review final Flashcards
What is the study of consumer behaviour?
The study of the processes that people use to choose, purchase, consume, and dispose of goods with value (products, services, ideas, experiences) to satisfy their needs, and the impacts of these on society
Motivation
Processes that cause people to behave as they do. Why consumers do what they do
why is motivation important for brands
Having a good understanding of consumer motivations allows brands in the process of product development and product design.
The motivation process step 1
The motivation process begins when a need, which refers to a discrepancy between the present and an ideal state, is aroused
two types of need
utilitarian: a functional or practical need that is generally purposed to solve a problem
hedonic: an experiential need involving emotional responses
difference between a need and a want
A need is a more generic state that is experienced by consumers like hunger, thirst, need for affiliation, need for achievement, etc, and may be satisfied in various ways.
A want, on the other hand, is a form of consumption used to satisfy a need. A want is generally shaped by consumers’ personality, cultural background, individual preferences and differences, environmental factors etc.
ex: hunger (need) → pizza (want)
what are the 3 framewroks classifying consumer needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Murray’s theory of psychogenic needs
Copeland’s buying motives
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
classifies human needs into five main categories and posits that they are organized in a hierarchy.
self-actualization
esteem needs
love needs
safety needs
physiological needs
Humans are inherently motivated to better themselves and move toward expressing their full potential
Murray’s theory of psychogenic needs
According to Murray, there are biogenic needs which are driven by our biology (hunger, thirst, rest, and shelter) and psychogenic needs. These psychogenic needs underly human behaviour whether consumers are consciously aware of their motivation or not.
Ambition Needs
Achievement: Need to overcome obstacles and succeed
Exhibition: Need to attract attention
Recognition: Need to show achievements to others and gain recognition for these.
Materialistic Needs
Acquisition: Need to acquire things.
Retention: Need to keep things that have been acquired.
Order: Need to be organized and precise, to make things clean, neat and tidy
Power Needs
Dominance: Need to have control or influence on others
Autonomy: Need to resist others by being independent
Aggression: Need to forcefully overcome an opponent, taking revenge or punishing them.
Harm avoidance: Need to escape or avoid pain, injury, and death
Infavoidance: Need to avoid being humiliated or embarrassed.
Defendance: Need To defend oneself against attack or blame, hiding any failure of the self.
Compliance: Need to agree with others
Affiliation Needs
Affiliation: Need to make associations and friendships
Change: Need to experience new things
Assistance (Nurturance): Need to help, support, protect, or comfort those who are in need.
Play: Need to relieve tension and have fun
Rejection: Need to separate oneself from a negatively viewed object or person, excluding or abandoning it.
Information Needs
Analysis (Cognizance): Need to seek knowledge and ask questions about things in order to understand
Copeland’s buying motives
categories about 30 buying motivations under three main categories:
- instinctive buying motives,
- emotional buying motives,
- rational buying motives
instinctive needs:
Distinctiveness. Desire to manifest individuality in judgment and/or taste, or to display leadership in personal appearance, or in the appreciation of new offerings
Emulation. To equal or rival peers in display, or to show that one can keep up with their peers, wherever the avenue of expenditure may lead.
Social achievement. Achievement of distinction in social relationships by the manifestation of good taste in managing and participating in social affairs
Proficiency. To experience the satisfaction that is felt in doing one’s tasks well, and incidentally from the enjoyment getting credit for successfully doing a task
Maintaining and preserving health. Desire to self-preserve
Proper care of children. Desire of parents to assure their children of proper care, by such means as providing comfortable clothing and healthful food
Satisfaction of the appetite. This pertains to the inherent desire for food and drink, in order to provide nutrition and refreshment for the body.
Alleviation of laborious tasks. Desire to lessen the effort required to perform essential tasks, to “save labor,” to mitigate the performance of disagreeable tasks,
Security from danger. To obtain security from danger, either to one’s self or to one’s family
Rational Buying Motives:
These are based on logical reasoning and the practical benefits a product offers. Consumers are motivated by factors such as quality, functionality, and value for money.
