Summary – Consumer Behavior: 8th edition (Chapters 7-14)
Chapter 7 : Problem Recognition and Information Search
7-1 Problem Recognition
Problem recognition = the perceived difference between an ideal and an
actual state
What influences our perception of the ideal state?
1. Simple expectations (based on past experiences)
2. Future goals and aspirations (Personal motivations)
3. Culture
4. Social class (People want to be accepted by their equals and raise their social
class)
5. Changes in personal circumstances (new job = new ideal state)
What influences our perception of the actual state?
1. Physical factors (running out of a product)
2. Basic needs (hunger)
3. External stimuli (someone reminds your of their birthday next week)
7-2 Internal Search: Searching for Information from Memory
Internal search = the process of recalling stored information from memory
What kind of information is retrieved from internal search?
1. Brands
Consideration (or evoked) set = the subset of top-of-mind brands evaluated
when making a choice (usually 2-8 brands)
-> these sets vary in: size, stability, variety, and preference dispersion (= the
equality of preferences toward brands or products in the set)
What factors increase the possibility of a particular brand being recalled?
▪ Prototypicality = what products are closest to the prototype in its category
▪ Brand familiarity = well-known brands are more easily recalled
▪ Goals and usage situations = certain situations remind you of certain
brands because of their advertisement messages
▪ Brand preference = consumers recall brands more easily when they have a
positive attitude towards them
▪ Retrieval cues = by strongly associating a brand with a retrieval cue,
consumers will be more likely to recall the brand
2. Attributes
-> tends to be in summary or simplified form rather than its original detail
What factors influence the recall of attribute information?
▪ Accessibility/Availability = easily accessible information is recalled earlier
▪ Diagnosticity = the ease with which customers distinguish objects from one
another
▪ Salience = ‘top of mind’ or more important attributes are more easily recalled
-> attribute determinance = attributes have to be both salient and diagnostic
to be recalled
,▪ Vividness = concrete words, pictures, or instructions to imagine or through
word-of-mouth communication
▪ Goals = consumer’s goals influence with attributes are recalled from memory
3. Evaluations
-> overall evaluations or attitudes are easier to remember than specific attribute
information
Online processing = when a consumer is actively evaluating a brand as they
view an ad for it
4. Experiences
-> the recall of experiences from autobiographical memory in the form of specific
images and the effect associated with them
-> more vivid, salient, or frequent experiences are more easily recalled
Three biases relevant to internal search have important implications for
marketing:
1. Confirmation bias
= refers to our tendency to recall information that reinforces or confirms our
overall beliefs rather than contradicting them
Selective perception = we see what we want to see
2. Inhibition
= refers to the recall of one attribute inhibiting (preventing) the recall of another
3. Mood
= consumers engaged in internal search are most likely to recall information,
feelings, and experiences that match their mood
7-3 External Search: Searching for Information from the Environment
External search = the process of collecting information from outside sources
(magazines, dealers, ads, etc.)
Two types of external search:
1. Prepurchase search = a search for information that aids a specific
acquisition decision
2. Ongoing search = a search that occurs regularly, regardless of whether the
consumer is making a choice
There are five key aspects of the external search process:
1. The source of information
▪ Retailer search = visits or calls to stores or dealers
▪ Media and social media search
▪ Interpersonal search = advice from friends, family, coworkers, etc.
▪ Independent search = books, nonbrand-sponsored websites, magazines, etc.
▪ Experiential search = using product samples or service trials
2. The extent of external search
Experience goods = products that cannot easily be evaluated until after
purchase and use
-> consumers tend to dig into the details and spend some time on each web
, page
Search goods = products that can be evaluated before purchase and use
-> consumers tend to cast the net wider, searching more sites but spending less
time on each web page
Factors influencing our Motivation to process information:
▪ Involvement and perceived risk = more involvement or perceived risk is more
MOA
▪ Perceived costs and benefits = MOA is greater when perceived benefits are
high relative to costs
▪ Consideration set = a bigger, more attractive consideration set will increase the
search duration
▪ Relative brand uncertainty = uncertainty about which brand is superior will
increase search duration
▪ Type of product = hedonic products invoke longer search durations
▪ Attitudes toward search = people who like searching for information have
increased search durations (no shit)
▪ Discrepancy of information = when consumers encounter something new and
they cannot categorize it by using their stored knowledge, they are motivated to
search for information
▪ Presence of others = people search for shorter periods when they feel like they
are being observed
Factors influencing our Ability to process information:
▪ Consumer knowledge = experts research less, because they know a lot,
moderate levels of knowledge invokes the most search
▪ Cognitive abilities = consumers with higher basic cognitive abilities search
more
▪ Consumer affect = positive affect results in more efficient processing
▪ Demographics = for example: higher education results in higher searching
Factors influencing our Opportunity to process information:
▪ Amount of available information
▪ Information format
▪ Time availability
▪ Number of items being chosen
3. The content of the external search
▪ Brand name information
▪ Price information
▪ Information about other attributes
4. Search typologies
-> consumers can be just as biased in their search for external information as
they are during internal search (example: confirmation bias)
5. The process or order of the search
1. Orientation
= getting an overview of the product display
2. Evaluation
= Comparing options on key attributes
3. Verification
= Confirming the choice
Chapter 7 : Problem Recognition and Information Search
7-1 Problem Recognition
Problem recognition = the perceived difference between an ideal and an
actual state
What influences our perception of the ideal state?
