
Motivational Strength
The degree to which a person is willing to expend energy to reach one goal as opposed
to another reflects his or her underlying motivation to attain that goal. Many theories
have been advanced to explain why people behave the way they do. Most share the
basic idea that people have some finite amount of energy that must be directed toward
certain goals. Two basic theoretical categories that account for motivational strength
are drive theories and expectancy theories.
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
Drive Theory
Drive theory focuses on biological needs that produce unpleasant states of arousal
(such as your stomach grumbling during a morning class). We are motivated to reduce
the tension caused by this physiological arousal. Tension reduction has been proposed
as a basic mechanism governing human behaviour.
In marketing, tension refers to the unpleasant state that exists if a person’s consumption needs are not fulfilled. People may be grumpy if they haven’t eaten. This
state (of hunger, for example) activates goal-oriented behaviour that attempts to reduce
or eliminate this unpleasant state and return to a balanced one, called homeostasis.
Those behaviours that are successful in reducing the drive by eliminating the
underlying need are strengthened and tend to be repeated. (This aspect of the learning
process was discussed in Chapter 3.) Your motivation to leave class early to grab a
snack would be greater if you hadn’t eaten in 24 hours than if you had eaten only two
hours earlier. If you did sneak out and had indigestion after, say, wolfing down a package of chips, this behaviour would be less likely to be repeated the next time you
wanted a snack. A person’s degree of motivation, then, depends on the distance
between his or her present state and the goal.
Drive theory, however, runs into difficulties when it tries to explain some facets of
human behaviour that run counter to its predictions. People often do things that
increase a drive state rather than decrease it. For example, people may delay gratification. If you know you are going out for a lavish dinner, you might decide to forgo a
snack earlier in the day even though you are hungry at that time.
Expectancy Theory
Most current explanations of motivation focus on cognitive factors rather than only
biological ones to understand what drives behaviour. Expectancy theory suggests that
behaviour is largely pulled by expectations of achieving desirable outcomes—positive
incentives—rather than pushed from within. We choose one product over another
because we expect this choice to have more positive consequences for us. Under expectancy theory, positive incentives could include things like money or even social status.
Motivational Direction
Motives have direction as well as strength. They are goal-oriented in that specific
objectives are desired to satisfy a need. Most goals can be reached by a number of
routes, and the objective of marketers is to convince consumers that the alternative
they offer provides the best chance to attain the goal. For example, a consumer who
decides that he needs a pair of jeans to help him reach his goal of being accepted by
others or of projecting an appropriate image can choose among Diesel, True Religion,
GUESS, 7 For All Mankind, and many other alternatives, each of which promises to
deliver certain benefits.
Needs versus Wants
The specific way a need is satisfied depends on the individual’s unique history and
learning experiences and his or her cultural environment. The particular form of consumption used to satisfy a need is termed a want. For example, two classmates may
feel their stomachs rumbling during a lunchtime lecture. If neither person has eaten
since the night before, the strength of their respective needs (hunger) would be about
the same. However, the way each person goes about satisfying this need might be quite
different. The first person may be a health-conscious individual who fantasizes about
gulping down vegetable tofu stir-fry, while the second person may be equally excited
by the prospect of a greasy cheeseburger and fries.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Magnum brand of ice cream encourages
consumers to satisfy their wants.
Newscast/Alamy
Types of Needs
People are born with a need for certain elements necessary to maintain life, such as
food, water, air, and shelter. These are called biogenic needs. People have many other
needs, however, that are not innate. Psychogenic needs are acquired in the process of
becoming a member of a culture. These include the need for status, power, affiliation,
and so on. Psychogenic needs reflect the priorities of a culture, and their effect on
behaviour will vary in different environments.
Consumers can also be motivated to satisfy either utilitarian or hedonic needs.
The satisfaction of utilitarian needs implies that consumers will emphasize the objective, tangible attributes of products, such as kilometres per litre of gas in a car; the
amount of fat, calories, and protein in a cheeseburger; or the durability of a pair of
jeans. Hedonic needs are subjective and experiential, leading consumers to rely on a
product because it meets their needs for excitement, self-confidence, or fantasy, perhaps to escape the mundane or routine aspects of life.1 Of course, consumers may be
motivated to purchase a product because it provides both types of benefits. For example, a Louis Vuitton handbag may be bought because of the luxurious image it portrays
and because it can carry items needed when out and about.
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Motivational Conflicts
A goal has valence, which means that it can be positive or negative. A positively valued goal is one toward which consumers direct their behaviour; they are motivated to
approach the goal and will seek out products that will be instrumental in attaining it.
However, not all behaviour is motivated by the desire to approach a goal. As we saw in
Chapter 3, sometimes consumers are motivated to avoid a negative outcome. They will
structure their purchases or consumption activities to reduce the chances of attaining
this end result. For example, many consumers work hard to avoid rejection, an avoidance goal. They will stay away from products that they associate with social disapproval. Products such as deodorants and mouthwash frequently rely upon consumers’
avoidance motivation by depicting the onerous social consequences of underarm
odour or bad breath.
Because a purchase decision may involve more than one source of motivation,
consumers often find themselves in situations in which different motives conflict with
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
Snickers humorously reminds us that the
biogenic need of hunger must be fulfilled
or else there can be unfortunate
consequences!
SNICKERS® is a registered trademark of Mars,
Incorporated. The SNICKERS® advertisement and
trademark are used with permission of Mars,
Incorporated.
one another. Since marketers are attempting to satisfy consumers’ needs, they can also
help by providing possible solutions to these dilemmas. As shown in Figure 4–1, three
general types of conflict can occur: approach–approach, approach–avoidance, and
avoidance–avoidance.
Ap p roa c h– A p p ro a c h C on f l ict
In an approach–approach conflict, a person must choose between two desirable alternatives. A student might be torn between going home for the holidays or going on a ski
trip with friends. Or she might have to choose between two different concerts because
she only has enough money to attend one of them.
FIGURE 4–1
Three Types of Motivational Conflict
Approach–Approach
Approach–Avoidance
Avoidance–Avoidance
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
The theory of cognitive dissonance is based on the premise that people have a
need for consistency in their lives and that a state of tension is created when beliefs or
behaviours conflict with one another. The conflict that arises when choosing between
two alternatives may be resolved through a process of cognitive dissonance reduction
in which people are motivated to reduce this inconsistency (or dissonance) and thus
eliminate unpleasant tension.2
Post-decision dissonance can arise when the consumer must make a choice between
two products, both of which possess good and bad qualities. By choosing one product and
not the other, the person gets the bad qualities of the chosen product and loses out on the
good qualities of the unchosen one. This loss creates an unpleasant, dissonant state that
the person is motivated to reduce. One way this dissonance can be resolved is by the consumer convincing himself after the fact that choices he made were smart ones by finding
additional reasons to support the alternatives he chose, or perhaps by “discovering” flaws
with the options he did not choose. Marketers often attempt to reduce approach—approach
conflicts by highlighting the superiority of their brand. Take, for example, the long-running
“Mac versus PC” campaign: Apple did an excellent job of highlighting the unique positive
attributes of its brand, while depicting the downsides of competing products.
A p p r oa c h –Avo id an ce Co n flict
Many of the products and services we desire have negative consequences attached to
them as well as positive consequences. We may feel guilty or ostentatious when buying a status-laden product such as a luxury fur coat or feel like a glutton when contemplating a bag of potato chips. When we desire a goal but wish to avoid it at the same
time, an approach–avoidance conflict exists.
Some solutions to these conflicts include the proliferation of fake furs, which
eliminate guilt about harming animals while still allowing you to make a fashion
statement, and the success of diet foods, such as the Weight Watchers brands, which
promise good food without the calories. Indeed, the development of hybrid vehicles
is one attempt to resolve approach–avoidance conflicts; the consumer can still have a
By offering consumers the great taste of
fudge brownies (approach), while reducing
the amount of fat (avoid), Breyers is able to
resolve an approach–avoid conflict for consumers.
Reproduced with kind permission of Unilever PLC and
group companies
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
new car while reducing the negative impact on the environment. Many marketers try
to overcome guilt by convincing consumers that they are deserving of luxuries (such
as when L’Oréal cosmetics reminds the consumer “Because you’re worth it”).
Avo i da nc e – Avoid a n c e C o n f l ic t
Sometimes consumers find themselves caught “between a rock and a hard place”:
They face a choice between two undesirable alternatives. A person may be faced with
the option of either throwing more money into an old car or buying a new one. Marketers frequently address this conflict through messages that stress the unforeseen benefits of choosing one option (emphasizing special credit plans to ease the pain of
new-car payments, for example).
Classifying Consumer Needs
Much research has been done on classifying human needs. On the one hand, some
psychologists have tried to define a universal inventory of needs that could be traced
systematically to explain virtually all behaviour. One such effort, developed by Henry
Murray, delineates a set of psychogenic needs that (sometimes in combination) result
in specific behaviours. These needs, shown in Figure 4–2, include such dimensions as
autonomy (being independent), defendence (defending the self against criticism), and
play (engaging in pleasurable activities).3
Murray’s need structure serves as the basis for a number of widely used personality tests, such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the Edwards Personal
Preference Schedule (EPPS). In the TAT, test subjects are shown four to six ambiguous
pictures and asked to write answers to four directing questions about the pictures.
These questions are: (1) What is happening? (2) What has led to this situation? (3)
What is being thought? (4) What will happen? The subject is allowed four minutes of
writing time to answer these questions for each story. Each answer is then contentanalyzed for references to certain needs and scored whenever that need is mentioned.
The theory behind the test is that people will freely project their own subconscious needs onto the ambiguous picture. By getting their responses to the picture, you
are really getting at the person’s true needs for achievement or affiliation or whatever
other needs may dominate. Murray believed that everyone has the same basic set of
needs but that individuals differ in how they prioritize them.
Sp e c ific Ne e d s a n d Bu y in g Be h av io ur
Other motivational approaches have focused on specific needs and their ramifications
for behaviour. For example, individuals with a high need for achievement strongly
value personal accomplishment.4 They put a premium on products and services that
signify success because these consumption items provide feedback about the realization
of their goals. These consumers are good prospects for products that provide evidence of
their achievements. One study of working women found that those who were high in
FIGURE 4–2
Types of Needs, as Defined by Murray
Biogenic
Psychogenic
Food
Dominance
Autonomy
Assistance
Water
Superiority
Affiliation
Change
Air
Emotional Stability
Analysis
Endurance
Sleep
Achievement
Dependence
Aggression
Sex
Compliance
Self-Depreciation
Defendence
Shelter
Order
Exhibition
Play
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
achievement motivation were more likely to choose clothing they considered businesslike and less likely to be interested in apparel that accentuated their femininity.5 Other
important needs that are relevant to consumer behaviour include the following:
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•
Need for affiliation (to be in the company of other people):6 This need is relevant
to products and services that alleviate loneliness and that are consumed among
groups of people at places such as athletic venues, bars, and shopping malls.
•
Need for power (to control one’s environment):7 Many products and services,
ranging from “souped-up” muscle cars to hotels, restaurants, and resorts, promise
to respond to the customer’s every whim, allowing consumers to feel that they
have mastery over their surroundings.
•
Need for uniqueness (to assert one’s individual identity):8 This need is satisfied by
products that pledge to accentuate a consumer’s distinctive qualities. For example, Rocketcases is a Vancouver company that allows you to personalize your cell
phone case to suit your unique personality.
Masl o w ’s Hier ar ch y o f Need s
One influential approach to motivation was proposed by the psychologist Abraham
Maslow. Maslow’s approach is a general one originally developed to understand personal growth and the attainment of “peak experiences.”9 Maslow formulated a hierarchy of biogenic and psychogenic needs in which levels of motives are specified. A
hierarchical approach implies that the order of development is fixed—that is, a certain
level must be attained before the next, higher one is activated. This universal approach
to motivation has been adopted by marketers because it (indirectly) specifies certain
types of product benefits that people might be looking for, depending on the different
stages in their development and/or their environmental conditions.
These levels are summarized in Figure 4–3. At each level, different priorities exist
in terms of the product benefits a consumer is looking for. Ideally, an individual progresses up the hierarchy until his or her dominant motivation is a focus on “ultimate”
goals, such as justice and beauty. Unfortunately, this state is difficult to achieve (at
least on a regular basis); most of us have to be satisfied with occasional glimpses of
peak experiences.
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Levels of Needs in the Maslow
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C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
101
Volvo strongly positions its brand on the
need for safety.
Courtesy of Volvo do Brasil
Marketing
Insight
Social needs are met by seeking warm and satisfying human relationships.
When the social needs are more or less satisfied, the esteem or ego needs emerge.
Inwardly directed ego needs reflect an individual’s need for self-acceptance, selfesteem, achievement, and success. Outwardly directed ego needs include the needs
for prestige, reputation, status, and recognition from others. Most people spend most
of their lives trying to fill their ego needs and never move on to the fifth level of selfactualization. This need refers to individuals’ desire to fulfil their own potential, to
become everything they are capable of becoming, so that they are completely satisfied with their lives.
In summary, Maslow’s need hierarchy predicts that higher-order needs will
become the driving force behind human behaviour as the consumer’s lower-level needs
are satisfied. The theory says, in effect, that satisfaction does not motivate behaviour;
dissatisfaction does. It is important to note that lower needs are never totally satisfied
but are ongoing. We do not need to satisfy one need totally before the next level of need
motivates our behaviour. Sometimes certain behaviours satisfy two needs at once. For
example, a Mercedes might satisfy the safety need and the ego need for prestige.
Although Maslow’s theory is interesting and applicable to marketing, it has not
gone without criticism. There is no measurement tool for researchers to test the need
hierarchy empirically. Also, they cannot measure precisely how well satisfied one
need is before the next-higher need becomes operational. Another problem with taking Maslow’s hierarchy too literally is that its assumptions may be particular to Western culture. People of other cultures may question the order of the levels as specified.
Many Asian cultures operate on the premise that the welfare of the group (belongingness needs) is more highly valued than the needs of the individual (esteem needs).
The point is that this hierarchy is widely applied in marketing because it
reminds us that consumers may have different need priorities at different times and
stages of their lives—not because it exactly specifies a consumer’s progression up
the ladder of needs.
Motivation and Goal Fulfillment
People often set goals that are related to consumption.11 Many consumers set goals to lose
weight, to consume less energy, or to exercise more often. Consumers are more likely to
achieve such aims when they set goals that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Although Maslow’s hierarchy outlines needs at a
relatively general level, this can be a starting
point for marketers in terms of developing segmentation and positioning strategies. For example, people purchasing cosmetics, grooming
products, and plastic surgery are likely looking
to fulfil esteem or ego needs, while those looking
to purchase a home security system are likely
motivated to fulfil safety needs. Marketers who
are able to position products in ways that appeal
to the specific needs of the target market are
likely to be successful. In one example, the
Canadian Army uses taglines that appeal to
higher-order needs such as self-actualization.
One study found that the majority of participants
preferred statements such as “Be All You Can
Be” and “Accelerate Your Life,” and that those
who are high in the motivators of esteem, selfactualization, and autonomy find these types of
taglines most appealing. Thus, positioning
strategies that resonate with relevant consumer
needs are most likely to be successful.10
For most Canadians, the biogenic or physiological needs are regularly and easily satisfied. Thus, the higher-level needs are usually
dominant. Safety and security become the next
driving force of behaviour. These needs are
concerned with much more than physical
safety. They include order, stability, routine,
familiarity, and certainty—the knowledge, for
example, that you will eat dinner not only today
and tomorrow, but also far into the future.
Safety needs are met by RRSPs, social welfare
programs, and insurance policies.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Consumers
its in Focus
Theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy cannot
account for all of consumers’ needs and motivations. For example, while belonging needs
can account for some behaviours on social
media such as finding a friend on Facebook or
following someone on Twitter, social media
activities may serve other needs as well. Why,
for example, are consumers addicted to apps
such as Instagram and Pinterest? Obviously
these platforms, which allow us to share photos and visual images with others, serve to
connect people and allow them to project a
particular image to others. One additional possibility is that the act of depicting one’s life
digitally can confirm and enhance one’s experience, as well as allow for aesthetic appreciation and creativity.12
Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club
encourages consumer goal attainment with
motivational messaging.
Courtesy of Steve Nash Fitness World & Sports Club
Relevant, and Time-bound). The goal needs to be Specific in that it is easier to achieve a
clearly specified goal than a more general one. The goal needs to be Measurable, which
means there need to be concrete criteria by which goal attainment can be assessed. The
goal needs to be somewhat challenging, but also Attainable, meaning realistic. The goal
should also be Relevant, something important to the goal setter. And finally, the goal
needs to be Time-bound, which refers to the notion that the goal should have a targeted
time point for completion.13
In a unique marketing strategy, Nike created its Nike+ platform and began selling compatible Fuelbands—sport watches that provide an online platform for consumers to directly track their goal progress and set specific goals, such as “run
farther,” “burn calories,” or “run faster.” The social aspect of the online platform can
also prove very motivating by allowing consumers to challenge others, provide feedback, and get encouragement as they set new goals. Importantly, this innovation has
helped consumers set and track goals in ways that are specific and measurable.
There has been a proliferation of smartphone apps aimed at tracking fitness and
weight management goals, and it is notable that the most popular ones do a nice job
of replicating the SMART goal-setting formula, along with other elements that allow
consumers to compete with others and motivate themselves.14
What happens when consumers get closer to attaining a particular goal? Intuition
might suggest that they would work harder as the end goal gets within reach. However,
consumers who subjectively feel as if they’re closer to attaining a goal such as weight
loss are ironically more likely to change course and pursue an alternative goal such as
enjoyment. Interestingly, this may lead to actions that are incongruent with the original goal. In one study, consumers who felt they were closer to attaining their
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
103
Running Room sets up training programs
that motivate individuals by using social
support and setting specific and measurable
goals. Consumers are more likely to be
successful when they set these types of
goals.
Courtesy of the Running Room
weight-loss goal were subsequently more likely to choose a chocolate bar over an
apple!15 Goal progress does not have to be real, and can simply be perceived to have
strong effects on behaviour. For example, the mere presence of a healthy option on a
fast-food menu can fulfil nutrition-related goals, and in turn, provide consumers with
a “licence” to indulge.16 That is, simply having a healthy option like a salad or apple
slices on the menu can lead consumers to end up choosing a less than healthy option
for their meal.
One question that has puzzled consumer researchers is whether the motivation to
attain goals is always conscious, or if sometimes this can occur below the threshold of
awareness.17 The evidence seems to suggest that sometimes the motive to attain a goal
can be activated in consumption contexts without the consumer even being aware of
it. For example, exposing consumers to the Apple brand name enhances motivations
to be different and unique as compared to exposure to the IBM brand name, while
exposure to the Disney brand name resulted in consumers being more honest than
exposure to the E! brand name. These were incidental effects of brand exposure that
consumers were not aware of.18
Incidental brand exposure, such as seeing an
advertisement or a product, can activate consumer goals. The Apple brand can activate
the motivation to be unique and different.
Photo by Steve White
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing
Insight
As we saw in Chapter 3, gamification is a redhot marketing strategy today; it refers to the
application of gaming principles to non-gaming
contexts. Gamification is also a very effective
means of enhancing consumer involvement,
especially for activities that can benefit from a
bit of motivation. In one example, when the
researchers wanted to promote financial literacy, they created the Money Smart program.21 It
is designed to look like a board game similar to
Monopoly, and it challenges players to learn
financial skills such as setting up a bank
account, paying bills on time, and avoiding
identity theft. The game attracted over 40 000
users in a year. In another example, when a university wanted to ramp up undergraduates’
interest in corporate finance, it did so by placing
students, à la Harry Potter, into one of four
“houses” for the year, each with its own name
and shield. Students could earn points for
attending optional lectures and other financerelated activities. The winning team at the end
of the year received a party with the dean, and
also a “house cup,” just like in the movie.22
Consumer Involvement
CO 5
A consumer’s motivation to attain a goal influences his or her desire to expend the
effort necessary to attain the products or services believed to be instrumental in satisfying that objective. However, not everyone is motivated to the same extent; that is,
one person might be convinced that he or she can’t live without the latest style or
modern convenience, while another is only marginally interested in these items.
Involvement can be defined as “a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on
their inherent needs, values and interests.”19 The word object is used in the generic
sense and refers to a product (or brand), an advertisement, or a purchase situation.
Consumers can find involvement in all these “objects.”
Since involvement is a motivational construct, it can be triggered by one or more
of the different antecedents shown in Figure 4–4. The antecedents can be something
about the person, something about the object, or something about the situation. On the
right side of Figure 4–4 are the results or consequences of being involved with the
object. When consumers are intent on doing what they can to satisfy a need, they will
be motivated to pay attention to and process any information felt to be relevant to
achieving their goals.
Involvement can be viewed as the motivation to process information.20 To the
degree that there is a perceived link between a consumer’s needs, goals, or values and
product knowledge, the consumer will be motivated to pay attention to product
information. When relevant knowledge is activated in memory, a motivational state
FIGURE 4–4
Conceptualizing Involvement
CONCEPTUALIZING INVOLVEMENT
Possible Results of
Involvement
Antecedents of Involvement
Person Factors
— needs
— importance
— interest
— values
elicitation of counterarguments to ads
effectiveness of ad
to induce purchase
Object or
Stimulus Factors
— differentiation
of alternatives
— source of
communication
— content of
communication
with advertisements
Situational Factors
— purchase/use
— occasion
with purchase
decisions
Involvement
with products
relative importance
of the product class
perceived differences
in product attributes
preference for a
particular brand
influence of price
on brand choice
amount of information
search
Involvement = f (Person, Situation, Object)
The level of involvement may be influenced by
one or more of these three factors. Interactions
among person, situation, and object factors are
likely to occur.
time spent deliberating
alternatives
type of decision rule
used in choice
Source: J.L. Zaichkowsky, “Conceptualizing Involvement,” Journal of Advertising 15(2) (1986): 2–14. © Taylor & Francis. Used with permission.
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
is created that drives behaviour (e.g., shopping). As involvement with a product
increases, people devote more attention to ads related to the product, exert more cognitive effort to understand these ads, and focus their attention more on the productrelated information in them.23
Levels of Involvement: From Inertia to Passion
The type of information processing that will occur thus depends upon the consumer’s
level of involvement. It can range from simple processing, in which only the basic
features of a message are considered, all the way to elaboration, in which the incoming
information is linked to preexisting knowledge systems.24
A person’s degree of involvement can be conceived as a continuum, ranging from
absolute lack of interest in a marketing stimulus at one end to obsession at the other.
Consumption at the low end of involvement is characterized by inertia, where decisions are made out of habit because the consumer lacks the motivation to consider
alternatives. At the high end of involvement we can expect to find the type of passionate intensity reserved for people and objects that carry great meaning to the individual.
When consumers are truly involved with a product, an ad, or a website, they enter
what has been called a flow state. This state is the Holy Grail of Web designers who
want to create sites that are so entrancing the consumer loses all track of time as he or
she becomes engrossed in the site’s contents. Flow is an optimal experience characterized by the following:
•
A sense of playfulness
•
A feeling of being in control
•
Concentration and highly focused attention
•
Mental enjoyment of the activity for its own sake
•
A distorted sense of time
•
A match between the challenge at hand and one’s skills25
A more sophisticated view of involvement recognizes that besides the level of
involvement there may be a type of involvement. A person may be emotionally or
affectively involved with an object (such as an advertisement), or rationally or cognitively involved with a product or purchase situation, and so on. The advertising
industry has long held this view and advocates different types of advertising strategies
depending on the level and type of involvement. This is shown in Figure 4–5.
FIGURE 4–5
Foote, Cone, and Belding's Involvement and Product Typology
6;2'1(+081.8'/'06
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r/QVQTE[ENGU
/GFKC68XKFGQKOCIGDCUGF
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Source: Adapted from Richard Vaughn, “How Advertising Works: A Planning Model,” Journal of Advertising Research 20 (October 1980): 31. See also
Judith Lynne Zaichkowsky, “The Emotional Side of Product Involvement,” in Advances in Consumer Research 14, eds. Paul Anderson and
Melanie Wallendorf (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research): 32–35.
105
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
The Many Faces of Involvement
Nike
As previously defined, involvement can take many forms. Involvement can be cognitive, as when a student is motivated to learn all she can about the latest specs of the
new iPad release, or emotional, as when the thought of a new Armani suit gives a
clothes horse goosebumps.26 To complicate matters further, advertisements, such as
those produced for Nike or Adidas, may themselves be involving for some reason
(because they make us laugh or cry or inspire us to work harder). It seems that involvement is a fuzzy concept, because it overlaps and means different things to different
people. Indeed, the consensus is that there are actually three broad types of involvement—that relate to the product, to the message, and to the situation.27
P r o duc t In vo lvem en t
Product involvement is related to a consumer’s level of interest in a particular product. Many sales promotions are designed to increase this type of involvement. Perhaps
the most powerful way to enhance product involvement is to invite consumers to play
a role in designing or personalizing what they buy. Mass customization is the customization and personalization of products and services for individual customers at a
mass production price.28 Improved manufacturing techniques in many industries are
allowing companies to produce made-to-order products for many customers at a time.
This strategy applies to a wide range of products and services, from news websites
that allow readers to choose which categories of information they want to see, to computers you can configure to your specification, to blue jeans you can buy that have a
right leg that’s one inch shorter than the left leg to fit an asymmetrical body (this is
more common than you think). Mars introduced personalized M&M’s to encourage
consumers to bond with its chocolates. At www.mymms.com you can upload a photo
and order a batch of M&M’s with a face and personal message printed on the candy
shell. Nike allows consumers to design their own running shoes on NikeID.com. Lexus
sponsored a project with Time Inc. and American Express Publishing (AEP) to produce
a customized magazine. Consumers can choose content from a set of magazines such
as Time, Sports Illustrated, and Food & Wine, then receive their personalized magazine
either in print, online, or via RSS feeds on their cell phones.29
Messa g e - Respo nse In vo lvemen t
Message-response involvement refers to how the medium through which the message
is communicated can increase consumer involvement. One example of this is to create
spectacles or performances, in which the message is itself a form of entertainment. In
the early days of radio and television, ads literally were performances—show hosts
integrated marketing messages into the episodes. Today live advertising is making a
comeback, as marketers try harder and harder to captivate jaded consumers. For example, the infamous T-mobile “flash mob” in London’s busy Liverpool Street station featured a spontaneous-yet-choreographed dance routine by a massive cast of dancers.
More recent techniques include guerrilla marketing, in which marketers use low-cost,
unconventional marketing tactics to gain consumers’ attention and involvement.
These can range from events like flash mobs to using novel and unexpected ways of
displaying information to consumers.
Marketers are also increasing message-response involvement by connecting with
consumers about real-time events on social media, a tactic referred to as real-time
marketing. For example, during a power outage in the middle of the 2013 Super Bowl,
Oreo cleverly (and very quickly) crafted a visual and tweeted “You can still dunk in
the dark,” a move that got it considerable media attention and over 16 000 retweets
from consumers.30
The quest to heighten message involvement is also fuelling the rapid growth of
interactive mobile marketing, in which consumers participate in real-time promotional
campaigns via their cell phones. One form of this approach is SMS marketing, in which
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
107
Science World in Vancouver uses unexpected
marketing stimuli to increase messageresponse involvement.
Courtesy of TELUS World of Science/ReThink
Communications
retailers and brands offer discount coupons to customers in an effort to engage them. Mobile
users like text messaging, and 95 percent of all texts get opened within five minutes, which
is faster than email and social media updates.
Pu r c hase S ituat ion I n v o lv em e n t
Purchase situation involvement refers to differences that may occur when buying the same
object for different contexts. Here the person may perceive a great deal of social risk or
none at all. What people think when they consume the product for themselves, or when
they know others will consume the product they buy, is not always obvious or intuitive.
For example, when you want to impress someone, you might try to buy a brand or product
with a certain image that you think reflects good taste. When you have to buy a gift for
someone in an obligatory situation, such as a wedding gift for a cousin you do not really
like, you might not care what image the gift portrays, or you might actually pick something
cheap that reflects your desire to distance yourself.31 Again, some smart retailers are waking up to the value of increasing purchase situation involvement by appealing to hedonic
shoppers who are looking to be entertained or otherwise engaged in addition to simply
“buying stuff.”32
Segmenting by Involvement Levels
A measurement approach that segments involvement by levels allows consumer researchers to capture the diversity of the involvement construct, and it also allows for involvement to be used as a basis for market segmentation. For example, a yogurt manufacturer
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
might find that even though its product is low in sign value for one group of consumers, it is highly related to the self-concept of another market segment, such as healthfood enthusiasts or avid dieters. The company could then adapt its strategy to account
for the motivation of different segments to process information about the product.
One study looked at the roles of affective versus cognitive involvement and of
level of involvement (high versus low) in promoting Canadian universities. The
researchers found that students with a high level of cognitive involvement conducted
an intense search for information about universities, while those students who had a
low level of cognitive involvement and were affectively involved made their university choice mainly on the basis of emotional factors.33
Strategies to Increase Involvement
Although consumers differ in their levels of involvement with respect to a product
message, marketers do not have to just sit back and hope for the best. By being aware
of some basic factors that increase or decrease attention, they can take steps to increase
the likelihood that product information will get through. The marketer can enhance
the consumer’s motivation to process relevant information fairly easily by using one or
more of the following techniques:34
•
Big Rock does an excellent job of encouraging high-quality consumer-generated ads.
Courtesy of Big Rock Brewery
Appeal to consumers’ hedonic needs. For example, ads with sensory appeal generate higher levels of attention and involvement.
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
•
Use novel stimuli, such as unusual cinematography, sudden silences, or unexpected movements in commercials.
•
Use prominent stimuli, such as loud music and fast action, to capture attention in
commercials. In print formats, larger ads increase attention. Also, viewers look
longer at coloured pictures than at those in black and white.
•
Include celebrity endorsers to generate higher interest in commercials. This strategy will be discussed in Chapter 8.
•
Build a bond with consumers by maintaining an ongoing relationship with them.
Aside from these guidelines, perhaps the best way to boost consumers’ involvement with the marketing messages they see and hear is to allow them to be involved
in the marketing process. One example is crowdsourcing, in which the marketer
enlists a larger group of consumers to assist in some aspect of the marketing process.
For example, the Lay’s “Do Me a Flavour” contest asks consumers to submit ideas on
new, innovative flavours of potato chips (think Jalapeño Mac and Cheese) and then
asks other consumers to vote on the winner. The winning flavour is then put into
production. As we’ve already seen, another example of this is consumer-generated
content, in which consumers produce their own commercials for their favourite
brands. For example, Big Rock Brewery, based in Alberta, has an event called the
Eddies, in which consumers submit their own executions of print and video ads.
This practice creates a high degree of message-response involvement (also called
advertising involvement), which refers to the consumer’s interest in processing marketing communications.35
Affect
109
Marketing
Insight
When we have the opportunity to personalize a
product, our involvement increases because
the item reflects our unique preferences. But
how about when we build the product ourselves? Researchers term this the IKEA effect.
Self-made (or at least assembled) products,
including furniture, Lego, and even origami,
enhance the value we attach to them because
our own labour is involved.36 Of course, there
may also be that unsettling feeling when you
finish assembling a bookcase and there’s still
one part left over . . .
CO 6
Types of Affective Responses
Affect refers to the experience of emotionally laden states, which can range from
evaluations, to moods, to full-blown emotions. Evaluations involve valenced (i.e.,
positive or negative) reactions to events and objects, that are not accompanied by high
levels of arousal. For example, when a consumer evaluates a movie as being positive
or negative, this involves some degree of affect accompanied by low levels of arousal.
Moods involve temporary positive or negative affective states accompanied by
moderate levels of arousal. Moods tend to be diffuse and are not necessarily linked to
a particular affect-arousing event. Emotions (happiness, anger, fear, etc.), in contrast to
moods, tend to be more intense and are often related to a specific triggering event.
Marketers use affective states in many ways. First, positive moods and emotions
are often highlighted as a product benefit. Take, for example, Viagra’s marketing campaign that uses humour and music to convey the positive affective quality of the product. Certainly, some product categories, such as fragrances, alcohol, tobacco, and
caffeinated beverages, are consumed for their mood-altering qualities. Marketers will
also sometimes highlight the avoidance of negative affect as a product attribute; for
example, lottery corporations might ask consumers to consider how they would feel if
they hadn’t played the extra bonus draw.
Another way negative moods are sometimes utilized is by activating a negative
mood on the part of the consumer (e.g., by showing a picture of starving children in
Africa), and then giving the consumer a means by which to make him- or herself feel
better—by donating to the cause. Helping others as a means of resolving one’s own
negative moods has been referred to as negative state relief.37 One other way consumers can repair negative moods is by purchasing and consuming mood-enhancing products such as chocolate.
Another way marketers capitalize on affect is through mood congruency effects.
Mood congruency is the notion that our judgments are often consistent with our
existing mood states. For example, consumers judge the very same products (cars,
Consumers
in Focus
The next time you’re feeling down and you think
about cheering yourself by checking your
Facebook page, think again: Researchers report
that the longer people stay on Facebook, the
worse they feel. Apparently this activity makes
you feel as though you’re wasting your life.
People say that compared to browsing the
Internet (or perhaps studying!), Facebook
checking is less meaningful or useful. This
judgment in turns leads to bad feelings.38
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Coca-Cola’s “Open Happiness” campaign is
an excellent example of highlighting positive
affect–inducing properties as a product
benefit.
Richard Drew/AP Photo/CP Images
TVs, etc.) more positively when in a positive as opposed to a negative mood.39 This
is why advertisers may attempt to have ads placed after humorous television programming40 or endeavour to create uplifting ads.41 This is also why retailers often
employ mood-enhancing stimuli, such as pleasing background music, friendly staff,
and spatial aesthetics.42 If the retailer can create a positive mood on the part of consumers, hopefully consumers will evaluate the merchandise more positively too!
This advertisement uses sad imagery to
evoke negative moods on the part of
consumers. Consumers are likely to donate
to the cause to repair such negative moods.
Courtesy of The United Way of Greater Toronto
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
Mood congruency effects are not inevitable, however. Researchers find that moods
are often used as a source of information when evaluating an object.43 That is, the
­consumer says to herself, “If I feel happy, I must like this camera I’m considering
buying.” But if the consumer realizes that her positive mood is due to some other
source, such as the upbeat music playing in the background, and not to the camera
itself, mood is less likely to bias her judgments.44 Moods are most likely to be influential when they are considered relevant to the particular purchase decision.45
How Social Media Taps into Our Emotions
Social media platforms can also play on affect. We may share particularly good or bad
feelings on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, or even resort to emoji and emoticons
such as ☺ in texts or emails to convey how we feel.
In fact, it’s so common for people to express their moods and also their emotional
reactions to products that these posts can be a treasure trove for marketers who want
to learn more about how their offerings make people feel. Sentiment analysis
(sometimes called opinion mining) is a process that scours the social media universe
to collect and analyze the words people use when they describe a specific product or
company. When people feel a particular way, they are likely to choose certain words
that tend to relate to the emotion. From these words, the researcher will create a
Courtesy of Monica Popa
As I See It
Think of brand names such
as Hubba Bubba, Tutti Frutti,
Jelly Belly, KitKat, Bits &
Bites, Lululemon, and Tostitos.
Now say these names out loud!
If you found yourself giggling
afterward, don’t worry: It’s normal. What you have just experienced is the positive affect
generated by words that conMonica Popa University of
tain sound repetition in their
Saskatchewan
linguistic structure. Brands
with linguistic devices of repetition (e.g., alliteration and rhyme) in
their names have a way of putting a smile on our face. Their positive impact on our emotions is particularly strong if we hear or say
the brand names out loud, as opposed to merely seeing these
names written on a page.
My colleagues and I explored in a series of experiments
what happens when consumers experience positive feelings as a
result of exposure to brand names containing sound repetition.1
We found that positive affect prompts consumers to have higher
evaluations of these brands and to choose them over brands that
do not have sound repetition in their names. Our studies also reveal
that positive feelings have consequences beyond the focal brands.
For example, positive affect not only prompts consumers to prefer
a mobile phone named “Shonoshon” to one named “Shonufam,”
but also increases consumers’ likelihood of buying add-on
1
features/services for the phone, particularly when the extra features are hedonic (e.g., downloadable iTunes, personalized ring
tones) rather than utilitarian (e.g., extended warranty and
increased internal memory). Furthermore, the affect triggered by
the name of a service establishment such as a restaurant influences consumers’ choice of menu items. For example, if consumers go to a restaurant called “Rantifanti” (as against a
restaurant called “Rantifumte”), they are more likely to select
from the menu an indulgent dessert (e.g., chocolate cake) than
a healthy product (e.g., fruit salad). These findings have important implications for manufacturers in naming their brands and
designing their product portfolio, for retailers deciding which
brands and products to sell, and for managers training their
sales force to cross-sell or up-sell. For instance, salespeople are
more likely to succeed in cross-selling hedonic products when
consumers experience positive affect (as a result of hearing
brand names with sound repetition or as a result of other pleasant stimuli such as background music or enjoyable pictures).
In a related stream of research, I currently explore how
social interaction impacts consumers’ feelings and in turn, their
behaviour. The motivation for this research direction is my fascination with emotions, and my continuous quest to understand
the interplay between affect and cognitions in guiding consumption decisions. The sweeping effects of positive affect never
cease to amaze me. At the end of the day, little things that make
us smile or have a good laugh can often work wonders in marketing and in life.
Jennifer Argo, Monica Popa, and Malcolm Smith, “The Sound of Brands,” Journal of Marketing 74(4) (2010): 97–109.
111
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
word-phrase dictionary (sometimes called a library) to code the data. A computer
program will then scan social media text to identify whether the words in the
dictionary appear.
Consider this example. A review on Epinions, a product review site, included
the statement, “The Canon PowerShot A540 camera had good aperture and excellent
resolution.” A sentiment analysis would extract the entities of interest from the sentence, identifying the product as the Canon PowerShot A540 and the relevant dimensions as aperture and resolution. The sentiment would then be extracted for each
dimension; the sentiment for aperture is good while that for resolution is excellent.
Text mining software would collect these reactions and combine them with others to
paint a picture of how people are talking about the product. There are several sentiment analysis programs that do similar things; one called ToneCheck even reports on
the emotions it detects in people’s emails.46
CO 7
Discrete Emotions
Consumer researchers have become increasingly interested in investigating the
importance of specific emotions in the consumption environment. While the general notion of positive and negative emotion does have importance in understanding consumer behaviour, the examination of specific emotional reactions during
consumption episodes can provide additional insight. For example, envy and
embarrassment are both negative emotions, but consumers who experience these
emotions while out on a shopping trip are likely to have very different reactions to
the shopping event.
Hap p in e ss
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions.
Researchers have understandably long been interested in what it is that truly makes
people happy. Material goods, it seems, are not the secret to happiness. The higher
The Moodagent app generates a music
playlist based on the user’s mood.
Copyright Syntonetic Media Solutions A/S, 2015
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
people score on materialism scales, the less happy they seem to be.47 In one study
respondents were asked to think of either a material purchase (defined as a purchase made with the primary intention of acquiring a material possession) or an
experiential purchase (defined as a purchase made with the primary intention of
acquiring a life experience), which were matched for price. 48 The authors found
that experiential purchases brought respondents more happiness than did material
purchases. This is because experiential purchases are more open to positive reinterpretations, are a more meaningful part of one’s identity, and contribute more to successful social relationships.
Other research also finds that how we spend our money can influence happiness.
For example, people report increased levels of happiness when they spend money on
others, as opposed to on themselves.49 Finally, one possibility is that the key to happiness does not involve money at all; it involves time. Cassie Mogilner, a professor at
the Wharton School of Business, suggests that thinking about time, rather than
money, influences how effectively people pursue personal happiness goals.50 This is
because encouraging people to think about time motivates them to spend more time
with family and friends and less time working. Thinking about money, on the other
hand, induces people to socialize less and work more. It turns out that the secret to
happiness might be fostering social connections with the people who are important
to us!
What makes us happy can also vary throughout the lifespan. That is, the meaning
of happiness is not fixed and can shift as people get older. Whereas younger people are
more likely to associate happiness with excitement, older people are more likely to
associate happiness with feelings of calm and peacefulness.51 It has been suggested
that this is due to increased feelings of connectedness to others and to the present
moment as one ages.
113
Marketing
Insight
You are watching a horror flick and just so happen to be eating a bag of a new brand of candy.
What impact would the unrelated emotion of
fear have on how you feel about the candy
brand? Although, intuitively, one might predict
that this would lead to negative brand evaluations, researchers have found that this is not
necessarily the case. In particular, they discovered that fear led to a desire for affiliation and
that people felt more connected to the brand
when they experienced fear. The authors propose that, in the absence of the social support
of other people, the brand itself can fulfil the
interpersonal psychological need for affiliation.
This work suggests that marketers don’t have
to avoid social media, movies, and video
games that might incidentally create fear and
could instead use such contexts to try to create
a sense of attachment to the brand.52
This advertisement from Mercedes-Benz
highlights an affective benefit of the product.
Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.
Converts gasoline to adrenaline.
With its bold, dynamic AMG styling, the all-new 2012 SLK 350 instantly attracts attention.
And with our dynamic handling package and 302 horsepower at your disposal, the ride is as
exhilarating as its look. For ultimate closed-top cruising, raise the power retractable vario-roof
and witness MAGIC SKY CONTROL – our innovative panoramic sunroof that adjusts from
tinted to clear at the touch of a button. Visit mercedes-benz.ca/slk
© 2011 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.
[Dealer Name], [Dealer Address], [Dealer Telephone Number], [Dealer Website]
!"#$%&%$'()(*+,-./001112
2+3(,322111,4*(1'!
114
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Envy
Envy is a negative emotion associated with the desire to reduce the gap between oneself and someone who is superior on some dimension.53 As the phrase “keeping up
with the Joneses” suggests, consumers often experience envy. It has been suggested
that two distinct types can emerge. Benign envy occurs when the individual believes
that the superior other deserves his or her status. Researchers find that when consumers experience benign envy over a product (e.g., the newest model of the iPhone),
they are willing to pay more for it.54 Malicious envy occurs when the consumer
believes that the superior other does not deserve his or her status. In this case, consumers do not desire the focal product (iPhone), but are instead willing to pay more
for a different product in the same category (a Samsung phone). Feelings of malicious envy have also been shown to produce negative attitudes and actions toward
the envied other. In these instances, envy can result in negative word of mouth, and
even acts of sabotage.
Gu ilt
Consumers
in Focus
Purchasing fitness-tracking wearable technology; learning a new language; choosing a performance enhancing sport drink; meeting a
financial planner. All of these consumption
decisions reflect the goal to become better in
domains that are important to the self. Recent
research suggests that the negative emotion of
guilt activates self-improvement motives,
which can lead consumers to be more likely to
choose products that are aimed at improving
the self. What was interesting was that guilt
experienced in one domain (for example, guilt
over not donating blood) was shown to “spill
over” into other domains (for example, leading
consumers to choose an energy drink that was
positioned on the basis of its ability to improve
mental performance). Notably, only guilt had
this motivational abilility to spur a desire for
self-improvement; sadness, shame, and
embarrassment did not.62
Guilt is defined as “an individual’s unpleasant emotional state associated with possible objections to his or her actions, inaction, circumstances, or intentions.”55 Guilt is
often activated in contexts where marketers want consumers to engage in prosocial
behaviours, such as charitable giving. Marketing communications that activate a sense
of guilt on the part of the consumer, or “guilt appeals,” can be particularly compelling
when other people are present, because this activates a sense of consumer social
responsibility.56 However, extreme guilt appeals can sometimes backfire, and it can be
more effective to activate guilt more subtly. For example, the context itself—simply
presenting a green, environmentally friendly option alongside a non-green one—can
give rise to a sense of anticipatory guilt on the part of the consumer. That is, consumers worry about how guilty they might feel in the future if they were to choose the
alternative, non-green option.57 The authors of this study found that subtler forms of
guilt induction were more effective than explicit guilt appeals in encouraging consumers to select green products.
Consumer guilt can be activated in retail settings, too. One field study found that
when a consumer fails to make a purchase, this can lead to a guilt response when he or
she feels a sense of social connectedness with a salesperson.58 In such situations, consumers not only feel guilt, but are also likely to engage in reparative actions. For example, they might decide to make their lack of purchase up to the salesperson the next
time around.
Embar r assmen t
Embarrassment is a social emotion driven by a concern for what others are thinking
about us. It typically occurs when unwanted events communicate undesired information about oneself to others. To be embarrassed, one must be aware of, and care
about, the evaluating social audience, whether real or imagined.59 Embarrassment
in the consumer context most often arises when socially sensitive products are purchased. For example, condoms, adult diapers, tampons, hair-lice shampoo, and
pornography can be embarrassing products for some consumers.60 The feeling
exists here because the purchase of these items involves exposure of personal information to a social audience. Interestingly, research has shown that familiarity with
a product (e.g., previous purchase) can reduce the embarrassment a consumer feels
in a shopping environment.61 Consumers have also been shown to adopt strategies
to alleviate embarrassment in such circumstances. For example, they might attempt
to hide an embarrassing product among others in the shopping basket, or they might
choose a cashier who looks “more friendly” when paying. Embarrassment can also
arise between consumers when a social custom or norm is violated. For example,
when one is out on a dinner date, rejection of one’s credit card can be a very embarrassing experience.
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
Chapter Summary
It’s important for marketers to recognize that products can
satisfy a range of consumer needs.
• Marketers try to satisfy consumer needs, but the reasons
any product is purchased can vary widely. The identification of consumer motives is an important step in ensuring
that the appropriate needs will be met by a product. Traditional approaches to consumer behaviour have focused on
the abilities of products to satisfy rational needs (utilitarian
motives), but hedonic motives (such as the need for exploration or fun) also play a role in many purchase decisions.
• As demonstrated by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the
same product can satisfy different needs depending on
the consumer’s state at the time (i.e., whether basic physiological needs have already been satisfied). In addition to
his or her objective situation, the consumer’s degree of
involvement with the product must also be considered.
The way we evaluate and choose a product depends on our
degree of involvement with the product, the marketing
message, and/or the purchase situation.
• Product involvement can range from very low, in which purchase decisions are made by inertia, to very high, in which
consumers form very strong bonds with what they buy. In
addition to considering the degree to which consumers are
involved with a product, marketing strategists need to
assess the extent of involvement with marketing messages
and with the purchase situation.
The way we interpret, evaluate, and choose products can
also depend on our current affective state.
• Discrete emotions such as happiness, envy, guilt, and embarrassment can influence a variety of consumer outcomes.
Key Terms
Affect
Drive
p. 109
p. 94
Embarrassment
Emotions
Envy
Guerrilla marketing
p. 109
Crowdsourcing
p. 114
p. 109
p. 114
Evaluations
p. 109
Happiness p. 112
Negative state relief
Homeostasis
p. 95
IKEA effect
p. 109
Inertia
Mass customization
Moods
p. 109
p. 106
p. 111
Theory of cognitive dissonance
p. 105
Involvement
p. 94
Real-time marketing
Sentiment analysis
Interactive mobile marketing
Flow state
Goal
p. 109
p. 93
Motivation
Expectancy theory p. 95
p. 105
Mood congruency
p. 106
Guilt p. 114
p. 106
Want
p. 98
p. 95
Word-phrase dictionary p. 112
p. 104
p. 106
p. 109
Review Questions
1. What is motivation, and how is this idea relevant to marketing?
5. Name the levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and give an
example of a marketing appeal that’s focused at each level.
2. Describe three types of motivational conflicts, citing an
example of each from current marketing campaigns.
6. What is consumer involvement? How does this concept
relate to motivation?
3. Explain the difference between a need and a want.
7. Why would marketers want their customers to enter into
a flow state when shopping for their products?
4. What is cognitive dissonance?
115
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S E CT I ON I I Consumers as Individuals
8. List three types of consumer involvement, giving an
example of each.
12. What is mood congruency, and how can it be applied in
an advertising context?
9. What are some strategies marketers can use to increase
consumers’ involvement with their products?
13. Name two discrete emotions, and explain how they have
relevance in a consumption context.
10. What is the difference between mood and emotion?
11. How can emotion be used as information when making a
purchase?
14. What strategies can consumers pursue to avoid embarrassment?
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. Some consumers dislike ads that show starving children
in Africa because these ads make them feel negative emotions such as sadness and guilt. What are your feelings
about this type of promotional strategy? Is it manipulative
to play on consumers’ emotional reactions in this context?
2. “High involvement is just a fancy term for expensive.”
Do you agree? Why or why not?
3. Which of the needs in Maslow’s hierarchy do you satisfy when you participate in social networks such as
Facebook and Twitter? How could these sites add new
features to help you satisfy these needs?
4. Social marketing campaigns have encouraged the normalization of condom purchase in an effort to reduce
the infection rate of sexually transmitted diseases. As
part of this strategy, they have tried to reduce the
embarrassment associated with buying condoms. Do
you think this is an effective approach? Why or why not?
Experiential Exercises
5. Devise separate promotional strategies for an article of
clothing, each of which stresses one of the levels of
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
6. Describe how a man’s level of involvement with his car
would affect how he is influenced by different marketing
stimuli. How might you design a strategy for a line of car batteries for a segment of low-involvement consumers, and how
would this strategy differ from your attempts to reach a segment of men who are very involved in working on their cars?
7. Interview members of a celebrity fan club. Describe
their level of involvement with the “product” and devise
some marketing opportunities to reach this group.
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
PlentyofFish (POF)
Thomas Allard was looking forward to reporting the most recent
numbers to the innovation team at PlentyofFish (POF). Under
direction from Markus Frind, founder and CEO of the company,
the innovation team had introduced a number of fundamental
changes to the world’s largest online dating website. Thomas knew
it was important to evolve the product, something that Frind had
done continually since launching the company in 2003. In doing
so, the company had met the challenge of new business models
entering the online dating marketplace, a hyper-­competitive environment among entrenched players, and of the continually evolving consumer, who was looking for the next big thing in dating
services. Importantly, innovation at the company centred on two
things: motivating the current customer base to stay active in their
utilization of the website, and providing motivation to new customers to give the online dating service an initial trial.
Online Dating
Online dating is a personal introduction system where individuals can present themselves to others over the Internet with an
end goal of developing a friendship, a romantic relationship, or a
sexual encounter. Services that facilitate online dating typically
provide unmoderated matchmaking by allowing individuals (i.e.,
clients) to share personal information (e.g., gender, religion,
occupation, personal interests, body type) in an open marketplace. By providing personal information, the service enables
the client to build a profile in its system and search the service’s
database for other client profiles that would be of potential interest. Some online services provide guidance to clients on which
profiles in the system would be the best match for their stated
interests. For example, Match.com utilizes client responses to
the Myers-Briggs personality test to help align clients into successful matches. Other online dating companies specialize in
building a client base based on specific interests or client background. For example, Jdate.com is targeted to members of the
Jewish community, Shaadi.com to those with an Indian ethnic
background, and Ashley Madison to married individuals who
are looking for extra-marital relationships.
The five largest online dating companies (in order of the size
of their client base) are POF, Match.com, OKCupid, Zoosk, and
E-Harmony. Interestingly, each of these services has pursued a
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
different business model in building its success. Where some of
these dating services charge a monthly fee for services, others
provide free registration and garner revenue from advertising.
Importantly, while the business models may differ, these sites all
enable clients to access their services through personal computers, tablets, or smartphones. Further, most sites in the industry
allow members to upload photos or videos of themselves, and
some enable webcasts, online chat, and message boards.
PlentyofFish
PlentyofFish (POF) is the world’s largest online dating service
with over 90 million registered users and more than 55 000
signups every day in 2014. Based in Canada, the company is
the largest online dating service in the United States, United
Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and Canada. With 66 full-time
employees, POF claims to facilitate over 10 million conversations
every day and over 1 million relationships every year.
As the founder of the company, Markus Frind identified the
potential for a free option in the growing market for online dating
in 2003, and he was able to successfully build a business model
that generated revenue through advertising and optional premium services. This approach, known as a freemium business
model, gave basic services to the client for free and offered an
upgraded membership where the client could see when his or
her profile was viewed and whether messages were read or
deleted. Since its inception, POF had been at the forefront of
new approaches and tactics applicable to the online dating market. As one example, in 2009 POF launched a contest with Lady
Gaga allowing single clients to go with another POF client to
meet the singer during her concert tour. POF has also appeared
in numerous music videos of artists, ranging from Kesha and
Akon to Natasha Bedingfield, in an effort to leverage positive
celebrity associations in building the brand. On the technology
front, POF was one of the first companies to launch mobile apps
for its services in 2010 for iPhone and Android. By 2014 the
company indicated that it could attribute 85 percent of its traffic
to mobile, with the number continuing to grow.
Current Challenge and Opportunity
Over the past few years, new entrants to the online dating s­ ervice
marketplace have begun focusing on opportunities provided by
the shift to mobile devices. Companies like Tinder and Grinder
capitalized on the ability of mobile to provide real-time information on client geographic location and thus enable instant inter-
action between clients. These brands focused specifically on the
sexual “hook-up” opportunity this technology could facilitate
and directly played down the notion of a dating relationship that
might surface from immediate client interaction.
This new approach to technology application posed a
potential challenge to the POF business model. Should the
company follow these new upstart competitors and build more
potential in this area of business? Interestingly, in response to
this new trend, Frind asked the innovation team to implement
several changes to the website with a directive to focus specifically on meaningful relationships. Reporting that less than
1 percent of the client base was utilizing the dating service for
intimate encounters, Frind believed that the strongest opportunity would be found in sharpening the product offering to clients who wanted authentic interactions with other clients.
Changes to the website include the removal of the intimate encounters option and deleting first contact between clients that contained sexual references. The ability of male
users to attach images to messages was removed. Further, the
ability to contact other clients of age differences greater than
14 years was hindered by direct messaging from Frind that
warned against the effort. In essence, Frind decided to block
behaviours that he felt were counter to his clients finding real
relationships on the website.
But was this the right path in motivating current clients to
stay loyal and new clients to try the service? Thomas Allard was
excited by the preliminary data he had gathered to answer this
question and was eager to share it with the innovation team.
Indeed, the company received more than 150 000 thank-you
messages from male and female clients within 12 hours of
receiving notification of the website changes.
1. What do those who utilize online dating services want?
What consumer needs do these services meet? At what
levels of Maslow’s hierarchy would you place the need(s)
relevant in the context of online dating services?
2. What is an effective approach to building an online dating
service? What challenges do companies face in building a
successful business model?
3. What do you think of Frind’s chosen strategy as POF faces
new competition? Will this succeed or fail given the
changes in the marketplace? Why?
4. Imagine you are building a start-up Internet dating service. What would you do? How would you motivate consumers to try your service?
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43. N. Schwarz and G.L. Clore, “Feelings and Phenomenal Experiences,” in Social
Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles, ed. E.T. Higgins and A.W. Kruglanski (New
York: Guilford Press, 1996): 433–465.
44. G.J. Gorn, M.E. Goldberg, and K. Basu, “Mood, Awareness, and Product Evaluation,”
Journal of Consumer Psychology 2 (1993): 237–256.
45. M.T. Pham, “Representativeness, Relevance, and the Use of Feelings in Decision
Making,” Journal of Consumer Research 25 (1998): 144–159; Katherine White and
Cathy McFarland, “When Do Moods Influence Consumers’ Product Evaluations? The
Role of Mood-Acknowledgment and Perceived Appropriateness of Using Moods,”
Journal of Consumer Psychology 19(3) (2009): 526–536.
46. Tracy Tuten and Michael R. Solomon, Social Media Marketing (Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Education, 2012); Jennifer Van Grove, “How a Sentiment Analysis
Startup Profits by Checking Emotion in E-mail,” Mashable (January 20, 2011),
http://mashable.com/2011/01/20/lymbix/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_
medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29,
accessed April 29, 2011.
47. R.W. Belk, “Materialism: Trait Aspects of Living in the Material World,” Journal of
Consumer Research 14 (1985): 113–127; M.L. Richins and S. Dawson, “A Consumer
Values Orientation for Materialism and Its Measurement: Scale Development and
Validation,” Journal of Consumer Research 19 (1992): 303–316.
48. Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich, “To Do or to Have? That Is the Question,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 85(6): 1193–1202.
49. Elizabeth Dunn, Lara B. Aknin, and Michael I. Norton, “Spending Money on Others
Promotes Happiness,” Science (319) (2008): 1687–1688.
50. Cassie Mogilner, “The Pursuit of Happiness: Time, Money, and Social Connection,”
Psychological Science 21(9): 1348–1354.
C H A P T E R 4 Motivation and Affect
51. Cassie Mogilner, Sepandar D. Kamvar, and Jennifer Aaker, “The Shifting
Meaning of Happiness,” Social Psychological and Personality Science (July 2,
2011): 395–402.
57. John Peloza, Jingzhi Shang, and Katherine White, “Green and Guilt Free: The Role of
Guilt in Determining the Effectiveness of Environmental Advertising Appeals,” in press.
52. Lea Dunn and JoAndrea Hoegg, “The Impact of Fear on Emotional Brand,” Journal of
Consumer Research 41(1) (2014): 152–168.
58. Darren W. Dahl, Heather Honea, and Rajesh V. Manchanda, “Three R’s of
Interpersonal Consumer Guilt: Relationship, Reciprocity, Reparation,” Journal of
Consumer Psychology 15(4) (2005): 307–315.
53. Richard H. Smith and Sung Hee, “Comprehending Envy,” Psychological Bulletin
133(1) (2007): 46–64.
59. Loraine Lau-Gesk and Aimee Drolet, “The Publicly Self-Consciousness Consumer: Prepared
to Be Embarrassed,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 18(2) (2008): 127–136.
54. Niels Van de Ven, Marcel Zeelenberg, and Rik Pieters, “The Envy Premium in Product
Evaluation,” Journal of Consumer Research 37(6) (2011): 984–998.
60. Aubrey Wilson and Christopher West, “The Marketing of Unmentionables,” Harvard
Business Review 59 (January–February 1981): 91–102.
55. Roy F. Baumeister, Arlene M. Stillwell, and Todd F. Heatherton “Guilt: An Interpersonal
Approach,” Psychological Bulletin 115 (1994): 243–267.
61. Darren W. Dahl, Rajesh V. Manchanda, and Jennifer J. Argo, “Embarrassment in
Consumer Purchase: The Roles of Social Presence and Purchase Familiarity,” Journal
of Consumer Research 28 (December 2001): 473–481.
56. Debra Z. Basil, Nancy M. Ridgway, and Michael D. Basil, “Guilt Appeals: The
Mediating Effect of Responsibility,” Psychology & Marketing 23(12) (2006):
1035–1054.
62. Thomas Allard and Katherine White, “Cross-Domain Effects of Guilt on Desire for
Self-Improvement Products,” Journal of Consumer Research 42(3), 401–419.
119
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5
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
C HAPT E R
The Self
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand that the self-concept strongly influences
consumer behaviour.
2
3
4
5
Understand how marketing communications can
influence consumer self-esteem.
Understand that the way we think about our bodies
(and the way our culture tells us we should think) is
a key component of self-esteem.
6
Understand that products often play a key role in
defining the self-concept.
Understand that our desire to live up to cultural
expectations of appearance can be harmful.
7
Understand that every culture dictates certain types
of body decoration or mutilation.
Understand that society’s expectations of
masculinity and femininity help to determine the
products we buy to meet these expectations.
Perspectives on the Self
Many products, from cars to cologne, are bought because people are trying to highlight or
downplay some aspect of the self. This chapter focuses on the self. We’ll consider how consumers’ feelings about themselves shape their consumption practices, particularly as they
strive to fulfil their society’s expectations about how males and females should look and act.
Does the Self Exist?
Social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook enable everyone to focus on
him- or herself and share mundane or scintillating details about their lives with anyone
who’s interested. Although it seems natural to think about each consumer as having a self,
this concept is actually a relatively new way of regarding people and their relationships
with society. The idea that every human life is unique rather than a part of a group developed only in late medieval times (between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries). The notion
that the self is an object to be pampered is even more recent. In addition, the emphasis on
the unique nature of the self is much greater in Western societies.1 Many Eastern cultures
instead stress the importance of a collective self, in which the person’s identity is derived
in large measure from his or her social group.
