Hey guys! Welcome back to my Consumer Behavior Blog. We're actually on our last week of posts, which is amazing! I hope you've enjoyed the posts so far. For our final week, we're talking about the information search that goes along with looking for products we want to purchase. Let's get started!

Many of us go through an external search when we want to buy items. We check online the different options and pricing, as well as which store may have the best deal. However, we don't go through the same amount of search for every item. You wouldn't take notes and extensively research about what toothpaste you're going to buy, but you would definitely do your research when you're buying a new car. Or maybe when you're getting a new pet.

I recently went through a very extensive search. It involved hours and hours of researching what I needed, who I was going to buy from, and the advantages and disadvantages of what I was buying. What was I getting? Actually, it's more of a who am I getting:

I conducted my massive search on owning a bunny! On May 8th, I'll be bringing home an 8-week old baby girl (Cream-colored like the picture). As you know, owning a new pet comes with a lot of responsibility, and with that came my extensive search. I looked for the right breeder, speaking with several people. I spent hours researching what I would need for my girl, going to different stores (A LOT of different stores) to compare products and what she might like as far as toys and beds go. The point of my example is that there are some purchases that consumers will spend a lot of time researching and thinking about. That's why it's important for products to have resources for their consumers to consult and view--they need to have these resources so that they control that information and it doesn't mislead the potential customer.

However, when it comes to purchasing my daily grocery list, I don't really engage in much of a search. Maybe I'll look for what's on sale, but other than that, I really don't engage in much of a search for information for those types of products. It's quite different to a bunny.

As you can see, there are very different types of search that we conduct depending on what we're buying, usually dependent on how much it affects your life. A bunny is going to change your day-to-day life a lot more than which brand of toothpaste you decide to switch to.

Welcome back to the blog, everyone! We only have about two full weeks of classes left before the start of finals week, which means this is the second-last blog post that we'll be having. This week we're on the subject of situational influences, the external influences on our consumer decision process. In particular, we're going to be talking about the antecedent state of a consumer and how it may affect what we buy.

Whether or not we acknowledge it, our mood has a lot to do with the purchases that we make. Right after a breakup, you may be depressed and more likely to give in to the chocolates in the grocery line. If you're feeling really motivated, maybe you're more likely to skip over those microwaved meals and try to get some ingredients to actually cook for once. No matter the situation, we've all had antecedent states that have influenced what we buy. Sometimes those purchases may end up a little strange, though. Take for example a peculiar purchase I made when I was in elementary school.

I will be the first to admit that I was a stubborn child. Whenever I was told I shouldn't do something, I usually did that thing immediately after being told that. But let me set the scene of the day for you. It was summertime, I was out of school for the season, so I often found myself dragged around by my mom to do errands with her. One of her favorite activities was going to garage sales. With two young kids, she needed a way to get out and find some cheap things to buy. Usually she used it as a social activity with my grandmother, but with her being busy, she only had her stubborn little daughter to bring along.

The day had already started with me being extremely difficult. For breakfast, I had wanted pancakes, but we didn't have any eggs. I was obviously devastated over this notion and had been being a brat about it for hours. Additionally, I wanted to stay home and play with my toys, not be dragged to some weird person's house to look at clothes and old furniture. My antecedent state was not great. And so when my mom was finally sick of me pouting, she decided there was some way to cheer me up. She told me I could get any one thing I wanted, within reason (I couldn't get a couch or drawer, for example). That's when my little elementary brain started to turn. I'm sure my mom meant for me to pick a Barbie doll in the nearby toys chest, or maybe a board game I thought looked cool. But oh no, she had said anything, and she meant it. I wanted to get her back for the breakfast catastrophe earlier. So I did what any little stubborn brat would do.

I chose the ugliest knick knack I could find in the whole house.

After a long search, I settled on a porcelain cookie jar. However, it wasn't just any cookie jar. This one had the Christmas theme of an elf in red and white colors. Think of Elf on the Shelf staring at you with cold black eyes. That's right, I wanted an elf-themed cookie jar in the middle of July, and nothing was stopping me from having that porcelain nightmare.

