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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
16
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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
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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
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“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
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© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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
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© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
26
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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