Dependability in use. The desire to purchase a good that would accomplish the object sought.
Dependability in quality. The desire to purchase a good that has good quality.
Durability. Desire to purchase a good that has high resistance to wear and tear and a good length of life
Economy in use. Desire to reduce the amount that otherwise would be expended for other purposes”
Emotional Buying Motive
Emotional motives are driven by feelings, desires, and aspirations. Consumers may be motivated by factors like excitement, pleasure, or emotional connections with a product.
Pride of personal appearance. Desire to feel elation at having those things of which one is worthy, the satisfaction of making a good impression for one’s own worth, or, more commonly, by one’s appearance.
Expression of artistic taste. Desire to express artistic taste is not primarily to achieve distinctiveness or to satisfy pride, but to enjoy art and artistic accomplishment, to obtain the satisfaction which comes to the possessor of that which is artistic.
Securing personal comfort. Desire to enjoy the contentment which flows from physical comfort.
Pleasure of recreation. Recreation is the refreshment of strength and spirits by pleasurable activities, and usually carries with it a connotation of desire to enjoy the big outdoor world
Securing home comfort. Desire of a person to make their home comfortable because of the pleasure which accrues from the comfort itself; it carries with it the concept of the quiet, personal enjoyment of one’s home.
motivational strength
consumers prioritize certain needs and become more motivated to satisfy them because they have several needs at a given moment, but have limited resources to satisfy them all at once
aspects of motivational strength
- degree of tension
- positive incentives
- importance and urgency
- availability and ressources
motivational conflicts
two motivations cannot be addressed at the same time
Approach-approach conflic
Approach-avoidance conflict
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
Approach-approach conflict
Occurs when a consumer must choose between two desirable outcomes. For instance, imagine that you have to choose between going to Paris with your parents and going to London with your friends during the break. Another example could be a consumer choosing between purchasing a MacBook or a Dell laptop.
Approach-avoidance conflict
Occurs when a desirable outcome comes in expense of an undesirable outcome. For instance, you want to eat ice cream but you are trying to lose weight or you want to go to a party but there is a final exam the next day.
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
Occurs when a consumer must choose between two undesirable outcomes such as studying and cleaning the apartment.
Consumer involvement
refers to a consumer’s perceived relevance of a stimulus (ad, product, purchase decision) which determines their desire to process relevant information.
the extent to which a consumer pays attention to a piece of information
what are the three main factors that influence consumer involvement?
Individual differences : how strong/important one’s need is, personal interest on subject, and values.
Stimuli factors: the information source and content
Situational factors: consumption context and risk associated with the stimuli.
strategies to improve involvement
- using novel and prominent stimuli,
- using celebrity endorsers,
- using consumer-generated content,
- allowing for product customization, etc.
important to have a good understanding of the consequences of involvement:
consequences of involvement:
increased involvement leads to elicitation of counter-arguments, amplifies perceived differences among products/product attributes, and increases the amount of information search.
affect
experiences of emotionally laden states
two dimensions of affect
mood and emotions
mood
temporary positive or negative states accompanied by moderate levels of arousal
emotions
intense and discrete states that are often related to a triggering event.
What distinguishes moods and emotions?
- Moods are more long-lasting going for hours or even days, compared to emotions that generally only last minutes,
- Emotions typically originate in response to something specific (e.g., an event, a person, an object), whereas moods are much more diffuse with no identifiable object,
- Moods are not as intense as emotions.
us of affect in marketing
highlight the experience of positive affect or avoidance of negative affects as a product benefit
capitalize on mood congruency effects and positive mood spillovers
capitalize on the predictive power of discrete emotions
Discrete emotions
Happiness
Guilt
Fear
Disgust
Embarrassment
important to understand how these specific emotions influence consumption decisions, especially considering that companies now have the tools to infer the emotions consumers experience at a given moment.
When feeling happy, consumers…
act more generously toward others, are more likely to prefer safer choices rather than risky ones, and be less price sensitive.
