CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY
CLASS 1: INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTARY NOTES
ADVERTISING
- Advertising is personalised based on personal data → you share what you do the whole time because
of algorithms
- Main theories don’t necessarily change → psychological theories from the 80’s do still hold → as long
as they can still predict, it’s fine
- Using tools in advertising agency → very valuable in professional sector!
METHOD
Method you choose depends on research question
- Explore something: phenomenon that is not yet well described → more in depth knowledge from
bottom up → qualitative research (interviews, focus groups)
- Here: consumer psychology → experiments: test theories & make predictions & formulate hypotheses
(dependent & independent variables)
o Online (eg qualtrics) (eg how people react to different kind of influencers)
- The Antwerp Social Lab
o Psychophysiology: reaction of body to all kind of stimuli (sweat, heartbeat, eye tracking,
brain waves, facial muscles)
MAIN GOAL
- Emotions are the core of what we do!
- Main goal of this course: understand emotions better & in the context of consumer behaviour & in the
context of media and communication
EXAMPLE – GOSSIP
Gossip = sharing social information about an absent other (not necessarily negative)
- Claimed that gossip is the same as grooming (sit together and pick each other fees; creates bonding)
amongst primates → Konrad put this to the test
- Gossip is said to release stress → experience stressor → half of the people engaged in control tasks &
half that gossiped
- Cortisol measured through saliva
- Gossip releases more endorphins than other kinds of communication
- Find: people that gossip after stressor: higher tendency to gossip = increases in cortisol → the more
the gossiping released stress
,CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY
DEFINITION
Consumer psychology: applies psychological theories to understand consumers and consumer behaviour
→ focuses on microlevel: small things that are changed which leads to other outcomes
COMPONENTS
All behaviours that relate to people as consumers
- What makes them like/choose/buy?
Emotions, rational behavior? Choice processes? Situational influences …
- How do consumers deal with persuasion attempts?
Influence, resistance, young consumers ….
- Psychological methods (experiments), focus on (underlying) processes of attitudes & behavior (and
individual differences or other moderators)
CORE THEMES
- Core themes
o Consumer information processing (attention, elaboration, decision making)
o Motivation and affect
o Persuasion, attitudes, social influence
- Not only for academic and managerial purposes, goal is also to advance knowlegde for consumer
wellbeing (+ public policy).
EXAMPLE STUDY: PHYSICAL APPEARANCE IMPROVEMENTS INCREASE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
- If you’re active on social media: focus on beauty and beauty products has increased → booming
business in all kinds of age ranges
- People want to show that they have clean skin & want to show their beauty online
→ Constantly exposed to these kind of content: do they know if it’s real? Do they think these products
are part of their identity?
- Study: if you take care of physical appearance & display it online (morning routine etc), it can increase
prosocial behaviour (eg donating to charity) → increases public awareness & that’s why they engage
in prosocial behaviour
→ Recognising physical improvement for prosociality: non-profit advertisers can exploit this
CONSUMER INFORMATION PROCESSING
IN GENERAL
- How do they process (consumer-related) stimuli?
- Information overload (home, media, shops, other ppl)
- How does this affect their beliefs, attitudes, and behavior?
See pic
,MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT
DEFINITION
Mere exposure effect: something you initially have no preference for, but the more you see it, the more you’re
going to like it (preferences can be influenced very subtle)
→ repeated exposure leads to liking
STUDY 1
Zajonc (1980)
- Preferences need no inferences: people can form preferences without a complete deliberation on
what they prefer → without they even knowing they prefer it
- Multiple chinese signs & the people in the experiment didn’t know what it means
- People came to the lab and had to perform some tasks; below the level of conscious awareness he put
a achistoscopy: they don’t perceive it consciously but they experience it → exposed to different kind
of chinese signs
- He discovered the signs that repeatedly exposed → when he asked how much they preferred each
sign → people have a higher preference for signs they were more exposed to
STUDY 2
Janiszewski, 1983 – applied to advertising
Incidental processing: unintentional or automatic processing of information that occurs without conscious
effort or attention
- People were still reading the newspaper on paper
- Reading long articles; in between articles you see ads
- Experiment with different ads that people were exposed to while they were reading the newspaper
(next to the articles)
- Afterwards: ads that were placed between journalistic articles were rated better because they were
exposed to it (based on mere exposure effect)
COGNITIVE RESOURCES
Cognitive resources are limited!!
- Mental muscle
- Depletion
- Mental shortcuts
, SCIENCE OF PERSUASION – CIALDINI
Science of persuasion by Cialdini: 6 different kinds of persuasion
1. Reciprocation
= obligation to give when you receive
2. Scarcity
= people want more of the things there are less
3. Authority
= people will follow credible knowledgeable experts
4. Consistency
= looking for, and asking for commitments that can be made
5. Consensus
= people will look to the actions of others to determine their own
FOR COMMUNICATION SCIENTISTS
Insights in consumer behaviour are important for the following professions:
- Strategic planner in an advertising agency
- Market research companies
- Store design / retail communication
- Health communication
- Social marketing (NGO’s)
- Content creators!
