Exam consumer behavior summary
Inhoudsopgave
Research papers .......................................................................................................................... 2
Etkin, J. (2016). The hidden cost of personal quantification ................................................................ 2
Novemsky, N., Dhar, R., Schwarz, N., & Simonson, I. (2007). Preference fluency in consumer choice. . 2
Puntoni, S., Sweldens, S., & Tavassoli, N.T. (2011). Gender identity salience and perceived vulnerability
to breast cancer. ............................................................................................................................. 2
Scott, S.E., Rozin, P., & Small, D.A. (2020). Consumers prefer “natural” more for preventatives than for
curatives ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Paper 5 – Stuppy, A., Mead, N.L., & van Osselaer, S.M.J. (2020). I am, therefore I buy: Low self-esteem
and the pursuit of self-verifying consumption .................................................................................... 3
Paper 6 – Tezer, A., Bodur, H. O. (2020). The greenconsumption effect: How using green products
improves consumption experience................................................................................................... 4
Book consumer behavior .............................................................................................................. 4
Chapter 1 - Understanding Consumer Behavior and Consumer Research .......................................... 4
....................................................................................................................................................... 4
....................................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 4 - Consumer Perception ................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 5 - Learning and Memory ....................................................................................................11
Chapter 6 - Automatic Information Processing .................................................................................13
Chapter 7 - Motivation and Emotion .................................................................................................15
Chapter 8 - Attitude and Judgment Formation and Change ...............................................................16
Chapter 9 - The Consumer Decision Making Process ........................................................................18
Chapter 10 - Product Consideration, Evaluation, and Choice ...........................................................20
Chapter 11 - Behavioral Decision Theory..........................................................................................20
Chapter 12 - Self-Concept and Personality ......................................................................................22
Lecture slides ............................................................................................................................. 28
Lecture 2 – 3 feb 2025 ................................................................................................................... 33
Research strategies ........................................................................................................................33
Research validity ............................................................................................................................38
Scientific method ...........................................................................................................................40
Theoretical framework and hypothesis testing .................................................................................41
Experimental research ....................................................................................................................42
,Research papers
Etkin, J. (2016). The hidden cost of personal quantification
Examines the unintended negative consequences of tracking personal behaviors—a practice
often referred to as the "quantified self."
Key findings from the study include:
• Increased Activity but Reduced Enjoyment: While self-tracking can lead
individuals to engage more in certain activities (e.g., walking more steps), it often
diminishes the intrinsic enjoyment derived from these activities. This reduction in
enjoyment occurs because measurement shifts focus toward quantitative outcomes,
making the activities feel more like work.
• Undermining Intrinsic Motivation: The act of measuring personal activities can
undermine intrinsic motivation by emphasizing output over the inherent pleasure of
the activity. This shift can lead to decreased interest in continuing the activity once
measurement is removed.
• Negative Impact on Subjective Well-being: Beyond affecting specific activities,
personal quantification can negatively impact overall happiness and life satisfaction,
as individuals may feel pressured by the constant monitoring and evaluation of their
behaviors.
Novemsky, N., Dhar, R., Schwarz, N., & Simonson, I.
(2007). Preference fluency in consumer choice.
The subjective ease or difficulty of forming a preference—affects consumer decision-making.
Key findings from the study include:
• Choice Deferral: When consumers experience difficulty in forming a preference, they
are more likely to postpone making a decision.
• Compromise Effect: Increased difficulty in preference formation leads consumers to
favor compromise options—choices that are intermediate among available
alternatives.
• Attribution of Difficulty: The study found that if consumers could attribute the
difficulty of making a choice to an unrelated factor, the effects of preference fluency
on choice deferral and the compromise effect were diminished.
Puntoni, S., Sweldens, S., & Tavassoli, N.T. (2011). Gender identity
salience and perceived vulnerability to breast cancer.
The study by Puntoni, Sweldens, and Tavassoli (2011) investigates how making women's
gender identity salient affects their perceived vulnerability to breast cancer. Contrary to
expectations, the researchers found that heightened awareness of gender identity can trigger
unconscious defense mechanisms, leading to a decreased perception of personal risk.
