CH-9 Individual Decision Making – Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being : Book Guide

Chapter 9 Individual Decision Making CHAPTER OBJECTIVES When students finish this chapter they should: •Understand that consumer decision making is a central part of consumer behaviour, but the way we evaluate and choose products varies widely, depending on various factors. •Understand that a purchase decision is composed of a series of stages that results in the selection of one product over competing options. •Understand that decision making is not always rational. •Understand that a variety of factors can influence how much search consumers engage in. •Understand that we often fall back on well-learned rules of thumb to make decisions. •Understand that consumers rely on different decision rules when they evaluate competing options. CHAPTER SUMMARY •Consumers are constantly faced with the need to make decisions about products. Some of these decisions are very important and entail great effort, whereas others are made virtually automatically. The decision-making task is further complicated by the sheer number of decisions we need to make in a marketplace environment characterized by consumer hyperchoice. •A common problem in information search is often weeding out excess detail rather than needing to search for more. Comparative search sites and intelligent agents help to filter and guide the search process when searching online. •Perspectives on decision making range from focusing on habits that people develop over time to novel situations involving a great deal of risk in which consumers must carefully collect and analyze information prior to making a choice. Many of our decisions are highly automated and are made largely by habit. •A typical decision process involves several steps. The first is problem recognition, in which the consumer first realizes that some action must be taken. This realization may be prompted in a variety of ways, ranging from the actual malfunction of a current purchase to a desire for new things based on exposure to different circumstances or advertising that provides a glimpse into what is needed to “live the good life.” •Once the consumer recognizes a problem and sees it as sufficiently important to warrant some action, the information search begins. This search may range from simply scanning memory to determine what’s been done to resolve the problem in the past, to extensive fieldwork in which the consumer consults a variety of sources to amass as much information as possible. In many cases people engage in surprisingly little search. •In the evaluation-of-alternatives stage, the product alternatives a person considers comprise his or her evoked set. Members of an evoked set usually share some characteristics; they are categorized similarly. The way people mentally group products influences the alternatives they will consider. They will usually associate some brands more strongly with these categories than others (i.e., they will find them more prototypical). •Research in the field of behavioural economics illustrates that decision-making is not always strictly rational. Principles of mental accounting demonstrate that decisions can be influenced by the way a problem is posed (called framing) and whether it is put in terms of gains or losses. •Very often we use heuristics, or mental rules of thumb, to simplify decision-making. In particular, people develop many market beliefs over time. One of the most common beliefs is that price is positively related to quality. When a brand is consistently purchased over time, this pattern may be due to true brand loyalty or simply to inertia because it’s the easiest thing to do. •When consumers eventually make a product choice from among alternatives, they can use any one of a number of decision rules. Non-compensatory rules eliminate alternatives that are deficient on any of the criteria the consumers have chosen to use. Compensatory rules, which are more likely to be applied in high-involvement situations, allow decision makers to consider each alternative’s good and bad points more carefully to arrive at the overall best choice. LECTURE/DISCUSSION IDEAS X. CONSUMERS AS PROBLEM SOLVERS – Consumers realize that they want to make a purchase, and go through steps to do so: •Problem recognition •Information search •Evaluation of alternatives •Product choice o Hyperhoice – Large number of options drain psychological energy while decreasing abilities to make smart decisions A. Perspectives on Decision Making •Rational perspective: Calmly and carefully integrates knowledge B. Stages in Consumer Decision Making •Purchase momentum – Initial impulses increase our likelihood of buying more •Behavioural influence perspective: Low involvement, impulse buying •Experiential perspective: Affective responses to products C. Types of Consumer Decisions 1. Habitual decision making – Automatic (no brainer) decisions Class Interaction Opportunity: What products do you buy without any thought? 2. Limited problem solving – Simple, straightforward decisions Class Interaction Opportunity: What are products you buy that require some thinking but not quite as much thought as buying an expensive item? 3. Extended problem solving – Fair degree of risk and we use internal search and external sources Class Interaction Opportunity: Find an advertisement that illustrates each of the forms of decision processing. Explain your choices.  Consumers, at times, even treat advertisements as conjectures about product performance. People may not totally believe claims made in ads, but these ads may prompt them to engage in further information search and product trial to determine if the claims are true or not. When evidence regarding a product’s quality is ambiguous, advertising can be persuasive when it is presented with some performance evidence. This is a good reason for advertisers to encourage product trial.i II. PROBLEM RECOGNITION – Significant difference between actual state and desired state  Evidence suggests that for some consumers, problem recognition tends to be triggered mainly by a change in desired state while others only recognize a problem when their actual state changes. The former type of consumers tend to enjoy shopping more and to consult more information sources. These consumers are likely to be opinion leaders or innovators.ii •Marketers’ role in problem creation – need recognition or opportunity recognition Class Interaction Opportunity: Provide an illustration of the three forms of need recognition. III. INFORMATION SEARCH – When you know your problem, you need information to resolve it A. Types of Information Search – Pre-purchase search, browsing, ongoing search 1. Internal versus external search •Internal search: scanning our own memory banks •External search: shopping, reading, and asking Class Interaction Opportunity: Provide an illustration of pre-purchase search and ongoing search in buying or reviewing a computer.  The nature of consumers’ information search instigated by a new product is mediated by the extent to which it is similar or dissimilar to existing categories stored in memory. Exhibiting an inverted-U function, consumers appear to consider a set of relevant attributes in greater depth at moderate levels of discrepancy than at low or high levels.iv 2. Deliberate versus ‘accidental’ search •Deliberate search: a result of directed learning – active •‘Accidental’ search: exposure to information over time – passive B. Online search – Proliferation of online search engines and available information •60% of consumers start online searches in a search engine, and companies pay search engines to show ads to users 1. Do consumers always search rationally? – Low income consumers search least; variety seeking o Maximizing – a decision strategy that seeks to deliver the best possible result o Satisficing – a decision strategy that tries to yield an adequate solution—often as a way to reduce the costs of the decision-making process 2. Mental accounting: Biases in the decision-making process – sunk cost fallacy; hyperopia; loss aversion C. How Much Search Occurs? – The younger, better educated search more  One widely used device to study the search process in the laboratory is the Information Display Board (IDB). This board is a brand x attribute matrix that allows subjects to access product information in any order they would like prior to making a choice (almost like the game show Concentration). Researchers can trace the order of subjects’ choices and assess the quality of their eventual decisions.  