Think of something like this and make it 1000x more terrifying and ugly on a cookie jar

Bless my mother, she tried her best to talk me out of it. She showed me different Polly Pocket dolls and horse figures, but my stubbornness could not be broken. I was going to get that damn elf cookie jar. It was fine retribution for what she had done to me for breakfast. After a bit of arguing and me reminding her that she had promised me anything, she finally pulled a crisp dollar out of her wallet and handed it to the bemused owner.

I walked out of that sale with the cookie jar snuggly tucked in my arms, hugging it with a triumphant smile on my smug face.

I honestly doubt I would have even given that jar a second look if I hadn't been in the annoyed state that I was in. It was quite honestly something that wouldn't interest me (to be honest, it would have scared me a little). However, my antecedent state had affected what I was interested in buying, as well as the reason I wanted to buy something. It really shows you how powerful a mood or temperament can be to the consumer decision process.

I guess, in the end, the joke's on me. I eventually threw that monstrosity out after having nightmares about the elf coming off of the cookie jar and following me. Still worth it, though.

The Extended Self

Hey guys! Welcome back to my consumer behavior blog. This week we're getting a bit personal as we talk about our own images of ourselves and our self-concepts. In particular, we're talking about the objects that help contribute to our self-concept. I hope you like it!


Everyone has their own opinions and feelings about themselves; we often think about who we are, who we want to become, how others see us, and how we want others to see us. But have you ever thought about the objects that contribute to this? The unique objects that you own that contribute to your self concept? Objects like those contribute to something called the 'extended self.'

The extended self is defined by the book as the self plus possessions. People like to define themselves partly by the possessions that they own, whether this item is an engagement ring, a special book given by a dear friend, or even a pet that offers feelings of comfort and engagement.

Take for example the silver ring I have on my right ring finger. It's kind of like a fidget toy, as you can spin the center part of the ring, something I often do with my thumb. Someone may see this ring and think of it as a fashion statement or something that I just decided to wear for no real reason. In actuality, this was one of the first presents that my boyfriend gave me when we started dating. He had been on vacation with a friend for a while and came back with this ring. He didn't have a single clue what my finger size was and guessed based on the fact that it fit around the tip of his pinky finger. 

When I realized that he had been thinking of me even when he was out of the country with his best friend, I was so happy and knew that he really cared for me. Whenever I wear that ring, I feel connected to him and comforted by the ring. It really means a lot to me and makes up what I think about myself in terms of my relationship to him. 

Try it yourself! Examine the items in your life that make up who you are, paying special mind to where you've gotten them, who might have given them to you, and the reasons behind why you still have them. It really makes you appreciate the little things in life a lot more. 

Virtual Baby Pandas and Increased Donations?

Welcome back to consumer behavior, everyone! It's weird seeing the last day of the semester creeping up on my calendar, but I'm sure ready for it. This week, we're diving into chapter 11, which focuses on Attitudes of consumers. However, we're focusing more on how to change attitude, specifically one's behavior. 


Everyone has a specific attitude towards different products. One may know that V8 Vegetable Juice as a product that is composed of 100% juice, they may perceive it as a drink for older individuals or gross, and they may not have any intention of purchasing it. In these thoughts, they describe the main three components of attitude. Attitude is constructed of these 3 main components:

1. Cognitive 
2. Affective (emotional)
3. Behavioral

Oftentimes, advertisers and marketers will look for ways to change each of these components in order to change one's attitude of their product, and thus have a consumer be more likely to buy that product. This can be done in a variety of different ways for each component, but we're focusing on how to change the behavioral component, which is usually done in two different ways: Virtual direct experiences and coupons, free samples, price reduction. 

There usually has to be a pretty direct experience for one to change their behavior of the product. Take for example the conventional method: someone has an attitude towards V8 juice that it's gross and tastes horrible. However, they have free samples at the grocery store and they decide to try it. With one taste, they realize it's actually pretty good, so they buy some. This direct experience of tasting the juice changed their behavior and made them buy the juice. But are there more modern methods of applying a behavioral change?

