Introduction to Consumer Behaviour

Exploring the relationship between marketing and culture

Andrea Niosi

Introduction to Consumer Behaviour by Andrea Niosi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Book cover photo by Blaz Erzetic on Unsplash

Contents

- Introduction

- About this edition

- Erasure of Indigenous Knowledge and its Impact on Culture

- Part I. Perception

- 1. Key Terms and Concepts

- 2. Sensory Systems

- 3. The Perceptual Process

- 4. Positioning

- 5. Chapter Wrap-Up

- 6. Chapter Reflections

- Part II. Learning Theories

- 7. Key Terms and Concepts

- 8. Behavioural Learning Theories

- 9. Cognitive Learning Theories

- 10. Memory and Retrieval

- 11. Memory Failure and Fault lines

- 12. Chapter Wrap Up

- 13. Chapter Reflections

- Part III. Consumer Motivation and Involvement

- 14. Key Terms and Concepts

- 15. Needs, Wants, and Goals

- 16. Motivational Theories and Models

- 17. Involvement Levels

- 18. Chapter Wrap Up

- 19. Chapter Reflections

- Part IV. Personality, Lifestyle, and The Self

- 20. Key Terms and Concepts

- 21. Personality and Personality Traits

- 22. Theories on Personality

- 23. Self and Identity

- 24. Lifestyle and Psychographics

- 25. Branding

- 26. Chapter Wrap Up

- 27. Chapter Reflections

- Part V. Attitudes and Attitude Change

- 28. Key Terms and Concepts

- 29. Understanding Attitudes

- 30. Changing Attitudes

- 31. Chapter Wrap Up

- 32. Chapter Reflections

- Part VI. Individual Decision Making and Group Influence

- 33. Key Terms and Concepts

- 34. Consumer Decision Making

- 35. External and Social Influences

- 36. Chapter Wrap Up

- 37. Chapter Reflections

- Part VII. Sustainable Production, Consumption, and Disposal

- 38. Key Terms and Concepts

- 39. Sustainable Consumption, Production, and Disposal

- 40. Conscientious Consumption

- 41. Chapter Wrap Up

- 42. Chapter Reflections

- Part VIII. Culture & Sub-Cultures

- 43. Key Terms and Concepts

- 44. Culture Explained

- 45. Culture and Marketing

- 46. Subcultures

- 47. Chapter Wrap Up

- 48. Chapter Reflections

- Appendix

- Discussion Questions

1

Introduction

Hello! My name is Andrea Niosi and I am a Marketing Educator at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. You have stumbled upon an open textbook I am creating for Consumer Behaviour. This book is not yet complete and has not been reviewed, edited, or published! I am releasing it publicly during the Summer 2020 term so my students can have access to its contents instead of having to purchase a traditional textbook.

Please feel free to browse but at this time it would not be appropriate to use the contents of this book until it has been properly reviewed, edited, then published.

*****

And now, a little bit more about why I created this book and what makes it different. I have been teaching Consumer Behaviour at KPU since 2013 and really love this course. At our university Consumer Behaviour is offered in first year whereas in many other universities, it’s usually a third year course. Sometimes the terms and concepts can be quite “heavy”, but when we contextualize them using marketing references, everything makes more sense. In order to do this, I show films in class – these have become an effective way to bring the concepts to life. Gradually, my course developed a new nickname, “the dark side of marketing” and students were responding more and more to the content and engaging in important discussions and demonstrating critical thinking in all of their assignments.

The themes we discuss in my class have now become key themes in the course and have provided a foundation for this open textbook. Some of these themes include manipulative marketing practices; green and pink washing; toxic masculinity; under (and over) representation; whitewashing; colonization; cultural appropriation; materialism; and, stereotypes in marketing. Over time, the traditional texts were being used by students as “glorified glossaries” because their examples were either outdated or too superficial for the kinds of conversations we were having.

I therefore decided to create an open textbook where I could combine Consumer Behaivour terms and concepts with these themes. My goal is for students to leave this course with a profound understanding of the following:

- that marketing is a responsibility, not a right

- that marketing can (and does) real harm when it’s not handled with care

- that as marketers we can and need to do better in how we reflect society and culture in our work

I have featured content contributors in the textbook – students, faculty, and Indigenous scholars – to broaden the perspectives and provide rich and meaningful perspectives so often erased from academia. I am particularly honoured to have content contributed by Martin Heavy Head and Mariah Gladstone who have ever so generously shared their life experiences and knowledge around the erasure of Indigenous knowledge and cultural appropriation. While we have a long way to go in decolonizing education, I will do my best to include and feature the stories our traditional educational resources often omit.

In chapter 7 I have also shared with readers how this book contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As an “open” resources, it speaks to SDG #4, Quality Education. As a “free” textbook, I am hoping to reduce barriers to education and reduce inequalities represented in SDG #10. I have sought to remove all references that reinforce gender stereotypes and edit content to reflect non-gender binary pronouns and I will continue to include content that supports SDG #5, Gender Equality. By featuring Sustainable Consumption, Production, and Disposal in the book, I endeavour to support SDG #12.

Many students have contributed to this book, so please be sure to spend time on their Op-Ed pieces and their interactive html content developed in H5P. Open pedagogy has reformed my relationship with students and I am eternally grateful to have the opportunity to learn from them and share their creations.

The textbook begins with Martin Heavy Head’s discussion of the Erasure of Indigenous Knowledge: Martin and I created a set of discussion questions at the end of the book that connect with many themes and concepts throughout the book. This feature feels like a warm embrace and a bold awakening. It is exactly the feeling I hope everyone has in reading this book.

AN

2

About this edition

The majority of the content in this book has come from other open resources. I have taken from open textbooks, websites, courses, and articles created by Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Business, and Marketing academic and authors. In many places I have made important changes to this open content to better suit this book’s themes and audience. I have updated brand references that are more well-known by today’s consumers. I have changed examples that draw on old-fashion perceptions and reinforce gender stereotypes. I have changed pronouns to they/them/their. I have reworded explanations and examples of concepts to fit marketing contexts. I have changed vocabulary and terms that will better resonate with students and reflect a consumer behaviour and marketing vernacular. I have removed images and created new ones to establish a consistent look and feel throughout the book (this remains a work in process). Because I am releasing this book early – not yet reviewed or edited – to enable my students access due to distant learning protocols for the remainder of 2020, a number of changes still need to be made before this book is formally launched and published.

Many people have contributed to this book and many more will over the coming months. I acknowledge all of those by name below.

Student Reviewers:

- Julie Hartman

- Carla Flores Arciniega

- Bowen Kong

- Alex Ho

Student Content Contributors:

- Julie Hartman

- Bowen Kong

- Sharmaine Ventura

- Leora Sachar

- Nicole Gasbarri

- Sarah Whalley

- Leo Ng

- Kathryn (Katie) Stutheit

- Yuanxin (Emily) Gao

- Prahbdeep Kaur

- Tanikka Abraham

- Carlin Stephenson

- Aidan Maurice Richard

Content Contributors:

- Martin Heavy Head

- Mariah Gladstone

- Dr. Carly Drake

3

Erasure of Indigenous Knowledge and its Impact on Culture

By Martin Heavy Head

“The physical boundaries of colonialism are not nearly as important as the outposts they left in the mind” are words etched into my Being from my uncle, Narcisse Blood. I was lucky to have been raised by this man as one of my parents.

Every year, we have our Sundance Ceremonies, Akokaatsin, when we camp in a circle. We’ve continued almost all of our Ceremonies from time immemorial. We were lucky. The canadian government had made our Ceremony illegal for quite some time. Only in the 1950’s were People able to practise them without fear of being interrupted and arrested by the rcmp. In almost every way they could, the canadian government tried to stop us. We’ve survived disease intentionally spread by infected items. We’ve survived starvation, and prohibition of leaving our reserves. There’s a lot we’ve survived. I find that fascinating for how they speak of us, as if we were “conquered” or lost some war. There was no war that was lost, and no conquering happened. What happened was something far more boring, and time consuming. In history, the canadians paint themselves as heroes. Brave pioneers who tamed the plains. The north west mounted police brought law to the west. The reality is far less exciting. They bought the forts from the whiskey traders. They didn’t chase them away, they just gave them enough money to buy their buildings, and let them go, scot free.

They write their history as if out of sheer moral superiority where they demanded to build (what for now is known as) canada. As if it was by their god-given right they DESERVED this country, and everything they brought was a gift.

When People bring up what was brought to these lands, allegedly to improve things, my Father adds in “They also brought the devil.”
No, it wasn’t sheer moral superiority or that they deserved to live here more than anyone else, but an ability to lie, and continually lie, that is the reason they’re here. For example, we have the town of Cardston, Alberta. Right now, the judge in the case is reviewing the evidence and writing his decision in regard to the land claim made by Blood Tribe, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Recounting from oral history, as told to me, a group of Mormons lead by Charles Ora Card had come to where the present-day town of Cardston is. They asked Red Crow, one of the signatories of Treaty 7 and one of the relied upon Leaders of Blood Tribe if they could camp for the winter. Red Crow had given permission, and, in the meantime, Ora had decided to write a letter to send to both the canadian and american governments. He requested to create “a buffer zone” between Blood Tribe and the Blackfeet Reservation, as at the time of the original survey, Blood Tribe’s reserve extended all the way to the canada/usa border to connect with the Blackfeet Reservation. The governments agreed with him, but, he needed Red crow to sign a lease. Originally, this was going to be a 9-year lease, however, someone pulled a fast one and added another 9 onto it, where it became “The 99-year lease” where Cardston was established. They had even erected a stone in town with a plaque that read: “On this spot was the 99-year lease signed,” however, when the 99 years was close to being up they quietly removed the rock and planted a tree in its spot.

This is an abridged and sanitized version of events, recounted here only to make a point. Colonization of the west wasn’t based on a bloody battle with a clear brave victor and a beaten conquered loser, no. It was snivelling and scheming little men lying and cheating in order to maximize their wealth and comfort, and while the Land and Indigenous Peoples are cast aside in ongoing violent ways.

I do not intend to go into the myriad of historical violent happenings that have occurred, such as being forced onto reserves, the rationing system to prevent us from hunting and making us dependent upon the federal government, the prevention of leaving the reserve with the pass system, and so on and so on. Those are all intricate parts of colonization in this part of the world, that have caused such trauma I will only describe as “The Big Hurt.” Something that hits you so hard it’s felt in generations to come. Something we don’t know how to process to this day.

What I’d rather focus on is the importance of Gardening.

We’re not known as Gardeners, by any means. Writers like Karl May wrote about the adventures of Chief Winnetou, who was a romanticized fictional character. Toxic masculinity paints us as skilled warriors who hunted Buffalo with his bare hands, gnashing meat off the bone, and making ridiculous powerful love every night. There’s no time for Gardening when you’re doing all those manly things, now is there?

There’s famous lines from bigots that say “there was no agriculture among the plains indians (or any for that matter)” as agriculture is, for bigots, one of the white man’s defining characteristics and markers of his civility.

I could just tell you that we are natural born Gardeners as Blackfoot People, and leave it at that, but I’d rather show you. I want you to see the landscape as it was 500 years before colonization. The grasses of the plains, here anyway, at the time were quite tall. Somewhere around 8 feet tall in some places. The trees from the mountains extended into the plains a good 100 kilometers away from the mountains. The plains were loud, like a jungle. Kodiaks, Grizzly Bears, Buffalo, Beavers, Mountain Lions, Wolverines, Animals of all sorts populated the plains. It really was a jungle. Food was everywhere. See, we didn’t just Hunt and Gather, as if it were stratified positions occupied by gender. The masculine hunting, and the feminine gathering. Not at all. When we hunted, the whole Tribe hunted, when we gathered everyone gathered. It was a gathering of gathering if you will. Everyone took part in the collection (and eating) of food.

One of our most important foods is Miini, or what are known as in English, Saskatoon Berries. They’re a lot like Blueberries, except they’re purple, have very distinct woody sort of flavour, a mellow sweetness, and a crunch of hearty seeds inside. They’re quite delicious. An integral part of many Ceremonies is when we serve Berry Soup. Now, many may scoff at talking about Ceremony in public (such as it is), but within Blackfoot Ceremony there is public and private Ceremonies to be had. The feeding of Berry Soup is most definitely public, and if ever you are lucky enough to attend one of our Ceremonies you can experience this for yourself. At any rate, we serve the soup. Before we eat it however; the one running the Ceremony calls for everyone to take a Berry from their soup in their right hand. As they do this, we are all encouraged to pray in our own way. In Blackfoot, we Pray to the Sun, Moon, Morning Star, and Earth, and iihstipaitopiyopah, which loosely translates to “The means by which all Life exists.” Some simply say “source of all life” or “creation.” Some may consider that to be all of these entities working in tandem together, or the reason behind why those entities are there themselves. Whichever way you want to take it, we pray our prayers into the Berry, and dig a small hole with our finger when done, putting the Berry into the ground, rub our hands together and from the crown of our heads let our hands run down each side of our body to touch the Earth, and then place them over our hearts. The final word spoken is Kaamotaani, which means “survival.” It’s the “amen” or “over and out” to our prayer.

Curiously, I noticed during our last Sundance that there were concentric rings of Berry bushes growing on our Ceremony grounds, where it occurred to me that the whole point of this exercise is to plant our food source. We leave the Berry as an offering to ensure that we always have food, and this offering ensures a new growth of food wherever we go.

Planting seeds.

Speaking of wherever we go, there is camping and the moving of camp. One of the most important jobs to have in camp was being the Fire Runner. Their sole duty was to collect coals from the fire, and run to the next place where we camp. This person would run ahead, with a Buffalo horn full of coals, and start a fire. By the time the rest of the camp got to the new camping spot, they’d all collect fire from his fire. So, in theory, we had the same fire burning for generations. How this fire runner was chosen was simple, as they would line up youths in a row, and the first to run down a Deer and stab it in the neck would be the Fire Runner, or the Messenger Runner. The Messenger Runner would be the designate to send messages to the other Blackfoot Tribes, wherever they may be. They would run all night with the message, deliver it, sleep all day, and run back to the original camp at night to deliver the response. I imagine, quite exhaustively.

When we’d camp in the new site, what we’d do is go collect fire wood. Generally, we’d camp in the low valleys that are hidden from view. The river bottoms of the Coulees. In the area of (what is for now known as southern alberta) the plains is seemingly flat for miles around. However; the landscape will suddenly drop off around 200 feet or so into steep hills and to the rivers. The rivers are hidden, and you can have whole camps of People living in an area and never know it if you were walking on prairie level. The People would camp at the river bottom, and first, collect all the dead branches that have fallen off the trees. Next, using their tools they would pull the dead branches off of the trees that haven’t fallen. Once all the dead fall was collected, and the dead branches were too, as well as 2/3 of the berries and food of the area was collected, the camp would move on to somewhere else in the Territory.

See, what they were doing was pruning the trees. This ensured good growth of the trees, and an endless supply of firewood if done correctly. The landscape of the plains was tightly managed and manicured by our presence. The berries over millennia grew with our hands picking them, and grooming the plants. The trees grew with our hands pruning them, and caring for them. No, the land wasn’t wild and untamed at all, but well groomed, and well suited for us, as we were suited for the Land. We are inextricable from it. As epigenetics shows, the environment informs what genetic expression happens in a person, for seven generations, while in turn our presence informs the environment.

The nwmp, and more lately known as the rcmp did not bring law to the west. (NOTE: Possible assignment: seek out old advertisements used by the CDN gov’t to bring settlers to the “new land” for a bargain and discuss how the gov’t positioned the prairies and the west as land to be settled by Europeans. Invites discussion about how marketing/advertising shapes perceptions and how European Settlers believed the myth of “terra nullius”.) There already were well established norms and mores and meting out of justice that was complementary to the concept of law. For example, when the Buffalo were sick, there would be moratoriums placed on hunting. If anyone was caught hunting them during this time, they were put to death. This of course seems like a harsh punishment, but, what the poacher is doing is risking the life of all the Buffalo and the life of the entire Tribe by hunting at that time. The People had knowledge of cross species disease, and so if the Buffalo were sick and we were to eat them, we may get that sickness. In turn, it threatens the population of the Buffalo who are already weak. If the entire population is threatened, then we have no food. In turn, the other Plains Tribes most certainly had similar social mores and norms that translated to their survival. Rather than looking at the relationship between Blackfoot People and Buffalo as an exploiter and exploited relationship, one ought to view it as symbiotic. It is in the interest of the Tribe that the Buffalo are healthy, and well kept. This is in part where our name comes from, “Blackfoot.”

It’s not us who chose the name, but, our enemies. We would at times burn the plains. Burn the dead grasses to the ground in our Territory before the first snow. As we walked through the soot, our foot wear would become black. This was done for several reasons, the main reason being to attract the Buffalo to come back in the spring, when grasses were lush and plentiful with room to grow and fertilization from the fire. This was not only land management, but, Animal husbandry on a large scale. Not only with us, but with other Tribes and their efforts, it wasn’t a single rancher managing a few cows on an acre of land, but millions of People working together to help manage millions of Buffalo. Our stories of the relationship between us and Buffalo is much more involved than that, but, is for a different paper, and really none of your business.

My Grandfather was Cree, Mosom. He fought in World War Two, sometimes as a machine gunner, mowing down a crowd of nazis and driving on ‘cause it don’t mean nothin’. I say that never knowing war of that kind of course. It meant something to him. I think any veteran that has seen war would tell you there ought to never be war to begin with. I’ve never known more powerful anti-war messages than from combat weary veterans. He killed many nazis and fascists, and saved many, many more lives. When they were in europe, they would either volunteer to sign up on a patrol of the land, or, be voluntold. When they flew over in the plane, Mosom had purposely got the lay of the land. Looked about, and understood where he was going. He was raised as a hunter, and provider, and knew how to travel in forests without getting lost. Every time it was his turn to lead a patrol, the men of his group would run to sign up to go along with him. They’d only ever volunteer with his group, and they’d have to be voluntold to go with others. The reason was that his group would always come back unharmed. All of his skills growing up served him well in that war. Other patrol leaders would wander into an enemy camp, others would get lost, and many died out there. He always brought his group back though. His commander would freeze in battle. Unable to do anything. So, Mosom would take over. One time he devised a plan to distract the enemy with gunfire, while he smuggled his group into a separate building one by one. When his commander would freeze, Mosom would steal his lunch. When Mosom came home, he was denied membership to the Royal Canadian Legion. They didn’t allow indians at the time. Funny enough, that he fought so hard against nazis and fascism to come home to live under the same laws that inspired Hitler in the first place. Apparently, Hitler had taken the concept of concentration camps directly from Britain, which is what Reserves and Reservations are. The infrastructure of the Reserve system is the same as the concentration camps of the era. Talk about cultural appropriation.

Mosom had said he deserved more medals than he received. His commander had taken credit for a lot of Mosom’s deeds. Even though Mosom was awarded the Purple Heart for bravery, he left europe with a broken heart he never got over. What broke his heart the most was the Children. Hungry Children all over the place. canadian and american soldiers would throw food at them and laugh as they fought over the scraps. Mosom hated those soldiers for it.

Yet they came home, calling themselves brave.

What is erasure and why is it important?

When I was a boy, we had to haul water into a cistern, as we had no pipes bringing water to our home in the middle of nowhere. So, Dad and I would drive for a whole day, filling up the water tank to haul water in. Usually, twice a month we’d go and spend the day hauling water. These trips are some of the best times of my life. Just me and Dad traveling together. I’d ask him a question in the morning, and he’d think for a while, then, he’d talk about something way off topic. Start with a story that has nothing to do with the question, or so I thought. Like a backwards Fibonacci sequence his stories would come closer and closer to the point without saying it. Without him having to say the answer, I would already know the answer by the logical steps he provided in the stories.

In case I haven’t been clear with you, I was asked to write this article on the erasure of indigenous knowledge, and cultural appropriation of Indigenous knowledge. In the grand scheme, much knowledge of medicine is taken from Indigenous Peoples. The first white researcher to extract the active ingredient is given credit as “discoverer” of the medicine, when really it was well known to Indigenous Peoples. One example is willow as pain relief. Tea is made from willow bark and leaves. However; the first white man to extract acetylsalicylic acid is who is given credit for developing aspirin. Indigenous People the continent(s) over understand that the Earth is a living organism, sentient, and systemic in its needs for life, but no one listened until a white scientist said “I have what I call Gaia theory!” Inuit People for generations said “that boat sunk over there” and not until recently did white People “discover” where the Franklin expedition sunk. Indigenous People contemporarily are saying we have to protect the water, as water is life. White Canadian settlers seem to be saying “in this economy?”

See, I am very lucky to have had those trips with my Dad to haul water. He told me all he could about Blackfoot People on those trips. He told me about his Family, my Family. He told me about himself, told me about science, philosophy, history. I had years of trips with my Dad. I was privy to knowledge no one else will ever know, because I’ll take it with me when I go. He’s never lied to me, and I know he never will. He was the most honest with me on those trips than he ever was with anyone because of what he chose to tell me. I learned all about the Residential Schools, and the literal fetus skeletons found in the walls and buried in the grounds of those places. I learned what “The Big Hurt’ was.

I was lucky to have never attended a Residential School myself. They closed St. Mary’s in 1988, when I was 3. The intention of those schools, as Duncan Campbell Scott said, was to be rid of indigenous Peoples in (what is for now known as) canada. Scott says:

“I want to get rid of the Indian problem. […] Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian Question and no Indian Department.”1

See, if the people have no knowledge of who they are, then any jackass can come along in a position of authority and tell them who they are. This jackass can claim he has the rights to this land, by some god that he made up, by some rules that he himself wrote, and lie his way into eating your soul. That’s why it’s important to know who YOU are as an Indigenous person. That’s why it’s important to know your language, know your Ceremony, know your way of Being. As much as I know about Blackfoot People is because I asked questions to knowledgeable People. I learned what made sense. I sought it out, and I had People who I loved to ask. If you don’t know who you are and where you come from than that jackass can point to some book written by some German who has never visited and say “see look! You’re a savage! I’ve come to civilize you.” Some jackass can say you knew nothing without them, and you are nothing without them, and they made life all the better for you by their sheer morally superior noble presence. This jackass brought god and the devil to you, and made sure you know who the devil is first. This jackass can control the narratives. He won’t let you know who you are, he’ll tell you that you’re primitive. What he wants is your Land and Resources. He’ll tell you that he saved you with his iphones and computers. He’ll tell you that you’re lazy and it’s all your fault, you should be accountable. He’ll tell you how your Chiefs lie and steal while he steals your whole fucking country from you. While he steals your lives. Your water. Most importantly YOUR PAST.

This jackass controls the narratives, and the only tool you have is to know who you are, know where you come from, know that he is a jackass, and that you are the land and the land is you. You are inextricable and you are part of this. Your DNA is in the Berries, in the soil. The soil is millennia of your ancestors, giving you life, and feeding your ecosystem. You are the embodiment of those People who survived every attempt by that jackass to exterminate you, but he never quite could no matter how hard he tried. You’re more valuable than gold. You’re more valuable than money. You’re more valuable than you will ever know.

Than you will ever know.

If you don’t know, then any jackass will come along and tell you. It’s your job to not believe any jackass that comes along trying to shape a narrative for you.

Even me. Take what I say with a grain of salt, and don’t let it mess you up. Anyone can write a lie down and call it truth, religions the world over are built upon that. Look into the golden plates, giant salamanders, and seer stones in hats that an illiterate Joseph Smith made up because he wanted to marry 12 year olds. Look into it for yourself, if you like.

Look into all of it for yourself, if you like. I’m not here to tell you what to do or how to be, or how things really are. I’m here offering you a different perspective, which sometimes we need as People.

Erasure of Indigenous knowledge is the destruction of the Land and People in favour of death.

That’s really what the stakes are.

Now what are you going to do about it?

There is of course an important caveat here. Part of the history of colonialism in canada was the ripping of Children away from their communities via the Residential School system, and the 60’s scoop. Many did not survive. I want to include a story here.

My Aunt was 11 years old. One day, she and her two friends were called to Mother Superior’s office. Mother Superior told my 11-year-old Aunt that she and her friends were chosen for a holy mission from god. Imagine that. All those years of being a good Catholic, and here was her moment, like Noah, and Abraham, and Job. A holy mission from god. Mother Superior handed them a brown paper bag, and said that the three of them must bring the bag down to the incinerator. Part of this holy mission was to watch it burn. So proudly, and with all of their nobility, they held their heads high, the three of them holding the bag, and calmly walked down to the incinerator, going by their schoolmates knowing they were chosen by god on a mission of the utmost importance.

Down the hall they walked, and down the stairs they went. When they got to the incinerator, the three holy Children put the bag in. They watched the brown paper bag burn, and it burned away quickly. Then there were layers of newspaper.

Then blood.

Inside the paper bag was a freshly aborted fetus. The priest would impregnate the girls and the Nuns. To cover his tracks, they had in-house abortions.

Being the good Catholic girls they were, on this holy mission, they stood there and watched it burn.

That story never ceases to mystify me, mainly for the reason that my Aunt stayed Catholic her entire life. So devout was she, that she was in an abusive relationship with a man who cheated on her, drank, and would beat her. She stayed with him because she was a good Catholic trying to be a good wife. Eventually, she wrote a letter to the Vatican, pleading to the Pope to grant a divorce. She needed him to grant the divorce, because she didn’t want to be excommunicated from the church, and she wanted to be able to still take communion. She waited years, until eventually a letter came from the Vatican. The Pope had granted her divorce, and she immediately left her husband.

One day, I asked my other Aunt, her Sister, with everything she knew about Residential Schools, and the Catholic church, why would she stay?

She said “You were given Ceremony, what your People do. This, is all I know. This is my only connection to god, and I can’t leave it.” My god, have I known some holy women in my life. I was a lucky boy to be the favourite of so many of my Aunties. All of them, steeped in Prayer, and love for their Children.

Not so many were lucky. Some were taken from their families, some, many, never made it out of Residential School, or out of foster homes. Even today, Children are taken into foster homes, taken form their Family, and when they’re 18 are tossed away because they no longer provide a paycheque for their foster parents. I’ve known too many with that experience. One farmer in the Mormon town of Raymond would take foster kids in from our Reserve, and more or less use them as slave labour for his farm. Made them sleep in the basement, sometimes taking a dozen at a time, raking in around $700 “per head.” His son, who later became a conservative politician had the gall to later say these were his “brothers and sisters.” Not slave labourers. Thankfully, the farmer was caught, and was no longer allowed to be a foster parent.

For some of us, there are no good warm memories. For some of us, there is only survival, and what we have to do to survive. When no one cares. Some of us are disconnected from out People, our Language, our Ceremony, at no fault of our own. On the outside, we’ll look as Indigenous as can be, yet on the inside, who knows who we are? Do I even know?

Some do their best to reconnect to who and what we’ve lost, and really, if that is at all feasible then best of luck to it. One woman I met one day came from the north. I asked her who her People were, as she was obviously a different Indigenous than I. She said she didn’t know, she was just born there.

Like my Aunts, all of this is really up to you. As Indigenous People; we are forced to take on a lot of the world, have to defend entire Tribes, an entire “race” of People. Without even knowing where to start, we are expected to be experts on Indigenous issues, and anti-racism. We are expected to be drunks, addicts, traumatized, or activists. There are a lot of weird expectations born of history, disconnect, and racism, and really none of that is truly yours to bear, if you don’t want to. Like my Aunts you can go be good Catholics, or go to Peru, or go to Egypt. Go to Germany and find someone to spend some time with. Go to the Moon with NASA. There’s so much that you can do with a sense of adventure and the right tools, and if you choose to reconnect to your People, your Language, your Heritage, then more power to you! I’m certain the community needs someone like you. I would be absolutely nothing without my Tribe. I need them. I’m one of the lucky ones. I want you to be lucky too.

Kinaihtoaapi

In Blackfoot, that means “All the luck to you.”
Whatever you decide to do.
I’m on your side.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Heavy Head, M. (2018, February 10). The Biggest Little Beings: A Paper on Climate Change. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://martinheavyheadblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/10/the-biggest-little-beings-a-paper-on-climate-change/

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1991, August 26). Looking Forward, Looking Back: Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa, Ontario. Canada Communication Group Publishing. National Archives of Canada, Record Group 10, vol. 6810, file 470-2-3, vol. 7, 55 (L-3) and 63 (N-3). Retrieved from http://caid.ca/RRCAP1.13.pdf

Notes

1 Duncan Campbell Scott, deputy superintendent general of Indian affairs, testimony before the Special Committee of the House of Commons examining the Indian Act amendments of 1920, National Archives of Canada, Record Group 10, volume 6810, file 470-2-3, volume 7, pp. 55 (L-3) and 63 (N-3). See John Leslie, The Historical Development of the Indian Act, second edition (Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Treaties and Historical Research Branch, 1978), p. 114.

Traditional Knowledge Labeling

This material has been designated as being available for non-commercial use. You are allowed to use this material for non-commercial purposes including for research, study or public presentation and/or online in blogs or non-commercial websites. This label asks you to think and act with fairness and responsibility towards this material and the original custodians.

Discussion Questions

Available at the back of this book and reflect a variety of concepts and theories presented in the textbook.

I

Perception

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about Perception and how marketers use sensory marketing and the perceptual process to position brands in the marketplace.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Explain the role of sensory stimuli and sensory receptors.

2. Distinguish between ‘sensation’ and ‘perception’.

3. Identify and explain the key elements in the perceptual process.

4. Describe how marketers develop positioning strategies.

1

Key Terms and Concepts

Sensation
Perception
Sensory marketing
Stimuli
Sensory/perceptual systems
Sensory receptors
Perceptual process
Perceptual filters
Exposure
Selective exposure
Absolute threshold
Difference threshold (just noticeable difference)
Weber’s Law
Attention
Selective attention
Salience
Selective retention
Selective distortion/misinterpretation
Guerilla marketing
Subliminal perception/subliminal advertising
Limen
Interpretation
Schemata
Sensory adaptation
Positioning
Perceptual mapping
Positioning statement
Repositioning

2

Sensory Systems

The topics of sensation and perception are among the oldest and most important in all of psychology. People are equipped with senses such as sight, hearing and taste that help us to take in the world around us. Amazingly, our senses have the ability to convert real-world information into electrical information that can be processed by the brain. The way we interpret this information– our perceptions– is what leads to our experiences of the world.

For marketers, having your brand stand out in a crowded and noisy marketplace is critical to success: playing to consumers’ senses is “next level” marketing as these rich experiences can code a brand into the consumer’s memory. Capturing the consumer’s attention through stunning visual appeals, catchy sounds, tasty samples, delicious aromas and hands-on experiences have completely over-taken the passive advertisements and billboards of the past. When done successfully, sensory marketing transitions a brand from “barely being noticed” to earning a top position in the consumer’s mind.

The ability to detect and interpret the events that are occurring around us allows us to respond to these stimuli appropriately (Gibson & Pick, 2000). In most cases the system is successful, but it is not perfect.

Sensation is the awareness resulting from the stimulation of a sense organ, and perception is the organization and interpretation of sensations. Sensation and perception work seamlessly together to allow us to experience the world through our sensory receptors (our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin) but also to combine what we are currently learning from the environment with what we already know about it to make judgments and to choose appropriate behaviours.

Marketing Context

If consumers were to only rely on sensation, it is unlikely they would be able to draw any distinction between similar products. Peanut butter, cola, ice cream…each of these product categories have competitors vying to differentiate their products from one another. If you were to organize blind taste-tests with your friends where they could only rely on the sensation of taste, they may not be able to distinguish between them. So while sensation is what we experience when our sensory receptors are engaged, it is perception, that ultimately influences our consumer decisions and forms the basis of our preferences.

1. Sensory Systems

Humans possess powerful sensory capacities that allow us to sense the kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that surround us. Our eyes detect light energy and our ears pick up sound waves. Our skin senses touch, pressure, hot, and cold. Our tongues react to the molecules of the foods we eat, and our noses detect scents in the air. The human perceptual system is wired for accuracy, and people are exceedingly good at making use of the wide variety of information available to them (Stoffregen & Bardy, 2001).

The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin sense the world around us, and in some cases perform preliminary information processing on the incoming data. But by and large, we do not experience sensation — we experience the outcome of perception, the total package that the brain puts together from the pieces it receives through our senses and that the brain creates for us to experience. When we look out the window at a view of the countryside, or when we look at the face of a good friend, we don’t just see a jumble of colours and shapes — we see, instead, an image of a countryside or an image of a friend (Goodale & Milner, 2006).

2. Sensory Receptors

3. Seeing

Whereas other animals rely primarily on hearing, smell, or touch to understand the world around them, human beings rely in large part on vision. A large part of our cerebral cortex is devoted to seeing, and we have substantial visual skills. Seeing begins when light falls on the eyes, initiating the process of transduction. Once this visual information reaches the visual cortex, it is processed by a variety of neurons that detect colours, shapes, and motion, and that create meaningful perceptions out of the incoming stimuli.

It has been estimated that the human visual system can detect and discriminate among seven million colour variations (Geldard, 1972), but these variations are all created by the combinations of the three primary colours: red, green, and blue. The shade of a colour, known as hue, is conveyed by the wavelength of the light that enters the eye (we see shorter wavelengths as more blue and longer wavelengths as more red), and we detect brightness from the intensity or height of the wave (bigger or more intense waves are perceived as brighter).

Marketing Context: Understanding Colour

Colour has always appealed to our visual senses and is commonly used as a marketing tool. It has a powerful psychological impact on consumers’ behaviours and choices: studies have shown that particular colours simulate certain areas of the brain to promote excitement (DashBurst, 2018). Colour can often be the main reason a consumer purchases a product or service.

Have you ever wondered why the colour red is associated with Coke, while Facebook is blue? Depending on the brand, its position in the market, and the feelings it wants to evoke in its consumers, colour choice is serious business and not to be done without considerable thought and care.

As expressed in Dashburst’s 2018 article, “McDonald’s chooses high-energy colors like red & yellow which appeal to children, kindle appetites and create a sense of urgency Ronald McDonald himself is popular with the kids, but he’s also sure to agitate parents quickly. This facilitates faster customer turnover” (Dashburst, 2018).

On the other hand, Starbucks and its infamous use of green conveys a sense of “relaxation in their cafes, inviting customers to come in for a coffee break during a stressful day” (Dashburst, 2018).

Clearly, choosing the “right” colours for a brand needs requires consideration of the kind of experience a brand wants to have with its consumers.

Photo by Alexandr Ivanov on Pixabay

Jesse Richardson, in his article, “3 Principles for High Conversions on Your Website” provides a brief summary of what many popular brand colours represent:

- Blue: Peace, Security, Reliable (Facebook, NASA, Dell)

- Black: Power, Intelligence, Strength (Nike, SONY, New York Times)

- Grey: Balance, Calm, Neutral (Honda, Apple, WIKIPEDIA)

- Green: Healthy, Growth, Restore (The Bodyshop, Starbucks, Holiday Inn)

- Purple: Deep, Compassion, Respectable (Yahoo, Hallmark, Cadbury)

- Orange & Yellow: Warmth, Freedom, Social (Fanta, Mastercard, Nickelodeon)

- Red: Courage, Bold, Active (Red Bull, LEGO, Nintendo)

(Richardson, 2015)

Colours are also highly characteristic and represented in different cultures; psychological effects and interpretations vary depending on the specific culture. A colour can have powerful influence on religious beliefs, politics, and art (Lasquite, n.d.). For example, in the United States, the colour pink can often by synonymous with femininity and thus stereotypical representations of hyper-femininity such as princesses and ballet dancers. Conversely, in Japan, pink has a “masculine association”, according to Kate Smith (n.d.). “The annual spring blooming of the pink-blossomed cherry trees (the Sakura) is said to represent the young Japanese warriors who fell in battle in the prime of life (the Samurai; Smith, n.d.).

In many Asian, and particularly Chinese cultures, the colour red is strongly association with important cultural rituals and celebrations, such as marriage. It’s a sign of success and happiness. In South Africa, however, red represents mourning, grief, and sadness.

By Bowen Kong

Student Feature

Learn more about the meaning of colours across different cultural contexts in this interactive model designed and created by KPU students Julie Hartman, Leora Sachar, Sarah Whalley, and Nicole Gasbarri.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=127

4. Hearing

Like vision and all the other senses, hearing begins with transduction. Sound waves that are collected by our ears are converted into neural impulses, which are sent to the brain where they are integrated with past experience and interpreted as the sounds we experience. The human ear is sensitive to a wide range of sounds, from the faint tick of a clock in a nearby room to the roar of a rock band at a nightclub, and we have the ability to detect very small variations in sound. But the ear is particularly sensitive to sounds in the same frequency as the human voice. A mother can pick out her child’s voice from a host of others, and when we pick up the phone we quickly recognize a familiar voice. In a fraction of a second, our auditory system receives the sound waves, transmits them to the auditory cortex, compares them to stored knowledge of other voices, and identifies the caller.

Marketing Context

Consider how different your choice in music is from a workout at the gym, to doing homework on the weekend. We all have an intimate relationship with music in that it evokes a very emotional response and has a direct effect on our mood. Ever tried to go for a fast run listen to slow music? Brands will either select music or have original music written for them so consumers’ hearing senses are engaged when interacting with the brand. Think about your favourite retail store, what kind of music do they play? Does it effect your mood and the length of time you spend in the store (I guarantee the brand is hoping so!).

5. Tasting

Taste is important not only because it allows us to enjoy the food we eat, but, even more crucial, because it leads us toward foods that provide energy (sugar, for instance) and away from foods that could be harmful. Many children are picky eaters for a reason — they are biologically predisposed to be very careful about what they eat. Together with the sense of smell, taste helps us maintain appetite, assess potential dangers (such as the odour of a gas leak or a burning house), and avoid eating poisonous or spoiled food.

Our ability to taste begins at the taste receptors on the tongue. The tongue detects six different taste sensations, known respectively as sweet, salty, sour, bitter, piquancy (spicy), and umami (savory).

Marketing Context

One of the best ways to sell food and beverage products is to allow consumes to taste them. Sampling is an effective way to engage consumers with their taste receptors so they can evaluate a product beyond their visual interpretation of it. Farmer’s Markets have grown exponentially in urban settings and have successfully managed to create a kind of shopping utopia for many consumers: I cannot resist the stalls that are lined end to end with boxes of fresh Okanagan peaches every summer when they come to Vancouver. The smell of those peaches, the perfect texture and shape of them, and then the freshly cut and ready to sample slices…well, as you can probably image, I walk away with a dozen or more. My perception based on this experience is that peaches grown in the Okanagan are the best, bar none!

6. Smelling

We have approximately 1,000 types of odour receptor cells (Bensafi et al., 2004), and it is estimated that we can detect 10,000 different odours (Malnic, Hirono, Sato, & Buck, 1999). The receptors come in many different shapes and respond selectively to different smells. Like a lock and key, different chemical molecules fit into different receptor cells, and odours are detected according to their influence on a combination of receptor cells. Just as the 10 digits from 0 to 9 can combine in many different ways to produce an endless array of phone numbers, odour molecules bind to different combinations of receptors, and these combinations are decoded in the olfactory cortex. The sense of smell peaks in early adulthood and then begins a slow decline. By ages 60 to 70, the sense of smell has become sharply diminished. In addition, women tend to have a more acute sense of smell than men.

Marketing Context

Consumers have strong emotional reactions to scents and odours. While some of us may be easily seduced by the smell of fresh baking, roasted coffee, and fried chicken, these odours may not be universally appealing to everyone. I grew up eating Italian food in my home: garlic was never used sparingly, we preferred to follow the “more is more” approach to flavouring. But if you grew up eating food absent of garlic, you might find its smell overpowering and unappetizing. Therefore, it is important to consider a consumer’s cultural background and how it informs their processing of different odours.

7. Touching

The sense of touch is essential to human development. The skin, the largest organ in the body, is the sensory organ for touch. The skin contains a variety of nerve endings, combinations of which respond to particular types of pressures and temperatures. When you touch different parts of the body, you will find that some areas are more ticklish, whereas other areas respond more to pain, cold, or heat.

Marketing Context

Can you imagine buying towels without touching them first? No, I can’t either. Our sense of touch is one of the most important ways we interact with products and interpret their meaning. Consider the products you prefer to purchase in person (for me, fruit and vegetables) versus online (milk, cereal, olive oil) in your everyday life. Now what about when you take a trip to the mall, or visit your favourite fashion boutique? Our need to touch is critical to our ability to make judgement calls: a particular shirt may feel too thin; a sweater too scratchy; a belt too stiff. Product packaging also encourages our desire to touch and engage in our haptic (touch) senses. The feel and shape of a bottle of Coke; the sleek elegance of a lipstick; and the smooth velvety box of a diamond ring all have important appeal and meaning to consumers influence preference and perception.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Bensafi, M., Zelano, C., Johnson, B., Mainland, J., Kahn, R., & Sobel, N. (2004). Olfaction: From sniff to percept. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The cognitive neurosciences (3rd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

DashBurst. (2018, May 17). How to Use the Psychology of Colors When Marketing. Retrieved from https://smallbiztrends.com/2014/06/psychology-of-colors.html

Geldard, F. A. (1972). The human senses (2nd ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Gibson, E. J., & Pick, A. D. (2000). An ecological approach to perceptual learning and development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Goodale, M., & Milner, D. (2006). One brain — Two visual systems. Psychologist, 19(11), 660–663.

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Kong, B. (2019). Understanding Colour. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Lasquite, M. (n.d.). Color Psychology in Marketing and Brand Identity: Part 2. Retrieved from https://visme.co/blog/color-psychology-in-marketing-and-brand-identity-part-2/

Malnic, B., Hirono, J., Sato, T., & Buck, L. B. (1999). Combinatorial receptor codes for odors. Cell, 96, 713–723.

McCandless, D. (2019, February 19). Colours in Cultures. Retrieved from https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/colours-in-cultures/

McCandless, D. (n.d.). Colours & Cultures 2. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kdEOmMxoShy2gGlUpPe_Low3s27ZXIw15hy bMmtMDU/edit?hl=en_GB – gid

Privitera, A. J. (2019) Sensation and Perception. R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba Textbook Series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF Publishers. DOI: nobaproject.com is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Richardson, J. (2015, July 9). 3 Principles for High Conversions on Your Website. Retrieved from https://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/3-principles-for-high-conversions-on-your-website-01268389

Smith, K. (n.d.). All About the Color PINK. Retrieved from http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-meaning/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-pink-4342#.XYp5_y0ZOuU

Stoffregen, T. A., & Bardy, B. G. (2001). On specification and the senses. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(2), 195–261.

3

The Perceptual Process

Perception is how you interpret the world around you and make sense of it in your brain. You do so via stimuli that affect your different senses—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. How you combine these senses also makes a difference. For example, in one study, consumers were blindfolded and asked to drink a new brand of clear beer. Most of them said the product tasted like regular beer. However, when the blindfolds came off and they drank the beer, many of them described it as “watery” tasting (Ries, 2009).

1.The Perceptual Process

Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information. This process includes the perception of select stimuli that pass through our perceptual filters, are organized into our existing structures and patterns, and are then interpreted based on previous experiences. Although perception is a largely cognitive and psychological process, how we perceive the people and objects around us affects our communication. We respond differently to an object or person that we perceive favorably than we do to something we find unfavorable. But how do we filter through the mass amounts of incoming information, organize it, and make meaning from what makes it through our perceptual filters and into our social realities?

Ultimately, the perceptual process develops a consumer’s perception of a brand and formulates the brand’s position vis-a-vis the competition on what marketers call a positioning strategy.

2. Exposure

We take in information through all five of our senses, but our perceptual field (the world around us) includes so many stimuli that it is impossible for our brains to process and make sense of it all. Consumers are bombarded with messages on television, radio, magazines, the Internet, and even bathroom walls. The average consumer is exposed to about three thousand advertisements per day (Lasn, 1999). Consumers are surfing the Internet, watching television, and checking their cell phones for text messages simultaneously. Some, but not all, information makes it into our brains. Selecting information we see or hear (e.g., television shows or magazines) is called selective exposure.

Photo by Aaron Sebastian on Unsplash

Exposure speaks to the vast amount of commercial information – media messages, commercial, and other forms of advertisements – we are constantly subjected to on a daily basis.

In 2017, Forbes.com contributing writer Jon Simpson challenged readers to count how many brands they are exposed to from the moment they get out of bed. From the bed to the shower to the breakfast table, how many brands have you already come in contact with? 10? 20? Then turn on your phone and start scrolling through your Twitter news feed…and now Instagram. Before you leave for work or school, the number of brands you’ve been exposed to likely climbs into the hundreds. Simpson claims that, “[d]igital marketing experts estimate that most Americans are exposed to around 1,000-4,000 ads each day” (Simpson, 2017).

Given this sea of images, sounds, and messages, how can we possibly make sense of any one brand’s message? Consumers will devote a degree of mental processing to only those messages that relate to their needs, wants, preferences, and attitudes. Brands are banking on the fact that with higher degrees of exposure, at some point their message is going to “stick” and capture consumers’ attention at just the right moment.

The absolute threshold of a sensation is defined as the intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism to just barely detect it. The absolute threshold explains why you don’t smell the cologne someone is wearing in a classroom unless they are somewhat close to you.

The difference threshold (or just noticeable difference [JND]), refers to the change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected. In other words, it is the smallest difference needed in order to differentiate between two stimuli.

The German physiologist Ernst Weber (1795-1878) made an important discovery about the JND — namely, that the ability to detect differences depends not so much on the size of the difference but on the size of the difference in relation to the absolute size of the stimulus. Weber’s law maintains that the just noticeable difference of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original intensity of the stimulus.

As an example, if you have a cup of coffee that has only a very little bit of sugar in it (say one teaspoon), adding another teaspoon of sugar will make a big difference in taste. But if you added that same teaspoon to a cup of coffee that already had five teaspoons of sugar in it, then you probably wouldn’t taste the difference as much (in fact, according to Weber’s law, you would have to add five more teaspoons to make the same difference in taste).

Another interesting application of Weber’s law is in our everyday shopping behaviour. Our tendency to perceive cost differences between products is dependent not only on the amount of money we will spend or save, but also on the amount of money saved relative to the price of the purchase. For example, if you were about to buy a soda or candy bar in a convenience store, and the price of the items ranged from $1 to $3, you would likely think that the $3 item cost “a lot more” than the $1 item. But now imagine that you were comparing between two music systems, one that cost $397 and one that cost $399. Probably you would think that the cost of the two systems was “about the same,” even though buying the cheaper one would still save you $2.

3. Attention

Attention is the next part of the perception process, in which we focus our attention on certain incoming sensory information. Since we can’t tune in to each and everyone of the thousands of messages and images we’re exposed to daily, we tend to only pay attention to information that we perceive to meet our needs or interests. This type of selective attention can help us meet instrumental needs and get things done.

Consider a hypothetical scenario: your car has finally broken down (for good) and you need to start looking into getting something new. Oh but the expense of a new car (and even a decent used one)! Although car sharing has existed for years now, you’ve never given it any thought: haven’t had to, actually. But now, you take notice of all the reserved parking spots for car sharing at school; and at the mall; and downtown. You start seeing car sharing cars on the road more than you remember seeing before. You start to wonder, “have these JUST appeared now, or has car sharing been this big all along, but I’ve never noticed it before now…”

This scenario points to the principle of salience: a situation in which we tend to pay attention to information that attracts our attention in a particular context. The thing attracting our attention is often something we might consider important, relevant, prominent, and timely. At other times, people forget information, even if it’s quite relevant to them, which is called selective retention. Often the information contradicts the person’s belief. A longtime chain smoker who forgets much of the information communicated during an anti-smoking commercial is an example. To be sure their advertising messages get through to you and you remember them, companies use repetition. How tired of iPhone commercials were you before they tapered off? How often do you see the same commercial aired during a single television show?

For many brands, however, this is an unacceptable way to get noticed! To have to wait until a consumer has a timely need isn’t strategic or reliable. It could take…forever! Brand salience requires a brand to be top of mind when a consumer is ready to make a purchasing decision. It means the consumer, regardless of need and timing, already knows about you (who you are, what you’re selling, and where to find you) and when it comes time to buy, they choose you over the competition. As you might have guessed, the problem is this: how can a brand be noticed when it lacks salience?

Five ways to command a receiver’s attention are

- Size (bigger stimuli tend to command more attention)

- Colour (that differs from its surroundings since contrast helps to make one brand stand out from the competition)

- Position (right hand page magazine ads get more attention than left hand ones)

- Placement (ads in places where you don’t expect them, like walls of tunnels or restrooms)

- Shock (shocking content can increase attention, benefit memory, and positively influenced behavour) (Dahl, et. al., 2003)

Another potential problem that advertisers (or your friends) may experience is selective distortion or misinterpretation of the intended message. Promotions for weight loss products show models that look slim and trim after using their products, and consumers may believe they will look like the model if they use the product. They misinterpret other factors such as how the model looked before or how long it will take to achieve the results. Similarly, have you ever told someone a story about a friend and that person told another person who told someone else? By the time the story gets back to you, it is completely different. The same thing can happen with many types of messages.

Maximizing exposure with the intent to become noticed and make a strong impression on consumers is the reason why brands might engage in guerilla marketing. This form of marketing is often unconventional, unexpected, innovative, and memorable. Although it can be risky, when executed successfully guerilla marketing will result in word-of-mouth advertising and with any luck, become a viral sensation.

What is the hidden message in that magazine ad you’re looking at? Are you getting brainwashed by innocent-looking TV commercials that “order” you to buy a product? If you believe advertisers are doing their best to place “secret messages” all around you, you’re not alone. Subliminal perception is a topic that has captivated the public for more than fifty years, despite the fact that there is virtually no proof that this process has any effect on consumer behavior. Another word for perceptual threshold is limen (just remember “the secret of Sprite”), and we term stimuli that fall below the limen subliminal. So subliminal perception (supposedly) occurs when the stimulus is below the level of the consumer’s awareness.

Marketing Context: Subliminal or Sublime?

