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Unit 7: Consumer Analysis

Notes
Example: A consumer sees an ad for a new laundry detergent that promises to clean
clothes better than Tide.
This ad changes what the consumer thinks about the new brand and leads to a purchase of it. In
this case, a change in the consumer’s environment (the ad for the new detergent) led to a change
in cognition (the consumer believed the new detergent was better), which led to a change in
behavior (the consumer bought the new brand).

Figure 7.2: Three Elements for Consumer Analysis

Source: http://answers.mheducation.com/marketing/consumer-behavior/consumer-analysis
A change in laundry detergent purchase and use could come about in other ways.

Example: A consumer receives a free sample of a new liquid detergent in the mail, tries
it out, likes it, and then purchases it.

In this case, a change in the consumer’s environment (the free sample) led to a change in behavior
(use and purchase), which led to a change in the consumer’s affect and cognition (liking the new
brand).
Another possibility is that a consumer is dissatisfied with his or her current brand of laundry
detergent. On the next trip to the grocery store, the consumer inspects other brands and selects
one that promises to get white clothes whiter. In this example, a change in affect and cognition
(dissatisfaction) led to a change in the consumer’s environment (inspecting other brands), which
led to a change in behavior (purchase of a different brand).
Although changes can occur in other ways, these examples serve to illustrate our view of
consumers, namely, that consumer processes not only involve a dynamic and interactive system
but also represent a reciprocal system. In a reciprocal system , any of the elements can be either a
cause or an effect of a change at any particular time. Affect and cognition can change consumer
behavior and environments. Behavior can change consumers’ affect, cognition, and environments.
Environments can change consumers’ affect, cognition, and behavior.
Viewing consumer processes as a reciprocal system involving affect and cognition, behavior,
and the environment has five implications. Firstly, any comprehensive analysis of consumers
must consider all three elements and the relationships among them. Descriptions of consumers
in terms of only one or two of the elements are incomplete.

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