When consumers change or distort information that conflicts with their feelings or beliefs?

MGMT 1006: Intro to Marketing

Chapter 6: Consumer Decision Making

Textbook: MKTG, 4th Edition, Charles W. Lamb, Joe F. Hair, Carl McDanniel, Marc Boivin, Davis Gaudet,

Janice Shearer.

Question review

101. Refer to the scenario. What is the term for Fiona’s uncertainty about whether she made the correct

decision and the feelings that go along with this uncertainty?

a. selective retention

b. perceptual distortion

c. postpurchase action

d. cognitive dissonance

ANSWER: d

102. Refer to the scenario. Fiona spent a significant amount of time and effort in selecting the daycare

centre for Kate. What sort of product is the centre for Fiona?

a. impulse response

b. low involvement

c. routine response

d. high involvement

ANSWER: d

103. Refer to the scenario. Fiona’s selection of a daycare facility represents which type of consumer

buying decision?

a. routine buying

b. limited decision making

c. extensive decision making

d. impulse buying

ANSWER: c

104. Refer to the scenario. Shannon, Fiona’s best friend, recommended PerfectCare because she takes

her daughter there. What was Shannon acting as?

a. a family member

b. an opinion leader

c. a dissociative reference

d. an influencer

ANSWER: b

1

describes how consumers make purchase decisions and how they use and dispose of the purchased goods and services. 

Consumer decision-making process

a five-step process used by consumers when buying goods or services: Need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, post purchase behavior

the result of an imbalance between actual and desired states. The imbalance arouses and activates the consumer decision-making process.

is the recognition of an unfulfilled need and a product that will satisfy it.

Need Recognition: external

influences from an outside source, such as someone's recommendation of a new restaurant, a brand name mentioned by a friend, etc.

Need Recognition: Internal

occurrences you experience, such as hunger or thirst. For example, you may hear your stomach growl and then realize you are hungry.

Internal information search

the person recalls information stored in the memory. This stored info stems largely from previous experience with a product. For example, while traveling with your family, you may choose to stay at a hotel you have stayed in before because you remember it had clean rooms. 

External Information Search 

seeks information in the outside environment. Two basic types: non marketing and marketing controlled information source.

non marketing information source

a product information source that is not associated with marketers promoting a product. These information sources include personal experiences, personal sources, and public sources. 

Marketing controlled information source

is biased toward a specific product because it originates with marketers promoting that product. includes mass media advertising, sales promotion, salespeople, product labels and packaging, and the internet. 

Buyers evoked set (aka consideration set)

the consumer's information should yield a group of brands, this group is called -- 

When people recognize inconsistency between their values or opinions and their behavior they tend to feel an inner tension called -- 

the amount of time and effort a buyer invests in the search, evaluation, and decision processes of consumer behavior. 

Routine response behavior

frequently purchased, low-cost goods and serves

typically occurs when a consumer has previous product experience but is unfamiliar with the current brands available. Associated with lower levels of involvement because consumers expend only moderate effort in searching for information or in considering various alternatives.

Extensive decision making

when buying an unfamiliar, expensive product or an infrequently bought item. This process is the most complex type and is associated with high involvement on the port of the consumer. 

set of values, norms, attitudes, and other meaningful symbols that shape human behavior and the artifacts, or products, of that behavior as they are transmitted from one generation to the next. 

an enduring belief shared by a society that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to another mode of conduct. 

a homogenous group of people who share elements of the overall culture as well as cultural elements unique to their own group. 

a group of people who are considered nearly equal in status or community esteem, who regularly socialize among themselves both formally and informally, and who share behavioral norms

consists of all the formal and informal groups that influence the buying behavior of an individual. 

includes all groups with which people interact regularly in an informal, face-to-face manner, such as family, friends, and coworkers. 

secondary membership group

less consistently and more formally. these groups might include clubs, professional groups, and religious groups

aspirational reference group

a group a person would like to join. To join an aspirational group, a person must at least conform to the norms of that group. 

Non-aspirational reference group

(aka dissociative groups), influence our behavior when we try to maintain distance from them. A consumer may avoid buying some types of clothing or cars, going to certain restaurants or stores, or even buying a home in a certain neighborhood to avoid being associated with a particular group.

a person who influences others.

the passing down of cultural values and norms to children. children learn by observing their parents' consumption patterns, so they tend to shop in similar patterns. 

is a broad concept that can be thought of as a way of organizing and grouping how an individual typically reacts to situations.

Self-concept (aka self perception)

is how consumers perceive themselves. includes attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and self-evaluations. through this people define their identity, which in turn provides for consistent and coherent behavior  

occurs when consumers change or distort information that conflicts with their feelings or beliefs. for example, a college student buys a Sony laptop. After the purchase, if the students gets new information about an alternative brand Apple, he or she may distort the information to make it more consistent with the prior view that the Sony is just as good as the Apple, if not better. 

remembering only information that supports personal feelings or beliefs. 

driving force that causes a person to take action to satisfy specific needs. 

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

arranges needs in ascending order of importance: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. As a person fulfills one needs, a higher-level need becomes more important. 

process that creates changes in behavior through experience and practice

occurs when one response is extended to a second stimulus similar to the first. Marketers often use a well-known brand name for a family of products because it gives consumers familiarity with and knowledge about each product in the family. 

which means learning to differentiate among similar products. 

What is it called when consumers change or distort?

When a consumer experiences cognitive dissonance they will typically seek to reduce it by?

How do consumers make decisions?

What is habitual decision making?