Summary of the course Principles of Consumer Studies (MCB20806_2020_1) including a summary of all the lectures, book chapters and articles. Book chapters from Consumer Behaviour of Szmigin & Piacentini.
UPDATE: including a written short version of the summary
,Index
1. ATTITUDES ................................................................................................................................................ 1
ARTICLE 1: ATTITUDES AND ATTITUDE CHANGE .........................................................................................................................1
Meaning of and interest in attitudes ...............................................................................................................................1
Attitude change .................................................................................................................................................................1
Questions ...........................................................................................................................................................................2
LECTURE 2: ATTITUDES & BOOK CHAPTER 6 ...............................................................................................................................3
What are attitudes? ...........................................................................................................................................................3
Forming of attitudes ..........................................................................................................................................................3
Attitude hierarchy ..............................................................................................................................................................4
Functions of attitudes ........................................................................................................................................................4
Multi-attribute models of attitudes ..................................................................................................................................5
Attitude change .................................................................................................................................................................5
What are goals ...................................................................................................................................................................5
ARTICLE 2: ATTITUDES AND ATTITUDE CHANGE .........................................................................................................................6
The attitude concepts .......................................................................................................................................................6
Attitude Change ................................................................................................................................................................6
Persuasion ..........................................................................................................................................................................7
Consequences of attitudes...............................................................................................................................................7
2. COGNITIONS & EMOTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 8
BOOK CHAPTER 3: DECISION-MAKING AND INVOLVEMENT .........................................................................................................8
ARTICLE 1: COGNITIONS ............................................................................................................................................................8
Dual-process theories .......................................................................................................................................................8
LECTURE 3: COGNITIONS & EMOTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 10
Cognitions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Emotions .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10
ARTICLE 2: EMOTIONS ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
Approaches to study emotions ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Cognitive appraisal theory model ................................................................................................................................ 11
Dimensions of emotions ................................................................................................................................................ 12
3. GOALS & LEARNING ............................................................................................................................... 12
ARTICLE 1: GOALS & LEARNING & LECTURE ............................................................................................................................ 12
Types of goals ................................................................................................................................................................. 13
Determinants and processes of goals setting ............................................................................................................. 13
Cognitive aspects of goals ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Determinants and processes of goal striving .............................................................................................................. 15
Determinants and processes of goal disengagement ............................................................................................... 16
LECTURE 4: GOALS & LEARNING ............................................................................................................................................. 16
Main approaches to learning ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Behavioral learning ........................................................................................................................................................ 17
Cognitive learning .......................................................................................................................................................... 18
Sensory, short-term, and long-term memory .............................................................................................................. 18
Retraining and retrieving information .......................................................................................................................... 19
4. INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................. 19
ARTICLE 1: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION .................................................................................................................... 19
Communication .............................................................................................................................................................. 19
LECTURE 5: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................................... 21
Communication in interaction....................................................................................................................................... 21
Change ............................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Dialogues ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Framing ........................................................................................................................................................................... 22
1
, ARTICLE 2: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION .................................................................................................................... 23
Traditional conception ................................................................................................................................................... 23
Change in relation between consumer and company ............................................................................................... 23
Antidote: Co-create........................................................................................................................................................ 24
Building blocks for co-creation ..................................................................................................................................... 24
5. GROUP BEHAVIOUR & SOCIAL NETWORKS........................................................................................... 25
ARTICLE 1: GROUP BEHAVIOUR & SOCIAL NETWORKS .............................................................................................................. 25
Traditional approaches .................................................................................................................................................. 25
Different groups ............................................................................................................................................................. 26
Being included or excluded .......................................................................................................................................... 26
BOOK CHAPTER 8 - GROUPS, SOCIAL PROCESSES, AND COMMUNICATION .............................................................................. 27
ARTICLE 2: GROUP BEHAVIOUR & SOCIAL NETWORKS .............................................................................................................. 28
Social exclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 28
Behavioral consequences.............................................................................................................................................. 28
Uniqueness seeking ....................................................................................................................................................... 28
Experiments .................................................................................................................................................................... 29
