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Lecture notes - Consumer Behaviour Chapter 1-5

Consumer Behaviour (Athabasca University)

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Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour

Introduction: Consumer Behaviour: People in the Marketplace

- Typical Consumer (Aspects of Consumer Behaviour):
o Described and compared with other
 Useful to categorize you in terms of age, sex, income, occupation
 Demographics: objectively measurable descriptive characteristics
 Psychographics: includes aspects of a person’s lifestyle, interests, attitudes, values and
personality
 Important role in deciding the market for a product or deciding upon an appropriate
techniques to employ when targeting a certain group
o Purchase Decisions
 Consumption communalities: online location where members share views an product
recommendations about anything
o Cultural Values
 Subcultures: smaller groups within the overall culture
o Image individual ID’s with
 Market segmentation strategies: targeting a brand only to a specific group o f consumers rather
than everybody
o Brands have clear Personalities
 People often choose product that fits their image or that product corrects their own image
o Evaluations of products are affected by the products appearance, taste, texture or smell
o Opinions and desires are shaped by outside world

What is Consumer Behaviour?

- Consumer Behvaiour: study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or
dispose of products, services or ideas they need to satisfy needs and desires

Consumer Behaviour is a Process

- Early stages of CB is referred to as buying behaviour
o Reflects the emphasis on the interaction between consumers and producers at the time of purchase
o Ongoing process
- Exchange: two or more organizations or people give and receive something of value is an integral part of
marketing

Consumers’ Impact on Marketing Strategy

- Why do we learn about CB?
o Good business
o Marketing concepts states that firms exit to satisfy consumer needs
o Needs are only satisfied to the extent that the marketer understands the people or organizations that
will use the products and services they are trying to sell
Segmenting Consumers
- Market Segmentation: ID’s groups of consumers who are similar to one another in more than one way and the
devise specific marketing strategies that appeal to one or more groups
- Important to ID distinct marketing segments and develop specialized messages and products
- Must also deliver messages through specialized channel
- Demographics is used to locate and predict the sizes od markets
- Demographic Dimensions:
o Age:
 Consumer of different age groups have very different needs and wants
 Tend to share a set of values and common cultural experiences that are carried throughout life
 Try to develop a product for one age group then try to broaden its appeal later
 EX: Red Bull
 Started as energy drink for Young Adults, now moved into Adults such as cab drivers,
etc

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o Gender:
 Products are targets at either men or women
 Differentiating by gender starts at a very early age
o Family Structure and Life Stage:
 Person’s family structure and marital status
 Has big effect on a consumer’s spending priorities
 Young Singles & newlyweds – most likely to exercise, go to bars, concert, and movies and
consume alcohol
 Families with young – purchasers of health foods and fruit juices
 Single parents & older children – more like to consumer junk food
o Social Class and Income
 Approximately equal in terms of their incomes and social standings in the community
 Work similar occupations tend to have similar tastes
 Socialize with one another and share many ideas and values
 Determines which groups have the greatest buying power and market potential
o Ethnicity
 Canadians blend together from many different racial and cultural backgrounds, we also blend
together in our consumption heritage
o Geography
 Climate changes drastically from region to region
 Makes segmenting some products by region obvious
 Ex: snow blowers and fur coats are sold east of rockies, more umbrellas and raincoats West
o Lifestyles: Beyond Demographics
 Consumers also have very different lifestyles, even if they share other characteristics
 Way we feel about ourselves, the things we value, the things were like to do in our spare time
determine what products we will choose
 Ex: VW
 Designed ads based on Pimp my Ride TV series to attract consumers interested in that
show
Relationship Marketing: Building Bonds with Consumers
- 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

Marketing Impact on Consumers

- Marketers filter what we learn about the world
o Through affluence they depict in glamorous magazines
o Roles actors play in commercials
- Ads show us how we should act with regards to many social ideas
o Ex: How we should recycle, types of houses we should buy, cars we want to own

Marketing & Culture

- Popular Culture: music, movies, sports, books, celebrities and other forms of entertainment consumed by the
mass market
o Product of and inspiration for marketers
- Cultural influence is difficult to overlook
o BUT, people tend to not realize the world around them is affected by marketers
o Ex: product icons that marketers use to create an ID for their products
- Consumer-generated content; consumer themselves choice their opinions about products, brands,
companies
o Important part of marketing on culture
o Ex: Doritos use in superbowl ads since 2006

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The Meaning of Consumption

- Fundamental premises of consumer behavior is that people often buy products not for what they do but for
what they mean
- Roles products play in our lives goes well beyond the tasks they perform
- Other thing being equal, a person will choose the brand that has an image consistent with his or her underlying
needs
- Allegiances to particular cultural items help us define our place in modern society
o These choice form bonds with other who share similar preferences

Global Consumer
- Global consumer culture – people around the world are united by their common devotion to brand-name
consumer goods, movies stars 7 celebrities
- U-commerce: use of ubiquitous networks
o Whether in the form of wearable computer or customized ads beamed to our cellphones
o Enable real-time connections in business and CB
o Ex: RFID Tag
- Rise of global marketing means that even smaller companies are look to expand overseas
o Increases the pressure to understand how customers in other countries are the same or different from
host country consumers

Virtual Consumption
- B2C Commerce: selling business to consumer
o Electronic marketing increases convenience by breaking down many of the barriers caused by time and
location
- C2C Commerce: consumer – consumer
o Virtual commerce has greatly facilitated C2C
o People around the world share passion for products
o 1) Virtual Brand Communities
o 2) Web
 Provides an easy way for consumers around the world to exchange info about their experiences
 Digital Native: students who have grown up “wired” where digital tech has always existed
 Internet allows consumers to engage in conversations around the world by sharing
experiences
 Horizontal Revolution: sharing of information across people vs from companies/gov to
consumers
 Characterized by social media
 Synchronous Interactions: something that occurs in real-time (texting)
 Asychronous interactions: don’t require participants to respond immediately
 Culture of Participation: ability to freely interact with other people, companies and
organizations
 Enabled through social media platforms
 Power to build on content from others own POV

Marketing Ethics and Public Policy

- Conflicts arise between:
o 1) goal of succeeding in marketplace & desire to conduct business honestly
o 2) Maximize well-being of customers by providing safe and effective products
Business Ethics
- Business Ethics: rules of conduct that guide actions in marketplace
- Universal rules: honesty, trustworthy, fairness, respect, justice, integrity
- Each culture has own values beliefs, customs = ethical business behaviors vary across different cultures
o Influence whether business practices are acceptable

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Prescribing Ethical Standards of Conduct

- Orgs often devise a code of ethics for their members
- Guidelines for Marketing Practices
o Disclosure of all substantial risks
o ID of added features that will increase the cost
o Avoidance of false or misleading advertising
o Rejection of high-pressure sales tactics
o Prohibition of selling or fundraising under the guise of conducting market research
- Bait & Switch strategy  consumers are lured into the store with promises of inexpensive products with sole
intent of getting them to switch to higher-priced ones
- Ethical behaviour is good business in the long run because it leads to consumer trust
- Problems:
o Consumer buying behaviour is not consistent with their positive attitudes about ethical behaviour

