Summary Marketing 2: Consumer
behaviour
Business Economics: 2016-2017
Book: Consumer Behaviour (Hoyer, Macinnis, Pieters 7th edition)
Chapters: 7 - 10
Stan Paau ANR: 462880
,Chapter 7: Problem recognition and
information search
Learning objectives
Describe how consumers recognize a consumption problem and show why marketers must
understand this part of the decision-making process.
Discuss what happens when consumers conduct an internal search to solve a consumption
problem and identify some of the ways in which marketers can affect internal searches.
Explain why and how consumers conduct an external search to solve a consumption
problem, and highlight the main implications for marketing strategy.
7.1 Problem recognition
Problem recognition is the perceived difference between an ideal and an actual state. The greater
the difference between these two states, and the higher level of MAO, the more likely consumers are
to act. If consumers do not perceive a problem, their motivation to act will be low. The ideal state is
the way that consumers would like a situation to be. The actual state is the real situation as
consumers perceive it now. Problem recognition relates to consumption, disposition and acquisition.
The ideal state: where we want to be
The notion of this state comes from:
Expectations, based on past experience, about everyday consumption and disposition
situations and how products or services fulfil our needs.
A function of our future goals or aspirations.
These expectations and aspirations ore often stimulated by our own personal motivations and by
aspects of our own culture. Finally, major changes in personal circumstances can introduce new ideal
states (for example, graduating and then aspiring to excel at your job or signifying wealth).
The actual state: where we are now
The notion of this state comes from:
Simple physical factors, like running out of a product.
Needs, like being hungry.
External stimuli.
7.2 Internal search: Searching for information from memory
When a problem is being recognized, a consumer wants to solve this. Typically, the first step is
internal search: The process of recalling stored information from memory.
How much do we engage in internal search?
Researchers know that the effort consumers devote to internal search depends on their MAO to
process information. So, consumers will engage more in internal search if:
Felt involvement, perceived risk, or the need for cognition is high.
, The information is stored in memory.
They have a lot of knowledge about the problem.
They have the opportunity to do so (i.e. when time pressure and distractions are low).
What kind of information is retrieved form internal search?
Recall of brands
Consumers tend to recall a subset of two to eight brands known as a consideration or evoked set
(the top-of-mind, or easy to remember brands evaluated when making a choice). Consideration sets
vary in terms of their size, stability, variety, and preference dispersion, which is the equality of
preferences toward brands or products in the set. Brands that are recalled are more likely to be
chosen. However, brands with negative associations will never come into the consideration set, so a
brand recall doesn’t automatically mean it will be in the consideration set. If consumers cannot recall
brands from memory to form a consideration set, the set will tend to be determined by external
factors such as the availability of products on the shelf.
Factors that increase the chance of recall and including that brand in the consideration set are:
Prototypicality. Consumers more easily recall brands that are closest to the prototype,
making them more likely to be included in the consideration set.
Brand familiarity. Well-known brands are more easily recalled than unfamiliar brands due to
the stronger associations with the familiar brand. Brand familiarity helps consumers
recognize which of the many brands in the store should be attended to and reduces
misidentification of brands.
Goals and usage situations. Consumers have goal-derived and usage-specific categories in
memory, such as drinks to bring to the beach, and the activation of these categories will
determine which brands they recall during internal search.
Brand preference. Brands toward which the consumer has positive attitudes tend to be
recalled more easily than brands that evoke negative attitudes.
Retrieval cues. By strongly associating the brand with a retrieval cue, marketers can increase
the chance that the brand will be included in the consumer’s consideration set.
Recall of attributes
Consumers can often recall some details when they engage in internal search, and the recalled
attribute information can influence their brand choices. The variables which influence this recall are:
Accessibility or availability. Information that is more accessible or available – having the
strongest associative links or being easy to recall – is the most likely to be recalled and
entered into the decision process.
Diagnosticity. Diagnostic information helps us distinguish objects from one another. If
accessible information is diagnostic, it is likely to be recalled. Negative information tends to
be more diagnostic than positive or neutral information because the former is more
distinctive. This increases the chances that brands with negative qualities will be rejected.
Marketers can identify which attributes tend to be most diagnostic for a particular category
and seek a competitive advantages on one or more of these attributes.
