THE CONSUMER

Consumers can be influenced by marketplace factors other than advertis

ing when they make their purchasing decisions. For example, a store's
atmosphere and cleanliness, the ease of parking, or providing free samples
of a new food product can affect shopper behavior. A 3-day behavioral
observation study of 300 customers at a California chocolate shop in a
regional shopping mallshowed that nearly all those whoreceived afree
food sample purchased chocolates. Of those who did not receive a free
sample, only two-thirds purchased chocolates (Lammers, 1991).
Even background musiccan influence buyer behavior. A 9-week test
in asupermarket showed that when background music was slow and
Soothing,shoppers bought 38% more goods than when background music
was fast and upbeat. Also, consumers spent more time browsing in the
store when slower music was played. Howeve, when customers were
interviewed and asked whether music had been playing while they were
shopping, 29% said no and 33% said they were not sure (Milliman, 1982).
In alater study, the same researcher found that slow background music in
restaurants induced customers to linger and to consume more drinks (Mil
liman, 1986).
Personal factors that affect consumer behavior include standard bio
graphical variables--age, sex, educational level, socioeconomic status, and
ethnic origin-along with cognitive variables such as perceived time avail
able for shopping, attitudes toward shopping, purpose of
trip, and the shopper's mood. Consumer the shopping
and various market segments to determine psychologists study these factors
decisions. Other aspects of consumer behaviortheir impact on purchasing
of interest to psychologists
are buying habits, brand loyalty, impulse
pricing. buying, and the effect of product

Buying Habits and Brand Loyalty

Many of the stores in which we shop and the
on the basis of habit. Habits are products we select are chosen
plex situations. Decisions do notroutine, easy ways of responding to com
have to be made or alternative
considered. Once we have products
tinue to buy it than to selectfound a product we like, it is
a new one. simpler to con
To demonstrate the strength of
arranged its display of canned soups.shopping habits, a supermarket re
The soups had been grouped by
brand name but were changed to
termixing brands. Although signs
alphabetical order by type of soup, i
more than 60% of the customers were posted toexplain the arrangement,
on the shelf where they had were fooled. Habit led them to the space
questioned, customers said thatpreviously gotten the
the soups had been desired soups. Wne
stocked in their usual
S04 Part Six Consumer Psychology
 order. They were surprised to find the wrong cans in
When consumers shop in newW stores, where habit does their shopping cart!
lead them to the shelf locations of the usual not automatically
products,
many more different brands than in the past (Park, they tend to buy
The design of an advertising campaign to Iyer, & Smith, 1989).
habits presents achallenge. One study found that change persistent buying
for one-fourth of the
subjects questioned as children and again 20 years later,
remained stable over time (Guest, 1964). Another studybrand preferences
found that con
sumer loyalty to 50 major brands remained unchanged over an
period (Johnson, 1984). Sixteen brands that were top sellers in their 8-year
uct category in 1923 retained their primacy in 1984; these included prod
bell soup, Lipton tea, Kodak cameras, and Wrigley chewing gum Camp
(Mayer,
1991). These findings reinforce the importance to advertisers of establish
ing brand preferences in childhood. Once caught, consumers may
remain
loyal to a particular brand for many years and pass that loyalty on to their
children.
A study of 173college freshmen asked them to choose among eight
brands of peanut butter. The students were inexperienced shoppers and
had never purchased peanut butter for themselves. Subjects with no par
ticular brand awareness tended to sample more brands. Those who were
aware of a particular brand because of a national advertising campaign
tended to select that brand. Although subsequent taste tests showed that
brand to be of inferior quality, the subjects who had chosen it remained
loyal to it over a series of five trials (Hoyer & Brown, 1990).
It is sometimes difficult for researchers to distinguish between buying
habitsand brand loyalty. Both can be defined in terms of repeat purchase
behavior, and the result is that the consumer is relatively impervious to ads
for competing brands.