Both Eastern and Western cultures see the self as divided into an inner, private self
and an outer, public self. But where these conceptions of self differ is in terms of which
part is seen as the “real you”: Western culture tends to subscribe to an independent interpretation of the self, which emphasizes the inherent separateness of each individual; nonWestern cultures, in contrast, tend to focus on an interdependent self, whereby a person’s
identity is largely defined by the relationships he or she has with others.2
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
Self-Concept
121
CO 1
The self-concept refers to the beliefs a person holds about his or her own attributes
and how he or she evaluates these qualities. Although one’s overall self-concept may
be positive, there are certainly parts of the self that are evaluated more positively
than others.
The self-concept is a very complex structure. It comprises many attributes, some of
which are given greater emphasis in determining overall self-attitude. Attributes of
self-concept can be described along such dimensions as their content (e.g., facial attractiveness versus mental aptitude), positivity or negativity (e.g., self-esteem), intensity,
stability over time, and accuracy (e.g., the degree to which one’s self-assessment corresponds to reality).3 As will be seen later in this chapter, consumers’ self-assessments
can be quite distorted, especially with regard to their physical appearance.
While the self-concept can be somewhat stable over time and situations, situational
factors can influence how we feel about ourselves. For example, television commercials
can evoke unfavourable stereotypes about women, which can actually lead females to
experience stereotype threat. Stereotype threat refers to the anxiety consumers
feel when they fear they might act in a way that confirms the group stereotype—for
example, the stereotype that women are not as good as men at math. Stereotype threat
actually leads women to perform worse on math-related tests and make them less
inclined to pursue careers that have a strong math component.4 Such threats can occur
in retail contexts, too. When a female needs to take her car to a mechanic she may feel
a sense of stereotype threat that leads to decreased purchase intentions when the
service provider is male.5
Fashion: Consumption and Identity
Se lf- Es te e m
CO 2
Consumers
in Focus
The phenomenon of “vanity sizing” is directly
related to consumers’ self-esteem. On average,
individuals in Western societies have increased
in body size, and one interesting consequence is
that the sizing of clothing has kept pace. For
example, what was once a size 12 is now labelled
a size 8 at some clothing retailers.6 Clothing
retailers are simply trying to ensure that when
consumers try on clothing items, a label showing
an increased size doesn’t threaten their selfesteem (causing the loss of a sale). Vanity sizing
is a simple way to appeal to consumers’ vanity
by having them think they are thin and small.
Some have asked how low sizes can go. After
XXXS, what is next?
Self-esteem refers to the positivity of your attitude toward yourself. People with low
self-esteem do not expect to perform very well, and they will try to avoid embarrassment, failure, or rejection. In contrast, people with high self-esteem expect to be successful, will take more risks, and are more willing to be the centre of attention. 7
Self-esteem is often related to acceptance by others. As you probably remember from
your own experience, high school students who hang out in high-status “crowds”
seem to have higher self-esteem than their classmates.8
L’Oréal reaffirms women’s self-esteem
with the slogan “You’re Worth It” and by
reminding them that a wide range of ages
and ethnicities can be beautiful.
© The Advertising Archives/Alamy
122
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing communications can influence a consumer’s level of self-esteem.
Exposure to ads can trigger a process of social comparison, wherein the person tries
to evaluate his or her self by comparing it with other people’s selves and those of
media images. This form of comparison appears to be a basic human motive, and
many marketers have tapped into this need by supplying idealized images of happy,
attractive people who just happen to be using their products. One study illustrates
this process of social comparison. It showed that female college students do tend to
compare their physical appearance to that of models who appear in advertising.
Furthermore, the study participants who were exposed to beautiful women in
advertisements afterward expressed lowered satisfaction with their own appearance as compared with other participants who did not view ads with models. 9
Another study demonstrated that young women’s perceptions of their body shapes
and sizes can be altered after they are exposed to as little as 30 minutes of TV programming.10 Similar findings have been reported for young men. 11 This process
even operates when we decide how much to eat: One study found that people who
were served food by a server who was either fat or thin choose different portion
sizes.12
Re a l a n d Id eal Selves
Marketing
Insight
A word to the wise: Corporate recruiters often
complain about students who show up for job
interviews in sloppy or revealing clothing—
these applicants failed to “read the memo”
about which role they’re expected to play in professional settings! Opportunities for impression
management abound, and this includes how
you act at business dinners or networking
events. Indeed, researchers found evidence of
an imbibing idiot bias: Even when they are not
actually impaired, people who simply hold an
alcoholic beverage are perceived to be less
intelligent than those who do not. Researchers
found that job candidates who ordered wine
during an interview held over dinner were
viewed as less intelligent and less hireable than
candidates who ordered soda. Ironically, the job
candidates themselves believed that ordering
wine rather than soda helped them to appear
more intelligent.15
When a consumer compares some aspect of him- or herself to an ideal, this judgment influences self-esteem. A consumer might ask, “Am I as attractive as I would
like to be?” “Do I make as much money as I should?” and so on. The ideal self is a
person’s conception of how he or she would like to be, while the actual self is our
more realistic appraisal of the qualities we do and don’t have. We choose some
products because we think they are consistent with our actual self, while we buy
others to help us reach an ideal standard. We also often engage in a process of
impression management where we work hard to “manage” what others think of us;
we strategically choose clothing and other products that will present us to others in
a good light.13
The ideal self is partly moulded by elements of the consumer’s culture, such as
aspirational figures or people depicted in advertising, that serve as models of
achievement or appearance.14 Products may be purchased because they are believed
to be instrumental in helping the consumer achieve the goal of emulating these
models.
Multiple Selves
In a way, each consumer is really a number of different people. We have as many
selves as we have different social roles. Depending on the situation, we act differently,
use different products and services, and even vary in terms of how much we like ourselves. A person may require a different set of products to play a number of desired
roles. One may choose to consume beer with close friends but opt for a sophisticated
Chardonnay when in business company. Each of us plays many roles, and each role
has its own script, props, and costumes.16
The self might be thought of as having different components or role identities,
with only some of these being active at any given time. Some identities (husband,
boss, or student) are more central to the self than others, but others (stamp collector,
dancer, or advocate for the homeless) may be dominant in specific situations. Strategically, this means that a marketer may want to take steps to ensure that the appropriate
role identity is active before pitching products needed to play that particular role. One
obvious way to do this is to place advertising messages in contexts where people are
likely to be well aware of that role identity—for example, by promoting fitness and
energy products at a marathon.
If one of the aspects of the consumer’s identity gets temporarily viewed in a negative light, this can have interesting implications for consumer behaviour. In one study,
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
123
for example, participants learned negative information about their gender identity or
neutral information about their gender identity. Participants who were low in collective self-esteem for gender, who didn’t strongly value and identify with their gender,
were less likely to choose a product linked to their gender (e.g., Cosmopolitan magazine for females versus Us magazine) in response to this gender identity threat. Those
who were high in collective self-esteem maintained their preferences for gender-linked
products, regardless of whether their gender identity was viewed negatively.17
Sym b oic I nte ra ct io n i s m
If every person potentially has many social selves, how does each develop, and how
do we decide which self to “activate” at any point in time? The sociological tradition
of symbolic interactionism stresses that relationships with other people play a large
part in forming the self.18 This perspective maintains that people exist in a symbolic
environment, and that the meaning attached to any situation or object is determined
by the interpretation of the symbols. As members of society, we learn to agree on
shared meanings. Thus, we “know” that a red light means stop and that the “golden
arches” mean fast food. That’s important to understand in consumer behaviour,
because it implies that our possessions play a key role as we evaluate ourselves and
decide “who we are.”19
The process of imagining others’ reactions to us is known as the looking-glass self.20
According to this view, a process of reflexive evaluation occurs when an individual
attempts to define the self, and it operates as a sort of psychological sonar: We take readings of our own identity by “bouncing” signals off others and trying to project the
impression they have of us. The looking-glass image we receive will differ depending on
whose views we are considering. In symbolic interactionist terms, we negotiate these
meanings over time. Essentially, we continually ask ourselves, “Who am I in this situation?” Those around us greatly influence how we answer this query because we also ask,
“Who do other people think I am?” We tend to pattern our behaviour on the perceived
expectations of others in a form of self-fulfilling prophecy. When we act the way we
assume others expect us to act, we often confirm these perceptions.
Many fashion apps allow consumers to get feedback on the image of the self they
convey to others. For example, WeStyle (www.westyleapp.com) allows individuals to
get advice on their outfits from users.
This Italian ad reminds us of the power of
self-consciousness: “The world is looking
at you.”
Model: Heine van Wyk, Photographer BOUDEWIJN SMIT/
DOC ARTIST MGMT
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Self-Consciousness
Have you ever walked into a class in the middle of a lecture? If you were convinced
that all eyes were on you as you awkwardly searched for a seat, you can understand
the feeling of self-consciousness. In contrast, consumers sometimes behave with
little self-consciousness. For example, people might do things in a stadium, during
a riot, or at a party that they would never do if they were highly conscious of their
behaviour.21
Of course, certain cues in the environment—like walking in front of a mirror—
are likely to promote self-consciousness. That feeling in turn may influence behaviour. For example, one pair of researchers is looking at whether grocery shoppers
who push a cart with an attached mirror will buy more produce and healthy foods
because their heightened self-consciousness makes them more weight conscious.22
Some people seem, in general, to be more sensitive to the image they communicate
to others, although we all know people who act as if they’re oblivious to the impression they are making! A heightened concern about the nature of one’s public
“image” also results in more concern about the social appropriateness of products
and consumption activities.
Consumers who score high on a scale of public self-consciousness are also more
interested in clothing and tend to be heavier users of cosmetics.23 A similar measure
is self-monitoring. High self-monitors are more attuned to how they present themselves in their social environments, and their product choices are influenced by their
estimates of how these items will be perceived by others.24 Self-monitoring is
assessed by the extent of a consumer’s agreement with such statements as “I guess I
put on a show to impress or entertain others” or “I would probably make a good
actor.”25
One trend that is perhaps driven by highly self-conscious individuals is that of
the “selfie.” A selfie, or a picture a user takes of him- or herself on a smartphone
(whether or not it’s attached to a “selfie stick”), is a common form of communication,
especially for Millennials. There are more than 35 million selfies posted on Instagram
alone. Add in the growing practice of posting streaming video of yourself on platforms
like Periscope, Camio, and Meerkat and you’ve got a major cultural phenomenon. The
average Millennial checks his or her smartphone 43 times per day, and 83 percent of
Millennials report that they sleep with their smartphones every night.26 Here’s the
irony: Research shows that while people believe taking pictures during an event
enhances their enjoyment, the opposite is true. There is a tendency to become preoccupied with documenting the moment—and the more pictures people take, the less
they say they enjoy the actual experience.27
Consumption and Self-Concept
It is easy to see how the consumption of products and services contributes to the definition of the self. For an actor to play a role convincingly, he or she needs the correct
props, stage setting, and so on. Consumers learn that different roles are accompanied
by constellations of products and activities that help to define these roles.28 Some
“props” are so important to the roles we play that they can be viewed as a part of the
extended self.
CO 3
Products that Shape the Self: You Are What You Consume
Recall that the reflected self helps to shape self-concept, which implies that people see themselves as they imagine others see them. Since what others see includes
a person’s clothing, jewellery, furniture, car, and so on, it stands to reason that
these products also help to determine the perceived self. The products a consumer
owns place him or her into a social role, which helps to answer the question,
“Who am I now?”
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
People use an individual’s consumption behaviours to help them make judgments
about who that person is. In addition to considering a person’s clothes, grooming habits, and so on, we make inferences about personality based on a person’s choice of
leisure activities (squash versus bowling), food preferences (vegetarians versus “steak
and potatoes” people), cars, home decorating choices, and so on. People who are
shown pictures of someone’s living room, for example, are able to make surprisingly
accurate guesses about that consumer’s personality.29 And just as a consumer’s use of
products influences others’ perceptions, the same products can help to determine his
or her own self-concept and social identity.30
Using consumption information to define the self is especially important when
an identity is yet to be adequately formed, as occurs when a consumer plays a new or
unfamiliar role. Symbolic self-completion theory predicts that people who have an
incomplete self-definition tend to complete this identity by acquiring and displaying
symbols associated with it.31 Adolescent boys, for example, might use “macho” products such as cars and cigarettes to bolster their developing masculinity; these products are a sort of “social crutch” during periods of uncertainty. A related concept is
compensatory consumption, which means that when consumers are threatened or
lacking on a particular dimension, they may consume in ways that allow them to
cope with this threat. For example, when a consumer’s sense of power is threatened,
he or she might compensate by selecting a good that can signal status to others.32
The contribution of possessions to self-identity is perhaps most apparent when
these treasured objects are lost or stolen. One of the first acts performed by
institutions that want to repress individuality and encourage group identity, such
as in prisons or convents, is to confiscate personal possessions. 33 Victims of
burglaries and natural disasters commonly report feelings of alienation, depression,
or being “violated.” Burglary victims exhibit a diminished sense of community and
fewer feelings of privacy and take less pride in their houses’ appearance than do
their neighbours.34
The dramatic impact of the loss of possessions is highlighted by studying postdisaster conditions in which consumers may literally have lost almost everything but
the clothes on their backs during a fire, an ice storm, a flood, or an earthquake. Some
people are reluctant to undergo the process of recreating their identities by acquiring
new possessions. Interviews with disaster victims reveal that some are reluctant to
invest the self in new possessions and so become more detached about what they buy.
This comment from a woman in her fifties is representative of this attitude: “I had so
much love tied up in my things. I can’t go through that kind of loss again. What I’m
buying now won’t be as important to me.”35
Self–Product Congruence
Because many consumption activities are related to self-definition, it is not surprising
to learn that consumers demonstrate consistency between their values and attitudes
and the things they buy.36 Self-image congruence models predict that products will be
chosen when their attributes match some aspect of the self.37
Research largely supports the idea of congruence between product usage and selfimage. One of the earliest studies to examine this process found that car owners’ ratings of themselves tended to match their perceptions of their cars: Pontiac drivers saw
themselves as more active and flashy than did Volkswagen drivers.38 One study found
that observers were able to match photos of male and female drivers to pictures of the
cars they drove almost 70 percent of the time.39 Researchers also report congruity
between consumers and their most preferred brands of beer, soap, toothpaste, and
cigarettes relative to their least preferred brands, as well as between consumers’ selfimages and their favourite stores.40 Some specific attributes useful to describe matches
between consumers and products include rugged/delicate, excitable/calm, rational/
emotional, and formal/informal.41
125
126
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
In a compelling example of leveraging
“self-congruence,” Coca-Cola’s “Share a
Coke” campaign personalized bottles of
Coke products so that they were a perfect fit
for the consumer to drink or share with
friends.
Courtesy of The Coca-Cola Company
Consumers
in Focus
To what extent do the products we buy influence
how we define ourselves? Social scientists who
study relationships between thoughts and
behaviours increasingly talk about the theory of
“embodied cognition.” A simple way to explain
this perspective is that “states of the body
modify states of the mind.”46 One of the most
powerful examples is the idea that our body
language actually changes how we see ourselves. In the most widely viewed TED talk ever,
a social psychologist discusses how power posing (standing in a confident way even if you
don’t feel confident) affects brain activity—
again, the self-fulfilling prophecy at work.47
The embodied cognition approach is consistent with consumer behaviour research that
demonstrates how changes in self-concept can
arise from usage of brands that convey different meanings. In one study, researchers asked
respondents to wear a lab coat, which people
associate with attentiveness and precise work.
The researchers found that subjects who wore
the lab coat displayed enhanced performance
on tasks that required them to pay close attention. But they also introduced a twist: When
respondents were told the garment was in fact
a painter’s coat rather than a doctor’s lab coat,
the effects went away! In other words, the symbolic meaning of the clothing influenced subsequent behaviours. The researchers called
this effect “enclothed cognition.”48
Congruence models assume a process of cognitive matching between product
attributes and the consumer’s self-image.42 Over time, we tend to form relationships
with products that resemble the bonds we create with other people: These include
love, unrequited love (we yearn for it but can’t have it), respect, and perhaps even
fear or hate (“Why is my computer out to get me?”).43 Researchers even report that
after a “breakup” with a brand, people tend to develop strong negative feelings and
will go to great lengths to discredit it, including bad-mouthing and even vandalism.44
Research that included fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) brain wave
measurements showed that when a person has a close relationship with a brand, it
activates the insula, a brain area responsible for urging, addiction, loss aversion, and
interpersonal love.45
The Extended Self
Many of the props and settings consumers use to define their social roles become, in a
sense, a part of their selves. Those external objects that we consider a part of us make
up the extended self. In some cultures, people literally incorporate objects into the
self—that is, they lick new possessions, take the names of conquered enemies (or, in
some cases, eat them), or bury the dead with their possessions.49
We don’t usually go that far, but many people do cherish possessions as if they
were a part of them. Consider shoes. One study found that people commonly view
their shoes as magical emblems of self, Cinderella-like vehicles for self-transformation. On the basis of data collected from consumers, the study concluded that women
tend to be more attuned to the symbolic implications of shoes than men. A common
theme that emerged was that a pair of shoes obtained when younger—whether a first
pair of leather shoes, a first pair of high heels, or a first pair of cowboy boots—had a
big impact even later in life. These experiences were similar to those that occur in
such well-known fairy tales and stories as The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy’s red shoes),
Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes (Karen’s magical shoes), and Cinderella
(her glass slippers).50
In addition to shoes, of course, many material objects, ranging from personal possessions and pets to national monuments or landmarks, help to form a consumer’s
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
127
Our pets often become a part of our
extended selves. This Brazilian pet-food ad
plays on the popular belief that over time
pets and their owners start to resemble each
other.
Courtesy of Mars, Incorporated and its affiliates c/o
Almap/BBDO Communicacaoes Ltda. CESAR® is a
trademark of Mars, Incorporated and its affiliates
identity. Just about everyone can name a valued possession that has a lot of the self
“wrapped up” in it, whether it is a beloved photograph, a trophy, an old shirt, a car, or
a cat. Indeed, it is often possible to construct a pretty accurate “biography” of someone
just by cataloguing the items on display in his or her bedroom or office.
In one study on the extended self, people were given a list of items that ranged
from electronic equipment, facial tissues, and TV programs to parents, body parts, and
favourite clothes. They were asked to rate each in terms of its closeness to the self.
Objects were more likely to be considered a part of the extended self if “psychic energy”
was invested in them by expending effort to obtain them or because they were personalized and kept for a long time.51 Another study illustrates that the product/self doesn’t
have to be that strong to influence a consumer’s self-concept. In one experiment,
researchers approached women in a shopping mall and gave them one of two shopping
bags to walk around with for an hour. Women who received a bag from Victoria’s Secret
later reported to the researchers that they felt more sensual and glamorous. In another
experiment, MBA students were asked to take notes for six weeks using a pen embossed
with the MIT logo; they reported feeling smarter at the end of the term.52
Consumers define themselves by referring to four levels of the extended self.
These range from very personal objects to places and things that allow people to feel as
if they are rooted in their environments.53
1. Individual level: Consumers include many of their personal possessions in selfdefinition. These products can include jewellery, cars, clothing, and so on. The
saying “you are what you wear” reflects the belief that one’s things are a part of
who one is.
2. Family level: This part of the extended self includes a consumer’s residence and
the furnishings in it. The house can be thought of as a symbolic body for the family and is often a central aspect of identity.
3. Community level: It is common for consumers to describe themselves in terms of
the neighbourhood or town from which they come. For farm families or residents
with close ties to a community, this sense of belonging is particularly important.
4. Group level: Our attachments to certain social groups can also be considered a
part of self. A consumer may feel that landmarks, monuments, or sports teams are
a part of the extended self.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Advertising often reflects society’s attitudes
regarding how men should regard women
and vice versa.
Courtesy of Betsy Fisher
The Digital Self
We’ve already talked about impression management, but our wired world takes this
process to a new level.54 Today we have access to “post-production” tools to engineer our identities. These free or inexpensive applications allow virtually anyone
to dramatically modify his or her digital self at will as they strategically “modify”
the profile photos they post on Facebook or the descriptions they share on dating
sites. As well, many of us create additional identities in the form of avatars in virtual worlds like Second Life and in MMOGs (massive multiplayer online games)
like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and Halo. Americans alone spend about
$1.6 billion per year to buy virtual goods just for their avatars. Our physical bodies
continue to merge with our digital environments—we’re moving from “you are
what you wear” to “you are what you post.” We also take pieces of these digital
identities back with us to the physical world. Respondents in one study placed
more value on digital items that reflected their physical identities, such as digital
photos and written communications.55
Wearable Computing
Get ready for the invasion of wearable computing. Whether through devices we wear
on our wrist like the Apple Watch, on our face like Google Glass, or woven into our
clothing, increasingly our digital interactions will become attached to our bodies—and
perhaps even inserted into our bodies as companies offer ways to implant computer
chips into our wrists. There are obvious privacy concerns as these products pick up
steam, but advocates argue that they offer numerous benefits. Attachable computers
will be cheaper, will provide greater accuracy because sensors are closer to our bodies,
and will be more convenient because we won’t have to carry around additional hardware.56 Numerous wearables with big health implications are already available or
under development:57
•
Sensing for sleep disorders by tracking breath, heart rate, and motion
•
Detecting possible Alzheimer’s onset by monitoring a person’s gait via a GPS
embedded in his or her shoes
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
•
Tracking ingestion of medication via sensors activated by stomach fluid
•
Measuring blood sugar via a contact lens with a chip that can track activity in a
patient’s tears
•
Assessing the impact of blows to a football player’s head via sensors inserted in
his helmet
Gender Roles
Gender identity is a very important component of a consumer’s self-concept. People
often conform to their culture’s expectations about what those of their gender should
do. Of course, these guidelines change over time, and they can differ radically across
societies. It’s unclear to what extent gender differences are innate versus culturally
shaped, but they’re certainly evident in many consumption decisions!
Consider the differences market researchers have observed when comparing the
food preferences of men and women. Women eat more fruit. Men are more likely to eat
meat; as one food writer put it, “Boy food doesn’t grow. It is hunted or killed.” Men are
more likely to eat Frosted Flakes or Corn Pops, while women prefer multigrain cereals.
Men are big root-beer drinkers; women account for the bulk of bottled-water sales.
And the genders differ sharply in the quantities of food they eat. When researchers at
Hershey’s discovered that women eat smaller amounts of candy, the company created
a white chocolate confection called Hugs, one of the most successful food introductions of all time. By contrast, men are more likely to take their food and drink in larger
servings.58
G e nd e r D iffe re n c e s in S oci a l iz at io n
Marketers tend to reinforce cultural expectations regarding the “correct” way for boys
and girls, and men and women, to look and act. Many societies expect males to pursue
agentic goals, which stress self-assertion and mastery. However, they teach females to
value communal goals, such as affiliation and building harmonious relations.59
Every society creates a set of expectations regarding the behaviours appropriate
for men and women and finds ways to communicate these priorities. For example, an
activity such as gift shopping is widely regarded as “women’s work.”60 This training
begins very young; even children’s stories reinforce gender roles. One analysis
showed that, although stereotypical depictions have decreased over time, female
characters in children’s books are still far more likely to take on nurturing roles, such
as baking and gift-giving. The adult who prepares the birthday celebration in stories
is virtually always the mother; often no adult male is present at all. And when he is
present, the male figure in these stories is often cast in the role of a miraculous provider of gifts.61
Although Lego had historically been a product that resonated with boys, Lego’s
recent research uncovered that girls and boys play with Lego differently. Boys tended
to create a project, such as a castle, and play with it on the outside. Girls tended to
role-play on the inside of what they created.62 Girls loved the details of the Lego and
created narratives around themes of family and community. In response to these
insights, Lego introduced the very successful Lego Friends line, which has pieces that
appeal to girls’ desire to create a story around the toys. The line doubled sales expectations in 2012, the year it launched.63
Research indicates that our brains are “wired” to react differently to males and
females. A study that used brain-scanning technology showed photos of women wearing bikinis to a group of heterosexual male college students and tracked which areas of
their brains lit up. The activated areas were the same as those that get aroused when
males handle tools. In a follow-up study, men tended to associate bikini-clad women
with first-person action verbs such as I “push,” “handle,” and “grab” instead of the
third-person forms such as she “pushes,” “handles,” and “grabs.” On the other hand,
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Verizon’s “Inspire Her Mind” campaign tries
to overcome the stereotype that females are
not as good as males at the STEM disciplines
(science, technology, engineering, and math).
The campaign was inspired by research
showing that, between childhood and adulthood, there is a significant decline in the
number of women interested in these fields.
Courtesy of Verizon
when they saw photos of fully clothed women they reverted to the third-person forms,
which implied that they perceived these women as being in control of their own
actions. Female participants who responded to both sets of pictures did not display
this difference.64
G e n d e r v ersus Sexual Id en tity
Gender-role identity is a state of mind as well as body. A person’s biological gender
(i.e., male or female) does not totally determine whether he or she will exhibit sextyped traits, or characteristics stereotypically associated with one gender or the other.
A consumer’s subjective feelings about his or her sexuality are crucial as well.65 Unlike
maleness and femaleness, masculinity and femininity are not biological characteristics. A behaviour considered masculine in one culture might not be viewed as such in
another. For example, the norm that males should be “strong” and repress tender feelings, and that male friends avoid touching each other (except in “safe” situations, such
as on the football field), is not universal.
At the same time, new evidence is emerging about the effects of biology on consumer behaviour. Neuroendocrinological science focuses on the potential role of hormonal influences on preferences for different kinds of products or people.66 Much of
this work is based on evolutionary logic that underscores how people are “wired”
from birth to seek out mates who are most likely to produce optimal offspring who
will be more likely to survive in a competitive environment. For example, evidence
suggests that women who are at peak fertility (near ovulation in their monthly menstrual cycle) are attracted to men who display evidence of higher levels of testosterone
(male hormone) and are more interested in attending social gatherings (presumably to
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
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increase their chances of locating a suitable mate). One set of experiments showed that
at peak fertility women (nonconsciously) chose products that enhanced their appearance by wearing sexy rather than conservative clothing. The researchers claim, this is
due to a desire to attract men’s attention away from attractive rivals. Another set of
studies found that ovulating women are more likely to prefer variety in product choice;
the authors report that this variety seeking relates to a desire to be exposed to new men
during this time.67
Se x- Ty p e d P ro d uc t s
Many products are also sex-typed. They take on masculine or feminine attributes, and
consumers often associate them with one gender or another.68 The sex-typing of products is often created or perpetuated by marketers (e.g., Princess telephones, boys’ and
girls’ bicycles, and Huggies colour-coded diapers). FisherGirl is reeling in female fishing enthusiasts with the colour pink, which represents the fighting power of women
against breast cancer. The company designed a line of fishing rods and accessories
just for women, with lighter reels and a smaller handle than typical rods. The company also donates a portion of sales to the Breast Cancer Foundation.69 However, sextyped products can sometimes fail. In one humorous example, Ellen DeGeneres
mocked Bic “Pens for Her” for being sexist and offering no real functional benefit to
women. This created negative publicity for the brand, and the clip garnered over 6
million views on YouTube.70
Androgyny
Masculinity and femininity are not opposite ends of the same dimension. Androgyny
refers to the possession of both masculine and feminine traits.71 Researchers make a
distinction between gender-typed people, who are stereotypically masculine or feminine, and androgynous people, whose mixture of characteristics allows them to function
well in a variety of social situations.
Differences in gender-role orientation can influence responses to marketing stimuli, at least under some circumstances.72 For example, research evidence indicates
that females are more likely to undergo elaborate processing of message content, so
they tend to be more sensitive to specific pieces of information when forming a judgment, while males are more influenced by overall themes.73 In addition, women with
a relatively strong masculine component in their gender-role identity prefer ad portrayals that include non-traditional women.74 Some research indicates that gendertyped people are more sensitive to the gender-role depictions of characters in
Consumers often pay more for a product that
has been altered to appeal to a particular
gender (think pink razors!). This ad from
Dollar Shave Club suggests that consumers
should make their selections based on product performance, not on irrelevant attributes
used to appeal to gender.
Courtesy of Dollar Shave Club
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
advertising, although women appear to be more sensitive to gender-role relationships
than men.
In one study, participants read two versions of a beer advertisement, one couched
in masculine terms and the other in feminine ones. The masculine version contained
phrases such as “X beer has the strong, aggressive flavour that really asserts itself with
good food and good company,” while the feminine version made claims such as
“Brewed with tender care, X beer is a full-bodied beer that goes down smooth and
gentle.” People who rated themselves as highly masculine or highly feminine preferred the version that was described in masculine or feminine terms.75 Sex-typed
people in general are more concerned with ensuring that their behaviour is consistent
with their culture’s definition of gender-appropriateness.
Researchers have developed a scale to identify “non-traditional males” (NTMs)
who exhibit stereotypical female tendencies. The scale includes statements such as
these:
•
I enjoy looking through fashion magazines.
•
In our family, I take care of the chequebook and pay the bills. (Reverse-scored)
•
I am concerned about getting enough calcium in my diet.
•
I am good at fixing mechanical things. (Reverse-scored)
Not too surprisingly, strong differences emerged between men who were oriented along traditional gender-role lines and those who had a non-traditional orientation. Asked how they would like to be seen by others, NTMs were more likely than
TMs to say that they would like to be considered stylish, sophisticated, up to date,
and trendsetting. They were also more likely to say that they would like to be seen as
sensitive, spiritual, affectionate, organized, and thrifty, and less likely to say they
would like to be seen as “outdoorsy.”76
Androgyny can open new markets if marketers can expand the reach of their target audience. Some companies that sell exclusively to one gender, therefore, may
decide to test the waters with the other sex when they promote gender-bending products, traditionally sex-typed items adapted to the opposite gender. Here are some
recent gender-benders:77
•
Rubbermaid introduced a line of grooming tools specifically for men, including
tweezers and clippers. As a manager explained, “Most men don’t want to go to what
we call the ‘pink aisle’ of the store to get tweezers and clippers that are made for
women. They want products that look masculine and are made for their specific
grooming needs.”
•
Old Spice has long been known as the brand Dad kept in his medicine cabinet, but
young women who like the scent and the relatively low price are tuning into the
deodorant as well. This resurgence is a bit ironic, since the first product the company introduced in 1937 was a women’s fragrance.
•
Febreze is an odour-neutralizing line of products that Procter & Gamble markets
to women for housecleaning. However, P&G finds that a lot of men spray Febreze
on their clothes to delay doing laundry. And in Vietnam, where the product is
called Ambi Pur, men who ride motor scooters use it as a deodorizing spray for
their helmets.
Female Roles
In the 1949 movie Adam’s Rib, Katharine Hepburn played a stylish and competent
lawyer. This was one of the first films to show that a woman can have a successful
career and still be happily married. Today the evolution of a new managerial class of
women has forced marketers to change their traditional assumptions about women as
they target this growing market.
Younger women’s views of themselves are quite different from those of their
mothers and grandmothers, who fought the good fight for feminism 40 to 50 years ago.
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
To some extent they may take for granted certain rights that older generations of
women had to fight for. After all, they have grown up with female role models who are
strong leaders, they participate to a much greater degree in organized sports, and they
spend a lot of time on the Internet, where factors such as gender, race, and social status
tend to disappear.
Announcing the death of traditional role stereotypes is premature, however.
This is certainly true in traditional Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, where
women are required to be completely covered in public and are not allowed to
work as salespeople in stores open to the public (even if the store sells female
intimate apparel).78
And, like other fashion phenomena that we’ll talk about in Chapter 15, a wave in
one direction may set off a ripple in another. We can clearly see this in the messages
girls have been getting from the media for the last several years: It’s cool to be slutty.
Role models such as Miley Cyrus and Nikki Minaj convey standards about how far
preteens and teens should go in broadcasting their sexuality. Since these messages
seem to go over the top (at least in the eyes of some concerned parents), we are starting
to see early signs of a backlash. The young female stars of the popular TLC show 19
Kids and Counting openly discuss and promote their more conservative dress styles,
while more conventionally “sexy” teen brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch are beginning to lose sales.
Male Roles
Although the traditional conception of the ideal male as a tough, aggressive, muscular
man who enjoys “manly” sports and activities is not dead, society’s definition of the
male role is evolving. Like women, men receive mixed messages about how they are
supposed to behave and feel. It’s more common these days to see men holding babies
or being involved in meaningful relationships with women or with male friends in
advertisements.
In a display of “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,” men are concerned as never before with their appearance. Men spend over $8 billion on grooming
products globally each year. Skin cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreens, depilatories,
and body sprays are available, largely from European companies, especially for men.
L’Oréal Paris reports that men’s skincare products are now its fastest-growing
sector. In Europe, 24 percent of men younger than age 30 use skincare products—and
80 percent of young Korean men do. Norelco reported a 24 percent rise in facial-hair
grooming products in 2008. Mintel also reports big growth, especially in products
with anti-aging and exfoliating ingredients. And even some cosmetics products, such
as foundation and eyeliner, are catching on in some segments, though men aren’t
comfortable owning up to using them. In fact, one British makeup product looks like
a ballpoint pen so that men can apply it secretly at the office.79
Clearly, our cultural definition of masculinity is evolving as men try to redefine
sex roles while they stay in a “safety zone” of acceptable behaviours bounded by danger zones of sloppiness at one extreme and effeminate behaviour at the other. For
example, a man may decide that it’s okay to use a moisturizer but draw the line at an
eye cream that he considers too feminine.80 Some cultural observers report the emergence of “retrosexuals”—men who want to emphasize their old-school masculinity by
getting plastic surgery to create a more rugged look that includes hairier chests and
beards, squarer chins, and more angular jawlines.81
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT)
Consumers
The proportion of the population that belongs to the category of LGBT consumers is
difficult to determine, and efforts to measure this group have been controversial.82
According to Statistics Canada, the number of reported same-sex couples in Canada
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Consumers
in Focus
One interesting way male roles have been
changing in recent years is in the evolution of
the role of dads. To understand the modern-day
experience of being a dad, The Sound Research
(thesoundhq.com) gave dads in three cities
flipcams and asked them to give an insider
look at their journey. Insights from the study
revealed that contemporary fathers have different priorities. Being a dad and spending
time with their children is very important to
them, and they don’t feel they deserve any special attention for it, either. These dads consider
it just a part of being a good parent. Some of
the key insights the researchers found were as
follows:
1. Males view being a dad as a defining attribute of being a “man.” Modern fathers
strive to be active contributors to their children’s lives, and most approach parenthood as a fluid partnership.
2. There is no one-size-fits-all dad. Every
story is unique. There’s no such thing as a
“modern dad” archetype.
3. Being the financial provider is just one
aspect of being a father. Almost all felt
their own fathers were emotionally distant,
and as a result they strive to provide more
emotional support and be more present for
their own kids.
Of note, marketers who often traditionally
target moms are catching on to this trend. For
example, 2015 Super Bowl ads, including those
for Toyota and Dove, featured dads in this new
light.83
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This Australian ad for Toyota rejects the
metrosexual image of men in favour of a
more masculine image.
Courtesy Toyota Motor Corporation Australia
Courtesy Tiffany & Co. Photography: Peter Lindbergh
|
©T&CO. 2015 800 843 3269
Tiffany’s use of a same-sex couple in its
advertising received a positive reception on
social media.
TIFFANY.COM
rose 42.4 percent from 2006 to 2011. The total number of same-sex couples in 2011
was 64 575, and it is likely that the true number in Canada is actually much higher.
One study of readers of gay publications found that, compared to heterosexuals,
these readers are almost 12 times more likely to hold professional jobs, twice as likely
to own a vacation home, and eight times more likely to own a notebook computer.84
Additional findings underscore the potential desirability of this segment for marketers:
Individuals who identify as being gay are twice as likely as heterosexuals to have
attended graduate school, are more concerned about physical fitness and selfimprovement, experience more stress in their daily lives, and are much more likely to
be self-employed. The trend of appealing to same-sex couples has been increasing,
with brands such as Gap, JCrew, and even Tiffany portraying same-sex couples in
their marketing communications.85
WILL YOU PROMISE TO NEVER STOP COMPLETING MY
SENTENCES OR SINGING OFF-KEY, WHICH I’M AFRAID YOU
DO OFTEN? AND WILL YOU LET TODAY BE THE FIRST
SENTENCE OF ONE LONG STORY THAT NEVER, EVER ENDS?
WILL YOU?
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
As I See It
Brand consumption can be
a potent expression of identity for gay men and other
ethnic, political, or racial
subcultures and communities. As complex, meaningful symbols, brands may
acquire unique associations
when they advertise and
market to these consumers.
For example, in the 1990s,
Levi Strauss & Company,
which had marketed to gay
Dr. Steve Kates Simon Fraser University
men for years, cancelled a
Courtesy of Dr. Steve Kates
lucrative contract with the
Boy Scouts of America
when the Boy Scouts would not allow gay men to volunteer as Scout
masters. This action earned Levi’s the status of “brand hero”
among gay men. However, Coors in the 1970s fired gay and lesbian
employees, earning it the dubious honour of “brand villain,” motivating many gay men and gay bars to boycott the brand.
These examples of brand consumption among gay men
demonstrate that certain brands achieve “legitimacy”—moral fit
with values and beliefs—among gay consumers. If a brand
shows a fit or congruency with the key beliefs, traditions, values,
and goals associated with a market segment, community, or
1
stigmatized subculture, it may earn brand loyalty among these
consumers. Various brands such as Levi’s, Absolut Vodka, The
Body Shop, and Calvin Klein have earned this brand loyalty over
the years by marketing to gay consumers and demonstrating a
fit with internalized, identity-related values or associations,
such as freedom from homophobia and the right to love whomever one pleases.
But legitimacy, or the moral fit with communities’ values,
is always in flux. In Canada, lesbians and gay men have gained
all of the rights and responsibilities heterosexual individuals
and couples have, including the legal right to marry persons of
the same sex. This political development inevitably has
implications for the commercial sphere. Assuming that samesex marriage shows a moral fit (or legitimacy) with the values
of the majority of Canadians (and several opinion polls
have indicated this is so), gay men may come to expect that
all brands should be “gay-friendly,” cancelling out any unique
competitive advantage a particular brand may have enjoyed
over the years. For example, Absolut Vodka has marketed
to gay men for about 30 years, but in the Canadian market,
where all companies are required to grant gay men, lesbians,
and same-sex couples the same rights and protections as
heterosexuals, can Absolut maintain its traditional advantage?
It might enjoy continued brand loyalty because of its unique
history and innovative advertising, but how long will this
endure?1
Steven M. Kates, “The Dynamics of Brand Legitimacy: An Interpretive Study in the Gay Men’s Community,” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (September 2004): 455–464.
Body Image
A person’s physical appearance is a large part of his or her self-concept. Body image
refers to a consumer’s subjective evaluation of his or her physical self. This image is
not necessarily accurate. A man might think of himself as being more muscular than
he really is, or a woman might feel she appears fatter than is the case. In fact, it is not
uncommon to find marketing strategies that exploit consumers’ tendencies to distort
their body images by preying on insecurities about appearance, thereby creating a gap
between the real and ideal physical self and, consequently, the desire to purchase
products and services to narrow that gap. Indeed, the popularity of boudoir photo
shoots, which often involve a makeover and which give people a pictorial record of
their pinup potential, can be traced to the fantasies of everyday people to be supermodels—at least for an hour or two.
Body Cathexis
A person’s feelings about his or her body can be described in terms of body cathexis.
Cathexis refers to the emotional significance of some object or idea to a person, and
some parts of the body are more central to self-concept than others. One study found
that young adults were the most satisfied with their hair and eyes and had the least
positive feelings about their waists. These feelings were also related to usage of
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Consumers
in Focus
One matchmaking app that is very focused on
physical appearance is Tinder. Tinder connects
people through the use of their social network
of friends and acquaintances on Facebook.
Based on an algorithm, Tinder shows the user
potential matches and then allows the user to
anonymously like or reject these potential
matches by swiping or tapping. If two users
“like” each other, it results in a “match,” and
Tinder allows them to chat. Apparently, this
can be somewhat addictive: There are
50 million active users on Tinder, who check
their accounts 11 times per day and spend an
average of 90 minutes daily on the app.
However, the app has been heavily criticized for
being “shallow” and focusing too much on
external appearances.86
grooming products. Consumers who were more satisfied with their bodies were more
frequent users of such “preening” products as hair conditioner, blow dryers, cologne,
facial bronzer, tooth polish, and pumice soap.87
Ideals of Beauty
BeautifulPeople.com is an online dating site that allows only attractive people to join
(you have to have your photo approved by members). It’s expanding its service to
employers who want to hire “good-looking staff.” One of the site’s managers explains,
“Attractive people tend to make a better first impression on clients, win more business
and earn more.”88 He might be right: One study reported that, on average, a worker
who was among the bottom one-seventh in looks, as assessed by randomly chosen
observers, earned 10 to 15 percent less per year than a similar worker whose looks
were assessed in the top one-third—a lifetime difference, in a typical case, of about
$230 000. Who says “beauty is only skin deep”?89 This “beautiful is good stereotype”
applies in other domains as well. In one study researchers collected teaching evaluations for 463 university courses taught by 94 faculty members along with some additional characteristics of the instructors, such as sex and race and whether they were on
tenure track. They asked a panel of undergrads to rate photos of the professors in terms
of their physical attractiveness. Guess what? Good-looking professors got significantly
higher scores—and this effect was even more pronounced for male professors than for
females. Fortunately, your consumer behaviour professor is no doubt near the top of
the scale.90
A person’s satisfaction with the physical image he or she presents to others is
affected by how closely that image corresponds to the image valued by his or her culture. An ideal of beauty is a particular model, or exemplar, of appearance. Female
ideals of beauty include physical features (large lips or small lips, big breasts or small
breasts) as well as such aspects as clothing styles, cosmetics, hairstyles, skin tone (pale
versus tan), and body type (petite, athletic, or voluptuous).
Is B e a ut y U n iversal?
Research indicates that preferences for some physical features over others are “wired
in” genetically and that these reactions tend to be the same among people around the
world. When researchers show babies as young as five hours old pictures of faces
that adults have rated as beautiful and not so beautiful, they report that the infants
spend more time looking at the attractive faces. 91 Specifically, people appear to
favour features associated with good health and youth, attributes linked to reproductive ability and strength. These characteristics include large eyes, high cheekbones,
and a narrow jaw.
Another cue apparently used across ethnic and cultural groups to signal sexual
desirability is whether the person’s features are balanced. In one study, men and
women with greater facial symmetry started having sex three to four years earlier
than people whose facial features were lopsided! Men are also more likely to use a
woman’s body shape as a sexual cue, and it has been theorized that this is because
feminine curves provide evidence of reproductive potential. During puberty, a typical female gains almost 35 pounds of “reproductive fat” around her hips and thighs
that supply the approximately 80 000 extra calories needed for pregnancy. Most fertile women have waist–hip ratios of 0.6 to 0.8, an hourglass shape that also happens
to be the one men rank highest in attractiveness.92 Other positively valued female
characteristics include a higher-than-average forehead, fuller lips, a shorter jaw, and a
smaller chin and nose. Women, on the other hand, favour men with a heavy lower
face (an indication of high concentration of androgens that create strength), a prominent brow, and those who are of slightly-above-average height. Women prefer men
with more feminine facial features, but when they are ovulating they prefer more
masculine ones.93
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
137
Of course, the way these faces are “packaged” still varies enormously, and that’s
where marketers come in: Advertising and other forms of mass media play a significant
role in determining which forms of beauty are considered desirable at any point in
time. An ideal of beauty functions as a sort of cultural yardstick. Consumers compare
themselves to some standard (often advocated by fashion media) and are typically
dissatisfied with their appearance.
Id e a ls of B e au t y o v e r T im e
In retrospect, periods of history tend to be characterized by a specific “look” or ideal of
beauty. For example, in sharp contrast to today’s emphasis on health and vigour, in the
early nineteenth century it was fashionable to appear delicate to the point of looking
ill. The poet Keats described the ideal woman of that time as “a milk white lamb that
bleats for man’s protection.”
In much of the nineteenth century the desirable waistline for American women
was 18 inches (45 centimetres), a circumference that required the use of corsets
pulled so tight that they routinely caused headaches, fainting spells, and possibly
even the uterine and spinal disorders common among women of the time. Although
modern women are not quite as “straightlaced,” many still endure such indignities as
high heels, body waxing, eye lifts, and liposuction. In addition to the millions spent
on cosmetics, clothing, health clubs, and fashion magazines, these practices remind
us that the desire to conform to current standards of beauty—right or wrong—is alive
and well.
The ideal body type of Western women has changed radically over time, and these
changes have resulted in a realignment of sexual dimorphic markers—those aspects of
the body that distinguish between the sexes. For example, using heights and weights
from winners of the Miss America pageant, nutrition experts concluded that many
This advertisement from Fruit of the Loom
reaffirms women’s self-esteem and suggests
that different sizes can be beautiful.
Courtesy of Fruit of the Loom, Inc.; Bella Pearl Agency;
Model Lydia Fixel; Agent Vincent Gomez
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
beauty queens are in the undernourished range. In the 1920s, contestants had a body
mass index (BMI) in the range now considered normal—20 to 25. Since then an
increasing number of winners have had BMIs under 18.5, which is the World Health
Organization’s standard for undernutrition.94
Similarly, a study of almost 50 years of Playboy centrefolds shows that the women
have become less shapely and more androgynous since Marilyn Monroe graced the first
edition with a voluptuous hourglass figure of 37–23–36. However, a magazine spokesperson comments, “As time has gone on and women have become more athletic, more
in the business world and more inclined to put themselves through fitness regimes,
their bodies have changed, and we reflect that as well. But I would think that no one
with eyes to see would consider Playmates to be androgynous.”95 Fair enough. Indeed,
a recent reexamination of centrefold data for the years 1979 to 1999 shows that the
trend toward increasing thinness seems to have stabilized and actually may have begun
to reverse. Still, although the women shown in the magazine became somewhat heavier
over the 21-year period the researchers reviewed, the Playmates remain markedly
below weights that medical experts consider normal for their age group.96 Ironically,
when researchers ask women to predict how men will rate women of different body
shapes, women choose thinner figures than do men. In other words, they think men
prefer skinny fashion model types, when in fact the shapes men choose come closer to
“real” women.97
To d ay ’s I d eals o f F emale Beau ty
Of course, the pendulum is always moving, as cultural changes modify the ideals of
beauty that are dominant at one point in time. In late 2014 Kim Kardashian supposedly “broke the Internet” when many thousands of people clicked on a link to see a
revealing photo of her large (and allegedly Photoshop-enhanced) backside on the
cover of Paper magazine.98 A hit music video by Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea
called “Booty” helped to drive the trend toward, shall we say, a more pronounced
female silhouette.
It’s not surprising that standards are changing, because the typical woman’s body
is no longer as “petite” as it used to be. The most commonly purchased dress today is
Dove’s classic “Real Beauty” campaign did
an excellent job of attempting to redefine
Western ideals of beauty.
Dove/PA Wire URN:8069588 (Press Association via AP
Images)
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
139
a size 14; it was a size 8 in 1985! The size and shape of the “average” North American
consumer today is dramatically different from what it was 60 years ago; essentially,
the fashion industry is selling clothing to super-thin women who don’t exist (at least
not many of them do).
One campaign that has noted these changing trends is Dove’s well-known
“Campaign for Real Beauty,” which features advertising showing women with
imperfect bodies in their underwear. Unilever initiated the campaign after its research
showed that many women didn’t believe its products worked because the women
shown using them were so unrealistic.99 When the company asked 3200 women
around the world to describe their looks, most summed themselves up as “average”
or “natural.” Only 2 percent called themselves “beautiful.”
Ma le I de a ls o f B e a u t y
We also distinguish among ideals of beauty for men in terms of facial features,
musculature, and facial hair. In fact, one national survey that asked both men and
women to comment on male aspects of appearance found that the dominant standard of beauty for men is a strongly masculine, muscled body, though women tend
to prefer men with less muscle mass than men themselves strive to attain.100
Advertisers appear to have the males’ ideal in mind—a recent study of men appearing in advertisements found that most sport the strong and muscular physique of
the male stereotype.101
Yet menswear designers and fashion magazines are starting to choose male
models who look more like “regular” guys as they try to broaden the industry’s
appeal to the mass market. Until recently most male models have been either
super-thin or boyish-looking, or overly muscular. Now, with more men than ever
doing their own clothes shopping, some designers see an opportunity to cater to
men who want to dress fashionably but who are turned off by the edgy looks they
see in magazines.
It is becoming increasingly the case that
men as well as women are concerned with
body image, something that some say is
fuelled by advertising images.
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Coty Prestige
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CO 6
Working on the Body
Because many consumers are motivated to match up to some ideal of appearance, they
often go to great lengths to change aspects of their physical selves. From cosmetics to plastic surgery, tanning salons to diet drinks, a multitude of products and services are directed
toward altering or maintaining aspects of the physical self to present a more desirable
appearance. It is difficult to overstate the importance of the physical self-concept (and the
desire by consumers to improve their appearance) to many marketing activities.
Ha ir a n d th e Self
Grant McCracken has provided a complete analysis of how our hair forms the basis for
the presentation of self-image and how it can be used as a tool to transform or change
one’s image.103 Haircuts are a regular part of the consumption process. Many people,
especially men, adhere to a four-week schedule for the grooming ritual. However,
much of McCracken’s discussion focuses on women, as he found men to be much
vainer about their hair and more reluctant to discuss the topic. This may be because,
genetically, men are more prone to lose their hair. To compensate for this male phenomenon, male folklore such as “Baldness is a sign of virility” has evolved. Men are
also secretive about dyeing their hair. It’s obvious that they do it, but it is not a hot
topic on the golf course.
The preference for long or short hair is reflective of the social situation. Long flowing hair is said to very sexy and maybe even dangerous. Short hair is said to be “boyish” or a signal that a woman is simplifying her life. Men are said to find the “pixie”
cut unthreatening and attractive. But they seem to draw the line at women shaving
their heads completely, a style said to portray a tough, hostile, provocative image.
Whenever we want to transform our image, we change our hair along with our
clothes. With changes in age, lifestyle, careers, and even partners comes an inevitable
change in colour or style of hair.
Fat t is m
Consumers
in Focus
At least 400 websites attract young people with
the terms ana and mia, nicknames for anorexia
and bulimia. These “communities” offer tips on
crash dieting, bingeing, vomiting, and hiding
weight loss from concerned parents. Group
dieting is a growing problem as consumers visit
blog rings devoted to excessive weight loss. In
one typical post, a woman confessed to eating
“one cracker, one strawberry and a little bit of
soup” in a 24-hour period, whereas another
recounted a lunch of a slice of mango and a
stick of gum. These sites, often adorned with
photos of ultra-thin celebrities and slogans
such as “Diet Coke Is Life,” appeal to followers
of an underground movement called pro-ana
(pro-anorexia) who sometimes identify themselves in public when they wear red bracelets.102
As reflected in the expression “You can never be too rich or too thin,” our society
has an obsession with weight. The pressure to be slim is continually reinforced,
both by advertising and by peers. Indeed, fattism is deeply ingrained in our culture: As early as nursery school age, children prefer drawings of peers in wheelchairs, on crutches, or with facial disfigurements to those of fat children. One
survey of girls aged 12 to 19 reported that 55 percent said they see ads “all the
time” that make them want to go on a diet.104 One advertising controversy testifies
to our thinness mania: It was bad enough when Pepsi unveiled its new “skinny”
diet soda can. When the company paired the launch with Fashion Week—the huge
promotion for an industry that celebrates skinny models (some of whom have died
from anorexia)—the National Eating Disorders Association protested and Pepsi had
to apologize. The organization also persuaded Apple to shut down an ad campaign
because it was built around the message “You can never be too thin or too powerful.”105
How realistic are these appearance standards? Fashion dolls, such as the ubiquitous Barbie, reinforce an unnatural ideal of thinness. The dimensions of these dolls
are, when extrapolated to average female body sizes, unnaturally long and thin.106 If
the traditional Barbie doll were a real woman, her dimensions would be 38-18-34! In
1998, Mattel conducted “plastic surgery” on Barbie to give her a less pronounced bust
and slimmer hips, but she is still not exactly dumpy.107 One response to the criticism
of Barbie’s unrealistic body proportions is the Lammily Doll, which was created to
represent a more realistic body image.108
The desire to be thin has had a big impact on consumers’ lifestyles and eating
habits. A number of companies specifically target the weight-conscious: Weight
Watchers International, the largest weight-loss company, developed a program called
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
Quick Success that recognizes the new lifestyles of busy working women. The program includes eating guidelines for working lunches and cocktail parties.109
Bo d y I ma g e D is t ort io n s
In less than a two-month time span, four young Brazilian women died in widely publicized cases of anorexia, which sparked an international debate about body image and
eating disorders. The first to die was a 21-year-old model who stood 5 feet, 8 inches
tall but weighed slightly more than 80 pounds when she collapsed at a fashion shoot
in Japan. In Spain, the government imposed a controversial ban on extremely thin
models as measured by their BMI (a formula that takes into account both height and
weight). It requires a BMI greater than 17.4 for female models younger than 18, or 18.5
for models older than 18. For a 5-foot, 9-inch model older than 18, that translates to a
weight requirement of 126 pounds. Unilever, in turn, banned the use of so-called “size
0” models in its ads for products ranging from Lux shower gel and Sunsilk shampoo to
Slim-Fast diet drinks.110
Although many people perceive a strong link between self-esteem and appearance, some consumers unfortunately exaggerate this connection even more and make
great sacrifices to attain what they consider to be a desirable body image. Women tend
to be taught to a greater degree than men that the quality of their bodies reflects their
self-worth, so it is not surprising that most major distortions of body image occur
among females.
Men’s opinions do not tend to differ in ratings of their current figure, their ideal
figure, and the figure they think is most attractive to women. In contrast, women rate
both the figure they think is most attractive to men and their ideal figure as much thinner than their actual figure.111 In one survey, two-thirds of university women admitted
that they resorted to unhealthy behaviour to control their weight. Advertising messages that convey an image of slimness help to reinforce these activities by arousing
insecurities about weight.112
A distorted body image has been linked to the rise of eating disorders. People
with anorexia always see themselves as fat and virtually starve themselves in the
quest for thinness. This condition often results in bulimia, which involves two stages.
First, binge eating occurs (usually in private), where more than 5000 calories may be
consumed at one time. The binge is then followed by induced vomiting, abuse of
laxatives, fasting, and/or overly strenuous exercise—a “purging” process that reasserts a sense of control. Most eating disorders are found in white, upper-middle-class
teenaged and university-aged girls. Victims often have brothers or fathers who are
hypercritical of their weight, and these disorders are also associated with a history of
sexual abuse.113
Eating disorders have also been documented in men. They are common among
male athletes, such as jockeys and boxers, and male models, who must also conform to
various weight requirements.114 In general, though, most men who have distorted
body images consider themselves to be too light rather than too heavy: Society has
taught them that they must be muscular to be masculine. Men are more likely than
women to express their insecurities about their bodies by becoming addicted to exercise. In fact, striking similarities have been found between male compulsive runners
and female anorexics. These include a commitment to diet and exercise as a central
part of one’s identity and susceptibility to body-image distortions.115
As with women, media images and products encourage men to attain an unrealistic physique; as we’ve seen in the steroid scandals plaguing major-league sports, professional athletes certainly are not immune to this pressure. Consider, for example,
that if the dimensions of the original GI Joe action figure were projected onto a real
5-foot, 10-inch man, he would have a 32-inch waist, a 44-inch chest, and 12-inch
biceps. Or how about the same exercise for the Batman action figure: If this superhero
came to life, he would boast a 30-inch waist, 57-inch chest, and 27-inch biceps.116
Holy steroids, Batman!
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C o sme t ic Sur gery
There is no longer as much psychological stigma associated with having cosmetic surgery; it is commonplace and accepted among many segments of consumers.117 In fact,
men now account for as much as 20 percent of plastic surgery patients. Popular operations for men include the implantation of silicon pectoral muscles (for the chest) and
calf implants to fill out “chicken legs.”118 Canada comes in at number 15 worldwide
for numbers of individuals opting for plastic surgery, with the most popular being
breast augmentation.119
Some women feel that larger breasts will increase their allure and so undergo
breast-augmentation procedures. The importance of breast size to self-concept resulted
in an interesting and successful marketing strategy undertaken by an underwear company. While conducting focus groups on bras, an analyst noted that small-chested
women typically reacted with hostility when discussing the subject. They unconsciously covered their chests with their arms as they spoke, and they felt that their
needs were ignored by the fashion industry. To meet this overlooked need, the company introduced a line of A-cup bras called “A-OK” and depicted wearers in a positive
light. A new market segment was born.
CO 7
Bo d y D e c o r atio n an d Mu tilatio n
The body is adorned or altered in some way in every culture. Decorating the self serves
a number of purposes:120
•
To separate group members from non-members: The Chinook Indians of North
America pressed the head of a newborn between two boards for a year, permanently altering its shape. In our society teens go out of their way to adopt distinctive hair and clothing styles that will separate them from adults.
•
To place the individual in the social organization: Many cultures engage in
puberty rites wherein a boy symbolically becomes a man. Young men in Ghana
paint their bodies with white stripes to resemble skeletons, symbolizing the death
of their child status. In Western culture, this rite may involve some form of mild
self-mutilation or engagement in dangerous activities.
•
To place the person in a gender category: The Tchikrin Indians of South America
insert a string of beads in a boy’s lip to enlarge it. Western women wear lipstick to
enhance femininity. At the turn of the twentieth century, small lips were fashionable because they represented women’s submissive role at that time.121 Today, big
red lips are provocative and indicate an aggressive sexuality. Some women,
including a number of famous actresses and models, receive collagen injections or
lip inserts to create large, pouting lips.122
•
To enhance gender-role identification: The modern use of high heels, which podiatrists agree are a prime cause of knee and hip problems, backaches, and fatigue,
can be compared with the traditional Asian practice of foot binding to enhance
femininity. As one doctor observed, “When [women] get home, they can’t get
their high-heeled shoes off fast enough. But every doctor in the world could yell
from now until Doomsday, and women would still wear them.”123
•
To provide a sense of security: Consumers often wear lucky charms, amulets, rabbits’ feet, and so on to protect them from the “evil eye.”
•
To indicate desired social conduct: The Suya of South America wear ear ornaments to emphasize the importance placed in their culture on listening and obedience. In Western society, some gay men wear an earring in the left or right ear to
signal what role (submissive or dominant) they prefer in a relationship.
•
To indicate high status or rank: The Hidatsa Indians of North America wear
feather ornaments that indicate how many people they have killed. In our society,
some people wear glasses with clear lenses, even though they do not have eye
problems, to enhance their perceived status.
Marketing
Insight
As more people jump on the tattoo bandwagon,
it’s inevitable that some of them will regret this
decision later (perhaps when they wake up in the
morning!). Tattoo-removal centres with names
such as Dr. Tattoff, Tat2BeGone, and Tattoo MD
are capitalizing on the need to deal with socalled “tattoo regret.” One industry member
estimates that as many as 100 000 consumers
undergo tattoo removal every year. Unfortunately, at least for now, it’s a lot more complicated to remove a tattoo than to put one on. A
design that cost several hundred dollars to apply
might require several thousand dollars and
many laser sessions to remove. A special laser
device shatters tattoo pigment into particles
that the body’s lymphatic system clears. Full
removal takes an average of eight treatments,
spaced at least a month apart, using different
lasers for different-coloured inks.124 And not all
tattoo removal goes smoothly, since every person’s skin reacts differently to lasers. One model
reports that the tattoo cost her $20, but getting
rid of the scar cost her $20 000.125
C H A P T E R 5 The Self
Tatto os a nd B o dy P ie rc in g
Tattoos—both temporary and permanent—are a popular form of body adornment. This
body art can be used to communicate aspects of the self to onlookers and may serve
some of the same functions that other kinds of body painting do in primitive cultures.
Tattoos (from the Tahitian ta-tu) have deep roots in folk art. Until recently, the images
were crude, consisting primarily of either death symbols (such as a skull), animals
(especially panthers, eagles, and snakes), pinup women, or military designs. More current influences include science fiction themes, Japanese symbolism, and tribal designs.
