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12 Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making
5. By understanding how its customers search for ski options, Butternut is able to direct potential customers to
a. a place where they will be tagged by cookies and monitored for Butternut’s database.
b. a marketing controlled information source
c. listen to its radio ad
d. a Web site with a Ski Butternut pop-up ad.
6. By using images of families skiing and people using the terrain park, Ski Butternut is forming an:
a. primary membership group
b. need
c. subculture
d. aspirational membership group
7. Customers visiting the Ski Butternut mobile Web site are responding to:
a. some kind of stimulus.
b. something from their subculture.
c. an evaluation of an alternative Web site.
d. one of their consideration set.
CASE ASSIGNMENT: Netflix
In February 2013, Netflix debuted House of Cards, a smoldering political drama starring Kevin Spacey and featuring
direction by Hollywood heavyweights like David Fincher and Joel Schumacher. The streaming video service made all 13
episodes of the original series’ first season available at once—a bold strategy in a television industry seemingly pulled in
opposite directions by tradition and technological advancement. House of Cards proved an instant hit among critics and
Netflix customers alike—according to a Cowen and Co. survey, 86 percent of subscribers said that the availability of
House of Cards made them less likely to cancel their subscriptions. A majority of respondents also said, however, that
they would cancel their subscription if Netflix raised its $7.99-a-month price.
According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, House of Cards “met all of (our) expectations.” Netflix quickly made
plans to follow the series with a broader lineup of exclusive shows including the second season of Lilyhammer (Netfix’s
first foray into original programming), gothic horror series Hemlock Grove, cult classic Arrested Development, and
science-fiction epic Sense8. Although such programming is proving popular—to say the least—among subscribers, the
company has no plans to abandon its role as a hub for licensed television shows and movies. “I don't want you guys to
Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making 13
think that suddenly we're the original content company,” said Hastings. “It’s phenomenally successful for us, but it's not
the center of the company.”
David Lieberman, “’House of Cards’ Was ‘a Great Success’ Netflix Chief Says,” Deadline, February 25, 2013,
www.deadline.com/2013/02/netflix-reed-hastings-says-house-cards-success (Accessed March 27, 2013); Emma Roller,
“House of Cards Is Paying Off for Netflix,” Slate, February 21, 2013,
www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/02/21/house_of_cards_netflix_subscribers_say_the_series_will_make_them_less
_likely.html (Accessed March 27, 2013); Maria Sciullo, “Netflix Debuts Original Series ‘House of Cards,’” Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, February 1, 2013, www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/netflix-debuts-original-series-house-of-cards-
672954 (Accessed March 27, 2013) “Wachowskis to Make Sci-fi Series for Netflix,” Miami Herald, March 27, 2013,
www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/27/3309370/wachowskis-to-make-sci-fi-series.html (Accessed March 27, 2013).
TRUE/FALSE
1. If a consumer enjoys Netflix’ original series offerings today, he will enjoy them tomorrow, and on into the future.
2. A consumer conducting an internal information search on Netflix might seek out and watch trailers for the company’s
original series.
3. Membership in a television-based subculture might influence a person’s decision whether to purchase a Netflix
subscription.
4. On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a Netflix subscription best satisfies the physiological level.
5. A consumer will only purchase a Netflix subscription after engaging in extensive decision making.
14 Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making
ANS: F
Consumers practice extensive decision making when buying an unfamiliar, expensive product or an infrequently bought
item like a car or house. This process is the most complex type of consumer buying decision and is associated with high
involvement on the part of the consumer.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 6-4 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Suppose a consumer wants to watch House of Cards and has discovered that a Netflix subscription is the only way to do
so. She’s done a great deal of research, but still isn’t sure if a subscription is worth the price. What stage of the consumer
decision-making process is she in?
a.
Need recognition.
b.
Information search.
c.
Evaluation of alternatives.
d.
Purchase.
e.
Postpurchase.
2. Suppose that after purchasing a Netflix subscription, a consumer finds she doesn’t have any interest in the programs
offered and uses the service much less than she expected. The inner tension she feels is called:
a.
Cognitive discord.
b.
Cognitive dissonance.
c.
Cognitive disagreement.
d.
Cognitive difference.
e.
Cognitive dissent.
3. Which of the following is not a cultural factor that might affect a consumer’s decision whether to purchase a Netflix
subscription?
a.