This technique does have some drawbacks: (1) the choice situation is somewhat artificial and (2) a structure is imposed on the subjects that they may not necessarily use in real life (e.g., brands and attributes to choose from are not neatly laid out). Nonetheless, the IDB has been an important tool for consumer researchers and policy makers who are concerned with maximizing the quality of product information available to consumers.vi  Dynamic Logic, an advertising research firm, tested full-motion video ads on the Internet. They were surprised by the viewer reaction: Only 28 % found them annoying (compared with 38% of TV viewers). Interestingly, the test used ads that had run on television. The Internet versions were invisibly loaded while readers browsed a site and then run at 30 frames a second in a window (same speed as TV) that occupied most of the browser space.vii 1. Amount of information available – Greatest among those who have moderate product knowledge 2. The consumer’s prior experience o Experts use selective search o Novices rely on opinions of others o Blissful ignorance – we expect to be less happy when we know more about the product 3. Perceived risk – five basic kinds of risk •Monetary risk: money and property •Functional risk: alternative ways of performing the function •Physical risk: physical vigor •Social risk: self-esteem and self-confidence •Psychological risk: affiliations and status Class Interaction Opportunity: Ask a non-smoker, "Would you begin smoking if I gave you a free carton of cigarettes? Why?" IV. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES – Consumers usually have many choices available to them  Consumers’ purchase decisions can be altered merely by changing the set of alternatives they are offered. For example, the Williams-Sonoma company offered a home bread bakery for $275. When it later added a second, larger model, priced at $429, it sold few of them. However, sales of the cheaper model almost doubled. The addition of a less attractive alternative can thus increase the market share of the original item.viii A. Identifying Alternatives – The criteria we use in deciding o Evoked set – products already in memory plus those prominent in the retail environment o Inept set - alternatives that you are aware of but would not consider buying o Inert Set- alternatives that do not come to mind Class Interaction Opportunity: How many brands of soft drinks (or potato chips, or cars, or men’s cologne) can you name? Which would you consider purchasing? Why? How could marketers move their brands from the consideration set to your preferred evoked set?  Experts tend to have well-defined evoked sets, while the sets of less-knowledgeable consumers are more flexible and stand a better chance of being influenced at the point-of-sale.ix B. How Do We Put Products into Categories – How people organize their beliefs (e.g., is the Acura just another Honda?)  Children as young as four years old begin to develop categories based upon the underlying attributes of products and to group objects that share relationships. Prior to that time, categorization is based on visual characteristics or other perceptually salient attributes (e.g., objects may be grouped by colour regardless of their function).x 1. Level of categorization – Different levels of specificity o Superordinate level: abstract concept (e.g., dessert) o Basic level: items have much in common but a number of alternatives exist (e.g., fattening vs. non-fattening desserts) o Subordinate level: individual brands (e.g., ice cream, pie, cake) 2. Strategic implications of product categorization – Affects decisions a. Positioning – The perception of the product relative to other products in the consumer’s mind b. Identifying competitors – Are different products substitutes? c. Exemplar products: Rhubarb vs. Apples, etc. – the most known, accepted product brand d. Locating products – In the meat market, display chicken franks by beef franks rather than by chicken Class Interaction Opportunity: What company makes the best greeting card (box of chocolates, computer, car...)? What company makes the worst? How do you know this? C. Product Choice: Selecting Among Alternatives – Products have more and more features  A consumer’s selection of a category he or she will use during the evaluation process can be affected by the examples of the category presented. Category priming affects the likelihood that desired criteria will be used in evaluations. Marketers can have a hand in determining what criteria are used by consumers to evaluate alternatives by framing these criteria in certain ways. This means that the buyer’s initial reference point can be altered, perhaps by raising or lowering a buyer’s initial expectations of product performance.xi 1. Evaluative criteria – Dimensions used to judge the merits of options •Significant difference among brands on the attribute (anti-lock brakes) •Supplies consumer with decision-making rule (engagement rings should cost at least two paycheques) •Rule should be easily integrated into past decisions (e.g., eat fat and get fat) Class Interaction Opportunity: Name common criteria used to evaluate: (a) a computer, (b) a business suit, (c) a perfume or cologne, (d) a bicycle. D. Neuromarketing: How Your Brain Reacts to Alternatives – Gaining insight into brand preferences by seeing how brains react through functional magnetic resonance imagery E. Cybermediaries – An intermediary to filter and organize information to help customers identify and evaluate alternatives (e.g., directories, forums, reviews, intelligent agents, and software) •Brand advocates – People who supply reviews F. Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts – Mental rules of thumb, such as ‘you get what you pay for;’ ‘bigger is better.’  Another heuristic has been termed the false consensus effect. People tend to overestimate the amount that others agree with them. They often tend to assume, for example, that their own brand preferences are more typical than they actually are. One reason for this is that instances where others have agreed with them tend to be more available in memory. 1. Relying on a product signal – (price, country of origin) 2. Market beliefs: Is it better if I have to pay more for it? – (prestigious store, discount house) Class Interaction Opportunity: Can you think of a place where you refuse to shop because “everything they sell is junk?” 3. Country of origin as a heuristic – (e.g., Yesterday’s heuristic: ‘Japanese products are junk; American products are great!’ Today it’s the opposite)  Country of origin could become a heuristic of the past for some brands because more and more outsourcing is done by companies. Many clothing and footwear manufacturers, for example, produce their goods outside the “country of origin.” It’s not clear whether this phenomenon is of concern to most consumers. Further, there are sometimes interesting twists to the origins of a particular product that could give it consumer appeal. Dijon mustard, for example, is made in France, but uses mustard seeds grown in Saskatchewan. •Ethnocentrism – Tendency to prefer people or products from my country over those from other country, ‘buy Canadian’ G. Choosing Familiar Brand Names: Loyalty or Habit – Often function as a heuristic (Campbell’s soup, Kleenex tissue) o Zipf’s law – Tendency to prefer the number one brand Class Interaction Opportunity: Have the students take out a piece of paper and write down the best and worst brand of: (1) toothpaste, (2) denim jeans, (3) greeting card, (4) soup, (5) cookies, (6) computer, (7) macaroni and cheese, (8) disposable diaper, (9) baby food, (10) salt, (11) eggs, (12) carrots. Why did you select these brands? What would it take for you to break your loyalty to a favourite brand? 1. Inertia: The fickle consumer – consumer buys only out of habit but will switch if persuaded 2. Brand loyalty: A ‘friend,’ tried and true – conscious brand decision (Crest = toothpaste) H. Decision Rules 1. Non-compensatory decision rules – A product with low standing on one attribute cannot make up for it by being better on another (e.g., the first Pentium chip was fast, but it made calculation errors) •The lexicographic rule – brand with best attribute is selected •The elimination-by-aspects rule – must have a specific feature •The conjunctive rule – consumer processes product by brand •The disjunctive rule – acceptable standards for each attribute 2. Compensatory decision rules – Allows a product to make up for its shortcoming (i.e., weighs the good and bad points of the product) o Simple and complex compensation •Simple additive rule: chooses product with the most positive attributes •Weighted additive rule: considers the relative importance of positive attributes Class Interaction Opportunity: Work out an example to illustrate each of the decision rules, and ask students to participate in the decisions as you go along. (Choose a product and some criteria that are of interest to the class. Cars, houses and computers work well.) END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT MATERIAL Summary of Special Feature Boxes 1. Consumer Insight I: Situational Factors This box looks at the role of situational factors on our purchase decisions. Research shows that our ability to self-regulate declines as the day goes on. 2. CB As I See It Dr. Gerald Häubi, University of Alberta conducts research on information and technology tools designed to help consumers make purchase decisions by assisting in filtering the large amount of available information into what is most relevant. He advocates recommendation systems that understand customer preferences and then selectively draw attention to offerings that are a match. His research shows that such recommendations benefit customers through helping them better match their preferences, and doing so with less effort. Additionally, such tools are a great opportunity for companies. 