LECTURE 6: GROUP BEHAVIOUR & SOCIAL NETWORKS ............................................................................................................. 29
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Social identity theory...................................................................................................................................................... 29
Intergroup dynamics ...................................................................................................................................................... 30
Social comparison .......................................................................................................................................................... 30
6. TRUST & CONFLICTS ............................................................................................................................... 30
ARTICLE 1: TRUSTS & CONFLICTS ............................................................................................................................................ 30
Definition ......................................................................................................................................................................... 30
Phases of trust ................................................................................................................................................................. 31
Different forms of trust ................................................................................................................................................... 31
ARTICLE 2: TRUSTS & CONFLICTS ............................................................................................................................................ 32
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Theories ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Attributes, main elements of trustworthiness .............................................................................................................. 32
Consumers’ Trust model in Internet Shopping ........................................................................................................... 33
LECTURE 7: TRUSTS & CONFLICTS ........................................................................................................................................... 34
Trust ................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Conflict and negotiation ................................................................................................................................................ 34
Dealing with conflicts ..................................................................................................................................................... 34
Negotiation ..................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Conflict development .................................................................................................................................................... 35
Trust and conflicts .......................................................................................................................................................... 35
7. CONSUMER CULTURE ............................................................................................................................. 35
ARTICLE 1: CONSUMER CULTURE ............................................................................................................................................ 35
Consumer culture ........................................................................................................................................................... 35
Commoditization ............................................................................................................................................................ 36
Commercialization ......................................................................................................................................................... 36
BOOK CHAPTER 9 – CULTURE .................................................................................................................................................. 36
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 36
The cultural system......................................................................................................................................................... 37
Classification of cultures ................................................................................................................................................ 37
Culture in relation with consumption ........................................................................................................................... 37
LECTURE 8: CONSUMER CULTURE ........................................................................................................................................... 37
What is consumer culture? ............................................................................................................................................ 37
Four characteristics ........................................................................................................................................................ 37
Liquid modernity ............................................................................................................................................................ 38
2
, Liquid consumption ....................................................................................................................................................... 39
ARTICLE 2: CONSUMER CULTURE ............................................................................................................................................ 39
Liquid consumption: definition ..................................................................................................................................... 39
Liquid modernity ............................................................................................................................................................ 39
Key characteristics of liquid consumption ................................................................................................................... 40
Relationship between liquid and solid consumption ................................................................................................. 40
Liquid modernity vs liquid consumption ..................................................................................................................... 40
8. SOCIAL PATTERNING OF CONSUMPTION ............................................................................................. 41
ARTICLE 1: PRACTICES, HABITS AND ROUTINES ........................................................................................................................ 41
Introducing theories of practice ................................................................................................................................... 41
The social practice theory.............................................................................................................................................. 41
The structuration theory................................................................................................................................................. 41
Practice theories vs other perspectives ....................................................................................................................... 41
Making and breaking links ............................................................................................................................................ 42
ARTICLE 2: PRACTICES, HABITS AND ROUTINES ........................................................................................................................ 43
Theories of practice: individualistic vs structural focus .............................................................................................. 43
Theory of practice vs health behavior theory .............................................................................................................. 43
New insights in health challenges ................................................................................................................................ 43
Information about smoking and e-cigarettes .............................................................................................................. 43
LECTURE 9: SOCIAL PATTERNING OF CONSUMPTION ................................................................................................................ 44
The social patterning of consumption ......................................................................................................................... 44
Practice theory ................................................................................................................................................................ 44
Practices and consumption ........................................................................................................................................... 45
9. DISTINCTION........................................................................................................................................... 46
ARTICLE 1: DISTINCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 46
Habitus ............................................................................................................................................................................. 46
Practice, field, capital ..................................................................................................................................................... 46
Bourdieu’s model of practice ........................................................................................................................................ 47
LECTURE 10: DISTINCTION ...................................................................................................................................................... 47
Taste and consumption ................................................................................................................................................. 47
