Lecture 6: Intro to Consumer Psychology

Question 1

What is Consumer Psychology?

Answer 1

• Consumer psychology: The study of human responses to product- and service-related information and experiences

Question 2

What is “product- and service-related information”?

Answer 2

o “Product- and service-related information” includes a large variety of things:
♣ Marketer initiated stimuli (e.g. advertisements, package labels, point-of-purchase displays)
♣ Consumer magazines and other media
♣ Word-of-mouth communications from friends and relatives

Question 3

What do human “responses” mean in response to product- and service-related information and experiences?

Answer 3

o “Responses” can be very broad and could be:
♣ Cognitive
♣ Emotional
♣ Behavioural

Question 4

What are the goals of Consumer Psychology?

Answer 4

• To learn about what makes consumers tick
  o Describe, predict, influence, and/or explain consumer responses
  ♣ E.g. Behaviours, feelings and thoughts
  o Understand what makes consumers pick certain products

Question 5

How did the field of Consumer Psychology grow in parallel with the consumer society?

Answer 5

o Industrial Revolution (1800s) significant increase in consumption
o Scientists became more interested in understanding consumers

Question 6

In the 1840s, Volney Palmer opened the first advertising agency (serving as a broker for ad space in newspapers) but what big event occurred during the 1850s?

Answer 6

• 1850s: Opening of department stores
  ♣ 1852: Le Bon Marche opens in Paris
  ♣ 1858: Macy’s opens in New York
  o Fixed pricing and wide range of products available

Question 7

What did Wilhelm Wundt do in 1879?

Answer 7

• 1879: Wilhelm Wundt establishes the first experimental psychology lab in Leipzig
  o Idea that psychologists should focus on experience instead of just theory

Question 8

What did William James do in 1890?

Answer 8

• 1890: William James publishes ‘The Principles of Psychology’
  o View that our possessions can shape our identity

Question 9

In the late 1800s, what large-scale action began occurring?

Answer 9

• Late 1800s: Beginning of large-scale advertising
  o E.g. Patent medicines
  ♣ Drugs very unregulated – anything could be sold and claimed to cure/treat anything
  ♣ e.g. Cole, St Jacob’s oil, cocaine, heroin

Question 10

During which historical period was there a growing interest in advertising by companies and governments?

Answer 10

1900-1930s

- Growing interest in advertising by companies and governments (propaganda)

Question 11

What did Henry Ford do in 1913?

Answer 11

• 1913: Henry Ford invents the assembly line
  o Manufacturing now easier, cheaper, faster
  o Greater competition between brands

Question 12

Government propaganda campaigns began when?

Answer 12

During WWI

Question 13

When did the first radio advertising occur in the USA?

Answer 13

1920

Question 14

In the 1920s and 1930s, there was an increase in what?

Answer 14

Increase in household appliances and cars

Question 15

The late 1930s saw an overall increase in what?

Answer 15

Increase in consumption

o E.g. Cotton, direct mail order catalogues

Question 16

What did Harlow Gale do in 1900?

Answer 16

• 1900: Harlow Gale conducts the first experiments on advertising
  o Effects of advertising on attention and memory

Question 17

What did Walter Dill Scott do in 1903?

Answer 17

• 1903: Walter Dill Scott publishes ‘The Theory of Advertising’
  o Consumers can be quite irrational –» open to “suggestion”
  ♣ Direct and indirect suggestions
  ♣ Indirect (e.g. coupons)

Question 18

Between 1913-1916, what did Harry Hollingsworth, Daniel Starch and Henry Foster Adams do?

Answer 18

• 1913-1916: Harry Hollingsworth, Daniel Starch, and Henry Foster Adams publish influential books on advertising
  o Harry Hollingsworth: How advertising effects purchasing behaviour
  o Daniel Starch: Links between attention and response
  o Henry Foster Adams: Advocated use of empirical method

Question 19

What did behaviourist John B. Watson do in 1920?

Answer 19

• 1920: John B. Watson joins an advertising firm
  o Classical conditioning
  o Testimonial advertising
  o Advertisers need to appeal to people’s basic motives and instincts (eg. fears)
  ♣ Basic drives

Question 20

What did H.K. Nixon do in 1924?

Answer 20

• 1924: H.K. Nixon publishes eye-tracking studies
  o What people get from looking at particular ads
  o Where people look when exposed to particular ads (attention)

Question 21

What did Albert Poffenberger do in 1925?

Answer 21

• 1925: Albert Poffenberger publishes ‘Psychology in Advertising’

Question 22

What year was the ‘Journal of Marketing’ established?

Answer 22

1936

Question 23

What year did TV advertising begin in the USA?

Answer 23

1941

Question 24

In 1942, what happened to the USA’s growth in consumption?

Answer 24

• 1942: Growth in consumption slows as WWII continues, with TV advertising having been heavily reduced

Question 25

What happened to consumption post-WWII?

Answer 25

Consumption starts to increase again

Question 26

What did governments do in the 1950s regarding consumption?

Answer 26

• 1950s: Governments around the world actively promote consumer societies
  o To rebuild economies

Question 27

What happened in the UK in 1955?

Answer 27

1955: UK opens its first commercial TV station

Question 28

What happened to Kurt Lewin during WWII?

Answer 28

• WWII: Kurt Lewin commissioned by the US Department of Agriculture
  o Research on housewives showed that level of involvement could increase likelihood of being persuaded to eat offal
  ♣ Offal marketed as good, nutritious
  ♣ “Variety” meat
  ♣ Those actively involved in promotion were more likely to exhibit interest in the product

Question 29

What did George Katona do between 1946-1971?

Answer 29

• 1946-1971: George Katona pioneers use of survey research to consumer buying; develops the Index of Consumer Sentiment
  o Found if people were more confident (about the economy), were more likely to enter into credit agreements

Question 30

What did Ernest Dichter do between 1946-1972?

Answer 30

• Ernest Dichter founds the Institute for Motivational Research
  o Introduces Freudian concepts to the US advertising industry (later made famous by Packard’s ‘The Hidden Persuaders’)
  ♣ Channel unacceptable desires into socially acceptable outlets
  o Idea that people consume things for a purpose
  ♣ Unconscious motives
  o Pioneered the focus group technique

Question 31

What happened in the 1950s and 1960s?

Answer 31

• Seminal research on attitudes and persuasion conducted

o E.g. Janis et al. (1959)

Question 32

What important event occurred in 1960?

Answer 32

• ‘Division of Consumer Psychology’ was formed

o Changed name to ‘The Society for Consumer Psychology’ (in 1988)

Question 33

What are Dichter’s motives for consumption?

Answer 33

o POWER: Large breakfasts, fast cars, power tools
o MASCULINITY/VIRILITY: Coffee, red meat, heavy shoes
o STATUS: Scotch, carpets (were originally expensive)
o FEMININITY: Cakes and biscuits, tea, silk
o MORAL PURITY/CLEANLINESS: Cotton fabrics, harsh household cleaning chemicals, bathing
o MAGIC/MYSTERY: Soups, paints, carbonated drinks
♣ Soups often used as remedy when ill