The convenience of streaming movies rather than driving to a video rental store.
b.
The popularity of the service among socioeconomic peers.
c.
Multi-language audio and subtitle track offerings for popular programs.
d.
Parental controls that prevent children from watching violent programs.
e.
All of these are cultural factors that might affect a consumer’s decision whether to purchase a Netflix
subscription.
4. Who in the Johnson family is likely to be the influencer in the decision to subscribe to Netflix?
a.
Susie Johnson, the daughter who brought up the idea of possibly subscribing to Netflix.
b.
Brian Johnson, the son who watches television shows voraciously.
c.
Michael Johnson, the grandfather whose sage advice is always valued.
d.
Loretta Johnson, the mother who pays for the Netflix subscription every month.
e.
Bo Johnson, the family dog who prefers running around the yard to watching television.
5. A Netflix fan who tends to forget news he reads about the company’s battles with content providers and declining
subscriber numbers, instead focusing on news about new original series and social networking features, demonstrates
this element of perception:
a.
Selective retention.
b.
Selective exposure.
c.
Selective distortion.
d.
Selective perception.
e.
None of these.
16 Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making
GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 6
James S. Cleveland, Sage College of Albany
DISCUSSION BOARD TOPICS TO ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION
Discussion board questions provided to students to encourage them to engage in thinking and writing about the content
of the Principles of Marketing course usually take the form of a provocative statement to which students are asked to
respond. An example of this would be “All PR is good PR.”
Discussion topics such as this one are abstract and often require that the instructor provide an initial reply to show
students what is expected of them in their own replies. For students with limited work experience, this approach may be
quite appropriate. For adult students with extensive experience as employees and consumers, however, the abstract
nature of such topics can be frustrating.
I have developed, therefore, a series of discussion board questions to use with experienced, adult students. These
questions are designed to encourage them to use their experiences as employees and consumers as doorways to better
understand the course material, and to make their own responses more interesting to themselves and to the other students
in the class who will read and comment on them.
Each question has three parts:
1. First, there is a sentence or two from the students’ textbook introducing the topic. By using the text author’s
own words, students are enabled to locate relevant material in the text more easily, the text content is
reinforced, and confusion resulting from use of variant terms or expressions is minimized.
2. Second, there is a reference to text pages the student should review before proceeding. Since the goal of the
exercise is for students to apply the course content to their own experiences, reviewing the content first is
important.
3. Third, there is a request for the student to think about or remember some specific situation in their experience to
which they can apply the text material, and a question or questions for them to address in their reply.
Here are additional such discussion board questions developed for Chapter 6 of MKTG10. Each is written to fit the same
text cited above but could easily be rewritten and revised to fit another text.
Series A
1. All consumer buying decisions generally fall along a continuum of three broad categories: routine response
behavior, limited decision making, and extensive decision making.
2. Review this process in section 6-4 of your text.
3. Then describe a purchase you have made that involved extensive decision making in terms of the five stages of
the consumer decision-making process.
Series B
1. Culture is the essential character of a society that distinguishes it from other cultural groups.
2. Review the components of American culture in section 6-5 of your text.
3. Then describe how one or more of these cultural components resulted in recent purchases you made.
Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making 17
Mark Andrew Mitchell, Coastal Carolina University
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND THE UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
The selection of an institution for higher education or the selection of particular degree programs within that institution is
a decision of considerable involvement for most individuals. The choice of one alternative (college or university of
discussion) over another alternative institution can cause the decision maker some psychological discomfort (cognitive
dissonance) as he or she grapples with the relative correctness of the decision. The same can be said for the selection of a
particular discipline of study (i.e., business, education, arts, sciences, nursing, communications) as other options are
bypassed.
Given the level of involvement of the college or university decision, some individuals may feel this psychological
discomfort at some point in their academic careers. The challenge for marketing organizations (including the institution
of discussion) is to effectively deal with this phenomenon in order to achieve the highest levels of consumer satisfaction.
In a university setting, the presence of this phenomenon is vital to student retention efforts. Simply stated, some students
(customers) may act upon this level of discomfort by removing themselves from the university in favor of other
institutions or other employment or training opportunities.