Bourdieu à distinction .................................................................................................................................................. 47
Key concepts ................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Concepts after Bourdieu ............................................................................................................................................... 49
ARTICLE 2: DISTINCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 50
Soft skills & exploratory experience ............................................................................................................................. 50
Habitus, consumption and emerging adulthood ....................................................................................................... 50
The valuation of exploratory experiences by emerging adults ................................................................................. 50
10. INCOME & WEALTH ............................................................................................................................ 52
ARTICLE 1: INCOME & WEALTH ............................................................................................................................................... 52
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 52
Material well-being in the USA ..................................................................................................................................... 52
Poverty in the United States .......................................................................................................................................... 52
Gini coefficient – Income disparities............................................................................................................................. 53
Inequality ......................................................................................................................................................................... 53
ARTICLE 2: INCOME & WEALTH – SOCIAL CLASSES AND LIFESTYLES .......................................................................................... 53
What are social classes? ................................................................................................................................................ 53
How do we measure social class? ................................................................................................................................ 54
The ABCD classification ................................................................................................................................................. 54
Socio-economic indices................................................................................................................................................. 55
LECTURE 11: INCOME & WEALTH ............................................................................................................................................ 55
Economic growth............................................................................................................................................................ 55
Income and wealth ......................................................................................................................................................... 56
3
, Income distribution ........................................................................................................................................................ 56
Wealth distribution ......................................................................................................................................................... 57
Income elasticities .......................................................................................................................................................... 58
Budget shares ................................................................................................................................................................. 58
Social class ...................................................................................................................................................................... 59
11. BUYER BEHAVIOUR............................................................................................................................. 60
CHAPTER 10 – PATTERNS OF BUYER BEHAVIOUR ..................................................................................................................... 60
Repeat buying................................................................................................................................................................. 60
Brand loyalty ................................................................................................................................................................... 60
Light and heavy buyers .................................................................................................................................................. 60
Patterns of buyer behaviour and market segmentation............................................................................................. 61
Implications for marketing and advertising ................................................................................................................. 61
ARTICLE 2: BUYER BEHAVIOUR – CONSUMER HETEROGENEITY ................................................................................................. 61
Introduction to organic and local foods....................................................................................................................... 61
Mixed logit model .......................................................................................................................................................... 62
Results .............................................................................................................................................................................. 62
LECTURE 12: BUYER BEHAVIOUR ............................................................................................................................................. 62
Consumption in economics: income and spending .................................................................................................. 62
Buying behaviour ........................................................................................................................................................... 64
Willingness to Pay and discrete choice experiments ................................................................................................. 66
Optimization of Sales ..................................................................................................................................................... 66
12. SPATIAL SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR – DETERMINANTS OF SHOPPING BEHAVIOR ............................... 67
ARTICLE 1: SPATIAL SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR .............................................................................................................................. 67
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 67
Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................................................................. 67
Applied Concepts .......................................................................................................................................................... 67
Shopping Localities ........................................................................................................................................................ 67
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................... 68
ARTICLE 2: SPATIAL SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR – SPATIAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN TOWNS ......................................................... 69
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 69
Consumer behaviour in rural areas .............................................................................................................................. 69
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................... 70
LECTURE 13: SPATIAL SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR ........................................................................................................................... 70
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 70
What is a City?................................................................................................................................................................. 70
Consumption and urban structures.............................................................................................................................. 70
Spatial Hierarchy............................................................................................................................................................. 71
Shopping behavior of urban consumers ..................................................................................................................... 72
Online or in-store? .......................................................................................................................................................... 72
Amenities......................................................................................................................................................................... 72
4
, 1. Attitudes
Article 1: Attitudes and Attitude Change
Meaning of and interest in attitudes
Attitude describes a readiness to respond. The nature of attitudes can be described as favor or
disfavor. Attitudes have a subject matter; an object, a person or an abstract idea. Attitudes can
be specific or can generalize across objects. Indirect measures of attitudes can be referred to
as implicit measures.
Attitude change
When attitudes are defined as a fixed memory change is difficult to explain. When attitudes are
defined as constructed based on temporary considerations, attitudes are always changing.
Attitudes are partly memory based and partly constructed on the fly. Some attitude change is
possible even in domains that are traditionally resistant to change. Research conducted in the
laboratory can often obtain stronger effects than field studies for several reasons; better control
of distraction and reduced random error.
Initial beliefs persist more when people generate reasons why the initial information is true but
correspondingly less when they generate reasons why alternate scenarios might be true.
Cultural representations (like the election of Barack Obama) can change the attitudes (in this
case towards Blacks).
The person as context
Values are defined as attitudes towards abstract entities. A person with security values is likely
to favor policies that assure safety and stability in their environment. Self-interest values and
moral values can legitimize attitudes and make it subjectively appropriate to act on those
attitudes. Gay marriage is personally relevant to gays. When considering delayed situations,
abstract considerations (political values) receive more weight than material considerations
(self-interest).
A behavioral goal reminds us what we like and dislike about the execution and outcomes of
behaviour.
- Language can help to change attitudes (such as self-talk).
- Emotion regulation strategies can also exert an impact on political attitudes.
- General or dispositional attitudes are useful to predict unknown attitudes.
- Attitudes towards proximal objects are influenced by social information and attitudes
towards distant objects are influenced by social normative considerations.
- Motivational shifts across lifespan affect the selective processing of information.
1
,The social context
The persuasiveness of messages can be
enhanced by an alignment between a
communicator’s and an audience’s power state.
Social media and social networks can change
the attitudes.
The historical context
Generational differences reflect the impact of the
larger cultural context on the individual.
Attitudes can depend not only on climatic but
also on economic factors outside of the
individual’s control. Cultural factors can influence
information processing strategies. Attitudes
function differently in different cultures.
Questions
1. According to Albarracin & Shavitt (2018) attitude change sometimes occurs, because
attitudes are partially fixed in memory and partially constructed at the moment.
2. According to Albarracin and Shavitt’s (2018) article, what are consumer values? A
consumer’s attitudes towards abstract entities.
3. A consumer’s attitude and changes in his/her attitude can be used in the service of an
action goal. Attitudes can be remembered to help consumers think of what they like and
dislike about the execution and the outcomes of a behaviour. These can be called action
goals.
4. What can you say about the role of culture social norms? Non-Western culture consumers
have more difficulties making consumer choices. In non-Western cultures, attitudes are
more formed on the basis of social expectations, norms, and obligations (normative
pressures) compared to Western cultures.
5. What are the three fundamental contexts? Personal context, social context, and socio-
historical context.
6. What are attitudes? Attitudes are a consumer’s evaluation of a certain object (on a
favorable to unfavorable continuum)
7. What are the three different contexts? Person, social and historical. The person as context
describes consumer as a whole. Social context describes that the social surrounding can
influence an attitude (others, social media, social networks). Historical context describes
the cultural context.
8. Within the personal context (e.g.) language can influence an attitude. An example is self-
talk. If a person uses sentences like “I can do it” or “You can do it”, the attitude can be
influenced.
2
,Lecture 2: Attitudes & book chapter 6
What are attitudes?
DEFINITIONS: “Attitudes are learned predispositions to response in a consistently favorable or
unfavorable fashion in relation to some object.” “Attitudes are a person’s evaluation (evaluative
summary) of an object (on a favorable to unfavorable continuum).”
Attitude is on the microlevel. It is related to the consumer itself. There are different
perspectives of attitudes; functional perspective and constructive perspective. The
functional perspective says that an attitude is stable and saved in the memory. The functional
perspective also says that attitudes have a function (see below). The constructive perspective
says that an attitude is temporary and dependent on context. The constructive perspective says
that the goal of attitudes is to achieve your goals.
Overview
FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE CONSTRUCTIVE PERSPECTIVE
Stable Temporary
Saved in memory Dependent on context
Serve general functions Serve specific goals
Expectancy-value model
Theory of planned behaviour
ABC model of attitudes
Never change Always change
Strong attitudes (are stable) Weak attitudes (depend on context)
Attitude change = change in memory Attitude change = different set of info
representation activated
PAST model
Forming of attitudes
There are two different perspectives to the
formation of attitudes; Tricomponent model
of attitudes (ABC-model) or uni-
dimensionalist model of attitudes.
The Tricomponent model
The ABC model says that the affect, behaviour and cognition forms the attitude. Thus, there are
three components:
1. Affective component: emotional connection to the target object about which the
attitude is formed.
2. Behavioral component: the action or behaviors associated with the attitude object.
3. Cognitive component: beliefs and thoughts the individual has in relation to the target
object, its character and its relation to other things.
3
,Attitude hierarchy
The ABC-model does not indicate the level of contribution and interrelationship of the three
attitude components. The attitude formation requires effort. Sometimes we do not want to put a
lot of effort in the formation of an attitude. There are four hierarchies of effects:
HIERARCHY SEQUENCE MAIN EMPHASIS
HIGH INVOLVEMENT Cognition à affect The consumer engaged in extensive research
à behaviour to develop beliefs, emphasis on cognitive
information processing
LOW INVOLVEMENT Cognition à Consumer drawing on limited knowledge,
behaviour à affect behavioral learning is important
EMOTIONAL Affect à behaviour Experiential aspects of the consumption
à cognition setting, importance experiential or hedonic
consumption
BEHAVIORAL Behaviour à Emphasis on consumers responding to
cognitions à affect consumer context, impulse type buys,
behavioral approach important
The uni-dimensionalist model
The uni-dimensionalist model proposes that we can see a causal flow through the
components from beliefs to behaviour, which reflects the consistency of the tripartite model.
The theory of cognitive dissonance
The theory of cognitive dissonance is the state of having inconsistent beliefs and attitudes.
People will change their behaviour or their attitudes to maintain consistency and reduce
feelings of unease (like after eating fast-food you may have an uneasy feeling because of the
health effects)
Functions of attitudes
According to the functional theory here are four different functions of attitudes;
- The utilitarian function is based on rewards and punishments. We develop attitudes based
on how much pleasure or pain a certain thing will bring us. E.g. people but products that is
beneficial to them.
- The value-expressive function allows consumers to express their core values, self-concept,
and their beliefs to others. E.g. a customer who values the protection of the environment may
not be so interested in purchasing a vehicle like a Hummer.
- The ego-defensive function helps consumers justify what they know is threatening but
choose to ignore. We want to protect your ego towards failure. This could happen to all of
you, we want to help you prevent this from happen.
- The knowledge function helps with the decision-making process. E.g. because I have the
knowledge of my apple products, I can make a simple decision on any future apple products
I would want.
4
, Multi-attribute models of attitudes
The expectancy-value model
According to the basic multi-attribute model attitudes have three elements:
1. attitudes
2. beliefs (DEFINITION: beliefs are objective statements (they do not have to be correct).
Attitudes are subjective statements (evaluative). Beliefs are non-evaluative. The attitude is
a summing up from beliefs and a subjective evaluation.)
3. evaluations
The expectancy-value model suggests that
people form attitudes towards objects (e.g. Beliefs that the
behaviour leads Evaluation of
Attitude
towards the
to certain outcomes
brands) based on their expectations and outcomes
behaviour
evaluations of the attributes that make up
the brand.
The theory of planned behaviour
The theory of planned behaviour includes more
components to the model. à
Attitude change
According to the functional perspective attitudes
never change and strong attitudes are stable. The
constructive perspective says that attitudes always
change and that weak attitudes are not stable
(depend on context). According to the functional perspective attitude change occurs when a
new attitude is formed and the old one is labelled as ‘false’ (see PAST-model) or when there is a
change in the memory representation. According to the constructive perspective attitude
change occurs when a different set of information is activated.
What are goals
Goals are desired end-states and internal representations of desired states. Goals and values
are almost the same. Goals are more concrete and ‘higher-order’ goals are values. Values are
more general like; I want to have a healthier life. Concrete goals are “I want to finish university”.
Goals influence attitude, but it depends on the situation. Some goals are more important than
others. Emotions also influence attitudes.
5
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