Key findings from the study include:
, • Lowered Perceived Vulnerability: When women's gender identity was made more
salient, they reported feeling less susceptible to breast cancer.
• Reduced Charitable Contributions: Increased gender identity salience led to
decreased donations to ovarian cancer research, suggesting a broader impact on
support for gender-related health initiatives.
• Impaired Advertisement Processing: Participants exposed to gender-salient cues
found breast cancer advertisements more challenging to process and had poorer
memory retention of the ad content.
Scott, S.E., Rozin, P., & Small, D.A. (2020). Consumers prefer “natural”
more for preventatives than for curatives
Explore how consumers' preference for natural products varies between preventative and
curative contexts.
Key findings from the study include:
• Stronger Preference for Natural Preventatives: Consumers exhibit a more
pronounced preference for natural products when used for prevention rather than for
curing ailments. This trend is evident across various product categories, including
foods and medicines.
• Lay Beliefs About Natural Products: The study identifies that consumers generally
perceive natural products as safer but less potent compared to synthetic alternatives.
• Safety vs. Potency in Decision-Making: When focusing on prevention, consumers
prioritize safety over potency, leading to a stronger inclination towards natural
products. Conversely, in curative scenarios, the need for potency becomes more
critical, making synthetic options more acceptable.
• Reversing the Preference: When natural products are described as more potent and
riskier—contrary to typical perceptions—consumers may prefer them for curative
purposes over preventative ones.
Stuppy, A., Mead, N.L., & van Osselaer, S.M.J. (2020). I am, therefore I
buy: Low self-esteem and the pursuit of self-verifying consumption
how consumers' self-esteem influences their product choices, focusing on the concept of self-
verification—the desire to confirm one's self-views.
Key findings from the study include:
• Preference for Inferior Products Among Low Self-Esteem Consumers:
Individuals with low self-esteem tend to choose lower-quality products that align with
their negative self-perceptions. This behavior serves to confirm their pessimistic self-
views.
• Motivation for Self-Verification: The inclination of low self-esteem consumers
toward inferior products is driven by a need for self-verification. This means they
select products that reinforce their existing self-beliefs, even if those beliefs are
negative.
, Tezer, A., Bodur, H. O. (2020). The greenconsumption effect: How
using green products improves consumption experience
investigate how the use of environmentally friendly (green) products influences consumers'
enjoyment of related experiences.
Key findings from the study include:
• Enhanced Enjoyment Through Green Product Use: Consumers reported greater
enjoyment of activities when using green products compared to conventional ones. For
instance, listening to music with headphones made from recycled materials led to a
more pleasurable experience than using standard headphones.
• Perceived Social Value and Warm Glow: The increased enjoyment is attributed to a
heightened sense of social worth; using green products makes individuals feel more
valued by society. This perception fosters a "warm glow," a positive emotional state
associated with engaging in pro-social behavior, which enhances the overall
consumption experience.
• Amplified Effects for Individuals with Lower Social Worth: The positive impact of
using green products on consumption enjoyment is more pronounced among
individuals who perceive themselves as having lower social worth. This suggests that
green product use can serve as a means of boosting self-esteem and social
connectedness for these consumers.
• Boundary Condition – Environmental Impact Perception: The "greenconsumption
effect" diminishes when the environmental benefit of the green product attribute is
perceived as minimal.
Book consumer behavior
Chapter 1 - Understanding Consumer Behavior and Consumer
Research
What is consumer behavior?
Consumer behavior = all consumer activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal
of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, mental, and behavioral responses
that precede, determine or follow these activities.
Consumer behavior
Consumer activities Consumer responses
- Purchase - Emotional
- Use / consume - Mental
- Dispose - Behavioral
The term consumer describes two types:
- Individual consumers = this type purchases goods and services to satisfy their own
personal needs and wants or to satisfy the needs and wants of others.