Purpose of the Project
The purpose of the project is to provide students with the opportunity to integrate marketing theory with marketing
practice. Simply put, students analyze the concept (cognitive dissonance) and its presence on their particular campus, and
offer creative marketing solutions for consideration by university administrative personnel. The institution is used as the
focal point of the project in the interest of building the students’ sense of belonging and commitment to their institution.
The inclusion of this project in a Marketing course provides the following outcomes: 1) the realization of an institutional
desire for operational and management effectiveness, 2) the provision of experiential learning outcomes, 3) the
realization of the learning objectives for the course, and 4) student participation in the strategic planning processes of the
institution.
Student Applications
This application can be administered in a Principles of Marketing course or a specialized Consumer Behavior course.
The project is developed with the students over the life of the term with the final output delivered to university
administrative personnel for consideration. The project may be done on an individual group basis depending on the
nature of the audience or desires of the instructor.
Suggested Focus Areas
The following focus areas are suggested as contributors to the problem of cognitive dissonance on a college or university
campus:
1. Freshman students during their first year experience
2. Students transferring from other institutions
3. Students entering upper-division degree programs
4. Students selecting particular academic programs in favor of others
5. Students selecting academic/service/professional organizations for membership and participation
6. Mature students returning to the university to complete partially completed degree programs
7. Ongoing efforts: student academic counseling; student academic tutoring; student career counseling;
student counseling (more personal in nature); scheduling of classes; payment of fees; financial aid
assistance; library accessibility; student on-campus activities; adequacy of physical campus
18 Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making
Note: The above list is meant to be illustrative and not exhaustive. The students should consider all aspects of the
undergraduate experience and provide direct actions for dealing with the presence of cognitive dissonance on a college or
university campus.
Suggested Outline
The following outline is offered to guide the preparation of the documents and/or presentation to be made available to
university personnel for consideration and implementation:
1. Illustrate your understanding of the concept of cognitive dissonance. (What problem are you addressing?)
2. Briefly discuss why a college or university should be concerned with the presence of cognitive dissonance
within its student population. (Why are you concerned?)
3. What solutions can you suggest to address the presence of cognitive dissonance on a university campus?
(What are your solutions?)
a. focal point
b. target group
c. discuss specific action
d. desired outcomes
4. Attempt to integrate your actions into a short-term plan that can be operationalized and put into action by
university officials. (How should your solutions be implemented?)
Tom Hicky, Oswego State University of New York
LEARNING THROUGH COMPETITIVE CASE PRESENTATION
I have applied the following process to the case in my Consumer Behavior course and referred to the process as a
“competitive case presentation.”
Students are formed into two consulting management teams and present the same case to me, as the president of the
client company. First, this really livens up a case presentation since the teams must 1) pick out “unique selling
propositions,” 2) evaluate the competitive position, and 3) develop the appropriate presentation. Second, each presenting
team must listen very carefully to the competitor’s statements and use the information in either a contributory or an offset
response. Third, the students seem to become very strongly interested in the environments of the competition and
customers. That is really helpful in getting across the idea of consumer behavior.
Barbara-Jean Ross, Louisiana State University
Laura A. Williams, Tulane University
COMMUNICATING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: AN EXERCISE USING PERSONAL CONSUMPTION
JOURNALS
In consumer behavior, it is vital that upon completion of the course students have acquired a sound understanding of how
consumers search for, purchase, and use products and services. Furthermore, students should also be exposed to the
social and psychological influences on these behaviors. Finally, to have garnered the most benefit, students should
understand how to integrate the theoretical concepts into their real-world experiences. To achieve these broad objectives,
a large amount of information must be presented by the instructor and then processed by the students.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of consumption journals. This exercise enables students to not only
observe and record their own consumption habits, but also to explore the social and psychological factors that may be
influencing their and others’ purchase decisions. Furthermore, the greatest benefit is that they enjoy the learning process.
Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making 19
Exercise Overview
This exercise is designed to be an incremental three-part assignment. The first part requires students to maintain a
personal consumption journal. In the second part, each student is told to construct a portrait of themselves as a consumer
by developing a list of ten products or services typically purchased. The third portion of the assignment is an
advertisement evaluation. This requires students to select two products from their ten-product list and locate
advertisements or promotions for them. For each advertisement selected, students are required to identify four to six
consumer behavior concepts used in the ad, to describe the demographic and psychographic segments to which the ad
was targeted, and to explain the reasoning for their conclusions. Finally, students are asked to assess whether or not they
are representative of these segments.
