Consumer Behavior,
Eighth Edition
SCHIFFMAN & KANUK
Chapter 15
The Consumer’s DecisionMaking Process
15-1
Opinion
Leadership
15-2
The process by which
one person (the
opinion leader)
informally influences
the consumption
actions or attitudes of
others who may be
opinion seekers or
opinion recipients.
What is Opinion Leadership?
Opinion
Leader
Opinion
Receiver
Opinion
Seeker
15-3
Examples of Opinion Leadership
• During a coffee break, a co-worker talks
about the movie he saw last night and
recommends seeing it.
• A person shows a friend photographs of his
recent Australian Outback vacation and the
friend suggests that using a polarizing filter
might produce better pictures.
15-4
Special Issues
• Opinion leaders are four times more likely
to be asked about political issues, three
times more likely to be asked about
computers or investments, and twice as
likely to be asked about restaurants
• Information seekers seek a “strong-tie”
source when they know little about a topic,
and “weak-tie” sources when they have
some knowledge
15-5
Chat Rooms and Opinion Leadership
15-6
Reasons for the Effectiveness of
Opinion Leadership
• Credibility
• Positive and Negative Product
Information
• Information and Advice
• Opinion Leadership Is CategorySpecific
• Opinion Leadership Is a Two-way
Street
15-7
• Buzz Marketing
• Wildfire Marketing
• Avalanche Marketing
Viral
Marketing
These terms describe any strategy that
encourages individuals to pass on a
marketing message to others;
The marriage of email and word-of-mouth
communication
15-8
Yahoo’s Buzz Index
15-9
Figure 15.1 Factors Leading to
Negative Word-of-Mouth Behavior
Individual Factors
Attitudinal Factors
Product Involvement
+
+
+
Situational Factors
+
15-10
Negative
WOM -
Likelihood
of
Repurchase
Figure 15.2 Word-of-Mouth in Action
Financial Services
% of
Automotive
respondents
that used
Travel
a referral
to make one
Consumer Electronics
of these
purchases
Computer
over the
past year
Restaurants
0%
15-11
20%
40%
60%
80%
Motivations Behind Opinion
Leadership
•
•
•
•
The Needs of Opinion Leaders
The Needs of Opinion Receivers
Purchase Pals
Surrogate Buyers versus Opinion Leaders
15-12
The Needs of Opinion Leaders
•
•
•
•
15-13
Self involvement
Social involvement
Product involvement
Message involvement
The Needs of Opinion Receivers
•
•
•
•
New-product or new usage information
Reduction of perceived risk
Reduction of search time
Receiving the approval of the opinion
leader
15-14
Table 15.3 A Comparison of Motivations
(Excerpts)
OPINION LEADERS
SELF-IMPROVEMENT
MOTIVATIONS
• Reduce post-purchase uncertainty or
dissonance
• Gain attention or status
• Assert superiority and expertise
• Feel like an adventurer
PRODUCT-INVOLVEMENT
MOTIVATIONS
• Express satisfaction or dissatisfaction
with a product or service
• Learn what products are new in the
marketplace
15-15
OPINION RECEIVERS
• Reduce the risk of making a purchase
commitment
• Reduce search time
• Learn how to use or consume a product
Table 15.4 Key Differences Between
Opinion Leaders and Surrogate Buyers
OPINION LEADER
1. Informal relationship with end-users
2. Information exchange occurs in the context of a casual interaction
3. Homophilous (to a certain extent) to end-users
4. Does not get paid for advice
5. Usually socially more active than end-users
6. Accountability limited regarding the outcome of advice
7. As accountability limited, rigor in search and screening of alternatives
low
8. Likely to have used the product personally
9. More than one can be consulted before making a final decision
10. Same person can be an opinion leader for a variety of related product
categories
15-16
Table 15.4 Key Differences
SURROGATE BUYER
1. Formal relationship; occupation-related status
2. Information exchange in the form of formal instructions/advice
3. Heterophilus to end users (that is, is the source of power)
4. Usually hired, therefore gets paid
5. Not necessarily socially more active than end-users
6. High level of accountability
7. Search and screening of alternatives more rigorous
8. May not have used the product for personal consumption
9. Second opinion taken on rare occasions
10. Usually specializes for a specific product/service category
15-17
Measurement of Opinion
Leadership
• Self-Designating
Method
• Sociometric Method
• Key Informant Method
• Objective Method
15-18
Table 15.5 Measuring Opinion Leadership
OPINION LEADERSHIP
MEASUREMENT
METHOD
DESCRIPTION OF METHOD
SAMPLE
QUESTIONS ASKED
SELF-DESIGNATING
METHOD
Each respondent is asked a
series of questions to determine
the degree to which he or she
perceives himself or herself to
be an opinion leader.