- Organizational consumers = they purchase goods and services to:
Inhoudsopgave
Research papers .......................................................................................................................... 2
Etkin, J. (2016). The hidden cost of personal quantification ................................................................ 2
Novemsky, N., Dhar, R., Schwarz, N., & Simonson, I. (2007). Preference fluency in consumer choice. . 2
Puntoni, S., Sweldens, S., & Tavassoli, N.T. (2011). Gender identity salience and perceived vulnerability
to breast cancer. ............................................................................................................................. 2
Scott, S.E., Rozin, P., & Small, D.A. (2020). Consumers prefer “natural” more for preventatives than for
curatives ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Paper 5 – Stuppy, A., Mead, N.L., & van Osselaer, S.M.J. (2020). I am, therefore I buy: Low self-esteem
and the pursuit of self-verifying consumption .................................................................................... 3
Paper 6 – Tezer, A., Bodur, H. O. (2020). The greenconsumption effect: How using green products
improves consumption experience................................................................................................... 4
Book consumer behavior .............................................................................................................. 4
Chapter 1 - Understanding Consumer Behavior and Consumer Research .......................................... 4
....................................................................................................................................................... 4
....................................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 4 - Consumer Perception ................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 5 - Learning and Memory ....................................................................................................11
Chapter 6 - Automatic Information Processing .................................................................................13
Chapter 7 - Motivation and Emotion .................................................................................................15
Chapter 8 - Attitude and Judgment Formation and Change ...............................................................16
Chapter 9 - The Consumer Decision Making Process ........................................................................18
Chapter 10 - Product Consideration, Evaluation, and Choice ...........................................................20
Chapter 11 - Behavioral Decision Theory..........................................................................................20
Chapter 12 - Self-Concept and Personality ......................................................................................22
Lecture slides ............................................................................................................................. 28
Lecture 2 – 3 feb 2025 ................................................................................................................... 33
Research strategies ........................................................................................................................33
Research validity ............................................................................................................................38
Scientific method ...........................................................................................................................40
Theoretical framework and hypothesis testing .................................................................................41
Experimental research ....................................................................................................................42
,Research papers
Etkin, J. (2016). The hidden cost of personal quantification
Examines the unintended negative consequences of tracking personal behaviors—a practice
often referred to as the "quantified self."
Key findings from the study include:
• Increased Activity but Reduced Enjoyment: While self-tracking can lead
individuals to engage more in certain activities (e.g., walking more steps), it often
diminishes the intrinsic enjoyment derived from these activities. This reduction in
enjoyment occurs because measurement shifts focus toward quantitative outcomes,
making the activities feel more like work.
• Undermining Intrinsic Motivation: The act of measuring personal activities can
undermine intrinsic motivation by emphasizing output over the inherent pleasure of
the activity. This shift can lead to decreased interest in continuing the activity once
measurement is removed.
• Negative Impact on Subjective Well-being: Beyond affecting specific activities,
personal quantification can negatively impact overall happiness and life satisfaction,
as individuals may feel pressured by the constant monitoring and evaluation of their
behaviors.
Novemsky, N., Dhar, R., Schwarz, N., & Simonson, I.
(2007). Preference fluency in consumer choice.
The subjective ease or difficulty of forming a preference—affects consumer decision-making.
Key findings from the study include:
• Choice Deferral: When consumers experience difficulty in forming a preference, they
are more likely to postpone making a decision.
• Compromise Effect: Increased difficulty in preference formation leads consumers to
favor compromise options—choices that are intermediate among available
alternatives.
• Attribution of Difficulty: The study found that if consumers could attribute the
difficulty of making a choice to an unrelated factor, the effects of preference fluency
on choice deferral and the compromise effect were diminished.
Puntoni, S., Sweldens, S., & Tavassoli, N.T. (2011). Gender identity
salience and perceived vulnerability to breast cancer.
The study by Puntoni, Sweldens, and Tavassoli (2011) investigates how making women's
gender identity salient affects their perceived vulnerability to breast cancer. Contrary to
expectations, the researchers found that heightened awareness of gender identity can trigger
unconscious defense mechanisms, leading to a decreased perception of personal risk.