A tattoo may be viewed as a fairly risk-free way of expressing an adventurous side
of the self. One recent trend is for middle-aged women to get one to commemorate a
milestone, such as a big birthday, a divorce, or becoming an “empty nester.” So now
these skin designs are more of a fashion statement than a declaration of rebellion—in
fact, a Harris Poll reported that one-third of consumers aged 25–29 and one-quarter of
those aged 30–39 have tattoos. And, consistently with our discussion above, when we
compare respondents who sport a tattoo to those who don’t, the latter are more likely
to think that people who have one are deviant and rebellious. On the other hand, onethird of those who do have a tattoo say that it makes them feel sexier.126
Decorating the body with various kinds of metallic inserts has evolved from a practice associated with some fringe groups and natives in developing countries to become
a popular fashion statement. Piercing can and is being done on any part of the body.
More than a million websites are related to the practice. This popularity is not pleasing
to hardcore piercing fans, who view the practice as a sensual consciousness-raising
ritual and are concerned that people now do it simply because it’s trendy. As one customer waiting for a nipple piercing remarked, “If your piercing doesn’t mean anything,
then it’s just like buying a pair of platform shoes.”127
MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
Chapter Summary
The self-concept is strongly related to consumer behaviour.
• Consumers’ self-concepts are reflections of their attitudes
toward themselves. Whether these attitudes are positive
or negative, they will help to guide many purchase decisions; products can be used to bolster self-esteem or to
“reward” the self.
Products often play a pivotal role in defining the self-concept.
• Many product choices are dictated by the consumer’s perception of a similarity between his or her personality and
the attributes of a product. The symbolic interactionist
perspective on the self states that each of us actually has
many selves, and a different set of products is required as
props to play each role. Many things other than the body
can also be viewed as part of the self. Valued objects,
cars, homes, and even attachments to sports teams or
national monuments are used to define the self when
these are incorporated into the extended self.
Gender-role identity is different from gender, and society’s
expectations of masculinity and femininity help to determine
the products we buy.
• A person’s gender-role identity is a major component of
self-definition. Conceptions about masculinity and femininity, largely shaped by society, guide the acquisition of
“sex-typed” products and services.
• Advertising and other media play an important role in
socializing consumers to be male and female. Although
traditional women’s roles have often been perpetuated in
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SECTION II Consumers as Individuals
advertising depictions, this situation is changing somewhat.
The media do not always portray men accurately, either.
example is found in eating disorders, wherein women in
particular become obsessed with thinness.
The way we think about our bodies (and the way our culture
tells us we should think about them) is a key component of
self-esteem.
Every culture dictates certain types of body decoration and/
or mutilation that help to identify its members.
• Many consumer activities involve manipulating the body,
whether through dieting, cosmetic surgery, or tattooing.
• A person’s conception of his or her body also provides
feedback to self-image. A culture communicates certain
ideals of beauty, and consumers go to great lengths to
attain these.
• Body decoration and/or mutilation may serve such functions as separating group members from non-members, or
marking the individual’s status or rank within a social organization or within a gender category (e.g., homosexual),
or even providing a sense of security or good luck.
• Sometimes these activities are carried to an extreme
when people try too hard to live up to cultural ideals. One
Key Terms
Actual self
Androgyny
Fattism
p. 122
Agentic goals
Self-fulfilling prophecy
p. 140
Gender-bending products
p. 129
Group dieting
p. 131
Ideal of beauty
Body image p. 135
Ideal self
Communal goals
Imbibing idiot bias
Compensatory consumption
Digital self
p. 125
p. 128
Extended self
p. 126
p. 125
p. 130
Symbolic interactionism
p. 123
Symbolic self-completion theory p. 125
p. 122
Impression management
Self-concept
p. 123
p. 124
Sex-typed traits
p. 136
p. 122
Looking-glass self
Selfie
Self-image congruence models
p. 140
Body cathexis p. 135
p. 129
p. 132
p. 122
Wearable computing p. 128
p. 123
p. 121
Review Questions
1. How do Eastern and Western cultures tend to differ in
terms of how people think about the self?
2. List three dimensions by which we can describe the selfconcept.
3. Compare and contrast the real versus the ideal self. List
three products for which each type of self is likely to be
used as a reference point when a purchase is considered.
4. What does “the looking-glass self” mean?
5. How might the “digital self” differ from a consumer’s
self-concept in the real world, and why is this difference
potentially important to marketers?
6. How do feelings about the self influence the specific
brands people buy?
7. Define the extended self, and provide three examples.
8. What is the difference between agentic and communal
goals?
9. Is masculinity/femininity a biological distinction? Why or
why not?
10. Give two examples of sex-typed products.
11. What is body cathexis?
12. Have ideals of beauty in Canada changed over the last
50 years? If so, how?
13. What is fattism?
14. How did tattoos originate?
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. How prevalent is the Western ideal of beauty among
your peers? How do you see this ideal evolving now (if
at all)?
2. Some historians and social critics say that our obsession with thinness is based less on science than on
morality. These critics argue that the definition of obesity has often arbitrarily shifted throughout history.
Indeed, back in a time when many of the most troubling illnesses were wasting diseases such as tuberculosis, being slightly overweight was associated with
good health (and in some parts of the world, it still is).
Plumpness used to be associated with affluence and
CH A P TER 5 The Self
the aristocracy (King Louis XIV of France padded his
body to look more imposing), while today it is associated with the poor and their supposedly bad eating
habits.128 What do you think?
Experiential Exercises
3. Should fast-food restaurants be liable if customers sue
them for contributing to their obesity?
9. Watch a number of ads on TV or YouTube featuring men
and women. Try to imagine the characters with reversed
roles (i.e., the male parts played by women and vice
versa). Can you see any differences in assumptions about
gender-typed behaviour?
4. How might the creation of a self-conscious state be
related to consumers who are trying on clothing in dressing rooms? Does the act of preening in front of a mirror
change the dynamics by which people evaluate their
product choices? Why?
10. Construct a “consumption biography” of a friend or a
family member. Make a list of or photograph his or her
favourite possessions and see whether you or others can
describe this person’s personality just from the information provided by this catalogue.
5. Is it ethical for marketers to encourage infatuation with
the self?
11. Interview victims of burglaries or people who have lost
personal property in floods, ice storms, or other natural
disasters. How do they go about reconstructing their possessions, and what effect does the loss appear to have on
them?
6. Some consumer advocates have protested against the
use of super-thin models in advertising, claiming that
these women encourage others to starve themselves to
attain the “waif” look. Other critics respond that the
media’s power to shape behaviour has been overestimated and that it is insulting to people to assume that
they are unable to separate fantasy from reality. What do
you think?
7. Does sex sell? There’s certainly enough of it around,
whether in print ads, in TV commercials, or on websites. Perhaps the appropriate question is not does
sex sell, but should sex sell. What are your feelings
about the blatant use of sex to sell products? Do you
think this tactic works better when selling to men
than to women? Does exposure to unbelievably attractive men and women models only make the rest of us
“normal” folks unhappy and insecure? Under what
conditions (if any) should sex be used as a marketing
strategy?
8. Some activists object to Axe’s male-focused marketing; they claim that its commercials demean women.
On the other hand, Dove’s campaign has been
applauded because it promotes a healthy body image
for girls. Guess what? Both Axe and Dove are owned
by Unilever. Is it hypocritical for a big company to
sponsor positive messages about women in one of its
divisions while it sends a different message in
another?129
12. Locate additional examples of self-esteem advertising
and evaluate the probable effectiveness of these appeals.
Is it true that “Flattery gets you everywhere”?
Many advertisers routinely purchase stock photography
when they need an image of a certain kind of person to
include in an ad. Many photos of women reflect common
stereotypes, ranging from the crisp businesswoman who
wears a suit and glasses and holds a briefcase to the smiling mother who pours milk into cereal bowls for her kids
at breakfast. Sheryl Sandberg, a Facebook executive who
is an advocate for women in business, started an organization called Lean In to promote leadership. Lean In has
partnered with Getty Images, one of the biggest stock
photography companies in the world, to offer an image
collection that represents women differently. 130 The new
collection depicts women as surgeons, painters, bakers,
soldiers, and hunters. There are girls riding skateboards
and women lifting weights. Look through a sample of current magazines and collect images of women. To what
extent do they represent a range of roles? Categorize
these images according to the type of product advertised
and the situation the photo depicts (e.g., multitasking
woman holding a table and a baby, happy homemaker,
etc.). Based upon what you find, what messages do media
give us about gender roles today?
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
International Fashions Expands
The management team at International Fashions was thrilled
with the outcomes of its participation in the latest Vancouver
Fashion Week. The collections it featured from its two flagship
brands—Kersh and Press—had generally received a positive
reaction from fashion critics and writers and, more importantly,
the collections had been warmly received by the public. Ker-
shaw Nanavaty, owner and president of the company, wondered how he could leverage this positive outcome to build on
the momentum the company was experiencing. He wondered
if he could use this reaction to help his newly launched brands,
Kershies, Kersh81nineteen, and Nanavatee. The new brands
were targeted to younger demographics—children, teens, and
young adults. How could he best capitalize on the two stronger
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brands in building these new product lines? What type of communication, design, and imagery would best capture the imagination of the new segments?
International Fashions
International Fashions is a Canadian company with a worldwide reach. Founded in 1981 by clothiers Max Fugman and
Kershaw Nanavaty, it has grown into a significant operation
that employs over 60 in-house staff, including administration,
design, marketing, and distribution functions. The company
works with sales representatives in Canada, all major U.S.
markets, Australia, and throughout Europe. The established
client base throughout these global markets comprises both
independent and major retailers.
In the early days of the company, the central focus was on
the distribution and manufacturing of private-label garments
for a variety of Canadian retailers, including Mark’s, Cotton
Ginny, and the Bay. This strong foundation meant that International Fashions could launch a portfolio of independently
designed fashion lines that would enable the company to
become a full-fledged fashion house. Indeed, in 1996 the
company launched four lines targeting men’s and women’s
markets. Ignite and Legends were positioned in the men’s market, and Kersh and Press were targeted to women. Over time,
however, the company made the strategic decision to focus all
its energy on the two women’s lines.
Kersh and Press
The two women’s labels were defined as contemporary
brands that represented a West Coast, relaxed style. Kersh
was originally positioned as a young contemporary brand
with a relatively broad target market ranging from late teens
to middle age. The brand identity was centred in a carefree,
fun look. It had a brand personality that didn’t take itself seriously, yet maintained a sense of hipness and attitude. The
Press brand focused on the more mature consumer—the
logical choice when a woman had grown out of the Kersh
label. As such, the demographic for this brand skewed
slightly older; while Press still carried a contemporary West
Coast attitude, it provided more sophistication.
Both brands showed modest growth initially and seemed to
take a backseat to the more dominant private-label business,
which provided a strong cash flow to International Fashions. It
wasn’t until 2006 that management decided to reinvigorate the
brands and relaunch them with stronger support and intent. This
effort saw a strong push into the U.S. market and a more aggressive effort in communication, design, and promotion.
Communication, Design, and Promotion
The relaunch utilized a number of tools to raise the brand equity of
Kersh and Press. Foremost was the identification of a face for the
brands. Emma Hansen, daughter of famous Canadian wheelchair
athlete Rick Hansen, was recommended by the Liz Belle Agency
as a potential fit for the brand personality the company sought to
build. Indeed, Emma fit the wholesome West Coast attitude that
Kersh wanted to evoke. Her look was girl-next-door and brought a
bubbly, carefree, natural feel to the company.
Coupled with this imagery was a renewed dedication to
fresh design and smarter promotion efforts. The company
hired designers new to the business who brought innovation
and creativity to the fore. Promotion centred on leveraging
Emma Hansen at trade shows in Las Vegas and New York, the
development of look books, the creation of websites for the
respective brands, and a commitment to feature the brands in
Vogue magazine on an annual basis.
These efforts met with strong success. The growth for both
brands was significant, and the reaction of the critical market
was strongly positive. The brands received editorial attention
from fashion magazines ranging from ELLE to Canadian Living.
The end consumer embraced the renewed positioning, which
translated into increased partnerships with retailers and a stronger bottom line. Capitalizing on this success, the company integrated marketing, design, and sales to enable consensus on
brand growth and evolution. New faces for both brands were
brought in, and in each instance the notion of West Coast attitude was maintained. Models who captured a carefree, funloving, natural look were embraced. The brands avoided looks
that were overdone or European in nature. In fact, the visual
imagery focused on natural beauty: Shoots were conducted in
outdoor locations such as Grouse Mountain, beaches at Tsawwassen, and horse ranches in the B.C. interior.
Expanding the Portfolio: Decisions
The amazing success of Kersh and Press provided an impetus
to expand the brand portfolio. In 2013–14, Kershaw introduced three additional lines called Kershies, Kersh18nineteen,
and Nanavatee—all extensions of the Kersh label. Each of
these new brands sought to capitalize on the equity of the parent brand to resonate with new target audiences. The initial
reaction was mixed, forcing Kersh to wonder if the imagery and
design he had built into his parent brands effectively transferred to these fledgling efforts. Did the use of natural-looking
models have application in younger markets? Further, how did
parents view fashion brands that featured child models? What
was the impact on child consumers when faced with a brand
that carried such a strong identity? Kershaw knew that to be
successful with these new lines, he needed to be more effective in leveraging his two parent brands while still adapting the
company’s efforts to the new target markets.
1. How does the parent brand Kersh tap into the self-views of
the consumer?
2. Why does the fashion industry play such an important role
in actual and ideal selves? Is this a positive aspect of the
industry?
3. Why does the choice of Emma Hansen as the face of the
brand mean so much? How do feature models and celebrity endorsers influence the self-concept of a consumer?
4. As International Fashions looks to build brands in younger
markets, does it need to give consideration to the type of
models and imagery it attaches to these new brands? Why?
CH A P TER 5 The Self
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Business Ethics 6 (1987): 495–504.
113. Jane E. Brody, “Personal Health,” The New York Times (February 22, 1990): B9.
114. Judy Folkenberg, “Bulimia: Not for Women Only,” Psychology Today (March 1984): 10.
115. Eleanor Grant, “The Exercise Fix: What Happens When Fitness Fanatics Just Can’t
Say No?” Psychology Today 22 (February 1988): 24.
116. Stephen S. Hall, “The Bully in the Mirror,” The New York Times Magazine, www.
nytimes.com, accessed August 22, 1999; Natalie Angier, “Drugs, Sports, Body Image
and G.I. Joe,” The New York Times (December 22, 1998): D1.
117. Annette C. Hamburger and Holly Hall, “Beauty Quest,” Psychology Today (May
1988): 28.
118. Emily Yoffe, “Valley of the Silicon Dolls,” Newsweek (November 26, 1990): 72.
119. Nancy J. White, “Breast enlargement most popular plastic surgery in Canada in
2011,” Toronto Star (February 1, 2013), www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/
news_research/2013/02/01/breast_enlargement_most_popular_plastic_surgery_
in_canada_in_2011.html.
120. Ruth P. Rubinstein, “Color, Circumcision, Tattoos, and Scars,” in The Psychology of
Fashion, ed. Michael R. Solomon (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1985): 243–254;
Peter H. Bloch and Marsha L. Richins, “You Look Mahvelous: The Pursuit of Beauty
and Marketing Concept,” Psychology & Marketing 9 (January 1992): 3–16.
121. Sondra Farganis, “Lip Service: The Evolution of Pouting, Pursing, and Painting Lips
Red,” Health (November 1988): 48–51.
122. Michael Gross, “Those Lips, Those Eyebrows: New Face of 1989 (New Look of Fashion
Models),” The New York Times Magazine (February 13, 1989): 24.
123. Natasha Singer, “Erasing Tattoos, Out of Regret or for a New Canvas,” The New York
Times on the Web (June 17, 2007).
124. “White Weight,” Psychology Today (September/October 1994): 9.
125. “Three in Ten Americans with a Tattoo Say Having One Makes Them Feel Sexier”
(February 12, 2008), www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.
asp?PID=868,accessed May 29, 2009.
103. Grant McCracken, Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self (Toronto:
Penguin Books, 1995).
126. Jason Hidalgo, “Undo My Tattoo,” Glamour (November 2008): 102–107.
104. David Goetzl, “Teen Girls Pan Ad Images of Women,” Advertising Age (September
13, 1999): p. 32; Carey Goldberg, “Citing Intolerance, Obese People Take Steps to
Press Cause,” The New York Times (November 5, 2000), www.nytimes.com/
2000/11/05/us/fat-people-say-an-intolerant-world-condemns-them-on-firstsight.html.
128. Dinitia Smith, “Demonizing Fat in the War on Weight,” The New York Times on the
Web (May 1, 2004).
105. Shirley S. Wang, “Diet Pepsi’s ‘Skinny Can’ Campaign Riles Eating Disorders Group,”
The Wall Street Journal (February 15, 2011), http://blogs.WallStreetJournal.com/
health/2011/02/15/diet-pepsis-skinny-can-campaign-riles-eating-disorders-group.
127. Quoted in Wendy Bounds, “Body-Piercing Gets under America’s Skin,” Wall Street
Journal (April 4, 1994): B1, 2.
129. Stephanie Clifford, “Axe Body Products Puts Its Brand on the Hamptons Club Scene,”
The New York Times (May 22, 2009): B6.
130. Claire Cain Miller, “LeanIn.org and Getty Aim to Change Women’s Portrayal in Stock
Photos,” The New York Times (February 9, 2014).
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
C HAPTER
Personality, Lifestyles,
and Values
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand that a consumer’s personality can
influence the way he or she responds to marketing
stimuli.
2
Understand how the various theories of personality
differ.
3
Understand that trait theory proposes that various
consumer characteristics can be measured and used
to predict outcomes.
4
Understand that marketers can use a variety of
techniques to create “brand personality.”
Personality
5
Understand that consumers’ lifestyles are key to
many marketing strategies.
6
Understand that psychographics go beyond simple
demographics to help marketers understand and
reach different consumer segments.
7
Understand that every culture has a set of core
values that it imparts to its members.
CO 1
The concept of personality refers to a person’s unique psychological makeup and how it
consistently influences the way he or she responds to the environment. Over the years, the
nature of the personality construct has been hotly debated. Many studies have found that
people tend not to behave consistently across different situations and that they do not
seem to exhibit stable personalities. In fact, some researchers feel that people do not exhibit
a consistent personality across different situations; they argue that this is merely a convenient way to think about other people.
This argument is a bit hard to accept intuitively, possibly because we tend to see others in a limited range of situations, and so, to us, most people do act consistently. On the
other hand, each of us knows that we are not all that consistent; we might be wild and
crazy sometimes and the model of respectability at other times. Although certainly not all
psychologists have abandoned the idea of personality, many now recognize that a person’s
underlying characteristics are but one part of the puzzle and that situational factors often
play a large role in determining behaviour.1 Still, some aspects of personality tend to be
relatively stable over time and across a variety of situations. These aspects continue to be
accounted for in marketing strategies and are usually employed in concert with a person’s
choices of leisure activities, political outlook, aesthetic tastes, and other individual factors
that make up an individual’s lifestyle, a concept we’ll focus on more fully in this chapter.
Many approaches to understanding the complex concept of personality can be traced
to psychological theorists who began to develop these perspectives in the early part of the
century. These perspectives were qualitative, in the sense that they were largely based on
analysts’ interpretations of patients’ accounts of dreams, traumatic experiences, and
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
151
encounters with others. More recent work looks at how specific personality traits
shape consumer behaviour.
Consumer Behaviour on the Couch:
Freudian Theory
CO 2
One approach to personality is based on Sigmund Freud’s idea that much of human
behaviour stems from a fundamental conflict between a person’s desire to gratify his or
her physical needs and the necessity to function as a responsible member of society.
This struggle is carried out in the mind among three symbolic self systems.
FR E U DIA N S YS T E MS
The id is the component of the self entirely oriented toward immediate gratification—
it is the “party animal” of the mind. It operates according to the pleasure principle:
Behaviour is guided by the primary desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain. The
id is selfish and illogical. It directs a person’s psychic energy toward pleasurable acts
without regard for any possible consequences.
The superego is the counterweight to the id. This system is essentially the person’s conscience. It internalizes society’s rules and works to prevent the id from
seeking selfish gratification.
Finally, the ego is the system that mediates between the id and the superego. It is, in
a way, a referee in the fight between temptation and virtue. The ego tries to balance these
two opposing forces according to the reality principle. It finds ways to gratify the id that
will be acceptable to the outside world. These conflicts occur on an unconscious level,
so the person is not necessarily aware of the underlying reasons for behaviour.
How is Freud’s work relevant to consumer behaviour? In particular, his work
highlights the potential importance of unconscious motives underlying purchases.
The implication is that consumers cannot necessarily tell us their true motivations for
choosing a product, even if we can devise a sensitive way to ask them directly.
The Freudian perspective also hints at the possibility that the ego relies on the symbolism in products to compromise between the demands of the id and the prohibitions
of the superego. The person channels his or her unacceptable desires into acceptable
The seductive synergy between the
asparagus curl and the butter curl suggests
a natural combination of food flavours and
textures. This is an example of bringing an
inanimate object to life in a way that gives
it a personality.
Photo by Georges Simhoni. Reprinted by permission
of the Dairy Farmers of Canada
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
outlets by using products that signify these underlying desires. This is the connection
between product symbolism and motivation: The product stands for, or represents, a
consumer’s true goal, one that is socially unacceptable or unattainable; by acquiring the
product, the person is able to experience vicariously the forbidden fruit.
S O ME T IME S A CIG AR IS J U ST A CIG AR
Most Freudian applications in marketing are related to the ways in which products
might channel unconscious urges, such as those involving sexuality and aggression.
For example, some analysts have speculated that a sports car is a substitute for sexual
gratification for many men. Indeed, some men do seem inordinately attached to their
cars and may spend many hours lovingly washing and polishing them.
Others focus on male-oriented symbolism—the so-called phallic symbol—that
appeals to women. Although Freud himself joked that “sometimes a cigar is just a
cigar,” many pop applications of Freud’s ideas revolve around the use of objects that
resemble sex organs (such as cigars, trees, or swords for men, and tunnels for women).
This focus stems from Freud’s analysis of dreams, which were often interpreted as
communicating repressed desires through symbols.
Motivational Research
The first attempts to apply Freudian ideas to understanding the deeper meanings of
products and advertisements were made in the 1950s, when a perspective known as
motivational research was developed. This approach is largely based on psychoanalytic
(Freudian) interpretations, with a heavy emphasis on unconscious motives. A basic
assumption is that socially unacceptable needs are channelled into acceptable outlets.
Motivational research relies on in-depth interviews with individual consumers.
Instead of asking many consumers a few general questions about product usage and
combining these responses with those of many other consumers in a representative
statistical sample, this technique uses relatively few consumers but probes deeply into
each person’s purchase motivations. An in-depth interview might take several hours
and is based on the assumption that the respondent cannot immediately articulate his
or her latent, or underlying, motives; these can be derived only after meticulous
questioning and interpretation on the part of a carefully trained interviewer.
This technique was pioneered by Ernest Dichter, a psychoanalyst who trained in
Vienna in the early part of twentieth century. Dichter conducted in-depth interview
studies on more than 230 different products, and many of his findings have been
incorporated in actual marketing campaigns.2 For example, Esso (now Exxon) for
many years reminded consumers to “Put a tiger in your tank” after Dichter found that
people responded well to this powerful animal symbolism containing vaguely suggestive overtones. A summary of major consumption motivations identified using this
approach appears in Table 6–1.
Motivational research is attacked for two quite opposite reasons. Some feel it does
not work at all, while others feel it works too well. On the one hand, social critics have
attacked this school of thought for giving advertisers the power to manipulate consumers.3 On the other hand, many consumer researchers feel the research has lacked sufficient rigour and validity, since interpretations are subjective and ­indirect.4 Because
conclusions are based on the analyst’s own judgment and are derived from discussions
with a small number of people, some researchers are dubious as to the degree to which
these results can be generalized to a large market. In addition, because the original motivational researchers were heavily influenced by orthodox Freudian theory, their interpretations usually carried strong sexual overtones. This emphasis tends to overlook
other plausible causes for behaviour. Examples of insights from motivational research
include conclusions such as the idea that people associate coffee with companionship,
that we avoid prunes because they remind us of old age, and that men fondly equate the
first car they owned as an adolescent with the onset of their sexual freedom.
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
TABLE 6–1
Major Motives for Consumption as Identified by Ernest Dichter
Motive
Power/masculinity/virility
Associated Products
Power: Sugary products and large breakfasts (to charge oneself
up), bowling, electric trains, hot rods, power tools
Masculinity/virility: Coffee, red meat, heavy shoes, toy guns,
shaving with a razor
Security
Ice cream (to feel like a loved child again), full drawer of neatly
ironed shirts, home baking, hospital care
Eroticism
Sweets (to lick), gloves (to be removed by women as a form of
undressing), a man lighting a woman’s cigarette (to create a
tension-filled moment culminating in pressure, then relaxation)
Moral purity/cleanliness
White bread, cotton fabrics (to connote chastity), harsh household
cleaning chemicals, bathing, oatmeal (sacrifice, virtue)
Social acceptance
Companionship: Ice cream (to share fun), coffee
Love and affection: Toys (to express love for children), sugar
and honey (to express terms of affection)
Acceptance: Soap, beauty products
Individuality
Gourmet foods, foreign cars, vodka, perfume, fountain pens
Status
Scotch, fur coats, luxury cars
Femininity
Cakes and cookies, dolls, silk, tea, household curios (to have a
light, decorative, and heavily tactile component)
Reward
Candy, alcohol, ice cream, cookies
Mastery over environment
Kitchen appliances, boats, sporting goods
Disalienation (a desire to feel
Home decorating, skiing, morning radio broadcasts (to feel “in
a connectedness to things)
touch” with the world)
Magic/mystery
Soups (have healing powers), paints (change the mood of a
room), carbonated drinks (magical, effervescent property),
vodka (romantic history), unwrapping of gifts
Source: Adapted from Jeffrey F. Durgee, “Interpreting Dichter’s Interpretations: An Analysis of Consumption Symbolism in The Handbook of
Consumer Motivations,” Marketing and Semiotics: Selected Papers from the Copenhagen Symposium, eds. Hanne Hartvig-Larsen, David Glen
Mick, and Christian Alstead (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991).
Motivational research has great appeal to marketers looking to uncover consumer
insights. The knowledge derived from motivational research often helps to develop
marketing communications that appeal to deep-seated needs and thus provide a more
powerful “hook” to relate a product to consumers. Even if they are not necessarily
valid for all consumers in a target market, these insights can be valuable when used in
an exploratory way. For example, the rich imagery that may be associated with a product can be used creatively when developing advertising copy.
NE O - FRE UDIA N T H E OR IE S O F P E R S O N A L ITY
Freud’s work had a huge influence on subsequent theories of personality. Although
Freud opened the door to the realization that explanations for behaviour may lurk
beneath the surface, many of his co-workers and students felt that an individual’s
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
personality was more influenced by how he or she handled relationships with others.
These theorists are often called neo-Freudian (meaning following from or being
influenced by Freud).
KAREN HORNEY One of the most prominent neo-Freudians was a psychoanalyst
named Karen Horney. She proposed that people can be described as moving toward
others (compliant), away from others (detached), or against others (aggressive).5 Some
research indicates that these three types prefer different kinds of products. For example, one study found that compliant people are more likely to gravitate toward namebrand products, that detached types are more likely to be tea drinkers, and that males
classified as aggressive prefer brands with a strong masculine orientation (e.g., Axe
deodorant).6 Other well-known neo-Freudians include Alfred Adler, who proposed
that many actions are motivated by people’s desire to overcome feelings of inferiority
relative to others, and Harry Stack Sullivan, who focused on how personality evolves
to reduce anxiety in social relationships.7
CARL JUNG Carl Jung was also a disciple of Freud (and was being groomed by Freud
Marketing
Insight
The technique that eLoyalty uses exemplifies the
application of trait theory to marketing. This
company, which builds tools and services for
call centres, compiles personality profiles of
each individual caller and matches them with a
customer service representative who works best
with that personality type. The system is based
on a methodology called the Process Communication Model, which NASA used to weed out
astronaut candidates and Bill Clinton used to
tailor his speeches. The system’s creator
divided people into six main personality types,
each of which has a different communication
style and each of which has different stress
triggers. It’s based on the idea that if you know
the personality type of the person you’re speaking with, you can modify your own communication style to work more effectively with that
person. One such type is the “workaholic,” a
personality type who is very task-oriented. If a
customer service rep starts chit-chatting to
establish rapport with a workaholic, this
approach will backfire. In contrast, a type called
the “reactor” is relationship-oriented, so a rep
who does not acknowledge the caller’s feelings
before getting down to business is doomed to
failure. The automated system analyzes callers’
language patterns to identify their personality
type so that each time the customer calls back,
he or she is directed to a rep who is a good
match for that caller’s type.11
to be his successor). However, Jung was unable to accept Freud’s emphasis on sexual
aspects of personality, which was a contributing factor in the eventual dissolution of
their relationship. Jung went on to develop his own method of psychotherapy, which
became known as analytical psychology. This approach emphasized both the individual’s development as a creative person (his or her future) and his or her individual
and racial history (his or her past) in the formation of personality.
Jung believed that people are shaped by the cumulative experiences of past generations. A central part of his perspective was an emphasis on what Jung called the
collective unconscious, which is a storehouse of memories inherited from our ancestral past. For example, Jung would argue that many people are afraid of the dark
because their distant ancestors had good reason to exhibit this fear. These shared
memories create archetypes, or universally shared ideas and behaviour patterns.
Archetypes involve themes, such as birth, death, or the devil, that appear frequently in
myths, stories, and dreams.
Jung’s ideas may seem a bit far-fetched, but advertising messages often do invoke
(at least intuitively) archetypes to link products with underlying meanings. For example, some of the archetypes identified by Jung and his followers include the old wise
man and the earth mother.8 These images appear frequently in marketing messages
that use such characters as wizards, revered teachers, or even Mother Nature to convince people of the merits of products. Our culture’s infatuation with stories such as
Harry Potter and The Hobbit speaks to the power of these images.
Young & Rubicam (Y&R), a major advertising agency, uses the archetype approach
in its BrandAsset Archetypes model, as depicted in Figure 6–1. The model proposes
healthy relationships among archetypes as well as unhealthy ones. A healthy personality is one in which the archetypes overwhelm their corresponding shadows; a sick
personality results when one or more shadows prevail. When a brand’s shadows dominate, this cues the agency to take action to guide the brand to a healthier personality,
much as one would try to counsel a psychologically ill person.9
Trait Theories
CO 3
One approach to personality is to focus on the quantitative measurement of specific
traits, or identifiable characteristics that define a person. For example, people can be
distinguished by the degree to which they are socially outgoing (the trait of extroversion). Some specific traits that are relevant to consumer behaviour include innovativeness (the degree to which a person likes to try new things), public self-consciousness
(the degree to which a person deliberately monitors and controls the image of the self
that is projected to others), and need for cognition (the degree to which a person likes
to think about things and, by extension, to expend the necessary effort to process
brand information).10
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
FIGURE 6–1
BrandAsset Valuator Archetypes
Characteristics
Magician - thought
Sage - peace
logical, analytical, insightful
Patriarch - belief
wise, visionary, mentoring
Matriarch - order
stable, genuine, nurturing
Angel - dreams
THOUGHT
organized, systematic, controlled
Mother Earth - body
dignified, authoritative, inspirational
optimistic, innocent, pure
SUBSTANCE
Enchantress - soul
EMOTIONS
mysterious, sensual, tempting
Queen - being
Actress - feelings
relaxed, comforting, sociable
glamorous, dramatic, involved
ENERGY
Warrior - ego
confident, powerful, heroic
Troubadour - joy
Jester - spirit
joyous, free-spirited, agile
witty, resilient, daring
Shadow Characteristics
Sorcerer
hollow, dark, cowardly
Dictator
Hermit
repressive, close- minded, unforgiving
isolated, lonely, irrelevant
Hag
Orphan
stingy, messy, crotchety
abandoned, vulnerable,
frightened
Shadow Mother
Shadow Witch
bloated, immobile, self-absorbed
cold, vain, selfish
Slave
Addict
oppressed, tormented, despondent
wounded, jealous, tragic
Destroyer
angry, aggressive, destructive
Idiot
Trickster
tricky, phony, scheming
Source: Courtesy of Young & Rubicam Group.
silly, dimwitted, goofy
155
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
A R E Y O U AN IN N IE O R AN O U TIE?
Perhaps the trait dimension most relevant to consumer behaviour is the extent to
which a person is motivated to consume in order to please others or to fit in versus the
extent to which a person consumes to express a unique sense of self without much
concern about being accepted by a group. A sociologist named David Riesman first
introduced the terms inner-directed and outer-directed to our culture.12 This general
idea has resurfaced in a variety of ways. As we’ll see in Chapter 14, some cultures tend
to stress individualism while others reward those who try to fit in. We’ll talk more
about the power of conformity (the impact of shaping one’s behaviour to meet the
expectations of a group) in Chapter 11.
Each of us to some extent is a conformist by definition, because as members of society we follow certain rules. As a simple example, we each “agree” to stop at a corner
when the light turns red. Still, some of us are more concerned about the reactions of
others to what we do, while some seem to “march to a different drummer.” One personality trait we can measure is the need for uniqueness (the degree to which a person is
motivated to conform to the preferences of others versus standing apart from the
crowd).13
Some research examines consumption differences between individuals who are
idiocentrics (having an individualist orientation) and those who are allocentrics
(having a group orientation). Differences between these two personality types include
the following:
•
Contentment: Idiocentrics scored higher than allocentrics on the statement “I am
very satisfied with the way things are going in my life these days.” They are also
more satisfied with their financial situations.
•
Health-consciousness: Allocentrics are more likely to avoid foods that are high in
cholesterol, have a high salt content, have additives in them, or have a high amount
of fat.
•
Food preparation: The kitchen is the favourite room of allocentrics, who spend
more time preparing meals than do idiocentrics.
•
Workaholics: Idiocentrics are more likely to say they work very hard most of the
time, and they stay late at work more than do allocentrics.
•
Travel and entertainment: Idiocentrics are more interested in other cultures and
travelling than are allocentrics. They are also more likely to go to movies, art
galleries, and museums. Compared to idiocentrics, allocentrics visited the public library and finished reading books with a greater frequency. Allocentrics
reported working on craft projects such as needlework and model building. On
the other hand, idiocentric individuals were more likely to collect stamps or
rocks, work on do-it-yourself projects, and take photos. They were also more
likely to play the lottery.14
WH E N T R A ITS AR E U SEFU L
The notion that consumers buy products that are extensions of their personalities
makes intuitive sense. This idea is endorsed by many marketing managers who try to
create brand personalities that will appeal to particular types of consumers. Take for
example, the ad from Pepsi that appeals to consumers who view themselves as having
youthful personalities. However, the use of standard personality-trait measurements
to predict product choices has met with mixed success.15 One domain in which using
personality measures has proven very successful is dating services, such as eHarmony.
eHarmony Canada uses a combination of different measures of personality to help
match consumers on core traits and values.
Although personality alone does not always directly predict consumption
behaviours, personality traits often interact with situational factors to predict how
consumers will behave. Take, for example, consumers high in the trait of public
self-consciousness noted above.16 Consumers high in public self-consciousness are
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
157
By using strategic product placement, Pepsi
associates itself with a certain personality
type.
Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images for Pepsi
more likely to make choices that allow them to present a positive view of the self to
others. For instance, consumers high in public self-consciousness are more likely
to avoid products with negative associations (e.g., men won’t choose a steak called
the “ladies’ cut”17 and are more likely to donate to a charity in public settings if it
looks like they are doing it for more altruistic, other-focused reasons).18 Need for
uniqueness has also been shown to drive product choice when the specific consumption context motivates the relevance of this personality trait.19 Specifically,
those high in need for uniqueness tend to be more likely to desire unique, counternormative, or unconventional options when a consumption situation activates this
need.20 One study examined how having one’s product choice mimicked or copied
by another person can threaten this need for uniqueness. Have you ever shown up
The Axe brand appeals to consumers who
see themselves as having fun and flirtatious
personalities.
Courtesy of Unilever
158
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Consumers
In Focus
One interesting implication of the notion of
“brand personality” is that the brands and
products that people own might communicate
something about their own personalities to others. Not only do people often infer personality
traits from an individual’s possessions, but
they are surprisingly accurate in their trait
inferences. For example, upon viewing a target
person’s bedroom or office containing all of
their possessions, observers were fairly accurate in estimating the individual’s personality
traits.25 Interestingly, individuals are also very
good at accurately conveying their personality
traits to others online. Instead of merely presenting idealized self-images to others online
using social networks, people often do convey
their true personality traits.26
Consumers infer strong differences in a
wine’s personality based on the design on
the bottle’s label.
Reprinted with permission from Journal of
Marketing, published by the American
Marketing Association, Ulrich R. Orth &
Keven Malkewitz, May 2008, Vol. 72, p. 73.
at a party to find that another guest is wearing the same thing as you? Would it be
worse if it were your best friend wearing the ­identical outfit rather than someone
you didn’t know? It turns out that consumers high in need for uniqueness, and who
were copied by someone similar to them, were most upset about the uniqueness
violation—they were most willing to dispose of, trade in, or alter their choice when
they were copied.21
Finally, need for cognition can be activated when the consumption situation
provides the opportunity for effortful cognitive activity—or, in other words, thinking. 22 Consumers high in need for cognition enjoy thinking extensively about
things like products and their attributes. Those low in need for cognition are
more likely to take shortcuts or rely on their feelings when making decisions, as
opposed to thinking carefully.23 Those high in need for cognition tend to process
information carefully and to scrutinize the content of the advertising message more
closely. Those low in need for cognition are more likely to respond on the basis of
information peripheral to the message itself, such as attractive models, humour,
and other cues.24
Brand Personality
CO 4
In 1886 a momentous event occurred: The Quaker Oats man first appeared on boxes
of hot cereal. Quakers had a reputation in nineteenth-century America for being
shrewd but fair, and peddlers sometimes dressed as Quakers for this reason. The
Personality Traits
Sincerity
Excitement
Competence
Sophistication
Ruggedness
Down-to-earth
Honest
Wholesome
Cheerful
Daring
Spirited
Imaginative
Up-to-date
Reliable
Intelligent
Successful
Upper class
Charming
Outdoorsy
Tough
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
High
High
High
High
High
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
159
This visual for Harley-Davidson conveys
personality characteristics that resonate
with the average Harley rider.
Courtesy of Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada
cereal company’s decision to “borrow” this imagery for its packaging signalled the
recognition that purchasers might make the same associations with its product.27 A
brand personality is the set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person. Many of the most recognizable figures in popular culture are spokescharacters
for long-­standing brands, such as the Tony the Tiger, Geico Gecko, and the Jolly Green
Giant. And, like real people, these characters sometimes need a “makeover” to keep
them fresh and young-looking.
Our feelings about a brand’s personality are an important part of brand equity,
which refers to the extent to which consumers hold strong, favourable, and
unique associations with a brand in memory—and the extent to which they are
willing to pay more for the branded version of a product than for a non-branded
(generic) version.28
Personality dimensions that can be used to compare and contrast the perceived
characteristics of brands in various product categories include the following:29
•
Old-fashioned, wholesome, traditional
•
Surprising, lively, “with it”
•
Serious, intelligent, efficient
•
Glamorous, romantic, sexy
•
Rugged, outdoorsy, tough, athletic
The following memo was written to help an advertising agency figure out how a
client should be portrayed in advertising. Based on this description of the “client,”
can you guess who he is? “He is creative . . . unpredictable . . . an imp. . . . He not only
walks and talks, but has the ability to sing, blush, wink, and work with little devices
like pointers. . . . He can also play musical instruments. . . . His walking motion is
characterized as a ‘swagger’. . . . He is made of dough and has mass.”30
Of course, we all know today that packaging and other physical cues create a “personality” for a product (in this case, the Pillsbury Doughboy!). But the marketing activities undertaken on behalf of the product can also influence inferences about its
“personality.” Some of these actions are shown in Table 6–2.
The creation and communication of a distinctive brand personality is one of the
primary ways marketers can make a product stand out from the competition and
inspire years of loyalty to it. This process can be understood in terms of animism, the
practice found in many cultures whereby inanimate objects are given qualities that
make them somehow alive. Animism is in some cases a part of a religion: Sacred
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
TABLE 6–2
Brand Behaviours and Possible Personality Trait Inference
Brand Action
Trait Inference
Brand is repositioned several times or changes its slogan
Flighty, schizophrenic
repeatedly.
Brand uses continuing character in its advertising.
Familiar, comfortable
Brand charges a high price and uses exclusive distribution.
Snobbish, sophisticated
Brand is frequently available on a special deal.
Cheap, uncultured
Brand offers many line extensions.
Versatile, adaptable
Brand sponsors a show on PBS or uses recycled materials.
Helpful, supportive
Brand features easy-to-use packaging or speaks at consumer’s
Warm, approachable
level in advertising.
Brand offers seasonal clearance sale.
Planful, practical
Brand offers five-year warranty or free customer hotline.
Reliable, dependable
Source: Adapted from Susan Fournier, “A Consumer-Brand Relationship Framework for Strategic Brand Management,” doctoral dissertation,
Department of Marketing, University of Florida, 1994, Table 2.2: 24.
objects, animals, or places are believed to have magical qualities or to contain the spirits of ancestors. In our society these objects may be “worshipped” in the sense that
they are believed to impart desirable qualities to the owner, or they may in a sense
become so important to a person that they can be viewed as a “friend.”
Two types of animism can be identified to describe the extent to which human
qualities are attributed to a product:31
•
Level 1: In the highest order of animism, the object is associated with a human
individual—as is sometimes the case for spokespersons in advertising. This
strategy allows the consumer to feel that the spirit of the celebrity or endorser
is available through the brand. In other cases, a brand might be strongly associated with a loved one, alive or deceased; for example, “My grandmother always
served Kraft blueberry jam.”
•
Level 2: Objects are anthropomorphized—given human characteristics. A cartoon
character or mythical creation might be treated as if it were a person, and even
assumed to have human feelings. Think of such familiar spokescharacters as the
Jolly Green Giant or the Michelin Man. One study illustrates how this works:
­Participants saw an advertisement with a picture of a car that had been modified
to make it appear as though it was either “smiling” or “frowning.” In some cases,
the text of the ad was written in the first person, to activate a human schema,
while others saw the same ad written in the third person. When the human
schema was active, those who saw the “smiling” car rated it more favourably than
when they saw a “frowning” car.32
Personality of Positioning
As we saw in Chapter 2, a brand’s positioning strategy is a statement about what that
brand wants to be in the eyes of its customers—especially relative to the competition.
Marketers are used to thinking in these terms, routinely describing their brands and
the competition as if they were people.
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
161
This ad for Becel margarine uses animism
by positioning the brand as something
consumers might have a relationship with.
Go ahead,
you know you
want to.
Reproduced with kind permission of Unilever
PLC and group companies
Becel® Buttery Taste Margarine has
80% less saturated fat than butter.
And with a delicious buttery taste
you’ll love, cheating never felt so right.
Cheat on Butter.
TM
becel.ca
A healthy diet low in saturated and trans fat may reduce the risk of heart disease. Becel margarine is low in saturated fat and trans fat.
Trade-mark owned or used under license by Unilever Canada, Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R2.
In a sense, then, a brand personality is also a statement about how the brand is
positioned. Understanding this concept is crucial to the success of a marketing
strategy—especially if consumers don’t see the brand the way its makers intend
them to, which means the makers have to try to reposition the product (i.e., give it a
personality makeover). That’s the problem now being faced by Volvo, whose cars are
renowned for safety but not exactly seen as exciting or sexy. A safe and solid brand
personality makes it hard to sell a racy convertible like the C70 model, so a British
ad tries to change that perception with the tagline, “Lust, envy, jealousy. The dangers
of a Volvo.” In another example of trying to reposition a brand around a distinct
personality, Lincoln (a General Motors brand) used Matthew McConaughey as a
spokesperson in the hopes that he would bring a younger, cooler, more laid-back
image to the brand.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
In using this character, played by Isaiah
Mustafa, Old Spice has done an excellent
job of creating a strong brand personality.
After the original commercials aired, Old
Spice created several YouTube spots to help
viewers get to know the man behind the
brand better.
Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Geico creates a distinct brand personality by
the use of anthropomorphization.
All text and images are copywritten with permission from
GEICO.
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
163
Lifestyles and Psychographics
Lifestyle: Who We Are, What We Do
In traditional societies, consumption options are largely dictated by class, caste,
­village, or family. In a modern consumer society, however, people are more free to
select the set of products, services, and activities that defines them and, in turn, to create a social identity that can be communicated to others. A person’s choice of goods
and services indeed makes a statement about who that person is and about the types of
people with whom that person desires to identify—and even about those he or she
wishes to avoid.
Lifestyle refers to a pattern of consumption reflecting a person’s choices of how
he or she spends time and money. Many of the factors already discussed in this
book, such as a person’s self-concept, ethnicity, and social class, are used as “raw
ingredients” to fashion a unique lifestyle. In an economic sense, a person’s lifestyle
represents the way he or she has elected to allocate income both to different products and services and to specific alternatives within these categories.33 Other somewhat similar distinctions have been made to describe consumers in terms of their
broad patterns of consumption.34 For example, consumers can be distinguished by
their social class, which can be determined by the proportion of expenditures on
food, advanced technology, or such information-intensive goods as entertainment
and education.
A lifestyle marketing perspective recognizes that people sort themselves into
groups on the basis of the things they like to do, how they like to spend their leisure time, and how they choose to spend their disposable income.35 These choices,
in turn, create opportunities for market-segmentation strategies that recognize the
CO 5
Advertising
This Wiser’s advertisment does a nice job
of appealing to the lifestyle of playing and
watching hockey.
J.P. Wiser’s Distillery
S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
164
Courtesy of Tandy Thomas
As I See It
When individuals think about
what makes their lives meaningful and what they enjoy
doing with their time, it is
unlikely that they will come
up with answers relating to
particular brands or purchase
decisions. Rare is the person
who proclaims a brand of
soup, for example, to be central to his or her life. On the
other hand, consumers readily
describe their hobbies, passions, families, and social
Tandy Chalmers Thomas Queen’s
communities as enriching
University
parts of their lives. This is why
the lifestyle marketing perspective is so important for marketers:
It is a perspective that aligns the goals of marketers with the way
consumers view their own lives.
A key area of research within the lifestyle marketing perspective involves exploring consumption communities: groups of
consumers with a shared passion for a consumption activity,
product class, or brand. Research in this area began in the mid1990s when marketers started to notice the role that consumption played in the lifestyle-based communities in which
consumers were increasingly participating, such as sport communities (e.g., skydiving, snowboarding, running), music communities (e.g., hip hop), and brand communities (e.g., Apple
fans, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fans). Since then,
research has uncovered the pivotal role that brands and other
resource providers play in these communities. For example, it
has been shown that brands, even mundane ones such as
Nutella or Lego, serve as a vital link between consumers, such
that they are able to derive social meaning and value from other
people sharing an affinity for the brand.1 Other work documents
how some brands, such as Apple, and activities, such as skateboarding or running, take on extreme levels of importance for
consumers such that they dominate their lifestyle.2
More recently, some of my own research on the running community has uncovered the complexities of consumer–­producer,
consumer–consumer, and producer–producer interactions in
­communities.3 This work shows that the role of marketing and
products within lifestyle-based consumption communities is far
more complex than originally thought. While marketers do provide
products that support community members in traditional
exchange relationships, my work shows that, beyond this, there is
a complex exchange of both social and economic resources across
consumers and producers in the community through which both
consumers and producers benefit.
One important finding from this work is that brands and
resource providers take on important roles within communities,
where they become viewed as valuable community members,
just like people. Here, consumers’ views of producers extend
far beyond perceptions of a brand’s personality: Consumers
think of producers as meaningful and agentic community
members. The findings also highlight unique ways that producers work with each other. Within consumption communities, we
see producers offering complementary products, working
together to provide a constellation of goods (e.g., Nike working
with Apple to create running shoes that sync with iPods); but
we also see firms with competing products working together in
“co-opetition” (e.g., two different running specialty stores
cooperating to support a local running event).4 Overall, consumption communities and a lifestyle marketing perspective
enrich our understanding of consumer–firm relationships and
allow marketers to engage consumers, and their communities,
in meaningful ways in which they work together and derive
mutual benefits.
1
Bernard Cova, “Community and Consumption: Towards a Definition of the ‘Linking Value’ of Product or Services,” European Journal of Marketing 31(3/4) (1997): 297–316.
2
Russell W. Belk and Gulnur Tumbat, “The Cult of Macintosh,” Consumption, Markets, and Culture 8 (September 2005): 205–217.
3
Tandy Chalmers Thomas, Linda L. Price, and Hope Jensen Schau, “When Differences Unite: Resource Dependence in Heterogeneous Consumption Communities.”
Forthcoming in Journal of Consumer Research 39(5) (February 2013): 1010–1033.
4
Adam Brandenburger and Barry Nalebuff, Co-opetition (New York: Currency/Doubleday, 1996).
potency of a consumer’s chosen lifestyle in determining both the types of products
purchased and the specific brands more likely to appeal to a designated lifestyle
segment.
L IF E S T Y L E S AS G R O U P ID EN TITIES
Economic approaches are useful in tracking changes in broad societal priorities,
but they do not begin to embrace the symbolic nuances that separate lifestyle
groups. Lifestyle is more than the allocation of discretionary income. It is a statement about who we are in society and who we are not. Group identities, whether of
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
hobbyists, athletes, or drug users, jell around forms of expressive symbolism. The
self-definitions of group members are derived from the common symbol system to
which the group is dedicated. Such self-definitions have been described by a number of terms, including lifestyle, taste public, consumer group, symbolic community,
and status culture.36
Patterns of consumption based on lifestyles often comprise many ingredients that
are shared by others in similar social and economic circumstances. Still, each person
also provides a unique “twist” to this pattern that allows him or her to inject some
individuality into a chosen lifestyle. For example, a “typical” university student might
dress much like his or her friends, hang out in the same places, and like the same
foods, yet still indulge a passion for marathon running, blogging, or community activism that makes him or her unique.
And lifestyles are not set in stone. Unlike deep-seated values, people’s tastes and
preferences tend to evolve, so that consumption patterns viewed favourably at one
time may be laughed (or sneered) at a few years later. If you don’t believe that, simply
think back to what you, your friends, and your family were wearing, doing, and eating
five or ten years ago.
Because people’s attitudes regarding physical fitness, social activism, gender roles
for men and women, the importance of home life and family, and many other things
do change, it is vital for marketers to continuously monitor the social landscape to try
to anticipate where these changes will lead. Some of the most important lifestyle
changes (known as trends) will be discussed later in this chapter.
165
Marketing
Insight
Did you use AirBnB rather than a hotel the last
time you travelled? Or use Uber to get home
rather than take a taxi? Or decided to rely on
Zipcar instead of bringing your car to campus?
If yes, you are a part of the sharing economy.
The sharing economy represents a major shift
in consumer lifestyles in recent years.37 Sharing is a form of social exchange that takes
place among people known to each other,
without any profit. Instead of buying and owning a material good for a higher price, consumers can borrow or share anything from
transportation to accommodation to household
appliances. This also represents a shift in
consumer values, suggesting that consumers
are putting less emphasis on the ownership of
material goods.
Adidas associates itself with a particular
type of lifestyle.
Norm Hall/Getty Images for Adidas
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Products Are the Building Blocks of Lifestyles
Lululemon Athletica is well known for making comfortable clothing; but, more importantly, the company wants to play an integral role in creating consumer lifestyles
around its products. Known for making lightweight, yet high durable and fashionable,
athletic wear Lululemon encourages consumers to change their lifestyles by asking
them to write down their New Year’s resolutions and post them in the store. In addition, it posts goal-setting activities and worksheets online, allowing consumers to give
each other feedback and post blog updates on how to follow through with set goals.
The company also rewards consumers who live the “Lululemon Lifestyle” by awarding them “ambassador” status. According to Lululemon’s website, ambassadors are
“unique individuals in our store communities who embody the Lululemon lifestyle
and live our culture.”
At Whole Foods Market, shoppers take part in a “singles” night the first Friday of
every month. The store’s marketing staff organizes a wine tasting or sets out snacks in
a room they use to stage cooking classes. Customers can opt to wear a red or blue
ribbon to indicate whether they are looking for a male or a female partner. Mountain
Equipment Co-op offers training in kayaking and mountain biking at its stores;
PetSmart and Petco provide training classes for pet owners; and Cabela’s, a hunting
store, offers classes on “trout tactics” and gun cleaning.38
These are smart moves, especially when marketers encourage a sense of community among product users (think about the reasons you faithfully check your
Facebook account every day). We often choose a product precisely because we
associate it with a certain lifestyle. For this reason, lifestyle marketing strategies
attempt to position a product by fitting it into an existing pattern of consumption
and thus create a brand personality that is relevant to a variety of products and
situations.
Because a goal of lifestyle marketing is to allow consumers to pursue their
chosen ways of enjoying their lives and expressing their social identities, a key
aspect of this strategy is to focus on product usage in desirable social settings (see
Chapter 10). The goal of associating a product with a social situation is a longstanding one for advertisers, whether the product is included in a round of golf, a
family barbecue, or a night at a glamorous club surrounded by jetsetters.39 Thus,
people, products, and settings are combined to express a certain consumption style,
as diagrammed in Figure 6–2.
The adoption of a lifestyle marketing perspective implies that we must look at
patterns of behaviour to understand consumers. We can get a clearer picture of how
people use products to define lifestyles by examining how they make choices in a variety of product categories. As one study noted, “All goods carry meaning, but none by
FIGURE 6–2
Linking Products to Lifestyles
PERSON
PRODUCT
LIFESTYLE
SETTING
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
itself. . . . The meaning is in the relations between all the goods, just as music is in the
relations marked out by the sounds and not in any one note.”40
Indeed, many products and services do seem to “go together,” usually because
they tend to be selected by the same types of people. In many cases, products do not
seem to “make sense” if they’re unaccompanied by companion products (e.g., fast
food and paper plates or a suit and tie) or are incongruous in the presence of others
(e.g., an antique chair in a high-tech office). Therefore, an important part of lifestyle
marketing is to identify the set of products and services that seems to be linked in consumers’ minds to a specific lifestyle.
Product complementarity occurs when the symbolic meanings of different products are related to each other.41 These sets of products, termed consumption constellations, are used by consumers to define, communicate, and perform social roles.42 The
meshing of objects from many different categories to express a single lifestyle idea is at
the heart of many consumption decisions, including coordinating an outfit for a big
date (shoes, garments, fragrance), decorating a room (tables, carpet, wallpaper), and
designing a restaurant (menu, ambiance, server uniforms). Many people today evaluate products not just in terms of function, but also in terms of how well their design
coordinates with other objects and furnishings. Marketers who understand these
cross-category relationships may pursue co-branding strategies where they team up
with other companies to promote two or more items. Some marketers even match up
their spokescharacters in ads: The Pillsbury Doughboy appeared in a commercial with
the Sprint Guy to pitch cell phones, the lonely Maytag repairman was in an ad for the
Chevrolet Impala, and the Taco Bell chihuahua (now retired) showed up in a commercial for Geico insurance.43
Psychographics
Marketers often find it useful to develop products that appeal to different lifestyle
groups. Just knowing a person’s income doesn’t predict whether he or she will
drive a ­Cadillac Escalade SUV, an Escalade EXT pickup, or a Cadillac Eldorado
sedan. Consumers can share demographic characteristics and still be very different
people.
For this reason, marketers need a way to “breathe life” into demographic data to
really identify, understand, and target consumer segments that will share a set of
preferences for their products and services. This chapter discussed some of the
important differences in consumers’ personalities that play a role in determining
product choices. When personality variables are combined with knowledge of lifestyle preferences, marketers have a powerful lens through which to view consumer
segments.
This tool is known as psychographics, which involves the “use of psychological,
sociological, and anthropological factors . . . to determine how the market is segmented by the propensity of groups within the market—and their reasons—to make a
particular decision about a product, person, ideology, or otherwise hold an attitude
or use a medium.”44
Psychographics can help marketers fine-tune their offerings to meet the needs of
different segments. For example, Best Buy at one point decided to revamp some of its
stores according to the types of customers they serve. The company identified five
prototypical customers:
•
“Jill,” a busy suburban mom who wants to talk about how electronics can help
her family
•
“Buzz,” a focused, active younger male who is interested in buying (and showing
off) the latest gadgets
•
“Ray,” a family man who likes his technology to be practical
CO 6
Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning
167
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
•
“BB4B” (short for Best Buy for Business), a small employer
•
“Barry,” an affluent professional male who is likely to drop tens of thousands of
dollars on a home-theatre system and who is an action-movie enthusiast
The chain worked to identify the two dominant customer types who patronize
each of its outlets and plan accordingly. Store clerks received training to help them
pick out the most likely category in which to pigeonhole a customer. A customer who
says his family has a regular “movie night,” for example, is labelled as a “Ray” and is
steered toward home-theatre equipment. Stores catering to the “Jill” segment feature
play areas for kids; instead of a booming bass beat, the soundtrack playing in the background would be instrumental or children’s music.45
Conducting a Psychographic Analysis
Some early attempts at lifestyle segmentation “borrowed” standard psychological
scales (often used to measure pathology or personality disturbances) and tried to
relate scores on these tests to product usage. As might be expected, the results
of such efforts were largely disappointing. These tests were never intended to
be related to everyday consumption activities and yielded little in the way of
explanation for purchase behaviours. The technique is more effective when the
variables included are more closely related to actual consumer behaviours. If one
wants to understand purchases of household cleaning products, it is better to ask
people about their attitudes toward household cleanliness than to test for personality
disorders.
Psychographic studies can take several forms:
Sooruz appeals to consumers who have
adventurous personality and lifestyle
profiles.
Campaign © Publicis Conseil for Sooruz. Photographers:
Cesar Anceile-Hancelle/Jacques Demarcillac-Producer:
Charles Denis
•
A lifestyle profile that looks for items that differentiate between users and nonusers of a product
•
A product-specific profile that identifies a target group and then profiles these
consumers on product-relevant dimensions
•
A general lifestyle segmentation, in which the respondents in a large sample
are placed into homogeneous groups based on similarities in their overall
preferences
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
•
A product-specific segmentation, in which questions used in a general approach
are tailored to a product category (e.g., in a study done specifically for a stomach
medicine, an item such as “I worry too much” might be rephrased as “I get stomach problems if I worry too much”; this allows the researcher to discriminate
more finely between users of competing brands)46
AIOs
Most contemporary psychographic research attempts to group consumers according to
some combination of three categories of variables—activities, interests, and ­opinions—
known as AIOs. Using data from large samples, marketers create profiles of customers
who resemble one another in their activities and patterns of product usage.47 The
dimensions used to assess lifestyles are listed in Table 6–3.
To group consumers into common AIO categories, researchers give respondents a
long list of statements and ask them to indicate how much they agree with each one.
Lifestyle is thus “boiled down” by discovering how people spend their time, what
they find interesting and important, and how they view themselves and the world
around them, as well as by discovering demographic information.
Typically, the first step in conducting a psychographic analysis is to determine
which lifestyle segments are producing the bulk of customers for a particular product.
Researchers attempt to determine who uses the brand and try to isolate heavy, moderate,
and light users. They also look for patterns of usage and attitudes toward the product.
In many cases, just a few lifestyle segments account for the majority of brand users.48
Marketers primarily target these heavy users, even though they may constitute a
relatively small number of total users.
After the heavy users are identified and understood, the brand’s relationship to
them is considered. Heavy users may have quite different reasons for using the product; they can be further subdivided in terms of the benefits they derive from using the
product or service. For instance, marketers at the beginning of the walking-shoe craze
assumed that purchasers were basically burned-out joggers. Subsequent psychographic research showed that there were actually several different groups of walkers,
TABLE 6–3
Lifestyle Dimensions
Activities
Interests
Opinions
Demographics
Work
Family
Themselves
Age
Hobbies
Home
Social issues
Education
Social events
Job
Politics
Income
Vacation
Community
Business
Occupation
Entertainment
Recreation
Economics
Family size
Club memberships
Fashion
Education
Dwelling
Community
Food
Products
Geography
Shopping
Media
Future
City size
Sports
Achievements
Culture
Stage in life cycle
Source: William D. Wells and Douglas J. Tigert, “Activities, Interests, and Opinions,” Journal of Advertising Research 11 (August 1971): 27–35.
