Consumer Behavior and Reference Groups Quiz

Topic 6: Consumer Attitude Formation & Change

• Exam format: 40 multiple-choice questions (0.5 marks each) and 6 essays (2.5 marks each)
• Exam focus: Trust your knowledge; some multiple-choice questions repeat answers, so don't panic.
• Attitude definition: A learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object.

Attitude Formation

• Consumers learn attitudes through experience, family and friends, and media/internet/social media.
• Personality factors, such as need for cognition and innovativeness, also play a role.

The Conative Component

• Attitude measurement using a Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree).
• Example question for measuring attitude towards 'Aramis Aftershave': "How likely are you to buy Aramis Aftershave during the next three months?" with options(very likely, likely, unlikely, very unlikely)
• Example question measuring attitude towards Apple products: "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “Apple products are worth their price because of their quality and innovation.”” with 5-point Likert scale

Learning Objective 6.3

• Multi-attribute models, like the attitude-toward-object, attitude-toward-behavior, the theory-of-reasoned-action, the theory-of-trying-to-consume, and attitude-toward-the-ad model, are used to understand and alter consumer attitudes.

Attitude-Toward-Object Model

• Ways to change attitudes: Add an attribute, Change perceived importance of an attribute, and Develop new products

Other Multi-attribute Models

• Attitude-toward-behavior model: Focuses on attitude toward behaving with respect to an object rather than the object itself. It is more closely related to actual behavior.
• Theory of reasoned action model: Includes cognitive, affective, and conative components, structured differently from the tri-component model.

The Theory of Trying-to-Consume

• Explains situations where action/outcome isn't ensured but efforts are made.
• Personal/environmental impediments can prevent achieving desired outcomes.

Attitude-Toward-The-Ad Model

• Consumer feelings resulting from ad exposure influence attitudes toward advertised brands/products.

Defensive Attribution

• People generally take credit for success (internal attribution) and assign failures to others or external events (external attribution).

Applications: Foot-in-the-Door & Door-in-the-Face Techniques

• Foot-in-the-door technique: Persuading consumers to say "yes" to a small request first to increase acceptance of a larger request later.
• Door-in-the-face technique: Making a very large request initially, then following up with a smaller request.

Topic 7: Persuading Consumer

Learning Objective 7.1

• Understand the communication model's elements, their positions, and functions in the communication process (sender, message, channel (medium), receiver)

Communication Interference

• Barriers to effective communication include selective exposure, time shift, and psychological noise.
• Overcome psychological noise by repetition, contrast, using digital technology, and positioning/providing value effectively

Traditional vs. New Media

• Traditional media: Broadcasting, one-way communication targeted at groups, less customized interaction, less accurate/delayed feedback.
• New media: Narrowcasting, two-way communication, addressable personalization and interaction, customized messages, more measurable feedback.

Messages

• Messages can be verbal, nonverbal, or both.
• Steps for sponsors/organizations include establishing objectives, creating awareness, promoting sales, encouraging/discouraging practices, attracting patronage, reducing dissonance, and creating goodwill/favorable image.

Topic 7-B: Advertising & Social Media

• The role of impressions-based and segment-based targeting is detailed.

Impression- vs. Segment-based Targeting

• Impression-based targeting: Real-time bidding, aggregates browser data, customized messages, immediate feedback, retargeting, and two-way communications.
• Segment-based targeting: Pre-negotiated prices, audience profiles and waste coverage, one-size-fits-all messages, delayed feedback, limited use, and timeshifting as a challenge.

Facebook Impressions

• A chart displaying the highest numbers of active users for various companies on Facebook: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Toyota, Weight Watcher and more.

Google Advertising Revenue

• Different types of ads, including web-search ads, online display ads, mobile advertising, YouTube ads, non-Google sites (search and display networks), and shopping site.

Defined: Social Media

• Social media allows people to interact, create, share, and exchange information in virtual communities and networks.

Defined: Owned Social Media

• Owned social media: Marketers control the delivery of messages to consumers via controlled channels.

Responses to Mobile Ads—Cross-Cultural Differences

• Responses to mobile ads differ across various cultures. The example states that Japanese men are responsive to word-of-mouth, Korean shoppers are impacted by interface control, and that Chinese consumers consider ease of use, usefulness, and trust as major factors.