Key findings from the study include:
, • Lowered Perceived Vulnerability: When women's gender identity was made more
salient, they reported feeling less susceptible to breast cancer.
• Reduced Charitable Contributions: Increased gender identity salience led to
decreased donations to ovarian cancer research, suggesting a broader impact on
support for gender-related health initiatives.
• Impaired Advertisement Processing: Participants exposed to gender-salient cues
found breast cancer advertisements more challenging to process and had poorer
memory retention of the ad content.
Scott, S.E., Rozin, P., & Small, D.A. (2020). Consumers prefer “natural”
more for preventatives than for curatives
Explore how consumers' preference for natural products varies between preventative and
curative contexts.
Key findings from the study include:
• Stronger Preference for Natural Preventatives: Consumers exhibit a more
pronounced preference for natural products when used for prevention rather than for
curing ailments. This trend is evident across various product categories, including
foods and medicines.
• Lay Beliefs About Natural Products: The study identifies that consumers generally
perceive natural products as safer but less potent compared to synthetic alternatives.
• Safety vs. Potency in Decision-Making: When focusing on prevention, consumers
prioritize safety over potency, leading to a stronger inclination towards natural
products. Conversely, in curative scenarios, the need for potency becomes more
critical, making synthetic options more acceptable.
• Reversing the Preference: When natural products are described as more potent and
riskier—contrary to typical perceptions—consumers may prefer them for curative
purposes over preventative ones.
Stuppy, A., Mead, N.L., & van Osselaer, S.M.J. (2020). I am, therefore I
buy: Low self-esteem and the pursuit of self-verifying consumption
how consumers' self-esteem influences their product choices, focusing on the concept of self-
verification—the desire to confirm one's self-views.
Key findings from the study include:
• Preference for Inferior Products Among Low Self-Esteem Consumers:
Individuals with low self-esteem tend to choose lower-quality products that align with
their negative self-perceptions. This behavior serves to confirm their pessimistic self-
views.
• Motivation for Self-Verification: The inclination of low self-esteem consumers
toward inferior products is driven by a need for self-verification. This means they
select products that reinforce their existing self-beliefs, even if those beliefs are
negative.
, Tezer, A., Bodur, H. O. (2020). The greenconsumption effect: How
using green products improves consumption experience
investigate how the use of environmentally friendly (green) products influences consumers'
enjoyment of related experiences.
Key findings from the study include:
• Enhanced Enjoyment Through Green Product Use: Consumers reported greater
enjoyment of activities when using green products compared to conventional ones. For
instance, listening to music with headphones made from recycled materials led to a
more pleasurable experience than using standard headphones.
• Perceived Social Value and Warm Glow: The increased enjoyment is attributed to a
heightened sense of social worth; using green products makes individuals feel more
valued by society. This perception fosters a "warm glow," a positive emotional state
associated with engaging in pro-social behavior, which enhances the overall
consumption experience.
• Amplified Effects for Individuals with Lower Social Worth: The positive impact of
using green products on consumption enjoyment is more pronounced among
individuals who perceive themselves as having lower social worth. This suggests that
green product use can serve as a means of boosting self-esteem and social
connectedness for these consumers.
• Boundary Condition – Environmental Impact Perception: The "greenconsumption
effect" diminishes when the environmental benefit of the green product attribute is
perceived as minimal.
Book consumer behavior
Chapter 1 - Understanding Consumer Behavior and Consumer
Research
What is consumer behavior?
Consumer behavior = all consumer activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal
of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, mental, and behavioral responses
that precede, determine or follow these activities.
Consumer behavior
Consumer activities Consumer responses
- Purchase - Emotional
- Use / consume - Mental
- Dispose - Behavioral
The term consumer describes two types:
- Individual consumers = this type purchases goods and services to satisfy their own
personal needs and wants or to satisfy the needs and wants of others.
- Organizational consumers = they purchase goods and services to:
