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Consumer Behaviour Textbook Notes

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Behavior: 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
CB is a consumption process (pre, during, and post purchase), and is not limited to the moment in which
the exchange of value occurs
Exchange: when two or more organizations/people give and receive something of value
Consumers Impact on Marketing Strategy
Data about consumers is vital for: defining the market, identifying threats and opportunities
CB is future oriented
Segmenting Consumers
Marketing Segmentation: identifies groups of consumers whoa re similar to one another in 1+ ways and
then devises marketing strategies that appeal to one or more groups; more important today with increased
choice and taste variety
Demographics: statistics that measure observable aspects of a population, such as birth rate, age
distribution, and income
Psychographics: differences in the consumers personalities, attitudes, values, and lifestyles
Demographic Segmentation:
Age: often those in the same age range share similar values and cultural experiences
Gender: using certain colors etc.. to appeal to either gender
Family Structure & Life Stage: important because of the effect on spending priorities
Social Class & Income: determines buying power and market potential
Ethnicity: in Canada we blend our consumption together such as in food
Geography: climate variation across Canada makes segmenting products by region obvious
Lifestyles: self perception, values, hobbies
Relationship Marketing: making an effort to interact with customers on a regular basis, giving them
reasons to maintain a bond with the company over time
Popular Culture: 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. Ex: the character Pillsbury dough boy
Consumer-Generated Content: content in which consumers voice opinions about products, brands, and
companies on blogs, pod casts and social networking sites
Fundamental premise of consumer behavior: people often buy products for what they mean not for what they
do. Function is still important but brand image will sway decision making, all else being equal
Sophisticated marketing strategies and technology are leading to global consumer culture, in which people
around the world are united by common devotion to brand-name consumer goods and celebrities
U-Commerce: use of ubiquitous networks, in form of wearable computers or customized advertisements
breamed to us on our cell phones that enale real-time connections in business and consumption behavior (ex:
hey youre near Mcdonalds, come in for a McSpicy!
RFID Tag: plastic tab with a computer chip and tiny antenna that lets the chip communicate with a network
Virtual consumption has created a 24 hour market place and increased both B2C and C2C commerce, its also
created brand communities such as world of warcraft
Digital Native: students who grew up in a wired highly networked world
Horizontal Revolution: the lateral cross-flow of information between internet users, especially social media
Social Media: online means of communication, conveyance, collaboration and cultivation among
interconnected and interdependent networks of people, communities and organizations enhanced by
technological capabilities and mobility
Synchronous interactions: occur in real time ex: texting conversation
Asynchronous interactions: ones that dont require all participants to respond immediately. Ex: sending a text
today and getting answered tomorrow
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Social media platforms enable a participative culture- a belief in democracy, the ability to freely interact with
other people. Companies, and organizations, open access to content sharing venues and to building on others
content
Business Ethics: rules of conduct that guide actions in the marketplace- standards against which most people in
a marketplace judge what is right, wrong, good, or bad. Such as honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect,
justice, integrity, concern for others, accountability and loyalty
o Ethics are largely affected by cultures, and different standards apply around the world. Ex: bribery of
officials being acceptable in Mexico
Professional Organizations often devise a code of ethics for their members; the American Marketing
Association does
Needs and Wants: Do Marketers Manipulate Consumers?
The issue is do marketers give people what they want or tell people what they should want?
Some say advertising contributes to the moral breakdown of society by presenting hedonistic pleasure, thus
encouraging the pursuit of secular humanism
o Some say the same promises of pleasure function to buy off people who would otherwise be
revolutionaries working to change the system
One view: marketing provides us with wants, ways to satisfy needs, another view is that marketing makes
goods arbitrarily linked to desirable social attributes, another is that we are not materialistic enough because
we dont value goods for the utilitarian functions they deliver but instead focus on the irrational value of goods
for what they symbolize
Consumers today still need companies but they do so on their own terms
Public policy and law exist at the multiple levels of government to protect the consumer from unfair business
practices and to protect the broad interests of society
Consumer activist groups such as Adbusters sponsor initiatives to discourage rampant commercialism
Culture Jamming: a strategy aiming to disrupt efforts by the corporate world to dominate our cultural
landscapes
This has spurred CSR, corporate giving (donating own money to good causes), cause-related marketing
(promising donations to charity as purchase incentives), Green Marketing (companies offering products in
ways that are less harmful to the environment)
Social Marketing: using techniques normally employed to sell gods to encourage positive behaviors such as
literacy or to discourage negative activities such as drunk driving
Transformative Consumer Research (TCR): consumer researchers studying the pressing social problems in
the marketplace. Promotes research projects that include the goal of helping people or bringing about social
change
THE DARK SIDE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer Addiction: a physiological or psychological dependency on products or services. Ex: tobacco, online
gaming
Compulsive Consumption: repetitive shopping, often excessive, done as an antidote to tension, anxiety,
depression, or boredom.
Negative/destructive consumer behavior can be characterized by the following elements:
1) The behavior is not engaged in by choice
2) The gratification derived from the behavior is short-lived
3) The person experiences strong feelings of regret or guilt afterwards
Example: gambling, there was a huge class-action lawsuit on the OLG but it relies on gambling for so much
funding, no one seems to have a viable solution yet
Shrinkage: the industry term for inventory and cash losses from shoplifting and employee theft
o 40% of shoplifting is done by employees
o Majority of shoplifters are not professional thieves or people who genuinely need the stolen items
Ant consumption: destructive consumer behavior, which involves rebelling against the idea of consumption
itself.
o Examples: product tampering, graffiti, boycotting a brand
THE ROLE OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

Primary research: when data is collected by the research specifically for the research question at hand
Secondary Research: information collected from a pre-existing source of information collected for another
purpose
Primary Research Techniques:
o Survey: a method of data collection in which the respondents self-report answers to a set of questions
posed by the researcher. Ex: written surveys, online surveys, phone surveys
o Focus Groups: small group sessions with approx. 6-12 consumer participants. A moderator leads a
group discussion about a product, concept, or marketing message. Often used when new idea or
product is being tested. Pro: get more detailed answers, cons: social influence can dampen consumers
expression
o Interviews: involves one-on-one interaction with an interviewer. Allows researcher to collect rich, indepth data, but minimize impacts of group factors influencing consumer responding; expensive and
slow.
o Observational Research: consumer behaviors are directly observed in a natural context (ex: the mall)
or controlled setting (ex: a lab where kids play with toys)
o * all methods where consumers report their attitudes, behaviors or experiences mean they may not
always express the truth- they might want to represent themselves positively, not recall everything
accurately or not be consciously aware of all the factors influencing their behaviors
o Ethnographic Research: researchers observe and record how consumers behave in real-world
contexts, often to understand the meanings consumers subscribe to different consumption experiences
o Qualitative Research:
Storytelling: consumers tell researchers about their experience with a product
Role-Playing: consumers are asked to put themselves in a particular role and act out how they
would respond to a particular marketing stimulus
Photos or Pictures: consumers can submit these to represent their consumption experiences
Diary: can be kept to track responses and behaviors over a period of time
Projective Techniques: presentation of ambiguous, unstructured object, activity, or person that
a respondent is asked to interpret and explain. Ex: presenting a potential brand name and
asking how consumers feel about it
Experimental Research:
o Experiments: used when researchers want to make cause and effect claims
o Random Assignment: participants put into groups or experimental conditions. Each person thus has an
equal chance of ending up in any of the experimental conditions. All conditions are kept the same and the
different groups are exposed to a product with one variable changed only (say the label) and then we see if
there is a cause and effect relationship between consumer behavior and the varying variable
o Independent Variable: the variable that the researcher manipulates (label type)
o Dependent Variable: the variable that the researcher measures (in this case, taste evaluations)

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Chapter 2: Perception
Surrounded by commotion from marketers but we choose what stimuli to pay attention to and which ones to
tune out
o The ones we do listen to we interpret it our own way by taking away meanings that are consistent with
our own unique experiences, biases, and desires
Sensation: immediate response of our sensory receptors (i.e. our five senses) to basic stimuli such as light,
colour, and sound
Perception: process by which these sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted
o What we add or take away from raw sensations as we choose which to notice and go about assigning
meaning to them
Perception can be more influential than sensation in determining consumer preference
o Ex. Coca Cola and Pepsi are similar and through sensations we would most probably not be able to tell
the difference but because of perception, we may choose one over the other as our ultimate preference
is shaped by perception
SENSORY SYSTEMS
Meaning of a stimuli is interpreted by the individual, who is influenced by their unique biases, needs, and
experience
Three stages: exposure, attention, and interpretation, make up the process of perception
SENSORY STIMULI
Sights
Sounds
Smells
Tastes
Textures

SENSORY
RECEPTORS
Eyes
Ears
Nose
Mouth
Skin

Exposure

Attention

Interpretation

Expectations

External Stimuli /
Sensory Inputs: received through a number of channels such as
seeing a billboard or hearing a jingle
o Inputs are picked up from our five sense and generate responses / internal sensory experiences such as
remembering an ex boyfriend when smelling a cologne
SENSORY MARKETING: HARNESSING PERCEPTION FOR A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Sensory Marketing: where companies pay close attention to the impact of sensation on product experiences
(Ex. Features offered in a hotel room)
Sight
Relying on visual elements such as store design using colouring, size, styling, brightness, and distinctiveness
from competitors products
Colour influences our emotions directly (colour blue is a customer preference)
Red signals arousal, appetite, paying more attention to detail
Blue signals relaxing, imaginative thoughts, etc.
Colours are rich in symbolic value and cultural meaning (e.g. red means good luck for Chinese)
Yellow is in the middle of the physical wavelength and is the brightest and attracts most attention
Older people prefer duller colours such as white
Trade Dress: colour combinations associated with a company, company may even get exclusive rights to those
colours (e.g. Tiffany Blue)
o Only get exclusive rights when consumers may get confused with a competitor
Eyes can play a trick on us when it comes to size and things that come in bigger boxes make us eat more (e.g.
large popcorn vs. medium popcorn)
o Small packages such as the 100 calories packets actually make people eat more because they stop
using their own control and think the smaller packages will help them control how much they eat
o When given more variety, such as in a buffet or multi-colours of M&Ms vs. one, we tend to eat more

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o

Conclusion: our eyes play a bigger role than our stomach

Smell
The Axe Effect: women are more attracted to men that use Axe deodorant vs. placebo with no fragrance
o Worked only for women who watched the video without sound as they saw the self confidence through
body language which in turn translates to attractiveness
Scent plays a huge role in our emotions (can stir us or calm us) and to some extent, depend on cultural
background
o Example: Germans live to layer it on where as Americans dont like to smell sissy
We process fragrance cues in the limbic system which is the most primitive part of the brain and the place
where we experience immediate emotions
Marketers are finding out ways to use scent marketing to their advantage (such as sniff and smell in the mail)
Hearing
Sound behaviour can affect peoples feelings and behaviours (e.g. restaurants play certain music to set the
mood and airlines are using music to help the boarding process)
Phonemes are decomposing brands into individual sounds (e.g. using repetition in brand names like Bebe or
Jelly Belly produce positive affect when said out loud)
Aging Ear is the loss of the ability to hear higher pitched sounds as you age (e.g. of the ringtone teens get so
adults/teachers cant hear their phone ring)
Touch
Touch has been shown to be a factor in sales interactions (e.g. waitresses that touched diners got bigger tips)
Study showed that people who touched an item for 30 seconds or less had a greater attachment to it and were
willing to pay more for it
Touch senses are also known as haptic senses
Were more sure about what we perceive if we can touch it (a problem for products online)
o NFT need for touch
Study showed that those who dont necessarily feel the need to touch products (low autotelic) are influenced by
the feel of the packaging while those with a high autotelic do not rely on packaging for the product quality
o Those who like to touch have learned you cant judge a book by its cover
Kansei Engineering: philosophy from Japan that translates customers feelings into design elements
o Example: making a stick shift in a car 9.5 cm long for optimal feeling of sportiness
Taste
Specialized companies called flavour houses try to develop new tastes to please the changing palates of
consumers
Changes in culture also determine the tastes we find desirable
Marketers have found ways to change customers perceptions on taste of products such as the colour used or
using multiple senses, which leads to a more positive taste perception than referring to just taste alone
EXPOSURE
Exposure: process by which consumer comes into contact with the stimulus and has the potential to notice it
What people are capable of perceiving
1. Sensory Thresholds
Psychophysics: science that focuses on how the physical environment is integrated into our personal,
subjective world
2. The Absolute Threshold
The lowest intensity of a stimulus that can be registered on a sensory channel refers to the threshold of that
receptor
Absolute Threshold: is the minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected on a sensory channel
o Example: billboard thats print is too small to read is a waste
3. The Differential Threshold
Differential Threshold: refers to the ability of a sensory system to detect changes in a stimulus or differences
between two stimuli
JND (Just Noticeable Difference): the minimum change in a stimulus that can be detected

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A consumers ability to detect a difference between two stimuli is relative (e.g. telling a secret in a
busy street vs. a quiet library)
Webers Law: The amount of change necessary to be noticed is systematically related to the original intensity
of the stimulus (i.e. strong the initial the greater the change must be for it to be noticed)
Webers Law Equation: K=I/I
o K = constant increase / decrease necessary for the stimulus to be notices (varies across senses)
o I = minimal change in intensity of the stimulus required to be just noticeable to the person (JND)
o I = intensity of the stimulus before the change occurs
o Example: A $2 markdown on $10 socks has a greater impact than a $2 markdown on a $100 jacket
o Webers Law is ratios, not absolute difference
o Webers Law is a challenge to green marketers that try to reduce the size of packages (hard to
encourage people to spend the same amount for less)
Subliminal Perception
Subliminal Perception: perception of stimuli below the level of consumer consciousness (no proof it has
effect on consumer behaviour)
o If you can hear it or see it, it is not subliminal because the stimulus is above the level needed for
conscious awareness
o I.e. the publics fear for unconscious manipulation
Subliminal messages can be sent on both visual and aural channels
Embeds: tiny figures what are inserted into magazine advertising by using high-speed photography or
airbrushing
ATTENTION
Attention: refers to the extent to which the brains processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus
o Allocation can vary depending on the characteristics of the stimulus and the recipient (i.e. you with
you mental state at the time)
Sensory Overload: exposed to far more information than they are able or willing to process (a problem in our
society today)
Multitask: process information from more than one medium at a time (what young people are good at doing in
todays times)
Guerilla Marketing: using communications that are unexpected and unconventional in ways that target
consumers in unexpected places (e.g. bench being a Kit Kat bar)
Perceptual Selectivity: people attend to only a small portion of the stimuli to which they are exposed
People use personal and stimulus factors to pick and choose among stimuli to avoid being overwhelmed
(1) Personal Selection Factors
Experience determines how much exposure to a particular stimulus one accepts
Perceptual Filters: based on consumers past experiences influence what they decide to process
Perceptual Vigilance: factor in selective exposure more likely to react to a stimuli that relates to their current
needs (conscious or unconscious)
Perceptual Defense: opposite of perceptual vigilance people see what they want to see and dont see what
they dont want to see (e.g. smoker blocking our cancer scaring ads)
Adaptation: degree to which consumers continue to notice stimuli over time (no longer pay attention when it
becomes so familiar and become habituated to it)
Factors that lead to adaptation include:
o Intensity: habituated to less intense stimuli because less sensory impact (e.g. dim light)
o Duration: stimuli that take longer to be processed are habituated because they require a longer
attention span
o Discrimination: simple stimuli are habituated because they dont need attention to detail
o Exposure: frequently encountered stimuli are habituated
o Relevance: habituate to stimuli that are irrelevant or unimportant because they dont attract attention
(2) Stimulus Selection Factors
Along with mindset, the characteristics of a stimulus play a role in getting noticed
o

Contrast: stimuli that differ from others around them (more likely to get noticed) and are created in several
ways: size, colour, position, and novelty (e.g. ads in bathrooms)
INTERPRETATION
Interpretation: meanings that people assign to sensory stimuli (varies for individuals)
o Example: kids thought fries tasted better coming out of McDonalds bag vs. a white bag
Schema: set of beliefs to which the stimuli are assigned, provides framework to organize and interpret
information that surrounds a particular stimuli (e.g. brand Nike brings athletic or trendy to mind)
Stimulus Organization
Usually a single stimulus is not perceived in isolation, they tend to be viewed in terms of relationships with
other events, images, sensations, etc.
Gestalt Psychology: school of thought maintaining that people derive meaning from memory or totality of a
set of stimuli rather than individual stimulus
o Principle of Closure: consumers tend to perceive an incomplete picture as complete (fill blanks based
on our prior experience)
Example: filling in the gap to a jingle we only hear part of
Increases participation and attention of customer
o Principle of Similarity: consumers tend to group together objects that share similar physical
characteristics
o Figure-Ground Principle: one part of the stimulus will dominate (the figure) while other parts recede
in the background (a stimulus can be made a focal point of the message when the context surrounding
it)
THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: INTERPRETATION BIASES
Seeing what you want to see consumers project their own desires or assumptions into products /
advertisements
Perceptual Positioning
Market Position: of a product, what is perceived by the customer and their expectations of product
performance
Positioning Strategy: way the marketer wants the brand to be viewed in the eyes of the consumer and
influences the interpretation of the brands meaning
Reposition: an issue for marketers that updates the brand image for an evolving market (e.g. one way to do
this is to align your brand with a celebrity that captures your image you want to portray)
Dimensions that can be used to establish a brands position in the marketplace: price leadership, attributes,
product class, occasions, users, and design

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Chapter 3 Learning & Memory
BEHAVIOURAL LEARNING THEORIES
Learning - refers to a relatively permanent change in behaviour that is caused by experience (does not have to
affect the learner directly but can also learn vicariously by observing events that affect others)
o Incidental learning unintentional acquisition of knowledge
Behavioural Learning Theories - assumes learning takes place as the result of responses to external events
versus internal thought processes
o Two major approaches to behavioural learning: classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning - occurs when a stimulus that elicits a response is paired with another stimulus that
initially does not elicit a response on its own
o Over time, the second stimulus causes a similar response because it is associated with the first stimulus
o Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) - is naturally capable of causing a response (e.g. spraying meat powder
into a dogs mouth will cause salvation)
o Condition Stimulus (CS) / Conditioned Response (CR) does not initially cause a response but can be
conditioned / trained to do so (e.g. the sound of a bell to a dog can be conditioned to make them think
of the meat powder which causes salvation and soon the bell can cause the salvation without the meat
powder)
o Classical conditioning can emerge when a product that is originally neutral is paired with an emotioninducing response (i.e. a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus)
Associative Learning
Associative Learning classical conditioning is a form of associative learning, where consumers learn
associations between stimuli in a rather simple fashion without more complex processes such as memory or
cognition taking place (e.g. credit card is associated with spending more)
o Repetition: Associative learning effects are more likely to occur after a conditioned stimulus and
unconditioned stimulus have been paired a number of times (repeated exposures increase the strength
of stimulus-response associations and prevent decay of the associations in memory)
One result of the lack of association may be extinction, which happens when the effects of
prior conditioning are reduced and finally disappear (can happen if a product is overexposed or
form new associations)
o Stimulus Generalization: tendency of stimuli similar to a CS to evoke similar conditioned responses
(e.g. the sound of keys jangling can have the same reaction as the bell for the dog)
People react to other similar stimuli in much the same way as they respond to an original
stimulus
Piggyback strategy is when a brand uses a similar packing as an original brand (e.g.
Listerine) to get people to have the same response and purchase the private-brand instead
Can have two responses: the private-brand is lesser quality so people appreciate the
original one better OR the two brands are the same and consumers go for price instead
o Stimulus Discrimination: occurs when a stimulus similar to a CS is not followed by a UCS (reaction
are weakened and will soon disappear)
Learning to respond to some stimuli but not to other similar stimuli
Masked Branding deliberately hides a products true origin (e.g. if a company makes two
different products but doesnt want the consumer to have the same reaction to them both like
beer companies)
Marketing Applications of Conditioning
Conditioned associations are crucial to many marketing strategies that rely on the creation and perpetuation of
positive brand equity brand has a strong positive association in a consumers memory and commands a lot of
loyalty as a result
o Repetition: Scheduling more than three exposures is a waste (1 st exposure creates awareness, 2nd
exposure demonstrates relevance to the consumer, and 3 rd reminds the consumer of the products
benefits)

