Consumer Behavior – Full Summary
Week 1: Consumer Culture
Lecture slides week 1:
Consumer behavior: reflects the totality of consumers decisions with respect to acquisition,
consumption and disposition of goods, services, experiences, and ideas by decision making units
over time
Marketing implication of CB:
- Making promotion and marketing communication decision
- Positioning
- Making distribution decision
- Developing and implementing customer-oriented strategies
Consumer culture: commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying within a
specific society
- Culture has important functions for consumers
- Giving meaning to objects, activities, facilitating communication
Cultural norms: the rules that specify the appropriate behavior in each situation within a specific
culture
Cultural sanction: refers to the penalties associated with performing non gratifying culturally
inconsistent behavior
- Ecology: physical characteristics that describe environment and habitat of place
- Tradition: custom and accepted
- way of structuring society
Role expectations in culture:
- specific expectations that are associated with each type of person within culture
- e.g. sex roles
- role conflict: situation where a consumer experiences conflicting expectations based on
cultural expectations
- divergence: situation in which consumers choose membership in microcultures in order to
stand out or define themselves
- values: abstract, enduring beliefs about what is right and wrong
- value system: total values and their relative importance
,Personality lifestyle and self-concept:
Lifestyles:
- distinctive models of living, including how people spend time and money
- psychographics: quantitative investigation of consumer lifestyle
Self-congruence theory:
- Self-congruence theory posits that consumers respond more positively to brands that are
in line with their global self-concept thus predicting consumers' attitudes and purchase
intention
- behavior can be explained by congruency between a consumer’s self-concept and the image
of a typical user of product
- marketers use self-congruence theory by segmenting markets into groups of consumers who
perceive high self-concept congruence with the product user image
Papers week 1:
National aggregate consumer sentiment towards marketing – by Gaski et al.
- Measuring consumer sentiment towards marketing
- Via the Index of consumer sentiment towards marketing
- Multidimensional scale designed to measure household sector sentiment and attitude
towards consumer marketing
- Describes measure, the index historical pattern and its linkages with macroeconomic
variables
, - Consumer Sentiment towards marketing gradually improved from 1984 to 2001
- Macro variables that influence consumer sentiment: consumer price index and national
saving rate (both negative impact), GDP, real disposable income per capita, unemployment
rate, S&P 500
- CPI & saving rate negative impact
- Events that influenced consumer heavier in Europe in the past 10 years: rising prices top
concern, invasion of Ukraine, extreme weather
Signaling status with luxury goods: the role of brand prominence – Han et al.
- Possessions play symbolic role in consumers lives
- Signaling status
- Brand prominence: conspicuousness of a brand mark or logo on a product
- Invisible branded luxury goods (chosen by patrician/ proletarian) cost more than very visible
branded goods (chosen by parvenu/ poseur)
- Fake goods copy loud products (poseur would choose this since they care for status but
cannot afford it)
- Patricians recognize the true value regardless of the brand and conspicuousness
- All others (proletarian, poseur, parvenu) need brand names and logos
- Patricians prefer quietly branded products
- Parvenus prefer loud products
- Poseurs prefer loud product but more likely to buy fakes
- Proletarians don’t care about the brand
- Brands need to be careful to not only be loud, listen to wants on consumer, depends on
target group
The role of normative political ideology in consumer behavior – Crockett et al.
- How political ideology affects CB
- Ideology= system of beliefs and values created by given society’s most dominant group
- Dominant group= western culture, related to capitalism
- Non dominant group= counter culture, related to anti consumption
- Paper studies how belonging to one of the groups influences the propensity to shop
- In ghetto smaller shops, higher prices, less availability of specific goods, lower quality
, - Black liberal ideology: moving to white neighborhood, integration is important, better
education, bigger shops, more availability, outshopping
- Black nationalist ideology: loyalty, outmigration sends message that black neighborhood is
undesirable place to live
- Both ideologies influence consumption
Standard of beauty: impact of mannequins in retail context – Argo et al.
