Lecture 4: how do consumers acquire and process information?

Question 2

what is attention according to Wiliam James

Answer 2

focusing on some things and not on others. withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others

Question 3

why do we have attention?

Answer 3

to navigate complex envirnoments, focus on important information and surpress distracting information.
- because we have limited cognitive resources

Question 4

limited cognitive resources

Answer 4

• limited brain signalling
• limited actions
• we can’t focus on everything at once and only act in so many ways at once.

Question 5

top down versus bottom up

Answer 5

selective attention exists out of this.
- voluntary versus involuntary
- endogenous versus exogenous
- goal-directed versus salience
- controlled versus automatic
- directed versus captured

For example, you go to the store to buy milk (top-down), but decide to walk to the candy aisle, because your attention was grabbed by the smell (bottom-up).

Question 6

what impacts bottom-up versus top-down attention?

Answer 6

bottom-up is usually influenced by our core needs like movement or contrast and top down is our motivation (and how strong it is) to do something.

stroop task

Question 7

early versus late selection

Answer 7

depends on the perceptual load
earlier with more distractors because you would have to filter faster
there is some evidence for filtering at a perceptual level. but still debate about what we do and don’t process

Question 8

4 stages of acquiring information

Answer 8

1. pre-attentive analysis
2. focal attention
3. comprehension
4. elaborative reasoning

Question 8

pre-attentive analysis

Answer 8

scanning envirnoment, awareness

general, non-goal directed surveillance of the envirnoment. at the fringe of consciousness
- feature analysis = perceptual (exact repeat)
- semantic = conceptual (similar idea)
- matching activation hypothesis
- hedonic fluency

first stage

Question 9

matching activation hypothesis

Answer 9

hemispheric specialization.
does exist to some extent.
for people with an intact brain the information is almost always immediately available for both halves.

Question 10

hedonic fluency

Answer 10

easier processing is pleasant and leads to higher evaluation.
because of this we can missatribute pleasentness of ease to stimulus.
- goal fluency: sequences activating simular goals -> asking about intentions before behavior increases likelihood of behavior.

Question 11

focal attention

Answer 11

focus on some information and filter out other, categorization

focus on bottom-up components
- awareness, identification, categorization
- short-term (working) memory

second stage

Question 12

features that attract attention

in focal attention

Answer 12

• salience
• vividness
• novelty

Question 13

salience

Answer 13

contrast to envirnoment. botom-up cues matter more if top-down goals are weaker. so this is stronger for lower processing motivation/involvement.

cuts through advertisement clutter

Question 14

vividness

Answer 14

attention grabbing properties. can compete with meaning because of undermining it’s effect if it distracts from persuasive message.

Question 15

novelty

Answer 15

unfamiliar, unexpected, surprising
- expectancy disconfirmation model

Question 16

expectancy disconformation model

Answer 16

manage expectations in consumers, when you over promise and under deliver you will have more customers, but not for the long term. and the other way around.

Question 17

categorization

Answer 17

a brand or product means something to a consumer.
categorization enables inferences.
we classify a product based on many aspects like attributes, brands and product usage.

Question 18

what does the acceptance of a product rely on?

Answer 18

it is highly defined by
- the congruence or the “fit” with the brand
- associations
- prior knowledge
- involvement

Question 19

involvement in accepting a new product

Answer 19

low involvement means relying perhaps only on similarity, whereas high involvement might include gathering other attribute information.

Question 20

(dis)advantages of prototypical products?

Answer 20

are more liked, but less salient. which reduces attention to the product

Question 21

pioneering advantage?

Answer 21

when a product is the first in it’s category it has novelty leading to deeper processing and more extreme evaluations.

this new product becomes prototypical eventually

Question 22

assimilation in a category?

Answer 22

overestimating the similarity within category.

thinking of a domain in life you are succeeding leads to higher life satisfaction evaluation.

Question 23

contrast in category?

Answer 23

overestimating differences between categories

an academic winning a nobel prize reflects good on the entire department, but leads to contrast compared to peers.

Question 24

impression formation

Answer 24

categorize people according to associations (with brands)

Question 25

brand personality

Answer 25

using systems for persons perception

Question 26

introducing a new product?

Answer 26

a moderately similair product to the earlier products released from your brand is the most optimal strategy.

Question 27

comprehension

third stage

Answer 27

understanding and interpreting information

• making inferences about semantic meaning
• understanding and misunderstanding claims

Question 28

understanding?

Answer 28

is needed for deliberate persuasion, but there are other routes

Question 29

thruth effect?

Answer 29

repetition of an ambigious message (even if known to be false) increases acceptance/belief over time.
has two steps
1. taking a message to be true (low effort default)
2. critical appraisal/disbelief (effortful, not guaranteed to happen).

Question 30

when are you unlikely to get to step two of the truth effect?

Answer 30

under cognitive load, distraction, time pressure, linger delay and low involvement.

Question 31

Skurnik et al., 2005?

Answer 31

• we misremember false claims as true more often than the other way around
• older adults are more likely to remember for repetition + delay

Question 32

Henkel & Mattson, 2011?

Answer 32

• source reliability matters very little for longer delays
• les than 1/3 remember source reliability after delay

Question 33

misleading claims?

Answer 33

• rely on inferences beyond literal statements
• literally true, but implement something different
• omit information
• juxtaposition (be cool, buy brand)
• reverse cause and effect

Question 34

elaborative reasoning

Answer 34

linking attention and memory in evaluation

high involvement, link to previous knowledge.
thinking along at least three dimensions
- extent of thinking
- valence of thinking
- object of thinking

Question 35

object of thinking?

Answer 35

• consumer goals
• self
• meta cognition

Question 36

self-schema?

Answer 36

traits, values and beliefs about self guide attention and information processing.
- amplifying effect
- motivational matching

Question 37

amplifying effect?

Answer 37

higher motivation to process information congruent with self-schema

Question 38

meta-cognition

Answer 38

thinking about other’s motives credibility can lead to skepticism and resistance
thinking about your own inner state our thoughts can lead to self-validation
confidence amplifies persuasion.

study with giving arguments

Question 39

what is the role of attention processes in attitude formation and attitude change?

Answer 39

• without attention, information is quickly lost
• attention is required for the process of focal attention -> comprehension -> elaborative reasoning
• assumption: attitude formation and attitude change is based on information
• attitude formation and attitude change requires attention.

without attention, no influence on attitudes? -> subliminal