CHAPTER 13
SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO1: Define situational influence
LO2: Explain the four types of situations and their relevance to marketing strategy
LO3: Summarize the five characteristics of situations and their influence on consumption
SUMMARY
LO1: Define situational influence
Situational influence as all those factors particular to a time and place that do not follow from a
knowledge of the stable attributes of the consumer and the stimulus and that have an effect on current
behavior.
LO2: Explain the four types of situations and their relevance to marketing strategy
Four categories of situations are communications, purchase, usage, and disposition situations. The
situation in which consumers receive information is the communications situation. The situation in
behavior (disposition situation).
LO3: Summarize the five characteristics of situations and their influence on consumption
Five characteristics of situations have been identified. Physical surroundings include geographical and
institutional location, decor, sound, aromas, lighting, weather, and displays of merchandise or other
material surrounding the product. Retailers are particularly concerned with the effects of physical
surroundings. The sum of all the physical features of a retail environment is referred to as the store
Task definition reflects the purpose or reason for engaging in the consumption behavior. The task may
reflect different buyer and user roles anticipated by the individual. For example, a person shopping for
dishes to be given as a wedding present is in a different situation from a person buying dishes for
personal use.
LO4: Discuss ritual situations and their importance to consumers and marketers
A ritual situation can be described as a set of interrelated behaviors that occur in a structured format,
LO5: Describe the use of situational influence in developing marketing strategy
Situational influences may have direct influences, but they also interact with the product and
LECTURE TIPS AND AIDS
1) Table 13-2 is a convenient way to discuss how a situation can be used to understand needs and to
segment markets and position products. It is useful to conduct the following in-class exercise.
a) Select a product such as soft drinks, coffee, milk, or another product of interest.
d) Identify the key benefits sought in each use situation.
e) Identify all the products that might provide those benefits.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1) What is meant by the term situation? Why is it important for a marketing manager to understand
situational influences on purchasing behavior?
A situation is a set of factors outside of and removed from the individual consumer, as well as
removed from the characteristics or attributes of the stimulus object that the consumer is taking
2) What are physical surroundings (as a situational variable)? Give an example of how they can
influence the consumption process.
Surroundings are those apparent, physical (real) aspects of any situation such as sound, light,
configurations of merchandise, etc. The decor of a restaurant affects (or can affect) consumers and
influences their purchase (choice) and consumption.
3) How does crowding affect shopping behavior?
As more people enter a store and/or as more of the space of the store is filled with merchandise, an
4) What is store atmosphere?
The sum of all the physical features of a retail environment is referred to as the store atmosphere
or environment.
5) What is atmospherics?
6) What is a servicescape?
Atmosphere is referred to as servicescape when describing a service business such as a hospital,
bank, or restaurant.
7) What are social surroundings (as a situational variable)? Give an example of how they can
influence the consumption process.
8) What is temporal perspective (as a situational variable)? Give an example of how it can influence
the consumption process.
Temporal perspectives deal with the effect of time on consumer behavior. For example, the length
of time available for a grocery shopping trip will have an effect on the amount of purchasing one
does, as well as on the store one selects.
9) What is task definition (as a situational variable)? Give an example of how it can influence the
consumption process.
10) Why do people give gifts?
Consumers give gifts for many reasons. Social expectations and ritualized consumption situations
11) How might the receipt of a gift affect the relationship between the giver and the receiver?
The nature of a gift can signify the type of relationship the giver has or desires with the receiver. A
gift of stationery implies a very different desired relationship between two individuals than does a
gift of cologne.
12) What are antecedent conditions (as a situational variable)? Give an example of how they can
13) What is a mood? How does it differ from an emotion? How do moods influence consumption
behavior?
Moods are transient feeling states that are generally not tied to a specific event or object. They are
14) How do people manage their moods?
We often seek situations, activities, or objects that will alleviate negative moods or enhance
movie, eat at an upbeat restaurant, or purchase a new compact disk, shirt, or other fun product.
15) How do moods differ from momentary conditions?
Moods are transient feeling states that are generally not tied to a specific event or object. They
16) What is meant by the statement, “Situational variables may interact with product or personal
characteristics”?
Normally, no one variable will be totally responsible for behavior. Some combination of two or all
three variables will usually be present. For example, the personal characteristic of urban or rural
background may interact with the social surrounding situation of crowding (or the perception
thereof) to influence behavior.
17) Are individuals randomly exposed to situational influences? Why?
18) What is a ritual situation? Why are they important?
A ritual situation can be described as a socially defined occasion that triggers a set of interrelated
19) Describe a process for developing a situation-based marketing strategy.
Individuals do not encounter situations randomly. Instead, most people “create” many of the
situations they face. This allows marketers to consider advertising and segmentation strategies
Discussion Questions
20) Discuss the potential importance of each type of situational influence in developing a marketing
strategy to promote the purchase of (gifts to/shopping at)
a) National Audubon Society
b) Subway
c) iPhone
21) What product categories seem most susceptible to situational influences? Why?
As a general category, service type products (restaurants, theaters, and so forth) seem particularly
susceptible to situational influences. Traditional gift items such as flowers and candy will also be
22) Flowers are “appropriate” gifts for women for many situations but seem to be appropriate for men
only when they are ill. Why is this so? How might 1–800–FLOWERS change this?
This discussion could revolve around attitudes and how marketers can change attitudes toward a
product. This discussion can tie back nicely to the material on changing values and gender roles
from Chapter 3 and attitude change in Chapter 11.
23) How could the store atmosphere at the following be improved?
a) The main library on campus
b) The bank lobby near campus
24) Speculate on what a matrix like the one shown in Table 13-2 would look like for the following
a) Tablet computers
b) Eyewear
c) Ice cream
c. Identify the key benefits sought in each situation.
d. Identify all the products that might provide those benefits.
e. Repeat a through d for other groups of interest.
25) Does Table 13-1 have implications for outlets other than restaurants? If yes, which ones and why?
Yes. Assuming that the type of music would cause people to linger or accelerate the time spent in a
store, most retail outlets should play slow music to encourage lingering (and more unplanned
verified by experiment for a particular type store before full implementation. And, restaurants that
26) Do your shopping behavior and purchase criteria differ between purchases made for yourself and
purchases made as gifts? How?
Students will generally give replies similar to those described in the text. Push them to think of
differences in how they shop for gifts for different people and why those differences exist.
27) Describe a situation in which a mood (good or bad) caused you to make an unusual purchase.
28) Describe a relatively private ritual that you or someone you know has. What, if any, consumption
pattern is associated with it.
29) Describe the consumption rituals your family has associated with the following
a) Family birthdays
b) Summer vacations
c) Thanksgiving
d) Halloween
30) Respond to the questions in Consumer Insight 13-1.
Q1 – You may want to begin with a quick poll to determine the number of students who are aware,
have seen the new mannequins (larger sized, detailed, striking poses), then proceed to ask those
who have seen the new mannequins to express their opinions.
Many of your students will have visited a Nike store. You may want to ask their opinions about
Q2 – This question is designed to spark thought on the unevenness of attention to female over male
mannequins. You may want to relate this question with the previous reading on the Dove Real
Beauty Campaign and the underlying (controversial) perception that beauty/appearance plays a
more central role in women’s self–concept than men’s self-concept. Are mannequins (supposed to
be) the embodiment of the ideal standard of culturally-defined beauty?
Q3 – Students are aware that stores have cameras that record their behavior. It can be argued that
digital mannequins are just another form of in-store intelligence that is less information intrusive