Rationality vs. Emotions:
Insights into
Consumer Decision Making
Professor West
Means-End Chain Analysis:
 Consumer behavior is both:
 Purposeful
 We strive to achieve short-term, and longterm goals
 Revealing
 Our behavior reflects our values
 Trade-offs
Understanding Consumer Motives
 Motivations are the underlying reasons for
behavior
Preservation
Cognitive  Consistency
 Attribution
 Categorize
 Objectification
Affective
 Tension reduction
 Expression
 Ego defense
 Reinforcement
Growth
 Autonomy
 Stimulation
 Teleological needs
 Utilitarian needs
 Assertion
 Affiliation
 Identification
 Modeling
Laddering Technique
Values
Consequences
Attributes
I: “Why is it important to you to use
a camcorder that allows for five
hours on one tape and one
battery?”
R: “Because I can take it to outside
events, like baseball games.”
I: “Why is that important to you?”
R: “It assures me that I will capture
important moments in my kids lives
without worrying.”
I: “Why is that important to you?”
R: “Being a good parent requires
that kids are left with visual images
of their childhood to enjoy as
adults..”
Hierarchical Value Map
Values
Consequences
Attributes
Motivational Conflict
 Approach-Approach
 Choosing between two attractive alternatives (e.g.,
two great job offers)
 Approach-Avoidance
 A choice situation that entails both positive and
negative consequences (e.g., the desire to stay
healthy but an aversion to exercise)
 Avoidance-Avoidance
 A choice between undesirable outcomes (e.g.
breast self-exams, colonoscopy, seeing your
dentist)
Understanding Motives
 Effective communication requires
understanding what consumers are
looking for, and why.
Consumer Involvement
 Involvement is the “perceived relevance”
based on inherent needs, values, and
interests
 From “inertia to passion”
 Involvement determines the degree of effort or
energy expended toward the object or activity
 Many faces
 Product, Message-related, Situational, Purchase
Traditional Model of Decision Making
 Consumer-side
Need
Recognition
Search
Alternative
Evaluation
Choice
Post-Purchase
Evaluation
Consumer Decision Making
 Consumer-side
Need
Recognition
Search
Alternative
Evaluation
Choice
Post-Purchase
Evaluation
 Marketer-side
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
Consumer Decision Making
 Consumers make a wide variety of
choices that range from life-altering (the
decision to go to graduate school, getting
married) to mundane (filling your car with
gasoline).
From Inertia to Passion
Habitual
Problem
Solving
Limited
Problem
Solving
Midrange
Problem
Solving
Inertia
Simple
Extended
Problem
Solving
Passion
Nature of Processing
Elaboration
Nature of the Decision:
 First time vs Repeat purchase
 Purchase for Self versus Another
 Functional products (e.g. washing machine, car)
 Experiential products (e.g. perfume, clothing)
Consumers are “cognitive misers”
 Heuristics are used as shortcuts to
decision making
 What might some of these be?
 Ask a friend or family member
 By what my mother always buys
 Find the cheapest
 Pick the compromise alternative
…
Rational Decision Making:
Need
Recognition
Search
Alternative
Evaluation
Choice
Post-Purchase
Evaluation
Need Recognition
Ideal State
Ideal State
Actual State
Ideal State
Actual State
Actual State
Status
Quo
Opportunity
Recognition
Problem
Recognition
How are Needs Activated?
 Changed circumstances
 Graduation, new job, marriage, first baby …
 Product acquisition
 DVD player, Xbox
 Product consumption
 Toothpaste, milk, gasoline…
 Product innovation
 Jump Drives
 Marketing influence
The Role of Self-Concept
Alter the buyer’s perception of “ideal self”
Ideal
Self
Actual
Self
Products that enhance
“self-concept” reduce
the dissonance between
the ideal and actual
self.
Extended
Self
Information Search
Information Search
 Types of Information
 Search Information -- observable prior to
purchase
 Credence Information – product claims that are
not readily observed even post purchase
 Experience Information -- can be obtained from
direct experience with the product or service
Information Search
Information Search

Search is usually limited
 Surveys indicate that 50% of consumers shop at
a single store for a durable good, only 30% look
at more than one brand of appliance
 Highlights why top-of-mind awareness, and
product differentiation are crucial
What Determines Extent of Search?
 Cost
 Effort, time, delay, immediacy of need, money
 The internet can lower search costs
 Benefits
 Savings, performance, satisfaction, avoidance of
regret, ease of justification
Evaluation & Choice
Evaluation & Choice
 Determine criteria to be used for
evaluation of products
 Assess the relative importance of the
each criteria
 Evaluate each alternative based on the
identified criteria
Rationality versus Emotions
 Buying a new car
 Finding the perfect prom dress
Evaluating Alternatives
 Criteria for the purchase of a car:






Handling
Longevity
Reliability
Safety
Space
Styling
Evaluating Alternatives
 Assessing Importance: ei