When feeling guilty, consumers…
are more likely to do a good deed (e.g., donate to a charity, help someone who is in need) and become motivated for self-improvement. Consumers who are guilt prone (vs. who are not guilt prone) give more importance to quality and ethical aspects when purchasing a product.
When feeling embarrassed, consumers
prefer familiar and less conspicuous brands, show lower preference for luxury products, and avoid products and brands that may trigger their embarrassment.
When feeling fearful, consumers
overestimate risk associated with an event/product/purchase and make more risk averse decisions, and perceive products unsafe and dangerous even if they are objectively not unsafe or dangerous.
When feeling disgust, consumers
have a general tendency to avoid products or brands. Also, people who are more sensitive to disgust are less likely to try novel or exotic foods, highlighting the role of this emotion in food consumption.
Self-concept
refers to the beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions a person holds about themselves. mental image a person has of their own identity, including their personality, abilities, values, roles in life, etc.
Real/ actual self
refers to how a person currently defines their self-concept, which may include certain personality traits and characteristics, beliefs about their appearance, and certain concepts that help them define who they are.
Ideal self
refers to how a person ideally wants to see themselves.
Self-esteem
refers to the extent to which a person has a positive or a negative
attitude toward their real self.
Self-consciousness
refers to the degree to which a person cares about how others view one’s self.
Self-expression
refers to how people communicate their self-concept to others through their behaviors, choices, and consumption patterns.
Personality
The unique psychological make-up of an individual
Trait theories of personality
based on quantitative measurement of traits, and identifiable characteristics that contribute to defining a person’s personality.
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
Materialism
Need for Cognition
Need for Uniqueness
Personality traits have an influence on consumption decisions in several ways
Openness
The tendency to appreciate new ideas, values, feelings, and behaviours.
Conscientiousness
The tendency to be careful, well-organized, and structured.
Extraversion
The tendency to be sociable, to be talkative, and to enjoy others’ presence.
Agreeableness
The tendency to go long with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions and choices.
Neuroticism
The tendency to frequently experience intense emotions.
Materialism
The tendency to importance to possession of material objects
Need for Cognition
The extent to which individuals are inclined towards effortful cognitive activities
Need for Uniqueness
An individual’s pursuit of differentness relative to others
How is the traits theory of personality useful to marketers
marketers need to identify the personality traits that are most influential on the consumption decisions related to their offerings and understand how consumer segments they target score on these traits
Brand personality
Set of traits people attribute to a brand as if it were a person
most common ones:
sincerity → ex: Toms
excitement → ex: redbull
competence → ex: tide
sophistication → ex: channel
ruggedness → ex: Harley Davidson
Lifestyle
patterns of consumption reflecting a person’s choice of how they spend time and money
Consumers’ interests, activities, and opinions (IAO) shape up their lifestyle
important for marketers to have a good understanding of the lifestyle of the consumers they target in order to design effective marketing and communication strategies.
interests
Family, Home, job, community, recreation, fashion, food, achievement
Activities
work, hobbies, social events, vacation, club memberships
Opinion
Themsleves, social issues, politics, business, economics, education, products, culture
Values
Lasting beliefs on what is good vs. bad. The belief that some condition is preferable to its opposite
family
health
happiness
freedom
achievement
respect
Attitude
A lasting general evaluation of concepts like people, brands, product, social issues, etc
Function of attitudes
Attitudes are functional in the sense that they help people pursue their goals, and proposed four functions of attitudes.
- Utilitarian Function
- Knowledge Function
- Value-Expressive Function
- Ego-Defensive Function
Utilitarian Function
attitude formed and held in order to provide people with an efficient way to distinguish objects that bring pleasure and objects that produce pain. These attitudes are generally rooted in a desire to satisfy personal needs and desires to maximise utility
Knowledge Function
attitudes could help people gain a greater understanding of the structure of their world. the world that people inhabit is extremely complex, and attitudes may facilitate making sense of that world without serving needs other than understanding.
Value-Expressive Function
attitudes can facilitate the expression of people’s abstract values. An attitude may help people have their voice heard, express their self-concept, and remain consistent with their values.