Impulse Buying
Impulse buying is widespread over allsegments of theconsumer popula
tion for many product categories. As many as two-thirds of our shopping
decisions are made on impulse, even for relatively expensive items such as
videocassette recorders, microwave ovens, furniture, and vacation pack
ages. Marketing devices such as telephone credit card shopping, catalog
shopping, home shopping cable TV programs, and 24-hour retail stores
have made impulse buying easier. For many products, advertisers have
little influence over impulse buying.
A survey of 133 adults ages 18 to 89 found that 32% reported experi
encing sudden, intense urges to purchase something on impulse. Usualy
the impulse was triggered by the sight of the product or by some promo
tion for it. Some of these people felt the urge while at home and would go
out to a store to buy something. Impulse buyers reported that their
need was powerful, intense, and compelling and had to be gratified

Chapter 14 Consumer Psychology 505

 using
immediately. Almost 20% described it as stimulating and exciting,
felt hypno
words such as "thrilling" and "wild." Some subjects said they
tized, drawn toward the product as though in adream. And 41% said that
moment of
impulse buying made them feel good emotionally at the
purchase.
However, the consequences of impulse buying can be negative. Somne
56% of those surveyed reported financial problems as a result of imnpulse
buying, 37% were disappointed with their purchases, and 19% became the
object of disapproval of family and friends (Cobb & Hoyer, 1986; Rook,
1987).

Product Pricing
The price of a product can be an important influence on buying behavior,
independent of advertising and product quality. Consumers frequently use
price as an index of quality on the assumption that the more an object
costs, the better it must be. Some manufacturers capitalize on this belief
and chargea higher price than their conmpetitors do for a product of equal
quality. Identical products, differing only in price, are often judged solely
by their cost, with the more expensive product rated higher in quality.
Some consumers do not consider price when shopping for certain
items. Observations of supermarket shoppers revealed that most do not
pay attention to price information when shopping for staples such as
breakfast cereal, coffee, and soft drinks, and they cannot accurately report
current prices.
Apopular technique to gain sales for a new product or package is to
charge a low price as an introductory offer. The idea is that once shoppers
purchase the product, they will continue to do so out of habit, even when
the price is raised to the level of competing products. Research does not
support this notion. Sales are usually high during the introductory price
period but drop when the price is raised. In stores that do not lower the
price during the introductory period, sales typically remain stable.
Rebates are an effective way of offering a price reduction as an induce
ment to purchase. A price decrease in the form of a rebate usually
higher sales than an equal point-of-sale price reduction. A survey produces
shoppers found that frequent rebate users showed a high awareness of 495
of
current prices and bought many products they did not need. They were
enticed to make a purchase by a smaller rebate amount
frequent rebate users (Jolson, Wiener, & Rosecky, 1987). than were less
Because of different package weights and sizes,
unable to make the calculations necessary to determine shoppers are orten
brands is the best buy. When supermarkets provide unit which of several
tion, such as cost per serving or cost per pricing intorma
tion externsively in making item, shoppers use this into
purchasing decisions.
506 Part Six Consumer Psychology
 WORRR

more expensive brand may

Asupermarket shopper compares prices. Theprice.
be judged superior solely on the basis of its

Advertising to Ethnie Groups

in consumer values, attitudes, and behav
There are important differences ethnic groups. Researchers have docu
people of different Hispanics,
iors among certain products among whites, blacks,
mented preferences for 12% of the U.S. popu
Blacks constitute more than
and Asian Americans. they account for up to 90% of the residents
lation. In manylarge cities,
considerable purchasing power. Research suggests
sizable market with money than whites with comparable in
more
that blacks tend to spend for food, housing, and medical care. They
comes for clothing but less drinks but less coffee and tea. Also, they tend
purchase more milk and soft private label house brands.
brandsover
to favor nationalresearch black spokespersons are more
has shown that one
Consumer
spokespersons in reaching black consumers. In
effective than white races examined professionally
subjects of both
study, 300college student storyboards for five products: a portable
produced full-color advertising
detergent, a cordless telephone, a popcorn
word processor, a laundry beverage. The researcher found that blacks
fruit attitude toward
Popper, and afrozen expressed a more favorable
and The reactions
recalled more ad content black rather than a white actor.measured
featured a as by a
an ad when it their level of prejudice,
of white subjects varied with
Psychology 507
Chapter 14 Consunmer
 Low-prejudiced whites exhibited
questionnaire on racial
attitudes.
black
higher
actors than did high-prejudiced whites
featured
recall of ads that
the Spanish-speaking
(Whittler, 1991). Consumer
Advertising expenditures for population, doubled between 1985 market,
U.S. and
representing some 9% of the people speak limited English, they can
these
1990. Because nearly half ofby mainstream mass-market advertising. There-
not be reached effectively
lications
fore, some andnational
cable television is beingtargeted
advertisingnetworks. Spanish-language
at
Among neighborhood businesses, pub-
the majority of Mexican American shoppers, therá
which are preferred by communication and
is a greater reliance on
word-of-mouth in-store adver-
Spanish-speaking consumers show a high degree of brand
tising posters. homeland (Kaufman
loyalty, especially to brands imported from their
1991).