A survey of American consumers found that almost two-thirds believe in the existence of subliminal advertising, and more than one-half are convinced that this technique can get them to buy things they do not really want (Lev, 1991). They believe marketers design many advertising messages so the consumers perceive them unconsciously, or below the threshold of recognition. For example, several authors single out beverage ads as they point to ambiguous shapes in ice cubes they claim are actually women’s bodies or erotic words. Most recently, ABC rejected a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) commercial that invited viewers to slowly replay the ad to find a secret message, citing the network’s long-standing policy against subliminal advertising. KFC argued that the ad wasn’t subliminal at all because the company was telling viewers about the message and how to find it. The network wasn’t convinced—but you should be (Ruggless, 2006).

Like this KFC ad, most examples of subliminal advertising that people “discover” are not subliminal at all—on the contrary, the images are quite apparent. Remember, if you can see it or hear it, it’s not subliminal; the stimulus is above the level of conscious awareness. Nonetheless, the continuing controversy about subliminal persuasion has been important in shaping the public’s beliefs about advertisers’ and marketers’ abilities to manipulate consumers against their will.

Although some research suggests that subliminal messages can work under very specific conditions, this technique has very little applicability to advertising even if we wanted to resort to it. For one, an advertiser would have to send a message that’s very carefully tailored to each individual rather than to a large audience. In addition, there are wide individual differences in threshold levels (what we’re capable of consciously perceiving); for a message to avoid conscious detection by consumers who have low thresholds, it would have to be so weak that it would not reach those who have high thresholds.

However, a new study surely will add fuel to the long-raging debate. The researchers reported evidence that a mere thirty-millisecond exposure to a well-known brand logo can in fact influence behavior; specifically the study found that people who were exposed to a quick shot of Apple’s logo thought more creatively in a laboratory task (mission: come up with innovative uses for a brick) than did those who saw the IBM logo (Claburn, 2008). Apple will no doubt love the implication, but most other advertisers are too focused on efforts to persuade you when you’re aware of what they’re up to.

4. Interpretation

Although selecting and organizing incoming stimuli happens very quickly, and sometimes without much conscious thought, interpretation can be a much more deliberate and conscious step in the perception process. Interpretation is the third part of the perception process, where we assign meaning to our experiences using mental structures known as schemata. Schemata are like databases of stored, related information that we use to interpret new experiences. We all have fairly complicated schemata that have developed over time as small units of information combine to make more meaningful complexes of information.

It’s important to be aware of schemata because our interpretations affect our behavior. For example, if you are doing a group project for class and you perceive a group member to be shy based on your schema of how shy people communicate, you may avoid giving him presentation responsibilities in your group project because you do not think shy people make good public speakers. Schemata also guide our interactions, providing a script for our behaviors. We know, in general, how to act and communicate in a waiting room, in a classroom, on a first date, and on a game show. Even a person who has never been on a game show can develop a schema for how to act in that environment by watching The Price Is Right, for example. People go to great lengths to make shirts with clever sayings or act enthusiastically in hopes of being picked to be a part of the studio audience and hopefully become a contestant on the show.

We have schemata about individuals, groups, places, and things, and these schemata filter our perceptions before, during, and after interactions. As schemata are retrieved from memory, they are executed, like computer programs or apps on your smartphone, to help us interpret the world around us. Just like computer programs and apps must be regularly updated to improve their functioning, competent communicators update and adapt their schemata as they have new experiences.

5. Adaptation

A fundamental process of perception is sensory adaptation — a decreased sensitivity to a stimulus after prolonged and constant exposure. When you step into a swimming pool, the water initially feels cold, but after a while you stop noticing it. After prolonged exposure to the same stimulus, our sensitivity toward it diminishes and we no longer perceive it. The ability to adapt to the things that don’t change around us is essential to our survival, as it leaves our sensory receptors free to detect the important and informative changes in our environment and to respond accordingly. We ignore the sounds that our car makes every day, which leaves us free to pay attention to the sounds that are different from normal, and thus likely to need our attention. Our sensory receptors are alert to novelty and are fatigued after constant exposure to the same stimulus.

As mentioned at the top of this page, consumers are exposed to thousands of advertising and marketing messages each day. While some ads can successfully break through the noise and capture our attention, over time we may just grow tired of the ad and it no longer interests us. When left unchanged, the ad fails becomes part of the background. Tuning out advertisements is a marketer’s nightmare (think of how much they’ve spent to get our attention in the first place!) The question for the marketer becomes this: how much exposure is enough to garner attention, but not so much to reach a state of adaptation where the consumer no longer responds?

When we experience a sensory stimulus that doesn’t change, we stop paying attention to it. This is why we don’t feel the weight of our clothing, hear the hum of a projector in a lecture hall, or see all the tiny scratches on the lenses of our glasses. When a stimulus is constant and unchanging, we experience sensory adaptation. During this process we become less sensitive to that stimulus. A great example of this occurs when we leave the radio on in our car after we park it at home for the night. When we listen to the radio on the way home from work the volume seems reasonable. However, the next morning when we start the car, we might be startled by how loud the radio is. We don’t remember it being that loud last night. What happened? What happened is that we adapted to the constant stimulus of the radio volume over the course of the previous day. This required us to continue to turn up the volume of the radio to combat the constantly decreasing sensitivity. However, after a number of hours away from that constant stimulus, the volume that was once reasonable is entirely too loud. We are no longer adapted to that stimulus!

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

“A Primer on Communication Studies” is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Claburn, T. (2008, March 19). Apple’s Logo Makes You More Creative than IBM’s. Informationweek. Retrieved from http://www.Informationweek.Com/News/Internet/Showarticle.Jhtml?Articleid=206904786.

Dahl, D. W., Kristina D. Frankenberger, and Rajesh V. Manchanda, “Does It Pay to Shock? Reactions to Shocking and Nonshocking Advertising Content among University Students,” Journal of Advertising Research 43, no. 3 (2003): 268–80.

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Lasn, K., Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America (New York: William Morrow & Company, 1999).

“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Lev, M. (1991, May 3). No Hidden Meaning Here: Survey Sees Subliminal Ads. New York Times, D7.

Principles of Marketing by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba Textbook Series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF Publishers. DOI: nobaproject.com is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Ries, L., In the Boardroom: Why Left-Brained Management and Right-Brain Marketing Don’t See Eye-to-Eye (New York: HarperCollins, 2009).

Ruggless, R. (2006, December 18). 2006 the Year in Review: Even as High Costs, New Regulations and Health Concerns Test Operators, Industry Moves forward with Innovative Products, Proactive Strategies and Big Business Deals. Nation’s Restaurant News. Retrieved from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29087275_ITM.

Simpson, Jon. (2017, August 25). Finding Brand Success in the Digital World. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/08/25/finding-brand-success-in-the-digital-world/#33f1a1ad626e

Rolighetsteorin. (2009, October 7).

[The Fun Theory]. (2009, October 7). Piano Stairs – The Fun Theory.com [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/2lXh2n0aPyw

4

Positioning

Positioning refers to the development of strategy that helps to influence how a particular market segment perceives a brand, good, or service in comparison to the competition. Positioning is all about defining a space in the mind of the customer—something that your customer thinks of and associates with your product.

Remember that positioning doesn’t just mean what your target market thinks about your product. Rather, it’s about how they think about it relative to competitors’ products—your product is less expensive, performs better, or fits better with the customer’s lifestyle. Positioning often relates to a brand’s strategic objectives.

1. Perceptual Mapping & Positioning Dimensions

Perceptual mapping is a graphic display explaining the perceptions of customers with relation to product characteristics. Perceptual mapping is a diagrammatic technique used by marketers in an attempt to visually display the perceptions of customers or potential customers. Typically the position of a product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative to their competition. Some perceptual maps use different size circles to indicate the sales volume or market share of the various competing products.

Perceptual maps commonly have two dimensions even though they are capable of having several. For example, in this perceptual map you can see consumer perceptions of various automobiles on the two dimensions of sportiness/conservative and classy/affordable. This sample of consumers felt that Porsche cars were the sportiest and classiest of the ones in the study. They felt that Plymouth cars were the most practical and conservative. Cars that are positioned close to each other were seen as similar on the relevant dimensions by the consumer. For example, consumers saw Buick, Chrysler, and Oldsmobile as similar. They are close competitors and form a competitive grouping. A company considering the introduction of a new model will look for an area on the map free from competitors.

2. Positioning Statements and Strategies

By using customer research and perceptual mapping, a marketer can create a positioning statement using one of the three main bases.

When a company presents a product or service in a way that is differentiating from the competition, they are said to be “positioning” it. Positioning relates to a process used by marketers to create an image in the minds of a target market. While positioning used to focus on consumer positioning, it now focuses more on competitive positioning.

There are three basic concepts for positioning:

1. Functional Positions deal with solving a problem, providing benefits and getting a favorable perception from investors, stockholders and consumers.

2. Symbolic Positions deal with self-image enhancement, ego identification, belongingness, social meaningfulness and affective fulfillment.

3. Experiential Positions deal with providing sensory or cognitive stimulation.

Positioning is facilitated by perceptual mapping to determine the ideal points of consumers. This helps to determine if positioning should be functional, symbolic, or experiential. Strong positioning will enable a single product to appeal to different customers for different reasons. For example, two people are interested in buying a new car; one wants a car that is powerful and stylish while the other buyer is looking for a car that is reliable and safe and yet they buy the same exact car. One purchase solved a problem and exemplifies functional positioning while the other purchase is an example of symbolic and/or experiential positioning.

3. Repositioning

Repositioning involves changing the identity of a product relative to competing products. Repositioning involves changing the identity of a product relative to competing products. Many famous companies have saved failing products by repositioning them in the market. When a company initiates a repositioning strategy, it needs to change the expectations of stakeholders, including employees, stockholders, and financial backers. An organization can reposition a product line, a brand, or an entire company. Determining which type of repositioning is needed isn’t always easy; it is important to understand the changes in the current market and how competitors will react to the change. If a change is volatile and is unprecedented, there may not be enough information available to use to make a decision. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a company can help determine when repositioning may be necessary and how the change should occur. When Apple switched their focus to iPod and its successors, for example, the company was able to change its financial situation and achieve success. The complete dedication of stakeholders and the creation of a product that is in demand can help companies survive a repositioning strategy.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Curation and Revision. Provided by: Boundless.com. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

PerceptualMap1.png. Adapted from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/PerceptualMap1.png

Berner, Robert. (2007). Chanel’s American in Paris, BusinessWeek, (70–71).

5

Chapter Wrap-Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1411

6

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. Read Hub Spot’s article, “The Little Known Stories Behind 8 Iconic Packaging Designs” and make note of how our sensory receptors are being appealed to through these designs.

2. Read Explore Psychology’s article, “Absolute Threshold: A Definition with Examples” and come up with your own example for each of the senses presented.

3. Read CBC’s article, “Think Before You Pink During Breast Cancer Awareness Month” and explain how AmEx’s actions are consistent with the principles of Weber’s Law.

4. Read Hub Spot’s article, “What Is Guerilla Marketing: 7 Examples to Inspire Your Brand” and discuss how and why brand’s are seeking salience with consumers.

5. Read The Independent’s article, “World’s Ugliest Colour Used on Cigarette Packets to Put Smokers Off” and discuss the relationship between colours and our emotions.

6. Read Logo Design Love’s post, “Starbucks Logo Evolution” and explain how the principle of differential threshold are applied.

7. What happens when brands redesign their logos and the consensus is…that they shouldn’t have? Read about the Gap’s 6-day logo change and discuss how this costly error relates to concepts around Absolute Threshold.

8. Watch the video, “Piano Stairs” produced by The Fun Theory.com for Volkswagen. Discuss how this is an example of “guerilla marketing”.

II

Learning Theories

Learning Objectives

In this section we will discuss Learning Theories and how marketers use these theories to market their products and services, reach consumers, and develop brand loyalty.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Define behaviour learning and summarize the key learning strategies associated with it.

2. Define observational learning and summarize the key learning strategies associated with it.

3. Give examples of behavioural and observational learning taking place in marketing contexts.

4. Discuss the role of memory and nostalgia in the learning process and their application in marketing.

7

Key Terms and Concepts

Learning
Behavioural learning (theories)
Classical conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning)
Ivan Pavlov
Associative learning
Stimulus generalization
Family branding
Product line extensions
Licensing
Stimulus discrimination
Operant/Instrumental conditioning
Positive/Negative reinforcement
Cognitive learning (theories)
Observational learning
Modeling
Social models
Memory
Sensory memory
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Encoding
Retrieval
Schemas
Semantic meaning
Nostalgia
Memory decay
Cognitive biases
Source monitoring
Sleeper effect
Salience
Cognitive accessibility

8

Behavioural Learning Theories

Learning refers to the relatively permanent change in knowledge or behaviour that is the result of experience. Although you might think of learning in terms of what you need to do before an upcoming exam, the knowledge that you take away from your classes, or new skills that you acquire through practice, these changes represent only one component of learning. In fact, learning is a broad topic that is used to explain not only how we acquire new knowledge and behaviour but also how we acquire a wide variety of other psychological processes, including the development of both appropriate and inappropriate social behaviours, and even how a person may acquire a debilitating psychological disorder such as PTSD.

Learning is perhaps the most important human capacity. Learning allows us to create effective lives by being able to respond to changes. We learn to avoid touching hot stoves, to find our way home from school, and to remember which people have helped us in the past and which people have been unkind. Without the ability to learn from our experiences, our lives would be remarkably dangerous and inefficient.

Theories of learning range from those that focus on simple stimulus-response connections (behavioral theories) to perspectives that regard consumers as solvers of complex problems who learn abstract rules and concepts as they observe others (cognitive theories). Basic learning principles are at the heart of many advertising efforts.

Marketing Context: Learning through experiences

Learning refers to the process by which consumers change their behavior after they gain information or experience. It’s the reason you don’t buy a bad product twice. Learning doesn’t just affect what you buy; it affects how you shop. People with limited experience about a product or brand generally seek out more information than people who have used a product before.

Companies try to get consumers to learn about their products in different ways. Car dealerships offer test drives. Pharmaceutical reps leave samples and brochures at doctor’s offices. Other companies give consumers free samples. To promote its new line of coffees, McDonald’s offered customers free samples to try. Have you ever eaten the food samples in a grocery store? While sampling is an expensive strategy, it gets consumers to try the product and many customers buy it, especially right after trying in the store.

1. Behavioral Learning Theories

Behavioral learning theories assume that learning takes place as the result of responses to external events. For example, if a song we remember fondly from high school gets repeatedly paired with a brand name, over time our warm memories about the tune will rub off onto the advertised product—think about the likes of Swiffer (featuring Blondie song, “One Way or Another”).

According to this perspective, the feedback we receive as we go through life shapes our experiences. Similarly, we respond to brand names, scents, jingles, and other marketing stimuli because of the learned connections we form over time. People also learn that actions they take result in rewards and punishments; this feedback influences the way they will respond in similar situations in the future. Consumers who receive compliments on a product choice will be more likely to buy that brand again, but those who get food poisoning at a new restaurant are not likely to return to it in the future.

2. Classical Conditioning

Although Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel Prize for studying digestion, he is much more famous for something else: working with a dog, a bell, and a bowl of food. Many people are familiar with the classic study of “Pavlov’s dog,” but rarely do they understand the significance of its discovery. In his famous experiment, Pavlov rang a bell and then gave a dog some food. After repeating this pairing multiple times, the dog eventually treated the bell as a signal for food, and began salivating in anticipation of the treat.

In fact, Pavlov’s work helps explain why some people get anxious just looking at a crowded bus, why the sound of a morning alarm is so hated, and even why we swear off certain foods we’ve only tried once. Classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning is one of the fundamental ways we learn about the world around us. But it is far more than just a theory of learning; it is also arguably a theory of identity. For, once you understand classical conditioning, you’ll recognize that your favorite music, clothes, even political candidate, might all be a result of the same process that makes a dog drool at the sound of bell.

Maxxl² [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

The dog food in Pavlov’s experiment is called the unconditioned stimulus (US) because it elicits an unconditioned response (UR). That is, without any kind of “training” or “teaching,” the stimulus produces a natural or instinctual reaction. In Pavlov’s case, the food (US) automatically makes the dog drool (UR). Other examples of unconditioned stimuli include loud noises (US) that startle us (UR), or a hot shower (US) that produces pleasure (UR).

On the other hand, a conditioned stimulus (CS) produces a conditioned response (CR). A conditioned stimulus is a signal that has no importance to the organism until it is paired with something that does have importance. For example, in Pavlov’s experiment, the bell is the conditioned stimulus. Before the dog has learned to associate the bell (CS) with the presence of food (US), hearing the bell means nothing to the dog. However, after multiple pairings of the bell with the presentation of food, the dog starts to drool at the sound of the bell. This drooling in response to the bell is the conditioned response (CR). Although it can be confusing, the conditioned response is almost always the same as the unconditioned response. However, it is called the conditioned response because it is conditional on (or, depends on) being paired with the conditioned stimulus (e.g., the bell).

To help make this clearer, consider becoming really hungry when you see the logo for a fast food restaurant. There’s a good chance you’ll start salivating. Although it is the actual eating of the food (US) that normally produces the salivation (UR), simply seeing the restaurant’s logo (CS) can trigger the same reaction (CR).

We now believe that this same learning process is engaged, for example, when humans associate a drug they’ve taken with the environment in which they’ve taken it; when they associate a stimulus (e.g., a symbol for vacation, like a big beach towel) with an emotional event (like a burst of happiness); and when they associate the flavor of a food with getting food poisoning.

Although classical conditioning may seem “old” or “too simple” a theory, it is still widely studied today as a type of  associative learning, a form of learning that relies on the repetitive pairing of stimuli. Swedish car brand, “Volvo” has successfully paired its name with the concept of “safety” for years, giving consumers the sense that Volvo’s are among the safest cars on the road (and ideal for young families).

Marketing Context

Classical conditioning has long been, and continues to be, an effective tool in marketing and advertising (Hawkins, Best, & Coney, 1998). The general idea is to create an advertisement that has positive features such that the ad creates enjoyment in the person exposed to it. The enjoyable ad serves as the unconditioned stimulus (US), and the enjoyment is the unconditioned response (UR). Because the product being advertised is mentioned in the ad, it becomes associated with the US, and then becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS). In the end, if everything has gone well, seeing the product online or in the store will then create a positive response in the buyer, leading them to be more likely to purchase the product.

A similar strategy is used by corporations that sponsor teams or events. For instance, if people enjoy watching a university basketball team playing basketball, and if that team is sponsored by a product, such as Red Bull, then people may end up experiencing positive feelings when they view a can of Red Bull. Of course, the sponsor wants to sponsor only good teams and good athletes because these create more pleasurable responses.

Advertisers use a variety of techniques to create positive advertisements, including enjoyable music, cute babies, attractive models, and funny spokespeople. In one study, Gorn (1982) showed research participants pictures of different writing pens of different colours, but paired one of the pens with pleasant music and the other with unpleasant music. When given a choice as a free gift, more people chose the pen colour associated with the pleasant music. And Schemer, Matthes, Wirth, and Textor (2008) found that people were more interested in products that had been embedded in music videos of artists that they liked and less likely to be interested when the products were in videos featuring artists that they did not like.

Another type of ad that is based on principles of classical conditioning is one that associates fear with the use of a product or behaviour, such as those that show pictures of deadly automobile accidents to encourage seat belt use or images of lung cancer surgery to discourage smoking. These ads have also been found to be effective (Das, de Wit, & Stroebe, 2003; Perloff, 2003; Witte & Allen, 2000), due in large part to conditioning. When we see a cigarette and the fear of dying has been associated with it, we are hopefully less likely to light up.

Taken together then, there is ample evidence of the utility of classical conditioning, using both positive as well as negative stimuli, in advertising. This does not, however, mean that we are always influenced by these ads. The likelihood of conditioning being successful is greater for products that we do not know much about, where the differences between products are relatively minor, and when we do not think too carefully about the choices (Schemer et al., 2008).

3. Stimulus Generalization

Pavlov also experimented with presenting new stimuli that were similar, but not identical, to the original conditioned stimulus. For instance, if the dog had been conditioned to being scratched before the food arrived, the stimulus would be changed to being rubbed rather than scratched. He found that the dogs also salivated upon experiencing the similar stimulus, a process known as (stimulus) generalization. Stimulus Generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus. The ability to generalize has important evolutionary significance. If we eat some red berries and they make us sick, it would be a good idea to think twice before we eat some purple berries. Although the berries are not exactly the same, they nevertheless are similar and may have the same negative properties.

Lewicki (1985) conducted research that demonstrated the influence of stimulus generalization and how quickly and easily it can happen. In his experiment, high school students first had a brief interaction with a female experimenter who had short hair and glasses. The study was set up so that the students had to ask the experimenter a question, and (according to random assignment) the experimenter responded either in a negative way or a neutral way toward the students. Then the students were told to go into a second room in which two experimenters were present and to approach either one of them. However, the researchers arranged it so that one of the two experimenters looked a lot like the original experimenter, while the other one did not (she had longer hair and no glasses). The students were significantly more likely to avoid the experimenter who looked like the earlier experimenter when that experimenter had been negative to them than when she had treated them more neutrally. The participants showed stimulus generalization such that the new, similar-looking experimenter created the same negative response in the participants as had the experimenter in the prior session.

Marketing Context

The reactions we learn to one object tend to transfer to other, similar objects in a process psychologists term stimulus generalization. That explains why a drugstore’s bottle of private brand mouthwash deliberately packaged to resemble Listerine mouthwash may evoke a similar response among consumers, who assume that this copy-cat product shares other characteristics of the original. Indeed, consumers in one study on shampoo brands tended to rate those with similar packages as similar in quality and performance as well.

Stimulus generalization is the basic idea underlying numerous branding strategies that share this approach: (1) Create a brand name that consumers learn to associate with positive qualities; (2) paste that brand name on other, reasonably similar products; (3) stand back and let the positive associations transfer to the new item.

This approach explains the success of these branding strategies:

- Family branding. Many products capitalize on the reputation of a company name. Companies such as Campbell’s, Heinz, and General Electric rely on their positive corporate images to sell different product lines.

- Product line extensions. Marketers add related products to an established brand. Dole, which we associate with fruit, introduced refrigerated juices and juice bars, whereas Sun Maid went from raisins to raisin bread.

- Licensing. Companies often “rent” well-known names. Christian Dior licenses the designer’s name to products from underwear to umbrellas.

4. Stimulus Discrimination

The flip side of generalization is discrimination — the tendency to respond differently to stimuli that are similar but not identical. Pavlov’s dogs quickly learned, for example, to salivate when they heard the specific tone that had preceded food, but not upon hearing similar tones that had never been associated with food. Discrimination is also useful — if we do try the purple berries, and if they do not make us sick, we will be able to make the distinction in the future. And we can learn that although two people in our class, Courtney and Sarah, may look a lot alike, they are nevertheless different people with different personalities.

5. Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning

Although classical conditioning is a powerful explanation for how we learn many different things, there is a second form of conditioning that also helps explain how we learn. First studied by Edward Thorndike, and later extended by B. F. Skinner, this second type of conditioning is known as operant (instrumental) conditioning. Operant conditioning occurs when a behavior (as opposed to a stimulus) is associated with the occurrence of a significant event. In the best-known example, a rat in a laboratory learns to press a lever in a cage (called a “Skinner box”) to receive food. Because the rat has no “natural” association between pressing a lever and getting food, the rat has to learn this connection. At first, the rat may simply explore its cage, climbing on top of things, burrowing under things, in search of food. Eventually while poking around its cage, the rat accidentally presses the lever, and a food pellet drops in. This voluntary behavior is called an operant behavior, because it “operates” on the environment (i.e., it is an action that the animal itself makes).

Perey [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Now, once the rat recognizes that it receives a piece of food every time it presses the lever, the behavior of lever-pressing becomes reinforced. That is, the food pellets serve as reinforcers because they strengthen the rat’s desire to engage with the environment in this particular manner. In a parallel example, imagine that you’re playing a street-racing video game. As you drive through one city course multiple times, you try a number of different streets to get to the finish line. On one of these trials, you discover a shortcut that dramatically improves your overall time. You have learned this new path through operant (instrumental) conditioning. That is, by engaging with your environment (operant responses), you performed a sequence of behaviors that that was positively reinforced (i.e., you found the shortest distance to the finish line). And now that you’ve learned how to drive this course, you will perform that same sequence of driving behaviors (just as the rat presses on the lever) to receive your reward of a faster finish.

Operant conditioning research studies how the effects of a behavior influence the probability that it will occur again. For example, the effects of the rat’s lever-pressing behavior (i.e., receiving a food pellet) influences the probability that it will keep pressing the lever. For, according to Thorndike’s law of effect, when a behavior has a positive (satisfying) effect or consequence, it is likely to be repeated in the future. However, when a behavior has a negative (painful/annoying) consequence, it is less likely to be repeated in the future. Effects that increase behaviors are referred to as reinforcers, and effects that decrease them are referred to as punishers.

An everyday example that helps to illustrate operant conditioning is striving for a good grade in class—which could be considered a reward for students (i.e., it produces a positive emotional response). In order to get that reward (similar to the rat learning to press the lever), the student needs to modify their behavior. For example, the student may learn that speaking up in class gets them participation points (a reinforcer), so the student speaks up repeatedly. However, the student also learns that they shouldn’t speak up about just anything; talking about topics unrelated to school actually punishes the students in their costs points (a form of punishment). Therefore, through the student’s freely chosen behaviors, they learn which behaviors are reinforced and which are punished.

Understanding classical and operant conditioning provides psychologists with many tools for understanding learning and behavior in the world outside the lab. This is in part because the two types of learning occur continuously throughout our lives. It has been said that “much like the laws of gravity, the laws of learning are always in effect” (Spreat & Spreat, 1982).

Marketing Context

Marketers have developed a number of sales and marketing techniques based on the principles of instrumental conditioning and specifically positive reinforcement. Each of these commonly known tactics encourages consumers to be loyal, frequent, and high-spending shoppers:

- Discounts

- Rebates

- Rewards Programs

- Frequency Marketing Programs

- Gifts & Giveaways

What about marketing techniques designed to avoid negative consequences? Well, most notably would be furniture companies and auto dealerships who launch “inventory blow-out” advertising campaigns encouraging shoppers to “avoid taxes” and other perceived penalties if they buy within a specific time period.

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Spreat, S., & Spreat, S. R. (1982). Learning principles. In V. Voith & P. L. Borchelt (Eds.), Veterinary clinics of North America: Small animal practice (pp. 593–606). Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders.

Thompson, R. F., & Steinmetz, J. E. (2009). The role of the cerebellum in classical conditioningof discrete behavioral responses. Neuroscience, 162, 732–755.

Timberlake, W. L. (2001). Motivational modes in behavior systems. In R. R. Mowrer & S. B. Klein (Eds.), Handbook of contemporary learning theories (pp. 155–210). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Ward, J., Loken, B., Ross, I., Hasapopoulous, & T., Shimp, T. (Ed). (1986). The Influence of Physical Similarity of Affect and Attribute Perceptions from National Brands to Private Label Brands. American Marketing Educators’ Conference, American Marketing Association, 51–56.

Wasserman, E. A. (1995). The conceptual abilities of pigeons. American Scientist, 83, 246–255.

Source: An Introduction to Psychology, 1st Canadian Edition (Chapter 8)

9

Cognitive Learning Theories

In contrast to behavioral theories of learning, cognitive learning theory approaches stress the importance of internal mental processes. This perspective views people as problem solvers who actively use information from the world around them to master their environments. Supporters of this view also stress the role of creativity and insight during the learning process. One important aspect of a cognitive learning perspective is observational learning; this occurs when people change their own attitudes or behaviors simply by watching the actions of others—learning occurs as a result of vicarious rather than direct experience. This type of learning is a complex process; people store these observations in memory as they accumulate knowledge, perhaps using this information at a later point to guide their own behavior. Modeling is the process of imitating the behavior of others. You should have no trouble thinking of advertisements you’ve seen that encourage you to model an actor’s behaviors at a later point in time.

1. Observational Learning

Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash

Not all forms of learning are accounted for entirely by classical and operant conditioning. Imagine a child walking up to a group of children playing a game on the playground. The game looks fun, but it is new and unfamiliar. Rather than joining the game immediately, the child opts to sit back and watch the other children play a round or two. Observing the others, the child takes note of the ways in which they behave while playing the game. By watching the behavior of the other kids, the child can figure out the rules of the game and even some strategies for doing well at the game.

This is called observational learning. This form of learning requires the observation of other people’s behaviours: it differs from the previously discussed learning theories (associative, classical, operant) because it doesn’t involve reinforcements or repetition. Instead, observational learning takes on the form of modelling – as in modelling the behaviour of others (who are referred to as “social models”) we’ve observed through media, for example.

Social models are typically of higher status or authority compared to the observer, examples of which include parents, teachers, and police officers. In the example above, the children who already know how to play the game could be thought of as being authorities—and are therefore social models—even though they are the same age as the observer. By observing how the social models behave, an individual is able to learn how to act in a certain situation. Other examples of observational learning might include a child learning to place their napkin in their lap by watching their parents at the dinner table, or a customer learning where to find the washroom after observing where other customers have gone when leaving their tables.

Bandura theorizes that the observational learning process consists of four parts. The first is attention—as, quite simply, one must pay attention to what they are observing in order to learn. The second part is retention: to learn one must be able to retain the behavior they are observing in memory. The third part of observational learning, initiation, acknowledges that the learner must be able to execute (or initiate) the learned behavior. Lastly, the observer must possess the motivation to engage in observational learning.

2. Modeling

Modeling is the process of imitating the behavior of others. This is a particularly common form of learning for young consumers, who often observe the behaviour of others (often individuals who they look up to or admire, such as an online Influencer) and imitate their behaviour. Naturally, when speaking of young consumers, the negative effects of this learning model are clear: smoking, high-risk behaviour, violence, self-harm, etc. are behaviours that children are not only observing in others, but also learning how to copy and perform on their own. The responsibility of advertisers with regard to their influence and impact on children and young consumers has brought into question, what should be marketed to kids and what should not? Remember advertisements for smoking? No? I do – but that’s because I was born and raised at a time when there was little to no thought and consideration given to how the models used in smoking commercials and billboards modeled behaviour that was being imitated by a much younger audience. After years of scrutiny, activism, and eventually legislation, tobacco companies were no longer permitted to advertising their products to children and young consumers.

Student Op-Ed

Creating the “Pepsi Generation”

Throughout Pepsi’s history the cola company has often utilized the modelling theory of learning to convey a brand message to consumers. The Cola Conquest is a documentary film that follows the creation and growth of cola drinks throughout the United States, and eventually around the world. Coca-Cola’s main competitor, Pepsi, has been the only alternative with a shared history in what marketing historians call, the “Cola Wars”, proving that the cola brand has always been a worthy competitor to the sugary drink conglomerate (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998).

Since it’s conception, Coke’s marketing has represented quintessential American symbols and values of freedom and family, while often drawing on nostalgia and wholesome traditions to target middle to upper class American consumers of the dominant culture. To differentiate itself from Coke, Pepsi took an alternate direction, using, pop culture imagery and icons in its marketing to reach youth and street culture demographics (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998). The documentary features original Pepsi commercials starring Michael Jackson, who’d taken the world by storm with innovative creativity and catchy pop songs. Similarly, supermodel Cindy Crawford lent her star power to the youthful brand by acting as somewhat of a spokesperson (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998). This type of cognitive learning that we refer to as modelling demonstrates how celebrities and pop culture icons directly influence young (and youthful) consumers who learned to favour Pepsi over Coke (Dahl, White, & Solomon, 2015).

Modeling can play an important factor in a consumer’s decision making process since it plays into our desires to imitate the behavior of others. Modelling as a marketing strategy can be particularly effective when the models are individuals (or more appropriately, “influencers”) who consumers admire. Marketers utilize the learning theory of modelling by featuring individuals which consumers aspire to be like or imitate into their advertising campaigns (Dahl, White, & Solomon, 2015). When Pepsi launched the infamous, “Pepsi Generation” marketing campaign, they used celebrities, models, and edgy pop culture icons of the time, to connect the brand with consumers who identified as part of youth street culture. (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998). Modelling proved to be a successful strategy for this campaign because it spoke directly to children who are more easily influenced by celebrity star-power as well as their peers (Dahl, White, & Solomon, 2015).

These advertisement campaigns were proven highly successful since entertainment and celebrity status was growing drastically in the 1980’s (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998). Michael Jackson was Pepsi’s most successful celebrity model, inspiring subculture youth in the urban cities of the United States to model the pop icon’s choice  in cola drinks (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998). One individual shared with me that when Michael Jackson’s first Pepsi commercial premiered, teens rushed home to record it and re-watched repeatedly it in admiration. (Webb, Angelico, & Neidik, 1998). Pepsi continues to apply this marketing strategy as seen in their infamous television commercial featuring model and reality star Kendall Jenner. The intention was to leverage Jenner’s global popularity and influence on the youth market; however, the content and messaging of the ad was in poor taste and caused controversy by both appropriating and trivializing the Black Lives Matter activist movement that campaigns to bring awareness of and an end to systemic racism and violence towards black youth. Despite being pulled from the airways, Jenner’s endorsement and association with Pepsi drew considerable attention towards the brand.

In response to Coca Cola’s capitalization on traditional upper-class American culture, I believe that Pepsi appropriately targeted a more specific consumer market of urban street culture, by integrating highly admired pop culture icons. As Coca-Cola has successfully captured the attention of mainstream consumers, Pepsi successfully adapted its brand by claiming a brand position closely reflective of street and pop culture, thereby becoming know as the “Pepsi Generation”. Its positioning strategy established both a title adopted by youth and a much needed image for the brand which youth desired to be a part of.

By Leora Sachar

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Angelico, I., Neidik, A. J. (Producers), Angelico, I., Goldberg, H., Cowan, P. (Writers), & Angelico, I. (Director). (1998). The Cola Conquest [Motion Picture]. Canada.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall

Bandura, A., Ross, D., Ross, S (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 66(1), 3 – 11.

Bandura, A.; Ross, D.; Ross, S. A. (1961). “Transmission of aggression through the imitation of aggressive models”. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 63(3), 575–582.

Bouton, M. E. (2019). Conditioning and learning. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. DOI:nobaproject.com

Dahl, D. W., White, K., & Solomon, M. R. (2015). Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, and Being, Seventh Canadian Edition. Canada: Pearson Canada.

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[Justin Crew TV]. (2010, August 9). Justin Bieber – Proactive Commercial. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/xoGoeT41onM

“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Sachar, L. (2019). Creating the Pepsi Generation. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Ward, J., Loken, B., Ross, I., Hasapopoulous, & T., Shimp, T. (Ed). (1986). The Influence of Physical Similarity of Affect and Attribute Perceptions from National Brands to Private Label Brands. American Marketing Educators’ Conference, American Marketing Association, 51–56.

10

Memory and Retrieval

The most exciting advertisement is worthless if it doesn’t make a reasonably lasting impact on the receiver. So, advertisers need to understand how our brains encode, or mentally program, the information we encounter that helps to determine how we will remember it (if we do at all). In general, we have a better chance of retaining incoming data we associate with other information already in memory.

1. Types of Memory

Psychologists distinguish among three distinct types of memory systems, each of which plays a role in processing brand-related information:

1. Sensory memory permits storage of the information we receive from our senses. This storage is very temporary; it lasts a couple of seconds at most. For example, when walking to work you pass by a French bistro cafe and you get a quick, aromatic whiff of espresso and fresh croissants. Although this sensation lasts only a few seconds, it is sufficient to allow you to consider whether you should investigate further. If you retain this information for further processing, it passes into short-term memory.

2. Short-term memory (“STM”) also stores information for a limited period of time, and it has limited capacity. This is similar to working memory in a computer; it holds the information we are currently processing. Our memories can store verbal input acoustically (in terms of how it sounds) or semantically (in terms of what it means). We store it when we combine small pieces of data into larger chunks. A chunk is a configuration that is familiar to the person and that they can think about as a unit. For example, a brand name like Beats by Dre can be a chunk that summarizes a great deal of detailed information about the product.

3. Long-term memory (LTM) is the system that allows us to retain information for a long period of time. Information passes from STM into LTM via the process of elaborative rehearsal. This means we actively think about the chunk’s meaning and relate it to other information already in memory. Advertisers sometimes assist in the process when they devise catchy slogans or jingles that consumers repeat on their own, such as, “don’t leave home without it,” “just do it,” or “let your fingers do the walking.”

2. Encoding

Encoding is the process by which we place the things that we experience into memory. Unless information is encoded, it cannot be remembered. I’m sure you’ve been to a party where you’ve been introduced to someone and then — maybe only seconds later — you realize that you do not remember the person’s name. Of course it’s not really surprising that you can’t remember the name, because you probably were distracted and you never encoded the name to begin with.

3. Retrieval

Even when information has been adequately encoded and stored, it does not do us any good if we cannot retrieve it. Retrieval refers to the process of reactivating information that has been stored in memory. We are more likely to be able to retrieve items from memory when conditions at retrieval are similar to the conditions under which we encoded them. Context-dependent learning refers to an increase in retrieval when the external situation in which information is learned matches the situation in which it is remembered.

4. Storing Memories

It’s important to understand how we store all of the massive amounts of information we retain in our minds. Just like a really disorganized “filing cabinet from hell,” our memories about brands (not to mention everything else we know) are useless if we don’t know where to find them. Advertisers can structure their communication to make it more likely that subsequent messages will call up the knowledge of a brand we’ve already retained.

Memories that are stored in long-term memory (“LTM”) are not actually isolated from one another; they are linked together into categories— networks of associated memories that have features in common with each other. Forming categories, and using categories to guide behaviour, is a fundamental part of human nature. Mental categories are sometimes referred to as schemas— patterns of knowledge in LTM that help us organize information. We have schemas about objects (that a triangle has three sides and may take on different angles), about people (that Sam is friendly, likes to golf, and always wears sandals), about events (the particular steps involved in ordering a meal at a restaurant), and about social groups (we call these group schemas stereotypes). Schemas are important in part because they help us remember new information by providing an organizational structure for it.

5. Accessing Memories

Not surprisingly, recall is enhanced when we pay more attention to the message in the first place. Some evidence indicates that we can retrieve information about a pioneering brand (the first brand to enter a market) more easily from memory than we can for follower brands, because the first product’s introduction is likely to be distinctive and, for the time being, has no competitors to divert our attention (Kardes, Kalyanaram, Chandrashekaran, & Dornoff, 1992). In addition, we are more likely to recall descriptive brand names than those that do not provide adequate cues as to what the product is (Zaichkowsky & Vipat, 1992).

Of course, the nature of the ad itself also plays a big role in determining whether we’ll remember it. We’re far more likely to remember spectacular magazine ads, including multi-page spreads, three-dimensional pop-ups, scented ads, and ads with audio components (Sass, 2007). Here are some other factors advertisers need to remember:

- State-dependent retrieval. We are better able to access information if our internal state is the same at the time of recall as when we learned the information. If, for example, we recreate the cues that were present when the information was first presented, we can enhance recall. That’s why Life cereal uses a picture of “Mikey” from its commercial on the cereal box, which facilitates recall of brand claims and favorable brand evaluations (Keller, 1987).

- Familiarity. Familiarity enhances recall. Indeed, this is one of the basic goals of marketers who try to create and maintain awareness of their products. However, this sword can cut both ways: Extreme familiarity can result in inferior learning and recall. When consumers are highly familiar with a brand or an advertisement, they may pay less attention to the message because they do not believe that any additional effort will yield a gain in knowledge (Johnson & Russo, 1981; Lynch & Srull, 1982).

- Salience. The salience of a brand refers to its prominence or level of activation in memory. As we have already noted, stimuli that stand out in contrast to their environments are more likely to command attention which, in turn, increases the likelihood that we will recall them. This explains why unusual advertising or distinctive packaging tends to facilitate brand recall (Alba & Chattopadhyay, 1986; Hirschman & Solomon, 1984).

- Novelty. Introducing a surprise element in an ad can be particularly effective in aiding recall, even if it is not relevant to the factual information the ad presents (Heckler & Childers, 1992). In addition, mystery ads, in which the ad doesn’t identify the brand until the end, are more effective at building associations in memory between the product category and that brand—especially in the case of relatively unknown brands (Fazio, Herr, & Powell, 1992).

- Pictorial versus verbal cues. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Indeed, we are more likely to recognize information presented in picture form at a later time (Childers & Houston, 1984; Childers, Heckler, & Houston, 1986). Certainly, visual aspects of an ad are more likely to grab a consumer’s attention. In fact, eye-movement studies indicate that about 90 percent of viewers look at the dominant picture in an ad before they bother to view the copy (Krober-Riel, 1984). But, while ads with vivid images may enhance recall, they do not necessarily improve comprehension. One study found that television news items presented with illustrations (still pictures) as a backdrop result in improved recall for details of the news story, even though understanding of the story’s content did not improve (Brosius, 1989).

Marketing Context

The encoding process is influenced by the type of meaning we experience from a stimulus. Sometimes we process a stimulus simply in terms of its sensory meaning, such as the literal color or shape of a package. We may experience a feeling of familiarity when, for example, we see an ad for a new snack food we have recently tasted. In many cases, though, we encode meanings at a more abstract level. Semantic meaning refers to symbolic associations, such as the idea that minimalists avoid plastic bags or that athletes drink Gatorade.

Advertisers often communicate these kinds of meanings through a narrative, or story. For example, in 2006 New York-based creative agency SS+K developed television spots for the New York Knicks basketball team that featured some of the biggest Knicks fans, including film director Spike Lee, talking about the current state of the team, as well as lifelong Knicks fans who share fond memories of past glories. Starting in 2014, Procter & Gamble began airing commercials entitled, “Thank you mom” – an ad campaign featuring a heartfelt narrative about mom’s supporting their future Olympians starting at a young age.

Much of the social information we acquire gets represented in memory in story form, so constructing ads in the form of a narrative can be a very effective technique to connect with consumers. Narratives persuade people to construct mental representations of the information they view. Pictures aid in this construction and allow for a more developed and detailed mental representation (Escalas, 2004; Adaval & Wyer, 1998).

6. Nostalgia

Perhaps one of the best ways marketers connect with consumers is through the use of nostalgia. Nostalgia is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition.” For some, nostalgia conjures up both happy and sad emotions and takes us back to a time that often felt simpler and less complicated. Unsurprisingly, nostalgia has great appeal to consumers in revitalizing distant memories and warm sentiments of the past: taking Polaroid pictures; making mixed tapes for a friend; and checking pay phones for forgotten quarters (note: the author is aware that she is dating herself, rather severely, with these references).

Student Op-Ed

The Art of Bittersweet Advertising

What began as a brain tonic in a small pharmaceutical shop, has now become a multinational soda company widely regarded as the most recognizable brand in the world. Coca-Cola, now approaching its 128th year of business, has seen a lot of change over the years, most notably during “The Cola Wars” (Angelico, The Cola Conquest Episode 01- The Big Sell, 1998). Coca-Cola’s ability to successfully use nostalgia and salience tactics, help them differentiate themselves from other cola brands (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). Salience refers to the level of activation or prominence something may have in memory, whereas “the term Nostalgia is described as a bittersweet emotion in which the past is viewed with both sadness and longing” (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). This presents an opportunity for companies to draw on those feelings to stand out.

For many years, Coca-Cola was instructed to avoid directly targeting children with their advertisement. No product wants to be perceived as the root cause of health issues in the younger generation. In 1984 when Pepsi aired their hit commercial, with a cast full of very youthful looking children featuring Michael Jackson, they showed little regard for what Coca-Cola had been trying to avoid all this time. Coke had already taken a big hit before the advertisement, and then had to quickly figure out a way to bounce back. “Coca-Cola’s response was a middle-aged version of its most successful advertisement ever, ‘Hilltop, I’d like to buy the world a Coke (1971)’. It may not have been as cool as Michael Jackson but, it sold.” (Angelico, 1998) By using a memory marker, such as the 1971 advertisement, Coke understood that the ad would appeal to consumers because of the emotional effects associated with nostalgia (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). Consumers who grew up on Coke were eager to relive all those feelings alongside their own families (Angelico, 1998) (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015).

After hastily changing the Coca-Cola formula and receiving immense backlash, they released “Coke Classic” using the original formula only three months later (Angelico, The Cola Conquest Episode 02- Cola War And Peace, 1998). Although the original Coke formula was only gone for a few months, the return triggered an effect similar to that of a retro band. There happens to be a large niche of consumers who prefer nostalgic brands and according to research, that feeling is boiled down to the need for “belongingness” (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). The return of the formula brought all of Coca-Cola’s history with it creating a path for new consumers to follow. Working hand in hand with nostalgia is salience (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). Coca- Cola happens to have a very high salience due to its distinctive red packaging that has remained the same over the years. This is known as the Von Restorff effect. Because the packaging endured for over 128 years, this prompts consumers not only in brand recall, but it also creates a sense of nostalgia with regards to anything they may have done with Coca-Cola in their lives. A prominent colour such as red, their brand image, causes consumers’ visual memory to think of Coca-Cola throughout the day (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015).

I believe that Coca-Cola has utilized nostalgia and salience in a way that no other brand has ever been able to do. It is the most efficient and powerful method to attract consumers, old or new. Solomon, White and Dahl explained that an indirect effect of memory markers is that retro happened to be very cool with younger audiences who were going through self-identification periods and were looking to differentiate themselves from others (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). All it took was a little competition for Coca-Cola to demonstrate the power of memories in the world of advertisement. With the help of memory markers, retro band, and the Von Restorff effect, salience and nostalgia tactics truly did help Coke stand-alone from the competition (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015).

By Aidan Maurice Richard

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Adaval, R. & Wyer, R.S.Jr. (1998). The Role of Narratives in Consumer Information Processing. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 7 (3), 207–46.

Alba, J.W. & Chattopadhyay, A. (1986, November). Salience Effects in Brand Recall. Journal of Marketing Research, 23, 363–70.

Angelico, I. (Director). (1998). The Cola Conquest Episode 01- The Big Sell [Motion Picture].

Angelico, I. (Director). (1998). The Cola Conquest Episode 02- Cola War And Peace [Motion Picture].

Brosius, H. (1989, Winter). Influence of Presentation Features and News Context on Learning from Television News. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 33, 1–14.

Childers, T., Heckler, S. & Houston, M. (1986, Fall). Memory for the Visual and Verbal Components of Print Advertisements. Psychology & Marketing, 3, 147–50.

Childers, T. & Houston, M. (1984, September). Conditions for a Picture-Superiority Effect on Consumer Memory. Journal of Consumer Research, 11, 643–54.

Danziger, W., Moran, S., & Rafaely, V. (2006). The Influence of Ease of Retrieval on Judgment as a Function of Attention to Subjective Experience. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(2), 191–95.

Escalas, J.E., (2004). Narrative Processing: Building Consumer Connections to Brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14 (1-2), 168–80.

Fazio, R.H., Herr, P.M., & Powell, M.C. (1992). On the Development and Strength of Category-Brand Associations in Memory: The Case of Mystery Ads.Journal of Consumer Psychology 1 (1), 1–13.

Heckler, S.E. & Childers, T.L. (1992, March). The Role of Expectancy and Relevancy in Memory for Verbal and Visual Information: What Is Incongruency?. Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 475–92.

Hirschman, E.C., Solomon, M.R. & Kinnear, T.C. (ed). (1984). Utilitarian, Aesthetic, and Familiarity Responses to Verbal versus Visual Advertisements. Advances in Consumer Research 11, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 426–31.

[Internetexplorer]. (2013, January 23). Child of the 90x | Internet Explorer. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/qkM6RJf15cg

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Johnson, E.J., Russo, E. & Monroe, K. (ed). (1981). Product Familiarity and Learning New Information. Advances in Consumer Research, 8, Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 151–55.

Kardes, F.R., Kalyanaram, G., Chandrashekaran, M., & Dornoff, R.J. (1992). Brand Retrieval, Consideration Set Composition, Consumer Choice, and the Pioneering Advantage [Unpublished manuscript, the University of Cincinnati, Ohio].

Keller, K. (1987). Memory Factors in Advertising: The Effect of Advertising Retrieval Cues on Brand Evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 316–33.

Krober-Riel, W., Kinnear, T.C. (ed). (1984). Effects of Emotional Pictorial Elements in Ads Analyzed by Means of Eye Movement Monitoring. Advances in Consumer Research, 11, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 591–96.

“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Lynch, J.G. & Srull, T.K. (1982, June). Memory and Attentional Factors in Consumer Choice: Concepts and Research Methods. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 18–37.

Morrell, R.W., Park, D.C., & Poon, L.W. (1989). Quality of Instructions on Prescription Drug Labels: Effects on Memory and Comprehension in Young and Old Adults. The Gerontologist, 29, 345–54.

Nostalgia. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nostalgia

Richard, A.M. (2019). The Art of Bittersweet Advertising. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Robertson, K. (1987, Spring). Recall and Recognition Effects of Brand Name Imagery. Psychology & Marketing, 4, 3–15.

Sass, E. (2007, February 23). Study Finds Spectacular Print Ads Get Spectacular Recall. Marketing Daily. Retrieved from http://www.mediapost.com.

Solomon, M., White, K. & Dahl, D.W. (7th Edition) (2017). Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc.

Zaichkowsky, J.L. & Vipat, P. (1992, June). Inferences from Brand Names [Paper presented at the European meeting of the Association for Consumer Research, Amsterdam].

11

Memory Failure and Fault lines

As we have seen, our memories are not perfect. They fail in part due to our inadequate encoding and storage, and in part due to our inability to accurately retrieve stored information. But memory is also influenced by the setting in which it occurs, by the events that occur to us after we have experienced an event, and by the cognitive processes that we use to help us remember. Although our cognition allows us to attend to, rehearse, and organize information, cognition may also lead to distortions and errors in our judgments and our behaviours.

1. Memory Decay

Why do we forget? Some memories simply fade with the passage of time; they decay as the structural changes learning produces in the brain simply go away. But most forgetting is due to interference; as we learn additional information, it displaces the earlier information. Because we store pieces of information in associative networks, we are more likely to retrieve a meaning concept when it’s connected by a larger number of links. As we integrate new concepts, a stimulus is no longer as effective to retrieve the old response. These interference effects help to explain why we have trouble remembering brand information. Since we tend to organize attribute information by brand, when we learn additional attribute information about the brand or about similar brands, this limits our ability to activate the older information (Meyers-Levy, 1989).

