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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
1
Review and Assignments for Chapter 6
Review Quesons
1. The type of decision making a consumer uses for a product does not necessarily
remain constant. Why? Support your answer with an example from your own
experience.
Students’ answers should address some of the following points. Once a consumer has
experienced purchasing a particular product, extensive decision making may no longer be
2. Describe the three categories of consumer decision-making behavior. Name typical
products for which each type of consumer behavior is used.
Although students’ answers will vary, they should address some of the following points.
Consumers engage in routine response behavior when making inexpensive, habitual
purchases of familiar brands. Items in this category include shampoo, cigarettes, catsup,
3. Describe the level of involvement and the involvement factors likely to be associated
with buying a new computer. Do you think Apple’s website at http://www.apple.com
simplifies or complicates the process for the average consumer? Explain.
Answers may vary according to students’ characterizations of the average consumer and
4. How do beliefs and attitudes influence consumer behavior? How can negative attitudes
toward a product be changed? How can marketers alter beliefs about a product? Give
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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some examples of how marketers have changed negative attitudes about a product or
added or altered beliefs about a product.
Beliefs are organized patterns of knowledge that an individual holds as true about his or
her world. Consumers tend to develop a set of beliefs about a product’s attributes and then,
An attitude is a learned tendency to respond consistently toward a given object. Beliefs
help form the basis for attitudes, as do values. Often, the marketer’s goal is to change
Applicaon Quesons
1. Visit CarPoint’s website at http://carpoint.msn.com/home/New.asp. How does the site
assist consumers in the evaluation stage of choosing a new car? Develop your own
hypothetical evoked set of three or four car models and present your comparisons.
Which vehicle attributes would be the most important in your purchase decision?
This website provides a select list of cars, price points, and outside reviews of each car. Thus,
2. Recall an occasion when you experienced cognitive dissonance about a purchase. In a
letter to a friend, describe the event and explain what you did about it.
Although students’ answers will vary, the following example shows some of the points
students should address.
I decided to replace the two front tires on my car because they were beginning to look worn. I
suspected that my tires probably could hold out longer, but I wanted to be on the safe side.
When I went to shop for tires at a place that had been recommended to me, the mechanic
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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3. You are the new marketing manager for a firm that produces a line of athletic shoes
to be targeted at the college student subculture. For your boss, write a memo in which
you list some product attributes that might appeal to this subculture, list the steps in
your customers’ purchase process, and recommend some marketing strategies that
can influence their decision.
Students’ answers should address some of the following points. American college students
represent a large and powerful subculture. Marketers frequently promote products to this
4. Family members play many different roles in the buying process: initiator, influencer,
decision maker, purchaser, and consumer. Identify the person in your family who
might play each of these roles in the purchase of a dinner at Pizza Hut, a summer
vacation, Froot Loops breakfast cereal, an Abercrombie & Fitch sweater, golf clubs,
an Internet service provider, and a new car.
5. Assume you are involved in the following consumer decision situations: (a) renting a
video to watch with your roommates, (b) choosing a fast-food restaurant to go to with
a new friend, (c) buying a popular music compact disc, and (d) buying jeans to wear
to class. List the factors that would influence your decision in each situation and
explain your responses.
Application Exercise
Principles of consumer behavior are evident in many areas of marketing. Perhaps the easiest
place to see this critical foundation of marketing activity is in print ads.
Activities
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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a. Review the main concepts in this chapter and create a checklist that itemizes them. Then,
b. Because pictures can help reinforce understanding, consider doing this exercise for each
chapter in the book. At the end of the semester, you will have a portfolio of ads that
Purpose: This exercise requires students to closely examine print ads to see how they use the
Setting It Up: Students may not subscribe to a diverse enough set of magazines to create a
varied portfolio. Also, they may be unwilling to spend a large sum photocopying ads in the
This exercise was inspired by the following Great Idea in Teaching Marketing:
P.J. Forrest, Mississippi College
Print Ad Projects for Consumer Behavior
If you use a managerial approach to teaching consumer behavior (i.e., this is the concept, this is
what you do with it), you might find the use of print ad projects very helpful. This project has
One of the main benefits for the student in using this project is simple: “A picture is worth a
© 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.
Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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Over the years I have kept the “best of” ads from the student projects, and as a result I now have a
thick folder of ads for every chapter in the text. After I lecture on a topic, I whip out a bundle of
ads that illustrate the concept and show them how it is used. It is much easier to create
understanding when you can show them the differences in ads that use latent motives versus
Depending on the size of the class, I sometimes use this as an individual project or group project.
Ethics Exercise
EyeOnU operates a Web filter service for public schools and libraries to protect students from
inappropriate material on the Internet. Like the industry as a whole, the company’s market share
has been stagnant for the past two years. Looking for new sources of revenue, the company is
considering selling the data it has collected about student surfing habits to marketers trying to
learn more about students’ behavior on the Web. The data are anonymous, but privacy advocates
are concerned about the precedent of selling information about children to marketers.
Questions
1. What should EyeOnU do? Should it protect the students’ data or should it take the
opportunity to create new revenues?
EyeOnU could create new revenues from its information, but in order to comply with the
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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2. Does the AMA Code of Ethics address this issue? Go to
http://www.marketingpower.com and review the code. Then write a brief paragraph
on what the AMA Code of Ethics contains that relates to EyeOnU’s dilemma.
Although the AMA Code of Ethics does not specifically mention collecting information
from children, it does state, “Information collected from customers should be confidential
Video Assignment: Ski Buernut
Ski Butternut is a ski resort in the Berkshires. Because it is a “soft” mountain, Ski Butternut
collects large amounts of data based on rentals and Web traffic to make sure that it understands
who the customer is and to whom they need to market. Matt Sawyer also discusses how it
changes the mountain itself to meet the needs of the customer.
1. For Ski Butternut, racers, first-timers, and terrain-park enthusiasts would be considered:
a. opinion leaders.
b. lifestyle groups.
c. subcultures.
d. high-risk categories.
2. Matt Sawyer says that first-time skiers tend to stay with their first mountain for as many as
seven visits before trying another ski area. First-time skiers choosing Ski Butternut
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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indicates:
a. a want.
b. a consideration set.
c. a highly visible decision.
d. an enduring involvement decision.
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.
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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6. By using images of families skiing and people using the terrain park, Ski Butternut is
forming a(n):
a. primary membership group.
b. need.
c. subculture.
d. aspirational membership group.
7. Customers visiting the Ski Butternut mobile website are responding to:
a. some kind of stimulus.
b. something from their subculture.
c. an evaluation of an alternative website.
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
The drink was released for fall 2016 on September 6 to the general public, and on
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
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Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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“Nobody knew back then what it would grow to be,” said Peter Dukes, director of
The following year, the beverage was released to all of the company’s U.S. locations, and
The summer of 2014, the company even created an official Twitter account for the
Also joining the Pumpkin Spice Latte in the 2016 seasonal drink lineup was Starbucks’
The Chile Mocha is made with espresso and steamed milk infused with a cocoa and
For many, September 6 seems early to release a fall seasonal beverage, but Starbucks was
Sources: “Peter Dukes Shares the Story Behind Starbucks First Pumpkin Spice Latte,” ʼ
Starbucks Newsroom, August 24, 2014, accessed October 22, 2016,
© 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.
Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making
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Up Fall with Pumpkin Spice Latte and the New Chile Mocha,” Starbucks Newsroom, September
© 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.
