Consumer Behavior Course Part 2

55) At a business meeting, a consultant states that "perception is reality, because a customer never works with the actual product, but only with his or her perception of that product." In a university lab, researchers determine that when a rat is looking at a brightly colored rectangle, a close inspection of the rat's optic nerves (that connect the eyes to the cortex) show now visible change from when the rat is looking at a green circle; however electrodes placed in the nerve show a different pattern of transmitted codes. How are these two events related, and what does this relationship tell us about perception? Answer: The human mind never actually comes in contact with an outside stimulus such as a product. The mind only receives sensations created by the receptors, and then must interpret what those sensations are. This interpretation is a perception. The only thing the mind processes of the product is the perception created by that mind of that product; hence "perception is reality." Diff: 3 Objective: 3.3: Perception is a three-stage process that translates raw stimuli into meaning. AACSB: Reflective thinking 56) Which term refers to perception that is below the level of the consumer's awareness? A) Perceptual vigilance B) Relative difference C) Subliminal perception D) Attention Answer: C Diff: 1 Objective: 3.4: Subliminal advertising is a controversial—but largely ineffective—way to talk to consumers. 57) Tiny figures that are inserted in magazine advertising are called ________. A) embeds B) hidden images C) attention images D) novelties Answer: A Diff: 2 Objective: 3.4: Subliminal advertising is a controversial—but largely ineffective—way to talk to consumers. 58) When Coca-Cola embeds sexual images in their advertising, they are using ________. A) sensory marketing B) attention marketing C) subliminal perception D) threshold marketing Answer: C Diff: 3 Objective: 3.4: Subliminal advertising is a controversial—but largely ineffective—way to talk to consumers. AACSB: Application of knowledge 59) Which of the following most accurately reflects the current thinking about the use of subliminal perception in marketing promotion and advertising? A) Subliminal messages are below the threshold of perception, so they cannot be utilized in marketing. B) Subliminal ads can be effective, but customers do not like them; therefore marketers avoid them. C) There is some evidence that subliminal perception can have limited effects, but the effects are not specific enough to make subliminal messages effective in advertising. D) It comes down to a matter of attention. If a viewer will pay enough attention to a subliminal message, then it can have specific effects. Answer: C Diff: 3 Objective: 3.4: Subliminal advertising is a controversial—but largely ineffective—way to talk to consumers. AACSB: Analytical thinking 60) Individuals have different absolute thresholds for visual and aural stimuli. This fact supports the statement that subliminal advertising would need to be tailored to the individual in order to be effective. Answer: TRUE Diff: 3 Objective: 3.4: Subliminal advertising is a controversial—but largely ineffective—way to talk to consumers. AACSB: Analytical thinking 61) Evaluate the effectiveness of subliminal persuasion and messages in marketing. Be sure to demonstrate your knowledge of the evidence about the success of the technique as presented in the text. Answer: Under very specific conditions, some clinical psychologists suggest that people can be influenced by subliminal messages. However, the technique seems unlikely to be of use in marketing contexts; effective messages must be tailored to specific individuals rather than to mass markets. It has also been found that there are wide differences in individual threshold levels. In order for a message to avoid conscious detection by consumers who have a low threshold, the message would have to be so weak that it would not reach those with a high threshold. Next, advertisers lack control over where consumers are positioned in relationship to the source of the message; perhaps only a few would be within range of the stimulus. Lastly, consumers typically shift their attention when watching television or a movie. They might not even be looking at the screen when the message was flashed. Though there is virtually no proof that subliminal messages have any effect on consumer behavior, many consumers believe that subliminal persuasion is being used on them in some form. Diff: 3 Objective: 3.4: Subliminal advertising is a controversial—but largely ineffective—way to talk to consumers. AACSB: Reflective thinking 62) When we ________ products, we evaluate them using schemas we typically apply to classify people. A) prime B) filter C) imprint D) anthropomorphize Answer: D Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 63) Our brains tend to relate incoming sensations to others already in memory, based on some fundamental organizational principles. These principles derive from ________, a school of thought that maintains that people interpret meaning from the totality of a set of stimuli rather than from any individual stimulus. A) Freudian psychology B) Gestalt psychology C) Simmons psychology D) the Covey approach Answer: B Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 64) ________ perspective is best summarized by the saying "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." A) Freudian traits analysis B) Weber's law C) Gestalt D) Kansei Answer: C Diff: 1 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 65) A Green Giant ad campaign relied on the ________ when it used a redesigned package for Green Giant products that showed the Green Giant in a "sea of green." It was felt that the Green Giant products were not unified under a common design banner. A) Similarity principle B) Figure-ground principle C) Subliminal principle