Marketing Context

Marketers obviously hope that consumers will not forget about their products. However, in a poll of more than thirteen thousand adults, more than half were unable to remember any specific ad they had seen, heard, or read in the past thirty days (Burke & Srull, 1988). How many can you remember right now? Clearly, forgetting by consumers is a big headache for marketers (not to mention a problem for students when they study for exams!).

2. Cognitive Bias

Cognitive biases are errors in memory or judgment that are caused by the inappropriate use of cognitive processes. The study of cognitive biases is important both because it relates to the important psychological theme of accuracy versus inaccuracy in perception, and because being aware of the types of errors that we may make can help us avoid them and therefore improve our decision-making skills.

3. Source Monitoring

One potential error in memory involves mistakes in differentiating the sources of information. Source monitoring refers to the ability to accurately identify the source of a memory. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of wondering whether you really experienced an event or only dreamed or imagined it. If so, you wouldn’t be alone. Rassin, Merkelbach, and Spaan (2001) reported that up to 25% of undergraduate students reported being confused about real versus dreamed events. Studies suggest that people who are fantasy-prone are more likely to experience source monitoring errors (Winograd, Peluso, & Glover, 1998), and such errors also occur more often for both children and the elderly than for adolescents and younger adults (Jacoby & Rhodes, 2006).

4. The Sleeper Effect

In other cases we may be sure that we remembered the information from real life but be uncertain about exactly where we heard it. Imagine for a moment that you have just read a news story in a tabloid magazine. Probably you would have discounted the information because you know that its source is unreliable. But what if later you were to remember the story but forget the source of the information? If this happens, you might become convinced that the news story is true because you forget to discount it. The sleeper effect refers to attitude change that occurs over time when we forget the source of information (Pratkanis, Greenwald, Leippe, & Baumgardner, 1988).

In still other cases we may forget where we learned information and mistakenly assume that we created the memory ourselves. Canadian authors Wayson Choy, Sky Lee, and Paul Yee launched a $6 million copyright infringement lawsuit against the parent company of Penguin Group Canada, claiming that the novel Gold Mountain Blues contained “substantial elements” of certain works by the plaintiffs (Cbc.ca, 2011).  The suit was filed against Pearson Canada Inc., author Ling Zhang, and the novel’s U.K.-based translator Nicky Harman. Zhang claimed that the book shared a few general plot similarities with the other works but that those similarities reflect common events and experiences in the Chinese immigrant community. She argued that the novel was “the result of years of research and several field trips to China and Western Canada,” and that she had not read the other works. Nothing was proven in court.

Finally, the musician George Harrison claimed that he was unaware that the melody of his song My Sweet Lord was almost identical to an earlier song by another composer. The judge in the copyright suit that followed ruled that Harrison did not intentionally commit the plagiarism. (Please use this knowledge to become extra vigilant about source attributions in your written work, not to try to excuse yourself if you are accused of plagiarism.)

5. Schema & Confirmation Bias

We have seen that schemas help us remember information by organizing material into coherent representations. However, although schemas can improve our memories, they may also lead to cognitive biases. Using schemas may lead us to falsely remember things that never happened to us and to distort or misremember things that did. For one, schemas lead to confirmation bias, which is the tendency to verify and confirm our existing memories rather than to challenge and disconfirm them. The confirmation bias occurs because once we have schemas, they influence how we seek out and interpret new information. The confirmation bias leads us to remember information that fits our schemas better than we remember information that disconfirms them (Stangor & McMillan, 1992), a process that makes our stereotypes very difficult to change. And we ask questions in ways that confirm our schemas (Trope & Thompson, 1997). If we think that a person is an extrovert, we might ask her about ways that she likes to have fun, thereby making it more likely that we will confirm our beliefs. In short, once we begin to believe in something — for instance, a stereotype about a group of people — it becomes very difficult to later convince us that these beliefs are not true; the beliefs become self-confirming.

Darley and Gross (1983) demonstrated how schemas about social class could influence memory. In their research they gave participants a picture and some information about a Grade 4 girl named Hannah. To activate a schema about her social class, Hannah was pictured sitting in front of a nice suburban house for one-half of the participants and pictured in front of an impoverished house in an urban area for the other half. Then the participants watched a video that showed Hannah taking an intelligence test. As the test went on, Hannah got some of the questions right and some of them wrong, but the number of correct and incorrect answers was the same in both conditions. Then the participants were asked to remember how many questions Hannah got right and wrong. Demonstrating that stereotypes had influenced memory, the participants who thought that Hannah had come from an upper-class background remembered that she had gotten more correct answers than those who thought she was from a lower-class background.

6. Salience and Cognitive Accessibility

Another potential for bias in memory occurs because we are more likely to attend to, and thus make use of and remember, some information more than other information. For one, we tend to attend to and remember things that are highly salient, meaning that they attract our attention.

Things that are unique, colourful, bright, moving, and unexpected are more salient (McArthur & Post, 1977; Taylor & Fiske, 1978). In one relevant study, Loftus, Loftus, and Messo (1987) showed people images of a customer walking up to a bank teller and pulling out either a pistol or a chequebook. By tracking eye movements, the researchers determined that people were more likely to look at the gun than at the chequebook, and that this reduced their ability to accurately identify the criminal in a lineup that was given later. The salience of the gun drew people’s attention away from the face of the criminal.

The salience of the stimuli in our social worlds has a big influence on our judgment, and in some cases may lead us to behave in ways that might not benefit us. Imagine, for instance, that you wanted to buy a new mobile device for yourself. You checked Consumer Reports online and found that, although most of the leading devices differed on many dimensions, including price, battery life, weight, camera size, and so forth, one particular device was nevertheless rated significantly higher by owners than others. As a result, you decide that that is the one you are going to purchase the next day…

That night, however, you go to a party, and a friend shows you her brand new mobile device and after checking it out, you decide it’s perfect for your needs. You tell your friend that you were thinking of buying the other brand and she convinces you not to, saying it didn’t download music correctly, the battery died right after the warranty expired, and so forth — and that she would never buy one. Would you still plan to buy it, or would you switch your plans?

If you think about this question logically, the information that you just got from your friend isn’t really all that important. You now know the opinion of one more person, but that can’t change the overall rating of the two devices very much. On the other hand, the information your friend gives you, and the chance to use her device, are highly salient. The information is right there in front of you, in your hand, whereas the statistical information from Consumer Reports is only in the form of a table that you saw on your computer. The outcome in cases such as this is that people frequently ignore the less salient (more important) information, such as the likelihood that events occur across a large population (these statistics are known as base rates), in favour of the less important but nevertheless more salient information.

People also vary in the schemas that they find important to use when judging others and when thinking about themselves. Cognitive accessibility refers to the extent to which knowledge is activated in memory, and thus likely to be used in cognition and behaviour. For instance, you probably know a person who is a golf nut (or fanatic of another sport). All they can talk about is golf. For them, we would say that golf is a highly accessible construct. Because they love golf, it is important to their self-concept, they set many of their goals in terms of the sport, and they tend to think about things and people in terms of it (“if they play golf, they must be a good person!”). Other people have highly accessible schemas about environmental issues, eating healthy food, or drinking really good coffee. When schemas are highly accessible, we are likely to use them to make judgments of ourselves and others, and this overuse may inappropriately colour our judgments.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Burke, Raymond, R., Srull, & Thomas, K. (1988, June). Competitive Interference and Consumer Memory for Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 15, 55–68.

CBC.ca (2011). CBC News: Arts and entertainment, Authors sue Gold Mountain Blues writer for copyright infringement Retrieved June 2014 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/authors-sue-gold-mountain-blues-writer-for-copyright-infringement-1.1024879

Darley, J. M., & Gross, P. H. (1983). A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 20–33.

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Jacoby, L. L., & Rhodes, M. G. (2006). False remembering in the aged. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(2), 49–53.

Kahneman, D., & Miller, D. T. (1986). Norm theory: Comparing reality to its alternatives. Psychological Review, 93, 136–153.

Loftus, E. F. (1979). The malleability of human memory. American Scientist, 67(3), 312–320.

Loftus, E. F., & Ketcham, K. (1994). The myth of repressed memory: False memories and allegations of sexual abuse (1st ed.). New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 13(5), 585–589.

Loftus, E. F., & Pickrell, J. E. (1995). The formation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals, 25(12), 720–725.

Loftus, E. F., Loftus, G. R., & Messo, J. (1987). Some facts about “weapon focus.” Law and Human Behavior, 11(1), 55–62.

McArthur, L. Z., & Post, D. L. (1977). Figural emphasis and person perception. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13(6), 520–535.

Medvec, V. H., Madey, S. F., & Gilovich, T. (1995). When less is more: Counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medalists. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 69(4), 603–610.

Meyers-Levy, J. (1989, September). The Influence of Brand Name’s Association Set Size and Word Frequency on Brand Memory. Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 197–208.

Pratkanis, A. R., Greenwald, A. G., Leippe, M. R., & Baumgardner, M. H. (1988). In search of reliable persuasion effects: III. The sleeper effect is dead: Long live the sleeper effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(2), 203–218.

Rassin, E., Merckelbach, H., & Spaan, V. (2001). When dreams become a royal road to confusion: Realistic dreams, dissociation, and fantasy proneness. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 189(7), 478–481.

Stangor, C., & McMillan, D. (1992). Memory for expectancy-congruent and expectancy-incongruent information: A review of the social and social developmental literatures. Psychological Bulletin, 111(1), 42–61.

Trope, Y., & Thompson, E. (1997). Looking for truth in all the wrong places? Asymmetric search of individuating information about stereotyped group members. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 229–241.

Winograd, E., Peluso, J. P., & Glover, T. A. (1998). Individual differences in susceptibility to memory illusions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12(Spec. Issue), S5–S27.

12

Chapter Wrap Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1422

13

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. As an example of Classical Conditioning, explore the repeated pairing of Royale toilet paper and its imagery of fluffy white kittens. Describe how this learning theory is being used and how it may impact a consumer.

2. Pick a well-known or popular consumer product that has a copy-cat brand (e.g. cereal, soft drinks, shampoo, pasta) available next or near it at a store. Take a photo of the products and discuss how stimulus generalization supports the strategy behind copy-cat branding.

3. Many well-established health and beauty product lines have grown through product-line extensions. Find an example of product-line extension and describe how this relates to behavioural learning.

4. Which brands use celebrity endorsement as a means to “model” behaviour for a youth target audience? Share and discuss your example using the concepts from the section on cognitive learning.

5. Using Google and/or YouTube, identify as many celebrities as possible who have acted as endorsers for skincare product company ProActive. Who is this company targeting? What learning theory underpins the use of celebrity endorsers? Is this effective in your opinion – why or why not?

6. There are many examples of how marketers use modelling as a way to both position and teach an audience about a brand. For example, skin care company Proactive has used many well-known celebrities as spokespeople to represent their skin care line. Discuss why modelling is an effective learning strategy in marketing using examples such as this commercial where Justin Bieber endorses Proactive.

7. Provide examples of brands who have used “nostalgia” as a means to reach an audience and provide a longing for the past. Why is nostalgia used and is it an effective marketing tool? For inspiration, watch this video from Microsoft and discuss why it may make you feel nostalgic.

III

Consumer Motivation and Involvement

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about Motivation and how marketers apply techniques to increase consumer involvement, meet consumers needs & wants, and use motivational techniques to develop consumer marketing strategies.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Define motivation and describe various types of needs and goals.

2. Summarize how marketers can use motivational concepts to develop marketing strategies.

3. Explain and identify the key differences between different involvement levels.

4. Discuss methods marketers may use to increase consumer involvement.

14

Key Terms and Concepts

Goals
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation
Needs
Wants
Utilitarian needs
Hedonic needs
Cognitive dissonance (post-purchase dissonance)
Prevention orientation
Promotion orientation
Motivational conflicts
Drives/Drive theory/Drive state
Homeostasis
Expectancy theory
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Blackfoot Way of Life
Consumer involvement
Low involvement
High involvement
Routine response behaviour
Impulse buying
Limited problem solving
Customization
Personalization (individualization)
Customer loyalty
Hedonic needs

15

Needs, Wants, and Goals

Every New Year, many people make resolutions—or goals—that go unsatisfied: eat healthier; pay better attention in class; volunteer our time, exercise more. As much as we know our lives would improve if we actually achieved these goals, people quite often don’t follow through. But what if that didn’t have to be the case? What if every time we made a goal, we actually accomplished it? Each day, our behavior is the result of countless goals—maybe not goals in the way we think of them, like lifting the heaviest weights or being the first person to land on Mars. But even with “mundane” goals, like getting food from the grocery store, or showing up to work on time, we are often enacting the same psychological processes involved with achieving loftier dreams. To understand how we can better attain our goals, let’s begin with defining what a goal is and what underlies it, psychologically.

Job89 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

1. Goals

A goal is the cognitive representation of a desired state, or, in other words, our mental idea of how we’d like things to turn out (Fishbach & Ferguson 2007; Kruglanski, 1996). This desired end state of a goal can be clearly defined (e.g., stepping on the surface of Mars), or it can be more abstract and represent a state that is never fully completed (e.g., eating healthy). Underlying all of these goals, though, is motivation, or the psychological driving force that enables action in the pursuit of that goal (Lewin, 1935).

Motivation can stem from two places. First, it can come from the benefits associated with the process of pursuing a goal (intrinsic motivation). For example, you might be driven by the desire to have a fulfilling experience while working on your Mars mission. Second, motivation can also come from the benefits associated with achieving a goal (extrinsic motivation), such as the fame and fortune that come with being the first person on Mars (Deci & Ryan, 1985). One easy way to consider intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is through the eyes of a student. Does the student work hard on assignments because the act of learning is pleasing (intrinsic motivation)? Or does the student work hard to get good grades, which will help land a good job (extrinsic motivation)?

2. Needs & Wants

Consumer behavior can be thought of as the combination of efforts and results related to the consumer’s need to solve problems. Consumer problem solving is triggered by the identification of some unmet need. A family consumes all of the milk in the house; or the tires on the family car wear out; or the bowling team is planning an end-of-the-season picnic: these  present a consumer(s) with a problem which must be solved. Problems can be viewed in terms of two types of needs: physical (such as a need for food) or psychological (for example, the need to be accepted by others).

Although the difference is a subtle one, there is some benefit in distinguishing between needs and wants. A need is a basic deficiency given a particular essential item. You need food, water, air, security, and so forth. A want is placing certain personal criteria as to how that need must be fulfilled. Therefore, when we are hungry, we often have a specific food item in mind. Consequently, a teenager will lament to a frustrated parent that there is nothing to eat, standing in front of a full refrigerator.

Most of marketing is in the want-fulfilling business, not the need- fulfilling business. Apple does not want you to buy just any watch, they want you to want to buy an Apple Watch. Likewise, Ralph Lauren wants you to want Polo when you shop for clothes. On the other hand, a non-profit such as the American Cancer Association would like you to feel a need for a check-up and does not care which doctor you go to. In the end, however, marketing is mostly interested in creating and satisfying wants.

3. Utilitarian & Hedonic Needs

Often discussion around needs are further explained in the context of those which are utilitarian (practical and useful in nature) and hedonic (luxurious or desirable in nature). Consumers satisfying their utilitarian needs will be more price sensitive than consumers seeking to satisfy hedonic needs who will justify high(er) prices due to the infrequency in which they would purchase a luxury item. Cognitive dissonance, or consumer guilt, is more likely to be associated with hedonic purchases than utilitarian ones.

Marketing Context

Utilitarian Needs

Hedonic Needs

Goods consumed for practical and useful purposes

Goods consumed for luxury purposes

Daily use objects; purchased routinely

Highly desirable objects; purchased infrequently or on rare/special occasions

Consumer seeks to meet basic and most pressing needs

Consumer seeks to feel pleasure, fun, enjoyment, thrill, excitement

Grocery items, gas

Spa treatments, jewellery

4. Prevention & Promotion Orientation

Research also distinguishes between two distinct self-regulatory orientations (or perceptions of effectiveness) in pursuing a goal: prevention and promotion.

A prevention emphasizes safety, responsibility, and security needs, and views goals as “oughts.” That is, for those who are prevention-oriented, a goal is viewed as something they should be doing, and they tend to focus on avoiding potential problems (e.g., exercising to avoid health threats). This self-regulatory focus leads to a vigilant strategy aimed at avoiding losses (the presence of negatives) and approaching non-losses (the absence of negatives).

On the other hand, a promotion focus views goals as “ideals,” and emphasizes hopes, accomplishments, and advancement needs. Here, people view their goals as something they want to do that will bring them added pleasure (e.g., exercising because being healthy allows them to do more activities). This type of orientation leads to the adoption of an eager strategy concerned with approaching gains (the presence of positives) and avoiding non-gains (the absence of positives).

To compare these two strategies, consider the goal of saving money. Prevention-focused people will save money because they believe it’s what they should be doing (an ought), and because they’re concerned about not having any money (avoiding a harm). Promotion-focused people, on the other hand, will save money because they want to have extra funds (a desire) so they can do new and fun activities (attaining an advancement). Although these two strategies result in very similar behaviors, emphasizing potential losses will motivate individuals with a prevention focus, whereas emphasizing potential gains will motivate individuals with a promotion focus. And these orientations—responding better to either a prevention or promotion focus— differ across individuals (chronic regulatory focus) and situations (momentary regulatory focus; Higgins, 1997).

Marketing Context

Marketers tailor their messages to consumers in order to appeal to their unique approaches to achieving goals. For example, consumers who are largely motivated to avoid harm/losses, act responsibly, and minimize damage, may be drawn to brands such as the ones below, which use persuasive messaging to highlight the avoidance of negative outcomes:

- The Body Shop & LUSH Cosmetics (cruelty-free)

- Patagonia (avoids excessive waste and environmentally harmful production practices)

- Thrift Store clothes, such as The Goodwill (sustainability; up-cycling)

- Vape accessories (reduced-risk smoking experience)

On the other hand, consumers with a promotion-focused goal orientation seek to maximize gain, benefit, and reward. Brands that appeal to these consumers may include:

- Axe Body Spray (enhance attractiveness)

- Birchbox (personalized delivery of beauty products)

- Dove (promotes high self-esteem)

- Music festivals and concerts (memory-making experiences)

5. Motivational Conflicts

Student Feature

Explore how three motivational conflicts (approach-approach; approach-avoidance; and avoidance-avoidance) are present in consumers’ everyday lives. Created by KPU students, Simran Asere, Sandeep Grewal, Tanikka Abraham, and Aman Singh Atwal.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=384

Attribution

This page contains materials from:

Halvorson, Heidi Grant. (2013, March 7). Are You Promotion or Prevention-Focused? Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-science-success/201303/are-you-promotion-or-prevention-focused

Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52(12), 1280–1300.

Khan, Farah. (2015, January 4). Consumer Persuasion Based on Promotion Or Prevention Focused Goals. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/consumer-persuasion-based-promotion-prevention-focused-farah-khan/

Russell, Judith. (2018, December 3). Millennial Brand Preferences: A 2018 Update. Retrieved from https://www.therobinreport.com/millennial-brand-preferences-a-2018-update/

16

Motivational Theories and Models

Motivations are often considered in psychology in terms of drives and goals. Drives are internal states activated when the physiological characteristics of the body are out of balance; and goals are desired end states that we strive to attain. Motivation can thus be conceptualized as a series of behavioural responses that lead us to attempt to reduce drives and to attain goals by comparing our current state with a desired end state (Lawrence, Carver, & Scheier, 2002).

1. Drive Theory

What is the longest you’ve ever gone without eating? A couple of hours? An entire day? How did it feel? Humans rely critically on food for nutrition and energy, and the absence of food can create drastic changes, not only in physical appearance, but in thoughts and behaviors. If you’ve ever fasted for a day, you probably noticed how hunger (a form of “tension”) can take over your mind, directing your attention to foods you could be eating (a cheesy slice of pizza, or perhaps some cold ice cream), and motivating you to obtain and consume these foods. It’s not until you’ve eaten that your hunger begins to face and the tension you have experienced disappears.

Hunger is a drive state, an affective experience (something you feel, like the sensation of being tired or hungry) that motivates organisms to fulfill goals that are generally beneficial to their survival and reproduction. Like other drive states, such as thirst or sexual arousal, hunger has a profound impact on the functioning of the mind. It affects psychological processes, such as perception, attention, emotion, and motivation, and influences the behaviors that these processes generate.

Marketing Context

How do marketers capitalize on the tension that exists when we are hungry or thirsty? Have you ever seen an ad for a juicy steak when you’re feeling hungry? Or ice cream when it’s warm outside and you’ve just eaten dinner? Marketers both enhance our drive state (the tension we feel when we have an unmet goal or desire) through commercials and other forms of advertisements, as well as solve it by making products readily available through wide and prolific distribution systems. Thirsty? No problem, walk about 10 metres and you’re bound to find a Coke somewhere. Food advertising both engages our senses and enhances our drive state (think: food court at the shopping mall or farmer’s market in the summertime) and only the savvy of marketer who exasperates the tension is also there with product ready at hand.

2. Homeostasis

Like a thermostat on an air conditioner, the body tries to maintain homeostasis, the natural state of the body’s systems, with goals, drives, and arousal in balance. When a drive or goal is aroused—for instance, when we are hungry—the thermostat turns on and we start to behave in a way that attempts to reduce the drive or meet the goal (in this case to seek food). As the body works toward the desired end state, the thermostat continues to check whether or not the end state has been reached. Eventually, the need or goal is satisfied (we eat), and the relevant behaviours are turned off. The body’s thermostat continues to check for homeostasis and is always ready to react to future needs.

Many homeostatic mechanisms, such as blood circulation and immune responses, are automatic and non-conscious. Others, however, involve deliberate action. Most drive states motivate action to restore homeostasis using both “punishments” and “rewards.” Imagine that these homeostatic mechanisms are like molecular parents. When you behave poorly by departing from the set point (such as not eating or being somewhere too cold), they raise their voice at you. You experience this as the bad feelings, or “punishments,” of hunger, thirst, or feeling too cold or too hot. However, when you behave well (such as eating nutritious foods when hungry), these homeostatic parents reward you with the pleasure that comes from any activity that moves the system back toward the set point.

3. Expectancy Theory

Expectancy theory explains motivations much differently than drive theory. While drive theory explains why we are motivated to eat, drink, and sleep (to reduce tensions arising to unmet needs – hunger, thirst, tiredness), expectancy theory explains motivations where desirable outcomes can be achieved through our effort and performance.

According to expectancy theory, individual motivation to put forth more or less effort is determined by a rational calculation in which individuals evaluate their situation (Porter & Lawler, 1968; Vroom, 1964). According to this theory, individuals ask themselves three questions:

1. The first question is whether the person believes that high levels of effort will lead to outcomes of interest, such as performance or success. This perception is labeled expectancy. For example, do you believe that the effort you put forth in a class is related to performing well in that class? If you do, you are more likely to put forth effort.

2. The second question is the degree to which the person believes that performance is related to subsequent outcomes, such as rewards. This perception is labeled instrumentality. For example, do you believe that getting a good grade in the class is related to rewards such as getting a better job, or gaining approval from your instructor, or from your friends or parents? If you do, you are more likely to put forth effort.

3. Finally, individuals are also concerned about the value of the rewards awaiting them as a result of performance. The anticipated satisfaction that will result from an outcome is labeled valence. For example, do you value getting a better job, or gaining approval from your instructor, friends, or parents? If these outcomes are desirable to you, your expectancy and instrumentality is high, and you are more likely to put forth effort.

Student Op-Ed

Share a Coke, but only some of you

A consumer behaviour concept called “Expectancy Theory” can help illustrate how soft drink giant Coca Cola (“Coke”) promoted class and race disparity in America. Expectancy Theory essentially explains that consumers’ decisions are driven by “positive incentives” (Solomon, White & Dahl, 2014). Choosing a certain product rather than any other alternative provides a consumer with a more positive result, like a higher social status. Coke’s marketing techniques during the time of America’s civil rights movement and during its early competition against rival Pepsi, draws a connection between a widening socio-economic class gap and consumers’ choices.

In Irene Angelico’s (1998) film, “The Cola Conquest”, we see how Coke was conceived in Atlanta, Georgia at the end of the American Civil War. To its core, the Coca-Cola company is a deeply southern company built through civil unrest. Specifically, Coke was born at a time when Black people were believed to be second-class citizens. And in their advertising, Coke used caricatures of Black people to demonstrate this belief. In Angelico’s  film, Coke is described as a symbol of nationalism to the American people: for white people this meant something to be protected; for Black people it meant everything they were denied (Angelico, 1998).

Since its conception in 1886, the soda magnate has implemented an aggressive marketing strategy to capture as much of the market as possible. So when competition and copy cats came in, Coke easily pulled through with momentum they had been building for decades. At that point, consumers already associated ‘Coke’ with being  ‘American’. When Pepsi launched into the marketplace, arguably Coke’s biggest competitor to this day, Pepsi was branded as a second class drink. People still enjoyed Pepsi, but not in public. “Real Americans” drank Coke. Pepsi was reserved for non-Americans. (This usually meant Black Americans.)

Consumers’ decisions to choose Coke, as shown in the film, is born out of a desire to not be “othered” by friends, family, or strangers. Coke identified how the socioeconomic gap existing between classes could be leveraged as a positioning strategy to align the brand with emerging middle and upper-class Americans. Consequently, this ultimately meant a specific race too. I think it’s critical to be aware of the fact that Coke’s success came at the cost of dignity for Black Americans. I also feel that Coke, without question, operated on their collectives biases which informed their marketing: so instead of developing marketing strategies based on consumers’ needs and wants, the company was guided by historical and racial differences.

Now, when I look at advertisements I have to think more critically about the messages they are conveying: what are they telling me to think? I think the truth of the matter is that while some messages will always go over my head, I need to be aware of the fact that I won’t always have context for every marketing message put in front of me.

It’s inevitable that how I see myself is probably always going to be tied to the products that I buy. But being smart about where I spend my money and recognizing that it’s a privilege to have the freedom to choose, helps me to become a more socially responsible consumer. I think consumers need to realize that big corporations, like the Coca-Cola company, have a significant impact on shaping our cultures and that choosing a product might sometimes mean jeopardizing a whole community.

By Sharmaine Ventura

4. Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

One of the most important humanists, Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), conceptualized personality in terms of a pyramid-shaped hierarchy of motives, also called the “Hierarchy of Needs“. At the base of the pyramid are the lowest-level motivations, including hunger and thirst, and safety and belongingness. Maslow argued that only when people are able to meet the lower-level needs are they able to move on to achieve the higher-level needs of self-esteem, and eventually self-actualization, which is the motivation to develop our innate potential to the fullest possible extent.

Marketing Context

Following the economic crisis that began in 2008, the sales of new automobiles dropped sharply virtually everywhere around the world—except the sales of Hyundai vehicles. Hyundai understood that people needed to feel secure and safe and ran an ad campaign that assured car buyers they could return their vehicles if they couldn’t make the payments on them without damaging their credit. Seeing Hyundai’s success, other carmakers began offering similar programs. Likewise, banks began offering “worry-free” mortgages to ease the minds of would-be homebuyers. For a fee of about $500, First Mortgage Corp., a Texas-based bank, offered to make a homeowner’s mortgage payment for six months if he or she got laid off (Jares, 2010).

Likewise, during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, brands started to adopt a new line of “worry-free” messaging such as Pizza Hut’s “contact-free” delivery option for consumers living under conditions of quarantine and physical isolation.

Maslow studied how successful people, including Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Helen Keller, and Mahatma Gandhi, had been able to lead such successful and productive lives. Maslow (1970) believed that self-actualized people are creative, spontaneous, and loving of themselves and others. They tend to have a few deep friendships rather than many superficial ones, and are generally private. He felt that these individuals do not need to conform to the opinions of others because they are very confident and thus free to express unpopular opinions. Self-actualized people are also likely to have peak experiences, or transcendent moments of tranquility accompanied by a strong sense of connection with others.

Saul McLeod [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

But did you know that Maslow’s work was informed by the Blackfoot (Niitsitapi or Siksikaitsitapi) people? In 1943, Abraham Maslow spent several weeks performing anthropological research on Blackfoot territory, an experience that had a “powerful impact” on him (Taylor, 2019). Cindy Blackstock, an academic, child welfare activist, and member of Gitksan First Nation, along with Leroy Little Bear, an academic and researcher who founded the Native American Studies Department at the University of Lethridge (Little Bear later went on to be the founding director of the Native American Program at Harvard University) have both put forward that Maslow’s exposure to the Blackfoot people, culture, and way of life was, “instrumental in his formation of the ‘hierarchy of needs’ model'” (Leroy Little Bear, n.d.; Taylor, 2019).

According to Blackstock, Maslow’s model is “a rip-off from the Blackfoot nation”: instead of a triangle, in the Blackfoot tradition they used a tipi to depict an upward motion to the skies (Blackstock, 2014). And, while Maslow’s model places self-actualization at the top of the inverted triangle, the Blackfoot tradition identifies self-actualization as the foundation, followed by “community actualization”, then “cultural perpetuity” (Lincoln Michel, 2014). As Arley Cruthers, a Communications Instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University points out, in Maslow’s model self actualization represents the “pinnacle of human achievement”, whereas for the Blackfoot, self-actualization provides a foundation for greater community and cultural purpose (Cruthers, n.d.).

To see these models side-by-side and read more about their differences and how Maslow appropriated Blackfoot culture to inform his research, visit Karen Lincoln Michel’s blog post, Maslow’s hiearchy connected to Blackfoot beliefs.

These two competing models remind us how cultural context shapes consumers needs and wants.

Student Op-Ed

Coca Cola Marketing for Maslow: Using consumer motivation to create life-long customers

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchical approach to motivation has been universally “adopted by marketers” (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015, p. 100) because it helps them to understand which level of need their target consumer is trying to meet and how to market their product to fulfill that need (Thompson, 2019). Coca Cola (“Coke”) is known for its unique and innovative marketing strategies and their approach to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is no exception. Throughout history, Coke has expertly targeted every tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and by doing so they have created and retained dedicated life-long customers.

The first tier in Maslow’s model is physiological, or basic, needs. The consumers at this level are solely seeking to satisfy their basic survival needs, such as water and staple food items (Walker, 2017). In 1986, Roberto C. Goizueta, the Chairman and CEO of Coke at the time, is quoted saying: “Eventually the number 1 beverage on earth will not be tea, or coffee, or wine, or beer, it will be soft drinks. Our soft drinks.” (Angelico, Neidik, & Webb, 1998) proving that the company was determined to target the consumers in this motivation tier. Since then, Coca Cola has managed to convince consumers that it should be a staple in their diet, and for many, it has completely replaced water, but this was not always the case (Angelico et al., 1998).

In 1886, John Pemberton combined the healing properties of the coco leaf and the cola nut to create a drink that would eventually become Coca Cola; he originally created and marketed it as a “brain-tonic” or “cure-all elixir” (Angelico et al., 1998). Though Maslow would not be born for another 20 or so years (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019), Pemberton was inadvertently marketing his elixir to the second tier in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: safety needs; which includes health, security, and protection. According to Maslow, consumers will not be motivated by safety needs until their physiological needs have been met (Walker, 2017). While Coke is no longer regarded as a “health” drink, it still appeals to consumers motivated by safety needs because it provides them with the comforting feel of home. One severely wounded American soldier even credited an empty Coke bottle for being “the only thing that kept him from dying all night long” (Angelico et al., 1998).

The motivational needs in the third tier, belonging and love, address consumers who feel their physiological and safety needs have been adequately satisfied who are now looking to spend more of their disposable income (Walker, 2017). This tier is an appealing choice for marketers (Walker, 2017), Coke included, due to the sheer volume of consumers motivated to make purchasing decisions that satisfy their social needs. Coke’s global growth strategy resulting in the brand becoming  “within an arm’s reach” of the consumer at all times, combined with its air of nostalgia sentimentally depicted in advertisements featuring children and the good ol’ days, resulted in many consumers purchasing Coke as a way to fulfill their intimacy motivations (Angelico et al., 1998). “Coca Cola is your friend. Wherever you go Coca Cola is always there, it’s like coming home to mother.” (Angelico et al., 1998).

The second to final tier, self-esteem needs, generally consists of luxury brands (Walker, 2017). In modern-day Eurocentric and Western cultures, we might not consider Coke a luxury item, but its early history is rooted in social status and classism. Mid-20th century, as a feature of American culture and domestic hospitality, a host would be expected to serve friends and family Coke over Pepsi, the former regarded as a luxury and the latter regarded as a, “second-class drink” (Angelico et al., 1998).

This social tier also encompasses motivations surrounding achievement, a theme present throughout Coke’s marketing  since the early days when a company hanging a Coke sign out resulted in “immediate business success” (Angelico et al., 1998). Achievement and success were also strong themes developed through the brand’s sponsorship marketing strategies, namely as a feature sponsor for Olympic events including the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (Angelico et al., 1998) , which continue to this day.

Self-actualization needs, the final tier, addresses the motivations of  consumers who have already fulfilled their needs in all of the previous tiers and now desire a sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment (Walker, 2017). Asa Candler, who transformed Coke into the soda giant we know today, appealed to consumers – name business men at the time –  in this tier by claiming “a Coca Cola taken at 8, energizes the brain ‘till 11” (Angelico et al., 1998). Candler also oversaw the creation of Coke’s iconic Normal Rockwell-style of advertisements which would catalyze 2 decades of “ads linking Coke to life’s special moments” (Angelico et al., 1998).

I believe Coke is the perfect brand to study when learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Being able to market to the different motivations of consumers at each level of the model cannot be easy, but I believe it is the reason Coca Cola has maintained so much success over such a long period of time. Maslow’s model teaches us that, “[c]onsumers may have different need priorities at different times and stages of their lives” (Solomon et. al, 2015, p. 101), thus by marketing to all 5 tiers, Coca Cola can essentially guarantee life-long consumers.

By Julie Hartman

Attribution

This page contains materials taken from:

Angelico, I., Neidik, A. J., Webb, A. (Producers), Angelic, I., Goldberg, H., Cowan, P. (Writers), & Angelico, I. (Director). (1998). The Cola Conquest | Trilogy [Motion Picture]. Canada.

Angelico, I., Prendergast, M.J., D.L.I. Productions., Canadian Broadcasting Corporation., Tele-Quebec., & Channel Four (Great Britain) 1998. The Cola Conquest: Pt. 2. Montreal: DLI Productions.

Bhatia, S. & Loewenstein, G. (2019). Drive states. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. DOI:nobaproject.com is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Blackstock, C. (2014, April). Maslow’s Hiearchy of Needs (Informed by Blackfoot Nation ALTA), slide presented at the National Indian Child Welfare Association Conference.

Business Writing For Everyone by Arley Cruthers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Funniest Commercial Compilation. (2016, September 5). Top Ten Snickers Funniest Commercials [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/tDkTNMK1V50

Freud, S. (1922). The unconscious. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 56(3), 291.

Hartman, J. Coca Cola Marketing for Maslow: Using consumer motivation to create life-long customers. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

“Introducing Marketing” by John Burnett is licensed under CC BY 3.0

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Lawrence, J. W., Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2002). Velocity toward goal attainment in immediate experience as a determinant of affect. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(4), 788–802.

Leroy Little Bear (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Little_Bear

Lincoln Michel, K. (2014, April 19). Maslow’s hiearchy connected to Blackfoot beliefs. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://lincolnmichel.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/maslows-hierarchy-connected-to-blackfoot-beliefs/

Maslow, Abraham (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper.

“Organisational Behaviour: Adapted for Seneca” by Dr. Melissa Warner is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Porter, L. W., & Lawler, E. E. (1968). Managerial attitudes and performance. Homewood, IL:Irwin.

Principles of Marketing by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Solomon, M., White, K. & Dahl, D.W. (7th Edition) (2017). Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc.

Taylor, Steve. (2019, May 22). Original Influences: How the ideals of America – and psychology itself – were shaped by Native Americans. Psychology today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201903/original-influences

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, June 4). Abraham Maslow | American Psychologist. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-H-Maslow

Thompson, M. (2019, March 11). Description of How Marketers Can Use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/description-marketers-can-use-maslows-hierarchy-needs-39333.html

Ventura, S. (2019). Share a Coke, but only some of you. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.

Walker, K. (2017, August 28). Using Maslow’s Hierarchy to Reach Out to Customers. Retrieved from Business Administration Information: https://www.businessadministrationinformation.com/blog/using-maslows-hierarchy-to-reach-out-to-customers

17

Involvement Levels

Depending on a consumer’s experience and knowledge, some consumers may be able to make quick purchase decisions and other consumers may need to get information and be more involved in the decision process before making a purchase. The level of involvement reflects how personally important or interested you are in consuming a product and how much information you need to make a decision. The level of involvement in buying decisions may be considered a continuum from decisions that are fairly routine (consumers are not very involved) to decisions that require extensive thought and a high level of involvement. Whether a decision is low, high, or limited, involvement varies by consumer, not by product.

1. Low Involvement Consumer Decision Making

You have probably thought about many products you want or need but never did much more than that. At other times, you’ve probably looked at dozens of products, compared them, and then decided not to purchase any one of them. When you run out of products such as milk or bread that you buy on a regular basis, you may buy the product as soon as you recognize the need because you do not need to search for information or evaluate alternatives. As Nike would put it, you “just do it.” Low-involvement decisions are, however, typically products that are relatively inexpensive and pose a low risk to the buyer if a mistake is made in purchasing them.

Consumers often engage in routine response behavior when they make low-involvement decisions—that is, they make automatic purchase decisions based on limited information or information they have gathered in the past. For example, if you always order a Diet Coke at lunch, you’re engaging in routine response behavior. You may not even think about other drink options at lunch because your routine is to order a Diet Coke, and you simply do it. Similarly, if you run out of Diet Coke at home, you may buy more without any information search.

Some low-involvement purchases are made with no planning or previous thought. These buying decisions are called impulse buying. While you’re waiting to check out at the grocery store, perhaps you see a magazine with a notable celebrity on the cover and buy it on the spot simply because you want it. You might see a roll of tape at a check-out stand and remember you need one or you might see a bag of chips and realize you’re hungry or just want them. These are items that are typically low-involvement decisions. Low-involvement decisions aren’t necessarily products purchased on impulse, although they can be.

2. High Involvement Consumer Decision Making

By contrast, high-involvement decisions carry a higher risk to buyers if they fail. These are often more complex purchases that may carry a high price tag, such as a house, a car, or an insurance policy. These items are not purchased often but are relevant and important to the buyer. Buyers don’t engage in routine response behavior when purchasing high-involvement products. Instead, consumers engage in what’s called extended problem solving, where they spend a lot of time comparing different aspects such as the features of the products, prices, and warranties.

High-involvement decisions can cause buyers a great deal of post-purchase dissonance, also known as cognitive dissonance which is a form of anxiety consumers experience if they are unsure about their purchases or if they had a difficult time deciding between two alternatives. Companies that sell high-involvement products are aware that post purchase dissonance can be a problem. Frequently, they try to offer consumers a lot of information about their products, including why they are superior to competing brands and how they won’t let the consumer down. Salespeople may be utilized to answer questions and provide extensive customer support.

3. Limited Problem Solving

Limited problem solving falls somewhere between low-involvement (routine) and high-involvement (extended problem solving) decisions. Consumers engage in limited problem solving when they already have some information about a good or service but continue to search for a little more information. Assume you need a new backpack for a hiking trip. While you are familiar with backpacks, you know that new features and materials are available since you purchased your last backpack. You’re going to spend some time looking for one that’s decent because you don’t want it to fall apart while you’re traveling and dump everything you’ve packed on a hiking trail. You might do a little research online and come to a decision relatively quickly. You might consider the choices available at your favorite retail outlet but not look at every backpack at every outlet before making a decision. Or you might rely on the advice of a person you know who’s knowledgeable about backpacks. In some way you shorten or limit your involvement and the decision-making process.

Marketing Context

Low Involvement

High Involvement

Product

Toilet paper
Hand soap
Light bulbs
Chewing gum
Soda/cola

Wedding dresses
Luxury vehicles
Cruises/vacations
Designer/fashion sneakers
Vacation property

Place

Wide distribution

Exclusive/limited distribution

Price

Competitive/low

Luxury/high

Promotion

Push marketing: mass advertising: TV; radio, billboards; coupons; sales promotions

Pull marketing: personal selling; email marketing; WOM; personalized communications

Information search

None

Extensive

Evaluation of alternatives

Minimal

Considerable

Purchasing behaviour

Routine-response; automatic; impulsive

Extended problem solving

Purchasing frequency

High/regular basis

Low-seldom/special occasion

Products, such as chewing gum, which may be low-involvement for many consumers often use advertising such as commercials and sales promotions such as coupons to reach many consumers at once. Companies also try to sell products such as gum in as many locations as possible. Many products that are typically high-involvement such as automobiles may use more personal selling to answer consumers’ questions. Brand names can also be very important regardless of the consumer’s level of purchasing involvement. Consider a low- versus high-involvement decision—say, purchasing a tube of toothpaste versus a new car. You might routinely buy your favorite brand of toothpaste, not thinking much about the purchase (engage in routine response behavior), but not be willing to switch to another brand either. Having a brand you like saves you “search time” and eliminates the evaluation period because you know what you’re getting.

When it comes to the car, you might engage in extensive problem solving but, again, only be willing to consider a certain brand or brands. For example, in the 1970s, American-made cars had such a poor reputation for quality that buyers joked that a car that’s not foreign is “crap.” The quality of American cars is very good today, but you get the picture. If it’s a high-involvement product you’re purchasing, a good brand name is probably going to be very important to you. That’s why the manufacturers of products that are typically high-involvement decisions can’t become complacent about the value of their brands.

As noted earlier, involvement levels – whether they are low, high, or limited – vary by consumer and less so by product. A consumer’s involvement with a particular product will depend on their experience and knowledge, as well as their general approach to gathering information before making purchasing decisions. In a highly competitive marketplace, however, brands are always vying for consumer preference, loyalty, and affirmation. For this reason, many brands will engage in marketing strategies to increase exposure, attention, and relevance; in other words, brands are constantly seeking ways to motivate consumers with the intention to increase consumer involvement with their products and services.

4. Ways to Increase Involvement Levels

Customization

Photo by Raka Rachgo on Unsplash

Not at all like mass marketing, mass customization involves the personalization (individualization) of products and services for significant, but not entire, segments of customers. Perhaps one of the most notable mass customization marketing campaigns is Coca Cola’s, “Share a Coke”, launched in the summer of 2014. The campaign successfully engaged consumers with an accompanying hashtag (#shareacoke) that encouraged the creation and sharing of original content (also known as user-generated content). Part of the campaign’s ongoing success was its ability to connect with consumers on a personal level, simply by swapping out the brand name with a human one (Tarver, 2018).

With Share a Coke, Coca Cola made a global mass customization implementation that worked for them. The company was able to put the labels on millions of bottles in order to get consumers to notice the changes to the coke bottle in the aisle. People also felt a kinship and moment of recognition once they spotted their names or a friend’s name. Simultaneously this personalization also worked because of the printing equipment that could make it happen and there are not that many first names to begin with. These factors lead the brand to be able to roll this out globally. (Mass Customization #12, 2017)

Engagement

Have you ever heard the expression, “Content is King”? Without a doubt, engaging, memorable, and unique marketing content has a lasting impact on consumers. As discussed in an earlier chapter, the marketing landscape is a noisy one, polluted with thousands of brands vying for attention. Savvy marketers recognize the importance of sparking enough consumer interest so they are motivated to take in their messages.

Engaging customers through content might involve a 2-way conversation online, or an entire campaign designed around a single customer comment.

Bodyform

In 2012, Richard Neill posted a message to Bodyform’s Facebook page calling out the brand for lying to and deceiving its customers and audiences for years. Richard went on to say that Bodyform’s advertisements failed to truly depict any sense of reality and that in fact he felt set up by the brand to experience a huge fall. Bodyform, or as Richard addressed the company, “you crafty bugger” is a UK company that produces and sells feminine protection products to menstruating girls and women (Bodyform, n.d.). Little did Richard know that when he posted his humorous rant to Bodyform that the company would respond by creating a video speaking directly at Richard and coming “clean” on all their deceitful attempts to make having period look like fun. When Bodyform’s video went viral, a brand that would have otherwise continued to blend into the background, captured the attention of a global audience.

Old Spice

Despite being a household name, in the years leading up to Old Spice’s infamous “The Man Your Man Should Smell Like” campaign, sales were flat and the brand had failed to strike a chord in a new generation of consumers. Ad experts at Wieden + Kennedy produced a single 30-second ad (featuring a shirtless and self-deprecating Isaiah Mustafa) that played around the time of the 2010 Super Bowl game. While the ad quickly gained notoriaty on YouTube, it was the now infamous, “Response Campaign” that made the campaign a leader of its time in audience engagement.

Incentives

Photo by Rebecca Aldama on Unsplash

Customer loyalty and rewards programs successfully motivate consumers in the decision making process and reinforce purchasing behaviours (a feature of instrumental conditioning as discussed in an earlier chapter). The rationale for loyalty and rewards programs is clear: the cost of acquiring a new customer runs 5-25 times more than selling to an existing one and existing customers spend 67% more than new customers. (Bernazzani, n.d.). From the customer perspective, simple and practical reward programs such as Beauty Insider – a point-accumulation  model used by Sephora – provides strong incentive for customer loyalty. (Bernazzani, n.d.).

Photos by Ishan @seefromthesky (L) and Marcus P. (R) on Unsplash

Appealing to Hedonic Needs

A particularly strong way to motivate consumers to increase involvement levels with a product or service is to appeal to their hedonic needs. Consumers seek to satisfy their need for fun, pleasure, and enjoyment through luxurious and rare purchases. In these cases, consumers are less likely to be price sensitive (“it’s a treat”) and more likely to spend greater processing time on the marketing messages they are presented with when a brand appeals to their greatest desires instead of their basic necessities.

Creating Purpose

Millennial and Digital Native consumers are profoundly different than those who came before them. Brands, particularly in the consumer goods category, who demonstrate (and uphold) a commitment to sustainability grow at a faster rate (4%) than those who do not (1%). (Nielsen, 2015). In a 2015 poll, 30,000 consumers were asked how much the environment, packaging, price, marketing, and organic or health and wellness claims had on their consumer-goods’ purchase decisions, and to no surprise, 66% said they would be willing to pay more for sustainable brands. (Nielsen, 2015). A rising trend and important factor to consider in evaluating consumer involvement levels and ways to increase them. So while cruelty-free, fair trade, and locally-sourced may all seem like buzz words to some, they are deal breakers to a large and growing consumer market.

Representation

Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash

Celebrity endorsement can have a profound impact on consumers’ overall attitude towards a brand. Consumers who might otherwise have a “neutral” attitude towards a brand (neither positive nor negative) may be more noticed to take notice of a brand’s messages and stimuli if a celebrity they admire is the face of the brand.

When sportswear and sneaker brand Puma signed Rihanna on to not just endorse the brand but design an entire collection, sales soared in all the regions and the brand enjoyed a new “revival” in the US where Under Armour and Nike had been making significant gains. (Reuters, 2017). “Rihanna’s relationship with us makes the brand actual and hot again with young consumers”, said chief executive Bjorn Gulden. (Reuters, 2017).

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bodyform.co.uk/about-us/

Anthony Kalamut. (2010, August 18). Old Spice Video “Case Study”. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Kg0booW1uOQ

Bernazzani, Sophia. (n.d.). Customer Loyalty: The Ultimate Guide [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-loyalty

Bodyform Channel. (2012, October 16). Bodyform Responds: The Truth [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpy75q2DDow&feature=youtu.be

Curtin, M. (2018, March 30). 73 Percent of Millennials are Willing to Spend More Money on This 1 Type of Product. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/73-percent-of-millennials-are-willing-to-spend-more-money-on-this-1-type-of-product.html

Dallaire, J. (2018, March 4.). Consumers happiest with small rewards. Retrieved from http://strategyonline.ca/2018/03/14/consumers-happiest-with-small-rewards-loyalty-programs/

Izaguirre, X. (2012, October 17th). How are brands using audience involvement to increase reach and engagement? Retrieved from https://econsultancy.com/how-are-brands-using-audience-involvement-to-increase-reach-and-engagement/

Lutz, A., & Taylor, K. (2018, April 11). Millennials reveal their too 100 favorite brands. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-favorite-brands

Nielsen. (2015, October 12). Consumer-Goods’ Brands That Demonstrate Commitment to Sustainability Outperform Those That Don’t [Press Release]. Retrieved from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2015/consumer-goods-brands-that-demonstrate-commitment-to-sustainability-outperform.html

O’Neill, Megan. (2010, August 5). Old spice Response Campaign Was More Popular Than Obama. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/digital/old-spice-response-campaign/

“Principles of Marketing” is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Reuters. (2017, October 24). Rihanna Designs Help Lift Puma Sportswear Sales. Retrieved from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/rihanna-designs-help-lift-puma-sportswear-sales

Tarver, Evan. (2018, October 20). Why the ‘Share a Coke’ Campaign Is So Successful. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/100715/what-makes-share-coke-campaign-so-successful.asp

Twikit. (2017, May 1). Mass Customization Monday #12. Retrieved from https://www.twikit.com/blog/masscustomization/

18

Chapter Wrap Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1429

19

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. Watch Dan Pink’s Ted Talk on Motivation. How do his examples and discussions on incentives challenge our understanding of motivation?

2. Track your consumer purchases for one week: make a list of those purchases that would be considered “high involvement” and those that would be “low involvement”.

3. Think of a PSA, such as a non-smoking campaign, and identify different persuasive messages that could be applied to both Promotion and Prevention goal orientations.

4. Listen to CBC’s, “Under the Influence” episode called, Have It Your Way: How Mass Customization Is Changing Marketing. Discuss how different brands featured in this episode used mass customization to increase consumer involvement. <get link>

5. Is your name on a can of Coke? Explore this marketing campaign and discuss this in the context of mass customization as a tool to increase consumer involvement.

6. How can we motivate consumers to eat more…broccoli? Explore this mock marketing campaign to persuade consumers to purchase broccoli and give it the same elite “status” that kale has enjoyed in recent years. What motivational techniques are marketers using in this campaign?