Me during Finals Week

In my Internet Marketing class, I was offered extra credit by participating in my professor's virtual reality study. All I had to do was show up, answer a few questions, and then put a VR headset on my head. The questions entailed getting some information from me about my propensity to donate to endangered animal charities. Other than that, I wasn't really sure of what to expect. Imagine my absolute joy upon realizing that this virtual reality had me standing in the middle of a panda exposure as baby pandas played around me.

My professor explained that she wanted to see if individuals had more inclination to donate to such charities after having such a direct experience with the animals in virtual reality. As she explained the purpose of her study, it had me thinking about consumer behavior. Couldn't something like this be applied to changing behavioral attitudes? Maybe not for product tastings, but what about those marketing experiences? Could virtual reality advertising about vacationing, or different activities have the same affect that my professor proposed? After all, a lot of individuals don't end up going through with such experiences because of apprehension over the value of their purchase. But if we're able to convey that value through direct virtual reality experiences, could that possibly remove that apprehension?

It's an interesting thing to think about. After all, as technology is improving, so should our methods for advertising and marketing to our target market.

What do you think about the subject? Let me know in the comments!

Purchasing Motives: Manifest or Latent?

Welcome to week 9! I hope your spring break was enjoyable and you were able to rest up. This week, we'll be talking about Motivation, Personality, and Emotions, the internal reasons behind why we buy. For this post though, we're focusing on Purchasing Motives and whether or not they're manifest or latent, and what that means. 

Everyone has a motive when they go out and buy something. When you buy a candy bar, your motive is that you're hungry and want something sweet to eat. When you buy a sports hat from your favorite team, you're looking to support them while also hiding your bad hair day.

The point is that we all have motives behind our purchases whether or not we are consciously aware of them. This where the concept of Manifest Vs. Latent motives comes into play. These are two classifications of those motives:

Manifest Motives

• Known and freely admitted motives behind a purchase

Latent Motives

• Unknown or reluctant to admit motives behind a purchase

So let's take another look at that hockey hat again. You buy this hat with several motives in mind. You have a manifest motive in that you will freely admit you purchased this hat to support RIT hockey; you love the team and everything about the games and want to be associated with them. However, you also have a manifest motive in mind. You were at Barnes and Noble when you suddenly spotted an HR rep for a company that you're vying for. You're in jeans, a sweatshirt, and you haven't washed your hair in DAYS. You scramble to purchase the hat and slam in on your head before they spot you. In buying this hat, you had a latent motive in mind. You would never freely admit it, but you also bought this hat because it could somewhat salvage your horrible outfit for the day and save you some face. 

These two classifications for motives can apply to any purchases and can be quite helpful to marketers when determining what kind of advertisements to produce. If you're selling a swimsuit, it wouldn't be very smart to flaunt its great material or value, but the fact that it will make the consumer attractive, a latent motivation that many of us have when purchasing clothes. Appealing to these latent motives can be a gateway into greater ad relevance to your targeted market. 

Cheese!

Spring Breaaaaak! I bet everyone's excited to spend some great time sleeping in as long as possible--at least, I am. But before we can all head home for a week, I've got one more blog post to publish. This week, we're talking all about memories and learning. For this blog, though, we'll be focusing on Episodic memory: Flashbulb Memories. 


In life, there's quite a few different types of memories: Long-term memories, short-term memories, and episodic memories. This week, we're focusing on episodic memories, memories that someone has of a sequence of events in which they participated in.

Photo courtesy of PsycholoGenie

Think of your first and last days of high school, your first day at a new job, and maybe your wedding day. These are memories that we actively participated in, so we usually remember them pretty well. I can definitely think of my last day of high school. We had a carnival where I played kickball for the last time with a bunch of friends. I slid to the base to make it there and skinned up my knee so bad that my forensics teacher had to clean it up for me (Figures that he would be good at cleaning up blood--Thanks Mr. Lilley!). I remember pretty much every detail of this day, as I played a huge part in it, and it played a huge part in my life.

