Mkt 350 Study Guide

Chapter 7: Program Recognition and Information Search

• Problem recognition: the perceived difference between an actual and an ideal state

o Ideal state: can be motivated by need, goal, aspiration, or self-image

 Make consumer NEED new product, DISSATISFIED with current situation, and make the product a SOLUTION to a problem

o Actual state: can be motivated by physical factors (running out, becoming obsolete) or product breakage

o Greater disparity=higher motivation to act

o Consideration (or evoked set): the subset of top-of-mind brands evaluated when making a choice

• Internal search: the process of recalling stored information from memory

o Tend to be top-of-mind, often unaided recall and link with occasion

o Factors that enhance brand recall:

 Prototypicality: easier to recall brands close to the prototype

 First entry to category

 Brand familiarity

 Association with usage

 Preferred brands

 Retrieval cues, such as logos, icons, and packaging

o Factors that influence recall of attribute information:

 Easy accessibility/availability of information

 Information that helps us differentiate one brand from another (diagnostics)

 Marketing messages that allow the consumer to picture themselves using the product via words or pictures (vividness)

• Positive experiences encourage recall

• 80% of what we remember is visual

 Compatibility of purchase with consumer’s goals

o Due to memory decay over time, we find overall evaluations/attitudes easier to remember than specific attribute information

o We tend to remember information better if the information is received close to the purchasing need/decision

o Not an accurate representation of our overall attitudes more often than not due largely to:

 Confirmation bias: selective perception based upon those which confirm our beliefs of brands with which we’ve had positive prior experiences

 Inhibition: limited memory abilities causing recall of more accessible attributes of products

...