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Advertising Wearout when consumers become so used to hearing or seeing a marketing
stimulus that they no longer pay attention (can prevent this by variations, such as the Got
Milk? ads using different celebrities so consumers dont get bored)
o Conditioning Product Associations: unconditioned stimulus should be presented before the presented
stimulus
Backward conditioning (such as showing a soft drink first and then playing the jingle) is
usually not effective
A novel tune should be chosen over a popular one to pair with a product since they popular
song might also be heard in many other situations in which the product is not present (e.g.
pairing Pepsi with the sound of a drink being porn into a glass would be a bad idea)
o Applications of Stimulus Generalization strategies include:
Family Branding variety of products capitalize on the reputation of the company name (e.g.
Google)
Product-Line Extensions (e.g. Mr. Clean liquid cleaner to the magic eraser)
Licensing well known names are rented by others (e.g. Runners World putting their name on
jogging suits)
Look-Alike Packaging small brands using similar packaging as well known brands
Instrumental Conditioning
Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning) occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviours that
produce positive outcomes and to avoid behaviours that bring upon negative outcomes
o Under classical conditioning, people respond involuntarily on the basis of automatic responses where
as for instrumental, people perform more complex behaviours with either rewards or punishments
Shaping when consumers are rewarded for successive steps taken toward the desired
response (e.g. giving samples to consumers who enter store)
o Classical conditioning involves the pairing of two stimuli where as instrumental learning occurs as a
result of a reward received following the desired behaviour
o Instrumental learning occurs in three ways: (1) positive reinforcement in the form of a reward, the
response is strengthened and appropriate behaviour is learned (e.g. getting compliments on a sweater,
(2) negative reinforcement removing something negative to increase desired response (e.g. removing
the tax so that the consumer will make the purchase), (3) punishment when a response is followed by
an unpleasant event (e.g. when you are ridiculed for buying cheap shoes that break)
Learning Schedules
It is important to marketers to find what is the most effective reinforcement schedule to use (i.e. ratio schedules
or interval schedules)
o Ratio Schedules reinforce the learner based on the number of responses that have been completed
(e.g. giving a gift after 10 purchases at a particular store)
o Interval Schedules reinforce the learner after a certain amount of time passes since the appropriate
response (e.g. rewarded once a year by your bank for being a valued customer)
There are four types of learning schedules:
1. Fixed-Ratio Reinforcement: example, buy nine and get the tenth purchase free
2. Variable-Ratio Reinforcement: example, roll up the rim to win (you dont know when you will be rewarded)
3. Fixed-Interval Reinforcement: example, going to a seasonal sale at a store but then not going again (or going
rarely) until the next sale comes up
4. Variable-Interval Reinforcement: person doesnt know when to expect the reinforcement but some average
time usually passes before it is given and therefore, they must continue to perform at a specific rate (e.g. spa
member gets a free spa mailed to them in 8-10 months for their loyalty)
Marketers use many ways to reinforce the behaviour of consumers such as sending thank you cards to increase
use of their product / service
Frequency marketing reinforces behaviour of regular purchasers by giving them prizes with values that
increase along with the amount purchased (e.g. frequent flyer programs from airlines)
o Also beneficial to marketers for things such as personalized marketing communication to prime
customers, retention programs, etc.

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COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY
Cognitive Learning Theory stresses the importance of internal mental processes (views people as problem
solvers who use the information around them)
o Stress the role of creativity and insight
Is Learning Conscious or Not?
In support of being conscious, people believe conditioning occurs because individuals develop conscious
hypotheses and then act on them
In support of being unconscious, we may have a tendency to respond to the stimulus in terms of existing
categories rather then taking the trouble to formulate different ones (mindlessness)
o Activated by a trigger feature some stimulus that cues us towards a particular pattern
Observational Learning
Observational Learning people watch the actions of others and note the reinforcements they receive, learning
occurs vicariously rather than a direct experience
o Note: behavioural learning says that the consumer must have a direct experience where as in cognitive,
people can learn vicariously
The process of imitating the behaviour of another is called modelling
For observational learning in the form of modelling to occur, four conditions must be met:
1. The consumers attention must be directed towards the model
2. The consumer must remember what the model says or does
3. The consumer must convert the information into actions
4. The consumer must be motivated to perform these actions
Applications of Cognitive Learning Principles
This type of learning (vicariously) can be beneficial for marketers because instead of directly targeting
consumers they can just show them what would happen if they were to use the product
THE ROLE OF MEMORY IN LEARNING
Memory involves process of acquiring information and storing it overtime so that it will be available when
needed
The mind works like a computer:
o Encoding stage information is entered in a way the system will recognize
o Storage stage knowledge is integrated with what is already in memory
o Retrieval stage mind accesses the desired information
During a consumer decision making process the internal memory is combined with the external memory (e.g.
of external is using a shopping list)
Post experience advertising is more likely to alter actual memory when it is similar to or activates memories
about the actual experience (can make it more favourable than it actually was)
Encoding of Information for Later Retrieval
Encoding means taking new information and linking it to existing knowledge (new information associated with
information already in memory has a higher chance of being retained)
Sensory Meaning when a consumer processes a stimulus simply in terms of its colour or shape (activated
when the person sees a picture of the stimulus)
o Semantic Meaning symbolic associations such as the idea that rich people drink champagne
Episodic Memories memory of events that are personally relevant (persons motivation to retain these
memories will be strong)
o Flashbulb Memories an important event such as a wedding will lead to memories that are quite vivid
and unique
o Conveying production information through a narrative or a story can help a consumer better retain the
information in their memory
Memory Systems
Three different types of memory systems:
1. Sensory Memory storage of information we receive from our senses, usually lasts a couple of seconds at
most (e.g. walking by a bakery and smelling a donut)

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If the information is retained for further processing it passes through an attentional gate and is
transferred to short-term memory
2. Short-Term Memory stores information for a limited period of time, can be known as working memory,
which holds information we are currently processing
o Information is stored by combining small pieces into large ones, called chunking
3. Long-Term Memory allows us to retain information for a long period of time
o Elaborative Rehearsal for short-term memory to become long-term memory it must go through this
process where the meaning of a stimulus is related to other information already in memory
Storing Information in Memory
Recent studies have shown that STM and LTM are interdependent and came up with an approach called
activation of models of memory
o This approach means the more effort it takes to process information, the more likely it is that the
information will be placed in LTM
Associative network models assume that it is the association that form in consumers minds that lead to
learning about brands and products (e.g. Volvo = safety)
o Knowledge structures complex spider webs filled with pieces of data, information is placed into
nodes, which are connected by associative links within these structures
Hierarchical Processing Model an ad for example, is processed in a bottom-up fashion; processing starts at a
basic level and if one level is terminated, the capacity is allocated to other tasks
As one node is activated, other nodes associated also begin to trigger
o Spreading Activation allows consumers to shift back and forth between levels of meaning (the way a
piece of information is stored is based on the meaning you assign it)
Memory trace of an ad, for example, can be stored in one or more of the following ways:
1. Brand Specific (claims made for the brand)
2. Ad Specific (medium or content of the ad itself)
3. Brand Identification (brand name)
4. Product Category (how the product works, where it should be used, experiences with the product)
5. Evaluative Reactions (whether it looks like fun)
Knowledge is coded at different levels (meaning concepts are individual nodes that combine to make a larger
unit called a proposition/belief and when propositions link two nodes together they form a complex meaning
which can serve as a chunk of information)
Schema framework developed through experience
o One type of schema relevant to consumer behaviour is a script sequence of procedures that is
expected by an individual (e.g. what they do when they go to the dentist)
Analogical Learning
Analogical Learning one way marketers can inform/educate consumer about a new product is by drawing an
analogy between the new product and an existing product
o Existing product is called the base and the new product is called the target
o Analogical learning can take two forms: attributes (identifiable features or properties of the new
product such as coming in the same colour packaging) and relations (how the product relates to the
desired outcome, such as both products do the same thing)
Retrieving Information for Purchase Decisions
Retrieving process of accessing information from long-term memory
o Familiarity and Recall prior familiarity with an item enhances its recall (hearing the portion of a TV
ad on the radio will cause you to reply to ad in your head)
o Salience and Recall salience refers to its prominence or level of activation in memory, also known as
the Von Restorff Effect
We tend to recall mixed emotions more than unipolar emotions (wholly positive or wholly
negative)
o Pictorial vs. Verbal Cues visual memory is greater than verbal, however they do not necessarily
improve comprehension
o

12

One of the biggest challenges for marketers is that consumers forget, which is usually because of the
passage of time and can also be due to interference as additional information is learned, it replaces earlier
information)
o Retroactive Interference new responses to the same or similar stimuli that tend to replace it
o Proactive Interference prior learning interfering with new learning
Products as Memory Markers
Researchers have began to probe the effects of autobiographical memories as they have an emotional
connection (e.g. most customers value furniture, visual arts, and photos the most because they recall memories)
Nostalgia bittersweet emotion, in which the past is viewed with sadness and longing (marketers can connect
new products to old memories to translate those feelings to what theyre selling today)
Retro Brand updated version of a brand from a prior historical period, which usually trigger nostalgia
Measuring Memory of Marketing Stimuli
Two basic measures of impact are recognition and recall
Response Bias e.g. people tend to say yes even if that is not the true answer because they want to be good
subjects
Memory lapses such as omission or averaging (normalize things and not report their extreme case), or
telescoping (inaccurate recall of time) can cause distortion

13
Chapter 4 - Motivation and Affect
The Motivation Process
Motivation processes that cause people to behave as they do (once a need is activated, tension exists that
drives the consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate the need)
o A need can be utilitarian (desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit)
o A need can be hedonic (experiential need involving emotional response or fantasies)
o Desired end state is the consumers goal
o Gap between current state and desired state for a consumer is what creates tension, this arousal is also
known as a drive
MOTIVATIONAL STRENGTH
The degree to which a person is willing to expend energy to reach one goal as opposed to another reflects their
motivation to attain that goal
Drive Theory
Drive Theory focuses on biological needs that produce states of arousal (from within)
o Tension reduction is the basic mechanism governing human behaviour
o Tension unpleasant state that exists if a persons needs arent fulfilled (e.g. grumpy when you havent
eaten)
o Homeostasis the balanced state you want to be at (as opposed to an unpleasant state)
o A persons degree of motivation depends on the distance between his or her present state and goal (e.g.
you would want to leave class earlier to get food if you havent eaten in 24 hours as opposed to 2
hours)
o Drive theory runs into difficulties as people often do things that increase a drive state rather than
decrease it (e.g. you may wait to eat if you know youre going for a lavish dinner)
Expectancy Theory
Expectancy Theory behaviour is largely pulled by expectations of achieving desirable outcomes (positive
incentives) rather than pushed from within (e.g. money or social status)
o This is a more current explanation of motivation
MOTIVATIONAL DIRECTION
Objective of marketers is to convince consumers that the alternative they offer provides the best chance to
attain their goal
Needs vs. Wants
Particular form of consumption used to satisfy a need is termed as a want (e.g. being hungry and needing food
is a need but eating a cheeseburger is a want)
Types of Needs
Biogenic Needs certain elements necessary to maintain life (water, food, shelter, air)
Psychogenic Needs acquired in the process of becoming a member of a culture (status, power, affiliation,
etc.)
o Reflect the priorities of a culture and their effect on behaviour will vary in different environments
Motivational Conflicts
A goal has valence (can be positive or negative)
o Positive consumers are motivated to approach the goal
o Negative consumers are motivated to ensure they can prevent a negative outcome (e.g. to prevent
bad breath you buy Listerine)
There are certain situations where different motives may conflict with one another three general conflicts are:
1. Approach-Approach Conflict - a person must choose between two desirable alternatives
Theory of Cognitive Dissonance people have a need for consistency in their lives and tension is created when
beliefs / behaviours conflict with one another
Once you make a choice, you have the negatives of the one you chose and have lost out on the positives of the
one you didnt choose
o Can decrease approach-approach conflict by pointing out the pros of your decision and how it was
better than the alternative

14
2.

Approach-Avoidance Conflict
When we desire a goal but which to avoid it at the same time (e.g. eating Allstars wings are tasty but fattening)
Finding a hybrid can help avoid this conflict (e.g. a fake fur coat or a hybrid car)
Marketers try to overcome this guilt by convincing consumers they are deserving of these luxuries (e.g.
LOreal because Im worth it!)
3. Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict
Making a decision between two undesirable alternatives (e.g. spending money on an old car or buying a new
one)
Marketers can overcome this by stressing on unforeseen benefits (e.g. special credit plans to ease the pain of a
new car payment)
Classifying Consumer Needs
Everyone has the same basic set of needs but individuals differ in how they prioritize them
Examples of specific needs people may have include: need for affiliation (to be in the company of other
people), need for power (to control ones environment), need for uniqueness (to assert ones individual
identity)
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
o The theory says that satisfaction does not motivate behaviour, but dissatisfaction does
o Lower needs are never totally satisfied but are ongoing
o We do not need to satisfy one need completely to move onto the next one and sometimes something
can satisfy two needs at once

Motivation and Goal Fulfillment

People often set goals related to consumption
People are more likely to achieve goals they set that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic/relevant, time-bound)
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT
Involvement a persons perceived relevance of the object based on their inherent needs, values, and interests
o Can be viewed as the motivation to process information (if there is a link, the consumer will be
motivated to pay attention to the product information)
Levels of Involvement: From Inertia to Passion
Inertia consumption at the low end of involvement, decisions are made out of habit because consumers lack
the motivation to consider alternatives
Flow State when consumers are truly involved with a product, an ad, or a website
o Flow is an optimal experience characterized by: a sense of playfulness, 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 ones skills
Along with the level of involvement, it is also important to consider the type of involvement (e.g. emotional or
rational)
The Many Faces of Involvement
Three broad types of involvement:

15
1. Product Involvement
Related to a consumers level of interest in a particular product
Mass Customization customization and personalization of products and services for individual customers at a
mass production price (e.g. you can buy short, regular, or long jeans)
2. Message-Response Involvement
TV ads are considered low-involvement as it requires a passive viewer (you can just change the channel
through the click of a button)
Printed ads are considered high-involvement as the reader is actively involved in processing the information
An example of a strategy is printing quizzes on chip bags
Interactive Mobile Marketing consumers participate in real-time promotional campaigns via their cellphones
(e.g. sending coupons via text messages)
3. Purchase Situation Involvement
Differences that may occur when buying the same object for different contexts (e.g. buying something for
yourself to impress someone because of the brand or buying a gift for someone that you dont really like you
may not care about what you buy)
Segmenting by Involvement Levels
Cognitive vs. Affective, high and low
o Example: students with a high level of cognitive involvement did intense research before choosing a
university where as students with a high level of affective involvement chose based on emotion
Strategies to Increase Involvement
Appeal to consumers hedonic needs
Use novel stimuli (e.g. sudden movement, sudden silences, etc. in advertisements)
Use prominent stimuli (loud music, fast action)
Include celebrity endorsers
Build a bond with consumers
Another effective way is consumer-generated content (i.e. letting them make the messages)
AFFECT
Types of Affective Responses
Affect experience of emotionally-laden states which can range from evaluations to moods to emotions
Evaluation involve positive or negative (valenced) reactions to objects that are not accompanied by high
levels of arousal (e.g. evaluating a movie)
Moods involve temporary positive or negative affective states accompanied by moderate levels of arousals
(tend to diffuse)
Emotions tend to be more intense than moods and are often related to a specific triggering event
o Negative State Relief helping someone else to resolve ones own negative moods (e.g. donating
money to a starving child you saw in a commercial)
o Can also do this by purchasing mood enhancing products such as chocolate
Mood Congruency our judgments are often consistent with our existing mood states
o Example: placing an ad after a humourous TV show
Moods are most likely to be influential when they are considered relevant to the particular purchase decision
(e.g. someone is not going to just buy a camera because of the music in the store is making them happy)
How Social Media Taps into our Emotions
Sentiment Analysis (Opinion Mining) process that scours social media to collect and analyze the words
people use when they describe a specific product or company
When people feel a particular way, they choose certain words that relate to that emotion
o Marketers then create a word-phrase dictionary (or library) to code the data and will scan social media
text to identify whether the words in the dictionary appear
Discrete Emotions
Happiness mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions

16
Research has shown that people are happier from experimental purchases over material purchases,
fostering social relationships, spending money on other people over yourself, etc.
Envy negative emotion associated with the desire to reduce the gap between oneself and someone who is
superior to you in that dimension
o Benign envy is when you believe the superior other deserves his or her status
o Malicious envy is when you believe the superior does not deserve his or her status
Guilt unpleasant emotional state associated with the possible objection to his or her actions, inaction,
intentions, etc.
Embarrassment social emotion driven by concern for what others are thinking about us
o To be embarrassed, one must be aware of, care about, the evaluating social audience, whether real or
imagined
o E.g. buying a condom because it reveals personal information about yourself
o

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Chapter 5: The Self
Both Eastern and Western culture divide self into: inner (private self) and outer (public self)
o Western culture defines self as an independent interpretation where as non-Western focus on
interdependent self and is based on the relationships you have with others
Self Concept
Self Concept: beliefs a person holds about their own attributes and how they evaluate these qualities
o Attributes can be defined as content (facial vs. mental), positivity/negativity (self esteem), intensity,
stability over time, and accuracy (degree to which it corresponds to reality)
Stereotype Threat: anxiety a consumer feels when they fear they may act in a way that confirms the group
stereotype (e.g. women are not as good in math as men, the threat can lead them to actually perform lower
than capable)
Self Esteem: positivity of your attitude towards yourself, related to acceptance by others
o Social Comparison: person tries to evaluate themselves by comparing to other people and those in
media images (e.g. feeling worse about yourself after seeing an ad about a model)
Ideal Self: persons conception of how they would like to be
Actual Self: more realistic appraisal of the qualities we do/dont have
Impression Management: we work hard to manage what others think of us by choosing products that present
us in a good light
o Choose some products because they are consistent with actual self and choose others to reach a
standard set by ideal self
Multiple Selves
Role Identities: different components of ourselves and can be active in anytime
o Marketers must place ads strategically where people are likely to be aware of the role identity (e.g.
promote energy products at a marathon)
Virtual Identity
Virtual Identity: role in cyberspace such as in online games (e.g. World of Warcraft)
Computer-Mediated Environments (CMEs): virtual worlds such as Webkinz
Avatars: visual identities (can be a realistic version of themselves or with exaggerated characteristics such as
a dragon)
Symbolic Interactionism: relationships with other people play a large part in forming the self (we belong to a
symbolic environment and meaning attached to any object is determined by our interpretation of the symbols)
o We have shared meanings (such as a red light means stop)
o Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: pattern our behaviour based on expectations of others
Looking Glass Self: imagining the reactions of others towards us (differ depending on whose view were
considering)
Self-Consciousness
Our concern about our public image concerns us about the social appropriateness of products and consumption
activities
People that are high in the scale of public self consciousness are more interested in clothing and cosmetics
(same goes for self monitoring) and evaluate products consumed in public based on the impression they make
on others
Vanity: fixation on physical appearance or achievement of personal goals
Consumption and Self-Concept
You are what you consumer the things you use/do help shape a role in what people think of you and
ultimately what you think of yourself (e.g. clothes you wear, hairdos, what sports you play, etc.)
Attachment: consumer exhibits attachments to the extent it is used by that person to maintain their self-concept
Symbolic Self-Completion Theory: predicts people that have an incomplete self-definition complete it by
acquiring or displaying symbols associated with it (e.g. using cigarettes to appear macho)
Self/Product Congruence
Self-Image Congruence Models: predict products will be chosen when their attributes match some aspects of
self (e.g. hijabs show aesthetic, political, and moral dimensions of a person)
o Some specific attributes to describe this match: formal/informal, rational/emotional, etc.