7. Watch this vintage recruitment commercial by the US Army. How is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs being used to motivated young men to enlist in the army?

8. Are you familiar with the chocolate bar, Snickers? Take a look at how their commercial advertisements focus on a consumer’s drive state. Discuss how “reward” and “homeostasis” are featured in their advertisement.

9. Watch Wieden + Kennedy’s “Old Spice Case Study” to learn more about the Response Campaign and how Old Spice engaged customers with its content thereby motivating a new generation (of mostly female) customers to take notice of the brand. Explore a more detailed history of Old Spice in Cheddar’s YouTube video and discuss how the brand re-positioned itself and increased consumer involvement through advertising.

10. Interested in learning more about Maslow’s time with the Blackfoot? Martin Heavy Head (Blackfoot Nation), the author of this textbook’s opening passage, The Erasure of Indigenous Knowledge, has composed two Twitter threads about Abraham Maslow’s time with the Blackfoot. This thread discusses Maslow’s observations about the Blackfoot’s idea of wealth and status; and this thread shares the Blackfoot perspective on Maslow after his visits in the 1930’s.

IV

Personality, Lifestyle, and The Self

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about Personality, Lifestyle, and The Self and how marketers design lifestyle marketing strategies using psychographic factors such as activities, interests, and opinions.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Define “self concept” and the various associative concepts related to it.

2. Give examples of how marketers use self-concept in marketing strategies.

3. Explain what is meant by psychographic profiling and how a marketer goes about constructing one.

4. Discuss the origins of personality research and how marketers develop “brand personality” in consumer marketing.

20

Key Terms and Concepts

Personality
Personality traits
Five Factor Model
Person-situation debate
Sigmund Freud
Neo-Freudians
Id, ego, superego
Defense mechanisms
Archetypes
Persona
Self-concept
Ideal self
Self-schemas
Self-complexity
Self-awareness
Self-consciousness
Self-discrepancy theory
Self-esteem
Looking glass self
Extended self
Social comparison theory
Reference groups
Self-affirmation theory
Lifestyle
AIO’s
Lifestyle marketing
Psychographic segmentation
Brand/branding
Brand loyalty

21

Personality and Personality Traits

Personality is derived from our interactions with and observations of others, from our interpretations of those interactions and observations, and from our choices of which social situations we prefer to enter or avoid (Bandura, 1986). In fact, behaviourists such as B. F. Skinner explain personality entirely in terms of the environmental influences that the person has experienced. Because we are profoundly influenced by the situations that we are exposed to, our behaviour does change from situation to situation, making personality less stable than we might expect. And yet personality does matter — we can, in many cases, use personality measures to predict behaviour across situations.

1. Personality Traits

When we observe people around us, one of the first things that strikes us is how different people are from one another. Some people are very talkative while others are very quiet. Some are active whereas others are couch potatoes. Some worry a lot, others almost never seem anxious. Each time we use one of these words, words like “talkative,” “quiet,” “active,” or “anxious,” to describe those around us, we are talking about a person’s personality—the characteristic ways that people differ from one another. Personality psychologists try to describe and understand these differences.

Although there are many ways to think about the personalities that people have, Gordon Allport and other “personologists” claimed that we can best understand the differences between individuals by understanding their personality traits. Personality traits reflect basic dimensions on which people differ (Matthews, Deary, & Whiteman, 2003).

An important feature of personality traits is that they reflect continuous distributions rather than distinct personality types. This means that when personality psychologists talk about Introverts and Extraverts, they are not really talking about two distinct types of people who are completely and qualitatively different from one another. Instead, they are talking about people who score relatively low or relatively high along a continuous distribution. In fact, when personality psychologists measure traits like Extraversion, they typically find that most people score somewhere in the middle, with smaller numbers showing more extreme levels.

There are three criteria that are characterize personality traits: (1) consistency, (2) stability, and (3) individual differences.

1. To have a personality trait, individuals must be somewhat consistent across situations in their behaviors related to the trait. For example, if they are talkative at home, they tend also to be talkative at work.

2. Individuals with a trait are also somewhat stable over time in behaviors related to the trait. If they are talkative, for example, at age 30, they will also tend to be talkative at age 40.

3. People differ from one another on behaviors related to the trait. Using speech is not a personality trait and neither is walking on two feet—virtually all individuals do these activities, and there are almost no individual differences. But people differ on how frequently they talk and how active they are, and thus personality traits such as Talkativeness and Activity Level do exist.

Traits are important and interesting because they describe stable patterns of behavior that persist for long periods of time (Caspi, Roberts, & Shiner, 2005). Importantly, these stable patterns can have broad-ranging consequences for many areas of our life (Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, 2007). For instance, think about the factors that determine success in college. If you were asked to guess what factors predict good grades in college, you might guess something like intelligence. This guess would be correct, but we know much more about who is likely to do well. Specifically, personality researchers have also found the personality traits like Conscientiousness play an important role in college and beyond, probably because highly conscientious individuals study hard, get their work done on time, and are less distracted by nonessential activities that take time away from school work. In addition, highly conscientious people are often healthier than people low in conscientiousness because they are more likely to maintain healthy diets, to exercise, and to follow basic safety procedures like wearing seat belts or bicycle helmets. Over the long term, this consistent pattern of behaviors can add up to meaningful differences in health and longevity.

Thus, personality traits are not just a useful way to describe people you know; they actually help psychologists predict how good a worker someone will be, how long he or she will live, and the types of jobs and activities the person will enjoy. Thus, there is growing interest in personality psychology among psychologists who work in applied settings, such as health psychology or organizational psychology.

Marketing Context

Various personality types, like people with various motives, are likely to respond in different ways to different market offerings. For example, an extrovert may enjoy the shopping experience and rely more on personal observation to secure information; thus, in-store promotion would become an important communication tool. Knowing the basic personality traits of target customers can be useful information for the manager in designing the marketing mix. Marketers have, however, found personality to be difficult to apply in developing marketing strategy. The primary reason for this is the lack of good ways to measure personality traits. Most available measures were developed to identify people with problems that needed medical attention. These have little value with consumers who are mentally healthy. As a result, most marketers have turned to lifestyle analysis.

2. The Five Factor Model

The fundamental work on trait dimensions conducted by Allport, Cattell, Eysenck, and many others has led to contemporary trait models, the most important and well validated of which is the Five-Factor (Big Five) Model of Personality. According to this model, there are five fundamental underlying trait dimensions that are stable across time, cross-culturally shared, and explain a substantial proportion of behaviour (Costa & McCrae, 1992; Goldberg, 1982).

Big 5 Trait

Definition

Openness

The tendency to appreciate new art, ideas, values, feelings, and behaviours.

Conscientiousness

The tendency to be careful, on-time for appointments, to follow rules, and to be hardworking.

Extraversion

The tendency to be talkative, sociable, and to enjoy others; the tendency to have a dominant style.

Agreeableness

The tendency to agree and go along with others rather than to assert one’s own opinions and choices.

Neuroticism

The tendency to frequently experience negative emotions such as anger, worry, and sadness, as well as being interpersonally sensitive.

3. Descriptions of the Big Five Personality Traits (Diener & Lucas, 2019)

A large body of research evidence has supported the five-factor model. This system includes five broad traits that can be remembered with the acronym OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each of the major traits from the Big Five can be divided into facets to give a more fine-grained analysis of someone’s personality.

An advantage of the five-factor approach is that it is parsimonious. Rather than studying hundreds of traits, researchers can focus on only five underlying dimensions. The Big Five may also capture other dimensions that have been of interest to psychologists. For instance, the trait dimension of need for achievement relates to the Big Five variable of conscientiousness, and self-esteem relates to low neuroticism. On the other hand, the Big Five factors do not seem to capture all the important dimensions of personality. For instance, the Big Five do not capture moral behaviour, although this variable is important in many theories of personality. And there is evidence that the Big Five factors are not exactly the same across all cultures (Cheung & Leung, 1998).

Eganos [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]Facets of Traits (Subtraits)

So how does it feel to be told that your entire personality can be summarized with scores on just five personality traits? Do you think these five scores capture the complexity of your own and others’ characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors? Most people would probably say no, pointing to some exception in their behavior that goes against the general pattern that others might see. For instance, you may know people who are warm and friendly and find it easy to talk with strangers at a party yet are terrified if they have to perform in front of others or speak to large groups of people. The fact that there are different ways of being extraverted or conscientious shows that there is value in considering lower-level units of personality that are more specific than the Big Five traits. These more specific, lower-level units of personality are often called facets.

To give you a sense of what these narrow units are like, the table below shows facets for each of the Big Five traits. It is important to note that although personality researchers generally agree about the value of the Big Five traits as a way to summarize one’s personality, there is no widely accepted list of facets that should be studied. The list seen here, based on work by researchers Paul Costa and Jeff McCrae, thus reflects just one possible list among many. It should, however, give you an idea of some of the facets making up each of the Five-Factor Model.

Trait

Facets of Trait

Openness

- Fantasy prone

- Open to feelings

- Open to diverse behaviours

- Open to new and different ideas

- Open to various values and beliefs

Conscientiousness

- Competent

- Orderly

- Dutiful

- Achievement oriented

- Self-disciplined

- Deliberate

Extraversion

- Gregarious (sociable)

- Warm

- Assertive

- Active

- Excitement-seeking

- Positive emotionality

Agreeableness

- Trusting

- Straightforward

- Altruistic

- Compliant

- Modest

- Tender-minded

Neuroticism

- Anxious

- Angry

- Depressed

- Self-consciousness

- Impulsive

- Vulnerble

4. The Person-Situation Debate and Alternatives to the Trait Perspective

The ideas described in this section should probably seem familiar, if not obvious to you. When asked to think about what our friends, enemies, family members, and colleagues are like, some of the first things that come to mind are their personality characteristics. We might think about how warm and helpful our first teacher was, how irresponsible and careless our brother is, or how demanding and insulting our first boss was. Each of these descriptors reflects a personality trait, and most of us generally think that the descriptions that we use for individuals accurately reflect their “characteristic pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors,” or in other words, their personality.

But what if this idea were wrong? What if our belief in personality traits were an illusion and people are not consistent from one situation to the next? This was a possibility that shook the foundation of personality psychology in the late 1960s when Walter Mischel published a book called Personality and Assessment (1968). In this book, Mischel suggested that if one looks closely at people’s behavior across many different situations, the consistency is really not that impressive. In other words, children who cheat on tests at school may steadfastly follow all rules when playing games and may never tell a lie to their parents. In other words, he suggested, there may not be any general trait of honesty that links these seemingly related behaviors. Furthermore, Mischel suggested that observers may believe that broad personality traits like honesty exist, when in fact, this belief is an illusion. The debate that followed the publication of Mischel’s book was called the person-situation debate because it pitted the power of personality against the power of situational factors as determinants of the behavior that people exhibit.

Because of the findings that Mischel emphasized, many psychologists focused on an alternative to the trait perspective. Instead of studying broad, context-free descriptions, like the trait terms we’ve described so far, Mischel thought that psychologists should focus on people’s distinctive reactions to specific situations. For instance, although there may not be a broad and general trait of honesty, some children may be especially likely to cheat on a test when the risk of being caught is low and the rewards for cheating are high. Others might be motivated by the sense of risk involved in cheating and may do so even when the rewards are not very high. Thus, the behavior itself results from the child’s unique evaluation of the risks and rewards present at that moment, along with her evaluation of her abilities and values. Because of this, the same child might act very differently in different situations.

Thus, Mischel thought that specific behaviors were driven by the interaction between very specific, psychologically meaningful features of the situation in which people found themselves, the person’s unique way of perceiving that situation, and his or her abilities for dealing with it. Mischel and others argued that it was these social-cognitive processes that underlie people’s reactions to specific situations that provide some consistency when situational features are the same. If so, then studying these broad traits might be more fruitful than cataloging and measuring narrow, context-free traits like Extraversion or Neuroticism.

In the years after the publication of Mischel’s (1968) book, debates raged about whether personality truly exists, and if so, how it should be studied. And, as is often the case, it turns out that a more moderate middle ground than what the situationists proposed could be reached. It is certainly true, as Mischel pointed out, that a person’s behavior in one specific situation is not a good guide to how that person will behave in a very different specific situation. Someone who is extremely talkative at one specific party may sometimes be reticent to speak up during class and may even act like a wallflower at a different party. But this does not mean that personality does not exist, nor does it mean that people’s behavior is completely determined by situational factors. Indeed, research conducted after the person-situation debate shows that on average, the effect of the “situation” is about as large as that of personality traits.

However, it is also true that if psychologists assess a broad range of behaviors across many different situations, there are general tendencies that emerge. Personality traits give an indication about how people will act on average, but frequently they are not so good at predicting how a person will act in a specific situation at a certain moment in time. Thus, to best capture broad traits, one must assess aggregate behaviors, averaged over time and across many different types of situations. Most modern personality researchers agree that there is a place for broad personality traits and for the narrower units such as those studied by Walter Mischel.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Allport, G. W., & Odbert, H. S. (1936). Trait names: A psycholexical study. Psychological Monographs, 47, 211.

Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychological Review, 11, 150–166.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Caspi, A., Roberts, B. W., & Shiner, R. L. (2005). Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 56, 453–484.

Cheung, F. M., & Leung, K. (1998). Indigenous personality measures: Chinese examples. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29(1), 233–248.

Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Diener, E. & Lucas, R. E. (2019). Personality traits. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. DOI:nobaproject.com

Donnellan, M. B., Oswald, F. L., Baird, B. M., & Lucas, R. E. (2006). The mini-IPIP scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five factors of personality. Psychological Assessment, 18, 192–203.

Eysenck, H. J. (1981). A model for personality.New York: Springer Verlag.

Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative description of personality: The Big Five personality traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216–1229.

Gray, J. A. (1981). A critique of Eysenck’s theory of personality. In H. J. Eysenck (Ed.), A Model for Personality (pp. 246-276). New York: Springer Verlag.

Gray, J. A. & McNaughton, N. (2000). The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system (second edition).Oxford: Oxford University Press.

“Introducing Marketing” by John Burnett is licensed under CC BY 3.0

“Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian Edition” by Charles Stangor, Jennifer Walinga is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Matthews, G., Deary, I. J., & Whiteman, M. C. (2003). Personality traits. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 81–90.

McCrae, R. R. & John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 60, 175–215.

Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and assessment. New York: John Wiley.

Paunonen, S. V., & Ashton, M. S. (2001). Big five factors and facets and the prediction of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 524–539.

Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N. R., Shiner, R., Caspi, A., & Golberg, L. R. (2007). The power of personality: The comparative validity of personality traits, socioeconomic status, and cognitive ability for predicting important life outcomes. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 313-345.

Triandis, H. (1989). The self and social behaviour in differing cultural contexts. Psychological Review, 93, 506–520.

22

Theories on Personality

One of the most important psychological approaches to understanding personality is based on the theorizing of the Austrian physician and psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), who founded what today is known as the psychodynamic approach, an approach to understanding human behaviour that focuses on the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Freud attracted many followers who modified his ideas to create new theories about personality. These theorists, referred to as neo-Freudians, generally agreed with Freud that childhood experiences matter, but deemphasized sex, focusing more on the social environment and effects of culture on personality. Four notable neo-Freudians include Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung (pronounced “Yoong”), and Karen Horney (pronounced “HORN-eye”).

1. Sigmund Freud

Many people know about Sigmund Freud because his work has had a huge impact on our everyday thinking about psychology, and the psychodynamic approach is one of the most important approaches to psychological therapy (Roudinesco, 2003; Taylor, 2009). Freud is probably the best known of all psychologists, in part because of his impressive observation and analyses of personality (there are 24 volumes of his writings). As is true of all theories, many of Freud’s ingenious ideas have turned out to be at least partially incorrect, and yet other aspects of his theories are still influencing psychology.

In terms of free will, Freud did not believe that we were able to control our own behaviours. Rather, he believed that all behaviours are predetermined by motivations that lie outside our awareness, in the unconscious. These forces show themselves in our dreams, in neurotic symptoms such as obsessions, while we are under hypnosis, and in Freudian “slips of the tongue” in which people reveal their unconscious desires in language. Freud argued that we rarely understand why we do what we do, although we can make up explanations for our behaviours after the fact. For Freud the mind was like an iceberg, with the many motivations of the unconscious being much larger, but also out of sight, in comparison to the consciousness of which we are aware.

2. Id, Ego, Superego

Sarang [Public domain]

Freud proposed that the mind is divided into three components: id, ego, and superego, and that the interactions and conflicts among the components create personality (Freud, 1923/1949). According to Freudian theory, the id is the component of personality that forms the basis of our most primitive impulses. The id is entirely unconscious, and it drives our most important motivations, including the sexual drive (libido) and the aggressive or destructive drive (Thanatos). According to Freud, the id is driven by the pleasure principle — the desire for immediate gratification of our sexual and aggressive urges. The id is why we smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, view pornography, tell mean jokes about people, and engage in other fun or harmful behaviours, often at the cost of doing more productive activities.

Marketing Context

Ads that signal to consumers that their products will make them look more attractive and appear more desirable speak directly to the “id“. Consumers’ are drawn to the gratification, or “pleasure principle” these kinds of advertisements represent. Product categories geared towards maximum pleasure are desirable results include clothing, cigarettes, cars, makeup, and perfume.

Photo by Fancycrave on Unsplash                Photo by Lucas Filipe on Unsplash

In stark contrast to the id, the superego represents our sense of morality and oughts. The superego tell us all the things that we shouldn’t do, or the duties and obligations of society. The superego strives for perfection, and when we fail to live up to its demands we feel guilty.

Marketing Context

The “superego“, representing consumers’ conscience, tells us what we ought to do. It has or best interest in mind and seeks to counter the allure and seduction of the “id”. Advertisements appealing to our rational and balanced sensibilities include health food, self-care, charitable donations, and PSA’s such as anti-smoking campaigns.

Photo by Katie Smith on Unsplash                Photo by Emily Sea on Unsplash

In contrast to the id, which is about the pleasure principle, the function of the ego is based on the reality principle — the idea that we must delay gratification of our basic motivations until the appropriate time with the appropriate outlet. The ego is the largely conscious controller or decision-maker of personality. The ego serves as the intermediary between the desires of the id and the constraints of society contained in the superego. We may wish to scream, yell, or hit, and yet our ego normally tells us to wait, reflect, and choose a more appropriate response.

3. Defense Mechanisms

Freud believed that feelings of anxiety result from the ego’s inability to mediate the conflict between the id and superego. When this happens, Freud believed that the ego seeks to restore balance through various protective measures known as defense mechanisms (see table below). When certain events, feelings, or yearnings cause an individual anxiety, the individual wishes to reduce that anxiety. To do that, the individual’s unconscious mind uses ego defense mechanisms, unconscious protective behaviors that aim to reduce anxiety. The ego, usually conscious, resorts to unconscious strivings to protect the ego from being overwhelmed by anxiety. When we use defense mechanisms, we are unaware that we are using them. Further, they operate in various ways that distort reality. According to Freud, we all use ego defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanisms are unconscious protective behaviours that work to reduce anxiety.

Denial
Refusing to accept real events because they are unpleasant

Kaila refuses to admit she has an alcohol problem although she is unable to go a single day without drinking excessively

Displacement
Transferring inappropriate urges or behaviours onto a more acceptable or less threatening target

During lunch at a restaurant, Mark is angry at his older brother but does not express it and instead is verbally abusive to the server.

Projection
Attributing unacceptable desires to others

Chris often cheats on her boyfriend because she suspects he is already cheating on her.

Rationalization
Justifying behaviours by substituting acceptable reasons for less-acceptable real reasons

Kim failed his history courses because he did not study or attend class, but he told his roommates that he failed because the professor didn’t like him.

Reaction Formation
Reducing anxiety by adopting beliefs contrary to your own beliefs

Nadia is angry with her coworker Beth for always arriving late to work after a night of partying, but she is nice and agreeable to Beth and affirms the party as “cool”.

Regression
Returning to coping strategies for less mature stages of development

After failing to pass his doctoral examinations, Giorgio spends days in bed cuddling his favourite childhood toy.

Repression
Suppressing painful memories and thoughts

LaShea cannot remember her grandfather’s fatal heart attack, although she was present.

Sublimation
Redirecting unacceptable desires through socially acceptable channels

Jerome’s desire for revenge on the drunk driver who killed his son is channeled into a community support group for people who’ve lost loved ones to drunk driving.

Freudian theory was so popular that it led to a number of followers, including many of Freud’s own students, who developed, modified, and expanded his theories. Taken together, these approaches are known as neo-Freudian theories. The neo-Freudian theories are theories based on Freudian principles that emphasize the role of the unconscious and early experience in shaping personality but place less evidence on sexuality as the primary motivating force in personality and are more optimistic concerning the prospects for personality growth and change in personality in adults.

4. Alfred Adler

Alfred Adler (1870-1937) was a follower of Freud’s who developed his own interpretation of Freudian theory. Adler proposed that the primary motivation in human personality was not sex or aggression, but rather the striving for superiority. According to Adler, we desire to be better than others and we accomplish this goal by creating a unique and valuable life. We may attempt to satisfy our need for superiority through our school or professional accomplishments, or by our enjoyment of music, athletics, or other activities that seem important to us.

Adler believed that psychological disorders begin in early childhood. He argued that children who are either overly nurtured or overly neglected by their parents are later likely to develop an inferiority complex — a psychological state in which people feel that they are not living up to expectations, leading them to have low self- esteem, with a tendency to try to overcompensate for the negative feelings. People with an inferiority complex often attempt to demonstrate their superiority to others at all costs, even if it means humiliating, dominating, or alienating them. According to Adler, most psychological disorders result from misguided attempts to compensate for the inferiority complex in order meet the goal of superiority.

5. Erik Erikson

As an art school dropout with an uncertain future, young Erik Erikson met Freud’s daughter, Anna Freud, while he was tutoring the children of an American couple undergoing psychoanalysis in Vienna. It was Anna Freud who encouraged Erikson to study psychoanalysis. Erikson received his diploma from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute in 1933, and as Nazism spread across Europe, he fled the country and immigrated to the United States that same year. Erikson later proposed a psychosocial theory of development, suggesting that an individual’s personality develops throughout the lifespan—a departure from Freud’s view that personality is fixed in early life. In his theory, Erikson emphasized the social relationships that are important at each stage of personality development, in contrast to Freud’s emphasis on sex. Erikson identified eight stages, each of which represents a conflict or developmental task (see table below). The development of a healthy personality and a sense of competence depend on the successful completion of each task.

Stage

Age (years)

Developmental Task

Description

1

0–1

Trust vs. mistrust

Trust (or mistrust) that basic needs, such as nourishment and affection, will be met

2

1–3

Autonomy vs. shame/doubt

Sense of independence in many tasks develops

3

3–6

Initiative vs. guilt

Take initiative on some activities, may develop guilt when success not met or boundaries overstepped

4

7–11

Industry vs. inferiority

Develop self-confidence in abilities when competent or sense of inferiority when not

5

12–18

Identity vs. confusion

Experiment with and develop identity and roles

6

19–29

Intimacy vs. isolation

Establish intimacy and relationships with others

7

30–64

Generativity vs. stagnation

Contribute to society and be part of a family

8

65–

Integrity vs. despair

Assess and make sense of life and meaning of contributions

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development

6. Carl Jung

Carl Jung (1875-1961) was another student of Freud’s who developed his own theories about personality. Jung agreed with Freud about the power of the unconscious but felt that Freud overemphasized the importance of sexuality. Jung argued that in addition to the personal unconscious, there was also a collective unconscious, or a collection of shared ancestral memories. These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are represented by universal themes in various cultures, as expressed through literature, art, and dreams (Jung). Jung said that these themes reflect common experiences of people the world over, such as facing death, becoming independent, and striving for mastery. Jung (1964) believed that through biology, each person is handed down the same themes and that the same types of symbols—such as the hero, the maiden, the sage, and the trickster—are present in the folklore and fairy tales of every culture. In Jung’s view, the task of integrating these unconscious archetypal aspects of the self is part of the self-realization process in the second half of life. With this orientation toward self-realization, Jung parted ways with Freud’s belief that personality is determined solely by past events and anticipated the humanistic movement with its emphasis on self-actualization and orientation toward the future.

Rather than being seen as purely biological, more recent research suggests that archetypes emerge directly from our experiences and are reflections of linguistic or cultural characteristics (Young-Eisendrath, 1995). Today, most Jungian scholars believe that the collective unconscious and archetypes are based on both innate and environmental influences, with the differences being in the role and degree of each (Sotirova-Kohli et al., 2013).

Jung also proposed two attitudes or approaches toward life: extroversion and introversion (Jung, 1923) (see table below). These ideas are considered Jung’s most important contributions to the field of personality psychology, as almost all models of personality now include these concepts. If you are an extrovert, then you are a person who is energized by being outgoing and socially oriented: You derive your energy from being around others. If you are an introvert, then you are a person who may be quiet and reserved, or you may be social, but your energy is derived from your inner psychic activity. Jung believed a balance between extroversion and introversion best served the goal of self-realization.

Introvert

Extrovert

Energized by being alone

Energized by being with others

Avoids attention

Seeks attention

Speaks slowly and softly

Speaks quickly and loudly

Thinks before speaking

Thinks out loud

Stays on one topic

Jumps fro topic to topic

Prefers written communication

Prefers verbal communication

Pays attention easily

Distractible

Cautious

Acts first, thinks later

Another concept proposed by Jung was the persona, which he referred to as a mask that we adopt. According to Jung, we consciously create this persona; however, it is derived from both our conscious experiences and our collective unconscious. What is the purpose of the persona? Jung believed that it is a compromise between who we really are (our true self) and what society expects us to be. We hide those parts of ourselves that are not aligned with society’s expectations.

7. Karen Horney

Karen Horney (the last syllable of her last name rhymes with “eye”; 1855-1952) was a German physician who applied Freudian theories to create a personality theory that she thought was more balanced between men and women. Horney believed that parts of Freudian theory, and particularly the ideas of the Oedipus complex and penis envy, were biased against women. Horney argued that women’s sense of inferiority was not due to their lack of a penis but rather to their dependency on men, an approach that the culture made it difficult for them to break from. For Horney, the underlying motivation that guides personality development is the desire for security, the ability to develop appropriate and supportive relationships with others.

Horney classified people as Compliant, Aggressive, or Withdrawn

Coping Style

Description

Example

Moving toward people

Affiliation & Dependence

A child seeks out positive attention and affection from parent; an adult needing love

Moving against people

Aggression & Manipulation

A child fights or bullies other children; an adult who is abrasive and verbally hurtful or exploits others

Moving away from people

Detachment & Isolation

A child withdrawn from the world and isolated; an adult labelled a “loner”

Attribution

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23

Self and Identity

The link between people’s personalities and their buying behavior is somewhat unclear, but market researchers continue to study it. For example, some studies have shown that “sensation seekers,” or people who exhibit extremely high levels of openness, are more likely to respond well to advertising that’s violent and graphic. The practical problem for firms is figuring out “who’s who” in terms of their personalities. Marketers have had better luck linking people’s self-concept to their buying behavior. Your self-concept is how you see yourself—be it positive or negative. Your ideal self is how you would like to see yourself—whether it’s prettier, more popular, more eco-conscious, or more “goth.”

1. Self-Concept

Part of what is developing in children as they grow is the fundamental cognitive part of the self, known as the self-concept. The self-concept is a knowledge representation that contains knowledge about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that we exist as individuals. Throughout childhood and adolescence, the self-concept becomes more abstract and complex and is organized into a variety of different cognitive aspects of the self, known as self-schemas. Children have self-schemas about their progress in school, their appearance, their skills at sports and other activities, and many other aspects. In turn, these self-schemas direct and inform their processing of self-relevant information (Harter, 1999), much as we saw schemas in general affecting our social cognition.

2. Self-Complexity

Although every human being has a complex self-concept, there are nevertheless individual differences in self-complexity, the extent to which individuals have many different and relatively independent ways of thinking about themselves (Linville, 1987; Roccas & Brewer, 2002). Some selves are more complex than others, and these individual differences can be important in determining psychological outcomes. Having a complex self means that we have a lot of different ways of thinking about ourselves. For example, imagine a woman whose self-concept contains the social identities of student, girlfriend, daughter, psychology student, and tennis player and who has encountered a wide variety of life experiences. Social psychologists would say that she has high self-complexity. On the other hand, a man who perceives himself primarily as either a student or as a member of the soccer team and who has had a relatively narrow range of life experiences would be said to have low self-complexity. For those with high self-complexity, the various aspects of the self are separate, as the positive and negative thoughts about a particular self-aspect do not spill over into thoughts about other aspects.

3. Ideal Self

The ideal self consists of the attributes that you or someone else would like you to possess. The slogan “Be All That You Can Be,” which for years was used by the U.S. Army to recruit soldiers, is an attempt to appeal to this self-concept. Presumably, by joining the U.S. Army, you will become a better version of yourself, which will, in turn, improve your life. Many beauty products and cosmetic procedures are advertised in a way that’s supposed to appeal to the ideal self people seek. All of us want products that improve our lives.

4. Self-Awareness

Like any other schema, the self-concept can vary in its current cognitive accessibility. Self-awareness refers to the extent to which we are currently fixing our attention on our own self-concept. When our self-concept becomes highly accessible because of our concerns about being observed and potentially judged by others, we experience the publicly induced self-awareness known as self-consciousness (Duval & Wicklund, 1972; Rochat, 2009).

So we see that there are clearly individual and cultural differences in the degree to and manner in which we tend to be aware of ourselves. In general, though, we all experience heightened moments of self-awareness from time to time. According to self-awareness theory (Duval & Wicklund, 1972), when we focus our attention on ourselves, we tend to compare our current behavior against our internal standards. Sometimes when we make these comparisons, we realize that we are not currently measuring up. In these cases, self-discrepancy theory states that when we perceive a discrepancy between our actual and ideal selves, this is distressing to us (Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1987). In contrast, on the occasions when self-awareness leads us to comparisons where we feel that we are being congruent with our standards, then self-awareness can produce positive affect (Greenberg & Musham, 1981). Tying these ideas from the two theories together, Philips and Silvia (2005) found that people felt significantly more distressed when exposed to self-discrepancies while sitting in front of a mirror. In contrast, those not sitting in front of a mirror, and presumably experiencing lower self-awareness, were not significantly emotionally affected by perceived self-discrepancies. Simply put, the more self-aware we are in a given situation, the more pain we feel when we are not living up to our ideals.

5. Self-Esteem

Self-esteem refers to the positive (high self-esteem) or negative (low self-esteem) feelings that we have about ourselves. We experience the positive feelings of high self-esteem when we believe that we are good and worthy and that others view us positively. We experience the negative feelings of low self-esteem when we believe that we are inadequate and less worthy than others.

Our self-esteem is determined by many factors, including how well we view our own performance and appearance, and how satisfied we are with our relationships with other people (Tafarodi & Swann, 1995). Self-esteem is in part a trait that is stable over time, with some people having relatively high self-esteem and others having lower self-esteem. But self-esteem is also a state that varies day to day and even hour to hour. When we have succeeded at an important task, when we have done something that we think is useful or important, or when we feel that we are accepted and valued by others, our self-concept will contain many positive thoughts and we will therefore have high self-esteem. When we have failed, done something harmful, or feel that we have been ignored or criticized, the negative aspects of the self-concept are more accessible and we experience low self-esteem.

6. Looking-Glass Self

Our self-concept is also formed through our interactions with others and their reactions to us. The concept of the looking glass self explains that we see ourselves reflected in other people’s reactions to us and then form our self-concept based on how we believe other people see us (Cooley, 1902). This reflective process of building our self-concept is based on what other people have actually said, such as “You’re a good listener,” and other people’s actions, such as coming to you for advice. These thoughts evoke emotional responses that feed into our self-concept. For example, you may think, “I’m glad that people can count on me to listen to their problems.”

Student Op-Ed

Marketers Influence on Consumer’s Self-Esteem

Marketers can have a huge impact on a consumer’s self-esteem (Solomon, 2014). The concept of self-esteem refers to your personal value or the way you view yourself (Solomon, 2014). People with low self-esteem have low confidence, and try to avoid embarrassment, failure, or rejection (Solomon, 2014). In contrast, people with high self-esteem are confident, will take more risks, and are more willing to attract attention to themselves (Solomon, 2014). Some marketers may target consumers with low self-esteem and use messaging around their products or services that promise the benefits of high self-esteem. These tactics are typically employed to increase both  brand exposure and sales. Repetitive and extensive exposure to ads featuring idealized images of happy, attractive people can trigger a process known as social comparison which can have a direct impact on a consumer’s self-esteem.  (Solomon, 2014).

Marketers are advertising to consumers with low self-esteem to increase sales and liquidity of the company. The brand Dove created a “Dove Self-Esteem Project” which encourages consumers to write about and share with others what their version of ‘real beauty’ means. (Millard, 2009). While Dove has created this platform, presumably to support female consumers in reframing the conversation around body positivity, beauty, and  self-esteem, the brand continues to position its products as a ‘solution’ for those seeking happiness and beauty (Millard, 2009). Moreover, where does this leave consumers who don’t purchase their products? How can those consumers feel anything but inadequate or ‘not good enough’ given the brand is so tightly positioned as a means to improving one’s quality of life (Millard, 2009)? Since the Dove Self-Esteem Project started, product sales have increased: Dove claims  that consumers’ self-esteem also increases when its products are purchased (and thereby also decreases when products are not purchased (Millard, 2009)).

The L’Oréal company specifically targets self-esteem by promoting thin models with a full face of make-up who state the company’s catchphrase, “you’re worth it” (L’Oréal Paris 2018). Despite the brand dedicating a page on its website to promote self-worth, once the consumer views the company’s ads social comparison can be triggered, leading to a decrease in self-esteem unless the product is purchased (L’Oréal Paris 2018). Moreover, L’Oréal claims that their products increase ‘true beauty’ and consequently, product sales have increased steadily since the promotion of ‘self-worth’ (L’Oréal Paris 2018). This gives further evidence to the fact that marketers have shifted messages away from product utility towards consumer happiness: messages that seek to improve self-esteem by promoting consumers’ “worth” because they “deserve to feel beautiful” suggest these products are the only means to these ends.

It could very well be that marketers are hoping to improve the self-esteem of their consumers, however I am concerned about the possibility that some consumers  are negatively impacted by messages that suggest only specific products can achieve results and give consumers the beauty, confidence, and happiness they might be longing for. In addition, I believe marketers have a moral responsibility to reinforce  that beauty comes from within, not from a jar, tube, or container. It’s not honest to suggest that a certain product will make you feel or be, your best, authentic self. While I am happy to see that Dove has made a self-esteem project for people to express themselves and feel heard, it’s important to acknowledge that the concept of beauty is different for each and every person. In researching this piece, I discovered that there is wide criticism of Dove’s definition of beauty: it is said to be too narrow and ignores the studies which claim that 69% of women agree that they don’t see themselves reflected in advertising, television or movies (Millard, 2009). My hope is that marketers now and in the future will engage more responsibly and create more relatable content that inspires everyone and doesn’t guilt customers into their purchasing decisions.

By Tanikka Abraham

7. The Extended Self

Some consumers may either unconsciously or consciously, use their consumption choices – for examples the brands they favour and purchase – as a way to express who they are, what they value, and how they want to be perceived. When their sense of self is further defined by these possessions, we call it the Extended Self. When a consumer selects a particular pair of sneakers, jeans, or cell phone, they are expressing some sense of “self” and identifying how they want to stand out from some, or fit in with others. In this manner, the brands we select and the possessions we showcase reflect both a sense of autonomy (i.e. distinction or uniqueness) and affiliation (i.e. conformity) (Kleine and Kleine, 1995). The brands we select also communicate our own values: for example, consumers who choose brands that are “green” (sustainable) may be expressing a value for environmental conservatism and climate action.

8. Social Comparison Theory

We also develop our self-concept through comparisons to other people. Social comparison theory states that we describe and evaluate ourselves in terms of how we compare to other people. Social comparisons are based on two dimensions: superiority/inferiority and similarity/difference (Hargie, 2011). In terms of superiority and inferiority, we evaluate characteristics like attractiveness, intelligence, athletic ability, and so on. For example, you may judge yourself to be more intelligent than your brother or less athletic than your best friend, and these judgments are incorporated into your self-concept. This process of comparison and evaluation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can have negative consequences if our reference group isn’t appropriate. Reference groups are the groups we use for social comparison, and they typically change based on what we are evaluating. In terms of athletic ability, many people choose unreasonable reference groups with which to engage in social comparison. If a man wants to get into better shape and starts an exercise routine, he may be discouraged by his difficulty keeping up with the aerobics instructor or running partner and judge himself as inferior, which could negatively affect his self-concept. Using as a reference group people who have only recently started a fitness program but have shown progress could help maintain a more accurate and hopefully positive self-concept.

We also engage in social comparison based on similarity and difference. Since self-concept is context specific, similarity may be desirable in some situations and difference more desirable in others. Factors like age and personality may influence whether or not we want to fit in or stand out. Although we compare ourselves to others throughout our lives, adolescent and teen years usually bring new pressure to be similar to or different from particular reference groups. Think of all the cliques in high school and how people voluntarily and involuntarily broke off into groups based on popularity, interest, culture, or grade level. Some kids in your high school probably wanted to fit in with and be similar to other people in the marching band but be different from the football players. Conversely, athletes were probably more apt to compare themselves, in terms of similar athletic ability, to other athletes rather than kids in show choir. But social comparison can be complicated by perceptual influences. As we learned earlier, we organize information based on similarity and difference, but these patterns don’t always hold true. Even though students involved in athletics and students involved in arts may seem very different, a dancer or singer may also be very athletic, perhaps even more so than a member of the football team. As with other aspects of perception, there are positive and negative consequences of social comparison.

We generally want to know where we fall in terms of ability and performance as compared to others, but what people do with this information and how it affects self-concept varies. Not all people feel they need to be at the top of the list, but some won’t stop until they get the high score on the video game or set a new school record in a track-and-field event. Some people strive to be first chair in the clarinet section of the orchestra, while another person may be content to be second chair. The education system promotes social comparison through grades and rewards such as honor rolls and dean’s lists.

9. Self-Affirmation Theory

There are certain situations, however, where these common dissonance-reduction strategies may not be realistic options to pursue. For example, if someone who has generally negative attitudes toward drug use nevertheless becomes addicted to a particular substance, it will often not be easy to quit the habit, to reframe the evidence regarding the drug’s negative effects, or to reduce self-awareness. In such cases, self-affirmation theory suggests that people will try to reduce the threat to their self-concept posed by feelings of self-discrepancy by focusing on and affirming their worth in another domain, unrelated to the issue at hand. For instance, the person who has become addicted to an illegal substance may choose to focus on healthy eating and exercise regimes instead as a way of reducing the dissonance created by the drug use.

Student Feature

In this interactive image, students demonstrate how a fictitious persona – Damon James, a College basketball player – makes personal consumption choices based on concepts related to the Self and Lifestyle. Created by KPU students, Raymon Rajan Singh Uppal, Shivani Ahuja, and Jagmeet Singh Randhawa.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=597

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Abraham, T. (2019). Marketers Influence on Consumer’s Self-Esteem. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

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Buunk, A. P., & Gibbons, F. X. (2007). Social comparison: The end of a theory and the emergence of a field. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(1), 3–21.

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Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and social order. New York: Scribner’s.

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Higgins, E. T., Klein, R., & Strauman, T. (1987). Self-discrepancies: Distinguishing among self-states, self-state conflicts, and emotional vulnerabilities. In K. M. Yardley & T. M. Honess (Eds.), Self and identity: Psychosocial perspectives. (pp. 173-186). New York: Wiley.

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24

Lifestyle and Psychographics

One of the newer and increasingly important set of factors that is being used to understand consumer behavior is lifestyle. Lifestyle has been generally defined as the attitudes, interests, and opinions (“AIOs”) of the potential customer. It is widely regarded as means to connecting products offered in the market with targeted lifestyle groups (Sathish & Rajamohan, 2012) such that a product appeals to the AIOs of the target market. Consumers are not only asked about products they like, where they live, and what their gender is but also about what they do—that is, how they spend their time and what their priorities, values, opinions, and general outlooks on the world are. Where do they go other than work? Who do they like to talk to? What do they talk about? Researchers hired by Procter & Gamble have gone so far as to follow women around for weeks as they shop, run errands, and socialize with one another (Berner, 2006). Other companies have paid people to keep a daily journal of their activities and routines.

1. Lifestyle Marketing

In consumer marketing, lifestyle is considered a psychological variable known to influence the buyer decision process for consumers. Lifestyle can be broadly defined as the way a person lives. In sociology, a lifestyle typically reflects an individual’s attitudes, values, or world view. A lifestyle is a means of forging a sense of self and to create cultural symbols that resonate with personal identity.

Marketing campaigns to reach and persuade consumers are created with the intention to align the product’s position with the target market’s lifestyle characteristics. Variables such as consumers’ interest in hunting; their attitude toward climate change; and, their deeply held opinion on fair-trade products, can therefore be used to both better understand the market and its behavior, and position products effectively.

It is the multifaceted aspect of lifestyle research that makes it so useful in consumer analysis. A prominent lifestyle researcher, Joseph T. Plummer, summarizes the concept as follows:

…life style patterns, combines the virtues of demographics with the richness and dimensionality of psychological characteristics….Life style is used to segment the marketplace because it provides the broad, everyday view of consumers life style segmentation and can generate identifiable whole persons rather than isolated fragments. (Plummer, 1974)

A useful application of the lifestyle concept relates to consumer’s shopping orientation. Different customers approach shopping in very different ways. They have different attitudes and opinions about shopping and different levels of interest in shopping. Once people know their alternatives, how do they evaluate and choose among them? In particular, how do people choose among brands of a product?

2. Psychographic Segmentation

While demographics are useful, advertisers often need to slice and dice even further. Traditional demographic segments (such as gender, age, and income) provide only a rough estimate of the attitudes and desires of different groups, so marketers often give consumer groups labels that capture something about their lifestyles and motivations as well.

Psychographic segmentation involves profiling a market segment based on a descriptive set of characteristics – such as personality, traits, lifestyle, and values. We also use AIO’s – to define a psychographic profile. Most students are familiar with market segmentation as it relates to geographic (specific place-based marketing) and demographic (specific data gathered through secondary research sources relating to age, income, education level, family status, etc.). Psychographic segmentation however, examines consumers in the context of their motivations, their values, their interests, their passions, their lifestyle choices, and even the kind of media they consume. One of the most widely used systems to classify people based on psychographics is the VALS (Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles) framework. Using VALS to combine psychographics with demographic information such as marital status, education level, and income provide a better understanding of consumers.

Marketing Context

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

The newest market segment you never knew existed: PANKs

Consider a relatively new market segment, Professional Aunt, No Kids (or “PANKs” – a term coined by Savvy Auntie founder Melanie Notkin) discussed in a 2018 report by Melanie Notkin, found of SAVVY AUNTIE. Notkin’s research provides ample evidence that PANKs are both a growing and substantial market segment, mainly characterized by a high disposable income with considerably fewer expenses than if they had children of their own.

Demographic and Psychographic characteristics of PANKs from the report include:

- In the US, there are 18.4 million PANKs aged 20-50 (roughly equals more than a quarter of all American women in that age group)

- Four in five PANKs are aged 33-52; half are 38-47 yeras of age

- Significant social and economic influence

- Close relationships with children of friends and/or relatives

- More likely to be college educated (74%); 3 times as likely to have earned a master’s degree

- 47% of PANKs own their own home

- Affluent & generous gift-givers (collectively spend $61 billion on children in their lives, a figure that excludes occasional items and newborn gifts)

- Sixty-three per cent have contributed to a niece’s or nephew’s education

What are PANKs spending money on? Travel is by far the biggest expense, followed by food & beverage, entertainment, toys & games, and apparel. “Adventure” days and big-ticket gifts also amount to large expenditures by loving Aunts.

Notkin segments PANKs further by identifying, “Aunts by Relations” (93%) and “Aunts by Choice” (57%), all of whom rank participation in a child’s life of high importance. In 2013, Euromonitor reported that as of 2010, 42.6% of women in the US between 15-44 were childless (up from 40.1% in 2002): while some women are childless by circumstance, many women are holding off having children (or choosing not to at all) until later in life.

Marketers yet to heed Notkin’s advice and actively target PANKs are potentially ignoring this large and growing market segment. Her recommendations on how to engage this market includes:

- Recognizing the value of “Generation PANK” as influenctial women in children’s lives

- While they may be secondary caregivers, PANK’s are often the primary gift-givers

- Education is a priority for PANKs: these highly educated women are also contributing to their loved one’s future educational needs

- Most PANKs want to be moms one day

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Berner, R., “Detergent Can Be So Much More,” BusinessWeek, May 1, 2006, 66–68.

Boundless Marketing is licensed under CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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Generation PANK: A report on the social and econoic influence of PANKs – Professional Aunts No Kids. (2018). Retrieved from http://savvyauntie.com/Customimages/GENERATION%20PANK_MELANIE%20NOTKIN%20MEDIA%20INC_Nov%202018.pdf

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“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Principles of Marketing by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Plummer, Joseph T. (1974, January). The concept and application of lifestyle segmentation. Journal of Marketing, 38(1), 33-37.

Sathish, S., and Rajamohan, A. (2012, October). Consumer Behaviour and Lifestyle Marketing. International Journal of Marketing, financial Services & Management Research, 1(10).

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25

Branding

A brand consists of any name, term, design, style, words, symbols or any other feature that distinguishes the goods and services of one seller from another. A brand also distinguishes one product from another in the eyes of the customer. All of its elements (i.e., logo, color, shape, letters, images) work as a psychological trigger or stimulus that causes an association to all other thoughts we have about this brand. Tunes, celebrities, and catchphrases are also oftentimes considered brands.

The word “brand” is derived from the Old Norse ‘brand’ meaning “to burn,” which refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products. Italians are considered among the first to use brands in the form of watermarks on paper in the 1200s. However, in mass-marketing, this concept originated in the 19th century with the introduction of packaged goods.

During the Industrial Revolution, the production of many household items, such as soap, was moved from local communities to centralized factories to be mass-produced and sold to the wider market. When shipping their items, factories branded their logo or insignia on the barrels used, thereby extending the meaning of “brand” to that of trademark. This enabled the packaged goods manufacturers to communicate that their products should be trusted as much as local competitors. Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Juicy Fruit gum, Aunt Jemima, and Quaker Oats were among the first products to be “branded”.

Branding is crucial to the success of any tangible product. In consumer markets, branding can influence whether consumers will buy the product. Branding can also help in the development of a new product by facilitating the extension of a product line or mix, through building on the consumer’s perceptions of the values and character represented by the brand name.

Photo by __ drz __ on Unsplash

The Coca-Cola logo is an example of a widely-recognized trademark and global brand.

1. Successful Brand Strategies

A successful brand can create and sustain a strong, positive, and lasting impression in the mind of a consumer. Brands provide external cues to taste, design, performance, quality, value and prestige if they are developed and managed properly. Brands convey positive or negative messages about a product, along with indicating the company or service to the consumer, which is a direct result of past advertising, promotion, and product reputation.

A brand strategy can convey up to six levels of meaning:

- Attributes: The Mercedes-Benz brand, for example, suggests expensive, well-built, well-engineered, durable, high-prestige automobiles.

- Benefits: attributes must be translated into functional and emotional benefits.

- Values: Mercedes stands for high performance, safety, and prestige.

- Culture: Mercedes represents German culture, organized, efficient, high quality.

- Personality: the brand projects a certain personality.

- User: the brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys and uses the product.

Ferrari photo by Viktor Theo on Unsplash and

Cartier photo by Simon Launay on Unsplash

The Ferrari and Cartier logos both represents luxury brands with high prestige.

2. Benefits of a Brand

Effective branding of a product enables the consumer to easily identify the product because the features and benefits have been communicated effectively. This will increase the probability that the product will be accessible and therefore purchased and consumed. Dunkin’ Donuts, for example, is a brand that has an established logo and imagery that is familiar to most consumers. The vivid colors and image of a DD cup are easily recognized and distinguished from competitors.

Branding helps create loyalty, decreases the risk of losing market share to the competition by establishing a differential advantage, and allow premium pricing that is acceptable by the consumer because of the perceived value of the brand. Good branding also allows for effective targeting and positioning. For example, Adidas is a brand known its athletic and fashionable clothing, sporting equipment, and footwear. Adidas has a global fan community due to its established global branding that communicates value.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

The Adidas logo is widely recognized around the world for sports apparel, clothing, and footwear.

Branding enables the retailer to benefit from brand marketing support by helping to attract more customers (ideally ones who normally don’t frequent the establishment). For example, a customer who truly values organic brands might decide to visit a Babies R Us to shop for organic household cleaners that are safe to use around babies. This customer might have learned that a company called BabyGanics, which brands itself as making “safe, effective, natural household solutions”, was only available at this particular retailer.

3. Brand Loyalty

In marketing, brand loyalty refers to a consumer’s commitment to repurchase or otherwise continue using a particular brand by repeatedly buying a product or service. The American Marketing Association defines brand loyalty as: 1.) “The situation in which a consumer generally buys the same manufacturer-originated product or service repeatedly over time rather than buying from multiple suppliers within the category” (sales promotion definition). 2.) “The degree to which a consumer consistently purchases the same brand within a product class” (consumer behavior definition).

Aside from a consumer’s ability to repurchase a brand, true brand loyalty exists when a.) the customer is committed to the brand, and b.) the customers have a high relative attitude toward the brand, which is then exhibited through repurchase behavior. For example, if Joe has brand loyalty to Company A, he will purchase Company A’s products even if Company B’s products are cheaper and/or of a higher quality.

Brand loyalty is viewed as a multidimensional construct, determined by several distinct psychological processes, such as the customers’ perceived value, brand trust, satisfaction, repeat purchase behavior, and commitment. Commitment and repeated purchase behavior are considered as necessary conditions for brand loyalty, followed by perceived value, satisfaction, and brand trust.