© 1971 by The Advertising Research Foundation.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
ranging from those who walk to get to work to those who walk for fun. This realization
resulted in shoes aimed at different segments.
Uses of Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic segmentation can be applied in a variety of ways:
G Adventures offers consumers travel plans
that perfectly fit their distinct personalities,
preferences, and lifestyles.
Courtesy of G Adventures
•
To define the target market: This information allows the marketer to go beyond
simple demographic or product-usage descriptions (e.g., middle-aged men or frequent users).
•
To create a new view of the market: Sometimes the marketer creates a strategy
with a “typical” customer in mind. This stereotype may not be correct because the
actual customer may not match these assumptions. For example, marketers of a
facial cream for women were surprised to find their key market was composed of
older, widowed women rather than the younger, more sociable women to whom
they were pitching.
•
To position the product: Psychographic information can allow the marketer to
emphasize features of the product that fit in with a person’s lifestyle. Products
targeted at people whose lifestyle profiles show a high need to be around other
people might focus on the product’s ability to help meet this social need.
•
To better communicate product attributes: Psychographic information can offer
very useful input to the advertising creative person who must communicate something about the product. The artist or writer obtains a much richer mental image
of the target consumer than that obtained through dry statistics, and this insight
improves his or her ability to “talk” to that consumer.
•
To develop overall strategy: Understanding how a product fits, or does not fit, into
consumers’ lifestyles allows the marketer to identify new product opportunities,
chart media strategies, and create environments most consistent and harmonious
with these consumption patterns.
•
To market social and political issues: Psychographic segmentation can be an
important tool in political campaigns, and it can also be employed to find commonalities among types of consumers who engage in destructive behaviours, such
as drug use or excessive gambling.
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
A psychographic study of men aged 18 to 24 who drink and drive highlights the
potential for this perspective to help in the eradication of harmful behaviours. This
demographic segment accounts for a disproportionately high number of alcoholrelated fatalities. Researchers divided this segment into four groups: “good timers,”
“well adjusted,” “nerds,” and “problem kids.” They found that one group in particular—good timers—is more likely to believe that it is fun to be drunk, that the
chances of a drunk driver having an accident are low, and that drinking increases
their appeal to the opposite sex. Since the study showed that this group is also the
most likely to drink at rock concerts and parties, watch MTV, and listen to rockoriented radio stations, reaching good timers with a prevention campaign is made
easier and more efficient.49
Psychographic Segmentation Typologies
Marketers are constantly on the prowl for new insights that will allow them to identify
and reach groups of consumers that are united by a common lifestyle. To meet this
need, many research companies and advertising agencies have developed their own
segmentation typologies that divide people into segments. Respondents answer a battery of questions that allow the researchers to cluster them into a set of distinct lifestyle groups. The questions usually include a mixture of AIOs, plus other items
relating to their perceptions of specific brands, favourite celebrities, media preferences, and so on. These systems are usually sold to companies that want to learn more
about their customers and potential customers.
At least at a superficial level, many of these typologies are fairly similar to one
another in that a typical typology breaks up the population into roughly five to
eight segments. Each cluster is given a descriptive name, and a profile of the “typical” member is provided to the client. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to compare
or evaluate different typologies, since the methods and data used to devise these
systems are frequently proprietary—that is, the information is developed and
owned by the company, and the company feels it would not be desirable to release
it to outsiders.
VALS™
The most well-known and widely used segmentation system is VALS (Values and
Lifestyles), developed at what is now SRI International in California. The VALS system has been used by well over 200 corporations and advertising agencies in their
marketing efforts.
VALS divides people into eight groups, according to both psychological characteristics and resources, which include such factors as income, education, energy
­levels, and eagerness to buy, as shown in Figure 6–3.50
The VALS system has been a useful way to understand consumers. SRI estimates
that 12 percent of adults are thrill-seekers, who tend to fall into the system’s Experiencer category and who are likely to agree with statements such as “I like a lot of
excitement in my life” and “I like to try new things.” Experiencers like to break the
rules and are strongly attracted to extreme sports such as sky surfing or bungee jumping. Not too surprisingly, one-third of consumers aged 18 to 34 belong in this category,
so it has attracted the interest of many marketers who are trying to appeal to younger
people (more on this in Chapter 13). If you want to see which VALS type you would
be classified as, go to www.strategicbusinessinsights.com. It will take you about 10
minutes to log on, take the test, and see which category best describes your approach
to life.
Marketers have found the VALS typology to be useful in directing new product
development, product positioning, and the creation of effective communications.
171
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
FIGURE 6–3
VALS Segmentation System
The top group has the most resources:
•
Innovators are concerned with social issues and are open to change.
The next three groups also have sufficient resources but differ in their outlooks on life:
•
T hinkers are satisfied, reflective, and comfortable. They tend to be practical and to
value functionality.
•
Achievers are career-oriented and prefer predictability over risk or self-discovery.
•
Experiencers are impulsive and young and enjoy offbeat or risky experiences.
The next three groups have fewer resources:
•
Believers have strong principles and favour proven brands.
•
trivers are like achievers but with fewer resources. They are very concerned about the
S
approval of others.
•
akers are action-oriented and tend to focus their energies on self-sufficiency. They
M
will often be found working on their cars, canning their own vegetables, or building
their own houses.
Finally comes the group with the fewest resources:
•
urvivors are at the bottom of the laddwer. They are most concerned with meeting the
S
needs of the moment.
For example, a Japanese auto manufacturer repositioned its product for the U.S.
market by utilizing the VALS framework. It used VALS to provide greater insight
into how the target market was interpreting its product mix. The resulting advertising
campaign increased sales by 60 percent in six months!51
Geodemography
Geodemography refers to analytical techniques that combine data on consumer expenditures and other socioeconomic factors with geographic information about the areas
in which people live to identify consumers who share common consumption patterns.
The assumption is that “birds of a feather flock together”—that is, people with similar
needs and tastes tend to live near one another—so it should be possible to locate pockets of like-minded people who can then be reached more economically by direct mail
and other methods.
Geographic information is increasingly being combined with other data to paint
an even more complete picture of the Canadian consumer. Several marketing research
ventures now employ single-source data, in which information about a person’s actual
purchasing history is combined with his or her geodemographic data. This method
allows marketers to learn even more about the types of marketing strategies that motivate some people—but not others—to respond.
CO 7
Values
A value is a belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite. A person’s set of
values plays a very important role in his or her consumption activities, since many
products and services are purchased because they will (it is believed) help attain a
value-related goal. As noted above, values often underlie an individual’s lifestyle and
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
173
The HSBC “Points of View” campaign
highlights the importance of understanding
that consumers with different values might
see things from different points of view.
Courtesy of HSBC. Photographer: Chris Fraser Smith
psychographic profile. Values are central to what makes a consumer distinct in his or
her consumption and in society.
Indeed, two people can believe in the same behaviour (e.g., vegetarianism), but
their underlying belief systems might be quite different (e.g., animal activism versus
health concerns). The extent to which people share a belief system is a function of
individual, social, and cultural forces. Advocates of a given belief system often seek
out others with similar beliefs, so that social networks overlap and, as a result, believers tend to be exposed to information that supports their beliefs (e.g., “tree huggers”
rarely hang out with loggers).52
Core Values
Kim Kardashian wasn’t pleased when her picture ran on the cover of Cosmopolitan
Turkey, especially when it was released on the same date that some countries commemorate the alleged Armenian genocide in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.
Because Cosmopolitan publishes in 64 countries, it is difficult to be sure that readers
everywhere experience the content the same way. In addition to political differences,
marketers have to be sensitive to cultural values: In some countries, because of local
norms about modesty, some female readers have to hide the magazine from their husbands! Different cultures emphasize varying belief systems that define what it means
to be female, feminine, or appealing—and what people consider appropriate to see in
print on these matters. Publishers of the Chinese version aren’t even permitted to
mention sex at all, so they replace articles about uplifting cleavage with uplifting
stories about youthful dedication. Ironically, there isn’t much down-and-dirty material in the Swedish edition, either—but for the opposite reason: The culture is so
open about this topic that it doesn’t grab readers’ attention the way it would in the
United States.53
In many cases, of course, values are universal. Who does not desire health, wisdom, or world peace? What sets cultures apart is the relative importance, or ranking,
of these universal values. This set of rankings constitutes a culture’s value system.54
For example, one study found that North Americans have more favourable attitudes
toward advertising messages that focus on self-reliance, self-improvement, and the
achievement of personal goals as opposed to themes stressing family integrity, collective goals, and the feeling of harmony with others. Korean consumers exhibited the
reverse pattern.55
Every culture is characterized by its members’ endorsement of a value system.
These end states may not be equally endorsed by everyone, and in some cases values
may even seem to contradict one another. (North Americans appear to value both
conformity and individuality and seek to find some accommodation between the
two.) Nonetheless, it is usually possible to identify a general set of core values that
uniquely define a culture. These beliefs are taught to us by socialization agents,
including parents, friends, and teachers. The process of learning the beliefs and
behaviours endorsed by one’s own culture is called enculturation. In contrast, the
process of learning the value system and behaviours of another culture (often a priority for those who wish to understand consumers and markets in foreign countries) is
called acculturation.
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Consumers
in Focus
There are a great many differences in the importance of values to consumers in different cultures.
Since it is these values that underlie, motivate,
and guide our behaviour, we can understand what
motivates consumer behaviour by understanding
the differences in the importance of values. For
example, freedom is a very basic and important
value in the United States, emanating from the
history of the country. A war was fought for freedom from Britain, and another was fought to
free the slaves. The phrases freedom of expression, free to bear arms, and freedom of speech
are the basis of the American Constitution and
reflect U.S. culture. In contrast, Canadians focus
on equality. Equal access to health care and education and equality of the provinces and territories
underlie Canadian cultural values.
How Values Link to Consumer Behaviour
Despite their importance, values have not been widely applied to direct examinations
of consumer behaviour. One reason is that such broad-based concepts as freedom,
security, or inner harmony are more likely to affect general purchasing patterns than
to differentiate among brands within a product category. For this reason, some
researchers have found it convenient to distinguish among such broad-based cultural
values as security or happiness, such consumption-specific values as convenient shopping or prompt service, and such product-specific values as ease of use or durability.56
For example, people who value group affiliation and approval have been shown to put
more importance on style and brand name when evaluating the desirability of clothing
products.57
Ways to Classify Values
The psychologist Milton Rokeach identified a set of terminal values, or desired end
states, that apply (to various degrees) to many different cultures. The Rokeach Value
Survey, a scale used to measure these values, also includes a set of instrumental values, which comprise actions needed to achieve these terminal values.58
Although some evidence indicates that these global values do translate into
­product-specific preferences and differences in media usage, the Rokeach Value
Survey has not been widely used by marketing researchers.59 As an alternative, the
List of Values (LOV) Scale was developed to isolate values with more direct marketing applications.
This instrument identifies nine consumer segments on the basis of the values they
endorse and relates each to differences in consumption behaviours. These segments
include consumers who give priority to such values as a sense of belonging, excitement, warm relationships with others, and security. For example, people who endorse
the value of a sense of belonging are more likely to read Reader’s Digest, drink and
entertain frequently, prefer group activities, and be older than are people who do not
endorse this value as highly. In contrast, those who endorse the value of excitement
prefer reading Rolling Stone magazine.60
Conscientious Consumerism: A New Core Value?
Does Green?
Are consumers finally going green—for real? In one survey, eight out of ten consumers
said they believe it’s important to buy green brands and products from green companies and that they’ll pay more to do so. The consumer’s focus on personal health is
merging with a growing interest in global health. Some analysts call this new value
conscientious consumerism.61 In another survey, 71 percent of consumers agree that
they avoid purchasing from companies whose practices they disagree with, and about
half claim they tell others to either patronize or avoid certain products on the basis of
the manufacturer’s social and environmental practices.62
However, it’s important to note that attitudes don’t always predict behaviour (as
we’ll see in Chapter 7)—especially for pocketbook issues. When people have less
money to spend they might not purchase environmentally friendly or healthy products if they have to pay a premium for them.
Still, it’s clear that values are shifting. In particular, marketers point to a segment of consumers they call LOHAS—an acronym for “lifestyles of health and sustainability.” This label refers to people who worry about the environment, want
products to be produced in a sustainable way, and spend money to advance what
they see as their personal development and potential. These so-called “Lohasians”
(others refer to this segment as cultural creatives) represent a great market for
products such as organic foods, energy-efficient appliances, and hybrid cars as
well as alternative medicine, yoga tapes, and ecotourism.63 Whereas in the past it
was sufficient for companies to offer recyclable products, this new movement is
C H A P T E R 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
175
Offsetters is a Canadian company that
allows consumers and businesses to
calculate their carbon footprint and then
purchase “offsets” that invest in things like
clean technologies and carbon sequestering
to compensate for the amount of personal
pollution their activities create.
www.offsetters.ca
WITHOUT WINTER, THERE'S NO WINTER GAMES.
Help make the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games carbon neutral.
o setters.ca
creating a whole new vocabulary as consumers begin to “vote with their forks” by
demanding food, fragrances, and other items that are hormone-free, locally grown,
cage-free, made without genetically modified ingredients (GMOs), and don’t
involve animal clones or animal testing, just to name a few of consumers’ concerns
and requirements.
Although Lohasians have been helping demand for eco-friendly products for
several years, the big news today is that conscientious consumerism is now spreading to the mass market. In fact, even the retailing behemoth Walmart is making
significant strides in this area. The world’s largest retailer developed a survey
called the “Live Better Index” that allows it to monitor customers’ feelings about
eco-friendly products. The first wave of research polled more than 2500 consumers
on five products: compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), organic milk, concen­
trated reduced-packaging liquid laundry detergents, extended-life paper products, and
organic baby food. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they would buy
more eco-friendly products if there were no price difference. Nearly half (47 percent)
said they completely agree that buying environmentally friendly products
makes them feel like smart consumers, and 68 percent agree that “even the small
act of recycling at home has an impact on the environment.”64 Numerous companies
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
Marketing
Insight
More than 27 million people have taken a test
on the RealAge website that promises to take
years off your age. The test asks you about
150 questions about lifestyle (e.g., stress,
exercise, eating habits) and family history and
then tells you your “biological age,” which is
how much older or younger your lifestyle makes
you. Then the site delivers recommendations to
take years off your age. Here’s the hitch: The
site makes money because it sells responses
to pharmaceutical firms that contact members
to suggest drug solutions to their problems.
Companies including Pfizer, Novartis, and
GlaxoSmithKline can learn whether respondents take antidepressants, how sexually
active they are, or if they have a happy marriage. They can even notify a person that his or
her responses indicate the symptoms of a disease before he gets a diagnosis from a doctor.
The company does state that “we will share
your personal data with third parties to fulfill
the services that you have asked us to provide
to you,” and you must agree to become a member before you get added to its database. Still,
critics claim that consumers join without
understanding this process. According to an
analyst at one public interest group, “[The
company] can create a group of people, and
hit them up and create anxiety even though
the person does not have a diagnosis.”68
MyMarketingLab
are responding to these desires as they develop “green” formulations or partner
with other organizations to promote environmentally friendly behaviour. Clorox
teamed up with the Sierra Club to promote a new line of eco-friendly Clorox products in exchange for a share of the profit. The cleaners are made from natural ingredients such as coconuts and lemon oil, contain no phosphorus or bleach, are
biodegradable, and are not tested on animals. The packaging bottles are recyclable
and bear the Sierra Club’s name and logo—a giant sequoia tree framed by mountain
peaks.65
Ethical behaviour aside for a moment, is there a financial reward waiting for
those companies that pay closer attention to what goes into their products and who
makes them (e.g., some products made overseas employ young children who work
long hours for low pay)? One study that examined this question suggests the answer
is yes.66 The researchers gave subjects a description of a coffee company that either
used or did not use fair trade principles to buy its beans. They found that participants were willing to pay an additional $1.40 for a pound of the coffee if it was ethically sourced and that participants were very negative about the company if it did
not adhere to these principles. The study obtained similar results for shirts that were
made with organic cotton.
Materialism: “He Who Dies with the Most
Toys Wins”
Although most people don’t literally worship material goods, “things” do play a central role in many people’s lives and can influence their value systems. Materialism
refers to the importance people attach to worldly possessions. 67 We sometimes
take the bounty of products and services for granted until we remember how recent
this abundance is. For example, in 1950 two out of five homes did not have a telephone, and in 1940 half of all households still did not have complete indoor
plumbing. North Americans inhabit a materialistic society in which people often
gauge their own worth and that of others by how much they own (see Chapter 12).
The popular bumper sticker “He who dies with the most toys wins” is a comment
on this philosophy.
Today, many consumers now energetically seek “the good life,” which abounds in
material comforts. Most young people can’t imagine a life without smartphones, iPads,
and other comforts. In fact, one way to think about marketing is as a system that provides a certain standard of living to consumers. To some extent, then, our lifestyles are
influenced by the standard of living we have come to expect and desire—either by
personal experience or because of the affluent lifestyles we see on TV and in movies.69
Materialistic values tend to emphasize the well-being of the individual versus the
group, which may conflict with family or religious values. That conflict may help to
explain why people with highly material values tend to be less happy.70 Other research
suggests that materialism might be associated with other negative outcomes. For
example, youth who were more materialistic reported lower liking for school and got
poorer grades.71
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
C H A P TER 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
Chapter Summary
A consumer ’s personality is thought to influence the way he
or she responds to marketing stimuli.
their brand or product preferences, media usage, leisuretime activities, and attitudes toward such broad issues as
politics and religion.
• The concept of personality refers to a person’s unique
psychological makeup and how it consistently influences
the way a person responds to his or her environment.
Some approaches have attempted to understand underlying differences in small samples of consumers by employing techniques based on Freudian psychology and
variations of this perspective, whereas others have tried to
assess these dimensions more objectively using large
samples and sophisticated quantitative techniques. More
recent approaches have looked at how distinct aspects of
personality or “traits” interact with situational factors to
predict how will consumers behave.
Identifying patterns of consumption can be superior to
knowledge of individual purchases when crafting a lifestyle
marketing strategy.
• Interrelated sets of products and activities are associated
with social roles to form consumption constellations. People often purchase a product or service because it is associated with a constellation that, in turn, is linked to a
lifestyle they find desirable. A set of techniques called
geodemography analyzes consumption patterns using
geographical and demographic data and identifies
­clusters of consumers who exhibit similar psychographic
c­haracteristics.
Knowledge of consumers’ lifestyles is key to many marketing
strategies.
Our deeply held cultural values dictate the types of products
and services we seek out or avoid.
• A consumer’s lifestyle refers to the ways he or she
chooses to spend time and money and how his or her
values and tastes are reflected by consumption choices.
Lifestyle research is useful for tracking societal consumption preferences and for positioning specific products and services to different segments. Marketers
segment by lifestyle differences, often by grouping
­consumers in terms of their AIOs (activities, interests,
and opinions).
• Consumer motivations are often driven by underlying values. In this context, products take on meaning because
they are seen as being instrumental in helping the person to achieve some goal that is linked to a value, such
as individuality or freedom. Each culture is characterized
by a set of core values to which many of its members
adhere.
Psychographics go beyond simple demographics in helping
marketers understand and reach different consumer segments.
• Consumers vary in the importance they attach to worldly
possessions, and this orientation in turn has an impact on
their priorities and behaviours.
• Psychographic techniques attempt to classify consumers
in terms of psychological, subjective variables in addition
to observable characteristics (demographics). A variety of
systems, such as VALS, have been developed to identify
consumer “types” and to differentiate them in terms of
• Materialism refers to the importance people attach to
worldly possessions. Research suggests that materialistic
values are associated with negative outcomes such as
deceased happiness and even poorer academic performance among youth.
Key Terms
Acculturation
AIOs
Id
p. 173
Psychographics
p. 151
Idiocentrics
p. 169
Sharing economy
Allocentrics p. 156
Lifestyle
Animism
LOHAS p. 174
Superego
Materialism
Terminal values
Archetype
p. 159
p. 154
Brand equity
Brand personality
p. 159
Co-branding strategies
p. 163
p. 176
Motivational research
p. 159
p. 167
Need for uniqueness
Personality
Ego
Pleasure principle
p. 151
Geodemography
p. 172
p. 152
p. 158
Need for cognition
Conscientious consumerism p. 174
p. 167
Public self-consciousness
p. 156
p. 157
Traits
p. 151
Unconscious motives
Value
p. 151
p. 172
p. 173
VALS (Values and Lifestyles)
p. 151
Product complementarity
p. 174
p. 154
Value system
p. 150
p. 156
p. 165
p. 167
p. 171
177
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SE C TION II Consumers as Individuals
Review Questions
1. Describe the id, ego, and superego, and explain how they
work together according to Freudian theory.
7. Define psychographics, and describe three ways marketers can use it.
2. What is motivational research? Give an example of a marketing study that used this approach.
8. What are three specific kinds of AIOs?
3. Describe three personality traits relevant to marketers.
4. Define a brand personality, and give two examples.
5. How does lifestyle differ from income?
6. What is the basic philosophy behind a lifestyle marketing
strategy?
9. What are values, and why should marketers care?
10. What is the difference between enculturation and acculturation?
11. What is LOHAS, and why are people who follow this lifestyle important?
12. What is materialism, and why is it relevant to marketing?
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. What consumption constellation might characterize you
and your friends today?
2. Geodemographic techniques assume that people who
live in the same neighbourhood have other things in
common as well. Why do they make this assumption,
and how accurate is it?
3. Should organizations or individuals be allowed to create
websites that advocate potentially harmful practices?
Why or why not?
4. Wireless devices have quickly become an indispensable part of many consumers’ lifestyles. How do you
view this rapid transition to a situation in which
many of us are lost without our smartphones? What
impact on other lifestyle activities do you predict as
a result?
5. Starbucks is solidly established as a go-to location for
coffee, tea, and pastries, but in order to grow, the company needs to expand its offerings so that customers
spend more of their time (and money) there. The chain
is experimenting with a new concept, Starbucks Evenings, where after 4:00 each afternoon the store flips
to a different menu that includes wine, beer, and small
plates like truffle mac and cheese, sandwiches, and
salads. Is Starbucks too entrenched in our “coffeehouse lifestyle,” or does the chain have room to
expand? What recommendations would you make to
Starbucks to help the company expand its lifestyle
marketing strategy?
6. Behavioural targeting techniques give marketers
access to a wide range of information about a consumer by relaying websites he or she visits. Do you
believe this “knowledge power” presents any ethical
problems with regard to consumer privacy? Should
the government regulate access to such information?
Should consumers have the right to limit access to
these data?
Experiential Exercises
7. Construct a brand personality inventory for three different brands within a product category. Ask a small number of consumers to rate each brand on about 10 different
personality dimensions. What differences can you identify? Do these “personalities” relate to the advertising
and packaging strategies used to differentiate these
products?
8. Compile a set of recent ads that attempt to link consumption of a product with a specific lifestyle. How is
this goal usually accomplished?
9. Psychographic analyses can be used to market politicians. Conduct research on the marketing strategies used
in a recent major election. How were voters segmented in
terms of values? Can you find evidence that communications strategies were guided by this information?
10. Construct separate advertising executions for a cosmetics product targeted to the Achiever, Experiencer,
Believer, and Maker VALS types. How would the basic
appeal differ for each group?
11. Using media targeted to the group, construct a consumption constellation for the social role of university
students. What set of products, activities, and interests tend to appear in advertisements depicting “typical” university students? How realistic is this
constellation?
12. Extreme sports. Day trading. Chat rooms. Vegetarianism.
Can you predict what will be “hot” in the near future?
Identify a lifestyle trend that is just surfacing in your
universe. Describe this trend in detail and justify your
prediction. What specific styles and/or products are part
of this trend?
C H A P TER 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Going to Digital Extremes
It had been a long week, and Allen Goode was facing crunch
time on the latest “blue-sky” assignment he had been given by
top management. As a lead game designer at Digital Extremes,
Allen was primarily responsible for managing a design team
project that focused on the development of a specific game
title. From time to time, however, opportunities were given to
bring fresh ideas and approaches to the front end of the process. Indeed, the industry was highly competitive, and top
management was always looking for innovative ideas with
respect to game storylines and structure. Allen was happy with
the direction he had taken with his proposal, but as he read
through the rough draft he realized he needed to better develop
his ideas to show the value of the customer-centric approach
he was proposing.
Digital Extremes
Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes (www.
digitalextremes.com) is a mid-size player in the highly competitive gaming industry. Located in London, Ontario, the company has grown from a small organization of just its founder to
a studio that employs over 150 people. Digital Extremes’ first
success was a 10-month project titled Epic Pinball that went
on to become one of the most popular shareware games ever
made. Perhaps the most successful title developed by the
company is the Unreal game franchise (co-created in collaboration with Epic Games), which includes the original Unreal
title game and extensions Unreal Tournament and Unreal
Championship. With over 12 million units sold worldwide, this
franchise set new standards for graphics and production values in first-person action games and broke new ground in
online multiplayer gaming. Following the success of the Unreal
franchise, Digital Extremes completed development on its own
intellectual property for the new generation of game consoles,
releasing the Evolution Engine in 2008 as a technology for
game developers worldwide. In more recent years, the company has completed work (with other gaming companies) on
titles that include Warframe, Bioshock2, The Darkness II,
Homefront, and Star Trek.
Digital Extremes attributes much of its success to the creative freedom its organizational structure provides. Indeed, its
employees create the concepts, develop the storylines, create
all characters and artwork, and manage the programming and
production of each game. Each respective division, whether
design, art, or programming, is responsible for its role in bringing the game to life. Working in design, Allen was directly
involved in both overseeing and creating a game’s rules,
­balancing game play to ensure that it’s fun and feels real, and
designing levels and layout, encounters, and objectives. Importantly, in addition to managing his design team, Allen worked
directly with the producer, art director, and lead programmer to
ensure that projects reached completion and maintained the
original creative vision that started each initiative.
A Competitive Arena—A Changing Consumer
With each passing year, the gaming industry seemed to be
becoming more and more competitive. Often characterized as
a juggernaut of continuous development, the industry had
grown to become one of the largest categories of entertainment
spending, with over $115 billion in revenue in 2015 (more revenue than produced by the film and music industries combined). Interestingly, the industry had become very volatile,
with large players such as Activision, Electronic Arts, and Capcom being challenged by smaller players and third-party game
developers as well as open-source games defined by consumers themselves. Much like the film industry, franchise game
titles have come to play a dominant role in assured sales, with
noted successes such as Call of Duty, Halo, Assassin’s Creed,
and Sims releasing numerous sequels. Importantly, game play
has broadened the platforms from which consumers seek
gaming experiences. While console play such as Sony’s PS3
and Nintendo’s Wii continues to grow, the largest growth was
being seen in gaming opportunities for mobile, tablet, and
social network–based gaming platforms. Game developers
Zynga (Farmville) and King (Candy Crush) represent successful innovators in this regard, with over 200 million active
monthly players using their Facebook games.
One factor underlying the growth of gaming across these
multiple platforms has been the diffusion of gaming across different types of consumers. Traditionally, gaming was stereotyped as an activity embraced by the young male consumer.
This stereotype was largely based on historical evidence that
saw the male market define most of the gaming trends for the
past three decades. First-person shooter games (e.g., Duke
Nuke’em), driving games (e.g., Grand Theft Auto), and sports
games (e.g., MaddenNFL) represented the majority of titles
brought to market for a number of years. However, the success
of the introduction of Nintendo’s Wii system in 2006, the acceptance of specific non-male titles such as Sims, and the
­aforementioned diversity in gaming platforms have led to the
industry breaking away from its traditional consumer segmentation approach. A much broader consumer market has embraced
gaming, and titles specific to children, females, and older consumers are now easily identified. As an example, research now
indicates that approximately 40 percent of gamers are female
consumers—a significant rise from only a few years ago.
A New Approach to Understanding the Consumer
The fact that different consumer markets were now central
targets for new gaming development inspired Allen. While
179
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S E C T I O N I I Consumers as Individuals
demographic segmentation variables such as gender, age,
and ethnicity were effective in defining new markets and gaming ideas, Allen wondered if other approaches to understanding the consumer might also be valuable in formulating new
products. This thinking led him to build a proposal around
broader views on individual consumer differences. Allen wondered if personality, psychographics, and different value profiles could be better harnessed in the development of gaming
concepts. In his initial draft, he identified individual differences like need for cognition, need for uniqueness, and value
profiles as possible drivers of game development. In fact,
those with a high need for cognition were certainly likely to be
drawn to quest and puzzle games, and Allen projected similar
correlations for other consumer personality and lifestyle
­measures. As he tweaked a few of the relationships he had
identified, Allen couldn’t help but imagine how this idea might
truly be a game-changer for the company.
Questions
1. Do you think Allen’s idea to bring personality, psychographics, and value measures to gaming development has
merit? Why or why not?
2. Of the individual difference measures you have learned
about, which do you think has the most applicability in the
gaming industry? Why?
3. Of the game categories that currently exist, which map to
the individual difference constructs you have learned about?
4. If you were charged with game development and had this
idea, what new game would you propose?
Notes
1. J. Aronoff and J.P. Wilson, Personality in the Social Process (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum,
1985); Walter Mischel, Personality and Assessment (New York: Wiley, 1968).
com/1706766/how-a-system-designed-to-weed-out-nasa-astronauts-is-taking-thepain-out-of-customer-support-call?partner=homepage_newsletter.
2. Ernest Dichter, A Strategy of Desire (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1960); E. Dichter,
The Handbook of Consumer Motivations (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964); Jeffrey J.
Durgee, “Interpreting Dichter’s Interpretations: An Analysis of Consumption
Symbolism in The Handbook of Consumer Motivations,” unpublished manuscript,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 1989; Pierre Martineau, Motivation in
Advertising (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957).
12. David Riesman, The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969).
3. Vance Packard, The Hidden Persuaders (New York: D. McKay, 1957).
14. Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman and William D. Wells, “The Values and Lifestyles of
Idiocentrics and Allocentrics in an Individualist Culture: A Descriptive Approach,”
Journal of Consumer Psychology 12 (2002): 231–242.
4. Harold Kassarjian, “Personality and Consumer Behavior: A Review,” Journal of
Marketing Research 8 (November 1971): 409–418.
5. Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth (New York: Norton, 1950).
6. Joel B. Cohen, “An Interpersonal Orientation to the Study of Consumer Behavior,”
Journal of Marketing Research 6 (August 1967): 270–278; Pradeep K. Tyagi,
“Validation of the CAD Instrument: A Replication,” in Advances in Consumer
Research 10, eds. Richard P. Bagozzi and Alice M. Tybout (Ann Arbor, MI: Association
for Consumer Research, 1983): 112–114.
7. For a comprehensive review of classic perspectives on personality theory, see Calvin
S. Hall and Gardner Lindzey, Theories of Personality, 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley &
Sons, 1970).
8. Carl G. Jung, “The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious,” in Collected Works,
eds. H. Read, M. Fordham, and G. Adler (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
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the notion of personality more directly to marketing issues, see Jennifer L.
Aaker, “Measuring Brand Personality,” unpublished manuscript, Stanford
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and Social Psychology 36(3) (1978): 324–332.
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(2006): 404–413.
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C H A P TER 6 Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
22. John T. Cacioppo, Richard E. Petty, and Chuan Feng Kao, “Efficient Assessment of
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Stayman, “The Role of Mood in Advertising Effectiveness,” Journal of Consumer
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Cognition,” Journal of Advertising 25(1) (1996): 15–32; John T. Cacioppo, Richard E.
Petty, Chuan Feng Kao, and Regina Rodriguez, “Central and Peripheral Routes to
Persuasion: An Individual Difference Perspective,” Journal of Personality and Social
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S.D. Gosling, “Facebook Profiles Reflect Actual Personality Not Self-Idealization,”
Psychological Science 21 (2010): 372–374.
27. Thomas Hine, “Why We Buy: The Silent Persuasion of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and
Tubes,” Worth (May 1995): 78–83.
28. Kevin L. Keller, “Conceptualization, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based
Brand Equity,” Journal of Marketing 57 (January 1993): 1–22.
29. Jennifer L. Aaker, “Dimensions of Brand Personality,” Journal of Marketing Research
34 (August 1997): 347–356.
30. Quoted in Bradley Johnson, “They All Have Half-Baked Ideas,” Advertising Age
(May 12, 1997): 8.
31. Susan Fournier, “A Consumer-Brand Relationship Framework for Strategic Brand
Management,” doctoral dissertation, Department of Marketing, University of Florida,
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Behavior 34 (December 2007): 468–479.
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34. Mary Twe Douglas and Baron C. Isherwood, The World of Goods (New York: Basic
Books, 1979).
35. Benjamin D. Zablocki and Rosabeth Moss Kanter, “The Differentiation of LifeStyles,” Annual Review of Sociology 2 (Fall 1976): 269–297.
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5 (1979): 137–166.
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economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21572914-collaborative-consumptiontechnology-makes-it-easier-people-rent-items.
38. Jonathan Birchall, “Just Do It, Marketers Say: Nike, PetSmart and Other Companies
Are Trying to Sell Their Brands by Inviting Consumers to Take Part in Activities Linked
to the Product or Service,” Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/business/la-ftbrands30apr30, accessed April 30, 2007.
39. William Leiss, Stephen Kline, and Sut Jhally, Social Communication in Advertising
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Books, 1979): 72–73.
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Interactionism Perspective,” Journal of Consumer Research 10 (December 1983):
319–329.
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to Symbolic Consumption,” in Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study
of Signs for Sale, ed. Jean Umiker-Sebeok (Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1988): 189–
218; Michael R. Solomon, “Mapping Product Constellations: A Social Categorization
Approach to Symbolic Consumption,” Psychology & Marketing 5 (1988): 233–258.
See also Stephen C. Cosmas, “Life Styles and Consumption Patterns,” Journal of
Consumer Research 8 (March 1982): 453–455.
43. Brian Steinberg, “Whose Ad Is This Anyway? Agencies Use Brand Icons to Promote
Other Products; Cheaper Than Zeta-Jones,” The Wall Street Journal (December 4,
2003), www.wsj.com.
44. See Lewis Alpert and Ronald Gatty, “Product Positioning by Behavioral Life Styles,”
Journal of Marketing 33 (April 1969): 65–69; Emanuel H. Demby, “Psychographics
Revisited: The Birth of a Technique,” Marketing News (January 2, 1989): 21; William
D. Wells, “Backward Segmentation,” in Insights into Consumer Behavior, ed. Johan
Arndt (Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1968): 85–100.
45. Gary McWilliams, “Analyzing Customers, Best Buy Decides Not All Are
Welcome,” The Wall Street Journal (November 8, 2004): A1; Joshua Freed, “Best
Buy Stores Adapting to Help Customers They Serve,” Montgomery Advertiser
(May 23, 2004): 31.
46. Rebecca Piirto Heath, “Psychographics: Q’est-ce que c’est?” Marketing Tools
(November/December 1995): 73.
47. Alfred S. Boote, “Psychographics: Mind over Matter,” American Demographics (April
1980): 26–29; William D. Wells, “Psychographics: A Critical Review,” Journal of
Marketing Research 12 (May 1975): 196–213.
48. Joseph T. Plummer, “The Concept and Application of Life Style Segmentation,”
Journal of Marketing 38 (January 1974): 33–37.
49. John L. Lastovicka et al., “A Lifestyle Typology to Model Young Male Drinking and
Driving,” Journal of Consumer Research 14 (September 1987): 257–263.
50. Martha Farnsworth Riche, “VALS 2,” American Demographics (July 1989): 25.
51. VALS, “Application of VALS” (n.d.), www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/
applications/apps-pos.shtml.
52. Ajay K. Sirsi, James C. Ward, and Peter H. Reingen, “Microcultural Analysis of
Variation in Sharing of Causal Reasoning about Behavior,” Journal of Consumer
Research 22 (March 1996): 345–332.
53. Vercihan Ziflioğlu, “TV Celebrity Kardashian Lashes Out at Turkish Cosmo Cover,”
Hürriyet Daily News (April 12, 2011), www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=americantv-personality-angry-for-her-ghotos-on-turkish-magazine-2011-04-12; David Carr,
“Romance in Cosmo’s World Is Translated in Many Ways,” The New York Times (May 26,
2002), www.nytimes.com.
54. Milton Rokeach, The Nature of Human Values (New York Free Press, 1973).
55. Sang-Pil Han and Sharon Shavitt, “Persuasion and Culture: Advertising Appeals in
Individualistic and Collectivistic Societies,” Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology 30 (1994): 326–50.
56. Donald E. Vinson, Jerome E. Scott, and Lawrence R. Lamont, “The Role of
Personal Values in Marketing and Consumer Behavior,” Journal of Marketing 41
(April 1977): 44–50; John A. McCarty and L.J. Shrum, “The Role of Personal
Values and Demographics in Predicting Television Viewing Behavior:
Implications for Theory and Application,” Journal of Advertising 22(4)
(December 1993): 77–101.
57. Gregory M. Rose, Aviv Shoham, Lynn R. Kahle, and Rajeev Batra, “Social Values,
Conformity, and Dress,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 24(17) (1994):
1501–1519.
58. Milton Rokeach, Understanding Human Values (New York: Free Press, 1979). See
also J. Michael Munson and Edward McQuarrie, “Shortening the Rokeach Value
Survey for Use in Consumer Research,” in Advances in Consumer Research 15,
ed. Michael J. Houston (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1988):
381–386.
59. B.W. Becker and P.E. Conner, “Personal Values of the Heavy User of Mass
Media,” Journal of Advertising Research 21 (1981): 37–43; Donald E. Vinson,
Jerome E. Scott, and Lawrence R. Lamont, “The Role of Personal Values in
Marketing and Consumer Behavior,” Journal of Marketing 41 (April 1977):
44–50.
60. Sharon E. Beatty, Lynn R. Kahle, Pamela Homer, and Shekhar Misra, “Alternative
Measurement Approaches to Consumer Values: The List of Values and the Rokeach
Value Survey,” Psychology & Marketing 2 (1985): 181–200; Lynn R. Kahle and
Patricia Kennedy, “Using the List of Values (LOV) to Understand Consumers,” Journal
of Consumer Marketing 2 (Fall 1988): 49–56; Lynn R. Kahle, Basil Poulos, and Ajay
Sukhdial, “Changes in Social Values in the United States during the Past Decade,”
Journal of Advertising Research 28 (February/March 1988): 35–41. See also Wagner
A. Kamakura and Jose Afonso Mazzon, “Value Segmentation: A Model for the
Measurement of Values and Value Systems,” Journal of Consumer Research 18(2)
(September 1991): 208–218.
61. Amitai Etzioni, “The Good Society: Goals beyond Money,” The Futurist 35(4) (2001);
D. Elgin, Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple,
Inwardly Rich (New York: Quill, 1993); Ascribe Higher Education News Service, “PNA
Trend in Consumer Behavior Called ‘Voluntary Simplicity’ Poses Challenges for
Marketers” (December 6, 2001).
62. Emily Burg, “Whole Foods Is Consumers’ Favorite Green Brand,” Marketing Daily,
www.mediapost.com, accessed May 10, 2007.
63. “Consumers Want Proof It’s Green,” Center for Media Research, www.mediapost.
com, accessed April 9, 2009.
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64. Information obtained from www.lohas.com/about.htm, accessed June 30, 2007.
65. Sarah Mahoney, “Wal-Mart: The Average Joe Is Greener Than You Think,” Marketing
Daily, www.mediapost.com, accessed April 19, 2007.
66. Remi Trudel and June Cotte, “Does It Pay to Be Good?” MIT Sloan Management
Review 61 (Winter 2009): 61–68.
67. Suzanne Vranica, “Ad Houses Will Need to Be More Nimble: Clients Are Demanding
More and Better Use of Consumer Data, Web,” The Wall Street Journal (January 2,
2008), B3; “Consumers Want Proof It’s Green,” Center for Media Research, www.
mediapost.com, accessed April 9, 2009.
68. Stephanie Clifford, “Online Age Quiz Is a Window for Drug Makers,” The New York
Times on the Web (March 25, 2009), accessed March 26, 2009; www.realage.com/
ralong/entry4.aspx?cbr=GGLE806&gclid=CIfH6Muj7poCFQVfFQodvWQvBw, accessed
June 3, 2009.
69. L.J. Shrum, James E. Burroughs, and Aric Rindfleisch, “Television’s Cultivation
of Material Values,” Journal of Consumer Research 32 (December 2005):
473–480.
70. James E. Burroughs and Aric Rindfleisch, “Materialism and Well-Being: A
Conflicting Values Perspective,” Journal of Consumer Research 29 (December
2002): 348–370.
71. Marvin E. Goldberg, Gerald J. Gorn, Laura A. Peracchio, and Gary Bamossy,
“Understanding Materialism among Youth,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 13(3)
(2003): 278–288.
C H A P T ER
7
Attitudes
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand that it is important for consumer
researchers to understand the nature and power of
attitudes.
5
Understand that a need to maintain consistency
among all of our attitudinal components often
motivates us to alter one or more of them.
2
Understand that attitudes are more complex than
they first appear.
6
3
Understand that attitudes are made up of three
components: affect, behaviour, and cognition.
Understand that we use attitude models to identify
specific components and combine them to predict a
consumer’s overall attitude toward a product or brand.
7
Understand that social norms can impact the degree
to which consumer attitudes will influence their
behaviours.
4
Understand that we form attitudes in several ways.
THE POWER OF ATTITUDES
The term attitude is widely used in popular culture. You might be asked, “What is your
attitude toward abortion?” A parent might scold, “Young man, I don’t like your attitude.”
Some bars even euphemistically refer to happy hour as “an attitude adjustment period.”
For our purposes, an attitude is a lasting, general evaluation of people (including oneself), objects, or issues.1 Anything toward which a person has an attitude, whether tangible, such as a brand of vodka, or intangible, such as drunk driving, is called an attitude
object (Ao). An attitude is lasting because it tends to endure over time. It is general because
it applies to more than a momentary event, like hearing a loud noise (though you might,
over time, develop a negative attitude toward all loud noises). Consumers have attitudes
toward very product-specific behaviours (such as using Crest toothpaste rather than Colgate), as well as toward more general consumption-related behaviours (such as how often
they should brush their teeth). Attitudes help to determine whom a person chooses to date,
what music he or she listens to, whether he or she will recycle or discard aluminum cans,
and whether he or she chooses to become a consumer researcher for a living.
This chapter will consider the contents of an attitude, how attitudes are formed, and
how they can be measured, and will review some of the surprisingly complex relationships between attitudes and behaviour. In the next chapter, we’ll take a closer look at how
attitudes can be changed—certainly an issue of prime importance to marketers.
The Functions of Attitudes
Psychologist Daniel Katz developed the functional theory of attitudes to explain how attitudes facilitate social behaviour.2 According to this pragmatic approach, attitudes exist
because they serve some function for the person; that is, they are determined by a person’s
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CO 2
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
motives. Consumers who expect that they will need to deal with similar information
at a future time will be more likely to start forming attitudes in anticipation of
this event.3
Two people can each have the same attitude toward some object for very different reasons. As a result, it can be helpful for a marketer to know why an attitude is
held before attempting to change it. The following are attitude functions identified
by Katz:
Buckley’s, an Ontario-based company, highlights the utilitarian function by focusing on
the rewards it can provide (It works!) and
making fun of the punishments associated
with it (It tastes awful!).
Reprinted with permission of Novartis Consumer Health
Canada Inc.
•
Utilitarian function: The utilitarian function is related to the basic principles of
reward and punishment. We develop some of our attitudes toward products simply on the basis of whether these products provide pleasure or pain. If a person
likes the taste of a cheeseburger, that person will develop a positive attitude
toward cheeseburgers. Ads that stress straightforward product benefits (e.g., you
should drink Diet Coke “just for the taste of it”) appeal to the utilitarian function.
•
Value-expressive function: Attitudes that perform a value-expressive function
express the consumer’s self-concept (Chapter 5) or central values (Chapter 6). A
person forms a product attitude not because of its objective benefits, but because
of what the product says about him or her as a person (“What sort of man rides a
Harley?”). Value-expressive attitudes are highly relevant to lifestyle analyses, in
which consumers cultivate a cluster of activities, interests, and opinions to
express a particular social identity. Value-expressive attitudes are also highly relevant to the psychographic analyses we discussed in Chapter 6, which consider
how consumers cultivate a cluster of activities, interests, and opinions to express
a particular social identity.
•
Ego-defensive function: Attitudes that are formed to protect the person, either
from external threats or internal feelings, perform an ego-defensive function.
Products that promise to help a man project a rugged, manly image may be appealing to his insecurities about his masculinity. Another example is deodorant ads
that stress the dire, embarrassing consequences of being caught with underarm
odour in public.
•
Knowledge function: Some attitudes are formed as the result of a need for order,
structure, or meaning. This function applies when a person is in an ambiguous situation (“It’s okay to wear casual pants to work, but only on Friday”) or
when he or she confronts a new product (e.g., “Bayer wants you to know about
pain relievers”).
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
An attitude can serve more than one function, but in many cases a particular one
will be dominant. By identifying the dominant function a product serves for consumers (what benefits it provides), marketers can emphasize these benefits in their communications and packaging. Ads relevant to the function prompt more favourable
thoughts about what is being marketed and can result in a heightened preference for
both the ad and the product.
The importance of an attitude object may differ quite a bit for different people.
Understanding the attitude’s importance to an individual and to others who share similar characteristics can be useful to marketers who are trying to devise strategies that
will appeal to different customer segments. A study of football game attendance illustrates that varying levels of commitment result in different fan “profiles.”4 The study
identified three distinct clusters of fans:5
•
One cluster consisted of the real diehard fans who were highly committed to their
team and who displayed an enduring love of the game. To reach these fans, the
researchers recommend that sports marketers should focus on providing them
with greater sports knowledge and relate their attendance to their personal goals
and values.
•
A second cluster reflected attitudes based on the unique, self-expressive experience provided by the game. These fans enjoy the stimulation of cheering for a
team and the drama of the competition itself. They are more likely to be “brand
switchers” who are fair-weather fans, shifting allegiances when the home team no
longer provides the thrills they need. This segment can be appealed to by publicizing aspects of the visiting teams, such as advertising the appearance of stars
likely to give the fans a game they will remember.
•
A third cluster were looking for camaraderie above all. These consumers attend
games primarily to take part in small group activities such as pre- or postgame
parties that accompany the event. Marketers could appeal to this cluster by providing improved peripheral benefits, such as making it easier for groups to meet at
the stadium, improving parking, and offering multiple-unit pricing.
The ABC Model of Attitudes
When Subaru began work on a new marketing strategy, the automaker discovered that
even though most auto buyers had heard of their brand, very few had strong emotional
connections to it. However, among Subaru owners there was an outspoken passion
and love for the brand, and they expressed a very positive emotional link to their cars.
The new campaign therefore targets people who are in three different stages of buying
a car—what Subaru calls the heart, the head, and the wallet. Advertisements for the
“heart” stage focus on the love owners have for their cars by sharing personal stories of
attachment. The “head” stage ads, in contrast, present a rational side of specific models, as they emphasize how the cars benefit their owners in terms of reliability, economy, and so on. The “wallet” ads deal with the financial side of actually buying a
Subaru, such as local dealer offers.6
Like the Subaru campaign, an attitude has three components: affect, behaviour, and
cognition. Affect refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object. Behaviour,
or conation, involves the person’s intentions to do something with regard to an attitude
object (but, as will be discussed later, an intention does not always result in an actual
behaviour). Cognition refers to the beliefs a consumer has about an attitude object. These
three components of an attitude can be remembered as the ABC model of attitudes.
This model emphasizes the interrelationships among knowing, feeling, and doing.
Consumers’ attitudes toward a product cannot be determined simply by identifying
their beliefs about it. For example, a researcher might find that shoppers “know” that
a particular digital SLR camera has a power zoom lens, auto-focus, and built-in Wi-Fi
connectivity, but such findings do not indicate whether they feel these attributes are
good, bad, or irrelevant, or whether they would actually buy the camera.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
FIGURE 7–1
Three Hierarchies of Effects
HIGH INVOLVEMENT
Cognition
Behaviour
ATTITUDE
Based on
cognitive
information
processing
Behaviour
Affect
ATTITUDE
Based on
behavioural
learning
processes
Behaviour
Cognition
ATTITUDE
Based on
hedonic
consumption
Affect
LOW INVOLVEMENT
Cognition
ZAJONC'S MODEL
Affect
H IE R A R C H IES O F EFFECTS
Although all three components of an attitude are important, their relative importance
will vary according to a consumer’s level of motivation with regard to the attitude
object. Attitude researchers have developed the concept of a hierarchy of effects to
explain the relative impact of the three components. Each hierarchy specifies that a
fixed sequence of steps occurs en route to an attitude. Three different hierarchies are
summarized in Figure 7–1.
T H E H IG H -IN VO LVEMEN T H IER AR CH Y
When highly involved, a consumer approaches a product decision as a problem-solving
process. First, he or she forms beliefs about a product by accumulating knowledge
(beliefs) regarding relevant attributes. Next, the consumer evaluates these beliefs and
forms a feeling about the product (affect). Finally, on the basis of this evaluation, the
consumer engages in a relevant behaviour, such as buying the product.
This careful choice process often results in a type of brand loyalty. The consumer
“bonds” with the product over time and is not easily persuaded to experiment with
other brands. The standard learning hierarchy assumes that a consumer is highly
involved in making a purchase decision.7 The person is motivated to seek out a lot of
information, carefully weigh alternatives, and come to a thoughtful decision.
T H E L O W-IN VO LVEMEN T H IER AR CH Y
In sharp contrast to high involvement, under low involvement interest in the attitude
object is at best lukewarm. The consumer has collected only a minimal amount of
information before acting and has an emotional response only after consuming the
product. This is typical of a consumer who forms an attitude via the low-involvement
hierarchy of effects. In this sequence, the consumer initially does not have a strong
preference for one brand over another; he or she instead acts on the basis of limited
knowledge and then forms an evaluation only after the fact.8 The attitude is likely to
come about through behavioural learning, in which the consumer’s choice is reinforced by good or bad experiences with the product after purchase.
The possibility that consumers simply don’t care enough about many decisions
to carefully assemble a set of product beliefs and then evaluate them is important,
because it implies that all the concern about influencing beliefs and carefully communicating information about product attributes may be largely wasted. Consumers
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
aren’t necessarily going to pay attention anyway; they are more likely to respond to
simple stimulus–response connections when making purchase decisions. For example, a consumer choosing among paper towels might remember that “Bounty is the
quicker picker-upper” rather than bothering systematically to compare all the brands
on the shelf.
For marketers, the ironic silver lining to this low-involvement cloud is that under
these conditions consumers are not motivated to process a lot of complex brandrelated information. Instead, they will be swayed by principles of behavioural learning, such as the simple responses caused by conditioned brand names, point-of-purchase
displays, and so on. This results in what we might call the involvement paradox: The
less important the product is to consumers, the more important are many of the marketing stimuli (e.g., packages, jingles) that have to be devised to market it.
ZA J O NC ’S MODE L O F H E DO N IC C O N S U MPTIO N
According to the experiential hierarchy of effects, we act on the basis of our emotional
reactions. The experiential perspective highlights the idea that intangible product
attributes, such as package design, advertising, brand names, and the nature of the setting in which the experience occurs, can help shape our attitudes toward a brand. We
may base these reactions on hedonic motivations, such as whether using the product
is exciting like the Nintendo Wii or aesthetically pleasing like the Apple iPhone.
Even the emotions expressed by the communicator have an impact. A smile is
infectious; in a process termed emotional contagion, messages delivered by happy
people enhance our attitude toward the product.9 Numerous studies indicate that
the mood a person is in when exposed to a marketing message influences how the ad
is processed, the likelihood that the information presented will be remembered, and
how the person will feel about the advertised item and related products in
the future.10
One important debate about the experiential hierarchy concerns the independence of cognition and affect. On the one hand, the cognitive-affective model argues
that an affective judgment is but the last step in a series of cognitive processes. Earlier
steps include the sensory registration of stimuli and the retrieval of meaningful information from memory to categorize these stimuli.11
On the other hand, the independence hypothesis takes the position that affect and
cognition involve two separate, partially independent systems; affective responses do
not always require prior cognitions.12 The independence hypothesis does not eliminate the role of cognition in experience; it simply balances this traditional, rational
emphasis on calculated decision making by paying more attention to the impact of
aesthetic, subjective experience. This type of holistic processing is more likely to
occur when the product is perceived as primarily expressive or when it delivers sensory pleasure rather than utilitarian benefits.13
Product Attitudes Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Marketers who are concerned with understanding consumers’ attitudes have to
contend with an even more complex issue: In decision-making situations, people
form attitudes toward objects other than the product itself that can influence their
ultimate selections. One additional factor to consider is attitudes toward the act of
buying in general. As we’ll see later in this chapter, sometimes people are reluctant, embarrassed, or just too plain lazy to expend the effort to obtain a desired
product or service.
ATTI T UDE TOWA RD T H E A D V E RT IS E ME N T
In addition, consumers’ reactions to a product, over and above their feelings about the
product itself, are influenced by their evaluations of its advertising. Our evaluation of
a product can be determined solely by our appraisal of how it is depicted in marketing
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communications; that is, we don’t hesitate to form attitudes toward products we’ve
never even seen in person, much less used.
One special type of attitude object, then, is the marketing message itself. The
attitude toward the advertisement (Aad) is defined as a predisposition to respond
in a favourable or unfavourable manner to a particular advertising stimulus during
a particular exposure occasion. Determinants of Aad include the viewer’s attitude
toward the advertiser, evaluations of the ad execution itself, the mood evoked by
the ad, and the degree to which the ad affects viewers’ arousal levels.14 A viewer’s
feelings about the context in which an ad appears can also influence brand attitudes. For example, attitudes about an ad and the brand depicted will be influenced if the consumer sees the ad while watching a favourite series on YouTube.15
The effects demonstrated by A ad emphasize the importance of an ad’s entertainment value in the purchase process. 16 If consumers are not able to view an ad
again, both belief in and attitude confidence about that ad rapidly diminish. This
research supports marketers’ efforts to pulse or frequently repeat advertisements in
the media.17
AD S H AV E FEELIN G S TO O
The feelings generated by advertising have the capacity to directly affect brand attitudes. Commercials can evoke a wide range of emotional responses, from disgust to
happiness. These feelings can be influenced both by the way the ad is done (the specific advertising execution) and by the consumer’s reactions to the advertiser’s
motives. For example, many advertisers who are trying to craft messages for adolescents and young adults are encountering problems because this age group, having
grown up in a “marketing society,” tend to be skeptical about attempts to get them to
buy things.18 These reactions can, in turn, influence memory for advertising content.19 At least three emotional dimensions have been identified in commercials:
pleasure, arousal, and intimidation.20 Specific types of feelings that can be generated
by an ad include the following:21
By associating the product with positive
imagery, Cheerios creates positive attitudes
toward the brand.
© Patti McConville/Alamy
•
Upbeat feelings: Amused, delighted, playful
•
Warm feelings: Affectionate, contemplative, hopeful
•
Negative feelings: Critical, defiant, offended
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
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The McDonald’s “I’m Loving It” campaign,
like that of Cheerios, creates warm feelings
and positive attitudes toward the brand.
Courtesy of McDonald’s
FORMING ATTITUDES
We all have lots of attitudes, and we don’t usually question how we got them. Certainly
a person isn’t born with the conviction that, say, Pepsi is better than Coke, or that
indie rock music liberates the soul. Where do these attitudes come from?
An attitude can form in several different ways, depending on the particular hierarchy of effects in operation. It can occur because of classical conditioning, wherein
an attitude object, such as the McDonald’s name, is repeatedly paired with a catchy
jingle (“I’m lovin’ it”). Or it can be formed through instrumental conditioning, in
which consumption of the attitude object is reinforced (e.g., “Pepsi quenches one’s
thirst”). Or the learning of an attitude can be the outcome of a very complex cognitive
process. For example, a teenager may come to model the behaviour of friends and
media figures who drink Red Bull because she believes that this act will allow her to
fit in with the desirable images of the Millennial generation.
Not All Attitudes Are Created Equal
It is important to distinguish among types of attitudes, since not all are formed the
same way.22 For example, on the one hand, a highly brand-loyal consumer has an
enduring, deeply held positive attitude toward an attitude object, and this involvement will be difficult to weaken. On the other hand, another consumer may be
less brand-loyal; he or she may have a mildly positive attitude toward a product
but be quite willing to abandon it when something better comes along. This section will consider the differences between strongly and weakly held attitudes,
and will briefly review some of the major theoretical perspectives that have been
developed to explain how attitudes form and relate to one another in the minds
of consumers.
CO 4
Marketing
Insight
The now infamous story of the the introduction of
New Coke in the 1980s illustrates what can happen when a marketer messes with strongly held
attitudes. In this case, Coca-Cola decided to
change its flavour formula to meet the needs of
younger consumers who often preferred a
sweeter taste (more characteristic of Pepsi). The
company conducted rigorous blind taste tests
that showed people who didn’t know what
brands they were drinking preferred the flavour
of the new formula. Much to its surprise, when
New Coke hit the shelves, the company faced a
consumer revolt as die-hard Coke fans protested. This allegiance to Coke was obviously
more than a minor taste preference for these
people; the brand was intertwined with their
social identities and took on intense patriotic
and nostalgic properties. Thus, savvy marketers
need to be aware that consumer attitudes
toward their products often have to do with more
than simple functional attributes such as taste!
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Levels of Commitment to an Attitude
Consumers vary in their commitment to an attitude. The degree of commitment is
related to their level of involvement with the attitude object as follows:23
CO 5
•
Compliance: At the lowest level of involvement, compliance, an attitude is formed
because it helps gain rewards or avoid punishments from others. This attitude is
very superficial; it is likely to change when the person’s behaviour is no longer
monitored by others or when another option becomes available. A person may
drink Pepsi because this is the brand that all of his friends drink and he doesn’t
want to rock the boat.
•
Identification: A process of identification occurs when attitudes are formed so that
the consumer will then feel similar to another person or group. Advertising that
depicts the social consequences of choosing some products over others is relying on
the tendency of consumers to imitate the behaviour of desirable models.
•
Internalization: At a high level of involvement, deep-seated attitudes are internalized and become part of the person’s value system. These attitudes are very difficult to change, because they are so important to the individual.
The Consistency Principle
Have you ever heard someone say, “Mountain Dew is my favourite drink. It tastes terrible,” or “I love my husband. He’s the biggest idiot I’ve ever met”? Probably not,
because these beliefs or evaluations are not consistent with each other. According to
the principle of cognitive consistency, consumers value harmony among their
thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and they are motivated to maintain uniformity
among these elements. This desire means that, if necessary, consumers will change
their thoughts, feelings, or behaviours to make them consistent with other experiences.
The consistency principle is an important reminder that attitudes are not formed in a
vacuum. A significant determinant of the way an attitude object will be evaluated is
how it fits in with other, related attitudes already held by the consumer.
CO G N IT IV E D ISSO N AN CE AN D H AR MO N Y AMO N G ATTITU D ES
The theory of cognitive dissonance states that when a person is confronted with
inconsistencies among his or her own attitudes or behaviours, he or she will take some
action to resolve this unpleasant psychological state, or “dissonance.” The theory proposes that people are motivated to reduce the negative feelings caused by dissonance
by making things fit with one another. This can be done, for example, by changing the
attitude or modifying behaviour.24 The theory has important ramifications for attitudes, since people are often confronted by situations in which there is some conflict
between their attitudes and behaviours.25
A cognitive element can be something people believe about themselves, behaviours they perform, or observations about their surroundings. For example, the two
belief statements “I know smoking cigarettes causes cancer” and “I smoke cigarettes” are dissonant with one another. This psychological inconsistency creates a
feeling of discomfort that the smoker is motivated to reduce. The magnitude of dissonance depends on both the importance and the number of dissonant elements.26
In other words, the pressure to reduce dissonance is more likely to be observed in
high-involvement situations in which the dissonant elements are more important to
the individual.
Dissonance reduction can occur by eliminating, adding, or changing elements.
For example, the person might stop smoking (eliminate) or remember Great-Aunt
Sophie, who smoked until the day she died at age 90 (add).