18
Chicken and the egg question: do people buy products because they see them as similar to the self
or do they assume these products are similar because they have bought them
The Extended Self
Extended Self: props and settings consumers use to define their social roles (i.e. external objects make up a
part of us)
Consumers define themselves by referring to four levels of the extended self (place of object):
1. Individual Level: personal possessions (jewelry, cars, clothing, etc.) you are what you wear
2. Family Level: consumers residence and furnishing (symbolic body for the family and central aspect of
identity)
3. Community Level: neighbourhood or town theyre from
4. Group Level: apart of social groups landmarks, sports teams, or monuments can be considered part of the self
Gender Roles
Examples: men eat more meat and women eat more fruit
Agentic Goals: stress self-assertion and mastery (for males)
Communal Goals: stress affiliation and fostering harmonious relationships (for females)
Study done on girls and boys toys:
o Girls prefer shapes in pastel colours with rounded corners and building relationships between
characters, etc.
o Boys prefer stacking things and working towards a goal and more physical activity and creating
conflict between characters
Gender role identity s a state of mind as well as body
Sex-Typed Traits: characteristics stereotypically associated with one gender or the other (persons biological
gender doesnt mean they will exhibit this trait)
Unlike maleness and femaleness, masculinity and femininity are not biological characteristics
Androgyny
Androgyny: refers to the possession of both masculine and feminine traits
NTMs non-traditional males
o Examples: like fashion magazines, take care of the bills in the family, etc.
Gender-Bending Products: sex-typed item adapted to the opposite gender (e.g. Frito-Lays salty snacks
targeted towards men originally but introduced 100 calorie packs for women)
Female Roles
The new managerial class of women has forced marketers to change traditional assumptions about women
o Shouldnt think too prematurely (e.g. in Saudi Arabia where women are completely covered in public
and not allowed to work as salespeople)
Contemporary Young Mainstream Female Achievers (CYMFA): study that shows different roles women
play in different contexts
There has been a trend in media in the past several years for women to be slutty (many websites have been
changing that from girls gone wild to girls gone mild)
Male Roles
Trend towards their appearance spending more on moisturizers, sunscreen, etc.
Metrosexual: a straight urban male who shows strong interest and knowledge in product categories such as
fashion, cooking, person care, etc. that are not the traditional male role
Retrosexuals: men who want to emphasize old-school masculinity through plastic surgery or getting hairier
chests, beards, etc.
LGBT Consumers
Homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to attend grad school, into physical appearance, selfimprovement, experience more stress, and more likely to be self-employed
BODY IMAGE
Body Image: consumers subjective evaluation of themselves not necessarily accurate
Body Cathexis
Body Cathexis: persons feelings towards their body, where cathexis refers to emotional significance of an
object or idea to a person and some parts of the body are more central to self-concept than others
o

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Ideals of Beauty
Ideal of Beauty: particular model, or exemplar, of appearance includes physical appearance
o Persons satisfaction with their physical image is affected by how closely the image corresponds to the
image valued by their culture
People favour physical features associated with good health and youth (large eyes, high cheekbones, and a
narrow jaw)
Beauty differs in countries (e.g. Asians view fairer people as more beautiful and wealthy and associate darker
people with laboring class)
Sexual Dimorphic Markers: aspects of body that distinguish between the sexes
WORKING ON THE BODY
Hair forms the basis for the presentation of self image and how it can be a tool to transform image
Desire to be thin affects our lifestyle and eating habits
Most distortions of body image happen among females as they are taught more strongly than men that body
reflects self worth leads to rise of eating disorders
Bulimia: involves two stages: (1) binge eating, and (2) vomiting, fasting, over exercising, etc.
o Most eating disorders are found in white, upper-middle-class teenagers and university students
Cosmetic surgery has become more normal in males as well (e.g. breast implants for females and calf
implants for males)
Body is altered in some way in every culture and serves many purposes:
o Separate group members from non-group members (e.g. hairstyles for teens not adults)
o Place individual in the social organization (e.g. when boy becomes a man)
o Place person in gender category (e.g. lipstick for femininity in some cultures)
o Enhance gender-role identification (e.g. females wearing high heels)
o Provide sense of security (e.g. wearing the evil eye)
o Indicate desired social conduct (e.g. gay men wearing an earring to show what role they prefer in a
relationship submissive or dominant)
o Indicate high status or rank (e.g. wearing glasses to appear smart)
Many people get tattoos to present an adventurous side of themselves and get piercings as a fashion statement
or to be trendy

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Chapter 6: Personality, Lifestyles, and Values
Personality: persons unique psychological makeup and how it influences the way they respond to the
environment (not always stable)
Sigmund Freud developed the idea that much of human behaviour comes from the fundamental conflict
between a persons desire to gratify their needs and the necessity to function as a responsible member of
society, carried out among three symbolic systems:
1. Id: the self oriented towards immediate gratification (party animal of the mind)
Operates according to pleasure principle: guided by primary desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain
Selfish and illogical as it doesnt consider consequences
2. Superego: counterweight to the id, the persons conscience and works to prevent the id from seeking selfish
gratification
3. Ego: mediates between id and superego and fights between temptation and virtue
Unconscious Motives: consumers cannot necessarily tell us their true motivations for choosing a product even
if we find a way to ask them directly
o Person channels their unacceptable desires into acceptable outlets by using products that signify these
unacceptable desires
Motivational Research
Motivational Research: based on psychoanalytic interpretations with an emphasis on unconscious motives
o Basic assumption that socially unacceptable needs are channeled into acceptable outlets
o Relies on in-depth interviews with consumers
Motivational research has appeal to marketers for several reasons:
1. Cost Efficiency: less expensive than large scale quantitative surveys because interviewing and data processing
is cost minimal
2. Providing Insights: knowledge derived from this research can give insight even if it doesnt apply to all
consumers, it can be used in an exploratory way
3. Intuitive Sense: Example, motivational studies conclude people dont like eating prunes because they remind
them of old people, associate coffee with companionship, etc.
Non-Freudian theories focused on the concept that individuals personalities are influenced by how they
handle relationships with others
o Karen Horney proposed people are described as moving towards others (compliant), away from others
(detached), or against others (aggressive)
o Carl Jung developed analytical psychology which emphasized that the individuals development as a
creative person (their future) and racial history (their past) in the formation of their personality
Collective Unconscious: memories from our ancestral past
Archetypes: universally shared ideas and behaviour patterns (involve themes such as birth and
death which appear a lot in myths and stories)
Our cultures infatuation with things like Harry Potter and the Hobbit explain the power of
these images
Ex. Mother Theresa is used to help sell products
** Do we need to know diagram on page 159**
Brand Asset Archetypes model shows healthy and unhealthy relationships among archetypes, and advantages
include:
o Easy to understand a brands personality as it is grounded in human psyche across all cultures
o Helps in brand communication
o Assures marketing decision makers that the changes recommended will achieve concrete business
objectives
o Can detect if a brand is in trouble earlier on
Trait Theories
Traits: identifiable characteristics that define a person, examples in marketing terms include:
o Innovativeness: likely to try new products/services
o Public Self-Consciousness: degree to which a person controls the image of self projected to others
o Need for Cognition: expends necessary effort to process brand information (i.e. thinking)

21
High cognitive = act on think, low cognitive = act on feel
Inner-directed or outer-directed describes whether a consumer is motivated to consumer in order to please
others or themselves
o Need for Uniqueness: degree to which a person is motivated to conform to preferences of others vs.
standing apart in a crowd (specific consumption context motivates the relevance of this personality
trait)
Idiocentrics: having an individualist orientation
Allocentrics: having a group orientation
Differences between idiocentrics and allocentrics include:
o Contentment: idiocentrics score higher in this area
o Health Consciousness: allocentrics eat healthier
o Food Preparation: allocentrics prefer the kitchen more and preparing meals
o Workaholics: idiocentrics are likelier to work harder and stay later at work
o Travel and Entertainment: idiocentrics are more interested in culture and travel, work on DIY projects,
take photos, and play the lottery where as allocentrics are more likely to work on craft projects and
finished reading books with more frequency
The idea that products are an extension of ourselves has created brand personalities
Personality traits work with situational factors to predict consumer behaviour
BRAND PERSONALITY
Brand Personality: set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person (e.g. Tony the Tiger, Quaker
man, etc.)
o Assigning personality to inanimate products.were kind of crazy
Brand Equity: extent to which consumers hold strong, favourable, and unique association with brand in
memory and extent to which they are willing to pay more for the branded version vs. generic
Some dimensions to compare and contrast perceived characteristics of brands include:
o Old fashioned, wholesome, traditional
o Surprising, lively, with it
o Serious, intelligent, efficient
o Glamorous, romantic, sexy
o Rugged, outdoorsy, tough, athletics
Animism: inanimate objects are given qualities that make them somehow alive
Two types of animism to describe the extent to which human qualities are attributed to a product:
o Level 1: highest order, object is associated with a human individual (e.g. my grandma always served
Kraft blueberry jam)
o Level 2: objects are anthropomorphized, given human characteristics (e.g. Michelin Man)
Personality of Positioning
Brand personality is also a statement of how the brand is positioned
If people dont see a brand the makers want them to, they have to reposition the brand (i.e. give it a makeover)
o Example: trying to change the brand personality of Volvo from safe to also cool
LIFESTYLES AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS
Lifestyle: Who We Are. What We Do
Lifestyle: pattern of consumption reflecting a persons choice of how he or she spends time and money
o Way they have chosen to allocate income to different products/services as well as alternatives within
these categories
o Lifestyle Marketing Perspective: people sort themselves into groups based on what they like to do,
how they spend free time, and how they spend their disposable income
o Lifestyles are not set in stone and can evolve
Products are the Building Blocks of Lifestyles
Examples: Lululemon offers yoga classes, Whole Food Market offers singles nights with wine tastings, MEC
offers kayaking lessons, etc.
o Encourage a sense of community and encourages people to use products that associate with a lifestyle

22
Important part of lifestyle marketing id to identify the set of products/services that seems to be linked in
consumers minds to a specific lifestyle
o Products need context to have meaning
Product Complementarity: occurs when symbolic meaning of different products are related to each other
o These set of products are termed consumption constellations and are used by consumers to define,
communicate, and perform social roles

Product
Person
LIFESTYLE
Setting

Psychographics
Consumers can share demographic characteristics but still be very different people
Psychographics: use of psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors to determine how the market
is segmented by the tendency of groups within the market and reasons to make decisions about a product,
person, ideology, or otherwise hold an attitude or use a medium
o Psychographics can help marketers fine tune offerings to meet needs of different segments (e.g. Best
Buy was able to identify the different type of consumers they may have moms, etc.)
Conducting a Psychographic Analysis
Psychographic studies can take many forms:
o Lifestyle Profile: items that differentiate between users and non-users of the product
o Product-Specific Profile: identifies target group and profiles on product-relevant dimensions
o General Lifestyle Segmentation: placed in homogeneous groups based on similarities in overall
preferences
o Product-Specific Segmentation: questions tailored to a product category
AIOs
Some psychographic research tries to group consumers according to a combination of three categories of
variables: activities, interests, and opinions (AIOs)
After heavy users are identified, brands relationship to them is considered (i.e. divided by the benefits they
derive from using the product/service
Uses of Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic segmentation can be applied in many ways:
o To define the target market going beyond simple demographics
o To create new view of the market going beyond the typical consumer
o To position the product emphasize features of products that fit into lifestyles
o To better communicate product attributes improve abilities to talk to the consumer
o To develop overall strategy understanding how a product fits/doesnt fit can open up new
opportunities, strategies, environments, etc.
o To market social and political issues find commonalities among types of consumers that are involved
in destructive behaviour such as drug use and gambling
Psychographic Segmentation Typologies
Segmentation typologies divide people into segments to identify and reach groups of consumers (some
companies sell this information for companies that want to learn more about their consumers/potentials
VALS
Values and Lifestyles (VALS): a widely used segmentation system which divides people into 8 groups
according to psychological characteristics and resources (income, education energy levels, and eagerness to
buy)
o Arranged vertically by resources and horizontally by self-orientation

23
Innovators: top group who are success consumers with many resources, concerned with social
issues and open to change
o 1a. Thinkers: sufficient resources, satisfied, reflective, and comfortable (practical and value
functionality)
o 2a. Achievers: sufficient resources, career-oriented, prefer predictability over risk/self-discovery
o 3a. Experiencers: sufficient resources, impulsive, young, enjoy risks and experiences
o 1b. Believers: fewer resources, strong principles and favour proven brands
o 2b. Strivers: fewer resources, concerned about approval from others
o 3b. Makers: action-oriented and focus their energies on self-sufficiency (e.g. building car)
o Survivors: bottom of the ladder, most concerned with meeting the needs of the moment
INNOVATORS (high resources, high innovation)
Ideals
Achievements
Self-Expression
THINKERS
ACHIEVERS
EXPERIENCERS
BELIEVERS
STRIVERS
MAKERS
SURVIVORS (low resources, low innovation)
Geodemography
Geodemography: analytical techniques that combine data on consumer spendings and other socioeconomic
factors with geographic information about the areas people live in to identify consumers who share common
consumption patterns (idea that people with similar tastes live near each other)
VALUES
Values: belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite
o Persons values plays an important role in their consumption activity
Two people can believe in the same behaviour (e.g. be vegetarians) but their underlying belief can be different
(e.g. religious reasons, health reasons, etc.)
Core Values
Cultural values can make a difference in products (e.g. different types of Cosmo magazines)
What sets culture apart is relative importance of universal values (e.g. health is a global value)
o Makes up a cultures value system
o Socialization Agents: parents, friends, and teachers
o Enculturation: process of learning beliefs and behaviours endorsed by ones own culture
o Acculturation: learning value systems and behaviours of another culture
Western countries have core values such as equality, achievement, activity, and youthfulness
How Values Link to Consumer Behaviour
Values are too broad-based to related to consumer behaviour (difficult to associate to one brand) but can show
purchasing patterns
Ways to Classify Values
Terminal Values: desired end states that apply to many different cultures
Instrumental Values: values that specify actions needed to achieve some higher-order value
Conscientious Consumerism: A New Core Value?
Conscientious Consumerism: value of green products and personal health and those upcoming trends
LOHAS: lifestyles of health and sustainability
Materialism: He Who Dies with the Most Toys Wins
Materialism: importance people attach to worldly possession
o Most young people cant imagine living without cellphones, laptops, etc.
o

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Chapter 7: Attitudes
Attitude: lasting, general evaluation of people, objects, or issues
Attitude Object: tangible and intangible (such as vodka and drunk driving)
o Attitude is lasting because it tends to endure over time
o General because it applies to more than a momentary event
The Functions of Attitudes
Functional Theory of Attitudes: explain how attitudes facilitate social behaviour, attitudes exist because they
serve some function for the person (determined by a persons motives)
Attitude functions identified by Daniel Katz (who also developed the theory above):
o Utilitarian Function: basic principle of reward and punishment (whether product provides pleasure or
pain)
o Value Expressive Function: express the consumers central values or self-concept (form attitude
because of what the product says about them)
o Ego-Defensive Function: attitudes formed to protect the person from extern threats or internal feelings
(e.g. products that keep a man manly)
o Knowledge Function: as a result of a need for order, structure, or meaning (e.g. pain relievers)
An attitude can serve more than one function but a particular one would be dominant
o By knowing this markets can emphasize these benefits in their communications and packages
ABC Model of Attitudes
An attitude has three components: affect, behaviour, and cognition
Affect: refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object
Behaviour: conation and involves the persons intentions to do something with regard to an attitude object
Cognition: beliefs a consumer has about an attitude object
Model emphasizes interrelationships among knowing, feeling, and doing

MKTG 4150 CHAPTER 7 ATTITUDES

Attitude a lasting, general evaluation of people (including oneself), objects or issues

Attitude object (Ao) anything tangible or intangible that a person has an attitude towards
An attitude is lasting tends to endure over time and general applies more than one momentary
event
Functional theory of attitudes initially developed by psychologist Daniel Katz to explain how
attitudes facilitate social behaviour. According to this pragmatic approach, attitudes exist b/c they serve
some function for the person; that is, they are determined by a persons motives.
Attitude functions identified by Katz:
- utilitarian function the utilitarian function is related to the basic principles of reward and
punishment. We develop some of our attitudes towards products simply on the basis of pleasure or pain.
Ads that stress straightforward product benefits [i.e. you should drink Diet Coke just for the taste of it]
appeal to the utilitarian function
- value-expressive function express the consumers central values or self-concept. A person forms a
product attitude not b/c of its objective benefits, but b/c of what the product says about him/her as a
person. Value-expressive attitudes are highly relevant of lifestyle analyses, where 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 (ex. products with a macho image may appeal to
man who is insecure about his masculinity)
- knowledge function some attitudes are formed as the result of a need for order, structure, or meaning.

25
This need is often present when a person is in an ambiguous situation or is confronted w/ a new
product [ex. Bayer wans you to know about pain relievers]

A study of football game attendance illustrates that varying levels of commitment result in different fan
profiles. The study identified three distinct clusters of fans:
(1) real diehard fans sports marketers should focus on providing them w/ greater sports knowledge
and relate their attendance to their personal goals + values
(2) unique, self-expressive experience provided by the game more likely to be brand switchers who
are fair-weather fans, shifting allegiances when home team no longer provides the thrill they need. This
segment can be appealed by publicizing stars who are likely to give the fans a game to remember
(3) camaraderie consumers who attend games primarily to take part in small group activities such as
pre or post game events. Marketers could appeal to this cluster by providing improved peripheral
benefits, such as making it easier for groups to meet at the stadium, improve parking, and offer multipleunit pricing
Subaru the heart, the head, and the wallet
- ads 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, etc.
- the wallet ads deal w/ the financial side of actually buying a Subaru
An attitude has 3 core components: affect, behaviour, and cognition (ABC model of attitudes):
(1) affect refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object
(2) behaviour, or conation, involved the persons intentions to do something with regard to an attitude
object
(3) cognition refers to the belief a consumer has about an attitude object.
The ABC model of attitudes emphasizes the interrelationships among knowing, feeling, and doing.
Consumers attitudes toward a product cannot be determined simply by identifying their beliefs about it
Hierarchy of effects explains the relative impact of the three components of an attitude
The high involvement hierarchy when highly involved, a consumer approaches a product decision as
a problem-solving process. First, he/she forms beliefs about a product by accumulating knowledge
(beliefs) regarding relevant attributes. Next, the consumer evaluates these beliefs and forms a feeling abut
the product (affect), then the consumer engaged in a relevant behaviour, such as buying the product.
- the consumer is highly brand loyal he/she bonds with the product over time and isnt easily
persuaded to switch
Cognition

Affect

Behaviou
r

Attitude based
on cognitive
info processing

The low involvement hierarchy the consumer has only collected a minimal amount of info and has an
emotional response only after consuming the product. The consumer does not initially have any brand
preferences; attitude is likely to come through behavioural learning after the consumer has had a
good/bad experience with the product.
- for marketers, the ironic silver lining to the low-involvement cloud is that under these conditions
consumers arent motivated to process a lot of complex brand-related info. Instead, they will be swayed
by principles of behavioural learning, such as the simple responses caused by conditioned brand names,
POS displays, etc. 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 (i.e. jingles, packaging,
etc.) that must be devised to market it
Cognition

Behaviour

Affect

Attitude based on
behavioural
learning

26

Zajoncs [experiential] model of hedonic consumption according to the experiential hierarchy of

effects, consumers act on the basis of their emotional reactions.
- a smile is infectious; in a process termed emotional contagion, messages delivered by happy people
enhance our attitude towards the product. 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 info
presented will be remembered, and how the person will feel about the advertised item and related
products in the future
(1) on one hand, the cognitive-affective model argues that an affective judgement is but the last step in a
series of cognitive processes. Earlier steps include the sensory registration of stimuli and the retrieval of
meaningful info from memory to categorize these stimuli
(2) on the other hand, the independence hypothesis takes the position that affect and cognition involve 2
separate, partially independent systems; affective responses do not always require prior cognitions. The
independence hypothesis does not eliminate the role of cognition in experience; it simply balances this
tradition 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
Affect

Behaviou
r

Cognition

Attitude based
on hedonic
consumption

Attitude towards the advertisement (Aad) 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 viewers attitude towards 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
Three types of emotional dimensions in ads: pleasure, arousal, and intimidation
Specific types of feelings that can be generated by an ad include the following:
- upbeat feelings amused, delighted, playful
- warm feelings affectionate, contemplative, hopeful
- negative feelings critical, defiant, offended
Attitudes are formed through a variety of proceses.
- classical conditioning an attitude object, such as the McDs name is repeatedly paired w/ a catchy
jingle
- instrumental conditioning consumption of the attitude is reinforced [ex Pepsi quenches ones thirst]
- modeling after the media ex. drinking Red Bull to fit in with the cool cats
The degree of a consumers commitment to their attitude object is relater to their level of involvement:
- compliance lowest level of involvement, compliance is formed b/c it helps to gain rewards or avoid
punishments from others. This attitude is very superficial; likely to change when person is not monitored
or another option becomes available [ex. Bob drinks Pepsi b/c it is sold in his caf and its too hectic to
find Coke]
- identification attitudes are formed so that the consumer will 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 attitudes that become a part of the persons value system.

