Importance of Consumer Knowledge

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trademarks used herein under license.
Importance of Consumer Knowledge
What we know or don’t know
strongly influences our decision-
making processes
It affects how decisions are
made
It may determine the final
decision itself

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
Importance of Consumer Knowledge
Knowledge about a brand’s
associations (linkages in memory
between the brand and other
concepts) can affect consumer
behavior in many ways

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trademarks used herein under license.
Importance of Consumer Knowledge
Knowledge shapes inferences
about unknown product attributes
using known product attributes

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
Importance of Consumer Knowledge
Knowledge about competitors’
prices can determine consumer
acceptance of a company’s price

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
Importance of Consumer Knowledge
Knowledge can influence
consumer response to
salespeople

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Types of Consumer Knowledge

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Types of Consumer Knowledge
Product Knowledge
Purchase Knowledge
Consumption and Usage Knowledge
Persuasion Knowledge
Self-Knowledge

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Types of Consumer Knowledge
Product Knowledge

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Product Knowledge
Represents information stored in
consumers’ memory about a
general product category

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Product Knowledge
Represents information stored in
consumers’ memory about
products
Can be divided into product
category knowledge (i.e.,
knowledge about a general
product category) and brand
knowledge (i.e., knowledge about
a brand in the product category)

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Product Knowledge
Product Category Knowledge
Product novices possess very
simply levels of product
category knowledge
Product experts possess vast
amounts of product category
knowledge

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.
 Product Knowledge
Brand Knowledge
Whether the consumer is aware
of the brand or not is the most
fundamental aspect of brand
knowledge

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Purchase Knowledge
Encompasses the various pieces
of information consumers
possess about buying products
Includes information about the
product’s price, where it can be
purchased, and whether it can be
purchased less expensively later

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Purchase Knowledge
How much does it cost?
Knowledge about typical range of prices
for a product helps consumer evaluate
fairness of the price of a particular
brand

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Purchase Knowledge
When to buy?
Knowledge about when a product
typically goes on sale may delay
purchase
May determine when new innovations
are purchased—many consumers do
not purchase new innovations when
introduced because they believe the
price will drop over time

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Purchase Knowledge
Where to buy?
Knowledge about where to buy a
product guides purchase decisions
Includes knowledge about where
product is located in the store—when
consumers are unfamiliar with store
layout, they rely more on in-store
information

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Consumption & Usage Knowledge
Encompasses the information in
memory about how a product can
be consumed and what is
required to actually use it
Consumers are unlikely to buy a
product when they lack
information about how to use it

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Consumption & Usage Knowledge
Sometimes consumer have
incomplete information about
different ways a product can be
consumed
Care must be taken in selecting
new uses for an existing product
so not to lower its appeal

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trademarks used herein under license.
 Persuasion Knowledge
Information about what
consumers know about the goals
and tactics of those trying to
persuade them
Persuasion knowledge influences
how consumers respond to
persuasion attempts
Knowledge about a particular
tactic may eliminate its
effectiveness
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trademarks used herein under license.
 Self-Knowledge
A person’s understanding of one’s
own mental processes
Can the consumer accurately
assess and report the importance
of product attributes used in the
decision process?
Companies are better off relying
on the results of statistical
models than those reported by
consumers
COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are
trademarks used herein under license.