The Consumer Audience

Part 2: Planning and Strategy

Chapter 5

5-2

The Consumer Decision Process

• Need recognition

• Information search

• Evaluation of alternatives

• Purchase decision

• Postpurchase evaluation

• The consumer recognizes the need for a product

• Advertising should activate or stimulate this need

5-3

The Consumer Decision Process

• Need recognition

• Information search

• Evaluation of alternatives

• Purchase decision

• Postpurchase evaluation

• Can be casual or formal• Advertising helps the

search process by providing information and making it easy to find, as well as remember

5-4

The Consumer Decision Process

• Need recognition

• Information search

• Evaluation of alternatives

• Purchase decision

• Postpurchase evaluation

• Consumers compare various products and reduce the list of options

• Advertising helps sort out products on the basis of tangible and intangible features

5-5

The Consumer Decision Process

• Need recognition

• Information search

• Evaluation of alternatives

• Purchase decision

• Postpurchase evaluation

• Often a two-part decision– Select the brand

– Select the outlet from which to purchase

• In-store promotions affect these choices

5-6

The Consumer Decision Process

• Need recognition

• Information search

• Evaluation of alternatives

• Purchase decision

• Postpurchase evaluation

• The customer reconsiders and justifies the purchase

• Determines whether the customer will keep the product, return it, or refuse to buy the product again

5-7

The Impact of Involvement

• Involvement– Situational– Generalized

• Decision Process will vary– Low involvement will involve little information

search, and it will be primarily internal– Heuristics may replace alternative evaluation– Post purchase evaluation may only occur in the

presence of cognitive dissonance

5-8

Two different Decision Processes

Figure 5.8

5-9

The Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Two routes to persuasion– Central route (high involvement): involves

deliberate and conscious effort to process ad content and claims (message arguments)

– Peripheral route (low involvement): involves little if any deliberate effort to process information; persuasion occurs through association with non-message stimuli such as music, visuals, humor, etc. (peripheral cues)

5-10

Simple ELM

Message Arguments

Peripheral Cues

Attitude Toward the Brand

Purchase Intention

Involvement

Central route

Peripheral Route

5-11

Early Problems with theOriginal ELM

• While they do mention the role of cognitions, they do not explicitly include them in the model– Cognitions are necessary to describe the attitude

formation process

• No mention of attitude toward the ad (Aad)

– Aad has been shown to be a mediating factor influencing attitude toward the brand

5-12

AlternativeElaboration Likelihood Model

Peripheral Cues

Message Arguments

Ad Cognitions

Brand Cognitions

Aad

Ab

Involvement

5-13

In High Involvement Conditions,Central Route Processing

Dominates the Attitude Change Process

Peripheral Cues

Message Arguments

Ad Cognitions

Brand Cognitions

Aad

Ab

Involvement

5-14

In Low Involvement Conditions,Peripheral Route Processing

Dominates the Attitude Change Process

Peripheral Cues

Message Arguments

Ad Cognitions

Brand Cognitions

Aad

Ab

Involvement

5-15

What does all this mean?

• Low Involvement = Creativity rules

• High Involvement = Message rules

5-16

The STP Framework forMarketing Strategic Planning

• Segmenting– Dividing the market into groups of people who

have similar characteristics in certain key product-related areas

• Targeting– Identifying the group that might be the most

profitable audience

• Positioning– Establishing a brand image or personality within

the minds of the target market

5-17

Segmenting and Targeting

• Market aggregation strategy– When planners purposefully use one marketing

strategy that will appeal to as many audiences as possible

• Market segmentation– Assumes that the best way to sell is to recognize

differences within the broad market and adjust strategies and messages accordingly

5-18

Segmenting and Targeting

• Types of segmentation

Figure 5.8

5-19

Segmenting and Targeting

• Targeting the right audience– The target is described using the variables that

separate this prospective consumer group from others who are not in the market

• Profiling the target audience– Describing the target audience as if they are people

you know– Used in developing media and message decisions

5-20

Use of Perceptual Maps for Positioning Strategy

• A visual depiction of product positioning• Identify two (or more) key product attributes on

which differentiation may occur• Score each competing brand on the attributes• Plot the attribute scores for each brand

• Can be used to analyze product position relative to competitors– Find gaps– Identify brand clusters– Guide repositioning strategy

5-21

Question to Ponder

• Which element within the STP framework is most directly affected by advertising?

• Why is an understanding of the involvement level of a target market vital to developing effective communication strategy?