- Politics! And political campaigning + communication
CLASS 1: INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTARY NOTES
ADVERTISING
- Advertising is personalised based on personal data → you share what you do the whole time because
of algorithms
- Main theories don’t necessarily change → psychological theories from the 80’s do still hold → as long
as they can still predict, it’s fine
- Using tools in advertising agency → very valuable in professional sector!
METHOD
Method you choose depends on research question
- Explore something: phenomenon that is not yet well described → more in depth knowledge from
bottom up → qualitative research (interviews, focus groups)
- Here: consumer psychology → experiments: test theories & make predictions & formulate hypotheses
(dependent & independent variables)
o Online (eg qualtrics) (eg how people react to different kind of influencers)
- The Antwerp Social Lab
o Psychophysiology: reaction of body to all kind of stimuli (sweat, heartbeat, eye tracking,
brain waves, facial muscles)
MAIN GOAL
- Emotions are the core of what we do!
- Main goal of this course: understand emotions better & in the context of consumer behaviour & in the
context of media and communication
EXAMPLE – GOSSIP
Gossip = sharing social information about an absent other (not necessarily negative)
- Claimed that gossip is the same as grooming (sit together and pick each other fees; creates bonding)
amongst primates → Konrad put this to the test
- Gossip is said to release stress → experience stressor → half of the people engaged in control tasks &
half that gossiped
- Cortisol measured through saliva
- Gossip releases more endorphins than other kinds of communication
- Find: people that gossip after stressor: higher tendency to gossip = increases in cortisol → the more
the gossiping released stress
,CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY
DEFINITION
Consumer psychology: applies psychological theories to understand consumers and consumer behaviour
→ focuses on microlevel: small things that are changed which leads to other outcomes
COMPONENTS
All behaviours that relate to people as consumers
- What makes them like/choose/buy?
Emotions, rational behavior? Choice processes? Situational influences …
- How do consumers deal with persuasion attempts?
Influence, resistance, young consumers ….
- Psychological methods (experiments), focus on (underlying) processes of attitudes & behavior (and
individual differences or other moderators)
CORE THEMES
- Core themes
o Consumer information processing (attention, elaboration, decision making)
o Motivation and affect
o Persuasion, attitudes, social influence
- Not only for academic and managerial purposes, goal is also to advance knowlegde for consumer
wellbeing (+ public policy).
EXAMPLE STUDY: PHYSICAL APPEARANCE IMPROVEMENTS INCREASE PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
- If you’re active on social media: focus on beauty and beauty products has increased → booming
business in all kinds of age ranges
- People want to show that they have clean skin & want to show their beauty online
→ Constantly exposed to these kind of content: do they know if it’s real? Do they think these products
are part of their identity?
- Study: if you take care of physical appearance & display it online (morning routine etc), it can increase
prosocial behaviour (eg donating to charity) → increases public awareness & that’s why they engage
in prosocial behaviour
→ Recognising physical improvement for prosociality: non-profit advertisers can exploit this
CONSUMER INFORMATION PROCESSING
IN GENERAL
- How do they process (consumer-related) stimuli?
- Information overload (home, media, shops, other ppl)
- How does this affect their beliefs, attitudes, and behavior?
See pic
,MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT
DEFINITION
Mere exposure effect: something you initially have no preference for, but the more you see it, the more you’re
going to like it (preferences can be influenced very subtle)
→ repeated exposure leads to liking
STUDY 1
Zajonc (1980)
- Preferences need no inferences: people can form preferences without a complete deliberation on
what they prefer → without they even knowing they prefer it
- Multiple chinese signs & the people in the experiment didn’t know what it means
- People came to the lab and had to perform some tasks; below the level of conscious awareness he put
a achistoscopy: they don’t perceive it consciously but they experience it → exposed to different kind
of chinese signs
- He discovered the signs that repeatedly exposed → when he asked how much they preferred each
sign → people have a higher preference for signs they were more exposed to
STUDY 2
Janiszewski, 1983 – applied to advertising
Incidental processing: unintentional or automatic processing of information that occurs without conscious
effort or attention
- People were still reading the newspaper on paper
- Reading long articles; in between articles you see ads
- Experiment with different ads that people were exposed to while they were reading the newspaper
(next to the articles)
- Afterwards: ads that were placed between journalistic articles were rated better because they were
exposed to it (based on mere exposure effect)
COGNITIVE RESOURCES
Cognitive resources are limited!!
- Mental muscle
- Depletion
- Mental shortcuts
, SCIENCE OF PERSUASION – CIALDINI
Science of persuasion by Cialdini: 6 different kinds of persuasion
1. Reciprocation
= obligation to give when you receive
2. Scarcity
= people want more of the things there are less
3. Authority
= people will follow credible knowledgeable experts
4. Consistency
= looking for, and asking for commitments that can be made
5. Consensus
= people will look to the actions of others to determine their own
FOR COMMUNICATION SCIENTISTS
Insights in consumer behaviour are important for the following professions:
- Strategic planner in an advertising agency
- Market research companies
- Store design / retail communication
- Health communication
- Social marketing (NGO’s)
- Content creators!
- Politics! And political campaigning + communication