Space
Reliability
Safety
Longevity
Handling
5
4
4
3
3
* Importance: 5=Most Important, 1=Least Important
Evaluating Alternatives
 Beliefs Regarding Product Performance:
bi’s
Importance
ei
Toyota
Sienna
Subaru
Outback
Volvo
Cross Country
 Space
5
4
2
4
 Reliability
4
3
4
3
 Safety
4
3
3
4
 Longevity
3
2
4
4
 Handling
3
1
4
2
Product Evaluation: 4=Excellent, 3=Very Good, 2=Good, 1=Fair
Decision Rules
 Compensatory Rule: a perceived weakness of
one attribute may be offset or compensated for by
the perceived strength of another attribute
 Economic models of rational behavior whereby
consumers maximize utility
 Noncompensatory Rule: a product’s weakness
on one attribute cannot be offset by strong
performance on another attribute.
 Descriptive models of behavior that capture how
consumers simplify their decision making
Compensatory Decision Rules
 Simple additive (Equal Weight): bi
The consumer adds the product evaluations
across the set of salient evaluative criteria. The
product with the largest score is chosen.
 Weighted additive: biei
Judgments of product evaluations are weighted
according to importance
Simple Additive (Equal Weight)
bi
 Space
 Reliability
 Safety
 Longevity
 Handling
Toyota
Sienna
4
3
3
2
1
Subaru
Outback
2
4
3
4
4
Volvo
X-Country
4
3
4
4
2
13
17
17
Weighted Additive
biei
Importance
5
Toyota
Sienna
4 (20)
Subaru
Outback
2 (10)
Volvo
X-Country
4 (20)
 Reliability
4
3 (12)
4 (16)
3 (12)
 Safety
4
3 (12)
3 (12)
4 (16)
 Longevity
3
2 (6)
4 (12)
4 (12)
 Handling
3
1 (3)
4 (12)
2 (6)
53
62
66
 Space
Noncompensatory Decision Rules
 Cutoffs/Thresholds: restriction or
requirements for acceptable performance
 Signals (surrogate indicators) are product
attributes used to infer other product
attributes (e.g. high price often infers
higher quality)
Noncompensatory Decision Rules
 Lexicographic strategy:
 Brands are compared on their most important
attribute, and the winner is chosen.
 If there is a tie the second most-important is
considered, and so on, until a choice is
identified
Lexicographic Rule
Importance
Toyota
Sienna
Subaru
Outback
Volvo
X-Country
 Space
5
4
2
4
 Reliability
4
3
4
3
 Safety
4
3
3
4
 Longevity
3
2
4
4
 Handling
3
1
4
2
Lexicographic Rule
Importance
Toyota
Sienna
Subaru
Outback
Volvo
X-Country
 Space
5
4
2
4
 Reliability
4
3
4
3
 Safety
4
3
3
4
 Longevity
3
2
4
4
 Handling
3
1
4
2
Lexicographic Rule
Importance
Toyota
Sienna
Subaru
Outback
Volvo
X-Country
 Space
5
4
2
4
 Reliability
4
3
4
3
 Safety
4
3
3
4
 Longevity
3
2
4
4
 Handling
3
1
4
2
Noncompensatory Decision Rules
 Elimination by aspects (EBA):
 Brands are compared on an attribute by
attribute basis.
 Alternatives are eliminated that fall below the
consumer imposed cutoffs.
 Process continues until a single alternative
remains.
Elimination by Aspects Rule
Importance
Toyota
Sienna
Subaru
Outback
Volvo
X-Country
 Space
5
4
2
4
 Reliability
4
3
4
3
 Safety
4
3
3
4
 Longevity
3
2
4
4
 Handling
3
1
4
2
Cutoff = 3
Noncompensatory Decision Rules
 Conjunctive strategy (Satisficing):
 Brand are evaluated, one at a time, against a
set of thresholds established for each
attribute.
 The first brand that meets or exceeds the
threshold for each attribute is chosen.
Conjunctive Rule
Toyota
Sienna
Subaru
Outback
Volvo
Cross Country
 Space
3
2
4
 Reliability
3
4
3
 Safety
3
3
4
 Longevity
2
4
4
 Handling
1
4
2
Cutoff = 2
Buying A New Car
Marketing Insights
 What can an auto manufacturer learn
from this?
 What can a dealer learn from this?
Emotional Decision Making
 Planning for prom…
 Depends on if you’re a girl or guy
Marketing Insights
 What can a marketing learn from this?
 How is the process different than buying a
car?
Marketer’s Job
 To understand the process
 Anticipate where consumers will look for
information and make it easily accessible
 Be aware of what matters, (the head or the
heart)
 Search for opportunities to delight your
customers
Assignment
 Read
 Chapters 10, 14 – 16, 18 (pp 362 – 367, 500 508, 513 - 517, 525 - 542, 556 - 565, 570 –
578, 626 - 629, 637 - 651)
 Exam Essay -- Examine one of your own or
another person’s recent purchase. Detail the
steps involved and provide insights to a
marketer or another consumer.