“Do you influence
other people in their
selection of
products?”
SOCIOMETRIC
METHOD
Members of a social system are
asked to identify to whom they
give advice and to whom they
go for advice.
“Whom do you
ask?”“Who asks you
for info about that
product category?”
15-19
Table 15.5 continued
OPINION
LEADERSHIP
MEASUREMENT
METHOD
DESCRIPTION OF METHOD
SAMPLE
QUESTIONS
ASKED
KEY INFORMANT
METHOD
Carefully selected key informants in “Who are the most
a social system are asked to
influential people in
designate opinion leaders.
the group?”
OBJECTIVE
METHOD
Artificially places individuals in a
“Have you tried the
position to act as opinion leaders
product?
and measures results of their efforts.
15-20
Table 15.6 Profile of Opinion Leaders
GENERALIZED
ATTRIBUTES ACROSS
PRODUCT CATEGORIES
Innovativeness
Willingness to talk
Self-confidence
Gregariousness
Cognitive differentiation
15-21
CATEGORY-SPECIFIC
ATTRIBUTES
Interest
Knowledge
Special-interest media exposure
Same age
Same social status
Social exposure outside group
Market
Maven
15-22
Individuals whose
influence stems from a
general knowledge or
market expertise that
leads to an early
awareness of new
products and services.
The Interpersonal Flow of
Communication
• Two-Step Flow
– A communication model that portrays opinion
leaders as direct receivers of information from
mass media sources who, in turn, interpret and
transmit this information.
• Multistep Flow
– A revision of the traditional two-step theory
that shows multiple communication flows
15-23
Figure 15.4 Two-Step Flow of
Communication Theory
Step 1
Mass Media
15-24
Step 2
Opinion
Leaders
Opinion
Receivers
(the masses)
Figure 15.5 Multistep Flow of
Communication Theory
Step 2
Mass Media
Step 1a
Step 1b
15-25
Opinion
Leaders
Step 3
Opinion
Receivers/
Seekers
Information
Receivers
Issues In Opinion Leadership and
Marketing Strategy
• Programs Designed to Stimulate Opinion
Leadership
• Advertisements Stimulating Opinion
Leadership
• Word of Mouth May Be Uncontrollable
• Creation of Opinion Leaders
15-26
15-27
Diffusion
Process
15-28
The process by which the
acceptance of an
innovation is spread by
communication to
members of social
system over a period of
time.
Adoption
Process
15-29
The stages through
which an individual
consumer passes in
arriving at a decision to
try (or not to try), to
continue using (or
discontinue using) a new
product.
Elements of the Diffusion Process
•
•
•
•
The Innovation
The Channels of Communication
The Social System
Time
15-30
Defining Innovations
•
•
•
•
Firm-oriented definitions
Product-oriented definitions
Market-oriented definitions
Consumer-oriented definitions
15-31
Product-Oriented Definitions
Continuous
Innovation
Dynamically
Continuous
Innovation
Discontinuous
Innovation
15-32
Figure 15.6
Continuous
Innovation
15-33
Figure 15.7 Telephone Innovations
Discontinuous
Innovations
Telephone
Cell Phone
Fax Machine
15-34
Dynamically Continuous
Innovations
Continuous
Innovations
Telephone answering machines
Call forwarding
Call waiting
Caller ID
Banking by telephone
Call-prompting systems
Hold button
Line-in-use indicator
Redial button
Auto dialing feature
Touch-tone service
800 Numbers
900 Numbers
Ability to send/receive email
Incorporate PDA functions
Calendar/Phonebook
Voice-activated dialing
Switch from analog to
digital
Include camera
Ringer styles
Play games
Fax modem
Mobile fax machines
Home office systems
(combined fax, copier,
computer printer)
Plain paper fax
Speed dial buttons
Delayed send
Copy function
Paper cutter
Product Characteristics That
Influence Diffusion
•
•
•
•
•
15-35
Relative Advantage
Compatibility
Complexity
Trialability
Observability
Figure 15.8
Ad Stressing
Ease of Use
and
Convenience
15-36
Table 15.7 Characteristics That
Influence Diffusion
CHARACTERISTICS
Relative
Advantage
Compatibility
Complexity
15-37
EXAMPLES
Air travel over train travel, cordless
phones over corded telephones
Gillette MACH3 over disposable
razors, digital telephone answering
machines over machines using tape
Electric shavers, instant puddings
Table 15.7 continued
CHARACTERISTICS
Trialability
Observability
15-38
EXAMPLES
Trial size jars and bottles of new
products, free trials of software,
free samples, cents-off coupons
Clothing, such as a new Tommy
Hilfiger jacket, a car, wristwatches,
eyeglasses
Time and Diffusion
• Purchase Time
• Adopter Categories
• Rate of Adoption
See Table 15.8
Time Line for Selecting
a New
Automobile
15-39
Adopter
Categories
15-40
A sequence of
categories that
describes how early (or
late) a consumer adopts
a new product in
relation to other
adopters.
