You are on page 1of 69

Indholdsfortegnelse

Consumer behavior.................................................................................................................................................. 1
Session 2: Decision making - p 88-125............................................................................................................................1
Session 3: Perceptual Processes - p 172-204.................................................................................................................10
Session 4: Learning and memory - p 132-164...............................................................................................................16
Session 5: Attitudes and persuasion - p 212-240..........................................................................................................24
Session 7: Personality, self and motivation - p 248-282...............................................................................................33
Session 8: Groups, social processes, and communications - p 297-330........................................................................40
Session 9: Culture - p 342-376.......................................................................................................................................49
Session 10: The digital consumer..................................................................................................................................59
Session 11: Implications and ethical consider rations...................................................................................................64

Asol20ab@student.cbs.dk

Consumer behavior

Session 2: Decision making - p 88-125


Involvement ” The level of involvement consumers has with a purchase is a key factor
influencing the decision-making process. Involvement is the perceived
relevance of a purchase to the consumer”
High involvement
High involvement decisions:
- The choice is made without further consideration.
- Example: university choice, an important decision that is going to
influence the rest of our lives.
- Extended problem solving

High involvement decisions can be categorized as


extended problem-solving.
- Active learning: the consumer wants to learn more about
the brands they consider buying because their purchase
decision is important to them
- Typical high involvement decision products: Bed,
computer, apartment, etc.

Problem recognition: Our computer is broken. Therefore, we NEED to buy


one so we can take notes for schoolwork.
Information search: We identify appropriate information to help aid our
choice

1
Low involvement
Low involvement decisions:
- The choice is made following a process of search and evaluation,
were some kind of evaluative criteria will be applied
- Example: When a consumer is thirsty, they are likely to choose the
first drink.
- Habitual decision making

Where there are few differences between brands, a consumer might not
consider their choice and choose randomly.

When differences between brands are marginal, the consumer can have
a low-involvement attitude, where a lack of preference for a specific brand
might be apparent. This indifference to brands can be mistaken as loyalty
(intertia) when the consumer might not be invested in the brand at all.

On the other hand, when there are more differences between brands,
the consumer is incentivized to engage in variety-seeking and try different
brands (e.g., chocolate, where there are a lot of different flavours to
choose from).

Many low involvement decisions are habitual decisions, such as always


buying the same carton of milk or cereal at the supermarket.

- Passive learning: information about brands may be stored in the


consumer’s mind. Fx while watching a commercial, without active
being engaged in a learning process. “An important aspect of
passive learning is an absence og resistance to what is learned. As
Active learning is by its nature exciting and engaging, it may bring
about more resistance “
Figure 3.1 It provides a simplified comparison of decision making in low and high
involvement context.

2
Active learning Active learning involves the acquisition of knowledge before purchase and
therefore extensive information search.
- Here we want to learn more about the brands we are considering
buying because the purchase decision is important to us (high
involvement)
Table 3.1 Lerning in low and high involvement decision-making

Low involvement hierarchy High involvement hierarchy


Brand beliefs are formed through Brand beliefs are formed through
passive learning active learning
A purchase decision is the made Brands are then evaluated
The brand may or may not be A purchase decision is made
evaluated

Passive learning Passive learning is the acquisition of knowledge without active learning.
- Example watching tv
Distinction
between It can be difficult to tell when a decision is high or low involvement.
low and high Typically, a high involvement decision is based on active learning, while
involvement low involvement is based on passive learning. Furthermore, there are both
decisions situational involvement and individual involvement.
- Situational would be, if you had to go to a party, you would maybe
bring a cheap wine, and therefore it would be low involvement.
- But if you had to buy a present for your parents it would (maybe)
be a high involvement decision because you want to buy good
quality and might have to do more information search. In this
example with the wine, the high and low involvement decision is

3
due to the situation that you're in.
- But if you are a wine enthusiast, it will maybe always be high
involvement, because you care a lot about the wine and therefore
the decision about the same kind of product can be very individual
because of your interest.
Other forms of Product involvement
involvement - Is the perceived personal relevance of the product, based on
needs, values or interest.
Message-response involvement
- Reflects the consumer’s interest in marketing communications
Enduring involvements
- is the pre-existing relationship between an individual and the
object of concern
Ego involvement
- is when consumers perceive products or brands as relevant to
their personal interest.

How to Increase How to Increase involvement:


involvement: - Link the brand to hedonic needs: “Häagen dazs series of
advertisements that directly associated the eating of ice cream
with sex, and pot noodles presented their brand as a dark and
rather naughty pleasure”.
- Use distinctive or novel ways of communicating
- Use Celebrities
- Tell a story
- Build a relationship
- Get the consumer to participate
Stages in the Problem recognition
decision-making - Is the realization that a problem needs to be solved through
process purchase.
- Can be in both high and low
- Ex im hungry or I need to buy a birthday present.

Figure 3.7
Shows two ways in which problem recognition may manifest itself. In each
case there is a difference between the actual and ideal state.
- The need recognition example shows a situation where one moves
easily between the actual and the ideal state, and that is why the
top circle is labelled as both ideal and actual.
- Actual state: hungry at lunch time  ideal state: buy food and eat
- Opportunity recognition however is a situation where the
consumer may recognize a lack in their actual state that they were
not aware of.
- Ex an advertisement for an iPhone realizing the old one is bad; it
affects them so much that they need to upgrade. Therefore, the

4
illustration shows distance between the actual and ideal states as
greater than the arrow pointing in one direction.

Information search
Is the process by which we identify appropriate information to help aid
our choice in a decision-making situation.

- In need recognition our search is from experience for ex ongoing


research. We might already know where the nearest sandwich bar
is located
- In opportunity recognition may be more complex

Five classes of information needs.

- Functional needs  are the acquisition of knowledge from one’s


own experience and those of others, and through stimuli such as
advertising or articles to increase knowledge and reduce risk.
These act as a way of educating the consumer about the products
utility, attributes, and applications.
- Hedonic needs  relate to the elements of pleasurable
experiences that may occur during decision-making
- Sign needs  are the social and identity aspects of information
search-what the product might say about us. Information may be
passed on or sought as part of signifying our social position.
- Innovation needs  relate to the search for something that is new
or different to the consumer
- Aesthetic  are where information is viewed as a stimulus to
visual thinking, to imagining the product and how it looks in your
life.

Alternative evaluation:
When following an information search, we face choice alternatives, and

5
we can place the results of the information search into different
categories (set):

- The evoked set includes all brands the consumer is aware of which
might meet their needs (Apple, Lenovo, Acer, HP, Samsung)
- The consideration set includes all the brands from the evoked set
that the consumer might actually consider buying (Apple, Lenovo)
- The inept set are those brands that the consumer may have come
across during their search or from previous experience but would
not consider for this decision (Acer, HP, Samsung)
- The inert set includes those brands not under consideration at all
(Dell) (These sets are also present in low involvement situations)

Evaluation:
In an active decision-making situation, we may consciously use evaluation
criteria which are those factors that we use to compare offerings to help
make a choice, including beliefs, attitude, and attention (price of the
computer, what does the brand stand for)

Outcome of choice:
We were very happy with our choice of computer, and therefore it met
our expectations. There are two types of attributes following an outcome
of a choice: a stable- or an unstable attribution.

Stable attributions become ‘frozen’ and are more difficult to change. The
unstable attributions are changeable opinions. The text’s example is of a
service business, like an airline, where you have a bad experience, but you
know they have good reviews, so you consider your experience an
anomaly.
- not alle high involvement situation involves differentiating through
different brands. Think back laptop: you might already decide on a
brand fx MAC., because you previously iPhone, laptop is an MAC.
You might have had good experience with the brand, and there for
you use it again. In this case, we are speaking of a high
involvement rutine decision.

Page 106
Disconfirmation paradigm
- is the difference between a consumer’s pre-purchase expectations
of the product’s performance and their post-purchase experience.
- Dissatisfactory outcome is when the expectations are higher than
the outcome
Attributions
- arise when one evaluates the extent to which the initial product
performance corresponds to one’s level of aspiration.

6
figure 3.11
Difference in online
shopping ad - When shopping online you are not restricted to the shops in your
decision making location.
- An intial google search might provide you with too much
information and lead to confusion
- If you do not find a product appealing within a few seconds you
will move to another site.
- Research has shown that customers can become very loyal
shoppers because they grow accustomed to and experienced with
a particular website and so the search effort required to shop is
much less.
Types of shoppers Apathetic shoppers  indifferent to shopping
Enthusiast  enjoy all aspects of shopping
Destination shoppers  focused on finding the right place to buy the
brand or product they are after
Basic shoppers  those with a clear idea of what they want who shop
quickly and easily having no interest in the social experience aspects of
shopping
Bargain seekers  motivated to find a good deal and to achieve choice
optimization

Personal motives - Role playing


for shopping (s. - Diversion
113) - Self-gratification
- Learning about new trends
- Physical activity
- Sensory stimulation

Social motives for - Social experience


shopping - Communicating with others who have similar interests

7
- Peer group attraction
- Status and authority
- Pleasure of bargaining
Online shoppers 4 groups of online shoppers

1. The convenience shopper  motivated by the convenience of


online shopping, is less concerned with immediate possessions of
goods and didn’t particularly seek variety across brands
2. The variety seeker  interested by variety seeking across
alternatives, products and brands while still motivated by
convenience
3. The balanced buyer  lower likelihood to plan purchases and
therefore might be a more impulsive online shopper.
4. The store-oriented shopper  lowest level of online shopping
convenience, preferring the physical orientations of the store and
the immediate possessions of goods.
Shopping on Impulse purchasing  a sudden powerful urge to buy a product with little
impulse regard to the consequences of what we are buying

Four styles of impulse buying


1. Accelerator impulse: consumers are motivated to stockpile,
purchasing in advance of some future needs. Sales, promotions
such as buy one, get one free, appeal to this type.
2. Compensatory impulse: impulse shopping as a reward for success
or as compensation for failure. Advertisement for confectionery or
snacks often suggest that we deserve compensation or reward
through food. An example “Have a break, have a kitkat”
3. Breakthrough impulse: this type of impulse relates to the sudden
need to make a purchase often triggered by some kind of
unconscious problem or issue. Example: a man sees a ring, buy,
and propose.
4. Blind impulse: this refers to impulse buys that are not easily
explained or rationalized by the consumer. Often this occurs when
a consumer is overwhelmed by the product and feels that they just
have it immediately, without any thought for the cost implications.
The paradox of To many choices can be a bad thing.
choice - More choices can lead to confusion as we cannot check out all the
alternatives  information overload
Heuristics Heuristics are methods to aid decision-making, and they simplify the
complexity of assessing the probability and prediction of value in a choice
situation. Heuristics is both in high and low involvement situations.

- Mental short cuts or rules of thumb


Prediction Where a consumer is trying to predict an outcome such as “if I buy a new
heuristics mobile phone now, when will I need to update it”. Important examples of

8
prediction heuristics are the availability and representativeness heuristics.
Availability Refers to a situation where people judge the likelihood or frequency of
heuristics something happening in the future by how easy it is to remember similar
events
- E.g: because it is easy for us to remember the vivid (and gruesome)
pictures from the cigarette packages, we would assume that it is
likely to become ill or even die if we smoke. And in this case, our
"prediction" is not wrong! So, yes, great example to see how
health organizations could use that mechanism to make people
remember and influence their decisions.
- E.g: is when brands post on their webpage that they have been the
winner of some award 2-3 years ago, and make that information
very prominent (e.g., a pop-up on their landing page) so that the
consumer is frequently exposed to this message. Although the
award is in the past, the consumer will use this cue to judge the
brand’s products positively, because it is easy to remember
(“available”) that the brand has won an award.
Representativeness Is when we judge something based on how similar it is to something else.
heuristics - We make assessments using the representative’s heuristic all the
time when brands look similar to others and therefore, we have an
expectation of their performance.
Choice heuristics Allows us to reduce the number of attributes to be considered for the
possible alternative choices. E.g., we decide that we do not want to spend
more than 20dkk on a bottle of shampoo, therefore we reduce the
number of attributions, because that is our most important attribute. If
two products fulfill that attribute, we might go to our next most important
attribute, which e.g., could be the brand.
Compliance Those built around the likelihood of choosing something based on
heuristic complying with the request.
- E.g., if you go online and shop for a sweater, and you see there is
only one item left in your size, this might be a short cut for you to
buy it, or if someone gives you good service, you feel like you have
to give them back.
Anchoring Anchoring is over-reliance on one piece of often irrelevant information to
decide (arbitrary coherence)
- Eg buying a pair of shoes. The first price is high, and even though
you could find cheaper shoes, you anchor to the expensive price
and will buy expensive shoes

Framing How we make a decision through the context in which a choice is


presented to us. Perception, language, and the way items are ordered
may make us see things differently.
The halo effect The halo effect (sometimes called the halo error) is the tendency for positive
impressions of a person, company, brand or product in one area to positively
influence one's opinion or feelings in other areas.[1][2] Halo effect is “the name
given to the phenomenon whereby evaluators tend to be influenced by their

9
previous judgments of performance or personality.”[3] The halo effect which is a
cognitive bias can possibly prevent someone from accepting a person, a
product or a brand based on the idea of an unfounded belief on what is good
or bad.