Ego-Defensive Function
attitudes allow people to avoid acknowledging unpleasant aspects of their self or the external world. Attitudes can thus promote protecting self-esteem
The ABC model
attitude consists of three components:
affect (A): the way one feels about the concept
behaviour (B): intentions one has towards the concept
cognition (C): what one thinks/knows about the concept
Having assessed each of these dimensions, one can have an idea about the overall attitudes the consumer holds toward the concept.
attitude theory: consistency principle
suggests that consumers have a need to be consistent in the way they feel, behave, and think about a concept
attitude theory: cognitive dissonance
tension people experience when there is a conflict between their behaviour and their cognition (i.e., beliefs). the tension experienced is called cognitive dissonance
Dissonance reduction
- stop behaviour
- change belief
- introduce a new belief that is concistent with the behaviour
attitude theory: balance theory
Balance theory considers relations among elements that a person might perceive as belonging together. It involves relations among three elements, resulting in attitude structures that are called triads.
Four ways to solve an imbalance in the triad:
1. Mark changes his attitudes toward Annie (and starts having a negative attitude toward her)
2. Mark changes his attitudes toward weed (and starts having a positive attitude toward weed)
3. Mark negates the relation between Annie and weed by assuming that she started
5
smoking weed when she was a teenager due to peer pressure and bad influence
(reducing the free-choice element in Annie’s decision)
4. Mark stops thinking about Annie and her relation with weed (i.e., leaves the field,
denial)
The main managerial implication of balance theory is about celebrity/influencer endorsements or cause marketing
attitude theory: multi-attribute attitude model
in certain cases, consumers form attitudes about a concept (e.g., a product) based on its attributes they consider to be important.
attitude score = sum of the ratings of each attribute adjusted based on importance weight
Do attitude predict actual behaviour?
attitude that is formed through high involvement and/or with direct experience likely predicts actual behaviour, especially when it is specific and easily accessible in consumers’ minds. However, in certain instances, attitudes may not predict actual behaviour.
situational factors → may not have the money
normative influence → friends may think its not cool
individual differences → high need for consistency so won’t swith brands
Persuasion
attempts to change a person’s attitude toward a concept or behaviour. six main principles of persuasion
- Reciprocity
- Scarcity
- Consensus
- consistency (commitment)
- liking
- Authority
principle of reciprocity
people are more likely to give if they receive first
people are more likely to comply with a request if they receive something first because people are motivated to reciprocate the favours that are done to them.
principle of scarcity
items (e.g., products, brands) become more valuable when they are less accessible (i.e., when they are scarce).
Limited-time deals or limited-edition products released in limited quantity are partially based on the use of the scarcity principle. Also, brands sometimes use the scarcity principle in building their business model
principle of consensus (also known as principle of social proof)
people often decide what to do or how to behave by looking at what others have done.
telling people that their energy consumption was higher than the average energy consumption in their neighbourhood was a more effective strategy in reducing energy consumption, compared to giving people information about how to decrease their energy consumption and its benefits to the environment.
principle of consistency (also known as principle of commitment)
people have a strong desire to be consistent with their previous opinions, commitments, and actions.
“Foot-in-the-door Technique”. The technique is based on making a small request in the beginning before bringing up the more effortful request. The idea is if the consumers says yes to a small request, it would increase the likelihood of them agreeing to a second, relatively larger request due to the consistency principle.
principle of liking
people are more easily influenced by those they like and people generally like others who (1) are similar to them, (2) give them compliments, and/or (3) cooperate with them.
Salespeople, for instance, when dealing with a consumer, start the interaction by asking personal questions so that they can show that they are similar to the consumer in order to capitalize on the liking principle
principle of authority
people are more easily influenced by those they perceive to be legitimate authorities.
By hanging their awards, diplomas and certifications on the walls of their clinic, the therapists were able to raise compliance by 34%. using doctors while promoting medication or dentists while promoting dental hygiene products.
Persuasion knowledge model (PKM)
consumers develop knowledge about persuasion (i.e., persuasion knowledge) and use this knowledge (knowledge about the persuasive tactics and techniques being used) to deal with persuasive attempts.
