REVIEW QUESTIONS Solomons Chapter 1

1. Provide a definition of consumer behavior.

2. What are demographics? Give three examples of demographic characteristics.

3. What is the difference between a culture and a subculture?

4. Define market segmentation.

5. What is role theory, and how does it help us to understand consumer behavior?

6. What do we mean by an exchange?

7. Why is it important for businesses to learn about their heavy users?

8. What is database marketing? Give an example of a company that uses this technique.

9. What is popular culture, and how does this concept relate to marketing and consumer behavior?

10. The chapter states that people often buy products not for what they do, but for what they mean. Explain the meaning of this statement and provide an example.

11. Describe two types of relationships a consumer can have with a product.

12. What is meant by the term global consumer culture?

13. What is the difference between B2B and B2C e-commerce?

14. The economics of information perspective argues that advertising is important. Why?

15. Provide two examples of important legislation that relates to American consumers.

16. Define social marketing and give an example of this technique.

17. Define consumer addiction and give two examples.

18. What is an example of a consumed consumer?

19. What is shrinkage, and why is it a problem?

20. Define anticonsumption, and provide two examples of it.

21. Name two different disciplines that study consumer behavior. How would their approaches to the same issue differ?

22. What are the major differences between the positivist and interpretivist paradigms in consumer research?

REVIEW QUESTIONS 23. Provide a definition of consumer behavior. It is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires. 24. What are demographics? Give three examples of demographic characteristics. Demographics are statistics that measure observable aspects of a population, such as birthrate, age distribution, and income. 25. What is the difference between a culture and a subculture? People of large populations share certain cultural values or strongly held beliefs about the way the world should be structured. Members of subcultures, or smaller groups within the culture, also share values. 26. Define market segmentation. The use of market segmentation strategies means targeting a brand only to specific groups of consumers rather than to everybodyeven if it means that other consumers who dont belong to this target market arent attracted to that product. 27. What is role theory, and how does it help us to understand consumer behavior? The perspective of role theory takes the view that much of consumer behavior resembles actions in a play. As in a play, each consumer has lines, props, and costumes necessary to put on a good performance. Because people act out many different roles, they sometimes alter their consumption decisions depending on the particular play they are in at the time. The criteria they use to evaluate products and services in one of their roles may be quite different from those used in another role. 28. What do we mean by an exchange? A transaction in which two or more organizations or people give and receive something of value. 29. Why is it important for businesses to learn about their heavy users? Because they account for such a substantial proportion of revenues. They are the customers that are more likely to be loyal. These customers represent the best opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell. 30. What is database marketing? Give an example of a company that uses this technique. Database marketing involves tracking specific consumers buying habits very closely and crafting products and messages tailored precisely to peoples wants and needs based on this information. Wal-Mart is the example given in the book. Online companies such as Dell that require customer information in order to complete transactions and deliver products have an advantage in database marketing as well. 31. What is popular culture, and how does this concept relate to marketing and consumer behavior? Popular culture, consisting of the music, movies, sports, books, celebrities, and other forms of entertainment consumed by the mass market, is both a product of and an inspiration for marketers. Our lives are also affected in more far-reaching ways, ranging from how we acknowledge cultural events such as marriage, death, or holidays to how we view social issues such as air pollution, gambling, and addictions.

32. The chapter states that people often buy products not for what they do, but for what they mean. Explain the meaning of this statement and provide an example. The core functional benefits provided by products are only the bare minimum. Because most all brand options provide these, consumers go beyond the basics. All things being equal, people will choose the brand that has an image (or even a personality!) consistent with their underlying needs. Almost any product can be used as an example. Focus on the clothing brands that students wear. 33. Describe two types of relationships a consumer can have with a product. The product helps to establish the users identity. Nostalgic attachment: The product serves as a link with a past self. Interdependence: The product is a part of the users daily routine. Love: The product elicits emotional bonds of warmth, passion, or other strong emotion.
Self-concept attachment:

34. What is meant by the term global consumer culture? A culture in which people around the world are united by their common devotion to brand name consumer goods, movie stars, celebrities, and leisure activities. 35. What is the difference between B2B and B2C e-commerce? Simply put, B2B is businessconducting transactions with other businesses, B2C is businesses conducting transactions with consumers. 36. The economics of information perspective argues that advertising is important. Why? This view emphasizes the economic cost of the time spent searching for products. Accordingly, advertising is a service for which consumers are willing to pay, because the information it provides reduces search time. 37. Provide two examples of important legislation that relates to American consumers. The Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 and the Federal Meat Inspection Act in 1907 are the examples given in the text. The list is endless now. 38. Define social marketing and give an example of this technique. Social marketing uses marketing techniques normally employed to sell beer or detergent to encourage positive behaviors such as increased literacy and to discourage negative activities such as drunk driving. 39. Define consumer addiction and give two examples. Consumer addiction is a physiological or psychological dependency on products or services. These problems of course include alcoholism, drug addiction, and cigarettesand many companies profit from addictive products or by selling solutions. 40. What is an example of a consumed consumer? Consumed consumers are people who are used or exploited, willingly or not, for commercial gain in the marketplace. Examples include prostitutes and organ donors. 41. What is shrinkage, and why is it a problem? Shrinkage is the industry term for inventory and cash losses from shoplifting and employee theft. This is a massive problem for businesses that is passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices (about 40 percent of the losses can be attributed to employees rather than shoppers). Shopping malls spend $6 million annually on

security, and a family of four spends about $300 extra per year because of markups to cover shrinkage. 42. Define anticonsumption, and provide two examples of it. Anticonsumption is defined by events in which products and services are deliberately defaced or mutilated. Anticonsumption can range from relatively mild acts like spray-painting graffiti on buildings and subways to serious incidences of product tampering or even the release of computer viruses that can bring large corporations to their knees. 43. Name two different disciplines that study consumer behavior. How would their approaches to the same issue differ? The text lists numerous associations including the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the American Statistical Association, the Association for Consumer Research, the Society for Consumer Psychology, the International Communication Association, the American Sociological Association, the Institute of Management Sciences, the American Anthropological Association, the American Marketing Association, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the American Association for Public Opinion Research, and the American Economic Association. 44. What are the major differences between the positivist and interpretivist paradigms in consumer research? Positivism (or sometimes modernism) has significantly influenced Western art and science since the late sixteenth century. It emphasizes that human reason is supreme, and that there is a single, objective truth that can be discovered by science. Positivism encourages us to stress the function of objects, to celebrate technology, and to regard the world as a rational, ordered place with a clearly defined past, present, and future. The paradigm of interpretivism (or postmodernism) questions these assumptions. Proponents of this perspective argue that there is too much emphasis on science and technology in our society, and that this ordered, rational view of behavior denies the complex social and cultural world in which we live. Others feel that positivism puts too much emphasis on material wellbeing, and that its logical outlook is directed by an ideology that stresses the homogenous views of a culture dominated by (dead) white males. Interpretivists instead stress the importance of symbolic, subjective experience, and the idea that meaning is in the mind of the personthat is, we each construct our own meanings based on our unique and shared cultural experiences, so there are no right or wrong answers.