Needs & Wants: Do Marketers Manipulate Consumers

Do Marketers create artificial Needs?
- Need: basic biological motive
- Want: something that society has taught us to satisfy a need
o Need is already there, marketers just recommend a way to satisfy it
o Basic objective – create awareness that the needs exist, rather than create one
Are Ads and Marketing Necessary?
- Radio & TV are important tools to accomplish this manipulation of the masses – John Kenneth Galbraith
o No literacy is required to use these media, they can reach anyone
- Good ads arbitrarily linked to desirable social attributes
o Do not sufficiently value good for the utilitarian functions they deliver
o Focus on irrational value of good they symbolize
- Products are designed to meet existing needs, ads just communicate products availability
- Economics of Information Perspective – advertising is an important source of consumer information
o Economic cost of time spent searching for products
o Argues that consumer are willing to pay for advertising because the information it provides reduces
search time
Welcome to Consumer Space
- Marketer space – companies called the shots and deiced what they wanted their customers to know
- Consumer space – people determine how, when or if they will interact with a product
o Companies develop and leverage brand equity to attract loyalty of these consumer nomads
o We have potential to shape our own marketing destines
Public Policy & Consumerism
- Main idea of regulations is to protect consumers
- Cooling-off periods: try to protect average consumers from getting into things they later regret
- Labeling of harmful products: meant to protect the health of consumers
o Table 1-2
- Field of CB can play an important role in improving our lives as consumers
o Research assist in formulating or evaluating public policies
Consumer Activism and Its impact on Marketing
- Cultural Jamming: aims to disrupt efforts by the corporate world to dominate our cultural landscape
- CSR: voluntarily choose to protect or enhance their positive social and environmental impacts as they perform
business activities
o Driven by consumer demand as companies try to differentiate themselves in market
o Corporate Giving: donations of own money to good cause
o Cause-related marketing: donations to charity as purchase incentives
o Green marketing: offer products that are less harmful to environment
- Social Marketing: using marketing techniques normally employed to sell products to encourage positive
behaviors (increased literacy, drinking and driving)

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- Transformative Consumer Research: Consumer research are themselves organizing to not only study but to
rectify what they see as pressing social problems in the market place
o Promotes research projects that include the goal of helping or brining social change

Dark Side of Consumer Behaviour

- Consumers desires, choices and actions often result in negative consequences to the individual or the society in
which he or she lives
o Some consumer activities stem form social pressures and cultural value put upon money
o Exposure to unattainable media ideals of beauty and success can create dissatisfaction with the self
- Consumer Addiction: physiological or psychological dependency on products or services
o Addiction to alcohol, drugs
o Many companies profit from the sale of addictive products or solutions to addiction
o Technology can also be addictive
 Ex: Crackberry
o Internet addiction
- Compulsive addiction: repetitive shopping, often excessive done as an antidote to tension, anxiety, depression
or boredom
o Difference from impulse buying
 Impulse buy is temporary and centered on a specific product at a certain moment
 Compulsive buying is enduring behaviour that centers on process of buying not purchase itself
o Characterized by 3 common elements
 1) Behaviour is not engaged by choice
 2) Gratification is short-lived
 3) Person experiences strong feelings of regret or guilt afterwards
 Ex: Gambling
Illegal Activities
- McCann-Erickson advertising agency illegal an ethical behaviour findings
o 91% of people lie regularly
o 19% say they’ve snuck into a theaters to avoid paying admission
- Shrinkage: inventory and cash losses form shoplifting and employee theft
o Cost is passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices
- Trends
o Majority of shoplifting is done by high-income people vs those who genuinely need the item
o More likely to occur if the adolescent does not belive the behavior is morally wrong
o Serial Wardrobers:
 People who buy an outfit, wear it once, and return it
 Customers who change price tag and return one item for the higher amount
 Shoppers who use fake or old receipts when making returns
- Anticonsumption: involves rebelling against the idea of consumption itself
o Range from product tampering to boycotting a particular brand
o Political protests

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How do we Find out About Consumers?

- 2 ways
- 1) Secondary Research: researcher uses data collected by another entity to answer a new research question
- 2) Primary Research – data collected by researcher specifically for research question at hand
o A) Survey Research
 Method of data collection in which the respondents self-report answers to a set of questions
posed by the researcher
 Pros - Allows researcher to collect data from a lot of people within a relatively short period of
time
 Con – not allow consumer to provide as rich and detailed response
o B) Interviews
 Involve direct contact with the consumer
 One-on-one interactions
 Pro – topic is sensitive, embarrassing or polarizing
 Con – takes longer time and more expensive
o C) Focus Groups
 Small group sessions with approx. 6 – 12 people
 Used when new idea or product is being tested
 When researchers want to generate new ideas for what strategic direction to take next
 Pros – Tend to elicit more rich, detailed responses
 Cons – social influence
o D) Observational Research
 Researchers directly observe consumers in either natural or controlled environments
 Pro – directly tracks and measure real behaviors
 Cons – Subjective reporting by consumers
 Ethnographic research: researchers observe and record how consumer behave in real-world
contexts
 To understand the meanings consumers subscribe to different consumptions
experiences
o E) Qualitative Research
 Things like: Story telling, role-playing, photos or pictures and diaries
 Projective Techniques: presentation of ambiguous stimuli that the observer is asked to ID
 Used when collecting data regarding unbiased responses
o F) Experimental Research
 Used to make cause-effect claims
 Random Assignments: P into groups or conditions
 Manipulation of Dependent and Independent variables on the environment

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Chapter 2 – Perception
Introduction
- Sensation: immediate response of our sensory receptors to basic stimuli
- Perception: process by which these sensations are selected, organized and interpreted
o More influential in determining consumer preferences
o Ultimate preferences are shaped by our perceptions – how we organize, interpret and form
associations about the brand
Sensory Systems
- Meaning of stimulus is interpreted by individual who is influenced by his or her unique biases, needs and
experiences
- 3 stages of perception:
o Exposure
o Attention
o Interpretation
- External stimuli (sensory inputs) are received on a number of channels
o Inputs picked up constitute raw data and generate many types of responses

Sensory Marketing: Harnessing Perception for a Competitive Advantage

- Sensory Marketing: companies pay extra attention to the impact of sensation on our product experiences
o Senses help us decide which products appeal to us
o Which ones stand out from similar products
Sight
- A) Affect of Colour
o Influence our emotions directly
 Can create feelings of arousal and stimulate appetite, be relaxing
o Rick in symbolic value and cultural meanings
 Central aspect of marketing strategy because of powerful cultural meanings
 Reactions to colours can be learned behaviors
o Depends on physical wavelength and how mind response to stimulus
 Brightest colour that attracts attention is yellow
 Reactions to colours may be a result of biological differences
 Older = more yellow
 Explains why they like white better
o Used in package design
 Change consumer assumptions about the product
 Must align with product contents in order to be effective
o Can be associated with corporation (Trade Dress)
 Ex: Tiffany and Co. box colours
- B) Affect on Health
o Affects how much we consume
 Eating from larger box gives subjective implication that we can have more
 Ex: Movie pop-corn study
 More likely to each large free popcorn if given choice between med and large
o Influence how much we pour/drink
 Focus on the height of the glass not the width
o Influences our Serving size
 Smaller snack packs give illusion that it is okay to eat more than one
 Consumer assume that small package will control their food intake
o Influence on our variety
 Assortment of foods = okay to eat more of them