Dissonance theory can help to explain why evaluations of a product tend to
increase after it has been purchased. Postpurchase dissonance can occur in situations
where the consumer has a choice between more than one favourable alternative. For
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
191
example, if the consumer narrows down her search for a new computer to two key
alternatives and then selects one, dissonance can arise because the alternative she
gave up (what researchers call the “forgone option”) had many desirable qualities.
This is because the cognition “That computer had some really cool options” and
the behaviour “I picked something else instead” are inconsistent. This can lead to
feelings of dissonance, which the consumer is motivated to resolve. One way this
can be done is by reconfirming that she made the right purchase after all, focusing
on desirable qualities of the chosen option and actually liking it more after it has
been selected. Marketers often encourage consumers to deal with potential postchoice dissonance in this way by reinforcing why choosing their brand was the
right decision.
TRANSIT SHELTER
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Production Template
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STANDARD TRIM
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17.18" x 24.818"
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17.68" are
x 25.318"motivated to
Do attitudes
necessarily change
following behaviour
because people
feel good about their decisions? Self-perception theory provides an alternative explanation of dissonance effects.27 It assumes that people use observations of their own
behaviour to determine what their attitudes are, just as we assume that we know the
She’s
The One
One implication of cognitive dissonance in
decision-making contexts is that marketers
should confirm that the consumer made
(or is making) the right choice. This
advertisement from Canadian retailer
Spence Diamonds does an excellent job
of this.
Courtesy of Spence Diamonds
(You said you
needed a sign.)
07/2007
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Marketing
Insight
Have you ever liked a social cause on Facebook
or followed a charitable organization on Twitter?
One interesting example where foot-in-the door
effects do not always arise is in the domain
of providing displays of “token support” for
causes. These symbols of token support can be
physical, such as wearing a pin or a bracelet for
the cause, or online, such signing an online
petition or joining a Facebook group. One issue
that has been raised in the media is that allowing consumers to provide this type of token
­support for causes can lead to slacktivism,
wherein people are willing to give a relatively
costless, token display of support for a social
cause (such as liking a page on Facebook), but
are unwilling to subsequently devote significant
effort to enact meaningful change (such as
donating money or volunteering to support the
cause). Recent research shows that when such
token displays are made very publicly (so that
others can view the support), people are no
more likely to help when subsequently asked to
donate money or volunteer time. However, when
the initial act of token support is private, people
are more likely help in response to a subsequent, more meaningful request for support.
Importantly, if people are asked to think about
how their own values align with the cause,
this slacktivism can be counteracted and people can be more willing to provide meaningful
support.
attitudes of others by watching what they do. The theory states that we maintain consistency by inferring that we must have a positive attitude toward an object if we have
bought or consumed it (assuming that we freely made this choice).
Self-perception theory is relevant to the low-involvement hierarchy, since it
involves situations in which behaviours are initially performed in the absence of a
strong internal attitude. After the fact, the cognitive and affective components of attitude fall into line. Thus, buying a product out of habit may result in a positive attitude
toward it after the fact—namely, why would I buy it if I didn’t like it?
Self-perception theory helps to explain the effectiveness of a sales strategy
called the foot-in-the-door technique, which is based on the observation that a
consumer is more likely to comply with a request if he or she has first agreed to
comply with a smaller request.28 The name for this technique comes from the practice of door-to-door selling, wherein a salesperson was taught to plant his or her
foot in a door so that the prospect could not slam it shut. A good salesperson knows
that he or she is more likely to get an order if the customer can be persuaded to
open the door and talk. By agreeing to do so, the customer has established a willingness to listen to the salesperson. Placing an order is consistent with this selfperception. This technique is especially useful for inducing consumers to answer
surveys or to donate money to charity. Such factors as the time lag between the
first and second requests, the similarity between the two requests, and whether the
same person makes both requests have been found to influence the effectiveness of
this technique.29
Another variation of this strategy is the low-ball technique, in which a person
is asked for a small favour and is informed after agreeing to it that it will be very
costly. This can be contrasted against the door-in-the-face technique, in which a
person is first asked to do something extreme (a request that is usually refused) and
then is asked to do something smaller. In the latter case, people tend to go along
with the smaller request, possibly because they feel guilty about denying the larger
one.30
SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORY Social judgment theory also assumes that people assimi-
late new information about attitude objects in light of what they already know or
feel.31 The initial attitude acts as a frame of reference, and new information is categorized in terms of this existing standard. Just as our decision that a box is heavy depends
in part on other boxes we have lifted, we develop a subjective standard when making
judgments about attitude objects.
One important aspect of the theory is the notion that people differ in terms of
the information they will find acceptable or unacceptable. They form latitudes of
acceptance and rejection around an attitude standard. Ideas that fall within a
latitude will be favourably received, while those falling outside this zone will not.
For example, consider a consumer who has a favourable attitude toward the use of
designated drivers. He is likely to be receptive to communications urging him to play
this role before heading out for an evening on the town. If he were opposed to this
practice, these messages would probably not be considered.
On the one hand, messages that fall within the latitude of acceptance tend to be
seen as more consistent with our own position than they actually are. This process is
called an assimilation effect. On the other hand, messages falling within the latitude of
rejection tend to be seen as even further from our own position than they actually are,
resulting in a contrast effect.32
As a person becomes more involved with an attitude object, his or her latitude of
acceptance gets smaller; in other words, the consumer accepts fewer ideas that are
removed from his or her own position and tends to oppose even mildly divergent positions. This tendency is evident in ads that appeal to discriminating buyers, which
claim that knowledgeable people will reject anything but the very best. On the other
hand, relatively uninvolved consumers will consider a wider range of alternatives.
They are less likely to be brand-loyal and more likely to switch brands.33
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
193
Consistency theories, such as balance
theory, predict that consumers will have
more favourable attitudes to a product if it
is paired with a positively viewed stimulus
such as a well-liked movie.
PRNewsFoto/Mercedes-Benz USA
BALANCE THEORY Balance theory considers relations among elements that a person
might perceive as belonging together.34 This perspective involves relations (always
from the perceiver’s subjective point of view) among three elements, so the resulting
attitude structures are called triads. Each triad contains (1) a person and his or her
perceptions of (2) an attitude object and (3) some other person or object.
These perceptions can be either positive or negative. More importantly, people
alter these perceptions to make relations among them consistent. The theory specifies
that people desire relations among elements in a triad to be harmonious, or balanced.
If they are not, a state of tension will result until somehow perceptions are changed
and balance is restored.
Elements can be perceived as going together in one of two ways. They can have
either a unit relation, in which one element is seen as somehow belonging to or being
a part of the other (something like a belief), or a sentiment relation, in which the two
elements are linked because one has expressed a preference (or dislike) for the other.
A dating couple might be seen as having a positive sentiment relation. Upon getting
married, they will have a positive unit relation. The process of divorce is an attempt to
sever a unit relation.
To see how balance theory might work, consider the following scenario:
•
Monica would like to date Jerry, who is in her consumer behaviour class. In balance
theory terms, Monica has a positive sentiment relation with Jerry.
•
One day Jerry shows up in class and she sees that he has a new tattoo on his arm.
Jerry has a positive unit relation with the tattoo. It belongs to him and is literally a
part of him.
•
Monica does not like tattoos. She has a negative sentiment relation with tattoos.
According to balance theory, Monica faces an unbalanced triad, and she will
experience pressure to restore balance by altering some aspect of the triad, as shown in
Figure 7–2. She might, for example, decide that she does not like Jerry after all. Or her
liking for Jerry might prompt a change in her attitude toward tattoos. She might even
try to negate the unit relation between Jerry and the tattoo by deciding that he must
have gotten it only as part of an initiation (reducing the free-choice element). Finally,
she could choose to “leave the field” by not thinking any more about Jerry and his
controversial tattoo.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
FIGURE 7–2
Alternative Routes to Restoring Balance in a Triad
Monica
Jerry
Tattoo
Monica
Monica
Consumers
in Focus
Consumers often like to publicize their connections with successful people or organizations (no matter how shaky the connection) to
enhance their own standing. Researchers call
this basking in reflected glory. A series of
studies at Arizona State University (ASU)
showed how students’ desires to identify with
a winning image—in this case, ASU’s football
team—influenced their consumption behaviours. After the team played a game each
weekend, observers recorded the incidence of
students wearing school-related items, such
as ASU T-shirts and caps. The researchers correlated the frequency of these behaviours to
the team’s performance. If the team won on
Saturday, students were more likely to show
off their school affiliation (basking in reflected
glory) the following Monday than if the team
had lost. And the bigger the point spread, the
more likely they were to observe students who
wore clothes with the ASU logo.
Similarly to college sports, professional
sports franchises such as those in the NHL and
CFL reap huge revenues when they license their
team’s name and logo. NHL teams with strong
histories of success, such as the Edmonton
­Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, and Vancouver
Canucks, earn substantial profits selling millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise in their
local markets (everything from T-shirts to travel
mugs). The Jets began playing in Winnipeg in
the 2011–12 season, which provided a new
opportunity for fans to bask in reflected glory. In
one example, Budweiser leveraged this concept
by releasing a limited-edition “Fan Brew” beer
for Winnipeg Jets fans. The water used in the
brewing process was collected from iconic
locations around Winnipeg and the marketing
campaign centred on a sense of pride in being
a Winnipeg Jets fan.
Jerry
Jerry
Tattoo
Monica
Tattoo
UNBALANCED TRIAD
Jerry
Tattoo
Monica
Jerry
Tattoo
Note that although the theory does not specify which of these routes will be
taken, it does predict that one or more of Monica’s perceptions will probably change
to achieve balance. Although this distortion is most likely an oversimplified representation of most attitude processes, it helps to explain a number of consumer
behaviour phenomena.
MARKETING APPLICATIONS OF BALANCE THEORY Balance theory reminds us that
when perceptions are balanced, attitudes are likely to be stable. On the other hand,
when inconsistencies are observed, we are more likely to observe changes in attitudes.
Balance theory also helps to explain why consumers like to be associated with positively valued objects. Forming a unit relation with a popular product (buying and
wearing fashionable clothing or driving a flashy car) may improve one’s chances of
being included as a positive sentiment relation in other people’s triads.
Finally, balance theory is useful in accounting for the widespread use of celebrities to endorse products. In cases where a triad is not fully formed (e.g., one involving
perceptions about a new product or one about which the consumer does not yet have
a well-defined attitude), the marketer can create a positive sentiment relation between
the consumer and the product by depicting a positive unit relation between the product and a well-known personality. In other cases, behaviours are discouraged when
admired people argue against them, as is the goal when athletes appear in public
service advertisements against drinking and driving.
This “balancing act” is at the heart of celebrity endorsements, in which it is
hoped that the star’s popularity will transfer to the product. This strategy will be
considered at length in the next chapter. For now, it pays to remember that this
creation of a unit relation between product and star can backfire if the public’s
opinion of the celebrity endorser shifts from positive to negative, as happened when
Tiger Woods’s philandering was exposed: Tag Heuer, Gillette, and Accenture all cut
or suspended him as their spokesperson. The strategy can also cause trouble if the
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
195
Budweiser leveraged the desire to associate with positive groups by promoting its
limited-edition Winnipeg Jets Fan Brew
beer, which associates the brand with a
much-loved hockey team.
Courtesy of Labatt Breweries of Canada. NHL and NHL
team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.
© NHL 2015. All Rights Reserved. Used with
permission.
star–product unit relation is questioned, as when the celebrity gets caught using a
competitor’s brand.
ATTITUDE MODELS
A consumer’s overall evaluation of a product sometimes accounts for most of his or
her attitude toward it. When market researchers want to assess attitudes, it can
often be sufficient for them simply to ask consumers, “How do you feel about
American Apparel?”
However, as we saw earlier, attitudes can be a lot more complex than that. One
problem is that a product or service may comprise many attributes, or qualities, some
of which may be more important than others to particular people. Another problem is
that people’s decisions to act on their attitudes are affected by other factors, such as
whether they feel that buying a product would be met with approval by friends or
family. For these reasons, attitude models have been developed that try to specify the
different elements that might work together to influence people’s evaluations of
attitude objects.
Multi-attribute Attitude Models
A simple response does not always tell us everything we need to know about either
why the consumer feels a certain way toward a product or what marketers can do to
change the consumer’s attitude.
Beliefs about specific brand attributes can be pivotal for a product. WarnerLambert discovered this in research it did for its FreshBurst Listerine mouthwash.
A research firm paid 37 families to set up cameras in their bathrooms to watch their
daily routines. Users of both Listerine and rival Scope said they used mouthwash to
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Courtesy of Professor Robert Fisher
As I See It
Where do our consumption attitudes come from? Some of our
attitudes are based on our own
experiences, and our likes and
dislikes are shaped by advertising,
product-rating services such as
Consumer Reports and Epinions.
com, and of course through purchase and use. Often overlooked
is the fact that our attitudes are
also a reflection of the attitudes of
those around us.
Consider our beliefs and
Dr. Robert Fisher University of
feelings about food. When we are
Alberta
young our parents influence or
determine the foods we experience, how they are prepared, how often we eat, what constitutes
a typical meal, and so forth. Sometimes our parents tell us
directly what we should do, such as when we are told “not to eat
between meals” or that we must “finish our dinner before we
can have dessert.” These statements are based on injunctive
norms that reflect an obligation to act in a certain way. We also
learn through what are called descriptive norms, which relate to
what is typical or normal within our environment. The routines
we experience within our homes during childhood become the
basis for our own attitudes toward food and eating later in life.
Other social groups such as our friends, classmates, and teammates influence our attitudes in the same ways.
Our attitudes toward food and food consumption practices
are also shaped by social institutions. The government gives us a
food guide that specifies what we should eat each day to be
healthy. It also uses public service announcements and school
nutrition programs to try to inform and persuade us. In the business sector, supermarkets, food manufacturers, and restaurants
advertise foods to achieve their economic objectives. Often the
foods they promote are convenient to prepare and consume and
taste great, but they are also often high in fat, sodium, and calories. The messages we receive from government sources and the
food industry are often contradictory.
As you might have guessed by this point, I am interested in
people’s attitudes and beliefs about eating. Along with Professor
Laurette Dubé, I have recently published a paper in Appetite
that develops measures of Americans’ beliefs about the appropriateness of various eating behaviours. I am also involved in
projects related to the effects of advertising on these beliefs,
and consequent food purchases and consumption. Understanding attitudes about eating can help public policy makers and
managers promote healthy eating behaviours. It can also help
consumers understand the origins of their beliefs about eating
and better manage their health.
Robert J. Fisher and Laurette Dubé, “Development and Validation of an Eating Norms Inventory: Americans’ Lay-Beliefs about Appropriate Eating,” Appetite 57(2) (2011):
365–376.
make their breath smell good. But Scope users swished the liquid and then spit it out,
while Listerine users kept the product in their mouths for a long time. These findings
meant that Listerine hadn’t shaken its medicine-like image.35
For this reason, multi-attribute attitude models have been popular among marketing researchers. This type of model assumes that a consumer’s attitude (evaluation) of
an attitude object (Ao) will depend on the beliefs he or she has about several or many
attributes of the object. The use of a multi-attribute model implies that an attitude
toward a product or brand can be predicted by identifying these specific beliefs and
combining them to derive a measure of the consumer’s overall attitude.
We’ll describe here how these work, using the example of a consumer evaluating
a complex attitude object that should be very familiar to you: a grocery store. Basic
multi-attribute models specify three elements:36
1. Attributes are characteristics of the Ao. Most models assume that the relevant
characteristics can be identified; that is, the researcher can include those attributes that consumers take into consideration when evaluating the Ao. For example, degree of freshness of produce is an attribute of a grocery store.
2. Beliefs are cognitions about the specific Ao (usually relative to others similar to it).
A belief measure assesses the extent to which the consumer perceives that a brand
possesses a particular attribute. For example, a student might have a belief that
Sobeys has the freshest produce.
3. Importance weights reflect the relative priority of an attribute to the consumer.
Although an Ao can be considered on the basis of a number of attributes, some are
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
197
This ad from Kia highlights the value that
consumers place on multiple attributes
(such as being safe and stylish) when
forming attitudes.
Brian Garland Photography/Dimitri Daniloff/Levine/
Leavitt—Kia Motors America, Inc.
likely to be more important than others (i.e., they will be given greater weight).
And these weights are likely to differ across consumers. In the case of grocery
stores, for example, one student might stress low prices while another might
assign greater weight to fresh produce.
THE F IS HBE IN MO DE L
The most influential multi-attribute model is called the Fishbein model, named after
its primary developer.37 The model measures three components of attitude:
1. Salient beliefs people have about an Ao (those beliefs about the object that are
considered during evaluation)
2. Object-attribute linkages, or the probability that a particular object has an important attribute
3. Evaluation of each of the important attributes
Note, however, that the model makes some assumptions that may not always be
warranted. It assumes that we have been able to specify adequately all the relevant
attributes that, for example, a student will use in evaluating his or her choice about
which university to attend. The model also assumes that he or she will go through the
process (formally or informally) of identifying a set of relevant attributes, weighing
them and summing them. Although this particular decision is likely to be highly
involving, it is still possible that the student’s attitude will instead be formed by an
overall affective response (a process known as affect-referral).
By combining these three elements, a consumer’s overall attitude toward an object
can be computed. (We’ll see later how this equation has been modified to increase its
accuracy.) The basic formula is as follows:
Aijk = SBijkIik
where i = attribute
j = brand
k = consumer
I = the importance weight given attribute i by consumer k
B = consumer k’s belief regarding the extent to which brand j possesses
attribute i
A = a particular consumer k’s attitude score for brand j
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
TABLE 7–1
The Basic Multi-attribute Model: Narveen’s Grocery Store Decision
Attribute (i )
Importance (I)
Beliefs (B)
Safeway
IGA
Loblaws
Low prices
5
2
3
4
Customer loyalty card
3
5
5
1
Free and accessible parking
4
4
3
4
In-store deli
5
5
5
3
Fresh produce
2
3
3
4
Attitude score
72
73
62
Note: These hypothetical ratings are scored from 1 to 5, and higher numbers indicate “better” standing on an attribute.
The overall attitude score (A) is obtained by multiplying a consumer’s rating
of each attribute for all of the brands considered by the importance rating for
that attribute.
To see how this basic multi-attribute model might work, let’s suppose we want to
predict at which grocery store Narveen is likely to do his weekly shopping. He lives
more or less equidistant from three different stores. To decide which one he will go
to, he considers the attributes across all three stores and forms an attitude toward
each store. We can ask Narveen to assign a rating regarding how well each store performs on each attribute and how important each attribute is to him. An overall attitude score for each store can then be computed by summing scores on each attribute
(after weighting each by its relative importance). These hypothetical ratings are
shown in Table 7–1.
S T R AT E G IC APPLICATIO N S O F TH E MU LTI-ATTR IB U TE M O D EL
Brownstein Group
Suppose you were the director of marketing for Loblaws. How might you use the data
from this analysis to improve your image?
CAPITALIZE ON RELATIVE ADVANTAGE If one’s brand is viewed as being superior on a
particular attribute, consumers such as Narveen need to be convinced that this particular attribute is an important one. For example, although Narveen rates fresh produce
highly, he does not believe this attribute is a valued aspect for some grocery stores. As
Loblaws’s marketing director, you might emphasize the importance of fruits and vegetables in a healthy balanced diet.
STRENGTHEN PERCEIVED PRODUCT–ATTRIBUTE LINKS A marketer may discover
that consumers do not equate his or her brand with a certain attribute. This problem is
commonly addressed by campaigns that stress the product’s qualities to consumers
(e.g., “new and improved ingredients”). Narveen apparently does not think much of
Loblaws’s deli. You might develop an information campaign to improve these perceptions (such as “little-known facts about Loblaws’s deli”).
ADD A NEW ATTRIBUTE Product marketers frequently try to create a position distinct
from those of their competitors by adding a product feature. Loblaws might try to
emphasize some unique aspect, such as an online order system for busy people who
do not like to grocery shop.
INFLUENCE COMPETITORS’ RATINGS Finally, you might try to decrease the positivity
of competitors. This type of action is the rationale for a strategy of comparative advertising. One tactic might be to publish an ad that lists the attributes on which Loblaws
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
can be favourably compared as the basis for emphasizing the value obtained for the
money spent at Loblaws.
USING ATTITUDES TO PREDICT BEHAVIOUR
Although multi-attribute models have been used by consumer researchers for many
years, they have been plagued by a major problem: In many cases, knowledge of a person’s attitude is not a very good predictor of behaviour. In a classic demonstration of
“Do as I say, not as I do,” many studies have obtained a very low correlation between
a person’s reported attitude toward something and his or her actual behaviour toward
it. Some researchers have been so discouraged that they have questioned whether attitudes are of any use at all in understanding behaviour.38 This questionable link
between attitudes and behaviour can be a big headache for advertisers in that consumers can love a commercial and yet still not buy the product.
The Extended Fishbein Model
The original Fishbein model, which focused on measuring a consumer’s attitude
toward a product, has been extended in several ways to improve its predictive ability.
An improved version is called the theory of reasoned action.39 This model contains
several important additions to the original, and although the model is still not perfect,
its ability to predict relevant behaviour is better.40 Some of the modifications to this
model are considered here.
I NTE N TIONS VE R S U S BE H AV IOU R
Like the consumer motivations discussed in Chapter 4, attitudes have both direction
and strength. A person may like or dislike an attitude object with varying degrees of
confidence or conviction.43 It is helpful to distinguish between firmly held attitudes
and those that are more superficial, especially since an attitude held with greater conviction makes it more likely that it will be acted upon. One study on environmental
issues and marketing activities found, for example, that people who express greater
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Marketing
Insight
The gulf between what consumers say and
what they do is apparent when we look at sales
of environmentally friendly products. Especially
since the economic downturn, people continue
to insist that they want green alternatives—
they’re just not willing to pay extra for them.
For example, when Clorox unveiled its Green
Works cleaning line, it seemed poised for success as it secured an endorsement from the
Sierra Club, a national launch at Walmart, and
a vow to “move natural cleaning into the mainstream.” At first, sales were stagnant or worse,
just like those of similar products from major
brands like Arm & Hammer, Windex, Palmolive,
Hefty, and Scrubbing Bubbles. As an industry
consultant observed, “Every consumer says, ‘I
want to help the environment; I’m looking for
eco-friendly products.’ But if it’s one or two
pennies higher in price, they’re not going to buy
it. There is a discrepancy between what people
say and what they do.”
However, others have suggested that it is
only the inauthentic “green” cleaning brands
that are seeing drops in support. Method and
Seventh Generation, for example, did not experience drops in sales and grew to $100 million
in revenue in 2012.41 According to Eric Ryan of
Method, it’s the non-authentic brands that are
going to lose out, similar to what we have seen
with food products that have been positioned
on the basis of health and wellness: “What
would you trust more for your health: Natural
Cheetos or Kashi crackers?”42 So one solution
to the gap between what consumers do and
what they say is to offer them choices that
really allow them to make a difference.
In response to a national survey that found
that more than one-third of drivers are distracted while driving, TELUS has launched
a campaign that encourages consumers to
change their attitudes and their behaviours
related to texting and driving.
TELUS materials, used with permission. © 2015 TELUS.
All rights reserved.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
conviction in their feelings regarding environmentally responsible behaviours such as
recycling show greater consistency between attitudes and behavioural intentions.44
However, research consistently finds that consumer attitudes don’t always lead to
the congruent behaviour. One challenge for marketers, then, is ensuring that consumer
attitudes translate into relevant consumer behaviours. Volkswagen’s fun theory campaign (www.thefuntheory.com) plays on this issue by showing that we can get people
to change their behaviours simply by making the activity fun! For example, by transforming a subway station’s staircase into a piano, the marketers increased the number
of people who chose the stairs over the escalator by 66 percent.45
Many factors might interfere with actual behaviour, even if the consumer has sincere
intentions. He or she might save up with the intention of buying a new smartphone. In the
interim, though, any number of things—losing a job, getting mugged on the way to the
store, or arriving at the store to find that the desired model is out of stock—could happen.
It is not surprising, then, that in some instances past purchase behaviour has been found
to be a better predictor of future behaviour than a consumer’s behavioural intention.46
The theory of reasoned action aims to measure behavioural intentions, recognizing that
certain uncontrollable factors inhibit prediction of actual behaviour.
SOCIAL PRESSURE The theory acknowledges the power of other people in influencing behaviour. Many of our behaviours are not determined in a vacuum. Much as we
may hate to admit it, what we think others would like us to do may be more crucial
than our own individual preferences. Some research approaches try to assess the
extent to which people’s “public” attitudes and purchase decisions might be different
from what they would do if they were in private. For example, one firm uses a technique it calls “engineered theatre.” Researchers go to the actual site where a product is
being consumed, such as a bar. They arrange for the wrong product to be “mistakenly”
served, and then observe the consumer’s “naked response” to the brand and his or her
reaction to consuming the brand in a social context.47
A new element, the subjective norm (SN), was thus added to include the effects of
what we believe other people think we should do. The value of SN is arrived at by
including two other factors: (1) the intensity of a normative belief (NB) that others
think an action should be taken or not taken, and (2) the motivation to comply (MC)
with that belief (i.e., the degree to which the consumer takes others’ anticipated reactions into account when evaluating a course of action or a purchase).
Volkswagen’s “Fun Theory” campaign
suggests that we can encourage consumers
to engage in positive behaviours if the
activity is enjoyable.
Courtesy of Volkswagen
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
ATTI T UDE TOWA RD B U Y IN G
The model now measures attitude toward the act of buying (Aact) rather than only the
attitude toward the product itself. In other words, it focuses on the perceived consequences of a purchase. Knowing how someone feels about buying or using an object
turns out to be more valid than merely knowing the consumer’s evaluation of the
object itself.48
To understand this distinction, consider a problem that might arise when measuring attitudes toward condoms. Although a group of university students might have a
positive attitude toward condoms, does this necessarily predict that they will buy and
use them? A better prediction would be obtained by asking the students how likely
they are to buy condoms and use them during sex. Although a person might have a
positive Ao toward condoms, Aact might be negative, because of the embarrassment or
the hassle involved in the act of buying.
Obstacles to Predicting Behaviour in the Theory
of Reasoned Action
Despite improvements to the Fishbein model, problems arise when it is misapplied. In
many cases the model is applied in ways for which it was not intended or where certain assumptions about human behaviour may not be warranted.49 Other obstacles to
predicting behaviour are as follows:
•
The model was developed to deal with actual behaviour (e.g., taking a diet pill),
not with the outcomes of behaviour (e.g., losing weight) that are instead assessed
in some studies.
•
Some outcomes are beyond the consumer’s control, such as when the purchase
requires the cooperation of other people. For instance, consumers might want to
get a mortgage, but this intention will be worthless if they cannot find a banker to
give them one.
•
The basic assumption that behaviour is intentional may be invalid in a variety of
cases, including those involving impulsive acts, sudden changes in one’s situation, novelty-seeking, or even simple repeat buying. One study found that such
unexpected events as having guests, changes in the weather, or reading articles
about the healthfulness of certain foods exerted a significant effect on actual
behaviours.50
•
Measures of attitude often do not really correspond to the behaviour they are supposed to predict, either in terms of the Aact or when the act will occur. One common problem is a difference in the level of abstraction employed. For example,
knowing a person’s attitude toward the environment may not predict whether he
or she will purchase an electric car. It is very important to match the level of
specificity between the attitude and the behavioural intention.
•
A similar problem relates to the time frame of the attitude measure. In general, the
longer the time between the attitude measurement and the behaviour it is supposed to assess, the weaker the relationship will be. For example, predictability
would improve markedly by asking consumers about the likelihood of buying a
house in the next week as opposed to within the next five years.
•
Attitudes formed by direct, personal experience with an Ao are stronger and more
predictive of behaviour than those formed indirectly, such as through advertising.51
According to the attitude accessibility perspective, behaviour is a function of the
person’s immediate perceptions of the Ao in the context of the situation in which it
is encountered. An attitude will guide the evaluation of the object, but only if it is
activated from memory when the object is observed. These findings underscore the
importance of strategies that induce trial (through widespread product sampling to
encourage the consumer to try the product at home, by taste tests, test drives, etc.)
as well as those that maximize exposure to marketing communications.
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Consumers
in Focus
The (in)consistency between attitudes and
behaviour links to a major public health problem: medical adherence. This term describes the
extent to which people fill and actually take prescribed medicines. While some patients unfortunately don’t adhere to prescriptions because
they can’t afford them, many simply forget or
don’t want to swallow their pills. This breakdown
between attitudes and behaviour threatens
many people’s health and adds huge costs to
the health care system. An industry study estimated that it costs U.S. taxpayers $290 billion
annually. One pharmacy chain found that even
for chronic diseases, one-third of its customers
stopped taking their prescribed medicine after a
month, and half stopped after a year. This pharmacy uses texts, emails, and phone calls to
aggressively remind people to fill their prescriptions. Still, even these methods are only part of
the solution: People need to actually take the
pills once they get them home.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
The theory of reasoned action has been applied primarily in Western settings.
Certain assumptions inherent in the model may not necessarily apply to consumers
from other cultures. Several of the following cultural roadblocks diminish the universality of the theory of reasoned action:
CO 7
•
The model was developed to predict the performance of any voluntary act. Across
cultures, however, many consumer activities, ranging from taking exams and
entering military service to receiving an inoculation or choosing a marriage partner, are not necessarily voluntary.
•
The relative impact of subjective norms may vary across cultures. For example,
Asian cultures tend to value conformity and face-saving, so it is possible that subjective norms involving the anticipated reactions of others to the choice will have
an even greater impact on behaviour for many Asian consumers.
•
The model measures behavioural intentions and thus presupposes that consumers
are actively thinking ahead and planning future behaviours. The intention concept
assumes that consumers have a linear time sense (i.e., that they think in terms of
past, present, and future). This perspective on time is not held in all cultures.
Types of Normative Influence
Robert Cialdini and his colleagues52 highlight that norms are best divided into two
categories. The first classification is descriptive norms, defined as norms that convey
information regarding what other people commonly do. For example, an advertisement communicating that 85 percent of residents are currently recycling is communicating a descriptive norm. The second classification is injunctive norms, defined as
norms that convey information regarding what is commonly approved and disapproved of by others. An advertisement highlighting that others approve of recycling
would convey an injunctive norm. Both types of norms can be powerful influencers on
consumer attitudes and behaviour.
Communicating that others are engaging in a particular activity can increase compliance with that behaviour. This has been shown for consumption behaviours such as
not littering,53 reducing energy consumption,54 and even voting.55 One strategy that
has been used to harness the power of descriptive norms and ensure they translate
into positive attitudes and behaviours is to give consumers feedback on how they are
performing relative to the descriptive norm. For example, Opower is a privately held
software-as-a-service company that partners with utility providers to encourage consumers to conserve household energy. Opower’s software creates individualized Home
Energy Reports that analyze consumers’ energy use and compares this to what others
are doing.
In another example of using social norms to impact conservation behaviours,
Cialdini and his colleagues gave hotel guests different messages to encourage them to
This consumer feedback form highlights the
power of descriptive norms and provides
personal feedback to encourage households
to conserve energy.
Opower
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
As I See It
What happens when marketers
ask consumers to engage in a
behaviour that is relatively unfamiliar? This is exactly what the
City of Calgary did when it asked
residents to do something called
“grasscyling.” Grasscycling refers
to leaving grass clippings on the
lawn so that they can decompose
and return nutrients to the soil,
rather than bagging them up for
garbage collection. When the city
first launched a campaign to
Bonnie Simpson, Western
encourage people to grasscycle,
University
nobody did it! We wanted to find
a way to encourage residents to take part.
We started by looking at three different strategies marketers
often use to entice consumers to act, and conducted research to
examine which one would convince the most residents to grasscycle. The first two include informing people about the actions of
others: descriptive norm appeals—those that communicate what
other people are doing (e.g., “Your neighbours are grasscycling”),
and injunctive norm appeals—those that communicate what others think a person should do (e.g., “Our neighbours want us to
grasscycle”). The third type of appeal we used was a benefit
appeal, which highlights how an action will provide a benefit (e.g.,
“Think about the benefits for you as an individual if you grasscycle—improved lawn quality, reduced amount of fertilizer and
water needed, time saved on yard work”). We also varied whether
each of these three appeals was paired with wording that invoked
either the self as an individual (using words like I and you), or the
self as part of a group (using wording like us and we).
We collected data to examine this idea, including one field
study where we followed a garbage truck around a neighbourhood
of almost 700 houses for six weeks in summer to measure residential grasscycling behaviours. The key metric was whether residents reduced the number of bags of grass they threw in the
garbage as a result of seeing our different messages.
What appeal type worked best? As we thought, it depends
on the consumer’s mindset. When a group-level mindset was
activated (e.g., “How can we as a community make a difference?”), descriptive and injunctive norms worked best. When a
message was directed at the individual level of the self (e.g.,
“How can you make a difference?”), consumers were most likely
to adopt the action if paired with a benefit appeal (e.g., “Think
about the benefits for you as an individual if you grasscycle—
improved lawn quality, reduced amount of fertilizer and water
needed, time saved on yard work”).
Interestingly, descriptive appeals also worked well when the
consumer thought about the individual level of the self. This is
because we used the context of a relatively unfamiliar sustainable
behaviour. When the behaviour is unfamiliar and unambiguous,
people look to others to see what the appropriate way to behave is.
What does this mean for marketers or others trying to
encourage people to change their behaviours? First, descriptive
appeals are effective in encouraging behaviour change in these
types of settings. Second, it is possible to influence the mindset
of consumers through the way we word appeals, which can be
“matched” to fit the appeal that consumers are given to create
the most effective combination.
B. Simpson and K. White, When Do (and Don’t) Normative Appeals Best Influence Consumer Conservation Behaviors? (Las Vegas, NV: Society for Consumer Psychology, 2012).
K. White and B. Simpson, “The ‘Dos and Don’ts’ of Normative Influence: When Do (and Don’t) Normative Messages Lead to Sustainable Consumer Behaviors?”Journal of Marketing 77(2) (2013): 78–95.
reuse their towels. Two versions of the message were created. One of the messages
simply told guests about the energy conservation program and made a more traditional
environmental appeal: “HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. You can show your respect
for nature and help save the environment by reusing your towels during your stay.”
The other version provided a descriptive norm: “JOIN YOUR FELLOW GUESTS IN
HELPING TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. Almost 75% of guests who are asked to
participate in our new resource savings program do help by using their towels more
than once. You can join your fellow guests in this program to help save the environment by reusing your towels during your stay.” The hotel’s attendants were trained to
record whether guests participated in the program.
The results showed that people who received the normative message were more
likely to reuse their towels (44 percent) than those who received a more t­raditional
environmental appeal (35 percent). In a subsequent study the authors varied other
information presented to guests. The researchers found that the most compliance
with the energy conservation program occurred when the descriptive norm was
linked to other guests who stayed in the same hotel room. For example, guests who
also read “In a study conducted in Fall 2003, 75% of the guests who stayed in this
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
room participated in our new resource savings program by using their towels more
than once” were most likely to participate in the towel reuse program (49 percent).56 It
seems that cues that connect the descriptive norm to the immediate setting (such as the
specific hotel room the guest is staying in) enhance the impact of the descriptive norm.
MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
Chapter Summary
It’s important for consumer researchers to understand the
nature and power of attitudes.
• An attitude is a predisposition to evaluate an object or
product positively or negatively.
Attitudes are more complex than they first appear.
• The ABC model suggests that attitudes are made up of
three components: affect, behaviour, and cognition.
We form attitudes in several ways, and consumers are
motivated to maintain consistency among all the components
of their attitudes.
• Attitude researchers traditionally assumed that attitudes
were learned in a fixed sequence, consisting first of the
formation of beliefs (cognitions) regarding an attitude
object, followed by some evaluation of that object (affect),
and then some action (behaviour). Depending on the consumer’s level of involvement and the circumstances, however, attitudes can result from other hierarchies of effects
as well. A key to attitude formation is the function the
attitude performs for the consumer (e.g., is it utilitarian or
ego-defensive?).
• One organizing principle of attitude formation is the
importance of consistency among attitudinal components;
that is, some parts of an attitude may be altered to be in
line with others. Theoretical approaches to attitudes,
such as cognitive dissonance theory and balance theory,
stress the vital role of the need for consistency.
We can measure attitudes using models that identify specific
components and combine them to predict what a consumer’s
overall attitude will be.
• The complexity of attitudes is underscored by multiattribute attitude models, in which sets of beliefs and
evaluations are identified and combined to predict an
overall attitude. Factors such as subjective norms and the
specificity of attitude scales have been integrated into
attitude measures to improve predictability.
• Social norms also have the ability to impact our attitudes and behaviours. Researchers have divided social
norms into injunctive norms (information regarding
what other people think we should do) and descriptive
norms (information regarding what other people are
doing).
Key Terms
Affect p. 185
Behaviour p. 185
Attitude p. 183
Cognition p. 185
Attitude object (Ao) p. 183
Descriptive norms p. 202
Attitude toward the act of buying
(Aact) p. 201
Experiential hierarchy of effects p. 187
Attitude toward the advertisement
(Aad) p. 188
Functional theory of attitudes p. 183
Foot-in-the-door technique p. 192
Latitudes of acceptance and
rejection p. 192
Multi-attribute attitude models p. 196
Principle of cognitive consistency p. 190
Self-perception theory p. 191
Social judgment theory p. 192
Subjective norm (SN) p. 200
Balance theory p. 192
Hierarchy of effects p. 186
Theory of cognitive dissonance p. 190
Basking in reflected glory p. 194
Injunctive norms p. 202
Theory of reasoned action p. 199
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
Review Questions
1. How can an attitude play an ego-defensive function?
2. Describe the ABC model of attitudes.
3. List the three hierarchies of attitudes, and describe the
major differences among them.
4. How are emotions (affect) and cognitions (beliefs) related
to how attitudes are formed?
5. How do levels of commitment to an attitude influence
the likelihood that it will become part of the way we think
about a product in the long term?
6. We sometimes increase our attitude toward a product
after we buy it. How does the theory of cognitive dissonance explain this change?
7. What is the foot-in-the-door technique? How does selfperception theory relate to this effect?
8. What are latitudes of acceptance and rejection? How
does a consumer’s level of involvement with a product
affect his or her latitude of acceptance?
9. According to balance theory, how can we tell if a triad is
balanced or unbalanced? How can consumers restore
balance to an unbalanced triad?
10. Describe a multi-attribute attitude model, listing its key
components.
11. “Do as I say, not as I do.” How does this statement relate
to attitude models?
12. What is a subjective norm, and how does it influence our
attitudes?
13. What are three obstacles to predicting behaviour even if
we know a person’s attitudes?
14. Describe the theory of reasoned action. Why might it not
be equally valuable when it is applied to non-Western
cultures?
15. How are injunctive and descriptive norms similar? How
are they different? Give an example of how each might be
used to influence a consumer’s decision to vote in the
federal election.
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. Contrast the hierarchies of effects outlined in this chapter. How should marketers’ strategic decisions related to
the marketing mix change depending on which hierarchy is operative among target consumers?
Experiential Exercises
2. Think of someone who exhibits a behaviour inconsistent
with his or her attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward cholesterol, drug use, or even buying things to make him or her
stand out or attain status). Ask the person to explain the
behaviour, and try to identify the way he or she has
resolved dissonant elements.
3. Devise an attitude survey for a set of competing automobiles. Identify areas of competitive advantage or disadvantage for each model you incorporate.
4. Construct a multi-attribute model for a set of local restaurants. On the basis of your findings, suggest how restaurant managers can improve an establishment’s image
via the strategies described in this chapter.
5. Read the case on implementing warning labels on gas
pumps. Tweet your suggestions or questions to Robert
Shirkey at @OurHorizonOrg or @robshirkey and see what
he thinks!
6. Many universities use commercial companies to run
campus websites and email services. These agreements provide Web services to universities at little or
no cost. But these actions arouse controversy because
major companies pay to place advertising on the sites.
That gives marketers the opportunity to influence the
attitudes of thousands of students who are involuntarily exposed to product messages. University administrators argue that they could not provide the services
by themselves. Students expect to be able to fill out
financial aid forms and register for classes online, and
universities that do not offer such services may lose
their ability to attract students. How do you feel about
this situation? Should companies be able to buy access
to your eyeballs from the school you pay to attend if it
means you get access to enhanced online services in
return?
205
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Warning Labels for Climate Change?
As Robert Shirkey finished reading the article he had penned
for Municipal World, he couldn’t help but smile. His efforts with
the nonprofit organization Our Horizon (http://ourhorizon.org)
over the past two years to promote the idea of gas pump handle labelling among municipalities was finally starting to gain
real traction. As he noted in the article, the district of West
Vancouver had unanimously passed a resolution that “all
vendors of retail petroleum products in Canada be legislated
to provide warning labels on all pump handles.”57 Further, his
recent presentation at a Sustainable Communities conference
in London, Ontario, had received a very positive reaction from
municipal delegates from all the provinces and territories
in Canada. Robert was passionate that his idea of putting climate change and air pollution information labels on pumps at
gas stations would truly make a difference in consumer attitudes toward their consumption and the resulting behaviours
they exhibited.
Global Warming and the End Consumer
Greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on global warming in Canada are clearly a problem that must be dealt with.
Interestingly, a large part of the discussion that has taken
place on this topic has centred on extraction industries that
source, refine, and transport products that lead to harmful
emissions. Oil-sand companies like Syncrude and Suncor and
pipeline and transportation companies like Enbridge and
Kinder-Morgan have continually been in the news for the challenges their activities pose to the environment. Opinion pieces,
boycotts, investment actions, and protest activities directed
toward these companies have grown in number over the past
decade. However, these efforts are perhaps misplaced somewhat if the true concern is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the emissions from extraction activities pale in
comparison to the amount of emissions produced by the end
consumer (e.g., through vehicle combustion).
As noted by Robert in his article, “We rarely question the
simple act of pumping gas. There is a complete disconnect—
one that is perhaps compounded by the distancing effect of
our upstream focus. The act of going to a gas station and filling up a car has been normalized for several generations.”58
If this premise is true, how can consumer attitudes be
changed? Is it possible to move consumers from a complacent
position where they either ignore the outcomes of their own
behaviours or are wilfully oblivious to the externalities involved
in their consumption? Robert felt strongly that he had a solution that would truly make a difference—leveraging the use of
warning labels at the point-of-purchase for gasoline. He
believed the labels would de-normalize the everyday, automatic act of gassing up. By creating a sense of dissatisfaction
with the status quo solution, Robert believed the labels would
stimulate broader demand for alternatives to create a social
environment in which governments and businesses would
have a greater impetus to respond to climate change.
The Potential of Warning Labels
Warning labels have existed for over 75 years in North America.
They were first established in the United States in 1938 by the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Typically, a warning
label is simply a label attached to an item or its usage instructions that warns the consumer about the risks associated with
its use. Warning labels have been shown to be effective in a
number of consumption situations, including the use of harmful products (e.g., bleach, rat poison), effective operation of
machinery (e.g., chainsaws, lawnmowers), and dissuading
consumers in their usage and levels of consumption (e.g.,
alcohol, cigarettes). It is because of this latter category, the dissuasion of consumption, that Robert believed warning labels
could be effective in reducing emissions in Canada. Of note,
Canada became an international leader with this type of warning label when it introduced graphic picture-based warning
labels for cigarette products. Shown to be highly effective in
terms of both attitude change toward smoking and the reduction of cigarette consumption, this strategy has been adopted
by over 50 countries around the world.
Robert believed picture-based warning labels that
informed consumers about the consequences of their fuel
consumption—seen on the pump handle when filling up at
the gas station—would be effective in reducing consumption.
He supported this prediction with a number of arguments.
First, the delay between the cause (i.e., putting gas in the car)
and effect (e.g., extreme weather, ocean acidification) of consumption could be bridged by a warning label. A vivid warning
label that showed consequences would directly inform consumers that their current behaviour has damaging implications. Second, a warning label would address the diffusion of
responsibility felt by some consumers for the global warming
problem. The notion that everyone is responsible, so I am not,
is refuted when you are made to see that your direct action
produces an outcome. Finally, the warning label on the gas
pump effectively communicates to the consumer because the
medium becomes the message. Instead of hearing about climate change through the Internet or on the news, the warning
label on the gas pump directly links the messaging, and the
consumer stops being a passive observer and becomes a
more active participant in the communication process.
Getting Traction
Robert was encouraged by the positive reaction he had
received thus far. Academics from a variety of disciplines
C H A P T E R 7 Attitudes
(professors in the natural sciences, business, and health),
non-governmental organizations (David Suzuki Foundation,
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment), and
Canadian municipalities were seeing value in this initiative.
Robert wondered what would be the best next step. How
could he build on this momentum and garner broader ­support
from consumers? Should he work toward that direction now,
or should he continue to focus on local municipal governments in his effort to induce change? And as he moves ahead,
how can he most effectively execute the gas pump labels?
How can he ensure that the implementation of these labels
leads to the desired behaviour change and not resistance on
the part of citizens?
three points of support. What are additional reasons this
approach may or may not be successful?
4. What would you recommend Robert do next? What does
he need to do to be successful in changing the attitudes
and behaviours of the end consumer?
5. Experiential Exercise: Tweet your suggestions or questions
to Robert Shirkey at @OurHorizonOrg or @robshirkey and
see what he thinks!
1. Do you think Robert’s idea has merit? Will warning labels
in this context change attitudes? Why or why not?
2. What aspects of attitude theory outlined in this chapter
have applicability to this initiative? How might you ensure
a positive response to the gas pump labels in terms of
both attitude and behavioural change?
3. Do you accept Robert’s reasoning for why this initiative will
be successful? Develop arguments for and against his
Courtesy of Our Horizon
Note s
1. Robert A. Baron and Donn Byrne, Social Psychology: Understanding Human
Interaction, 5th ed. (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1987).
2. Daniel Katz, “The Functional Approach to the Study of Attitudes,” Public Opinion
Quarterly 24 (Summer 1960): 163–204; Richard J. Lutz, “Changing Brand Attitudes
through Modification of Cognitive Structure,” Journal of Consumer Research 1
(March 1975): 49–59.
3. Russell H. Fazio, T.M. Lenn, and E.A. Effrein, “Spontaneous Attitude Formation,”
Social Cognition 2 (1984): 214–234.
4. For the original work that focused on the issue of levels of attitudinal commitment,
see Herbert Kelman, “Compliance, Identification, and Internalization: Three
Processes of Attitude Change,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 2 (1958): 51–60.
5. Lynn R. Kahle, Kenneth M. Kambara, and Gregory M. Rose, “A Functional Model of
Fan Attendance Motivations for College Football,” Sports Marketing Quarterly 5
(1996): 51–60.
6. Aaron Baar, “New Subaru Campaign Takes Aim with Cupid’s Arrow,” Marketing Daily
(April 28, 2008).
7. Michael Ray, “Marketing Communications and the Hierarchy-of-Effects,” in New
Models for Mass Communications, ed. P. Clarke (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1973):
147–176.
8. Herbert Krugman, “The Impact of Television Advertising: Learning without
Involvement,” Public Opinion Quarterly 29 (Fall 1965): 349–356; Robert Lavidge and
Gary Steiner, “A Model for Predictive Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness,”
Journal of Marketing 25 (October 1961): 59–62.
9. Daniel J. Howard and Charles Gengler, “Emotional Contagion Effects on Product
Attitudes,” Journal of Consumer Research 28 (September 2001): 189–201.
10. See, for example, Andrew B. Aylesworth and Scott B. MacKenzie, “Context Is Key:
The Effect of Program-Induced Mood on Thoughts about the Ad,” Journal of
Advertising 27 (Summer 1998): 17; Angela Y. Lee and Brian Sternthal, “The Effects
of Positive Mood on Memory,” Journal of Consumer Research 26 (September 1999):
115–128; Michael J. Barone, Paul W. Miniard, and Jean B. Romeo, “The Influence of
Positive Mood on Brand Extension Evaluations,” Journal of Consumer Research 26
(March 2000): 386–401. For a study that compared the effectiveness of emotional
appeals across cultures, see Jennifer L. Aaker and Patti Williams, “Empathy versus
Pride: The Influence of Emotional Appeals across Cultures,” Journal of Consumer
Research 25 (December 1998): 241–261. For research that relates mood
(depression) to acceptance of health-related messages, see Punam Anand Keller,
Issac M. Lipkus, and Barbara K. Rimer, “Depressive Realism and Health Risk
Accuracy: The Negative Consequences of Positive Mood,” Journal of Consumer
Research 29 (June 2002): 57–69.
11. Punam Anand, Morris B. Holbrook, and Debra Stephens, “The Formation of Affective
Judgments: The Cognitive-Affective Model versus the Independence Hypothesis,”
Journal of Consumer Research 15 (December 1988): 386–391; Richard S. Lazarus,
“Thoughts on the Relations between Emotion and Cognition,” American Psychologist
37 (1982): 1019–1024.
12. Robert B. Zajonc, “Feeling and Thinking: Preferences Need No Inferences,” American
Psychologist 35 (1980): 151–175.
13. Banwari Mittal, “The Role of Affective Choice Mode in the Consumer Purchase of
Expressive Products,” Journal of Economic Psychology 4 (1988): 499–524.
14. Scot Burton and Donald R. Lichtenstein, “The Effect of Ad Claims and Ad Context on
Attitude toward the Advertisement,” Journal of Advertising 17(1) (1988): 3–11;
Karen A. Machleit and R. Dale Wilson, “Emotional Feelings and Attitude toward the
Advertisement: The Roles of Brand Familiarity and Repetition,” Journal of
Advertising 17(3) (1988): 27–35; Scott B. Mackenzie and Richard J. Lutz, “An
Empirical Examination of the Structural Antecedents of Attitude toward the Ad in an
Advertising Pretesting Context,” Journal of Marketing 53 (April 1989): 48–65; Scott
B. Mackenzie, Richard J. Lutz, and George E. Belch, “The Role of Attitude toward the
Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: A Test of Competing Explanations,”
Journal of Marketing Research 23 (May 1986): 130–143; Darrel D. Muehling and
Russell N. Laczniak, “Advertising’s Immediate and Delayed Influence on Brand
Attitudes: Considerations across Message-Involvement Levels,” Journal of
Advertising 17(4) (1988): 23–34; Mark A. Pavelchak, Meryl P. Gardner, and V. Carter
Broach, “Effect of Ad Pacing and Optimal Level of Arousal on Attitude toward the
Ad,” in Advances in Consumer Research 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R.
Solomon (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1991): 94–99. Some
research evidence indicates that a separate attitude is also formed regarding the
brand name itself; see George M. Zinkhan and Claude R. Martin, Jr., “New Brand
Names and Inferential Beliefs: Some Insights on Naming New Products,” Journal of
Business Research 15 (1987): 157–172.
15. John P. Murry, Jr., John L. Lastovicka, and Surendra N. Singh, “Feeling and Liking
Responses to Television Programs: An Examination of Two Explanations for MediaContext Effects,” Journal of Consumer Research 18 (March 1992): 441–451.
207
208
S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
16. Barbara Stern and Judith Lynne Zaichkowsky, “The Impact of Entertaining
Advertising on Consumer Responses,” Australian Marketing Researcher 14 (August
1991): 68–80.
39. Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein, “Attitude–Behavior Relations: A Theoretical Analysis
and Review of Empirical Research,” Psychological Bulletin 84 (September 1977):
888–918.
17. Krishnan H. Shanker and Robert E. Smith (1998), “The Relative Endurance of
Attitudes, Confidence, and Attitude–Behavior Consistency: The Role of Information
Source and Delay,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 7(3): 273–298.
40. Morris B. Holbrook and William J. Havlena, “Assessing the Real-to-Artificial
Generalizability of Multi-Attribute Attitude Models in Tests of New Product Designs,”
Journal of Marketing Research 25 (February 1988): 25–35; Terence A. Shimp and
Alican Kavas, “The Theory of Reasoned Action Applied to Coupon Usage,” Journal of
Consumer Research 11 (December 1984): 795–809.
18. For a recent study that examined the impact of skepticism on advertising issues, see
David M. Boush, Marian Friestad, and Gregory M. Rose, “Adolescent Skepticism
toward TV Advertising and Knowledge of Advertiser Tactics,” Journal of Consumer
Research 21 (June 1994): 165–175.
19. Basil G. Englis, “Consumer Emotional Reactions to Television Advertising and Their
Effects on Message Recall,” in Emotion in Advertising: Theoretical and Practical
Explorations, eds. S. Agres, J.A. Edell, and T.M. Dubitsky (Westport, CT: Quorum
Books, 1990): 231–254.
20. Morris B. Holbrook and Rajeev Batra, “Assessing the Role of Emotions as Mediators
of Consumer Responses to Advertising,” Journal of Consumer Research 14
(December 1987): 404–420.
21. Marian Burke and Julie Edell, “Ad Reactions over Time: Capturing Changes in the
Real World,” Journal of Consumer Research 13 (June 1986): 114–118.
22. Herbert Kelman, “Compliance, Identification, and Internalization: Three Processes of
Attitude Change,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 2 (1958): 51–60.
23. Sharon E. Beatty and Lynn R. Kahle, “Alternative Hierarchies of the Attitude–
Behavior Relationship: The Impact of Brand Commitment and Habit,” Journal of
Academy of Marketing Science 16 (Summer 1998): 110.
24. Leon Festinger, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press, 1957).
25. Ibid.
26. Chester A. Insko and John Schopler, Experimental Social Psychology (New York:
Academic Press, 1972).
27. Daryl J. Bem, “Self-Perception Theory,” in Advances in Experimental Social
Psychology, ed. Leonard Berkowitz (New York: Academic Press, 1972): 1–62.
28. Jonathan L. Freedman and Scott C. Fraser, “Compliance without Pressure: The Footin-the-Door Technique,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 4 (August
1966): 195–202. For further consideration of possible explanations for this effect,
see William DeJong, “An Examination of Self-Perception Mediation of the Foot-inthe-Door Effect,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37 (December 1979):
221–231; and Alice M. Tybout, Brian Sternthal, and Bobby J. Calder, “Information
Availability as a Determinant of Multiple-Request Effectiveness,” Journal of
Marketing Research 20 (August 1988): 280–290.
29. David H. Furse, David W. Stewart, and David L. Rados, “Effects of Foot-in-theDoor, Cash Incentives and Follow-ups on Survey Response,” Journal of Marketing
Research 18 (November 1981): 473–478; Carol A. Scott, “The Effects of Trial and
Incentives on Repeat Purchase Behavior,” Journal of Marketing Research 13
(August 1976): 263–269.
30. R.B. Cialdini et al., “Reciprocal Concessions Procedure for Inducing Compliance: The
Door-in-the-Face Effect,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31 (1975):
200–215.
31. Muzafer Sherif and Carl I. Hovland, Social Judgment: Assimilation and Contrast
Effects in Communication and Attitude Change (New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press, 1961).
32. For a recent treatment, see Joan Meyers-Levy and Brian Sternthal, “A Two-Factor
Explanation of Assimilation and Contrast Effects,” Journal of Marketing Research 30
(August 1993): 359–368.
33. Mark B. Traylor, “Product Involvement and Brand Commitment,” Journal of
Advertising Research (December 1981): 51–56.
34. Fritz Heider, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations (New York: Wiley, 1958).
35. Leslie Kaufman, “Enough Talk,” Newsweek (August 18, 1997): 48–49.
41. Rod Kurtz, “A Soap Maker Sought Compatibility in a Merger Partner,” The New York
Times (January 16, 2013), www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/business/smallbusiness/
a-founder-of-the-soap-maker-method-discusses-its-sale.html?_r=0.
42. Ariel Schwartz, “Method: Only Inauthentic “Green” Cleaning Products Are Failing,”
Fast Co.Exist, www.fastcoexist.com/1678022/method-only-inauthenticgreencleaning-products-are-failing, accessed May 25, 2012.
43. R.P. Abelson, “Conviction,” American Psychologist 43 (1988): 267–275; R.E. Petty
and J.A. Krosnick, Attitude Strength: Antecedents and Consequences (Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum, 1995); Ida E. Berger and Linda F. Alwitt, “Attitude Conviction: A SelfReflective Measure of Attitude Strength,” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality
11(3) (1996): 557–572.
44. Ida E. Berger and Linda F. Alwitt, “Attitude Conviction: A Self-Reflective Measure of
Attitude Strength,” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 11(3) (1996): 557–572.
45. “Piano Staircase,” TheFunTheory.com, www.thefuntheory.com/piano-staircase,
accessed August 25, 2012.
46. Richard P. Bagozzi, Hans Baumgartner, and Youjae Yi, “Coupon Usage and the
Theory of Reasoned Action,” in Advances in Consumer Research 18, eds. Rebecca H.
Holman and Michael R. Solomon (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research,
1991): 24–27; Edward F. McQuarrie, “An Alternative to Purchase Intentions: The Role
of Prior Behavior in Consumer Expenditure on Computers,” Journal of the Market
Research Society 30 (October 1988): 407–437; Arch G. Woodside and William O.
Bearden, “Longitudinal Analysis of Consumer Attitude, Intention, and Behavior
toward Beer Brand Choice,” in Advances in Consumer Research 4, ed. William D.
Perrault, Jr. (Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 1977): 349–356.
47. Andy Greenfield, “The Naked Truth (Studying Consumer Behavior),” Brandweek 38
(October 13, 1997): 22.
48. Michael J. Ryan and Edward H. Bonfield, “The Fishbein Extended Model and
Consumer Behavior,” Journal of Consumer Research 2 (1975): 118–136.
49. Blair H. Sheppard, Jon Hartwick, and Paul R. Warshaw, “The Theory of Reasoned Action:
A Meta-analysis of Past Research with Recommendations for Modifications and Future
Research,” Journal of Consumer Research 15 (December 1988): 325–343.
50. Kulwant Singh, Siew Meng Leong, Chin Tiong Tan, and Kwei Cheong Wong, “A Theory
of Reasoned Action Perspective of Voting Behavior: Model and Empirical Test,”
Psychology & Marketing 12(1) (January 1995): 37–51.
51. Russell H. Fazio, Martha C. Powell, and Carol J. Williams, “The Role of Attitude
Accessibility in the Attitude-to-Behavior Process,” Journal of Consumer Research 16
(December 1989): 280–288; Robert E. Smith and William R. Swinyard, “Attitude–
Behavior Consistency: The Impact of Product Trial versus Advertising,” Journal of
Marketing Research 20 (August 1983): 257–267.
52. R.B. Cialdini, C.A. Kallgren, and R.R. Reno, “A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct: A
Theoretical Refinement and Reevaluation of the Role of Norms in Human Behavior,”
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 24 (1991): 201–234.
53. R.B. Cialdini, R.R. Reno, and C.A. Kallgren, “A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct:
Recycling the Concept of Norms to Reduce Littering in Public Places,” Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 58(6) (1990): 1015–1026.
54. P.W. Schultz, J.M. Nolan, R.B. Cialdini, N.J. Goldstein, and Vladas Griskevicius, “The
Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms,” Psychological
Science 18(5) (2007): 429–434.
55. Alan Gerber and Todd Rogers, “Descriptive Social Norms and Motivation to Vote:
Everybody’s Voting and So Should You,” The Journal of Politics 71(1) (2009): 178–191.
37. Martin Fishbein, “An Investigation of the Relationships between Beliefs about an
Object and the Attitude toward that Object,” Human Relations 16 (1983): 233–240.
56. N.J. Goldstein, R.B. Cialdini, and V. Griskevicius, “A Room with a Viewpoint: Using
Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels,” Journal of
Consumer Research 35 (2008): 472–482.
38. Allan Wicker, “Attitudes versus Actions: The Relationship of Verbal and Overt
Behavioral Responses to Attitude Objects,” Journal of Social Issues 25 (Autumn
1969): 65.
58. Robert Shirkey, “Creating a New Normal,” Municipal World, March 2015.
36. William L. Wilkie, Consumer Behavior (New York: Wiley, 1986).
57. District of West Vancouver, “Council Briefs–January 26, 2015 Council Meeting,”
http://west-vancouver.ca/news/council-briefs-january-26-council-meeting.
C HAPTER
8
Attitude Change and
Interactive Communications
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
2
3
Understand that the communications model
identifies several important components for
marketers when they try to change consumers’
attitudes toward products and services.
Understand that the consumer who processes a
message is not necessarily the passive receiver of
information marketers once believed him or her to be.