The halo effect is a term for a consumer's favoritism toward a line


of products due to positive experiences with other products by this
maker. The halo effect is correlated to brand strength, brand
loyalty, and contributes to brand equity
Satisfying and In some situations, consumers are prepared to accept a good-enough
maximizing solution, known as satisficing, while in others we need to be surer that we
are really getting the best solution to a problem. In such cases we are
maximizing our choices.

Den anden tekst

The difference between the perceptual process and the decision-making process

10
- Decision-making process: Describes how consumers come to decisions, which steps does
the consumer go through. Within those they will perceive and interpret, which will affect
the decision-making, but the process includes other factors besides perception and
interpretation.
- Perceptual process: Describes how consumers are affected by different stimuli in the
environment. The process isn’t about the making of a decision; the response can be a
decision but that is not what is in focus/what is important. Instead, we are interested in the
interpretation of stimuli/information)

Session 3: Perceptual Processes - p 172-204


Perception Perception is the process through which information in the form of stimuli in
the environment is selected, organized, and interpreted through the sense
organs.

The process by which we perceive is illustrated in figure 5.1

Exposure Exposure is about ensuring that the stimulus is in the appropriate place for
consumers to have access to it.
- At this stage stimuli are only analyzed for their simple physical
properties, with little information conveyed.

Consumers can also limit their own exposure to stimuli, a form of selective
exposure.
- It is the active seeking and avoidance of stimuli
- Eg. During commercial break, shifting channels.

Perceptual vigilance is when a consumer consciously or unconsciously filters


stimuli for relevance, it depends on the individual.

Perceptual Defence is when a consumer inhibits perception of potentially


threatening or unpleasant stimuli
- Eg smokers ignores government restrictions and campaigns.
Sensation Immediate response of our sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers,
skin) to basic stimuli such as light, color, sound, odor, taste, and shape or
texture.

11
- The process by which sensations we select, attend to, organize, and
interpret is important to marketers.
- We may associate colors or smell with certain feelings.

Sight:
Sensory Sight or visual attention accounts for about 80% of human perception.
receptors Therefore, colours have a big meaning.
The interpretation on colour can depend on culture, time ec. eg. 100 years ago,
pink was though as a boy colour. Many organizations use colour to
communicate the corporate identity
- Red  passion, excitement and energy.
Sound:
Music can make us spend longer time in a shop. Sound can also help the
consumer understand what is happening (e.g the sound of a text message).

Smell:
Smell: eg. cleaning products = lemon.
Smells can cause strong emotions. Some smells can evoke nostalgic thought and
memories. E.g cotton candys = festival as a kid. Consumers categorize pleasant
and unpleasant smells. Cultural influence which smells we find acceptable or
not.
Fx. store supermarkeder har bager = lækker duft der holder på kunderne
længere.

Touch and textures:


Touch is an important, but underrated sense.
- Preferences for texture vary greatly, giving companies a good
opportunity to market food items such as juice or yoghurt as either
smooth or with bits, thus matching differences in consumer tastes
Taste:
Taste preferences are highly specific to individuals and cultures. For eg kitkat
sells a green tea variant I Japan, that would not be popular in europe.
- Taste preferences may also change with age.
Sensory Absolute threshold: Minimun amount of stimulation that can be picked up by
thresholds any of our senses. Eg. If signs on the highway say too much, you can’t pick up
the sensory information. Or when the font of writing is too small for people
with glasses to read → marketers need to reach the absolute thresholds of
vulnerable audiences. Or always read the writing in small to not miss details

Differential thresholds: the difference between stimuli needed for the


consumer to notice the difference.
- Can be downplayed or enhanced depending on the marketer’s
intentions! e.g notice this 2-for-1 offer, or don’t notice we made the
containers smaller by a little margin but kept the same price.
- In relation to the differential thresholds another relevant term is

12
“The just noticeable difference: The term refers to the specific difference that
is required for the consumer to perceive a difference.

Whilst the thresholds are theoretical concepts the “grocery shrink ray” is a
practical phenomenon. It occurs, for example, when manufacturers try to
conceal the fact, that prices are higher by changing size in packaging and
thereby shrinking the product/amount of product.

Weber’s law: the stronger the initial stimulis, the more difference would be
required
Adaption Adaption: extent to which people's awareness of a stimulus diminishes over
time.
- Derfor er det vigtigt at virksomheder lave kreativt content.
Attention Attention is the mental activity given to a stimulus
Selective:
- Dividing attention between different activities
- Movement

You can use shock for gaining attention (p. 189)

speaking to schemas: cognitive frameworks used to organize or interpret


information. When marketers speak to exiting schemas fx by designing
innovative products so customer can organize new knowledge into exiting
product categorize consumers can more easily process
information

Novelty Novelty: something unlikely, surprising, unsual (choking


pictures)

Defined as a deviation from the expected likelihood of an event on the basis of


both previous information and internal estimates of conditional probabilities.
interpretatio Gestalt: whole, refers to how people look for meaning and patterns in the
n stimuli of the environment.

- Principle of closure: tendency of people filling in the elements of an


incomplete picture (marketers involve the consumer and potential
promote attention by using the principle of closure).
- Lukkethed er en meget almindelig designteknik som bruger
menneskehjernen og øjets tendens til at se lukkede former.
- Gestaltloven om lukkethed virker når et objekt er ufuldkommen eller når
indersiden af et element ikke fuldstændig lukket til, men seeren opfatter
en hel form ved at udfylde den manglende visuelle information, for at
give et komplet udtryk der kan forstås.

13
- Principle of similarity: products which are similar one another is
perceived to be more related than those that are dissimilar. (When you
design a product, it is important to make it similar to other products by
the brand, in that way the customer is more likely to 'approve' the
product).
- Når objekter ligner hinanden, vil seeren ofte se hvert enkelt element
som del af et mønster eller gruppe. Denne effekt kan bruges til at skabe
en illustration, billede eller besked via en serie af separate elementer.
- Ligheden mellem forskellige elementer kan bestå af, farver, størrelser,
tekstur eller værdi. Jo mere ensartede de individuelle elementer er, jo
større forståelse af sammenhæng, takket været gestaltloven om lighed.
Samtidig vil vi have en tendens til at tænke at de ensartede objekter
opfylder/udfylder den samme funktion. Ved at bryde mønsteret af
lighed kan man fremhæve elementer som er “ulige”, så at sige. Denne
effekt kaldes en anormalitet.
- E. g. is one of the principles in Gestalt and proposes that we PERCEIVE
things that are similar to be related. Therefore, in Lena's case, she might
have perceived the retailer brand to be related to the manufacturer
brand because of its similarity (in its packaging design and name).

- Principle of proximity: things we see close together is perceived to be


more related than things that are seen as farther apart (fx retailers will
group products together which compliments one another, such as tights
near shoes and handbags in a department store.
- Also, in logos thin lines that a close to each other form a objekt or a
logo).
- Gestaltloven om nærhed kommer i spil når designelementer er
arrangeret så de opfattes som en gruppe. Hvis delelementer i
designarrangementet er ens (gestaltloven om lighed), vil de som regel
opfattes somen forenet helhed, selvom de er separate elementer.
- Nærhed eller gruppering kan opnås og anvendes ved mange forskellige
typer af ensartethed, så som: Former, farver, tekstur, størrelse og faktisk
hvilken som helst anden visuel egenskab.

- Principle of figure and ground: in organizing stimuli’s individuals tends


to distinguish those that are prominent in the environment. The
prominent element is the figure and the context in which it is seen is the
ground. The more familiar the figure is the more likely it is to be noted,
but sometimes is unclear what is figure and what is ground.
- Dette princip beskriver hvordan hjernen og øjet gerne vil se og adskille
et objekt fra dens baggrund.
- Et klassisk eksempel er illustrationen af en vase eller lysestage som via
baggrunden viser 2 ansigter lige overfor hinanden (Rubins vase), men
ses dog også ofte i logo design. Princippet virker fordi vi gerne vil se
figuren (I forgrunden) på en baggrund (ground), og derfor se de flere lag

14
der er i designet og fokus herimellem. Alt der ikke opfattes som en figur
ses som baggrunden (ground). Dette kan bruges til at skabe flotte og
interessante visuelle effekter, især når en designer eller grafikker med
vilje anvender tvetydighed.
Marketing Perceptual mapping
and - It is the visual representation of the marketplace from the consumers
perception perspective. They effectively provide managers with a map of how
consumers view the products and brands in the market in comparison
with other brands, and also in relation to how the company sees the
brand.
Perceived risk When is perceived risk likely to increase:
- A completely new offering to the market
- Little information about the product
- Major differences between brands
- Limited experience of product class
- Likely to be judged by others for purchase

Types of risk
- Financial risk - the perception of a likely financial loss.
- Performance or functional risk - the perception of how well the product
will perform its expected task.
- Physical risk - the perception of harm that a product or service might
have.
- Social risk - the personal and social risks that may arise from a purchase.
Louise may feel that if she buys this blouse, it may reflect negatively on
how others see here.
- Psychological risk - the risk that reflects the individual's perception of
themselves. Louise may feel that the purchase does not fit well with
how she perceives herself.
- Time risk - the risk embodied in the uncertainty regarding the time
required to buy or learn to use the product.
Repositioning
A key aspect of repositioning is to find ways of changing people’s existing
perceptions of a brand.
Price ● Assumptions about quality based on price: hvis den er dyr, må den være gode
perception (heuristik)
● Assesment of price based on envionment in which goods are placed
● Collaborations between designers and inexpensive retailers.
Semiotics
Semiotics is concerned with exploring the links between signs and symbols, and
the meanings they signify and convey.

A consumer associates certain colours, shapes, clothing, and even jobs with
certain other things. Many of these associations are deeply embedded and

15
difficult to change.
- A brand or a product can associate itself with certain values. As with
Coca-Cola the brand might become a representation of specific
traditions and values, which means that the brand is linked with the
consumer’s view of the world through “semiotic networks”.
- A brand might seek to associate a specific meaning to a product by for
example using celebrities/influencers who represent specific values,
opinions or qualities. The consumer can then transfer these values and
opinions to the brand/product. The links are between the object (the
product or brand), the sign (e.g the values which the brand mediate,
when they choose a specific celebrity) and the interpretants (the
values/meanings which the consumer then associates with the
product/brand).

Semiotics also allows us to regard other communication elements as signs – for


example, the rhetoric devices of visual metaphors – often used in advertising –
can be regarded as signs that signify meaning to us.
- Marketers can also use culturally loaded objects as signs, e.g., the
Danish flag and candles to signify “hygge” and connect it with their
products.
- The associations we have with an actress, reflect our meaning about the
brand (ex. a perfume). So, if we think the actress is beautiful and
powerful, we will link this meaning to the brand and therefore this
perfume will be preferable compared to other brands.
- This can also be seen as a celebrity advertisement. This is very useful for
marketers when they want to link their product with the celebrity, to
attach meaning to the product and brand.
- The marketers use one or several signs, and they should be the same for
everyone, at least if the marketers have made it clear enough. So the
sign has to be clear to be effective for the consumer to notice.
- The interpretation of the sign can be different though. So the sign is
always the same, but the effect of the sign depends on if you
“understand” the meaning of the sign. Especially color can be a good
quality to create meaning (a tactic) because we often associate the
colors with a determined meaning.

Session 4: Learning and memory - p 132-164


Learning Learning is the activity or process of acquiring knowledge or skill by studying,
practicing, or experiencing something.

16
Figure 4.1

Figure 4.2

Behavioral Behavioral learning is concerned with learning as a response to changes in our


learning environment.
The environment is therefore the key to shaping learning and behavior.
- A behavioral view of learning expects a consumer to respond to an
external stimulus, such as seeing a brand of a soft drink for sale and
having had a previous positive experience with the brand, making a
decision to buy it again,
Cognitive Cognitive learning theories focus on learning through internal mental processes
learning and conscious thought
- Regard learning as process of mental activity where we are thinking
through our actions to some degree.
- With cognitive learning we might expect consumers to have gone
through a process of search and evaluation from their memory of
previous experiences (internal) and from new information available to
them (external)
Classical First order condition
conditioning - It occurs when a conditioned stimulus acquires motivational importance
by being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, which is intrinsically
aversive or rewarding.
Pavlov’s dog experiment is an example of first order conditioning. In the
experiment it occurs that stimulus acquires motivational importance by being
paired with an unconditioned stimulus, which is intrinsically averse or reward

17
(typically biological stimulus = fysiologisk respons).

If the unconditioned stimulus is removed from the conditioned stimulus, it is


called extinction.

