Customer Behavior

A study theory called classical conditioning relies on linking two significant concepts and things in order to elicit the desired response. The unconditioned stimulus, the main object, and the conditioned object, the secondary object, are linked. An unconditioned response results from the unconditioned stimuli. The conditioned stimulus eventually produces the unconditioned response without the unconditioned stimulus, which is now referred to as the conditioned response, after a period of associating the two.

Give three examples of advertising claims that are literal truths but wrong in meaning, and explain why. An ad is stating “Stop ulcers! Use dawanol, the strongest antacid there is ”. This is literary true because the product might have a higher percentage of the active agents. On the other hand, it is figuratively false because it misleads the consumers into thinking that it treats ulcers more effectively than other meds.

An ad saying, ”Women who look younger use Olay oil”. this is literary true since The use of oil has been known to keep the skin smooth making the person look younger, but it is figuratively wrong since not all women who look more youthful use this type of oil. There are other kinds which offer the same results.

An Dettol ad claims that the antiseptic liquid protects against 100 % of germs. That may be true of the liquid protects against 100 % of the germs known to affect man, but it is figuratively wrong because there are other unknown germs that may crop up and infect someone who have cleaned themselves with Dettol.

How can marketers create familiarity effects for their products?

Familiarity can be set up by presenting the message and picture of the product for a longer time in advertising. Also by increasing the clarity and the picture size and advertising the product in a sharper focus that the underlying background to enhance its visibility.

Explain the difference between explicit memory and implicit memory.

Explicit memory is the act of purposefully searching for information stored in the memory while the implicit memory is the act of using the mind without the awareness or intention of using it.

List and define Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Physiological needs- this are the basic needs that everyone requires for survival. They include; food, sex, breathing, water, homeostasis, and others.

Safety needs- this entails the security of everything we value like, security of; family, body, employment, morality, health and property

Love and belonging needs-this are the needs for family, friendship, and intimacy.

Esteem- the values that we need to be subjected to, for example, self-esteem, being respected and respecting others, confidence and achieving what we desire.

Self-actualization- this involves lack of prejudice, creativity, and fact acceptance. That is the needs we need to establish ourselves.

Provide a marketing example of an imbalanced triad. According to balance theory, how could a marketer benefit from this?

An imbalanced triad may occur in a situation where you prefer Tiger Woods who is a golf player, and Tiger Woods uses golf equipment developed by Nike, so he prefers Nike Company, and you do not adore the company. The marketers use this kind of situations to change the attitudes of their clients by advertising their products using the likable elements like the use of celebrities to promote products.

Describe the three main categories of product attributes and provide an example for each.

Product specific attributes are organized on the level of particular products, for example, attributes for the product ”Men’ Slim-fit Chino Trousers”. 

Product class attributes are attributes that are organized on the level of a particular product class and can be allocated to any item belonging to this class of products. For instance attributes for the product class ”Men’s Clothing”.

Global attributes are attributes that can be allocated to any and all the products in a particular store.

8. Tina is trying to decide what internship/job to accept for the summer. She has three options. She sits down and lists all of the important attributes that are essential to her for a fulfilling/good summer experience. Next, she assigns an evaluation rating to each attribute (higher number better or more important). Finally, she evaluates each job according to each attribute (a higher number more likely the job has the attribute in question). Her evaluation is shown in the table below.

Beliefs/Judgements

Attributes

Evaluation

Job 1

Job 2

Job 3

Friendly co-workers

5

9

3

7

Salary

4

3

7

4

Facility Attractiveness

1

3

5

3

Flexible working hours

2

1

8

7

Using the simple Theory of Reasoned Action, calculate the attitude for each potential job. Indicate which is the MOST attractive alternative for Tina?

Attributes

Evaluation

Job 1

Attitude

Friendly co-workers

5

9

45

Salary

4

3

12

Facility Attractiveness

1

3

3

Flexible working hours

2

1

2

Overall attitude

62

Attributes

Evaluation

Job 2

Attitude

Friendly co-workers

5

3

15

Salary

4

7

28

Facility Attractiveness

1

5

5

Flexible working hours

2

8

16

Overall attitude

64

Attributes

Evaluation

Job 3

Attitude

Friendly co-workers

5

7

35

Salary

4

4

16

Facility Attractiveness

1

3

3

Flexible working hours

2

7

14

Overall attitude

68

According to the theory of reasoned action job 3 is the most suitable for Tina with the highest overall attitude of 68.

9. A couple buys a new sofa for their apartment but then finds another sofa a few days later at a second store that fits their decor and budget better than the first sofa. In what ways (identify three) might they reduce their post-purchase cognitive dissonance? (Returning the sofa is not an option.)

The couple can adjust the sofa qualities to make it look more attractive.

They can opt to increase the similarities they notice between the two sets of sofas.

The couple can choose to look for flaws on the other new sofa to reduce its attractiveness.

10. Karen went shopping for a new cell phone. Upon entering her provider’s retail store, she realized there just too many choices, and they all seemed just alike! She quickly became frustrated and ended up quickly choosing the phone she had seen advertised the most. What is Karen experiencing? Have you ever experienced that phenomenon yourself, explain?

Karen is experiencing a brand chaos. The numerous choices cause a physiological distress in Karen causing her to give up on searching and pick the most recognizable name. In this case, the most recognizable brand to Karen is the one she had seen advertised the most.

I have experienced this phenomenon. The store was full of different mobile phones all with the same specifications, and I opted to choose the phone that was always being described in the advertisements since I knew its details.

Work Cited

Kardes, Frank R., Maria L. Cronley and Thomas W. Cline. Consumer Behavior. 2nd. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2011.