But do you have a memory that is so vivid in your head that you could imagine what that day smelled like, what you could hear in the background, and maybe even what you tasted? Then you have a flashbulb memory. Flashbulb memories are a special kind of episodic memory; they're extremely vivid and pretty much every detail of the memory can be recalled at will. Our book defines them as, "acute, vivid memory for the circumstances surrounding a surprising or novel event." You might hear a lot of people talking about September 11th as an flashbulb memory. Everyone knows exactly where they were or what they were doing when they heard the news of the twin towers.

These moments in our lives shocked us so much that we remember every single thing about the moment in time. Whenever I think about flashbulb memories, I'm always reminded of the time I came home from vacation to find that my 5-year old Yorkie-mix had suffered an untimely accident while we were away. I remember the warm summer air and the feeling of grass on my feet as we buried her. I could hear the faint sounds of kids playing at a park close to my home. I remember the sounds that my dad made as he cried for the first time in front of me. Her passing came as such a shock for us, as she was so young and it happened hours before we got back. No one was expecting it. It's a memory that I'll never forget.

Flashbulb memories, whether they're good or bad, will pretty much always be in the back of your mind. They're hard to forget, as they're so surprising, and every time you remember them, it's like you're back in that time, holding a small body of something you loved more than anything.

Evolving Ad Avoidance

Welcome to week 7! This week focuses on perception and how we view the world around us. However, this post will focus on the topic of ad avoidance and how it has evolved over the years. 

With so many projects coming to fruition next week, these next few days promise to be quite busy. But don't give up! You've got this.


As an Advertising and Public Relations major, the topic of ad avoidance is very important to me. I can make the best advertisement on Earth--one filled with pathos, and entertainment and whole message--but if the consumer decides to change the channel or use ad block, it doesn't matter in the slightest. For advertising, it's now a matter of just getting to that target audience.

If you're unsure what I'm talking about, ad avoidance is defined by our textbook as, "Mechanical ways for consumers to selectively avoid exposure to advertising messages." For example, when someone records an episode of Friends and fast-forwards through the commercials to get back to the show. The ability to record shows and movies gave way to many professionals freaking out; after all, this allowed the consumer to completely bypass advertisements if they so wished. People said that the release of the DVR was the very death of advertising as we knew it. However, as one can see (especially since we just passed the Super Bowl), commercial advertising is far from dead. However, that doesn't mean that ad avoidance is gone.

Emarketer (a blog dedicated to discussions on marketing practices and relevant topics), in their article, Ad Avoidance Isn't New—It's Just Evolving discusses with Walt Horstman offers his opinion on the evolving definition of ad avoidance:

eMarketer: In our current advertising landscape, what do you believe is the most prevalent example of ad avoidance?

Horstman: While this topic is extremely timely right now with the launch of the ad-blocker apps on mobile, technology has been at work trying to block ads for quite a while. Just look at the history of the DVR. When it was introduced, there was great concern over the health of TV advertising—the adoption of the DVR and how consumers use it didn’t bring about the catastrophe scenario that some worried it would. What it did inspire, was a change in the currency for TV advertising so the economic model can adapt to new technological introductions..

I take a very similar position to Horstman on this issue. Ad avoidance is far from dead--with the birth of the internet (and subsequent advertising integrated into it), people are still trying to find new and complex ways to avoid advertisements. Take AdBlock and AdBlockPro for example. These are two add-ons to Google that are becoming increasingly commonplace. Any computer that I open Google Chrome onto for the first time automatically downloads the software.

 Additionally, there's YouTube and the advertisements that are skippable after the first few seconds:

Is YouTube contributing to Ad Avoidance by offering to skip advertisements?

However, Hortmann concludes, that the DVR was not the death of advertisements. It merely changed the economy of TV advertisements and perhaps some practices of those who produced these ads. Likewise, I don't think that modern ways of ad avoidance will mean the end of advertising as we know it. It will simply change the practices as both consumers and advertisers evolve.

As advertisers create new and innovative advertisements that integrate into new technologies, so will customers create ways to avoid these advertisements--I feel as though this is unavoidable. The solution to solving this problem is innovation on the side of the advertisers: create vibrant advertisements on YouTube that catch an individuals attention and keeps them longer than 5 seconds. Use animals and cute children so people will feel a connection to your advertisement--do anything to draw in that audience.

Market Mavens or Opinion Leader?

Welcome to week 6, everyone! We've just had our first consumer marketing exam, so how are you feeling about it? Did you do as well as you hoped you would? 

This week, we're delving into reference groups and the various ways that they can affect your purchasing patterns. Included within these groups can be individuals called 'Market Mavens,' which is a concept that we're really focusing on today!


Being a society so focused on social media and the postings of others, it's safe to say that almost everyone has a market maven in their feed, posting about the latest products, offering their opinions, and keeping everyone up-to-date in their designated areas.

But what exactly is a Market Maven? Our textbook defines them as individuals that "provide significant amount of information to others across a wide array of products...services, and store types." These are individuals that are extremely knowledgeable about a wide variety of market products and offers this knowledge and advice to others.

People often associate Market Mavens as people who have vast connections and social links

However, market mavens are often confused with their similar counterparts, opinion leaders. These equally connected are more specific in their chosen field, oftentimes focusing on a few select genres or types of products. The textbook even states that market mavens are almost like a type of opinion leader,a sub segment, if you would.

When I first began to read this chapter, I immediately recognized a person I follow on Twitter as a market maven. Ray Navarez Jr., a popular Twitch streamer and Youtube personality, has a twitter page that he dedicates a lot to the proliferation of video game merchandise. He posts about upcoming games, popular hoodies and gaming figures. Not only that, in selling a lot of his merchandise through a popular website called "FramRate Merch," he is able to answer questions and concerns about orders and upcoming products to potential consumers. Here is an example of him keeping his customers updated about packaging of sold framerate merchandise:

https://twitter.com/RayNarvaezJr/status/1095543977288306688

However, as I sit down to write this blog, I realize, "Wait. Ray Navarez isn't a market maven. He's technically an opinion leader, isn't he?" Looking closer, I realized that he really only focuses on a select few categories: video games and video game merchandise. He is a connected person, but not so much that he has information about other markets of products. In all honesty, this blog post was going to be about him and the examples of how he's a market maven, that is, until I realized that I was incorrect.

Ray and his dog, Charlie

Take this as an example of how easy it can be to mistake the two. Looking back, I could see how I made this mistake; the two can be very similar. Ray Navarez is very good at creating buzz (exponential expansion of word of mouth information) for products among his fan base. His continual posts about upcoming products and his personal reviews of what is worth buying contribute heavily to the market that follows him and gives him a rather good impression among gamers. 

Like I said, it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate market mavens and opinion leaders, but you should notice a few key differences between the two. Market mavens will:

• Have large groups of connections and social links
• Have posts pertaining to many different markets and products
• Be very receptive to questions and opinions of others, engaging in conversations about products and services

So when you're trying to discern the two, remember to try and identity these aspects. Hopefully you won't make the same mistake as me.

Let me know in the comments if you follow any market mavens or opinion leaders!

Consumer Socialization and Company Exploitation

Welcome to week 4, everyone! In this week, we talk a lot about subcultures, household life cycles and family. However, I think that it's very important that we discuss one of the biggest determinants of a family's buying behavior: the children. With children influencing what mothers and fathers buy, it's a great idea to look into how they are molded into the consumers of tomorrow. 


You're at the grocery store and you hear whining from the other aisle. Glancing over, you notice a child, probably around 8 years old, pulling on his mother's shirt. "I want this one, mom! Ple-e-e-ase!!" He bellows towards the woman, pointing at a cereal with a well-known children's cartoon character plastered on the front. With a sigh of defeat, you watch as the woman places the cereal into the cart in an effort to continue with her busy day. The child promptly shuts up until they reach the next aisle and he spots another branded box of fruit gummies.

You've probably seen this scene numerous times if you've been to the grocery store. However, despite what it may seem like, these children are not just annoying their mothers; they're engaging in an activity to shape themselves as consumers. In essence, when children accompany their parents shopping, they're learning habits and social norms for consumption. According to McNeal's Model on children, there are 5 different levels that a child has when it is starting to be socialized as a consumer:

(Slide property of Dr. Kumar, Xavier Institute)

(Slide property of Dr. Kumar, Xavier Institute)

Based on these slides, we learn that the steps that children follow tend to be:

1. Observation
2. Making requests
3. Making selections
4. Assisted purchases
5. Independent purchases

These are essentially the basic steps towards consumer socialization, a very important part of development for anyone. However, as you think about this, take into consideration the next few pictures.

What you've just seen are several food items that have the faces of well-known cartoon characters. Having known these characters when I was younger, I'm sure that I would've DRAGGED my mother to the cereal and cookie aisle to pick out these foods specifically. I even remember begging her to buy the Scooby Snacks for me because, "It's what Scooby eats!!" And being the good mother she was, she bought me those Scooby Snacks even though they were $1.50 more than the unbranded graham crackers.

This raises an interesting question: Just how ethical is it for companies to market certain products as 'kid-friendly?' Is it ethical to raise the prices of these goods because of the character on the box, knowing that children will pester their parents to buy these branded goods? It's certainly a no-brainer from a business perspective, but what about parents that can't afford to purchase name-brand items for their children? Is it fair to take advantage of the control that children have on their parents' purchasing habits?

In my opinion, I don't really think it's that ethical. First of all, you're taking advantage of the peer pressure-driven minds of children. They're in their formative years, and if they're seen without those Scooby Snacks in their lunchbox, they could be ostracized. With that in mind, parents often give in and purchase these items despite not really being able to afford them. The companies create the hype around the product and the premium price, the children give the pressure to other children to fit in, and the parents buy the product that may bankrupt them. In all honesty, it's not really a nice cycle in the slightest.

But what do you think? Is this excusable because these are their characters? Should parents have a say when it comes to what characters can appear on (i.e, should cartoon characters be banned from appearing on food)? Let me know in the comments below!

Cause Related Marketing: Charitable or Unethical?

Welcome to week 2 of Consumer Behavior! This week's chapters focused on american values, demographics and social status, but we're going to be looking a bit deeper into american values and how they relate to advertising.

What exactly is cause-related marketing (CRM)? Put simply, it's when a company has a marketing campaign that ties into a relevant issue or a cause. This is usually with a goal of improving sales and image while also providing benefits to the cause. Take the following picture as an example:

This cause-related marketing campaign tied Wendy's drinks to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. If you buy a Wendy's drink, complete the heart, and post it online with a hashtag, Wendy's would donate $5 to the charity. Here's another example:

The shoe company TOMS had a campaign in which, when you buy a pair of their shoes, they would donate one pair to a needy individual in another country. A pretty good campaign, right?

Simply put, this type of marketing is meant to make the user feel good about themselves while they purchase an item in their usual routine. This good feeling is then associated with the company, and they are usually viewed as charitable or giving back to their community. However, some critics consider this type of marketing to be unethical. They view it as a company trying to make money off of a charity or take advantage of a movement to get more revenue. And to be honest, I mostly agree with these people. CRM, at least in the modern age, has proven to be a way for many companies to become superficially involved with issues that they have no meaning in communicating about. Take for example Gillette's recent advertisement on toxic masculinity:

  

I had the burning question that many individuals had to this advertisement: Why is a shaving company for men feel like they need to contribute to the #MeToo Movement? This advertisement, in my opinion, felt extremely forced and way too much like they were produced for the sole reason of generating interest for the company. I had the same reaction as many skeptics to CRM. I saw this example as the company having this campaign merely to backpack on the idea and take advantage of the viewership generated by the movement itself.

While it seems like I may have a lot of negative things to say about CRM, I do see the benefit in having it. Even if the motivation for the companies involved is purely monetarily-based, CRM does have the ability to generate revenue for a charity, as seen by the Wendy's and TOMS campaigns. It can bolster campaigns and even politically-charged movements, spreading awareness and garnering support. Despite this, I just can't see myself seeing it as anything but selfish for the companies practicing it.

