This case could be assigned as an out-of-class or in-class activity. As an in-class activity, it might be more effective to have the class read it, then break them into small groups to discuss the questions. This is because a good response to the questions would require a consideration of various chapter concepts. The small group discussion could then be followed up with a large group review. The case allows for some application to the sections on exposure (Which of the five senses does this ad type appeal to most? What are the implications of this for advertisers?) and interpretation (How does placement of an ad in this context affect positioning? How does the nature of different target segments of subway riders affect interpretation?). Thus, this case can be used to illustrate the entire process of perception as explained in the chapter. This case allows for the psychological processes of perception to be linked to real-world marketing implications. One item of interest not mentioned in the case that may be brought up during discussion is how this unique appeal to the perception processes of consumers has created value for multiple constituencies: • The consumers—the positive reception indicates that the ads have entertainment value during an otherwise boring commute. • The media agencies—these agencies are new ventures carving out a multi-million dollar industry. The cost of subway ads ranges from $35,000 a month to $250,000 a month depending on the route. • The advertisers—there is no shortage of promotional choices for corporations and non- profit organizations. However, subway tunnel advertising gives marketers one of the few options that breaks through ad clutter in such a way that the consumer wants to see the ad, not to avoid it. • The transit agencies—most metropolitan transit agencies are struggling with ever tightening budgets and with the balance of fare prices and demand. Many are therefore searching for additional revenue streams such as concessions or advertising. Although in- station and in-train advertising has been around since the early 1900s, subway tunnel agencies are forecasting that a single transit company (which would receive between 25 percent and 60 percent of the revenues) could earn as much as $200 million over 5 years. 1. Based on the principles of attention presented in this chapter, explain why riders receive these ads so positively. Be sure to consider the possible stimulus selection factors that apply. 2. It has been shown that consumers can habituate to a stimulus. Is there anything the ads’ creators should know about adaptation and its potential impact on the success of these ads over time?
> Compare and contrast the real versus the ideal self. List three products for which a person is likely to use each type of self as a reference point when he or she considers a purchase.
> Describe two factors that can lead to stimulus adaptation.
> What is a positioning strategy? What are some ways marketers can position their products? A positioning strategy is a fundamental part of a company’s marketing efforts as it uses elements of the marketing mix (i.e., product design, price, distribution, a
> What do we mean by the concept of augmented reality? Give an example that is not discussed in the chapter. How does this concept differ from virtual reality?
> What is greenwashing, and why is it a problem for marketers?
> Why is market access an important aspect of consumer well-being? What are some important reasons why consumers can experience limited market access?
> Visit www.izod.com. Is a multi-attribute model a good one to apply to this product to explain how attitudes are formed? Why or why not? Suggest an alternative model.
> What is the primary difference between transformative consumer research and other kinds of consumer research?
> Does subliminal perception work? Why or why not?
> Define hedonic consumption and provide an example.
> State two important criticisms of marketing and provide the pros and cons for each.
> How does the sense of touch influence consumers’ reactions to products?
> What are business ethics, and why is this an important topic?
> Describe how opinion leaders can be formed and found on the Internet. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using opinion leaders on the Web. How would this form of opinion leadership be different from any other form of opinion leadership (if at a
> Assign groups of students to go to an airport (or other location where they will find lots of foot traffic) to people watch. Have them classify as many people as possible according to social class based on the appearance and behaviors of individuals. Hav
> Have student groups devise a list of traditional male traits with respect to personal care and hygiene. Then, have them visit a cosmetics section of a major department store and interview salespeople with respect to the nature of their male customers. W
> Have each student interview four people (one each in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s) to determine how important appearance is on the job. Then have students form groups in class to discuss their findings. In addition, have them discuss their own opinions o
> Go to www.specialized.com. Specialized Bicycles is one of the leading manufacturers and marketers of all types of bikes. Browse their website. Give a brief description of their different product lines. How does Specialized motivate consumers to get into
> Collect ads for three different product categories that target families. Find another set of ads for different brands of the same items that don’t feature families. Prepare a report comparing the probable effectiveness of the two approaches. Which specif
> Swiss Legend, a watch brand, gets famous people to wear its colorful timepieces. One way it does this is to give away its product at awards shows. Publicists call this common practice “gifting the talent”: Companies provide stars with “goody bags” full
> As more people enter virtual worlds like Second Life and Kaneva, family decision-making research may have to include our virtual partners (and children?) as well. Do you agree? How do you think consumer researchers could use a virtual world to help them
> The Federal Trade Commission recently sponsored a conference on “Blurred Lines: Advertising or Content?” that reflects the agency’s concerns about the resemblance between native ads and “real” articles. The chapter discusses the problem of sock puppeting
> Why would a marketer consider saying negative things about his or her product? When is this strategy feasible? Can you find examples of it?
> Ask a friend to “talk through” the process he or she used to choose one brand over others during a recent purchase. Based on this description, can you identify the decision rule that was most likely employed?
> Construct a multi-attribute model for a set of local restaurants. Based on your findings, suggest how restaurant managers can improve an establishment’s images via the strategies described in this chapter.
> Devise an attitude survey for a set of competing automobiles. Identify areas of competitive advantage or disadvantage for each model you include.
> A recent sociometric study on obesity (similar to the one we read about regarding clusters of smokers) provides a striking example of how our social networks influence what we do. The researchers analyzed a sample of more than 12,000 people who participa
> Industrial purchase decisions are totally rational. Aesthetic or subjective factors don’t – and shouldn’t – play a role in this process. Do you agree?