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Smell
- Axe Effect – women chasing after men who wear axe products (from commercials)
o Worked for women who watched videos with no sound
o Supports idea that self-confidence is translated into body language which relates to attractiveness
- Can stir emotions OR create calming feelings
o Influence our moods and cognitions
o Pleasant scent can increase recall of a brand especially if scent is paired with image
- Consumer reactions to odors depend on cultural background
- Limbic System – primitive part of brain and where experience emotions
o Process smell here
- Sense of smell can lead to different behaviour
o “Clean scents” (products)  more virtuous activities
- Strategies:
o Microencapsulating scents in direct mail communications
o Introduction of scratch-and-sniff ads in newspapers
o More effective when targeting 1 sex
Hearing
- Many aspects of sound affect peoples feelings and behaviors
- Phonemes: decomposing brand into individual sounds
o Affects consumers evaluation and convey unique meanings about inherent properties of the product
o Brand names with repetition in phonetic structure produce positive affect when spoken aloud 
increased performance of brand
- Functional music – music played in stores, shopping malls, offices to relax or stimulate customers
o Stimulus progression: tempo of music increases during slack times
- Aging ear: loss of ability to hear higher frequencies
Touch
- Factor in sales interactions
o Ability to touch items for >30s created greater level of attachment  boosted willingness to buy
o Ex: Coke bottle designed for anyone to ID in dark
- Touch Experience/Judgment confidence
o Touch appear to moderate the relationships between products experience and judgment confidence
o Confirms that common-sense notion that we are more sure about what we perceive when we can touch
- Low autotelic: people who do not possess need to touch product
o Influenced by the fell of the package
- High autotelic: have compulsion to touch
o Do not rely on this cue to infer product quality
- Aspects of touch are inherent in the retail setting might influence customer evaluations
- Kansei engineering: philosophy that translates consumer feelings into product design elements
o Ex: Chrysler 300C H-Points
o Ex: Mazda redesign of shift stick to emulate body-consumer relationship
Taste
- Main Ideas:
o Contribute to our experience of many products
o People form strong preferences for certain flavours
 Flavour Houses: companies that try to develop different flavours to lease changing consumer
palates
- Changes in culture also determine the tastes we like
o Appreciation for different cultural foods = more likely to enjoy spicy foods
- Marketers influence consumer perceptions
o Colour v. Taste
 Colour might suggest one taste but taste might be completely different

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Exposure
- Exposure: process by which consumer comes into contact with the stimulus and has the potential to notice it
- Psychophysics: science that focuses on how the physical enviro is integrated into our personal, subjective
world
- Absolute Threshold: QV subjective threshold (psych)
o Important because it means that ad stimulus must be large enough to be perceived by consumers to
activate threshold
- Differential Threshold: ability of sensory system to detect changes in a stimulus or differences between two
stimuli (QV Objective threshold)
- Just Noticeable difference (JND): min change in a stimulus that can be detected
- Relevant to marketing situations:
o Ensure that a change is noticed or ensure change is downplayed
o Consumer ability to detect 2 stimuli is relative
 How “loud” is the message based on surroundings
- Weber’s Law: amount of change necessary to be noticed is systematically related to the original intensity of
the stimulus
o Stronger the initial stimulus the greater the change must be for it to be noticed
o Works when:
 Product mark-downs occur  must be <20%
o Main point:
 The ratio not the absolute difference is important in describing the perceptual differences in
sensory discrimination
 Differential thresholds vary with:
 consumer sensitivity,
 type of stimuli and
 intensity of stimuli being compared
o Important because:
 1) Try to ensure reduction changes are not be seen by consumers
 2) Product improvements are seen by public
 Companies usually offer JND
o Challenge:
 Green marketers who try to reduce package size when producing eco-friendly products have to
convince consumers that they should pay same prices as other non-ecofriendly options
 Trick = convince consumers on redesign of cap  only need a smaller amount because more
powerful
Subliminal Perception
- Subliminal Perception: perception of stimulus below the level of awareness
- Important in shaping public beliefs about ads and ability of marketers to manipulate
- Can be sent through visual and aural channels
o Embeds: tiny figures that are inserted into magazine ads by using high-speed photography or
airbrushing
- M CANNOT subliminally advertise on consumers

Attention
- Attention: extent to which the brain processes activity is devoted to a particular stimuli
o Can vary depending on the characteristics of the stimulus and recipient
o Sensory overload: exposed to far more info than we can process (Filter Theory)
- M search for new ways to break through clutter
o Viral marketing
o Guerilla marketing – communications in unexpected and unconventional places
- Perceptual Selectivity: people attend to only a small portion of the stimuli to which they are exposed

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Personal Selection Factors

- Perceptual Filters: consumers past experiences influence what they decide to process
- Perceptual vigilance: consumers more likely to be aware of stimuli that relate to current needs
- Perceptual Defense: people see what they want to see – and don’t see what they don’t want to see
o Threatening stimuli are unprocessed by us because we don’t want to see it
- Adaptation: degree to which consumers continue to notice a stimulus overtime
o Occurs when consumers no longer pay attention to a stimulus because it is so familiar
o Consumer require stronger doses of stimuli for it to be noticed
o Factors that lead to adaptation:
 1) Intensity – less intense stimuli have less sensory impact
 2) Duration – require longer attention spans
 3) Discrimination – do not require attention to detail
 4) Exposure – habituate frequency encountered stimuli as rate of exposure increases
 5) Relevance – habituate irrelevant stimuli because it is fails to attract attention
Stimulus Selection Factors
- Characteristics of stimuli play important role in determining what gets noticed and what gets ignored
o M must apply this knowledge to enhance aspects of products and increase chances of cutting through
the clutter
- Ways to create contrast:
o 1) Size
o 2) Colour
 Way to draw attention and give distinctive ID
o 3) Position
 Places where we are more likely to look stand a better chance of being noticed
 Eyes drawn towards colour ads first and viewed for longer
 Horizontal positioning is helpful in attracting attention
o 4) Novelty
 That appear in unexpected places tend to grab our attention
Interpretation
- Meaning that people assign to sensory stimuli
- Schema: set of beliefs
o Provides a cognitive framework that helps us organize and interpret information that surrounds a
particular stimulus
o Brand names and colours
o ID and evoking correct schema is crucial to MAR decisions
 Determines what criteria will be used to evaluate product, package and message
Stimulus Organization
- Perceive stimulus in terms of relationships with other events, sensations or images
- Gestalt Psychology
o Consumer interpret of stimuli are affected by aesthetics, symbolic or sensory qualities
o Principles:
 Closure
 MAR strategies encourage consumer participation which increases the change people
will attend to message
 Similarity
 Figure-ground Principle
 QV Bi-stable figures
The eye of the Beholder: Interpretation Biases
- Consumers tend to project own desires onto products and ads
- Ex: Beer tasting study
o When testers were aware of “tainted” beer only 1/3 preferred version

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Perceptual Positioning
- Perception of brand comprises:
o Functional attributes  Features, price
o Symbolic attributes  image and what we think it says about us when we use it
- Evaluation of product is a result of what it means rather than what it does
o Meaning = marketing position
o Has more to do with expectations of product performance instead of product itself
- Positioning Strategy: way the M wants the brand to be viewed in the eyes of consumer
o Marketing mix = design, price, distribution and marketing communications
- Issue for M:
o Repositioning
o Must be done in a way that updates the brand’s image on an evolving product
- Positioning dimensions
o 1) Price leadership – products available at lower price in lower-end stores
o 2) Attributes
o 3) Product Class – sports convertible
o 4) Occasions of use
o 5) User
o 6) Design

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Chapter 3 – Learning and Memory