D) Closure principle Answer: A Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 66) ________ refers to the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a particular stimulus. A) Subliminal perception B) Sensory marketing C) An embed D) Attention Answer: A Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 67) When consumers see only what they want to see—don't see what they don't want to see is called ________. A) perceptual retention B) perceptual contrast C) perceptual defense D) perceptual attention Answer: C Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 68) Nadia Ali loves the feel of her new sweater and the smell of her leather car seats on a crisp fall day. As she passes a billboard, she sees an ad for Baskin-Robbins ice cream and immediately does a U-turn into the shopping center where she knows the famous ice cream store is located. In the above example, Nadia is responding to ________. A) sensory inputs emanating from the external environment B) sensory inputs emanating for the internal environment C) emotional outputs D) decision sequences dictated by sensory outputs Answer: A Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Application of knowledge 69) ________ refers to the meanings we assign to sensory stimuli. A) Contrast B) Perception C) Interpretation D) Cues Answer: C Diff: 1 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 70) In the past, ketchup formed an unbecoming "scum" on its surface when exposed to air, so manufacturers created the traditionally shaped ketchup bottle with the narrow opening. When chemicals were developed to reduce the oxidation, it was then possible to sell ketchup in more conveniently shaped containers. Customers, however, rejected bottles that didn't have the traditional ketchup shape. This is an example of the power of ________ in the marketplace. A) sensory overload B) thresholds C) hyperreality D) schema Answer: D Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Application of knowledge 71) Which of the following best characterizes hedonic consumption? A) Bill can't get an advertising jingle out of his mind when he enters a store and sees the product the jingle advertises. B) Kim can never buy fashionable clothes without looking carefully at their construction and then feeling the quality of the cloth with her fingers. C) Marcus often buys products just to make his wife angry. He thinks that since she is such a penny-pincher she ought to be punished. Buying unneeded items is how Marcus punishes her frugality. D) A new video game rapidly becomes more popular than an older one because it has much faster action. Answer: B Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Reflective thinking 72) All consumers carry schemata in their minds when they enter the marketplace. According to the principles of perceptual vigilance and defense, a marketer should be careful to create a promotion for the new product that ________. A) conforms to the consumers' schemata B) violates the customers' schemata C) requires that customers defend their current views about the product category D) is simple and easy to understand Answer: A Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Reflective thinking 73) Consumers are more likely to be aware of stimuli that relate to their current needs. This is an example of perceptual vigilance. Answer: TRUE Diff: 1 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 74) Novelty in the form of interruption intensifies our experiences, increases our enjoyment of pleasant stimuli and amplifies our dislike of unpleasant stimuli. Answer: TRUE Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 75) The location of a product's image on a package influences the way our brains make sense of it; we perceive objects lower in a frame to be heavier than objects higher in the frame and objects on the right side of a frame heavier than those on the left side of the frame. Answer: TRUE Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 76) According to the retailer's rule of thumb based on the closure principle, when a sale catalog is created, the prices (on average) of the products in the catalog should be reduced by about 20 percent. Answer: FALSE Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 77) You can understand the following uniquely-printed sentence because of the Gestalt principle of closure. Perception is imptant in undrstdng consmr bhavr. Answer: TRUE Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 78) When consumers become aware of stimuli that relate to their currents needs, they are practicing perceptual vigilance. Answer: TRUE Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 79) Define perceptual selection and describe the types of filters that prevent clear perception and the reception of marketing stimuli. Answer: Perceptual selection means people attend to only a small portion of stimuli to which they are exposed. Perceptual filters, based on our past experiences, influence what we decide to process. For example, perceptual vigilance occurs because consumers are more likely to be aware of stimuli that relate to their current needs. The flip side is perceptual defense. This means that people see what they want to see—and don't see what they don't want to see. Adaptation is the degree to which consumers continue to notice a stimulus over time. Factors that influence adaptation are intensity, duration, discrimination, exposure, and relevance. Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. 80) As a personal selection factor, adaptation is seen as the degree to which consumers continue to notice a stimulus over time. Five factors can lead to adaptation. List and briefly describe the connection with adaptation. Answer: The five factors are intensity (less-intense stimuli habituate because they have less impact), duration (stimuli that are long in duration tend to habituate), discrimination (simple stimuli habituate because they do not require attention to detail), exposure (frequently encountered stimuli habituate as the rate of exposure increases), and relevance (stimuli that are irrelevant or unimportant habituate because they fail to attract attention). Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 81) Describe multitasking and explain why multitasking is a concern for marketers? Answer: Multitasking is when a person processes information from more than one medium at a time. For example Anna Smith watches TV while working on her computer. Multitasking is a concern for marketers as it divides a consumer's attention. The consumer may be listening to the TV but not actually processing the message. Therefore, an ad can't truly be effective if it's only receiving partial attention. Diff: 3 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Reflective thinking 82) Explain the closure principle. Answer: The closure principle states that people tend to perceive an incomplete picture as complete. That is, we tend to fill in the blanks based on our prior experience. This principle explains why most of us have no trouble reading a neon sign even if several of its letters are burned out. The principle of closure is also at work when we hear only part of a jingle or theme. Marketing strategies that use the closure principle encourage audience participation, which increases the chance that people will attend to the message. Diff: 2 Objective: 3.5: We interpret the stimuli to which we do pay attention according to learned patterns and expectations. AACSB: Analytical thinking 83) A(n) ________ is a sign that relates to a product by either conventional or agreed-on associations. A) icon B) index C) symbol D) schema Answer: C Diff: 1 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. 84) A common practice among advertisers is to create new relationships between objects and interpretants by inventing new connections between products and benefits. A classic example of this was equating Marlboro cigarettes with the American frontier spirit. Which of the following terms best describes this practice? A) Subliminal persuasion B) Figure-ground projection C) Semiotic relationships D) Consumer-modeling connections Answer: C Diff: 2 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Application of knowledge 85) The ________ for a brand guides how a company uses elements of the marketing mix to influence the consumer's interpretation of the brand's meaning in the marketplace relative to its competitors. A) positioning strategy B) gestalt psychology C) sensory signature D) priming strategy Answer: A Diff: 1 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. 86) Lifestyle, attributes, competitors, and quality are all dimensions marketers can use to carve out a brand's ________ in the marketplace. A) sensory signature B) position C) priming D) trade dress Answer: B Diff: 2 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Analytical thinking 87) ________ is a discipline that studies the correspondence between signs and symbols and their meaning. A) Interpretation B) Semiotics C) Indexing D) Symbolism Answer: B Diff: 2 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. 88) A common practice among advertisers is to create new relationships between objects and interpretants by inventing new connections between products and benefits. How would a marketer use hyperreality to find a new use for baking soda? A) By associating the soda with its ability to absorb odors B) By associating the soda with a fictional character called Simon Soda C) By emphasizing the low cost of the soda D) By explaining the historic importance of baking soda in germ protection Answer: B Diff: 3 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Application of knowledge 89) On Breaking Bad. the popular television drama, the fictional Los Pollos Hermanos is a popular fast-food chain. Many Breaking Bad web sites now sell items bearing the Los Pollos Hermanos name and logo. This is an example of hyperreality. Answer: TRUE Diff: 3 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Analytical thinking 90) The icons on the restroom doors in a bar in Wyoming are a doe and a buck. This is an excellent example of hyperreality. Answer: FALSE Diff: 3 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Application of knowledge 91) An index is a sign that connects to a product because they share some property. Answer: TRUE Diff: 1 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. 92) What does the study of semiotics attempt to do? Answer: Semiotics examines the correspondence between signs and symbols and their role in the assignment of meaning. Diff: 2 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Analytical thinking 93) A sign on a drawer in the kitchen of a fraternity said "Plastic Silver." The drawer contained plastic spoons, forks, and knives for casual dinners. Use the principle of hyperreality to explain why users of the kitchen would know what was in the drawer without looking. Answer: Dining implements in more upscale homes were often made of silver. More casual ware was generally made to look silver even when it didn't contain silver metal. Eventually, all dining implements became known as "silverware." This drawer, however, contained plastic objects, but the objects were used for dining. Fraternity members would know that the label "plastic silver" means the utensils in the drawer are plastic. Diff: 3 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Reflective thinking 94) When Ford says that "Quality is Job #1" they are practicing a positioning strategy. Explain positioning. Answer: Positioning influences the consumer's interpretation of its meaning in the marketplace relative to its competitors. Diff: 1 Objective: 3.6: The field of semiotics helps us to understand how marketers use symbols to create meaning. AACSB: Application of knowledge