Advertising to Children and Adolescents

The 4 to 12 age group contains 34 million children with control over ap
proximately $14billion in disposable income. The fastest-growing spend
ing categories for these young consumers are shoes and clothing. One
explanation psychologists have advanced for the children's high degree of
purchasing power is parental guilt. Consumer psychologists suggest that
in single-parent families, in families with both parents employed outside
the home, and in families in which parents have postponed childbearing
until their thirties instead of their twenties, the children have been in
dulged with more money to spend and more influence over family pur
chasing decisions.
Marketing to children uses
lower supermarket shelves, airingtechniques such as placing products on
cartoon commercials on children's tele
vision programs, and distributing in schools pencils, cups, and
featuring a produce's name or logo. book covers
A substantial portion of the
pears on television. It is estimatedadvertising directed toward children ap
that 11-year-olds watch 25,000
mercials a year. These commercials have TV com
versy,and complaints have been voiced bygenerated great deal of contro
a
A survey of 690 adults parents and consumer groups.
revealed
about child-oriented advertising. The that they held highly negative opinions
advertising stifled creativity, promotedmajority of theseandadults believed that
nutritional habits (Hite & Eck, 1987). materialism, encouraged poo
However, televisionis an effective
advertising messages. This large medium for reaching children with
television than it audience
ies report that spends in school. Laboratoryspends more time watching
television and observational field stud-
tion to acquire many of thecommercials increase Consumers' mnotiva-
products displayed. young
Part Six
Consumer Psychology
 Consumer psychologists asked 250 mothers to keep diaries for 4
weeks, noting each request their children made for a specific product. The
women were trained to make accurate records and were contacted weekly
to ensure that the diaries were being prepared correctly. The ages of the
children studied were 3to 4, 5 to 7, and 9 to 11. Over the 4-week period.
the average number of requests per child was 132, with the greatest num
ber coming from the youngest children and the smallest number from the
oldest children. The data suggested to the researchers that parents usually
know what older children want and will buy those products regularly.
Older children also often have money to make purchases on their own.
Most of the requests from older children were made at home, whereas
requests from younger children were made more frequently during shop
ping trips. This finding may indicate that younger children are more likely
to accompany their mothers on shopping trips. When the mothers were
asked the reason for a child's request, 26% said the child had seen the
product in astore, 21% said the child had seen an ad for the product, and
20% said asibling or friend had bought the product. Most mothers acceded
to their children's requests and purchased the desired products (Isler, Pop
per, &Ward, 1987).
Young children can develop negative attitudes about commercials,
attitudes that strengthen as they grow older and discover that many ad
vertising claims are false. A study of 102 9- and 10-year-olds found a high
level of mistrust of ads and a strong effort to resist their entreaties. More
than 45% of the children questioned expressed negative feelings about the
ads they were shown, saying that ads trick people and do not tell the truth
(Brucks, Armstrong, &Goldberg, 1988).
Researchers detected changes in the consumer behavior of adolescents
during the 1980s that they attribute to the increase in the number of mothers
employed outside the home. Only 25% of teenagers live in a traditional
household in which the mother is a full-time homemaker and the father is
employed outside the home. Teenagers spend an estimated $30 billion a year
on clothing, cosmetics, and other personal
have also assumed items such as audiotapes. They
responsibility for much household spending. Many
adolescents compile the household grocery list, make decisions about specific
brands, and do the family marketing.
40% of teenage boys are believed to doMore than 60% of teenage girls and
Advertisers routine grocery shopping.
appeal to the adolescent market through magazine ads
and cable television music channels and
their targeted ads for foods and have in recent years increased
household products.
Advertising to Older Persons
Changing demographic trends have produced another
for advertisers: working people over the age of 50. This important marker
growing in numbers and affluence, will, by the year consumer segmern,
2020, constitute more
S10 Part Six
Consumer Psychology
 than one-third of the population. Their share of the national income is
approximately 40%, representing a multi-billion-dollar market for goods
and services. Many advertisers have responded to this trend by revising
their image of older people in advertisements and by eliminating stere0
types about the older consumer. Ads featuring attractive older models
promote cosmetics, hair care products, luxury travel, automobiles, cloth
ing, jewelry,and health clubs.
Retired people over age 65 are another active consumer group. Al
though their incomes are usually lower, they constitute a large market for
clothing, home furnishings, travel, entertainment, and health care prod
ucts and services (Leventhal, 1991).
Older consumers tend to read more newspapers and magazines than
do younger consumers. Their television preferences include news and
sports programs. They rely on mass media advertising for information
more than youngerpeople do, and they are critical of ads suggesting that
young people are the only ones who have fun. They also rely on salesper
sons more than do younger shoppers.
A study of 111 women consumers over the age of 65 led psychologists
to propose two types: the self-sufficients and the persuadables (Day,
Davis, Dove, &French, 1988). Self-sufficients were described as being high
in internal locus of control. They were also more independent, cosmopol
itan, outgoing, and influential in dealing with others. They were more
likely to read books, goshopping, atternd concerts and sporting events, and
eat in restaurants. Persuadables were described as being high in external
locus of control. They were also more easily persuaded by advertisements
and had little confidence in their own opinions. They preferred to stay at
home rather than engage in outside activities. The self-sufficients read
more magazines and watched less television, whereas the persuadables
watched agreat deal of daytime television. These findings suggest that
advertisers can reach the self-sufficient market segment with print ads and
the persuadable market segment with TV commercials.
Advertisers once believed that advertising to older persons would
have to be presented more frequently because it was thought that they
would have difficulty perceiving, understanding, and recalling informa
tion. Considerable research has shown that this is not the case. For exam
ple, astudy comparing recall and recognition for nine television commer
cials found no cognitive differences in these tasks between a 55-and-older
age group and a 35-and-younger age group (Stephens &Warrens, 1983).

