Chapter 15: Consumer Relationships
TRUE/FALSE
1. Perceptions of justice are included within the equity cognitions.
2. Procedural justice refers to the extent that consumers believe the processes involved in processing a
transaction, performing a service, or handling a complaint is fair.
3. Postconsumption cognitions lead to an affective reaction most conventionally represented by consumer
satisfaction or dissatisfaction (CS/D).
4. Negative postconsumption behaviors can turn into positive value experiences if firms manage them
properly.
5. The term critical incident refers to exchanges between consumers and business that the consumer
views as unusually negative.
6. Customers who believe a firm has adequately responded to some negative critical incident are likely to
become more loyal.
7. Complaining behavior occurs when a consumer actively seeks out someone to share an opinion with
regarding a negative consumption event.
8. All dissatisfied customers are complainers.
9. Dissatisfied consumers are more likely to complain than angry consumers.
10. Consumers high in price sensitivity are less likely to complain than consumers with some indifference
about the price paid for a service.
11. Price sensitive consumers become more loyal post complaint than those with less price sensitivity.
12. A disgusted or hopeless consumer is more likely to complain than an angry consumer.
13. Negative approach emotions like anger are most likely to precede complaining behavior.
14. Anger evokes an avoidance response, and as a result, an angry consumer avoids a potential
confrontation and simply goes away.
15. Consumer complaints pay off for the marketers as well as for the consumers.
16. Retaliatory revenge is when a consumer yells, insults, and makes a public scene in an effort to harm
the business.
17. If a furious consumer becomes violent or tries to vandalize the business, it is known as rancorous
revenge.
18. Negative word-of-mouth (negative WOM) takes place when consumers pass on negative information
about a company from one to another.
19. Positive WOM occurs when consumers spread information from one to another about positive
consumption experiences with companies.
20. Negative public publicity occurs when negative word-of-mouth spreads to a relatively large scale,
possibly even involving media coverage.
21. In the social media world, the key is to respond quickly before negative news goes viral.
22. Denials should be made only when the evidence unambiguously supports the actual truth.
23. Consumers who spread negative WOM without complaining to the company itself are particularly
likely not to ever do business with that company again.
24. If the relationship with the brand is strong, accepting negative information diminishes the consumer’s
self-concept.
25. Online reviews influence the opinions for relatively established brands much more than they do for
unfamiliar brands.
26. A 3rd Party Endorsement represents one form of publicity in which an ostensibly objective outsider
(neither the customer nor business) provides publicly available purchase recommendations.
27. Switching in a consumer behavior context refers to the times when a consumer chooses a competing
choice, rather than the previously purchased choice, on the next purchase occasion.
28. Switching costs are the costs associated with changing from one choice to another.
29. Procedural switching costs involve money and emotional consequences.
30. Financial switching costs consist of the total economic resources that must be spent or invested as a
consumer learns how to obtain value from a new product choice.
31. Relational switching costs refer to the emotional and psychological consequences of changing from
one brand/retailer/service provider to another.
32. Retailers who build up procedural switching costs may gain temporary repeat purchase behavior, but
they fail to establish the connection with the customer that wins them true loyalty.
33. Competitive intensity refers to the number of firms competing for business within a specific category.
34. When competitive intensity is high and switching costs are low, a company is vulnerable to consumers
who will switch providers even when customers are satisfied.
35. Competitive intensity refers to the resources allocated to one brand from among the set of competing
brands.
36. Under conditions of low competitive intensity and high switching costs, dissatisfied consumers are
almost certain to switch.
37. Market share is also known as share of wallet.
38. Customer share represents a behavioral component that is indicative of customer loyalty.
39. When customers don’t switch, they repeat their purchase behavior over again.
40. Consumer inertia means that a consumer will tend to continue a pattern of behavior until some
stronger force motivates him or her to change.
