CONSUMER RESEARCH

Seminar Week 2
Module Leader :Amanda Earley
Seminar Tutor : Hidayet Kislali
E-Mail : hk142@le.ac.uk
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Todays Agenda
Introduction
Motivations
Values
Attitudes
Discussions
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Essay Guidelines, pt. 1

Imagine you are a consumer researcher. Explain
how 2 of the 3 perspectives on consumption
could be used to study one of the following broad
consumption contexts:
-Food
-Media (television, film)
-Fashion
-Art
-Sport
-Home dcor
-Advertising (from consumer perspective)

Then briefly explain a more specific context, and
how you would study it
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Essay Guidelines, pt. 2


Examples:
-a study of consumer perceptions of ads on
YouTube and Facebook
-studies of how people consume their favourite
teams brand (e.g. Arsenal fans encounters with
branded merchandise)
-gendered ideologies in romantic comedies
-subcultures of consumption around a fashion
brand like Vivienne Westwood
-how people consume a particular art gallery, or
art museums more generally
-the growing concern with refined design in the
home
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Essay Guidelines, pt. 3
Structure of Essay:
I. Explain first perspective on consumption
(900 words)
II. Explain second perspective on consumption
(900 words)
III. Compare the two perspectives in the broad context
(500 words)
IV. Propose how you would study a specific context
(700 words)
Last but not least: Have Fun!!!

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Introduction : Why Do We Study
Consumer Research?
What do you think the benefits are of
having a research field defined by
subject area rather than method
(consumer research as opposed to
anthropology)?

it allows multiple perspectives on a broad phenomenon like
fashion (or any of the other domains), and the ability to
study the domain at multiple levels of analysis)
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Extended Self

What do you think about possessions
and the extended self? Do you
believe we express ourselves through
what we have?
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Motivations and Attitudes

Please explain the differences between
motivations, values, and attitudes
.3 Minutes.
motivations are the most general (needs, wants,
and drives to fulfil them)
values are a bit more specific, but still quite broad
consumer values are more specific, but still cover a
broad range of consumption situations (e.g. the
desire for convenience)
attitudes are specifically attached to an attitude
object. They are the most specific

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Motivations and Attitudes

Motivation: the processes that
cause people to behave as they
do, (Ch. 6, p. 187)

Explains why consumers do what
they do


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Motivations and Attitudes

Values: a belief about some
desirable end-state that
transcends specific situations and
guides selection of behaviour
(Solomon et al., 2009)

Like a higher level attitude, which
guides behaviour in many arenas

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Motivations and Attitudes

Attitude : An attitude is a lasting,
general evaluation of people,
objects, advertisements, or
individuals, (Solomon et al., p.
292)
Anything one has an attitude
towards is defined as an attitude
object



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Motivations and Attitudes

Do you believe in the distinctions
between WANTS and NEEDS in the
book? The book argues that needs
become more specific wants when
they mix with individual and cultural
factors. Do you believe this is true, or
do you believe that wants and needs
are very different things?
2Minutes
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Motivations and Attitudes

Do you believe we can isolate
biological needs (biogenic needs),
from psychogenic needs? Or are the
two always intertwined?
2Minutes
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Motivations and Attitudes

What do you think most motivates
people in consumer culture?
(Advertising? Peers? Basic needs?
etc?)?
2 Minutes
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Motivations and Attitudes

Do you believe in the distinction
between 'approach' and 'avoidance'
objects? Or is it difficult to classify
some objects? (e.g. do you eat low
fat yogurt to avoid getting fat, or to
approach the goal of great health?)
3Minutes
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Motivations and Attitudes

How can marketers deal with the fact
that approach and avoid tendencies
are not the same for all consumers?
3 Minutes
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Motivations and Attitudes

How do you think core values like
spirituality or collectivism intersect
with consumer culture?
3 Minutes
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Materialism & Sustainability

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Materialism
Materialism refers to the importance an
individual associates with wordily
possessions, (Solomon et al., 219)

A higher-level value that may guide more
specific consumer values. For example, a
materialist may be more interested in
status goods that can be consumed
publicly.
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Materialism

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Materialism

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Materialism
-Socially/culturally produced
-May occur with life
transitions, such as entry into
adolescence or after divorce
-Less likely to list sentimental
items as favourite things
-More likely to be depressed
-Can be used to compensate
for loneliness
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Materialism: Related
phenomena
Downshifting: Rejecting
materialism

Hedonic adaptation: We
become used to a standard of
living, and need more to
sustain the happiness

Cosmopolitanism: A
supposedly-lofty value that has
been associated with a
materialistic lifestyle
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Sustainability
Can be a general value

Becomes a consumer value when it is
conceptualised at the consumer level of
analysis, and is focused on purchase
behaviour (e.g. the green or
environmentalist demographic)

Values-driven marketers must be careful!
Marketers must be wary of making green
claims for products that are not sufficiently
green, lest they be attacked by the market
segment

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Materialism & Sustainability

Do you think materialism really is an
individual value? Do you think there
are particularly 'materialistic' people?
Or do you think it is the culture that is
materialistic? Is consumerism (a
cultural ideology, or cultural value) a
more appropriate concept for
studying the acquisitive nature of
consumer culture?
3 Minutes
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Attitudes

Do you think attitudes predict
behaviour? Or do you think we don't
necessarily have attitudes? Are we
necessarily aware of our attitudes
toward things?
4 Minutes
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Any Questions ?

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