Higher order conditioning


- is when two conditioned stimuli are pared.
- The paring of CS1 and CS2 may occur before or after the first conditioned
stimulus. Fx. using a song which is already conditioned and associated
with something and then using it in advertising where a kid is blowing a
mælkebøtte and has the same message as the song → creates a powerful
effect (s.138).
- Brands may also be interested in removing the association between two
stimuli, for example, a celebrity and a product, where consumers are
conditioned to respond to the brand in the same way they respond to a
celebrity. Theoretically, if the appearance of the celebrity is removed
from the appearance of the brand, then consumers should - over time -
learn that these two are not associated anymore.
- Some research actually shows that associations between celebrities and
brands can actually be quite robust and enduring - which can have
undesirable effects for brands, e.g., when the celebrity misbehaved.
- Once consumers have learned to respond to the brand the same way
they respond to the celebrity, and the celebrity has engaged in some
misbehavior, consumers may continue to respond the same way to the
brand as they do towards the celebrity - just unfavorably.

Stimulus Stimulus generalization


generalizatio - occurs when a stimulus similar to a conditioned stimulus elicits a similar
n response
- an example of this is “private labels” consumers may be confused or pick
up own-label brands quickly, or through stimulus generalization the
private brand may benefit from a transfer of positive attitude from the
main-line brands.
- Related to: Represented heuristic: judge how similar it is to something
else (we may have seen the brand before in another product) and
Gestalt principles of similarity: products which a similar to one another is
perceived to be more related than those that are dissimilar

Examples:
- In Lena’s case, she reacts to the retailer brand the same way she would
react to the manufacturer brand (the conditioned stimulus), as they look
alike.
- Licensing: Star Wars want to use Lego to create an association for their
own brand. So that association with rub of two other kinds of Star Wars

18
products
Can also be found in product line udvielse: fx. Heinz, som har brugt deres gode
ry fra ketchuppen til at lave beans, babymad, hot sauces (hvor de bruger
sammen ‘shape og ‘bottle’ til at skabe association) osv.
1) this can also be seen with other brands try to "copy" a well-known brand
to create an association.
Stimulus Stimulus discrimination:
discriminatio
n 2) Just as we can generalize from one stimulus to another, we can also
learn to discriminate between similar stimuli.
3) For example, dogs can be trained to discriminate so that they only
respond to the sound of their master’s whistle.
4) If a conditioned stimulus is not followed by an unconditioned stimulus,
the response will decline and hence we discriminate against that
conditioned stimulus.
5) If we buy an own-label product and find that it does not perform to the
same standards as the branded products, we are likely to discriminate
against this product.
6) This can also be used in a positive way, where a brand helps the
consumer diffenriate between their different products by using different
colours, tubs, jar ect.
7) Other examples: Heinz, people can see they are different because what’s
inside the bottle is different and Ice-cream, when the use a cheaper
brand, but is unsatisfied, they learn to discriminate between the retailer
and the well-known brand.
Operant Operant conditioning
conditioning 8) the changing of behavior through reinforcement following a desired
response
9) Here the consumer has a certain behavior due to positive reinforcement,
negative reinforcement, extinction, or punishment.
10) In operant conditioning the behavior is also determined by
reinforcement schedules, which is when reinforcement is applied to
behavior.

Table 4.1

19
Neutral operant:
11) When you buy biscuits fx, and there was nothing in particular good or
bad, then you might not want to buy them again.

Reinforceme Fixed ratio schedule: Applies reinforcement after a specific number of


nt schedules responses.
12) fx. when you get the 10th coffee for free
Fixed interval schedule: Is when reinforcement is provided after a specific
known period.
13) fx. Store may advertise that they have sales three times a year, and
costumers may decide to shop there only at these times
Variable schedules: are when reinforcement is provided on an irregular basis.
14) fx. Slot machines you may one nothing, a little or a lot. You have no
control of the response. It is the possible positive outcomes, that keeps
the players gambling.

20
A variable interval schedule is when the reinforcement occurs at some
unknown but consistent rate.
15) Fx at the cantinas a CBS, we don’t know when they are going to check,
and there for we make sure to pay every time
Learning This is developed from similar or related experiences that the consumer has had
history before, and when they encounter new settings they call upon these experiences
to guide behavior → we use our past experience of these situations and their
consequences to understand new environment and how to adapt.
Cognitive Internal learning and mental processes.
learning 16) It can operate in high and low involvement situations and can be
conscious and unconscious.
17) While in some situation we may be aware of collecting information in a
conscious manner, on other occasions we learn through passive learning
18) we are not conscious that we are learning,

The information processing model


Follows the steps:
19) Exposure  Involves sensory detection and registration through
receptor organs
20) Attention,  requires the focusing of attention leading to perception and
categorizing
21) Comprehension  is where the consumer searches (and identifies)
meaning.
22) Acceptance/Rejection  the consumer considers existing choice criteria
and elaborates the message received to reach a point of acceptance or
rejection of the information
23) Retention.  learning has to be retained in the memory for future use.

Remember that this model does not analyze consumer decision-making, but
that it analyzes cognitive information processing.
24) Generally, this model is applicable in situations in which consumers
process information more elaborately, so predominantly in high-
involvement situations.
25) For the stimuli to reach the long-term memory it has to go through all
the steps.
26) Eksempel Novel stimuli, might get our attention, but may not survive
their information processing.
27) You are out buying your aunts birthday gift in frb shopping mall, you
really don’t know what to buy, but your guess is that you are going to
find something at the mall:

Exposure: as you look around at FRB, you are exposed to many adds, signs and
shopping windows = implicit learning.
28) Fx: you might brows through Matas and may be exposed to brands you

21
didn't know before

Attention: when strolling thrugh FRB, you dont notice most of the information
which you are exposed but you have now past more shops with beauty and
cosmetics products which has interesting offers and you know your aunts like
that kind of stuff, so you pay more attention to these shops -> you start focusing
you attention on some things

Copmprehension: you start to compare the offers in more detail and compare
the information with what you have in your memory regarding you aunts taste
and beauty products and what you know she already has. You also start googling
some more information about the product reading reviews and more detail - so
you can find out what might be the best choice

Acceptence/rejection: you hold 2 perfumes and your hands, and you are
convinced that one of them is likely to be particularly appealing to your aunt

Retention: what have you learned during the shopping? Properly a number of
things like several shops, brands and products you didn't know before. You also
found out where to find reviews and you learned something from the
experience where you bought one of the perfumes --> you will retain some or all
of this in your long-term memory.

Figure 4.10
Memory Memory  is a system and a process whereby information is received, sorted,
organized, stored, and retrieved over time.

There are four steps of memory:


1. Input.
2. Encoding is how information about brands and products from adds and
commercials enters the memory (fx names can be spelled in a 'funny'
way, the originality will make it easier to remember)

22
3. Storage is how the encoded information is retained in the memory. Once
in the memory the new information is related and connected to other
information, that may impact how and then the new information is
retrieved.
4. Retrieval 3 kinds: Sensory memory, Short-term memory, and Long-term
memory.

5. Figure 4.11
Memory The model of three levels memory (sensory, short-term and long-term) helps us
systems to understand how and why some things are remembered and some are not.

Sensory:
- where the information is received in a sensory form sight, smells, touch, taste, or
hearing and are retained from a very brief period.
- This process is automatic and doesn't involve any partially attention or
interpretation
Short-term memory:
- Here the information is being processed.
- Short term memory is limited to holding small amount of information at the time
and for short periods of times.
Long-term memory:
- The potential to remember forever. Getting memory to last long-term is achieved
through: Engrams  which are neural networks connecting new memories with
old
Types of long-term memory
- Procedural memory  is involved with knowing how to do things, and allows
us to remember how to perform tasks and actions (riding a bike eg)
- Declarative memory  is specifically about knowing things made of two types
of memory systems
 Episodic memory  refers to our memories of specific events and
experiences, which have formed our autobiographical timeline (we
remember significant events.
 Semantic memory  involves structuring of specific records, facts, concepts,
and knowledge about the world we live in. (factual facts, such as who was
the first man at the moon)

Retrieval of Retrieval  the process whereby we remember and access our stored

23
memory memories. There are different ways from where we retrieve information from
our memory:

- Recollection  is when we reconstruct memory through a range of


different narratives and bits of memory.
 Fx. if we are in a store we may see a product, remember someone telling
us about it, and then recall having seen an advertisement in a magazine.
The partial memories come together to form a greater whole.
- Recognition  requires the memory to retrieve information by
experiencing it again.
 Fx. So, you may be looking in the supermarket for snacks and recognize a
new product that you have seen on TV. You had to visually recognize the
product to recall it.
- Relearning  is when you relearn something that you had previously
learned, and the process of relearning helps with remembering and
retrieval.
 Fx. You may have used the automatic check-in at the airport but often
you have to relearn how to use it if some time has elapsed between uses.
The more you use the check-in, the easier it is to retrieve the information
you need.

Explicit and Explicit memory:


implicit The conscious recollection of an experience.
memory - Fx you may recognize a product in the supermarket, or you may recall
specific information about the product for a magazine or a friend who
told you about it

Implicit memory:
Remembering without conscious awareness.
- We are unaware of the using of information, we previously were
exposed to.
- Fx you might stroll through FRB center without looking at anything
specific. When a friend later asks you of gift ideas, you may bring
something to mind, you saw during your stroll
Aiding Marketers wants the name and product to be remembered. There are a number
memory of technics that can help retrieval:

Repetition and spacing:


- If a consumer is repeatedly exposed to marketing stimuli for a particular
brand, their likelihood of recalling it increases.
Position and duration:
- Position on the advertising can help recall.
- Fx. the commercial that has the first and last position in a commercial
break is better remembered than those in the middle
Pictorial and verbal cues

24
- like brand names and logos can also help retrieval of memory
Social Observational or vicarious learning
learning - happens through social learning. Social learning theories describe how
humans are influenced by the observation of other humans.
- “If you are in a new country and want to use the buses you may first
observe what other do”
- Observing the behavior of others may also lead to us replicating such
behavior” → product placement in advertisement, can be smart, shows
how to use the products
- We learn by accident “Children may think they are doing a game, but the
will incidentally be learning vocabulary

Session 5: Attitudes and persuasion - p 212-240


Attitude - is a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or
unfavorable manner in relation to some object.
- Object can be behavior, an object, product, service, or a person.
- Attitudes are learned through experiences in the world.
- Have an evaluative dimension, so can be favorable, unfavorable.
- Have intensity which can be strong and weak.
- Have consistency and stability and have a link to behavior given a
predisposition to act in a sudden way.
- Attitudes are associated with an attitude object, which must be
specified and can be behaviors, object such as a brand, service or even
an idea or a person such as a celebrity.

When discussing attitudes, it’s important to specify the target object about
which can be defined as attitude object: “thing about which the attitude is
held, and can include brands, services, ideas, people, and behaviors.
The 3 components model - ABC model
tricomponent
model Affective component:
- Emotional connection the consumer has with the target object about
which the attitude is formed.
- fx you might feel enthusiastic on buying books on Amazon and the
prospect on a bargain. You may also feel angry because you recall
stories on Amazon treating their employees poorly. The affect refers to
the fundamental feelings related to the attitude which are often
represented as liking or disliking.
Behavioral component:
- Action or behaviors associated with the attitude object.
- fx an attention to stop smoking or an attention to start drinking more
water (buying a water bottle). This component covers the 'doing'
aspect of the attitude. The action which forms the attitude. We must
keep in mind an intended action isn't always carried out.
Cognitive component:

25
- The beliefs and thoughts in relation to the target attitude object, its
character, and its relation to other things.
- fx we may hold a believe that running every day is good for our fitness.
We may also believe that fit is better than being unfit. These are
cognitions which can be related to the behavior of buying new running
shoes.

This model in use on page 216.

Hierarchy of There are four main types of hierarchy


effects
The high involvement or standard learning hierarchy (cognition  affect 
behavior):
- Here the consumers start with a set of beliefs and probably searches
for more information to bolster or develop these beliefs from were an
effective response (or preference) is developed.

The low involvement hierarchy (cognitions  behavior  affect)


- Here the consumer starts with a set of beliefs about the consumption
object, but the knowledge they are drawing on may be limited, and it is
not as essential for them to undertake extensive research.

The behavioral hierarchy (behavior  cognitions  affect)


- This emphasizes behavior first and from this the consumer forms
beliefs and then feelings in relation to the consumption objects.

The emotional hierarchy (affect  behavior  cognitions)


- This is more experimental in nature, assuming that a consumer act
based on emotional triggers

Table 6.1
The uni-
dimensional An alternative way of considering attitudes is the uni-dimensional model.
model - This can be viewed as an evolution of the tripartite approach, because
it’s the same three components, but how they are linked are different.