41. A loyalty card/program is a device that keeps track of the amount of purchasing a consumer has had
with a given marketer and once some level is reached, a reward is offered usually in terms of future
purchase incentives.
42. Consumers with a weak economic orientation display lower customer share with all competitors
instead choosing to shop in the place with the current best offer.
43. A firm that concentrates on repeated behavior alone, perhaps by always being convenient, can do well
but remains more vulnerable to competitors.
44. Antiloyal consumers are those who will do everything possible to avoid doing business with a
particular marketer.
45. For functional types of services, hedonic value is more strongly related to customer share than is
utilitarian value.
46. For experiential types of services, utilitarian value is more strongly related to customer share than is
hedonic value.
47. Customers who have switched service providers are less likely to become loyal customers when they
experience increased hedonic value compared to the previous service provider.
48. True loyalty involves both a continuing series of interactions and feelings of attachment between the
customer and the firm.
49. Relationship quality represents the degree of connectedness between a consumer and a retailer.
50. When relationship quality is high, the prospects for a continued series of mutually valuable exchanges
exist.
51. A healthy relationship between a consumer and a marketer enhances value both for the consumer and
the marketer.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Perceptions of justice are included within the _____ cognitions.
a.
spatial
b.
numerical
c.
equity
d.
comparative
e.
qualitative
2. ____ justice refers to the extent that consumers believe the processes involved in processing a
transaction, performing a service or handling a complaint is fair.
a.
Restorative
b.
Retributive
c.
Distributive
d.
Retaliatory
e.
Procedural
3. Which of the following terms refers to exchanges between consumers and business that the consumer
views as unusually negative?
a.
Disconfirmation incident
b.
Critical incident
c.
Peripheral incident
d.
Significant incident
e.
Disintegrative incident
4. Postconsumption cognitions lead to an affective reaction most conventionally represented by consumer
_____.
a.
confirmation or disconfirmation
b.
association or disassociation
c.
excitement or ignorance
d.
satisfaction or dissatisfaction
e.
agreement or disagreement
5. Which of the following types of behaviors occurs when a consumer actively seeks out someone to
share an opinion with regarding a negative consumption event?
a.
Complaining behavior
b.
Disconfirming behavior
c.
Switching behavior
d.
Antiloyal behavior
e.
Satisficing behavior
6. Which of the following is true about complaining behavior?
a.
All customers reporting dissatisfaction complain.
b.
Negative approach emotions like anger are most likely to precede complaining behavior.
c.
Dissatisfied consumers are more likely to complain than angry consumers.
d.
Disgusted consumers are more likely to complain than angry consumers.
e.
Price-sensitive consumers are less likely to complain than those who are not price
sensitive.
7. Disgust evokes a(n) _____ response.
a.
approach
b.
freeze
c.
avoidance
d.
startle
e.
fight
8. How is a complainer different from a noncomplainer?
a.
Compared to a complainer, A noncomplainer is more likely to become satisfied with
company intervention.
b.
Compared to a noncomplainer, a complainer is more likely to return following the
exchange.
c.
Compared to a noncomplainer, a complainer is less likely to tell others when a company
performs poorly.
d.
A complainer is not as valuable as a noncomplainer to a firm.
e.
A complainer is more likely to be experiencing disgust than a noncomplainer.
9. A consumer who yells, insults, and makes a public scene in an effort to harm a business after receiving
poor service is engaging in _____ revenge.
a.
retaliatory
b.
rancorous
c.
restorative
d.
distributive
e.
procedural
10. When Angie went out for dinner with Zack, her boyfriend, she was embarrassed with his behavior.
Zack complained when the waiter brought out the wrong order, but the waiter did not respond
appropriately to his complaint. As a result, Zack started yelling at him, calling him names, and
demanded to see the manager. The other diners stared at them and Angie just wanted him to stop
behaving like that. Zack’s behavior at the restaurant is an example of _____ revenge.
a.
procedural
b.