Figure 15.9 Adopter Categories
Early
Adopters
13.5%
Innovators
2.5%
Laggards
Early
Majority
34%
Late
Majority
34%
Percentage of Adopters by Category Sequence
15-41
16%
Innovators: Description
• 2.5% of population
• Venturesome
• Very eager to try new ideas
• Acceptable if risk is daring
• More cosmopolite social relationships
• Communicates with other innovators
15-42
Early Adopters: Description
• 13.5% of population
• Respected
• More integrated into the local social system
• The persons to check with before adopting a
new idea
• Category contains greatest number of
opinion leaders
• Are role models
15-43
Early Majority: Description
• 34% of population
• Deliberate
• Adopt new ideas just prior to the average
time
• Seldom hold leadership positions
• Deliberate for some time before adopting
15-44
Late Majority: Description
• 34% of population
• Skeptical
• Adopt new ideas just after the average
time
• Adopting may be both an economic
necessity and a reaction to peer pressures
• Innovations approached cautiously
15-45
Laggards: Description
• 16% of population
• Traditional
• The last people to adopt an innovation
• Most “localite” in outlook
• Oriented to the past
• Suspicious of the new
15-46
Table 15.11 Stages in Adoption Process
WHAT HAPPENS
NAME OF
DURING THIS STAGE
STAGE
EXAMPLE
Awareness
Consumer is first
exposed to the product
innovation.
Janet sees an ad for a new MP3 player in
the magazine she is reading.
Interest
Consumer is interested in
the product and searches
for additional
information.
Janet reads about the MP3 player on the
manufacturer’s Web site and then goes to
an electronics store near her apartment and
has a salesperson show her a unit.
Evaluation
Consumer decides
whether or not to believe
that this product or
service will satisfy the
need--a kind of “mental
trial.”
After talking to a knowledgeable friend,
Janet decides that this MP3 player will
allow her to easily download the MP3 files
that she has on her computer. She also
feels that the unit’s size is small enough to
easily fit into her beltpack.
15-47
Table 15.11 Stages in Adoption Process
WHAT HAPPENS
NAME OF DURING THIS STAGE
STAGE
Trial
Adoption
(Rejection)
15-48
EXAMPLE
Consumer uses the
product on a limited
basis
Since an MP3 player cannot be “tried” like
a small tube of toothpaste, Janet buys the
MP3 player online from Amazon.com,
which offers a 30-day full refund policy.
If trial is favorable,
consumer decides to use
the product on a full,
rather than a limited
basis--if unfavorable, the
consumer decides to
reject it.
Janet finds that the MP3 player is easy to
use and that the sound quality is excellent.
She keeps the MP3 player.
Figure 15.11 An Enhanced Adoption
Process Model
Discontinuation or
Rejection
Rejection
Evaluation
Pre-existing
problem or
Need
Awareness
Interest
Evaluation
Adoption or Rejection
Discontinuation
15-49
Trial
Adoption
or
Rejection
Postadoption or
Postpurchase
Evaluation
Figure 15.12 The Relative Importance of
Different Types of Information Sources in the
Adoption Process
High
Personal and
interpersonal
sources
Importance
Impersonal
mass-media
sources
15-50
Adoption
Trial
Evaluation
Interest
Awareness
Low
Issues in Profiling Consumer
Innovators
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Defining the Consumer Innovator
Interest in the Product Category
The Innovator Is an Opinion Leader
Personality Traits
Media Habits
Social Characteristics
Demographic Characteristics
Are There Generalized Consumer Innovators?
15-51
Figure 15.13
Ad Appeals
to Fashion
Innovators
15-52