Marketing Chapter 3 Consumers Possessions Can Seen Confirm Extend Their Selfimages Using Possessions Number Ways

2. Consumers’ possessions can be seen to “confirm” or “extend” their self-images using

possessions in a number of ways:

i) Actually: by allowing the person to do things that otherwise would be very difficult

3. Consumers often wish to change themselves—to become a different or improved self.

a) In using self-altering products, consumers are frequently attempting to express their

individualism or uniqueness by creating a new self or take on the appearance of another

type of person.

b) Clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, grooming aids, and all kinds of accessories offer

consumers the opportunity to modify their appearance and thereby to alter their selves

c) Personal vanity and self-image and alteration of the self are closely related.

*****Use Figure 3.9 Here*****

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

3.1 Discuss the statement “marketers don’t create needs; needs pre–exist marketers.” Can

marketing efforts change consumers’ needs? Why or why not? Can they arouse

consumer needs? If yes, how?

a. Marketers do not create needs, though in some instances they may make consumers more

keenly aware of unfelt needs. The tactics used to promote many new products illustrates

that marketers often do not recognize or understand consumer needs and that they cannot

create a need for products. On the other hand, there are countless examples of products

that have succeeded in the marketplace because they fulfill consumer needs.

b. Marketing efforts are generally not designed to change consumer needs but to create or

trigger arousal of “wants” for products/services that consumers would then purchase to

c. Marketing efforts can arouse consumer needs, and, in many instances, they strive to make

consumers more keenly aware of unfelt or dormant needs. Corporations focus on

3.2 Consumers have both innate and acquired needs. Give examples of each kind of need

and show how the same purchase can serve to fulfill either or both kinds of needs.

Innate needs are called physiological needs in the chapter, and they are physiological in

nature (e.g., food, water, air, clothing, shelter, sex). Acquired needs are called psychological

3.3 List the innate and acquired needs that would be useful in developing promotional

strategies for the following products and explain how they would be useful:

a. global positioning devices

b. sunglasses that can be customized online

c. smartphones

3.4 Why are consumers’ needs and goals constantly changing? What factors influence the

formation of new goals? Apply the concepts of needs and goals to the introduction of a

new program by your college or university.

Needs and goals are constantly growing and changing in response to an individual’s physical

condition, environment, interactions with others, and experiences. As individuals attain their

3.5 How can marketers use consumers’ failures to achieve goals in developing promotional

appeals for specific products and services? Give examples.

Failure to achieve a goal often results in feelings of frustration and individuals react

differently to frustrating situations. Some people are adaptive and cope with frustrating

3.6 For each of the following products, select one level from Maslow’s hierarchy of human

needs. Describe how you would use the need you selected in promoting the product to a

market segment of your choice. The products are: e-readers, expensive shoes, and

vacation homes.

Maslow identifies five basic levels of human needs, which rank in order of importance from

3.7 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Maslow’s need hierarchy in

segmentation and positioning?

Maslow’s needs hierarchy received wide acceptance in many social disciplines because it

appears to reflect the assumed or inferred motivations of many people in our society. The

five levels of need postulated by the hierarchy are sufficiently generic to encompass most

3.8 a. How do researchers identify and “measure” human motives? Give examples.

b. Does motivational research differ from quantitative research? Discuss.

Yes. Quantitative research refers to data in the form of numbers and statistics. Motivational

c. What are the strengths and weaknesses of motivational research?

Because of the intensive nature of qualitative research, samples necessarily were small; thus,

there was concern about generalizing findings to the total market. Also, marketers soon

realized that the analysis of projective tests and depth interviews was highly subjective. The

same data given to three different analysts could produce three different reports. Other

3.9 How would you explain the fact that, although no two individuals have identical

personalities, personality is sometimes used in consumer research to identify distinct

and sizable market segments?

Because the inner characteristics that constitute an individual’s personality are a unique

combination of factors, no two individuals are exactly alike. Nevertheless, many individuals

3.10 Contrast the major characteristics of the following personality theories: a) Freudian

theory, b) neo-Freudian theory, and c) trait theory. In your answer, illustrate how each

theory is applied to the understanding of consumer behavior.

a) Freudian (or psychoanalytic) theory is based on the premise that subconscious needs,

especially biological and sexual needs, are the center of human motivation and

3.11 Describe personality trait theory. Give five examples of how personality traits can be

used in consumer research.

Trait theory constitutes a major departure from the qualitative measures that typify the

Freudian and neo-Freudian movements (e.g., personal observation, self-reported experiences,

dream analysis, projective techniques). Trait theory is primarily quantitative or empirical; it

3.12 Research has found that the target market selected by the maker of a digital camera

consists primarily of individuals who are other-directed and also have a high need for

cognition. How can the camera’s marketer use this information in promoting its product?

Inner-directed and other-directed consumers have different preferences with respect to

promotional messages. Because inner-directed people tend to depend on their own inner

values in evaluating new products and services, they prefer advertisements that emphasize

3.13 Describe the type of promotional message that would be most suitable for each of the

following personality market segments and give an example of each: (a) highly dogmatic

consumers, (b) inner-directed consumers, (c) consumers with high optimum stimulation

levels, (d) consumers with a high need for cognition, and (e) consumers who are visualizers

versus consumers who are verbalizers.

a) Highly dogmatic consumers are likely to respond favorably to a new product when the

3.14 Is there likely to be a difference in personality traits between individuals who readily

purchase foreign-made products and those who prefer American-made products? How

can marketers use the consumer ethnocentrism scale to segment consumers?