3. Marketing Insight I: Choice Architecture This box examines the concept of choice architecture; it describes the different ways in which choices can be presented to consumers, influencing their preferences and decisions. Often, the goal of choice architecture is to “nudge” consumers towards better decisions, improving the welfare of individuals and society. 4. Consumers in Focus I: Brands or Categories? This box draws attention to the way in which consumers organize products, and whether brand (Adidas) or category (runners) influences the way we shop. When consumers make choices, categories matter. 5. Marketing Insight II: Hybrid Products This box examines the growing popularity of hybrid products that feature characteristics from two distinct domains. Examples include the crossover utility vehicle (CUV) that mixes a passenger car and a sport utility vehicle (SUV). 6. Marketing Insight III: Authenticity This box examines the concept of marketing authenticity. Although authenticity can be a hard concept to pin down, it seems to be composed of three attributes: heritage, sincerity and commitment to quality. 7. Marketing Insight IV: Product Labels Product labels provide a lot of information to consumers, but not all of it is useful. This box provides examples of some funny and not-so-helpful product labels. 8. Marketing Insight V: User Reviews One of the most popular ways consumers gather information about products today is through the reviews of others. GoodGuide is used as an example in this box for the increasing use of objective and opinion-based sites, and the idea of the reputation economy is presented, meaning those people contribute their experiences to such sites because they want to be seen as knowledgeable. 9. Marketing Insight VI: Are Labels Legit? The labeling of environmentally products presents an opportunity to discuss legitimacy in a sea of many different types of ‘green certifications.’ This causes confusion for consumers, and has led to the development of retailers developing their own rating systems. Regardless, confusion and misleading claims (greenwashing) are widespread. 10. Marketing Insight VII: Restrictive Solutions How do we ultimately help consumers make decisions that are “good” for them? One way is to associate the desired choice with a rewarding option. Consumers often know they have self-control problems, and are willing to pay for solutions that help them make healthy choices. Review Questions 1. Why do we say that “mindless” decision-making can actually be more efficient? Answer: Sometimes the decision-making process is almost automatic; we seem to make snap judgments based on very little information. At other times, coming to a purchase decision begins to resemble a full-time job. A person may literally spend days or weeks thinking about an important purchase such as a new home, even to the point of obsession. 2. List the steps in the model of rational decision-making. Answer: Problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, product choice, and outcomes. 3. What is purchase momentum, and how does it relate (or not) to the model of rational decision-making? Answer: Purchase momentum occurs when these initial impulses actually increase the likelihood that we will buy even more (instead of less as our needs are satisfied), almost as if we get “revved up” and plunge into a spending spree. 4. What is the difference between the behavioural influence and experiential perspectives on decision-making? Give an example of the type of purchase that most likely would be explained by each perspective. Answer: Under the circumstances of the behavioural influence perspective, managers must concentrate on assessing the characteristics of the environment, such as the design of a retail outlet or whether a package is enticing, that will influence members of a target market. In other cases, no single quality is the determining factor. Instead, the experiential perspective stresses the Gestalt, or totality, of the product or service. 5. Name two ways a consumer problem can arise. Answer: 1) A person’s standard of comparison may be altered, 2) the quality of the consumer’s actual state can move downward, and 3) the consumer’s ideal state can move upward. 6. Give an example of the sunk-cost fallacy. Answer: Simply put, the sunk-cost fallacy occurs when someone has paid for something and is therefore reluctant to waste it. An example would be when someone attends a sporting event even though weather may put them at personal risk. 7. What is prospect theory? Does it support the argument that people are rational decision makers? Answer: Prospect theory, a descriptive model of how people make choices, finds that utility is a function of gains and losses, and risk differs when the consumer faces options involving gains versus those involving losses. This basically says that the factors of decision-making are relative. That would imply that we are not rational. 8. Describe the relationship between a consumer’s level of expertise and how much he’s likely to search for information about a product? Answer: The relationship between prior knowledge/expertise of a product and information search is an inverted-U. When prior knowledge is very little or very great, then little information is sought. However, when prior knowledge is moderate, that’s when the most information is sought. 9. List three types of perceived risk, giving an example of each. Answer: There are five types of perceived risk listed in the text: monetary (high dollar items), functional (product use requires exclusive commitment), physical (things that are perishable or potentially hazardous), social (socially visible or symbolic goods), and psychological (goods that may engender guilt). 10. “Marketers need to be extra sure their product works as promised when they first introduce it.” How does this statement relate to what we know about consumers’ evoked sets? Answer: People are more likely to add a new brand to the evoked set than one that we previously considered but passed over, even after additional positive information has been provided for that brand. For marketers, consumers’ unwillingness to give a rejected product a second chance underscores the importance of ensuring that it performs well from the time it is introduced. 11. Describe the difference between a superordinate category, a basic level category, and a subordinate category. Answer: Categories exist in a taxonomy from most concrete to most abstract. The middle level, known as a basic level category, is typically the most useful in classifying products, because items grouped together tend to have a lot in common with each other but still permit a range of alternatives to be considered. The broader superordinate category is more abstract, whereas the more specific subordinate category often includes individual brands. 12. Give an example of an exemplar product? Answer: If a product is a really good example of a category it is more familiar to consumers and they more easily recognize and recall it. Judgments about category attributes tend to be disproportionately influenced by the characteristics of category exemplars. 13. List three product attributes that consumers can use as product quality signals and provide an example of each. Answer: 1) price; consumers commonly associate a higher price as an indicator of a higher level of quality. 2) country-of-origin; a common Canadian perception is that watches that are made in Switzerland are of a higher quality than watches made in any other country. 3) brand name; some brands have developed an image of quality (e.g., Mercedes Benz, Toyota, etc.) more so than others (e.g., Kia). 14. How does a brand function as a heuristic? Answer: Branding is a marketing strategy that often functions as a heuristic. People form preferences for a favourite brand, and then they literally may never change their minds in the course of a lifetime. A study by the Boston Consulting Group of the market leaders in 30 product categories found that 27 of the brands that were number one in 1930 (such as Ivory Soap and Campbell’s Soup) remained at the top over 50 years later. 15. Describe the difference between inertia and brand loyalty. Answer: Inertia exists when we buy a brand out of habit merely because it requires less effort. For brand loyalty to exist, a pattern of repeat purchase must be accompanied by an underlying positive attitude toward the brand. 