26
Figure 6.4 s. 220

Balance theory Balance theories:


of attitudes The relationship between a person (fx the consumer), their perception of an attitude
object (a brand) and their perception of another person or an object that has a
connection with the brand fx a celebrity.
- The person will seek balance between these three elements and so do
companies.
- Fx if consumer A have a positive relationship towards celebrity B who is
positively associated with brand C  then consumer A might have a positively
relationship towards brand C.
- However, if celebrity B behave badly, the positive association between the
celebrity and the brand might become disturb and so the consumer might feel
equally negative towards to brand as the do towards the celebrity
- Likewise, people might also seek balance between the three components affect,
behavior and cognition.

Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance: State of having inconsistent beliefs and attitudes.
- fx when spending too much money on a item, we may try to justify our
purchase or downplay the amount of money we spend.
- Marketers can also balance out any failed dissonance fx some expensive items
might come with a thank you note saying "you bought the finest material in a
sweater"  here marketers help us to remove our discomfort.
- So, when the cognitive dissonance is balanced out = our attitudes become
stable. However, these stable attitudes can be interrupted again. Sometime if
balancing out requires too much effort, we might just cut of relationships also
relationships to brands that we had.
Motivational
theories: the To change attitudes, it is important to first understand the motives (or functions)
functional underpinning the attitudes
theory of
The theories are based on the notion that an understanding of motives or functions

27
attitude under pending the attitudes is necessary to change an attitude.

According to these theories marketing campaigns is most persuasive when they address
the motives which underlines the attitude targeting for change.

- Utilitarian: Consumers seek maximum utility and value from their


consumption
- fx painkillers might explicit stage on their package that they are relieving pain
- Ego-defensive: Have the function of defending our self-image and making us
feel better about ourselves. Think about all the grooming rituals we perform.
The attitude towards some products that are hiding some side of us, such as
smelling. protecting our ego. Deodorant and other grooming products speaks
to these attitudes
- Value-expressive: the drive to express important aspects of them self and are
products that project rather than hide some aspects of themselves or how they
would like to be perceived.
- Fx luxury brands which express value of luxury, exclusivity and kvalitet by
wearing them (this is about selviscennesættelse -> hvordan vi repræsentere os
selv på fx instagram)
- Knowledge: the humans need to have an organized, meaningful, and stable
view of the world.
- Think of brands that offer a whole range of products such as apple. If you have
been happy with your MacBook and you need a new phone you might buy an
iPhone --> speaks to our need to have a frame of reference to reduce
uncertainty and feel the comfort of knowing.
- Så instagram er både value-expressive (selviscenesættese) + egodefensive (for
at få det bedre med mig selv)
Multi-attribute Multi-attribute models: Understand and measure attitude by unpacking the
models of many aspects and attributes of the attitude object and by working out how
attitude p. 227 important each of these are to the consumer.

Expectancy-value theories: the notion that the strength of the tendency to act
depends on
1. the strength of the expectation that the act will be followed by a
consequent
2. the value of that consequens to the individual

The model
First:
- Expectancy: which is the measurement of the likelihood that positive
or negative outcomes while be associated with or follow with a specific
act
- Value/utility: værdien = to estimate how these two components effect
the motivation to act
 Fx spotify. You might think they have a good range of music, and that
their free and premium membership is fair. However, you may not
create so great value to these attributes features and outcomes of
Spotify - you don’t need to listen to music all the time and you don’t

28
need that big range of music. You rather listen to music at home,
where you have spectacular lp collection.
 Multiplying beliefs and evaluation your attitude towards Spotify and it's
adoption is likely to be negative.
Second:
Fx attending a class exercise

 Beliefs about behaviour and its outcomes: you may think classes are
fun and you may have beliefs about the outcome of attending a class.
You may believe that attending classes increases better at the exam.
However just because you have those beliefs doesn't mean that you
necessarily have positive attitude towards attending them.

Therefor we need the second component


- Evaluation of outcomes: if it is important to you to perform well and
consequently evaluate the outcome of attending the classes very
positively. Then the attitude towards behaviour attending classes is
likely to be positive.

Marketers can use the expectancy model:


- To understand consumers attitude towards sudden behaviour but also,
toward attitude objects such as product, services, experiences, brands
etc.

Limitations: This model counts for individuals’ evaluations; it does not account
for other factors that might influence your attitudes

Critique of this model on page 232 for a discussion


Theory of Behavioural intention:
planned - the attention of acting someway.
behavior - The focus on behaviour, which is influences by intention which is
influenced by attitudes. So, this model doesn’t investigate the attitudes
towards objects: products, services etc. But towards some behavioural
intention fx adopting or using some product or services.

Subjective norm:
- Social influencers are represented by the subjective norm concept,
which represents perceptions of specific significant others’ preferences
as to whether one should or should not engage in the behaviour. The
subjective norm refers to the people who may influence the consumer
in their consumption lives

Behaviour beliefs:
- attitude toward the behaviour: the consumer has some beliefs about
the outcome of some behaviour and evaluate them on the importance

29
to form an attitude towards that behaviour

Normative beliefs:
- Subjective norm: Normative beliefs refer to the people who may
influence the consumption-life such as parents, siblings, partner,
friends, or the boss. Vary from context to context. Fx Your boss may
have a big influence of which clothes your wear to work and friends
what wear on a Friday night. The normative beliefs influence our
subjective norms. It’s the individual’s perception of relevance and
significance that the individual should engage in the behaviour or not.

Motivation to comply:
- The second aspect of subjective norm is the motivation to comply,
which is the extent to which the consumer wishes to comply with or
conform to the perceived preferences of these important people

Perceived behavioural control:


- Perceived behavioural control: the persons perception of how easy or
difficult it is for them to perform the behaviour. Basically, people’s
confidents in successfully performing the behaviour.
- Control beliefs: can both be internal and external factors.

- Fx i might believe that Ikea have some item in stock, that I need, and I
might believe that I’m able to assemble the item  perceived
behavioural control belief score is calculated by multiplying control
beliefs and the perceived power of each control believe so to them
extend which you access the power of external and internal factors to
inhabit or to facilitate the performance of the behaviour

Actual behavioural control: do have the motivation to do it? The financials?


Can it find the product I need? Are the circumstances, right?

Compensatory Compensatory models  Are made up of a number of beliefs and use a


and non- scoring system to derive a final score - a low score in one belief/evaluation can
compensatory be compensated by a higher score in another
- In attitude research the beliefs are often weighted equally, implying
that they have same importance. However, we know that for some
purchase decisions just one belief or evaluation of belief may be the
overriding factor in behavioural intent

- Eg: We are looking for a skiing vacation and found to options:

- Compensatory: are made up of a number of beliefs and use a scoring


system to derive a final score - a low score in one belief/evaluation can

30
be compensated by a higher score in another. In attitude research, the
beliefs are often weighed equally, implying that they have the same
importance. Allows for trade-offs-weakness can be compensated for by
strength. fx the Austrian is cheaper than Switzerland, but the hotel
wouldn't be nearby the slopes. But the clubs and bars might
compensate  what you can do is adding up all the positive attributes
of each trip and then the trip with the most positive attributes wins.

- Limitations: Rationally things can compensate for each other, but


emotionally doesn't feel right. Because the size of kitchen and
something is can be more important than anything else  we do
attach emotions to something. Do not account for any affective
evaluation (fx i am sure that I want to live at Amager and not at FRB).
So, this is rational decision making.

Decision rules
- Consumers may use different types of decision rules to identify what is
the best choice for them.
- For example, if you are choosing a new TV but you live in a smaller flat,
while you might have many positive beliefs regarding the quality and
style of alternatives brands, your decision might be totally dependent
on the size of the TV.

That is the non-compensatory model


- One overriding factor is dominant: absolute.
- you rang the attributes with an importance.
- Let’s now assume that both hotels have their own sauna (which is the
most important attribute) - these two trips would tie on this attribute.
Let’s say that the price is the next most important  then it would be
your choice.
- These models (all of them): is best used analyzing attitudes when an
individual is sole responsible for a decision. We can also see that these
models don’t deal with the emotional response of consumptions.
- Furthermore, can be difficult in research (især the planned) because
there would be many items in the survey. These models can provide
marketers with an understanding of the costumer (potential)
customers attitudes towards their products. But also, towards the
competitors’ products. Then marketers can change or adjust their own
product, so the products are 'better' for the consumer than their
competitors.
- One overriding factor or attitude is dominant in the choice process.
Several different decisions rules may be used in non-compensatory
models:
 Conjunctive decision rule: they will choose a brand based on minimum
levels for each of any key evaluative attributes.

31
 The lexicographic decision rule: the customer would rank the
evaluative attributes by their importance. They would begin by
considering the attribute that is most important to them.
 The elimination by aspects decision rule ranks evaluative aspects by
importance again and establishes a minimum cut-off point for each
attribute.
Elaboration Elaboration likelihood model
likelihood ELM focusses on the ways that consumers respond to communication
model messages and is shown in figure 6.15

Central to this model is


Elaboration continuum
- Which describes the amount of thought (elaboration) given to an
advertising message or persuasive communication

- Elaboration likelihood ranges from high to low and the ways in which
information is processed will depend on the level of engagement.

- The model is used by cognitive researcher

32
- How consumers response to message based on the processing or the
elaboration of that message.
- Used in both high and low involvement situations - that determine how
consumers process information to develop an attitude or change an attitude
toward some attitude object
- Central: Elaboration continuum: which describes the amount of thought or
elaboration given to an advertising message or persuasive communication
- elaboration likelihood ranges from high; that is deep and critical engagement
to low: that is less engagement.
- The way a message is being process is accounted on the level of engagement.
High elaboration leads to central route processing. Low elaboration leads to
peripheral route and cues.
- Consumers use the central route in high involvement decisions, where they are
systematically and critically engaging in the information in the message.
- Is more likely to pay intention to the information, carefully evaluate new
information against exiting information.
- Develops an attitude based on logical reasoning. Fx the Olympus ad makes
good use both and visual and textual information  seems to encourage you to
use the central route of processing, in even have a QR code which brings you
to an online TV ad.
- So, it clearly tries you to engage in processing different bits of information
more deeply and critically.
- In contrast when people are less able or motivated to process information they
use the peripheral route, in this route we use less effort into evaluating new
information and are often persuaded by cues such as heuristics - in other words
we are not persuaded by any arguments in the message, but by some surface
character of the add or the products. The peripheral route is normally involved
in low involvements decision making. Marketers often use emotional images,
ambassador, and celebrities. And other heuristics cues to influence our attitude
towards the products.
- Fx the coca cola it doesn't even bother to put a message/argument in the add,
instead it builds on the power of an emotionally loaded image and claim.
- We can also find adds that both speaks to both our central and peripheral route
and as we have seen before high involvement decision can involve heuristic
cues to arrive at those decisions.
- Fx the add with the underwear from the prostate cancer foundation. Which is
an eye-catching image and then drives you in to read the print, which provide
more information for prostate cancer. The textual parts encourage some deeper
thinking.

33
Session 7: Personality, self and motivation - p 248-282

Psychological
perspectives The psychological perspective describes personality as the combination of the
on personality characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that make up an
indivuals distinctive character
- Personality stems from within the individual and remains fairly stable
through-out life.
- This perspective includes psychoanalytic theories and trait theories.

Psychoanalytic Believes that there are some inner forces outside our awareness which direct
theories p. 250 our behavior
- The mind is divided into the conscious and unconscious. The conscious
includes everything we are aware of (including memory since it can be
retrieved easily and brought into our awareness)
- It’s the unconscious that drives human motivation and according to
Freud, personality is made up of the interplay between three elements:
the Id, the superego, and the ego
- ID: I want it now. Correspond to primary needs, focused on immediate
gratification, directing a person's psychic energy towards pleasurable
acts without consequence (biologisk betinget)
- The Superego: reflects the rules, values, and norms imposed by
society, and serves as the person's conscience working to prevent the
id from seeking selfish gratification. (Social betinget)
- The Ego: Represents the interest of the individual, ensuring the
necessary arbitration between the demands of the id and the superego
(this is the form of human consciousness)
- This theory helps with understanding the consumers motive  and
that motives is often below the conscious awareness

Archetype:
- Relates to the stable characters that capture basic ideas, feelings,
fantasies, and visions that seem constant and frequently re-emerge
across different times and places.

34
In marketing and advertising, archetypes are used as a way of making
connections with consumers, to develop more compelling brand stories for
communicating with consumers.
- Archetypes are easily recognized personality types of characters
commonly found in storytelling.
- Fx. Ikea is a dreamer, providing creative ideas and preaching its unique
ideals.
- Red bull is a true hero, brave and adventures.
The trait- Trait-based approach:
based view of Personality is regarded as the sum of a set of traits or qualities about a person,
personality and these can be used to predict or explain.
(trækteori) - Brands can be described as a person’s self-image. The congruence
model suggests that we choose products when their attributes match
some aspect of our selves.

Single-trait approach: focus is on one trait that is particularly relevant to a


situation.
- Fx. a social marketing researcher may be trying to establish the links
between smoking and personality. Here they may look at the effect of
the personality trait “anxiety”

Multi-trait approach: Is concerned with a number of personality traits taken


together and how they combine to affect consumption.
- Fx. returning to the smoking example, the researcher would be
interested in the effect of anxiety in combination with other
personality variables (such as shyness, conscientiousness, openness).