1. Simple expectations (based on past experiences)
2. Future goals and aspirations (Personal motivations)
3. Culture
4. Social class (People want to be accepted by their equals and raise their social
class)
5. Changes in personal circumstances (new job = new ideal state)
What influences our perception of the actual state?
1. Physical factors (running out of a product)
2. Basic needs (hunger)
3. External stimuli (someone reminds your of their birthday next week)
7-2 Internal Search: Searching for Information from Memory
Internal search = the process of recalling stored information from memory
What kind of information is retrieved from internal search?
1. Brands
Consideration (or evoked) set = the subset of top-of-mind brands evaluated
when making a choice (usually 2-8 brands)
-> these sets vary in: size, stability, variety, and preference dispersion (= the
equality of preferences toward brands or products in the set)
What factors increase the possibility of a particular brand being recalled?
▪ Prototypicality = what products are closest to the prototype in its category
▪ Brand familiarity = well-known brands are more easily recalled
▪ Goals and usage situations = certain situations remind you of certain
brands because of their advertisement messages
▪ Brand preference = consumers recall brands more easily when they have a
positive attitude towards them
▪ Retrieval cues = by strongly associating a brand with a retrieval cue,
consumers will be more likely to recall the brand
2. Attributes
-> tends to be in summary or simplified form rather than its original detail
What factors influence the recall of attribute information?
▪ Accessibility/Availability = easily accessible information is recalled earlier
▪ Diagnosticity = the ease with which customers distinguish objects from one
another
▪ Salience = ‘top of mind’ or more important attributes are more easily recalled
-> attribute determinance = attributes have to be both salient and diagnostic
to be recalled
,▪ Vividness = concrete words, pictures, or instructions to imagine or through
word-of-mouth communication
▪ Goals = consumer’s goals influence with attributes are recalled from memory
3. Evaluations
-> overall evaluations or attitudes are easier to remember than specific attribute
information
Online processing = when a consumer is actively evaluating a brand as they
view an ad for it
4. Experiences
-> the recall of experiences from autobiographical memory in the form of specific
images and the effect associated with them
-> more vivid, salient, or frequent experiences are more easily recalled
Three biases relevant to internal search have important implications for
marketing:
1. Confirmation bias
= refers to our tendency to recall information that reinforces or confirms our
overall beliefs rather than contradicting them
Selective perception = we see what we want to see
2. Inhibition
= refers to the recall of one attribute inhibiting (preventing) the recall of another
3. Mood
= consumers engaged in internal search are most likely to recall information,
feelings, and experiences that match their mood
7-3 External Search: Searching for Information from the Environment
External search = the process of collecting information from outside sources
(magazines, dealers, ads, etc.)
Two types of external search:
1. Prepurchase search = a search for information that aids a specific
acquisition decision
2. Ongoing search = a search that occurs regularly, regardless of whether the
consumer is making a choice
There are five key aspects of the external search process:
1. The source of information
▪ Retailer search = visits or calls to stores or dealers
▪ Media and social media search
▪ Interpersonal search = advice from friends, family, coworkers, etc.
▪ Independent search = books, nonbrand-sponsored websites, magazines, etc.
▪ Experiential search = using product samples or service trials
2. The extent of external search
Experience goods = products that cannot easily be evaluated until after
purchase and use
-> consumers tend to dig into the details and spend some time on each web
, page
Search goods = products that can be evaluated before purchase and use
-> consumers tend to cast the net wider, searching more sites but spending less
time on each web page
Factors influencing our Motivation to process information:
▪ Involvement and perceived risk = more involvement or perceived risk is more
MOA
▪ Perceived costs and benefits = MOA is greater when perceived benefits are
high relative to costs
▪ Consideration set = a bigger, more attractive consideration set will increase the
search duration
▪ Relative brand uncertainty = uncertainty about which brand is superior will
increase search duration
▪ Type of product = hedonic products invoke longer search durations
▪ Attitudes toward search = people who like searching for information have
increased search durations (no shit)
▪ Discrepancy of information = when consumers encounter something new and
they cannot categorize it by using their stored knowledge, they are motivated to
search for information
▪ Presence of others = people search for shorter periods when they feel like they
are being observed
Factors influencing our Ability to process information:
▪ Consumer knowledge = experts research less, because they know a lot,
moderate levels of knowledge invokes the most search
▪ Cognitive abilities = consumers with higher basic cognitive abilities search
more
▪ Consumer affect = positive affect results in more efficient processing
▪ Demographics = for example: higher education results in higher searching
Factors influencing our Opportunity to process information:
▪ Amount of available information
▪ Information format
▪ Time availability
▪ Number of items being chosen
3. The content of the external search
▪ Brand name information
▪ Price information
▪ Information about other attributes
4. Search typologies
-> consumers can be just as biased in their search for external information as
they are during internal search (example: confirmation bias)
5. The process or order of the search
1. Orientation
= getting an overview of the product display
2. Evaluation
= Comparing options on key attributes
3. Verification
= Confirming the choice