Learning Process
- Learning: relatively permanent change in behaviour that is caused by experience
- 2 types of learning:
o 1) Vicariously  observing the events that affect other
o 2) Incidental Learn  When we are not trying to (unintentional learning)
Behavioural Learning Theories
- Behavioural learning theories: learning that takes place as the result of responses to external events as
oppose to internal though processes
o Approach mind a Black Box that cannot be directly investigated
o Emphasize observable aspects of behaviour
 Things that go into the BB (Stimuli or events perceived)
 Things that come out of the BB (responses and reactions)
Classical Conditioning
- Occurs when a stimulus that elicits a response is pared with another stimulus that initially does no elicit a
response on its own
- Overtime the 2nd stimulus causes a similar response because it is associated with the first
- Unconditioned stimulus: naturally capable of causing the response
- Conditioned response: learned behaviour that results from pairing the two together
o EX: Pavlov’s dog – Bell was UCS and salivation was CR
- Applies primarily to reponses controlled by autonomic and nervous systems
o Focus on the visual and olfactory cues
o Theses cues consistently paired with CS  consumers may learn to feel hungry, thirsty, aroused, etc
o Emerges when a product that is originally neutral is pared overtime with a product that produces an
emotion inducing responses
- Classical conditioning can be triggered by UCS paired with CS
Associative Learning
- Consumers learn associations between stimuli in simple fashion without complex processes
- Repetition
o More likely to occur the more CS and UCS are paired together
o Increases the strength of CR and prevents decay of associations in memory
o Most effective repetition strategy is to combine the spaced exposure that alternate in terms of media
that are more or less involving
o Extinction: occurs when the effects of prior conditioning are reduced and disappear
 Occur when stimuli is overexposed or we form new associations
- Stimulus generalization
o Tendency of stimuli similar to a CS to evoke a CR
o People react to stimuli the same way they would to CS
o Piggybacking Strategy
 Quality of copied product turns out to be lower than original brand
 Consumer exhibits more positive feelings toward original
 BUT, if two products are similar in quality = price premium is seen as not worthwhile
- Stimulus Discrimination:
o Occurs when a stimulus similar to a SC is not followed by a UCS
o Reaction are weakened and disappear
o Masked Branding: deliberately hiding products true origin
Marketing Applications of Conditioning:
- Brand Equity: brand has strong positive associations in a consumer’s memory and commands a lot of loyalty
- Repetition
o Scheduling more frequent than three exposures is a waste
 1st = creates awareness
 2nd = demonstrates its relevance
 3rd = serves as a reminder
o M must ensure C are exposed to message specific number of times for it to be remembered

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o Advertising Wearout: consumer become so used to hearing the same message they tune it out
 Alleviated by varying the ways the message is presented (changing themes)
- Conditioning product associations
o 1) Forming
 Ads pair a product with a positive stimulus to create desirable associations
 Order which stimulus are presented affects the likelihood that learning will occur
 UCS presented prior to CS
 Backwards conditioning (CS  UCS) generally not effective
o 2) Extinguishing
 Classical conditioning may not be effective for products that are routinely encountered
 No guarantee that UCS will always accompany CS
- Applications of Stimulus generalization
o Central to branding and packaging decisions that attempt to capitalize on consumer positive
associations with an existing brand or company name
o Strategies
 Family branding  variety of products are generalized under reputation of company name
 Product-line extensions  related products are added to an established brand
 Licensing  well known names are rented by others
 M try to link their products with well-established brand
 Similar to Family branding
 Look-alike packaging  creates strong associations with particular brand
 Exploited by makers of generic or private-label brands that wish to communicate a
quality image by putting their products in similar packaging
 Challenge  Consumer confusion
Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning)
- Occurs as the individual learns to preform behaviors that product positive outcomes and to avoid behaviors
that yield negative outcomes
o BF Skinner
- People perform more complex behaviors and associate these behaviours with either rewards or punishments
o Shaping: consumer are rewarded for successive steps taken towards desired response
- Involves the close paring of 2 stimuli
o Occurs as a result of a reward received following the desired behaviour
o Takes place over a period in which a variety of other behaviors are attempted and abandoned because
they are not reinforced
- 4 types of learning outcomes (ways):
o 1) Positive Reinforcement: form of a reward, the response is strengthened and appropriate behaviour
is learned
o 2) Negative Reinforcement: strengthened response so that appropriate behaviour is learned
 Removes something negative in a way that increases a desired response
o 3) Punishment: occurs when a response is followed by an unpleasant event
o 4) Extinction: positive and negative outcomes is no longer received
 learned stimulus response connection will not be maintained
 Tie is weakened under conditions of punishment and extinction because of the unpleasant
experience
- 4 types of learning schedules
o Ratio schedules – reinforce the learner based on the number of responses that have been completed
o Interval schedule – reinforce the learner after a certain amount of time passé since the appropriate
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o Possible schedules:
 1) Fix-ration reinforcement
 Occurs only after fixed number of responses
 2) Variable-ratio reinforcement
 Behaviour reinforced after a certain number of responses
 Indv does not know how many responses it takes
 Tend to respond at very high and steady rates
 Hard to extinguish
 3) Fixed-interval reinforcement
 After specified time period has passed the firs response that is made bring the reward
 Tend to respond slowly right after being reinforced but their responses speed up as the
time for the next reinforcement looms
 4) Variable-interval Reinforcement
 Time that must pass before reinforcement is delivered caries around some averages
 Responses must be performed at a consistent rate
Applications of Instrumental Conditioning
- Consumer rewarded or punished for a purchase decision
- Reinforcement of Consumption
o Ranging from a simple thank you after a purchase to substantial rebates and follow up phone calls
- Frequency marketing
o Reinforces behaviour of regular purchasers by giving them prizes with value that increase along with
the amount purchased
o Retailers can use related databases to refine everything from their merchandise mix to their marketing
strategy

Cognitive Learning Theory

- Stresses the importance of internal mental processes
- Views people as problem solvers who actively use information from the world around them to master their
environment
o Stress the role of creativity and insight during learning process
- Argue that simple effects of routine, automatic nature of conditioning are based on cognitive factors
o Expectations are created that a stimulus will be followed by a response
- Mindlessness: people fo process at least some info in an automatic passive way
o Tendency to respond to stimulus in terms of existing categories rather than taking the trouble to
formulate different one
o Reactions are activated by a trigger feature
- Often make snap judgments that result in decisions superior to those we think about a lot because we rely on
our adaptive unconscious to guide us
- Studies of maksing effects oftern show substantial reduction of conditioning
- Obseravational learning
o Occurs when people watch the actions of other and not the reinforcements they receive for their
behaviors
 Learning occurs as a result of vicarious rather than direct response
 Store observations in memory as they accumulate knowledge using info at later point to guide
behaviour
o Can have negative effects
 Ex: Children and bobo doll effect
o 4 conditions must be met to have observational learning
 1) Consumer must be directed toward appropriate model
 2) must remember what model says or does
 3) Must convert this info into action
 4) Must be motivated to perform actions

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Model:
ATTENTION  RETENTION  PRODUCTION PROCESSES  MOTIVATION  OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
- Applications of cognitive learning principles
o Show what happened to models who use or do not use their products in knowledge that consumers will
often be motivated to imitate these actions at a later time
o Consumers evaluations of the people they model go beyond simple stimulus-response connections
 Degree to which a model will be emulated depends on his or her social attractiveness

Role of Memory in Learning

- Memory: a process of acquiring indo and storing to overtime so that it will be available when needed
o Information processing approach
o Process
 External Stimuli
 Encoding: information is entered in a way the system will recognize
 Storage: knowledge is integrated with current knowledge to form connections
 Retrieval: min accesses the desired info
- In consumer decision making process internal memory interacts with external memory to permit brand
alternatives to be ID and evaluated
- 3 conclusions from decision making process
o 1) Person makes list and shops for list <80% of time items on list on found
o 2) Likelihood of purchasing an item increases with
 Size
 Holiday periods
o 3) Post experience advertising: what we think we know about products can be influenced by ads we are
exposed to after purchase
 More likely to alter actual memories when it is similar to or activates our own memories
Encoding Information for Later retrieval
- Linking new information to existing knowledge in order to make the new info more meaningful
- Sensory Meanings: meaning that are active when the person ses a picture of stimuli
o Experience sense of familiarity
- Semantic Meanings: symbolic associations
- Episodic memories: memories that are currently relevant
o Motivation to retain is usually strong
- Flashbulb Memories
- Narratives – persuade people to construct a mental representation of the information they are viewing
o Pictures aid in construction
o Brand more likely to be positively evaluated and purchased when connected to consumer through
narrative
- Memory Systems
o Sensory memory: permits the storage of info we receive from our senses
 Temporary
 If info is retained for further processing it passes through attentional gate (filter) and
transferred to ST memory
o ST Memory: stores info for a limited period of time and its capacity is limited
 Working memory
 Chunking: Info is stored by combining small pieces into larger ones
 Configuration that is familiar to the person can be manipulated as a unit
 Appears that 3 – 4 chinks is optimum size for efficient retrieval
o LT Memory: system that allows us to retain info for long periods of time
 Elaborative rehearsal: process involving thinking about the meaning of a stimulus and
relating it to other info already in memory
 QV – phonological & semantic relations/levels of processing