Consumers who are highly ethnocentric feel that it is inappropriate or wrong to purchase

foreign-made products, and a domestic marketer can attract them by stressing ethnocentric

3.15 A marketer of health foods is attempting to segment a certain market on the basis of

self-image. Describe how the marketer can use actual self-image and ideal self-image to

do so.

Actual self-image is how the consumers in fact see themselves and ideal self-image is how

HANDS-ON ASSIGNMENTS

3.16 Find two advertisements that depict two different defense mechanisms (Table 3.1) and

discuss their effectiveness.

Instructor’s Discussion

Have students clearly identify the defense mechanism first. Then have them explain how the

ad taps that defense mechanism and how effective it is. For example, a “slice-of-life”

commercial may show a young man faced with the problem of convincing a girl he likes to

3.17 Find three advertisements that illustrate the needs for order, achievement, and

affection and discuss their effectiveness. (Each advertisement should depict one of the

three needs.)

Instructor’s Discussion

Advertisements promoting order needs might focus on organizing things, putting things in

place, setting schedules, or planning, like the Container Store ad in the chapter. Affection or

3.18 Find two examples of ads that are designed to arouse consumer needs and discuss

their effectiveness.

Instructor’s Discussion

Latent needs are needs a consumer is not aware of. Advertisements are cues designed to

arouse needs. Without these cues, the needs might remain dormant. For example, an ad

3.19 Interview three friends about their favorite leisure-time activities. Do your leisure-

time preferences differ from those of your friends? Which personality traits might

explain why your preferences are different from or the same as those of other your

friends, and how so?

Instructor’s Discussion

This discussion-based exercise should help students reflect on the impact of personality on

common consumer choices and the challenges the use of personality-related segmentation

3.20 Find three print advertisements that illustrate concepts from Freudian personality

theory and discuss how they do so.

Instructor’s Discussion

3.21 Discuss how you curate your own social media self-image. What are your rules for

posting or viewing on social media?

Instructor’s Discussion

Student responses will vary. They may consider what their social media presence says to

friends and to prospective employers. They also may have concerns about privacy,

S.T.A.R. PROJECTS

Ethical Issues in Consumer Behavior

S.T.A.R. Project #1

The AdForum is a place where advertising agencies can display creative work. This intriguing

Web site boasts that the viewer can find 23,500+ domestic and global ads with a click of the

mouse. In addition, AdForum has up-to-the-minute news about the advertising world and how

Instructor’s Discussion

Typically, the AdForum Web site will have at least one cover story that will spark the student’s

interest with respect to ethics. With a little reading and appreciation of the material contained in

the chapter, the student should be able to make a connection between the ethical situation

involved in the advertisement and the personality variable. For example, in a commercial

S.T.A.R. Project #2

The Advertising Council is a nonprofit organization made up of volunteers from the advertising

industry whose goal and mission is to provide quality promotion for those needy causes that

could not afford such high-powered services on their own. Issues impacting health, the welfare

of our country, women’s issues, social causes like drug use prevention, and environmental

concerns have been the forte of the Ad Council in recent years. For all the good work that the

council does, some question whether the Ad Council has become more left-wing than right-wing

in their politics (and campaign messages) in recent years. Does a political spin to the promotions

created by the Ad Council harm its credibility?

a. Review the Ad Council’s Web page at www.adcouncil.org.

b. Review the issues, campaigns, organizations, and non-profit resources created and used by

Instructor’s Discussion

The Ad Council is a great place to see great advertising. In fact, the organization often wins the

coveted CLIO award in advertising. The point of this exercise is to not only introduce the student

S.T.A.R. Project #3

Few of us would misidentify who said “What’s Up Doc?,” and “Tickle Me Elmo” is not usually

mistaken as a directive to a friendly relative. Warner Bros. and Sesame Street Productions have a

unique position in our society. They also have a unique responsibility in that their messages are

seen and acted upon by thousands of children on a daily basis. To children, the characters from

these two creative giants are real and not imaginary. The personalities of the characters are often

emulated by youth. Go to the Looney Tunes Web site (http://looneytunes.kidswb.com) and

Sesame Street (www.sesamestreet.com) Web sites and observe how cartoon personalities are

developed.

a. What ethical responsibilities do Warner Bros. and Sesame Street Productions shoulder?

Instructor’s Discussion

Small Group Projects

S.T.A.R. Project #4

Have you ever been to a SlamBall match? Probably not. Warner Bros. and TNN network,

however, are betting that you soon will. What is SlamBall? Think about combining basketball,

hockey, roller derby, and trampolines. Sound exciting? SlamBall is played four on four on a full

court. Hockey-style rules make dribbling the SlamBall (similar to a basketball) somewhat

difficult so innovations in ball control are encouraged. There are basket goals that may be

Instructor’s Discussion

S.T.A.R. Project #5

Are you a visualizer or a verbalizer? Crayola is betting that your visual side is the stronger of the

two. Crayola has constructed a great Web site for your visual pleasure (see www.crayola.com).

While on the Web site, the visitor can find many activities, ideas, create cards, learn about color,

how crayons are made, and get helpful information to make a rainy day pass more quickly. One

of the most interesting features is giving the consumer the ability to design his or her own color

box of crayons. The color choices are endless.

a. What visualizer techniques does Crayola use to enhance the need for visualization in

consumers?

that you did? What does the color selection say about you and your personality?

Instructor’s Discussion

This colorful Web site is a great example of the visualizing aspect of a consumer’s personality.

The students will find many areas of visual stimulation. For a unique discussion, have the class