3. Decision Making

A. Introduction

Image from Peartree Brand Strategy
Image from Peartree Brand Strategy
  • Objects/brands help us say something about ourselves.
  • To develop your brand, you have to first understand how consumer see themselves, and how your brand/product may feature in their identity projects

B. Decision Making

Q. Why is candy usually located towards the check out of a supermarket?

Image from CNN
Image from CNN

Hawkins Stern published a paper titled, “The Significance of Impulse Buying Today.”; Suggestion Impulse Buying, which “is triggered when a shopper sees a product for the first time and visualizes a need for it.”

The reason candy is at the checkout line is because of a concept called decision fatigue.

  • Box of candy bars at the front door, you would be more likely to resist grabbing one.
  • Number of choices about what to buy and what not to buy has drained your willpower enough to make impulse buying.

Q. Is buying candy different from buying a car?

  • Price of a candy is very different from the price of the car.
  • The decision to buy a car is a high involvement decision, while buying candy is a low involvement decision.

1. Key Ideas

  • Decision-making requires a lot of cognitive resources

  • Differ across product categories

    • Involvement
    • Perceived risk

  • Group Project Work:

    • Write an interview guide

2. Interview Notes

Product: Airpods

1. Have a deep understanding of the purchase decision-process

The product was purchased 3 years back.

  • Interviewee mentioned about relatively low exposure to other products
  • Reason for the purchase: First saw the product among friends, peers, and family

2. Surface the factors in the environment and in the custome’s psyche

Extrinsic factors

  • Friends were using the product
  • socially considered as cool;

Intrinsic factors:

  • the product perfectly fit the interviewee’s ear and was comfortable.
  • had a better compatibility with the exisiting ecosystem. (very used to the product)
  • It looked aesthetically pleasing

3. Notes from other interviews

  • Identity is a social kind of construct and it is a very important factor in the decision making process.
  • Private and public goods are key determinants of the decision making process.

Decision fatigue: the phenomenon in which an individual’s quality of decision deteriorates after long session of decision making

Image from TechTello
Image from TechTello

The result: ego depletion or loss of self control or willpower

2. Utlitarian vs. Ego Expressive

  • Utilitarian goods

    • Purchased for their practical uses
    • Primarily instrumental and functional

  • Ego expressive goods

    • Means of self-expression
    • Helps express their identity

C. Involvement

Involvement = f(Object, Situation, Person)

  • Impacts: Sensitivity to price promotions; amount of information search
    • Impact different aspects of your marketing mix inclyding distribution and communication choices

The 5 dimensions of involvement:

  • Interest
  • Pleasure
  • Sign
  • Risk importance
  • Risk probability

Various media are either:

  • High involvement
    • Print media
  • Low involvement
    • Broadcast media

Q. Which companies have the biggest television advertising budgets?

  1. Procter & Gamble
  2. Amazon

Digital marketing

  1. HBO Max
    • Estimated digital advertising spend (2021): $634.52 million
  2. Disney plus
    • Estimated digital advertising spend (2021): $403.02 million
  3. Walmart
    • Estimated digital advertising spend (2021): $331.35 million

Last updated on Aug 30, 2022