CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Hierarchies Of Effect

Which come first: knowing, feeling, or doing? It turns out that element may lead things off depending on the situation. Attitude researches developed the concept of a hierarchy of effect to explain the relative impact of the thre components. Each hierarchy specifies that a fixed sequence of steps occurs en route to an attitude.

The standar learning hierarchy

Think-feed-do: the standard learning hierarchy assumes that a person approaches a product decision as a problem solving process. First, she forms beliefs about a product as she sccumulates knowledge (beliefs) regarding relevant attributes. Next, she evaluates these beliefs and form a feeling about the product (affect). Then she engages in a relevant behavior, such as when she buys a product that offers the attributes she feels good about. This hierarchy assumes that a consumer is highly involved when she makes a purchase decision. She’s motivated to seek out a lot of information, carefully weigh alternatives and come to a thoughtful decision.

The low involvement hierarchy

Do-feel-think: the low imvolvement hierarchy of effects assumes that the consumer initially doesn’t have a strong preference for one brand over another, instead, she acts on the basis of limited knowledge and forms an evaluation only after she has bought the product. The attitude is likely to come about through behavioral  learning, as good or bad experiences reinforce her initial choice.

The possibility thet consumers simply don’t care enough about decisions to carefully assemble a set of product beliefs and the evaluate them is important. This implies that all of our concern about influencing beliefs and carefully communicating information about product attributes may often be wasted. Consumers aren’t necessarily going to pay attention anyway; they are more likely to respond to simple stimulus response connections when they make purchase decisions. For example, a consumer who chooses among paper towels might remember that “ bounty is the quicker picker upper” rather than systematically comparing all the brands on the shelf. Get a life!

The experiential hierarchy

Feel-think-do: according to the experiential hierarchy of affects, we act on the basis of our emotional reactions. The experiential  perspective highlights the idea that intangible product attributes, such as package design, advertising, brand names, and the nature of the setting in which the experience occurs, can help shape our attitudes toward a brand. We may base these reactions on hedonic  motivations, such as whether using the product is exciting (like the Nitendo  Wii).

Even the emotions the communicator expresses have an impact. A smile is infectious, in a process we term emotional contagion, messages that happy people deliver enhance our attitude toward the product. Numerous studies demonstrate that the mood a person is in when she sees or hears a marketing message influences how she will process the ad, the likelihood that she will remember the information she sees, and how she will feel about the advertised item and related products in the future.