retaliatory
c.
rancorous
d.
distributive
e.
restorative
11. When consumers get so mad at a business that they become violent or try to vandalize the business, it
is called _____ revenge.
a.
rancorous
b.
retaliatory
c.
restorative
d.
distributive
e.
procedural
12. A few customers at China Palace, a Chinese restaurant, recently suffered from food poisoning and
were admitted in the hospital. One of these customers was so angry that he tried to burn the restaurant
down a week later after the food-poisoning incident. This disgruntled customer was engaged in _____
revenge.
a.
procedural
b.
restorative
c.
rancorous
d.
distributive
e.
retaliatory
13. _____ takes place when consumers pass on negative information about a company from one to
another.
a.
Negative disconfirmation
b.
Negative referencing
c.
Negative word-of-mouth
d.
Negative association
e.
Negative attribution
14. Elaine had a problem with the computer printer she purchased. When she called the toll-free service
support number, she was told that she had to pay to speak to a service representative. It made her so
unhappy that she told all of her friends and family about the problem with the printer and the poor
service she received, and advised them never to buy that brand. According to the information given in
this case, which of the following postconsumption behaviors best describes Elaine’s behavior?
a.
Loyalty
b.
Switching
c.
Avoidance
d.
Disconfirmation
e.
Negative word-of-mouth
15. Which of the following occurs when consumers spread information from one to another about positive
consumption experiences?
a.
Confirmation
b.
Switching behavior
c.
Positive disconfirmation
d.
Positive attribution
e.
Positive word-of-mouth
16. Holly was so pleased with the service she received at a new spa in her neighborhood that she told
many of her friends about her pleasant experience. Which of the following postconsumption behaviors
best describes Holly’s behavior?
a.
Confirmation
b.
Positive attribution
c.
Positive word-of-mouth
d.
Negative disconfirmation
e.
Switching
17. When negative WOM spreads on a relatively large scale, it can result in _____.
a.
negative public publicity
b.
product recalls
c.
negative attribution
d.
negative disconfirmation
e.
confirmation
18. Which of the following theories plays a role in dealing with negative publicity?
a.
Self-evaluation maintenance theory
b.
Theory of reasoned action
c.
Elaboration likelihood theory
d.
Attribution theory
e.
Balance theory
19. A form of publicity in which an ostensibly objective outsider (neither the customer nor business)
provides publicly available purchase recommendations is known as _____.
a.
community marketing
b.
comparative advertising
c.
a cross-promotion
d.
a 3rd party endorsement
e.
cooperative marketing
20. A consumer chooses a competing choice, rather than a previously purchased choice, on the next
purchase occasion. This behavior is called _____.
a.
infiltrating
b.
switching
c.
hoarding
d.
shilling
e.
culture jamming
21. Carla was unhappy with her haircut. The next time she wanted a haircut, she went to a different
hairstylist who Carla thought was more competent than her previous stylist. From a consumer behavior
perspective, which of the following terms best describe Carla’s behavior?
a.
Infiltrating
b.
Hoarding
c.
Shilling
d.
Switching
e.
Referencing
22. _____ costs are the costs associated with changing from one choice, such as a brand, retailer, or
service provider, to another.
a.
Switching
b.
Transfer
c.
Conversion
d.
Shilling
e.
Infiltrating
23. Many consumers who use online banking facilities are reluctant to change banks because of the effort
it would take to change automatic and online payment accounts. The change requires a lot of hassle,
including time and effort to cancel old accounts and setting up new ones. There is also the probability
of missing bill payments altogether. The costs associated with such liabilities explain the customers’
reluctance to change. These costs are called _____ costs.
a.
infiltrating
b.
shilling
c.
switching
d.
hoarding
e.
temporal
24. Which of the following types of switching costs involves lost time and effort?
a.
Rational switching cost
b.
Financial switching cost
c.
Relational switching cost
d.
Temporal switching cost