16. What is the difference between a non-compensatory and a compensatory decision rule? Answer: Give one example of each. Non-compensatory decision rules are choice shortcuts where a product with a low standing on one attribute cannot make up for this position by being better on another attribute. Unlike non-compensatory decision rules, compensatory decision rules give a product a chance to make up for its shortcomings. Consumers who employ these rules tend to be more involved in the purchase and thus are willing to exert the effort to consider the entire picture in a more exacting way. The willingness to let good and bad product qualities balance out can result in quite different choices. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR CHALLENGE Discussion Questions 1. The chapter argues that in our society having too many choices is a bigger problem than not having enough choices. Do you agree? Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? Answer: This relationship will depend on the type of product. For many people looking for various product types, one choice would be enough. Anything greater than that just takes mental effort. But even in situations where we want to research the issue at hand and get the “best product,” there is an optimum number of choices. And anything beyond that detracts from the decision making process. 2. How big a problem is greenwashing? What is the potential impact of this practice on consumer decision-making? Answer: Greenwashing, when a manufacturer makes untrue or misleading green claims, is extensive. This creates difficulties for consumers who want to purchase environmentally friendly products. They cannot tell if a product is as green as the manufacturer claims. So instead of relying on a time-saving heuristic, an environmental equivalent of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, they need conduct a more extensive information search to try to verify a manufacturer's claims. Also, consumers cannot rely on a specific certification as part of their evaluative criteria in the selection of a product or include it as a determinant attribute. 3. Commercial Alert, a consumer group, is highly critical of neuromarketing and has called it “Orwellian.” The group's executive director wrote, “What would happen in this country if corporate marketers and political consultants could literally peer inside our brains and chart the neural activity that leads to our selections in the supermarket and voting booth?” “What if they then could trigger this neural activity by various means, so as to modify our behavior to serve their own ends?” What do you think—is neuromarketing dangerous? Answer: The idea that neuromarketing is any more dangerous than more traditional methods of market research rests on two assumptions: 1) these methods allow marketers to read minds. While the technologies employed are advanced, reading minds is far down the path. Of course, one never knows what the future will bring; 2) if marketers could read minds, that they would have the capability to trigger certain responses through any means. The bottom line is, consumers still have freedom to choose. 4. If people are not always rational decision makers, is it worth the effort to study how they make purchasing decisions? What techniques might marketers employ to understand experiential consumption and to translate this knowledge into marketing strategy? Answer: In discussing the utility of studying rational decision-making (or extended problem solving), the instructor should stress the importance of using different methods in investigating the complex nature of consumer decision-making. What also needs to be made clear is that other less purposeful methods also play a role. To understand and apply experiential consumption to marketing strategy will require more knowledge of how consumers develop their overall impression of a product and how they integrate it into their decision-making process. Contributions from other disciplines, such as psychology and sociology, will also be important. The real challenge will be applying this disparate information to marketing strategy. Yes, studying purchasing decisions is crucial, as understanding irrational behavior helps marketers craft more effective strategies. Techniques include analyzing consumer emotions, behavioral patterns, and decision-making biases through surveys, focus groups, and data analytics. Marketers can use insights from experiential consumption to design engaging, memorable experiences and tailor messaging to align with emotional triggers and personal values. 5. Why is it difficult to place a product in a consumer’s evoked set after it has already been rejected? What strategies might a marketer use in an attempt to accomplish this goal? Answer: It is difficult to place a product into an evoked set after it has been rejected because consumers are “cognitive misers. This means that people conserve their mental resources and expend only minimum effort required to solve a problem. Once a product has been eliminated from consideration on the basis of some evaluation process, consumers are not likely to expend additional cognitive resources to re-evaluate that product. Promotional strategies can be used to get the consumer to reconsider the product. Price discounts, coupons, special offers, rebates, or free samples will increase the possibility that a product will re-enter the evoked set. Any other means to get the consumer to try the product will also increase the possibility of consideration of the product, and successful trial will increase the chances of a product being included in the consumer's evoked set. 6. Discuss two different non-compensatory decision rules, and highlight the difference(s) between them. Answer: The choice of particular non-compensatory decision rules is not the crucial aspect of this exercise. It is important, however, that students appreciate the differences between the rules they choose to discuss. In addition, students should understand the more basic difference between non-compensatory and compensatory rules and how each uses different information to arrive a decision. The instructor should encourage students to think about why particular choice rules are used and ways that marketers could appeal to consumer using each of these rules. 7. Technology has the potential to make our lives easier by reducing the amount of clutter we need to work through in order to access the information on the Internet that really interests us. On the other hand, perhaps intelligent agents limit us by making recommendations based only on what we and others like us have chosen in the past; they reduce the chance that we will stumble onto something (e.g., a book on a topic we’ve never heard of, or a music group that’s different from the style we usually listen to). Will the proliferation of “shopping bots” make our lives too predictable by only giving us more of the same? If so, is this a problem? Answer: This question poses an interesting dilemma for the students—how can you get information and still have your new and interesting experiences? The instructor should begin by pointing out the benefits of being able to search for information via the Internet. Then examine the costs associated with this information search. Be sure to indicate that companies are provided data for consumers at considerable cost to themselves and are perhaps justified in their desire to be able to direct consumer purchases. The consumer is free to use information obtained to make product decisions (from the ease and convenience of their homes). How can the system be useful but still be changed to allow for originality? This should provide for a good discussion. How would students like the system to be? How could this be accomplished? What might be the cost? Would they pay for it? The proliferation of shopping bots may lead to a more predictable experience by focusing on familiar preferences and reducing serendipitous discoveries. While they enhance convenience and relevance, this can limit exposure to new and diverse options. Whether this is problematic depends on individual preferences for novelty versus efficiency; some may value the ease of tailored recommendations, while others may miss the excitement of unexpected finds. 8. It’s increasingly clear that many postings on blogs and product reviews on websites are fake or are posted there to manipulate consumers’ opinions. How big a problem is this if consumers are increasingly looking to consumer-generated product reviews to guide their purchase decisions? What steps if any can marketers take to nip this problem in the bud? Answer: Given the expose in the Whole Foods mini-scandal, let’s hope the others are less likely to repeat these offenses. If this assumption is true then consumers are likely to get genuine reviews from genuine customers. Short of verifying ID’s or customer/order numbers to see if the blogger is a real customer, marketers have few options to combat this problem. Experiential Exercises 9. Find examples of electronic recommendation agents on the web and evaluate them. Are they helpful? What characteristics of the sites are likely to make you buy products you wouldn’t have bought on your own? Answer: Amazon.com, Mysimon.com, and AskJeeves.com are all intelligent agents. The students may have to spend a fair amount of time to come up with actual recommendation agents. 