Philip Kotler defines four customer-types that exhibit similar patterns of behavior:

- a) Hardcore Loyals, who buy the brand all the time

- b) Split Loyals, loyal to two or three brands

- c) Shifting Loyals, moving from one brand to another

- d) Switchers, with no loyalty (possibly “deal-prone,” constantly looking for bargains, or “vanity prone,” looking for something different).

4. Benefits of Brand Loyalty

The benefits of brand loyalty are longer tenure (or staying a customer for longer), and lower sensitivity to price. Recent research found evidence that longer-term customers were indeed less sensitive to price increases. According to Andrew Ehrenberg, consumers buy “portfolios of brands.” They switch regularly between brands, often because they simply want a change. Thus, “brand penetration” or “brand share” reflects only a statistical chance that the majority of customers will buy that brand next time as part of a portfolio of brands. It does not guarantee that they will stay loyal.

By creating promotions and loyalty programs that encourage the consumer to take some sort of action, companies are building brand loyalty by offering more than just an advertisement. Offering incentives like big prizes creates an environment in which customers see the advertiser as more than just the advertiser. Individuals are far more likely to come back to a company that uses interesting promotions or loyalty programs than a company with a static message of “buy our brand because we’re the best.”

Izzy Stangl [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Marketing Context

Branding is a dirty word for many activists, but it really just means “the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another” (Godin, 2009). If we take branding out of the realm of consumption and into the interplay of ideas in the public sphere, then we see that the tools of branding can be used for more than just selling soap.

Three important points to keep in mind about branding:

1. Branding isn’t inherently “corporate.” Branding is really nothing more than a set of proven principles for associating, in the collective imagination, a certain word, phrase or image with a set of emotions or ideas. There’s nothing inherently capitalist about that. Corporations use branding because it works. Anti-corporate activists can use it, too.

2. Branding can make the difference between success and failure. Every movement wants its message to be heard, but simply being right won’t sell your ideas. The human mind needs to be persuaded.

3. There are copious examples of movements using branding effectively. In the ’90s, for instance, an adherence to a certain aesthetic helped unify the Otpor! youth movement that swept Serbia and ousted Slobodan Miloševic.

Whatever the context, if you craft your message for your intended audience, then that audience will want to know more. It’s as simple as engaging people in a dialogue that appeals to them. If they feel you aren’t talking to them, they’ll ignore you — or worse, work against you.

You’ll be branded whether you like it or not, so be proactive. Even conspicuously “unbranded” campaigns have a brand. Despite its efforts to avoid defining itself, the Occupy movement ended up with an effective brand when the “99%” meme organically emerged as the touchstone for people within and outside the movement.

If you decline to brand yourself, you leave an opening for other people — including enemies — to brand you instead. Operating within someone else’s frame is always more difficult than operating within a frame that you yourself have set. Think of your group’s brand as water spewing out of a hose. You can either leave the hose on the ground, or you can pick it up and direct its flow. Either way, the water continues to flow — and if you don’t pick up the hose, someone else will!

Branding is an opportunity to shape your message and ultimately use the power of that message, its meaning, and its delivery to win the war of ideas. There’s no such thing as an unbranded campaign or movement — though there are plenty of examples of poorly branded ones. Brand or be branded.

Student Op-Ed

Nike’s Endorsement of Colin Kaepernick

Nike is a brand recognized globally. The company is a cultural phenomenon and has made a big impact on sports and athletic wear. The Nike “swoosh” can be seen in every major league sport. And because of its enormous worldwide influence, being chosen to represent the brand is a call that every athlete hopes to receive.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, who was at the time the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refused to stand for the American national anthem in protest of racial discrimination in America (Mathers, 2019). This led to many other high-profile athletes kneeling during the American national anthem, and eventually high school students began to as well.

Controversy followed Kaepernick as the NFL began to voice their disapproval of his stance. US President Donald Trump himself took to Twitter to reprimand athletes who did not want to stand during the national anthem. Kaepernick continued to protest for the rest of the season and was criticized by fans and NFL sponsors alike. Though a competent and admired player, in 2017 he was not signed to play for the following season.

In 2018, Nike signed Kaepernick to be the face of its newest, “Just Do It” campaign. This was met with significant backlash and many opposing consumers took to the internet to show videos of them defacing their Nike apparel. Despite some consumer backlash, Nike’s stocks went up 5% after signing Kaepernick and their online revenue was up by 31% (Kelleher, 2018).

Undoubtedly Nike took a risk by signing Kaepernick: they knew this endorsement deal with alienate a portion of their consumer market. What Nike also knew was that this decision would benefit them far more in the long-run by associating the brand with an influential public sports figure like Coin Kaepernick.

By Sharmaine Ventura

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Adidas logo. Provided by: Wikimedia. Located at; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adidas_Logo.svg. License: Public Domain: No Known Copyright.

Boundless Marketing is created by Lumen Learning and is licensed under CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Coca-Cola logo. Provided by: Wikimedia. Located at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coca-Cola_logo.svg. License: Public Domain: No Known Copyright.

File:Mercedes-Benz logo.svg – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Provided by: Wikimedia. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mercedes-Benz_logo.svg&page=1. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

Fleming, Cristian (n.d.). Brand or Be Branded. Retrieved from https://beautifultrouble.org/principle/brand-or-be-branded/

Godin, Seth (2009). [Blog post] define: Brand. Retrieved from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/define-brand.html

Kelleher, K. (2018, September 05). Nike’s Stock Fell 3% on Colin Kaepernick’s Endorsement Deal. Here’s Why Investors Will Shrug It Off. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/2018/09/04/nike-stock-market-buy-sell-kaepernick-boycott/

Mather, V. (2019, February 15). A Timeline of Colin Kaepernick vs. the N.F.L. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/sports/nfl-colin-kaepernick-protests-timeline.html

Ventura, S. (2019). Nike’s Endorsement of Colin Kaepernick. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

26

Chapter Wrap Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1438

27

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. Find an example of a brand actively targeting the “PANKs” market segment. What features exist in this brand’s marketing (e.g. commercials, ads, imagery, messaging) indicate that this target market consists of professional women without children of their own?

2. Consider how Dove’s video (featuring Kelly Rowland), “Crown” shares with us how young girls’ self-concept is shaped by their physical characteristics – in this case, specifically their hair.

3. Breaking through the media mediocrity that all too often depicts women as subjects of sexual desire or commanders of a busy household, JP Morgan delivers a highly-contextualized ad that centres tennis champion, equality advocate, business mogul, and mom, Serena Williams, that depicts high degrees of self-complexity. Discuss this video in the context of “the self” and the message it is sending to the audience.

4. What does it say about our culture and society when the commercials like the one created for Lane Bryant was refused airing on a major network television channel because it was deemed “unfit and inappropriate” and had failed to comply with “decency guidelines”? Would this be the the case if the models were equally as gorgeous but not plus-sized? What connections can we make between this advertisement and what we understand about self-esteem?

5. Car company “Buick” has created a series of advertisements that depict the ongoing tension and interaction among our ego, id, and superego. Watch some of these commercials and discuss how these Freudian concepts are represented.

6. In 2019 Peloton released a commercial featuring “Grace from Boston” that proceeded to fire up much debate on social media channels. What do experts in psychological science have to say about sex roles? Explore this Psychology Today analysis of sex roles in advertising and discuss other related themes (e.g. self-esteem) we discuss in consumer behaviour.

7. This chapters explores ideas related to self concept, self esteem, real & ideal selves, and the looking glass self. Each of these impact our decisions as consumers since we are so often looking to purchase items that fulfill our sense of “self” and shape our own self concept. With that in mind, consider how DOVE engages in advertising that speaks to these self-concept terms. What is DOVE’s intention in focusing its marketing messages on self-concept instead of say, product attributes?

- Dove – Beauty Sketches

- Dove – Evolution

- Dove – Onslaught

V

Attitudes and Attitude Change

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about Attitudes and how marketers design strategies to strengthen consumers’ attitudes or change attitudes to favour their marketing purposes.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Define the meaning of “attitudes” and summarize its key features.

2. Identify strategies used to change attitudes.

3. Explain the relationship between ‘involvement’ and ‘attitudes’.

4. Identify ways in which marketers can use persuasion to form or change consumer attitudes.

28

Key Terms and Concepts

Attitudes
ABC’s of Attitudes
Principle of attitude consistency
Theory of planned behaviour
Self-determination theory
Warm-glow effect
Four functional theories of attitude
Cognitive dissonance
Social judgement theory (incomplete)
Multi-attribute attitude model
Norms (formal/informal)
Descriptive norms
Persuasion
Elaboration likelihood model
Central route to persuasion
Peripheral route to persuasion
Balance theory
Source
Source credibility
Source attractiveness
Match-up hypothesis
Celebrity endorsements
Star power
Halo effect
Reciprocity rule
Social proof
Social comparison and conformity

29

Understanding Attitudes

Attitudes refer to our relatively enduring evaluations of people and things (Albarracín, Johnson, & Zanna, 2005). We each hold many thousands of attitudes, including those about family and friends, political parties and political figures, abortion rights, preferences for music, and much more. Some of our attitudes, including those about sports, roller coaster rides, and capital punishment, are heritable, which explains in part why we are similar to our parents on many dimensions (Olson, Vernon, Harris, & Jang, 2001). Other attitudes are learned through direct and indirect experiences with the attitude objects (De Houwer, Thomas, & Baeyens, 2001).

1. The Purpose of Attitudes

Human beings hold attitudes because they are useful. Particularly, our attitudes enable us to determine, often very quickly and effortlessly, which behaviors to engage in, which people to approach or avoid, and even which products to buy (Duckworth, Bargh, Garcia, & Chaiken, 2002; Maio & Olson, 2000). You can imagine that making quick decisions about what to avoid or approach has had substantial value in our evolutionary experience.

For example:

- Snake = bad → run away

- Blueberries = good → eat

Attitudes are important because they frequently (but not always) predict behaviour. If we know that a person has a more positive attitude toward Frosted Flakes than toward Cheerios, then we will naturally predict that they will buy more of the former when they get to the market. If we know that Amara is madly in love with Leila, then we will not be surprised when she proposes marriage. Because attitudes often predict behaviour, people who wish to change behaviour frequently try to change attitudes through the use of persuasive communications.

Marketing Context

A few years ago, KFC began running ads to the effect that fried chicken was healthy—until the U.S. Federal Trade Commission told the company to stop. Wendy’s slogan that its products are “way better than fast food” is another example. Fast food has a negative connotation, so Wendy’s is trying to get consumers to think about its offerings as being better.

An example of a shift in consumers’ attitudes occurred when the taxpayer-paid government bailouts of big banks that began in 2008 provoked the wrath of Americans, creating an opportunity for small banks not involved in the credit bailout and subprime mortgage mess. The Worthington National Bank, a small bank in Fort Worth, Texas, ran billboards reading: “Did Your Bank Take a Bailout? We didn’t.” Another read: “Just Say NO to Bailout Banks. Bank Responsibly!” The Worthington Bank received tens of millions in new deposits soon after running these campaigns (Mantone, 2009).

2. The ABC’s of Attitudes

An attitude is a predisposition to evaluate an object or product positively or negatively. The attitudes we form about a product or service will affect whether we’re likely to buy that product or not. Attitudes have three components also known as the ABCs of Attitudes:

1. Affect: our feelings & emotions that help us express how we feel about an object

2. Behavior: what we intend to do regarding the object

3. Cognition: our thoughts and beliefs about an object

Our attitudes are made up of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Consider an environmentalist’s attitude toward composting, which is probably very positive.

3. Response Hierarchies: Which Comes First?

Thinking, feeling, and doing can happen in any order. Psychologists originally assumed that we form attitudes through a fixed sequence of these three components: We first think about the object, then evaluate our feelings about it, and finally take action: Cognition → Affect → Behavior [C-A-B].

Research evidence, however, shows that we form attitudes in different sequences based on different circumstances. If we’re not very involved in or don’t care much about a purchase, we may just buy a product on impulse or because we remember a catchphrase about it instead of carefully evaluating it in relation to other products. In that case, action precedes feeling and thought: Behavior → Affect → Cognition [B-A-C].

Conversely, feelings—rather than thoughts—may drive the entire decision process; our emotional reactions may drive us to buy a product simply because we like its name, its packaging design, or the brand image that ads create. In this case, we see the product, have a feeling about it, and buy it: Affect → Behavior → Cognition [A-B-C].

Involvement Level

Example

Response Hierarchy

High

Vacation, wedding dress, new car

C-A-B

Low

Car wash, tin foil, toilet cleaner

B-A-C

(Impulse)

Ball cap, purse, video game

A-B-C

Although most attitudes are determined by affect, behavior, and cognition, there is nevertheless variability in this regard across people and across attitudes. Some attitudes are more likely to be based on feelings, some are more likely to be based on behaviors, and some are more likely to be based on beliefs. For example, your attitude toward chocolate ice cream is probably determined in large part by affect—although you can describe its taste, mostly you may just like it. Your attitude toward your toothbrush, on the other hand, is probably more cognitive (you understand the importance of its function). Still other of your attitudes may be based more on behavior. For example, your attitude toward note-taking during lectures probably depends, at least in part, on whether or not you regularly take notes.

Different people may hold attitudes toward the same attitude object for different reasons. For example, some people vote for politicians because they like their policies, whereas others vote for (or against) politicians because they just like (or dislike) their public persona. Although you might think that cognition would be more important in this regard, political scientists have shown that many voting decisions are made primarily on the basis of affect. Indeed, it is fair to say that the affective component of attitudes is generally the strongest and most important (Abelson, Kinder, Peters, & Fiske, 1981; Stangor, Sullivan, & Ford, 1991).

Attitudes are also stronger when the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition all align. As an example, many people’s attitude toward their own nation is universally positive. They have strong positive feelings about their country, many positive thoughts about it, and tend to engage in behaviors that support it. Other attitudes are less strong because the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components are each somewhat different (Thompson, Zanna, & Griffin, 1995). Your cognitions toward physical exercise may be positive—you believe that regular physical activity is good for your health. On the other hand, your affect may be negative—you may resist exercising because you prefer to engage in tasks that provide more immediate rewards. Consequently, you may not exercise as often as you believe you ought to. These inconsistencies among the components of your attitude make it less strong than it would be if all the components lined up together.

4. The Principle of Attitude Consistency

The Principle of attitude consistency (that for any given attitude object, the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition are normally in line with each other) thus predicts that our attitudes (for instance, as measured via a self-report measure) are likely to guide behavior. Supporting this idea, meta-analyses have found that there is a significant and substantial positive correlation among the different components of attitudes, and that attitudes expressed on self-report measures do predict behavior (Glasman & Albarracín, 2006).

However, our attitudes are not the only factor that influence our decision to act. The theory of planned behaviour, developed by Martin Fishbein and Izek Ajzen (Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), outlines three key variables that affect the attitude-behavior relationship: (a) the attitude toward the behaviour (the stronger the better), (b) subjective norms (the support of those we value), and (c) perceived behavioral control (the extent to which we believe we can actually perform the behavior). These three factors jointly predict our intention to perform the behavior, which in turn predicts our actual behavior.

In the Theory of Planned Behavior, values, beliefs, and other intrinsic values all contribute to whether or not an individual decides to participate in pro-environmental behavior (Chan & Bishop; Greaves et al.).  Deep beliefs and values often result in behavior, and studying what individuals value can give an insight about their environmental mindset (Greaves et al.).6  The Theory of Planned Behavior helps predict what intentions will turn into actions, and the degree of control a person has over what intentions turn into actions (Chan & Bishop; Greaves et al.).

Imagine for a moment that your friend Sharina is trying to decide whether to recycle her used laptop batteries or just throw them away. We know that her attitude toward recycling is positive—she thinks she should do it—but we also know that recycling takes work. It’s much easier to just throw the batteries away. But if Sharina feels strongly about the importance of recycling, if her family and friends are also in favor of recycling, and if she has easy access to a battery recycling facility, then she will develop a strong intention to perform the behavior and likely follow through on it.

In comparison, the self-determination theory can also be utilized to help predict the likelihood of pro-environmental actions (Huffman, 2014).  This theory describes motivated behavior as part of a continuum that ranges from autonomous to controlled actions (Huffman, 2014).

Another intrinsic motivator is the warm-glow effect, which consists of personal satisfaction and altruistic motives that benefit the well-being of others (Abbott et al.).  Individuals “feel good” for partaking in pro-environmental behaviors and continue to repeat the activities regardless of extrinsic rewards (Abbott et al.).

5. The Four Functional Theories of Attitude

Functional theorists Katz (2008) and Smith, Bruner, & White (1956) addressed the issue of not knowing which base (affective, cognition or behavior) was most important by looking at how the person’s attitude serves them psychologically. They came up with four different functions that an attitude might serve:

1. One of the most beneficial things an attitude can do for us is to make our lives more efficient. We do not have to evaluate and process each thing we come into contact with to know if it is good (safe) or bad (threatening; Petty, 1995). This is called the knowledge function and allows us to understand and make sense of the world. My attitude towards insects is somewhat negative. I tend to have large reactions to bites from them and although most do not bite, my immediate reaction is to avoid them if at all possible. In this way my attitude keeps me from having to evaluate every type of insect I come into contact with. Saving time and allowing me to think of other things in life (Bargh, et al.,1992). This example might have prompted you to think that this generalization could lead to discrimination and you would be correct. In an attempt to be more efficient, I am not stopping and processing every insect I come into contact with and some insects are good (safe). We will discuss how this helps explain prejudice and discrimination in a later module.

2. Our attitudes can serve an ego-defensive function which is to help us cover up things that we do not like about ourselves or help us to feel better about ourselves. You might think cheerleaders are stupid or superficial to protect yourself from feeling badly that you aren’t a cheerleader. Here you defended against a threatening truth – you aren’t a cheerleader which you want to be and boosted your self-image by believing that you are better than them – you are smart and complex.

3. We can categorize some of our attitudes as serving as tools that lead us to greater rewards or help us to avoid punishments. So, individuals might have developed an attitude that having sex with many partners is bad. This has both a knowledge function and a utilitarian function by helping people avoid the societal punishment of being called promiscuous and then seeking the reward of being the kind of person that someone would take home and introduce to their parents.

4. The final function centers around the idea that some of our attitudes help us express who we are to other people, value-expressive function. We see this a lot on social media. If you were to examine someone’s Facebook or Instagram page you would see that their posts are full of their attitudes about life and they intentionally post certain things so that people will know who they are as a person. You might post a lot of political things and people might see you as a politically engaged person, you might post a lot about the environment and people see that you are passionate about this topic. This is who you are.

6. Cognitive Dissonance

Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our self-esteem or positive self-image. Psychologist Leon Festinger (1957) defined cognitive dissonance as psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, or cognitions (thoughts, beliefs, or opinions). Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance states that when we experience a conflict in our behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs that runs counter to our positive self-perceptions, we experience psychological discomfort (dissonance). For example, if you believe smoking is bad for your health but you continue to smoke, you experience conflict between your belief and behavior.

When we experience cognitive dissonance, we are motivated to decrease it because it is psychologically, physically, and mentally uncomfortable. We can reduce cognitive dissonance by bringing our cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors in line—that is, making them harmonious. This can be done in different ways, such as:

- changing our discrepant behavior (e.g., stop smoking),

- changing our cognitions through rationalization or denial (e.g., telling ourselves that health risks can be reduced by smoking filtered cigarettes),

- adding a new cognition (e.g., “Smoking suppresses my appetite so I don’t become overweight, which is good for my health.”).

7. Multi-Attribute Attitude Model

Marketers desire the ability to better understand consumers’ attitudes towards their products and services. However, attitudes are complex and a consumer may have a range of attitudes (favourable and unfavourable) towards a single product or service – not just one. In additional to the various qualities held by a product or service, consumers are also faced with the added complexity of seeking approval, whether that comes from friends, family, or society. Attitude models are designed to help identify the different factors that would influence a consumer’s evaluation of attitude objects.

Due to the complexity surrounding attitudes, researchers use multi-attribute attitude models to explain them. Simply put, multi-attribute models say that we form attitudes about a product based on several attributes of that product, our beliefs about those attributes, and the relative importance we assign to those attributes.

The decision to purchase a car like an SUV offers a good illustration of how a multi-attribute model affects purchase behavior. On the one hand, the styling and stance of a particular model might evoke feelings of power, confidence, and ruggedness. The vehicle’s high ground clearance and roomy back might be great for the consumer’s intended camping trips. On the other hand, the brand could make the consumer ill at ease—perhaps a friend had a bad experience with that car maker. And the more rational side of a consumer might balk at the high cost and poor gas mileage. Yet the vehicle looks great, so the consumer isn’t sure. And, regardless of their personal feelings about the vehicle, the consumer may also factor in social pressure: will their friends criticize them as a wasteful gas-guzzler if they buy an SUV instead of a compact hybrid? Will they buy or won’t they? The decision depends on how the buyer combines and weights these positive and negative attitude components.

8. Normative Influences

Norms can have a powerful influence on consumer attitudes & behaviour. Norms define how to behave in accordance with what a society has defined as good, right, and important, and most members of the society adhere to them. Formal norms are established, written rules. They are behaviors worked out and agreed upon in order to suit and serve the most people. Laws are formal norms, but so are employee manuals, college entrance exam requirements, and “no running” signs at swimming pools. Formal norms are the most specific and clearly stated of the various types of norms, and they are the most strictly enforced. But even formal norms are enforced to varying degrees and are reflected in cultural values.

For example, money is highly valued in the United States, so monetary crimes are punished. It’s against the law to rob a bank, and banks go to great lengths to prevent such crimes. People safeguard valuable possessions and install anti-theft devices to protect homes and cars. A less strictly enforced social norm is driving while intoxicated. While it’s against the law to drive drunk, drinking is for the most part an acceptable social behavior. And though there are laws to punish drunk driving, there are few systems in place to prevent the crime. These examples show a range of enforcement in formal norms.

There are plenty of formal norms, but the list of informal norms—casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to—is longer. People learn informal norms by observation, imitation, and general socialization. Some informal norms are taught directly—“Kiss your Aunt Edna” or “Use your napkin”—while others are learned by observation, including observations of the consequences when someone else violates a norm. But although informal norms define personal interactions, they extend into other systems as well. In the United States, there are informal norms regarding behavior at fast food restaurants. Customers line up to order their food and leave when they are done. They don’t sit down at a table with strangers, sing loudly as they prepare their condiments, or nap in a booth. Most people don’t commit even benign breaches of informal norms. Informal norms dictate appropriate behaviors without the need of written rules.

Descriptive norms are defined as, “the perception of what most people do in a given situation” (Burger, 2020). Most of us, most of the time, are motivated to do the right thing. If society deems that we put litter in a proper container, speak softly in libraries, and tip our waiter, then that’s what most of us will do. But sometimes it’s not clear what society expects of us. In these situations, we often rely on descriptive norms (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990).

Researchers have demonstrated the power of descriptive norms in a number of areas. Homeowners reduced the amount of energy they used when they learned that they were consuming more energy than their neighbors (Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2007). Undergraduates selected the healthy food option when led to believe that other students had made this choice (Burger et al., 2010). Hotel guests were more likely to reuse their towels when a hanger in the bathroom told them that this is what most guests did (Goldstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, 2008). And more people began using the stairs instead of the elevator when informed that the vast majority of people took the stairs to go up one or two floors (Burger & Shelton, 2011).

However, it’s not always easy to obtain good descriptive norm information, which means we sometimes rely on a flawed notion of the norm when deciding how we should behave. A good example of how misperceived norms can lead to problems is found in research on binge drinking among college students. Excessive drinking is a serious problem on many campuses (Mita, 2009). There are many reasons why students binge drink, but one of the most important is their perception of the descriptive norm. How much students drink is highly correlated with how much they believe the average student drinks (Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Larimer, 2007). Unfortunately, students aren’t very good at making this assessment. They notice the boisterous heavy drinker at the party but fail to consider all the students not attending the party. As a result, students typically overestimate the descriptive norm for college student drinking (Borsari & Carey, 2003; Perkins, Haines, & Rice, 2005). Most students believe they consume significantly less alcohol than the norm, a miscalculation that creates a dangerous push toward more and more excessive alcohol consumption. On the positive side, providing students with accurate information about drinking norms has been found to reduce overindulgent drinking (Burger, LaSalvia, Hendricks, Mehdipour, & Neudeck, 2011; Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fossos, & Walter, 2009).

Social Judgement Theory (not yet complete!!)

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Abbott, A., et al. (2013). Recycling: Social norms and warm-glow revisited. Ecological Economics. 90:10-18.

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30

Changing Attitudes

Have you ever tried to swap seats with a stranger on an airline? Ever negotiated the price of a car? Ever tried to convince someone to recycle, quit smoking, or make a similar change in health behaviors? If so, you are well versed with how persuasion can show up in everyday life. There is substantial evidence that advertising is effective in changing attitudes. After the R. J. Reynolds Company started airing its Joe Camel ads for cigarettes on TV in the 1980s, Camel’s share of cigarette sales to children increased dramatically. But persuasion can also have more positive outcomes. For instance, a review of the research literature indicates that mass-media anti-smoking campaigns are associated with reduced smoking rates among both adults and youth (Friend & Levy, 2001). Persuasion is also used to encourage people to donate to charitable causes, to volunteer to give blood, and to engage in healthy behaviors.

1. Persuasion

Persuasion has been defined as “the process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors” (Myers, 2011). Persuasion can take many forms. It may, for example, differ in whether it targets public compliance or private acceptance, is short-term or long-term, whether it involves slowly escalating commitments or sudden interventions and, most of all, in the benevolence of its intentions. When persuasion is well-meaning, we might call it education. When it is manipulative, it might be called mind control (Levine, 2003).

Attitudes can be changed through persuasion in response to communication. Experimental research into the factors that can affect the persuasiveness of a message include:

1. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and processes a message. One such trait is intelligence – more intelligent people seem to be less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied in this category is self-esteem.

2. Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness, and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of a perceived message has been found to be a key variable here; if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it is from a popular newspaper.

3. Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion. Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes. When people are not motivated to process the message, simply the number of arguments presented in a persuasive message will influence attitude change, such that a greater number of arguments will produce greater attitude change.

4. Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an individual’s cognitive evaluation to help change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion, the individual is presented with the data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude-changing conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to look not at the content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that feature celebrities.

Marketing Context

The Effective Use of Persuasion by Apple to Drive Sales

On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs, the enigmatic co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc., introduced the first iPhone to the world. The device quickly revolutionized the smartphone industry and changed what consumers came to expect from their phones. In the years since, smartphones have changed from being regarded as status symbols (Apple sold close to 1.4 million iPhones during their first year on the market) to fairly commonplace and essential tools. One out of every five people in the world now owns a smartphone, there are more smartphones in use in the world than PCs, and it is difficult for many young people to imagine how anyone ever managed to function without them. If you consider the relatively high cost of these devices, this transformation has been truly remarkable.

Much of this shift in attitude can be credited to the impressive use of tactics of persuasion employed by smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung. The typical marketing campaign for a new model of an iPhone delivers a carefully crafted message that cleverly weaves together stories, visuals, and music to create an emotional experience for the viewing public. These messages are often designed to showcase the range of uses of the device and to evoke a sense of need. Apple also strives to form relationships with its customers, something that is illustrated by the fact that 86 percent of those who purchased the iPhone 5S were upgrading from a previous model. This strategy has benefited Apple tremendously as it has sold over 400 million iPhones since 2007, making it one of the wealthiest companies in the world.

2. Elaboration Likelihood Model

An especially popular model that describes the dynamics of persuasion is the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The elaboration likelihood model considers the variables of the attitude change approach—that is, features of the source of the persuasive message, contents of the message, and characteristics of the audience are used to determine when attitude change will occur. According to the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, there are two main routes that play a role in delivering a persuasive message: central and peripheral (see below).

Persuasion can take one of two paths, and the durability of the end result depends on the path.

The central route is logic driven and uses data and facts to convince people of an argument’s worthiness. For example, a car company seeking to persuade you to purchase their model will emphasize the car’s safety features and fuel economy. This is a direct route to persuasion that focuses on the quality of the information. In order for the central route of persuasion to be effective in changing attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors, the argument must be strong and, if successful, will result in lasting attitude change.

The central route to persuasion works best when the target of persuasion, or the audience, is analytical and willing to engage in processing of the information. From an advertiser’s perspective, what products would be best sold using the central route to persuasion? What audience would most likely be influenced to buy the product? One example is buying a computer. It is likely, for example, that small business owners might be especially influenced by the focus on the computer’s quality and features such as processing speed and memory capacity.

The peripheral route is an indirect route that uses peripheral cues to associate positivity with the message (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Instead of focusing on the facts and a product’s quality, the peripheral route relies on association with positive characteristics such as positive emotions and celebrity endorsement. For example, having a popular athlete advertise athletic shoes is a common method used to encourage young adults to purchase the shoes. This route to attitude change does not require much effort or information processing. This method of persuasion may promote positivity toward the message or product, but it typically results in less permanent attitude or behavior change. The audience does not need to be analytical or motivated to process the message. In fact, a peripheral route to persuasion may not even be noticed by the audience, for example in the strategy of product placement. Product placement refers to putting a product with a clear brand name or brand identity in a TV show or movie to promote the product (Gupta & Lord, 1998). For example, one season of the reality series American Idol prominently showed the panel of judges drinking out of cups that displayed the Coca-Cola logo. What other products would be best sold using the peripheral route to persuasion? Another example is clothing: A retailer may focus on celebrities that are wearing the same style of clothing.

Student Op-Ed

How to be a woman (according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation)

The peripheral route to persuasion, a function of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion, is a consumer behaviour concept that can explain how the Susan G. Komen Foundation (“Komen”) and the Avon Foundation for Women (“Avon”) attracted attention without providing much factual information on their goal: curing breast cancer. The peripheral route to persuasion is the cognitive path that consumers take when they rely on extraneous information that is not the actual message, such as the source of the message, the package it comes in, etc. to make a decision about how they feel about that product (Solomon, White & Dahl, 2014). These marketing tactics are designed for low-involvement processing, wherein a consumer doesn’t think very much about a buying decision before making a purchase. The extraneous information, or peripheral cues, in the case of the Pink Ribbon Movement is based almost exclusively on hyperfemininity and is made to evoke strong emotions of hope and fulfillment.

In the film Pink Ribbons, Inc. (Pool, 2011), we follow Komen, a nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer, watching how they raise awareness for their cause. Celebrity endorsements are a popular method, using stars like Halle Berry and Christie Brinkley to promote their events. And because Komen, as depicted in the film, doesn’t have a lot of information on how they’re actually going to cure breast cancer, they capture their audience with the attractiveness of the information source and not the information itself. These celebrities, or  “sources”, fit the archetype of what the “ideal” woman should look like, and very specifically they fit the role of what a “healthy” woman should look like. And so the Komen uses their star power to not only garner attention but also promote a look that follows the brand that they’ve built.

Looking at Avon, a nonprofit run by the cosmetics company Avon Products, Inc., we see the same trend of using low-involvement processing. Avon uses this curated culture of “sisterhood” to promote their products, relying on the fact that their audience will feel that pressure to show their care for other women and then make the connection that supporting women means supporting the use of cosmetics. They immerse their message within the context that being pretty is related to being healthy. While this has nothing to do with finding a cure for breast cancer, it does the job of persuading the consumer to think less and act more by creating a connection that is simple and convenient.

The peripheral route is the path we take when we aren’t invested in learning more about a product or service we seek to purchase. I think the popularity of the Pink Ribbon Movement is brought on through specific marketing that relies on the fact that, as a culture, we are obsessed with women’s bodies. But we know so little about them that there’s a limit to how we can help ourselves and other women stay healthy. I don’t think indifference is the driving factor when it comes to these low-involvement purchasing situations , as much as ignorance is.

I care about finding more information about breast cance, but I don’t know where to put that energy because information is genuinely hard to find. Komen and Avon provided a place for us to put our anxiety and our grief, provided we buy into the shiny, pink package they

deliver to us. With public health issues, the messages should be informational, educational, and should require a high degree of mental processing; but instead The Pink Ribbon Movement hands us an easy-to-read instruction manual that is too convenient to resist.

By Sharmaine Ventura

3. The Balance Theory of Attitudes

Fritz Heider’s Balance Theory is a conceptual framework that demonstrates how consistency as a motivational force predicts attitude change and behaviour. The model can be used to predict the behaviour of consumers in situations where a celebrity endorser may be involved. If the audience (consumers) have a favourable attitude towards a celebrity and perceive that the celebrity likes a particular brand (communicated through an endorsement deal), the consumer is more likely to develop a positive attitude towards the brand – thus providing “balance” between all three components in the triad (the consumer, the celebrity, and the brand). However, imbalance can occur if a consumer develops a dislike towards the celebrity (e.g. due to scandal), which could then result in the same negative attitude being extended to the brand if they continue to maintain positive ties with the celebrity. Many brands will “drop” a celebrity in order to maintain a positive relationship with consumers.

This can all explained visually and mathematically:

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=455

4. The Source of Persuasion: The Triad of Trustworthiness

Effective persuasion requires trusting the source of the communication. Studies have identified three characteristics that lead to trust: perceived authority, honesty, and likability.

1. Authority: From earliest childhood, we learn to rely on authority figures for sound decision making because their authority signifies status and power, as well as expertise. These two facets often work together. Authorities such as parents and teachers are not only our primary sources of wisdom while we grow up, but they control us and our access to the things we want. In addition, we have been taught to believe that respect for authority is a moral virtue. As adults, it is natural to transfer this respect to society’s designated authorities, such as judges, doctors, bosses, and religious leaders. We assume their positions give them special access to information and power. Usually we are correct, so that our willingness to defer to authorities becomes a convenient shortcut to sound decision making. Uncritical trust in authority may, however, lead to bad decisions. Uncritical trust in authority can be problematic for several reasons. First, even if the source of the message is a legitimate, well-intentioned authority, they may not always be correct. Second, when respect for authority becomes mindless, expertise in one domain may be confused with expertise in general. To assume there is credibility when a successful actor promotes a cold remedy, or when a psychology professor offers his views about politics, can lead to problems. Third, the authority may not be legitimate. It is not difficult to fake a college degree or professional credential or to buy an official-looking badge or uniform.

2. Honesty: Honesty is the moral dimension of trustworthiness. Persuasion professionals have long understood how critical it is to their efforts. Marketers, for example, dedicate exorbitant resources to developing and maintaining an image of honesty. A trusted brand or company name becomes a mental shortcut for consumers. It is estimated that some 50,000 new products come out each year. Forrester Research, a marketing research company, calculates that children have seen almost six million ads by the age of 16. An established brand name helps us cut through this volume of information. It signals we are in safe territory. “The real suggestion to convey,” advertising leader Theodore MacManus observed in 1910, “is that the man manufacturing the product is an honest man, and the product is an honest product, to be preferred above all others” (Fox, 1997).

3. Likability: People tend to favor products that are associated with people they like. This is the key ingredient to celebrity endorsements. While there are a lot of factors that can contribute to likability, being physically attractive is one of the most influential. If we know that celebrities aren’t really experts, and that they are being paid to say what they’re saying, why do their endorsements sell so many products? Ultimately, it is because we like them. More than any single quality, we trust people we like. The mix of qualities that make a person likable are complex and often do not generalize from one situation to another. One clear finding, however, is that physically attractive people tend to be liked more. In fact, we prefer them to a disturbing extent: Various studies have shown we perceive attractive people as smarter, kinder, stronger, more successful, more socially skilled, better poised, better adjusted, more exciting, more nurturing, and, most important, of higher moral character. All of this is based on no other information than their physical appearance (e.g., Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972).

When the source appears to have any or all of these characteristics, people not only are more willing to agree to their request but are willing to do so without carefully considering the facts. We assume we are on safe ground and are happy to shortcut the tedious process of informed decision making. As a result, we are more susceptible to messages and requests, no matter their particular content or how peripheral they may be.

5. Source Credibility

Source credibilitymeans that consumers perceive the source (or spokesperson) as an expert who is objective and trustworthy (“I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”). A credible source will provide information on competing products, not just one product, to help the consumer make a more informed choice. We also see the impact of credibility in Web sites like eBay or Wikipedia and numerous blogs, where readers rate the quality of others’ submissions to enable the entire audience to judge whose posts are worth reading.

6. Source Attractiveness

Source attractivenessrefers to the source’s perceived social value, not just his or her physical appearance. High social value comes partly from physical attractiveness but also from personality, social status, or similarity to the receiver. We like to listen to people who are like us, which is why “typical” consumers are effective when they endorse everyday products.So, when we think about source attractiveness, it’s important to keep in mind that “attractiveness” is not just physical beauty. The advertising that is most effective isn’t necessarily the one that pairs a Hollywood hottie with a product. Indeed, one study found that many students were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow student than from a celebrity. As a researcher explained, “They [students] like to make sure their product is fashionable and trendy among people who resemble them, rather than approved by celebrities like David Beckham, Brad Pitt or Scarlett Johansson. So they are more influenced by an endorsement from an ordinary person like them” (BBC News, 2007). Still, all things equal, there’s a lot of evidence that physically attractive people are more persuasive. Our culture (like many others) has a bias toward good-looking people that teaches they are more likely to possess other desirable traits as well. Researchers call this the “what is beautiful is good” hypothesis (Dion et. al, 1972).

7. Match-Up Hypothesis

For celebrity campaigns to be effective, the endorser must have a clear and popular image. In addition, the celebrity’s image and that of the product he or she endorses should be similar—researchers refer to this as the match-up hypothesis (Kamins, 1990; Basil, 1994). A market research company developed one widely used measure called the Q-score (Q stands for quality) to decide if a celebrity will make a good endorser. The score includes level of familiarity with a name and the number of respondents who indicate that a person, program, or character is a favorite (Kahle & Kahle, 2005).

A good match-up is crucial; fame alone doesn’t work if people know someone but dislike him. The celebrity may bring the brand visibility, but that visibility can be overshadowed by controversy that the spokesperson can generate. That’s a lesson MasterCard learned when it hired Nick Lachey for its “Major League Dreams” promotion. Shortly before the launch of the campaign, nude photos of Lachey and his girlfriend, Vanessa Minnillo, surfaced. The buzz surrounding the photos and Lachey’s refusal to talk about them during an interview completely overshadowed the MasterCard brand and promotion (Yingling, 2007). It also helps when your spokesperson actually uses the product. The Beef Board faced negative publicity when its spokesperson, Cybill Shepherd, admitted she did not like to eat beef.

Because consumers tend to view the brand through the lens of its spokesperson, an advertiser can’t choose an endorser just based on a whim (or the person’s good looks). Consider Tupperware, which decided to mount an advertising campaign to support its traditional word-of-mouth and Tupperware party promotional strategies. The brand is sixty years old and harkens back to 1950s-style June Cleaver moms. In its attempt to stay relevant and up-to-date, the company looked for a modern image of the working mom. Rather than going with a spokesperson like Martha Stewart, who would reinforce the old image of Tupperware, the company chose Brooke Shields as their spokesperson. “We’ve seen her go from a model to an actress to a Princeton graduate…then be open with issues she’s had with depression,” said Tupperware Chairman-CEO Rick Goings. That, he said, meshed perfectly with the company’s new “Chain of Confidence” campaign, which is dedicated to building the self-esteem of women and girls (Neff, 2007)

8. Celebrity Endorsements

Celebrity endorsements are a frequent feature in commercials aimed at children. The practice has aroused considerable ethical concern, and research shows the concern is warranted. In a study funded by the Federal Trade Commission, more than 400 children ages 8 to 14 were shown one of various commercials for a model racing set. Some of the commercials featured an endorsement from a famous race car driver, some included real racing footage, and others included neither. Children who watched the celebrity endorser not only preferred the toy cars more but were convinced the endorser was an expert about the toys. This held true for children of all ages. In addition, they believed the toy race cars were bigger, faster, and more complex than real race cars they saw on film. They were also less likely to believe the commercial was staged (Ross et al., 1984).

Marketing Context

Star Power

Star power can best be explained like this: if a famous person believes a product is good, you can believe it, too. For the advertising to be effective, however, the connection between the product and the celebrity should be clear. When Louis Vuitton featured Mikhail Gorbachev in an ad in Vogue, the tie was not clear. Why would the association with the former Soviet leader who brought an end to Communism motivate a consumer to buy a luxury brand bag?

This framework is effective because celebrities embody cultural meanings—they symbolize important categories such as status and social class (a “working-class hero,” such as Peter Griffin on Family Guy), gender (a “tough woman,” such as Nancy on Weeds), or personality types (the nerdy but earnest Hiro on Heroes). Ideally, the advertiser decides what meanings the product should convey (that is, how it should position the item in the marketplace) and then chooses a celebrity who embodies a similar meaning. The product’s meaning thus moves from the manufacturer to the consumer, using the star as a vehicle.

The Halo Effect

Armed with positive information about a person we then tend to assume other positive qualities, called the halo effect (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). So if a person is really nice, we will also assume they are attractive or intelligent. If rude, we will see them as unintelligent or unattractive. The halo effect creates a type of cognitive bias and marketers know this! If we have a favourable attitude towards a brand’s products, there’s a good chance that same attitude will be extended to the brand’s other products, or even future product-line extensions. The same can be said about a celebrity endorser: if we have a favourable attitude towards a particular celebrity or athlete and they endorse a product, there’s a good chance we will also have a favourable attitude towards the product they are endorsing.

9. Reciprocity

“There is no duty more indispensable than that of returning a kindness,” wrote Cicero. Humans are motivated by a sense of equity and fairness. When someone does something for us or gives us something, we feel obligated to return the favor in kind. It triggers one of the most powerful of social norms, the reciprocity rule, whereby we feel compelled to repay, in equitable value, what another person has given to us.

Gouldner (1960), in his seminal study of the reciprocity rule, found it appears in every culture. It lays the basis for virtually every type of social relationship, from the legalities of business arrangements to the subtle exchanges within a romance. A salesperson may offer free gifts, concessions, or their valuable time in order to get us to do something for them in return. For example, if a colleague helps you when you’re busy with a project, you might feel obliged to support her ideas for improving team processes. You might decide to buy more from a supplier if they have offered you an aggressive discount. Or, you might give money to a charity fundraiser who has given you a flower in the street (Cialdini, 2008; Levine, 2003).

10. Social Proof

If everyone is doing it, it must be right. People are more likely to work late if others on their team are doing the same, to put a tip in a jar that already contains money, or eat in a restaurant that is busy. This principle derives from two extremely powerful social forces—social comparison and conformity. We compare our behavior to what others are doing and, if there is a discrepancy between the other person and ourselves, we feel pressure to change (Cialdini, 2008).

While few people really like to wait in long lines, we might do it anyway in certain situations. If enough people are willing to wait it (usually) is a sign that there is something worth having at the end. A line in front of a restaurant, movie, etc. is social proof that will likely influence other people to try. [Image: Bill Badzo, https://goo.gl/fPdNVn, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, https://goo.gl/Toc0ZF]

The principle of social proof is so common that it easily passes unnoticed. Advertisements, for example, often consist of little more than attractive social models appealing to our desire to be one of the group. For example, the German candy company Haribo suggests that when you purchase their products you are joining a larger society of satisfied customers: “Kids and grown-ups love it so– the happy world of Haribo”. Sometimes social cues are presented with such specificity that it is as if the target is being manipulated by a puppeteer—for example, the laugh tracks on situation comedies that instruct one not only when to laugh but how to laugh. Studies find these techniques work. Fuller and Skeehy-Skeffington (1974), for example, found that audiences laughed longer and more when a laugh track accompanied the show than when it did not, even though respondents knew the laughs they heard were connived by a technician from old tapes that had nothing to do with the show they were watching. People are particularly susceptible to social proof (a) when they are feeling uncertain, and (b) if the people in the comparison group seem to be similar to ourselves. As P.T. Barnum once said, “Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.”

11. Commitment and Consistency

Westerners have a desire to both feel and be perceived to act consistently. Once we have made an initial commitment, it is more likely that we will agree to subsequent commitments that follow from the first. Knowing this, a clever persuasion artist might induce someone to agree to a difficult-to-refuse small request and follow this with progressively larger requests that were his target from the beginning. The process is known as getting a foot in the door and then slowly escalating the commitments.

Paradoxically, we are less likely to say “No” to a large request than we are to a small request when it follows this pattern. This can have costly consequences. Levine (2003), for example, found ex-cult members tend to agree with the statement: “Nobody ever joins a cult. They just postpone the decision to leave.”

12. A Door in the Face

Some techniques bring a paradoxical approach to the escalation sequence by pushing a request to or beyond its acceptable limit and then backing off. In the door-in-the-face (sometimes called the reject-then-compromise) procedure, the persuader begins with a large request they expect will be rejected. They want the door to be slammed in their face. Looking forlorn, they now follow this with a smaller request, which, unknown to the customer, was their target all along.

In one study, for example, Mowen and Cialdini (1980), posing as representatives of the fictitious “California Mutual Insurance Co.,” asked university students walking on campus if they’d be willing to fill out a survey about safety in the home or dorm. The survey, students were told, would take about 15 minutes. Not surprisingly, most of the students declined—only one out of four complied with the request. In another condition, however, the researchers door-in-the-faced them by beginning with a much larger request. “The survey takes about two hours,” students were told. Then, after the subject declined to participate, the experimenters retreated to the target request: “. . . look, one part of the survey is particularly important and is fairly short. It will take only 15 minutes to administer.” Almost twice as many now complied.

13. “And That’s Not All!”

The that’s-not-all technique also begins with the salesperson asking a high price. This is followed by several seconds’ pause during which the customer is kept from responding. The salesperson then offers a better deal by either lowering the price or adding a bonus product. That’s-not-all is a variation on door-in-the-face. Whereas the latter begins with a request that will be rejected, however, that’s-not-all gains its influence by putting the customer on the fence, allowing them to waver and then offering them a comfortable way off.

Burger (1986) demonstrated the technique in a series of field experiments. In one study, for example, an experimenter-salesman told customers at a student bake sale that cupcakes cost 75 cents. As this price was announced, another salesman held up his hand and said, “Wait a second,” briefly consulted with the first salesman, and then announced (“that’s-not-all”) that the price today included two cookies. In a control condition, customers were offered the cupcake and two cookies as a package for 75 cents right at the onset. The bonus worked magic: Almost twice as many people bought cupcakes in the that’s-not-all condition (73%) than in the control group (40%).

14. The Sunk Cost Trap

Sunk cost is a term used in economics referring to nonrecoverable investments of time or money. The trap occurs when a person’s aversion to loss impels them to throw good money after bad, because they don’t want to waste their earlier investment. This is vulnerable to manipulation. The more time and energy a cult recruit can be persuaded to spend with the group, the more “invested” they will feel, and, consequently, the more of a loss it will feel to leave that group. Consider the advice of billionaire investor Warren Buffet: “When you find yourself in a hole, the best thing you can do is stop digging” (Levine, 2003).

15. Scarcity and Psychological Reactance

People may be more attracted to an opportunity when supplies or time is limited. [Image: Peter Rukavina, https://goo.gl/KQ2LmT, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, https://goo.gl/Toc0ZF]

People tend to perceive things as more attractive when their availability is limited (scarce), or when they stand to lose the opportunity to acquire them on favorable terms (Cialdini, 2008). Anyone who has encountered a willful child is familiar with this principle. In a classic study, Brehm & Weinraub (1977), for example, placed 2-year-old boys in a room with a pair of equally attractive toys. One of the toys was placed next to a plexiglass wall; the other was set behind the plexiglass. For some boys, the wall was 1 foot high, which allowed the boys to easily reach over and touch the distant toy. Given this easy access, they showed no particular preference for one toy or the other. For other boys, however, the wall was a formidable 2 feet high, which required them to walk around the barrier to touch the toy. When confronted with this wall of inaccessibility, the boys headed directly for the forbidden fruit, touching it three times as quickly as the accessible toy.

Research shows that much of that 2-year-old remains in adults, too. People resent being controlled. When a person seems too pushy, we get suspicious, annoyed, often angry, and yearn to retain our freedom of choice more than before. Brehm (1966) labeled this the principle of psychological reactance.

The most effective way to circumvent psychological reactance is to first get a foot in the door and then escalate the demands so gradually that there is seemingly nothing to react against. Hassan (1988), who spent many years as a higher-up in the “Moonies” cult, describes how they would shape behaviors subtly at first, then more forcefully. The material that would make up the new identity of a recruit was doled out gradually, piece by piece, only as fast as the person was deemed ready to assimilate it. The rule of thumb was to “tell him only what he can accept.” He continues: “Don’t sell them [the converts] more than they can handle . . . . If a recruit started getting angry because he was learning too much about us, the person working on him would back off and let another member move in …..”

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31

Chapter Wrap Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1470

32

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (“ELM”) also presented as the “Central and Peripheral Route to Persuasion” demonstrates the different ways in which consumers process a message relative to their involvement: high involvement (central); low involvement (peripheral). Read this article published by Odyssey Online about how the Central and Peripheral Routes to Persuasion provide a basis of understanding related to the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. Discuss the similarities between consumer decision making and politics with reference to this model.

2. Watch this video at Boulder Ignite delivered by Ash Beckham. What tools of persuasion does Ash give us to reevaluate our use of language? What makes Ash a “credible source” in delivering this message?

3. As we learned in this chapter, changing attitudes can be an uphill battle for marketers. Persuasive messaging is one way we can attempt to change consumers’ attitudes and often behaviour as well. In this video by Boulder Ignite, Discuss how Ash Beckham successfully persuades her audience to reconsider using the word “gay” as a pejorative in our language. What makes Ash a credible “source” in delivering this important message?

4. After the 2016 US Presidential elections which brought Donald Trump to power, many counter-movements were created so voters, consumers, activists, and members of society could make their disapproving voices heard. One such movement, known as “Grab Your Wallet” (#grabyourwallet) has energized consumers across America (and even into Canada) to boycott brands that carry any Trump products – mostly notably was the case of Nordstrom’s dropping Ivanka Trump’s merchandise from their retail stores in early 2017. The #GrabYourWallet campaign started on social media and now several years later, has turned into one of the biggest consumer activism campaigns on record. Using this campaign as an example, discuss how the Balance Theory of Attitudes could have predicted the demise of the relationship between the “Trump name” and retailers such as Nordstrom.

