This document provides an overview of post-decision processes in consumer decision making. It discusses post-purchase dissonance and how consumers may deal with inconsistencies by downgrading other options, searching for information to support their choice, or ignoring dissonant information. The document also examines how consumers form satisfaction and dissatisfaction judgments based on theories of disconfirmation, attribution, and equity. Marketers can help reduce dissonance through product guarantees or comparative advertising. Responses to dissatisfaction like complaints or negative word of mouth are also reviewed.

1. POST-DECISION PROCESS

2. 2
Exhibit 10.1:
Chapter
Overview:
Post-Decision
Processes

3. A MODEL OF COMPLEX
DECISION MAKING
3
Problem
Recognition
Information
Acquisition
Information
Processing
Comparative
Evaluation/
Purchase
Post-Purchase
Evaluations

4. CHAPTER OVERVIEW
 Post-Decision Dissonance and Regret
 Learning from Consumer Experience
 How Do Consumers Make Satisfaction or
Dissatisfaction Judgments?
 Responses to Dissatisfaction
 Is Customer Satisfaction Enough?
 Disposition
4

5. DISSONANCE
 Dissonance Theory:
 Your different beliefs (about related objects) should be
consistent with one another
 Inconsistency = “Dissonance”
 What is Post-Purchase Dissonance??
5

6. DISSONANCE
 Post-Purchase Dissonance
You purchased one alternative; rejected others
Believe that others also have desirable attributes
Inconsistency!!
And often, regret
 Try to reduce dissonance by changing
inconsistent beliefs
How??
6

7. DEALING WITH DISSONANCE
 Downgrading other alternatives
 Searching for supportive info on chosen
brand
 Ignoring dissonant information
 Selectively interpreting information
 Dissatisfaction
Cancel Purchase
Not Purchase Again
7

8. WHEN IS DISSONANCE MOST LIKELY?
 High Involvement or Low Involvement Product?
 When alternatives are rated about equally, or when
one alternative is clearly better?
8

9. MARKETING IMPLICATIONS OF
DISSONANCE
 Providing Supportive Information
 Product warranty or money back guarantee
 Downgrading Alternatives:
 Comparative Advertising
9

10. LEARNING FROM
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
 After purchase, consumers use the product
 Usage provides opportunity to learn about the product
 Learning by hypothesis testing
10

11. 11
Exhibit 11.3: A Model of Learning from Experience
What factors affect learning from experience?
MotivationAbility
Opportunity
Processing biases

12. LEARNING FROM
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
 What Affects Learning from Experience?
Motivation
Prior Knowledge or Ability
Ambiguity of the Information Environment or
Lack of Opportunity
Processing Biases
12

13. HOW DO CONSUMERS MAKE
SATISFACTION OR
DISSATISFACTION JUDGMENTS?
 Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction
Based on Thoughts
Disconfirmation Theory
Attribution Theory
Equity Theory
13

14. DISCONFIRMATION THEORY:
SATISFACTION / DISSATISFACTION
 Better Product Performance = More satisfaction??
 Does satisfaction depend on anything else?
14

15. 15
Exhibit 10.6: The Disconfirmation Paradigm

16. DISCONFIRMATION THEORY
(CONT.)
 P > E: Positive disconfirmation; Satisfaction
 P = E: Confirmation; Satisfaction
 P < E: Negative disconfirmation; Dissatisfaction
 So what should you do as a marketer?
16

17. “MANAGING” EXPECTATIONS
 Phone response systems: “Your call will
be attended to in the order in which it
was received”
 Earnings forecasts
17
MARK242ConsumerBehavior,Elaine
ChanSpring2010

18. ATTRIBUTION THEORY
 People try to find reasons for what happens
 Find “attributions” for events
 Negative outcomes (e.g., bad exam performance, bad product
performance)
 Dimensions of Attributions:
 Focus: Is the problem due to the consumer or the marketer?
 Controllability: Is the event under the consumer’s or the
marketer’s control?
 Stability: Is the reason temporary or permanent?
18

19. MARKETING APPLICATIONS OF
ATTRIBUTIONS: FOCUS
 Focus: Blame Reduction
 You buy a chest-of-drawers from IKEA and soon find that a
couple of the drawers don’t slide smoothly and the bases are
falling. Would you feel the problem is caused by poor-quality
materials or by your skills at carpentry?
Internal to Marketer/External to Marketer: Which
one leads to more blame?
19

20. MARKETING APPLICATIONS OF
ATTRIBUTIONS:
CONTROLLABILITY
 Controllability: Blame Reduction
 You are going to Bangkok for a 3-day vacation. However, your
flight is delayed by several hours. Will you blame the airline…
 if you learn that the delay was caused by severe weather
conditions?
 if you learn that the delay was caused by a mix-up in the
pilot staffing roster?
Marketer controllable/non-controllable: Which
causes more blame?
20

21. MARKETING APPLICATIONS OF
ATTRIBUTIONS: STABILITY
 Stability: Exchange vs. Refund
 You go to IKEA and order a coffee table. A few weeks after
delivery, you find a large crack at the juncture near one of the
legs. Would you be more angry…
 If you thought the defect had developed due to poor quality
of the wood?
 If you thought the defect might have been caused during
delivery?
When is the consumer more likely to ask for
exchange (vs. refund): when cause is stable or
unstable?
21

22. ATTRIBUTIONS FOR PRODUCT /
SERVICE FAILURE
 Focus: Who has the problem been caused by?
 Consumer / non-marketer  less blame
 Controllability: Is the event under the consumer’s or
the marketer’s control?
 Marketer-focus + controllable  even more blame
 Stability: Is the reason temporary or permanent?
 Stable attributions  more blame, prefer refunds
22

23. EQUITY THEORY
 Fairness in Exchange
 Inputs Versus Outputs
 Consumer’s side
 Marketer’s side
23

24. SATISFACTION BASED ON
FEELINGS
 Experienced Emotions and Coping
 Post-decision feelings
 Mispredictions of feelings
 Affective Forecasting
24

25. RESPONSES TO
DISSATISFACTION
Complaints (i.e., talking to the firm)
When Complaints Are Likely to Occur
MAO
Severity
Attribution
 Negative WOM
 i.e., talking to other consumers
25

26. CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION
Is a major problem…
 Dissatisfied customers stop purchasing, complain, and
spread negative WOM.
 The average business does not hear from 96% of its
unhappy customers.
 The average person with problems tells 9 or 10 people.
But also an opportunity!
 95% of complainers will do business with you if
complaint is resolved quickly.
26

27. IS CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION ENOUGH?
 Customer Retention
After-sales
Relationships
Extras
27

28. OPTIONS FOR
POST-ACQUISITION DISPOSITION
28
Give Away
Trade
Recycle
Sell
Use Up
Throw Away
Abandon
Destroy

29. QUIZ 1: SAMPLE QUESTION
 Consumers deal with decision dissonance by:
a) Ignoring dissonant information
b) Selectively interpret information
c) Downgrade other options not chosen
d) Search for information that supports chosen option
e) All of the above
29

30. QUIZ 1: SAMPLE QUESTION
 It was discovered that several children had developed
food poisoning from eating a hamburger at an outlet
of a local restaurant chain. The company put out a
message saying that the problem had been caused due
to a power outage at their refrigeration, and would
not happen again. This message was appealing to:
a) Product evaluations
b) Customer relationship management
c) The perceived stability of the problem
d) The type of disconfirmation
e) Consumers’ perceptions of equity
30

31. ANNOUNCEMENTS
 No class on March 1, Quiz 1 at 7pm, LTJ.
 For class on March 6, read Chapter 3
31