Consumer Behavior: Needs and Goals

Need Recognition

• Occurs when a consumer recognizes a difference between their current state and their desired state
• Can be triggered by internal or external factors
• Internal factors include physical needs, psychological needs, and cognitive needs
• External factors include environmental stimuli, social cues, and marketing messages

Self-Discrepancy Theory (SDT)

• Explains how people strive to achieve their ideal self-image
• States that individuals experience discomfort when there is a discrepancy between their actual self, ideal self, and ought self
• Actual self: who we are
• Ideal self: who we want to be
• Ought self: who we feel we should be
• This discomfort motivates consumers to seek products and services that help them close the gap

Needs vs. Goals

• Needs are basic requirements for survival and well-being
• Goals are specific, achievable objectives that individuals set for themselves
• Needs drive goals
• Goals are derived from needs

Selective Need vs. Generic Need Recognition

• Selective need recognition occurs when a specific product or service is needed to satisfy a need
• Generic need recognition occurs when a general need is recognized, but no particular product or service is identified

Expertise/Prior Experience

• Consumers with more expertise and prior experience are more likely to recognize needs and evaluate products effectively
• Conversely, consumers with little experience may need more information and guidance

Internal Search

• Occurs when consumers search their own memories for information about products and services
• Internal search is influenced by factors such as:
  • Past experiences
  • Knowledge
  • Beliefs
  • Attitudes
  • Values
  • prior brand loyalty
  • prior shopping habits

External Search

• Involves seeking information from external sources, such as:
  • Friends
  • Family
  • Colleagues
  • Marketing materials
  • Websites
  • Product reviews

Common Cognitive Biases

• Representativeness Heuristic: Tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how similar it is to a prototype or stereotype
• Availability Heuristic: Tendency to overweight information that is easily accessible or recalled
• Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic: Tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the anchor) when making a decision

Exposure, Attention, and Perception

• Exposure: Consumers' opportunity to see or hear a marketing message
• Attention: Consumers' allocation of cognitive resources to a marketing message
• Perception: Consumers' interpretation of sensory information
• Consumers need to be exposed to a message to be able to attend to it and perceive it
• Exposure, attention, and perception are all influenced by factors such as:
  • Motivation
  • Ability
  • Opportunity

Calculating Exposures

• Gross Rating Points (GRPs) are a common metric used to measure advertising impact
• GRP = Reach x Frequency
• Reach: Percentage of the target audience exposed to a marketing message at least once
• Frequency: Average number of times that the target audience is exposed to a marketing message

Perceptual Confirmation

• Tendency for consumers to perceive information that is consistent with their existing beliefs
• Example: A consumer who believes that Apple products are high quality may be more likely to notice positive reviews of Apple products and less likely to notice negative reviews

Selective Exposure

• Consumers' tendency to seek out information that supports their existing beliefs and avoid information that contradicts them
• Example: A consumer who believes in the benefits of organic foods may be more likely to read articles about the benefits of organic foods and less likely to read articles about the drawbacks of organic foods

Attention

• Consumers are bombarded with marketing messages every day
• Attention is limited
• Marketers need to create messages that stand out and grab consumers' attention
• Marketers can use several techniques to attract attention:
  • Novelty
  • Humor
  • Surprise
  • Intensity

Perception and Subliminal Advertising

• Perception is the process by which consumers interpret sensory information
• Subliminal advertising is a type of advertising that attempts to influence consumers without their conscious awareness
• Research shows that subliminal advertising is ineffective
• Consumers are generally not consciously aware of subliminal messages, and their decisions are not influenced by these messages

Weber's Law

• Weber's law states that the difference between two stimuli must be a certain proportion of the original stimulus in order for the difference to be noticeable
• Example: If you have a 100-gram weight in your hand, you will need to add 10 grams to be able to notice the difference
• The Just Noticeable Difference (JND) is the smallest difference in stimuli that can be detected

Attitude

• Attitude is a learned predisposition to respond to an object in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way
• Attitudes have three components:
  • Cognitive (thoughts and beliefs): "This car gets great gas mileage"
  • Affective (feelings and emotions): "I feel good about driving this car"
  • Behavioral (intentions and actions): "I am going to buy this car"

Mental Accounting Bias: Definition

• Mental accounting bias refers to the way people categorize and treat money differently depending on its source or intended use, even though money is fungible
• This can lead to irrational financial decisions.

Information Processing and Decision Making

• Consumers use information processing strategies to make decisions.
• Strategies include:
  • Cognitive processing: thinking about the decision
  • Affective processing: feeling about the decision
  • Behavioral processing: acting on the decision

Cognitive Responses

• Cognitive responses are thoughts that consumers generate in response to a marketing message
• Cognitive responses can be:
  • Favorable: "This product is great"
  • Unfavorable: "This product is overpriced"
  • Neutral: "I don't know if this product is good or bad"

Effective Communication (High Effort)

• Communication effectiveness is important, especially when consumers are engaged in high-effort processing.
• To effectively communicate with high-effort consumers, marketers should:
  • Provide strong arguments
  • Offer clear and concise information
  • use strong visuals
  • Use sources that are credible

Theory of Reasoned Action (TORA)

• TORA is a model of attitude formation and behavior
• The model predicts that attitudes influence behavior, and these attitudes are influenced by:
  • Beliefs about the consequences of the behavior
  • Evaluation of those consequences
  • Subjective norms (what others think about the behavior)

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

• TPB is an extension of TORA
• The model adds a third factor that influences behavior: perceived behavioral control
• Perceived behavioral control: Consumer's belief that they are able to control their behavior

Low-Effort Processing (System 1)

• Low-effort processing is a type of information processing that occurs when consumers are not highly motivated or able to process information
• Low-effort processing is often based on heuristics and biases

Inferences in Low Effort

• Consumers often make inferences about products or services based on limited information
• Inferences can be:
  • Direct: "This brand is expensive, so it must be good"
  • Indirect: "This product is made in Italy, so it must be stylish"

Thin-Slice Judgment

• Consumers often make judgments about others based on brief observations
• Thin-slice judgments are often accurate, but they can also be biased

Effective Communication (Low Effort)

• Communication that is effective for low-effort processing is often simple and repetitive
• Marketers can use:
  • Slogans
  • Jingles
  • Repetition
  • Visual cues to communicate with low-effort consumers

Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning is a type of learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a unconditioned stimulus that elicits a response
• Example: If a brand repeatedly pairs its products with positive stimuli, such as celebrities or music, consumers may develop positive feelings towards the brand

Humor in Advertising

• Humor is often used in advertising to attract attention and create positive associations
• Humor can be effective, but it is important to:
  • Use humor that is relevant to the product or service
  • Avoid humor that is offensive or insensitive
  • Make sure the humor is memorable
• Important to note, that sometimes humor can be distracting, and not resonate with the consumers anticipated comedic sensibilities.

Explore the fascinating concepts of need recognition and self-discrepancy theory in consumer behavior. This quiz delves into how individuals identify their actual, ideal, and ought selves, and how these concepts influence their purchasing decisions and goal setting. Test your understanding of the relationship between needs and goals in the context of consumer choices.