10. Conduct a poll based on the list of market beliefs found in Table 9-2. Do people agree with these beliefs. How much do they influence their decisions? Answer: This is a very application oriented exercise. The results will vary from respondent to respondent. To conduct a poll based on Table 9-2's market beliefs, ask participants to rate their agreement with each belief and its influence on their decisions. Analyze responses to determine how strongly these beliefs affect their purchasing choices. The results will show whether these market beliefs are widely accepted and how significantly they impact consumer behavior. 11. Pepsi invented freshness dating and managed to persuade consumers that this was an important product attribute. Devise a similar strategy for another product category by coming up with a brand new product attribute. Using the steps in procedural learning, as described in this chapter, how would you communicate this attribute to your customers? Answer: In order for a marketer to effectively recommend a new decision criterion, its communication should convey three pieces of information: • It should point out that there are significant differences among brands on the attribute. • It should supply the consumer with a decision-making rule, such as if (deciding among competing brands), then . . . (use the attribute as a criterion). It should convey a rule that can be easily integrated with how the person has made this decision in the past. Otherwise, the recommendation is likely to be ignored because it requires too much mental work. • These things should be applied to coming up with a new attribute and communicating it to the target market. 12. Define the three levels of product categorization described in the chapter. Diagram these levels for a health club. Answer: The text discussed the following levels of product categorization: • Superordinate—the broadest and most abstract level (e.g., health clubs) • Basic Level—the most useful category to classify products because these items have much in common with each other (e.g., weight and powerlifting clubs) • Subordinate Level—the most specific category (e.g., Nautilus Fitness Clubs) 13. Choose a friend or parent who grocery shops on a regular basis and keep a log of their purchases of common consumer products during the term. Can you detect any evidence of brand loyalty in any categories based upon consistency of purchases? If so, talk to the person about these purchases. Try to determine if his or her choices are based upon true brand loyalty or based on inertia. What techniques might you use to differentiate between the two? Answer: To begin with, the instructor should ask the students to differentiate between brand loyalty and inertia. Brand loyalty is represented by a pattern of repeat product purchases, accompanied by an underlying positive attitude toward the brand. Inertia describes consumption at the low end of involvement, where decisions are made out of habit because the consumer lacks the motivation to consider alternatives. For example a student said that her mother buys the same cereal every week. In discussing the reason for buying the cereal, her mother said she bought it because it was what the student's father liked. She considered him to be brand loyal. Techniques the student could use to find out if the father is truly brand loyal would be to ask him to try other cereals. After trying these alternatives, if he insisted that his was the best, he could be considered to be brand loyal. (Possible Field Project) 14. Form a group of three. Pick a product and develop a marketing plan based upon each of the three approaches to consumer decision-making: rational, experiential, and behavioural influence. What are the major differences in emphasis among the three perspectives? Which is the most likely type of problem-solving activity for the product you have selected? What characteristics of the product make this so? Answer: The three approaches to consumer decision-making discussed in the book are: 1. Rational--the consumer is a careful, analytical decision maker who tries to maximize utility in purchase decisions 2. Experiential--stresses the gestalt or totality of the product or service. 3. Behavioural--stresses that consumer decisions are learned responses to cues. To provide an example for individual teams’ exercises, the instructor could first ask the class as a whole to pick one product and make suggestions for a marketing plan. The class should then be encouraged to form their own teams and devise a marketing plan for their products. It would be interesting to have teams use different approaches to market the same product, and other teams use the same approach to market different products. (Possible Field Project) 15. Identify a person who is about to make a major purchase. Ask that person to make a chronological list of all the information sources consulted prior to making a decision. How would you characterize the types of sources used (i.e., internal versus external, media versus personal, etc.)? Which sources appeared to have the most impact on the person’s decision? Answer: The instructor could begin by reviewing the stages in the consumer decision- making process: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, product choice, and outcomes. The following scenario might be developed in the context of this exercise: Jane Smith is in the market for a new computer. She looked at store ads first to compare features and prices of many computers. The next step was to ask friends and colleagues what they thought about the brands she was considering. After much research, she finally decided on a brand and made a purchase. [The sources used were external, media, and personal. Sources that had the most impact on where were external and personal.] (Possible Field Project) 16. Perform a survey of country-of-origin stereotypes. Compile a list of five countries and ask people what products they associate with each. What are their evaluations of the products and likely attributes? Answer: Students may have strong association for many countries tied to specific products or product categories. Examples might include European import/luxury cars, French wines, Italian leather goods, Swedish crystal, and Japanese electronics. It may be interesting to expand the notion of country of origin, and ask students to talk about areas in Canada that are particularly well known for specific products. Alternatively, for both country and region of origin, students should be challenged to think of examples that represent weak or poor association that marketers would want to avoid. (Possible Field Project). Conduct a survey by listing five countries and asking respondents to identify products typically associated with each. For example, ask about Japan, Italy, Germany, the USA, and France. Collect evaluations on product quality and attributes like reliability, style, or innovation. Analyze the responses to reveal common stereotypes and perceptions linked to each country’s products. 17. The power of a country stereotype can also be demonstrated in another way. Prepare a brief description of a product, including a list of features, and ask people to rate it in terms of quality, likelihood of purchase, and so on. Make several versions of the description, varying only the country from which it comes. Do ratings change as a function of the country of origin? Answer: This exercise will help students identify the effect of country stereotypes on purchasing. Products such as automobiles, electronics and wine can be chosen. Create a product description with key features and ask participants to rate its quality and likelihood of purchase. Prepare several versions of the description, changing only the country of origin. Compare the ratings to determine if and how perceptions of quality and purchase intent shift based on the product's country of origin. This can highlight the influence of country stereotypes on consumer evaluations. 18. Ask a friend to “talk through” the process he or she used to choose one brand over others during a recent purchase. Based on this description, can you identify the decision rule that was most likely employed? Answer: The instructor might begin by reviewing the two types of decision rules, namely, compensatory and non-compensatory. Compensatory decision rules involve averaging information about attributes of competing products where a poor rating on one attribute can be offset by a good rating on another. Non-compensatory decision rules, alternately, would find a brand with a low rating on one relevant/important attribute eliminated from the consumer's choices, despite higher ratings on less relevant/important attributes. Specific types of compensatory and non-compensatory rules also should be reviewed. Ask your friend to explain their decision-making process for choosing a brand recently. Listen for key factors such as price, quality, or brand reputation. Based on their description, identify if they used a decision rule like "compensatory" (weighing pros and cons) or "non-compensatory" (choosing based on a must-have criterion). This will reveal the decision rule they likely employed. 