The multi approaches have generally been used to enable prediction of


behavior.

The Big five: proposes the 5 main traits:


- extroversion,
- agreeableness,
- conscientiousness(samvigtighedsfuld),
- neuroticism (or emotinolly stabil) and
- openness.
- Fx a recent swedish studies showed how personality impacted how
likely people are to take medicine. People who score highly on
neuroticism (likely to be fairly anxious) were found to be less likely to
stick to their doctor’s prescribed medication. On the other hand,
people who are influenced by conscientiousness tend to be very careful
and methodical in following the doctor’s prescription.
- A study such as this can inform social marketing campaigns, recognizing
that different consumer communication and education may be needed

35
depending on the personality type.
- Also help marketers to match brands to audience.

Brand personality
Aaker devised a brand personality scale which describes the underlying brand
dimensions of sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and
ruggedness there’s dimensions can apply both to retail and products brands.
- These dimensions tap into those things than consumers desire but not
necessarily have.
- Fx. high end brands (Such as Cartier and Chanel) encourage consumer
aspirations around class and glamour). While more rugged brands
(marlboro) emphasize strength and masculinity.

Brand personality rub off on consumer.


- Park and John show how we might change our personality to match the
personality of a brand. Looking at Victoria secret and MIT, the authors
found that some consumers take on the brand personality when using
the brand. Consumers who carried Victoria secret shopping bag felt
more glamorous, good-looking, and feminine than those carried a plan
shopping bag. Similarly, those using the MIT-embossed pen felt more
intelligent, hardworking, and leader-like than those using a plain pen.

The idea is that consumers choose brands with the distinctive personalities
that represent aspects of the self which they wish to express or enhance.
Symbolic Symbolic consumption
consumption Is the tendency of consumers to rely and focus on the meanings attached to
goods, beyond their physical properties and provides an important means by
which consumers define themselves

Figure 7.7?

A person (individual A) uses a product or brand (Symbol X) to achieve self-


enhancement. This process relies on the socially agreed meanings attached to
the product/brand (symbol x) being transferred to and associated with the
consumer. Critical to this process is the role of other significant people or
audiences, and their attributions of meanings and associations with the brand.

36
Self-congruity: refers to the extent to which a product image matches a
consumers’ self-image
Ideal congruity: refers to the extent to which the product image matches the
ideal self-image
Linking Values: are our desired end-states in life and preferred paths to achieving
identity and them, constituting the purposes and goals for which we believe human life
values should be lived.

Primary terminal values and secondary instrumental values

Table 7.3

Terminal values: linked to goals we seek in life. fx. freedom, happiness

Instrumental values: the means, paths and behavioral standard by which we


pursue those goals (terminal values).
- fx. we might have to be forgiving to receive the goal of freedom or be
polite to reach pleasure
- Marketers can use this information to create, designing and
communicate products can the adress primary, terminal og sekundære
instrumental value.
- Fx moneysavingsxpert.com: adressses the terminal value of secerity
and accomplisment, the way it is made up it also speaking to
instrumental value to reach those terminal values by using the website
and its information its foster

37
Psychographic Psychographics: is based on building a picture (sometimes literally) based on
s demographics, alongside activities, interest, and opinion variables.

Provide very useful information about consumer, drawing on multiple data


sources which results in detailed categorization of the drivers of consumers
behavior. This focused categorization allows for more targeted marketing.
VALS VALS (acronym for Values and lifestyle): is a trade-marked segmentation
framework: a system, based on US adult consumers, where subjects are grouped into eight
lifestyle segments using VALS questionnaire, which consists of questions around
segmentation primary motivations and resources.
tool
“Achievers and innovators may be similar in terms of age and works patterns,
but achievers are much less likely to buy organic foods than innovators, which
may be explained in their goals and drives” (baseret på trækteori om en stabil
identiet)
Motivation Motivation: describes the processes that cause people to behave in a
particular way.
Needs, wants
and desires

Needs: are the result of the difference between the actual and desired states.
Wants: are specific manifestations of the motives and are linked to a specific
goal object.
Desires: temporal wants which may or may not have a biological basis.

How consumers choose to reduce the tension arrising from the difference
between their actual state and ideal state is important question for marketers,
since companies want consumers to use their product to close the gap.

Biogenic needs: enable us to survive and include foods, water, and shelter

Psychogenic needs: are socially acquired needs and include the need for

38
status, affiliation, self-esteem, and prestige. While we all need food to survive,
it may also answer a psychogenic need = prestige restaurants, or can also
depends on the cultural background

Motivational People are driven to avoid negative results as well as to achieve positive goals -
conflict in some cases this may result in a conflict. There are three main motivational
conflicts that marketers need to be of and which they can use to their
advantage:

Approach = pulled to something


Avoidance = pulled away to something

Approach-Avoidance conflict:
- A desired goal also has negative consequences.
- Fx food conflicts and particularly food high in calories such as chocolate
or cakes.
- Food suppliers can help this conflict, by addressing the conflict
"naughty but nice", and appeal to the consumer that they deserve it or
they can avoid the conflict by offering 'quilt' product with less calories
(easis)

Approach-Approach conflict:
- Choice between two or more equally attractive alternatives.
- Fx when in a restaurant choosing a main course, there may be two or
three dishes that you would like. In making the final choice you
probably experience some approach-approach conflict, as you would
really like to taste them all.
- Restaurants can help these conflicts by offering two or more different
dishes in one dish, just in smaller versions, so the consumer can try
more than just one and therefor avoid the conflict

Avoidance-Avoidance conflict:
- Choices available all have some apparent negative consequences.
- Fx the finance is an area of potential avoidance-avoidance as
consumers often do not see the benefit of an insurance plan or savings
schemes, may be concerned about the risk associated with stocks and
shares, and so must be persuaded of the benefits of the financial
products. Solution a payment plan, companies try to explain and
educate the consumer - guide the consumer through the
uncomfortable steps.
- Fx. “The bank of Mausen makes saving for Christmas worth the wait
with is Christmas Club Account” The campaign attempts to resolve two
potential avoidance goals - saving (for Christmas) throughout the year
set against the other possibility which is delaying with all Christmas
cost in one go or, worse, getting into debt for Christmas. So, the

39
solution is to respond by educating their customers and directly
address the conflict in the campaign
Maslows Intrinsic needs:
hierarchy of is an internal motivation that comes from within the person, such as food,
needs p. 279 water, and sex, but it can also be emotional such as the need for love and
friendship

Extrinsic need:
Is an external motivation will require some return or goal from the external
environment, such as a reward in the form of money or prestige.
- Consider how people are motivated to play computer games; some
may enjoy just playing on their own with friends (intrinsic motivation),
while others may prefer to go on gaming sites that offer financial
rewards (extrinsic motivation)

Limitations: do not account for cultural influence, there are many differences
in what motivates people - people can starve or give up their lives for a cause,
which suggest that they can reach a level of self-actualization or
transcendence by negating some of the lower levels of the hierarchy.

Marketing recognizes the deficiency needs: even if most people in the western
world have food and shelter, they may still be enticed by advertisements that
offer additional qualities (nututuinal value) or amount (two for the price of
one) and security such as in gated Communities.

Session 8: Groups, social processes, and communications - p 297-330


Introduction:
- Who you are with, who you know, which groups you identify with,
those you feel antipathy towards, are all social states and processes
that affect how you consume.
- Companies make use of this knowledge to shape the ways they market
to consumers.

40
Reference
groups

Table 8.1 at page 299

Reference groups:
Are those groups that are used by a person as a basis for comparison and
guidance when forming their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours.

Types of reference groups:


Contactual:
- Close groups with which we interact regularly and where there is a
degree of proximity
- fx friends, families, and mutual interest (some proximity).
- Influence our consumption choice heavily. We may use sudden product
and service because our friends and families use it.
- Companies may also use the sense of belonging in their campaigns

Disclaimant:
- Is one that we currently belong to or perhaps belonged to in the past,
but no longer want to associate ourselves with.
- Plays a role in transitionel faces, fx when we try to move on from high
school to university or from university to professional life. We might
abandon brands or products that would associate us with groups we
don’t want to be associated with any longer.
- For example, we may not want others to know we belong to a dieting
group or a particular political group as we might feel it will affect how
others perceive us.
Aspirational:
- Are composed of People that the consumer can identify with or admire
(Often from afar) and aspires to be like in some way.
- fx can be a celebrity or social media influencer who’s style we may
adopt to look like them. We may try to emulate them through the
consumption of certain products or brands.
Dissociative or Avoidance:

41
- Groups we have negative feelings towards and whom we avoid being
associated with.
- they are different from disclaiming group because we have never been
a part of such group. We don’t want to be a part of them because of
their internal qualities.
- We may therefore not use products or brands associated with these
groups.

Reference groups are also qualified as formal or informal

Formal groups:
- A group that is usually formed by some kind of outside structure and it
is likely to have a formalized constitution and set of rules of conduct for
members.
- sports club, companies. May influence us in a lot of our choices. They
may tell us how to dress

Informal groups:
- a group of individuals who have some sort of commonality but no
formal connection to each other
- Fx we may informally be connected to people who follows the same
hashtags as we do = have a common interest

Reference Mechanisms of reference group influence


group Direct  from the reference group to individual members.
influence Indirect  through an individual observing the behavior of group members
and altering his/her own behavior because of it.

The importance of reference groups for marketing is the influence that they
can bring to bear on others, particularly in terms of which products or brands
are bought and how different groups consume them.

Reference groups can have differently influenced on us, and we can distinguish
between three types of groups:

Informational group influence:


- Is when a consumer uses the reference group to actively get
information from opinion leaders or expert groups.
- Fx might be influenced by celebrity chefs on TV-shows, when an expert
uses this equipment, we might buy the same equipment, because we
see him as an expert.
- We don’t necessarily have to have any interaction or individual to be
influenced

42
Utilitarian reference group influence:
- When a person is influenced in their choice of brand by the preferences
of those with whom they socialize including family members and work
colleagues.
- We may buy a brand because this is what close other expect from us to
buy.
- Fx we may purchase sudden clothes to wear to work, because this is
what work colleagues expect from us. (q: is this only when it's rule?
What about what friends expect from us?) The groups norm

Value-expressive:
- When someone buys a particular brand to enhance their image and
because they admire characteristics of people who used the brand.
- The idea that we want to be like others whom we admire or respect in
society.
- Companies often develop ads, which link their brand visually with
attractive models or characters with a view to enhancing the image of
their brand through this connection.
- fx we might purchase sudden brands because it is associated with
celebrities or other influencers

Also note: in the text book we also learn the strength of reference groups
whether the product is consumed in public or private spaces. Or whether it is
considered a necessary or luxury (This section is not exam relevant!!) but just
note that the strength of reference groups can depend on context.

Eg Figure 8.7 on page 306


Figure 8.7 gives an overview of the model indicating the flows of influence we
eould expect to see for luxery and necessity products and brands consumed in
public.
Table 8.2
reference
groups

Development Adoption of behavior resulting from real or perceived pressure to comply with
of conformity a person or group.

43
Conformity is a response not a mechanism,

Normative conformity:
- When a person wants to fit in with the group or is afraid of being
rejected by them and will publicly accept the groups’ view even if
privately, they do not agree.
- fx lets imagine that you move to a new neighborhood and adapt some
recycling behavior because you want to fit into the neighborhood
norms and expectations, you may not necessarily agree with those
norms/behaviors but compliant with them anyway.
- You may in public engage in some recycling behavior, but not
necessarily have a positive attitude towards recycling (compliance
refers to publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group but
privately disagreeing.
- Behavioral shift without an attitudinal one).

Information conformity:
- Occurs when someone actively looks for guidance from the group
where they lack knowledge or are in an ambiguous situation.
- fx let’s say you have adopted the recycling behavior because you
simply comply with whatever your neighborhood composes from you.
But now you are started to be interested in how recycling works best,
and you start informing yourself by speaking to other neighbors and
even consulting specialist websites. You may then internalize the
behavior, which means you both change attitudes and behavior in
favor of the group’s expectations.

Compliance:
- refers to publicly changing behavior to fit in with the group but
privately disagreeing with a behavioral shift without an attitudinal one.
-
Internalization:
- Involves both an attitudinal and behavioral change in favor of the
group.

How group norms influence conformity

Reactance:
- Is a motivational state, which acts as a counterforce to threats to a
person’s freedom.
- we may feel that groups influence limits our individual choice, then we
may react in a way where we somewhat reject conformity.
- Importance for marketers: as they can use the idea of not conforming
in the campaigns

44
Social power Understanding the role of power in group influence is largely derived from the
and reference work of French (19 56), French and Raven (1959), and
groups p 310 Raven (1993).
Defining social power as potential influence, they examined types of influence
in various organizational and family settings, and developed six bases of social
power:

Reward power:
- May be present when a person responds to the influence of the group
and is rewarded in some way.
- fx our friends might have reward power when we seek and receive
their approval of the clothes we wear. This theme of reward power is
seen used in marketing’s campaigns

Coercive power:
- Means that conformity to the group is brought about through the
threat of punishment. social and physical intimidation but is rarely used
in marketing.

