COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license.



Roger D. Blackwell Paul W. Miniard James F. Engel

Consumer Behavior

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Consumer Knowledge

CHAPTER 9



Importance of Consumer Knowledge


What we know or don’t know strongly influences our decision-making processes

It affects how decisions are made

It may determine the finaldecision itself



Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, Consumer Behavior, Ninth Edition, Copyright© 2001 by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumer Knowledge Affects Product Demand


Knowledge about a brand’s associations (linkages in memory between the brand and other concepts) can affect consumer behavior in many ways




Different Brand Associations HaveDifferent Effects on Consumers

Source: A. Belen del Rio, Rodolfo Vacquez, and Victor Iglesias, “The Effects of Brand Associations on Consumer Response,” Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18 (2001), 410–425.


Knowledge shapes inferences about unknown product attributes using known product attributes



Knowledge about competitors’ prices can determine consumer acceptance of a company’s price



Knowledge can influence consumer response to salespeople



Types of Consumer Knowledge


Product Knowledge

Purchase Knowledge

Consumption and Usage Knowledge

Persuasion Knowledge

Self-Knowledge




Product Knowledge


Product Knowledge

Represents information stored in consumers’ memory about a general product category


Represents information stored in consumers’ memory about products

Can be divided into product category knowledge (i.e., knowledge about a general product category) and brand knowledge (i.e., knowledge about a brand in the product category)

Product Knowledge


Product Category Knowledge

Product novices possess very simply levels of product category knowledge

Product experts possess vast amounts of product category knowledge

Product Knowledge


Brand Knowledge

Whether the consumer is aware of the brand or not is the most fundamental aspect of brand knowledge

Product Knowledge


Creating knowledge of the brand’s existence is a challenge facing:

New products in the current market

Product Knowledge



Americans’ Awareness of New Products in 2004




Established brands and companies in the current market

Product Knowledge




Established brands and companies in the current market

Established brands and companies in new markets

Product Knowledge


Assessing Awareness

Product Knowledge


Assessing Awareness

Recall: which brands can be retrieved from memory

Top-of-the-mind awareness: the particular brand that is remembered first

Product Knowledge


Assessing Awareness

Recall: which brands can be retrieved from memory

Top-of-the-mind awareness: the particular brand that is remembered first

Recognition: identify familiar brands from a list

Product Knowledge


Assessing Awareness

Choosing the best indicator of knowledge depends on whether consumers construct their consideration sets based on recall or recognition

Product Knowledge


Brand image: defined by entire array of associations activated from memory when consumers think about a brand

May involve product attributes and associations

May also include endorsers, ad campaigns, symbols, product slogans, etc.

Product Knowledge



Linking Brands to Product Slogans


Image analysis: involves examining the current set of brand associations that exist in the marketplace

Identify attributes and associations that come to mind about the brand

Assess strengths of associations

Examine what an association represents in the consumer’s psyche

Product Knowledge


Perceptual Mapping: image analysis that derives brand images from consumers’ similarity judgments

Consumers judge the similarity of brands examined in the analysis

Brands perceived as similar are located close together on the perceptual map

Placement of the “ideal brand” may suggest new products

Product Knowledge



Hypothetical Perceptual Map


Product Knowledge

Purchase Knowledge



Encompasses the various pieces of information consumers possess about buying products

Includes information about the product’s price, where it can be purchased, and whether it can be purchased less expensively later

Purchase Knowledge


How much does it cost?

Knowledge about typical range of prices for a product helps consumer evaluate fairness of the price of a particular brand

Businesses are concerned about the accuracy of consumers’ price knowledge and what consumers know about their competitors’ prices (relative price knowledge)

Purchase Knowledge


When to buy?

Knowledge about when a product typically goes on sale may delay purchase

May determine when new innovations are purchased—many consumers do not purchase new innovations when introduced because they believe the price will drop over time

Purchase Knowledge


Where to buy?

Purchase Knowledge

Knowledge about where to buy aproduct guides purchase decisions

Includes knowledge about where product is located in the store—when consumers are unfamiliar with store layout, they rely more on in-store information


Creating Knowledge about Where to Buy


Product Knowledge

Purchase Knowledge

Consumption & Usage Knowledge



Encompasses the information in memory about how a product can be consumed and what is required to actually use it

Consumers are unlikely to buy a product when they lack information about how to use it



Creating Usage Knowledge



Sometimes consumer have incomplete information about different ways a product can be consumed

Care must be taken in selecting new uses for an existing product so not to lower its appeal


Expanding Usage Knowledge


Product Knowledge

Purchase Knowledge





Information about what consumers know about the goals and tactics of those trying to persuade them

Persuasion knowledge influences how consumers respond to persuasion attempts

Knowledge about a particular tactic may eliminate its effectiveness



Product Knowledge

Purchase Knowledge



Self-Knowledge



A person’s understanding of one’s own mental processes

Can the consumer accurately assess and report the importance of product attributes used in the decision process?

Companies are better off relying on the results of statistical models than those reported by consumers

Self-Knowledge


Sources of Consumer Knowledge



Personal versus Impersonal

Business versus Nonbusiness Controlled


Consumers’ Sources of Knowledge



Business sources of knowledge are often viewed with suspicion

Consumers have more faith in personal knowledge sources that are not controlled by businesses



Differing credibility of sources

Relative influence of product sources depends on the type of information conveyed


Perceptions of Media Credibility



Experience from buying and consuming a product

Direct experience increases confidence in knowledge and makes it more likely to be used in making decisions

Companies may adjust their marketing strategies when targeting consumers lacking direct experience with the product



Companies need to decide which source to use when delivering their messages

Essential that the company monitor what is being transmitted to consumers about them


Monitoring Media Coverage


Benefits of Understanding Consumer Knowledge



Gauging Positioning Success



Gauging Positioning SuccessBy examining a product’s image among target consumers, a company can determine its success in achieving the desired image among consumers?



Identifying Purchase Barriers



Identifying Purchase BarriersCan occur due to a lack of knowledge

Knowledge gaps: an absence of information in memory

Firms need to identify knowledge gaps which undermine product purchase

Knowledge gaps may exist for new and existing products


Educating Consumers



Identifying Purchase BarriersCan occur due to a lack of knowledge

Can occur due to inaccurate knowledge (misperceptions)



MisperceptionsCan occur in many areas including knowledge of the brand, company, product, or product’s price

Fixing misperceptions requires changing how the product is perceived



Discovering New Uses



Discovering New UsesConsumers often develop new ways of using a product


New Product Uses



Discovering New UsesConsumers often develop new ways of using a product

Companies may find that these new uses can be promoted as a means of broadening a product’s appeal



Gauging the Severity of Competitive Threats



Gauging the Severity of Competitive Threats

How much do consumers know about competitive products?

Understanding what consumers know about competitive brands can guide marketing activities with respect to those competitive brands



Enhancing the Effectiveness of Customer Recruitment Activities



Enhancing the Effectiveness of Customer Recruitment Activities

What product changes are needed to attract competitors’ customers?

How might these changes best be accomplished? Advertising, personal sales, or public relations?

Should sales messages focus on technical information or easy to understand product attributes?


Safeguarding and improving consumer welfare is the primary concern

Policies and legislation aimed at protecting the uninformed consumer

Includes areas such as appropriate disclosure of information and educating consumers

Implications for Public Policy

Documents

COPYRIGHT © 2005 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license