VI

Individual Decision Making and Group Influence

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about Individual Decision Making & Group Influence and how marketers can design strategies to influence the consumer decision making process. This section also introduces external and social influences on the consumer.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Identify and explain each stage in the consumer decision making process.

2. Identify factors that influences how much search consumers may engage in before making purchase decisions.

3. Summarize the different kinds of decision rules consumer have in evaluating competing options.

4. Identify the key external and social influences that affect individual consumer decision making and explain how consumers may respond to these influences.

33

Key Terms and Concepts

Simple/routine decision making process
Full/extended decision making process
Brand loyalty
Need recognition
Information search
Evaluation of alternatives
Evoke set
Inept set
Inert set
Compensatory/Non-compensatory rules (incomplete)
Consumer hyperchoice
Cognitive dissonance
Heuristics
Ethnocentrism
Visual cues
Greenwashing
Informational social influence
Social comparison
Conformity
Private acceptance
Normative social influence
Social norms
Minority influence
Non-conformity
Reference group
Opinion leaders
Aspirational reference groups
Proximity
Mere exposure
Influencer(s)
Family Lifecycle
Brand community
Deindividuation
Anti-brand community
Social class
Social class mobility

34

Consumer Decision Making

For many products, the purchasing behavior is a routine affair in which the aroused need is satisfied in a habitual manner by repurchasing the same brand. That is, past reinforcement in learning experiences leads directly to buying, and thus the second and third stages are bypassed. This is called simple or routine decision making.

However, if something changes appreciably (price, product, availability, services), the buyer may re-enter the full or extended decision making process and consider alternative brands. Whether complex or simple, the first step is need recognition.

When consumers make purchasing decisions out of habit, we call this inertia. This habitual form of purchasing involves little complex decision making once the consider has recognized a need (i.e., “I am out of printer paper”). These types of purchases require little effort on the consumer’s side and brands are easily substituted for others if the purchasing experience can be made to be more convenient. In contrast, brand loyalty occurs when consumers go out of their way to repeatedly purchase a brand that they favour above all others. Consumers are unlikely to substitute the brand for another one and usually form a bond or connection with the brand over time.

The consumer purchase decision-making process starts with need recognition. Need recognition could be as simple as running out of coffee. Need recognition could also take place over several months, such as when repeated car repairs influence a consumer to make a decision to buy a new car. Let’s examine each step in this process more closely.

Consumer Decision Making Process: Adapted from: University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license

1. Need Recognition

Whether we act to resolve a particular problem depends upon two factors: (1) the magnitude of the discrepancy between what we have and what we need, and (2) the importance of the problem. A consumer may desire a new Cadillac and own a five-year-old Chevrolet. The discrepancy may be fairly large but relatively unimportant compared to the other problems they face. Conversely, an individual may own a car that is two years old and running very well. Yet, for various reasons, they may consider it extremely important to purchase a car this year. People must resolve these types of conflicts before they can proceed. Otherwise, the buying process for a given product stops at this point, probably in frustration.

Once the problem is recognized it must be defined in such a way that the consumer can actually initiate the action that will bring about a relevant problem solution. Note that, in many cases, problem recognition and problem definition occur simultaneously, such as a consumer running out of toothpaste. Consider the more complicated problem involved with status and image–how we want others to see us. For example, you may know that you are not satisfied with your appearance, but you may not be able to define it any more precisely than that. Consumers will not know where to begin solving their problem until the problem is adequately defined.

Marketers can become involved in the need recognition stage in three ways. First they need to know what problems consumers are facing in order to develop a marketing mix to help solve these problems. This requires that they measure problem recognition. Second, on occasion, marketers want to activate problem recognition. Public service announcements espousing the dangers of cigarette smoking is an example. Weekend and night shop hours are a response of retailers to the consumer problem of limited weekday shopping opportunities. This problem has become particularly important to families with two working adults. Finally, marketers can also shape the definition of the need or problem. If a consumer needs a new coat, does they define the problem as a need for inexpensive covering, a way to stay warm on the coldest days, a garment that will last several years, warm cover that will not attract odd looks from their peers, or an article of clothing that will express their personal sense of style? A salesperson or an ad may shape their answers.

2. Information Search

After a need is recognized, the prospective consumer may seek information to help identify and evaluate alternative products, services, and outlets that will meet that need. Such information can come from family, friends, personal observation, or other sources, such as Consumer Reports, salespeople, or mass media. The promotional component of the marketers offering is aimed at providing information to assist the consumer in their problem solving process. In some cases, the consumer already has the needed information based on past purchasing and consumption experience. Bad experiences and lack of satisfaction can destroy repeat purchases. The consumer with a need for tires may look for information in the local newspaper or ask friends for recommendation. If they have bought tires before and was satisfied, he may go to the same dealer and buy the same brand.

Information search can also identify new needs. As a tire shopper looks for information, they may decide that the tires are not the real problem, that the need is for a new car. At this point, the perceived need may change triggering a new informational search. Information search involves mental as well as the physical activities that consumers must perform in order to make decisions and accomplish desired goals in the marketplace. It takes time, energy, money, and can often involve foregoing more desirable activities. The benefits of information search, however, can outweigh the costs. For example, engaging in a thorough information search may save money, improve quality of selection, or reduce risks. The Internet is a valuable information source.

When the search actually occurs, what do people do with the information? How do they spot, understand, and recall information? In other words, how do they process information? This broad topic is important for understanding buyer behavior in general as well as effective communication with buyers in particular, and it has received a great deal of study. Assessing how a person processes information is not an easy task. Often observation has served as the basis. Yet there are many theories as to how the process takes place.

Variations in how each step is carried out in the information-processing sequence also occur. Especially influential is the degree of elaboration. Elaborate processing, also called central processing, involves active manipulation of information. A person engaged in elaborate processing pays close attention to a message and thinks about it; they develops thoughts in support of or counter to the information received. In contrast, non-elaborate, or peripheral processing involves passive manipulation of information. It is demonstrated by most airline passengers while a flight attendant reads pre-flight safety procedures. This degree of elaboration closely parallels the low-involvement, high-involvement theory, and the same logic applies.

3. Evaluation of Alternatives

After information is secured and processed, alternative products, services, and outlets are identified as viable options. The consumer evaluates these alternatives, and, if financially and psychologically able, makes a choice. The criteria used in evaluation varies from consumer to consumer just as the needs and information sources vary. One consumer may consider price most important while another puts more weight upon quality or convenience.

The search for alternatives and the methods used in the search are influenced by such factors as: (a) time and money costs; (b) how much information the consumer already has; (c) the amount of the perceived risk if a wrong selection is made; and (d) the consumer’s predisposition toward particular choices as influenced by the attitude of the individual toward choice behavior. That is, there are individuals who find the selection process to be difficult and disturbing. For these people there is a tendency to keep the number of alternatives to a minimum, even if they have not gone through an extensive information search to find that their alternatives appear to be the very best. On the other hand, there are individuals who feel it necessary to collect a long list of alternatives. This tendency can appreciably slow down the decision-making function.

The Evoke, Inept, and Inert Sets of Consumers

The evaluation of alternatives often involves consumers drawing on their evoke, inept, and insert sets to help them in the decision making process. The brands and products that consumers compare – their evoked set – represent the alternatives being considered by consumers during the problem-solving process. Sometimes known as a “consideration” set, the evoked set tends to be small relative to the total number of options available. When a consumer commits significant time to the comparative process and reviews price, warranties, terms and condition of sale and other features it is said that they are involved in extended problem solving. Unlike routine problem solving, extended or extensive problem solving comprises external research and the evaluation of alternatives. Whereas, routine problem solving is low-involvement, inexpensive, and has limited risk if purchased, extended problem solving justifies the additional effort with a high-priced or scarce product, service, or benefit (e.g., the purchase of a car). Likewise, consumers use extensive problem solving for infrequently purchased, expensive, high-risk, or new goods or services.

As opposed to the evoked set, a consumer’s inept set represent those brands that they would not given any consideration too. For a consumer who is shopping around for an electric vehicle, for example, they would not even remotely consider gas-guzzling vehicles like large SUVs. The inert set represents those brands or products a consumer is aware of, but is indifferent to and doesn’t consider them either desirable or relevant enough to be among the evoke set. Marketers have an opportunity here to position their brands appropriately so consumers move these items from their insert to evoke set when evaluation alternatives.

Compensatory & non-compensatory rules (need to complete!)

4. Selection

The selection of an alternative, in many cases, will require additional evaluation. For example, a consumer may select a favorite brand and go to a convenient outlet to make a purchase. Upon arrival at the dealer, the consumer finds that the desired brand is out-of-stock. At this point, additional evaluation is needed to decide whether to wait until the product comes in, accept a substitute, or go to another outlet. The selection and evaluation phases of consumer problem solving are closely related and often run sequentially, with outlet selection influencing product evaluation, or product selection influencing outlet evaluation.

While many consumers would agree that choice is a good thing, there is such a thing as “too much choice” that inhibits the consumer decision making process. Consumer hyperchoice is a term used to describe purchasing situations that involve an excess of choice thus making selection for difficult for consumers. Dr. Sheena Iyengar studies consumer choice and collects data that supports the concept of consumer hyperchoice. In one of her studies, she put out jars of jam in a grocery store for shoppers to sample, with the intention to influence purchases. Dr. Iyengar discovered that when a fewer number of jam samples were provided to shoppers, more purchases were made. But when a large number of jam samples were set out, fewer purchases were made (Green, 2010). As it turns out, “more is less” when it comes to the selection process.

5. The Purchase Decision

After much searching and evaluating, or perhaps very little, consumers at some point have to decide whether they are going to buy. Anything marketers can do to simplify purchasing will be attractive to buyers. In their advertising marketers could suggest the best size for a particular use, or the right wine to drink with a particular food. Sometimes several decision situations can be combined and marketed as one package. For example, travel agents often package travel tours.

To do a better marketing job at this stage of the buying process, a seller needs to know answers to many questions about consumers’ shopping behavior. For instance, how much effort is the consumer willing to spend in shopping for the product? What factors influence when the consumer will actually purchase? Are there any conditions that would prohibit or delay purchase? Providing basic product, price, and location information through labels, advertising, personal selling, and public relations is an obvious starting point. Product sampling, coupons, and rebates may also provide an extra incentive to buy.

Actually determining how a consumer goes through the decision-making process is a difficult research task.

6. Post-Purchase Behaviour

All the behaviour determinants and the steps of the buying process up to this point are operative before or during the time a purchase is made. However, a consumer’s feelings and evaluations after the sale are also significant to a marketer, because they can influence repeat sales and also influence what the customer tells others about the product or brand.

Keeping the customer happy is what marketing is all about. Nevertheless, consumers typically experience some post-purchase anxiety after all but the most routine and inexpensive purchases. This anxiety reflects a phenomenon called cognitive dissonance. According to this theory, people strive for consistency among their cognitions (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values). When there are inconsistencies, dissonance exists, which people will try to eliminate. In some cases, the consumer makes the decision to buy a particular brand already aware of dissonant elements. In other instances, dissonance is aroused by disturbing information that is received after the purchase. The marketer may take specific steps to reduce postpuchase dissonance. Advertising that stresses the many positive attributes or confirms the popularity of the product can be helpful. Providing personal reinforcement has proven effective with big-ticket items such as automobiles and major appliances. Salespeople in these areas may send cards or may even make personal calls in order to reassure customers about their purchase.

Heuristics: Rules of Thumb

Hershey or Nestlé? Coke or Pepsi? Charmin or Bounty? Lil Wayne or Usher? People don’t have the time or desire to ponder endlessly about every purchase. Heuristics are shortcuts or mental “rules of thumb” that we use when we make a decision—especially when we choose among products in a category where we don’t see huge differences or if the outcome isn’t do or die. These rules simplify the decision-making process by making it quick and easy.

Common heuristics include these:

- Save the most money. Many people follow a rule like, “I’ll buy the lowest-priced choice so that I spend the least money right now.” Using this heuristic means you don’t need to look beyond the price tag to make a decision. Wal-Mart built a retailing empire by pleasing shoppers who follow this rule.

- You get what you pay for. Others might use the opposite heuristic, namely, “I’ll buy the more expensive product, because higher price often means better quality.” These consumers are influenced by ads alluding to exclusivity, quality, and uncompromising performance.

- Stick to the tried and true. Brand loyalty also simplifies the decision-making process—we buy the brand that we’ve always bought before, and thus we don’t need to spend more time and effort on the decision. It’s hard to downplay the importance of brand loyalty—and of the role that advertising plays in creating and maintaining it. In a study of the market leaders in thirty product categories, twenty-seven of the brands that were number one in 1930 (such as Ivory Soap and Campbell’s Soup) still were at the top over fifty years later (Stevenson, 1988). Clearly “choose a well-known brand name” is a powerful heuristic.

- National pride. Consumers who select brands because they represent their own culture and country of origin are making decisions based on ethnocentrism. Ethnocentric consumer are said to perceive their own culture or country’s goods as being superior to others’. Ethnocentrism can behave as both a stereotype and a type of heuristic for consumers who are quick to generalize and judge brands based on their country of origin.

- Visual Cues. Consumers also rely on visual cues represented in product and packaging design. Visual cues may include the colour of the brand or product (“I always buy the blue one…”) or deeper beliefs about the brand that they have come to feel are true. Surely brands that say they are, “good for the environment”, or “saving the planet”, or “reducing waste” are honouring such claims! Right? Well, not necessarily. “Green” marketing is often just that – marketing. Making claims of being environmentally friendly as a way to market a product, all the while doing very little (or nothing) to protect and preserve the environment is known as greenwashing.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Boundless Marketing is licensed under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.

Core Concepts of Marketing is published by Open Textbooks for Hong Kong and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 license.

Green, P. (2010, March 17). An Expert on Choice Chooses. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/garden/18choice.html

“Introducing Marketing” by John Burnett is licensed under CC BY 3.0

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“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Principles of Marketing by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License,

Steveston, R.W (1988, October 28). The Brands with Billion-Dollar Names. The New York Times. A1.

35

External and Social Influences

The typical outcome of social influence is that our beliefs and behaviors become more similar to those of others around us. At times, this change occurs in a spontaneous and automatic sense, without any obvious intent of one person to change the other. Perhaps you learned to like jazz or rap music because your roommate was playing a lot of it. You didn’t really want to like the music, and your roommate didn’t force it on you—your preferences changed in passive way. Robert Cialdini and his colleagues (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990) found that college students were more likely to throw litter on the ground when they had just seen another person throw some paper on the ground and were least likely to litter when they had just seen another person pick up and throw paper into a trash can. The researchers interpreted this as a kind of spontaneous conformity—a tendency to follow the behavior of others, often entirely out of our awareness. Even our emotional states become more similar to those we spend more time with (Anderson, Keltner, & John, 2003).

Although mimicry represents the more subtle side, social influence also occurs in a more active and thoughtful sense, for instance, when we actively look to our friends’ opinions to determine appropriate behavior, when a car salesperson attempts to make a sale, or even when a powerful dictator uses physical aggression to force the people in his country to engage in the behaviors that he desires. In these cases, the influence is obvious. We know we are being influenced and we may attempt—sometimes successfully, and sometimes less so—to counteract the pressure.

Influence also sometimes occurs because we believe that other people have valid knowledge about an opinion or issue, and we use that information to help us make good decisions. For example, if you take a flight and land at an unfamiliar airport you may follow the flow of other passengers who disembarked before you. In this case your assumption might be that they know where they are going and that following them will likely lead you to the baggage carousel.

1. Influence, Conformity, & Norms

Informational social influence is the change in opinions or behavior that occurs when we conform to people who we believe have accurate information. We base our beliefs on those presented to us by reporters, scientists, doctors, and lawyers because we believe they have more expertise in certain fields than we have. But we also use our friends and colleagues for information; when we choose a jacket on the basis of our friends’ advice about what looks good on us, we are using informational conformity—we believe that our friends have good judgment about the things that matter to us.

Informational social influence is often the end result of social comparison, the process of comparing our opinions with those of others to gain an accurate appraisal of the validity of an opinion or behavior (Festinger, Schachter, & Back, 1950; Hardin & Higgins, 1996; Turner, 1991). Informational social influence leads to real, long-lasting changes in beliefs. The result of conformity due to informational social influence is normally private acceptance: real change in opinions on the part of the individual. We believe that choosing the jacket was the right thing to do and that the crowd will lead us to the baggage carousel.

In other cases we conform not because we want to have valid knowledge but rather to meet the goal of belonging to and being accepted by a group that we care about (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955). When we start smoking cigarettes or buy shoes that we cannot really afford in order to impress others, we do these things not so much because we think they are the right things to do but rather because we want to be liked.

We fall prey to normative social influence when we express opinions or behave in ways that help us to be accepted or that keep us from being isolated or rejected by others. When we engage in conformity due to normative social influence we conform to social norms—socially accepted beliefs about what we do or should do in particular social contexts (Cialdini, 1993; Sherif, 1936; Sumner, 1906).

Although in some cases conformity may be purely informational or purely normative, in most cases the goals of being accurate and being accepted go hand-in-hand, and therefore informational and normative social influence often occur at the same time. When soldiers obey their commanding officers, they probably do it both because others are doing it (normative conformity) and because they think it is the right thing to do (informational conformity). And when you start working at a new job you may copy the behavior of your new colleagues because you want them to like you as well as because you assume they know how things should be done. It has been argued that the distinction between informational and normative conformity is more apparent than real and that it may not be possible to fully differentiate them (Turner, 1991).

2. Minority Influence & Non-Conformity

The research that we have discussed to this point involves conformity in which the opinions and behaviors of individuals become more similar to the opinions and behaviors of the majority of the people in the group—majority influence. But we do not always blindly conform to the beliefs of the majority. Although more unusual, there are nevertheless cases in which a smaller number of individuals are able to influence the opinions or behaviors of the group—this is minority influence. When minorities are successful at producing influence, they are able to produce strong and lasting attitude change—true private acceptance—rather than simply public compliance. People conform to minorities because they think that they are right, and not because they think it is socially acceptable. Minorities have another, potentially even more important, outcome on the opinions of majority group members—the presence of minority groups can lead majorities to engage in fuller, as well as more divergent, innovative and creative thinking about the topics being discussed (Martin & Hewstone, 2003; Martin, Martin, Smith, & Hewstone, 2007).

Non-conformity occurs when an individual or group of individuals fail to confirm to rules, laws, and social norms. Why would some individuals elect to be non-conformists? The need for uniqueness is a is seen as a trait or temporary motivation resulting from situational triggers. Some individuals exhibit a greater need to feel different from others or from the anonymous majority and sometimes there are situations that create this need to feel unique. One situation that triggers this is when you feel too similar to others making the major position undesirable. In this case, you opt for nonconformity (Imhoff, et al., 2009).

Where can we find examples of non-conformity in marketing?  Well, all around us actually. If I look at my children’s clothes I find batches of (intentionally) miss-matched socks for kids like mine who can’t usually be bothered to find matching ones. When I went shopping for Christmas presents this year I was amazed to find Barbie dolls that didn’t conform to what I grew up with: they were sized and shaped much more naturally and came with kits representing professions and interests far outside of the stereotypes Barbie has represented for decades. In pop media we see examples of non-conformists all the time: Lady Gaga is a perfect example of someone who wears their difference with pride. Morty Silber writes, “[s]he is a talented signer and performer that wears mirrored dresses, bubble outfits, rubber suits and lovingly names her fans her “monsters”. She does things differently than all the other artists and she isn’t afraid to take creative risks or create enemies. She owns her differences and many people are drawn to her radically different non-conformist ways (Silber, 2015).

3. Reference Groups & Opinion Leaders

A reference group helps shape a person’s attitudes and behaviors. Such groups can be either formal or informal. Churches, clubs, schools, notable individuals, and friends can all be reference groups for a particular consumer. Reference groups are characterized as having individuals who are opinion leaders for the group. Opinion leaders are people who influence others. They are not necessarily higher-income or better educated, but perhaps are seen as having greater expertise or knowledge related to some specific topic. For example, a local high school teacher may be an opinion leader for parents in selecting colleges for their children. These people set the trend and others conform to the expressed behavior. If a marketer can identify the opinion leaders for a group in the target market, then effort can be directed toward attracting these individuals. For example, if an ice cream parlor is attempting to attract the local high school trade, opinion leaders at the school may be very important to its success.

The reference group can influence an individual in several ways:

- Role expectations: The role assumed by a person is nothing more than a prescribed way of behaving based on the situation and the person’s position in the situation. Your reference group determines much about how this role is to be performed. As a student, you are expected to behave in a certain basic way under certain conditions.

- Conformity: Conformity is related to our roles in that we modify our behavior in order to coincide with group norms. Norms are behavioral expectations that are considered appropriate regardless of the position we hold.

- Group communications through opinion leaders: We, as consumers, are constantly seeking out the advice of knowledgeable friends or acquaintances who can provide information, give advice, or actually make the decision. For some product categories, there are professional opinion leaders who are quite easy to identify–e.g. auto mechanics, beauticians, stock brokers, and physicians.

- Word-of-mouth influence: Consumers are influenced by the things they hear other people say. This is word-of-mouth (“WOM”) communication. It happens every time you ask someone for a recommendation or an opinion about a product or service, and every time someone volunteers an opinion. Do you know a good dentist? Where should we go for lunch? Have you heard that new song from . . . ? Not surprisingly, research consistently shows that WOM information from people they know is more credible than advertising and marketing messages. Word-of-mouth influence in the school reference group example might include students discussing which Spanish instructor is better, or where to shop for a dress to wear to the homecoming dance.

Aspirational reference groups, on the other hand, are comprised of those individuals who consumers may not know personally but admire because of their popularity and notoriety. These figures hold a sort of power over consumers because others aspire to be like them or live their kind of lifestyles. Famous athletes, musicians, actors, and other kinds of public figures can represent aspirational reference groups.

Reference groups and opinion leaders are essential concepts in digital marketing, where consumers tap into a variety of social networks and online communities. Marketers need to understand which reference groups influence their target segments and who the opinion leaders within these groups are. Those leaders may be bloggers, individuals with many followers who post frequently on various social media, and even people who write lots of online reviews. Then marketing activity can focus on winning over the opinion leaders. If you manage to get the opinion leaders in your segment to “like” your product, “follow” your brand, tweet about your news and publish favorable reviews or comments on their blogs, your work with online reference groups is going well. (You’ll recall from the module on ethics that this was the strategy Microsoft adopted—and misgauged—when it attempted to influence opinion leaders with its gifts of free laptops loaded with its latest operating system.)

The degree of influence a reference group may have on a consumer depends on two factors: proximity and mere exposure. Proximity, or the extent to which people are physically near us, influence the relationships we build. Research has found that we are more likely to develop friendships with people who are nearby, for instance, those who live in the same dorm that we do, and even with people who just happen to sit nearer to us in our classes (Back, Schmukle, & Egloff, 2008).

Proximity has its effect on liking through the principle of mere exposure, which is the tendency to prefer stimuli (including but not limited to people) that we have seen more frequently. In the months leading up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, apparel such as hoodies, toques, and mittens were widely available but hardly seen on the streets. After the torch relay came to Vancouver, the infamous “red mittens” started making an appearance everywhere: eventually after seeing Olympic apparel more and more on TV and around time, consumers were buying anything Olympic that they could get their hands on. Just by seeing the items more often consumers grew to like them enough to buy them.

4. Influencers

There is a lack of consensus about what an influencer is. One writer defines them as “a range of third parties who exercise influence over the organization and its potential customers” (Peck et al., 1999). Another defines an influencer as a “third party who significantly shapes the customer’s purchasing decision but may never be accountable for it” (Brown & Hayes, 2008). According to another, influencers are “well-connected, create an impact, have active minds, and are trendsetters” (Keller & Berry, 2003). And just because an individual has a large number of follows does not necessarily mean they have a large number of influence over those individuals, only that they have a large number of followers (Cha et al. & Berinato, 2010).

Sources of influencers vary. Marketers target easily-identifiable influencers, such as journalists, industry analysts, and high-profile executives. For most business-to-consumer (B2C) purchases, influencers may include people known to the purchaser and the retail staff. In high-value business-to-business (B2B) transactions, influencers may be diverse and might include consultants, government-backed regulators, financiers, and user communities.

Chiara Ferragni at Milan Fashion Week, 2013. Photo source: Georgio Montersino, Wikimedia CommonsOne of the most well-known fashion influencers and bloggers is Chiara Ferragni. As of 2020, Ferragni has 19.3million followers on Instagram. Ferragni started her fashion blog in 2009 and by 2014 her business ventured grossed about $8 million. Her list of public appearances and enterprising activities is extensive: she modeled for Guess and collaborated with Steve Madden; presented at awards shows; walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival; was a guest judge on Project Runway; became a Pantene “global ambassador”; and, became the subject of a Harvard Business School case study! (Wikipedia, n.d.)

5. Family

One of the most important reference groups for an individual is the family. A consumer’s family has a major impact on attitude and behavior. The interaction between partners/spouses and the number and ages of children (if any) in the family can have a significant effect on buying behavior.

One facet in understanding the family’s impact on consumer behavior is identifying the decision maker for the purchase in question. In some cases, one partner/spouse is more dominant than the other, and even more so over the children. And in others a joint decision is made between partners/spouses. The store choice for food and household items may fall to one spouse/partner while purchases that involve a larger sum of money, such as a refrigerator, a joint decision is usually made. The decision on clothing purchases for teenagers may be greatly influenced by the teenagers themselves. Thus, marketers need to identify the key family decision maker for the product or service in question.

If you’re single and working after graduation, you probably spend your money differently than a newly married couple. How do you think spending patterns change when someone has a young child or a teenager or a child in college? Diapers and day care, orthodontia, tuition, electronics—regardless of the age, children affect the spending patterns of families. Once children graduate from college and parents are empty nesters, spending patterns change again.

Another aspect of understanding the impact of the family on buying behavior is the family lifecycle (“FLC”). Most families pass through an orderly sequence of stages. These stages can be defined by a combination of factors such as age, marital status,and parenthood.

Each of these stages is characterized by different buying behaviors. For example, a children’s clothing manufacturer would target its efforts primarily at the Full Nest I families, while an adults-only themed vacation package would target Solitary Survivors. Thus, the family cycle can be helpful in defining market segments and target customers.

Marketing Context

Most market researchers consider a person’s family to be one of the most important influences on their buying behavior. Like it or not, you are more like your parents than you think, at least in terms of your consumption patterns. Many of the things you buy and don’t buy are a result of what your parents bought when you were growing up. Products such as the brand of soap and toothpaste your parents bought and used, and even the “brand” of politics they leaned toward are examples of the products you may favor as an adult.

Companies are interested in which family members have the most influence over certain purchases. Children have a great deal of influence over many household purchases. For example, in 2003 nearly half (47 percent) of nine- to seventeen-year-olds were asked by parents to go online to find out about products or services, compared to 37 percent in 2001. IKEA used this knowledge to design their showrooms. The children’s bedrooms feature fun beds with appealing comforters so children will be prompted to identify and ask for what they want (Mediamark Research, 2003).

6. Brand & Anti-Brand Communities

A brand community is a group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based upon usage or interest in a product. Unlike other kinds of communities, members typically don’t live near each other—except when they may meet for brief periods at organized events or brandfests that community-oriented companies such as Jeep, Saturn, or Harley-Davidson sponsor. These events help owners to “bond” with fellow enthusiasts and strengthen their identification with the product as well as with others they meet who share their passion.

Social psychologists are interested in studying self-awareness because it has such an important influence on behavior. People become more likely to violate acceptable, mainstream social norms when, for example, they put on a Halloween mask or engage in other behaviors that hide their identities. For example, the members of the militant White supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan wear white robes and hats when they meet and when they engage in their racist behavior. And when people are in large crowds, such as in a mass demonstration or a riot, they may become so much a part of the group that they experience deindividuation—the loss of individual self-awareness and individual accountability in groups (Festinger, Pepitone, & Newcomb, 1952; Zimbardo, 1969) and become more attuned to themselves as group members and to the specific social norms of the particular situation (Reicher & Stott, 2011).

“The antithesis of a brand community,” writes Hollenbeck & Zinkhan (2006), “is an anti-brand community. In the same way that brand communities are forming around commonly used brands, anti-brand communities are forming around common aversions toward brands.” Using the Internet as a vehicle for widespread communications, organization, and activism, anti-brand communities are also geographically dispersed. They may oppose specific brands (e.g., Jeep, Marlboro cigarettes), but could also oppose corporate brands (e.g., Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble; Hollenbeck & Zinkhan).

At the time of writing, our world is experiencing the Coronavirus global pandemic: many of us are either living in quarantine, spatial isolation, and most certainly some form of extreme social distancing. Before Covid19 dominated or news stories and conversations, large cities across North America (and presumably in Europe, Asia, and South America) AirB&B, a short-term and “lightly” regulated housing and vacation rental site, had been drawing criticism for its negative impact on housing affordability and diminishing supply. Now, as we all face the necessity of doing our part to “flatten the curve” by staying home (which in some parts of the world has been enforced through law), AirB&B draws even more criticism from society:  homeless rates in most urban centres are high because affordability and supply have pushed individuals and families to live in shelters, cars, or in over-crowded situations. Will there be an appetite for the AirB&B business model post-pandemic? Will we return to how things were, or will the AirB&B anti-brand community influence consumer activism that will lead to stricter regulations and policies governing short-term rentals?

7. Social Class

Some manifestation of social class is present in virtually every society. It’s determined by a combination of factors including family background, wealth, income, education, occupation, power, and prestige. Like culture, it affects consumer behavior by shaping individuals’ perceptions of their needs and wants. People in the same social class tend to have similar attitudes, live in similar neighborhoods, attend the same schools, have similar tastes in fashion, and shop at the same types of stores.

In some nations, the social class system is quite rigid, and people are strongly encouraged to stay within their own class for friendships, marriage, career, and other life decisions. In other countries, such as the United States, social class is more permeable, and people can move between classes more easily based on their circumstances, behaviors, and life choices. Social class mobility is an important value in mainstream American culture and is part of our collective belief system about what makes the nation great.

As defined by Princeton University, “WordNet” (2009), a social class is a group of people who have the same social, economic, or educational status in society. While income helps define social class, the primary variable determining social class is occupation. To some degree, consumers in the same social class exhibit similar purchasing behavior. In many countries, people are expected to marry within their own social class. When asked, people tend to say they are middle class, which is not always correct. Have you ever been surprised to find out that someone you knew who was wealthy drove a beat-up old car or wore old clothes and shoes or that someone who isn’t wealthy owns a Mercedes or other upscale vehicle? While some products may appeal to people in a social class, you can’t assume a person is in a certain social class because they either have or don’t have certain products or brands.

For marketers, social class may be a useful factor to consider in segmentation and targeting. It provides helpful context about how consumers view themselves and their peer groups, their expectations, life experiences, income levels, and the kinds of challenges they face. For example, if a marketer wishes to target efforts toward the upper classes, they should realize that, first, this is a very small proportion of the population, and second, the market offering must be designed to meet their high expectations in terms of quality, service, and atmosphere. Having enough money is a persistent concern for people in the lower, working, and lower middle classes, so price sensitivity and value for the money are important for products targeting these groups.

Marketing Context

Social Classes and Buying Patterns among American consumers

The table below shows seven classes of American consumers along with the types of car brands they might buy. Keep in mind that the U.S. market is just a fraction of the world market. The rise of the middle class in India and China is creating opportunities for many companies to successfully sustain their products. For example, China has begun to overtake the United States as the world’s largest auto market (France 24, 2009).

Class

Type of Car

Definition of Class

Upper-Upper Class

Rolls-Royce

People with inherited wealth and aristocratic names (the Kennedys, Rothschilds, Windsors, etc.)

Lower-Upper Class

Mercedes

Professionals such as CEOs, doctors, and lawyers

Upper-Middle Class

Lexus

College graduates and managers

Middle Class

Toyota

Both white-collar and blue-collar workers

Working Class

Pontiac

Blue-collar workers

Lower but Not the Lowest

Used Vehicle

People who are working but not on welfare

Lowest Class

No vehicle

People on welfare

In a recession when luxury buyers are harder to come by, the makers of upscale brands may want their customer bases to be as large as possible. However, companies don’t want to risk “cheapening” their brands. That’s why, for example, Smart Cars, which are made by BMW, don’t have the BMW label on them. For a time, Tiffany’s sold a cheaper line of silver jewelry to a lot of customers. However, the company later worried that its reputation was being tarnished by the line. Keep in mind that a product’s price is to some extent determined by supply and demand. Luxury brands therefore try to keep the supply of their products in check so their prices remain high. Some companies, such as Johnnie Walker, have managed to capture market share by introducing “lower echelon” brands without damaging their luxury brands. The company’s whiskeys come in bottles with red, green, blue, black, and gold labels. The blue label is the company’s best product. Every blue-label bottle has a serial number and is sold in a silk-lined box, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity (Mediamark Research, 2009).

The Spirit Level, Wilkinson &amp; Pickett, Penguin 2009. [Attribution]

The upper-upper class and lower-upper class consist of people from wealthy families who are locally prominent. They tend to live in large homes furnished with art and antiques. They are the primary market for rare jewelry and designer originals, tending to shop at exclusive retailers. The upper-middle class is made up of professionals, managers, and business owners. They are ambitious, future-oriented people who have succeeded economically and now seek to enhance their quality of life. Material goods often take on major symbolic meaning for this group. They also tend to be very civic-minded and are involved in many worthy causes. The lower-middle class consists of mid- level white-collar workers. These are office workers, teachers, small business people and the like who typically hold strong American values. They are family-oriented, hard-working individuals. The upper-lower class is made up of blue-collar workers such as production line workers and service people. Many have incomes that exceed those of the lower-middle class, but their values are often very different. They tend to adopt a short-run, live-for-the-present philosophy. They are less future-oriented than the middle classes. The lower-lower class consists of unskilled workers with low incomes. They are more concerned with necessities than with status or fulfillment.

Student Feature

In this model students explore the differences between social class using a basketball arena as an analogy. Created by KPU students Ishita Goyal, Joshdeep Dhami, Tian Yu (Terry) Shi, and Campbell Tang.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=438

The connection between language & social class

Photo by Soner Eker on Unsplash

The way we speak can be seen as a marker of who we are and with whom we identify. We talk like the other people around us: where we live, our social class, our region of the country, our ethnicity, and even our gender. These categories are not homogeneous. All New Yorkers do not talk exactly the same; all women do not speak according to stereotypes; all African-Americans do not speak an African-American dialect. No one speaks the same way in all situations and contexts, but there are some consistencies in speaking styles that are associated with many of these categories.

As discussed above, people can indicate social class by the way they speak. The closer to the standard version their dialect is, the more they are seen as a member of a higher social class because the dialect reflects a higher level of education. In American culture, social class is defined primarily by income and net worth, and it is difficult (but not impossible) to acquire wealth without a high level of education. However, the speech of people in the higher social classes also varies with the region of the country where they live, because there is no single standard of American English, especially with respect to pronunciation. An educated Texan will sound different from an educated Bostonian, but they will use the standard version of English from their own region. The lower the social class of a community, the more their language variety will differ from both the standard and from the vernaculars of other regions.

Attribution

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Chapter Wrap Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1494

37

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. A powerful tool for marketers is forming and leveraging brand community. A dedicated, loyal, and passionate consumer base will rally behind their favourite brand and spread their joy and enthusiasm far and wide. (That pays more than any Superbowl ad or guerilla marketing campaign ever will.) Explore Harvard Business Review’s article, “Get Brand Communities Right“.  Discuss how marketers should think about leveraging a brand community as a business strategy and not just for marketing.

2. You don’t need to look much further than the 2016 US Presidential Election to find a perfect example of an anti-brand community. The “Boycott Trump” group provides details on the brands (Democratic/Liberal) consumers should avoid due to their support or allegiance to Trump. (See the Ad Week article and check out the app.) Discuss the features of this anti-brand community and any other similar anti-brand communities you are familiar with.

3. Consumer decision making isn’t nearly as straight forward as, “need/want > buy”. Makign choices in a world of abundance can be an intense and often discouraging process. Watch this short Ted Talk by Dr. Sheena Iyengar about how to make choosing easier. What lessons should marketers take away from Dr. Iyengar’s research and recommendations?

VII

Sustainable Production, Consumption, and Disposal

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about Sustainable Production, Consumption, and Disposal and how marketers and consumers can make decisions that better support people, profit and planet.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Explain the meaning of sustainability and how marketers can engage in sustainable marketing practices minimize social and environmental impacts.

2. Summarize consumer disposal options and impact on sustainability and society.

3. Discuss the manipulative and harmful marketing strategies associated with cause-related marketing and fast fashion.

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Key Terms and Concepts

Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable business
Triple bottom line
Social impact
Environmental impact
Green business
Planned obsolescence
Sustainable disposal
Economic impact
Sustainable marketing
Recycling
Lateral cycling
Upcycling
Conscientious consumerism
Green marketing
Greenwashing
Pinkwashing
Cause-related marketing
Materialsm
Fast fashion

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Sustainable Consumption, Production, and Disposal

In September 2015, all of the United Nations Member States adopted a, “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (UNESCO, n.d.). The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) are, “an urgent call for action by all countries” – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, equality and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and working to preserve our ocean and forests. (UNESCO,n.d.).

The 17 SDGs contain targets for building a better world for people & planet by 2030. Businesses, non-profits, NGO’s, and educational institutions, to new a few, have developed their own frameworks to address the SDGs and meet individual targets.

In 2018, when I began to write and assemble this open textbook on Consumer Behaviour, I wanted to align it with the Sustainable Development Goals. The most obvious SDG that relates to the textbook is SDG #4 Quality Education.

SDG #4 aims to ensure that children and youth have access to free, equitable, and quality education around the world and that adults also have equal access to affordable higher education including university. One way we can make this possible is by removing barriers to learning such as the cost of textbooks. “Open” textbooks are not only free (you didn’t have to pay to use this book for your class) but also free of copyright protection that limits the use of this book. By licensing this book as “CC-BY-NC-SA”, I have enabled other educators around the world to use the book, or whatever parts of it they like, and adapt it for their own purposes free of charge and permission (as long as they attribute me and the other sources of knowledge used to make the book).

The other SDGs that were important for me to address in this book include: SDG #5 Gender Equality; SDG #10 Reduced Inequalities; and SDG #12 Sustainable Consumption & Production.

The ways I address these goals is by emphasizing the relationship between marketing and culture and how these both influence and inform one another. Marketing is a responsibility and if not executed with proper care, it can cause real harm. As cultural gatekeepers, marketers decide what products come to market, what movies get promoted, what advertisements get shown, and what stories get told. There is a marketer behind every ad that depicts a gender stereotype, a racist mascot, a culturally offense message, or a throw-away product.

Marketers are also responsible for cultural erasure by replacing historic and culturally accurate events with stories, narratives, and characters that comfort the dominant culture and reaffirm the sense of superiority. The work of marketers has been to fabricate needs, contribute to inequalities, and prioritize profits. Where has marketing taken us? Marketing’s contribution to our current climate crisis can be measured at the production stage, the purchasing stage, the consumption stage, and the disposal stage: we fail to design sustainability throughout the product life cycle but will deceive consumers with warm and comforting messages of being socially or environmental “friendly”.

While it’s clear what marketing has done in the past, I hope that this book combined with the creativity, talent, and wisdom of students today, marketing can lead us to honest, respectful, and sustainable marketing.

1. Defining a “Sustainable Business”

The concepts of sustainable development and sustainability have since been applied to numerous topics. To understand this definition in terms of business, we will define sustainable business as one that operates in the interest of all current and future stakeholders in a manner that ensures the long-term health and survival of the business and its associated economic, social, and environmental systems. Thus a sustainable business is concerned about the current and future social, environmental, and economic impacts associated with its operations. Ideally, the sustainable business seeks to have a positive social impact, a reduced negative environmental impact, and a positive economic impact.

Businesses practicing sustainability improve their image and reputation, reduce costs, and help boost the local economy, all of which lead to improved business and stronger and healthier local communities for operations. Furthermore, these benefits set one company apart from its competitors and can become a source of competitive advantage.

2. People, Planet, Profit

Ideally, the sustainable business seeks to have a positive social impact, environmental impact, and economic impact. Taken together, a business’s contribution to social justice, environmental quality, and economic prosperity is collectively referred to as the triple bottom line (Elkington, 1997). The triple bottom line (social, environmental, economic) is sometimes referred to as people, planet, profit. Rethinking the business in terms of its triple bottom line impact and performance (social, environmental, and economic) is critical in establishing the foundation for sustainable business. This requires a shift away from thinking of a business only in terms of its financial profit to shareholders. While financial profit is necessary for survival, the sustainable business applies a broader view of the business, its responsibilities, and its performance. Therefore, the sustainability of business is discussed in terms of three interrelated and interconnected dimensions: social, environment, and economic.

3. Social Impact

The first dimension of a sustainable business is its performance relative to societies and social justice, often referred to as social impact. The social impact of a business’s operations is viewed both internally and externally and ensures that the business’s entire operations across the supply chain are socially responsible and ethical.

Internally, the social impact of a business often refers to practices related to employees and employment with the business. The sustainable business’s social impact would include the business’s practices and policies related to:

- working conditions, diversity in hiring, opportunities for advancement for women and minorities, lack of discrimination, and the provision of affordable health care and other necessary benefits;

- wages, breaks, adherence to employment laws, safety, training, and numerous other specific labor practices; and,

- the business’ impact on the local public and social services sector as a result of the business’s activities.

The sustainable business is not only expected to treat its employees in a responsible manner but also ensure that it is engaged with suppliers that share similar values. That is, a sustainable business is also concerned for the labor practices and working conditions of companies within its supply chain to ensure that the supplies and products it purchases were produced responsibly and ethically. Sustainable businesses will make reasonable efforts to ensure they are not purchasing from suppliers engaged in the use of sweatshops, child labor, or other human rights abuses. In some cases, businesses have worked diligently with suppliers to correct these problems, while in other cases businesses have chosen to change suppliers.

When sourcing products from outside an industrialized country, some sustainable businesses will seek Fair Trade products. Fair Trade certification verifies that living wages were paid to producers and that fair and ethical employment practices were used in the creation of products.

In addition to employment practices, social impact refers to respect of others. This entails the respect of individuals and other businesses encountered locally and around the world. A sustainable business will make reasonable efforts to ensure its policies, practices, products, advertising, logo or mascot, and other aspects of the business are not offensive or disrespectful to clients in the global market.

Tips to Increase Your Social Impact

Have you considered where your coffee, chocolate, clothing, or other products come from and the conditions under which they were produced? Social impact is one of the three pillars of a sustainable business, but it can be difficult to define and even more difficult to track and measure.

A sustainable business should consider the social impact of its business operations on employees, those employed throughout the supply chain, and on the community. So how can a business begin to maximize its social impact? Here are some practices that will help create positive social impact:

1. UN Global Compact: Review the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact and abide by them, whether or not the business becomes a signatory.

2. Buy Fair Trade: Seek out opportunities to purchase Fair Trade products for your business. Fair Trade products ensure that those who produced the product in developing countries were paid a fair wage under humane working conditions. You can purchase Fair Trade clothing, handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, flowers, and other products.

3. Company policies and practices: Consider the social impact of your company’s policies and practices on employees (such as health care coverage, educational opportunities, and worklife balance).

4. Philanthropy: Evaluate the impact of your corporate giving programs. Find opportunities that are strategically related to your core business, and focus your philanthropy in those areas, benefiting both the community and the business.

5. Supply chain: Understand the conditions under which the products and supplies you purchase were produced; work with suppliers to achieve transparency throughout the supply chain; check the Web sites of any of the numerous watchdog organizations (e.g., CorpWatch, Sweatshop Watch, International Labor Rights Forum) to find world regions, specific companies, and industries known for human rights abuses that could be occurring within your supply chain.

6. Labor: First, make sure your business follows policies and practices that are fair to its labor force; a good place to start is SA8000 and the International Labour Standards; review and understand the standards, whether or not your business seeks certification; support freedom of association, collective bargaining, and nondiscrimination in your own place of business as well as with suppliers; in purchasing, avoid products that were produced using forced and child labor. Look for certifications from Fair Trade Federation, Fair Labor Association, Social Accountability International, RugMark, Verite, Worker Rights Consortium, or others that have independently evaluated labor conditions.

7. Social responsibility: Check out the 2010 release of the ISO 26000 standards on social responsibility for companies.

Marketing Context

TOMS Shoes is an example of a company making a commitment to maximize its social impact. In 2006, Blake Mycoskie founded TOMS Shoes with the singular mission of improving the lives of children by providing shoes to those in need. Shoes are produced in Argentina and China following fair labor practices while creating minimal environmental impact. Factories are monitored by TOMS and third-party independent auditors. TOMS Shoes are sold online and in retail locations around the world with the promise that for each pair purchased, TOMS will donate a second pair to a child in need in Argentina, South Africa, and other locations around the world. The public is invited to participate in “shoe drops” around the world and to experience firsthand the social contribution of TOMS Shoes.

4. Environmental Impact

The second dimension of a sustainable business is its contribution to preserving environmental quality; commonly referred to as environmental impact. Numerous examples exist of companies reducing environmental costs while simultaneously improving company performance and profitability. The environmental impact of a business’s operations is viewed both internally and externally. The business that focuses exclusively on its environmental impact, rather than focusing on the triple bottom line emphasis of a sustainable business, is referred to as a green business.

Marketing Context

Operating against the principles of business sustainability is planned obsolescence: a deliberate effort by companies to make their products obsolete, or unusable, after a period of time. The goal is to improve a company’s sales by reducing the amount of time between the repeat purchases consumers make of products. When a software developer introduces a new version of product, it is usually designed to be incompatible with older versions of it. For example, not all the formatting features are the same in Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. Sometimes documents do not translate properly when opened in the newer version. Consequently, you will be more inclined to upgrade to the new version so you can open all Word documents you receive.

You’re not alone if you feel like just about every purchase you make has planned obsolescence behind it. From appliances, to vehicles, to light bulbs, most consumer products fail to be designed for longevity. Sustainable production and consumption does little if it doesn’t also include sustainable disposal.

There was a time when neither manufacturers nor consumers thought much about how products got disposed of, so long as people bought them. But that’s changed. How products are being disposed of is becoming extremely important to consumers and society in general. Computers and batteries, which leech chemicals into landfills, are a huge problem. Consumers don’t want to degrade the environment if they don’t have to, and companies are becoming more aware of this fact.

Take for example Crystal Light, a water-based beverage that’s sold in grocery stores. You can buy it in a bottle. However, many people buy a concentrated form of it, put it in reusable pitchers or bottles, and add water. That way, they don’t have to buy and dispose of plastic bottle after plastic bottle, damaging the environment in the process. Windex has done something similar with its window cleaner. Instead of buying new bottles of it all the time, you can purchase a concentrate and add water. You have probably noticed that most grocery stores now sell cloth bags consumers can reuse instead of continually using and discarding of new plastic or paper bags.

Externally, the sustainable business also considers the environmental impact of suppliers in terms of services and products as well as transportation of goods. A sustainable business will seek out suppliers of services and products that are environmentally friendly. This results in the purchase of products that produce less waste, are less toxic, and generated the least amount of pollution in manufacturing and transportation. Sustainable businesses opt for local suppliers, when possible, in order to reduce the environmental impact caused through the transportation of goods.

5. Economic Impact

The third dimension of a sustainable business is economic impact. The economic impact of a business’s operations is viewed internally and externally. The sustainable business will consider its own economic impact on the communities in which it operates, such as job creation, impact on local wages, impact on real estate in close proximity to the business, tax flows, investment in disadvantaged areas, impact on public works and social services systems, and other indicators that the business has positively contributed to local economic growth while maintaining corporate profitability. Economic impact does not refer to the profitability of the business as indicated on the financial statements, although profitability is critical for survival. The sustainable business will also look externally at suppliers to ensure they are engaged across the supply chain with other companies that share similar values and practices. It is assumed that the sustainable business’s contribution to a strong and healthy local economy will lead to a strong and healthy future for the business.

6. Sustainable Marketing

Consumers can take it upon themselves to evaluate sustainability before, during, and after the purchasing process. Marketers can apply principles of sustainable production and consumption into product and service design; packaging; branding; and, pricing, as well as include sustainable options for end-of-life disposal.

- Product design: design for recycling, flexibility, and reuse not only reduces environmental impact but can also create cost efficiencies for the organization.

- Service design: Sustainability can also be applied to service design. Businesses providing services such as hospitals, hotels, and restaurants can focus on issues such as minimizing nonrenewable energy consumption, protecting water sources, enhancing the indoor air quality for the consumer, and using environmentally preferable products in providing those services.

- Packaging design: A sustainable business also increases efforts to reduce waste and environmental impact through product packaging. Reducing the size of the package or redesigning the shape may result in increased efficiencies in storage and transportation. Eliminating plastic wrap or liners from products will reduce the amount of waste transferred to the landfill. Furthermore, biodegradable, recyclable, and reusable materials for packaging will significantly reduce the long-term environmental impact of packaging. Lastly, the packaging material itself may be altered.

- A company will develop a brand in order to give its company and its products an identity. Branding builds an emotional bond or connection with the consumer, and with that bond an organization can obtain loyalty from the consumer. Sufficient consideration should be given to determine a brand name or symbol that identifies the brand with the company’s sustainability philosophy and that captures the essence of the sustainable properties of the product. A sustainable business will be represented by a brand whose identity, logo or mascot, tagline, and other branding features are not offensive or disrespectful to consumers.

- When considering pricing strategies, companies need to be committed to ensuring that its sustainable products perform beyond or at least as good as those products that do not make sustainability claims.

The demand for environmentally friendly products is inelastic, for the most part, meaning that a change in the price has little or no effect on the quantity that consumers are willing to buy. Consumers have generally been willing to pay a slight green premium, or higher price, for environmentally friendly products. Through premium pricing, sustainable businesses can continue to invest in innovations and development of sustainable processes. However, premium pricing does not have to be the case. When the sustainable business is successful in reducing costs from these efficiencies, it will have more flexibility in pricing policies.

- When it comes to a product’s end-of-life, what disposal options are available to consumers who seek to reduce carbon emissions and eliminate waste from landfills? The three most common disposal options that do the least amount of harm are recycle, lateral cycle, and upcycle.

