MKTG 350 Consumer Behavior Test 1 - CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS AND PROBLEM RECOG

One person’s problem is another person’s...  Many people would pay to NOT have snow.  Indeed snow REMOVAL is a major industry in colder climates. SSource: A. Warren, “Winter Wonderland at 72 ̊,” The Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2003, p. B1/4. 14-2  But would people pay to HAVE snow? Turns out – yes! people in warmer climates such as Texas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia Often want snow for Christmas season but rarely get it naturally. So, they buy it! is the level of concern for, or interest in, the purchase process. Purchase involvement Triggered by need to consider a particular purchase. Purchase involvement A temporary state influenced by the interaction of individual, product, and situational characteristics. Purchase involvement Types of Decision Making Nominal Decision Making, Limited Decision Making, Extended Decision Making in effect involves no decision per se. Nominal decision making, a.k.a., habitual decision making, occur when tthere is very low involvement with the purchase. Nominal decisions A completely ??? does not even include consideration of the “do not purchase” alternative. nominal decision Consumer buys Campbell’s without considering other brands, its price, etc. Example of Nominal Decision Making involves internal and limited external search, few alternatives, simple decision rules on a few attributes, and little postpurchase evaluation. Limited decision making Middle ground between nominal and extended decision making. Limited decision making Involves recognizing a problem for which there are several possible solutions. Limited decision making Decision based only on buying the cheapest rolls. Limited decision making involves extensive internal and external search followed by a complex evaluation of multiple alternatives. Extended decision making It is a response to the high level of purchase involvement. Extended decision making During post-purchase evaluation, doubts are likely and a thorough evaluation takes place. Extended decision making Emotional decisions may involve substantial cognitive effort. Extended decision making Types of Consumer Problems Active Problem; Inactive Problem is one the consumer is aware of or will become aware of in normal course of events Active Problem Marketing Strategy of ???: Only require marketer to convince consumers that its brand is the superior solution. Active Problem is one of which the consumer is not aware Inactive Problem Marketing strategy of ??? Marketer must convince consumers that they have the problem AND that their brand is a superior solution. Inactive Problem ??? Helps to activate recognition of need to have projects for kids during holiday (and how tough this can be) and also how to combine that with creating gifts for others. HP becomes the solution to both. Relates to inactive problem recognition. Uncontrollable Determinants of Problem Recognition Variety-seeking, Sensory-specific satiety is a challenge to marketers because it means that consumers switch brands for reasons beyond a company’s control. Variety-seeking consumers get bored (satiated) wwith sensory attributes more than on non-sensory attributes. Sensory-specific satiety – Offering ??? on key sensory attributes can increase loyalty to the brand even if consumers engage in variety seeking. variety ??? WITHIN brand can drive loyalty in the face of variety seeking. Variety Marketing Strategy and Problem Recognition 1. DiscoveringConsumerProblems 2. RespondingtoConsumerProblems 3. HelpingConsumersRecognizeProblems 4. SuppressingProblemRecognition Once a consumer problem is identified, the manager may structure the marketing mix to solve the problem. Responding to Consumer Problems can Involve Developing a new product or altering an existing one Modifying channels of distribution Changing pricing policy, or Revising advertising strategy Involves a discrepancy that that a variety of brands within a product category can reduce Generic Problem Recognition Increasing generic problem recognition generally results in an expansion of the total market Generic Problem Recognition involves a discrepancy only one brand can solve Selective Problem Recognition Firms attempt to cause selective problem recognition to gain or maintain market share Selective Problem Recognition ??? It does not promote a particular brand of cheese but stress the appropriateness of cheese in general for this consumption situation. The ad works with generic problem recognition. Generating ??? among “healthy” people with high cholesterol is a major challenge. Lipitor had found an effective approach. problem recognition The Mack’s earplugs ad shows how marketers often aattempt to cause consumers to ??? for which the product provides a solution. recognize potential problems ??? Occasionally information is introduced in the market place that triggers ??? that some marketers prefer to avoid. Suppressing Problem Recognition Obviously marketers do not want their current customers to recognize problems with their brands. Effective quality control and distribution (limited out-of-stock situations) are important in this effort. Packages and package inserts that assure the consumer of the wisdom of their purchase are also common. Suppressing Problem Recognition The message in part attempts to increase the desire to have a superior stereo system now. It thus increases the magnitude of the recognized problem. This ad assumes that the ??? and the reader is at least interested in a color copier. Note that the ad does not try to promote the virtues of color copies or speed. It assumes that the reader has recognized the need and is using these evaluative criteria. problem has been recognized This ad attempts to trigger ??? among users of portable computers. problem recognition Creates a gap between desired and actual state and then offers up their product as a solution. the way an individual perceives their feelings and situation to be at the present time. actual state the way an individual wants to feel or be at the present time desired state focuses on a particular activity like dinner, maintaining a lawn, or swimming activity analysis examines the purchase or use of a particular product or brand product analysis starts with a problem and asks respondents to indicate which activities, products, or brands, are associated with (or perhaps could eliminate) those problems Problem Analysis this type of research can sometimes identify functional problems that consumers are unaware of. attempts to determine human capabilities in areas such as vision, strength, response time, flexibility, etc.. Human factors research personal interviews that examine the emotions associated with certain problems. emotion research