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REVIEW QUESTIONS
9-1. Why can “mindless” decision making actually be more efficient than devoting a lot of
thought to what we buy?
Sometimes the decision-making process is almost automatic; we seem to make snap
judgments based on very little information. At other times, coming to a purchase decision
begins to resemble a full-time job. A person may literally spend days or weeks thinking
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 1, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-2. List the steps in the model of cognitive decision-making.
Problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, product choice, and
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 2, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-3. What is purchase momentum, and how does it relate (or not) to the model of rational
decision-making?
Purchase momentum occurs when these initial impulses actually increase the likelihood
that we will buy even more (instead of less as our needs are satisfied), as if we are
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-4. Give an example of the type of purchase that each of the three types of decision-making –
cognitive, habitual, and affective - would most likely explain.
A cognitive decision is one that would involve rational thought such as choosing a new
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 1, AACSB: Application of Knowledge)
9-5. Name two ways a consumer problem arises.
1) A person’s standard of comparison may be altered, 2) the quality of the consumer’s
(3 minutes, Chapter Objective 2, AACSB: Application of Knowledge)
9-6. Give an example of the sunk-cost fallacy.
Simply put, the sunk-cost fallacy occurs when someone has paid for something and is
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Application of Knowledge)
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-1
9-7. What is prospect theory? Does it support the argument that people are rational decision
makers?
Prospect theory, a descriptive model of how people make choices, finds that utility is a
function of gains and losses, and risk differs when the consumer faces options involving
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-8. “Marketers need to be extra sure their product works as promised when the first introduce
it.” How does this statement relate to what we know about consumers’ evoked sets?
People are more likely to add a new brand to the evoked set than one that we previously
considered but passed over, even after additional positive information has been provided
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 2, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-9. Describe the difference between a superordinate category, a basic level category, and a
subordinate category.
Categories exist in a taxonomy from most concrete to most abstract. The middle level,
known as a basic level category, is typically the most useful in classifying products,
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 2, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-10. What is an example of an exemplar product?
If a product is a good example of a category, it is more familiar to consumers and they
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 2, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-11. List three product attributes that consumers can use as product quality signals and
provide an example of each.
1) Price: Consumers commonly associate a higher price as an indicator of a higher level
of quality. 2) Country-of-origin: A common U.S. perception is that watches that are
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Application of Knowledge
9-12. How does a brand name work as a heuristic?
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-2
Branding is a marketing strategy that often functions, as a heuristic because people
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-13. Describe the difference between inertia and brand loyalty.
Inertia exists when we buy a brand out of habit merely because it requires less effort. For
brand loyalty to exist, a pattern of repeat purchase must be accompanied by an
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 1, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-14. What is the difference between a non-compensatory and a compensatory decision rule?
Give one example of each.
Non-compensatory decision rules are choice shortcuts where a product with a low
standing on one attribute cannot make up for this position by being better on another
attribute. Unlike non-compensatory decision rules, compensatory decision rules give a
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 2, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-15. What is prime? How does it differ from a nudge?
A prime is a stimulus that encourages people to focus on some specific aspect of their
lives such as their financial well-being, or the environment. A nudge is a deliberate
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-16. What are some factors that influence how an organizational buyer evaluates a purchase
decision?
A number of factors influence the organizational buyer’s perception of the purchase
situation. These include his or her expectations of the supplier (e.g., product quality, the
competence and behavior of the firm’s employees, and prior experiences in dealing with
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 6, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-17. What is a prediction market?
A prediction market is one of the hottest trends in organizational decision-making
techniques. This approach asserts that groups of people with knowledge about an
industry are, collectively, better predictors of the future than are any of them as
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 6, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-18. Summarize the buyclass model of purchasing. How do decisions differ within each class?
The classic buyclass theory of purchasing divides organizational buying decisions
into three types that range from the least to the most complex. Three decision-making
dimensions describe the purchasing strategies of an organizational buyer. A straight
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 5, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-19. What are some of the ways in which organizational decisions differ within each class?
The purchase decisions that companies make frequently involve many people, including
those who do the actual buying, those who directly or indirectly influence this
decision, and the employees who will actually use the product or service. Organizations
and companies often use precise technical specifications that require a lot of knowledge
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 5, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-20. List three roles employees play in the organizational decision-making process.
Employees are often collaborators in the decision making process, or participate in the
problem solving process including the evaluation of product choices. Depending on the
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-4
decision, the choice may include some or all of the group members, and different group
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 5, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-21. What is the difference between an autonomic and syncretic decision?