Advertising to Gay Persons

An increasingly vocaland visible consumer group, gay persons are better
educated and more affluent than the general population. A survey of
20,000 homosexuals that was conducted by a Chicago opinion poling
firm found that approximately 60% of gay men and women werecollege
D.
 graduates, compared to about 20% of the U.S. population as a whole. The
potential market of
survey estimated that the group represents a large
people with high discretionary incomes.

Advertising to Disabled Persons

Another substantial consumer group with financial clout is the 43 million
people in the United States who are disabled. Advertisers have begun to
televi
use disabled persons as models in catalog ads and print ads and inretailers
sion commercials. Companies such as McDonald's and Nike and
such as Nordstrom, Target, Lands nd, and Kmart, have shown people in
wheelchairs, persons with artificial limbs, and children with Down's syn
drome. Early reports suggest that such advertising has a positive effect on
sales and enhances a company's public image.
This awareness of disabled persons was heightened by the Americans
with DisabilitiesAct that mandated accessibility of publicplaces, including
stores, restaurants, and shopping centers. Asa result, more disabled per
sons are becoming active shoppers.
Also, more companies are responding to the needs of disabled persons
with products to extend their strength and mobility and to compensate for
their limitations. These items range from easy-to-fasten clothing to easy
to-grasp kitchen utensils. One popular mail-order catalog calls itsproducts
"designs for independent living."
Manufacturers and advertisers respond to changing markets with new
products and marketing techniques. Consumers should be aware of the
varied nature of advertising-sometimes valuable and informative and
sometimes manipulative and deceptive. As a consumer, you should re
member one of history's oldest lessons: caveat emptor. Let the buyer-of
ideas, political philosophies, values, theories, research findings, and even
psychology textbooksbeware.
 CASE Humor in Radio Advertising
IN
POINT Some advertisers use mor unrelated to the product, and (3) hu
humor in their mes mor related to the product.
Sages to capture at Drawing on research about the effec
tention, to induce tiveness of humor in British television ad
Consumers to re vertisements, the researchers investigated
involvement with
member the ad's the degree of consumer high-involve
content, and to make four types of products: (1) items
people want to buy the product. Some form ment/thinking products (big-ticketrational
which
of humor is used in approximately 25% of such as cars and trucks for
impor
television commercials and 30% of radio and economic considerations are
tant);(2) high-involvement/feeling products
ads. cosmetics, jewelry,
At one time it was believed that con (personal items such as emotional
sumers made purchasing decisions because and designer clothing for which
they perceived a product to be labor saving, satisfaction is important); (3) low-involve
nutritious, or a good value, and not because ment/thinking products (items such as gas
oline, household cleaning products, cold
some company spokesperson told a joke. and (4) low-involve
However, since the 1980s the use of humor remedies, and cereals);
in commercials has increased, and advertis ment/feeling products (items that involve
ers claim to have evidence of its effective personal preferences such as candy, ciga
contain
rettes, and snack foods). Radio ads low
ness.
most often for
Academic research findings are less ing humor were used
involvement items and least often for high
supportive. Humor can draw attention to a involvement items.
product, but its effects on recall, compre Recall measures showed that humor
hension, and intent to purchase are less
clear. Some studies show that humor lowers related to the product was most frequently
remembered for commercials for high-in