19. Give one of the scenarios described in the section on “biases in decision making” to 10 to 20 people. How do the results you obtain compare with those reported in this chapter? Answer: Expect the predictable!. Present one scenario from the "biases in decision making" section to 10 to 20 people and record their responses. Compare their answers with those reported in the chapter to assess if similar biases, like anchoring or availability, are evident in their decision-making. Analyze any discrepancies to understand how individual experiences might align or differ from the documented biases. 20. Think of a product you recently shopped for online. Describe your search process. How did you become aware that you wanted/needed the product? How did you evaluate alternatives? Did you wind up buying online? Why or why not? What factors would make it more or less likely that you would buy something online versus in a traditional store? Answer: This question will serve as a good application of the basic decision-making process or as a more specific illustration of the online buying process. Recently, I searched for a new laptop online after realizing my old one was outdated. I became aware of the need through frequent slow performance and compatibility issues. I evaluated alternatives by comparing specs, reviews, and prices across multiple websites. I ended up buying online due to convenience and better deals. Factors influencing my choice include price competitiveness, convenience of delivery, and the availability of detailed product reviews. CASE STUDY TEACHING NOTES 1. What is the process consumers utilize when deciding on their vacation plans? How would this process be altered when repeating a vacation experience? Answer: Each time a consumer wants to make a purchase, they go through a series of steps to do so. These steps can be described as (1) problem recognition (2) information search (3) evaluation of alternatives and (4) product choice. In terms of problem recognition, the consumer may realize that he or she wants a vacation experience. The consumer will then undergo internal and external information search in which he or she may talk to a few friends, visit a travel agency or search the web for vacation experiences. Subsequently, the consumer will evaluate the alternatives in which he or she will compare several vacation experiences in terms of reputation and available features. The consumer will then make his or her product choice and enjoy his or her purchase. However, when repeating a vacation experience, the consumer is likely to engage in limited problem solving rather than extensive problem solving. Limited problem solving involves decisions that are made with less cognitive processing. Because the consumer has undergone this vacation experience before, he or she is likely to undergo a less thorough information search of the same vacation experience because he or she relies on cognitive shortcuts instead of having to start from scratch. 2. What do you feel is the central issue driving the lack of repeat business for Rocky Mountaineer? Where in the decision-making process do you think the issue lies? Answer: Consumers who view the Rocky Mountaineer as a “once in a lifetime” experience, must be convinced to consider other train routes and consider a number of add-on attractions that provided a different vacation experience over a series of visits. As noted in Question 1, because consumers (who have undergone the experience before) are likely to rely on cognitive shortcuts to make decisions rather than conduct extensive information search, marketers encounter difficulty trying to introduce a new vacation train package. In this case, consumers must be convinced to “unfreeze” their former vacation decision approach and replace it with a new one. 3. What difference would you expect between satisfied and dissatisfied consumers with respect to the decision process in this instance? Answer: Satisfied consumers are those who have used a maximizing decision strategy to deliver the best possible result In contrast, consumers who have used a decision strategy that simply tries to yield an adequate or satisficing solution – often as a way to reduce the costs of the decision-making process – are likely to be dissatisfied in their purchase. Dissatisfied consumers are unlikely to reconsider Rocky Mountaineer under any situation – if they have had a negative experience at the outset they are unlikely to reconsider. In contrast, satisfied consumers could be moved to alter their decision process through effective marketing. This set of consumer is the best target for a repeated vacation experience. 4. What would you do if you were Randy Powell and you had to solve this problem? Answer: One option for Randy is to focus on previously satisfied consumers and provide them a new experience that promises to maximize their satisfaction in a new way. Given these consumers are positively inclined towards the brand, something “new” (e.g., a new route, a unique attraction, something new on the train) may be enough to shift these consumers to reconsider having another “once in a lifetime experience”. While marketing the experience as once in a lifetime is a powerful sales cue, it does imply that the consumer should experience this product only once. Randy could also consider dropping this positioning to first-time consumers. At the outset, he could market the product as a potential series of experiences with different ad distinct value propositions. FIELD PROJECT IDEAS Individual Assignments 1. Ask students to compile a description of three products that include both features and country of origin. Then have students ask a few people to rate the quality of the products and whether they would probably buy them. See if they can find out why the respondents feel this way. Answer: They will compile descriptions of three products, including their features and countries of origin. After gathering opinions on product quality and likelihood of purchase from a few individuals, they should investigate the reasons behind these opinions to understand consumer perceptions. 2. Assign students to research the evolution of the "green marketing" movement. Have students tell the class which companies have genuinely tried to integrate this priority into product formulations and which ones seem to just be going through the motions. Does involvement in green marketing give a company a competitive advantage? Why? Answer: Research the "green marketing" movement's evolution, identifying companies that genuinely integrate green practices versus those that do not. Students should assess whether green marketing provides a competitive edge and explain why or why not. 3. Ask students to interview (perhaps on video) a few friends to determine what factors have recently led them to problem recognition for some products or services. They need not have purchased anything. Ask the respondents to explain the similarities or differences that existed at decision time. Answer: They will interview friends to explore recent factors leading to problem recognition for products or services. They should analyze and compare the decision-making process and similarities or differences in the problem recognition phase among respondents. 4. It is often revealing when students interview a manager of a local retail store to determine how the store is attempting to meet the consumer's need for information. After the interview, suggest that students use powers of observation to determine how effective the approach seems to be. Answer: After interviewing a local retail manager about how they address consumers' information needs, students should observe the store's approach to evaluate its effectiveness in meeting those needs. 5. Have students try to find out when customers use internal versus external sources of information and deliberate versus accidental sources of information during the search process. Answer: They will investigate when customers use internal versus external sources and deliberate versus accidental sources of information during their search process, highlighting patterns and preferences. 6. Have students choose a product category of interest and design a warranty registration card that would require the buyer to provide some insight into the information search-and-evaluation process that a typical consumer would probably go through. Answer: For a warranty registration card, ask students to include fields such as: "How did you first hear about this product?" "What factors influenced your decision to purchase this product?" and "What other brands/products did you consider before making your choice?" This will help gather insights into consumer decision-making and information search. 