With the many resources available to these large companies, their help in generating donations and information about charities can sometimes be immense. Some would argue that perhaps that is worth looking past the unethical tinge that CRM leaves on many individuals' tongues. As for myself, I think I'll stick to campaigns started by the core charities themselves. 

Understanding Low Involvement and High Involvement

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first post for How Do We Buy, a blog dedicated to examining how we as consumers act in the purchasing world. In this post, we'll be discussing chapter 1, particularly the consumer decision process. 


It's a no-brainer that we as consumers have a decision process when it comes to buying goods. Whether someone is buying a Burger King Whopper or a designer Gucci purse, they will go through some sort of decision process. One might ask, Can I afford this item? How does it compare to other choices that I have? Where should I purchase this item? However, the amount of questions someone might ask themselves seems to differ depending on price of the product. For example, you might not have as many questions when you're buying a burger as compared to when you're buying a new car.

What all of this boils down to is the Decision Process of a consumer. We as consumers go through a different amount of steps depending on how high of an involvement we have with the item we are purchasing. Take a look at the following photo from Visual.ly:

As you can see, there are about 5 steps in this process, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we go through every step for every single purchase that we make. I'll use myself as an example to show you:

Today, I had to decide what I wanted to eat. When I got back to my apartment from class, my stomach was rumbling and I felt hungry. This is when I recognized that I had a need (step 1). From there, I went into my kitchen, looking around at what I had in the fridge and freezer, gathering information (step 2). I realized that I had ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese and a frozen pizza. I weighed the various ups and downs of each decision (what I craved, nutritional value, how hungry I was), effectively evaluating my alternatives (step 3). Although I may not have purchased my food (as I had already bought it), I did make a decision (step 4). After I heated up my pizza to sizzling perfection, I scarfed it down while I watched a funny podcast. I then thought about my decision. Was I full? Was I satisfied with that pizza? Would I buy it again? In doing this, I had a post-purchase evaluation (step 5). 

But wait. Didn't I just use all of these steps for something simple like lunch? Well, yes, I did. And didn't I say before that we don't always use all the steps when making simple decisions? Yes, I did say that. However, before you call me a liar, take my next example into consideration:

During my junior year of high school, I recognized that I needed to start thinking about where I would go for college. Obviously, this would be a huge undertaking. In all honestly, throughout my entire junior year and half of my senior year, I went through the processes of information search and evaluating my alternatives. It was only in my senior year that I finally had a well-informed decision for where I wanted to go, SUNY Geneseo. From there, I started my evaluation of my decision. Throughout my first semester at Geneseo, I realized that there were quite a few things that I did not like about the college. It wasn't near any major cities, the walk to class was long and had many hills, the food was bland and I really didn't have many choices when it came to what major I wanted to choose. From this evaluation, I realized that I was not happy with the decision that I had made, and this analysis prompted me to transfer to RIT. 

Both of these examples involved the decision-making process for myself as a consumer. However, like you may have noticed, one was quite a bit more involved than the other. Did I research every single brand of frozen pizza before I decided that I would eat the frozen pizza I did? No, I didn't. But I did research all colleges in my area before I narrowed it down to where I would go, spending quite a bit more time on the subject. I spent many months reviewing comments, prices and even scholarships. In essence, that's what it boils down to; how much time a consumer spends on a decision for a product (how long they spend on a step of the consumer decision process or if they use every step), which is called their level of involvement. As one might discern, my choice for lunch had a low level of involvement while my search for a college had a much higher level of involvement.

But why does this matter?

Because having this information in mind for low involvement purchases and high involvement purchases can completely change how you might market to individuals. To appeal to a student looking for a college, you're going to be listing many statistics on price, scholarships available, state of facilities, etc. but you wouldn't do the same for a frozen pizza. You may have various coupons available and nutrition facts on your site, but nothing on the level of information conveyed on a university website.

Having an idea of your consumer's level of involvement can really impact what advertisements you create and what information may be available on your company's website. That is why it's so important to take into consideration.