This document discusses key concepts in consumer behavior including: 1. Maslow's hierarchy of needs and how marketers have oversimplified applying it to different products satisfying different needs. 2. Consumer involvement, the factors that influence it like personal, product, and situational characteristics, and different types of involvement. 3. Models of consumer behavior based on involvement like low-involvement learning and levels of message processing. 4. The effects of involvement on information processing, search, and transmission between consumers. 5. Measuring involvement through scales and its importance for marketing applications and segmentation.

1. CONSUMER BAHAVIOUR

2. Contents
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 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Consumer involvement
 Causes of Consumer Involvement
 Levels of Involvement
 The Many Faces of Involvement
 Effects of Consumer Involvement
 Consumer Behavior Models Based on
Involvement
 Measuring involvement
 Strategies to increase involvement

3. Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs

4. This Italian ad reinforces the
need for safety
in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Source: Courtesy of Subaru Italy.
The Hierarchy and Product Benefits

5. Issues with Applying the Hierarchy of Needs
Marketers’ application of this hierarchy
has been somewhat simplistic, especially
as the same product or activity can gratify
different needs.
For example, one study found that
gardening could satisfy needs at every
level of the hierarchy:
• Physiological —“I like to work in the soil.”
• Safety —“I feel safe in the garden.”
• Social —“I can share my produce with others.”
• Esteem —“I can create something of beauty.”
• Self-actualization —“My garden gives me a sense of peace.”

6. Do consumers form strong relationships with
products and services?

7. Consumer involvement

9. Causes of Consumer Involvement
Involvement is increased when there is congruence of the personal, product, and situational factors
that influence consumer involvement.
Personal
Factors
Selfconcept,
needs, and
values
Product
Factors
The more
alternatives there
are to choose from,
the greater the
consumer
involvement.
Situational
Factors
The situation in which
a product is bought or
used can generate
emotional
involvement.

10. Chilly Dog (Peta Advertisement)
PETA uses emotional appeals based on personal factors to get its
message across about the treatment of animals

11. The Charmin toilet tissue brand sponsors a
Web site, appropriately named SitOrSquat.com.
The site helps travelers find the cleanest public
restrooms wherever they happen to be on
Earth.
The brand manager explains, “Our goal is to
connect Charmin with innovative conversations
and solutions as a brand that understands the
importance of bringing the best bathroom
experience to consumers, even when they’re
away from home.”
According to Charmin, SitOrSquat lists over
52,000 toilets in 10 countries.
Source: Courtesy of P&G/Charmin
Product involvement
often depends on the
situation we’re in.

12. Situational versus Enduring Involvement
Situational involvement
refers to the feelings a
consumer experiences in
a particular situation
when he or she thinks
about a particular
product. Enduring involvement
reflects feelings
experienced toward a
product category that are
persistent over time and
across different situations.

13. The Many Faces of Involvement
1
2
3

14. The Many Faces of Involvement
1
Product involvement refers to a
consumer’s level of interest in
a particular product.
Many sales promotions aim to
increase this type of
involvement.

15. Mass customization is
the personalization of
products and services
for individual
customers at a mass-
production price.

16. The Many Faces of Involvement
2
Media platforms possess different qualities
that influence how motivated we are to pay
attention to what they tell us.
Television is a low-involvement medium
because it requires a passive viewer who
exerts relatively little control.
In contrast, print is a high-involvement
medium . The reader actively processes the
information and is able to pause and reflect
on what he or she has read before moving
on.

17. The Many Faces of Involvement
3
Purchase situation involvement
refers to differences in
motivation during the process
of interacting with a store or
Web site.
One way to increase this kind of
involvement is to personalize
the messages shoppers receive
at the time of purchase.

18. Dairy Queen helped to
create the DQ Tycoon
videogame, which boosts
involvement as it lets
players run their own fast-
food franchise. They have
to race against the clock to
complete mundane tasks
such as preparing Peanut
Buster Parfaits, taking
orders, restocking the
refrigerator, and dipping
cones.
Source: Courtesy of American Dairy Queen
Corporation

19. Levels of Involvement:
From Inertia to Passion
The type of information processing that occurs depends on the consumer’s
level of involvement.
It can range from simple processing , where she considers only the basic
features of a message, all the way to elaboration , where she links this
information to her preexisting knowledge system.
Inertia Cult Products
Low High

21. Effects of Consumer Involvement
When consumers become involved with
a product, they process product-related
information more readily.
Let us look at each in detail.
Information
Processing
Information Search
Information
Transmission

22. Effects of Consumer Involvement
Highly involved consumers tend to search for
information and shop around more than do
consumers with low involvement.
Information
Processing
Information
Transmission
Information Search
To attract highly involved consumers,
marketers need to make information easily
accessible. They also must provide adequate
opportunity for highly involved consumers to
visit retail outlets, interact with online
communities, and connect with salespeople.
These consumers should be encouraged by
retailers to come in and browse and to
compare alternative models in their attempts
to meet information needs.

23. Effects of Consumer Involvement
Information processing is the amount of
information consumers consider:
Information Search
Information
Transmission
Information
Processing
1. Depth of Comprehension
2. Extent of Elaboration
3. Extent of Emotional Arousal

24. Effects of Consumer Involvement
Information
Processing
Information Search
Information
Transmission
Information transmission is the extent to
which highly involved consumers transmit
information about the product to others. This
is usually done through social networks and
word-of-mouth communication.

25. Consumer Behavior Models Based on
Involvement
Let us look at each in detail.

26. Consumer Behavior Models Based on Involvement
1. Low-Involvement
Learning Model

27. Consumer Behavior Models Based on Involvement
2. Learn-Feel-Do Hierarchy

28. This simple matrix attributes
consumer choices to
information (learn), attitude
(feel), and behavior (do) issues.
Thinking and feeling are
represented as a continuum—
some decisions involve one or
the other, and many involve
elements of both.
Source: Adapted from Vaughn, R.
(1980), “The Consumer Mind: How
to Tailor Ad Strategies.” Reprinted
with permission from the June 9,
1980 issue
of Advertising Age. Copyright, Crain
Communications Inc

29. Consumer Behavior Models Based on Involvement
3. Level of Message Processing Model

30. Consumer Behavior Models Based on Involvement
4. Product versus Brand
Involvement Model

31. • The measurement of involvement is
important for many marketing
applications.
• Two French researchers devised a scale to
measure the antecedents of product
involvement, arguing that no single
component of involvement is
predominant.
• A measurement approach of this nature
allows consumer researchers to capture
the diversity of the involvement
construct, and it also provides the
potential to use involvement as a basis for
market segmentation.
Measuring involvement

32. Construal Level Theory
“Value from Regulatory Construal Fit:
The Persuasive Impact of Fit between Consumer Goals and Message Concreteness”

33. REFERENCES
Brendl, C.M., A. Markman, and C. Messner (2003), “The Devaluation Effect:
Activating a Need Devalues Unrelated Objects,” Journal of Consumer Research, 29
(March), 463-473.
Foxall, G. (1980). Consumer Behaviour. New York, NY: Routledge.
Lee, Angela, Punam Keller, and Brian Sternthal (2010), “Value from
Regulatory Construal Fit: The Persuasive Impact of Fit between Consumer Goals
and Message Concreteness,” Journal of Consumer Research, 36 (February), 735-
747.
Solomon, M.,R. (2013), Consumer Behaviour. New Jersey, United States of
America: Pearson Education.