7. Have students identify countries of origin of popular Canadian cars. Find out how many cars that we identify as "North American" are made in other countries and how many cars we identify as "foreign" are assembled in Canada. Answer: Popular Canadian cars often have diverse origins. For instance, brands like Ford and General Motors have many models assembled in Canada but are headquartered in the U.S. Conversely, brands like Toyota and Honda, considered foreign, have significant assembly operations in Canada. This shows the blending of "North American" and "foreign" manufacturing. Team Assignments 8. Compile a list of four or five foreign countries or have students do it. Ask the class to identify products or classes of products that they usually associate with that country. After they have selected their product categories, have the class evaluate the quality of the products that typically come from each country. Answer: Have students list countries like Japan, Germany, South Korea, Italy, and Sweden. Associate Japan with electronics and cars, Germany with luxury cars and precision engineering, South Korea with technology and cosmetics, Italy with fashion and cuisine, and Sweden with furniture and automobiles. Evaluate the quality based on known industry standards and consumer reviews. 9. Discuss with the class the concept of risk. Distribute a list of several different consumer products or have students do this. Then ask the class what types of risk they associate with each of the products. Answer: Discuss risk types like financial, functional, physical, and social. For products like smartphones, risks might include financial loss (high cost), functional failure (malfunction), physical harm (radiation concerns), and social implications (privacy issues). 10. Have students keep a diary listing of their highest and lowest involvement product purchase or service transaction each day for a week. Have them identify the decision process they went through and how satisfied they were with their decision. Then have them write a short paper describing the lessons they learned from the purchases. Answer: Students should track their high and low involvement purchases, noting the decision-making process and satisfaction. For example, buying a phone might involve extensive research and high satisfaction, while buying groceries could be quick and less satisfying. Their paper should reflect insights on how involvement levels affect decision quality and satisfaction. Individual or Team Assignments 11. Have students read several recent product rating reports (e.g., Lemon Aid, Consumer Reports) and then evaluate the rating system the organization used. (You might want to assign this to a team of students and have each student be responsible for one product rating). Ask the students what other information they would have found useful. Answer: Have students analyze product rating reports from sources like Consumer Reports or Lemon Aid, focusing on criteria such as reliability, performance, and value. They should evaluate the rating system for clarity and comprehensiveness, and suggest additional information, such as long-term durability data or user experience reports, that could enhance the evaluation. 12. [Students will have to be warned in advance for this field project.] Over a one- week period, have your students record ten situations that caused them to enter the problem-recognition stage of the decision-making process. Which types of situations occurred most frequently? Answer: Students should document ten instances where they recognized a problem needing resolution, such as a malfunctioning appliance or a need for a new phone. They should categorize these situations to identify common triggers, like product failure or changing needs, to understand which situations lead to problem recognition most frequently. 13. Ask students or a team of students to bring to class three advertisements that attempt to change the reader's desired or ideal states. See if students can identify the techniques the advertisers employed to accomplish their goal. Answer: Students should bring three ads that aim to shift the consumer's ideal state, like enhancing self-image or improving lifestyle. They should analyze techniques used, such as emotional appeals, aspirational messaging, or celebrity endorsements, to determine how these ads influence the desired or ideal states of the audience. 14. Have students or a team of students construct the Stages in the Consumer Decision-Making process that they went through for a recent large-scale purchase (e.g., expensive clothing, car, stereo system, appliance, furniture, etc.). Ask them if they think they gathered enough information before making their decision. See if they were satisfied with the quantity or quality of the information they had at their disposal. Answer: Students should outline their decision-making stages for a recent significant purchase, detailing steps like problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation. They should assess whether they collected sufficient information and if they were satisfied with both the quantity and quality of the data used. Reflecting on their process can reveal gaps and areas for improvement in their decision-making strategy. eLAB Individual Assignments 1. Go to www.bose.com. What makes the SoundDock iPod stations worth their price when similar products by competitors cost much less? Demonstrate how a consumer might evaluate such a purchase. What decision rules might be used? What strategies might Bose use to educate the consumer as to the value of their product? Answer: The SoundDock iPod stations by Bose justify their higher price with superior sound quality, design, and brand reputation. Consumers might evaluate this purchase using decision rules like performance vs. cost and brand reliability. Bose could use strategies such as detailed product comparisons, customer testimonials, and showcasing high-quality sound experiences to highlight value. 2. Go to www.rakuten.com. Pick a specific product that you might be interested in and see what alternative choices this site provides for you. Then, take some time to evaluate the different alternatives. Based on the information in the chapter addressing the selection of a product from alternatives, comment on your experience. Be sure to comment on consumer hyperchoice. Answer: On Rakuten, alternative choices for a product might include various brands, features, and price points. Evaluating these alternatives involves comparing attributes, prices, and reviews. Consumer hyperchoice can lead to decision paralysis, where too many options make it harder to choose, highlighting the need for effective filtering tools. 3. Go to www. oscarmayer.com. Do you eat hot dogs? Are they healthy for you? After you visit the Oscar Mayer website, has your opinion changed? What strategies does the website use to supply information and influence consumer decision-making? Do the strategies seem to be successful? Did they have any effect on you? Explain. Answer: After visiting Oscar Mayer's website, if you eat hot dogs, you might find information on ingredients and nutritional value. The website employs strategies like detailed product info and health-focused messaging. If these strategies improve your perception or decision, they are considered successful, potentially shifting your opinion on hot dogs. 4. Go to www.overstock.com. This is a retailer that stocks its online store with overstocked items from major manufacturers. As an alternative to more traditional shopping channels, how is this website attempting to influence the decision-making process of shoppers? What do you predict for this website? Will such discount online retailers remain successful into the future? Answer: Overstock.com influences decision-making by offering discounted prices on overstocked items, appealing to bargain hunters. Its success might hinge on maintaining a balance between value and inventory quality. Discount online retailers could remain viable by adapting to market trends and consumer preferences. 5. Go to www.spud.ca. Online grocery is alive and well. Although most grocery purchases that we make fall into the category of habitual decision-making, somehow, this concept is working for some people. Spend some time on this sight and assemble a grocery order. What are the pros and cons of using an online service for habitual decision making decisions? Answer: On Spud.ca, online grocery shopping can streamline habitual purchases with convenience and delivery options. Pros include time savings and easy reordering, while cons might be limited product selection and delivery fees. The model works by leveraging convenience, which appeals to busy consumers. eLAB Team Assignments 1. Go to www.casino.com. Become familiar with the concept of prospect theory. Spend some time as a group on this or other online gambling websites. What examples do you find of applying prospect theory? Answer: On casino.com, prospect theory is evident in features like bonus offers and progressive jackpots. The theory explains how gamblers weigh potential losses more heavily than gains, leading to risky behavior. For example, the allure of a large jackpot might encourage players to gamble more despite knowing the odds are against them. 2. Go to www.conagrafoods.com. One of the mega-conglomerates of the modern age, ConAgra Foods boasts dozens of brands in numerous different product categories. As a group, create a categorization chart with at least three levels of abstraction to show how the brands of ConAgra fit under one umbrella category. Answer: For ConAgra Foods, create a chart with these levels: • Umbrella Category: Food Products • Subcategories: Packaged Foods, Frozen Foods, Snacks • Brands: • Packaged Foods: Hunt’s, Orville Redenbacher's • Frozen Foods: Marie Callender’s, Banquet • Snacks: Duncan Hines, Reddi-wip PROFESSORS ON THE GO! Chapter Objectives