Consumers use their persuasion knowledge to get the best outcome for themselves. If consumers get suspicious of the ulterior motive of the persuasive agent while using these persuasion tactics, they would attribute negative motives to the persuasive agent and be less easily persuaded.
Consumer decision-making
- Need recognition
- information search
- Evaluation of alternative
- Purchase
- Post-purchase evaluation
consumers sometimes do not go through every step of this process or use decision rules when making purchase decisions.
Need recognition
consumers recognize a need, gap between the current state and the desired state
Information search
could be internal or external
internal: searching one’s knowledge and memory to extract all the information one has about the decision on hand
external: using other resources like friends, experts, consumer reviews etc.
amount of info depends on:
- availability
- consumer’s prior expertise
- risk associated with the choice
Evaluation of alternatives
Based on the information search, consumers form a consideration set, which includes all the options that have a chance of being purchased
Purchase
consumers may use different strategies while making a purchase decision.
- heuristics : mental shortcuts
- category leader: best performing
- decision rules: compensatory and non-compensatory
Decision-making rules
the consumer identifies attributes, then considers how important each attribute would be for making this decision, the consumer then rates each product on these attributes, before applying the decision-making rules
Compensatory decision-making rules
a low rating in one attribute could be compensated by a high rating in another attribute
Simple additive compensatory decision-making rule: sum of all the ratings to have a total score for each product in the consideration set (presented under the total score column) and choose the one that scores the highest.
Weighted additive compensatory decision-making rule: sum of all the ratings adjusted based on the importance weight to have a total score for each product in the consideration set and chose the one that scores the highest
Non-Compensatory Decision-Making Rules
Lexicographic rule: Consumer chooses the product that has the highest rating on the attribute that is the most important
Elimination-by-aspects rule: Consumer identifies a cut-off point on the most important attribute and eliminates alternatives that are below the cut-off point
Conjunctive rule: Consumer identifies a cut-off point on all the attributes (i.e., the cut-off point imposed to all attributes), and eliminates alternatives that are below the cut-off point on any attribute.
Post-Purchase Evaluation
if the product’s performance surpasses the consumer’s expectations, the consumer would be satisfied. Satisfaction is important in the sense that it leads to brand loyalty
if the product performance cannot achieve the consumer’s expectations, the consumer would be unsatisfied and it would be unlikely that she/he gives the brand a second chance and bad word of mouth.
consumers may experience a post-purchase cognitive dissonance, thinking that an option they passed on was a better choice than the option they chose.
Post-purchase cognitive dissonance
consumers may
(1) reassure themselves that they made the right choice,
(2) try to convince themselves that the other option was not better,
(3) find some other flaws of the foregone option.
to help with that compagnies have strategies like return policies
Sensation
Immediate response of sensory receptors
How do consumers make sense of the sensory stimuli to which they are exposed?
Perception: process by which sensations are selected, organized and interpreted
exposure→ attention→ interpretation
sight
visual stimuli can guide where consumers fixate and pay attention to in an ad. Presenting a product in coherence with the orientation of consumers’ sensory receptors plays a role in driving mental simulation and subsequent purchase intentions. if consumers can picture themselves using it they are more likely to purchase it.
consumers use observable attributes of products (e.g., shape, design, colours, etc.) to make inferences about their unobservable attributes (e.g., quality, taste, nutritional values, etc.).
ugly produce example + importance of packaging
colours also affect behaviour.
Vision is one of the senses that is very prone to illusions and deception
Elongation bias
Smell
Odours are known to
-stir emotions
-evoke memories
-influence mood
memories that are associated with scent are long-lasting and easy to retrieve, scent retrieval cues were rated as more emotional than those evoked by the other types of cues,
consumers may make inferences about a product’s unobserved qualities based on its scent
ex: citrus scents are strongly associated with cleanliness and freshness. the scent is intentionally added to these products not to increase their actual performance, but to enhance consumers’ perceptions about their performance
Touch
while some consumers have a high need for touch to make sense of their environment, some consumers have a lower need for touch. several implications for companies that sell their products online.
creative ways to improve consumers’ online shopping experience and increase their confidence in their judgments by (i) offering flexible and free return policies, (ii) providing detailed product descriptions using analogies (e.g., soft as a feather) to help consumers experience the sensation of touch, (iii) using advanced tech tools (e.g., VR) to create the experience of sensation, etc.