Understand that several factors influence the
effectiveness of a message source.
4
Understand that the way a marketer structures his or
her message determines how persuasive it will be.
5
Understand that the elaboration likelihood model
outlines how consumers will process a given
message once it is received.
6
Understand that audience characteristics help to
determine whether the nature of the source or the
message itself will be relatively more persuasive.
Changing Attitudes through
Communication
Buy now! Advertisers constantly bombard us with messages imploring us to change our
attitudes—and of course buy their products. These persuasion attempts can range from
logical arguments to graphic pictures, from peers who try to intimidate us to celebrities
who try to charm us. Now we’ll review some of the factors that help gauge the effectiveness
of marketing communications. Our focus will be on some basic aspects of communication
that specifically help to determine how and if consumers will form new attitudes or modify existing ones.
Persuasion involves an active attempt to change attitudes. This is, of course, a priority
for many marketing communications. Later we’ll learn more about how marketers try to
accomplish this, but for now we’ll set the stage by listing some basic psychological principles that influence people to change their minds or comply with a request.1
•
Reciprocity: People are more likely to give if they receive something first. That’s why
including a nominal amount of money (such as a dollar) in a mail survey questionnaire increases the response rate by an average of 65 percent over the number of
responses to mail surveys without a monetary incentive.
•
Scarcity: Items become more attractive when they are less available. In one study that
asked people to rate the quality of chocolate chip cookies, participants who got only
two cookies liked them better than those who got ten of the same kind of cookie. That
helps to explain why we tend to value “limited edition” items.
•
Authority: We tend to believe an authoritative source much more readily. CNN.com
carries more weight with respect to public opinion than does TMZ.com. We’ll talk
more about the importance of who delivers the message later in this chapter.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
•
Consistency: As we saw in the last chapter, people try not to contradict themselves in terms of what they say and do about an issue. In one study, students who
solicited donations to help people with disabilities doubled the amount they normally collected in a neighbourhood by first asking the residents to sign a petition
supporting people with disabilities two weeks before asking for donations. The
act of committing to a small sign of support (signing a petition) beforehand led
people to be more likely to consistently follow through on a later larger request
(making a charitable contribution).
•
Consensus: We often take into account what others are doing before we decide
what to do. We’ll talk more about the power of conformity in Chapter 11. This
desire to fit in with what others are doing influences our actions; for example,
people are more likely to donate to a charity if they first see a list of the names of
their neighbours who have already done so.
Decisions, Decisions:
Tactical Communications Options
Suppose Audi wants to create an advertising campaign for a new convertible it
targets to young drivers. As it plans this campaign, the automaker must develop a
message that will arouse desire for the car. To craft persuasive messages that might
persuade someone to buy this car instead of the many others available, we must
answer several questions:
CO 1
•
Who will drive the car in the ad? A NASCAR driver? A career woman? A reality show
star? The source of a message helps determine whether consumers will accept it.
•
How should we construct the message? Should it emphasize the negative consequences of being left out when others drive cool cars and you still tool around in
your old clunker? Should it directly compare the car with others already on the
market, or maybe present a fantasy in which a tough-minded female executive
meets a dashing stranger while she cruises down the highway in her Audi?
•
What media should we use? Should the ad run in a magazine? Should we air it
on TV? Sell the product door-to-door? Post the material on a website or create a
­Facebook group? Convince bloggers to write about it? Reward shoppers who
check in on FourSquare at an Audi dealership? If we do produce a print ad,
should we run it in the pages of Vogue? Good Housekeeping? Car and Driver?
Sometimes where you say something is as important as what you say. Ideally,
we should match the attributes of the medium with those of what we sell. For
example, advertising in magazines with high prestige is more effective when we
want to communicate messages about overall product image and quality,
whereas specialized expert magazines do a better job when we want to convey
factual information.2
•
What characteristics of the target market might influence the ad’s acceptance? If
targeted users are frustrated in their daily lives, they might be more receptive to
a fantasy appeal. If they’re status-oriented, maybe a commercial should show
bystanders who swoon with admiration as the car cruises by.
The Elements of Communication
Marketers and advertisers have traditionally tried to understand how marketing
messages change consumers’ attitudes by thinking in terms of the communications
model, which specifies that a number of elements are necessary for communication
to be achieved.
In this model, a source must choose and encode a message (i.e., initiate the transfer of meaning by choosing appropriate symbolic images that represent this meaning).
There are many ways to say something, and the structure of the message has a big
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
211
FIGURE 8–1
The Traditional Communications Model
FEEDBACK
Consumer
Consumer
Organization
Message
Medium
Consumer
Consumer
Consumer
effect on how it is perceived. The message must be transmitted via a medium, which
might be television, social media, magazines, billboards, or even a T-shirt. The message is then decoded by one or more receivers, who interpret the symbols in light of
their own experiences. Finally, feedback must be received by the source, who uses the
reactions of receivers to modify aspects of the message. The communications process
is depicted in Figure 8–1.
An Updated View: Interactive
Communications
CO 2
Although the traditional communications model is not entirely wrong, it does not tell
the whole story—especially in today’s dynamic world of interactivity in which consumers have many more choices available to them and greater control over which
messages they will choose to process.3 In fact, a popular strategy known as permission
Captain Morgan encourages consumers to
use the hashtag #CaptainsTable on Twitter,
Facebook, and Pinterest. Social media
platforms have opened up new ways for
brands to communicate and interact with
consumers.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Captain Morgan
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
FIGURE 8–2
The Interactive Communications Model
Receiver
Sender
Sender
Communication
Medium
Receiver
(e.g., Internet)
Sender
Receiver
Source: Adapted from Donna L. Hoffman and Thomas P. Novak, “Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments: Conceptual
Foundations,” Journal of Marketing 60(3) (July 1996): Figure 4.
marketing is based on the idea that a marketer will be much more successful trying to
persuade consumers who have opted into its messages; consumers who “opt out” of
listening to the message probably weren’t good prospects in the first place.4 On the
other hand, those who say they are interested in learning more are likely to be receptive to marketing communications they have already chosen to see or hear. As the
permission marketing concept reminds us, we don’t have to just sit there and take it.
We have a voice in deciding which messages we choose to see and when—and we are
exercising that option more and more.
The traditional model was developed to understand mass communications, in
which information is transferred from a producer (source) to many consumers
(receivers) at once—typically via print, television, or radio. This perspective essentially views advertising as the process of transferring information to the buyer before
a sale. A message is seen as perishable; it is repeated (perhaps frequently) for a fairly
short period of time, and then it “vanishes” as a new campaign eventually takes its
place. As we’ll see, that model doesn’t work as well now that we can narrowcast, or
finely tune our messages to suit very small groups of receivers (sometimes even one
person at a time).
Another problem with the traditional communications model is that it does not
necessarily account for two-way communications between consumers and marketers. Consumers are making their voices heard now more than ever before. How long
has it been since you posted to your Facebook page? As people increasingly play
more proactive roles in communications, exciting technological and social developments make us rethink the picture of passive consumers. In other words, we are, to
a greater extent, partners—rather than couch potatoes—in the communications process. Our input helps to shape the messages we and others like us receive; furthermore, we may seek out these messages rather than sit home and wait to see them on
TV or in the paper. For example, the popular social media platform Pinterest allows
users to create digital scrapbooks, but in the process it serves as a voyage of discovery as people pull images from many sources (often other users’ boards). This kind
of new medium allows consumers to “dream out loud” and also guide one another
toward many new styles and brands. Figure 8-2 illustrates this updated approach to
communications.
Consumer Interactivity
Consumers who are highly involved with a product and who want to share their
opinions with manufacturers are an invaluable (and often free) form of input that can
shape marketing decisions in important ways. When the consumer interacts with the
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
213
Jones Soda is an example of a brand that
allows the consumer to have a say in how
the final product will look.
Courtesy of Jones Soda
marketer to influence the product, service, or outcome that is created, this is called
customer co-creation.5 One example of consumer interactivity occurs when the
marketer allows the consumer to customize its products, which can include everything
from building your own Subway sandwich to designing your own Nike running shoe.
Giving the customer a voice in how the product is offered often leads to not only more
innovative solutions, but also greater consumer engagement.6
Consider these examples:
•
The beauty division of the NPD Group, which tracks retail purchases, noticed that
a product intended to reduce stretch marks called StriVectin-SD was selling
exceptionally well at department store beauty counters. The firm found that about
75 percent of buyers were actually using it on their faces as a wrinkle fighter.
Taking heed of this new use for the product, its manufacturer unveiled a new
advertising slogan: “Better than Botox?”
•
Virtually every component of Jones Soda, from labels to flavours, comes from customers. The company gets suggestions for offbeat flavours (including chocolate
fudge and green apple), wacky names (Whoop Ass and MF Grape), and neon
colours. Even the “Deep Thoughts” quotes found underneath the bottle caps
(“76.4% of all statistics are meaningless”) come straight from Jones enthusiasts.
•
Danone went to consumers when its reduced-fat Light & Fit yogurts were not
selling well against rivals’. The company emailed 40 000 men and women and
asked them to click on a link to help create a new product and get a shot at winning
$10 000. They evaluated a series of yogurt containers with different combinations
of name, package design, nutritional labelling, and size. By the end of the project,
researchers had decided that the yogurt should be called Carb Control, come in a
red container, and be sold in a four-pack of four-ounce cups; as well, the label
should appeal to dieters by highlighting the claims of “80% less sugar” and
“3 grams of carbs.”
The Increasing Role of the Consumer
One way marketers are attempting to encourage increases in interactive marketing
communications is by using what has been dubbed real-time marketing. Real-time
marketing involves marketing activities that leverage up-to-date and currently
occurring events. Often real-time marketing takes advantage of platforms like
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat because these allow for quick and
interactive communications with consumers. Oreo’s infamous “You can still dunk in
the dark” tweet during the power outage at the 2013 Super Bowl is an example of
this tactic. Another example occurred after Apple received bad press for having
phones that bent more than expected. Other brands, such as Kit Kat, Heineken, and
Samsung, followed suit by referring to scandals in their own marketing
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Heineken cleverly linked its real-time
marketing activities to the conversation
consumers were having in social media
about Apple’s “Bendgate.”
Courtesy of Heineken N.V.
communications. Importantly, these real-time marketing activities become successful
when consumers interact with the messaging by forwarding the communications
through postings or retweets.
New Message Formats
Marketers now have open to them an array of new ways to transmit information. The
“ice-bucket challenge” that swept the Internet was a novel way to harness social
media for a good cause. The movement, which asked people to take a selfie or a
video while dousing their heads in a bucket of ice water, went viral and raised more
than $115 million for ALS research. Researchers explain this success by pointing to
several elements of the message, including the following:
1. the 24-hour deadline to either take the cold shower or pay the money (a very
specific goal as opposed to a more abstract one)
2. the public nature of the challenge, which allowed participants to share their
selfies online
3. the slight amount of self-sacrifice involved
Yes, people tend to donate more money when they have to suffer a bit for the cause;
researchers label this the martyrdom effect. As one put it, “We’re supposed to prefer
pleasure to pain but, when it comes to charity, you don’t hear about massage-a-thons or
dessert-a-thons.”7
If you’re on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you’re one of the billion people who
analysts project will use social media applications globally within five years. This
term refers to the set of technologies that enable users to create content and share it
with a large number of others. Social media are so widespread that in Canada and
other developed countries, more people use these platforms than use email—and the
time people spend on these networks is growing three times faster than the rate of
overall participation online.8
We’ll dive into social media in more detail in Chapter 11. In addition to “the
obvious suspects”—popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest,
Foursquare, Tumblr, and so on—there are many other alternatives for marketers
who want to harness these new technologies to communicate with customers.
Some of these may even use multiple platforms, unfold their messages over a
period of time, and integrate social media with real-world experiences. A transmedia storytelling strategy typically includes communications media that range from
websites, blogs, and email to recorded phone calls and even graffiti messages
scrawled in public spaces.
Levels of Interactive Response
A key to understanding the dynamics of interactive marketing communications is to
consider exactly what is meant by a response.9 The early perspective on communications regarded feedback primarily in terms of behaviour: Did the recipient run out and
buy the laundry detergent after being exposed to an ad for it?
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
However, a variety of other responses are possible as well, including building
awareness of the brand, informing us about product features, reminding us to buy a
new package when we’ve run out, and—perhaps most importantly—building a
long-term relationship. Therefore, a transaction is one type of response, but forward-thinking m
­ arketers realize that customers can interact with them in other
valuable ways as well. For this reason it is helpful to distinguish between two basic
types of feedback:
•
First-order response: Direct-marketing vehicles such as online display ads, Web
catalogues, and TV infomercials are interactive; if successful, they result in an
order, which is most definitely a response! So let’s think of a product offer that
directly yields a transaction as a first-order response. In addition to providing
revenue, sales data are a valuable source of feedback that allows marketers to
gauge the effectiveness of their communications efforts.
•
Second-order response: A marketing communication does not have to immediately result in a purchase to be an important component of interactive marketing.
Messages can prompt useful responses from customers, even though these recipients do not necessarily place an order immediately after being exposed to the
communication. Customer feedback in response to a marketing message that is
not in the form of a transaction is a second-order response. For example, one key
metric that marketers are becoming increasingly interested in is social media
responses to their brands.
THE ROLE OF PERSUASION KNOWLEDGE The Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM)
suggests that consumers develop knowledge about persuasion and use this knowledge
to “cope” with or deal with persuasive attempts.10 This model views the exchange
between the consumer and the persuasion agent as a two-way interaction, in which
both the consumer and the agent have their own goals. The model also suggests that
the target (i.e., the consumer) has three types of knowledge: topic knowledge (specific
knowledge related to the issue at hand), agent knowledge (knowledge about the source
of the persuasion), and persuasion knowledge (knowledge about the persuasive tactics
and techniques being used).
Persuasion knowledge refers to consumers’ theories about persuasion. It includes
beliefs about marketers’ motives and tactics; the effectiveness and appropriateness of
persuasion tactics; and ways of coping with persuasion attempts. Consumers’ persuasion knowledge is understood to “hover in readiness” to help them form attitudes
about the influence agent or the product. The theory suggests that consumers use
their knowledge about such persuasive attempts to get the best outcome for themselves. Importantly, if consumers attribute negative motives to the persuasive agent,
such as a salesperson, they may be less easily persuaded or may negatively evaluate
the individual.11
The Source
CO 3
Regardless of whether we receive a message by “snail mail,” email, or SMS text,
common sense tells us that if different people say or write the very same words, the
message can still affect us differently. Researchers have discussed the power of source
effects for more than 60 years. When we attribute the same message to different sources
and measure the degree of attitude change that occurs after listeners hear it, we can
isolate which characteristics of a communicator cause attitude change.12
Under most conditions, the source of a message can have a big impact on the likelihood that the message will be accepted. The choice of a source to maximize attitude
change can tap into several dimensions. The source can be chosen because he or she is
an expert, attractive, famous, or even a “typical” consumer who is both likeable and
trustworthy. Two important source characteristics are credibility and attractiveness.13
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Marketing
Insight
In recent years we’ve witnessed a new attempt
to manipulate attitudes that some people call
sock puppeting, which involves a company
executive or other biased source posing as
someone else and touting his or her organization in social media. For example, it came to
light that the CEO of Whole Foods Market
posted derogatory comments about rival Wild
Oats Markets without revealing his true identity. More recently, a not-for-profit research
organization called GiveWell, which rates the
effectiveness of charities, had to discipline two
of its founders who pretended to be other people on blogs and then referred people to the
group’s website.
Similar problems potentially dilute the credibility of Wikipedia, the open-source online encyclopedia beloved by many students. Anyone can edit
entries, so their reliability is not assured. Although
other alert contributors may eventually correct
false or self-serving entries, there is still room for
organizations to colour content in a way that
serves their goals. For example, a visitor edited the
Wikipedia entry for the SeaWorld theme parks to
change all mentions of “orcas” to “killer whales,”
and he or she also deleted a paragraph that criticized SeaWorld’s “lack of respect toward its
orcas.” It turns out that the changes originated at
a computer from Anheuser-Busch—the company
that just happens to own SeaWorld. An employee
of PepsiCo deleted several paragraphs of the
Pepsi entry that focused on its detrimental health
effects, and a person at Walmart altered an entry
about how the retailer pays its employees.
Another form of sock puppeting is so-called
paid influencer programs that attempt to
start online conversations about brands by
encouraging bloggers to write about them.
These “sponsored conversations” can be effective, but again, marketers need to be careful
about the potential to distort source recommendations. For example, Kmart awarded a shopping spree to a group of bloggers who agreed to
post about their experiences. Panasonic flew
bloggers to the Consumer Electronics Show in
Las Vegas, where they posted about the show
and the Panasonic products unveiled there.
Mercedes gave a blogger the use of an SUV for a
week in exchange for posts about it.
How do marketing specialists decide whether to stress either credibility or attractiveness when choosing a message source? There should be a match between the needs
of the recipient and the potential rewards offered by the source. When this match
occurs, the recipient is more motivated to process the message. People who tend to be
sensitive about social acceptance and the opinions of others, for example, are more
persuaded by an attractive source, whereas those who are more internally oriented
are swayed by a credible, expert source.14
The choice may also depend on the type of product. A positive source can help
to reduce risk and increase message acceptance overall, but particular types of
sources are more effective at reducing different kinds of risk. Experts are effective at
changing attitudes toward utilitarian products that have high performance risk,
such as vacuums (i.e., they may be complex and not work as expected). Celebrities
are more effective when they focus on products such as jewellery and furniture that
have high social risk; the user of such products is aware of their effect on the
impression others have of him or her. Finally, “typical” consumers, who are appealing sources because of their similarity to the recipient, tend to be most effective
when providing real-life endorsements for everyday products that are low-risk,
such as cookies.15
Source Credibility
Source credibility refers to a communicator’s expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness. This dimension relates to consumers’ beliefs that this person is competent
and will provide the necessary information we need when we evaluate competing
products. Sincerity is particularly important when a company tries to publicize its
corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities that benefit the community in some
way. When consumers believe it’s genuinely doing good things, a company’s image
can skyrocket. But this effort can backfire if people question the organization’s
motivations (e.g., if they think the firm spends more to talk about its good deeds
than to actually do them).16 Not too surprisingly, people who see deceptive advertising experience a feeling of distrust that carries over to other messages from that
source and even to other sources because they are more likely to assume that
advertising in general is not very credible—a true case of poisoning the well for
other marketers.17
A credible source is particularly persuasive when the consumer has yet to
learn much about a product or form an opinion of it.18 Indeed, one study demonstrated that simply letting consumers know that a firm is profitable leads them
to put more stock in what the company says in its advertising.19 One widely
used technique to generate credibility is to pay an expert or a celebrity to tout a
product—but this kind of endorsement doesn’t come cheap. However, typically the
investment is worth it, simply because market analysts use the announcement of
an endorsement contract to evaluate a firm’s potential profitability, which affects
its expected return. On average, the impact of endorsements on stock returns
appears to be so positive that it offsets the cost of hiring the spokesperson. Indeed,
a study on the use of celebrities in marketing reported that ads containing a celebrity endorser produced 9.4 percent higher consumer readership than ads without a
celebrity endorser.20
The drawing power of famous people may even be “wired in”: One study found
that compared to “ordinary” faces, our brains pay more attention to famous faces and
more efficiently process information about these images.21 Celebrities increase awareness of a firm’s advertising and enhance both company image and brand attitudes. A
celebrity endorsement strategy can be an effective way to differentiate among similar
products. This is especially important when consumers do not perceive many actual
differences among competitors, as often occurs when brands are in the mature stage of
the product life cycle.22
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
Courtesy of Peter Darke
As I See It
Imagine you purchase a pair of
“toning shoes” on the basis of
an advertisement that says
they have been proven to
strengthen your lower body
better than regular running
shoes. However, you later learn
that regulators have determined the advertisement was
misleading because there was
never actually any real evidence to back up the claim. If
you are like most people, this
kind of experience would make
you suspicious or distrustful of
Peter Darke, York University
the company involved.
This seems pretty reasonable, given that the offending
advertiser has already proven unreliable. But now how would you
feel about advertising from other companies? Would a bad experience with one advertiser make you doubt the claims of another?
Asked directly, most say they would only be suspicious of the
advertiser that actually made the false claim.
In contrast to these intuitions, our own research found that
suspicion induced by a deceptive advertisement spreads readily
to unrelated firms.1 In a series of experiments, we had consumers read an initial advertisement that suggested the product was
the best on the market. Some of the participants later learned
this claim was not true—other brands actually performed better!
The results showed that learning the ad was deceptive generated
suspicion toward not only the offending firm, but also the advertisements of other companies selling very different products.
The latter, more generalized form of suspicion proved to
have rather broad effects. For instance, consumers were more
negative toward advertised products even weeks after the
i­nitial deception occurred. Further, generalized suspicion
led to more negative attitudes whether the advertisement
included strong or weak arguments, whether or not the second advertiser was a well-known and reputable firm,2 and even
if consumers had had the chance to directly test the advertised product for themselves. 3 This generalized suspicion
occurred because consumers felt defensive, which led them to
become concerned that they might be fooled by advertisers
again in the future.
We have already seen that generalized distrust can undermine otherwise effective persuasion tactics, such as the use of
strong arguments or promoting a positive reputation to consumers. However, other approaches to dealing with such suspicions
have proven more successful. For instance, firms that are independently certified by the Better Business Bureau are less vulnerable to the effects of generalized suspicion. The use of
multiple trust cues can also be effective. In particular, one study
showed that the combination of a reputable brand name (e.g.,
Amazon) and high customer satisfaction ratings reduced the
effects of generalized suspicion, whereas either of these trust
cues used in isolation failed to do so.4
Broadly speaking, the power that generalized suspicion has
to undermine the persuasive appeal of advertising messages
speaks to the strong need for advertisers to ensure their claims
are not overstated. This might seem obvious, but recent trends
indicate an increase in the incidence of misleading claims,
which might explain why only about half of Canadians currently
view advertising as truthful.5 Firms that rely heavily on advertising have a vested interest in maintaining its integrity by avoiding
misleading claims in the first place. This is best accomplished
by adequately testing messages before communicating them
to consumers.
1
Peter R. Darke and Robin B. Ritchie, “The Defensive Consumer: Advertising Deception, Defensive Processing, and Distrust,” Journal of Marketing Research 44 (February
2007): 114–127.
2
Peter R. Darke, Laurence Ashworth, and Robin B. Ritchie, “Damage from Corrective Advertising: Causes and Cures,” Journal of Marketing 72 (November 2008): 81–97.
3
Peter R. Darke, Laurence Ashworth, and Kelley J. Main, “Great Expectations and Broken Promises: Misleading Advertising, Product Failure, Expectancy Disconfirmation and
Consumer Suspicion,” Journal of Academy of Marketing Science 38(3) (2010): 347–362.
4
Ray L. Benedicktus, Michael K. Brady, Peter R. Darke, and Clay M. Voorhees, “Conveying Trustworthiness to Online Consumers: Reactions to Brand, Consensus, Physical
Presence, and Suspicion,” Journal of Retailing 85(4) (2010): 310–323.
5
Advertising Standards Canada, “Canadian Perspectives on Advertising,” 2011, www.adstandards.com/en/MediaAndEvents/canadianPerspectivesOnAdvertising.pdf.
Although in general more positive sources tend to increase attitude change, there
are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes we can think a source is obnoxious, yet it is still
effective. In some instances the differences in attitude change between positive sources
and less positive sources become erased over time. After a while, people appear to
“forget” about the negative source and change their attitudes anyway. We call this
process the sleeper effect.23
The source effects issue has gained even more attention recently, due to a hot
trend in marketing known as native advertising. This term refers to digital messages
designed to blend into the editorial content of the publications in which they appear.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
The idea is to capture the attention of people who might resist ad messages that pop
up in the middle of an article or program. These messages may look a lot like a regular
article, but they often link to a sponsor’s content. For example, native ads on Vanity
Fair magazine’s website resemble editorial contributions, complete with a byline, but
the author is listed as “Vanity Fair Agenda.” As one advertising executive commented,
native ads “should not come across as anything that doesn’t belong. That is what we
mean by native; it belongs.”24
Building C redibility
Credibility can be enhanced if the source’s qualifications are perceived as relevant to
the product being endorsed. This link can overcome other objections people might
have to the endorser or the product. For example, LeBron James uses Nike basketball
shoes. One might hate Nike, or LeBron, yet see the results that LeBron gets using that
brand. It’s important to note that what is credible to one consumer segment may be a
turnoff to another. Indeed, rebellious, even deviant celebrities may be attractive to
some for just that reason. Take, for example, Calvin Klein using Justin Bieber as a
model, despite media coverage of his rebellious behaviours.25 Parents might not be
thrilled by this type of role model—but isn’t that the point?
A consumer’s beliefs about a product’s attributes can be weakened if the source is
perceived to be the victim of bias in presenting information.26 Knowledge bias implies
that a source’s knowledge about a topic is not accurate. Reporting bias occurs when a
source has the required knowledge but his or her willingness to convey it accurately is
compromised, as when a star tennis player is paid by a racket manufacturer to use its
products exclusively. Although his or her credentials might be appropriate, the fact
that the expert is perceived as a “hired gun” compromises believability. Of course, it’s
not always clear that a person has been paid to say he or she loves a product. Microsoft
was criticized when the software company offered to pay “travel costs” for professors
if they presented papers at conferences and mentioned how Microsoft programs
helped them in their work.27
Hype versus Buzz: The Corporate Paradox
Obviously many marketers spend lavishly to create marketing messages that they
hope will convince hordes of customers that their products or services are the
best. There’s the rub—in many cases they may be trying too hard! We can think of
this as the corporate paradox—the more involved a company appears to be in the
dissemination of news about its products, the less credible it becomes.28 As we’ll
see in Chapter 11, consumer word of mouth is typically the most convincing kind
of ­message. As Table 8–1 shows, buzz is word of mouth viewed as authentic and
generated by customers. In contrast, hype is word of mouth dismissed as
inauthentic—­propaganda planted by a company. So the challenge to marketers is
to get the word out there without looking as though they are working at it.
TABLE 8–1
Hype versus Buzz
Hype
Buzz
Advertising
Word of mouth
Overt
Covert
Corporate
Grassroots
Fake
Authentic
Skepticism
Credibility
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
Some marketers are trying to borrow the veneer of buzz by mounting “stealth”
campaigns that seem as if they are untouched by the corporate world. Buzz building
has become the new mantra at many companies that recognize the power of underground word of mouth.29 Indeed, a bit of a cottage industry has sprung up as some
firms begin to specialize in the corporate shill business by planting comments on websites made to look as if they originated from actual consumers.
Powerful as these tactics are, they have the potential to poison the well in a big
way. Consumers, already skeptical about what they see and hear, may get to the point
where they assume that every “authentic” site they find is really a corporate front.
Until then, however, buzz-building online is going strong.
Source Attractiveness
Source attractiveness refers to the source’s perceived social value. This quality can
emanate from the person’s physical appearance, personality, or social status, or from
his or her similarity to the receiver (we like to listen to people who are like us). A compelling source has great value, and endorsement deals are constantly in the works.
Even dead sources can be attractive: The great grandson of the artist Renoir is putting
his famous ancestor’s name on bottled water, and the Picasso family has licensed their
name to the French automaker Citroën.30
W hat I s Beautiful Is G ood
Almost everywhere we turn, beautiful people are trying to persuade us to buy or do
something. Our society puts a very high premium on physical attractiveness, and we
tend to assume that people who are good-looking are smarter, cooler, and happier.
Such an assumption is called a halo effect, which occurs when individuals who are
rated highly on one dimension are assumed to excel on others as well. The effect can
be explained in terms of the consistency principle, discussed in Chapter 7, which
states that people are more comfortable when all of their judgments about a person go
together. This notion has been called the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype.31
A physically attractive source tends to facilitate attitude change. His or her degree
of attractiveness exerts at least a modest effect on consumers’ purchase intentions or
product evaluation.32
As a result, physically attractive people often get a boost in life because people
assume they excel in other dimensions as well. Occasionally this halo effect can backfire if observers infer that someone has exploited his or her attractiveness (e.g., women
who are labelled as “golddiggers”). One study found that good-looking children are
less likely to receive assistance from adults (at least for fairly mild problems) because
people assume they are more competent and thus better able to help themselves. One
implication of this work is that, ironically, charitable organizations may want to consider using less attractive kids as models to solicit donations! 33 Psychologists also
refer to the opposite—the forked-tail effect, which describes our assumptions that an
unattractive person also isn’t good at other things.
Star P ower: C elebrities as Communications Sources
Celebrities hawk everything from grills (George Foreman) to perfumes (Ariana Grande).
As our discussion about the consistency principle illustrates, these messages are more
effective when there’s a logical connection between the star and the product. When
Bob Dylan—who wrote lyrics such as “Advertising signs that con you/Into thinking
you’re the one/That can do what’s never been done/That can win what’s never been
won”—pitches Victoria’s Secret lingerie, marketers may need to reread their consumer
behaviour textbook.34
Star power works because celebrities embody cultural meanings—they symbolize
important categories like status and social class (“working-class hero” Kevin James of
King of Queens), gender (the effeminate Cam on Modern Family), age (the youthful
219
Marketing
Insight
Celebrities (and their managers) don’t necessarily jump at the chance to endorse just any
product. After all, they have a brand image to
protect as well. For years one popular strategy
has been to film commercials overseas and
stipulate that they are not to air at home. The
practice is so widespread in Japan that one
website has even coined a term to describe it:
japander, a combination of “Japanese” and
“pandering,” which the Urban Dictionary
defines as follows: “1. a western star who uses
his or her fame to make large sums of money in
a short time by advertising products in Japan
that they would probably never use. . . . 2. to
make an ass of oneself in Japanese media.”
Go online and check out actors such as
Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and
Jennifer Aniston in commercials they’d prefer
their North American fans don’t see.
2013 Abercrombie and Fitch Under Fire
“Exclusionary” Tactics
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Pepsi links its brand to the star power
of Beyoncé.
© Walter McBride/Corbis
Consumers
in Focus
Anyone today can make an ad, and some companies even encourage customers to create messages about their products. Perhaps this can all
be blamed on the successful consumer-created
$12.97 ad for Doritos, created for and shown during the 2007 Super Bowl. Sometimes consumers’
ads are compelling messages for the product,
but more often than not consumers are not the
best at conveying the desired brand image. In
one contest, Heinz offered $57 000 for the best ad
about its ketchup. Some teenage boys were using
the ketchup as acne cream, some were chugging
it straight from the bottle, and others were shaving and brushing their teeth with it. Often the
ketchup looked like blood and the ads were more
grotesque than appetizing.36
President Grant on Scandal), and even personality types (the nerdy Sheldon on
Big Bang Theory and cool Adam Levine on The Voice). Ideally, the advertiser decides
what meanings the product should convey (that is, how it should position the item in
the marketplace) and then chooses a celebrity who embodies a similar meaning. The
product’s meaning thus moves from the manufacturer to the consumer, using the star
as a vehicle.
For celebrity campaigns to be effective, the endorser must have a clear and popular image. In addition, the celebrity’s image and that of the product he or she endorses
should be similar; this effect is known as the match-up hypothesis.35 Many promotional strategies employing stars fail because the endorser has not been selected carefully enough; some marketers just assume that because a person is “famous,” he or she
will serve as a successful spokesperson.
As noted above, the effectiveness of celebrities as communications sources often
depends on their perceived credibility. Consumers may not trust a celebrity’s motives
for endorsing a product, or they may question the star’s competence to evaluate the
product’s claims critically. The lack of credibility is aggravated by instances in which
celebrities have endorsed products that they do not really believe in or in some cases
do not use. In one example, Beyoncé’s credibility was questioned when she endorsed
Pepsi products after she had been a strong proponent of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s
Move” fitness campaign. Consumers are very sensitive to celebrities appearing to be
inconsistent or insincere in their endorsements.37
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
221
And of course, sometimes celebrities don’t behave in ways sponsors approve of.
The downfall of Tiger Woods as a suitable endorser for many brands is a good example. After his many infidelities were made public, both Accenture and Gillette cut him
loose very quickly. The balance theory of attitudes (see Chapter 7) helps to predict this
downfall, as these companies did not want the negative image of a sexually promiscuous individual associated with their brands.
Non- human Endorsers
Celebrities can be effective endorsers, but there are drawbacks to using them. As noted
previously, their motives may be suspect if they plug products that don’t fit their
image, or if they come to be seen as never having met a product they didn’t like (for a
fee). They may be involved in a scandal or deviate from a brand’s desired image—for
example, the Milk Processor Education Program suspended “Got Milk?” ads featuring
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen after Mary-Kate entered a treatment facility for an undisclosed health issue.
For these reasons, some marketers seek alternatives, including cartoon characters
and mascots. After all, as the marketing director of a company that manufactures costumed characters for sports teams and businesses points out, “You don’t have to worry
about your mascot checking into rehab.” Researchers report that spokescharacters,
such as the Pillsbury Doughboy, Chester the Cheetah, and the Geico Gecko, do, in fact,
boost viewers’ recall of claims that ads make and also yield higher brand attitudes.38
One example of non-human endorsers is avatars. Avatars originated in computer
games such as The Sims, but now they are starting to appear in online advertising
and on e-commerce sites as a mechanism for enhancing the online experience. Rock
bands, soft-drink makers, and other big-time marketers are using avatars. Coca-Cola
launched an avatar-populated site for the Hong Kong market in which avatars mill
around and chat in a Coke-sponsored world. British Telecom is also testing such
products as avatar email, which is software that makes the sender’s face appear and
speak the message aloud.39
One advantage of virtual avatars compared to flesh-and-blood models is that it’s
possible to change them in real time to suit the needs of the target audience or individual consumer. From an advertising perspective, using avatars is likely to be more
cost-effective than hiring a real person. From a personal selling and customer service
perspective, they have the ability to handle multiple customers at any one time, they
are not geographically limited, and they are operational 24/7, freeing up company
employees and sales personnel to perform other activities.
Morty the Bison has been an effective spokesperson for Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS)
for over a decade. Morty is an effective
endorser because he adds a light-hearted
and playful element to the MTS brand.
Courtesy of MTS Inc.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
CO 4
The Message
Very subtle aspects of the way a source delivers a message can influence our interpretation of what he or she says. For example, if a source refers to the brand as
“you,” “we,” or, more abstractly, “the brand,” this changes how people feel about the
product. A more intimate reference can bolster feelings about brands with which the
consumer has a positive relationship, but it can also be off-putting if it’s inconsistent
with how the person feels about the product.40
Even the layout in a print ad sends a message about how the consumer should
relate to the advertised item. A brand that wants customers to see it as a “friend” by
depicting a model using it is more effective when the product image appears horizontally and near the model. On the other hand, if a brand wants customers to see it as a
“leader,” the advertiser will have better luck if it physically places the brand above the
user and farther away (“It’s lonely at the top”).41
A major study of more than 1000 commercials identified factors that appear to
determine whether a commercial message will be persuasive. The single most important feature was whether the communication contained a brand-differentiating message. In other words, did the communication stress a unique attribute or benefit of
the product?42
The characteristics of the commercial message itself help to determine the impact
of that message on attitudes. These variables may include how the message is said as
well as what is actually said. The issues facing marketers include the following:
•
Should the message be conveyed in words or pictures?
•
How concrete or vivid should the arguments and imagery be?
•
How often should the message be repeated?
•
Should both sides of an argument be presented?
•
Should a conclusion be drawn, or should this be left up to the listener/viewer?
•
Is it effective to explicitly compare a product with that of competitors?
•
Should a blatant sexual appeal be used?
•
Should the ad be funny?
•
Should negative emotions, such as fear, ever be aroused?
Sending the Message
The saying “One picture is worth a thousand words” captures the idea that visual
stimuli can economically deliver a big impact, especially when the communicator
wants to influence the receivers’ emotional responses. For this reason, advertisers
often put great emphasis on vivid and creative illustrations or photography.43
On the other hand, a picture is not always as effective at communicating factual
information. Ads that contain the same information, presented in either visual or verbal form, have been found to elicit different reactions. The verbal version affects ratings on the utilitarian aspects of a product, while the visual version affects aesthetic
evaluations.44 Verbal elements are more effective when reinforced by an accompanying picture, especially if the illustration is framed (i.e., the message in the picture is
strongly related to the copy).45
Because it requires more effort to process, a verbal message is most appropriate for
high-involvement situations, such as in print contexts where readers are motivated to
pay attention to the advertising. Because verbal material decays more rapidly in memory, more frequent exposures are needed to obtain the desired effect. Visual images, in
contrast, allow the receiver to chunk information at the time of encoding (see Chapter 3
on memory processes). Chunking results in a stronger memory trace, which aids
retrieval over time.46
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
223
FIGURE 8–3
Effects of Visual and Verbal Components of Advertisements on Brand Attitudes
Visual Component
of Advertisement
Attitude toward
the Advertisement
Brand
Attitudes
Verbal Component
of Advertisement
Beliefs about
Product Attributes
Visual elements may affect brand attitudes in one of two ways. First, the consumer may form inferences about the brand and change his or her beliefs because
of an illustration’s imagery. For example, people who saw an ad for a facial tissue
accompanied by a photo of a sunset were more likely to believe that the brand
came in attractive colours. Second, brand attitudes may be affected more directly.
A strong positive or negative reaction elicited by the visual elements will influence the consumer’s ­a ttitude toward the ad (A ad), which will then affect brand
attitudes (A b). This dual-component model of brand attitudes is illustrated in
­Figure 8–3.47
R epetition
Repetition can be a two-edged sword for marketers. As noted in Chapter 3, multiple
exposures to a stimulus are usually required for learning (especially conditioning) to
occur. Contrary to the saying “Familiarity breeds contempt,” people tend to like things
that are more familiar to them, even if they were not that keen on them initially.48 This
phenomenon is known as the mere exposure effect. Positive effects for advertising
repetition are found even in mature product categories; repeating product information
has been shown to boost consumers’ awareness of the brand even though nothing new
has been said.49 On the other hand, too much repetition creates habituation, wherein
the consumer no longer pays attention to the stimulus because of fatigue or boredom.
Excessive exposure can cause advertising wearout, which can result in negative reactions to an ad after seeing it too much.50
The fine line between familiarity and boredom has been explained by the twofactor theory, which proposes that two separate psychological processes are operating
when a person is repeatedly exposed to an ad. The positive side of repetition is that it
increases familiarity and thus reduces uncertainty about the product. The negative
side is that, over time, boredom increases with each exposure. At some point the
amount of boredom incurred begins to exceed the amount of uncertainty reduced,
resulting in wearout. This pattern is depicted in Figure 8–4. Its effect is especially
pronounced in cases where each exposure is of a fairly long duration (such as a
60-second commercial).51
The theory implies that advertisers can overcome this problem by limiting the
amount of exposure per repetition (e.g., by using 15-second spots). They can also
maintain familiarity but alleviate boredom by slightly varying the execution of ads
over time through campaigns that revolve around a common theme (for which each
spot may be different). Recipients who are exposed to varied ads about the product
absorb more information about product attributes and experience more positive
thoughts about the brand than do those exposed repeatedly to the same information.
This additional information allows the person to resist attempts to change his or her
attitude in the face of a counterattack by a competing brand.52
Marketing
Insight
The Pandora music site attracts about 70 million
listeners, who tune in to playlists Pandora creates based upon their initial preferences for
­certain artists. The site uses a music intelligence algorithm to dissect the characteristics of
favourite songs and serve up others that are
similar. Pandora’s engineers constantly tweak
the playlists as they experiment with variations
of the experience. For example, do listeners want
to hear mostly familiar songs, or do they want to
discover new music? One of the biggest issues
Pandora wrestles with is how frequently it should
repeat the same song or artist in a playlist. The
site constantly tries new variations to arrive at
the optimal number of repetitions, but it turns
out that a lot depends on other factors, such as
the time of day and where listeners are when
they tune in. For example, Pandora’s data show
that users welcome new music instead of the
same old same old, but not so much when
they’re at work. The company continues to tweak
its algorithm as it tries to answer the elusive
question, Can you have too much of a good
thing?53
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
FIGURE 8–4
Two-Factor Theory and Advertising Wearout
POSITIVE
AFFECT
ive
Posit
Learning
Factor
Net E
ffec
t
NEUTRAL
AFFECT
NUMBER OF EXPOSURES
Ne
gat
ive
Ted
ium
NEGATIVE
AFFECT
Fa
cto
r
Constructing the Argument
Many marketing messages are similar to debates or trials, in which someone presents
arguments and tries to convince the receiver to shift his or her opinion accordingly.
The way the argument is presented can thus be very important.
One- versus Two-S ided Arguments
Most messages merely present one or more positive attributes about the product or
reasons to buy it. These are known as supportive arguments. An alternative is to use a
two-sided message, in which both positive and negative information is presented.
Research has indicated that two-sided ads can be quite effective, yet they are not
widely used.54
Why would a marketer want to devote advertising space to a product’s negative
attributes? Under the right circumstances, the use of refutational arguments, in
which a negative issue is raised and then dismissed, can be quite effective. This
approach can increase source credibility by reducing reporting bias. Also, people
who are skeptical about the product may be more receptive to a balanced argument
as opposed to a “whitewash.”55
This is not to say that the marketer should go overboard in presenting major problems with the product. In the typical refutational strategy, relatively minor attributes
are discussed that may present a problem or fall short when a product is compared
with competitors. These drawbacks are then refuted by emphasizing positive, important attributes. Avis got a lot of mileage out of claiming to be only “No. 2,” while an ad
for Volkswagen woefully described one of its cars as a “lemon” because there was a
scratch on the glove-compartment chrome strip.56
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
225
A two-sided strategy appears to be most effective when the audience is well educated (and presumably more impressed by a balanced argument).57 It is also best used
when receivers are not already loyal to the product; “preaching to the converted”
about possible drawbacks may raise doubts unnecessarily.
Drawing Conclusions
A related issue is whether the argument should draw conclusions or whether the
points should merely be presented, permitting the consumer to arrive at his or her
own conclusion. Should the message say only “Our brand is superior,” or should it
add “You should buy our brand”? On the one hand, consumers who make their own
inferences instead of being spoonfed will form stronger, more accessible attitudes. On
the other hand, leaving the conclusion ambiguous increases the chance that the
desired attitude will not be formed.
The response to this issue depends on the consumers’ motivation to process the
ad and the complexity of the arguments. If the message is personally relevant, people
will pay attention to it and spontaneously form inferences. However, if the arguments
are hard to follow or consumers’ motivation to follow them is lacking, it is safer for the
ad to state the conclusions to be drawn.58
Comparative Advertising
Comparative advertising refers to a strategy wherein a message identifies two or more
specifically named or recognizably presented brands and compares them in terms of
one or more specific attributes.59
This strategy can cut both ways, especially if the sponsor depicts the competition
in a nasty or negative way. Although some comparative ads result in desired attitude
changes, they may also be lower in believability and stir up source derogation (i.e., the
consumer may doubt the credibility of a biased presentation).60 Indeed, in some cultures (such as in Asia) comparative advertising is rare, because people find such a
confrontational approach offensive.
This advertisement does an excellent job of
comparative advertising.
Courtesy of Molson Coors Canada
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Comparative ads do appear to be effective in the case of new products. Here, they
are superior in anchoring a new brand closer to a dominant one and in building a clear
brand image. However, if the aim is to compare the new brand with the market leader
in terms of specific product attributes, merely saying it is as good as or better than the
leader is not sufficient. However, advertisers need to tread lightly, especially when
they risk ruffling the feathers of other companies. Fox rejected a commercial that Soda
Stream submitted for the 2015 Super Bowl because the actress Scarlett Johansson sensually sips her homemade soda and says, “Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.”61
Types of Message Appeals
The way something is said can be as significant as what is said; the same idea can be
encoded in many different ways. It can tug at the heartstrings or scare you, make
you laugh, make you cry, or leave you wanting to learn more. In this section we’ll
review the major alternatives available to communicators who wish to appeal to a
message recipient.
E motional versus R ational Appeals
Colgate-Palmolive’s Total brand was the first toothpaste to claim that it fights gingivitis, a benefit that let Colgate inch ahead of Procter & Gamble’s Crest for the first
time in decades. Colgate initially made a scientific pitch for its new entry as it
emphasized Total’s germ-fighting abilities. In newer ads, however, former model
Brooke Shields cavorted with two children (not hers) as soft music played in the
background. She stated, “Having a healthy smile is important to me. Not just as an
actress but as a mom.”62
So which is better: to appeal to the head or the heart? The answer often depends
on the nature of the product and the type of relationship consumers have with it. Many
companies turned to the latter strategy after realizing that consumers do not find many
differences among brands, especially those in well-established, mature categories. Ads
for products ranging from cars to greeting cards focus instead on emotional aspects.
The precise effects of rational versus emotional appeals are hard to gauge.
Though recall of ad content tends to be better for “thinking” ads than for “feeling”
This advertisement makes an emotional
appeal to get a response from consumers.
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, | Leo Burnett The
Netherlands; Creative Director: Magnus Olsson;
Copywriter: Saatchi & Saatchi Tribe (Avinash Sampath);
Art Director: Saatchi & Saatchi Tribe (Tim Bishop);
Photographer: Calle Stolze; Producer: Jan Willem
Wiesenekker; Account Supervisor: Ard Krak; Advertiser’s
Supervisor: Alexandra van Nieuwenhuyzen
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
ads, conventional measures of advertising effectiveness (such as day-after recall)
may not be adequate to assess cumulative effects of emotional ads. These openended measures are oriented toward cognitive responses, and feeling ads may be
penalized because the reactions are not as easy to articulate.63
Se x Appeals
A risqué ad campaign for Kraft’s Zesty Italian salad dressing attracted the attention of
a conservative activist group called One Million Moms. Members took to the Web to
protest a print ad featuring a hunky male model having a naked picnic. The group
stated, “Last week’s issue of People magazine had the most disgusting ad on the inside
front cover that we have ever seen Kraft produce. A full 2-page ad features a n*ked
man lying on a picnic blanket with only a small portion of the blanket barely covering
his g*nitals. It is easy to see what the ad is really selling.” Kraft responded, “Our Kraft
dressing’s ‘Let’s Get Zesty’ campaign is a playful and flirtatious way to reach our consumers. People have overwhelmingly said they’re enjoying the campaign and having
fun with it.” Apparently not everyone.64
Echoing the widely held belief that “sex sells,” many marketing communications
for products from perfumes to autos feature heavy doses of erotic suggestions that
range from subtle hints to blatant displays of skin. Of course, the prevalence of sex
appeal varies from country to country. Perhaps not surprisingly, female nudity in
print ads generates negative feelings and tension among female consumers, while
men’s reactions are more positive.65 In a case of turnabout being fair play, another
Sexual appeals are a popular means of
attracting a younger target audience.
Courtesy of Diesel
227
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
study found that males dislike nude males in ads, whereas females responded well to
undressed males—but not totally nude ones.66
Research has also shown the importance of product fit with sex appeals.67 Sexual
imagery paired with products that have little to do with sex (e.g., socket wrenches) has
been shown to produce negative reactions from both genders. The poor fit between the
sex appeal and the product was seen to be gratuitous and unnecessary. However, when
cognitively busy (i.e., when an individual is unable to give full attention to an ad),
male consumers were shown to react positively to sexual imagery in ads regardless of
product fit. Interestingly, negative responses from female consumers were reduced in
this instance if the sex appeal was framed to promote commitment and relationship.68
It seems the softening of the sex appeal in this way makes the advertisement more
acceptable to a female audience.
So, does sex work? Although erotic content does appear to draw attention to an
ad, its use may actually be counterproductive. In one survey, an overwhelming
61 percent of respondents said that sexual imagery in a product’s ad makes them less
likely to buy it. Ironically, a provocative picture can be too effective; it can attract so
much attention as to hinder processing and recall of the ad’s contents. Sexual appeals
appear to be ineffective when marketers use them merely as a “trick” to grab attention. They do, however, appear to work when the product is itself related to sex (e.g.,
lingerie or Viagra).69
A research firm recently explored how men and women look at sexually themed
ads and what effect, if any, what they choose to look at might have on the ads’ effectiveness. One part of the study used special software to follow the visual behaviour of
respondents as they looked at ten print ads. The ad sample consisted of two ads, one
sexual and one nonsexual, from each of five product categories. When the participants
looked at a sexual ad, men tended to ignore the text, focusing instead on the woman in
it, whereas the women participants tended first to explore the ad’s text elements. Men
said they liked the sexual ads more, liked the products advertised in them more, and
would be more likely to buy those products. Women scored the sexual ads lower than
the nonsexual ones on all three of those criteria.70
H umorous A ppeals
The use of humour can be tricky, particularly since what is funny to one person may
be offensive or incomprehensible to another. Specific cultures have different senses of
humour and also use funny material in diverse ways. For example, commercials in the
United Kingdom and Canada are more likely to use puns and satire than those in the
United States.71
Overall, humorous advertisements do get attention. One study found that recognition scores for humorous liquor ads were better than average. However, the verdict is
mixed as to whether humour affects recall or product attitudes in a significant way.72
Humour can be effective when it provides a source of distraction. A funny ad inhibits
the consumer from counterarguing. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of message
acceptance.73 One suggestion is that for an advertisement to be funny, it needs to
simultaneously violate expectations and be benign (i.e., not overly offensive).74
Of course, for different people what is considered offensive can differ. Brands
using humor need to be careful that they are not offensive to potenial customers.
Humour is more likely to be effective when the brand is clearly identified and the
funny material does not “swamp” the message. This danger is similar to that of beautiful models diverting attention from copy points. Subtle humour is usually better, as is
humour that does not make fun of the potential consumer. Humour should also be
appropriate to the product’s image. An undertaker or a bank might want to avoid
humour, while other products adapt to it quite well. For example, successful marketers of beer often incorporate humour into their advertising (see Figure 8–5). Finally, a
study by two University of McGill researchers found that humorous messages can temper ads for threatening situations. For example, people do not want to think too much
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
229
This advertisement uses humour to resonate
with the target market.
DB Export Dry—The wine is over.
about disease or other avoidance situations. When the message for these negative scenarios was couched in humour, the advertisements were better received.75
F ear Appeals
Fear appeals highlight the negative consequences that can occur if the consumer
fails to change a behaviour or attitude. Fear appeals are fairly common in advertising, although they are more common in social marketing contexts in which organizations encourage people to convert to healthier lifestyles by quitting smoking,
FIGURE 8–5
What Makes a Beer Advertisement Appealing?
Something Else 5%
Sex 3%
The Product 4%
The Actors 5%
Humour 62%
The Music 7%
The Situation 14%
Source: Jean-Marc Léger and Dave Scholz, “The Appeal of Beer Ads,” Marketing Magazine (June 17, 2002): 24. Reprinted with permission of
Marketing Magazine, Rogers Publishing.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
FIGURE 8–6
ATTITUDE CHANGE
The Relationship between Fear and Attitude Change
DEGREE OF FEAR
using contraception, or relying on a designated driver. For example, Canada was
one of the first countries to introduce graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging.
These are good examples of fear appeals that attempt to convince consumers to
avoid unhealthy behaviours.
Fear appeals are usually most effective when only a moderate amount of fear is
induced. The relationship between fear and attitude change is non-monotonic. 76
As shown in Figure 8–6, this means that increasing levels of fear does not result in
increased change; the relationship instead resembles an inverted U-shaped curve.
If the threat is too great, the audience tends to deny that it exists as a way of rationalizing the danger. Fear appeals appear to be most effective when the consumer is
already afraid of the problem discussed in the ad. As a result, when using fear
appeals, threats should not be excessive, and a solution to the problem should be
presented. (Otherwise, consumers will tune out the ad, since they can do nothing
to solve the problem.)77 Fear appeals also work better when source credibility is
high.78 When a strong threat doesn’t work, there may be too much elaboration that
interferes with the processing of the recommended change in behaviour—the
receiver is too busy thinking of reasons the message doesn’t apply to her to pay
By also providing contact information on
where to find help, this antismoking label
is a good example of providing a fear
appeal along with a potential solution to
the problem.
Canadian Press
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
attention to the offered solution. A study that manipulated subjects’ degree of anxiety about AIDS, for example, found that they evaluated condom ads most positively when the ads used a moderate threat. Copy that promoted use of the condom
because “Sex is a risky business” (moderate threat) resulted in more attitude
change than either a weaker threat that emphasized the product’s sensitivity or a
strong threat that discussed the certainty of death from AIDS.79 Similarly, scare
tactics have not been as effective as hoped in getting teenagers to decrease their use
of alcohol or drugs. Teens simply tune out the message or deny its relevance to
them.80 On the other hand, a study of adolescent responses to social threat versus
physical threat appeals in drug prevention messages found that social threat is a
more effective strategy.81
The Message as Art Form:
Metaphors Be with You
Marketers may be thought of as storytellers who supply visions of reality similar to
those provided by authors, poets, and artists. These communications take the form of
stories because the product benefits they describe are intangible and must be given
tangible meaning by being expressed in a form that is concrete and visible. Advertising
creatives rely (consciously or not) on various literary devices to communicate these
meanings. For example, a product or service might be personified by a character such
as Mr. Clean, the Jolly Green Giant, or the Geico Gecko. Many ads take the form of an
allegory, wherein a story is told about an abstract trait or concept that has been
personified as a person, animal, or vegetable.
A metaphor involves the use of an explicit comparison, such as “A is B” (“Air
Canada is your friend in faraway places”). Metaphors allow the marketer to activate
meaningful images and apply them to everyday events. In the stock market, “white
knights” battle “hostile raiders” using “poison pills,” while Tony the Tiger allows us
to equate cereal with strength, and the Merrill Lynch bull sends the message that the
company is “a breed apart.”82
Resonance is another type of literary device that is frequently used in advertising. It is a form of presentation that combines a play on words with a relevant picture. Table 8–2 gives some examples of actual ads that rely on the principle of
TABLE 8–2
Some Examples of Advertising Resonance
Product/Headline
Visual
Embassy Suites: “This Year, We’re Unwrapping
Chocolate kisses with hotel name under-
Suites by the Dozen”
neath each kiss
Toyota auto parts: “Our Lifetime Guarantee
Man holding a shock absorber
May Come as a Shock”
Bounce fabric softener: “Is There Something
Woman’s dress bunched up on her back,
Creeping Up Behind You?”
caused by static
Pepsi: “This Year, Hit the Beach Topless”
Pepsi bottle cap lying on the sand
ASICS athletic shoes: “We Believe Women
Woman jogging in a rural setting
Should Be Running the Country”
Source: Adapted from Edward F. McQuarrie and David Glen Mick, “On Resonance: A Critical Pluralistic Inquiry into Advertising Rhetoric,” Journal
of Consumer Research 19 (September 1992): 182, Table 1. Reprinted with permission of The University of Chicago Press.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
resonance. Although metaphor substitutes one meaning for another by connecting
two things that are in some way similar, resonance uses an element that has a
double meaning, such as a pun, in which there is a similarity in the sound of a
word but a difference in meaning. For example, an ad for a diet strawberry shortcake dessert might bear the copy “berried treasure” so that qualities associated
with buried treasure—being rich, hidden, and associated with adventurous
pirates—are conveyed for the brand. Because the text departs from expectations, it
creates a state of tension or uncertainty in the viewer until he or she figures out the
wordplay. Once the consumer “gets it,” he or she may prefer the ad over a more
straightforward message.83
Just as a story can be told in words or pictures, the way the audience is addressed
can also make a difference. Commercials are structured like other art forms, borrowing
conventions from literature and art as they communicate their messages.84
One important distinction is between a drama and a lecture.85 A lecture is like a
speech in which the source speaks directly to the audience members in an attempt to
inform them about a product or to persuade them to buy it. Because a lecture clearly
implies an attempt at persuasion, the audience will regard it as such. Assuming
listeners are motivated to do so, they will weigh the merits of the message along with
the credibility of the source. Cognitive responses, such as counterargumentation,
will occur. The appeal will be accepted to the extent that it overcomes the consumer’s
objections and is congruent with his or her beliefs.
In contrast, a drama is similar to a play or a movie. While an argument holds
the viewer at arm’s length, a drama draws the viewer into the action. The characters address the audience only indirectly; they interact with each other about a
product or service in an imaginary setting. Dramas attempt to be experiential—to
involve the audience emotionally. In transformational advertising, the consumer
associates the experience of product usage with some subjective sensation. Thus,
ads for the Infiniti attempted to transform the “driving experience” into a mystical,
spiritual event.
CO 5
The Source versus the Message: Sell
the Steak or the Sizzle?
Two major components of the communications model—the source and the message—
have been reviewed. Which aspect has the most impact on persuading consumers to
change their attitudes? Should marketers worry more about what is said or about how
it is said and who says it?
The answer is that it depends. Variations in a consumer’s level of involvement,
as discussed in Chapter 4, result in the activation of very different cognitive processes when a message is received. Research indicates that this level of involvement
will determine which aspects of a communication are processed. The situation
resembles that of a traveller who comes to a fork in the road and can choose only one
path. The decision will have a big impact on the factors that will make a difference
in persuasion attempts.
The Elaboration Likelihood Model
The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) assumes that once a consumer receives a
message, he or she begins to process it.86 Depending on the personal relevance of the
information, one of two routes to persuasion will be followed. Under conditions of
high involvement, the consumer takes the central route to persuasion. Under conditions
of low involvement, a peripheral route is taken instead. This model is diagrammed
in Figure 8–7.
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
FIGURE 8–7
The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
High-Involvement
Processing
Cognitive
Responses
Belief and
Attitude Change
Behaviour
Change
Belief
Change
Behaviour
Change
Attitude
Change
Central Route
COMMUNICATION
(source, message,
channel)
Attention and
Comprehension
Peripheral Route
Low-Involvement
Processing
Source: Reprinted with the permission of Macmillan Publishing Company, from John C. Mowen, Consumer Behavior, 2nd. ed. © 1990 by Macmillan Publishing Company.
T he Central Route to P ersuasion
When the consumer finds the information in a persuasive message to be relevant or
somehow interesting, he or she will carefully attend to the message content. The
person is likely to think actively about the arguments presented and generate
cognitive responses to these arguments. Upon hearing a message warning about
drinking while pregnant, an expectant mother might say to herself, “She’s right. I
really should stop drinking alcohol now that I’m pregnant.” Or she might offer
counterarguments, such as “That’s a bunch of baloney. My mother had a cocktail
every night when she was pregnant with me, and I turned out fine.” If a person
generates counterarguments in response to a message, it is less likely that he or she
will yield to the message, while the generation of further supporting arguments
increases the probability of compliance.87
The central route to persuasion is likely to involve the traditional hierarchy of
effects, as discussed in Chapter 7. Beliefs are carefully formed and evaluated, and
strong attitudes that are then formed will be likely to guide behaviour. The implication is that message factors, such as the quality of arguments presented, will be
important in determining attitude change. Prior knowledge about a topic may
result in more thoughts about the message and will also increase the number of
counterarguments.88
T he Peripheral Route to Persuasion
In contrast, the peripheral route is taken when the person is not motivated to think
about the arguments presented. Instead, the consumer is likely to use other cues in
deciding on the suitability of the message. These cues might include the product’s
package, the attractiveness of the source, or the context in which the message is presented. Sources of information extraneous to the actual message content are called
peripheral cues because they surround the actual message.
The peripheral route to persuasion highlights the paradox of low involvement discussed in Chapter 4: When consumers do not care about a product, the stimuli associated with it increase in importance. The implication here is that low-involvement
products may be purchased chiefly because the marketer has done a good job designing
a “sexy” package, choosing a popular spokesperson, or perhaps just creating a pleasant
shopping environment.
233
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
When marketers pair a product such as
a car with a beautiful model, they are
encouraging consumers to take the
peripheral route to persuasion, hoping
that consumers will have more positive
attitudes toward the brand because it is
paired with something attractive.
© Ed Lefkowicz/Alamy
CO 6
Support for the ELM Model
The ELM approach has received a lot of research support.89 In one typical study,
undergraduates were exposed to one of several mock advertisements for Break, a new
brand of low-alcohol beer. Using the technique of thought-listing or cognitive
responses, students were asked to provide their thoughts about the ads, which were
later analyzed by the researchers.90 Three independent variables crucial to the ELM
were manipulated:
1. Message-processing involvement: Some subjects were motivated to be highly
involved with the ads by being promised a gift of low-alcohol beer for participating in the study and by being told that the brand would soon be available in their
area. Subjects who were not promised a gift and who were told that the brand
would be introduced in a distant area had low involvement.