When students finish this chapter they should understand why: •Consumer decision making is a central part of consumer behaviour, but the way we evaluate and choose products varies widely, depending on various factors As an in-class activity, discuss with the class the concept of risk. Distribute a list of several different consumer products or students do this. Then ask students what types of risk they would associate with each of the products. How could the risk be reduced? •A purchase decision is composed of a series of stages that results in the selection of one product over competing options Have individual students evaluate a recent purchase of a large-scale item (e.g., expensive clothing, car, stereo system, appliance, furniture, etc.) based on the stages in the consumer decision-making process. Ask them if they think they gathered enough information before making their decision. See if they were satisfied with the quantity or quality of the information they had at their disposal. Have students design a project to illustrate when customers use internal versus external sources of information and deliberate versus accidental sources of information during the search process. Have students keep a diary listing their highest and lowest involvement in product purchases or service transactions for each day for a week. Have them identify the decision process they went through and how satisfied they were with their decision. Then have them write a short paper describing the lessons they learned from the purchases. What mistakes were made? This project will require student groups to conduct consumer interviews. They should contact people (acquaintances, friends, etc.) and ask them questions about a recent purchase or consideration of a purchase. Specifically, they should ask the consumer what factors led them to problem recognition. They should also ask the respondents to explain the similarities or differences that existed at decision time. •Our access to online sources and social media changes the way we decide what to buy Go to www.rakuten.com. Pick a specific product that you might be interested in and see what alternative choices this site provides for you. Then, take some time to evaluate the different alternatives. Based on the information in the chapter addressing the selection of a product from alternatives, comment on your experience. Be sure to comment on consumer hyperchoice. •Decision making is not always rational Have student groups devise a taxonomy of categories for a product category. Then have them reposition certain brands at the subordinate level by modifying that taxonomy. How could the companies carry out such a repositioning? •A variety of factors can influence how much search consumers engage in Have groups of students apply the consumer decision-making model to purchasing on the Internet. Does the model work the same as does purchasing in the retail environment? Explain and illustrate. Have groups of students construct decision rules that apply only to purchasing via the Internet. Is this possible? If so, have the students demonstrate how this is so and what value the decision might be. Have them describe how they arrived at their “new” rules. Have other students critique the “new” rules. •We often fall back on well-learned rules of thumb to make decisions Ask students to compile a description of three products that include both features and country-of-origin. Then have the student ask a few people to rate the quality of the products and whether they would probably buy them. See if he or she can find out why the respondents feel this way. In groups, students should discuss popular stereotypes that discriminate against a company, a person, a country, or product. Having selected one of these, they should design a strategy that would help to reduce the stereotype’s negative effects. Go to www.spud.ca. Online grocery is alive and well. While most grocery purchases that we make fall into the category of habitual decision making, somehow, this concept is working for some people. Spend some time on this site and assemble a grocery order. What are the pros and cons of using an online service for habitual decision-making decisions? •Consumers rely on different decision rules when the evaluate competing options Based on the non-compensatory and compensatory decision rules listed at the end of the chapter, students should create examples. Then have students form their own decision rules. Have them demonstrate how their rules are different and how they might be of value in general consumer decision making. Have students choose a specific type of product. Then have them find product- rating reports from Consumer Reports or a similar organization that tests products. The student should evaluate the rating system the organization used. What other information would have been useful? Have a group of students design an experiment that would test and illustrate prospect theory. Have them conduct this experiment using the students in class. After analyzing the results, have them present them to the class. ENDNOTES i Stephen J. Hoch and Young-Won Ha, "Consumer Learning: Advertising and the Ambiguity of Product Experience," Journal of Consumer Research 13 (September 1986): 221-33. ii Gordon C. Bruner, "Problem Recognition Styles and Search Patterns: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Retailing 62 (Fall 1986): 281-97. iii Kevin Goldman, "Marketing Female Condom is a Challenge," The Wall Street Journal (July 27, 1994): B4. iv Julie L. Ozanne, Merrie Brucks, and Dhruv Grewal, "A Study of Information Search Behaviour During the Categorization of New Products," Journal of Consumer Research 18 (March 1992): 452. v James R. Bettman and C. Whan Park, "Effects of Prior Knowledge and Experience and Phase of the Choice Process on Consumer Decision Processes: A Protocol Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research 7 (December 1980): 234-48. vi Jacob Jacoby, Robert W. Chestnut, Karl C. Weigl, and William Fisher, "Pre-Purchase Information Acquisition: Description of a Process Methodology, Research Paradigm and Pilot Investigation," in Advances in Consumer Research 3, ed. Beverlee B. Anderson (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Association for Consumer Research, 1976), 306-14; Charles M. Schaninger and Donald Sciglimpaglia, "The Influence of Cognitive Personality Traits and Demographics on Consumer Information Acquisition," Journal of Consumer Research 8 (September 1981): 208-16; Merrie Brucks, "The Effects of Product Class Knowledge on Information Search Behaviour," Journal of Consumer Research 12 (June 1985): 1-16; Eloise Coupey, "Restructuring: Constructive Processing of Information Displays in Consumer Choice," Journal of Consumer Research 21 (June 1994): 83-99. vii Bob Tedeschi, “We interrupt this Web search ... for TV-style ads,” International Herald Tribune, March 12, 2004: 15. viii Joel Huber, John W. Payne, and Christopher Puto, "Adding Asymmetrically Dominated Alternatives: Violations of Regularity and the Similarity Hypothesis," Journal of Consumer Research 9 (June 1982): 90- 98. ix Joseph W. Alba and J. Wesley Hutchinson, "Dimensions of Consumer Expertise," Journal of Consumer Research 13 (March 1987): 411-54. x Deborah Roedder John and Mita Sujan, "Age Differences in Product Categorization," Journal of Consumer Research 16 (March 1990): 452-60. si James R. Bettman and Mita Sujan, "Effects of Framing on Evaluation of Comparable Alternatives by Expert and No-vice Consumers," Journal of Consumer Research 14 (September 1987): 141-54; Paul M. Herr, "Priming Price: Prior Knowledge and Context Effects," Journal of Consumer Research 16 (June 1987): 67-75; Christopher P. Puto, "The Framing of Buying Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research 14 (December 1987): 301-15. Solution Manual for Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being Michael R. Solomon, Katherine White, Darren W. Dahl 9780133958096