27

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 w/
other experiences.
a significant determinant of the way an attitude object will be evaluated is how it fits in w/ other, related
attitudes already held by the consumer
theory of cognitive dissonance when a person is confronted w/ inconsistencies among attitudes or
behaviours, he/she will take some action to resolve this dissonance, perhaps by changing an attitude or
modifying behaviour.
- the theory proposes that people are motivated to reduce the ve feelings caused by dissonance by
making things fit w/ one another.
- the theory focuses on situations where two cognitive elements are inconsistent w/ one another
ex. I know smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer and I smoke cigarettes are dissonant to one
another.
The pressure to reduce dissonance is more likely to be observed in high-involvement situations in which
the elements are more important to the individual
Dissonance reduction can occur by: eliminating, adding, or changing elements
Post-purchase dissonance: I made a stupid decision is dissonant w/ the element I am not a stupid
person
Consumers always seek support for their purchase decision, so marketers should supply them w/
additional reinforcement to build +ve brand attitudes
Self-perception theory people use observations of their own behaviour to determine what their
attitudes are, just as we assume that we know the attitudes f others by watching what they do. The theory
states that we maintain consistency by inferring that we must have a +ve attitude toward an object if we
have bought or consumed it
- 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
foot-in-the-door technique a consumer is more likely to comply w/ a request if he/she has first agreed
to a smaller request
- low-ball technique a person is asked for a small favour and is informed after agreeing to it that it will
be very costly
- door-in-the-face technique a person is first asked to do something extreme (a request that is usually
refused) and then is asked to do something smaller
social judgement theory assumes that people assimilate new info about attitude objects in the light of
what they already know or feel. The initial attitude acts as a frame of reference, and new info is
categorized in terms of this existing standard
people form latitudes of acceptance and rejection around an attitude standard. Ideas that fall w/in a
specific latitude will be favourable received whereas ideas that fall outside this zone will not.
On one hand, messages that fall w/in the latitude of acceptance tend to be seen as more consistent w/ our
own position than they actually are assimilation effect.
on the other hand, messages that fall in the latitude of rejection tend to be seen as even farther from our
own position than they actually are, resulting in a contrast effect
as a person becomes more involved w/ an attitude object, his/her latitude of acceptance gets smaller; in
other words, the consumer accepts fewer ideas that are removed from his/her own position and tends to
oppose even mildly divergent positions
balance theory considers relations among elements a person might perceive as belonging together.
This perspective involves relations (always from the perceivers subjective point of view) among 3
elements, so the resulting attitude structures are called triads

28

each triad contains (1) a person and his/her perceptions of (2) an attitude object and (3) some other
person or object
The balance 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:
(1) they can have a unit relation, where one element is seen as somehow belonging to or being a part of
the other (something like a belief)
(2) sentiment relation two elements are linked b/c one has expressed a preference (or dislike) for the
other
Balance theory reminds us that when perceptions are balanced, attitudes are likely to be stable
Forming a unit relation w/ a popular product (buying and wearing fashionable clothing or driving a flashy
car) may improve ones chances of being included as a +ve sentiment relation in other peoples triads
Multi-attribute attitude models assumes that a consumers attitude (evaluation) of an attitude object
(Ao) will depend on the beliefs he/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 consumers overall attitude
Grocery store example:
(1) Attributes are characteristics of the Ao fresh produce is an attribute of the grocery store
(2) Beliefs are cognitions about the specific Ao a belief measures the extent to which the consumer
perceives that a brand possesses a particular attribute [ex. a student may think Sobeys has fresh food]
(3) Importance weight reflects the relative priority of an attribute to the customer. Different consumers
give different weights to different attributes for the same brand.
Most popular multi-attitude model Fishbein model measures 3 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 probability that a particular object has an important attribute
(3) evaluation of each other important attributes
* The Fishbein model makes some assumptions that may not always be warranted. For ex. it assumes that
the consumer has been able to adequately specify all the relevant attributes that he/she will use in
evaluating his/her choice. The model also assumes that the consumer 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 students
attitude will instead be formed by an overall affective response affect-referral
A consumers overall attitude can be formed by using the following equation:
Aijk = {BijkIik
Where i = attribute, k = consumer, I = the importance weight given attribute i by consumer k, B =
consumer ks belief regarding the extent to which brand j possess attribute I, and A = a particular
consumer ks attitude score for brand j
The overall attitude score (A) is obtained by multiplying a consumers rating of each attribute for all of
the brands considered by the importance rating for that attribute
The extended Fishbein model theory of reasoned action aims to measure behavioural intentions,
recognizing that certain uncontrollable factors inhibit prediction of actual behaviour
Subjective norm (SN) includes two 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) w/ 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].
The new model measures the attitude toward the act of buying (Aact) rather than only the attitude toward
the product itself. It focuses on the perceived consequences of a purchase.

29

Obstacles of predicting behaviour through models are as follows:

(1) the model was developed to deal w/ actual behaviour [i.e. taking a diet pill], not with the outcomes of
behaviour [i.e. losing weight]
(2)some outcomes are beyond the consumers control, such as when the purchase requires the
cooperation of other people
(3) the basic assumption that behaviour is intentional may be invalid in a variety of cases, including those
involving impulsive acts, sudden changes in ones solution, novelty-seeking, or even simple repeat
buying.
(4) The level of abstraction important to match the level of specificity b/w the attitude and the
behavioural intention
(5) in general, the longer the time b/w the attitude measurement and the behaviour it is supposed to
assess, the weaker the relationship will be
(6) attitudes formed by direct personal experience with an Ao are stronger & more predictive of
behaviour than those formed indirectly, such as through advertising. According to the attitude
accessibility perspective, behaviour is a function of the persons 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 underscore tactics such as trial
The theory of reasoned action has been primarily applied in Western culture it may not be applicable in
other cultures for the following reasons:
(1) the model was developed to predict the performance of any voluntary act. Across cultures, many
consumer activities, ranging from taking exams and entering military service to receiving an inoculation
or choosing a marriage partner are not voluntary
(2) the relative impact of subjective norms may differ around cultures.
(3) 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] not true in all cultures
(4) a consumer who forms an intention is implicitly stating that he/she is in control of his/her actions
The theory of trying states that criterion of behaviour in the reasoned action model should be replaced w/
trying to reach a goal. This perspective recognizes that additional factors might intervene b/w intent and
performance both personal and environmental barriers might prevent the individual from attaining the
goal
Some aspects of the trying theory include:
(1) the amount of control the person has over the situation
(2) his/her expectations of successor failure in achieving the goal, social norms related to attaining the
goal
(3) his/her attitude toward the process of trying
Example: factors to consider to see if Jill would try to lose weight:
- past frequency how many times in the past did he try?
- recency did she try to lose weight in the last week?
- beliefs did Jill believe she would be healthier if she lost weight?
- evaluations of consequences did Jill believe her spouse would be happier if she succeeded in losing
weight? Did she believe her friends would make fun of her if she tried but failed to lose weight?
- the process would the diet make her uncomfortable or depressed?
- expectations of success and failure did Jill believe she would likely be able to lose weight if she
tried?
- subjective norms toward trying would the people who are important to Jill approve of the efforts to
loose weight?
An attitude tracking program helps to increase the predictability of behaviour by allowing researchers to
analyze attitude trends over an extended period of time.

30

Attitude tracking involves the admin of an attitude survey at regular intervals, preferable the identical
methodology is used each time so that the results can be compared reliably. Several syndicated services
such as the Gallup Poll or the Yankelovich Monitor track consumers over time.
Some of the dimensions that can be included in attitude tracking include the following:
(1) changes in different age groups attitudes tend to change as people age (life-cycle effect). In
addition, cohort effects occur, where members of a particular generation (ex. yuppies) tend to share
certain outlooks. Also, historical effects can be observed as large groups of people are affected by
profound cultural changes
(2) scenarios about the future consumers are frequently tracked in terms of their future plans,
confidence in the economy, etc. These measures can provide valuable data about future behaviour and
yield insights for public policy
(3) identification of change agents social phenomena can change peoples attitudes toward basic
consumption activities over time. [ex. consumers likelihood of desiring a divorce may be affected by
such facilitators as changes in the legal system that make this action easier, or by inhibitors, such as the
prevalence of AIDS and the value of 2 paycheques in todays economy].

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MKTG 4150 CHAPTER 8 ATTITUDE CHANGE & INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Persuasion an active attempt to change attitudes; it is the central goal of many mktg communications
Reciprocity principle people are more likely to give if they receive.
Scarcity items become (+) attractive when they are (-) available
Authority we tend to believe an authoritative source much more readily
Consistency people try not to contradict themselves in terms of what they say and do about an issue
Consensus we often take into account what others are doing before we decide what to do
Attitude change alteration of 1/+ of the cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of an
attitude to facilitate a shift in actual behaviour
Interactive communication a 2-way effect among consumers and media
Communications model specifies that a # 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]. The message must be transmitted via
a medium. The message is then decoded by 1/+ 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.

permission marketing a marketer will be much more successful trying to persuade consumers who
have opted into their messages; consumers who opt out of listening to the message probably werent
good prospects in the first place. 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
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 replaces it
uses and gratification theory consumers are active, goal-directed audience that draws on mass media
as a resource to satisfy needs. Instead of asking what media do for or to people, they ask what people so
with their media
- this approach emphasizes that media compete w/ other sources to satisfy needs and that these needs
include diversion and entertainment as well as info line b/w mktg and ent. is blurring
people are becoming partners rather than potatoes in the communication process
M-commerce aka mobile commerce; where marketers promote their goods/services via wireless
devices including cell phones, PDAs, and iPods, is red-hot
Blogging people post messages to the web in diary form. Forms of blogging include: moblogging,
vlogs, podcasts, RSS, flogs, virtual worlds, Twitter, widgets, etc.
Two types of basic feedback:
(1) first-order response direct-marketing vehicles such as catalogues & TV infomercials are
interactive; if successful they result in an order, which is mot definitely an ideal response. In addition to
providing revenue, sales data are a valuable source of feedback that allows marketers to gauge the
effectiveness of their communication efforts

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(2) second-order response customer feedback in response to a marketing message that is not in the
form of an [immediate] transaction
by attributing the same message to different sources and measuring the degree of attitude change that
occurs after listeners hear it, researchers have found that its possible to determine what aspects of a
communicator will induce attitude change
2 important source characteristics are credibility and attractiveness
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 (+) 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/her
typical consumers who are appealing sources b/c of their similarity to the recipient tend to most
effective when providing real-life endorsements for everyday products that are low-risk [i.e. cookies]
source credibility the sources perceived expertise, objectivity, or trustworthiness. This characteristic
relates to consumers beliefs that a communicator is competent and willing to provide the necessary info
adequately to evaluate competing products. A credible source can be particularly persuasive when a
consumer has not yet learned much about a product/service or formed an opinion about it
sleeper effect in some instances, the differences in attitude change b/w +ve sources and less +ve
sources seem to get erased over time. After a while, people appear to forget about the ve source and
wind up changing their attitudes anyway
- initially, the dissociative cue hypothesis proposed that over time, the message and the source become
disassociated in the consumers mind. The message remains on its own in memory, causing a delayed
attitude change the sleepers effect
- [more recent explanation] availability-valence hypothesis emphasizes the selectivity of memory owing
to limited capacity. If the associations linked to the ve sources are less available than those linked to the
message info, the residual impact of the message enhances persuasion. Consistent w/ this view, the
sleeper effect has been obtained only when the message as encoded properly when it has stronger
associations in memory than did the source
credibility can be enhanced if the sources qualifications are perceived as relevant to the product being
endorsed. This link can overcome other objections people may have to the endorser or the product.
*what is credible to one consumer segment may be a turnoff to another.
Corporate paradox the more involved a company appears to be in dissemination of news about its
products, the less credible it becomes.
Buzz WOM that is viewed as authentic and generated by customers
Hype dismissed as unauthentic corporate propaganda planed by a company w/ an axe to grind
HYPE
Advertising
Overt
Corporate
Fake
Skepticism

BUZZ
WOM
Covert
Grassroots
Authentic
Credibility

Source attractiveness sources perceived social value. This quality can emanate from the persons
physical appearance, personality, or social status, or form his/her similarity to the receiver.
Halo effect occurs when individuals who are rated highly on one dimension are assumed to excel on
others as well. This effect can be explained in terms of the consistency principle people are more
comfortable when all of their judgements about a person go together what is beautiful is good
stereotype

33

Although we may enjoy looking at a beautiful person, these +ve feelings do not necessarily affect
product attitudes or purchase intentions
Social adaptation perspective assumes that info seen to be instrumental in forming an attitude will be (+)
heavily weighted by the perceive; we filter out irrelevant info to minimize cognitive effort
an attractive source is effective when the product/service is relevant to attractiveness
a celebrity endorsement may be an effective strategy to differentiate among similar products; esp. when
consumers do not perceive many actual differences among competing products [mature life cycle]
celebrities embody cultural meaning they symbolize important categories, such as status and social
class or gender [i.e. Leonardo DiCaprio is seen as a ladies man]
match-up hypothesis for celebrity campaigns to be effective, the endorser must have a clear and
popular image and the celebritys image must match the product he/she endorses
the images of celebrities can be pretested to increase the profitability of consumer acceptance. One
widely used technique is Q-rating quality rating considers 2 factors: (1) consumers level of
familiarity w/ a name and (2) # of respondents who indicate that a person, program, or character is a
favourite
avatar a cyberspace presence represented by a character that you can move around inside a visual,
graphical world
one advantage of virtual avatars compared to flesh and blood models is that its possible to change the
avatar in real time to suit the needs of the target audience or individual consumer. Its more cost-effective
to use avatars for advertising. They also have the ability to handle multiple customers at any one time,
they are not geographically limited, and they are operational 24/7, thus freeing up company employees
and sales personnel to perform other activities
marketers face some of these issues w/ commercials:
- should the message be conveyed in words or pics?
- how concrete or vivid should the arguments and imagery be?
- how often should the message be repeated
- should the ad be funny?
- should ve emotions, such as fears, ever be aroused?

+ve effects of TV commercials

Showing convenience of use
Showing new product or improved features
Indirect comparison w/ other products
Demonstration of the product in use
No principal character [more time is devoted to the
product]

-ve effects of TV commercials

Extensive info of components, ingredients, or nutrition
Outdoor setting (message gets lost)
Large # of on-screen characters
Graphic displays

the verbal version of ads affects the ratings on the utilitarian aspects of a product whereas the visual
version affects the aesthetic evaluations
verbal elements are more effective when reinforced by an accompanying picture, esp. if the illustration is
framed [i.e. the message in the picture is strongly related to the copy]
a verbal message is most appropriate for high-involvement situations b/c it requires more effort to
process. A verbal message also needs more frequent exposure b/c it decays rapidly

34

both pics and words differ in vividness. Powerful descriptions or graphics command attention and are
more strongly embedded in memory because they tend to activate mental imagery, while abstract stimuli
inhibit this process.
-ve info presented in a vivid manner may result in (+) ve evaluations at a later time
mere exposure effect 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
too much repetitiveness in ads creates habituation, wherein the consumer no longer pays attention to the
stimulus b/c of fatigue or boredom
excessive exposure can cause advertising wearout, which can result in ve reactions to an ad after seeing
it too much
two-factor theory proposes that two separate psychological processes are operating when a person is
repeatedly exposed to an ad
the +ve side of repetition is that it increases familiarity and thus reduces uncertainty about the product.
The ve side is that, over time, boredom increases w/ each exposure. At some point, the amount of
boredom incurred begins to exceed the amount of uncertainty reduced, resulting in wearout
supportive arguments 1/+ +ve attributed presented about a product or reasons to buy it
two-sided message both +ve and ve info is presented
refutational argument a ive 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
a two-sided strategy appears to be most effective when the audience is well educated [and presumably
more impressed by a balanced argument]. 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
on the one hand, consumers who make their own inferences instead of being spoon-fed 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
if the message is personally relevant, people will pay attention to it and spontaneously from inferences.
However, if the arguments are hard to follow or consumers motivation to follow them is lacking, it is
safer for the ad to draw conclusions
comparative advertising a strategy wherein a message identifies 2/+ specifically named or
recognizably presented brands and compares them in terms of 1/+ specific attributes
- although some comparative ads result in desired attitude change, or +ve Aad, they have also been found
to be lower in believability and may result in more source derogation
- in some cultures [i.e. Asia], comparative advertising is rare b/c people find such a confrontational
approach offensive
- comparative ads do appear to be effective in the case of new products where they are superior in
anchoring a new brand closer to a dominant one and building a clear brand image
a study found that males dislike nude males in ads, whereas females responded well to undressed males
but not totally nude ones
in a research: 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 ads elements. Men said
they liked the sexual ads more, like 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
humour can be effective when it provides a source of distraction. A funny ad inhibits the consumer from
counter-arguing. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of message acceptance.
* the use of humour can be tricky, particularly b/c what is funny to one person may be offensive

35

humour is more likely to be effective when the brand is clearly identified and the funny material
doesnt swamp the message. Subtle humour is usually better, as is humour that doesnt make fun of the
potential consumer
what makes a beer ad appealing? 62% humour, 14% the situation, 7% music, 5% the actors, 4% the
product, 3% sex, and 5% something else
fear appeals highlight the ve consequences that can occur if the consumer fails to change a behaviour
or attitude [i.e. stop smoking or drive safely]
- this tactic has been -jokingly called the slice of death approach [i.e. Contacs no work, no pay ads
that target peoples anxieties and social risks directly]
fear appeals are usually most effective when only a moderate amount of fear is induced. The relationship
b/w fer and attitude change is non-monotonic an increasing level 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. The threat should not be excessive, and a solution to the problem should be presented. Fear
appeals also work better when source credibility is high.
A study of adolescent responses to social threat vs. physical threat appeals in drug prevention messages
found that social threat is a more effective strategy
Different people react to threats differently. Bottom line: more precise measures of actual fear responses
are needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn about the impact of fear appeals on consumption
decisions.
Advertising is all about storytelling. 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
Metaphor involves the use if an explicit comparison, such as A is B [i.e. Air Canada is your friend in
faraway places]. Metaphors allow marketers to activate meaningful images and apply them to everyday
events.
Resonance form of presentation that combines a play on words w/ relevant pictures. 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 the meaning
Commercials are structured like other art forms, borrowing conventions from literature and art as they
communicate their messages
Drama similar to a play or a movie; while an argument holds the viewer at arms length, a drama
draws the viewer into the action. The characters address the audience only indirectly; they interact w/
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 w/ some
subjective sensation.