While most consumers are familiar with recycling – a process of turning waste into another form of new and reusable materials, many are not as familiar with the terms lateral cycling and upcycling.

Lateral cycling occurs when we sell, donate, or give away products to others who may use the products for the same intended purpose or for another purpose entirely. Examples of lateral cycling include disposing our products through garage sales; second-hand stores; online buy & sell communities such as Facebook Market, Craig’s List, eBay, Kijiji, etc. Lateral cycling can also occur when consumers exchange product ownership and isn’t exclusive to selling used products for profit.

In recent years the term upcycling has been used to describe when products get repurposed – almost like having a new or “second life”. The online community and website, “Upcycle That”, defines upcycling as, “taking something that’s considered waste and re-purposing it. The upcycled item often becomes more functional or beautiful than what it previously was” (About Upcycling, n.d.).  Thanks to the upcycling process, some items even increase their value and fetch a higher price in the market.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

A Background on Sustainability”, section 1.1 from the book An Introduction to Sustainable Business (v. 1.0) is licensed under a Creative Commonsby-nc-sa 3.0 license.

About Upcycling (n.d.). Upcycle That. Retrieved from https://www.upcyclethat.com/about-upcycling/

Communications Materials, United Nations Sustainable Development (n.d.). United Nations. [SDG Poster and Icons] Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/news/communications-material/

Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Oxford: Capstone.

Principles of Marketing by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Sustainable Development Goals…Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform (n.d.). UNESCO. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

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Conscientious Consumption

In the early twenty-first century, we are witnessing a profound shift in priorities as people clamor for products and services that are good for their bodies, good for their community, and good for the earth. Some analysts call this new value conscientious consumerism. They estimate the U.S. market for body-friendly and earth-friendly products at more than $200 billion.

Just how widespread is conscientious consumerism? In a 2007 survey, eight in ten consumers said they believe it’s important to buy green products and that they’ll pay more to do so. Corporate responsibility is now one of the primary attributes shoppers look for when they decide among competing brands. Consumer research strongly suggests that this awareness often starts with personal health concerns and then radiates outward to embrace the community and the environment. Predictably, advertisers have been quick to jump on the green bandwagon. Green marketing, which emphasizes how products and services are environmentally responsible, is red hot.

1. Greenwashing & Pinkwashing

The advertising industry has the potential to radically change people’s attitudes and (more importantly) their behaviors as we face the real consequences of environmental contamination. Unfortunately, there’s also the very real potential that it will “poison the well” as it jumps onto the bandwagon a bit too energetically. It’s almost impossible to find an ad for virtually any kind of product, service, or company that doesn’t tout its environmental credentials, whether the focus of the ad is a detergent, a garment, a commercial airplane, or even an oil company. As a result, complaints about greenwashing, or misleading consumers about a product’s environmental benefits, are skyrocketing. One egregious example is an ad for a gas-guzzling Japanese sport utility vehicle that bills the car as having been “conceived and developed in the homeland of the Kyoto accords,” the international emissions-reduction agreement.

Photo by Sarah Cervantes on Unsplash

2. The Problems with Cause Marketing

Born from the concept of greenwashing came “pinkwashing” – a concept that describes the act of making misleading claims to win customers over. Pinkwashing identifies brands that use the ‘Pink Ribbon’ – a symbol of breast cancer awareness – to raise funds for breast cancer research. A number of brands, including car manufacturers, dairy companies, and personal hygiene and cosmetics makers, adorn their products with pink ribbons all the while these products are known to include carcinogens that cause (breast) cancer. At the very least the alignment of these brands to the breast cancer cause is misleading; but of greater concern is that this particular cause-related marketing plays on consumers heuristics to simply choose what might seem like the “best”, or the “right” product because it supports an important cause.

Student Op-Ed

Pinkwashing and the Pink Ribbon Symbol

The pink ribbon is one of the most widely recognized symbols in the United States and is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness (Pool, 2011). Marketers are now pinkwashing and using the pink ribbon symbol to influence consumer decisions and increase sales. Pinkwashing is when a company is supporting the cause of breast cancer or promoting a pink ribbon product while producing, manufacturing, or selling products linked to the disease (Pool, 2011). A variety of cause- related marketers are using breast cancer to guilt consumers into buying products that are not beneficial to them (Pool, 2011). Cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving a mutually beneficial collaboration between a corporation and a non-profit company (Solomon, 2014). Many consumers believe that purchasing a product with a Pink Ribbon symbol will express moral support for women with breast cancer when in most cases this is untrue (Pool, 2011).

The study of compensatory decisions rules shows that when all things are equal, the company that is donating to a charity or has a good cause behind it, will likely be the product purchased (Solomon, 2014). The brand Yoplait has put a pink ribbon on the company’s product and changed the product colour to pink during October to increase the likelihood of consumers purchasing the product (Pool, 2011). Yoplait is a pinkwasher because certain products from the company are made with milk from cows that have been injected with a synthetic hormone referred to as rBGH which has been known to have many health concerns, including cancer (Pool, 2011). Despite the Yoplait company making a small ten-cent donation to a breast cancer organization for every pink lid each consumer mails back to the company, the amount does not add up to be a lot of money (Pool, 2011). Yoplait is pinkwashing because the company is marketing that they support the cause of breast cancer while selling products that may lead to cancer.

Pinkwashing is commonly performed by marketers throughout the world to increase exposure (Pool, 2011). A Fuse Tea sales representative stated that Fuse Tea changed the colour of its bottle to pink during breast cancer awareness month and handed out their new product to runners who were supporting breast cancer (Pool, 2011). This action of making the bottle pink was to draw exposure to the product as they did not donate any of the proceeds to breast cancer. In addition, the Fused Tea company is a pinkwasher because their drink product is filled with artificial sugars which have been known to lead to cancer (Pool, 2011). It is hypocritical for Fuse Tea to make their product pink in attempt to increase exposure to breast cancer supporters because their product is known to be unhealthy (Pool, 2011).

I recently became aware that, “the National Cancer Institute’s annual budget is $1.8 billion, but only 5 percent goes towards cancer prevention” (Pool, 2011). I am shocked by this statement and feel that companies are using cause related marketing as an excuse to make more money. In addition, I don’t understand what my valuable money is going towards when donating to a company. I have noticed that backlash by consumers has raised awareness of the misuse of the pink ribbon and cause- related marketing, but I am still shocked by how easily consumers are manipulated by certain companies. Thankfully, there is an amazing ‘Think Before You Pink’ campaign that demands transparency and accountability on the part of companies that align themselves with breast cancer. In conclusion, I have learned to now be more aware of products and their ingredients along with question what companies are donating my money towards.

By Tanikka Abraham

The willful blindness that guides corporations and global conglomerates in cause related marketing ventures can also be paralleled with what we are witnessing around climate change. The wealthiest and most powerful companies and nations are contributing to the global demise of women’s’ health and climate degregation. KPU student Julie Hartman explores this connection in her op-ed below.

Student Op-Ed

(Pink-)Washing Away the Cause: Manipulating consumers through cause-related marketing campaigns

As consumers become more concerned with making smarter and more responsible purchasing decisions, companies become more concerned with improving their Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) as a means to generate customer sales (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015, p. 470). One way in which companies can improve their CSR efforts  is through cause-related marketing which is a “type of marketing that involves a collaboration between a for profit business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit” (Solomon et al., p. 470). Sometimes companies pursue cause-related marketing campaigns through unethical means, often negatively impacting the very consumer they are supposedly attempting to please; such is the case with “pink-washing” (Pool, Kearns, & Guerin, 2011) a concept we’ll examine more closely here.

The pink ribbon that is the symbol of breast cancer may look innocent, but it is actually rooted in manipulation. Colour “is a powerful marketing tool that significantly influences consumer purchases, so much so that it accounts for 85% of the reason why someone decides to purchase a product” (Kumar, 2017). Feelings and phrases associated with specific colours subconsciously influence consumer decision making (Kumar, 2017). Pink evokes feelings of universal love, friendship, and harmony; and is associated with phrases such as “tickled pink” which means “to feel happy or content”, and “in the pink” which means “to be healthy” (Bourn, 2010). Combined, these associations give consumers a warm fuzzy feeling inside, making it the perfect colour to use when developing a cause-related marketing campaign. Plaster it all over products that claim to “support breast cancer” and consumers are sure to believe the pink ribbon narrative (Pool et al., 2011).

Pink-washing, as described by Breast Cancer Action who coined the term, is when companies or organizations claim to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product while producing products that are linked to the disease (Breast Cancer Action, n.d.). While awareness campaigns, such as Komen for the Cure, are “trendy”, they don’t do much to make a positive impact (Pool et al., 2011) They stress the importance of self-exams and early detection knowing that it doesn’t work for everyone. These campaigns often claim they are trying to “find a cure” but deflect when asked why they don’t try to find the cause of breast cancer itself.Focusing on the cause – or prevention – of this disease stands in direct opposition to those who not only profit off breast cancer, but do so while continuing to produce products containing known carcinogens (Pool et al., 2011).

Globalization has led to the spread of breast cancer campaigns into new regions, with their carcinogenic products in tow – resulting in increased risks of breast cancer in countries where it previously had not been a major health risk (Pool et al., 2011). It can be argued that this cause-related marketing campaign does more harm than good, in relation to the cause that it promotes.

When I reflect on pink-washing through the eye of an environmentalist I can see many similarities between it and “greenwashing”. The shared idea is that both seek to convince consumers that their organizations are supporting causes while simultaneously causing serious harm behind the scenes. Less apparent, however, is the fact that both types of campaigns have a highly influential global presence.

Although breast cancer and climate change may be issues invisible to some, they still negatively impact a large global population. This invisibility is perhaps the biggest hurdle in fighting climate change. Wealthy, developed  countries have a significantly greater carbon footprint than those of developing nations who will experience the most devastating impacts of climate change. Because those living in developed countries cannot see the impact first-hand and the concept of the Earth dying feels so abstract and scary to them, it is easier to ignore the problem than to approach it head on. I find this to parallel consumers of pink ribbon products in the marketplace: they do so in good faith yet continue to be blissfully unaware of the foul practices of the companies involved. They are unable to see the bigger picture because they are blinded by the happy smiling faces of women featured in the campaigns. With all the pink and the joy, it’s almost an abstract concept to imagine breast cancer being a deadly disease. And so, we remain detached from those who face the daily reality of breast cancer unless we know someone living with it, experience it ourselves, or take it upon ourselves to dig deeper than what is portrayed in marketing and the media.

By Julie Hartman

To prevent a greenwash backlash, it’s imperative for advertisers to act responsibly. There’s nothing wrong with trumpeting the environmental value of your product—if the claims are accurate and specific. Or you can suggest alternative methods to use your product that will minimize its negative impact—for example, Procter & Gamble runs an ad campaign in the United Kingdom that urges consumers of its laundry detergents to wash their clothing at lower temperatures (Vranica, 2008; Pfanner, 2008).

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) provides guidelines to evaluate green advertising claims; for example, it suggests that “if a label says ‘recycled,’ check how much of the product or package is recycled. The fact is that unless the product or package contains 100 percent recycled materials, the label must tell you how much is recycled” (1999).

3. Materialism and the Consumer

Will money make you happy? A certain level of income is needed to meet our needs, and very poor people are frequently dissatisfied with life (Diener & Seligman, 2004). However, having more and more money has diminishing returns—higher and higher incomes make less and less difference to happiness. Wealthy nations tend to have higher average life satisfaction than poor nations, but the United States has not experienced a rise in life satisfaction over the past decades, even as income has doubled. The goal is to find a level of income that you can live with and earn. Don’t let your aspirations continue to rise so that you always feel poor, no matter how much money you have. Research shows that materialistic people often tend to be less happy, and putting your emphasis on relationships and other areas of life besides just money is a wise strategy. Money can help life satisfaction, but when too many other valuable things are sacrificed to earn a lot of money—such as relationships or taking a less enjoyable job—the pursuit of money can harm happiness.

It is important to always keep in mind that high materialism seems to lower life satisfaction—valuing money over other things such as relationships can make us dissatisfied. When people think money is more important than everything else, they seem to have a harder time being happy. And unless they make a great deal of money, they are not on average as happy as others. Perhaps in seeking money they sacrifice other important things too much, such as relationships, spirituality, or following their interests. Or it may be that materialists just can never get enough money to fulfill their dreams—they always want more.

Student Op-Ed

The Quick Fix

In a society where materialism corrupts peoples’ lives, “Minimalism: A documentary About the Important Things” (D’Avella, 2015), aims to show how your life can be better with less. People have become so accustomed to feeling they need these material items, that they don’t think twice about the purchase as they assume happiness is a given. With this mindset, consumers are wired to be dissatisfied with what they have. To be able to transition to a minimalist life and live happier and financially free, consumers must eradicate their compulsive and addictive consumption behaviors.

When you think of addiction, drugs, alcohol or gambling most likely come to mind. However, addiction can manifest itself where you may least expect it. “Consumer addiction is a physiological dependency on products or servics” (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015). Over the course of the last decade, Amazon has quickly become one of the most addictive sources of consumer goods. More than 71% of Americans are Prime members and more than 46% of them buy something once a week (Moore, 2019). Addiction is defined as “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity.”, and yet drug, alcohol and other substance addictions are viewed with such negativity, whereas consumption addiction (shopaholics) are met with a light and playful title. Shopaholics have all the same symptoms of any other addict, including withdrawal. Addicted consumers do all this shopping to get that “quick fix” to feed the urge. Consumers must convince themselves that they need every item they buy because they will never admit they have a problem. Because of addictive consumption, many consumers are living beyond their means and it is truly ruining their lives. To take back control of their lives, the best thing consumers can do is attempt to convert to a minimalistic life and free themselves from the virus that is, consumer addiction.

On the other side of things, compulsive addiction also ruins many households. “Compulsive consumption refers to repetitive shopping, often excessive, done as an antidote to tension, anxiety, depression or boredom.” (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015) There are many reasons why people experience. Ultimately, the feeling of depression and anxiety were only buried below the surface. (D’Avella, 2015) Buying exactly what you need, and nothing more, not only saves you money, but helps those feelings as well. “Stripping your belongings down to the bare minimum feels like you are taking a heavily weighted blanket off of your shoulders” (D’Avella, 2015).

I believe that we, as a society, need to absorb certain aspects of the minimalist lifestyle. Does that mean we should all live in tiny houses and have one outfit? No, it does not. We should attempt to eradicate the negative behaviors associated with our addictive and compulsive consumption to cleanse ourselves. Adopting the minimalist lifestyle will not only help our mental health, but it will financially free you from the strain of consumption (Solomon, White, & Dahl, 2015)

By Aidan Maurice Richard

4. Fast Fashion and the Consumer

In recent years there has been much criticism of both the business model and practices of those engaged in fast fashion. From shopping malls, to fashion magazines, to catalogs, to online advertisements, consumers are exposed to countless opportunities to spend money on fashionable apparel that exists within a short time span (Yang et al., 2017). The fast fashion consumer buying trend encourages  rampant consumerism because designs are usually based on the most recent fashion trends presented in Fashion Week magazine twice a year (Yang et al., 2017; Hines & Bruce, 2007; Muran, 2007). Because the supply chain – from catwalk to retailer – is well optimized in particular for the design and manufacturing process of clothing collections, consumers are able to purchase the latest trends at a fraction of the cost of original design clothing (Yang et al., 2017; Hines, 2010; Pfeiffer, 2007).

The downside, of course, is that the proliferation of fast fashion combined with lower consumer prices means both purchasing and disposing are happening as a faster pace as well (Yang et al., 2017). Therefore, as Yang et al., discuss, fast fashion has also become associated with “disposable fashion” (Hines, 2007). Not only is fast fashion “leading the way in actual disposable clothing”, Yang et al. write, “it is particularly worrisome for sustainable development, because it creates a demand for cheap clothing and then, ultimately produces and constantly churns out a massive amount of textile waste, accelerating carbon emissions and global warming” (The Atlantic, 2014).

Student Feature

Explore some of the most significant events in history that have shaped the “fast fashion” culture prevalent in today’s society. Created by KPU students Prabhdeep Kaur, Leo Ng, Carla Flores, and Katie Stutheit.

A Knight Lab element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=446

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

Abraham, T. (2019). Pinkwashing and the Pink Ribbon Symbol. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

D’Avella, M. (Director). (2015). Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things [Motion Picture]

Breast Cancer Action. (n.d.). 4 Questions Before You Buy Pink. Retrieved from https://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/resources/before-you-buy/

Bourn, J. (2010, November 15). Color Meaning: Meaning of The Color Pink. Retrieved from https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-pink/

Diener, E. (2020). Happiness: the science of subjective well-being. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/qnw7g32t

Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 1–31.

Hartman, J. (2019). (Pink-)Washing Away the Cause: Manipulating consumers through cause-related marketing campaigns. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Hines, T. and Bruce, M. (2007). Fashion Marketing—Contemporary Issues, 2nd ed.; Routledge: London, UK. [Google Scholar]

Hines, T. (2010). Trends in textile global supply chains. Textiles,37, 18–20. [Google Scholar]

Hines, T. (2007). Globalization: Global markets and global supplies. In Fashion Marketing Contemporary Issues, 2nd ed.; Hines, T., Bruce, M., Eds.; Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford, UK. [Google Scholar]

Kumar, J. S. (2017). The Psychology of Colour Influences Consumers’ Buying Behaviour – A Diagnostic Study. Ushus-Journal of Business Management, 16(4), 1-13. doi: 10.12725

“Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time” by Saylor Academy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Moore, T. (2019, January). The Unsettling Psychology of an Amazon Prime Addiction. Retrieved from MelMagazine: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/amazon-prime-addiction

Muran, L. (2007. Profile of H&M: A pioneer of fast fashion. In Textile Outlook International; Anson, R., Ed.; Textiles Intelligence Ltd.: Wilmslow, UK.; pp. 11–36. [Google Scholar]

Pfanner, E. (2008, July 18). Cooling Off on Dubious Eco-Friendly Claims. New York Times Online. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/business/media/18adco.html? scp=1&sq=Cooling%20Off%20on%20Dubious%20Eco-Friendly%20Claims&st=cse

Pfeifer, M.O. (2007). Fast and Furious. Lat. Trade, 15, 14. [Google Scholar]

Pool, L. (Director), Kearns, P., Guerin, N. (Writers), & Din, R. (Producer). (2011). Pink Ribbons, Inc. [Motion Picture]. Canada. Retrieved From: www-nfb.ca.ezproxy.kpu.ca:2443/film/pink_ribbons_inc/

Richard, A.M. (2019). The Quick Fix. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Solomon, M., White, K. & Dahl, D.W. (7th Edition) (2017). Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc.

Vranica, S. (2008, January 2). Ad Houses Will Need to Be More Nimble: Clients Are Demanding More and Better Use of Consumer Data, Web. Wall Street Journal, B3.

Sorting Out ‘Green’ Advertising Claims. (1999, April). Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/general/gen02.shtm

Where Does Discarded Clothing Go? (2014, July 18). The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/where-does-discarded-clothing-go/374613/

Yang, S., Yiping S., and Tong, S. (2017, July 19). Sustainable retailing in the Fashion Industry: A Systemic Literature Review. Sustainability, 9(7), 1266. [Special Issue] Sustainability Issues in the Textile and Apparel Supply Chains. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/7/1266/htm

41

Chapter Wrap Up

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1660

42

Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. Are you familiar with each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? Get to know them better in this short video introducing the SDGs.

2. As consumers we are often faced with the question (or dilemma) of what to do with our “stuff” when we’re done with it. Throw it away? Add to the landfills in and around our cities? Donate? Re purpose? One popular form of disposal is called “lateral cycling”. Explore lateral cycling as a marketing concept and a lifestyle related to anti-consumerist movements.

3. What do upcycling and Habitat for Humanity have in common? Explore the Habitat for Humanity website to learn more about how upcycling factors into their building and design practices.

4. How does “Upcycle That” turn peoples’ trash into treasures? How can disposable consumer products be repositioned into luxury purchases? Learn more about Upcycle That’s community and marketplace.

5. Watch this video related to lateral cycling that shows how one woman created a movement by re-purposing children’s’ dolls. What is marketing’s responsibility when it comes to disposal options and designing for longevity?

6. What does it say about our consumption habits that in Canada alone, the food waste problem costs us $31 billion? We buy and we waste. We buy more, and then waste more. Why is there such a need for abundance, and can we change our behaviours and attitudes towards food waste to help reduce the negative impacts it has on climate change? This is by far one of the most concerning issues around food waste. Watch this video where John Oliver tackles the food waste problem in the US. As a consumer, which aspects of the food waste problem troubles you the most? What changes would you like to see in…yourself, society, and government to help address the problems of food waste? How are marketers responsible for contributing to the problem and what can they do to eliminate it?

7. What are the consequences of advertising to children? Consider food marketing: what impact does advertising junk food have on children? What about toys? What standards and expectations do these create in children and how can advertising to children evolve into excessive consumption? Learn more about Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act. Do you think banning advertisements to children could curb excessive consumption in our society? What role can legislation play in changing attitudes and behaviours in society?

8. See Green America’s 9 Cool Ways to Avoid Sweatshops. Discuss how a marketing campaign could be devised to persuade more corporations to actively avoid the use of sweatshops for production.

9. Perhaps one of the most unique campaigns of 2016 came from Patagonia, a well-known brand committed to sustainability, who actually encouraged consumers to NOT purchase their products. Imagine that! This Drum article discusses the campaign and Patagonia’s embrace of anti-consumerism with the intent to inspire more conscious consumption. Discuss Patagonia’s anti-consumerism: can the brand attract more consumers by encouraging them to “buy less”? Will Patagonia inspire consumers to engage in more “conscious consumption”?

VIII

Culture & Sub-Cultures

Learning Objectives

In this section we will learn about the relationship between Culture, Subcultures, and marketing and ways in which cultural concepts influence consumption.

Upon completing this section students should:

1. Define the terms “culture” and “subculture”.

2. Identify the key characteristics of culture and discuss ways in which it is learned and shared.

3. Explain the meaning of cultural appropriation and provide examples of how marketers have appropriated cultural aspects to pursue marketing goals.

4. Explain the complexities around categorizing gender and ethnic subcultures and how marketers can avoid perpetuating stereotypes in marketing activities.

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Key Terms and Concepts

Culture
Cultural Norms
Situational Identity
Enculturation
Cultural Scripts
Individualism
Collectivism
Rituals
Myths
Cultural Relativism
Storytelling
Blatant Biases
Social Dominance Orientation
Automatic/Implicit Bias
Ambiguous Bias
Social Identity Theory
Averse Racism
Race
Ethnicity
Ethnic Group
Symbolic Ethnicity
Acculturate
Assimilation
Multiculturalism
White Privilege
Social Class
Gender
Enculturation
Hetereonormaty
Transgender
Cisgender

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Culture Explained

Culture is the sum of learned beliefs, values, and customs that regulate the behavior of members of a particular society. Beliefs and values are guides of behavior and customs are acceptable ways of behaving. A belief is an opinion that reflects a person’s particular knowledge and assessment of an issue. Values are general statements that guide behavior and influence beliefs and attitudes. A value system helps people choose between alternatives in everyday life. Customs are overt modes of behavior that constitute culturally approved ways of behaving in specific situations. Customs vary among countries, regions, and even families. In North America, it is a custom to tip on a restaurant bill – usually 15-20% of the bill. In Europe, less of a tip is expected and in some cases, none at all.

At the time of writing, the Coronavirus and Covid19 has spread worldwide causing a global pandemic. Social distancing – aka physical distancing – measures are in place in nearly every community, city, and country around the world. While we physically distance ourselves from friends, family, neighbours, and strangers on the street and in grocery stores, we have to wonder how certain customs will change as a result of the pandemic? Infectious disease experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Direct of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States, say we should never return to the custom of “shaking hands” with others. In an interview for The Journal (2020), Fauci said, “[w]hen you gradually come back, you don’t jump into it with both feet. You say, what are the things you could still do and still approach normal? One of them is absolute compulsive hand washing. The other is you don’t ever shake anybody’s hands.”

Dominant cultural values are referred to as core values; they tend to affect and reflect the core character of a particular society. Core values are slow and difficult to change. Consequently, marketing communication strategies must accurately portray and reflect these values.

It is worth noting that for marketers anywhere in the world, it is essential to develop a strong understanding of the local culture and its accompanying beliefs, values, and customs. Culture is how people make sense of their society, its institutions, and social order. Culture frames how and what people communicate, how they express what is proper and improper, what is desirable and detestable. Without an understanding of culture, marketers are not really even speaking the right language to the consumers they want to target. Even if the words, grammar, and pronunciation are correct, the meaning will be off.

Just as culture can be seen in dress and food, it can also be seen in morality, identity, and gender roles. People from around the world differ in their views of premarital sex, religious tolerance, respect for elders, and even the importance they place on having fun. Similarly, many behaviors that may seem innate are actually products of culture. Approaches to punishment, for example, often depend on cultural norms for their effectiveness. In the United States, people who ride public transportation without buying a ticket face the possibility of being fined. By contrast, in some other societies, people caught dodging the fare are socially shamed by having their photos posted publicly. The reason this campaign of “name and shame” might work in one society but not in another is that members of different cultures differ in how comfortable they are with being singled out for attention. This strategy is less effective for people who are not as sensitive to the threat of public shaming.

1. Exploring Culture

Like the words “happiness” and “intelligence,” the word “culture” can be tricky to define. Culture is a word that suggests social patterns of shared meaning. In essence, it is a collective understanding of the way the world works, shared by members of a group and passed down from one generation to the next. For example, members of the Yanomamö tribe, in South America, share a cultural understanding of the world that includes the idea that there are four parallel levels to reality that include an abandoned level, and earthly level and heavenly and hell-like levels. Similarly, members of surfing culture understand their athletic pastime as being worthwhile and governed by formal rules of etiquette known only to insiders.

There are several features of culture that are central to understanding the uniqueness and diversity of the human mind:

1. Versatility: Culture can change and adapt. Someone from the state of Orissa, in India, for example, may have multiple identities. She might see herself as Oriya when at home and speaking her native language. At other times, such as during the national cricket match against Pakistan, she might consider herself Indian. This is known as situational identity.

2. Sharing: Culture is the product of people sharing with one another. Humans cooperate and share knowledge and skills with other members of their networks. The ways they share, and the content of what they share, helps make up culture. Older adults, for instance, remember a time when long-distance friendships were maintained through letters that arrived in the mail every few months. Contemporary youth culture accomplishes the same goal through the use of instant text messages on smart phones.

3. Accumulation: Cultural knowledge is cumulative. That is, information is “stored.” This means that a culture’s collective learning grows across generations. We understand more about the world today than we did 200 years ago, but that doesn’t mean the culture from long ago has been erased by the new. For instance, members of the Haida culture—a First Nations people in British Columbia, Canada—profit from both ancient and modern experiences. They might employ traditional fishing practices and wisdom stories while also using modern technologies and services.

4. Patterns: There are systematic and predictable ways of behavior or thinking across members of a culture. Patterns emerge from adapting, sharing, and storing cultural information. Patterns can be both similar and different across cultures. For example, in both Canada and India it is considered polite to bring a small gift to a host’s home. In Canada, it is more common to bring a bottle of wine and for the gift to be opened right away. In India, by contrast, it is more common to bring sweets, and often the gift is set aside to be opened later.

Understanding the changing nature of culture is the first step toward appreciating how it helps people. The concept of cultural intelligence is the ability to understand why members of other cultures act in the ways they do. Rather than dismissing foreign behaviors as weird, inferior, or immoral, people high in cultural intelligence can appreciate differences even if they do not necessarily share another culture’s views or adopt its ways of doing things.

2. Culture’s Origins

It’s important to understand that culture is learned. People aren’t born using chopsticks or being good at soccer simply because they have a genetic predisposition for it. They learn to excel at these activities because they are born in countries like Argentina, where playing soccer is an important part of daily life, or in countries like Taiwan, where chopsticks are the primary eating utensils. So, how are such cultural behaviors learned? It turns out that cultural skills and knowledge are learned in much the same way a person might learn to do algebra or knit. They are acquired through a combination of explicit teaching and implicit learning—by observing and copying.

Cultural teaching can take many forms. It begins with parents and caregivers, because they are the primary influence on young children. Caregivers teach kids, both directly and by example, about how to behave and how the world works. They encourage children to be polite, reminding them, for instance, to say “Thank you.” They teach kids how to dress in a way that is appropriate for the culture. They introduce children to religious beliefs and the rituals that go with them. They even teach children how to think and feel! Adult men, for example, often exhibit a certain set of emotional expressions—such as being tough and not crying—that provides a model of masculinity for their children. This is why we see different ways of expressing the same emotions in different parts of the world.

In some societies, it is considered appropriate to conceal anger. Instead of expressing their feelings outright, people purse their lips, furrow their brows, and say little. In other cultures, however, it is appropriate to express anger. In these places, people are more likely to bare their teeth, furrow their brows, point or gesture, and yell (Matsumoto, Yoo, & Chung, 2010). Such patterns of behavior are learned. Often, adults are not even aware that they are, in essence, teaching psychology—because the lessons are happening through observational learning.

Let’s consider a single example of a way you behave that is learned, which might surprise you. All people gesture when they speak. We use our hands in fluid or choppy motions—to point things out, or to pantomime actions in stories. Consider how you might throw your hands up and exclaim, “I have no idea!” or how you might motion to a friend that it’s time to go. Even people who are born blind use hand gestures when they speak, so to some degree this is a universal behavior, meaning all people naturally do it. However, social researchers have discovered that culture influences how a person gestures. Italians, for example, live in a society full of gestures. In fact, they use about 250 of them (Poggi, 2002)! Some are easy to understand, such as a hand against the belly, indicating hunger. Others, however, are more difficult. For example, pinching the thumb and index finger together and drawing a line backwards at face level means “perfect,” while knocking a fist on the side of one’s head means “stubborn.”

Culture: A Learning Process

The understanding of culture as a learned pattern of views and behaviors is interesting for several reasons. First, it highlights the ways groups can come into conflict with one another. Members of different cultures simply learn different ways of behaving. Modern youth culture, for instance, interacts with technologies such as smart phones using a different set of rules than people who are in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. Older adults might find texting in the middle of a face-to-face conversation rude while younger people often do not.

These differences can sometimes become politicized and a source of tension between groups. One example of this is Muslim women who wear a hijab, or head scarf. Non-Muslims do not follow this practice, so occasional misunderstandings arise about the appropriateness of the tradition. Second, understanding that culture is learned is important because it means that people can adopt an appreciation of patterns of behavior that are different than their own. For example, non-Muslims might find it helpful to learn about the hijab. Where did this tradition come from? What does it mean and what are various Muslim opinions about wearing one?

Finally, understanding that culture is learned can be helpful in developing self-awareness. For instance, people from the United States might not even be aware of the fact that their attitudes about public nudity are influenced by their cultural learning. While women often go topless on beaches in Europe and women living a traditional tribal existence in places like the South Pacific also go topless, it is illegal for women in some of the United States to do so. These cultural norms for modesty—reflected in government laws and policies– also enter the discourse on social issues such as the appropriateness of breast-feeding in public. Understanding that your preferences are—in many cases—the products of cultural learning might empower you to revise them if doing so will lead to a better life for you or others.

Marketing Context

Myths and rituals are the stories and practices that define a culture. A myth is a story with symbolic elements that represents a culture’s ideals. Each culture creates its own stories to help its members understand the world. Many companies (and perhaps most advertising agencies) are in a sense in the myth business; they tell us stories that we collectively absorb. Some marketers tell these stories more overtly than others: Disney stages about two thousand Cinderella weddings every year; the princess bride wears a tiara and rides to the park’s lakeside wedding pavilion in a horse-drawn coach, complete with two footmen in gray wigs and gold lamé pants (Marr, 2007; Holson, 2003). And the Shrek movies remind us that even the ugliest suitor can land the princess if his heart is in the right place.

A ritual is a set of multiple symbolic behaviors that occurs in a fixed sequence and is repeated periodically (Rook, 1985). We all engage in private consumer rituals, whether this involves grooming activities that we perform the same way every morning or that obligatory trip to Starbucks on the way to school. Gift-giving is also a type of ritual: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, house-warmings, and even Valentine’s are examples of celebrations involving gift-giving rituals. And as members of a culture we share public rituals such as Thanksgiving, the Super Bowl, or even tuning in each week to vote on American Idol. Advertisers often create messages that tie in to these myths and rituals, such as selling HDTVs for the Super Bowl and Doritos to share with your friends as you watch the game.

Beyond observational learning, cultures also use rituals to teach people what is important. For example, young people who are interested in becoming Buddhist monks often have to endure rituals that help them shed feelings of “specialness” or superiority—feelings that run counter to Buddhist doctrine. To do this, they might be required to wash their teacher’s feet, scrub toilets, or perform other menial tasks. Similarly, many Jewish adolescents go through the process of bar and bat mitzvah. This is a ceremonial reading from scripture that requires the study of Hebrew and, when completed, signals that the youth is ready for full participation in public worship.

Rites of Passage are a common type of ritual that often taken place to mark a significant change or transition in a person’s life. These may occur to mark happy occasions, such as graduations, weddings, or having children and more sombre occasions such as the passing away of a loved one. The rituals surrounding rites of passage differ from one culture to another and can even be diverse within a culture. Marketers may position their products or services as necessary components to accompany a rite of passage: be it a young person’s “first shave”, a couple’s engagement announcement, or a family’s first pet.

3. Cultural Gatekeepers

In 1960, journalist A. J. Liebling wryly observed that “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Although he may not have put it in those terms, Liebling was talking about the role of gatekeepers in the media industry, another way in which cultural values influence mass communication. Gatekeepers are the people who help determine which stories make it to the public, including reporters who decide what sources to use, and editors who pick what gets published and which stories make it to the front page. Media gatekeepers are part of culture and thus have their own cultural values, whether consciously or unconsciously. In deciding what counts as newsworthy, entertaining, or relevant, gatekeepers use their own values to create and shape what gets presented to the wider public. Conversely, gatekeepers may decide that some events are unimportant or uninteresting to consumers. Those events may never reach the eyes or ears of a larger public.

Consider the role of media gatekeepers and the power they possess over what we watch on TV and which movies we see in the theatre. If gatekeepers green light entertainment that perpetuates gender stereotypes in TV and the white-washing of historical events in film, what effect does this have on our collective understanding of culture?

Representation & Media Gatekeepers

In their article, “Cultural stereotypes as gatekeepers: increasing girls’ interest in computer science and engineering by diversifying stereotypes”, Cheryan, Master, and Meltzoff (2015) discuss how gatekeepers can have a profound impact on representation. Despite having made significant inroads into many traditionally male-dominated fields (e.g., biology, chemistry), women continue to be underrepresented in computer science and engineering. Computer science and engineering are stereotyped in modern American culture as male-oriented fields that involve social isolation, an intense focus on machinery, and inborn brilliance. These stereotypes are compatible with qualities that are typically more valued in men than women in American culture. As a result, when computer science and engineering stereotypes are salient, girls report less interest in these fields than their male peers.

Popular movies and television shows like Real Genius, The Big Bang Theory, and Silicon Valley depict computer scientists and engineers as mostly White (and more recently Asian) males, socially unskilled, and singularly obsessed with technology. Similarly, portrayals of technology companies in popular newspapers and books often depict the “startup culture” that infuses some technology and engineering jobs (e.g., Guo, 2014; Miller, 2014). This is unfortunate because in reality such portrayals depict at best only a small percentage of the jobs in computer science and engineering (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). Yet high-school students report that their ideas about what scientists are like are influenced more by the media than by any other source (Steinke et al., 2007). Even brief exposures to television portrayals can influence attitudes toward the group portrayed (Weisbuch et al., 2009).

However, altering these stereotypes—by broadening the representation of the people who do this work, the work itself, and the environments in which it occurs—significantly increases girls’ sense of belonging and interest in the field. Academic stereotypes thus serve as gatekeepers, driving girls away from certain fields and constraining their learning opportunities and career aspirations.

4. Cultural Orientations

Traditionally, social psychologists have thought about how patterns of behavior have an overarching effect on populations’ attitudes. Harry Triandis, a cross-cultural psychologist, has studied culture in terms of individualism and collectivism. Triandis became interested in culture because of his unique upbringing. Born in Greece, he was raised under both the German and Italian occupations during World War II. The Italian soldiers broadcast classical music in the town square and built a swimming pool for the townspeople. Interacting with these foreigners—even though they were an occupying army—sparked Triandis’ curiosity about other cultures. He realized that he would have to learn English if he wanted to pursue academic study outside of Greece and so he practiced with the only local who knew the language: a mentally ill 70 year old who was incarcerated for life at the local hospital. He went on to spend decades studying the ways people in different cultures define themselves (Triandis, 2008).

So, what exactly were these two patterns of culture Triandis focused on: individualism and collectivism? Individualists, such as most people born and raised in Australia or the United States, define themselves as individuals. They seek personal freedom and prefer to voice their own opinions and make their own decisions. By contrast, collectivists—such as most people born and raised in Korea or in Taiwan— are more likely to emphasize their connectedness to others. They are more likely to sacrifice their personal preferences if those preferences come in conflict with the preferences of the larger group (Triandis, 1995).

Both individualism and collectivism can further be divided into vertical and horizontal dimensions (Triandis, 1995). Essentially, these dimensions describe social status among members of a society. People in vertical societies differ in status, with some people being more highly respected or having more privileges, while in horizontal societies people are relatively equal in status and privileges. These dimensions are, of course, simplifications.

Neither individualism nor collectivism is the “correct way to live.” Rather, they are two separate patterns with slightly different emphases. People from individualistic societies often have more social freedoms, while collectivistic societies often have better social safety nets.

Individualist and collectivist cultures

5. Acculturation, Assimilation, and Multiculturalism

Gorkaazk [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)]

There is tremendous ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity throughout the United States, largely resulting from a long history and ongoing identification as a “nation of immigrants” that attracted millions of newcomers from every continent. Still, elected officials and residents ardently disagree about how the United States should approach this diversity and incorporate immigrant, ethnic, and cultural minority groups into the larger framework of American society. The fundamental question is whether cultural minority groups should be encouraged to forego their ethnic and cultural identities and acculturate to the values, traditions, and customs of mainstream culture or should be allowed and encouraged to retain key elements of their identities and heritages. This is a highly emotional question. Matters of cultural identity are often deeply personal and associated with strongly held beliefs about the defining features of their countries’ national identities. Over the past 400 years, three distinct social philosophies have developed from efforts to promote national unity and tranquility in societies that have experienced large-scale immigration: assimilation, multiculturalism, and amalgamation.

Assimilation encourages and may even demand that members of ethnic and immigrant minority groups abandon their native customs, traditions, languages, and identities as quickly as possible and adopt those of mainstream society—“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Advocates of assimilation generally view a strong sense of national unity based on a shared linguistic and cultural heritage as the best way to promote a strong national identity and avoid ethnic conflict. They point, for example, to ethnic warfare and genocide in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s and to recent independence movements by French Canadians in Quebec and in Scotland as evidence of negative consequences of groups retaining a strong sense of loyalty and identification with their ethnic or linguistic communities. The “English as the Official Language” movement in the United States is another example. People are concerned that U.S. unity is weakened by immigrants who do not learn to speak English. In recent years, the U.S. Census Bureau has identified more than 300 languages spoken in the United States. In 2010, more than 60 million people representing 21 percent of the total U.S. population spoke a language other than English at home and 38 million of those people spoke Spanish.

In marketing, when a product becomes removed or disassociated with its original ethnic group, we call this process de-ethnicization. These items become absorbed by a mainstream or dominant culture, much in the way bagels, pasta, and yoga have. While sacralization describes the process of everyday objects, people, or events developing sacred status (the locks of hair from my baby’s first haircut, the ticket stub from the first concert I attended, and my grandmother’s Scrabble board are all sacred), desacralization describes the opposite of that.  We see the erasure of sacred symbolism, or the desacralization of objects, people, or events, occur when sacred items become absorbed and commercialized in pop culture and the greater consumer culture. Consider the over-hyped consumerism surrounding Halloween and Christmas. I once went to a (fabulous) brewery in the town Haarlem (The Netherlands) that used to be a former church! The term we apply to consumer objects and events  are ordinary and absent of any sacred meaning or association is profane. Profane consumption takes place when I renew my gym membership or attend a webinar.

Multiculturalism takes a different view of assimilation, arguing that ethnic and cultural diversity is a positive quality that enriches a society and encouraging respect for cultural differences. The basic belief behind multiculturalism is that group differences, in and of themselves, do not spark tension, and society should promote tolerance for differences rather than urging members of immigrant, ethnic, and cultural minority groups to shed their customs and identities. Vivid examples of multiculturalism can be seen in major cities across the United States, such as New York, where ethnic neighborhoods such as Chinatown and Little Italy border one another, and Los Angeles, which features many diverse neighborhoods, including Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Filipinotown, Little Armenia, and Little Ethiopia. The ultimate objective of multiculturalism is to promote peaceful coexistence while allowing each ethnic community to preserve its unique heritage and identity. Multiculturalism is the official governmental policy of Canada; it was codified in 1988 under the Canadian Multiculturalism Act, which declares that “multiculturalism reflects the cultural and racial diversity of Canadian society and acknowledges the freedom of all members of Canadian society to preserve, enhance, and share their cultural heritage.”

Student Op-Ed

America, if you had to pick… The Statue of Liberty or a bottle of Coke?

Coca-Cola’s unrivaled and global success is primarily due to its ability to establish itself as an American cultural symbol. Solomon (2017, p.429) defines a symbol as an “object that represents something else” or a physical manifestation of a set of beliefs. In the case of Coca-Cola, the brand has long represented the western notions of freedom and individuality and is, to date, synonymous with American culture.

Coca-Cola’s integration into mass culture in the U.S.A. speaks to its prominence and popularity within American culture. Consider the fact that in 1986 Atlanta, a parade was held to celebrate a joint-centennial of Coca-Cola and the Statue of Liberty (Lilienheim Angelico, 1998, Part III, 2:42 – 3.10). Furthermore, during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games torch rally, the brand is displayed alongside and is in equal proportion to the Olympic rings (Lilienheim Angelico, 1998, Part III, 4:44 – 4:51). In both instances, Coca-Cola is positioned as a wholly- celebrated American symbol of freedom and the American dream, one which is worthy of the world’s attention. Not only does this signify the weight that the brand carries but it also demonstrates how a brand can establish its longevity by weaving itself into national culture.

Aside from its global recognition as an American symbol, Coca-Cola soon became a fortress brand, which Solomon (2017) defines as a brand that becomes embedded in our everyday life. In the same way that tea was a household drink in China, England or India or wine in Italy, Coca-Cola was a staple drink at dinner tables in the U.S.A. (Lilienheim Angelico, 1998, Part III, 3:52 – 4:18). According to the documentary, the average family in 1978 Rome, Georgia alone consumed 3200 bottles of coke a year. (Lilienheim Angelico, 1998, Part II, 14:05- 14:45)

If making your mark on the world stage or anchoring your product into a daily ritual wasn’t enough to transform a brand into a global corporate giant, try shifting an entire culture. Brands are constantly shaped by cultural values and norms, however, the circular nature of this relationship also means that some brands have the power to influence culture and impact a society’s value system. Haddon Sundblom’s interpretation of St. Nicolas as an old, stout, and jolly man in a “Coca-Cola red” suit in a 1931 advertisement soon became the widely-accepted image of the holiday figure known today (Lilienheim Angelico, 1998, Part I, 21:15 – 21:46). Although, it originated as a concept for Coca-Cola’s marketing, this image of Santa is one that is now ingrained in western culture.

While it is impressive that Coca-Cola has reached this status, I can’t help but think of the immense influence that brands like Coca-Cola have on our lives and our culture, whether we know it or not. I was extremely shocked and a little disappointed to discover the origin story of the modern version of Santa Claus. The values of authenticity and tradition that I once attributed to the Christmas holiday seem to have disappeared now that I know the figure central to the holiday was but a mere character in a Coca-Cola advertisement. I understand that brands operate as capitalist entities in order to survive but it is concerning when their conscious marketing efforts inadvertently shift behaviours within culture or erode rich traditions and practices altogether.

By Carlin Stephenson

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45

Culture and Marketing

For as long as marketing has been a practiced profession, marketers have been creating stereotypes and perpetuating the wrongful depictions of gender and ethnic sub-cultures within a dominant Euro-Western context. An important theme in this book is the relationship between marketing and culture: this book seeks to identify how these two influence and inform one another. When marketers create products that draw on inaccurate stereotypes what impact do these have on society’s perspectives and understanding of non-dominant cultures in Canada and the United States?

1. Stereotypes & Discrimination

People are often biased against others outside of their own social group, showing prejudice (emotional bias), stereotypes (cognitive bias), and discrimination (behavioral bias). In the past, people used to be more explicit with their biases, but during the 20th century, when it became less socially acceptable to exhibit bias, such things like prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination became more subtle (automatic, ambiguous, and ambivalent). In the 21st century, however, with social group categories even more complex, biases may be transforming once again.

Even in one’s own family, everyone wants to be seen for who they are, not as “just another typical X.” But still, people put other people into groups, using that label to inform their evaluation of the person as a whole—a process that can result in serious consequences. This module focuses on biases against social groups, which social psychologists sort into emotional prejudices, mental stereotypes, and behavioral discrimination. These three aspects of bias are related, but they each can occur separately from the others (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2010; Fiske, 1998). For example, sometimes people have a negative, emotional reaction to a social group (prejudice) without knowing even the most superficial reasons to dislike them (stereotypes). Today’s biases are not yesterday’s biases in many ways, but at the same time, they are troublingly similar.

2. Stereotypes in Marketing

It should come as no surprise that cultural stereotypes inform societal views in a way that does real harm to those affected. Whether the stereotype reinforces roles of Black Americans, Mexican Americans, or Indigenous peoples stereotypes are deeply embedded within many structures of our society such as education and entertainment. When stereotypes are used repeatedly in advertisements, television shows, Hollywood movies, and even depicted on cereal boxes, a young mind grows to accept them as a sort of reality. This altered reality then informs an adult’s judgement of the world and people around them. Teachers, law makers, artists, religious leaders, designers, politicians, movie makers, and marketers have spent their lives exposed to these products, images, and messages which they now come to see as a reflection of society.

Marketing Context

Advertisements have a long history of relying on stereotypical characters to promote products. For many years Aunt Jemima sold pancake mix and Rastus was a grinning Black chef who pitched Cream of Wheat hot cereal. The Gold Dust Twins were Black urchins who peddled a soap powder for Lever Brothers and Pillsbury hawked powdered drink mixes using characters such as “Injun Orange” and “Chinese Cherry”—who had buck teeth.

These negative depictions began to decline in the 1960s as the civil rights movement gave more power to minority groups and their rising economic status began to command marketers’ respect. Frito-Lay responded to protests by the Hispanic community and stopped using the “Frito Bandito” character in 1971, and Quaker Foods gave Aunt Jemima a makeover in 1989 (Westerman, 1989). As part of its fiftieth-anniversary celebration for Crest toothpaste, Procter & Gamble reintroduced its “Crest Kid,” who first appeared in 1956 as a “white bread,” apple-cheeked girl painted by artist Norman Rockwell. It’s telling that the new Crest Kid is Cuban American. Similarly, a recent campaign gives a radical makeover to the Black Uncle Ben character who appeared on rice packages for more than sixty years dressed as a servant. (White Southerners once used “uncle” and “aunt” as honorary names for older African Americans because they refused to address them as “Mr.” and “Mrs.”) The character is remade as Ben (just Ben), an accomplished businessman with an opulent office who shares his “grains of wisdom” about rice and life on the brand’s web site (Elliot, 2007).

These positive steps are motivated by both good intentions and pragmatism. Ethnic minorities spend more than $600 billion a year on products and services. Immigrants make up 10 percent of the U.S. population, and California is less than half Caucasian. Advertisers and their agencies couldn’t ignore this new reality even if they wanted to.

The interconnection between marketing and culture is easy to see but harder to break. More often than not, the burden of breaking this cycle rests on the shoulders of those harmed and impacted the most – those being stereotyped by the dominant and oppressive culture.

3. Cultural Appropriation & Native Mascots

Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

The Problems with Indigenous Mascots

Feeling the need to make a Twitter thread on WHY Native mascots are harmful (and no, it’s not about our delicate little feelings). The following is a summary on some of the actual effects of these mascots.

Clinical psychologist Michael Friedman, the author of, “The Harmful Psychological Effects of the Washington Football Mascot” stated in his report that, “[a] series of studies show that if Native Americans are shown images of stereotypical Native American mascots … self-esteem goes down, belief in community goes down, belief in achievement goes down, and mood goes down.” (Friedman, n.d.)

Friedman’s study also gives evidence to how Native mascots exacerbates racism. “Similarly, if someone who is non-Native American sees a stereotypical image of a Native American mascot, their association with the Native American community also gets worse.” (Friedman, n.d.)

Beyond the studies, we also recognize that the representation of Native people as mascots is often homogenous (presents all tribes as interchangeable), historical (pre-1900 at least), and highly stereotyped. The result of such displays are the perception that all Indigenous nations have the same cultural identifiers, that we exist only in the past, and that we are “savage,” warlike, or stoic (see: Noble Indian trope)

When young people (both Native and non-Native) are exposed to these images, they internalize their idea of what Native people are supposed to be. Clearly, the belief in homogenous Indian figures harms our representation and challenges our ability to communicate issues facing our specific communities. Obviously, it also contributes to other cultural mishmashes (See: Victoria Secret model w/ headdress, leopard print, turquoise). The general concept of Native People as existing only in the past is something I find especially damaging. It is perpetuated across media, including the textbooks. In fact…”A staggering 87 percent of references to American Indians in all 50 states’ academic standards portray them in a pre-1900 context.” (Wade, 2017)

What effect does this have on us now? Great question! Obviously it means that Native issues are ignored. Few individuals have Indigenous issues on their radar at all. Thanks to Michael Friedman’s report and Lisa Wade’s examination of the effects of Indigenous erasure in our school system, the data tell us that when Indigenous issues are acknowledged, people  are inclined to think of us in a negative light. Which brings me to that pesky notion that we are “savage”. Or silent. Or spiritual and talk to wolves and eagles. These are all hurdles to gaining traction when first we must dismantle stereotypes about ourselves.

