Page 198 - Marketing Management

ANALYZING CONSUMER MARKETS | CHAPTER 6 175

TABLE 6.5 Selected Behavioral Decision Theory Findings

• Consumers are more likely to choose an alternative (a home bread maker) after a relatively
inferior option (a slightly better, but significantly more expensive home bread maker) is added to
the available choice set.
• Consumers are more likely to choose an alternative that appears to be a compromise in the particu-
lar choice set under consideration, even if it is not the best alternative on any one dimension.
• The choices consumers make influence their assessment of their own tastes and preferences.

• Getting people to focus their attention more on one of two considered alternatives tends to
enhance the perceived attractiveness and choice probability of that alternative.
• The way consumers compare products that vary in price and perceived quality (by features or
brand name) and the way those products are displayed in the store (by brand or by model type)
both affect their willingness to pay more for additional features or a better-known brand.

• Consumers who think about the possibility that their purchase decisions will turn out to be wrong
are more likely to choose better-known brands.
• Consumers for whom possible feelings of regret about missing an opportunity have been made
more relevant are more likely to choose a product currently on sale than wait for a better sale or
buy a higher-priced item.
• Consumers’ choices are often influenced by subtle (and theoretically inconsequential) changes in
the way alternatives are described.
• Consumers who make purchases for later consumption appear to make systematic errors in
predicting their future preferences.
• Consumer’s predictions of their future tastes are not accurate—they do not really know how they
will feel after consuming the same flavor of yogurt or ice cream several times.

• Consumers often overestimate the duration of their overall emotional reactions to future events
(moves, financial windfalls, outcomes of sporting events).
• Consumers often overestimate their future consumption, especially if there is limited availability
(which may explain why Black Jack and other gums have higher sales when availability is limited
to several months per year than when they are offered year round).
• In anticipating future consumption opportunities, consumers often assume they will want or need
more variety than they actually do.
• Consumers are less likely to choose alternatives with product features or promotional premiums
that have little or no value, even when these features and premiums are optional (like the opportu-
nity to purchase a collector’s plate) and do not reduce the actual value of the product in any way.
• Consumers are less likely to choose products selected by others for reasons they find irrelevant, even
when these other reasons do not suggest anything positive or negative about the product’s values.
• Consumers’ interpretations and evaluations of past experiences are greatly influenced by the
ending and trend of events. A positive event at the end of a service experience can color later
reflections and evaluations of the experience as a whole.

product failure may lead a consumer to inflate the likelihood of a future product failure and
make him more inclined to purchase a product warranty.
2. The representativeness heuristic—Consumers base their predictions on how representative
or similar the outcome is to other examples. One reason package appearances may be so simi-
lar for different brands in the same product category is that marketers want their products to
be seen as representative of the category as a whole.