Consumption Journal
Each student is responsible for maintaining a consumption journal that describes the products and services they purchase.
Descriptions include what products and services are purchased, where the items are purchased, why the items are
purchased, and what feelings are associated with the purchase. Students are required to complete a minimum of two
entries each week. Students are asked to submit the preceding weeks’ entries with the new entries, allowing the instructor
to view the weekly progress and making the students more aware of the patterns present in their consumption behavior.
An example journal entry template should be provided to the students at an introduction of the assignment.
Date:
Place of Purchase:
Items(s) Purchased:
Brand Name (for each item):
Price (for each item):
Other Descriptive Information:
Reason for Purchase:
Feelings Associated with Purchase:
The length of time that students are required to main consumption journals is at the discretion of the instructor, but four
submissions should be the minimum as students only begin to understand and appreciate the assignment around the
fourth submission.
Ten Product List
After the third submission of the consumer journal, students should be instructed to review their consumption behavior
and to create a list of ten products or services they own and/or regularly use. Students are asked to select only those
products and services that best portray their personality, values, and lifestyle. Similar to the journal entry, the list is
required to contain detailed information (such as brands, sizes, colors, and/or models) about the products and services.
Advertisement Analysis
Once the ten-item product list is complete, each student should select two of the items on the list and locate an
advertisement for each of the selected products. The two advertisements then serve as the medium for a short analysis
paper. For the paper, the analysis of each advertisement is broken down into three sections. First, students have to
identify between four and six consumer behavior concepts used in the advertisements. Second, students are asked to
identify and explain the demographic and psychographic segments to which the ad was designed to appeal. Finally,
students explain whether or not they fit into the identified target market.
Benefits to Students
The consumption journals allow students to immediately begin to understand the relevance of studying consumer
behavior. Additionally, it allows them to apply their own experience to the material presented in class lectures. In all
three parts of the assignment, students use consumer behavior theory and principles to justify their points. This exercise
allows students to demonstrate an understanding of segmentation, motivation, personality, psychographics, learning,
attitudes, and reference group influence. Perhaps most importantly, journals can move students from a passive state of
learning to participatory learning.
Conclusion
A class exercise that integrates class material with students’ lives increases their interest in learning the core concepts.
This increased interest is highly desirable and the use of consumption journals provides this advantage.
Via the journal entries, the ten-product list, and advertisement analysis, students learn about their personal consumption
habits. This self-discovery is an exploration of the social and psychological factors that influenced their consumption
behavior and how their behavior could be generalized to others. Thus, although the instructor’s investment in developing
this exercise is considerable, students’ return is well worth the effort!
Anita Jackson, Central Connecticut State University
REFERENCE GROUP – LECTURE ALTERNATIVE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION EXERCISE
Instructions: The students are instructed to come to the next class displaying some symbol that identifies them with a
reference group. They are told that they will have to identify the reference group, what type of reference group it is, its
influence, and its power structure.
On the day of class, the students ask to find their reference group peers among the other students and to form groups
based on their reference symbols. Allow the groups several minutes to discuss and define themselves as a group and to
choose a spokesperson for their group.
Begin with a series of questions and follow with an open discussion of the material. Sometimes you have to lead the
students through this exercise; other times they proceed without much assistance. The following questions are those that
I have found successful in covering the material; however, they are just suggestions. Feel free to improvise as you go
along. Each group represented in class is asked the following questions:
1. What type of reference group do you represent (formal or informal)? Explain.
2. What type of social influence does the group have on its members (normative or informational)? Explain.
3. Why do group members conform to the standards of the group (cultural pressure, fear of deviance,
commitment)? Explain.
4. Do group size, unanimity, expertise, or sex differences cause greater or lesser conformity within the group?
Explain.
5. Next ask the spokesperson for each of the groups to define how the group influences consumption of its
members (informational, utilitarian, value-expressive).
5a) After the spokesperson has expressed his or her view, ask if there is a difference of opinion within the
group. This can lead to a discussion of the social power of the group and whether members conform to the
dictates of the group by private agreement or by surveillance.
6. Now ask if there is agreement or disagreement with any of the positions that have been expressed by the
groups’ spokespersons. Allow an open discussion for several minutes.