2. Argument strength: One version of the ad used strong, compelling arguments to
drink Break (“Break contains one-half the amount of alcohol of regular beers and
therefore has less calories than regular beer”), while the other listed only weak
arguments (“Break is just as good as any other regular beer”).
3. Source characteristics: Although both ads contained a photo of a couple drinking
the beer, their relative social attractiveness was varied by their dress, posture, and
nonverbal expressions, and by the background information given about their
educational achievements and occupations.
Consistently with the ELM model, high-involvement subjects had more thoughts
related to the ad messages than did low-involvement subjects, who devoted more
cognitive activity to the sources used in the ad. The attitudes of high-involvement
subjects were more likely to be swayed by powerful arguments, while the attitudes of
low-involvement subjects were more likely to be influenced by the ad version using
attractive sources. The results of this study, paired with those of others, indicate that
the relative effectiveness of a strong message and a favourable source depends on
consumers’ level of involvement with the product being advertised.
These results underscore the basic idea that highly involved consumers look for
the “steak” (strong, rational arguments), while those who are less involved are more
affected by the “sizzle” (the colours and images used in packaging, or endorsements
C H A P T E R 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
by famous people). It is important to remember, however, that the same communications variable can be both a central and a peripheral cue, depending on its relation to
the attitude object. The physical attractiveness of a model might serve as a peripheral
cue in a car commercial, but her beauty might be a central cue for a product such as
shampoo, where the product’s benefits are directly tied to enhancing attractiveness.91
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Chapter Summary
Consumers who process messages are not necessarily the
passive receivers of information marketers once believed
them to be.
• Persuasion refers to an attempt to change consumers’
attitudes. The communications model specifies the elements
needed to transmit meaning. These include a source, a
message, a medium, a receiver, and feedback.
whether an emotional or a rational appeal is used, the frequency with which it is repeated, whether a conclusion is
drawn, whether both sides of the argument are presented,
and whether the message includes fear, humour, or sexual
references. Advertising messages often incorporate elements
from art or literature such as drama, lecture, metaphor, and
resonance.
Several factors influence the effectiveness of the source of
a communication.
Consumer variables help to determine whether the nature of
the source or the message itself will be more effective in a
particular communication.
• Two important characteristics that determine the effectiveness of a source are its attractiveness and its credibility. Although celebrities often serve these purposes, their
credibility is not always as strong as marketers would like.
The way a message is structured can exert a big impact on
how persuasive it will be.
• The relative influence of the source versus that of the
message depends on the receiver’s level of involvement
with the communication. The elaboration likelihood model
specifies that a less-involved consumer will more likely be
swayed by source effects, while a more-involved consumer
will more likely attend to and process components of the
actual message.
• Some elements of a message that help to determine its
effectiveness are whether it is conveyed in words or pictures,
Key Terms
Buzz p. 218
Match-up hypothesis p. 220
Resonance p. 231
Communications model p. 210
Metaphor p. 231
Social media p. 214
Comparative advertising p. 225
Native advertising p. 217
Sock puppeting p. 216
Corporate paradox p. 218
Paid influencer programs p. 216
Source attractiveness p. 219
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) p. 232
Permission marketing p. 211
Source credibility p. 216
Fear appeal p. 229
Persuasion p. 209
Source derogation p. 225
Halo effect p. 219
Hype p. 218
Persuasion Knowledge Model
(PKM) p. 215
Transmedia storytelling strategy p. 214
Martyrdom effect p. 214
Real-time marketing p. 213
Two-factor theory p. 223
Spokescharacters p. 220
235
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SE C TION III Attitude Change and Decision Making
Review Questions
1. List three psychological principles related to persuasion.
2. Describe the elements of the traditional communications
model, and explain how the updated model is different.
3. What is source credibility, and what are two factors
that influence whether we will perceive a source to be
credible?
4. What is the difference between buzz and hype? How
does this difference relate to the corporate paradox?
5. What is a halo effect, and why does it happen?
6. What is an avatar, and why might an advertiser choose to
use one instead of hiring a celebrity endorser?
7. When should a marketer present a message visually versus verbally?
8. How does the two-factor theory explain the effects of
message repetition on attitude change?
9. When is it best to present a two-sided message versus a
one-sided message?
10. Do humorous ads work? If so, under what conditions?
11. Should marketers ever try to arouse fear to persuade
consumers?
12. Why do marketers use metaphors to craft persuasive
messages? Give two examples of this technique.
13. What is the difference between a lecture and a drama?
14. Describe the elaboration likelihood model, and explain
how it is related to the relative importance of what is said
versus how it’s said.
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. What are the pros and cons of using rational versus
emotional appeals (i.e., trying to persuade consumers
by focusing on what they know as opposed to what they
feel)? When should marketers use one type or the
other?
2. A flog is a fake blog a company posts to build buzz
around its brand. Is this ethical?
3. The sleeper effect implies that perhaps we shouldn’t
worry too much about how positively people evaluate a
source. Similarly, there’s a saying in public relations
that “any publicity is good publicity.” Do you agree?
Why or why not?
4. Discuss some conditions under which it would be advisable to use a comparative advertising strategy.
5. A marketer must decide whether to incorporate rational
or emotional appeals in its communications strategy.
Describe conditions that are more favourable to using
one or the other.
6. Many companies rely on celebrity endorsers as communications sources to persuade consumers. Especially
when targeting younger people, these spokespeople
are often “cool” musicians, athletes, or movie stars.
In your opinion, who would be the most effective celebrity endorser today and why? Who would be the least
effective? Why?
7. Swiss Legend, a watch brand, gets famous people to
wear its colourful timepieces. One way it does this is to
give away its products at awards shows. Publicists call
this common practice “gifting the talent”: Companies
provide stars with “goody bags” full of complimentary
products.92 What do you think about the practice of
“gifting the talent” to accumulate endorsements? Is this
a sound strategy? Is it ethical for celebrities to accept
these gifts?
Experiential Exercises
8. A government agency wants to encourage the use of designated drivers by people who have been drinking. What
advice could you give the organization about constructing persuasive communications? Discuss some factors
that might be important, including the structure of the
communications, where they should appear, and who
should deliver them. Should fear appeals be used, and
if so, how?
9. Why would a marketer consider saying negative things
about his or her product? When is this strategy feasible?
Can you find examples of it?
10. Collect ads that rely on sex appeal to sell products. How
often are benefits of the actual product communicated
to the reader?
11. Watchdog groups have long decried product placements because they blur the line between content and
advertising without adequately informing viewers. The
networks themselves appear to be divided on how far
they want to open the gate. According to one study, the
effectiveness of product placement varies by product
category and type of placement. Consumers indicate
that product placements have the most influence on
their grocery, electronics, and apparel purchases. The
most common platform for a placement is to get a
C HA P TER 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
brand shown on a T-shirt or other piece of an actor’s
wardrobe. What do you think about this practice?
Under what conditions is product placement likely to
influence you and your friends? When (if ever) is it
counterproductive?
12. One of the most controversial intersections between
­marketing and society occurs when companies provide
“educational materials” to schools. For example, in the
USA many firms, including Nike, Hershey, Crayola,
Nintendo, and Foot Locker, provide free book covers
swathed in ads. Standard art supplies, blocks, trucks,
and dolls get supplemented with Milton Bradley and
Care Bears worksheets, Purell hand-cleaning activities, and Pizza Hut reading programs. Clearasil provides
­sample packets of its acne medication along with brochures to educate high school students about proper
skin care; the handouts also direct students to the
Clearasil website, where they can register for music
downloads and iPods. Other companies contract with
schools to run focus groups with their students during
the school day in order to get reactions to new product
ideas. Some schools encourage kids to practise their
math as they count Tootsie Rolls, and the kids use reading software that bears the logos of Kmart, Coke, Pepsi,
and Cap’n Crunch cereal. Many educators argue that
these materials are a godsend for resource-poor schools
that otherwise could not provide computers and other
goodies to their students. However, a California law bans
the use of textbooks with brand names and company
logos. This legislation was prompted by complaints from
parents about a middle-school math book that uses
names such as Barbie, Oreos, Nike, and Sony PlayStation in word problems. What is your position on these
practices? Should corporations be allowed to promote
their products in schools in exchange for donations of
educational materials, computers, and so on?93
13. Collect examples of ads that rely on the use of metaphors or resonance. Do you feel these ads are effective?
If you were marketing the products, would you feel more
comfortable with ads that use a more straightforward,
“hard sell” approach? Why or why not?
14. Create a list of current celebrities whom you feel typify
cultural categories (e.g., clown, mother figure). What specific brands do you feel each might effectively endorse?
15. Conduct an “avatar hunt” by going to commerce websites, online video game sites, and online communities
such as The Sims that let people select what they want
to look like in cyberspace. What seem to be the dominant figures people are choosing? Are they realistic or
fantasy characters? Male or female? What types of avatars do you believe would be most effective for each of
these different kinds of websites, and why?
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
Cobs Bread—Changing Bread Consumption
Aaron Gillespie, Vice President of Canadian Operations at
COBS Bread, was stumped. The latest consumer feedback
reports had just been delivered, and once again the COBS
Bread product was scoring extremely high among consumers
for product taste and overall satisfaction. Indeed, the response
to some of the products that had recently launched (e.g., the
new Turkish bread and the pane di casa rolls) was very positive. Despite this excellent feedback, however, Aaron could see
that some segments of COBS’s consumers still didn’t consider
COBS Bread the appropriate choice for their daily bread consumption needs. It was seen rather as a specialty food retailer
where one would look to buy bread for special occasions only,
such as dinner parties or holiday events. Aaron knew that the
high-quality product the company produced had led to this
attitude, but he wondered how he could facilitate attitude
change among consumers in a way that increased frequency
of purchasing COBS products.
The COBS Bread Story
COBS Bread (www.cobsbread.com) was launched in 2003 in
Canada by an Australian family company who saw Canada
as the logical place to grow their business model. This import
was launched by Australia’s most successful bakery franchise—Baker’s Delight—that had established around 700
bakeries across Australia and New Zealand. Serving over 2.5
million customers each week, Baker’s Delight has surpassed
over half a billion dollars in revenues annually. At the centre
of the business model was a commitment to the quality of
the product and the development of their people, which the
company believed would lead to positive customer experiences. Operating under a franchise model, Baker’s Delight
provided support to its franchise owners in the areas of marketing, human resources training, finance, purchasing, and
operations.
COBS Bread replicated the model established by the par­ anada.
ent company, and has been able to grow quickly in C
The company now has 81 bakeries across four provinces
(Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan) and
plans to continue its aggressive growth over the next few years.
Indeed, COBS sees itself as a young, energetic company with
high ambitions dedicated to providing the community with
the highest-quality, freshest bread possible. COBS bakes its
product fresh each day using “scratch baking” techniques.
This means COBS bakes from original ingredients, not from
237
238
SE C TION III Attitude Change and Decision Making
premixes, in store, every day. The product offerings range from
standard white loaves of bread to more artisan offerings like
kalamata olive paninos and sweet breads such as custard
scrolls. COBS took its name from one of its most popular crusty
breads, though some customers felt the name should stand for
“Canada’s Own Bread Stores.”
The Issue at Hand
While the growth of COBS Bread in Canada had been excellent,
the company knew it needed to continue to improve and grow its
business. One goal centred on ensuring stable and committed
franchisees over time. To achieve this, it was important that each
COBS location work to increase same-store sales year after year.
This was achieved through operational improvements, new
product introductions, carefully designed promotional activities,
and attention to market research.
It was in this context that Aaron became aware that
some customer segments held an attitude toward COBS that
prevented them from frequent purchase. Interestingly, these
segments had a very positive attitude to COBS, holding the
company in high esteem. These consumers, however,
viewed COBS products as a high-quality treat reserved for
special occasions—not something to be bought regularly.
Instead of making weekly purchases at COBS to fulfil their
bread needs, these consumers typically shopped there less
than once a month. Regular bread purchases were made at
more-mainstream grocery stores, where more-processed
brands such as Wonder Bread and McGavin’s would be
available.
This was obviously a cause for concern, and Aaron wondered what might be done. COBS wanted to be the destination
of choice for all household bread needs. Achieving this goal
would certainly build sales and would ultimately strengthen the
organization.
Possible Solutions
Aaron knew there were many possible paths to attempting to
change consumer attitudes. He wondered whether tactics
like comparative advertising would be beneficial in this
instance. Or perhaps the company’s promotional strategies
should move toward more emotional appeals instead of the
current rational messaging being employed? Further, Aaron
wondered how consumers were best persuaded in this
­context. He knew that some retailers were pursuing more
interactive communications with their customers, and it was
an open question in his mind how effective these new
approaches would be. Engagement through social media
had been good thus far for COBS, but Aaron was unsure how
these media might be used to facilitate attitude change
among this segment.
He needed to figure out a strategy soon—there was a
clear requirement to convert these infrequent shoppers into
more loyal consumers in order to facilitate the growth the
company needed as it moved forward.
1. How are consumers persuaded when it comes to food
products? What routes to persuasion are most important
in this context?
2. What advertising/promotional tactics do you recommend
to Aaron with respect to changing consumer attitudes
about COBS Bread?
3. Is there a role to play for social media in meeting this challenge? Can COBS Bread leverage its efforts in this area to
change consumer attitudes?
4. In attempting to change attitudes, do you feel there is
any danger to other customer segments? In other
words, in seeking to address the attitudes of one segment, might COBS inadvertently change the attitudes of
another? How? What might be done to alleviate this
danger, if present?
Notes
1. Robert B. Cialdini and Kelton V.L. Rhoads, “Human Behavior and the Marketplace,”
Marketing Research (Fall 2001).
5. Neeli Bendapudi and Robert P. Leone, “Psychological Implications of Customer
Participation in Co-production,” Journal of Marketing 67(1) (January 2003).
2. Gert Assmus, “An Empirical Investigation into the Perception of Vehicle Source
Effects,” Journal of Advertising 7 (Winter 1978): 4–10. For a more thorough
discussion of the pros and cons of different media, see Stephen Baker, Systematic
Approach to Advertising Creativity (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979).
6. Venessa Wong, “Co-creation: Not Just Another Focus Group,” Businessweek (April 1,
2010), www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2010/id20100319_283214.
htm, accessed August 28, 2012.
3. Alladi Venkatesh, Ruby Roy Dholakia, and Nikhilesh Dholakia, “New Visions of
Information Technology and Postmodernism: Implications for Advertising and
Marketing Communications,” in The Information Superhighway and Private
Households: Case Studies of Business Impacts, eds. Walter Brenner and Lutz
Kolbe (Heidelberg: Physical-Verlag, 1966): 319–337; Donna L. Hoffman and
Thomas P. Novak, “Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments:
Conceptual Foundations,” Journal of Marketing 60(3) (July 1996): 50–68. For an
early theoretical discussion of interactivity in communications paradigms, see
Gratif R. Aubrey Fisher, Perspectives on Human Communication (New York:
Macmillan, 1978).
4. Seth Godin, Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends, and Friends into
Customers (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999).
7. Quoted in Ian McGugan, “The Ice-Bucket Racket,” The New York Times Magazine
(November 14, 2014), www.nyt.com/2014/11/16/magazine/the-ice-bucket-racket.
html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%
3A10%22%7D&_r=0.
8. “Social Nets and Blogs More Popular Than E-mail,” Emarketer (March 17, 2009);
“U.S. Blog Readers 2007–2012,” Emarketer (April 15, 2009).
9. This section is adapted from a discussion in Michael R. Solomon and Elnora W.
Stuart, Marketing: Real People, Real Choices (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1997).
10. Marian Friestad and Peter Wright, “The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How
People Cope with Persuasion Attempts,” Journal of Consumer Research
21(1): 1–31.
C HA P TER 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
11. K.J. Main, D.W. Dahl, and P.R. Darke, “Consumer Responses to Flattery during Sales
Transactions: Empirical Evidence of the Sinister Attribution Error,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology 17(1) (2007): 59–69.
12. Carl I. Hovland and W. Weiss, “The Influence of Source Credibility on Communication
Effectiveness,” Public Opinion Quarterly 15 (1952): 635–650.
13. Herbert Kelman, “Processes of Opinion Change,” Public Opinion Quarterly 25 (Spring
1961): 57–78; Susan M. Petroshius and Kenneth E. Crocker, “An Empirical Analysis of
Spokesperson Characteristics on Advertisement and Product Evaluations,” Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science 17 (Summer 1989): 217–226.
14. Kenneth G. DeBono and Richard J. Harnish, “Source Expertise, Source Attractiveness, and
the Processing of Persuasive Information: A Functional Approach,” Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology 55(4) (1988): 541–546.
15. Hershey H. Friedman and Linda Friedman, “Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type,”
Journal of Advertising Research 19(5) (1979): 63–71. For a study that looked at nontarget-market effects—the effects of advertising intended for other market
segments—see Jennifer L. Aaker, Anne M. Brumbaugh, and Sonya A. Grier, “Non-target
Markets and Viewer Distinctiveness: The Impact of Target Marketing on Advertising
Attitudes,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 9(3) (2000): 127–140.
16. Yeosun Yoon, Zeynep Gurhan-Canli, and Norbert Schwarz, “The Effect of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) Activities on Companies with Bad Reputations,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology 16(4) (2006): 377–390.
17. Peter R. Darke and Robin J.B. Ritchie, “The Defensive Consumer: Advertising Deception,
Defensive Processing, and Distrust,” Journal of Marketing Research 44 (February 2007):
114–127.
18. S. Ratneshwar and Shelly Chaiken, “Comprehension’s Role in Persuasion: The Case of Its
Moderating Effect on the Persuasive Impact of Source Cues,” Journal of Consumer
Research 18 (June 1991): 52–62.
19. Steven S. Posavac, Michal Herzenstein, Frank R. Kardes, and Suresh Sundaram, “Profits
and Halos: The Role of Firm Profitability Information in Consumer Inference,” Journal of
Consumer Psychology 20(3) (2010): 327–337.
20. “Report: Charlie Sheen May Not Shine, but Stars Are Aligned as Print Ad Activists,”
NYSportsJournalism.com (February 25, 2011), http://nysportsjournalism.squarespace.
com/study-stars-shine-in-print-ads/?SSScrollPosition=0&
VK=94964620, accessed April 30, 2011.
21. Heather Buttle, Jane E. Raymond, and Shai Danziger, “Do Famous Faces Capture
Attention?,” paper presented at Association for Consumer Research Conference,
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239
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Review,” Journal of Advertising 11(3) (1982): 15–24; Lynn R. Kahle and Pamola M. Homer,
“Physical Attractiveness of the Celebrity Endorser: A Social Adaptation Perspective,”
Journal of Consumer Research 11 (March 1985): 954–961; Judson Mills and Eliot Aronson,
“Opinion Change as a Function of Communicator’s Attractiveness and Desire to Influence,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1 (1965): 173–177.
33. R.J. Fisher and Y. Ma, “The Price of Being Beautiful: Negative Effects of Attractiveness on
Empathy for Children in Need,” Journal of Consumer Research 41(2) (2014): 436–450.
34. Brian Steinberg, “Bob Dylan Gets Tangled Up in Pink: Victoria’s Secret Campaign Drafts
Counterculture Hero; Just Like the Rolling Stones,” The Wall Street Journal (April 2,
2004): B3.
35. Michael A. Kamins, “An Investigation into the ‘Match-Up’ Hypothesis in Celebrity
Advertising: When Beauty May Be Only Skin Deep,” Journal of Advertising 19(1) (1990):
4–13; Lynn R. Kahle and Pamola M. Homer, “Physical Attractiveness of the Celebrity
Endorser: A Social Adaptation Perspective,” Journal of Consumer Research 11 (March
1985): 954–961.
36. Louise Story, “Putting Amateurs in Charge,” The New York Times (May 26, 2007): B1.
37. Kia Makarechi, “Beyonce on Pepsi Criticism: ‘It’s all about choices,’” Huffington Post (July
7, 2013), www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/
beyonce-pepsi-criticism-choices_n_3572582.html.
38. Judith A. Garretson and Scot Burton, “The Role of Spokescharacters as Advertisement and
Package Cues in Integrated Marketing Communications,” Journal of Marketing 69
(October, 2005): 118–132.
39. Christopher Lawton, “Virtual Characters Push Cigarettes in New Vending Machine,” The
Wall Street Journal (August 6, 2002): B1.
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41. Xun Huang, Xiuping Li, and Meng Zhang,“‘Seeing’ the Social Roles of Brands: How
Physical Positioning Influences Brand Evaluation,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 23(4)
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42. David W. Stewart and David H. Furse, “The Effects of Television Advertising Execution on
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and J.R. Kragh, “What a Spokesman Does for a Sponsor,” Journal of Advertising Research
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Meaning in Celebrity Endorsers,” in Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon, eds.,
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44. Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Michael R. Solomon, “Utilitarian, Aesthetic, and Familiarity
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23. Anthony R. Pratkanis et al., “In Search of Reliable Persuasion Effects: III. The Sleeper
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54 (1988): 203–218.
46. Terry L. Childers and Michael J. Houston, “Conditions for a Picture-Superiority Effect on
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24. Stuart Elliott, “A Message that Tries to Blend In,” The New York Times (December 12,
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25. Lara O’Reilly, “Justin Bieber Has Become the New Face—and Pretty Much Every Other
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28. This section is based upon a discussion in Michael R. Solomon, Conquering
Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World (New York: AMACOM, 2003);
see also David Lewis and Darren Bridger, The Soul of the New Consumer: Authenticity—
What We Buy and Why in the New Economy (London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2000).
29. Jeff Neff, “Pressure Points at IPG,” Advertising Age (December 2001): 4.
30. Kruti Trivedi, “Great-Grandson of Artist Renoir Uses His Name for Marketing Blitz,” The
Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition (September 2, 1999).
31. Karen K. Dion, “What Is Beautiful Is Good,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 24
(December 1972): 285–290.
32. Michael J. Baker and Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr., “The Impact of Physically Attractive Models on
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318–332.
47. Andrew A. Mitchell, “The Effect of Verbal and Visual Components of Advertisements on
Brand Attitudes and Attitude toward the Advertisement,” Journal of Consumer Research
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48. Robert B. Zajonc, “Attitudinal Effects of Mere Exposure,” Journal of Personality and Social
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49. Giles D’Souza and Ram C. Rao, “Can Repeating an Advertisement More Frequently Than
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50. George E. Belch, “The Effects of Television Commercial Repetition on Cognitive Response
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Exposures May Be Enough,” Journal of Advertising Research 12 (December 1972): 11–14.
51. Robert F. Bornstein, “Exposure and Affect: Overview and Meta-analysis of Research,
1968–1987,” Psychological Bulletin 106(2) (1989): 265–289; Arno Rethans, John Swasy,
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and Commercial Length: A Test of the Two-Factor Model,” Journal of Marketing Research
23 (February 1986): 50–61.
52. Curtis P. Haugtvedt et al., “Advertising Repetition and Variation Strategies: Implications
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53. John Paul Titlow, “At Pandora, Every Listener Is a Test Subject,” Fast Company (August 14,
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240
SE C TION III Attitude Change and Decision Making
54. Linda L. Golden and Mark I. Alpert, “Comparative Analysis of the Relative
Effectiveness of One- and Two-Sided Communication for Contrasting Products,”
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Advertising in a Two-Sided Context,” Journal of Advertising Research 29 (June/July
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67. Jaideep Sengupta and Darren W. Dahl, “Gender-Related Reactions to Gratuitous
Sex Appeals in Advertising,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 18(1) (2008):
62–78.
55. See Alan G. Sawyer, “The Effects of Repetition of Refutational and Supportive
Advertising Appeals,” Journal of Marketing Research 10 (February 1973): 23–33;
George J. Szybillo and Richard Heslin, “Resistance to Persuasion: Inoculation
Theory in a Marketing Context,” Journal of Marketing Research 10 (November
1973): 396–403; Ayn E. Crowley and Wayne D. Hoyer, “An Integrative Framework
for Understanding Two-Sided Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer Research 20(4)
(March 1994): 561–574; Cornelia Pechmann, “Predicting When Two-Sided Ads
Will Be More Effective Than One-Sided Ads: The Role of Correlational and
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69. Michael S. LaTour and Tony L. Henthorne, “Ethical Judgments of Sexual Appeals in
Print Advertising,” Journal of Advertising 23(3) (September 1994): 81–90.
56. Linda L. Golden and Mark I. Alpert, “Comparative Analysis of the Relative
Effectiveness of One- and Two-Sided Communication for Contrasting Products,”
Journal of Advertising 16 (1987).
57. George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch, and Angelina Villareal, “Effects of Advertising
Communications: Review of Research,” in Research in Marketing 9 (Greenwich, CT:
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68. Darren W. Dahl, Jaideep Sengupta, and Kathleen D. Vohs, “Sex in Advertising: Gender
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70. “Does Sex Really Sell?” Adweek (October 17, 2005): 17.
71. Marc G. Weinberger and Harlan E. Spotts, “Humor in U.S. versus U.K. TV
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72. Thomas J. Madden, “Humor in Advertising: An Experimental Analysis,” working paper
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U.S. versus U.K. TV Commercials: A Comparison,” Journal of Advertising 18(2)
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73. David Gardner, “The Distraction Hypothesis in Marketing,” Journal of Advertising
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74. Peter A. McGraw and Caleb Warren, “Benign Violations: Making Immoral Behavior
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58. Frank R. Kardes, “Spontaneous Inference Processes in Advertising: The Effects of
Conclusion Omission and Involvement on Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer
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75. Ashesh Mulcherjee and Laurette Dube, “The Use of Humour in Threat-Related
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Marketing Magazine (August 5, 2002): 8.
59. Cornelia Dröge and Rene Y. Darmon, “Associative Positioning Strategies through
Comparative Advertising: Attribute vs. Overall Similarity Approaches,” Journal of
Marketing Research 24 (1987): 377–389; D. Muehling and N. Kangun, “The
Multidimensionality of Comparative Advertising: Implications for the FTC,” Journal
of Public Policy and Marketing (1985): 112–128; Beth A. Walker and Helen H.
Anderson, “Reconceptualizing Comparative Advertising: A Framework and Theory
of Effects,” in Advances in Consumer Research 18, eds. Rebecca H. Holman and
Michael R. Solomon (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1991): 342–
347; William L. Wilkie and Paul W. Farris, “Comparison Advertising: Problems and
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76. Michael L. Ray and William L. Wilkie, “Fear: The Potential of an Appeal Neglected
by Marketing,” Journal of Marketing 34(1) (1970): 54–62; Tony L. Henthorne,
Michael S. LaTour, and Rajan Nataraajan, “Fear Appeals in Print Advertising:
An Analysis of Arousal and Ad Response,” Journal of Advertising 22(2) (June
1993): 59–70; and Thomas Giese, Dana-Nicoleta Lascu, and Terry M.
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Guilt Appeals in Marketing Communications,” Proceedings of the Southern
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60. Stephen A. Goodwin and Michael Etgar, “An Experimental Investigation of
Comparative Advertising: Impact of Message Appeal, Information Load, and Utility of
Product Class,” Journal of Marketing Research 17 (May 1980): 187–202; Gerald J.
Gorn and Charles B. Weinberg, “The Impact of Comparative Advertising on
Perception and Attitude: Some Positive Findings,” Journal of Consumer Research 11
(September 1984): 719–727; Terence A. Shimp and David C. Dyer, “The Effects of
Comparative Advertising Mediated by Market Position of Sponsoring Brand,” Journal
of Advertising 3 (Summer 1978): 13–19; R. Dale Wilson, “An Empirical Evaluation of
Comparative Advertising Messages: Subjects’ Responses to Perceptual Dimensions,”
in Advances in Consumer Research 3, ed. B.B. Anderson (Ann Arbor, MI: Association
for Consumer Research, 1976): 53–57; and Randall L. Rose et al., “When Persuasion
Goes Undetected: The Case of Comparative Advertising,” Journal of Marketing
Research 30 (August 1993): 315–330.
61. Bruce Horovitz, “Sodastream’s Super Bowl Spot Gets Rejected—Again,” USA Today
(January 25, 2014), www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/25/5biggest-advertisers-going-for-it-in-super-bowl/4835695//business/2014/01/24/
sodastream-banned-super-bowl-ad-coke-pepsi-scarlett-johannson/4838575.
62. Louise Kramer, “In a Battle of Toothpastes, It’s Information vs. Emotion,” The New
York Times (January 17, 2007): C6; H. Zielske, “Does Day-After Recall Penalize
‘Feeling’ Ads?” Journal of Advertising Research 22 (1982): 19–22.
63. H. Zielske, “Does Day-After Recall Penalize Feeling Ads?” Journal of Advertising
Research 22 (1982): 19–22.
64. Tim Nudd, “Kraft Salad Dressing Ad Gets Best Present Ever: A Slap from One
Million Moms,” Adweek (June 17, 2013), www.adweek.com/adfreak/kraft-saladdressing-ad-gets-best-present-ever-slap-one-million-moms-150412, accessed
February 25, 2015.
65. George E. Belch, Michael A. Belch, and Angelina Villareal, “Effects of
Advertising Communications: Review of Research,” in Research in Marketing 9
(Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1987): 59–117; A.E. Courtney and T.W. Whipple, Sex
Stereotyping in Advertising (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983); Michael S.
LaTour, “Female Nudity in Print Advertising: An Analysis of Gender Differences in
Arousal and Ad Response,” Psychology & Marketing 7(1) (1990): 65–81; B.G.
Yovovich, “Sex in Advertising—The Power and the Perils,” Advertising Age (May
2, 1983): M4–M5.
66. Penny M. Simpson, Steve Horton, and Gene Brown, “Male Nudity in Advertisements: A
Modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product Effects,” Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science 24(3) (1996): 257–262.
77. Judith Waldrop, “They’re Coming to Take You Away (Fear as a Form of Persuasion),”
American Demographics (June 15, 1988): 2; John F. Tanner, Jr., James B. Hunt, and
David R. Eppright, “The Protection Motivation Model: A Normative Model of Fear
Appeals,” Journal of Marketing 55 (July 1991): 36–45.
78. Brian Sternthal and C. Samuel Craig, “Fear Appeals: Revisited and Revised,” Journal
of Consumer Research 1 (December 1974): 22–34.
79. Ronald Paul Hill, “An Exploration of the Relationship between AIDS-Related Anxiety
and the Evaluation of Condom Advertisements,” Journal of Advertising 17(4) (1988):
35–42.
80. Randall Rothenberg, “Talking Too Tough on Life’s Risks?” The New York Times
(February 16, 1990): D1.
81. Denise D. Schoenbachler and Tommy E. Whittler, “Adolescent Processing of Social
and Physical Threat Communications,” Journal of Advertising 25(4) (Winter 1996):
37–54.
82. Barbara B. Stern, “Medieval Allegory: Roots of Advertising Strategy for the Mass
Market,” Journal of Marketing 52 (July 1988): 84–94.
83. Edward F. McQuarrie and David Glen Mick, “On Resonance: A Critical Pluralistic
Inquiry into Advertising Rhetoric,” Journal of Consumer Research 19 (September
1992): 180–197.
84. See Linda M. Scott, “The Troupe: Celebrities as Dramatis Personae in
Advertisements,” in Advances in Consumer Research 18, eds. Rebecca H.
Holman and Michael R. Solomon (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research,
1991): 355–363; Barbara Stern, “Literary Criticism and Consumer Research:
Overview and Illustrative Analysis,” Journal of Consumer Research 16 (1989):
322–334; Judith Williamson, Decoding Advertisements (Boston: Marion
Boyars, 1978).
85. John Deighton, Daniel Romer, and Josh McQueen, “Using Drama to Persuade,”
Journal of Consumer Research 16 (December 1989): 335–343.
86. Richard E. Petty, John T. Cacioppo, and David Schumann, “Central and Peripheral
Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement,” Journal of
Consumer Research 10(2) (1983): 135–146.
87. Jerry C. Olson, Daniel R. Toy, and Philip A. Dover, “Do Cognitive Responses Mediate
the Effects of Advertising Content on Cognitive Structure?” Journal of Consumer
Research 9(3) (1982): 245–262.
88. Julie A. Edell and Andrew A. Mitchell, “An Information Processing Approach to
Cognitive Responses,” in Research Frontiers in Marketing: Dialogues and Directions,
ed. S.C. Jain (Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1978).
89. See Mary Jo Bitner and Carl Obermiller, “The Elaboration Likelihood Model:
Limitations and Extensions in Marketing,” in Advances in Consumer Research 12,
C HA P TER 8 Attitude Change and Interactive Communications
eds. Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Morris B. Holbrook (Provo, UT: Association for
Consumer Research, 1985): 420–425; Meryl P. Gardner, “Does Attitude toward the
Ad Affect Brand Attitude under a Brand Evaluation Set?” Journal of Marketing
Research 22 (1985): 192–198; C.W. Park and S.M. Young, “Consumer Response to
Television Commercials: The Impact of Involvement and Background Music on
Brand Attitude Formation,” Journal of Marketing Research 23 (1986): 11–24;
Richard E. Petty, John T. Cacioppo, and David Schumann, “Central and Peripheral
Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement,” Journal
of Consumer Research 10(2) (1983): 135–146. For a discussion of how different
kinds of involvement interact with the ELM, see Robin A. Higie, Lawrence F. Feick,
and Linda L. Price, “The Importance of Peripheral Cues in Attitude Formation for
Enduring and Task-Involved Individuals,” in Advances in Consumer Research 18,
eds. Rebecca H. Holman and Michael R. Solomon (Provo, UT: Association for
Consumer Research, 1991): 187–193.
90. J. Craig Andrews and Terence A. Shimp, “Effects of Involvement, Argument Strength,
and Source Characteristics on Central and Peripheral Processing in Advertising,”
Psychology & Marketing 7 (Fall 1990): 195–214.
91. Richard E. Petty et al., “Affect and Persuasion: A Contemporary Perspective,”
American Behavioral Scientist 31(3) (1988): 355–371.
92. Rob Walker, “The Gifted Ones,” The New York Times (November 14, 2004).
93. Brian Steinberg and Suzanne Vranica, “Prime-Time TV’s New Guest Stars: Products,”
The Wall Street Journal (January 12, 2004), www.wsj.com.
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C HAPTER
Individual Decision Making
Chapter Objectives
When you finish reading this chapter you will:
1
Understand that consumer decision making is a
central part of consumer behaviour, but the way we
evaluate and choose products varies widely,
depending on various factors.
2
Understand that a purchase decision is composed of
a series of stages that results in the selection of one
product over competing options.
3
Understand that decision making is not always
rational.
4
Understand that a variety of factors can influence
how much search consumers engage in.
5
Understand that we often fall back on well-learned
rules of thumb to make decisions.
6
Understand that consumers rely on different
decision rules when they evaluate competing
options.
Consumers as Problem
Solvers
CO 1
A consumer purchase may be a response to a perceived problem. These situations are
encountered by consumers virtually every day of their lives: They realize that they want to
make a purchase and go through a series of steps to do so. These steps can be described as
(1) problem recognition, (2) information search, (3) evaluation of alternatives, and (4) product choice. Of course, after the decision is made, the quality of that decision affects the
final step in the process, when learning occurs based on how well the choice worked out.
This learning process in turn influences the likelihood that the same choice will be made
the next time the need for a similar decision occurs. An overview of this decision-making
process appears in Figure 9–1.
This chapter begins by considering various approaches consumers use when faced
with a purchase decision. It then focuses on three of the steps in the decision process:
(1) how consumers recognize the problem or need for a product; (2) their search for information about product choices; and (3) the ways in which they evaluate alternatives to
arrive at a decision.
This intensive decision-making process gets even more complicated in today’s environment where we have so many options to choose from. Ironically, for many modern
consumers one of the biggest problems is not having too few choices but too many. We can
think of this profusion of options as consumer hyperchoice, a condition where the large
number of available options forces us to make repeated choices that may drain psychological energy while decreasing our abilities to make smart decisions.1
Indeed, research suggests that consumers are overwhelmed with the number of
options available in the marketplace,2 and that too much choice can lead consumers to
be less satisfied with the purchase experience and less likely to choose within the
Beauty Care and
Pregnancy
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
FIGURE 9–1
Stages in Consumer Decision Making
Problem Recognition
Bill realizes he’s fed up
with a tablet that has
bad battery life.
Information Search
Bill talks to a few
friends about buying
a new tablet.
Evaluation of Alternatives
Bill compares several
models in the store in
terms of reputation
and available features.
Product Choice
Bill chooses one model
because it has a feature
that really appeals to him.
Consumption and Learning
Bill brings home the tablet
and enjoys his purchase.
product category. For example, one study allowed customers in a grocery store to
select and try a sample from an assortment of flavoured fruit jams. In the “limited
choice” condition consumers were asked to choose from 6 flavours, and in the
“extensive choice” condition they were asked to choose from 24 flavours. While
both groups tried just one or two flavours, their purchasing behaviour varied
dramatically: Only 3 percent of those in the “extensive choice” group bought a jar of
jam, compared to 30 percent in the “limited choice” group. 3 Having extensive
options available has also been suggested to have negative psychological
consequences for individual consumers. Consumers who are characterized by a
desire to look at all the options in a way that allows for the best possible choice
(maximizers) are more anxious and depressed than their “satisficing” counterparts
(who simply select an option good enough to satisfy their needs).4
Perspectives on Decision Making
Traditionally, consumer researchers have approached decision makers from a rational
perspective. In this view, people calmly and carefully integrate as much information
as possible with what they already know about a product, painstakingly weigh the
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
pluses and minuses of each alternative, and arrive at a satisfactory decision. This traditional perspective relates the economics of information approach to the search process; it assumes that we collect just as much data as we need to make an informed
decision. We form expectations of the value of additional information and continue to
search to the extent that the rewards of doing so (what economists call the utility)
exceed the costs. This utilitarian assumption also implies that we collect the most
valuable units of information first. We absorb additional pieces only to the extent that
we think they will add to what we already know.5 In other words, we’ll put ourselves
out to collect as much information as we can, so long as the process of gathering isn’t
too onerous or time-consuming.6
CO 2
Stages in Consumer Decision Making
This process implies that steps in decision making should be carefully studied by
marketing managers to understand how information is obtained, how beliefs are
formed, and what product-choice criteria are specified by consumers. Products can
then be developed that emphasize appropriate attributes, and promotional strategies
can be tailored to deliver the types of information most likely to be desired in the most
effective formats.7
Although these decision-making steps are followed by consumers for some purchases, this process is not always an accurate portrayal of many purchase decisions.8
Because some purchase decisions are more important than others, the amount of effort
we put into each differs. Sometimes the decision-making process is almost automatic;
we seem to make snap judgments based on very little information. At other times it
resembles a full-time job. A person may literally spend days or weeks agonizing over
an important purchase such as a new home, a car, or even an iPhone versus a Samsung
Galaxy. We make some decisions very thoughtfully and rationally as we carefully
weigh the pros and cons of different choices—while in other cases we let our emotions
guide us to one choice over another as we react to a problem with great enthusiasm or
even disgust. Still other actions are actually contrary to those predicted by rational
models. For example, purchase momentum occurs when these initial impulses actually increase the likelihood that we will buy even more (instead of less as our needs
are satisfied), almost as if we get “revved up” and plunge into a spending spree (think
of shopping at Winners).9 And research hints that people differ in terms of their cognitive processing style. Some of us tend to have a rational system of cognition that processes information analytically and sequentially using rules of logic, while others rely
on an experiential system of cognition that processes information more holistically
and in parallel.10
Researchers now realize that decision makers actually possess a repertoire of
strategies. A consumer evaluates the effort required to make a particular choice, and
then he or she chooses a strategy best suited to the level of effort required. This
sequence of events is known as constructive processing. Rather than using a big club
to kill an ant, consumers tailor their degree of cognitive “effort” to the task at hand.11
When the task requires a well-thought-out, rational approach, we’ll invest the brainpower to do it. Otherwise, we look for shortcuts or fall back on learned responses that
“automate” these choices.
Some decisions are made under conditions of low involvement, as discussed in
Chapter 4. In many of these situations, the consumer’s decision is a learned response
to environmental cues (see Chapter 3), as when a person decides to buy something on
impulse that is promoted as a “surprise special” in a store. Concentrating on these
types of decisions can be described as the behavioural influence perspective. Under
these circumstances, managers must concentrate on assessing the characteristics of the
environment, such as physical surroundings and product placement, that influence
members of a target market.12
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
In other cases, consumers are highly involved in a decision, but this involvement
might not lend itself to the rational approach. For example, the traditional approach is
hard pressed to explain a person’s choice of art, music, or even a romantic partner. In
these cases no single quality is the determining factor. Instead, the experiential perspective stresses the gestalt, or totality, of the product or the service. Marketers focus
on measuring consumers’ affective responses to products or services and develop
offerings that elicit appropriate subjective reactions.
Types of Consumer Decisions
Consumer
Insight
Situational factors such as the time of day can
impact our decision-making ability. Sometimes
our best-laid intentions go awry simply because
we’re too tired to fight temptation. Research
shows that our ability to self-regulate declines
as the day goes on.13
One helpful way to characterize the decision-making process is to consider the amount
of effort that goes into the decision each time it must be made. Consumer researchers
have found it convenient to think in terms of a continuum, which is anchored at one
end by habitual decision making and at the other by extended problem solving. Many
decisions fall somewhere in the middle and are characterized by limited problem
solving. This continuum is presented in Figure 9–2.
Ha b i tu a l De c is io n M a kin g
Habitual decision making involves decisions that are made with little or no conscious
effort. Many purchase decisions are so routine that we may not realize we’ve made
them until we look in our shopping carts. Choices characterized by automaticity are
performed with minimal effort and without conscious control.14 Although this kind of
thoughtless activity may seem dangerous or, at best, stupid, it is actually an efficient
way to operate. The development of habitual, repetitive behaviour allows consumers
to minimize the time and energy spent on mundane purchase decisions.
On the other hand, habitual decision making poses a problem when a marketer tries
to introduce a new way of doing an old task. In this case consumers must be convinced to
“unfreeze” their former habits and replace them with new ones. Take, for example, teeth
whitening. Brands such as Crest have done an excellent job of changing consumers’ perceptions and habits such that this is no longer seen as a service that needs to be done by a
professional. Instead, it is viewed as a “DIY” type of task that can be done at home.
Li mi te d P robl e m So lv in g
Limited problem solving is usually somewhat straightforward and simple, but it does
require some cognitive processing. Buyers are not necessarily motivated to search for
information or to evaluate each alternative rigorously, but they are not simply acting
FIGURE 9–2
A Continuum of Buying Decision Behaviour
HABITUAL DECISION MAKING
LIMITED PROBLEM SOLVING
245
EXTENSIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Low-Cost Products
More Expensive Products
Frequent Purchasing
Infrequent Purchasing
Low Consumer Involvement
High Consumer Involvement
Familiar Product Class and Brands
Unfamiliar Product Class and Brands
Little Thought, Search, or
Time Given to Purchase
Extensive Thought, Search, and Time
Given to Purchase
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Walmart’s slogan “Everyday Low Prices” is
an example of encouraging limited problem
solving. By encouraging consumers to use
simple decision rules, such as using only
price to distinguish between retailers,
Walmart is able to attract price-conscious
consumers.
Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star via Getty Images
out of habit either. People instead use simple decision rules to choose among alternatives. These cognitive shortcuts enable them to fall back on general guidelines instead
of having to start from scratch every time a decision is to be made.
E x t e n de d Pr o b lem So lvin g
Decisions involving extended problem solving correspond most closely to the traditional decision-making perspective. As indicated in Table 9–1, the extended
problem-solving process is usually initiated by a motive that is fairly central to
TABLE 9–1
Characteristics of Limited versus Extended Problem Solving
Limited Problem Solving
Extended Problem Solving
Motivation
Low risk and involvement
High risk and involvement
Information search
Little search
Extensive search
Information processed passively
Information processed actively
In-store decision likely
Multiple sources consulted prior to store visits
Weakly held beliefs
Strongly held beliefs
Only most prominent criteria used
Many criteria used
Alternatives perceived as basically similar
Significant differences perceived among alternatives
Non-compensatory strategy used
Compensatory strategy used
Limited shopping time; may prefer self-service
Many outlets shopped if needed
Choice often influenced by store displays
Communication with store personnel often desirable
Alternative evaluation
Purchase
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
the self-concept (see Chapter 5), and the eventual decision is perceived to carry
a fair degree of risk. The consumer tries to collect as much information as possible,
both from memory (internal search) and from outside sources (external search).
On the basis of the importance of the decision, each product alternative is carefully evaluated. The evaluation is often done by considering the attributes of one
brand at a time and seeing how each brand’s attributes shape up to some set of
desired characteristics.
Next, the discussion will turn to the stages involved in the extended-problemsolving context.
Problem Recognition
Ford’s plan to promote its Fusion hybrid model focused on people who aren’t thinking about buying a new car—at least not right now. Its TV commercials targeted what
the auto industry terms the “upper funnel,” or potential buyers down the road.
Ford’s research found that a large number of U.S. drivers are still unaware of the
Fusion. The company was confident that it could close sales if and when customers
decide to buy a new car. But its weak spot was to get people into the frame of mind
where they wanted to do that. So, to create desire where there was none, Ford promoted a special website where visitors could enter to win a trip and a new Fusion.
Ford publicized the sweepstakes on Twitter and Facebook; during the first two weeks
of the promotion, almost 70 000 people requested more information about the car.15
Problem recognition occurs at what Ford terms “the upper funnel” when we
experience a significant difference between our current state of affairs and some
state we desire. We realize that to get from here to there we need to solve a problem, which may be small or large, simple or complex. A person who unexpectedly
runs out of gas on the highway has a problem, as does the person who becomes
dissatisfied with the image of his car, even though there is nothing mechanically
wrong with it.
Problems arise in one of two ways. The person who runs out of gas experiences a
decline in the quality of his actual state–need recognition. In contrast, the person who
craves a newer, flashier car moves his ideal state-opportunity recognition, meaning
there is a gulf between the actual state and the ideal state.16 Figure 9–3 highlights how
opportunity recognition and need recognition can occur.
FIGURE 9–3
Problem Recognition: Shifts in Actual or Ideal States
Ideal
Ideal State
Actual State
Ideal
Actual
Actual
NO PROBLEM
OPPORTUNITY
RECOGNITION
NEED
RECOGNITION
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
This advertisement from Tylenol works at the
“problem recognition” stage of the decisionmaking process by offering a solution to
having a headache.
Courtesy Johnson & Johnson
Information Search
Once a problem has been recognized, consumers need adequate information to resolve
it. Information search is the process in which the consumer surveys his or her environment for appropriate data to make a reasonable decision. This section will review
some of the factors involved in this search. You might recognize a need and then
search the marketplace for specific information (a process we call prepurchase search).
However, many of us, especially veteran shoppers, enjoy browsing just for the fun of it
or because we like to stay up to date on what’s happening in the marketplace. These
shopaholics engage in ongoing search.17
I n t e r n a l ver sus Exter n al Sear ch
Information sources can be roughly broken down into two kinds: internal and external. As a result of prior experience and simply living in a consumer culture, each
of us already has in memory some degree of knowledge about many products.
­Confronted with a purchase decision, we might engage in internal search by scanning
our own memory banks to assemble information about different product alternatives
(see Chapter 3). Usually, though, even the most market-savvy of us need to supplement this knowledge with external search, in which information is obtained from
advertisements, friends, or people-watching. One study demonstrated how what our
neighbours buy impacts our own decision making. The researchers discovered that
when one of a person’s 10 nearest neighbours bought a car, the odds that he would buy
a car of the same make during the next week and a half jumped 86 percent.18
D e l ib e r ate ver s us “A cciden tal” Sear ch
Our existing knowledge of a product may be the result of directed learning, wherein
on a previous occasion we had already searched for relevant information or experienced some of the alternatives. A parent who bought a birthday cake for one child last
month, for example, probably has a good idea of the best kind to buy for another child
this month.
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
Alternatively, we may have acquired information in a more passive manner. Even
though a product might not be of interest, exposure to advertising, packaging, and
sales promotion activities might result in incidental learning. Mere exposure over
time to conditioned stimuli and observations of others results in the learning of much
material that may not be needed for some time after the fact, if ever. For marketers, this
result is actually a benefit of steady, “low-dose” advertising, since product associations are established and maintained until the time they are needed.19
In some cases we may be such an expert about a particular product category (or at
least believe we are) that no additional search is undertaken. Frequently, however, our
own existing state of knowledge is not satisfactory to make an adequate decision and
we must go outside ourselves for more information. The sources we consult for advice
vary. They may be impersonal and marketer-dominated sources, such as retailers and
catalogues; they may be friends and family members; or they may be unbiased third
parties, such as Yelp or Consumer Reports.20
One type of deliberate search involves searching on the Internet for information.
What’s the most common way for us to conduct information search today? Google it,
of course! Although there are other search engines out there, such as Bing, Yahoo!,
or even YouTube, Google’s software that examines the Web for matches to terms like
“home theatre system” or “tattoo removal services” is so dominant—with 96 percent
of the world’s mobile search market—that the name has become a verb. However,
even a giant like Google can’t rest on its laurels, because changes in how we search
will probably reduce our reliance on search engines. Increasingly, consumers bypass
Google as they go directly on their smartphones or tablets to apps like Yelp to read
and write product reviews.21 However, as anyone who’s ever Googled knows, the
Web delivers enormous amounts of product and retailer information in seconds. The
biggest problem Web surfers face these days is to narrow down their choices, not to
beef them up. In cyberspace, simplification is key. Still, the sad reality is that in
many cases we simply don’t search as much as we might. If we Google a term, most
of us are only likely to look at the first few results at the top of the list. Indeed, that’s
one reason why search engine optimization (SEO) is so important today. This term
refers to the procedures companies use to design the content of websites and posts to
maximize the likelihood that their content will show up when someone searches for
a relevant term.
Not surprisingly, social media platforms also play a major role in the search process. Although about 60 percent of consumers start their online process by typing
queries into a search engine like Google or Bing, 40 percent now continue their quest
for more information on other social media platforms, such as blogs, YouTube, Twitter,
and Facebook. The goal here is not to collect more technical or performance information, but to get other people’s opinions about options in the product category—and to
eliminate some brands from consideration when others ding them. What’s more, after
they buy a brand, about three-quarters of shoppers who use social media in the process choose to follow it on the company’s Facebook page so that they can continue to
engage with it in the future.22
D o Co ns um e rs A lway s S e a rc h R at io n ally?
As we’ve seen, we don’t necessarily engage in a rational search process where we carefully identify and evaluate every alternative before we choose the one we want. In fact,
the amount of external search we do for most products is surprisingly small, even
when we would benefit if we had more information. And lower-income shoppers, who
have more to lose when they make a bad purchase, actually search less before they buy
than do more affluent people.23
One widely used distinction is between a decision strategy that seeks to deliver
the best possible result (maximizing) and one that simply tries to yield an adequate
solution—often as a way to reduce the costs of the decision-making process. This is
called a satisficing solution (economist Herbert Simon even won a Nobel Prize for this
CO 3
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
idea in 1956). Since we rarely have the resources (especially the time) to weigh every
possible factor into a decision, we will often happily settle for a solution that is just
good enough. This perspective on decision making is called bounded rationality.
These two extremes have huge implications for marketing and retailing strategy,
because they imply very different approaches to customers. Indeed, the maximizer
strongly resembles the high-involvement consumer we discussed in Chapter 4—she
who is going to go all out to explore as much information as she can before she decides.
In contrast, the satisficer resembles the low-involvement consumer who will probably
use some simple shortcuts (which we’ll discuss shortly) to just pick something decent
and get on with her life.
Many consumers are satisficers; typically they visit only one or two stores and
rarely seek out unbiased information sources before they make a purchase decision,
especially when they have little time available to do so.24 This pattern is especially
prevalent for decisions about durable goods, such as appliances or autos, even when
these products represent significant investments. One study of Australian car buyers
found that more than a third had made two or fewer trips to inspect cars prior to
buying one.25
This tendency to avoid external search is less prevalent when consumers consider the purchase of symbolic items, such as clothing. In those cases, not surprisingly, people tend to do a fair amount of external search, although most of it involves
seeking the opinions of peers.26 The stakes might be lower financially, but these
self-expressive decisions can be seen as having negative social consequences if the
wrong choice is made. The level of perceived risk, a concept to be discussed shortly,
is therefore high.
In addition, consumers are often observed to engage in brand switching, even if
their current brands satisfy their needs. For example, researchers who were studying
the beer market for British brewer Bass Export discovered the consumer trend of having a repertoire of two to six favourite brands rather than sticking to only one. This
preference for brand switching led them to decide to begin exporting their Tennent’s
1885 lager to the United States, positioning the brew as an alternative for young drinkers’ usual favourite brands.27 Sometimes it seems that people just like to try new
things—that is, they are interested in variety seeking, in which the priority is to vary
one’s product experiences, perhaps as a form of stimulation to reduce boredom.
Variety seeking is especially likely to occur when people are in a good mood or
when there is relatively little stimulation elsewhere in their environment.28 In the
Quality Street does an excellent job of
appealing to variety seekers by offering an
array of options—all in the same box of
chocolates.
QUALITY STREET ® is a registered trademark of Société
des Produits Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland.
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
case of foods and beverages, variety seeking can occur because of a phenomenon
known as sensory-specific satiety. Put simply, this means that the pleasantness of
food just eaten drops while the pleasantness of uneaten foods remains unchanged.29
So even though we have favourites, we still like to sample other possibilities. Ironically, consumers may actually switch to less-preferred options for variety’s sake even
though they enjoy the more familiar option more.30 On the other hand, when the
decision situation is ambiguous, or when there is little information about competing
brands, consumers tend to opt for the safe choice by selecting familiar brands and
maintaining the status quo.
M e nta l A c c ou n t in g: Bia s e s in t h e D ecisio n -Mak in g Pr o cess
Consider the following scenario: You’ve been given a free ticket to a playoff hockey
game. At the last minute a sudden snowstorm makes getting to the arena somewhat
dangerous. Would you go?
Now, assume the same game and snowstorm, except this time you paid handsomely for the ticket. Would you go?
Analysis of people’s responses to this situation and to others illustrates principles
of mental accounting, where decisions are influenced by the way a problem is posed
(called framing) and by whether it is put in terms of gains or losses.31 For example,
people are more likely to risk their personal safety in the storm if they paid for the
hockey ticket. Only the most diehard fan would fail to recognize that this is an irrational choice, since the risk to the person is the same regardless of whether he or she got
a great deal on the ticket. This decision-making bias is called the sunk-cost fallacy—
having paid for something makes us reluctant to waste it.
Whether we focus on the present or the future is another example of how framing
an issue influences the options we choose and how we feel about them. The condition
of hyperopia (the medical term for being far-sighted) describes people who are so
obsessed with preparing for the future that they can’t enjoy the present. University
students who participated in a study on this phenomenon reported that they regretted
not working, studying, or saving money during their winter breaks. But when researchers asked them to imagine how they will feel about this break a year from now, their
biggest regrets were that they didn’t have enough fun or travel enough. In another
study, female subjects received a ticket for a lottery that would be held three months
later. They had to choose in advance from one of two prizes if they won: either $85 in
cash or an $80 voucher for a massage or facial at a spa. Even though they were reminded
that they could use the $85 in cash to get a spa treatment and pocket the $5 difference,
more than a third of the women chose the voucher. Researchers found similar results
in other situations; when people had to choose between cash and prizes such as bottles of wine or dinners out, many of them chose the luxuries even though the cash was
a better deal. One participant observed, “If I took the cash it would end up going into
the rent.”32
Another bias is known as loss aversion. People put much more emphasis on
loss than they do on gain. For example, for most people losing money is more
unpleasant than the pleasure of gaining money. One theory that highlights how
individuals respond to losses and gains is prospect theory.33 This theory has four
key parts:
1. People think in terms of gains and losses with respect to some reference point. For
example, imagine that Yoonji calls a helpline and is told the wait will be 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Chuck calls the helpline and is told the wait will be 30 minutes. They
both end up waiting 20 minutes before they are helped. Yoonji will think of this
20-minute wait as a loss of 10 minutes of her time, and she will be upset, whereas
Chuck will think of the exact same 20-minute wait as a gain of 10 minutes, and
be happy.
2. Furthermore, people are loss averse, meaning that losses count twice as much as
equivalent gains. For example, while Chuck may only be a little happy about an
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
252
Courtesy of Gerald Häubl
As I See It
Advances in information and
network technology are transforming how consumers shop.
One key aspect of this is that
the amount of time and effort
required to obtain information
about what is available in the
marketplace has decreased
dramatically. While easy access
to huge amounts of information
about many different products
and services has clear advantages for consumers, it can also
be overwhelming for them.
Therefore, I (and others) have
argued that it is important to
Dr. Gerald Häubl University of Alberta
provide consumers with tools
that filter all of the available
information and direct their attention toward what is most relevant
to them if they are to truly benefit from this dramatic increase in
the accessibility of information.
Some of my research group’s work has involved examining
tools designed to help consumers make purchase decisions in
technology-mediated environments. One important form of
such consumer assistance is the provision of personalized
product recommendations, either by the seller or by a third
party. The basic idea is that a recommendation system obtains
some understanding of a consumer’s idiosyncratic preferences
(either elicited explicitly or inferred on the basis of passive
observation), which is then used to selectively draw that
individual’s attention to those offerings likely to best match his
or her preference.
Our research shows that personalized product recommendations can be highly beneficial to consumers. Specifically,
those who shop with such assistance tend to make substantially
better purchase decisions—in that they choose products that
better match their preferences—and they do so with much less
effort than they would exert otherwise.1
On the other hand, tools that assist shoppers also provide
an opportunity for companies to influence consumer behaviour.
Many real-world recommendation tools are provided by organizations that have objectives other than—or in addition to—helping
consumers find the product that is best for them (at the lowest
price). In many cases, consumers don’t seem to mind that the
product recommendations they receive are somewhat biased.
One reason for this is that the benefits of this type of assistance,
compared to shopping without it, are substantial.2 In addition,
consumers might believe that they are able to recognize bias and
“decontaminate” product recommendations. However, our
research shows that consumers’ product choices are influenced
substantially by even seemingly harmless aspects of a recommendation tool such as the particular set of product features
that are used as input in generating the recommendations.3
My research group continues to study various aspects of consumer behaviour in connection with assistive technology. Some of
this work seeks to enhance our understanding of the psychological
processes that underlie assisted decision making,4 whereas other
parts of this research program focus on how to design consumeroriented decision support systems that are more effective and
more widely accepted than what is currently available.5
1
Gerald Häubl and Valerie Trifts, “Consumer Decision Making in Online Shopping Environments: The Effects of Interactive Decision Aids,” Marketing Science 19(1)
(2000): 4–21.
2
Gerald Häubl and Kyle Murray, “Double Agents: Assessing the Role of Electronic Product Recommendation Systems,” Sloan Management Review 47(3) (2006): 8–12.
3
Gerald Häubl and Kyle Murray, “Preference Construction and Persistence in Digital Marketplaces: The Role of Electronic Recommendation Agents,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology 13(1/2) (2003): 75–91.
4 Benedict Dellaert and Gerald Häubl, “Searching in Choice Mode: Consumer Decision Processes in Product Search with Recommendations,” Journal of Marketing Research
49(2) (2012): 277–288; Murat Usta and Gerald Häubl, “Self-Regulatory Strength and Consumers’ Relinquishment of Decision Control: When Less Effortful Decisions Are
More Resource Depleting,” Journal of Marketing Research 48(2) (2011): 403–412.
5
Kyle Murray and Gerald Häubl, “Personalization without Interrogation: Towards More Effective Interactions between Consumers and Feature-Based Recommendation
Agents,” Journal of Interactive Marketing 23(2) (2009): 138–146; Bob Price, Russ Greiner, Gerald Häubl, and Alden Flatt, “Automatic Construction of Personalized Customer
Interfaces,” Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI-06, 2006): 250–256.
extra 10 minutes of time, Yoonji might be quite upset about 10 minutes of lost
time. Likewise, according to a recent national survey of Canadians, credit card
interest rates and fees count much more than equivalent credit card rewards.34
3. People are risk averse concerning gains, and risk seeking concerning losses. For
example, imagine there is a shipping disaster, and 600 people are at risk of dying.
