Moderating Effects on Consumer Decision Making
The manner or part by which a consumer moves through the decision –making stages depends on several factors, including the level of involvement and extent of variety seeking, as follow.
LOW-INVOLVEMENT CONSUMER DECISION MAKING
The expectancy-valve model assumes a high level of consumer involvement, or engagement and active processing the consumer undertakes in responding to a marketing stimulus.
Richard Petty and John Cacioppo’s elaboration likelihood model, an influential model of attitude formation and change, describes how consumers make evaluations in both low-and high-involvement circumstances. There are two means of persuasion in their: the central route, in which attitude formation or change stimulate much thought and is based on the consumer’s diligent, rational consideration of the most important product information ; and the peripheral route, in which attitude formation or change provokes much less thought and results from the consumer’s association of a brand with either positive or negative peripheral cues. Peripheral cues for consumers include a celebrity endorsement, a credible source, or any object that generates positive feelings.
Consumers follow the central route only if they possess sufficient motivation, ability, and opportunity. In other words, they must want to evaluate a brand in detail, have the necessary brand and product or service knowledge in memory, and have sufficient time and the proper setting. If any of those factors is lacking, consumers tend to follow the peripheral route and consider less central, more extrinsic factors in their decisions.
We buy many products under conditions of low-involvement and without significant brand differences. Consider salt. If consumers keep reaching for the same brand in this category, it may be out of habit, not strong brand loyalty. Evidence suggests we have low involvement with most low-cost, frequently purchased products.
Marketers use four techniques to try to convert a low-involvement product into one of higher-Involvement. First, they can link the product to an engaging issue, as when Crest linked its toothpaste to avoiding cavities, Second, They can link the product to a personal situation-for example, fruit juice makers began to include vitamins such as calcium to fortify their drinks. Third, they might design advertising to trigger strong emotions related to personal values or ego defense, as when cereal maker began to advertise to adults the heart-healthy nature of cereals and the importance of living a long time to enjoy family life. Fourth, they might add an important feature for example, when GE light bulbs introduced “Soft White” versions. These strategies at best raise consumer into highly involved buying behavior.
If consumers will have low involvement with a purchase decision regardless of what that the marketer can do, they are likely to follow the peripheral route. Marketers must give consumers one or more positive cues to justify their brand choice, such as frequent ad repetition, visible sponsorships, and vigorous PR to enhance brand familiarity.
Other peripheral cues that can tip the balance in favor of the brand include a beloved celebrity endorser, attractive packing, and an appealing promotion.
VARIETY-SEEKING BUYING BEHAVIOR
Some buying situations and characterized by low Involvement but significant brand differences. Here consumers often do a lot of brand switching . Think about cookies. The consumer has some beliefs belief about cookies, chooses a brand without much evaluates the product during consumption. Next time, the consumer may reach for another brand out of a desire for a different taste. Brand swithching occurs for the sake of variety, rather than dissatisfaction.
The market leader and the minor brands in this product category have different marking strategies. The market leader will try to encourage habitual buying behavior by dominating the shelf space with a variety of related but different product versions, avoiding out-of –stock condition, and sponsoring frequent reminder advertising. Challenger firms will encourage variety seeking by offering lower prices, deals, coupons, free samples, and advertising that tries to break the consumer’s purchase and consumption cycle and presents reasons for trying something new