Legitime, expert and referent power:


- similar concepts and one individual may have all three powers at once,
but we must consider how they are played out differently

Legitimate power:
- Is where the referent is seen to have authority by virtue of their
position in the context, often achieved in service businesses using
uniforms to show authority.
- In advertising, legitimate power is sometimes attempted using actors
wearing white coats in ads for products such as dental hygiene or
cosmetics. fx police, doctors, soldiers, or professors.
- In a service context, the wearing of uniforms can also signal authority
and therefor service employees might be granted legitimate power.
- Fx Journalist, PR firms call me to get my opinion on some consumption
thing i DK. Journalist want to ask me why, because I’m in a position as a
researcher, reflect some kind of competence, which give me legitimate
power.

Expert power:
- Is when we are influenced to behave or purchase something by
someone who we recognize as a particular expertise, for example a
doctor or scientist.
- We are influenced by someone we recognize and have knowledge.
- Fx doctors, scientist or reviewer who reviews restaurant, books, and
cars. The doctor in the ad for toothpaste is definitely assumed to have
experts’ knowledge, but also have some legitimate power by

45
presenting the doctor in a white coat.

Referent power:
- Similar to the one above, although the influence stems from our
admiration of the qualities of a person and how we try to imitate those
qualities by copying their behavior, often evident in the way we
consider.
- Fx the tennis player Federer is certainly not an expert in coffee but
could be considered a celebrity with referent power.

Information power:
- Based on logical arguments and knowledge that someone may have
acquired from experience or through the nature of their job.
- A person or group has informational power because they know
something that others would like to know.
- A person possesses informational power if she knows something that
other like to know (you have informational power if you have a secret).
We often find people with informational power in gate keeping
position such as editors of magazine, but now a days also bloggers on
specialized themes.
Opinion Opinion leaders  individuals who exert an unequal amount of influence on
leaders and the decisions of others
opinion
seekers p. 311 Gladwell (2001) identifies those opinions seekers who are well connected,
knowledgeable or persuasive as:

Connectors:
- People who tend to know lots of other people, often from different
subcultures to their own, not necessarily very well but well enough to
pass on information to others.

Mavens:
- Collectors and brokers of information, but they use this information
and want to start discussions with others or respond to requests. the
kind of people who have inside knowledge of what is going on.

Salesmen:
- The arch persuaders, people who will not accept no for an answer and
are always looking for an opportunity to get their message across to
someone else. people who always look for an opportunity to get their
message through to someone else.

While opinion leaders are important group to understand, so too are those on
the receiving end of the communication.
Opinion seekers:

46
- People who seek opinions and information to help their purchase
decision.
- Opinion seeking acts as a form of product information search;
consumers seek opinions and information to make better purchase
decisions, effectively a form of external information search (see
chapter 3).
Expert People who have real power to influence the marketplace.
influential This can be due to their expertise and or the nature of the message.
The search for
cool For companies trying to discover influential people who can affect whether a
brand or product will be successful, identifying trendsetters - those who set
the agenda for what is worn, played with, eaten, watched, and listened to - is
crucial.

once something that was cool becomes mass market, it loses its coolness
Social Word of mouth (WOM):
connectedness - We must distinguish between WOM which happen naturally and what
: the WOM is pushed by a firm.
importance of - An informal communication, either positive or negative, about goods,
word of mouth services, and sellers.
- WOM occurs in both face-to-face contexts and electronic contexts
(mostly online), when it is often referred to as eWOM.
- This social contact between people is an important part of our social
lives, as to other social communication we share around consumption
(e.g. telling one another about products, whether they work or not,
where to buy them, how to get the best deal, and what to avoid).

Endogenous WOM:
- When conversations happen among consumers as a part of their
natural communication and when they're just passing on information
about their experience with the product or brand. (fx.Daniel wellington
campaign which have been using influencers for marketing.)

Exogenous WOM:
- Occurs as a direct result of the firm's marketing.
- Firms may have a problem creating successful exogenous WOM, as
consumers may identify ulterior motives, and this could affect their
WOM activity and their willingness to pass on information.

eWOM:
- Any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual or formal
customers about a product or company, which is made available to a
multitude of people and institutions via the Internet.
- eWOM is powerful because it is able to influence people on a global
scale.

47
User-generated content:
- entry’s on Wikipedia, reviews on amazon, videos on how to repair a
bike on YouTube.
- All of them is user generated content, but not all of them is considered
WOM
1.
Crowdsourcing:
- The act of a company or institution taking a function once performed
by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined and (generally large
network) of people in the form of an open call.
- E.g. Wikipedia and many of the consumer online forums.
- Fx Threatlist.com. Where designers’ hand in t-shirt designs and people
vote - the style with highest scores get printed and sold on the website.
- Competition where they ask consumers to hand in ideas for products
and campaigns

To sum it up we are constantly influenced by people’s opinions and


marketers can make use of that.
- Social media have made the landscape even more complex, and brands
must manage this complexity
The family A specific reference group that exerts some of the most important social or
group influences on individual consumption decisions.

- The family shapes consumption behavior through acting as a source of


informational, utilitarian and value-expressive influence.
- Families play a particularly important role in providing information to
their members, especially young adult consumers.
- Families are especially important in terms of consumer socialization,
representing one of the key influences in our consumption because of
the frequency of interaction and close relation between family
members, at least during the early years.
- increasingly we hear about the influence children have on parents’
consumption behavior.
- remember what we learned about observational learning: as children
especially, we learn our consumption choices based on what our
parents do.
- We may also consider trends in society fx women pursuing carriers,
which influence family structure and decision making
- Postponed childbearing: also means that older parents have higher
income to use on the children, which is especially visible in the luxury
market for children
- Also, the distance between children and parents are closing and the
proximity in taste between parents and children manifest itself in
consumption, leisure activities, clothes and even books

48
Parental yielding: (p 327)
- Parental yield is when a parental decision maker is influenced by a child
request and surrender to that request (fx buying an iPhone that is more
expensive)

Reverse socialization:
- (can also be the children, showing their parent how to use Instagram)
- Where parents acquire consumer skills from their children. This is
evident in the area of technology (e.g. using the Internet).
- Children also influence parents in relation to celebrity/popular culture,
environmental issues, and ethical issues
Five trends - As decline in marriage alongside increasing diversity in family make-up.
that were - The number of children born outside marriage is increasing, with nearly 15%
changing the of children in OECD countries living in single-parent households.
nature of - Parenting is delayed as people prefer to establish themselves in careers before
becoming parents.
families
- Smaller families: in almost all countries globally, family size is reducing.
- Children are staying at home longer, particularly where living costs have
increased and the impact of the global recession is still felt.
Social class p Communities of people linked together on the basis of wealth, status and
328 power.

- Marketing is interested in how these communities share similar taste


and consumption practices.
- One area where marketers have used this extensively is in the
categorization and classification of consumers based on social class
position. These systems reflect divisions, or groups of people based on
a composite measure of income, occupation and education.

Session 9: Culture - p 342-376


Culture Introduction:
- Culture is often considered to be an important influence on how
people behave.
- Culture is the shared understandings, meanings and customs which
together act as a “blueprint” to guide behavior and to help people live
and function in ways that are appropriate and acceptable to others
within the same culture.
- Culture shapes and guides everyday consumption behaviors and
celebrate special life events from birthdays to weddings and funerals.
- Certain aspects of culture are stable and resistant to change while
others are malleable

Definition on culture:
The sum of learned ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, and customs that
regulate the behavior of members of a particular society.

49
Culture is Enculturation
learned and - How an individual learns the traditional concept of his/her native
inherited culture.
- Behavior I have adapted through both conditioning and observational
learning

Acculturation:
- Relates to the idea of movement between places or cultural context

Consumer acculturation:
- The general process of movement and adaption to the consumer
cultural environment in one country by persons from another country

A study was concerned with processes and conditions that shaped


acculturation experiences and outcomes.

Assimilation  where the consumers entering the new culture abandon


Mexican culture in favor of US culture.

Maintenance  where aspects of both cultures are maintained.

Resistance  privileging Mexican culture over US culture and in so doing


rejecting aspects of the new culture.

Segregation  where there is a separation of cultural needs, with evidence of


Latino consumer culture being kept distinctly separated from mainstream US
culture.

Penaloza described how institutions of society (family, school, church)


alongside marketing agents are important in the process of acculturation.
Beliefs, value,
knowledge
and customs

50
Beliefs:
- The thoughts an individual holds about some object, idea or person.
- fx thinking that the meat industry treats the animals badly.
- Beliefs can be considered to be contextual and can arise from learned
experiences

Values:
- The deep-rooted and enduring beliefs or ideals about what is good and
desirable and what is not.
- Values tend not to be situation specific; rather they are more generally
held an active guide and shape behavior.
- Many people care about the ethical treatment of animals and have
turned to vegetarian or vegan diets. Those who do eat meat also need
to be reassured that their beliefs and values as to how animals should
be treated are engaged with.
- Considered to be not contextual and situation specific. Reflects what is
important to us in general.
- Fx important to keep a balance with nature and respect the nature.
Reflected on the culture we live in. We must think of value and culture
as a process where culture is dynamic and may change when
individuals’ values change

Knowledge:
- The familiarity with people or things which can include understanding,
facts, information, and descriptions gained through experience and
education.
- Since culture comprises the prevailing norms, practices, beliefs, and
values help are at a particular group in society, understanding of these
can be described as cultural knowledge.
- Fx danish "hygge" which reflect the Danish view on coziness. When we
engage in Christmas or we invite someone over to dinner, we know we
must provide 'hygge' and we also know how to establish it, fx setting up
candles, providing good food or drinks.
- Generally taking care of a relaxed atmosfære

Norms/customs:
- The norms of behavior that have been passed from generation to
generation. These serve to control basic behavior within a culture
around the core facets of life, such as the division of labor within the
home or how to celebrate rites of passage. It is customary in many
cultures to leave a tip in service encounters - a gratuity for a service
performed. The approach to tipping varies with culture and is
influenced by local customs. In the USA, there is a strong tipping
culture: in restaurant settings it is usual to leave 15 -20 percent as a tip
(anything less suggests that you are unhappy with the restaurant

51
service).
- In other countries, such as Japan, tipping is not the custom and indeed
to tip someone is viewed as rather insulting
- in DK it is normal to "tak for sidst" "tak for mad"
- in germany in contrast it is normal to say "guten appetit" before eating
and wait for everyone to start at the same time.

The This model shows how meaning moves from the existing “out there” in the
movement of wider cultural world to meaning for individual consumers, which then shapes
cultural their consumer behavior.
meaning
- According to McCracken, cultural meaning is influenced by cultural
categories (how the culture organizes time, space, nature, the sacred
and society) and cultural principles (values, ideals, norms, and beliefs
that allow things to be grouped into cultural categories, ranked, and
interrelated).
- McCracken’s model can be used to demonstrate how the meaning
associated with consumer goods transfers to consumers through
cultural understanding of the world and via consumption related acts.
- can both 'opretholde' norms, but also try to support changing
normsand values (regnbuefamilien)
- Figure 9.4

The cultural A cultural system is comprised of three main elements which together helps to

52
system understand the culture:

Ecology:
- Ecology refers to the physical geography of a place and how culture
evolves and adapts to suit that environment. In warm climates, people
wear light clothes, much of their social life is outdoors and air
conditioning in buildings is common. Contrast with colder climates,
where warm clothes and jackets are worn, leisure activities are more
indoor-based, and heating in buildings is important.
- Fx. Motorbikes in the USA must be made tougher and more durable
than those for sale in Japan, as the typical motorbike rider in the USA
will want to cross rough terrain while in Japan, they are more likely to
be used for urban travel.

Social structure:
- Social structure tells us about the way that orderly social life is
maintained in a culture. This is often seen in the representation of
stereotypical gender roles in advertising, which reinforce the dominant
social structure of domestic life.
- Historically women have been shown to engage efficiently in the
household tasks, while men are removed from this environment or
only marginally engaged with it. But as more women work outside the
home and more men work part time and engage in social media and
blogs, it has been found that men resent being marginalized in the
domestic sphere. Increasingly
advertisers are looking to present men and fathers as positive domestic role
models.

