Indian Institute of Management- Rohtak

Post Graduate Programme

Batch 2018-20
Term IV
SUMMARY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
Module Concept Definition
Motivation Memetics Behaviours and ideas that are contagious. Mostly
unconscious
Persona coined by Description of the person along current cultural,
Carl Jung product, category, and media usage dimensions
Mirror neurons Give humans the capacity for shared experiences
coined by Rizzolati by enabling us to project ourselves into the minds,
feelings, and actions of others
Dopamine Feel good drug, produces pleasurable sensations,
drug of anticipation
Social proof theory The tendency to follow the lead of others. This
coined by Cialdini proclivity has been reinforced over years of
evolution that opinions of others mattered for
survival.
Internal anchors Refers to consumers’ past experiences and
knowledge (Social judgement theory of
involvement)
Perception Three layers of Reptilian (physical brain) responsible for motor
brain activities, self-preservation, lacks rationality,
limbic is the emotional brain which establishes our
social bonds with people, controls our emotions,
memories, and attachment, and neocortex brain is
the home to higher cognitive functions like
language, speech, writing, analytical and problem
solving skills.
Ventral striatum An evolutionary primitive region of the brain that
plays a key role in processing rewards
Ventral segmental Region of the brain that exerts influence on
learning new information.
Subliminal Unconscious awareness of the stimulus
perception
Absolute and Absolute threshold level is the minimum level of
Differential (JND) stimuli needed for an individual to experience a
thresholds sensation. Differential threshold or JND is the
amount of incremental change required for a
person to detect a difference between two similar
stimuli
Learning Priming effect A strong previously learned association about the
brand that influences his/her evaluation.
Thin-slice theory Brief observations of another person’s behaviour
provide surprisingly accurate information about the
 person’s personality traits
Placebo effect The pricing information influences consumers’
expectation which influences behaviour without
awareness
Mere-exposure Familiarity breeds affection, comfort and security
effect (Feelings of
familiarity) coined
by Zajonc in 1968
Three-hit theory Minimum three times exposure to the ad is required
for recall