ad recall and detracts from credibility. volvement/feeling products. Humor unre
To investigate the impact of humor on lated to the product was most effective in
radio advertising, two marketing professors ads for low-involvement products. Nonhu
at the University of Massachusetts at Am morous ads were most effective for high
herst studied 2,500 ads for 35 types of prod
ucts over a 12-year period. Approximately
involvement/thinking products.
200 consumers in three cities were surveyed Intent to purchase a product was high
est in response to nonhumorous ads for
by telephone the day after each ad was high-involvement/thinking products. For all
broadcast. The subjects were asked about
their recollection of the ad and whether they other product types, ads containing related
humor brought higher stated intentions to
intended to purchase the product. The ads
Were of three types: (1) no humor, (2) hu purchase than did ads containing no humor
or unrelated humor.
Based on M. G. Weinberger & L. Campbell. The researchers concluded that humor
(1991). The use and impactof humor in radio advertis
Ing. Journal of Advertising Research, 30(6), 44-52. ous commercials were most useful for low

Chapter 14 Consumer Psychology 513

 involvement products and were counter
tory study to investigate humor in radio
productive for high-involvement/thinking advertising?
products. Apparently, the purchase of big 3. What are the advantages and disadvan
ticket items is no laughing matter. tages of using surveys in consumer psy
chology research?
4. What have consumer psychologists
Critical ThinkingOuestions
learned about the use of music and seXy
1. Why do you think humor was more ef images in advertisements?
fectíve with low-involvement products 5. How effective would you expect humor,
than with high-involvement/thinking music, and sexy images in ads to be with
products? adolescents, with men, with women,
2. What are the weaknesses in this re and with older people? Why?
search? How would youdesign a labora
SUMMARY
Consumer psychology studies consumer behavior through surveys, focus
groups, in-depth procedures, and behavioral observations including scan
ner cable panels. Television programming research uses viewer panels to
screen programs and respond to mail and telephone surveys. Advertising
types include direct sell, product image, consumer awareness, institu
tional, and comparative. Advertising appeals can be positive, negative, or
mixed. Most television advertising appeals to the human need for affilia
tion. Many ads involve claims of implied superiority, which consumers
tend to believe. Television commercials generate a recall rate of approxi
mately 7% even when viewers are questioned within 5 minutes of seeing
the ad. People usually misunderstand about 30% of the content of televi
sion commercials. In general, recall of ads depends on their context and
frequency and the presence of competing ads. Ad effectiveness can be
tested by aided recall and recognition techniques.
Trademarks can be effective advertising aids, as can the product's
image. Packaging can also be influential at the point of purchase. Sexy
images are commonly used in ads; they attract people to the ads but do not
seem to influence how much of the advertising message is recalled. The
image of women in advertising is changing; although women are increas
ingly shown in positive roles outside the home, they are still portrayed in
traditional homemaker roles and as sex objects.
Introducing a new brand is risky and fails more often than it succeeds.
A new brand must offer consumers better value, be
noticeably different
from competing brands, and be the first with a new idea. Brand loyalty carn
render buyers immune to advertising for competing products.
buying is found among all segments of the population and may Impulse
affected by advertising. Habit, race, ethnic group, age, and genderbeinflu
little
ence buying habits. Price is also a factor; many
price with consumers associate higher
higher quality.
14 Part Six Consumer Psychology