Ideology:
- The mental characteristics of a people, building on the assumption that
members of a society possess the same world view, ethos, ideas, and
principles.
- Hip-hop music is popular in Brazil and is used by young, marginalized
people living in the favelas (slums) to comment on and try to change
their lives and Brazilian society.
- More than acting as a form of musical expression, hip-hop music is an
important way for young Brazilian men and women to express their
ideology of social consciousness, truth-telling, and transformation.
- In some cases, ideology can be played out through brands that have
meanings to that culture. In countries around the world Coca Cola has
become ubiquitous so when a country develops its own Cola brand,
such as Turka Cola in Turkey, this represents a sense of achievement
through the ability to compete with a global superpower. It says, “we
have arrived”. Turka Cola is now sold in many cultures including Cuba
and France, and it’s advertising gently pokes fun at its global ambitions

53
and US competitor by using US star Chevy Chase who, on drinking
Turka Cola, starts displaying Turkish characteristics.
Classification Collectivist culture:
of cultures - Characterized by a focus on collective well-being, and in these cultures,
people tend to prioritize the groups goals over personal goals. E.g., in
Portugal, Indonesia, Venezuela and Japan.
- A Converse Japan advertising campaign recognizes the collectivistic
influences in its society. The advertisement shows Japanese schoolgirls
and schoolboys all in identical school uniforms wearing, various
Converse styles and colored shoes. The advertisements are striking as
they contrast the traditional Japanese school uniforms with the colorful
Converse shoes and thus show the schoolchildren expressing their
individuality while retaining a strong sense of social connection to
others.

Individualistic culture:
- Cultures where people’s behavior may mainly be determined by
personal goals, which may overlap with collective goals.
- E.g. USA, UK, and Australia. In South Australia container deposit
legislation allows people to collect a deposit for each drinks container
they returned to a recycling depot.
- The incentive encourages people to recycle at the individual level, but
also leads to a wider societal and community benefit associated with
greater levels of recycling behavior and reduced littering.
- Hofstedes main dimensions of culture (s.352) Hofstede identified the
main dimensions of culture as:

● Individualism The ways in which individual goals are balanced against


collective or group goals, with individualistic cultures prioritizing the individual
goals over those of the collective (and vice versa).
● Masculinity  Motives that are classified as either achievement-oriented,
with an emphasis on heroism, assertiveness, and material reward (labelled
masculine in Hofstede’s terms) or more consensus-oriented, were the
emphasis is on cooperation, modesty, caring and quality of life (labelled
feminine in Hofstede’s terms).
● Power distance How people in a culture review power relationships and
the degree to which they accept superior
and subordinate relationships.
● Uncertainty avoidance  How a cultural group feels about ambiguity and
the extent to which the members of the culture avoid uncertainty (and
accordingly avoid risk) or embrace risk (and uncertainty).
● Long-term orientation  The degree of focus on the future the society has
which relates to the time orientation of the culture and its perspectives on
time and tradition.
Cultural norms Within any culture there are norms of behavior which refer to the accepted

54
and rules for main ways of behaving. These norms are shaped by the underpinning values of
behavior principles of a culture. Cultural norms are rule-bound, and, in any culture,
there tends to be a fairly complex set of rules for behavior. These norms can
either be enacted (explicitly
decided on. Fx we all know green light means go) or crescive (meaning
embedded in the culture).

Crescive norms are often not formally noted - rather learning about
the culture takes place through experiences and interaction within
that culture. Crescive norms can be further broken down into :
- Customs: the norms of behavior that have been passed from
generation to generation.
- E.g. in Japan it is the custom to always take your shoes off before
entering someone’s home.

- Mores: particular forms of custom and have a strong moral overtone.


- E.g. some cultures strongly condemn people sleeping together before
they are married.

- Conventions: also, a specific form of custom, and relate to the norms


for the conduct of everyday life.
- E.g., they may include conventions around how to behave and dress at
a dinner party, or what time to arrive.
Myth - A story that contains symbolic elements that expresses shared
emotions and ideals of a culture.

- They maintain social order by authorizing a social code.


- Myths are often used in a nostalgic way in advertising, encouraging
consumers to look back in time and remember the “good old days”.
- Myths as traditions can readily be translated into lifestyle concepts
when they become connected with specific commodities as the Danish
idea of “hygge”.

Metaphysical:
- Help explain the origins of existence
Cosmological:
- All components of a universe are part of a single picture
Sociological:
- Maintain social order by authorizing a social code to be followed by
members of a culture
Psychological:
- Provide models for personal conduct
Rituals Ritual
- A symbolic and expressive activity, often comprising multiple behaviors

55
which occur in a fixed sequence and are repeated over time.
- Within marketing, rituals have been applied to understand
consumption, and six main types of consumer rituals have been
identified:

Grooming rituals:
- Those private behaviors that consumers undertake to aid the transition
from private to public self (and back again).
Possession rituals:
- The rituals associated with transforming mass-produced products from
the marketplace into more personal products for the home or
workplace. E.g. buying a laptop and installing special programs,
changing the background.
Gift-giving rituals:
- The rituals surrounding giving presents to others.
Self-gifts:
- A specific example of gift giving, where consumers purchase self-gifts
as a way of regulating their behavior.
Holiday Rituals:
- The rituals associated with both tourism holidays and culturally bound
holiday seasons (such as Christmas, Easter and Eid).
Rites of passage rituals:
- Those rituals that mark a change in a person’s social status. (e.g. child’s
first day of school, getting married, becoming a parent, etc.)In
contemporary consumer society the marketers of this transition (from
child to adult) are not always obvious or clear-cut.
- Marketing has a role to play in providing consumers with the goods and
services they need as they move through these stages from
engagement rings to retirement homes.
Ritual artefacts:
- The objects and products that accompany or are consumed in a ritual
setting.
Rituals script:
- Guides the use of the ritual artefact - which artefacts to use, by whom,
the sequence of use, and the types of comment that accompany the
ritual.
Rituals performance:
- The roles occupied by people involved in the ritual as they perform
according to the script.
Ritual audience:
- Who are the people who witness or are involved in the ritual in some
way.

Fx High school graduation: rites of passage rituals (a change in social status)


Ritual artefacts: graduations caps, the truck, ballons, alcohold

56
Ritual scripts: the celebration follow a scrip, the tour with the truck
Ritualic performance roles: while the students are celebrating, the parents are
organizing the party
Ritual audience: the public, which cheer and congratulate, but are not an
active part of the performance
Sacred Used to refer to objects and events that are “set apart” from normal activities
consumption and are treated with some degree of respect or awe (fx. The little mermaid)

- Attaching sacred meaning to profane consumption is often a challenge


for marketers, but this is an important objective in terms of trying to
imbue products and brands with distinctiveness and “specialness” in
the consumer’s eyes. Fx. A wedding dress is sacred
Sacralization When ordinary objects, events, or even people take on sacred meaning →
objectification.
- fx a picture of the little mermaid or a keychain of the Eiffel tower might
be filled by sacred meaning
Subcultures Subcultures can be defined in terms of shared demographic characteristics
(e.g age, regionality, ethnicity) or in terms of shared consumption interests
- In marketing the term subculture is widely used to refer to any
subgroup of consumption.

Age-based subcultures:
- Age is often used by marketers to define market segments on the
premise that people of a similar age share similar sets of experience
and can be engaged in a meaningful way through shared cultural
reference points.

Table 9.1 illustrates key age-based subcultures relevant for marketing.

57
Subcultures based on sex roles:
Sex roles relates to society’ss expectations about appropiate attitudes, values
and behavior of men and women.
Typical advertisment will maintain a stereotyped sex role.

Regional, ethnic, and religious subcultures

58
We can feel a connection affiliation with other people linked to our regional
and ethnic identifications.

Subculture based on consumption communities


A group of consumers connected through a “shared commitment to a
particular product class, brand or consumption activity”.
- The defining characteristics of subcultures of consumption are an
identifiable ethos underpinning the subculture, core values that are
accepted to varying degrees by all adherents, and expression of these
values in certain products and their usage.
- E.g. the Harley-Davidson community.

Brand communities s. 373:


Non-geographically bound community of people, who are connected through
brand admiration, with a structured set of social relations.

Brand communities share a consciousness of kind, rituals, traditions and a


moral responsibility to the brand.
- BMW is an example of a brand that evokes strong brand community,
with its own website (bimmerfest.com), and events that promote the
sense of brand community.
There are three key aspects of brand community:
- Consciousness of kind
- Rituals and traditions
- Moral responsibility

Consumer tribes:
A group of people emotionally connected by similar consumption values and
usage, who use the social “linking value” of products and services to create a
community and express identity

Session 10: The digital consumer


Berger (2014) Text 1: Berger (2014).
Word of mouth and interpersonal communication:
- A review and directions for future research (literature
review/conceptual article).

Motivations: impression management, emotion regulation, information


acquisition, social bonding, and persuasion.
→ these motivations are self-serving and determine what and how people are
talking to each other even without they are aware of it.
→ “Further, these drivers …(the motivations that drive us)… make predictions
about the types of news and information people are most likely to discuss”

59
(from the Abstract).
Impression Impression management:
management - One of the reasons why consumers share word of mouth is to influence
the impressions others (followers, “friends”, maybe even haters) have
of them – and the impression they have of themselves as well.

“Consumers often make choices to communicate desired identities and avoid


communicating undesired ones” (p. 588).

Impression management can be divided into three themes:

Self-enhancement:
- People like to be perceived positively and present themselves in ways
that contributes to such “the right” impressions.
- What people talk about impacts how others see them (and how they
see themselves).
- Example: The desired impressions are built by making sure they drive
the right car, post the right things, that makes them obtain the desired
impression of them (could be good food, parties, many friends et).
- Consequently, people are more likely to share things that makethem
look good rather than bad, identity-signaling, filling conversational
space.

Identity-signaling:
- People share things to communicate specific identities, both to
themselves and others. Even though some may talk about topics or
ideas to self-enhance they also do it to signal that they have certain
characteristics, knowledge, or expertise in a particular domain (p. 589).
- Example: If someone always talks about new restaurants, others may
infer that they are a foodie.

Filling conversational space:


- Small talk People infer things about others based on conversational
style.
- Rate of speech or avoidance of pauses between conversational turns
both communicate things about the speaker.
- Example: As a result, to avoid pauses in conversations, people may
engage in small talk, sharing almost anything to fill conversational
space.
- People often bump into a colleague in the hall or run into an
acquaintance on the street. In these, and other similar situations,
people may not have a goal to say the most interesting thing possible,
but they do not want to stand there in silence (p. 590).

60
Based on the three-dimension WOM makes room for people to share various
things with each other: entertaining things, useful information, self-concept
relevant things, high status goods (expensive belongings, that makes a person
seem wealthy and in high status), unique things (distinctive products or
experiences, that differentiates from others), common ground (Things people
have in common), emotional valence (positive or negative WOM – research
shows that both can lead to better impressions), incidental arousal (If people
misattribute their general feeling of arousal to a story or rumor they are
considering sharing, they may come to infer that this piece of content is more
interesting, entertaining, or engaging), accessibility.
Emotion Emotion regulation
regulation “Emotion regulation refers to the ways people manage which emotions they
have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them” (p.
592)

- Generating social support = Facilitates emotion regulation by generating help


and social support e.g when someone has had a bad experience interacting
with others.
Sharing a negative emotional experience with others boosts well-being
because it
increases perceived social support.

- Venting = Talking with others can help people deal with negative
consumption experiences and provide catharsis (afløb for vrede) that helps
reduce the emotional
impact.

- Sense making = Interpersonal communication can help people attain a better


sense
of what is happening around them and why.

- Reducing dissonance = Sharing experiences may help people cope. Yet,


consumers are more likely to share with others to confirm their own
judgment. Even after they have made a decision, consumers are often
uncertain about whether they made the right choice, so talking to others can
help bolster the decision and reduce feelings of doubt.

- Taking vengeance = Punishing a company or individual for a negative


consumption
experience. The consumer's goal is not just to feel better but to punish the
company.

- Encouraging rehearsal = Re-accessing past emotional experiences should


revive related feelings, and as a result, people may talk about positive
experiences because it elicits pleasurable feelings. EXAMPLE: Sharing word of

61
mouth about a delicious 5-course French dinner or amazing Brazilian vacation
may encourage rumination and savoring of these positive events (p. 593).

Emotion regulation drives people to share emotional content, influence the


valence of the content shared, and lead people to share more emotionally
arousing content.
Information Information acquisition
acquisition To acquire information. Consumers are often uncertain about what to buy or
how to solve a particular problem, so they turn to others for assistance. fx. If a
consumer is unsure whether a certain website is legit, he/she might turn to
others for assistance – this could be through specific Facebook groups, where
you can discuss experiences with different companies. Thereby, the consumer
will obtain the information he/she might need by posting a question on the
Facebook group.

- Seeking advice = People use word of mouth to get assistance: For


suggestions about what to do, recommendations, or even just an outside
perspective (p. 594) gossip: Hearing a story (gossip) about how a store has
terrible customer service, for example, may help other consumers to avoid
that brand.

- Resolving problems = By talking to others, consumers can get advice on how


to deal with issues with faulty products or bad customer service and fix the
problem.
EXAMPLE: Telling a friend about faulty shoes, may help people learn about a
company's 30-day no questions asked return policy.