Your firm is considering two rescue strategies. Strategy A: Save 200 people for
sure. Strategy B: A one-third chance of saving 600 people and a two-thirds chance
that no one will be saved. In this case, considering potential gains, most people
are risk averse and prefer Strategy A. However, the same decision can be framed
as a loss: In Strategy A, 400 people die for sure. In Strategy B, there is a one-third
chance that no one will die and a two-thirds chance that 600 people will die. With
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
this “loss framing,” most people prefer Strategy B, even though the final outcomes
are logically equivalent to the gain frame.
4. People tend to overweight small probabilities. This explains the popularity of lotteries: People think they have a chance of winning, no matter how small the actual
probability. Likewise, consumers are often willing to pay for insurance and product warranties, even for extremely rare events.35
A related framing phenomenon is the “house money” effect, which is illustrated
by the following choices. For each, would you take the safe bet or choose to gamble?
•
Option #1: You’re given $30 and then offered a chance to flip a coin: heads you
win $9, tails you lose $9.
•
Option #2: You’re given a choice of getting $30 outright or accepting a coin flip
that will win you either $39 or $21.
In one study, 70 percent of those given option #1 chose to gamble, compared with
just 43 percent of those offered option #2. Yet the odds are the same for both options!
The difference is that people prefer “playing with the house money”; they are more
willing to take risks when they perceive that they’re using someone else’s resources.
So, contrary to a rational decision-making perspective, we value money differently
depending on where it comes from. This explains, for example, why people might
choose to blow a big bonus on some frivolous purchase, while they would never
consider taking that same amount out of their savings account for this purpose.
Finally, research in mental accounting demonstrates that extraneous characteristics of the choice situation can influence our selections, even though they shouldn’t if
we were totally rational decision makers. For example, participants in a survey were
provided with one of two versions of this scenario: “You are lying on the beach on a
hot day. All you have to drink is ice water. For the last hour you have been thinking
about how much you would enjoy a nice cold bottle of your favourite brand of beer. A
companion gets up to go and make a phone call, and he offers to bring back a beer from
the only nearby place where beer is sold [either a fancy resort hotel or a small, rundown grocery store, depending on the version you’re given]. He says that the beer
might be expensive and asks how much you are willing to pay for it. What price do
you tell him?”
In this survey, the median price given by participants who were in the fancyresort version was $5, while those who were told the grocery-store version were willing to pay only $2.25! In both versions the consumption act is the same, the beer is the
same, and no “atmosphere” is consumed since the beer is being brought back to the
beach.36 So much for rational decision making!
How Much Search Occurs?
CO 4
As a general rule, search activity is greater when the purchase is important, when
there is a need to learn more about the purchase, and when the relevant information is
easily obtained and used.37 Consumers differ in the amount of search they tend to
undertake, regardless of the product category in question. All things being equal,
younger, better-educated people who enjoy the shopping/fact-finding process tend to
conduct more information search. Women are more inclined to search than men, as
are those who place greater value on style and the image they present.38
Amou nt of I nf o r m at io n Ava il a b l e
Contrary to what might be expected, more information is not always better for the consumer. We know that consumers have limited capacity in their short-term memory and
adjust to their environment by making it more manageable. Therefore, when in choice
environments with more information than we can easily process, we truncate the environment to deal efficiently with a subset of it. For example, when shopping for wine or
beer, shoppers do not consider all information available, such as bottler, ingredients,
253
Marketing
Insight
Why are organ donation rates more than twice as
high in Spain as in Canada? One reason is that
in Canada, people have to actively sign up or
“opt in” to the organ donation registry, while in
Spain, people are automatically placed on the
registry unless they “opt out.” This difference in
defaults is an example of choice architecture.
Choice architecture involves the different
ways in which choices can be presented to consumers in order to influence their preferences
and decisions. Often, the goal of choice architecture is to “nudge” consumers toward better
decisions, improving the welfare of individuals
and society; for example, by helping people
choose healthier foods, save more for retirement,
go to the gym more, and be more sustainable.
One big success using different ways of presenting the way the choice is framed is the
“Save More Tomorrow” program, which dramatically increased employee retirement savings
rates. In the program, people commit in advance
to setting aside a portion of their future salary
increases. This works for two reasons. First,
people are present biased and are more willing
to sign up for a retirement program if they don’t
have to give anything today. Second, because
the retirement contributions come out of salary
raises, the contributions don’t feel like a loss,
and don’t hurt as much. This program increased
saving rates from 3.5 percent to 13.6 percent
over a period of 40 months.
This box content was written by David
Hardisty, University of British Columbia.
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
A variety of factors can increase external
search, including the amount of information
available, the consumer’s expertise, and
perceived risk.
Amble Design/Shutterstock
price, brand, image, or reputation. Shoppers consider only partial information, because
there are just too many combinations of all the attributes to take into short-term memory
and process effectively.
The C o n sum er ’s Pr io r Exp ertise
Should prior product knowledge make it more or less likely that a consumer will
engage in a search? Product experts and novices use very different procedures during
decision making. Novices who know little about a product should be the most motivated to find out more about it; however, experts, who are more familiar with the product category, should be able to better understand the meaning of any new product
information they might acquire.
So who searches more? The answer is neither: Search tends to be greatest among
those consumers who are moderately knowledgeable about the product. There is an
inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge and external search effort, as
shown in Figure 9–4. People with very limited expertise may not feel they are capable
of searching extensively. In fact, they may not even know where to start. Many times
people do not spend a lot of time researching their purchases. They may visit one store
FIGURE 9–4
AMOUNT OF SEARCH
The Relationship between Amount of Information Search and Product Knowledge
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE AND/OR
AMOUNT OF INFORMATION
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
and look only at brands with which they are already familiar. In addition, only a small
number of product features may be considered.39
The type of search undertaken by people with varying levels of expertise differs as well. Because experts have a better sense of what information is relevant to
the decision, they tend to engage in selective search, which means their efforts are
more focused and efficient. In contrast, novices are more likely to rely on the opinions of others and upon “non-functional” attributes, such as brand name and price,
to distinguish among alternatives. They may also process information in a “topdown” rather than a “bottom-up” manner, focusing less on details than on the big
picture. For instance, they may be more impressed by the sheer amount of technical information presented on a webpage than by the actual significance of the
claims made.40
Pe r ce ive d R is k
One additional factor that can lead to more extensive search is the degree of perceived
risk, or the belief that the product has potentially negative or uncertain consequences.
Perceived risk may be present if the product is expensive or is complex and hard to
understand. Alternatively, perceived risk can be a factor when a product choice is
visible to others and we run the risk of embarrassment if the wrong choice is made.
Figure 9–5 lists five basic kinds of risk—including both objective factors (such as
physical danger) and subjective factors (such as social embarrassment)—as well as the
FIGURE 9–5
Five Types of Perceived Risk
BUYERS MOST
SENSITIVE TO RISK
PURCHASES MOST
SUBJECT TO RISK
MONETARY
RISK
Risk capital consists of money
and property. Those with
relatively little income and
wealth are most vulnerable.
High-ticket items that require
substantial expenditures are
most subject to this form of risk.
FUNCTIONAL
RISK
Risk capital consists of
alternative means of performing the function or meeting the
need. Practical consumers are
most sensitive.
Products or services whose
purchase and use require the
buyer’s exclusive commitment
and preclude redundancy are
most sensitive.
PHYSICAL
RISK
Risk capital consists of physical
vigour, health, and vitality.
Those who are elderly, frail, or
in ill health are most vulnerable.
Mechanical or electrical goods
(such as vehicles or flammables), drugs and medical
treatment, and food and
beverages are most sensitive.
SOCIAL
RISK
Risk capital consists of
self-esteem and
self-confidence. Those who are
insecure and uncertain are
most sensitive.
Socially visible or symbolic
goods, such as clothes,
jewellery, cars, homes, or
sports equipment, are most
subject to this form of risk.
Risk capital consists of
affiliations and status. Those
lacking self-respect or
attractiveness to peers are
most sensitive.
Expensive personal luxuries
that may engender guilt,
durables, and services whose
use demands self-discipline or
sacrifice are most sensitive.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
RISK
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
products subject to each type of risk. As this figure notes, consumers with greater “risk
capital” are less affected by perceived risks associated with the products. For example,
a highly self-confident person would be less worried about the social risk inherent in
a product, while a more vulnerable, insecure consumer might be reluctant to take a
chance on a product that might not be accepted by peers.
Evaluation of Alternatives
Much of the effort that goes into a purchase decision occurs at the stage at which a
choice must be made from the available alternatives. After all, modern consumer society abounds with choices. In some cases there may be literally hundreds of different
brands (as in beer) or different variations of the same brand (as in shades of lipstick),
each screaming for our attention.
Just for fun, ask a female friend to name all the brands of perfume she can think of.
Odds are she will reel off three to five names rather quickly and then stop to think
awhile before coming up with a few more. It is likely that perfumes in the first set of
brands are those with which she is highly familiar, and she probably wears one or
more of these. The list may also contain one or two brands that she does not like and
would perhaps like to forget. Note also that there are many, many more brands on the
market than she named.
If your friend were to go to the store to buy perfume, it is likely that she would
consider buying some or most of the brands she listed initially. She might also consider a few more possibilities if these were forcefully brought to her attention while at
the store—for example, if she were “ambushed” by an employee who sprays scent
samples on shoppers, which is a common occurrence in some department stores.
Identifying Alternatives
The alternatives actively considered during a consumer’s choice process are called his
or her consideration or evoked set. The evoked set comprises those products already
in memory (the retrieval set) plus those prominent in the retail environment. For
When it comes to evaluating alternatives,
some product categories are difficult to
evaluate in online contexts. In an attempt
to overcome this barrier, L’Oréal cosmetics
has created an app called “Makeup Genius.”
This application uses the camera on the
consumer’s phone to create a virtual
“makeover” that allows her to compare
and contrast different products.
© L’Oréal Paris
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
257
FIGURE 9–6
Identifying Alternatives: Getting in the Game
All
Alternatives
Consideration
or
Evoked Set
Retrieval
Set
(Stored
Memory)
Inert
Set
Inept
Set
Prominent
Products in
Environment
(Advertising)
example, suppose you are looking for a new HDTV, but you do not know much about
the technical aspects of TV sets and have only a few major brands in memory. Of
these, two are acceptable possibilities and one is not. The alternatives that you are
aware of but would not consider buying because they aren’t what you are looking for
are your inept set, while those not coming to mind at all compose the inert set. These
categories are depicted in Figure 9–6.
For obvious reasons, a marketer who finds that its brand is not in the evoked set of
many consumers in the target market has cause to worry. A product is not likely to be
placed in the evoked set after it has previously been considered and rejected. Indeed,
a new brand is more likely to be added to the evoked set than is an existing brand that
was previously considered but passed over, even after additional positive information
is provided for that brand.41 For marketers, this unwillingness to give a rejected product a second chance underscores the importance of ensuring that it performs well from
the time it is introduced.
An advertising campaign for Hyundai illustrates how hard a company sometimes has to work to get its brand into consumers’ evoked set. Many people think of
Hyundai strictly as a low-cost vehicle, even though it has received high marks for
quality in recent years. The carmaker’s “Think about It” campaign encouraged consumers to reconsider their long-held beliefs through frank statements such as “The
logo is there to tell you what the car is, not who you are,” and “When a car company
charges for roadside assistance, aren’t they just helping themselves?” As Hyundai’s
vice-president for marketing explained, “Unless we give people a compelling reason
to shuffle the brand deck, they’ll stand with the brands they know rather than make
that switch.”42
How Do We Put Products into Categories?
Tropicana (a division of PepsiCo) has rolled out a new pureed fruit product that it
hopes is thick enough that consumers will view it as a snack rather than as a beverage.43 Tropolis comes in brightly coloured pouches to appeal to moms and kids. The
head of PepsiCo’s nutrition group maintains that it’s time to move beyond the idea
that snacks are dry and beverages are wet. As Tropicana realizes, the category we
assign to a product is important, because it influences what we compare it to and
how we use it.
Consumers
in Focus
Women choose a new shoe according to its
brand category—or do they? At the footwear
website MustHaveShoes.com, shoppers see
shoes categorized by style rather than brand—
for example, black high heels, strappy thong
sandals, or funky boots. One of the site’s developers explains the shift in categorization:
“When you walk into a shoe store, there are
tables set up with shoes that have something
in common—they’re not usually separated by
brand. Maybe everything will have a metallic
tone, or there’ll be several evening shoes
together.” When consumers make choices, categories matter.44
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Remember that when consumers process product information, they don’t do it in
a vacuum. They evaluate its attributes in terms of what they already know about the
item or other similar products. A person who thinks about a particular 35-mm digital
camera will most likely compare it to other 35-mm digital cameras rather than to a
camera phone. Because the category in which a consumer places a product determines
the other products he or she will compare it to, the way we classify a brand in our
minds plays a big role in how we evaluate it. These classifications derive from different product attributes, including appearance (e.g., we assume chocolates in silver or
gold wrappings are more upscale), price (we view items with prices ending in .99 as
cheaper than those ending in .00), or previously learned connections (“If it has the
name Porsche on it, it must be expensive”).45
The products in a consumer’s evoked set are likely to be those that share some
similar features. This process of categorizing products can either help or hurt a
product, depending on what people compare it to. For example, in one survey
about 25 percent of consumers said they would be less likely to buy a product
made of hemp if they knew it was derived from the same plant as marijuana (but
without any of the latter’s effects). When faced with a new product, consumers
refer to their already existing knowledge in familiar product categories to form
new knowledge.46
It is important to understand how this knowledge is represented in consumers’
“cognitive structure”—their body of factual knowledge (i.e., beliefs) about products
and the way it is organized in their minds.47 These structures, or schemas, were
discussed in Chapter 4. One reason cognitive structure is important is that marketers want to ensure that their products are correctly grouped. For example, Tide
Pods ran into the problem of consumers miscategorizing the product category when
children mistook the small sachets of laundry detergent for candy. One study
reports that during a two-year period, poison control centres received 17 000 calls!
Clearly, it is in the marketer’s best interest to ensure that people correctly categorize
their product offerings.48
Le v e l s o f Categ o r izatio n
Not only do people group things into categories, but these groupings also occur at
different levels of specificity. Typically, a product is represented in a cognitive structure at one of three levels. To understand this idea, consider how someone might
POM Wonderful Juice wants consumers to
categorize the product as a health product,
rather than just a tasty fruit beverage.
Jason DeCrow/AP Images for POM Wonderful
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
FIGURE 9–7
Levels of Abstraction in Dessert Categories
Dessert
SUPERORDINATE LEVEL
Fattening Dessert
Ice Cream
Pie
BASIC LEVEL
Cake
SUBORDINATE
LEVEL
Non-fattening Dessert
Fruit
Yogurt
Diet Ice
Cream
respond to the following questions about an ice cream cone: What other products
share similar characteristics? Which would be considered as alternatives to eating
a cone?
The questions may be more complex than they first appear. At one level a cone is
similar to an apple, because both can be eaten as a dessert. At another level a cone is
similar to a piece of pie, because both are eaten for dessert and both are fattening. At
still another level a cone is similar to an ice cream sundae; both are eaten for dessert,
are made of ice cream, and are fattening.
It is easy to see that the items a person associates with the category of, say, “fattening dessert” influence the choices he or she will make for what to eat after dinner. The
middle level, known as a basic-level category, is typically the most useful in classifying products, since items grouped together at this level tend to have a lot in common
with each other but still permit a range of alternatives to be considered. The first level,
the broader superordinate category, is more abstract, while the third, more specific
subordinate category often includes individual brands.49 These three levels are
depicted in Figure 9–7.
Of course, not all items fit equally well into a category. Apple pie is a better example of the subordinate category “pie” than rhubarb pie, even though both are legitimate kinds of pies. Apple pie is thus more prototypical and would tend to be
considered first, especially by category novices. In contrast, pie experts will tend to
have knowledge about both typical and atypical category examples.50
Str ate gic Impl ic at io n s o f Pr o duc t C ateg o r izatio n
Product categorization has many strategic implications. The way a product is grouped
with others has very important ramifications for determining both its competitors and
what criteria will be used to make this choice.
Product Positioning The success of a positioning strategy often hinges on the mar-
keter’s ability to convince the consumer that its product should be considered within
a given category. For example, the orange juice industry tried to reposition orange
juice as a drink that could be enjoyed all day long (“It’s not just for breakfast anymore”). On the other hand, soft drink companies are now attempting to do the opposite, portraying their beverages as suitable for breakfast consumption. They are trying
to make their way into consumers’ “breakfast drink” category, along with orange juice,
grapefruit juice, and coffee. Indeed, this categorization already exists for many consumers in the southern United States, who routinely guzzle a soft drink with their
breakfast! Of course, this strategy can backfire, as Pepsi discovered when it introduced
Pepsi A.M. and positioned it as a coffee substitute. The company did such a good job
of categorizing the drink as a morning beverage that customers wouldn’t drink it at any
other time. The product failed.51
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
This advertisement from Sunkist attempts to
reposition the product by placing it in a new
category—a salt substitute.
Courtesy of Sunkist Growers
Identifying Competitors At the more abstract, superordinate level of categorization, many different product forms can compete for membership. Both bowling
and ballet may be considered subcategories of “entertainment” by some people,
but many would not necessarily consider the substitution of one of these activities for the other. Products and services that, on the surface, are quite different
actually compete with each other at a broad level, often for consumers’ discretionary dollars. Although bowling or ballet may not be a likely trade-off for many people, it is conceivable that, for example, a symphony might try to lure away ballet
season ticketholders by positioning itself as an equivalent member of the category
“cultural event.”52
Consumers are often faced with choices between non-comparable categories, in
which a number of attributes exist that cannot be directly related to one another (the
old problem of comparing apples and oranges). The comparison process is easier when
consumers can derive an overlapping category that encompasses both items (such as
entertainment value or usefulness) and then rate each alternative in terms of that
superordinate category.53
Exemplar Products: POMEGRANATES versus Apples, Etc. If a product is a
Marketing
Insight
One implication of the notion that consumers
like to place products into categories is the
emergence of hybrid products that feature
characteristics from two distinct domains.
These products often have positive qualities
from two different categories. Examples
include the crossover utility vehicle (CUV) that
mixes a passenger car and a sport utility
vehicle (SUV) and the recent “cronut” craze (a
combination croissant and doughnut) that
started with a New York bakery and made its
leap to national stardom courtesy of Dunkin’
Donuts.54
really good example of a category, it is more familiar to consumers and, as a result, is
more easily recognized and recalled.55 Judgments about category attributes tend to be
disproportionately influenced by the characteristics of category exemplars.56 In a
sense, brands that are strongly associated with a category get to “call the shots” by
defining the criteria that should be used to evaluate all category members.
Being a bit less than prototypical is not necessarily a bad thing. Products that
are moderately unusual within their product category may stimulate more information processing and positive evaluations, since they are neither so familiar that
they will be taken for granted nor so discrepant that they will be dismissed. 57
Further, a brand that is strongly discrepant may occupy a niche position, while
those that are moderately discrepant remain in a differentiated position within
the general category.58
Locating Products Product categorization can also affect consumers’ expectations
regarding the places they can locate a desired product. If products do not clearly fit
into categories (e.g., Is a rug furniture?), consumers’ ability to find them or make sense
of them may be affected. For instance, a frozen dog food that had to be thawed and
cooked failed in the market, partly because people could not adapt to the idea of
buying dog food in the “frozen foods for people” section of the grocery store.
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
261
Product Choice: Selecting among
Alternatives
Once the relevant options from a category have been assembled, a choice must be
made among them.59 Recall that the decision rules that guide choice can range from
very simple and quick strategies to complicated processes requiring a lot of attention
and cognitive processing. Our job isn’t getting any easier as companies overwhelm us
with more and more features. We deal with smartphones with hundreds of apps, digital cameras with mysterious features and book-length manuals, and tablets with more
options than one can realistically manage. Experts call this spiral of complexity feature creep. As evidence that the proliferation of gizmos is counterproductive, Philips
Electronics found that at least half of the products buyers return have nothing wrong
with them—consumers simply couldn’t figure out how to use them! What’s worse, on
average a buyer spent only 20 minutes trying to figure out how to use the product
before giving up.
Why don’t companies avoid this problem? One reason is that we often assume that
the more features the better. It’s only when we get the product home and try to use it that
we realize the virtue of simplicity. In one study, consumers chose among three models
of a digital device that varied in terms of how complex each was. More than 60 percent
chose the one with the most features. Then the participants got the chance to choose
from up to 25 features to customize their product—the average person chose 20 of
these add-ons. But when they actually used the devices, it turns out that the large
number of options only frustrated them—they ended up being much happier with the
simpler product.
Interestingly, although consumers frequently choose products with too many features that they later find difficult to use, there may be some positive benefits of additional features—they may sometimes help to make a positive impression on others.
Indeed, making choices in public, where consumers’ preferences are displayed to others
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262
S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Marketing
Insight
Consumers today often want to know just where
the things they buy came from. The J. Peterman
Company clothing catalogues tell stories about
the apparel they sell, and upscale grocery stores
like Whole Foods provide great detail about the
specific farms where produce and meat were
raised. Product authenticity is becoming a
determinant attribute. Researchers claim that
although authenticity can be a hard concept to
pin down, it seems to be composed of three
attributes: heritage, sincerity, and commitment
to quality.63 That explains why many companies
like to tout their “authentic” story; for example,
New Balance describes its Maine factory like
this: “Built in 1945, the Depot Street building is
the workplace of almost 400 associates. Each
pair of shoes they produce is a proud work of
craftsmanship that carries a little bit of the
long history that is the town and its people.”64
People like to know that a company has been
around for a long time; one study even found
that consumers especially valued products that
came from a company’s original factory. These
researchers also reported that, compared to
people who read about Levi jeans from a newer
factory, when subjects read about a pair of
jeans made in the Levi Strauss plant built in
San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, they
said the pants contained more of the “true
essence” of the brand and were willing to pay
more for the “authentic” pair.65
(as when others see the consumer holding a fancy camera), encourages feature-seeking
behaviour. In contrast, the anticipation of having to actually use a complicated product
in front of others (when there is a possibility of making a mistake in front of others)
enhances the attractiveness of a simpler, feature-poor product.60
Evaluative Criteria
Evaluative criteria are the dimensions used to judge the merits of competing options.
In comparing alternative products, you might choose from among any number of criteria, ranging from very functional attributes to experiential ones.
Another important point is that criteria on which products differ carry more
weight in the decision process. If all brands being considered rate equally well on
one attribute (e.g., if all smartphones have high-resolution cameras), consumers will
have to find other attributes to use in making a choice. The specific attributes that are
actually used to differentiate among choices are determinant attributes.
Marketers can play a role in educating consumers about which criteria should be
used as determinant attributes. For example, consumer research indicated that many
consumers view the use of natural ingredients as a determinant attribute. The result
was a promotion for a toothpaste made from baking soda, which the company already
manufactured for its Arm & Hammer brand.61 And sometimes the company can even
invent a determinant attribute: PepsiCo accomplished this by stamping freshness
dates on pop cans. The company spent about $25 million on an advertising and promotional campaign to convince consumers that there’s nothing quite as horrible as a
stale can of pop—even though it has been estimated that 98 percent of all cans are
consumed well before this could be a problem. Six months after introducing the campaign, an independent survey found that 61 percent of respondents felt that freshness
dating is an important attribute for a soft drink!62
N e u r om a r k etin g : H ow Yo ur Br ain Reacts to Alter n ati ves
Is there a “buy button” in your brain? Some corporations have teamed up with neuroscientists to find out. 66 Neuromarketing uses functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI), a brain-scanning device that tracks blood flow as we perform mental tasks. In recent years, researchers have discovered that regions in the brain, such
as the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the hypothalamus, are dynamic switchboards that blend memory, emotions, and biochemical triggers. These interconnected neurons shape the ways that fear, panic, exhilaration, and social pressure
influence our choices.
Scientists know that specific regions of the brain light up in these scans to show
increased blood flow when a person recognizes a face, hears a song, makes a decision,
or senses deception. Now they hope to harness this technology to measure consumers’
reactions to movie trailers, automobiles, the appeal of a pretty face, and even their loyalty to specific brands. In one study researchers recorded brain activity as shoppers
toured a virtual store. They claim to have identified the neural region that becomes
active when a shopper decides which product to pluck from a supermarket shelf.
DaimlerAG took brain scans of men as they looked at photos of cars and confirmed that
sports cars activated their reward centres. The company’s scientists found that the
most popular vehicles—the Porsche- and Ferrari-style sports cars—triggered activity
in a section of the brain they call the fusiform face area, which governs facial recognition. A psychiatrist who ran the study commented, “They were reminded of faces
when they looked at the cars. The lights of the cars look a little like eyes.”
In another study, researchers reported that pictures of celebrities triggered many of
the same brain circuits as did images of shoes, cars, chairs, wristwatches, sunglasses,
handbags, and water bottles. All of these objects set off a rush of activity in a part of the
cortex that links to our sense of identity and social image. The scientists also identified
types of consumers based on their responses. At one extreme were people whose brains
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
responded intensely to “cool” products and celebrities with bursts of activity, but who
didn’t respond at all to “uncool” images. They dubbed these participants “cool fools”
who are likely to be impulsive or compulsive shoppers. At the other extreme were
people whose brains reacted only to the unstylish items; this pattern fits well with
people who tend to be anxious, apprehensive, or neurotic.
Many researchers remain skeptical about how helpful this technology will be for
consumer research. If indeed researchers can reliably track consumers’ brand preferences by seeing how their brains react, there may be many interesting potential opportunities for new research techniques that rely on what we (or at least our brains) do
rather than what we say.
Cybermediaries
As anyone who’s ever typed a term such as “smartphone” into a search engine
knows, the Web delivers enormous amounts of information in seconds. With the
tremendous number of websites available, and the huge number of people surfing
the Web every day, how can people organize information and decide where to
click? One type of business that is growing to meet this demand is called a
cybermediary—this term describes a website or app that helps to filter and organize
online market information so that customers can identify and evaluate alternatives
more efficiently.68
Cybermediaries can take many different forms.69 Many consumers regularly link
to comparison-shopping sites, such as Bizrate.com and Pricegrabber.com, for example,
that list online retailers that sell a given item along with the price each charges. Directories and portals like Yahoo! and The Knot are general services that tie together a
large variety of different sites.
Can you imagine choosing a restaurant before you check it out online? Increasingly, many of us rely on online reviews to steer us toward and away from specific
restaurants, hotels, movies, garments, music, and just about everything else. A survey of 28 000 respondents in 56 countries reported that online user ratings are the
second most trusted source of brand information (after recommendations from family and friends). We usually put a lot of stock in what members of our social networks recommend, often even more so than what experts recommend. This happens
even though user ratings don’t link very strongly to actual product-quality ratings
that objective evaluation services like Consumer Reports provide. And there’s evidence that mobile reviews may be less helpful than desktop reviews—even when the
same reviewer writes both. Comments posted via mobile devices are more emotional
and more negative.70
Customer product reviews are a key driver of satisfaction and loyalty. Another
advantage these reviews provide is that consumers learn about other, less popular
options they may like as well—and at the same time, products such as movies, books,
and CDs that aren’t “blockbusters” are more likely to sell. At the online DVD rental
company Netflix, for example, fellow subscribers recommend about two-thirds of the
films people order. In fact, between 70 and 80 percent of Netflix rentals come from the
company’s back catalogue of 38 000 films rather than recent releases.71
This aspect of online customer review is one important factor that’s fuelling a
new way of thinking that one writer calls the long tail.72 The basic idea is that marketers no longer need to rely solely on big hits (such as blockbuster movies or bestselling books) to find profits. Companies can also make money if they sell small
amounts of items that only a few people want—if they sell enough different items.
For example, Amazon.com maintains an inventory of 3.7 million books compared to
the 100 000 or so you’ll find in an Chapters-Indigo retail store. Most of these will sell
only a few thousand copies (if that), but the 3.6 million books that Chapters-Indigo
doesn’t carry make up a quarter of Amazon’s revenues! Other examples of the long
tail include successful microbreweries and TV networks that make money on reruns
of old shows, such as the Game Show Network.
263
Marketing
Insight
Product labels assist us with problem solving,
but some are more useful than others. Here are
some examples of the not-so-helpful variety:67
• O n a Conair Pro Style 1600 hair dryer:
Warning: Do not use in shower. Never use
while sleeping.
• Instructions for folding up a portable baby
carriage: Step 1: Remove baby.
• A rest stop on a Wisconsin highway: Do not
eat urinal cakes.
• On a bag of Fritos: You could be a winner!
No purchase necessary. Details inside.
• On some Swanson frozen dinners: Serving
suggestion: Defrost.
• On Tesco’s Tiramisu dessert (printed on
bottom of box): Do not turn upside down.
• On Marks & Spencer bread pudding:
Product will be hot after heating.
• On packaging for a Rowenta iron: Do not
iron clothes on body.
• On Nytol sleeping aid: Warning: May cause
drowsiness.
264
S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
Marketing
Insight
When a UC Berkeley professor realized he didn’t
know much about the everyday products he
bought for his family, he decided to do something about it. He developed GoodGuide, a website and iPhone application that lets consumers
enter a product’s name and learn about its
health, environmental, and social impacts. The
site continues to grow and maintains its objectivity by refusing to sell advertising, although it
does collect a small fee if a customer links to
Amazon to find a product it rates highly.73
The huge growth in demand for user reviews
in turn fuels new opinion-based sites, including
Yelp for local businesses, TripAdvisor for travel,
and Urbanspoon for restaurants. Yelp, for example, offers over 4 million reviews of everything
from corner cafés to dog groomers. People who
take the time to post to these sites don’t do it
for money, but they do generate an income in
the form of props for good recommendations.
Analysts refer to this reward system as the reputation economy; many thousands of consumers devote significant time to editing Wikipedia
entries, serving as brand advocates, or uploading clips to YouTube simply because they enjoy
the process and want to boost their reputations
as knowledgeable advisors.74
Consumers often simplify choices by using
heuristics such as automatically choosing a
favourite colour or brand.
Courtesy of iParty Retail Store Corp.
Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts
CO 5
To simplify decisions, consumers often employ decision rules that allow them to use
some dimensions as substitutes for others. These assumptions serve as a shortcut to
more extensive information processing.75 Especially where limited problem solving
occurs prior to making a choice, consumers often fall back on heuristics, or mental
rules of thumb that lead to a speedy decision. These rules range from the very general
(“Higher-priced products are higher-quality products” or “I’ll buy the same brand I
bought last time”) to the very specific (“I buy Redpath, the brand of sugar my mother
always bought”).76
R e ly in g o n a Pr oduct Sig n al
One frequently used shortcut is the tendency to infer hidden dimensions of products
from observable attributes. The aspect of the product that is visible acts as a product
signal of some underlying quality. Such inferences explain why someone trying to sell
a used car takes great pains to be sure the car’s exterior is clean and shiny: Potential
buyers often judge the vehicle’s mechanical condition by its appearance, even though
this means they may drive away in a shiny, clean clunker.77
When product information is incomplete, judgments are often derived from
beliefs about covariation, or associations among events.78 For example, a consumer
may form an association between product quality and the length of time a manufacturer has been in business. Other signals or attributes believed to coexist with good or
bad products are well-known brand names, country of origin, price, and the retail
outlets that carry the product.
Unfortunately, consumers tend to be poor estimators of covariation. Their beliefs
persist despite evidence to the contrary. Similar to the consistency principle discussed
in Chapter 7, they tend to see what they are looking for. They will look for product
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
information that confirms their guesses. In one experiment, consumers sampled four
sets of products to determine whether price and quality were related. Those who
believed in this relationship prior to the study elected to sample higher-priced products, thus creating a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.80
M a r ke t B e lief s : I s I t B e t t e r If I H ave to Pay Mo r e fo r I t?
Consumers often form specific market beliefs about relationships in the marketplace.
These beliefs then become the shortcuts—whether or not they are accurate—that guide
their decisions.81 A large number of market beliefs have been identified. Some of these
are listed in Table 9–2 on the next page. How many do you share?
Do higher prices mean higher quality? The assumption of a price–quality relationship is one of the most pervasive market beliefs.82 Novice consumers may, in fact,
consider price as the only relevant product attribute. Experts also consider this information, although they tend to use price for its informational value, especially for products that are known to have wide quality variations in the marketplace (such as virgin
wool). When this quality level is more standard or strictly regulated (e.g., as it is for
VQA wines), experts do not weigh price in their decisions. For the most part this belief
is justified; you do tend to get what you pay for. However, let the buyer beware: The
assumption of a price–quality relationship is not always justified.83
Co u ntry o f O rig in a s a H e u r is t ic
A product’s “address” matters. We like to buy Italian shoes, German cars, and
French luxury goods. A product’s country of origin in some cases is an important
piece of information in the decision-making process.84 Certain items are strongly
associated with specific countries, and products from those countries often attempt
to benefit from these links. Country-of-origin effects can function as a stereotype—a
knowledge structure based on inferences across products. Though stereotypes are
often biased or inaccurate, they do play a constructive role in simplifying complex
choice situations.85
Evidence indicates that the consumer’s knowledge of a product’s country of origin
is not necessarily good or bad. Instead it has the effect of stimulating the consumer’s
interest in the product to a greater degree. The purchaser thinks more extensively
about the product and evaluates it more carefully.86 The origin of the product can thus
act as a product attribute that combines with other attributes to influence evaluations.87 In addition, the consumer’s own expertise with the product category moderates the effects of this attribute. When other information is available, experts tend to
ignore country-of-origin information whereas novices continue to rely on it. However,
when other information is unavailable or ambiguous, both experts and novices will
rely on this attribute to make a decision.88
Canada as a country of origin is extremely important for some products, especially
bottled water and vitamins. An ad for Jamieson vitamins sold in Japan reads, “This
product is imported from Canada, home of forests and lakes.”89 The image that Canada
is portraying is clean, pure, and trustworthy.
The tendency to prefer products or people of one’s own culture over those from
other countries is called ethnocentrism. Ethnocentric consumers are likely to feel it is
wrong to buy products from other countries, particularly because of the negative
effect this may have on the domestic economy. This trait has been measured on the
Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale (CETSCALE) that was devised for this purpose. The
scale identifies ethnocentric consumers by their extent of agreement with items such
as the following:
•
Purchasing foreign-made products is un-Canadian.
•
Curbs should be put on all imports.
•
Consumers who purchase products made in other countries are responsible for
putting their fellow citizens out of work.90
265
Marketing
Insight
Companies fall all over one another in their
quest to be “green.” Unfortunately, many consumers who want to buy earth-friendly products aren’t sure how to tell if an item really is
as green as it says. They would like to rely on a
convenient heuristic—the environmental
equivalent of a Good Housekeeping Seal of
Approval. Unfortunately, so many organizations
offer their own version of this seal that it’s
hard to know which are legitimate. The website
www.ecolabelling.org reports that more than
300 of these labels currently certify items from
seafood to coffee. While some of these programs, such as Green Seal and EcoLogo, obtain
independent verification of product manufacturers’ green claims, many others don’t expend
the time or money to do so. A few major retailers try to reduce confusion as they perform
their own ratings; these include Home Depot’s
“Eco Options” designation for items such as
energy-efficient light bulbs, and Office Depot’s
“Green Book” catalogue, which it distributes to
business buyers. Still, the potential for confusion and misleading claims is huge; one study
of almost 4000 consumer products found evidence of rampant greenwashing, in which
manufacturers make untrue or misleading
green claims.79
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
TABLE 9–2
Common Market Beliefs
Brand
All brands are basically the same.
Generic products are just name brands sold under a different label at a
lower price.
The best brands are the ones purchased the most.
Store
Specialty stores are great places to familiarize yourself with the best
brands; but once you figure out what you want, it’s cheaper to buy it at
a discount outlet.
A store’s character is reflected in its window displays.
Salespeople in specialty stores are more knowledgeable than other
sales personnel.
Larger stores offer better prices than small stores.
Locally owned stores give the best service.
A store that offers a good value on one of its products probably offers
good value on all of its items.
Credit and return policies are most lenient at large department stores.
Stores that have just opened usually charge attractive prices.
Prices/Discounts/Sales
Sales are typically run to get rid of slow-moving merchandise.
Stores that are constantly having sales don’t really save you money.
Within a given store, higher prices generally indicate higher quality.
Advertising and Sales
“Hard sell” advertising is associated with low-quality products.
Promotion
Items tied to “giveaways” are not a good value (even with the freebie).
Coupons represent real savings for customers because they are not
offered by the store.
When you buy heavily advertised products, you are paying for the label,
not for higher quality.
Product/Packaging
Largest-sized containers are almost always cheaper per unit than
smaller sizes.
New products are more expensive when they’re first introduced; prices
tend to settle down as time goes by.
When you are not sure what you need in a product, it’s a good idea
to invest in the extra features because you’ll probably wish you had
them later.
In general, synthetic goods are lower in quality than goods made of
natural materials.
It’s advisable to stay away from products when they are new to the market;
it usually takes the manufacturer a little time to work the bugs out.
Source: Adapted from Calvin P. Duncan, “Consumer Market Beliefs: A Review of the Literature and an Agenda for Future Research,” in Advances
in Consumer Research 17, eds. Marvin E. Goldberg, Gerald Gorn, and Richard W. Pollay (Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 1990):
729–735.
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
267
Choosing Familiar Brand Names:
Loyalty or Habit?
Branding is a marketing strategy that often functions as a heuristic. People form preferences for favourite brands and then may literally never change their minds in the
course of their lifetimes. Clearly “choose a well-known brand name” is a powerful
heuristic. Some brands in a sense are well known because they are well known; we
assume that if so many people choose a product it must be good.
Indeed, our tendency to prefer a number-one brand to the competition is so strong
that it seems to mimic a pattern scientists find in other domains, from earthquakes to
linguistics. Zipf’s law describes this pattern. In the 1930s, a linguist named George
Kingsley Zipf found that the—the most-used English word—occurs about twice as
often as of (second place), about three times as often as and (third), and so on. Since
then, scientists have found similar relationships between the size and frequency of
earthquakes and a variety of other natural and artificial phenomena.
A marketing researcher decided to apply Zipf’s law to consumer behaviour. His
firm asked Australian consumers to identify the brands of toilet paper and instant coffee they use and to rank them in order of preference. As the model predicted, people
spend roughly twice as much of their toilet paper budget on the top choice than on the
second-ranked brand, about twice as much on the number-two brand as on the thirdranked brand, and about twice as much on the number-three brand as on the numberfour brand. One ramification is that a brand that moves from number two to number
one in a category will see a much greater jump in sales than will, say, a brand that
moves from number four to number three. Brands that dominate their markets are as
much as 50 percent more profitable than their nearest competitors.91
INERTIA VERSU S BRAN D LOYALTY
Many people tend to buy the same brand just about every time they go to the store. This
consistent pattern is often due to inertia, in which a brand is bought out of habit merely
because less effort is required. If another product comes along that is for some reason
easier to buy (e.g., it is cheaper or the original product is out of stock), the consumer
will not hesitate to do so. A competitor who is trying to change a buying pattern based
on inertia can often do so rather easily, because little resistance to brand switching will
be encountered if some reason to switch is apparent.
Since there is little to no underlying commitment to the product, such promotional tools as point-of-purchase displays, extensive couponing, or noticeable price
reductions may be sufficient to “unfreeze” a consumer’s habitual pattern. This kind of
fickleness will not occur if true brand loyalty exists. In contrast to inertia, brand loyalty is a form of repeat-purchasing behaviour reflecting a conscious decision to continue buying the same brand. This concept thus refers to a pattern of purchases over
time where actual decision making occurs.92 For brand loyalty to exist, a pattern of
repeat purchasing must be accompanied by an underlying positive attitude toward the
brand. Brand loyalty may be initiated by customer preference based on objective reasons, but after the brand has been around for a long time and is heavily advertised, it
can also create an emotional attachment, either by being incorporated into the consumer’s self-image or because it is associated with prior experiences.93 Purchase decisions based on brand loyalty also become habitual over time, but the underlying
commitment to the brand is much stronger.
Decision Rules
CO 6
Consumers consider sets of product attributes by using different rules, depending on
the complexity of the decision and its importance to them. As we have seen, in some
cases these rules are quite simple: People simply rely on a “shortcut” to make a choice.
In other cases, though, more effort and thought are put into carefully weighing alternatives before coming to a decision.
Marketing
Insight
How do we ultimately help consumers make
decisions that are “good” for them? One way is
to associate the desired choice with a rewarding option. In one study, consumers’ iPods were
loaded with “guilty pleasure” books, such as
The Hunger Games, but they were only allowed
to listen to these while they were working out at
the gym. This temptation bundling increased
gym attendance by over 50 percent. In addition, after the study, 61 percent of participants
were willing to pay for this commitment device.
In other words, consumers valued a “restricteduse” iPod more than a regular, full-access
iPod! Consumers often know that they have
self-control problems, and are willing to pay
for solutions that help them make healthy
choices.94
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S E C T I O N I I I Attitude Change and Decision Making
TABLE 9–3
Hypothetical Alternatives for a TV Set
Brand Ratings
Personal Importance*
Attribute
Rating
Ranking
Prime Wave
Precision
Kamashita
Size of screen
5
6
Excellent 5
Excellent 5
Excellent 5
Stereo broadcast
4
5
Poor 1
Excellent 5
Good 4
Brand reputation
2
4
Excellent 5
Excellent 5
Poor 1
On-screen
2
3
Excellent 5
Poor 1
Poor 1
4
2
Good 4
Good 4
Good 4
1
1
Excellent 5
Poor 1
Good 4
capability
programming
Cable-ready
capability
Sleep timer
*Higher numbers denote more importance.
One way to differentiate among decision rules is to divide them into those that are
compensatory versus those that are non-compensatory. Compensatory rules imply that
one good attribute can “compensate” for other poorer attributes. This is not the case
with non-compensatory rules, where some poor attributes may eliminate the choice
despite its strength on other attributes. As an aid in the discussion, the attributes of TV
sets that a consumer might consider are summarized in Table 9–3. Now let’s see whether
some of these rules result in different brand choices.
No n -c omp en sato ry D ecisio n Rules
Simple decision rules are non-compensatory, and a product with a low standing on
one attribute cannot make up for this position by being better on another attribute. In
other words, people simply eliminate all options that do not meet some basic standards. A consumer who uses the decision rule “Only buy well-known brand names”
would not consider a new brand, even if it were equal or superior to existing ones.
When people are less familiar with a product category or not very motivated to process
complex information, they tend to use simple, non-compensatory rules.95
The Lexicographic Rule When the lexicographic rule is used, the brand that is
the best on the most important attribute is selected. If two or more brands are seen
as being equally good on that attribute, the consumer then compares them using
the second most important attribute. This selection process goes on until the tie is
broken. Referring to Table 9–3, since both the Prime Wave and Precision TV models
are tied on the most important attribute (a 60-inch screen), the Precision model
was chosen because of its rating on the second-most-important attribute—its stereo
capability.
The Elimination-by-Aspects Rule Again, brands are evaluated on the most important attribute under the elimination-by-aspects rule. In this case, though, specific cutoffs are imposed. For example, if a consumer is more interested in having a sleep timer
on his TV (i.e., if it had a higher importance ranking), you might stipulate that his
choice “must have a sleep timer.” Since the Prime Wave model has one and the Precision does not, the Prime Wave model would be chosen.
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
The Conjunctive Rule While the two former rules involve processing by attribute,
the conjunctive rule entails processing by brand. As with the elimination-by-aspects
procedure, cut-offs are established for each attribute. A brand is chosen if it meets all
the cut-offs, while failure to meet any one cut-off means rejection. If none of the
brands meets all the cut-offs, the choice may be delayed, the decision rule may be
changed, or the cut-offs themselves may be modified. Note that this rule rates negative
data more heavily.
The Disjunctive Rule Here the consumer develops acceptable standards for each
attribute. Usually the standards are higher than the shopper’s minimum cut-offs for
attributes. If a choice alternative exceeds the standard for any attribute, it is accepted.
Although this strategy may be difficult to envisage, think about a consumer shopping
for a new T-shirt or sweater to spruce up his wardrobe. Perhaps the consumer does not
know exactly what he will buy before going shopping, but once in the choice environment he will select something that is exceptional in some unique way. The article may
be a great new colour, style, or type of fabric that exceeds his standards. When the
shopper finds two great sweaters, he must go to a different decision rule to choose
between them.
If our TV consumer stipulates that all attributes have to be rated as “good” or better, he will not be able to choose any of the options. He might then modify his decision
rule, conceding it is not possible to attain these high standards in the price range he is
considering. Perhaps he will decide that it isn’t so important to have on-screen programming, in which case he will again consider the Precision model.
Comp e ns atory D e c is ion Rul e s
Unlike non-compensatory decision rules, compensatory decision rules give a product a chance to make up for its shortcomings. Consumers who employ these rules
tend to be more involved in the purchase and thus are willing to exert the effort to
consider the entire picture in a more exacting way. The willingness to let good and
bad product qualities balance out can result in quite different choices. For example,
if our consumer is not concerned about having stereo reception, he might choose the
Prime Wave model using a compensatory rule. But because this brand does not feature this highly ranked attribute, it doesn’t stand a chance when a non-compensatory
rule is used.
Two basic types of compensatory rules have been identified. When using the simple additive rule, the consumer merely chooses the alternative with the largest number
of positive attributes. This choice is most likely to occur when his or her ability or
motivation to process information is limited. One drawback to this approach for the
consumer is that some of these attributes may not be very meaningful or important. An
ad containing a long list of product benefits may be persuasive, despite the fact that
many of the benefits included are actually standard within the product class and aren’t
determinant attributes at all.
The more complex version is known as the weighted additive rule.96 When using
this rule, the consumer also takes into account the relative importance of positively
rated attributes, essentially multiplying brand ratings by importance weights. If this
process sounds familiar, it should. The calculation process strongly resembles the
multi-attribute attitude model described in Chapter 7.
In the course of the many purchases people make in their lifetimes, many different decision rules are used by the same people for different purchases. The recurring
decision is when to stop acquiring additional information and commit to the leading
alternative. We know that this decision is governed by the costs and benefits of the
search process, as weighed by the consumer.97 There is some attempt to model this
question of how much data a consumer should acquire before choice.98
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MyMarketingLab
Study, practise, and explore real business situations with these helpful resources:
• Interactive Lesson Presentations: Work through interactive presentations and assessments to test your knowledge
of business concepts.
• Study Plan: Check your understanding of chapter concepts with self-study quizzes.
• Dynamic Study Modules: Work through adaptive study modules on your computer, tablet, or mobile device.
• Simulations: Practise decision-making in simulated business environments.
Chapter Summary
Consumer decision making is a central part of consumer
behaviour, but the ways people evaluate and choose products
vary widely.
• Consumers are constantly faced with the need to make
decisions about products. Some of these decisions are
very important and entail great effort, whereas others are
made virtually automatically. The decision-making task is
further complicated by the sheer number of decisions we
need to make in a marketplace environment characterized
by consumer hyperchoice.
• A common problem in information search is often weeding out excess detail rather than needing to search for
more. Comparative search sites and intelligent agents
help to filter and guide the search process when searching online.
• Perspectives on decision making range from focusing on
habits that people develop over time to novel situations
involving a great deal of risk in which consumers must
carefully collect and analyze information prior to making
a choice. Many of our decisions are highly automated and
are made largely by habit.
A decision is actually composed of a series of stages that
results in the selection of one product over competing options.
• A typical decision process involves several steps. The first
is problem recognition, in which the consumer first realizes that some action must be taken. This realization may
be prompted in a variety of ways, ranging from the actual
malfunction of a current purchase to a desire for new
things based on exposure to different circumstances or
advertising that provides a glimpse into what is needed to
“live the good life.”
• Once the consumer recognizes a problem and sees it as
sufficiently important to warrant some action, the information search begins. This search may range from simply
scanning memory to determine what’s been done to
resolve the problem in the past, to extensive fieldwork in
which the consumer consults a variety of sources to amass
as much information as possible. In many cases people
engage in surprisingly little search.
• In the evaluation-of-alternatives stage, the product alternatives a person considers comprise his or her evoked set.
Members of an evoked set usually share some characteristics; they are categorized similarly. The way people
mentally group products influences the alternatives they
will consider. They will usually associate some brands
more strongly with these categories than others (i.e., they
will find them more prototypical).
Decision making is not always rational.
• Research in the field of behavioural economics illustrates
that decision making is not always strictly rational. Principles
of mental accounting demonstrate that decisions can be
influenced by the way a problem is posed (called framing)
and whether it is put in terms of gains or losses.
We often fall back on well-learned rules of thumb to make
decisions.
• Very often we use heuristics, or mental rules of thumb, to
simplify decision making. In particular, people develop
many market beliefs over time. One of the most common
beliefs is that price is positively related to quality. When a
brand is consistently purchased over time, this pattern
may be due to true brand loyalty or simply to inertia
because it’s the easiest thing to do.
Consumers rely on different decision rules when evaluating
competing options.
• When consumers eventually make a product choice from
among alternatives, they can use any one of a number of
decision rules. Non-compensatory rules eliminate alternatives that are deficient on any of the criteria the consumers have chosen to use. Compensatory rules, which
are more likely to be applied in high-involvement situations, allow decision makers to consider each alternative’s good and bad points more carefully to arrive at the
overall best choice.
C H A P T ER 9 Individual Decision Making
Key Terms
Behavioural influence perspective p. 244
Feature creep p. 261
Non-compensatory decision rules p. 268
Bounded rationality p. 250
Greenwashing p. 265
Perceived risk p. 255
Brand loyalty p. 267
Habitual decision making p. 245
Problem recognition p. 247
Choice architecture p. 253
Heuristics p. 264
Product signal p. 264
Compensatory decision rules p. 269
Hybrid products p. 260
Prospect theory p. 251
Consumer hyperchoice p. 242
Inertia p. 267
Purchase momentum p. 244
Cybermediary p. 263
Information search p. 248
Rational perspective p. 243
Determinant attributes p. 262
Limited problem solving p. 245
Satisficing p. 249
Ethnocentrism p. 265
Long tail, the p. 263
Search engine p. 249
Evaluative criteria p. 262
Market beliefs p. 265
Search engine optimization p. 249
Evoked set p. 256
Maximizing p. 249
Stereotype p. 265
Experiential perspective p. 245
Mental accounting p. 251
Variety seeking p. 250
Extended problem solving p. 245
Neuromarketing p. 262
Zipf’s law p. 267
Review Questions
1. Why do we say that “mindless” decision making can
actually be more efficient?
9. List three types of perceived risk, giving an example of
each.
2. List the steps in the model of rational decision making.
10. “Marketers need to be extra sure their product works as
promised when they first introduce it.” How does this
statement relate to what we know about consumers’
evoked sets?
3. What is purchase momentum, and how does it relate (or
not) to the model of rational decision making?
4. What is the difference between the behavioural influence
and experiential perspectives on decision making? Give
an example of the type of purchase that would most
likely be explained by each perspective.
5. Name two ways a consumer problem can arise.
6. Give an example of the sunk-cost fallacy.
11. Describe the difference between a superordinate category, a basic-level category, and a subordinate category.
12. Give an example of an exemplar product.
13. List three product attributes that consumers can use as
product quality signals, and provide an example of each.
7. What is prospect theory? Does it support the argument
that people are rational decision makers?
14. How does a brand function as a heuristic?
8. Describe the relationship between a consumer’s level of
expertise and how much he or she is likely to search for
information about a product.
16. What is the difference between a non-compensatory
and a compensatory decision rule? Give one example
of each.
15. Describe the difference between inertia and brand loyalty.
Consumer Behaviour Challenge
Discuss
1. The chapter argues that in our society having too
many choices is a bigger problem than not having
enough. Do you agree? Is it possible to have too much of
a good thing?
2. How big a problem is greenwashing? What is the possible
impact of this practice on consumer decision making?
3. Commercial Alert, a U.S. consumer group, is highly critical of neuromarketing, calling it “Orwellian.” The
group’s executive director has written, “What would
happen in this country if corporate marketers and political consultants could literally peer inside our brains and
chart the neural activity that leads to our selections in
the supermarket and voting booth? What if they then
could trigger this neural activity by various means, so as
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to modify our behaviour to serve their own ends?” 99
What do you think? Is neuromarketing dangerous?
4. If people are not always rational decision makers, is it
worth the effort to study how they make purchasing
decisions? What techniques might marketers employ to
understand experiential consumption and to translate
this knowledge into marketing strategy?
5. Why is it difficult to place a product in a consumer’s
evoked set after it has already been rejected? What
strategies might a marketer use to accomplish this goal?
6. Discuss two different non-compensatory decision rules
and highlight the difference(s) between them.
7. Technology has the potential to make our lives easier by
reducing the amount of clutter we need to get through to
access the information on the Internet that really interests us. On the other hand, perhaps intelligent agents
limit us by making recommendations based only on
what we and others like us have chosen in the past; they
reduce the chance that we will stumble on something
great (e.g., a book on a topic we’ve never heard of, or a
music group that’s different from the style we usually
listen to). Will the proliferation of “shopping bots” make
our lives too predictable by giving us only more of the
same? If so, is this a problem?
8. It’s increasingly clear that many postings on blogs and
product reviews on websites are fake or are posted
there to manipulate consumers’ opinions. How big a
problem is this if consumers are increasingly looking to
consumer-generated product reviews to guide their
purchase decisions? What steps if any can marketers
take to nip this problem in the bud?
Experiential Exercises
9. Find examples of electronic recommendation agents on
the Web and evaluate them. What characteristics of the
sites are likely to make you buy products you wouldn’t
have bought on your own?
10. Conduct a poll based on the list of market beliefs found
in Table 9–2. Do people agree with these beliefs? How
much do they influence their decisions?
11. Pepsi invented freshness dating and managed to persuade consumers that this was an important product
attribute. Devise a similar strategy from another product
category by coming up with a brand-new product attribute. Using the steps in procedural learning as described
in this chapter, how would you communicate this attribute to your customers?
12. Define the three levels of product categorization
described in this chapter. Diagram these levels for a
health club.
13. Choose a friend or parent who grocery shops on a regular
basis and keep a log of their purchases of common consumer products during the term. Can you detect any evidence of brand loyalty in any categories based on
consistency of purchases? If so, talk to the person about
these purchases. Try to determine if his or her choices
are based on true brand loyalty or inertia. What techniques might you use to differentiate between the two?
14. Form a group of three. Pick a product and develop a
marketing plan based on each of the three approaches
to consumer decision making: rational, experiential, and
behavioural influence. What are the major differences in
emphasis among the three perspectives? Which is the
most likely type of problem-solving activity for the product you have selected? What characteristics of the product make this so?
15. Identify a person who is about to make a major purchase. Ask that person to make a chronological list of all
the information sources consulted prior to making a
decision. How would you characterize the types of
sources he or she is using (i.e., internal versus external,
media versus personal, etc.)? Which sources seem to
have had the most impact on the person’s decision?
16. Perform a survey of country-of-origin stereotypes. Compile a list of five countries, and ask people what products they associate with each. What are their evaluations
of the products and their likely attributes?
17. The power of a country stereotype can also be demonstrated in another way. Prepare a brief description of a
product, including a list of features, and ask people to
rate it in terms of quality, likelihood of purchase, and so
on. Make several versions of the description, varying
only in terms of the country from which the product
comes. Do ratings change as a function of the country
of origin?
18. Ask a friend to “talk through” the process he or she
used to choose one brand over others during a recent
purchase. Based on this description, can you identify
the decision rule he or she most likely employed?
19. Give one of the scenarios described in the section
on “biases in decision making” to 10 to 20 people.
How do your results compare with those reported in
this chapter?
20. Think of a product you recently shopped for online.
Describe your search process. How did you become
aware that you wanted/needed the product? How did you
evaluate alternatives? Did you wind up buying online?
Why or why not? What factors would make it more or
less likely that you would buy something online versus
in a traditional store?
C H A P T E R 9 Individual Decision Making
Case Study: Marketing in Practice
was provided across all three service classes (Gold, Silver,
and Red Leaf).
This luxury focus led to success as Rocky Mountaineer
grew to become the largest privately owned passenger rail
service in North America and welcomed more than 1 million
guests onboard from around the world. Indeed, the company had won awards over the past 20 years, including
identification as one of the “World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” (six times), being named one of the “World’s
Greatest Trips” by National Geographic, and being rated as
one of the “Best Life Changing Trips” by Travel and Leisure
magazine.
Courtesy of Rocky Moutaineer
Customer Response
Returning to Rocky Mountaineer
Randy evaluated some of the most recent testimonials recorded
by the company:
Randy Powell has been CEO at Rocky Mountaineer (www.
rockymountaineer.com) for eight years and, while he had been
successful in guiding the company toward profitability, a number of business challenges remained unsolved. Foremost was
the problem of low repeat business from customers who had
indicated a high degree of satisfaction with their consumption
experience. Indeed, Randy had begun to wonder if repeat
business was possible given the unique nature of the product
his company offered—typically, a two-day voyage through the
scenic Canadian Rockies via luxury rail travel. In a renewed
attempt to solve this puzzle, Randy wondered if a better understanding of how these customers made decisions with
respect to their vacation choices would help him develop a
­better approach to bringing them back to experience Rocky
Mountaineer again and again.
The Rocky Mountaineer Experience
Rocky Mountaineer was born in 1990, when Peter Armstrong acquired a struggling government-owned passenger
rail service and turned it into an internationally renowned
luxury train experience. Utilizing the historical rail passage
from Calgary to Vancouver as the flagship route, Rocky
Mountaineer developed over 45 unique vacation packages
that utilized distinctive rail routes throughout the Canadian
Rockies.
The focus of Rocky Mountaineer had been to provide
one of the most spectacular and unforgettable travel experiences in the world. This goal was achieved in a number of
ways: (1) The train travelled only by daylight through the
wild beauty of Canada’s West, (2) innovative dome cars provided an expansive view while travelling, (3) an excellent
culinary experience was offered, and (4) first-rate service
The views from the Gold Leaf dome car were breathtaking,
the service was incredible and I would honestly recommend it to anybody. Yes this is the most spectacular train
trip in the world.
—George Lewis, Florida
The trip was beyond our dreams. The scenery was beyond
words. The service aboard the Rocky Mountaineer made us
feel like royalty. Thank you, everyone, at Rocky Mountaineer
for the trip of a lifetime.
—Mrs. Judy Poole, Louisiana
The testimonials, much like the recently reported numeric
ratings of customer satisfaction, were all very positive and
pointed to happy customers who were extremely satisfied with
their experience. Importantly, past customers had been willing
to recommend the Rocky Mountaineer to friends, relatives,
and co-workers, and Randy was able to track this referral
behaviour as a central driver of growth in the business. What
remained a complete puzzle, however, was the very low rate of
return to Rocky Mountaineer by past customers. Simply, once
people had travelled on the train they were very unlikely to
return to travel again.
Solving the Puzzle
Initially, Randy had worked hard to invoke marketing strategies directed at past customers. Marketing efforts over a
decade ago had identified the Rocky Mountaineer as a “once
in a lifetime” experience, and Randy wondered if this positioning had become too entrenched. Perhaps for some customers a ride on the Rocky Mountaineer had become a
“bucket list” event that once completed would not need to be
replicated. But was that the central source of the problem?
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Rocky Mountaineer had numerous routes and a number of
add-on attractions (e.g., city tours, whale watching, helicopter glacier tours) that might provide a different vacation experience over a series of visits. Clearly a rail vacation didn’t have
to be a one-time experience.
Randy realized that he needed a better understanding of
how customers made vacation decisions and more specifically
how his satisfied customers made their “next vacation”
choices. He knew that if he could understand the decision process better, he would be able to know how this problem had
arisen, and, more importantly, what might be done to facilitate
decision making leading to repeat business.
1. What is the process consumers utilize when deciding on
their vacation plans? How would this process be altered
when repeating a vacation experience?
2. What do you feel is the central issue driving the lack of
repeat business for Rocky Mountaineer? Where in the
decision-making process do you think the issue lies?
3. What difference would you expect between satisfied and
dissatisfied consumers with respect to the decision process
in this instance?
4. What would you do if you were Randy Powell and you had
to solve this problem?
No te s
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