People sometime use touch in their interpersonal communications to signal closeness, research shows that a friendly touch of a waiter/waitress on the shoulder of a consumer significantly increases the tips
may sometimes be negative
consumers are more likely to spend a used, worn-out dollar bill compared to crisp one, because thy believe that the used, worn-out dollar bill may have been excessively touched by other consumers
Hearing
Sound symbolism
When we hear the sound of a word, we attach meaning to it, even perceiving physical features for the source of the sound, The sound the food makes when bitten plays a key role in taste perceptions for certain food items (e.g., potato chips, celery, crackers), impacting perceived freshness as well as quality.
Ambient sound
in a store music influences shopping pace—slower music produces slower shopping and results in more purchases since customers progress at a slower pace as they move through the store. When consumers enjoy the background music, they feel they have spent less time shopping relative to the actual amount of time they have spent.
Taste
The sense of taste is unique in the sense that it involves not only the sensory stimuli received by the mouth but other senses as well. For instance, taste is susceptible to external influences (e.g., physical attributes, brand name, product information such as ingredients, nutritional information, product packaging, and advertising).
Exposure
When a stimulus enters the range of an individual’s sensory receptors
Sensory thresholds
absolute threshold→ minimum amount of stimulation that can be detected by the sensory channel
differential threshold→ the ability of a sensory system to detect changes within or between stimuli, point of just noticeable difference (JND)
Want to make sure that consumer would notice the difference in the new product, while still having certain cues (e.g., colour of the packaging) included in the product
Attention
The extent to which the brain’s processing capacity is devoted to a stimulus
We are exposed to a lot of stimuli in a given time period and we do not pay the same amount of attention to them→ 2 main factors
personal factors and stimulus factors
Within their visual range, consumers pay the most attention to the stimuli that is at the center. This is why, placing products in the middle shelves of retailers is very expensive.
Personal Factors (attention)
Perceptual filters: Not paying attention to information coming from a filtered source
Perceptual vigilance: Paying attention to information relevant to a pressing need
Perceptual defence: Not paying attention to information that you don’t want to know
Adaptation: Not paying attention to information due to overexposure and familiarity.
Stimulus Factors (attention)
Size: Larger stimuli attract more attention.
Color: Certain colors (bright yellow) attract more attention than others.
Position: The position of a product in an assortment has a strong effect on attention.
Novelty: Novel stimuli attract more attention.
Interpretation
The last step of the perceptual process, the meaning people assign the sensory stimuli.
Consumers tend to interpret a sensory stimulus based on mental schemas, which are mental structures that encompass a person’s knowledge and feelings that are related to stimuli
consumers’ expectations, past experiences, and environmental and contextual factors surrounding them may influence how they interpret a sensory stimuli.
Given the importance of mental schemas in forming perceptions, brands must have a very good understanding of the mental schemas consumers have about their brand and offerings.
Social influence - reference group
individual or a group conceived of having significant relevance upon an individual’s evaluations, opinions, attitudes, judgments, perceptions, aspirations, or behavior
membership RG: involve others who belong to the same group as a consumer does
Aspirational RG: consists of idealized, aspired figures
Dissosiative RG: consumers avoid being associated with
Dissociative RG
consumers tend to distance themselves from products/services that are associated with dissociative RGs
facebook example
Dissociative RGs are also useful in motivating behaviour
Types of reference group influence
informative influence
reference group as a source to acquire information about products, brands, services, etc.
normative influence
reference group may define a basic code of conduct to be a part of the group
comparative influence
reference group as a benchmark for comparison to assess their own performance.
Conformity
change in beliefs or actions as a reaction to real or imagined group behaviour.
Why do we conform?