36

Lecture a speech where 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
Dr. Fahlman from Carnegie Mellon University first to use emoticons to show sarcasm in text
Should marketers worry more about what is said [the message] or about how it is said and who says it?
[source]? It depends.
Research indicates that the level of consumer involvement will determine which aspect of a
communication is processed. The situation appears to resemble that of a traveller who comes to a fork in
the road: the traveller can choose only one path, and this path will have a big impact on the factors that
will make a difference in persuasion attempts
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) assumes that once a consumer receives a message, he/she
begins to process it
- under condition of high involvement, the consumer takes the central route to persuasion
- under conditions of low involvement, a peripheral route is taken instead
Central route to persuasion:
- if a person generates counter-arguments in response to a message, it is likely that he/she will yield to the
message, while the generation of further supporting arguments increases the probability of compliance
- the central route to persuasion is likely to involve the traditional hierarchy of effects. Beliefs are
carefully formed and evaluated, and strong attitudes that are then formed will be likely to guide
behaviour. The implication is that the 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 # of counterarguments
Peripheral Route to Persuasion
- 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
products package, the attractiveness of the source, or the context in which the message is presented.
Sources of info extraneous to the actual message content are called peripheral cues b/c they surround the
actual message
- the peripheral route to persuasion highlights the paradox of low involvement: when consumers dont
care about a product, the stimuli associated w/ it increases in importance. The implication here is that
low-involvement products may be purchased chiefly b/c the marketer has done a good job in designing a
sexy package, choosing a popular spokesperson, or perhaps just creating a pleasant shopping
environment
Break a new brand of low-alcohol beer was used to gather researcher data using the technique of
thought-listing or cognitive responses. 3 elements important for the ELM were analyzed:
(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. Subjects who werent
promised a gift and who were told that the brand wouldnt be introduced in a distant area had low
involvement
(2) argument strength one version of the ad used strong, compelling arguments to drink Break [less
calories than regular beer], whereas the other listed only weak arguments [Break just as good as other
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 non-verbal expressions, and by the
background info given about their educational achievements and occupations
The relative effectiveness of a strong message and a favourable source depends on consumers level of
involvement w/ the product being advertised

37

^ 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 by famous people)
*its important to note 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 products benefits are directly tied to enhancing attractiveness

Chapter 9 Individual Decision Making

Consumers as Problem Solvers
Consumer purchase may be a response to a perceived problem
Steps in making a purchase: (1) problem recognition (2) information search (3) evaluation of alternatives (4)
product choice 5) consumption and learning
Purchase decisions vary (sometimes we make a decision automatically without any information and sometimes
we may search for information for weeks before making a purchase)
o Even more difficult now as we have so many options to choose from!
Consumer Hyperchoice: condition where large number of options available forces us to make repeated
choices that may drain psychological energy while decreasing our abilities to make smart decisions
o Consumers characterized by a desire to look at all of the options in a way that allows for the best
choice are more anxious and depressed than those that select from a smaller selection good enough to
satisfy their needs
Perspectives on Decision Making
Rational Perspective: calmly and carefully integrate as much information as possible with what they already
know about a product, weigh pros and cons of the alternative, and arrive at a satisfactory decision
o Economics of information approach collect as much data as needed to make an informed decision
Only search as much as needed where rewards exceed costs and collect to most valuable units
of information first
Stages in Consumer Decision Making
Purchase Momentum: initial impulses actually increase likelihood that we will buy more as we get into a
spending spree (e.g. think about going to Winners)
o Some of us have a rational system of cognition where we process information analytically and
sequentially and others have an experimental system of cognition where we process information
holistically and in parallel
Behavioural Influence Perspective: managers must concentrate on assessing the characteristics of the
environment such as physical surrounding and product placement which influence a target market (e.g.. placing
gum right by the check out counter)

38

In the traditional approach, no single quality is the determining factor however in experiential perspective,
marketers focus on measuring consumers affective responses to products / services and develop offerings that
elicit an appropriate subjective reaction TOTALITY OF PRODUCT APPEAL
Types of Consumer Decisions
How much effort goes into making a decision?
Habitual Decision Making Limited Problem Solving Extensive Problem Solving
Low cost products
More expensive products
Frequent purchasing
Infrequent purchasing
Low consumer involvement
High consumer involvement
Familiar product class & brands
Unfamiliar product class &
brands
Little thought, search, or time
Extensive thought, search, and
given to purchase
time given to purchase
Habitual decision making:
o Efficient way to operate as it minimizes time and energy spent on mundane purchasing decisions
o Problem is posed when marketers introduce a new way of doing an old task must unfreeze former
habits and replace with new ones
Limited problem solving:
o Somewhat straightforward and simple but consumers arent simply acting on habit either
o Use simple decision rules to choose among alternatives (fall back on general guidelines instead of
having the start from scratch each time)
Extended problem solving:
o Correspond closely to the traditional decision-making perspective
o Collects as much information as possible both from memory (internal) and outside sources (external)
to then evaluate each alternative carefully to see which brands attributes shape up some set of desired
characteristics
Step 1: Problem Recognition
Experience a difference between our current and ideal state (to get from here to there we need to solve a
problem)
Problems arise in two ways: actual-state need recognition also known as need recognition (decline of the
quality of their actual state example running out of gas) and ideal state-opportunity recognition (gap between
actual and ideal state example craving a new car) also known as opportunity recognition
o Need recognition can occur when a consumer runs out of a product, purchases a product that doesnt
satisfy their needs, or has a new need or desire (buying a house and then having to buy new things with
it)
o Opportunity recognition occurs when we are exposed to different or better quality products or a
compelling price which occurs as circumstances change and make purchases to adapt to the new
environment (e.g. starting university)
Step 2: Information Search
Survey his or her environment for appropriate data to make a reasonable decision
o Pre-purchase Search searching for information after a need is recognized
o Browsing keeping track of developments for fun
o Ongoing Search maintain current information or future use
Internal search (memory) and external search (family/friends, advertisements, etc.)
Deliberate (incidental learning buying a birthday cake for one kid one month gives you a better
understanding of what cake the buy for your other kid the next month) and accidental search (incidental
learning exposure to something over time results in us learning more information)
No search when we are an expert about a product (however, majority of the time our existing state of
knowledge is not enough)
When we search for products online, were perfect targets for advertisers because we declare desire to make a
purchase

39
With the rise of social media, this is a great way for marketers to reach consumers and consumers
can get opinions about different brands through these platforms
Maximizing: seeks to deliver the best possible result (high involvement consumer)
o Mostly used for symbolic items even if theyre not as expensive such as clothing because the wrong
choice can lead the negative social consequences level of perceived risk is higher
Satisficing: yield an adequate solution often as a way to reduce costs of the decision making process (usually
for durable goods such as appliances and cars)
Bounded Rationality: rarely have the resources (especially the time) to weigh every possible factor, we are
often happy to settle for a solution that is good enough
Variety Seeking: wanting to try new things to reduce boredom and increase experiences (can lead to brand
switching)
o Occurs when people are in a good mood or there is little stimulation elsewhere in the environment
Mental Accounting: decisions are influenced by the way a problem is framed and whether there is a gain or
loss (e.g. if you were given a ticket to a hockey game or paid for one what would your decision be to go to
the game if there was a snowstorm that now made it difficult/dangerous to go?)
o Sunk-Cost Fallacy: having paid for something makes us more reluctant to waste it
Hyperopia: being so obsessed with preparing for the future that you dont enjoy the present
Prospect Theory: finds utility is a function of gains/losses and risk differs when the consumer faces options
involving gains vs. losses (people put more emphasis on loss than gain loss aversion)
People with moderate knowledge are the most likely to search for information (not those with little knowledge
and not those with too much either) however type of search differs
o Selective search experts where there focus tends to be more focused and efficient
The less we know about something, the easier it is to persuade ourselves that we like it
Perceived Risk: product has potentially negative or uncertain consequences and may be present if the product
is expensive or complex or if visible to others and we run the risk of embarrassment if the wrong choice is
made
o Risks include: monetary, functional, physical, social, psychological
Step 3: Evaluation of Alternatives
Evoked Set: alternatives actively considered during a consumers choice process comprised of those
products already in memory plus those prominent in the retail environment (usually a small number of
alternatives)
o Inept set those alternatives you are aware of but wouldnt consider buying because they arent what
you are looking for
o Inert set those not coming to mind at all
o

All
Alternatives
All Alternatives

Consideration or
or
Consideration
Evoked
Evoked Set
Set

Retrieval
Set
Retrieval Set
(Memory)
(Memory)

Prominent
Prominent
Producs
Producs in
in
Environment
Environment
(Advertising)
(Advertising)

Inert
Set (Don't
(Don't
Inert Set
know)
know)

Inept
Inept Set
Set (Don't
(Don't
like)
like)

Category in which a consumer places a product determines the other products he or she will compare it to, way
we classify a brand in our minds plays a big role in how we evaluate it (e.g. silver/gold wrapping of a
chocolate make us think its more upscale)
o Example: PepsiCo is trying to change consumers view of Tropicana from a beverage to a snack
(changing perspective that liquid can only be a beverage)
o Basic-Level Category: 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
(e.g. ice cream cone and pie because both are desserts and fattening)

40

1.
2.
3.

1.

o Superordinate Category: broader (e.g. cone and apple because both are desserts)
o Subordinate Category: specific (cone and sundae because both are fattening and relate to ice cream)
Positioning Strategy ability to convince a consumer that his/her product should be considered within a given
category
Products and services on the surface are quite different but at the broad level compete for consumers
discretionary dollars
Feature Creep: products too complex to use (e.g. smartphones with hundreds of apps)
o Choice in public: lots of features
o Use in public: simplicity
Evaluative Criteria: dimensions used to judge the merits of competing options
o Determinant Attributes: specific attributes that are used to differentiate among choices
Procedural Learning undergoing series of cognitive steps before making a choice (identifying important
attributes, if competitors differ on these attributes, etc.)
Marketers information should convey three pieces of information when trying to recommend a new decision
criterion:
Significant difference among brands on the attribute
Supply to consumer with a decision making rule (if this decision among competing brands then this attribute
should be used as a criterion
A rule that can easily be integrated with the way this person has made a decision (otherwise recommendation is
likely to be ignored as it requires too much mental work)
Neuromarketing: uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to do research on the brain
Cybermediary: an intermediary that helps to filter and organize online market information so that customers
can identify and evaluate alternatives more efficiently
o Different forms of cybermediaries include directories/portals (e.g. Yahoo), website evaluators (review
sits and recommend best ones), forums/fan clubs
The Long Tail: no need to solely rely on big hits (such as blockbuster hits or best sellers) to find profits (e.g.
Amazon sells over 3.7 million books and Barnes and Nobles only sells 100,000 but selling those smaller name
books helps Amazon make lots of their profit)
o Intelligent Agents: software that uses collaborative filters to learn from past behaviour and
recommend new purchases (e.g. Amazon recommends books based on other ones you bought)
Electronic Recommendation Agent: software tool that tries to understand human decision makers by asking a
user to communicate their preferences and then recommends a list of alternatives that fit their criteria
o Evidence indicates its more effective when they recommend a product based on utilitarian attributes
(e.g. nutrition) versus hedonic attributes (e.g. taste or design)
Brand Advocates: people who supply reviews on products/services
Heuristics: using mental rules of thumbs that lead to speedy decisions (shortcuts)
o Example: higher price = higher quality or to buy Redpath sugar because my mom would buy it)
Product Signal: aspect of a product that is visible and acts as a signal of some underlying quality
Stereotype: knowledge structure based on inferences across products (such as the effects of country of origin
of a product Japanese/German cars are good cars)
Ethnocentrism: tendency to prefer products/people of own culture over those from other countries
Zipfs Law: a brand that moves from two to one will see a bigger jump in profits then a product that says
jumps from four to three
o Brands that dominate their markets are approx. 50% more profitable than nearest competitors
(1) Inertia: brand is bought from habit because less effort is required
o Competitor trying to change a buying pattern based on inertia will find it easy to do so as there is little
resistance to brand switching (e.g. offering coupons, price reductions, etc.)
(2) Brand Loyalty: repeat purchase reflecting a conscious decision to continue buying the same brand because
of positive attitude towards the brand
Decision Rules for Consumers:
Compensatory one good attribute can compensate for other poorer attributes

41

More involved in the purchase and willing to put in an effort

Simple Additive Rule: chooses an alternative based on the largest number of positive attributes (drawback: not
all attributes are meaningful)
Weighted Additive Rule: takes into account the relative importance of positively rated attributes
2. Non-Compensatory: some poor attributes may eliminate the choice despite the strength of other attributes
Used more for people who are less familiar with a product category or not very motivated to process complex
information (this is simpler to use)
Lexicographic Rule: brand that is the best on the most important attribute is selected and if two brands are seen
equally, then you compare then using the second most important attribute
Elimination-By-Aspect Rule: specific cut-offs are imposed (e.g. having a sleeper timer on a TV)
Conjunctive Rule: processing by brand, cut-offs are established for each attribute and a brand is chosen if it only
meets all cut-offs
Disjunctive Rule: acceptable standards for each attribute and are usually set high if a choice exceeds any of
the standards for any of the attributes it is accepted
Chapter 10: Buying and Disposing
Relationship Marketing: building a strong customer service experience with loyal customers in ways that
foster a continued relationship over time
SITUATIONAL EFFECTS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumption Situation: contextual factors over and above characteristics of the person or product
Situational effects can be behavioural (e.g. entertaining friends) or perceptual (e.g. feeling depressed)
People tailor their purchases to specific occasions and the way they feel at a specific time (e.g. more
people buy books in June to read during beach time)
By identifying important usage situations (e.g. a guy who takes a girl on a date and wants to impress her),
marketers can develop market segmentation strategies to position products that will meet specific needs
arising from these situations
Physical and Social Surrounding
Physical - such as smells, dcor, temperature, etc.
Social the sheer absence of other patrons (co-consumers) can make a difference
o Variety seeking perception of crowding in a retail context causes more variety seeking (narrower
aisles seek out greater variety vs. wider aisles)
o Type of customers in a store or using a service can serve as an attribute (e.g. a good looking person
in the store can make you want to buy something from there)
Temporal Factors
Time is an economic variable resource that must be divided among activities
o Persons priorities determine his or her timestyle
o Time Poverty: consumers believe they are more pressed for time than ever before
o Time poverty has resulted in polychronic activity where a consumer does more than one thing a time
(e.g. eating while working)
Psychological time time categories in terms of when people are likely to be receptive to marketing messages
include:
o Flow time become so absorbed in something you dont notice anything else
o Occasion time something monumental occurs (such as a birth) and relevant ads capture your
attention
o Deadline time working against the clock (bad time to advertise)
o Leisure time during downtime we are more likely to recognize ads
o Time to kill waiting for something to happen (such as waiting to catch a plane) and is a good time to
advertise
Four dimensions of time to see the timestyles of women and how this affected their consumption:
1. Social dimension time for me or with others
2. Temporal orientation dimension relative significance attached to past, present, and future
3. Planning orientation dimension different time management styles varying from analytic to spontaneous
4. Polychronic orientation dimension people who prefer doing one thing at a time vs. multitasking

42

Five perspectives on time for women:

1. Time is a pressure cooker analytic in their planning and often find shopping as being under pressure and in a
conflict
2. Time is a map analytic planners and have a future temporal orientation and polychronic timestyle, engage in
extensive information search and comparison shopping
3. Time is a mirror analytic planners with a polychronic orientation but are usually loyal to products/services
they know and trust and prefer convenience-oriented products
4. Time is a river spontaneous in their planning and have a present focus, go on unplanned, short, and frequent
shopping trips undertaken on impulse
5. Time is a feast analytic planners who have a present temporal orientation, motivated to be hedonic and
variety seeking desires in their consumption behaviour (prefer fresh and novel ingredients when they buy food)
Linear separable time events proceed in an orderly sequence (time and place for everything)
o How many North Americans live
Queuing Theory: mathematical study of waiting in lines (can change a consumers perspective on service
quality)
o Can change this perspective example is when you get off the plane, they made the walk to luggage
claim long so it seems as though you dont have to wait as long
Antecedent States: If It Feels Good, Buy It
Two dimensions that determine whether a shopper will react positively/negatively are (i) pleasure and (ii)
arousal
Mood congruency mood state biases judgments of products and services in that direction
Shopping: A Job or an Adventure?
Hedonic shopping motives can include the following:
o Social experiences
o Sharing of common interests
o Interpersonal attractions central hangout, secure environment for groups
o Instant status people like being waited on
o The thrill of the chase like haggling and bargaining
Shopping Orientation: general attitudes about shopping, shopping types include:
o Economic consumer getting value for their money, rational and goal-oriented
o Personalized consumer strong attachments to store personnel (shop where they know my name)
o Ethical consumer support local stores instead of big chains
o Apathetic consumer unnecessary and unpleasant chore
o Recreational shopper fun social activity
Ecommerce: Clicks Versus Bricks
Good because you can reach people worldwide but bad because your competition is now not only that guy
across the street
Online buyers value these aspects of a website:
o Click on an item to get more detail about the product
o Add it to your cart without leaving the page youre on
o Better imagery, more product descriptions, and details
o Enter all data related to your purchase on one page
o Mix and match product images to determine if they look good together
Limitations: security, lack of actual shopping experience
Retailing as Theatre
Traditional stores have been able to keep competing amongst competition (online, TV, etc.) through making
shopping an experience
o Example: All American Girl store
Retail Theming: creating imaginative environments that transport shoppers to fantasy worlds, four basic
themes include:
1. Landscape themes associations with nature, earth, animals, etc. (e.g. Bass Pro Shop)

43
2. Marketscape themes associations with human-made places (e.g. Venetian Hotel recreates parts of the
Italian city)
3. Cyberspace themes built around images of information and communications technology (eBays retail
interface creates a sense of community)
Being Space: environment that resembles a commercial living room where consumers can go relax (e.g.
Starbucks)
Minipreneurs: one person business that offer work-centered being spaces (e.g. Starbucks as well)
Store Image
Store Image: personality of a store to help influence consumers to choose them over others
The shifting retail landscape an example of this can be seen through Shoppers Drug Mart which is not just a
drug store but also sells cosmetics (huge sales in this area) and can also be seen as a corner store to buy items
such as bread and cereal
Atmospherics an example of this is when you walk into a grocery store or Walmart and they put the produce
first, even though logically it makes sense to put these things in the end because they get ruined faster, they
make you feel better and righteous so you dont feel guilty putting cookies in your cart later on
Atmospheric: conscious designing of space and its various dimensions to evoke certain effects in buyers
(colours, scents, sounds)
o Brighter in-store lighting influenced people to examine and handle more merchandise and gives the
feeling of spacious and serenity
In-Store Decision Making
Unplanned Buying: person unfamiliar with a store layout is under time pressure or reminded to buy
something when they see it on the store shelf
Impulse Buying: person experiences sudden urge that he or she cannot resist (e.g. gum being placed near
checkout)
o Planners tend to know what products and brands they will buy beforehand
o Partial Planners know certain products but do not decide on specific brands until they are in the store
o Impulse Purchasers no advance planning whatsoever
Point of Purchase (POP) Stimulus: can be a product display, samples, etc. and explains why product
packages play a key role in the marketing mix
The Salesperson
Exchange Theory: every interaction involves an exchange of value
o Commercial Relationships: friendly relationships formed between a customer and salesperson
POST PURCHASE SATISFACTION
Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction: determined by overall feelings or attitudes a person has about a
product after it has been purchased
High customer satisfaction = competitive advantage
Perceptions of Product Quality
Expectancy Disconfirmation Model: customers form beliefs about product performance based on prior
experience with the product and/or on communications with the product that imply a certain level of quality
Acting on Dissatisfaction
Different courses of action a customer can take if they are dissatisfied (note: more than one can be taken):
1. Voice Response appeal directly to retailer for redress (e.g. a refund)
2. Private Response can express their dissatisfaction to family/friends or boycott the store (i.e. negative word of
mouth)
a. This is increasingly becoming public because of the increased use in social media
3. Third-Party Response take legal action against the merchant, register a complaint, post on review sites, etc.
Marketers should encourage consumers to complain to them to fix the issue and prevent negative publicity
The Real Value of Happy Customers
Customers are willing to pay more for a product if they experience good customer service
Total Quality Management: Going to the Gemba
Total Quality Management (TQM): complex set of management and engineering procedures aimed at
reducing errors and increasing quality

44
To obtain this objective, researchers can go to the gemba
Gemba: one true source of information
Going to the gemba can help researchers realize issues they may not have before (e.g. going to the
gemba of an airport cafeteria and noticing travelers had to put down their luggage and leave it
unattended as they paid)
The Evolution of Product Ownership
A new trend towards not owning things but just using them when needed to help avoid high prices,
maintenance, etc.
o Example: ZipCars
Transumer: a consumer who opts for temporary ownership or experiences of products rather than
permanently acquiring them
o Driven by a desire to stay up to date in fashion and be environmentally sustainable
PRODUCT DISPOSAL
When a customer decides a product no longer has use they have several choices: (1) keep the item, (2)
temporarily dispose it, or (3) permanently dispose it
o In most cases, a new product is purchased even if the old one still functions due to the need for new
features, change in environment, or change in persons image
Lateral Cycling: Junk versus Junque
Lateral Cycling: already purchased objects are sold to others or exchanged (e.g. Craigs List, garage sales,
etc.)
Divestment Rituals: take steps to gradually distance themselves from things they treasure so they can sell
them or give them away
o Iconic Transfer Ritual taking pictures and videos of objects before selling them
o Transition-Place Ritual putting items in an out of way location such as an attic
o Ritual Cleansing washing, irons, wrapping of the item
Recycling is the last step in the environmental movement only if no other use of the item can be found
should it be shredded and made into something else
o
o
o

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CHAPTER 11 Group Influence and Opinion Leadership
Group influence when other consumers actions or images affect the decision making process of
individuals
Opinion leadership the ability to influence others attitudes or behaviours based on knowledge
Reference group actual or imaginary individual or group conceived of as having significant relevance
upon an individuals evaluations, aspirations, or behaviour. Reference groups can influence consumers in
3 ways: informational, utilitarian, and value-expressive
reference group can be any external influence that provides social cues
the referent may be a cultural figure and have an impact on many people, or it may be a person or
group whose influence is confined to the many people or it may be a person or group whose influence is
confined to the consumers immediate environment
Three forms of reference group influence
Informational
- The individual seeks info about various brands from an association of professionals or
Influence
an independent group of experts
- seeks brand-related knowledge and experience [comparing brands] from friends,
neighbours, relatives, or work associates
- the individuals observation of what experts do influences his/her brand choices
Utilitarian
- individuals decision to purchase a particular brand is influenced by he ability to satisfy
Influence
others [i.e. work associates, family members, friends, etc.]
Value-Expressive - individual feels that the purchase or use of a particular brand will enhance the image
Influence
others have of him/her
- individual feels that the purchase of a particular brand would help show others what
he/she is or would like to be [such as an athlete, successful businessperson, etc.]

