Principles of Consumer Studies
1. Introduction
Examen
40 mc vragen (50% exam grade).
4 open vragen (50% exam grade).
Examen 75% van uiteindelijke cijfer.
2. Attitudes → Micro / individual level
- Function – why do we have attidues?
- Forming – how do attitudes form?
- Changing – how are attitudes changed?
Attitudes= a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable fasiho in
relation to some object.
A persons evaluation (evaluative summary) of an object (on a favourable to unfavourable
continuum).
Attitudes function
Functional perspective → stable, saved in memory, serve general functions, never change, strong
attitudes (are stable), attitude change= change in memory representation, PAST Model
Constructive perspective → temporary, dependent on context, serve specific goals (goals influence
attitude), expectancy-value model, theory of planned behaviour, ABC model of attitudes, always
change, weak attitudes (depends on context), attitude change= different set of info activated
- Predict consumer behavior against popular product, new products and organisations. Attitudes
really relevant for consumer behavior.
Ego-defensive function: protect ego against failure. Fear commercials.
Knowledge funciton
Utilitarian function
Value-expressive function
Attitudes forming
• Tricomponent model of attitudes (ABC-model)
- Cognition → affect → behaviour (buying a phone: high involvement)
- Kan low-involvment, emotional en behavioral zijn (ijsje kopen)
op emotie gekocht
zonder thoughts / feelings beforehand.
• Uni-dimensionalist model of attitudes
Compared to attitudes, beliefs are non-evaluative
Beliefs are:
,- The world moves around the sun
- Smalles penguin= 16 inches tall
- Otters sleep holding hands
- Leonardo da vinci could write wiht one hand and draw with the other at the same time
➔ Do not have to be correct!
Attitudes are:
- I love being in the sun
- Penguins and otters are cute
- Leonardo da Vinci was an amazing guy
➔ Affective component, evaluative. Attitude= beliefs x subjective evaluation
Expectancy value model: cognitive beliefs from memory x evaluation (klein gedeelte van theory of
planned behaviour).
Theory of planned behaviour: attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavior control etc.
Changing attitudes
Can attitudes change? If so, how? Verschillende theorieën.
- Weak attitudes change → constructive
- Attitudes never change→ fucntional
- Strong attitudes don’t change → functional
- Attitudes always change → constructive
- Attitude change = form a new attitude, old attitude = label “false” → je vind de auto leuk, maar
ook niet leuk, omdat het niet geschikt is voor kinderen. Dus past attitudes are still there (PAST
Model) → functional
- Attitude change= change in memory representation → functional
- Attitude change = different set of info activated → constructive
,Microlevel: values, attitudes, goals, emotions
Goals
= Desired end-states
= Internal representations of desired states (outcomes, events, processes)
Goals and values almost the same thing. Goals completer level. More specific.
Higher order goals are the same as values.
- Goals influence attitudes. Depends on the situation where you in. Goals x situation (context) →
attitudes
- Emotions → attitudes
- Goals → emotions
➢ Attitudes are summary evaluations of objects
➢ Function & forming of attitudes depends on perspective
➢ Changing attitudes depend on perspective, 3 contexts & theories
➢ Need to include other consumer topics to predict consumer behaviour.
, 3. Cognitions & emotions
Do intuitions and/or emotions (from Watson & Spence) improve or hinder consumer decision
making? → both intuitions and emotions improve decision-making
- Many dual process theories.
What are the differences between generalized, phenomenon-specific, & formalized dual process
theories?
• Generalized → algemeen
- Voordeel: not limited to one research field
- Nadeel: very strong in creating lists that do not necessarily hold (bijv. cognitive is not intuition).
Too strongly formulated.
- Nadeel: cannot be disconfirmed: can explain everything after findings have been presented
• Phenonmenon-specific → designed specifically for 1 area bijv. attitudes
- Voordeel: very helpful in developing specific research field
- Nadeel: some errors in models (equals 2 types of information (bijv. epertise, attractiveness) with
2 processes)
- Nadeel: all own terminology, no cross-reerencing (re-inventing the wheel every time)
• Formalized → describe and formalize how system works.
- Voordeel: acknowledges that two systems can both be active
- Nadeel: using formulas suggests that we exactly know which findings reflect what system
- Nadeel: creates the illusion that we do not need to empirically test the 2 systems anymore
Most theories agree: 2 routes to thinking
- 2 or more?
- Theories are not identical
Kahnemans terms (for convenience)
1. Reasoning (controlled processing) → logic, rule governed
2. Intuitive (automatic) processing (thinking in the back of your mind) → smilarity, contiguity
Feeling condition: how much do i
like madonna? Meer betalen
Calculation condition: berekenen
hoe veel voor een CD betalen.
➔ B