When one family member chooses a product, this is an autonomic decision. In traditional
households, for example, men often have sole responsibility to select a car, whereas
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 7, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-22. What are some differences between “traditional” and “modern” couples in terms of how
they allocate household responsibilities?
As women continue to work outside the home in great number, their influence on
household purchase decisions grows accordingly. The share of mothers employed
full- or part-time has quadrupled since the 1950s and today accounts for nearly three
quarters of women with children at home. The number of women who are their families’
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 7, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-23. What is a kin-network system?
Despite the shift in decision-making responsibilities, women are still primarily
responsible for the continuation of the family’s kin-network system, They maintain ties
among family members, both immediate and extended. Women are more likely to
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-5
(5 minutes, Chapter Objective 7, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-24. Describe a heuristic a couple might use when they make a decision, and provide an
example of it.
Responses will vary by student, based on examples. The couple defines their areas of
common preference on obvious, objective dimensions rather than subtler, hard-to-define
cues. For example, they may easily agree on the number of bedrooms they need in the
new home, but they have a harder time when they need to agree on how the home should
look. The couple negotiates a system of task specialization in which each is responsible
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 7, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHALLENGE
DISCUSS
9-25. Excessive food consumption may link to emotional issues such as feelings of inferiority
or low self-esteem. In some situations people consume products (especially food) as a
reaction to prior life experiences such as loss of a loved one or perhaps abuse as a child.
A British man whom the U.K. news media once dubbed “the world’s fattest man” when
he weighed in at 980 pounds is a case in point. He explained that as an adult his insatiable
desire to constantly eat stemmed from an abusive father and sexual abuse by a relative: “I
still had all these things going around in my head from my childhood. Food replaced the
love I didn’t get from my parents.” (The good news: after a gastric bypass operation this
man has lost almost two-thirds of his body weight). Obviously this is an extreme case,
and it certainly doesn’t mean that everyone who struggles with his or her weight is a
victim of abuse! Nonetheless, emotion often plays a role—a dieter may feel elated when
he weighs in at three pounds less than last week; however, if he fails to make progress he
may become discouraged and actually sabotage himself with a Krispy Kreme binge. Is it
ethical for food companies to exploit these issues by linking their products to
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-6
enhanced moods?
Responses will vary based on the beliefs of students. Students should consider the
cognitive, habitual, and effective aspects of consumer decision making. The feedback
(20 minutes, chapter Objective 1, AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning)
9-26. The chapter discusses ways that organizations can use “nudges” to change consumer
behavior. Critics refer to them as benevolent paternalism because they argue they force
people to “eat their vegetables” by restricting the freedom to choose. For example,
several cities including New York and Philadelphia have tried (unsuccessfully thus far) to
ban the sales of extra large portions of sugary drinks. What’s your take on these efforts –
should local, state or federal governments be in the business of nudging citizens to be
healthier?
Responses will vary based on the beliefs of the students. Students should understand how
much of the current work in behavioral economics demonstrates how a nudge—a
deliberate change by an organization that intends to modify behavior—can result in
(20 minutes, chapter Objective 1, AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning)
9-27. Why is it difficult to place a product in a consumer’s evoked set after it has already been
rejected? What strategies might a marketer use in an attempt to accomplish this goal?
It is difficult to place a product into an evoked set after it has been rejected because
consumers are “cognitive misers.” This means that people conserve their mental
Promotional strategies can be used to get the consumer to reconsider the product. Price
discounts, coupons, special offers, rebates, or free samples will increase the possibility
(15 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-28. Technology has the potential to make our lives easier as it reduces the amount of clutter
we need to work through to access the information on the Internet that really interests us.
However, perhaps intelligent agents that make recommendations based only on what we
and others like us have chosen in the past limit us, in that they reduce the chance that we
will stumble on something (e.g., a book on a topic we’ve never heard of or a music group
that’s different from the style we usually listen to) through serendipity. Will the
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-7
proliferation of “shopping bots” make our lives too predictable by only giving us more of
the same? If so, is this a problem?
Responses will vary by student. Intelligent agents are sophisticated software programs
that use collaborative filtering technologies to learn from past user behavior to
recommend new purchases. When you let Amazon.com suggest a new book, the site uses
an intelligent agent to propose novels based on what you and others like you have bought
in the past. The biggest problem Web surfers face these days is to narrow down their
understanding and reasoning)
9-29. It’s increasingly clear that many postings on blogs and product review Web sites
are fake or are posted there to manipulate consumers’ opinions. How big a problem
is this if consumers increasingly look to consumer-generated product reviews during the
stage of information search? What steps, if any, can marketers take to nip this problem in
the bud?