Information acquisition leads people to talk about risky, important, complex,


or uncertainty-ridden decisions and decisions where (trustworthy) information
is lacking.
Social bonding Social bonding
Talking and sharing with others serves a bonding function. People have a
fundamental
desire for social relationships and interpersonal communication helps fill that
need. Interpersonal communication can act like “social glue” bringing people
together and strengthening social ties.

- Reinforce shared views = Sharing views with like-minded people. EXAMPLE:


Talking about popular advertisements, for example, gives teenagers common
ground and a type of social currency that allows them to fit in with their peers
and show they are in-the-know (p. 595).

- Reducing loneliness and social exclusion = Loneliness and social exclusion


should increase people's desire for social connection, which should, in turn,
lead people to reach out and communicate with others. Sharing should

62
decrease interpersonal distance and help people feel closer to others.

Social bonding drives people to talk about things that are common ground or
more emotional in nature.
Persuasion Persuasion
People use< interpersonal communication to affect others. Persuasion motives
drive people to share things that are more emotionally polarized and arousing
in nature.

From live exercise:


WOM always relates to what we say about a person, brand or post to one
another.
- Not everything is WOM on social media – only when we refer to something
we share
about a product, service or brand.
Text 2: Erz , This research investigates motives of hashtag use and their effect on behavioral
Marder, and outcomes based on the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) approach.
Osadchaya
(2018): Six motives of hashtag use in the context of Instagram:
Hashtags: 1. Self-Presentation, referring primarily to motives of self-branding and self-
Motivational promotion.
drivers, their 2. Inventiveness, pertaining to the humorous or entertaining aspect of adding
use, and hashtags.
differences 3. Chronicling, including documenting and contextualizing experiences through
between adding hashtags.
influencers and 4. Information Seeking, finding information and inspiration through clicking
followers hashtags.
(empirical 5. Venting, expressing negative emotions through adding hashtags; and
article). 6. Etiquette, adding hashtags because it is what people do on Instagram.

Text 3: Lavertu, This study provides an investigation of the ‘extended warming effect’ of social media,
Marder, Erz, & a special form of a phenomenon in which saliency (cognition) of online audiences in
Angell (2020): offline encounters triggers impression management behavior in the pursuit of a more
The extended desirable online public image.
warming effect
of social media: Conclusion of the study:
Examining The salience of online audience in an offline setting increases intentions to give money
whether the to a charity: the reason for this increase lies in changes in public self- awareness and
cognition of extrinsic motivation.
online
audiences’
offline drives
prosocial
behavior in ‘real
life’ (empirical
article).

Session 11: Implications and ethical consider rations


introduction The textbook suggests three main areas where consumer behavior may be

63
susceptible to change:
1. The first is the domain of technology induced change.
2. The second threat is around sustainability not only environmental
sustainability but also economic sustainability and a wider perception
that the Western economic model of growth may be on the threat
from a variety of directions.
3. Third reason recessionary pressures at a global level remind us that
consumers do not always live in times of abundance and opportunity,
and it is important to consider constraints on behavior and the impact
this has on consumers and the organizations serving those consumers.
Technology Quantified self
trends - The idea that tracking metrics can lead to self-improvement in some
impacting way. leading to self-improvement in some way
consumer - Positive: helps us engage in healthier behavior by possible gaining a
behavior deeper understanding of how much we move, how our diet effect our
weight ect. The devices promise: that if we engage in this device we
can live better and longer. By using this software, you might not only
change your diet, but you might also use other products and services
such as gyms in a way that they are adapted to your needs as
company’s can understand you better.
- Negative: if we all can track our health is it in our hands alone to
improve our health? And to what extend can we make individual and
rational decisions? Also, what about the data?
- Examples include the Nike+ Fuel band, which uses an accelerometer to
track all daily activity and calorie intake and can monitor its wearer’s
efforts against a preset goal.

QR (quick response)
- Optical machine-readable barcodes that record and store information
related to items.
- QR codes offer a method of adding web-based content to real-world
messages, objects or locations.
- A QR code looks like a bar code but is scanned from a QR reader on a
smartphone or tablet to connect to the web content.
- QR codes can be placed on packaging, advertisements, websites,
carrier bags, key rings, newspapers, banner ads, T-shirts, invoices - any
place where the target consumer is able to access these codes and
where they have the means to scan them.
- QR codes are particularly effective in situations that can provide
consumers with real-time updates, especially where there is a constant
flow of information such as schedules at train station and bus stops,
restaurant specials or airline bookings.
Big data Big data
A vague term that can embrace everything from datasets gathered by large
scientific experiments and surveys to the extremely large datasets that are

64
generated by business digital processes, media searches, and social media
interactions.
- Of most interest in the concept of consumer behavior are forms of
what might be called found data.
- Examples found data include credit card transactions, Google search
data and mobile phone transactions.
- For consumer researchers there is an important methodological aspect
of big data.
- Rather than using data to support theories researchers can identify
patterns in big data without forming a hypothesis and hence develop
new theories of how consumers behave and respond to marketing
actions researchers often refer to the three Vs of big data:
 Volume
 Velocity
 Variety
*See page 429-430 for an elaboration.
Sustainable Voluntary simplicity:
worlds, - refers to a lifestyle choice where people opt to limit material
sustainable consumption and free up resources such as time and money which
consumption they believe will raise the quality of their life.
- voluntary simplicity can involve a wide spectrum and variety of
practices and values.
- Shaw and Newholm describe this spectrum as ranging from consumers
who fully embrace the idea around reducing consumption, driven by
ethical concerns to own and use fewer goods, through to those
consumers who simply “refine” their consumption towards ethical
standards (e.g. buying fair trade coffee in the supermarket), enabling
them to continue to have a similar level of consumption, but to
consume differently and in line with their ethical concerns.
- Huneke distinguish between “highly committed simplifiers” and “less
committed simplifiers” who changed their behavior, but not in highly
disruptive way

Conscious consumption
- The global outlook particularly in Western cultures, towards
environmental and ethical concerns has changed, and so has the
attitude to voluntary simplification.
- Many commentators argue that contemporary consumer cultures
cannot be maintained for long, with the threats of climate change and
peak oil, resulting in a situation where consumers must be conscious of
their consumption activities.
- This increased awareness of the issue around sustainable living, such as
composting and recycling, has been increasingly encouraged by
governments and therefore normalized by some countries such as
Germany and the UK.

65
- Consumers are more conscious of the conditions in which the products
they use are made and increasingly use resources such as
GoodsGuide.com to identify the best choices in terms of healthiness.
- Firms in turn try to become more transparent about their practices.
- As consumers find it easier to access information and use it, brands will
have to respond and disseminate all that is required.
- Following the global recession of 2008-9, there has been an increase in
self-reliance among consumers, with more people moving from
consumption to production.
*See page 432-433 for further comments.

Shift towards an ownerless economy


- Consumer practices are also shifting in relation to ownership, with
people considering what they can live without an alternative way of
accessing goods and services.
- Many commentators have discussed how important it is for consumers
to share the experiences via social media. This sharing and the
associated social media updates are acting as status symbols for
consumers in the way said possessions have in previous times.
- Posting your holiday photos on Facebook is driven by a need to share
the experience, but the number of likes is also important for many. in
this context, ownership is becoming less valued.
- Examples of goods and services benefiting from this trend towards
access rather than ownership modes of consumption:
● City bikes (e.g., Santander bikes in London).
● Fashion Hire (luxury handbags, you can rent a Chanel bag for €130 per
month).
● Car sharing (e.g., Zipcar, DriveNow)
● Film and media renting (e.g., Netflix and Blockbuster).
*See page 435-436 for further comments.

Recession consumption and sustainability


- At times of recession people often change their consumption in
relation to constrains in their budget.
- During recession higher-end more expensive categories tend to badly
as consumers are fearful of taking on new debts when jobs and future
incomes are not guaranteed.
- At times of recession anything to do with home activities tend to do
better as people spend more time indoors and cheer themselves up.
- Leisure activities tend to badly (restaurants and so on)
- Consumer volatility is a characteristic of recessions - people reasses
their expenditure.

Mere på side 439-440

66
Consumer Behavioral acts by consumers, which violates the generally accepted norms of
misbehavior conduct in consumption situations, and thus disrupt the consumption order. It
represents the dark, negative side of the consumer.
- While some dysfunctional behaviors may occur in marketplace context
and are linked to the acquisition of goods and services (e.g., compulsive
buying, in-store abuse of staff, theft) others can be linked to product
misuse (such as addictive or compulsive buying/consuming food, drugs
or alcohol).
*See page 440-441 for further comments.

It is important when talking about misbehavior to remember that companies


misbehave too. Many companies have been fined for pollution and for mis-
selling financial products, and drugs companies for improper marketing of
certain drugs
Privacy and Counterfeit can harm lives
counterfeit - Many developing countries suffer counterfeit pharmaceuticals, toys,
goods electrical products and even baby food.
- The consumers might be unaware
Deviant The term deviant acquisition behavior refers to consumer misbehavior in
acquisition acquiring goods.’
behavior - Black Friday eg
- Oher forms of problematic behavior  skipping payment, late,
breaking rental agreements, and aggressive behavior
Compulsive Compulsive buying
buying - An unusual obsession with shopping such that it significantly affects the
person afflicted.
- It is considered to be a form of deviant acquisition behavior.
- Those people who buy in a compulsive way have a strong
preoccupation with shopping, often characterized as uncontrolled,
which has significant negative consequences.
- For compulsive buyers, it is the experience of shopping, and the
accompanying emotions that drive their behavior
Consumer The desire to steal as a way of acquisition of consumer objects and is a
theft significant phenomenon affecting the experience of all consumers. It is costly
for businesses and ultimately for consumers.
*See page 444-445 for an elaboration.
The problem Some of the problems associated with excessive consumption:
of - Unsustainable for the planet
overconsumpti - Some objects poses threats for health
on
There are two problematic areas of excessive consumption in a global context
The obesity crisis and irresponsible alcohol consumption

Transformativ Transformative consumer research:


e consumer - Refers to a stream of research that focuses on benefiting consumer

67
research welfare and quality of life across the world
Solomon (2015) Consumer well-being
Business ethics - Rules of conduct that guide actions in the marketplace; these are the
standards against which most people in a culture judge what is right
and what is wrong, good, or bad.
- These universal values include honesty, trustworthiness, fairness,
respect, justice, integrity, concern for others, accountability, and
loyalty.
Needs and People still need companies – but in new ways and on their own terms;
wants: Do profound changes in consumer behavior are influencing how people search for
marketers product information and evaluate alternative brands.
manipulate - In the brave new world of consumer space, we have much greater
consumers? potential to shape our own marketing Destiny
Materialism Refers to the importance people attach to worldly possessions; our
and possessions play a central role in our lives, and our desire to accumulate them
materialists shapes our value systems.
- Materialists are more likely to value possessions for their status and
appearance related meanings, whereas those who do not emphasize
this value tend to prize products that connect them to other people or
that provide them with pleasure when they use them; materialistic
people appear to link more of their self-identity to products.
Provenance - Shoppers are willing to pay more for an item when they know exactly
where it comes from, and they are assured that ‘real people’ have
thoughtfully selected the things from which they choose.
- This process of curation applies to a range of consumer products such
as food, clothing, and travel.
Dissatisfied If you are not happy with the product or service, what can you do about it?
with a product You have three possible courses of action (though sometimes you could take
more than one)
1. Voice response – you can appeal directly to a retailer for redress (e.g. a
refund)
2. Private response – you can express your dissatisfaction to friends and
boycott the product or the store where you bought it.
3. Third party response – you can take legal action against a merchant,
register a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or write a letter to
the newspaper.
Encouraging Although nobody likes criticism, organizations should encourage people to
complaints complain for these reasons:
(from the 1. They get the chance to correct the situation
organization’s 2. They will avoid an escalating problem that results when consumers
perspective) take to social media to let others know they have been treated badly.
People are more likely to spread the word about unresolved negative
experiences to their friends than they are to boast about positive
occurrences.
3. They collect valuable insights about consumers' experiences that will

68
help them to improve for future customers.
4. If the consumer does not believe that the store will respond to her
complaint, she will be more likely to simply switch than fight as she just
takes her business elsewhere.
Culture A strategy to disrupt efforts by the corporate world to dominate our cultural
jamming landscape. The movement believes that culture jamming will change the way
information flows; the way institutions wield power; the way TV stations are
run and the way the food, fashion, automobiles, sports, music, and culture
industries set their agendas.
Transformativ - It promotes research projects that include the goal of helping people or
e consumer bringing about social change.
research - Scientists who subscribe to this perspective view consumers as
collaborators who work with them to realize this change rather than as
a ‘phenomenon’ upon which to conduct research.
- Adherents of TCR work with at risk-populations, such as children, the
disadvantaged, and disabled, or on such topics as materialism,
consumption of dangerous products, and compulsive consumption.

69

You might also like