7. Ask if the spokesperson is the opinion leader of the group. Answers will vary and leave room for further
discussion on the topic of opinion leadership.
8. Then ask the spokesperson: Did the comments of your group change your perception of your position within
the group? This allows you to discuss group opinion and social power of the group.
9. Next, ask what types of power the group has on its members (referent power, information power, legitimate
power, expert power, reward power, or coercive power). Make sure that you link this to conformity.
Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making 21
There are usually students who do not have similar symbols and cannot find a reference group within the class. If you
have independents within the class:
10. Ask if they avoid groups because of their power structure. This allows the class to discuss the need for
uniqueness or freedom.
A discussion of social comparison theory is a good idea at this point.
11. Finally, ask the students if word of mouth information from a group they belong to or aspire to has more
influence on them than word of mouth from a stranger.
This exercise covers most of the material on reference group influences. It also involves the students and they feel free to
open up in class.
Al Rosenbloom, Benedictine University
FIT TO BE TIED: UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF INVOLVEMENT
Teaching Objectives
1. To reinforce, through an in-class activity, the concept of “levels of involvement”
2. To demonstrate how levels of involvement relate to other marketing variables, especially segmentation
All introductory marketing texts introduce the concept of levels of involvement in their chapters on consumer behavior.
Generally, texts treat levels of involvement as being either high or low. I expand on this with the following mini-lecture.
Henry Assael has further developed the concept of involvement by correlating levels of involvement with decision-
making. He creates a matrix as follows:
High
Limited Decision Making
Complex Decision Making
Extent of Information
Search
Inertia
Brand Loyal
Low
Low High
Levels of Involvement
Assael further describes each cell. Complex decision-making is complicated, is high risk, involves an extensive
information search, and results in the “best” decision for the consumer. Complex decision-making results in brand
loyalty through habit. Brands serve as shortcuts, thereby reducing the amount of time consumers need to search. The
inertia cell represents traditional low- involvement products, that is, those products that mean little to consumers. They
are generally low cost, don’t result in serious consequences when a “bad” decision is made, and don’t reflect on one’s
social image. Consumers don’t care very deeply about inertia products and, as a result, don’t spend much time thinking
about them. Limited decision-making occurs when consumers are forced to spend time thinking about a low involvement
product, as when, for example, an item is out of stock and they must decide what to do.
In-Class Activity
This activity divides students into teams and asks them to create profiles of consumers who fall into each box of the
Assael matrix. Students are given a common product—in this case, a man’s necktie. Students are given old, out-of-
fashion ties as prompts to get them to think more completely about tie buying and about ties as a product. In addition,
each student team is given one page of newsprint on which to develop their profile.
22 Chapter 6 ♦ Consumer Decision Making
The exercise works best with the following beginning statement: “Think about a consumer who is buying a tie that is
described by your cell in the matrix. First, develop a mental picture of who that consumer is: what motivates your
consumer to buy that tie, what kinds of stores will that consumer go to, what media will that consumer look at (if any),
what specific feature will they look for in a tie, and most importantly, what does a tie mean to that consumer? Now, write
those ideas on the newsprint.” This generally is enough to get the activity going. This activity takes about 30 minutes
total (including the time needed for teams to report out their consumer profiles).
Activity Learning Points
1. Consumers can—and often do—see a common product in very different ways. Inductively this demonstrates
that there are different market segments for ties.
2. Different marketing strategies are required to reach consumers in different matrix cells.
3. Products are complex entities. It is the consumer who gives meaning to products, not necessarily the marketer.
Although, obviously, marketers attempt to influence the meaning!
4. There is an inertia market for ties. This suggests that every product might have an inertia market segment.
Marketers have an obligation to understand the size of each segment and make decisions about whether this is a
segment worth pursuing.
5. Women may do some of the tie purchasing. It’s important not to stereotype your target market.
6. Brands function as short cuts for consumers in the decision-making process. Brands are promises that products,
even ties, will perform in consistent ways. When brands fail to meet consumer expectations, then consumers go
back into complex decision making.
7. A level of involvement is a critical component of consumer behavior. It leads the marketer into thinking about
market segments, target markets, marketing strategy, and brand equity.
8. Consumer segments can have different motivations, beliefs, and attitudes from the students in each team.
Marketers (and students) must get past their own specific biases and not project their own attitudes onto
consumers. This is perhaps the most important learning.
