Page Ref: 144 29) The ________ is the most important consumer buying organization in society; the roles and influences of different members have been researched extensively. A) family B) social class C) membership group D) subculture E) reference Answer: A Page Ref: 145 30) A ________ consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the persons around them. A) motive B) role C) lifestyle D) life cycle E) tradition Answer: B Page Ref: 146 31) A buyer's decisions are influenced by ________ such as the buyer's age and life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept. A) personal characteristics B) reference groups C) perceptions D) attitudes E) psychographics Answer: A Page Ref: 146 32) People change the goods and services they buy over time because of the two changing factors of ________. A) belief and attitude B) perception and personality C) age and stage D) groups and learning E) family and tradition Answer: C
132) Describe some important strategies for a marketer of a high-involvement product. Answer: Marketers must understand the information-gathering and evaluation behavior of high-involvement customers. This involves helping customers learn about the product attributes and their relative importance, as well as clearly differentiating the brand's features. Marketers might use long copy in print media to satisfy the customer's need for information. Marketers must also motivate salespeople to influence the customer's choice. To discourage customers' postpurchase dissonance, after-sale communications from the marketer should help customers feel good about their purchase decision. Page Ref: 152 133) Listing them in the proper order, what are the stages in the buyer decision process? Describe each. Answer: In the need recognition consumers become aware of a new problem or need. Then, consumers seek information products to meet that need in the information search stage. In the alternative evaluation stage, consumers use the gathered information to compare and contrast the choices. Consumers do not use the same evaluation process in all buying situations; sometimes they may make careful, logical calculations and other times they may rely on intuition and buy on impulse. Consumers then make the purchase decision, buying the product. The last component of the process is postpurchase behavior, which is determined by any difference between the consumer's expectations for the product and the perceived performance of the product. Page Ref: 153-155 134) Identify and describe the stages in the adoption process. Answer: In the awareness stage, consumers become aware of the new product but lack information about it. Then, consumers seek information about the new product in the interest stage. In the evaluation stage, consumers consider whether trying the new product makes sense. Consumers try the product on a limited basis in the stage. Finally, consumers decide to make full use of the product in the adoption stage. Page Ref: 158 135) Identify the product characteristics that influence the rate of adoption. Explain how each characteristic affects the rate of adoption. Answer: The five most important product characteristics that influence the rate of a product's adoption are relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, divisibility, and communicability. Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation appears superior to existing products; the greater the perceived relative advantage, the sooner the product will be adopted.