Cultural Pressures: Certain cultures are more susceptible to social influence and conformity→ people from collectivist (vs. individualistic) cultures are more likely to conform
Fear of deviance: individual may have reason to believe that the group will apply sanctions to punish behaviour that differs from the group
Commitment: The more a person is dedicated to a group and values membership in it, the more motivated they will be to follow the dictates of the group.
Environmental cues: Group unanimity, size, and expertise influence conformity. As groups gain in power, compliance increases.
Individual differences: Some people score higher on the personality trait of susceptibility to interpersonal influence.
Culture
values, norms, rituals, and meanings shared by the members of a society (or an organization). You can consider culture as the personality of a society. Importantly, culture has a strong influence on the way we make sense of our surroundings and the way we behave in a given situation, which includes consumption decisions.
Factors that vary across cultures
Values
Norms
Rituals
Language/ symbols
Values
the degree of importance people give to universal values varies across cultures
- power distance belief
- individualism/ collectivism
-uncertainty avoidance
- femininity/ masculinity
- long term orientation
- indulgence
these specific six dimensions gained prominence is due to their significant impact on various aspects of behavior, including consumption decisions
provide a framework for analyzing and comparing cultural differences in a quantifiable manner.
Power Distance Belief
The extent to which the members of a society accept and expect unequal distributions of power
In cultures with high power distance beliefs (i.e., unequal distribution of power is expected/accepted by the members of the society), it is likely that (i) there are more hierarchical relationships and (ii) social inequality is considered normal in the society, compared to cultures with low power distance belief
Individualism / Collectivism
The extent to which the members of a society prioritize individual or group interests.
collectivist cultures
(i) give more importance to collective, societal goals than individual goals, (ii) less likely to change group membership and more connected with their social networks and groups,
(iii) social connections and networks (friends, family) are a more significant part of the self-concept, compared to individualistic cultures.
Uncertainty Avoidance:
The extent to which the members of a society tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity
Members of a culture with high uncertainty avoidance tend to
(i) avoid ambiguity,
(ii) have higher need for rules and structures
(iii) show less tolerance to unorthodox behaviour, compared to the members of a culture with low uncertainty avoidance.
Femininity / Masculinity
The extent to which the members of a society values traits traditionally associated with men (such as assertiveness, competitiveness, and dominance) or traits traditionally associated with women (compassion, empathy, nurturance)
Long-Term Orientation
The extent to which the members of a society are focused on obtaining gains in the short term or the future
In long-term-oriented cultures, people tend to prioritize future rewards over immediate gratification. In short-term oriented cultures, people tend to focus on immediate gains and present-day realities.
Indulgence
The extent to which a society allows free gratification of basic human desires related to enjoying life and having fun (indulgence) versus suppressing such desires through strict social norms (restraint)
In cultures that are high in indulgence, people tend to be more relaxed, open to change, and value enjoyment and leisure time. In contrast, cultures that are high in restraint tend to be more traditional, and conformist, and place a greater emphasis on self-control and fulfilling social obligations.
Norms
Rules dictating what is right/wrong, acceptable/ unacceptable
From a managerial perspective, companies need to have a good knowledge about the norms in the countries, where they offer their products/services, and respect these norms while designing their marketing strategy.
Rituals
activities that occur in a fixed sequence and that tend to be repeated periodically
Companies need to have a comprehensive knowledge of the rituals and the way they are exercised in a given culture:
1. A majority of these rituals involve the consumption of goods, which companies could supply.
2. Companies can build rituals around their products or services.
ex: way to eat an Oreo
Language and symbols
The meaning attached to symbols such as colors and numbers may vary across cultures.
It is important to know the meanings attached to such symbols in order not to make sure that your marketing strategy is well-aligned with a country’s cultural orientation.
Standardised or localized marketing strategy
A brand should do deep cross-cultural analysis* to understand the degree to which the countries/cultures they want to expand behave differently in the product category of interest
The more different the countries/cultures in the way behave in the product category, a more localized strategy is necessary.