9-30. Commercial Alert, a consumer group, is highly critical of neuromarketing. The group's
executive director wrote, “What would happen in this country if corporate marketers and
political consultants could literally peer inside our brains and chart the neural activity that
leads to our selections in the supermarket and voting booth? What if they then could
trigger this neural activity by various means, so as to modify our behavior to serve their
own ends?” What do you think? Is neuromarketing dangerous?
The idea that neuromarketing is any more dangerous than more traditional methods of
market research rests on two assumptions. 1) These methods allow marketers to read
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning
Abilities)
9-31. Research supports the argument that the way we pay for a product changes the way we
perceive it. More specifically, credit cards prime people to focus less on the costs of the
item and more on the benefits. Using plastic decouples the expense of the purchase so we
tend to buy more when we can charge it. Newer innovations like digital wallets take this a
step further so payment— at least at the time of purchase—is even less painful. Are these
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-8
formats going to create problems if they prime us to think more about short-term
gratification and less about the long-term hit to our budgets?
Responses will vary by student but should consider the idea of priming consumers in the
decision making process. Researchers who work on prospect theory analyze how the
value of a decision depends on gains or losses; they identify principles of mental
accounting that relate to the way we frame the question as well as external issues that
shouldn’t influence our choices, but do anyway. The notion that even subtle changes in a
(20 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning
Abilities)
9-32. As more people enter virtual worlds like Second Life and Kaneva, family
decision-making research may have to include our virtual partners (and children?) as
well. Do you agree? How do you think consumer researchers could use a virtual world to
help them understand decision making in the real world? Responses will vary by student.
One analysis of family decision making took a closer look at the idea that family
members mutually construct a family identity that defines the household both to members
(20 minutes, Chapter Objective 7, AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning
Abilities)
9.33 Industrial purchase decisions are totally rational. Aesthetic or subjective factors don’t –
and shouldn’t – play a role in this process. Do you agree?
Student responses will vary but should address several issues that are key in B2B
decision making. The purchase decisions that companies make frequently involve many
people, including those who do the actual buying, those who directly or indirectly
(15 Minutes, Chapter Objective 6, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9.34. We can think of college students who live away from home as having a substitute
“family.” Whether you live with your parents, with a spouse, or with other students, how
are decisions made in your college residence “family”? Do some people take on the role
of mother, father, or child? Give a specific example of a decision that had to be made and
the roles members played.
Scenarios and examples will vary by student but should identify the roles of various
(10 minutes, Chapter Objective 7, AACSB: Reflective Thinking)
9-35 The promotional products industry thrives on corporate clients that order $19 billion per
year of T-shirts, mugs, pens, and other branded items that are intended to keep their
organizations at the forefront of their customers’ minds. This has caused a lot of backlash,
especially in the medical/pharmaceutical industry where critics worry about the undue
influence of these advertising messages. Stanford University Medical Center prohibits its
physicians from accepting even small gifts, such as pens and mugs, from pharmaceutical
sales representatives under a new policy that it hopes will limit industry influence on
patient care and doctor education. The new policy is part of a small but growing
movement among medical centers (Yale and the University of Pennsylvania have similar
policies). The policy also prohibits doctors from accepting free drug samples and from
publishing articles ghostwritten by industry contractors in medical journals (a fairly
common practice). These changes come at a time when many of us are concerned about
the safety and rising cost of drugs and medical devices. About 90 percent of the
pharmaceutical industry’s $21 billion marketing budget targets physicians. Some studies
have shown that even small gifts create a sense of obligation; one critical study charged
that free drug samples are “a powerful inducement for physicians and patients to rely on
medications that are expensive but not more effective.” Indeed, some industry documents
from a civil lawsuit show that big pharmaceutical companies sometimes calculate to the
penny the profits that doctors could make from their drugs. Sales representatives shared
those profit estimates with doctors and their staffs, the documents show. In response to
pressure in the market, the pharmaceutical industry is largely banning the use of
promotional products. One result is that the businesses that supply these premiums will
lose around $1 billion per year in sales. What do you think about this initiative? Is it fair
to deprive an industry of its livelihood in this way? Why or why not? Where is the line
between legitimate promotion of one’s products and unethical practice? Should
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-10
professionals engage in organizational decision making that has such far-reaching
medical and financial ramifications? Is this philosophy selfish?
Student responses will vary. Students should indicate an understanding of an evoked set
as well as a consideration set. Product positioning might also be discussed here.
(30 minutes, Chapter Objective 3, AACSB: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning
Abilities)
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
9-11