Media Exposure Effects

• Media exposure: How many consumers received the media? Who received the media?
• Companies use metrics like Nielsen, Mediamark Research Inc., and Arbitron, to measure the success of campaigns, measuring engagement rate and its correlation to return on investment based on measures such as likes, dislikes and comments.

Topic 8: Reference Groups & Word of Mouth

• Information about social influence on consumer behaviors.

Reference Groups

• Reference groups act as sources of comparison, influence, and norms for individuals; values and behavior are influenced.
• Family is the most important reference group because it equips children with consumer skills, knowledge, attitudes, and experiences. This process is called consumer socialization.
• Word-of-mouth: Satisfied consumers communicate positive experiences to others about businesses, products, services, or events.

Types of Source

• Formal source: Individual or medium providing consumption-related information, paid for by an organization.
• Informal source: Person whom the receiver knows personally (like parent or friend).

Reference Group Influence

• Comparative influence: When individuals compare themselves to admired peers, adopting some of their values or behaviors similar to the peers.
• Normative influence: Individuals conform to group norms, values, and behaviors,

Credibility of Spokespersons, Endorsers, Celebrities, Salespersons, Vendors, and Media

• Various methods for assessing credibility, including endorsers/spokespersons, celebrity associations, salesperson credibility (typically for large companies), vendor credibility (typically for small companies or freelancers), message credibility (importance of experience), and media credibility.
• Synergy between endorser and ad-type, shared demographics with target audiences boosting credibility, and message consistency with spokesperson's qualifications are crucial.

E-WOM (Electronic Word-of-Mouth)

• E-WOM: Word-of-mouth over social networks, brand communities, blogs, and chat rooms.
• Factors influencing engagement includes social networks, brand communities, and blogs/microblogs.

Topic 9: Family & Social Class

• Information about social class and its impact on consumer behavior.

Chapter 10 Learning Objectives

• Family definition: Two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption, residing together.
• Types of families: Married couples, nuclear families, and extended families.

Consumer Socialization

• Defined as the process whereby children learn consumer skills, knowledge, and attitudes.
• Pre-adolescents observe parents and older siblings and find families more reliable than product advertising.

Socialization Agents

• Mothers are stronger socialization agents than fathers.

Learning Objective 10.5: Social Class and Status

• Social class: Dividing society into hierarchies based on status similarity.
• Social status: How much prestige a social class holds compared with other classes (based on wealth, power, and esteem).

Subjective vs. Objective Measures

• Subjective measures: Personal estimation of social class.
• Objective measures: Indicators of social class, including occupation, education, income, multivariable index, index of status characteristics and socioeconomic status scores.

Comparing Social Classes

• Spending patterns, clothing, fashion, shopping, money saving, spending habits, and credit card usage across different social classes.
• Media consumption patterns change with social class, and marketers need to understand these changes.

Topic 10: Culture's Influence on Consumer Behavior

• Culture is closely related to society and influences consumer behavior.

"Levels" of Cultural Norms

• Supranational: Shared cultural values (e.g., racial, religious, regional) across societies.
• National: Core values, customs, and personalities of a particular country.
• Group: Cultural subdivisions within a country (e.g., subcultures) and reference groups. Youth segmentation at the supranational level, segmented into in-crowd, networked intelligentsia, pop mavericks, and thrill renegades.

Learning Cultural Values

• Formal and informal learning: Formal learning involves receiving cultural values directly from others like parents while informal learning is focused on observation.
• Enculturation (consumer socialization): Process of adopting cultural values vs. acculturation (adopting a new culture).
• Marketing's influence on cultural values.

Defined: Ritual

• Rituals: Symbolic processes consisting of multiple behaviors in fixed and repeated sequences.

Measuring Cultural Values

• Quantitative Methods of measuring cultural values include content analysis, field observation, depth interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires.

Criteria to Select Core Values

• Criteria for core value selection: The value must be pervasive, enduring, and related to consumer behavior. An example of how this works in Saudi culture is described in terms of hospitality, generosity, citizenship, loyalty, and respect.