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Storing Info in memory

- Multiple stores assumes that STM and LTM are separate
- Activation Models of Memory: depending on the nature of the processing takes, different levels of processing
occur that activate some aspects of memory rather than others
- Associative network Models (spreading activation)
o Propose that incoming piece of information is stored in associative network containing many bits of
related info organized according to some set of relationships
o Associations that form in consumers minds that lead to learning about brands and products
o Knowledge Structures: thought of ac complex spider webs filled with pieces of data
 Nodes connected to associative links
 Pieces of info seen as similar in some way are chinked together under some more abstract
category
 Hierarchical processing model  information can be processed in bottom-up fashion
 Begins at basic level and require greater cognitive capacity
 Each node represents a concept related to the category
o Evoked Set: brand of products that are contained within a specific category
- Spreading Activation
o 1 node activates, other nodes associated with it also begin to be triggered
o Spreading activation: allows consumer to shift back and forth between levels of meaning
 Level of meaning determine how and when the meaning is activated
o Memory traces can be stored in following ways:
 1) Brand Specific
 2) Ad-specific
 3) Brand ID
 4) Product categories
 5) Evaluative reactions
- Meaning concepts: are individual nodes
o Can be combined into larger units (propositions)
o Proposition links 2 nodes together in form of a more complex meaning which can serve as a single
chunk
o Integrated to produce a complex unit (schema)
o Ability to move up and down among levels of abstractions increases processing flexibility and efficiency
- Analogical learning
o Exist in memory in that it helps to explain was M can help C learn new info
o Analogical learning: educate consumer by drawing an analogy between the new product and existing
product
 Base – existing product
 Target – new product
 Consumer integrate existing knowledge from base into formation of the new knowledge
structure
o 2 forms:
 1) Occurs at level of attributes
 2) Occurs at the level of relations – how the product relates to a desired outcome
o Types of analogies most effective depend on target market
Retrieving Information for Purchase Decision
- Factors influencing retrieval
o Physiology – E. forgetting curve & memory
o Situational – relating environment where message is delivered by comparing energy production to
natural process
 Pioneering brand – first brand to enter market
 More easily retrieved in memory than follower brands because products info is likely
distinctive, and unique (no comp)
o Viewing environment of marketing msg
 Divided/Mind wandering effects

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o Post experience ads effects – language and imagery from ads can become confused with our own
experiential memories
o More familiar with item enhances recall
 More experience someone has with product better they are at remembering benefits
 Downfall:
 Extreme familiarity results in inferior learning and no recall
 Consumer pay attention to less because they believe ay additional info will yield a gain
in knowledge
o Salience: prominence or level of activated memory
 Von Restorff Effect: technique that improves novelty of stimulus and recall
 Mystery ads – better at building consumer awareness because keeps their attention
o Information presented in picture is more likely to be remembered
 May enhance recall but does not improve comprehension
- Factors influencing forgetting
o 1) Aging
o 2) Inferences (Jost’s law) – addition of new information leads to forgetting of earlier info
 Retroactive inference
 Proactive inference – new responses are learned, stimuli loses its effectiveness in retrieving
older ones
 Additional attributes if paired with stimulus will enhance recall ability (cued recall)
Products as Memory Markers
- Most prized possessions of marketers are furniture, visual art, photos
o Explanation = objects recall past episodic memories
o Ads that get us to think about our own memories are remembered because they are integrated with an
already formed memory trace
o Possessions often have mnemonic qualities that serve to form external memories by prompting
consumers to retrieve episodic memory
- Marketing power of nostalgia
o Spontaneous recovery: Stimulus can sometimes evoke a weakened response much later
o Retro brand: updated version of a brand from a prior historical period
 Products trigger nostalgia
 Often inspire consumers to think back to an era where life was more stable
- Memory and aesthetic preferences
o Nostalgia index: indicates persons tastes in such products as movies and clothing are influenced by
what was popular during certain critical period of youth
Measuring memory for marketing Stimuli
- More likely to remember companies that we don’t like because of strong negative emotions they evoke
- Recognition tests
o Subjects are shown ads one at a time and asked whether they have seen them before
- Free-recall
o Ask consumers to think independently of what they have seen without being promited for information
first
- Recognition scores are generally more reliable and do not decay overtime they way recall scores do
o Recall more important in situation which consumers do not have product data at their disposal
o So, they must rely on memory to generate this info
- Recognition is more likely to be an important faceted in stores where consumers are confronted with
thousands of product options and info
- Problems with memory measures
o 1) Response biases: Results obtained from a measuring instrument are not necessarily caused by what
is being measured but rather to something else about the instrument or respondent
o 2) Memory Lapse – prone to unintentionally omitting, averaging and telescoping info
o 3) Memory for facts versus feelings – improvements of not address the more fundamental issue of
whether recall is necessary for advertising to have an effect
 Effective strategy relies on LT buildup of feelings rather than on a 1-shot attempt to convince
consumer to buy product

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 Not clear that recall translates into preferences

 Recall is not necessarily sufficient to alter consumer preferences

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Chapter 4 – Motivation and Affect

The Motivation Process
- Motivation: the process that cause people to behave a they do
o Occurs when a need is aroused that a consumer wishes to satisfy
- Need may be Utilitarian or Hedonistic
o Desired end state is consumer’s goal
o M try to create products that provide:
 Desired benefits
 Permit customer to reduce tension
- Drive: magnitude of this tension determines the urgency the consumer feels to reduce the tension
- Personal and cultural factors combine to create a want  a need
- Motivation can be described in terms of its:
o Strength – or pull it exerts on the consumer
o Direction – the way the consumer attempts to reduce tension

Motivational Strength
Drive Theory
- Focus on biological needs that produce unpleasant states of arousal
o Tension reduction is basic mechanism governing human behaviour
- Tension: unpleasant stat that exists if a person’s consumption needs are not met
o Activates Homeostasis: a goal-oriented behaviour that attempts to reduce or eliminate tension and
return to balance
o Behaviors that are successful in reducing the drive by eliminating the underlying need are
strengthened and repeated
 QV Reward systems (Chpt 3)
o Degree of motivation depends on the distance between present state and goal
- Difficulties
o People often do thing that increase a drive state than decrease it
o Ex: Delaying gratification (not eating when hungry because you are going out for dinner)
Expectancy Theory
- Focus on cognitive factors
o Behaviors is largely pulled by expectations of achieving desirable outcomes (positive incentives) rather
than pushed from within
o Positive incentives = money, social status

Motivational Direction
- Objective of M is to convince consumers that the alternative they offer provides the best chance to attain goal
Needs vs. Wants
- The way a need is satisfied depends on person’s
o History and learning experiences (SOCIAL)
o Cultural environment (CULTURAL)
- Want: particular form of consumption used to satisfy a need
- Types of Needs
o 1) Biogenic Needs – certain elements necessary to live
o 2) Psychogenic Needs – acquired in process of becoming member of culture
 Need for status, power, affiliation
 Reflects the priorities of culture
 Effect on behaviour will vary in different environments
o 3) Utilitarian Need – consumer will emphasize the objective, tangible attributes of product
o 4) Hedonistic Needs – subjective and experiential, leading consumer to relay on products because it
meets their needs for excitement, self-confidence
o 5) Hedonistic & Utilitarian Needs
Motivational Conflict
- Valence: positive or negative
o Goals have valences

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o Positive – consumer directs behaviour

