Lecture 7 Post-Decision Process

Question 1

What is the post decision phase?

Answer 1

The last stage of the consumer decision making journey and it entails and assesses the consequences of a decision

Question 2

What is consumer satisfaction?

Answer 2

The feeling that consumers experience when they make a positive evaluation or feel happy with their decision.

Question 3

How do consumers make satisfaction evaluations?

Answer 3

All aspects of the product/brand experience
Comparison of what they thought would happen and actual performance
Consumer involvement
Consumer characteristics
Time
Mismatch between regulatory focus (promotion/prevention) of a consumer and the attributes of the decision (neg vs pos)

Question 4

Why is managing consumer expectations on satisfaction important?

Answer 4

Lower sensitivity to prices
Brand loyalty
Positive WOM
Consumer retention and lower consumer defection/churn

Question 5

What is the disconfirmation paradigm?

Answer 5

Confirmation occurs when performance meets expectations whilst disconfirmation is the discrepancy between performance and expectation

Question 6

What is Attribution Theory?

Answer 6

Attribution Theory: how individuals find explanations for events

… is the process of explaining the causes or reasons for one’s own behaviour and the behaviour of others
- Satisfaction/dissatisfaction judgements occur as a result of thoughts about blame and causality

Question 7

What are the 3 factors of attribution?

Answer 7

1. Stability: how permanent, consistent and stable the behaviour is (stable vs unstable)
2. Locus of control (focus): whether the behaviour is external or internal
3. Controllability: the degree of control the person has over the behaviour

Question 8

What is Equity Theory?

Answer 8

Focuses on the nature of exchanges between individuals and whether the distribution of the resources if fair for both relational parties
For equity to occur, the buyer has to perceive fairness in exchange

Question 9

When are consumers more likely to complain about a product?

Answer 9

Durable product
High involvement
High MAO
Consistent/permanent issues

Question 10

What is post-decision dissonance

Answer 10

Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of stress or anxiety that stems from the tension between an individual’s contradictory beliefs/values and their actions.

Question 11

What is regret?

Answer 11

Regret is a feeling of sadness stemming from an individual’s wish that they had made a different decision

Question 12

What is Cognitive Dissonance Theory?

Answer 12

when an individual realises that their actions or beliefs are psychologically inconsistent with each other, they will try to diminish this inconsistency

Question 13

How can consumer motivation around inconsistencies be changed?

Answer 13

1. Changing the belief or thought
2. Changing the behaviour
3. Add a thought to rationalise the inconsistency
4. Trivialise the inconsistency

Question 14

What is the Paradox of Choice?

Answer 14

Theory that states having too many options and choices can lead to stress and problematise decision-making, leading to:

• Decision inertia and paralysis
• Dissatisfaction with choice
• Negative affect; regret and unhappiness

Question 15

What is a Model of Learning From Consumer Experience?

Answer 15

Testing out expectations through experience

• Consumers are more motivated to learn → it’s interesting and they have control
• Info acquired from experience is more vivid and memorable → biased
• Consumers learn from experience by engaging in a process of hypothesis testing

Question 16

What are the four stages in hypothesis testing?

Answer 16

1. Hypothesis generation
2. Exposure to evidence
3. Encoding of evidence
4. Integration of evidence

Question 17

What are the four factors affecting this type of learning?

Answer 17

1. Prior knowledge or ability
2. Ambiguity of info
3. Processing bias
4. Motivation

Question 18

What is disposition?

Answer 18

Detailed process involving the disposal of anything that represents an extension of the self; harder to dispose of meaningful objects as their is often an emotional attachment

Question 19

What are the 3 types of performance expectations?

Answer 19

1. Equitable performance: expectation of what the product or service performance should be
2. Ideal performance expectation: expectation of the best possible product or service performance
3. Expected performance: expectation of what the most likely product or service performance would be