1. Chapter 4
The Consumer Audience

2. Learning Objectives
Understand the importance of learning about consumer behavior.
Learn about various sources of influences on consumers.
Learn about how to manage involvement through advertising.

3. What is Consumer Behavior?
Consumer Behavior is defined as “the process involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.” 1

4. Hierarchy of Needs Need Product Promotional appeal Self-actualization
Golf Clubs
“Time is to enjoy”
Esteem
Luxury car
“Be in control of the Road”
Social
Pendant
“Show her your care”
Safety
Tires
“Bounces off hazards”
Physiological
Breakfast cereal
“The natural energy source”

5. Target Market Group of People (Segment) Who Are
Most Likely to Respond Favorably to
What a Marketer Has to Offer & to Provide
the Highest Level of Profitability.
Target Market
Organizations Design
Specific Marketing
Strategies to Reach
Markets’ Needs
Effectively
Ad Team Tries to
Understand How & Why Consumers Think, Feel, and Behave

6. EXH 6-12

7. The Consumer Decision Process of the Target Market (Fig. 4.1)

8. Characteristics of Culture
Boundaries for Behavior are Norms
Culture is Defined as Shared Meanings that Together Define a Group of People or a Way of Life.
Source of Norms are Values
Customs are Culturally Acceptable
Ways of Behaving in Situations
Divide Into Subcultures Based on
Geographic Regions or Characteristics

9. Core Values Values Are Hard To Change, Are Internal, and
Sense of Belonging
Self-Respect
Values Are Hard
To Change,
Are Internal,
and
Guide Behavior
Security
Excitement
Sense of
Accomplishment
Fun &
Enjoyment
Warm Relationships
Respect From
Others
Self-Fulfillment

10. Social Class
Income
Wealth
Education
Occupation
Family Prestige
Value of Home
Neighborhood
Marketers Assume That People in One Class Buy Different Goods From Different Outlets and For Different Reasons Than People in Other Classes. It is Determined By:

11. Reference Groups and Family
Provide
Information
Serve as Means of
Comparison
Offer
Guidance
Reference Groups - Collection
of People That You
Use as a Guide for
Behavior in Specific
Situations.

12. Psychological Influences on Consumers: Perception
Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information from the environment so that it has meaning for us.
Selective exposure refers to how we seek out information that interests us or is related to our needs, and we ignore unrelated stimuli.
Selective perception refers to how incoming information is modified or matched to the knowledge, experiences, and expectations we already have.
Cognitive dissonance involves justifying the feelings of dissonance or doubt that can occur in a purchase decision.

13. Psychological Influences on Consumers: Learning
Perception Leads to Learning; Learning
Often Leads to Changes in Purchasing or
Behavior.
Cognitive School
Mental Processes
Connectionist School
Behavioral Conditioning

14. Psychographics
Activities
Personality
Traits
Interests
Refers to all the Psychological Variables That Combine to Shape Our Inner Selves
Attitudes
Hobbies
Values
Opinions
Needs

15. The VALS 2 System

16. Station Break
Go to the SRI International Web site at and participate in an actual VALS lifestyle survey.
Next, discuss the characteristics of the online shopper or e-buyer.
How is this group different from the eight groups described in Figure 4.5?
What are your thoughts on how to construct a VALS scheme that would aid advertisers that are seeking to advertise internationally? Notice how SRI has approached this problem.

17. Low- and High-Involvement Decision Process
High-Involvement Decisions
Spending a Great Deal of Effort on
Expensive, Personal, Emotion-Laden Products
i.e. Cars
Low- and High-Involvement Decision Process
Low-Involvement Decisions
Acquiring Products Purchased Regularly
i.e. Milk
Amount of Involvement

18. Steps in the Decision Process (Fig. 4.6)

19. The ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model):
Involvement ( determined by motivation, ability, and opportunity) determines which route to take
Central route (high involvement) vs. Peripheral route (low involvement)
Different types of attitude changes:
Argument based v ad-execution based
Enduring, resistant to change v. temporal change
==>Implications for advertising practitioners:
How to manage involvement

20. Enhancing Consumers’ Involvement
Enhance Consumers’ MOTIVATION to
A. Attend to the message by…
Appealing to hedonic needs (Appetite appeals, sex appeals)
Using novel stimuli (unusual pictures, different ad formats, large number of scenes)
Using intense or prominent cues (action, loud music, colorful ads, celebrities, large pictures)
Heightening ad complexity (complex pictures; edits and cuts)

21. Enhancing Consumers’ Involvement
B. Process brand information by..
Increasing relevance of brand to self (asking rhetorical questions, using fear appeals, using dramatic presentations)
Increasing curiosity about the brand (opening with suspense or surprise, using humor, presenting little information in the message)

22. Enhancing Consumers’ Involvement
Enhance Consumers’ OPPORTUNITY to…
Encode information by…
Repeating brand information
Repeating key scenes
Repeating the ad on multiple occasions
Reduce processing time by…
Creating gestalt processing (using pictures and imagery

23. Enhancing Consumers’ Involvement
Enhance Consumers’ ABILITY to..
Access knowledge structures by…
Providing a context (employing verbal framing)
Create knowledge structures by…
Facilitating exemplar-based learning (using concretizations, demonstrations, and analogies)

24. Factors that Influence Consumers’ Involvement with Products and Brands
Lower involvement
Higher involvement
Symbolic meanings regarding self:
Few self-meanings (Pretzels)
Social visibility of product:
Not socially visible (Toothpaste)
Time commitment to the purchase:
Very short (Soft drink)
Price:
Low Price (Chewing gum)
Potential harm to self and others:
Small potential for harm (Ink pen)
Potential for poor performance:
Small potential for poor performance (Note pad)
Many self-meanings (Clothing)
High social visibility
(Personal cassette player)
Very long (Hot water heater)
High price (Caviar)
Larger potential for harm
(Climbing equipment)
Large potential for poor performance (Aerobic shoes)

25. Review Understand the importance of learning about consumer behavior.
Learn about various sources of influences on consumers.
Learn about how to manage involvement through advertising.