Normative influence the reference group helps to set and enforce fundamental standards of conduct
[i.e. who to get married to, what uni to attend, etc.]
Comparative influence decisions about specific brands or activities are affected [i.e. Weight Watchers
group]

Formal vs. Informal groups

Reference groups can be formal [i.e. a large focus group] or informal [i.e. a few friends in a dorm]
Small, informal groups exert a more powerful influence on individual consumers. These groups tend to
be more involved in individuals day-to-day lives and to be more important to them b/c the groups are
high in normative influence. Larger, formal groups tend to be more product or activity specific and thus
are higher in comparative influence
Brand Communities and Tribes
Brand community a set of consumers who share as et of social relationships based on usage or interest
in a product; meet very infrequently at events called brandfests that help owners bond w/ fellow
enthusiasts and strengthen their identification w/ the product as well as w/ others who share their passion
[i.e. events sponsored by Jeep or Harley]
Research shows that those who participate in brandfests feel more +ve about the products higher brand
loyalty, more forgiving than others of product failures or lapses in service quality and less likely to switch
brands even if competing products have a better deal; serve as brand missionaries
Consumer tribe a group of people who share a lifestyle and who can identify with each other b/c of a
shared allegiance to an activity or a product
although these tribes are often unstable and short-lived, at least for a time, members identify w/ others
through shared emotions, moral beliefs, styles of life, and the products they jointly consumer as part of
their tribal affiliation

 the challenge with tribal mktg is to link ones product to the needs of a group as a whole

46

Membership vs. Aspirational Reference Groups

Aspirational reference groups comprise idealized figured, such s successful businesspeople, athletes,
or performers.
The likelihood that people will become part of a consumers identified reference group is affected b
several factors such as:
(1) Propinquity [physical nearness]: as physical distance b/w people decreases and opportunities for
interaction increase, relationships are more likely to form
(2) Mere exposure: we come to like people or things simply as a result of seeing them more often
mere exposure effect. Greater frequency of contact, even if unintentional, may help to determine a
persons set of local referents
(3) Group cohesiveness: the degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and value
their group membership. As the value of the group to the individual increases, so too does the
likelihood that the group will guide consumption decisions. Smaller groups tend to be more cohesive,
b/c it is more difficult to relate to larger groups of people [membership for clubs not only allows for
exclusivity but also helps to keep such groups small]
Positive vs. Negative Reference groups
In some cases, a consumer may try to distance themselves from other people or groups that function as
avoidance groups [i.e. avoiding dressing up like nerds, druggies etc.]
The motivation to distance ourselves from a ve reference group can be as or more powerful than the
desire to please a +ve group. Thats why advertisements occasionally show an undesirable person using a
competitors product to subtly make the point that the target of the message can avoid winding up like
that kind of person by staying away from that product
Antibrand communities
Antibrand communities avoidance group; can also coalesce around a celebrity, store, or brand to unite
by their disdain for it
Ex. Rachel Ray Sucks blog
Researchers revealed that Antibrand communities provide a meeting place for those who share a moral
stance, a support network to achieve common goals, a means for coping w/ workplace frustrations, and a
hub for info, activities, and related resources
When reference groups are important
Products that are not very complex, that are low in perceived risk, and that can be tried prior to purchase
are less susceptible to personal influence
The specific impact of reference groups may vary: ex. they may determine the use of specific products
[i.e. eating junk food vs. healthy food] or they may determine a type of brand w/in a product category to
use [i.e. Levis vs. Diesel jeans]
2 dimensions that influence the degree to which reference groups are important are whether:
(1) the purchase is to be consumed publicly or privately
(2) the purchase is a luxury or a necessity
as a rule, reference group effects are more robust for purchases that are (1) luxuries rather than
necessities, since products purchased w/ discretionary income are subject to individual tastes an
preferences and necessities do not offer this range of choice; and (2) items that are socially conspicuous
or visible to others [such as living room furniture or clothing], since consumers are not swayed as much
by the opinions of others if their purchases will never be observed by anyone but themselves
Fig. 11-1 on page 339
The Power of Reference Groups

47

social power the capacity to alter the actions of others. Different types of power include:
referent power: if a person admires the qualities of an individual or group, he/she will try to imitate those
qualities by copying the referents behaviours [i.e. choice of clothing, cars, etc.] as a guide to forming
consumption preferences [voluntary by consumers].
information power: possessed by someone who simply knows something others would like to know [i.e.
editions of Wish publications]. People w/ info power are able to influence consumer opinion by virtue of
their [assumed] access to the truth
legitimate power: given to people by virtue of social agreements, such as that given to police officers and
professors. For ex. an ad featuring a model wearing a white coat can add an aura of legitimacy to the
products presentation
Expert power: derived from possessing a specific knowledge or skill. Consumers are often influenced by
experts who are assumed to be able to evaluate products in an objective, informed way [i.e. celebrity
endorsements, expert opinions/speakers, etc.]. One analysis of economist superstars noted 2 requirements
for success: (1) affiliation w/ an elite university, think tank, or investment house and (2) authorship of a
slim, easy-to-read book that yields a vision of the future
Reward power: the person has the means to provide +ve reinforcement, that entity will have power over a
consumer to the extent that this reinforcement is valued or desired. The reward may be tangible [i.e. an
employee raise] or intangible [i.e. social approval/acceptance]
Coercive power: requires some sort of surveillance to make people do something; usually effective in
S/T, not L/T.

Conformity
Conformity a change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure.
In order for a society to function, its members develop norms informal rules that govern behaviour
Examples: men always expect to pick up the bill on date # 1, shower regularly for personal hygiene, etc.
Factors influencing likelihood of conformity
Cultural pressures: different cultures encourage conformity to a greater or lesser degree [i.e. Japanese
society is characterized by the dominance of collective well-bring and group loyalty over individual
needs]
Fear of deviance: individual may have reason to believe that the group will apply sanctions to punish
behaviour that differs from the groups
Commitment: the (+) a person is dedicated to a group and values membership in it, the (+) motivated
he/she will be to follow the dictates of the group. According to the principle of least interest, the person
or group that is least committed to staying in a relationship has the most power, b/c that party wont be
susceptible to threatened rejection
Group unanimity, size, and expertise: as groups gain power, compliance increases. It is often harder to
resist the demands of a large # of people than those of just a few, and this difficulty is compounded when
the group members are perceived as knowing what they are talking about
Susceptibility to interpersonal influence: refers to an individuals need to identify w/ or to enhance his/her
image in the opinion of significant products; this enhancement process is often accompanied by the
acquisition of products the person believes will impress his/her audience and by the tendency to learn
about products by observing how others use them.
- consumers who are low on this trait are called role relaxed; they tend to be older and affluent and to
have high self-confidence
Social Comparison
Social comparison theory occurs as a way to increase the stability of ones self-evaluation, esp. when
physical evidence is unavailable. Even decisions w/ no objectively correct answer [i.e. taste in music,
type of art, etc.] are impacted by the social comparison theory

48

Similarity b/w the consumer and others used for social comparison boosts confidence that the info is
accurate and relevant [though we may find it to be more threatening]. We tend to value the views of
obviously dissimilar others only when we are reasonably certain of our own
In general, people tend to choose a co-oriented peer, or a person of equivalent standing, when undergoing
social comparison

Tactical Requests
Foot-in-the-door: ask a small favour, then ask for a bigger favour
Low-ball: a person is asked for a small favour and is informed, after agreeing to it, that it will be very
costly
Door-in-the-face: a person is first asked to do something extreme and then is asked to do something
smaller
Group effects on individual behaviour
Deindividuation individual identities get submerged w/in a group [people who behave super wildly at
Christmas parties]
Risky shift people act more yolo in groups than they would individually
Why? Diffusion of responsibilities: more people are involved in a decision, therefore, each individual is
less accountable for the outcome
Value hypothesis: riskiness is a culturally valued characteristic, and social pressures operate on
individuals to conform to attributes valued by society
Evidence for risky shift:
decision polarization: whichever direction the group members were leaning towards before the
discussion began toward a risky choice or a conservative one becomes even more extreme after
discussion
* group discussions regarding product purchases tend to create a risky shift for low-risk items, but yield
even more conservative group decisions for high-risk products
social loafing: refers to the fact that people dont devote as much effort to a task when their
contribution is part of a larger group effort
home shopping parties: capitalize on group pressures to boost sales. Good ex. of informational social
influence b/c participants model the behaviour of others who can provide them info about how to use
certain products, esp. b/c the home party is likely to be attended by a homogeneous group. Also a good
ex. of normative social influence b/c actions are publicly observed
* pressure increases as more people cave in bandwagon effect
as consumers get caught up in the group, they may find themselves willing to try new products they
would not normally consider [i.e. the Botox party]
Resisting Conformity
Anticonformity: people spend a lot of time ensuring that they will not be caught in style paradox b/c to
be vigilant about not doing what is expected, one must know what is expected. In contrast, truly
independent people are oblivious to what is expected
Reactance when people are threatened b/c of a potential loss of their freedom, they try to overcome
the loss [i.e. R-rated movies, objectionable content that is censored may increase its demand/desire
whereas increased promos for a product may cause consumers to be annoyed and stop buying]
Word of mouth communication
WOM product info transmitted by individuals to individuals. B/c WOM is from people we know and
trust, it is more reliable and trustworthy than recommendations from formal mktg channels and unlike
adv. WOM is backed up by social pressure to conform w/ these recommendations
- WOM is estimated to influence 2/3rd of all consumer goods sales
- WOM plays a significant role in the evaluation and adoption stages

49
- WOM is esp. powerful when the consumer is relatively w/ the product category [i.e. new products or
technologically complex products]
Factors encouraging WOM
A person might be highly involved w/ a type of product or activity and take pleasure in talking about it
a person might be knowledgeable about a product and use conversations as a way to let others know
about it [feed their own ego]
a person might initiate such a discussion out of a genuine concern for someone else
Negative WOM
-ve WOM is weighed more heavily than +ve comments
especially when making a decision about trying a product innovation, the consumer is more likely to pay
attention to ve info than +ve info and to related news of this experience to others
Rumours: distortion in the WOM progress
Frederic Barlett, a British psychologist, used the method of serial reproduction to examine the distortion
of rumours as they spread. He used the example of the Telephone game to show the analogy. He noted
that distortions almost inevitably follow a pattern they tend to change from ambiguous forms to more
conventional ones as subjects try to make them consistent w/ pre-existing schemas the process of
assimilation is characterized by leveling, wherein details are omitted to simplify the structure, or
sharpening, wherein prominent details are accentuated
Cutting-edge WOM Strategies
Picco Zs YouTube viral videos to increase product usage awareness
Social Networking
Social media platforms such as Twitter are changing the way business is done they empower consumers
to literally become partners and shape markets
Ex. Skittles changed its website into a SM hub [linked to Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube]
Other examples of SM campaigns include: Hallmarks Red campaign, R.E.M.s debuted its album on
Accelerate, DiGiorno launched its new flatbread pizza on Twitter, etc.
Web 2.0 features include:
- it improves as the # of users increases [i.e. Amazons ability to recommend books increases as more and
more people order books from Amazon]
- its currency is eyeballs and clicks [advertisement drives the profits]
- its version free and in perpetual beta [i.e. Wiki can be edited anytime]
- it categorizes entries according to folksonomy rather than taxonomy users rely on users rather
than pre-established systems to sort contents [i.e. radio stations on Pandora.com]
Crowd Power
Wisdom of crowds argues that under the right circumstances, groups are smarter than the smartest
people in them. If this is true, it implies that large #s of non-expert consumers can predict successful
products
Examples of crowd-based sites include: (1) Threadless.com (2) crowdspirit.com [participants submit
ideas for consumer electronics products and the community votes for the best ones], (3) Sermo.com
[social network for physicians], (4) eventful.com [fans show the demand for a concert and it gets hosted]
Individual consumes gain crowd clout when they shopmob w/ strangers. So far this is most popular in
China where the tuangou (team purchase) phenomenon involves strangers organizing themselves
around a specific product or service. Members who meet online on sites such as teambuy.com arrange to
meet at a certain date and time in a real-world store and literally mob the unsuspecting retailer the
bargain-hungry crowd negotiates a group discount on the spot

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Guerilla Marketing
Guerilla marketing promotional strategies that use unconventional locations and intensive WOM
campaigns to push products. [i.e. P&Gs Tremor group, Ice Cubes music leaks, using brand
ambassadors and brand influencers from companies such as Canadian Tire, HR, CFL, etc.
Virtual Communities

Virtual community of consumption a collection of people who interact online to share their
enthusiasm for and knowledge about a specific consumption activity [common love for a product]. These
communities remain anonymous b/c they interact with each other in cyberspace only [i.e. Doves In the
Motherhood and Dove.msn.com forums]
the intensity of identification w/ a virtual community depends on 2 factors:
(1) the more central the activity is to a persons self-concept, the more likely he/she will be to pursue an
active membership in a community
(2) the intensity of the social relationships the person forms w/ other members of the virtual community
helps to determine the extent of his/her involvement
Types of virtual communities
Tourists

Description
Lack strong social ties to the group and maintain only a passing
interest in the activity
Minglers
Maintain strong social ties, but are not very interested in the central
consumption activity
Devotee
Express strong interest in the activity, but have a few social
attachments to the group
Insiders
Exhibit both strong social ties and strong interest in the activity
* Devotees and insiders are the most important targets for marketers who wish to leverage communities for
promotional purposes b/c they are heavy users of virtual communities. And by reinforcing usage, the
community may upgrade tourists and minglers to insiders and devotees.
Viral Marketing
viral mktg the strategy of getting customers to sell a product on behalf of the company that creates it
Gazooba: the return mail address of a friend is a brand that you trust.
Virtual worlds: the next [digital] frontier
Virtual worlds 3D; employ sophisticated computer graphics to produce photo-realistic images. People
enter the virtual worlds in the form of a digital persona [avatar] that they create themselves and this
unprecedented level of activity facilitates consumer engagement and often creates the flow state
Virtual goods digital items that people buy and sell online
According to an estimate, by 2013, 53% of kids and 80% of active Internet users will belong to at least
one virtual world
Opinion Leadership
Opinion leaders a person who is frequently able to influence others attitudes or behaviours
Opinion leaders are valuable info sources for the following reasons:
(1) they are technically competent and thus are convincing b/c they possess expert power
(2) they have prescreened, evaluated, and synthesized product info in an unbiased way, so they possess
knowledge power. They are more credible b/c they have no axe to grind
(3) they tend to be socially active and highly interconnected in their communities they often have
legitimate power by virtue of their social standing
(4) they tend to be similar to the consumer in terms of their values and beliefs so they possess referent
power. Opinion leaders are more homophilous [the degree to which 2 individuals are similar in terms

51
of education, social status, and beliefs] rather than heterophilous. Effective opinion leaders tend to
be slightly higher than those they influence in terms of status and educational attainment but not so
high as to be in a different social class
(5) opinion leaders are usually the first ones to buy a product, therefore, they absorb much of the risk
thereby reducing the uncertainty for others who are not as courageous
The extent of an opinion leaders influence
generalized opinion leader somebody whose recommendations are sought for all types of purchases
monomorphic experts in a limited field
polymorphic experts in several fields
even the polymorphic opinion leaders focus on one broad domain [i.e. fashion or electronics]
it is rare to find a generalized opinion leader. An opinion leader for home appliances is likely to serve a
similar function for home cleaners, but not for cosmetics
fashion opinion leader has a primary influence on clothing choices can also be consulted on
cosmetics purchases, but not necessarily on microwaves
Types of Opinion Leaders
opinion leaders who are also early purchasers are known as innovative communicators.
Original framework: two-step flow model of influence proposes that a small group of influencers are
responsible for dissemination of info since they can modify the opinions of a large # of other people.
Research found that the influence is driven less by influential and more by the interaction among those
who are easily influenced; they communicate the info vigorously to one another and they also participate
in a 2-way dialogue w/ the opinion leader as part of an influence network. These conversations create
cascades of info, which occurs when a piece of info triggers a sequence of interactions
TRADITIONAL MODEL
Mass Media

Opinion Leaders

Recipients

UPDATED MODEL
Gatekeepers
Recipients

Mass Media
Opinion Leaders

Market maven people who are actively involved in transmitting info of all types. They come closer to
the function of a generalized opinion leader b/c they tend to come closer to the function of a generalized
opinion leader b/c they tend to have a solid overall knowledge of how and where to procure products
The following scale items have been used to identify market mavens:
(1) I like introducing new brands and products to my friends
(2) I like helping ppl by providing them w/ info about many kinds of products
(3) People ask me for info about products, places to shop, or sales

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(4) If someone asked me where to get the best buy on several types of products, I could tell them
where to shop
(5) My friends think of me as a good source of info when it comes to new products or sales
Surrogate consumer a person who is hired to provide input into purchase decisions. Unlike the
opinion leader and market maven, the surrogate consumer also gets compensated [ex. interior designers,
stockbrokers, professional shoppers, college consultants, etc.]
Identifying opinion leaders
its difficult to find opinion leaders b/c of the lack of their visibility b/c of this, most marketers attempt
to do so instead focus on exploratory studies in which the characteristics of representative opinion leaders
can be identified and then generalized to the larger market. This knowledge helps marketers target their
product-related information to appropriate settings and media
The self-designating method
self-designated method directly asking people if they consider themselves to be opinion leaders
for someone to be considered a bona fide opinion leader, his/her advice must actually be heard and
heeded by opinion seekers
an alternative to self-designation is to select certain group members [key informants] who are then asked
to identify opinion leaders. The success of this approach hinges on locating those who have accurate
knowledge of the group and on minimizing their response biases [i.e. the tendency to inflate ones own
influence on the choices of others]
although the self-designating method is not as reliable as a more systematic analysis [where individual
claims of influence can be verified by asking others whether the person is really influential], it does have
the advantage of being easy to administer to a large group of potential opinion leaders
Sociometry
Six degrees of separation the average person has 1500 acquaintances and any 2 people in the world
could be connected by 5-6 intermediaries
Sociometric methods trace communication patterns among group members, allow researchers to
systematically map out interactions that take place among group members
Sociometric techniques are best applied in closed, self-contained social settings, such as hospitals,
prisons, and army bases, where members are largely isolated from social networks
Social contagion: we are like our friends; therefore, if our friends get fat, we think its ok to gain a few
pounds tooyeahno.
Sociometric analyses can be used to better understand referral behaviour and to locate strengths and
weakness in terms of how ones reputation is communicated through a community
Network analysis focuses on communication in social systems; it considers the relations among people in
a referral network and measures the tie strength among them [tie strength the nature of the bond b/w
people; ranges from strong primary ex. your spouse to weak secondary ex. an acquaintance you rarely
see]
A strong tie relationship may be thought of as a primary reference group, in which interactions are
frequent and important to the individual
Weak ties can perform as bridging function allows a consumer access b/w subgroups ex. from your
bunch of friends who serve as a primary reference, your friend may intro you to a group of people who
play tennis b/c she knows you love tennis. As a result, you gain access to their valuable expertise through
this bridging function

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Chapter 12: Income, Social Class, and Family Structure

INCOME PATTERNS
Spending habits differ amongst social classes: those with and without money and those with old vs. new
money
Products are often bought as status symbols to show others what our social standing is- especially true in large,
modern societies where behavior and reputation can no longer be counted on o convey ones position in a
community
Canadian avg. family income was 75320 in 2009, while 2.5 billion people live off of $2/day meaning we have
a high standard of living internationally
Upward income shifts in Canada can be attributed to: shift in womens roles and increases in educational
attainment
Women Roles: Women are increasingly entering male-dominated professions and we have a larger proportion
of people of working age participating in the labour force
Increase in Education: Increasing education levels also means rising income levels (an investment made)
Consumer demand for products/services depends on both the ability to buy and the willingness to buy
Discretionary Income: money available to a household over and above that required for a comfortable
standard of living. Increases as overall income increases and debt/tax burdens are relieved
As populations age and income levels rise, the proportion of money spent on shelter and transportation
increases while the proportion spent on food and clothing decreases
o Due to these factors: increased home ownership, working wives paying for commuting and
employment costs.
Households now spend more on entertainment, reading, and education compared to the past
Individual Attitudes Toward Money
There are 2 types of frugal customers:
o Spendthrifts: spend cautiously because they enjoy saving money (driven by pleasure of saving)
o Tightwads: spend cautiously because spending money is an unpleasant experience - more likely to be
men, older, or have higher education (driven by pain of spending)
Tightwads outnumber spendthrifts
Not everyone suffers in a recession, many consumers dont uniformly cut back on spending, instead they
reallocate priorities and perhaps buy less on credit
Debt which used to be associated with indulgent shopping has become a normal feature of society
Companies now attempt to incorporate consumer attitudes toward money into retailing practices
Example: Wal-Mart identified three groups serviced across food, entertainment, apparel, home goods, and
pharmaceuticals:
1. Brand Aspirationals: people with low incomes who are obsessed with brand names such as KitchenAid
2. Value-Price Shoppers: Those who like low prices and cannot afford much more
3. Price-sensitive Affluents: wealthier shoppers who love deals
Money has complex psychological meanings: success/failure, social acceptability, security, love, freedom, sex
appeal
Michael Adams book Better Happy Than Rich? finds people with more money are happier, not b/c money
buys happiness but because it provides freedom/personal autonomy (however there are still people with less
money who are happy and with more money who are miserable)
Consumer Confidence

54

Behavioral Economics: the human side of economic decisions. Studies how consumer motives and
expectations about the future affect their current spending and how these individual decisions add up to affect a
societys economic well-being (Also called economic psychology)
Consumer Confidence: the extent to which people are optimistic or pessimistic about the future health of the
economy and how they predict theyll fare in the future influences current spending
The Conference Board of Canada conducts surveys to measure consumer confidence; says increasing gas
prices dampen consumer confidence (but doesnt represent a simple pessimistic outlook, ex: people dont stop
buying cars they just buy more efficient ones)
When people are pessimistic abt. Prospects, they cut back spending and take on less debt. Vise Versa.
Savings Rate: influenced by (1) consumers pessimism or optimism about their personal circumstances (e.g.
being laid off or promoted), (2) national and world events (e.g. recession), (3) cultural differences in saving
attitudes (e.g. brown people)
New sub segment of this age bracket (18-34) called the Young & Affluent who are described as savvy, well off,
and trendsetting and dont look like theyre expecting a recession to get in the way
SOCIAL CLASS
Social Class: a consumers standing in society determined by a complex set of variables including income,
family background, and occupation
Determines how much and in what ways money is spent. Ex: old money that has been in the family for so
long doesnt show off as much as new money
Picking a Pecking Order
People, like chickens, subscribe to a type of pecking order, meaning they are ranked in terms of their relative
standing in society
This standing determines access to resources such as education, housing, and consumer goods
People try to improve their ranking by moving up in the social order
This desire to improve ones lot in life, and let others know about it, is at the core of many marketing strategies
Sociologists try to carve society into groups for segmentation purposes, and have developed ways to describe
meaningful divisions of society in terms of peoples relative social and economic resource. Some divisions
involve political power, some are purely economic
Karl Marx- 19th century theorist who felt position in society was determined by a persons relationship to the
means of production. Haves control resources & use labour of others to preserve their privileged positions.
Have Nots depend on own labour for survival, so they have the most to gain by changing the system
Max Weber, German Psychologist peoples rankings are multidimensional; some involve prestige or social
honour called prestige groups, some focus on power (i.e. party), and some revolve around wealth and
property (i.e. class).
People in the same social class tend to have equal social standing, work in similar occupations, have similar
lifestyles by virtue of their income levels and common tastes
Homogamy: tendency for people to marry others in similar social classes; also called assortative mating
Social Stratification: the creation of artificial divisions, those processes in a social system by which scarce
and valuable resources are distributed unequally to status positions that become more or less permanently
ranked in terms of the share of valuable resources each receives
o We see this in person and online as the reputation economy takes shape - term referring to the
currency people earn when posting comments and others recommend their comments
Ascribed Status: status granted by birth; born with silver spoon in mouth
Achieved Status: status earned through hard work
Status Hierarchy: some members of a group being better off than others, may have more authority or power,
or other members simply like or respect them
Social Mobility
Social Mobility: the passage of individuals from one social class to another (ex. easy in Canada but difficult in
India)
Horizontal Mobility: when a person moves from one position to another that is roughly equivalent in social
status. Ex: from nurse to elementary school teacher

55

Downward Mobility: When a person moves to a lower social status (ex. from employed to homeless or on
social assistance)
Upward Mobility: When a person moves to a higher social status
o Differential Fertility: Middle and upper classes produce less kids than lower classes and tend to restrict
family size to below replacement level (ex. by having one child)
o Thus, reasoning says those of lower status must fill positions of higher status over time
o However, most born to blue collars and white collars will be come those same types of workers
Classes are not rigidly defined in Canada however we do maintain a somewhat stable class structure in terms
of income distribution
o What changes are the groups (ethnic and religious) that occupy different positions within this structure
at different times
Class Structure Around The World
China:
Economic boom creating rising middle class
With lower costs, a family with annual income below North American poverty line can enjoy middle-class
comforts
Asians are highly sensitive to cues that communicate social standing, including brand names (prefer branded
compared to generic products)
Japan:
Highly brand-conscious society
This demand was reduced by the 2011 tsunami, but it has encouraged the spending on small luxuries
Luxury goods spending largely fueled by single working women who live at home, leaving them with cash to
spend (live at home with parents to save money)
Middle East:
Few Arab women work, making search for latest in Western luxury brands a major leisure activity for those
with money; stores have antechambers for friends and family who come along to shop
Companies have to be careful to adhere to cultural and religious norms (such as longer pants)
United Kingdom:
Very class-conscious country, until recently inherited position and family background predetermined
consumption patterns
Supremacy of inherited wealth is fading as British entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson, redefine the economy
Chavs: young, lower class men and women who mix track suits with flashy brands and accessories from big
names such as Burberry. They are the target of some big marketers like Unilever and Groupe Danone (e.g.
David Beckham and Victoria)
o Despite their tackiness, marketers like chavs because they spend a lot of their disposable income on
fashion, food, and gadgets
India:
Indias economy is booming despite global recession
Even though half of Indias population lives on less that $1.25 a day, luxury brands still scramble to exist in
India
After being freed from British rule, the countrys people now watch MTV, read international magazines, credit
spending has dramatically increased (approx. 30% a year)
Blurring Social Class Lines: getting more difficult to link certain brands/stores with a specific class as affordable
luxuries are within reach for many more consumers now than in the past (cant just link base on what product he/she
buys)
BRIC: The term used to describe the largest emerging markets: Brazil, Russia, India, and China
Mass Class: the hundreds of millions of global consumers who enjoy a level of purchasing power that enables them to
afford high-quality products - except for big ticket items such as university educations, housing, or luxury cars
(companies such as H&M, Zara, and LOreal target this market)
COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL CLASS
Two major components are occupation and income, also educational attainment (third related factor)

56

Occupational Prestige - the notion that some occupations are more respected/held in higher regard than
others. Tend to be stable over time and across cultures. It is linked to spending of leisure time, allocation of
family resources, aesthetic preferences, and political orientation, thus some social scientists call it the best
single indicator of social class
Income - Determines buying power and market potential. Income is not distributed evenly across classes,
Canadian consumers are getting older and wealthier which is causing a shift in consumption preferences
How Income Relates to Social Class
The link between money and class isnt entirely direct - people with high incomes often try to buy their way
into a higher social class
Do people buy products for their functional value (what it does) or symbolic value (impression it conveys to
others)?
o Social class is a better predictor of purchases that have symbolic aspects but low-to-moderate prices
(e.g. cosmetics and liquor)
o Income is a better predictor of major expenditures that do not have status or symbolic pickup truck
aspects (e.g. major appliances)
o Both Social and Income data are needed to predict purchases of expensive symbolic products (e.g. cars
and homes)
HOW SOCIAL CLASS AFFECTS PURCHASE DECISIONS
Worldview: a way to differentiate among social classes
o World of working class is more intimate and constricted. Immediate needs (ex: fridge) tend to dictate
buying behavior, whereas higher classes focus more on long-term goals, such as saving for university
tuition or retirement
o Depend heavily on relatives for emotional support and orient themselves in terms of the local
community rather than the world at large. Maintaining look of home is important regardless of its size
o Lower-class men were less likely to feel empowered and can be grouped into two categories:
Impotent Reactors: those who feel theyre at the mercy of their economic situations
Potent Actors: believe they have ability to take actions that affect their world - more likely to
set up financial opportunity for themselves
o Not all middle class members seek to be in upper class, they see it can be too much work to maintain
o Affluenza: the tendency for well-off consumers to be stressed or unhappy despite their wealth
SRI consultings three groups of consumers (based on attitudes towards luxury):
1. Luxury is functional: buy things that will last and have enduring value, conduct expensive pre-purchase
research and make logical, opposed to emotional or impulsive choices
2. Luxury is a reward: younger than 1st group, older than the 3rd, buy to show others they have made it
3. Luxury is indulgence: smallest group tends to be younger males. Purpose of luxury is to be lavish and
indulgent. Pays premium for products that express individuality and make others take notice
Old money consumers distinguish themselves by lineage rather than wealth. To achieve social prominence,
must demonstrate family history of public service and philanthropy. They are secure in their status - have been
trained their whole lives to be rich
New money consumers, les nouveaux riches, sometimes suffer from status anxiety. They monitor the cultural
environment to ensure theyre doing the right thing ad they have flamboyant consumption behavior
Taste Culture: differentiates people in terms of their aesthetic and intellectual preferences
o We segment ourselves in terms of shared tastes in literature, art, music, leisure activities and home
decoration
o Ex: religious objects, fake flowers found in lower class homes while paintings and modern furniture
found more in high class home
Online Gated Communities: e-communities that allow selective access. Ex: HotEnough.org an online dating
site that only accepts attractive people
Status Symbols
We evaluate ourselves (professional accomplishments, appearance, material well-being) relative to others.
Hence the phrase keeping up with the Joneses

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Status symbols show other people what we can afford; the less confident we really are, the more we may
spend on status symbols to make up for this
How do consumers who purchase genuine luxury branded items feel when they see fakes; there are 3
coping strategies (observed in India and Thailand)?
o 1) Flight: stop using the brand to avoid being deemed lesser-status person who buys fakes
o 2) Reclamation: go out of their way to establish long relationship w/ brand, but express concern that
its image will tarnish
o 3) Abranding: they disguise luxury items in belief that truly high-status people dont need to display
expensive logos
In the world of status symbols, anything goes so long as other people dont have it
Invidious Distinction: to inspire envy in others through the display of wealth or power - a consumption
motivation according to Thorstein Velblen
Conspicuous Consumption: Peoples desire to provide prominent, visible evidence of their ability to afford
luxury goods
o Most common amongst the leisure class: people for whom productive work is taboo based on a desire
to link oneself to ownership or control rather than production
o Veblen suggested women were an economic resources, showered with expensive clothes and lifestyles
to display a mans wealth
Brand Prominence: how overt a status symbol is. Is it super flashy or subtle? Consumers can fall into 1 of 4
groups with respect to this:
o Patricians: rely on quit signals to each other and are put off by excessive displays
o Parvenus: associate with other haves and want to dissociate from have-nots. They use loud signals.
o Poseurs: aspire to be haves. Hey mimic the parvenus
o Proletarian: do not engage in signaling
Potlatch: Ceremony of Kwakiutl Indians who lived in Pacific Northwest where they showed off wealth and
gave extravagant presents to guests
o Conspicuous Waste: wasting property to show others that we have assets to spare.
Parody Display: deliberately avoiding status symbols - to seek status by mocking it. Thus true status is
shown by the adoption of product symbolism that is deliberately irreverent or unfashionable
HOW DO WE MEASURE SOCIAL CLASS?
Because social status is complex, people disagree on how to measure it
Early measures: Index of Status Characteristics and the Index of Social Position developed by August
Hollingshead
Blishens Socioeconomic Index for Occupations in Canada may be used when occupation is the most
appropriate variable to use to collect information on socioeconomic status
Problems with Measures of Social Class
Many of the methods were previously designed to measure households with a working male in the middle of
the career and a full time female homemaker. These measures have trouble accounting for two-income families
Assigning people to a social class doesnt mean theyll be equal on all dimensions (e.g. can come from a low
ethnic group but still have a high status job)
Status Crystallization: method used to assess the impact of social-class inconsistency
o The logic is that when these indicators are not consistent, stress occurs because the rewards from each
part of such an unbalanced persons life are variable and unpredictable. People exhibiting
inconsistencies are more receptive to social change than those whose identities are rooted more firmly.
Over privileged: making more money than we expect in their social class (income 25-30% greater than the
median for ones class)
Underprivileged: earn at least 15% less than the median of their social class and must allocate a large part of
their income towards maintaining an impression that they occupy in their status (e.g. having a large house but
not enough money to furnish it)
o Traditionally, men define a familys social class and the woman gets her social class from her husband
o Attractive women used to marry up and use their sex appeal for economic resources of men
Problems with Social Class Segmentation: Summary


1.
2.
3.

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Marketers fail to use social class information as effectively as they can because:
Ignore status inconsistencies
Ignore intergenerational mobility
Ignore subjective social class (i.e. the class someone identifies themselves with and may not be one they
actually belong to)
4. Ignore consumers aspirations to change their class standing
5. Ignore social status of working wives
FAMILY STRUCTURE
Other than income and social class, elements such as life stage of family, size of family, and how family
members interact can influence consumer behaviour
Household Structure
Family structures have changed and are not the traditional family we used to think of (e.g. common law
marriages have increased)
Household Living Arrangements: whether or not the person lives with another person and if so whether or
not they are related to that person
Census Family: married couple and children if any of either or both spouses, common law with children if
any, lone parent of any marital status with at least one child living in the same dwelling, opposite or same sex,
grandchildren living with grandparents all constitute a census family
Extended Family: once the most common family unit, consists of three generations living together (includes
grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins)
Nuclear Family: mother and father and one or more children became the model family over time
Changes in the traditional family definition provide opportunities for marketers as people make new choices
about products and brands
Traditional family seems to be making a comeback amongst young couples (i.e. women that are educated and
high achieving staying at home to raise small children is seen as a high priority compared to mega-income or a
title)
Family Age
35-64 years old people has the highest number of marriages and common law relationships (i.e. people are
waiting longer to get married)
As couples get married later and already purchase basic household items by this time, there is a shift towards
unconventional wedding gifts such as a cooking class
Depending on where a family is in its life stage changes the goods and services they will find appealing and
understanding this stage helps marketers position anything (e.g. baby food)
Family Size
Average size used to be 4 but has slipped to 3
Family size is dependent on factors such as education level, availability of birth control, and religion
Total Fertility Rate (TFR): average number of children that would be born per women if all women lived to
the end of their childbearing years and bore children according to a given fertility rate at each age
Markets analyze birth rate to see how it will affect demand of products in the future
Worldwide surveys show most women want smaller families nowadays
Some countries use measures to encourage people to have more children to keep up the fertility rate (e.g.
cheaper utility bills for people with larger families in Spain)
Non-Traditional Household and Family Structures
Person living alone, roommates, or two lovers can be defined as a household
Sandwich Generation: middle-aged people that take care of their parents and their children
o Many parents find children living with them for longer nowadays
o Boomerang Kids: 20-29 year old kids still living at home
o Young men are more likely than young women to live with their parents
o These kids spend more on entertainment and less on housing and staples
The Family Lifecycle

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Two important factors that determine how a couple spends time and money are: (i) whether they have
children and (ii) whether the women works outside the home (as these working women need to make
allowances for things such as daycares and home cleaning services)
Family Lifecycle (FLC): combines trends in income and family composition with the changes these demands
place upon this income (as we age our preferences change)
o As we go through different stages of our life (getting married, moving in, getting divorced) we observe
changes in our spending
Four variables that describe changes on buying: age, martial status, presence or absence of children at home,
and childrens ages
o Martial status includes any couple living together or in a long-term relationship
o Example: young couples spend more on bars and going out, single parents on daycares, etc.

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Chapter 13 Subcultures
Subculture: a group whose members share beliefs and common experiences that set them apart from others.
o Can be based on age, ethnic background, and region of Canada etc.
o Influences everyday experience and consumption preferences
Micro culture: based on a lifestyle or aesthetic preference
o Examples: MMA enthusiasts, Star Trek fans
o Typically command fierce loyalty
AGE AND CONSUMER IDENTITY
Age is a large part of identity as the era you grow up in bonds you with others in the same era and your
needs/preferences change around the same time as those around you & are likely to be similar. Ex: generational
bond let 50k people to 2009 Paul McCartney concert
Marketers need to communicate with age groups in their own language
Age cohort: a group of consumers of the same or approximate age who have undergone similar experiences;
the basis of an age subculture
They share common memories about cultural heroes and historical events
Generations are hard to identify precisely but marketers use generalizations such as tweens, Gen Y, Gen X,
baby boomers, and the grey market
Products are targeted at age cohorts as possessions let us identify with others in an age group 7 express our
priorities and needs in the life stages
Rough generalization categories:
o Interbellum Generation: people born at the beginning of the 20th century
o Silent Generation: People born btw. The two World Wars
o War Baby Generation: People born during World War II
o Baby Boomers: People born 1946-1964
o Generation X: People born 1965-1985
o Generation Y: People born 1986-2002
o Generation Z: People born 2003 and later
Age cohorts experience crucial life changes at roughly the same time, so values and symbolism used to appeal
to them can evoke deep emotion (especially for those over 30 yrs. of age)
Some individuals are simply more predisposed to nostalgia, regardless of age
Brand sales are impacted by linking items to vivid memories/experiences, especially for items that are
associated with childhood or adolescence.
Multigenerational Marketing Strategy: using imagery that appeals to consumers from more than one
generation
The Youth Market
Gen Y, born 1986-2002. Includes kids, tweens, teens, to university-aged students. They represent 26% of the
Canadian population.
Gen Yers go by several names: baby boom echo, echo boomers, millennials, digital generation, and Nintendo
generation
Tweens: 10-14 years old
Teens: 15-19 years old
Purchases affected by: cost, function, cool cachet, health and social awareness
Often grew up in non-traditional families, some raised by a single parent and most have a working mother
Gen Y is an increasingly ethnically diverse generation, feel they belong to global community first and think
best thing about Canada is its welcoming of different races and cultures
Hold relatively traditional values, believe in fitting in not reveling
Socialization stresses things such as teamwork and community service
Digital Natives
Gen Y first to grow up with computers in the home
They are multitaskers, part of thumb culture (communicates via online and cellphone)
Texting: the preferred method of communication, acronyms are prevalent (omg, g2g)

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Video: consumer a large amount of videos (hours watching)