In 2013, NPR’s Tell Me More host Michel Martin, spoke with Michael Friedman and NPR science correspondent Shankar Vedantam about the research Friedman conducted regarding the impacts of Indigenous mascots.  “[The data help] us get past what’s been a constant refrain in the debate over these mascots. One side says, ‘Look, we’re offended.’ The other side says, ‘Look, we don’t mean to give any offense.’ And you end up with a he-said, she-said battle of opinions”. (“Can a Mascot”, 2013)

Vedantam goes on to say that, “[t]he data seem to show at a pretty general level that there is a disconnect between how people think about these issues consciously and unconsciously.” You can have a positive view of Native mascots but unconsciously they are still causing harm. In summary, this isn’t about our delicate snowflake dispositions, but rather, the actual measurable harm that Native mascots have on our communities. No amount of “get over it” will change that. Now that you’re armed with all this wonderful knowledge, go out in the world and use it to make a difference.

To learn more, visit the links below and the ones used in this thread.

- Missoulian News

- University at Buffalo

- American Psychological Association’s statement on Native mascots

- Huffington Post

Readers can also access an interactive map showing the scope of Indigenous mascots used throughout the United States by accessing, “Native American Mascots Database“.

By Mariah Gladstone
Amskapiikuni, Tsalagi (Blackfeet, Cherokee)

Traditional Knowledge Labeling

This material has been designated as being available for non-commercial use. You are allowed to use this material for non-commercial purposes including for research, study or public presentation and/or online in blogs or non-commercial websites. This label asks you to think and act with fairness and responsibility towards this material and the original custodians.

4. Understanding Bias

Whether we are aware of it or not (and usually we’re not), we sort the world into “us” and “them” categories. We are more likely to treat with bias or discrimination anyone we feel is outside our own group. [Image: Keira McPhee, https://goo.gl/gkaKBe, CC BY 2.0, https://goo.gl/BRvSA7]

Most people like themselves well enough, and most people identify themselves as members of certain groups but not others. Logic suggests, then, that because we like ourselves, we therefore like the groups we associate with more, whether those groups are our hometown, school, religion, gender, or ethnicity. Liking yourself and your groups is human nature. The larger issue, however, is that own-group preference often results in liking other groups less. And whether you recognize this “favoritism” as wrong, this trade-off is relatively automatic, that is, unintended, immediate, and irresistible.

Social psychologists have developed several ways to measure this relatively automatic own-group preference, the most famous being the Implicit Association Test (“IAT”) (Greenwald, Banaji, Rudman, Farnham, Nosek, & Mellott, 2002; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). The test itself is rather simple and you can experience it yourself if you Google “implicit” or go to understandingprejudice.org. Essentially, the IAT is done on the computer and measures how quickly you can sort words or pictures into different categories. For example, if you were asked to categorize “ice cream” as good or bad, you would quickly categorize it as good. However, imagine if every time you ate ice cream, you got a brain freeze. When it comes time to categorize ice cream as good or bad, you may still categorize it as “good,” but you will likely be a little slower in doing so compared to someone who has nothing but positive thoughts about ice cream. Related to group biases, people may explicitly claim they don’t discriminate against outgroups—and this is very likely true. However, when they’re given this computer task to categorize people from these outgroups, that automatic or unconscious hesitation (a result of having mixed evaluations about the outgroup) will show up in the test. And as countless studies have revealed, people are mostly faster at pairing their own group with good categories, compared to pairing others’ groups. In fact, this finding generally holds regardless if one’s group is measured according race, age, religion, nationality, and even temporary, insignificant memberships.

This all-too-human tendency would remain a mere interesting discovery except that people’s reaction time on the IAT predicts actual feelings about individuals from other groups, decisions about them, and behavior toward them, especially nonverbal behavior (Greenwald, Poehlman, Uhlmann, & Banaji, 2009). For example, although a job interviewer may not be “blatantly biased,” his or her “automatic or implicit biases” may result in unconsciously acting distant and indifferent, which can have devastating effects on the hopeful interviewee’s ability to perform well (Word, Zanna, & Cooper, 1973). Although this is unfair, sometimes the automatic associations—often driven by society’s stereotypes—trump our own, explicit values (Devine, 1989). And sadly, this can result in consequential discrimination, such as allocating fewer resources to disliked outgroups (Rudman & Ashmore, 2009).

As the IAT indicates, people’s biases often stem from the spontaneous tendency to favor their own, at the expense of the other. Social identity theory (Tajfel, Billig, Bundy, & Flament, 1971) describes this tendency to favor one’s own in-group over another’s outgroup. And as a result, outgroup disliking stems from this in-group liking (Brewer & Brown, 1998). For example, if two classes of children want to play on the same soccer field, the classes will come to dislike each other not because of any real, objectionable traits about the other group. The dislike originates from each class’s favoritism toward itself and the fact that only one group can play on the soccer field at a time. With this preferential perspective for one’s own group, people are not punishing the other one so much as neglecting it in favor of their own. However, to justify this preferential treatment, people will often exaggerate the differences between their in-group and the outgroup. In turn, people see the outgroup as more similar in personality than they are. This results in the perception that “they” really differ from us, and “they” are all alike.

Spontaneously, people categorize people into groups just as we categorize furniture or food into one type or another. The difference is that we people inhabit categories ourselves, as self-categorization theory points out (Turner, 1975). Because the attributes of group categories can be either good or bad, we tend to favor the groups with people like us and incidentally disfavor the others. In-group favoritism is an ambiguous form of bias because it disfavors the outgroup by exclusion. For example, if a politician has to decide between funding one program or another, they may be more likely to give resources to the group that more closely represents their in-group. And this life-changing decision stems from the simple, natural human tendency to be more comfortable with people like yourself.

A specific case of comfort with the ingroup is called aversive racism, so-called because people do not like to admit their own racial biases to themselves or others (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2010). Tensions between, say, a White person’s own good intentions and discomfort with the perhaps novel situation of interacting closely with a Black person may cause the White person to feel uneasy, behave stiffly, or be distracted. As a result, the White person may give a good excuse to avoid the situation altogether and prevent any awkwardness that could have come from it. However, such a reaction will be ambiguous to both parties and hard to interpret. That is, was the White person right to avoid the situation so that neither person would feel uncomfortable? Indicators of aversive racism correlate with discriminatory behavior, despite being the ambiguous result of good intentions gone bad.

5. Capitalism & Consumer Culture

Transforming Barbie Dolls

Photo by XINYI SONG on Unsplash

Consumers in capitalist systems continuously attempt to reshape the meaning of the commodities that businesses brand, package, and market to us. The anthropologist Elizabeth Chin conducted ethnographic research among young African American children in a poor neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, exploring the intersection of consumption, inequality, and cultural identity. Chin specifically looked at “ethnically correct” Barbie dolls, arguing that while they may represent some progress in comparison to the past when only white Barbies were sold, they also reinforce outdated understandings of biological race and ethnicity. Rather than dismantling race and class boundaries, the “ethnic” dolls create segregated toy shelves that in fact mirror the segregation that young black children experience in their schools and neighborhoods.

The young black girls that Chin researched were unable to afford these $20 brand-name dolls and typically played with less expensive, generic Barbie dolls that were white. The girls used their imaginations and worked to transform their dolls by giving them hairstyles like their own, braiding and curling the dolls’ long straight hair in order to integrate the dolls into their own worlds. A quick perusal of the Internet reveals numerous tutorials and blogs devoted to black Barbie hair styling, demonstrating that the young New Haven girls are not the only ones working to transform these store-bought commodities in socially meaningful ways.

Darjeeling Tea

Photo by Manki Kim on Unsplash

The anthropologist Sarah Besky researched Darjeeling tea production in India to better understand how consumer desires are mapped onto distant locations. In India, tea plantation owners are attempting to reinvent their product for 21st century markets through the use of fair-trade certification and Geographical Indication Status (GI). GI is an international property-rights system, regulated by the World Trade Organization, that legally protects the rights of people in certain places to produce certain commodities. For example, bourbon must come from Kentucky, Mezcal can only be produced in certain parts of Mexico, and sparkling wine can only be called champagne if it originated in France. Similarly, in order to legally be sold as “Darjeeling tea,” the tea leaves must come from the Darjeeling district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Besky explores how the meaning of Darjeeling tea is created through three interrelated processes: (1) extensive marketing campaigns aimed at educating consumers about the unique Darjeeling taste, (2) the application of international law to define the geographic borders within which Darjeeling tea can be produced, and (3) the introduction of tea plantation-based tourism. What the Darjeeling label hides is the fact that tea plantations are highly unequal systems with economic relationships that date back to the colonial era: workers depend upon plantation owners not just for money but also for food, medical care, schools, and housing. Even when we pay more for Darjeeling tea, the premium price is not always returned to the workers in the form of higher wages. Bescky’s research shows how capitalism and market exchange shapes the daily lives of people around the world.

The Myth of the Ecologically Noble Savage

Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

The image of the noble savage developed many centuries ago in Western culture. From the beginning of European exploration and colonialism, Europeans described the “natives” they encountered primarily in negative terms, associating them with sexual promiscuity, indolence, cannibalism, and violence. The depictions changed as Romantic artists and writers rejected modernity and industrialization and called for people to return to an idealized, simpler past. That reactionary movement also celebrated Indigenous societies as simple people living in an Eden-like state of innocence. French painter Paul Gauguin’s works depicting scenes from his travels to the South Pacific are typical of this approach in their celebration of the colorful, easygoing, and natural existence of the natives. The continuing influence of these stories is evident in Disney’s portrayal of Pocahontas and James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar in which the primitive Na`vi are closely connected to and defenders of an exotic and vibrant natural world. Cameron’s depiction, which includes a sympathetic anthropologist, criticizes Western capitalism as willing to destroy nature for profit.

Despite its positive portrayals of Indigenous groups, the idea of the ecologically noble savage tends to treat Indigenous Peoples as an imagined “Other” constructed as the opposite of Western culture rather than endeavoring to understand the world views and complexities of Indigenous cultures. Similarly, a naive interpretation of Indigenous environmentalism may merely project an imaginary Western ideal onto another culture rather than make a legitimate observation about that culture on its own terms.

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

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Subcultures

A subculture is a group of people who share a set of secondary values, such as environmentalists. Many factors can place an individual in one or several subcultures. Five of the most important factors that create subcultures are:

- Material culture – People with similar income may create a subculture. The poor, the affluent, and the white-collar middle class are examples of material subcultures.

- Social institutions – Those who participate in a social institution may form a subculture. Examples include participation in marriage, parenthood, a retirement community, or the army.

- Belief systems – People with shared beliefs may create a subculture, such as a religious group or political party. For example, traditional Amish do not use electricity and automobiles.

- Aesthetics – Artistic people often form a subculture of their own associated with their common interests, such as art, music, dance, drama, and folklore.

- Language – People with similar dialects, accents, and vocabulary can form a subculture. Southerners and northerners are two traditional categories in the US.

Adjusting to cultural differences is perhaps the most difficult task facing marketers who operate in other countries. Before entering a foreign market, a company must decide to what extent it is willing to customize its marketing efforts to accommodate each foreign market.

Fred the OysteriThe source code of this SVG is valid.This vector image was created with Adobe Illustrator. [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

1. Types of Subcultures

Subcultures, such as college students, can develop in response to people’s interests, similarities, and behaviors that allow marketing professionals to design specific products for them. You have probably heard of the hip-hop subculture, people who in engage in extreme types of sports such as helicopter skiing or people who play the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons.

The Evolution of American Hipster Subculture

Skinny jeans, chunky glasses, and T-shirts with vintage logos—the American hipster is a recognizable figure in the modern United States. Based predominately in metropolitan areas, sometimes clustered around hotspots such as the Williamsburg neighborhood in New York City, hipsters define themselves through a rejection of the mainstream. As a subculture, hipsters spurn many of the values and beliefs of U.S. culture and prefer vintage clothing to fashion and a bohemian lifestyle to one of wealth and power. While hipster culture may seem to be the new trend among young, middle-class youth, the history of the group stretches back to the early decades of the 1900s.

Where did the hipster culture begin? In the early 1940s, jazz music was on the rise in the United States. Musicians were known as “hepcats” and had a smooth, relaxed quality that went against upright, mainstream life. Those who were “hep” or “hip” lived by the code of jazz, while those who were “square” lived according to society’s rules. The idea of a “hipster” was born.

The hipster movement spread, and young people, drawn to the music and fashion, took on attitudes and language derived from the culture of jazz. Unlike the vernacular of the day, hipster slang was purposefully ambiguous. When hipsters said, “It’s cool, man,” they meant not that everything was good, but that it was the way it was.

In the 1940s, U.S. hipsters were associated with the “cool” culture of jazz.
Photo courtesy of William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress

By the 1950s, the jazz culture was winding down and many traits of hepcat culture were becoming mainstream. A new subculture was on the rise. The “Beat Generation,” a title coined by writer Jack Kerouac, were anticonformist and antimaterialistic. They were writers who listened to jazz and embraced radical politics. They bummed around, hitchhiked the country, and lived in squalor.

The lifestyle spread. College students, clutching copies of Kerouac’s On the Road, dressed in berets, black turtlenecks, and black-rimmed glasses. Women wore black leotards and grew their hair long. Herb Caen, a San Francisco journalist, used the suffix from Sputnik 1, the Russian satellite that orbited Earth in 1957, to dub the movement’s followers “Beatniks.” As the Beat Generation faded, a new, related movement began. It too focused on breaking social boundaries, but it also advocated freedom of expression, philosophy, and love. It took its name from the generations before; in fact, some theorists claim that Beats themselves coined the term to describe their children. Over time, the “little hipsters” of the 1970s became known simply as “hippies.”

Today’s generation of hipsters rose out of the hippie movement in the same way that hippies rose from Beats and Beats from hepcats. Although contemporary hipsters may not seem to have much in common with 1940s hipsters, the emulation of nonconformity is still there. In 2010, sociologist Mark Greif set about investigating the hipster subculture of the United States and found that much of what tied the group members together was not based on fashion, musical taste, or even a specific point of contention with the mainstream. “All hipsters play at being the inventors or first adopters of novelties,” Greif wrote. “Pride comes from knowing, and deciding, what’s cool in advance of the rest of the world. Yet the habits of hatred and accusation are endemic to hipsters because they feel the weakness of everyone’s position—including their own” (Greif 2010). Much as the hepcats of the jazz era opposed common culture with carefully crafted appearances of coolness and relaxation, modern hipsters reject mainstream values with a purposeful apathy.

Young people are often drawn to oppose mainstream conventions, even if in the same way that others do. Ironic, cool to the point of non-caring, and intellectual, hipsters continue to embody a subculture, while simultaneously impacting mainstream culture.

Intellectual and trendy, today’s hipsters define themselves through cultural irony.
Photo courtesy of Lorena Cupcake/Wikimedia Commons

2. Race & Ethnicity as Subcultures

When subcultures are discussed in the context of race, ethnicity, and gender, it’s important to first understand these concepts clearly.

The terms race and ethnicity are similar and there is a degree of overlap between them. The average person frequently uses the terms “race” and “ethnicity” interchangeably as synonyms and anthropologists also recognize that race and ethnicity are overlapping concepts. Both race and ethnic identity draw on an identification with others based on common ancestry and shared cultural traits. A race is a social construction that defines groups of humans based on arbitrary physical and/or biological traits that are believed to distinguish them from other humans. An ethnic group, on the other hand, claims a distinct identity based on cultural characteristics and a shared ancestry that are believed to give its members a unique sense of peoplehood or heritage. The cultural characteristics used to define ethnic groups vary; they include specific languages spoken, religions practiced, and distinct patterns of dress, diet, customs, holidays, and other markers of distinction. In some societies, ethnic groups are geographically concentrated in particular regions, as with the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq and the Basques in northern Spain.

Many individuals view their ethnicity as an important element of their personal and social identity. Numerous psychological, social, and familial factors play a role in ethnicity, and ethnic identity is most accurately understood as a range or continuum populated by people at every point. One’s sense of ethnicity can also fluctuate across time. Children of Korean immigrants living in an overwhelmingly white town, for example, may choose to self-identify simply as “American” during their middle school and high school years to fit in with their classmates and then choose to self-identify as “Korean,” “Korean American,” or “Asian American” in college or later in life as their social settings change or from a desire to connect more strongly with their family history and heritage. Do you consider your ethnicity an important part of your identity? Why do you feel the way you do?

A few traditions, such as favorite family recipes or distinct customs associated with the celebration of a holiday, that originated in their homelands may be retained by family members across generations, reinforcing a sense of ethnic heritage and identity today. More recent immigrants are likely to retain more of the language and cultural traditions of their countries of origin. Non-European immigrants groups from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean also experience significant linguistic and cultural losses over generations, but may also continue to self-identify with their ethnic backgrounds if they do not feel fully incorporated into U.S, society because they “stick out” physically from Euro-American society and experience prejudice and discrimination. Psychological, sociological, and anthropological studies have indicated that retaining a strong sense of ethnic pride and identification is common among ethnic minorities in the United States and other nations as a means of coping with and overcoming societal bigotry.

3. Gender as a Subculture

We now understand that cultures, not nature, create the gender ideologies that go along with being born male or female and the ideologies vary widely, cross-culturally. What is considered “man’s work” in some societies, such as carrying heavy loads, or farming, can be “woman’s work” in others. What is “masculine” and “feminine” varies: pink and blue, for example, are culturally invented gender-color linkages, and skirts and “make-up” can be worn by men, indeed by “warriors.”

One’s biologic sex is a different phenomenon than one’s gender, which is socially and historically constructed. Gender is a set of culturally invented expectations and therefore constitutes a role one assumes, learns, and performs, more or less consciously. It is an “identity” one can in theory choose, at least in some societies, although there is tremendous pressure, as in the United States, to conform to the gender role and identity linked to your biologic sex. This is a profound transformation in how we think about both gender and sexuality. The reality of human biology is that males and females are shockingly similar. There is arguably more variability within than between each gender, especially taking into account the enormous variability in human physical traits among human populations globally. Much of what has been defined as “biological” is actually cultural, so the possibilities for transformation and change are nearly endless! That can be liberating, especially when we are young and want to create identities that fit our particular configuration of abilities and preferences. It can also be upsetting to people who have deeply internalized and who want to maintain the old gender ideology.

Masculinity studies goes beyond men and their roles to explore the relational aspects of gender. One focus is the enculturation processes through which boys learn about and learn to perform “manhood.” Many U.S. studies (and several excellent videos, such as Tough Guise by Jackson Katz), have examined the role of popular culture in teaching boys our culture’s key concepts of masculinity, such as being “tough” and “strong,” and shown how this “tough guise” stance affects men’s relationships with women, with other men, and with societal institutions, reinforcing a culture of violent masculinity. Sociologist Michael Kimmel has further suggested that boys are taught that they live in a “perilous world” he terms “Guyland.”

Marketing Context

Anthropologists sometimes turn to unconventional information sources as they explore gendered culture, including popular television commercials. Interestingly, the 2015 Super Bowl commercials produced for the Always feminine product brand also focused on gender themes in its #Likeagirl campaign, which probed the damaging connotations of the phrases “throw like a girl” and “run like a girl” by first asking boys and girls to act out running and throwing, and then asking them to act out a girl running and throwing. A companion clip further explored the negative impacts of anti-girl messages, provoking dialogue among Super Bowl viewers and in social media spaces (though, ironically, that dialogue was intended to promote consumption of feminine products). As the clips remind us, while boys and men play major roles in perceptions related to gender, so do the women who raise them, often reinforcing gendered expectations for play and aspiration. Of course, women, like men, are enculturated into their culture’s gender ideology. Both girls and boys—and adults—are profoundly influenced by popular culture.

Not all societies expect men to be “tough guys/guise,” and those that do go about it in different ways and result in different impacts on men and women. For example, in Sichuan Province in China, young Nuosu men must prove their maturity through risky behavior such as theft. In recent years, theft has been supplanted for many by heroin use, particularly as young men have left their home communities for urban areas (where they are often feared by city residents and attract suspicion). Meanwhile, in the Middle East, technologies such as assisted reproduction are challenging and reshaping ideas about masculinity among some Arab men, particularly men who acknowledge and struggle with infertility. There and elsewhere, conceptions of fatherhood are considered crucial components of masculinity. In Japan, for example, a man who has not fathered a child is not considered to be fully adult.

Marketing Context

Photo by Nazar Strutynsky on Unsplash

In 1968, a cigarette company in the United States decided to target women as tobacco consumers and used a clever marketing campaign to entice them to take up smoking. “You’ve come a long way, baby!” billboards proclaimed. Women, according to the carefully constructed rhetoric, had moved away from their historic oppressed status and could—and should—now enjoy the full complement of twentieth-century consumer pleasures. Like men, they deserved to enjoy themselves and relax with a cigarette. The campaigns were extremely successful; within several years, smoking rates among women had increased dramatically. But had women really come a long way? We now know that tobacco (including in vaporized form) is a highly addictive substance and that its use is correlated with a host of serious health conditions. In responding to the marketing rhetoric, women moved into a new sphere of bodily pleasure and possibly enjoyed increased independence, but they did so at a huge cost to their health. They also succumbed to a long-term financial relationship with tobacco companies who relied on addicting individuals in order to profit. Knowing about the structures at work behind the scenes and the risks they took, few people today would agree that women’s embrace of tobacco represented a huge step forward.

Perhaps saying “You’ve come a long way, baby!” with the cynical interpretation with which we read it today can serve as an analogy for our contemporary explorations of gender and culture. Certainly, many women in the United States today enjoy heightened freedoms. We can travel to previously forbidden spaces, study disciplines long considered the domain of men, shape our families to meet our own needs, work in whatever field we choose, and, we believe, live according to our own wishes. But we would be naive to ignore how gender continues to shape, constrain, and inform our lives. The research and methods of anthropology can help us become more aware of the ongoing consequences of our gendered heritage and the ways in which we are all complicit in maintaining gender ideologies that limit and restrict people’s possibilities. By committing to speak out against subtle, gender-based discrimination and to support those struggling along difficult paths, today’s anthropologists can emulate pioneers such as Franz Boas and Margaret Mead, who sought to fuse research and action. May we all be kinder to those who differ from the norm, whatever that norm may be. Only then will we all—women, men and those who identify with neither category—have truly come a long way. (But we will leave the infantilizing “baby” to those tobacco companies!)

Student Op-Ed

Child’s play solving adult problems

Despite the recent promising efforts to dispel ancient gender norms, there is one place you’re bound to find them ever present. If you haven’t been inside a toy store lately, prepare yourself for a clear delineation between the genders. Sex-typed children’s toys simply reinforce already entrenched gender roles and stereotypes, which only confine play and restrict imagination. According to Solomon (2017), these are toys with masculine or feminine attributes that align with and reinforce gender archetypes, which may influence children to form identities that fit these molds. On the other hand, gender-non-specific toys foster agency and collaboration and encourage children to create and imagine freely.

In an episode of Abstract; The Art of Design, Cas Holman, the inventor of Rigamajig and Geemo, states that the toys in the market are too prescribed; they underestimate how sophisticated children are and restrict play to the confines of a gender binary (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). The need for toys to be sorted by gender illustrates the concept of uncertainty avoidance, which Solomon (2017) regards as society’s intolerance and avoidance of uncertainty and ambiguity. However, Holman stands in opposition to this need for predictability. She contends that deep learning takes place when children discover something on their own, without the aid of color-coding or rigid instructions (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). This is a part of Holman’s greater philosophy: “Easy is boring” (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019, 41:53). Most toy manufacturers today make toys that do not encourage critical thinking; typically, there is only one way to play with these toys, which children find boring after a while (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). According to the designer, it is “not something children get something out of” (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019, 12:22).

Sex-typed toys expose children to gender stereotypes, reinforce binary role playing and fail to foster collaborative and imaginative play among different genders. In many cultures where a gender binary is fundamental to identity formation, children grow up adhering to enacted norms. These might prescribe what boys and girls should and should not do, thereby defining children’s abilities and the expectations placed upon them. In fulfilling these roles, children receive positive reinforcement and encouragement to maintain these identities as they mature. Here, the notion of enculturation also comes into effect, which refers to the processes of learning the beliefs and behaviors embedded within a dominant culture (Solomon, 2017). Holman states that children, through play, learn to be either hyper-masculine or hyper-feminine because those are the only options available (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). The designer condemns this – “There are children who like pink, and children who like blue. Why have we assigned that to boys and girls? It’s absurd.” (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019, 28:34). Note the themes of violence and power that can be attributed to G.I.Joe advertisements, which rely on production elements such as rock music, bold color tones, and a narrator using his lowest, ‘manliest’ voice to present a hyper-masculine model of a man. Conversely, the use of pink tones in Barbie ads, the focus on appearance and servitude, as well as the sexualization of the doll create norms for what it is to be a girl in western society.

Holman argues that toys should encourage learning and creativity rather than assigning roles. She believes that good toys help children grow to become good people (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). In this sense, gender-non-specific toys help children develop a sense of agency; they are free to form and execute their own ideas, which encourages deep learning (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). Based on children’s reactions to playing with Rigamajig, a giant wooden construction set, Holman concludes that children appreciate being entrusted with responsibility; they are playing with real material and are free to build something larger than themselves (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). These open-ended toys encourage thinking outside gender archetypes and foster collaboration and team building from an early age (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019). According to Holman, “if we can play together, we can live together” (Chai Vasarhelyi, 2019, 43:31).

Growing up, I would sneak over to my neighbor’s home and play with her giant Barbie collection. We would build homes out of Lego and create a whole imaginary life. I also vividly remember, my parents forbidding me to play with dolls because, “that’s not what boys do.” That was the first time I noticed the different expectations placed on boys and girls. More so than playing with dolls, I enjoyed the time I spent with my neighbor. Looking back, I smile thinking about the imaginative stories we used to create and the mini-plays we’d put on for anyone we could perform to. For this reason, I think it’s incredibly important that children have as many options as possible to play and collaborate together, rather than separately. The hyper-masculine and hyper-feminine notions of what it is to be a boy and a girl, simply perpetuate stereotypes and contribute to gender inequality. The variation in personalities, preferences, and ideas among children is far too complex to fit into these limited binary selection of mainstream toys today. Gender-non-specific toys, on the other hand, encourages limitless play, unbounded by the confines of gender norms. As a result, it fosters valuable life-long skills like creativity, agency and, collaboration.

By Carlin Stephenson

In the long history of human sexual relationships, we see that most involve people from different biological sexes, but some societies recognize and even celebrate partnerships between members of the same biological sex. In some places, religious institutions formalize unions while in others unions are recognized only once they result in a pregnancy or live birth. Thus, what many people in the United States consider “normal,” such as the partnership of one man and one woman in a sexually exclusive relationship legitimized by the state and federal government and often sanctioned by a religious institution, is actually heteronormative. Heteronormativity is a term coined by French philosopher Michel Foucault to refer to the often-unnoticed system of rights and privileges that accompany normative sexual choices and family formation. For example, a “biologically female” woman attracted to a “biologically male” man who pursued that attraction and formed a relationship with that man would be following a heteronormative pattern in the United States. If she married him, she would be continuing to follow societal expectations related to gender and sexuality and would be agreeing to state involvement in her love life as she formalizes her relationship. Despite pervasive messages reinforcing heteronormative social relations, people find other ways to satisfy their sexual desires and organize their families. Many people continue to choose partners from the so-called “opposite” sex, a phrase that reflects the old U.S. bipolar view of males and females as being at opposite ends of a range of characteristics (strong-weak, active-passive, hard-soft, outside-inside, Mars-Venus). Others select partners from the same biological sex. Increasingly, people are choosing partners who attract them—perhaps female, perhaps male, and perhaps someone with ambiguous physical sexual characteristics. Labels have changed rapidly in the United States during the twenty-first century as a wider range of sexual orientations has been openly acknowledged, accompanied by a shift in our binary view of sexuality. Rather than thinking of individuals as either heterosexual OR homosexual, scholars and activists now recognize a spectrum of sexual orientations. Given the U.S. focus on identity, it is not surprising that a range of new personhood categories, such as bisexual, queer, questioning, lesbian, and gay have emerged to reflect a more-fluid, shifting, expansive, and ambiguous conception of sexuality and sexual identity.

Transgender, meanwhile, is a category for people who transition from one sex to another, male to female or female to male, using a number of methods. This label, too, has undergone a profound shift in usage, and the high-profile transition by Caitlyn Jenner in the mid-2010s has further shifted how people think about those who identify as transgender. By 2011, an estimated 8.7 million people in the United States identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender. These communities represent a vibrant, growing, and increasingly politically and economically powerful segment of the population. While people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender—or any of a number of other sexual and gender minorities—have existed throughout the United States’ history, it is only since the Stonewall uprisings of 1969 that the modern LGBT movement has been a key force in U.S. society.

Like the U.S. population overall, the LGBTQ community is extremely diverse. Some African-Americans prefer the term “same-gender loving” because the other terms are seen as developed by and for “white people.” Emphasizing the importance and power of words, Jafari Sinclaire Allen explains that “same-gender loving” was “coined by the black queer activist Cleo Manago [around 1995] to mark a distinction between ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ culture and identification, and black men and women who have sex with members of the same sex.” While scholars continue to use gay, lesbian, and queer and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control uses MSM (men who have sex with men), “same-gender loving” resonates in some urban communities. Not everyone who might fit one of the LGBTQQIA designations consciously identifies with a group defined by sexual orientation. Some people highlight their other identities, as Minnesotans, for example, or their ethnicity, religion, profession, or hobby—whatever they consider central and important in their lives.

Some scholars argue that heteronormativity allows people who self-identify as heterosexual the luxury of not being defined by their sexual orientation. They suggest that those who identify with the sex and gender they were assigned at birth be referred to as cisgender. Only when labels are universal rather than used only for non-normative groups, they argue, will people become aware of discrimination based on differences in sexual preference. Though people are urging adoption of sexual identity labels, not everyone is embracing the move to self-identify in a specific category. Thus, a man who is attracted to both men and women might self-identify as bisexual and join activist communities while another might prefer not to be incorporated into any sexual-preference-based politics. Some people prefer to eliminate acronyms altogether, instead embracing terms such as genderfluid and genderqueer that recognize a spectrum instead of a static identity. This freedom to self-identify or avoid categories altogether is important. Most of all, these shifts and debates demonstrate that, like the terms themselves, LGBTQ communities in the United States are diverse and dynamic with often-changing priorities and makeup.

While U.S. culture on the whole has become more supportive and accepting of LGBTQ people, they still face challenges. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not federally protected statuses. Thus, in 32 states (as of 2016), employers can legally refuse to hire and can fire someone simply for being LGBTQ.137 Even in states where queer people have legal protection, transgender and other gender-diverse people do not. LGBTQ people can be legally denied housing and other important resources heterosexual people take for granted. LGBTQ youth made up 40 percent of homeless young people in the United States in 2012 and are often thrust into homelessness by family rejection. Transgender people are the most vulnerable and experience high levels of violence, including homicide.

4. Age Subcultures

Think about your most recent family gathering. Were your grandparents there? Maybe your parents, nieces, or uncles? What did conversations around the dinner table sound like? Sometimes family reunions are accompanied by a lot of drama and differing opinions. While some differences may be caused by opposing beliefs, other differences may be something a little less obvious. Generational differences can include lifestyle differences, motivational differences, etc. Although you may view these differences as quirky things your Aunt Susie or Grandma Betty say or do, there may actually be reasons they act a certain way. Understanding generational differences may help to shed some light on why your family acts the way they do. For marketers, learning about generational differences provides helpful insight how to market to different age subcultures. This can be extremely beneficial in creating marketing campaigns, promotions, products, and services.

There are four generations who are active in today’s consumer culture; Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (or Millennials), and Generation Z. Let’s break down each one and examine some similarities and differences, keeping in mind, these are generalizations and there are exceptions within each generation.

- Baby Boomers: born between 1946 and 1964. The huge wave of baby boomers began arriving in 1946, following World War II, and marketers have been catering to them ever since. What are they like? Sociologists have attributed to them such characteristics as “individuality, tolerance, and self-absorption.” In the United States, there are seventy million of them, and as they marched through life over the course of five decades, marketers crowded the roadside to supply them with toys, clothes, cars, homes, and appliances—whatever they needed at the time. They’re still a major marketing force, but their needs have changed: they’re now the target market for Botox, pharmaceutical products, knee surgery, financial investments, cruises, vacation homes, and retirement communities. Baby Booms have a high amount of disposable income, are affluent, and more “tech savvy” than many might realize. For marketers, the most effective way to reach this consumer subculture is through television advertisements, email marketing, paid search, and Facebook advertisements.

- Generation X: born between 1965 and 1981. Because birth rates had declined by the time the “Gen X” babies first arrived in 1965, this group had just one decade to grow its numbers. Thus, it’s considerably smaller (seventeen million) than the baby-boomer group, and it has also borne the brunt of rising divorce rates and the arrival of AIDS. Experts say, however, that they’re diverse, savvy, and pragmatic and point out that even though they were once thought of as “slackers,” they actually tend to be self-reliant and successful. At this point in their lives, most are at their peak earning power and affluent enough to make marketers stand up and take notice.

- Generation Y (“Millennials”): born between 1982 and 1997. When they became parents, baby boomers delivered a group to rival their own. Born between 1976 and 2001, their sixty million children are sometimes called “echo boomers” (because their population boom is a reverberation of the baby boom). They’re still evolving, but they’ve already been assigned some attributes: they’re committed to integrity and honesty, they’re family oriented and close to parents, ethnically diverse and accepting of differences, upbeat and optimistic about the future (although the troubled economy is lessening their optimism), education focused, independent, and goal oriented. They also seem to be coping fairly well: among today’s teens, arrests, drug use, drunk driving, and school dropout rates are all down. Generation Ys are being courted by carmakers. Global car manufacturers have launched a number of 2012 cars designed to cater to the members of Generation Y. Advertisers are also busy trying to find innovative ways to reach this group, but they’re finding that it’s not easy. Generation Ys grew up with computers and other modes of high technology, and they’re used to doing several things at once—simultaneously watching TV, texting, and playing games on the computer. As a result, they’re quite adept at tuning out ads. Try to reach them through TV ads and they’ll channel-surf right past them or hit their TiVo remotes. You can’t get to them over the Internet because they know all about pop-up blockers. In one desperate attempt to get their attention, an advertiser paid college students fifty cents to view thirty-second ads on their computers. Advertisers keep trying, because Generation Y is big enough to wreck a brand by giving it a cold shoulder.

- Generation Z (“Digital Natives”): born between 1997 and today. Generation Z has never known a world before technology. They have grown up in an “always on” world where technology is readily available and used on a regular basis. Technology has been utilized as a babysitter by many parents of this generation and it is also present in the classroom. This constant access to technology makes Generation Z extremely tech savvy but has also changed behavior and lifestyle. Whether or not these behavioral and lifestyle changes will carry on into their adulthood is yet to be determined. Generation Z is starting to enter into the workforce with the oldest members turning 22-years-old in 2019.

Student Feature

In this model students explore how two different age subcultures – Millenials (“Zoomers”) and Boomers, differ in their approaches in a purchase situation such as buying a vehicle. Created by KPU students Karan Veer Singh Batth, Khushnel Gurmeet Johal, Carlin Stephenson, and Jacob Velestuk.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=125

Student Feature

How has marketing to Gen Z changed over the last two decades? Student explore how changes in society and culture have been reflected in the marketing and advertising towards Millennials. Created by KPU students Aidan Maurice Richard and John Donahoe.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=125

Counterculture

Sociologists distinguish subcultures from countercultures, which are a type of subculture that rejects some of the larger culture’s norms and values. In contrast to subcultures, which operate relatively smoothly within the larger society, countercultures might actively defy larger society by developing their own set of rules and norms to live by, sometimes even creating communities that operate outside of greater society.

Marketing Context

Are we – and our bodies – under advertising’s control?

Advertising is a prominent feature of culture. In 1949, Hayakawa remarked that trying to ignore advertising is “like trying to do your algebra homework in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.” Today, advertising is with us from the moment we order our morning coffee to the moment we check our social media accounts (one last time!) before falling asleep.

The role of advertising in culture is often discussed in terms of a “media effects model,” popularized by McCracken (1986), among others. According to this model, meaning is transferred from advertisements to the goods that we buy, and then to consumers. In this way, media affects consumers by sharing bits of culture – including the norms and scripts we often follow whether we realize it or not.

This enculturation process is connected to a familiar topic of conversation – that advertising harms consumers. Body image, in particular, has been singled out as a topic of importance. An argument, now likely familiar to many readers, is that advertising negatively impacts how women (and to a lesser but still notable extent, men) feel about their bodies.

The “ideal” bodies in advertising show consumers what Pollay (1986) would call an image of “the good life.” The trappings of this life – domestic bliss, lucrative employment, and never-ending youth – are often unattainable but still vastly appealing cultural touchstones. Advertisers’ ongoing use of ideal bodies is bolstered with the argument that consumers will buy the advertised products as a way of trying to obtain the good life they see pictured.

As critics observe, when consumers are surrounded by these images, they may feel bad about themselves. They may also develop unhealthy diet and exercise regimes as a way of trying to shape their bodies into that oh-so-tempting ideal. This story is familiar not only because it is widespread, but because there is a great deal of truth to it. As authors like Richens (1991) and Coffey (2013) have shown, advertisements containing images of ideal bodies do have the power to make consumers feel bad about themselves. They can prompt unhealthy behaviours.

However, Thompson and Haytko (1997) argue that the notion of a media effects model is limited. Specifically, it ignores the possibility that consumers can resist or ignore advertising’s messages. Consumers may not have the same kind of power as advertisers, but they are powerful. Here are some ways that you as a consumer can exercise your power, in big and little ways:

1. Be critical: Instead of walking by or scrolling past an advertisement, stop to critique it. How does this advertisement make you feel? What do you like about it? What don’t you like about it? Asking these questions takes you from being a passive recipient of advertising’s messages to being an active consumer.

2. Learn the tools of the trade: Advertisers rely on tools like photo editing and careful selection of models to create the perfect image. Coleman’s (2009) research with young girls shows that when we can spot the tools, the advertisements lose their magic.

3. Start a conversation: The next time a friend critiques their body in front of you, instead of automatically complimenting them or offering a critique of your own body, start a conversation about why we, as consumers, might be critical of our bodies.

4. Use your voice: Thanks to social media, companies are more responsive to consumers’ concerns than ever before. If you see an issue with a campaign, write a post about it, message the company, or start a petition.

The next time you see an advertisement of “the good life,” know that this good life is simply reflecting our cultural norms and scripts. Yet, as a consumer, you have the power to shape those same norms and scripts.

By Carly Drake

Attribution

This page contains material taken from:

BUS305 Small Business Management is published by Saylor Academy and available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Retrieved from https://learn.saylor.org/mod/page/view.php?id=5790

Chai Vasarhelyi, E. (2019). Abstract; The Art of Design: Cas Holman; Design for Play, [Episode from Documentary Series]. New York, USA: RadicalMedia and Tremolo Productions

Coffey, J. (2013). Bodies, Body Work and Gender: Exploring a Deleuzian Approach. Journal of Gender Studies, 22 (1), 3-16.

Coleman, R. (2009). The Becoming of Bodies: Girls, Images, Experience. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.

Drake, C. (2020). Are we – and our bodies – under advertising’s control? Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

Garcia, J.D. (2017). Race and Ethnicity. In Brown, N. and McIlwraith, T. (Eds), Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, by Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Generation Effects and Consumer Behaviour in Introduction to Business is published by Lumen Learning and is licensed CC BY: Attribution

Hayakawa, S.I. (1964). Language in Thought and Action. New York, NY: Harcourt.

“Introducing Marketing” by John Burnett is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Introduction to Sociology 2e. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49

McCracken, G. (1986), Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement of the Cultural Meaning of Consumer Goods. Journal
of Consumer Research, 13 (1), 71-84.

Mukhopadhyay, C., Blumenfield, T., Harper, S., and Gondek, A. (2017). Gender and Sexuality. In Brown, N. and McIlwraith, T. (Eds), Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, by Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Pollay, R.W. (1986). The Distorted Mirror: Reflections on the Unintended Consequences of Advertising. Journal of Marketing, 50 (2), 18-36.

Principles of Marketing by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Richins, M.L. (1991). Social Comparison and the Idealized Images of Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 18 (1), 71-83.

Solomon, M., White, K. & Dahl, D.W. (7th Edition) (2017). Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being. New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc.

Stephenson, C. Child’s play solving adult problems. Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA.

“Teen Market Profile,” Mediamark Research, 2003. Retrieved from http://www.magazine.org/content/files/teenprofile04.pdf.

Thompson, C. J. and Haytko, D.L. (1997). Speaking of Fashion: Consumers’ Uses of Fashion Discourses and the Appropriation of Countervailing Cultural Meanings. Journal of Consumer Research, 24 (1), 15-42.

Workforce Generations. Authored by: Freedom Learning Group. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution

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Chapter Wrap Up

This self-assessment is a way to check your learning and understanding. The “marks” are not recorded and are there only for your own review.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/?p=1559

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Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

1. Disney’s Pocahontas “Colors of the Wind Song” presents many of the stereotypes of the ecologically noble savage. What are these stereotypes? Where else do we see these kinds of depictions?

2. How do you use cleaning rituals to save lives? Read this New York Times article entitled, “Warning: Habits May Be Good for You” and discuss how rituals can be created and adopted in order to change (in this case, life saving) behaviours.

3. Listen to CBC’s Under The Influence Podcast with Terry O’Reilly featuring several marketing examples where rituals have formed consumer habits, cementing the success of many products and brands.

4. Cultural gatekeepers in Hollywood have been criticized for decades about failing to accurately represent society in their films: “white-washing” is the term used to describe the over-representation of white actors in roles that should be filled by people of colour – especially films in a historical context. Explore the work of Dylan Marrow in his blog, “Every Single Word” that represents a curation of Hollywood films carefully edited down to only the speaking lines of people of colour (non-white actors). What impact do Hollywood films have on informing culture and influence marketing? Why should this  form of under/over-representation be a concern for marketers? What responsibility do marketers have to reset the balance?

5. In this book, content contributor Mariah Gladstone generously shares with us an Indigenous perspective on the harm caused by racist mascots. Listen to Jesse Wente’s interview with the CBC’s Matt Galloway about why it’s time to change all racist team names. How are sports marketers failing to inform and influence culture by continuing to market racist names and mascots? Research the #NotYourMascot campaign to learn more.

6. In 2014, Business Insider identified some of the most egregious examples of racism in marketing and advertising. Discuss marketing’s role and responsibility in marketing with honesty, authenticity, and integrity. How does racism in marketing impact culture and society?

7. Rituals and rights of passage are important features in identifying and understanding a culture. Read Métis writer Chelsea Vowel’s blog post about the significance of the Hudson Bay Company’s Blanket and consider the importance of ritual and right of passage in her experience.

8. Contrast and compare the above example with a different perspective on the symbolism surrounding the HBC blanket. Read about and listen to the Secret Life of Canada’s podcast about the HBC blanket How do these two very different examples, experiences, and perspectives demonstrate that pan-Indigenous views are problematic? What lesson should be understood by marketers in these contexts?

9. What relationship(s) exists among income, social class, family structure and consumerism? How do income and education impact consumer decision making? What about family structure?

10. The Gender Ads Project provides examples of depictions of social class in advertising. Browse through some of these advertisements and discuss what you believe are the implications of these ads on society. How do these types of ads inform our understanding of “social class”?

11. Explore marketing advertisements that depict social class through casting of actors/characters. What cues in the ad determine the social class being targeted? Use this ad for Doritos and this ad for Jimmy John’s as a starting place.

12. Discuss the #SeeHer campaign and why cultural gender-bias in advertising is now an urgent topic of discussion. What brands are committed to addressing gender-bias?

13. What implications do gender stereotypes in advertising have on the youngest members of society – children? How does marketing inform a child’s understanding of gender roles? Consider this video from MullenLowe Group and discuss what changes need to occur in marketing to “redraw the balance”.

14. CBC’s Under the Influence podcast is an excellent resource for specific marketing topics explored by marketing and advertising legend, Terry O’Reilly. Listen to, “Guys and Dolls: Gender Marketing” (27 minutes) and discuss the impact it has on society with respect to cultural norms. Do you see this trends continuing or do you anticipate a move towards more neutral marketing representation in the future?

15. Which brands are targeting consumers who identify as part of a LGBTQ2S+ sub-culture? Subaru has long been analyzed a car company that identified early on that LGBTQ2S+ target markets fulfilled all of the features attractive to marketers: a growing segment; high disposable income; purchasing power; reachable by advertising & promotions. Discuss Subaru’s target marketing strategy and seek out more advertisements that demonstrate their directed ads towards LGBTQ2S+ consumers. How do Subaru’s ads reflect a changes to family structure?

16. How many people can remember a famous TV commercial by Volkswagen featuring two college-aged men driving around in a VW bug set to the “dah dah dah dah” music? Discuss the significance of this ad and when the advertiser chose to air it for the first time (hint: during the famous “coming out” episode of Ellen). How does VW’s ad reflect a change to family structure?

17. What is social mobility and how is this concept communicated through marketing? Has the infamous, “American Dream” moved to Canada, as argued by Macleans writer Scott Gilmore?

18. How do you know if you’re a Millennial or not? How do marketers tailor their marketing mix to different age-subcultures? Refer to Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report of 2016 for a detailed summary of global digital marketing trends.

19. Who is actively marketing to the transgender consumer market? Do you recall Nike’s ad during the 2016 Rio Olympics that features a transgender athlete? What kind of impact does inclusive advertising have on society and culture’s understanding of transgenders?

20. When we discuss ethnic sub-cultures, we consider how members share common cultural and/or genetic ties which are recognized by both its members (and others) as a distinct category. Canada is regarded as a heterogeneous society (multi-ethnic) – but do Canadian brands reflect this accurately and honestly? Discuss how Canadian brands are succeeding and failing to be inclusive and reflective of a multi-ethnic society (consider how MEC was confronted with their failure as a leading outdoor brand to feature non-white models in their advertisements).

21. Read about how the Gap responded to criticism (and extreme racism) around their 2011 “Make Love” campaign. What other mainstream brands are representing ethnic sub-cultures in their marketing?

22. From Coachilla to Justin Bieber to nearly any Kardashian, there are numerous examples of celebrities who have been accused of cultural appropriation. It seems the examples in fashion are almost endless. Explore the following links to engage in a meaningful discussion on cultural appropriation and consider how marketing plays a critical role in eliminating harmful practices like this one.

- A very well-constructed Twitter thread by Dr. Adrienne Keene about Native Headdresses not being a garment or fashion statement

- Teen Vogue’s video, “Dear White Women, We Need to Talk About Coachella”.

- Chelsea Vowel’s blogpost, “An Open Letter to Non-Natives in Headdresses“.

- Teen Vogue’s article and video, “Cultural Appropriation at Halloween: My Culture Is Not a Costume”

1

Appendix

2

Discussion Questions

The following discussion questions are based on the work presented by Martin Heavy Head, Erasure of Indigenous Knowledge and its Impact on Culture, located in the front of this textbook.

1. As the author noted, before the 1950’s, the Canadian government made the Ceremonies of The Blackfoot and other Plains Nations illegal. Reflect on how in today’s consumer culture, Indigenous symbols used in fashion, home decorating, and design (specifically those from the Plains Nations, such as arrows, tipis, and headdresses) are a form of cultural appropriation.

2. How is the depiction of Canada’s “war” to win the west an example of “whitewashing”? What marketing examples exist in pop culture (movies, television, literature, character archetypes) that perpetuate and uphold stereotypes of Plains Nations in a way that continues to position the dominant culture as victors in a way?

3. Who is “Chief Winnetou and how has this characterization created both a pervasive archetype in cultural expressions (movies, television, literature) and how does it contribute to “toxic masculinity”?

4. Contrast and compare how “gendered roles” have been presented in marketing versus how the author explains they actually exist both historically and in present-day.

5. The author writes: “We leave the Berry as an offering to ensure that we always have food, and this offering ensures a new growth of food wherever we go.” Discuss the significance of food as part of a cultural system. How does this act of giving also align with the Blackfoot Way of Life model?

6. How does the author’s depiction of the Blackfoot’s relationship to the land conflict with the archetypes and stereotypical depiction of Plains Nations Peoples in marketing? Can you discuss this more broadly in the context of the 15th Century climate event and cooling of the earth due European colonization of the Americas?

7. Discuss how marketing shapes perception by searching for archived advertisements and old images used by the Canadian government throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to encourage European settlement of the prairies and now western Canada. How did the government’s marketing strategy uphold the myth of “terra nullius”?

8. Discuss how the Plains Nations used norms and mores, encoded into a cultural context, to uphold the perpetuity of both culture, land, and life. How does this contrast with the stereotypes represented in the dominant culture’s marketing of Indigenous Peoples today?

9. Cultural appropriate of Indigenous knowledge is an important theme in the author’s work. Discuss how Abraham Maslow’s work is considered cultural appropriation. What other examples of cultural appropriation are profoundly seen in marketing today?

10. The author writes, “See, if the people have no knowledge of who hey are, then any jackass can come along in a position of authority and tell them who they are.” Discuss how this impacts self-identity. How is this sentiment also evidenced in consumer marketing messages today?

11. What amounts to our understanding of the word “culture”?

- Discuss how the removal (or “disconnection” as the author expresses) of one or more cultural features can erode a culture and lead to cultural genocide.

- Can culture be perpetuated and uphold for future generations of cultural acts are banned, forbidden, removed, or found to be illegal if practiced? How?

- How does cultural erasure lead to stereotyping?

- What does “pan-Indigenous” mean? How has cultural erasure now created a climate of unreasonable expectations such that, “As Indigenous People; we are forced to take on a lot of the world, have to defend entire Tribes, an entire “race” of People. without even knowing where to start, we are expected to be experts on Indigenous issues, and anti-racism.”

12. The author writes, “We are expected to be drunks, addicts, traumatized, or activities.” How are these examples of stereotypes and what marketing examples are evidence of these?