978-1337116800 Chapter 6 Solution Manual Part 2

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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

Because the first-time skier exhibits such loyalty for their first mountain, choosing

Butternut becomes a decision with high, enduring involvement.

3. When Ski Butternut put in the terrain park, it:

a. began to change the belief that Butternut was only for first-timers by adding a cool

and fun feature for more advanced skiers and snowboarders.

b. changed the importance of the mountain being for families by adding a feature that

was not geared toward families.

c. changed the psychographic make-up of people on the mountain.

d. created a new self-concept for people who visit Ski Butternut.

4. Ski Butternut surveys allows them to compile a database, which reveals:

a. typical family life cycle stage for individuals and families.

b. each person’s primary reference group.

c. family subcultures.

d. motivation for skiing.

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 a(n):

a. primary membership group.

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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 sets.

Case Assignment: Starbucks

Some foods and drinks just taste better at different times of year, and many businesses have been

taking advantage of the seasonal food trend for years. Nothing says winter like eggnog or

gingerbread. Nothing says summer like a hotdog and a cold drink. And nothing says fall quite

like Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The drink was released for fall 2016 on September 6 to the general public, and on

September 1 to rewards members, marking its thirteenth consecutive seasonal debut. Nicknamed

“PSL,” it is Starbucks’ most popular seasonal drink of all time.

In spring 2003, after the team in the “Liquid Lab” successfully developed the Eggnog

Latte and Peppermint Mocha for the winter season, they were tasked with adding a new beverage

to the fall espresso lineup. After sampling pumpkin pie followed by sips of hot espresso, the

team thought they might be on to something.

“Nobody knew back then what it would grow to be,” said Peter Dukes, director of

espresso Americas for Starbucks. “It’s taken on a life of its own.” The Pumpkin Spice Latte was

tested at 100 stores in Vancouver and Washington, D.C in fall 2003.

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

“Within the first week of the market test, we knew we had a winner,” Dukes said. “Back

then, we would call store managers on the phone to see how a new beverage was doing, and you

could hear the excitement in their voices.”

The following year, the beverage was released to all of the company’s U.S. locations, and

it has been synonymous with fall ever since. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is so popular that an

average of 3,000 fans tweet each day using the hashtag #PSL to show their enthusiasm.

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

Mocha,” Starbucks Newsroom, September 1, 2016, accessed October 22, 2016,

https://news.starbucks.com/news/psl-chile-mocha-2016.

TRUE/FALSE

1. If a consumer enjoyed the PSL during the 2015 season, then they will also enjoy it during the

2016 season.

2. If a customer wants nutritional facts about the new Chili Mocha they should do an internal

information search on Starbucks’ website.

3. The perceived value of Starbucks coffee could be either utilitarian or hedonic depending on

the customer.

4. On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a Pumpkin Spice Latte best satisfies the safety level.

5. A consumer will only purchase the new Chili Mocha after engaging in extensive decision

making.

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 6-4 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking

KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following is an example of consumer behavior?

a. purchasing a PSL

b. drinking a PSL

c. tweeting a picture of their PSL purchase

d. All of these are examples of consumer behavior.

2. Pumpkin Spice Latte fanatics could be considered a(n) __________ of coffee enthusiasts.

a. reference group

b. subculture

c. social class

d. opinion leader

3. A person’s co-workers belong in their __________ membership group.

a. aspirational

b. nonaspirational

c. primary

d. secondary

4. A consumer’s decision making is influenced by their __________.

a. gender

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

b. age

c. lifestyle

d. personality

e. All of these

5. If a customer only remembers the good taste of the PSL and not the sugar headache it gave

them the last time they had one when ordering their next one, they are experiencing __________.

a. perception

b. selective exposure

c. selective distortion

d. selective retention

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

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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:

• 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.

• Second, there is a reference to text pages students 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.

• 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 MKTG11. 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.

Mark Andrew Mitchell, Coastal Carolina University

Cognitive Dissonance and the University Experience

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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, and

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

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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

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 problems 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?)

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?)

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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.

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 when the assignment is

introduced.

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

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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 experiences 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 the 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.

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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.

There are usually students who do not have similar symbols and cannot find a reference

group within the class.

10. If you have independents within the class, 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 or aspire

to has more influence on them than word of mouth from a stranger.

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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

Inertia

Brand Loyal

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

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

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.

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 (including the time needed for teams to report 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.