Subculture
a group whose members share beliefs and common experiences that set them apart from others within a broad culture
focus on three subcultures: age, region, and ethnicity
Subculture - Age
Generations: The era in which one grows up bonds them with millions of others who came of age at a certain period, through common cultural heroes and shared memories of certain events.
Age Cohorts: A group of people of the same approximate age who have similar experiences.
Subculture - Regions
regions differ in weather patterns, populations, ethnic mix, food and product preferences, resources and even norms, Marketers need to know preferences and products in regional markets
Subculture - Ethnicity
Marketers cannot ignore the diversity of cultures given one’s ethnic subculture shapes consumption decisions. Hence, marketers at bare minimum foster inclusiveness and/or offer services uniquely tailored to the needs of ethnic subcultures
Microculture
relatively small groups based on similar lifestyles or aesthetic preferences. The members share a strong identification with an activity or art form and typically have a unique set of norms, vocabulary, and product insignias.
Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication
product information transmitted by individuals to individuals
very powerful→ influences two-thirds of all consumer goods sales
unlike advertising, WOM is often backed up by social pressure to conform to these recommendations. Marketers have been aware of the power of WOM for many years, but recently they’ve been more aggressive about trying to promote and control it, instead of sitting back and hoping people will like their products enough to talk about them.
Motivations to spread WOM
- Impression Management
- Emotion Regulation
- Social Bonding
- Informing Others
- Persuading Others
impression management (motive WOM)
purposes of self-enhancement (i.e., to be perceived more positively, signalling status, etc.), identity-signalling (i.e., to express their self-concept), and/or filling conversational space (i.e., talking about products/services/experiences as a conversation point).
Emotion Regulation
Consumers may talk about products/services/experiences for venting (i.e., intensely expressing negative emotions), taking vengeance (i.e., punishing a brand), reducing cognitive dissonance, or, generating support by seeking similar opinions.
Social Bonding
Consumers may talk about products/services/experiences to reinforce their shared values with the person they communicate with or reduce the feeling of being lonely.
Informing Others
Consumers may talk about products/services/experiences to help other consumers make better decisions or avoid negative experiences.
Persuading Others
Consumers may talk about products/services/experiences to convince someone to go along with their preferences (e.g., talk positively about a restaurant that they want to go to).
Managerial implications of WOM
For positive WOM
- Incentives: giving a free product for writing a review
- delayed review reminders (asking consumers to write a review about a product they purchased a week after they purchased it)
- Companies do benefit from allowing consumers to directly complain to company (vs. complaining on other platforms).
Influencer marketing - Benefits
- strong influence
- high credibility
- budget-friendly (compared to celebrities for example)
- efficient access to niche segments
- builds online community
Influencer marketing - Risks
- suspicion of ulterior motives (pay, reciprocity)
- tainted authenticity (posting too many brand-created content)
- low with business domain of the brand
Elaboration Likelihood Model
explains how consumers process persuasive messages and make decisions based on different routes of information processing.
emphasizes the extent of elaboration or mental processing that individuals dedicate to evaluating a message
two main routes to persuasion: central route and the peripheral route. Depending on their
(i) motivation,
(ii) ability
(iii) opportunity to process information
Central Route to Persuasion
high involvement
cognitive response
attitude change
behaviour change
consumers critically analyze and deeply process the content of a persuasive message. consumers carefully form their beliefs, which leads to change in attitudes and behaviour.
Attitude change in this route is more enduring and resistant to counterarguments. quality of arguments presented, will be important in determining attitude change
informative adds are great as the consummer needs to have all the product features before forming their attitude
Peripheral Route to Persuasion
low involvement
belief change
behaviour change
attitude change
consumers rely peripheral cues (environmental cues) rather than deeply analyzing the message content.
beliefs are quickly formed, and guides behaviour. After engaging in the behaviour, consumer experiences an attitude change. the change in attitude might not be as stable or enduring
celebrity endorsement works great as consumers will simply remember the celeb and think the product is good
Customer journey map (CJM)
A diagram that illustrates the steps a consumer goes through when engaging with a company, whether it be a product, service, experience or any combination
Touchpoints
Any interaction between the consumer and the brand