- The appearance of mannequins has changed over time, used to be well fed as a sign of
welfare
- Today it is considered more attractive to be skinnier
- Mannequins’ normative signals to beauty, consumers compare themselves to
- Consumers low in appearance self-esteem respond negatively when presented with
attractive appearance-related information
- More negative perception towards mannequin when its wearing dress/ bikini, if self-esteem
is low
- Consumers with low self-esteem rate an appearance related product more negatively
- Consumers with low self-esteem rate mannequin more negatively if it has no flaws
compared to if it has imperfections
Week 2: Social influence
Lecture slides week 2:
Social influences on consumer behavior:
- Behavior is influenced by others
- WOM marketing
- Physical presence of others influences behavior e.g. sales person
Marketing source: influence derived from marketing agent e.g. advertisement, personal selling
- Reach: how many consumers are reached
- Receiver of message can answer back
- Credibility low
- Mass media delivered: ads, email, social media
Nonmarketing source: included derived from entity outside marketing organization
- Friends, family, media
- High credibility
Special sources of influence:
Opinion leader: acts as information broker between mass media and opinions
Market mavens: have information about marketplace in general
Celebrity endorsers: endorse product or brand, hybrid marketing source, credibility is lower than
opinion leaders
Influencers: ability to influence potential buyers of product by promoting and recommending it on
social media
Week 1: Consumer Culture
Lecture slides week 1:
Consumer behavior: reflects the totality of consumers decisions with respect to acquisition,
consumption and disposition of goods, services, experiences, and ideas by decision making units
over time
Marketing implication of CB:
- Making promotion and marketing communication decision
- Positioning
- Making distribution decision
- Developing and implementing customer-oriented strategies
Consumer culture: commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying within a
specific society
- Culture has important functions for consumers
- Giving meaning to objects, activities, facilitating communication
Cultural norms: the rules that specify the appropriate behavior in each situation within a specific
culture
Cultural sanction: refers to the penalties associated with performing non gratifying culturally
inconsistent behavior
- Ecology: physical characteristics that describe environment and habitat of place
- Tradition: custom and accepted
- way of structuring society
Role expectations in culture:
- specific expectations that are associated with each type of person within culture
- e.g. sex roles
- role conflict: situation where a consumer experiences conflicting expectations based on
cultural expectations
- divergence: situation in which consumers choose membership in microcultures in order to
stand out or define themselves
- values: abstract, enduring beliefs about what is right and wrong
- value system: total values and their relative importance
,Personality lifestyle and self-concept:
Lifestyles:
- distinctive models of living, including how people spend time and money
- psychographics: quantitative investigation of consumer lifestyle
Self-congruence theory:
- Self-congruence theory posits that consumers respond more positively to brands that are
in line with their global self-concept thus predicting consumers' attitudes and purchase
intention
- behavior can be explained by congruency between a consumer’s self-concept and the image
of a typical user of product
- marketers use self-congruence theory by segmenting markets into groups of consumers who
perceive high self-concept congruence with the product user image
Papers week 1:
National aggregate consumer sentiment towards marketing – by Gaski et al.
- Measuring consumer sentiment towards marketing
- Via the Index of consumer sentiment towards marketing
- Multidimensional scale designed to measure household sector sentiment and attitude
towards consumer marketing
- Describes measure, the index historical pattern and its linkages with macroeconomic
variables
, - Consumer Sentiment towards marketing gradually improved from 1984 to 2001
- Macro variables that influence consumer sentiment: consumer price index and national
saving rate (both negative impact), GDP, real disposable income per capita, unemployment
rate, S&P 500
- CPI & saving rate negative impact
- Events that influenced consumer heavier in Europe in the past 10 years: rising prices top
concern, invasion of Ukraine, extreme weather
Signaling status with luxury goods: the role of brand prominence – Han et al.
- Possessions play symbolic role in consumers lives
- Signaling status
- Brand prominence: conspicuousness of a brand mark or logo on a product
- Invisible branded luxury goods (chosen by patrician/ proletarian) cost more than very visible
branded goods (chosen by parvenu/ poseur)
- Fake goods copy loud products (poseur would choose this since they care for status but
cannot afford it)
- Patricians recognize the true value regardless of the brand and conspicuousness
- All others (proletarian, poseur, parvenu) need brand names and logos
- Patricians prefer quietly branded products
- Parvenus prefer loud products
- Poseurs prefer loud product but more likely to buy fakes
- Proletarians don’t care about the brand
- Brands need to be careful to not only be loud, listen to wants on consumer, depends on
target group
The role of normative political ideology in consumer behavior – Crockett et al.
- How political ideology affects CB
- Ideology= system of beliefs and values created by given society’s most dominant group
- Dominant group= western culture, related to capitalism
- Non dominant group= counter culture, related to anti consumption
- Paper studies how belonging to one of the groups influences the propensity to shop
- In ghetto smaller shops, higher prices, less availability of specific goods, lower quality
, - Black liberal ideology: moving to white neighborhood, integration is important, better
education, bigger shops, more availability, outshopping
- Black nationalist ideology: loyalty, outmigration sends message that black neighborhood is
undesirable place to live
- Both ideologies influence consumption
Standard of beauty: impact of mannequins in retail context – Argo et al.
- The appearance of mannequins has changed over time, used to be well fed as a sign of
welfare
- Today it is considered more attractive to be skinnier
- Mannequins’ normative signals to beauty, consumers compare themselves to
- Consumers low in appearance self-esteem respond negatively when presented with
attractive appearance-related information
- More negative perception towards mannequin when its wearing dress/ bikini, if self-esteem
is low
- Consumers with low self-esteem rate an appearance related product more negatively
- Consumers with low self-esteem rate mannequin more negatively if it has no flaws
compared to if it has imperfections
Week 2: Social influence
Lecture slides week 2:
Social influences on consumer behavior:
- Behavior is influenced by others
- WOM marketing
- Physical presence of others influences behavior e.g. sales person
Marketing source: influence derived from marketing agent e.g. advertisement, personal selling
- Reach: how many consumers are reached
- Receiver of message can answer back
- Credibility low
- Mass media delivered: ads, email, social media
Nonmarketing source: included derived from entity outside marketing organization
- Friends, family, media
- High credibility
Special sources of influence:
Opinion leader: acts as information broker between mass media and opinions
Market mavens: have information about marketplace in general
Celebrity endorsers: endorse product or brand, hybrid marketing source, credibility is lower than
opinion leaders
Influencers: ability to influence potential buyers of product by promoting and recommending it on
social media