Online brand WOM: they share brand opinions and experiences online
Consumer Generated Content: 2/3 make content online through blogs, groups, for school assignments
Targeting the University Market
A time of product experimentation, good time to get them to try your brand
First time may be living away from home, so they dont yet have brand loyalty to home products such as
cleaning supplies
Hard to reach via conventional media such as Television
Loyal to brands they feel contribute to social issues and the environment
Teens
Label teenager invented in 1956 when Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, pop group, identified with this new
subculture
Segment where word of mouth is more powerful
Teen Values, Conflicts, and Desires
Transition from child to adult creates uncertainty about the self, the need to belong and fund a unique identity
as a person becomes pressing
Constantly search for right way to behave by looking to others, as such advertising to teens is typically
action oriented and shows a group of in teens using the product
Needs: experimentation, belonging, independence responsibility, and approval from others. Many of these
needs are satisfied through the medium of product usage.
Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency identify four basic conflicts common to all teens:
o 1. Autonomy versus belonging: want independence but also need a support structure
o 2. Rebellion vs. Conformity: to rebel against social standards of appearance/behaviour, yet still need
to fit in and be accepted by others
o 3. Idealism vs. Pragmatism: view adults as hypocrites, see themselves as sincere. Struggle to
reconcile their view of how the world should be with realities they perceive around them
o 4. Narcissism vs. Intimacy: tend to obsess about appearance and needs & feel desire to connect w/
others on a meaningful level
Speak To Teens In Their Language
More savvy than precious generations and have a B.S. alarm that goes off quickly. Aware that a lot of
advertising is based on lies and hype.
Rules of engagement for young consumers:
o Rule 1: Dont talk down. Allow them to draw own conclusions about products instead of telling them
what to think
o Rule 2: Dont try to be what youre not. Youth value straight talk.
o Rule 3: Entertain them. Make it interactive and keep the sell short.
o Rule 4: Show that you know that theyre going through, but keep it light.
Tweens
Children aged 10-14 between childhood and adolescence and exhibit characteristics of both age groups
Discretionary income sources: birthday and holiday gifts, allowance, back-to-school money, occasional jobs
like babysitting, indulgent parents.
Spending comes from as needed parental supplements to their allowance
Influence household purchases including: food, clothing, family entertainment, trips, and technology
Advertising to Children: An Ethical Minefield
Has been suggested children be educated about advertising and encouraged to question what they see on
television
Canadian Advertising Foundations Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children provides industry guidelines in
areas including: product claims, sales pressure techniques, endorsements by program characters, scheduling,
safety and social values
How Do We Research the Youth Market?
Monitor expression of values, since values themselves dont change much but the expression of them does

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Research in youth markets has to be innovative. Such as Pizza Hut inviting teens into the boardroom with
executives to ask what makes the perfect pie.
Holy grail (of youth marketing)- defining what is cool to teens
Elements of cool: charisma, being in control, being a bit aloof, the more you chase cool the less cool you are
Considered consumers in training because we often develop brand loyalty in adolescence
This loyalty creates barriers to entry for other brands that were not chosen during these pivotal years
Teens also influence what their parents buy and sometimes do actual purchasing of basic items for the
household
Generation X
Called baby busters, felt pressure of the 1990 recession but are likely to be well positioned in the new economy
The Mature Market
Baby boomers are redefining what it means to grow older by having postretirement careers, some working well
past the age of traditional retirement.
Boomers sometimes referred to as Zoomers, aka Boomers with a zip
Baby Boomers
Canadians born between 1947 and 1966 whose parents established families following the end of World War II
and during the 1950s, when the peacetime economy was strong and stable
Sheer size of cohort has helped to make it source of many fundamental cultural and economic changes.
Teenagers in 60s and 70s, the Woodstock Generation, created a revolution in style, politics, and consumer
attitudes
Baby boomers earn more than their parents did at the same age, thus consumers are becoming older and
wealthier
They are now beginning to retire and spend heavily on luxury items such as pleasure boats
They control 77% of Canadas wealth
Grey Power: Seniors Economic Clout
Grey Market: people aged 65 and older. Classified as senior citizens.
They are a large growing group
People are living longer healthier lives b/c of more wholesome lifestyles, improved medical diagnoses and
treatment, and changing cultural expectations about appropriate behaviours for older consumers
Given economic power of senior consumers, surprising marketers ignore them
Seniors are the most brand-loyal of any customer segment
Industries benefiting from surging grey market: exercise facilities, cruises and tourism, cosmetic surgery and
skin treatments, and how to books and university courses that offer enhanced learning opportunities
Age is more a state of mind than of body
A persons mental outlook and activity level have more to do with longevity and quality of life than
chronological age.
Chronological age: the actual number of years the person has actually been alive
Perceived Age: how old a person feels, is a better yardstick to use
o Measured on several dimensions, including feelage (how old a person feels) and look-age (how
old a person looks)
o The older consumers get, the younger they feel relative to their actual age
o For this reason marketers emphasize product benefits rather than age-appropriateness in marketing
campaigns b/c many consumers will not relate to products that target their chronological age
How Should Marketers Talk to Mature Consumers?
Key values relevant to mature consumers, which marketing strategies should link to in order to succeed.
Autonomy: mature consumers want to lead active lives and be self-sufficient.
Connectedness: Mature consumers value bonds with friends and family
Altruism: mature consumers want to give something back to the world
Mature consumers spend the largest part of their days engaging in leisure activities
Products in packaging that is sensitive to seniors limitations get the best reception. Good product packaging:

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o Pays attention to contrasting colors
o Makes smaller serving sizes for those living alone
o Easy to read
Needs of aging population are also changing product design
The Canadian Standards Association developed voluntary Design for Aging Guidelines to help companies
design better products, services, and environments for Canadas aging population
Mature consumers respond positively to ads that provide an abundance of information, unlike others, theyre
not persuaded by image-oriented advertising
IN addition to chronological age and perceived age, marketers segment older consumers in terms of the
particular years a person came of age (his or her age cohort) , current marital status ( widowed versus married),
and a persons health and outlook on life.
Consumer Identity Renaissance- the redefinition process people undergo when they retire
Two types of identity Renaissance:
o Revived (revitalization of previous identities)
o Emergent (pursuit of entirely new life projects)
Seniors cope with losses (relatives, professional identity) by focusing on moving forward.
Affiliation: reconnecting with family members
Self-Expression: revisit activities never had time to pursue in youth, learn new skills etc..
REGIONAL SUBCULTURES
Regional Segmentation: segmenting the market according to geographic location
o Regions of Canada differ in weather patterns, concentration and growth of their populations, age
composition, ethnic mix, resources, customs, and the availability of some diversions over others- all of
which affect regional lifestyles and product/service preferences
o Four regions of Canada: Atlantic (east coast), Quebec, Ontario, The West
o Although all speak English, they sometimes use different terms for the same thing
o Some regions also have unique symbols that provide communication value for marketers
o Different regions also have food preferences (salmon with BC, beef with Alberta, bake apple with
Newfoundland)
ETHNIC SUBCULTURES AND CONSUMER IDENTITY
Ethnic Subculture: self-perpetuating group of consumers who share common cultural or genetic ties
recognized by both its members and others as a distinct category
In Canada, some consumers may spend much effort to keep their ethnic identifications from being submerged
into the mainstream dominant culture
A study suggests best measure of ethnicity is language use and weakest measure is religion
Due to people speaking multiple languages and the diverse ethnic makeup of Canada, best measure for now is
likely self-identification
Ethnicity and Marketing Strategies
Dimensions of ethnicity that are important to marketers: heritage, life experiences, religion, beliefs
Ethnic group membership helps predict media exposure, food preferences, apparel, political behaviour, leisure
activities, willingness to try new products
Helpful to speak the language of your consumer and use an ethnic person in advertising as a spokesperson it
makes good receiving of the message more likely
High-Context culture: tightly knit, infer meanings beyond spoken word such as symbols and gestures
Low-Context Culture: more literal (ex: Canadian and western European cultures)
Canadian advertisers target ethnic individuals in two ways:
o (1) By fostering inclusiveness through putting more individuals from visible minorities into
mainstream advertising
o (2) By speaking to specific ethnic groups in their mother tongue
Products marketed with an ethnic appeal arent intended solely for consumption by that group. For example
many non-Koreans shop at Galleria

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De-ethnicitization: when a product formerly associated with an ethnic group detaches from its roots to
appeal to other cultures. Ex: Bagels (originally Jewish)
ETHNIC GROUPS IN CANADA
There is potential for 200-plus ethnic niche markets in Canada
French Canadians:
o Second largest ethnic market in Canada
o French Canadians put more emphasis on being well respected and less on intellectual and cultural
activities than English Canadians
o Little differences were found btw. English & French Canadians when demographics, social class, and
economic philosophies were controlled for
Chinese Canadians:
o One of fastest growing minority groups in Canada
o After English, Mandarin is the number one spoken language in Canada
o Canadas Chinese Population comes 60% from mainland, 30% from HK and 10% from Taiwa
o Hard working and many have above average incomes
o Chinese Canadians have the highest incomes across all visible minorities
o Chinese-Canadian market is far from homogeneous. Their attitudes and behaviours are influenced by:
age, education, gender, household composition, knowledge of English, length of time in Canada,
reason for immigration, working status prior to and after immigration, family size, geographic
location, marital and financial status
o Despite potential, Asian Canadians are difficult to market to, b/c they make up multiple distinct
subgroups that are culturally diverse and speak may diff. languages and dialects.
Aboriginal Canadians:
o Responsive to advertising that connects to their values
South Asian Canadians:
o South Asia includes: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Punjab, Tamil, Bangladesh, etc.
o Surpass Chinese to be the largest ethnic group other than French and English
o Generally arrive in Canada with relatively high income and education levels and are likely to speak
English
o Vary in value systems, culture-based psychographics. Ex: 16 diff languages spoken in India
The Effect of Immigration of Canadian Diversity
2/3 of Canadas total population growth between 2001-2011 was due to high levels of immigration
Mainly from 4 groups: Chinese, East-Indian, Filipino and Pakistani
Most live in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal
Toronto is the most ethnically diverse city in the world, with more than 45% immigrants
Australia is the only country ethnically diverse than Canada
Best to market to new arrivals in their native languages, tend to cluster geographically, which makes them easy
to reach
Local community is primary source of advice so word of mouth is key
Ethnicity is a Moving Target
Process of defining and targeting members of a distinct ethnic group is not always so easy
Ethnic intermarriage has blurred ethnic boundaries making it harder for marketers to classify Canadians into
neat ethnic categories
Steady increase in # of mixed marriages is, however, creating opportunities for some marketers wish to meet
needs of children raised in multicultural families
Ethnic Stereotypes
Many ethnic subcultures have powerful stereotypes that the general public associate with them and thus
outsiders feel the members of the group possess these traits

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CHAPTER 14 CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Culture the values, ethics, rituals, traditions, material objects, or services produced or esteemed by the
members of a society [societys personality]
Culture is the lens through which people view products
Relationship b/w culture and CB is a 2-way street: on the one hand, products and services that resonate
w/ the priorities of a culture at any given time have a much better chance of being accepted by
consumers. On the other hand, the study of new products at any point in time provides a window into the
dominant cultural ideals of that period

Aspects of culture
A cultural system consists of 3 functional areas:
(1) ecology the way in which a system is adapted to its habitat. This area is shaped by the technology
used to obtain and distribute resources [i.e. Japanese greatly value space-efficient products]
(2) social structure the way in which orderly social life is maintained. This area includes the domestic
and political groups that are dominant w/in the culture [i.e. the nuclear family vs. the extended
family]
(3) ideology refers to the mental characteristics of a people and the way in which they relate to their
environment and social groups. This area revolves around the belief that members of a society
possess a common worldview; that is, they share certain ideas about principles or order and fairness.
They also share an ethos, or a set of moral and aesthetic principles
Although every culture is different, 4 dimensions appear to account for much of this variability:
(1) power distance: the way in which interpersonal relationships form when differences in power are
perceived
(2) uncertainty avoidance: the degree to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have
beliefs and institutions that help them avoid this uncertainty [i.e. organized religions]
(3) masculinity/femininity: the degree to which gender roles are clearly delineated
(4) individualism: the extent to which the welfare of the individual vs. that of the group is valued.
Cultures differ in their emphasis on individualism vs. collectivism. In a collectivism culture people
subordinate their personal goals to those of a stable in-group [value self-discipline, accepting ones
position in life ex. Pakistan, Greece, Portugal, Venezuela]. In contrast, consumers in an
individualist culture attach more importance to personal goals, and people are more likely to change
memberships when the demands of the group [workplace, church, etc.] become too costly [value
personal enjoyment, excitement, equality and freedom ex. Canada, US, Australia, Great Britain,
etc.]
values are very general ideas about good and bad goals. From these flow norms, rules dictating what is
right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable.
Enacted norms: explicitly decided upon [i.e. red = stop, green = go] whereas crescive norms: embedded
in culture and are discovered only through interaction w/ other members of that culture. Crescive norms
include the following:

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(1) custom: a norm handed down from the past that controls basic behaviours [i.e. division of labour
in a household or the practice of particular ceremonies]
(2) more: a custom w/ a strong moral overtone. A more often involves a taboo, or forbidden behaviour,
such as incest or cannibalism. A mores violation severe punishment
(3) conventions: norms regarding the conduct of everyday life. These rules deal w/ CB the correct
way to furnish ones house, wear clothes, etc.
food analogy: more would represent what type of food to eat, custom tells you the appropriate time to eat
the meal, whereas a convention tells you how to eat the meal [i.e. details regarding utensils]

Myths and rituals

the belief we have in magic, evil eye, lucky #s, etc. are all part of myths and rituals
myth a story containing symbolic elements that expresses the shared emotions and ideals of a culture.
The story often features some kind of conflict b/w 2 opposing forces, and its outcome serves as a moral
guide for people
An understanding of cultural myths is important to marketers, who in some cases [most likely
unconsciously] pattern their strategies along mythic structures [i.e. the golden arches of McDs are
synonymous w/ N. American culture]
Ex. Nikes legendary story about adding rubber to the waffle iron to show the significance of solid soles
Myths serve 4 interrelated functions in a culture:
(1) metaphysical: they help to explain the origins of existence
(2) cosmological: they emphasize all components of the universe are part of a single picture
(3) sociological: they maintain social order by authorizing a social code to be followed by members of a
culture
(4) psychological: they provide models for personal conduct
Lvi-Strauss noted that many stories involve binary opposition, in which 2 opposing ends of some
dimension are represented [good vs. evil or nature vs. technology]
Ego functions as a kind of referee b/w the opposing needs of the id and the superego. In a similar
fashion, the conflict b/w mythical opposing forces is sometimes resolved by a mediating figure who can
link the opposite by sharing characteristics of each [ex. many animals are given human abilities such as
cars being named Cobra, Mustang, etc.]
Myths bound in popular culture
Researchers report that some people create their own consumer fairy tales; they tell stories that include
magical agents, donors, and helpers to overcome villains and obstacles as they seek out goods/services in
their quest for happy endings [ex. Disney Worlds fantasy princess weddings]
Monomyth a myth that is common to many everyday cultures [ex. a hero who emerges from the
everyday world w/ supernatural powers and wins a decisive victory over evil forces]
3 prime examples of mythic blockbusters: (1) Gone w/ the Wind (2) ET and (3) Star Trek
even product packaging can represent rituals [ex. it began very simplyin 1960 in the back of a small
store]
Rituals
ritual a set of symbolic behaviours that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be repeated
periodically [ex. the perfect beer pour takes 119.5 seconds]
different types of rituals include: religious, rites of passage, cultural, civic, group, family, and personal
rituals are not always set in stone; they can also be modified [ex. using soap bubbles or jingling bells
instead of rice at wedding rituals to prevent injuring birds]
ritual artifacts items used in the performance of rituals to consumers [ex. birthday cards, diplomas,
wedding cakes, ceremonial wine, diamond wedding rings, etc.]
Grooming Rituals

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these are sequences of behaviours that aid in the transition from the private self to the public self or
back again and serve various purposes, ranging from inspiring confidence before confronting the world to
cleansing the body of dirt and other profane materials
2 sets of binary oppositions that are expressed in personal rituals are private-public and work-leisure
many beauty rituals reflect transformations from natural states to the social world [as when a woman puts
on her face] or vice versa. In these daily rituals, women reaffirm the value placed by their culture on
personal beauty and the quest for eternal youth

Gift-giving Rituals
consumers procure the perfect object [artifact], meticulously remove the price tag [symbolically changing
the item from a commodity to a unique good], carefully wrap it, and deliver it to the recipient
gift giving is viewed by researchers primarily as a form of economic exchange, in which the giver
transfers an item of value to a recipient, who in turn is obligated to reciprocate
gift giving can also involve symbolic exchange, wherein the giver is motivated by unselfish factors, such
as love or admiration, and does not expect anything in return
gift giving ritual has 3 distinct stages:
(1) during gestation, the giver is motivated by an event to procure a gift. This event may be either structural
[i.e. prescribed by the culture, as when people buy Xmas presents] or emergent [i.e. the decision is more
personal and idiosyncratic]
(2) the second stage is presentation, or the process of gift exchange. The recipient responds to the gift [either
appropriately or not], and the donor evaluates this response
(3) the last stage is reformation, where the bonds b/w the giver and receiver are adjusted [either looser or
tighter] to reflect the new relationship that emerges after the exchange is complete. Negativity can arise if
the recipient feels the gift is inappropriate or of inferior quality. The donor may feel the response to the
gift was inadequate or insincere, or a violation of the reciprocity norm, which obliges people to return the
gesture of a gift with one of = value both may feel resentful to participate in the ritual
it is common for consumers to purchase self-gifts as a way to regulate their behaviour. This ritual
provides a socially acceptable way of rewarding themselves for good deeds, consoling themselves after
ve events, or motivating themselves to accomplish some goal
Regifting the unwanted
economic stressors and the desire to recycle are motivating the practice to pass things along
Certain guidelines of regifting include: (1) never regift a used gift, (2) remove all traces of the original
wrapping before rewrapping, and (3) never regift to the person who originally gifted to you
Holiday Rituals
Most cultural holidays are based on myths, and often real or imaginary characters [ex. Cupid on
Valentines Day]. These holidays persist b/c their basic elements appeal to consumers deep-seated needs
Halloween has been describes as an antifestival in which the symbols associated w/ other holidays are
distorted
CB during V-day: exchanging gifts and cards, showing affection, going out, preparing and consuming
food and drink, and paying special attention to grooming and clothing
Rites of Passage
Examples of modern rites of passage are special times marked by a change in social status. Some of these
changes may occur as a natural part of consumers life cycles [i.e. puberty or death], while others are
more individual in nature [getting divorced and re-entering the dating market]
Consumers rites of passage consist of 3 phases: (1) separation: occurs when the individual is detached
from his/her original group or status [i.e. the university student leaves home] (2) Liminality: the stage
where the person is literally in b/w statuses [the new arrival on campus tries to figure out what is

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happening during O-week], and (3) Aggregation: takes place when the person re-enters society after
the rite of passage is complete [uni student returns home for summer vacation as a uni veteran]
Ex. athletes and models undergo a seasoning process before entering their role in the new world

Sacred and profane consumption

Sacred consumption involves objects and events that are set apart from normal activities and are
treated with some degree of respect or awe
Profane consumption involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary, everyday objects and
events that do not share the specialness of sacred ones [profane does not mean vulgar or obscene in this
context]
Domains of sacred consumption
Sacred places: set apart by society b/c they have religious or mystical significance [ex. Makkah,
Bethlehem] or b/c they commemorate some aspect of a countrys heritage [ex. the Imperial Palace in
Tokyo, Statue of Liberty]. Most places are sacred due to contamination: something sacred happened on
that spot, so the place itself takes on sacred qualities
In many cultures, the home is a particularly sacred place. It represents a crucial distinction b/w the harsh,
external world and consumers inner space and consumers try to generate the homeyness through
wreaths, memorable photos, etc.
Sacred people: people can be sacred when they are idolized and set apart from the masses. Souvenirs,
memorabilia, and even mundane items touched or used by sacred people become valuable [ex. the
auction of J Beebs hair]
Sacred events: industries such as sports [superhuman athletes] and tourism [souvenirs to represent the
consumers sacred experiences]
From sacred to profane and back again
Desacralization occurs when a sacred item or symbol is removed from its special place or is
duplicated in mass quantities, becoming profane as a result [ex. knockoff designer bags]
even religion has been desacralized to some extent. Ex. stylizes crosses, materialism during Xmas, etc.
Sacralization occurs when ordinary objects, events, and people take on sacred meaning to a culture or
to specific groups w/in a culture [ex. Super Bowl, Stanley Cups Final, etc.]
Objectification occurs when sacred qualities are attributed to mundane items. One way this process
can occur is through contamination where objects associated w/ sacred events or people become sacred in
their own right [ex. objects touched by celebrities]
Displaying inexpensive, mundane items in the form of a collection transforms them from profane items
into sacred ones [ex. Beatles memorabilia]
Collecting the systematic acquisition of a particular object or set of objects, and this widespread
activity can be distinguished form hoarding, which is merely unsystematic collecting
Collecting usually involves both rational and emotional components, since collectors are frequently
transfixed by their objects while also carefully organizing and exhibiting them [becomes a central
components of their extended self]