 Motivated to approach the goal
 Seek out products that will be instrumental in attaining goal
o Negative – structure their purchase to reduce the chances of attaining end result
- 3 Types of conflicts:
o 1) Approach – Approach
 Must choose between two desirable alternatives
 Theory of Cognitive Dissonance: people have need for consistency and state of tension arises
when belief or behaviour conflict with one another
 Conflict resolved through process of cognitive dissonance reduction
o People motivated to reduce inconsistency and eliminate tension
 Ways to reduce Post decision dissonance
 Buyer convinces self that attributes of product were smart by finding additional reasons
to support decision
 M can highlight the superiority of brand
o 2) Approach-Avoidance Conflict
 When we desire a goal but wish to avoid it at the same time
 Solution:
 Design products that contain attributes of desires goal and meets consumers avoidance
situation
 Find alternatives that meet both needs
 M can convince C that they desire luxuries
 Ex: Fake furs, diet foods, hybrid vehicles
o 3) Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict
 Consumer face a choice between two undesirable alternatives
 M through messages stat stress unforeseen benefits of choosing one option
Classifying Consumer Needs
- Henry Murray
o Needs are set of psychogenic needs that result in specific behaviors
- TAT (Thematic Apperception Test)
o Subjects shown 4 – 6 ambiguous pictures and asked to write answer to four directing questions about
the pictures
o Questions:
 What is happening
 What has led to this situation
 What is being thought
 What will happen
o Theory is that people freely project their own subconscious needs onto ambiguous pictures
- Murray  everyone has same basic needs, but, we prioritize them differently
- Need for achievement
o Put a premium on products that signify success because consumption items provide feedback about the
realization of their goals
- Need for affiliation
o Products that alleviate loneliness
o Consumed in places among groups of people
- Need for power
o Products that are “souped up”
o Allows customers to feel that they have mastery over surroundings
- Need for uniqueness
o Products that accentuate a consumers distinctive qualities

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- Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

o Adopted by M because it indirectly specifies certain types of product benefits that people might be
looking for depending on the different stages in their development and environment
o Most of us satisfied with occasional glimpses of higher experiences
o Social Needs
 Met by seeking warm and satisfying human relationships
 Inwardly directed ego needs reflect an indv need for self-acceptance, self-esteem, achievement,
success
 Outwardly ego – needs include needs for prestige, reputation, stats, and recognition
o Most people tend to fulfill ego needs and never move on to self-actualization
 Based on individual differences
 Consumers have different need priorities at different stages of their lives
o Theory states that satisfaction does not motivate behavior; dissatisfaction
 1 behaviors can satisfy two needs at once
o Criticisms:
 1) No measurement tool to test empirically
 2) Cannot measure precely how well satisfied one need is before next
 3) Assumptions may be particular to Western culture
o Stages: (TOP TO BOTTOM)
Stage Definition Relevant Products Examples
Self-Actualization - Self-fulfillment Hobbies, travel, education US ARMY – Be all you can
- Enriching experiences be
Ego Needs - Prestige Cars, furniture, credit Royal Salute Scotch – What
- Status cards, stores, liqueur the rick give the wealthy
- Accomplishments
Belongingness - Love Clothing, grooming Pepsi – You’re in the Pepsi
- Friendships products, clubs, drinks Generation
- Acceptance by others
Safety - Security Insurance, alarms, Allstate Insurance
- Shelter retirement, investments
- Protection
Physiological - Water Medicines, staple items Quaker Oat Bran – It’s the
- Sleep right thing to do
- Food
Motivation and Goal Fulfillment
- Often set goals that are related to consumption
o C more likely to achieve goals when they are set based on SMART Criteria
 QV Strategy course
- 3 Conclusions about goals:
o Consumers who subjectively feel like they are closer to attaining a goal are more likely to change course
and pursue a different goal
 Lead to action that are incongruent with original plan
o Goal progress does not have to be real
 Can be perceived to have strong effect on behaviour
o Motive to attain a goal can be activated in consumption contexts without the consumer being aware of
it

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Consumer Involvement
- Person perceived relevance of the object based on their inherent needs, values and interests
- Involvement can be triggered by one or more of different antecedents
Antecedents of Involvement Involvement Possible Results of Involvement
1) Personal Factors WITH ADS - Elicitation of counter-arguments
- Needs to ads
- Importance - Effectiveness of ad to induce
- Interests purchase
- Values
2) Object or Stimulus Factors WITH PRODUCTS - Relative importance of product
- Differentiation of class
alternative - Perceived differences in
- Source of communication product attributes
- Content of communication - Preference for a brand

3) Situational Factors WITH PURCHASE DECISIONS - Influence of price on brand

- Purchase/use choice
- Occasion - Amount of info search
- Time spent deliberating
alternative
- Type of decision rule used in
choice
- Process of involvement
o 1) Viewed as motivation to process info
o 2) Degree that there is a perceived link between consumer needs, goals, values and product
 Person will pay attention to product info
o 3) Relevant knowledge is activated in memory
 Motivational stat is created that drives behaviour
o 4) Involvement with product increases
 People devote more attention to ads related to that product
- Levels of involvement
o Simple processing – only basic features of message
o Elaboration – incoming info is linked to preexisting knowledge of system
o Degree of involvement conceived as continuum
 Inertia: decisions are made out of habit because consumer lacks motivation to consider
alternatives
 Low level of involvement
 Flow State: consumers are truly involved with product, ad or website
 High end involvement
 Characterized by:
o Playfulness
o Control
o Highly focused attention
o Mental enjoyment
o Distorted sense of time
o Match between challenge and skill
o Types of involvement
Cognitive Affect
- Car - Jewelry
Level HIGH - New Products - Motorcycles
Of - Media: print, info-based - Media: TV, image-based
Involvement - Ground Beef - Candy
- Household cleansers - Liquor
LOW - Media: 10sec IDs, POS reminder - Media: POS attention-grabbing

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Many Faces of Involvement

- Product involvement
o Related to consumers level of interest in product
o Most powerful is to invite consumers to play a role in designing or personalizing
o Mass Customization: customization and personalization of its products and services for individual
customers at mass product price
- Message Response involvement
o Television = low involvement, require little attention
o Print = High involvement, forces C to read if interested
o New ways to increase involvement
 Create new Mediums
 Printing TV questions
 Create spectacles or performances
 Message is itself a form of entertainment
 Interactive mobile marketing: consumers participate in real-time promotional campaigns via
cellphones
 SMS Marketing
- Purchase Situation involvement
o Difference that may occur when buying the same object for a different context
 Person may perceive a great deal of social risk or none at all
 What people think when they consume they product themselves
 When they know other wills consumer product changes decision
Segmenting by Involvement Level
- Measurement approach that segments involvement by levels allows consumer researchers to capture the
diversity of the involvement construct
o Allows for involvement to be used as a basis for marketing segmentation
o Company adapts strategy to account for motivation of different segments
- High level of involvement = lots of research about competitors
- Lower level = choice based on emotional factors
Strategies to increase involvement
- 1) Appeal to consumers hedonic needs
o Ads with sensory appeal
- 2) Use novel stimuli
o Unexpected movement in ads
- 3) Use prominent stimuli
o To capture attention
o Colour pictures are viewed longer than B/W
- 4) Celebrity endorsers to generate higher interest
- 5) Build bond with consumers by maintaining ongoing relationship
- 6) Consumer generated content
o Creates high degree of message-response involvement
o Advertising involvement  consumers level of interest in processing marketing communications

