Psychology B2 - cognitive approach to consumer behaviour Flashcards
schema and consumer behaviour
-schema help us to make sense of the world by making it more predictable
-Therefore, adverts are more likely to challenge our schema rather than confirm them = schema incongruity
-a deliberate conflict between our schema and an adverts content
-example, by advertising an everyday product in a wacky’ way, it becomes more memorable
cognitive priming and consumer behaviour
-Priming is highly relevant to advertising
-key purpose of an advert is to prime a product or brand
-two ways priming is used in advertising
cognitive priming and consumer behaviour: direct attribution priming
-can prime the features of a product or brand itself
-is direct attribute priming
-an advert for a phone will highlight the phone’s positive features - its size, speed, price, etc.
-The consumer associates these attributes with the product
-Later, when considering the desirable features of a phone, the consumer thinks of the advertised brand
cognitive priming and consumer behaviour: indirect attribute priming
-powerful alternative approach is to prime attributes linked with the product or brand
-prime the context of a product rather than the product itself (Yi 1990)
-is indirect attribute priming
-context activates schema in the minds of consumers
-makes a product more accessible in memory
For example, supermarkets invent brands that people associate with desirable attributes.
For many people, the name Willow Farm’ is linked with positive images of farming, the countryside, health, etc. (and the products even have these images on them). The ‘Willow Farm’ of the brand does not exist. But the consumer associates these indirect attributes with the brand name. Later on, when thinking about the countryside or healthy eating, the consumer is primed to recall Willow Farm.
cognitive biases and consumer behaviour: confirmation bias
-we buy a product, we may look for evidence to confirm we made the right choice
-example, we are overly-impressed by small features of our product and ignore the benefits of alternative brands
-is self-fulfilling, which helps explain brand loyalty
cognitive biases and consumer behaviour: brand loyalty
-important in a market where actual differences between products are quite small and customers upgrade every couple of years
-example, a common perception is that some people buy Apple products purely because they are Apple products
-Apple ‘fans’ recall good things about Apple products, but only bad things about competitor’s products (or they ignore them)
-Companies exploit the cognitive biases associated with brand loyalty
-example by noting the features their customers like and highlighting these in their advertising
cognitive biases and consumer behaviour: authority bias
-consumers tend to assign more credibility to the opinion of an authority figure, who is likely to be an expert
-example, adverts for toothpaste often use ‘dentists’ to expan the benefits of the product
-Consumers are more persuaded by the authority even when they suspect the dentist is actually an actor
evaluation: research support (+)
-evidence that cognitive factors affect consumer behaviour
-North (2012) asked four groups of people to taste and describe wine while background music was being played, each group heard a piece of music that had different characteristics: 1. powerful and heavy piece, 2. something that was
‘subtle and refined’, 3. ‘zingy and refreshing’ and 4. ‘mellow and soft. -descriptions given by the participants tended to match the characteristics of the music, even though they all tasted the same wine
-supports priming as a key influence on memory
evaluation: problems of replication (-)
-findings of research are often contradictory
-studies support the view that priming and biases affect consumer behaviour, but many other studies don’t
-this contradiction illustrates the problem of replication
-study to be considered scientific, psychologists must be able to replicate it.
-they should be able to repeat the study and get the same outcome
-in this area of research, one study often has a surprising outcome that cannot be replicated by other researchers
This undermines the claims about the value of priming and biases in consumer behaviour.
evaluation: ethical issues (-)
-there are ethical issues involved in advertising techniques based on the cognitive approach
-For instance, by definition priming takes place without the individual’s awareness
-Advertising = obviously intended to influence people
-some adverts may be designed to influence consumers’ buying choices and brand loyalties in ways they are not aware of
-could be interpreted as a form of deception, which is unethical
-means that psychologists should think very carefully about their professional involvement with techniques deliberately designed to manipulate consumers’
perceptions of a product