Salience. Consumers can recall very salient (top of mind or more important) attributes even
when their opportunity to process is low. By repeatedly calling attention to an attribute in
marketing messages, marketers can increase a product’s salience and its impact on the
decision. An attribute can be highly salient but not necessarily diagnostic. For information to
behaviour
Business Economics: 2016-2017
Book: Consumer Behaviour (Hoyer, Macinnis, Pieters 7th edition)
Chapters: 7 - 10
Stan Paau ANR: 462880
,Chapter 7: Problem recognition and
information search
Learning objectives
Describe how consumers recognize a consumption problem and show why marketers must
understand this part of the decision-making process.
Discuss what happens when consumers conduct an internal search to solve a consumption
problem and identify some of the ways in which marketers can affect internal searches.
Explain why and how consumers conduct an external search to solve a consumption
problem, and highlight the main implications for marketing strategy.
7.1 Problem recognition
Problem recognition is the perceived difference between an ideal and an actual state. The greater
the difference between these two states, and the higher level of MAO, the more likely consumers are
to act. If consumers do not perceive a problem, their motivation to act will be low. The ideal state is
the way that consumers would like a situation to be. The actual state is the real situation as
consumers perceive it now. Problem recognition relates to consumption, disposition and acquisition.
The ideal state: where we want to be
The notion of this state comes from:
Expectations, based on past experience, about everyday consumption and disposition
situations and how products or services fulfil our needs.
A function of our future goals or aspirations.
These expectations and aspirations ore often stimulated by our own personal motivations and by
aspects of our own culture. Finally, major changes in personal circumstances can introduce new ideal
states (for example, graduating and then aspiring to excel at your job or signifying wealth).
The actual state: where we are now
The notion of this state comes from:
Simple physical factors, like running out of a product.
Needs, like being hungry.
External stimuli.
7.2 Internal search: Searching for information from memory
When a problem is being recognized, a consumer wants to solve this. Typically, the first step is
internal search: The process of recalling stored information from memory.
How much do we engage in internal search?
Researchers know that the effort consumers devote to internal search depends on their MAO to
process information. So, consumers will engage more in internal search if:
Felt involvement, perceived risk, or the need for cognition is high.
, The information is stored in memory.
They have a lot of knowledge about the problem.
They have the opportunity to do so (i.e. when time pressure and distractions are low).
What kind of information is retrieved form internal search?
Recall of brands
Consumers tend to recall a subset of two to eight brands known as a consideration or evoked set
(the top-of-mind, or easy to remember brands evaluated when making a choice). Consideration sets
vary in terms of their size, stability, variety, and preference dispersion, which is the equality of
preferences toward brands or products in the set. Brands that are recalled are more likely to be
chosen. However, brands with negative associations will never come into the consideration set, so a
brand recall doesn’t automatically mean it will be in the consideration set. If consumers cannot recall
brands from memory to form a consideration set, the set will tend to be determined by external
factors such as the availability of products on the shelf.
Factors that increase the chance of recall and including that brand in the consideration set are:
Prototypicality. Consumers more easily recall brands that are closest to the prototype,
making them more likely to be included in the consideration set.
Brand familiarity. Well-known brands are more easily recalled than unfamiliar brands due to
the stronger associations with the familiar brand. Brand familiarity helps consumers
recognize which of the many brands in the store should be attended to and reduces
misidentification of brands.
Goals and usage situations. Consumers have goal-derived and usage-specific categories in
memory, such as drinks to bring to the beach, and the activation of these categories will
determine which brands they recall during internal search.
Brand preference. Brands toward which the consumer has positive attitudes tend to be
recalled more easily than brands that evoke negative attitudes.
Retrieval cues. By strongly associating the brand with a retrieval cue, marketers can increase
the chance that the brand will be included in the consumer’s consideration set.
Recall of attributes
Consumers can often recall some details when they engage in internal search, and the recalled
attribute information can influence their brand choices. The variables which influence this recall are:
Accessibility or availability. Information that is more accessible or available – having the
strongest associative links or being easy to recall – is the most likely to be recalled and
entered into the decision process.
Diagnosticity. Diagnostic information helps us distinguish objects from one another. If
accessible information is diagnostic, it is likely to be recalled. Negative information tends to
be more diagnostic than positive or neutral information because the former is more
distinctive. This increases the chances that brands with negative qualities will be rejected.
Marketers can identify which attributes tend to be most diagnostic for a particular category
and seek a competitive advantages on one or more of these attributes.
Salience. Consumers can recall very salient (top of mind or more important) attributes even
when their opportunity to process is low. By repeatedly calling attention to an attribute in
marketing messages, marketers can increase a product’s salience and its impact on the
decision. An attribute can be highly salient but not necessarily diagnostic. For information to