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Affect
- Experience of emotionally-laden states which range from evaluations to moods to full blown emotions
- Evaluations: involve valence reactions to event and objects that are not accompanied by high level of arousal
- Moods: temporary post, or neg affective states accompanied by moderate levels of arousal
o Not necessarily linked to particular affect-arousing event
- Emotions: tend to be more intense and often related to a specific triggering event
- M use of affect states
o 1) Positive moods and emotions are highlighted as product benefit
o 2) Negative moods are utilized by activating a negative mood on the part of C
 Then given them the means to feel better
 Negative state relief: helping others as a means of resolving one’s own negative moods
 Purchasing and consuming mood-enhancing products
o 3) Mood Congruency: judgments are often consistent with out existing mood states
 Consumers judge products more positively when in positive mood vs negative mood
- Moods are most likely to be influenced when they are considered relevant to particular purchase decision
How social media taps into our emotions
- Sentiment Analysis: process that scours social media to collect and analyze the words people use when they
describe specific product or company
o Choose certain words that tend to related to the emotion
- From these words M create Word-phrase dictionary: to code data
- Steps:
o 1) Sentiment analysis extracts entities of interest from sentence, ID product and relevant dimensions
o 2) Sentiment would then be extracted for each dimension
o 3) Text mining software would collect these reactions and combine them with others to pain a picture
of how people talk about brand
Discrete Emotions
- examination of specific emotional reactions during consumption episodes
- Happiness
o Mental state of well0being characterized by positive emotions
o Higher people score on materialism scale the less happy they seem
 Experiential purchases – those made with primary intention of acquire life experience
 More open to positive reinterpretations
 More meaningful part of one’s ID
 Contribute to more successful social relations
o How we spend our money can influence happiness
o Time thinking about time influences how effectively people pursue personal happiness goals
 Motivates them to spend more time with family and friends and less time working
o Varies throughout lifespan
 Does not fixate as we get older
- Envy
o Negative emotion associated with the desire to reduce the gap between one-self and someone who is
superior on some dimension
o 2 types
 Benign – occurs when indv believes that superior other deserves his or her status
 Willing to pay more for it
 Malicious – when consumer believes that the superior other does not deserve status
 Willing to pay more for different product n same category
- Guilt
o Indv unpleasant emotional state associated with possible objections to their actions, inactions,
circumstance or intentions
o Guilt appeals – M communications that activate a sense of guilt on part of the consumer
 Activates a sense of consumer social responsibility
 More effective to activate guilt more subtly
o

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o Occurs in:
 Context - Consumers worry abut how guilty they might feel in the future if they were to choose
the alternative
 Retail Setting - Consumer fails to make purchase can lead to guilt response when they feel sense
of social connectedness with salespersons
- Embarrassment
o Social emotion driven by concern for what others are thinking about us
o Often arises when socially sensitive products are purchased
o Feeling exists because the purchase of these items involves exposure of personal info to social audience
o Coping mechanisms
 Familiarity with product reduces embarrassment
 Adopt strategies to alleviate embarrassment
o Also arises between consumers when a social custom or norm is violated

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Chapter 5 – The Self

Perspectives on the Self
Does the self Exist?
- Emphasis on the unique nature of the self is much greater in Western societies
o Eastern cultures stress importance of collective self – person’s ID is derived from social group
- 2 parts of self  inner (private self), outer (public self)
o Western – subscribe to an independent interpretation of the self
 Emphasis in inherent separateness of each indv
o Non-Western  focus on interdependent self
 Person’s ID is defined by relationships with others
Self Concept i
- Beliefs a person holds about their own attributes and how they evaluate these qualities
- Dimensions of self Concept
o Contents – facial attractiveness v. mental aptitude
o Positivity/Negativity – self esteem
o Intensity
o Stability over time
o Accuracy – degree to which one’s self assessment corresponds to reality
- Stereotype Threat: anxiety the consumer feel when they fear they might act in a way that confirms the group
stereotype
- Self Esteem
o Positivity of your attitude toward yourself
o Social Comparison: person tries to evaluate self by comparing it with other people’s selves and those in
media images
 Caused by exposure to ads
 Basic human motive
 M tapped into this need by supplying idealized images of happy, attractive people who use their
products
- Real and Ideal Selves
o Ideal Self: person’s conception of how they would like to be
 Partly molded by elements of consumer culture
 Products are chosen because they are perceived to be consistent with consumer’s actual
self
 Others are chosen to help us reach the standard set by the ideal self
o Actual Self: more realistic appraisal of qualities we do and don’t have
o Impression Mgmt: work hard to maintain what others think of us
 Strategically choose clothing and other products that will present us to others in good light
Multiple Selves
- Self might be thought of as having different components or role Identities
o Only some are activated at one time
o Some are more central, others dominant in specific situations
o M ensure the appropriate role ID is active before pitching products needed to play in particular role
- Aspects of consumer’s ID gets temporarily viewed in a negative light  implications on their human Behaviour
o Those who are high in collective self-esteem maintained their preferences for gender-linked products
regardless of whether gender ID was viewed negatively
Virtual ID
- In cyberspace
- Computer mediated Environments (CME): Habbo Hotel, Webkinz
- Avatars: virtual ID’s of online consumers
o Tend to interact with other avatars similar to how real self interact with others

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- Symbolic interactionism
o Relationships with other people play a large role in forming the self
o People exist in symbolic environment and the meaning attached to any situation is determined by
interpretation of symbols
o As members of society we learn and agree on shared meanings
 Implies that our possessions play a key role as we evaluate ourselves and decide who we are
o Meaning of consumers are defined by social consensus
 Tend to pattern our behaviour on the perceived expectations of others in a form of self-fulfilling
prophecy
 We assume how others expect us to act and we wind up confirming those actions
- Looking Glass Self
o Process of imagining the reactions of others towards us
o Reflexive Evaluation: occurs when an indv attempts to define the self
 Operates as a psychological sonar
o Looking-glass image we receive will differ depending on whose views we are considering
Self Consciousness
- Heightened concern about the nature of one’s public image also results in more concern about social
appropriateness of products and consumption activities
- 3 measures to define self-consciousness
o Public self consciousness
 More interested in clothing
 Tend to be heavy users of cosmetics
o Self-monitoring
 More attuned to how they present themselves in social environments
 Product choices are influenced by their estimates of how these items will be perceived by
others
 More likely to evaluate products consumed in public in terms of the impressions they make on
others
o Vanity
 Fixation on physical appearance
 Achievement of personal goals
Consumption and Self-Concept
- Different roles are accompanied by constellations of products and activities that help define roles
o Some props are viewed as extension of self
- Products that shape the self
o Reflected self helps to shape self-concept
o Products a consumer owns place them into a social role
- People use indv consumption behaviors to help them make judgments about who that person is
o Make inferences about personality based on a person’s choice of product they have
o Products can help to determine their own self-concept and social ID
- Attachment to an object to the extent that it is used by that person to maintain their self concept
- Symbolic self-completion theory: people who have an incomplete self-ID tend to complete this ID by
acquiring and displaying symbols associated with it
o Ex: Treasured objects that are lost or stolen / People who have lost almost everything in natural
disasters
 Feel sense of Lost ID

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Self/Product Congruence
- Self-image congruence models: products will be chosen when their attributes match some aspect of self
o Assume a process of cognitive matching between attributes and consumer’s self-image
- Ex: Muslim Women who choose to wear headscarves
o Illustrates how simple piece of clothing can reflect person’s aesthetic, political and moral dimensions
o Struggle to reconcile ambiguous religious principles that simultaneously call for modesty and beauty
o Communicates her fashion sense by the fabrics she selects and but the way she drapes them
o Sends contradictory images about the proper sex roles
- Ideal self is more relevant as a comparison standard for highly expressive social products
o Actual self – relevant for everyday, functional products
o Standards are likely to vary by usage situation
- 2 Problems
o Not certain that consumers really see aspects of themselves in down-to-earth, functional products that
don’t have very complex or human-like qualities
o Chicken & Egg question
 Similarities between a person’s self-image and the images of products purchased does tend to
increase with ownership
The Extended Self
- Extended Self: external objects that we consider a part of us
- Many people do cherish possessions as if they were apart of them
- Material objects ranging from personal possessions and pets to national monuments help to form a consumer’s
ID
o Possible to construct an accurate biography of someone by cataloguing the items on display in house
- Levels of Extended Self
o 1) Individual Level
 Personal possessions in self definition
 Jewelry, cars, clothing
 You are what you wear
o 2) Family Level
 consumer’s residence and the furnishings in it
 House
o 3) Community Level
 Neighborhood or town from which they come
o 4) Group Level
 Attachments to certain social groups
 Landmarks, monuments, sports teams
Gender Roles
- People often conform to their culture’s expectations about what those of their gender should do
o Guidelines change overtime
o Can differ radically across societies
- Gender Differences in socialization
o Agentic Goals: stress self-assertion and mastery
 Males
o Communal Goals: affiliation and the fostering of harmonious relations
 Women
o Every society creates a set of expectations regarding the behaviors appropriate for men and women
 Finds ways to communicate these priorities
o Research indicates that our brains are wired to react differently to males an females
 Explains why men tend to objectify women
 Area of brain associated with using hand-tools is also activated during arousal
- Gender v. Sexual ID
o Biological gender does not totally determine whether we will exhibit Sex-typed traits
 Characteristics stereotypically associated with one gender of the other
o Masculinity and femininity are not biological characteristics
 Behaviour considered masculine in one culture might not be viewed the same by others

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- Sex Typed Products

o Some products take on masculine/feminine attributes
 Consumers often associate them with one gender or another
 Sex Typing of products is often created or perpetuated by M
Androgyny
- Possession of both masculine and feminine traits
o Normality of sex-typed behaviors varies across cultures
- Differences in gender roles orientation can influence responses to marketing stimuli
o Females are more likely to undergo elaborate processing of message content
 Tend to be more sensitive to specific pieces of info when forming judgments
 Males influenced by overall themes
o Women with strong Male component in their gender role ID prefer ads that include non-traditional
women
o Gender-typed people are more sensitive to gender role depictions of characters in advertising
 Women appear to be more sensitive to gender-role relationships
- Sex typed people in general are more concerned with ensuring behaviour is consistent with their cultural
definition of gender – appropriateness
- Scale to ID non-traditional males
o I enjoy looking through fashion magazines
o I take care of cheque book
o Concerned with getting enough calcium
o Good at fixing mechanical things
- NTM considered themselves
o More stylish, sophisticated, up to date than TM
- Gender Bending products
o Traditionally sex-typed items adapted to opposite gender
o Ex: Rubbermaid nail clippers for men
Female Roles
- Trends
o Younger women view of themselves is different from those of mothers
 Grown up with female role models who are strong leaders, have different and more acceptable
outlook by society on equality
o Death of traditional role stereotypes is premature
 Cultures are each different in their ideas of women rights
o Sex Roles constantly evolve
 Contemporary Young Mainstream Achievers (CYMA): ID different roles these women play in
different contexts
o Wave in one direction may be offset by ripple in another
 Message girls have been getting from media for past several years contradicts that of actual
ideals
Male Roles
- Trends
o Men are concerned with appearance
 Metrosexual
o Cultural definition of masculinity is evolving
 Men try to redefine sex roles while stay in safe zone of acceptable behaviour
 Emergence of retrosexual – men who want to emphasize their old-school masculinity by getting
plastic surgery to create more rugged look
Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Customs
- Now being added to annual Monitor survey
- Helps to paint picture of market size, attractiveness
o Homosexuals are more educated than heterosexuals
o More concerned about appearance
o Experience more stress in daily lives

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Body Image
- Consumers subjective evaluation of their physical self
o Not necessarily accurate image
- Marketing strategies that exploit consumers’ tendencies to distort body images by preying on insecurities
about appearance
o Creates gap between real and ideal physical self leads to desire to purchase products to minimize gap
- Body Cathexis
o Person’s feelings about body image
o Cathexis – emotional significance of some object or idea to a person
 Some parts of body are more central to self-concept than others
- Ideal of Beauty
o Person’s satisfaction with the physical image they present to others is affected by how closely image
relates to image valued by culture
o Female ideal – physical features, clothing styles, cosmetics, hairstyles, body type
- Is beauty universal?
o What is beautiful is good  Assume that more attractive people are smarter, more interesting, more
competent
o Every culture displays this beauty bias
 Even though standards of beauty vary between cultures
o Preferences for some physical features over others are wired in genetically
 Reactions tend to be same among people
 Appear to favour features associated with good health and youth , attributes linked to
reproductive ability
o Whether person’s features are balance
 Greater facial symmetry started having sex 3 – 6 years earlier
 Men more likely to use a women’s body shape as a sexual cue
o Ads and other mass media play significant role in determining which forms of beauty are considered
desirable
- Western Ideal of beauty
o Use cues (skin colour, eye shape) to make inferences about a person’s status, sophistication and social
desirability
 Less powerful cultures tend to adopt the standards of beauty prevalent in dominant society
- Ideals of beauty overtime
o Periods of history tend to be characterized by a specific look or ideal of beauty
o Trends
 1) Modern women still endure indignities as high heels, body waxing, eye lifts
 Practice remind us that the desire to conform to current standards of beauty are alive
 2) Sexual dimorphic markers – aspects of the body that distinguish between sexes
 1920’ BMI = 20 – 25
 Today BMI = 18.5
 Women have become less shapely and more androgynous
 3) Trend toward increasing thinness seems to have stabilized, may have actually begun to
reverse
- Is the ideal getting real
o Dove Campaign for real beauty
o Unilever initiated campaign after its research showed many women didn’t believe Hair and the self
product worked because women shown using them were so unrealistic
 Campaign worked everywhere but,
 China
 Appearance norms are strongly rooted in culture
 Chinese women believe they can attain the airbrushed beauty in ads

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- Male ideal of beauty

o Dominant standards of beauty for men is strongly masculine muscle body
o Designers/fashion magazines are starting to choose male models who look more regular
 Due to movement of market toward more normal looking models
 Chiseled without being too pretty  guys can be stylish without being too muscular, too think
or manicure
Working on the Body
- Hair and the self
o Men:
 Basis of presentation of self image and how it can be used as a tool to transform or change
image
 Regular part of consumption process
 Men less likely to talk about hair because male baldness
 To Compensate social stigmas have evolved such as “baldness is a sign of virility”
o Women
 Preference for long or short = reflection of social situation
 Long = sexy and dangerous
 Short = boyish or sign of simplified life
 Pixie = unthreatening and attractive
- Fattism
o NA particularly preoccupied with how much they weigh
 Bombarded by social messages of happy, thin people
o Barbie
 Reinforces idea of thinness
 Had to change due to consumer demands
o Emme
 Full-figure fashion doll in response to changing mindsets of Barbie appearance
o Desire to be thin has had a big impact on consumer lifestyles and eating habits
o Group Dieting: growing problem as consumers visit blog rings devoted to excessive weight loss
- Body Image distortions
o Consumers exaggerate connection between self-esteem and appearance
 Make greater sacrifices to attain what they consider to be a desirable body image
 Women tend to be taught that the quality of their bodies reflects their self-worth
o Linked to rise in eating disorders
 Ex: Bulimia
 Binging process then purging process
o Documented by men
 Most men have distorted image consider themselves to be too light vs too heavy
 Society indicates men should be more muscular
 Media image and products encourage men to attain unreal physique
 Ex: GI JOE action figure, Batman action figure
- Cosmetic surgery
o No longer much psychological stigma associated
- Body Decorations and mutilation
o Purposes:
 Separate group members from non-members
 Place indv in the social organization
 Place person in gender category
 Enhance gender role ID
 Provide sense of security
 Indicate desired social conduct
 Indicate high status or rank

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- Tattoos
o Popular
o Can be used to communicate aspects of the self to onlookers
o May serve some of the same functions as other kinds of body painting in primitive culture
o Risk-free way of representing self
- Body Piercing

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