> Go to http://shop.vans.com. Find the link for creating your own custom pair of Vans shoes. Go through the process and print an example of your shoes to take in to class and share. Describe the experience. Did the experience contribute to the level of inv
> Watchdog groups have long decried product placements because they blur the line between content and advertising without adequately informing viewers. The networks themselves appear to be divided on how far they want to open the gate. According to one stu
> Define the three levels of product categorization described in the chapter. Diagram these levels for a health club.
> Sometimes a company actually invents a determinant attribute: Pepsi-Cola accomplished this when it stamped freshness dates on soda cans. It spent about $25 million on an advertising and promotional campaign to convince consumers that there’s nothing quit
> Research supports the argument that the way we pay for a product changes the way we perceive it. More specifically, credit cards prime people to focus less on the costs of the item and more on the benefits. Using plastic decouples the expense of the purc
> Discuss some conditions that would cause you to advise a marketer to use a comparative advertising strategy.
> The sleeper effect implies that perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much, about how positively people evaluate a source. Similarly, there is a saying in public relations that “any publicity is good publicity.” Do you agree?
> A flog is a fake blog a company posts to build buzz around its brand. Is this ethical?
> The Coca-Cola Company pulled a UK Internet promotion campaign after parents accused it of targeting children by using references to a notorious pornographic movie. As part of its efforts to reach young social media users for its Dr. Pepper brand, the com
> Google updated its terms of service to allow shared endorsements though it’s likely most users don’t read these terms too carefully. Not everyone is thrilled about finding out his or her comments appear in an ad without giving explicit permission. Users
> The Great Recession is over, so things ar elooking up for many consumers. Still, is frugality the “new normal” or will many of us revert to the free-spending dys before the bubble burst in 2008?
> Is there such a thing as personality? If so, how might you intergrate knowledge about consumer’s personality traits into a marketing strategy?
> Commercial Alert, a consumer group, is highly critical of neuromarketing. The group's executive director wrote, “What would happen in this country if corporate marketers and political consultants could literally peer inside our brains and chart the neura
> Go to www.peapod.com. Online grocery is alive and well. Although most grocery purchases that we make fall into the category of habitual decision-making, somehow, this concept is working for some people. Spend some time on this site and assemble a grocery
> One way to clearly see the impact of shifting cultural values on consumption is to look at the increasing emphasis on the importance of health and wellness. In recent years, top-performing new food/beverage products featured items with natural or organic
> You may wish to encourage students to explore TripAdvisor before discussing this case. As an exercise, you could ask them to plan out a sample Spring Break trip using TripAdvisor reviews. 1. How comfortable should consumers be in letting the review of o
> Have students discuss other businesses that use “theater” to keep customers coming in. 1. Evaluate the shopping experience at Jordan’s. Why is it so successful? Be sure to consider how they have incorporated concepts related to physical and social surro
> This case can be taught as part of the decision-making process. If used in class, you can ask students to outline the stages of the decision-making process for choosing a new vehicle. 1. How does Tesla Motors’ marketing strategy connect with the changes
> Have the students list as many shampoo brands that they can think of. 1. Describe Cream Silk’s promotion within the context of the multiattribute model: Which attribute(s) were central to the promotion and how does the model explain what they company was
> It used to be that putting on a watch was just a standard part of getting dressed in the morning. How could you hope to move successfully throughout your day, making it to appointments on time, if you weren’t wearing a watch on your wrist to let you know
> Organizations and educators are continuing to explore the impact of avatars and virtual worlds. You may wish to ask the class what virtual worlds they use and why. 1. How might classical conditioning operate for a consumer who visits a new tutoring Web
> Have each student think of a time when they had to get rid of something that had been significant to them. Analyze this situation in terms of divestment rituals.
> What do we mean by the term global consumer culture?
> Why is it difficult to place a product in a consumer’s evoked set after it has already been rejected? What strategies might a marketer use in an attempt to accomplish this goal?
> What is external memory and why is it important to marketers?
> What is “big data”?
> Why is it important for businesses to learn about their heavy users?
> What do we mean by an exchange?
> Why is it not necessarily a good idea to advertise a product in a commercial where a popular song is playing in the background?
> List the steps in the model of cognitive decision-making.
> What are the two dimensions that determine whether we will react positively or negatively to a purchase environment?
> What is time poverty, and how can it influence our purchase decisions?
> What are demographics? Give three examples of demographic characteristics.
> How does a brand name work as a heuristic?
> Technology has the potential to make our lives easier as it reduces the amount of clutter we need to work through to access the information on the Internet that really interests us. However, perhaps intelligent agents that make recommendations based only
> List three problems with measures of memory for advertising.
> What is an example of an exemplar product?
> Define nostalgia, and tell why it is such a widely used advertising strategy.
> Name the three stages of information processing as we commit information about products to memory.
> Why does a pioneering brand have a memory advantage over follower brands?
> How does the likelihood that a person wants to use an ATM machine relate to a schema?
> Why do U.S. phone numbers have seven digits?
> Name two different disciplines that study consumer behavior. How would their approaches to the same issue differ?
> What is the difference between C2C and B2C e-commerce?
> Provide a definition of consumer behavior.
> Identify some important characteristics for a product with a well-known brand name. Based on these attributes, generate a list of possible brand extension or licensing opportunities, as well as some others that consumers would not be likely to accept.
> What are sociometric techniques? Under what conditions does it make sense to use them?
> What is the difference between a market maven and a surrogate consumer?
> Which is more powerful, positive or negative word of mouth?
> What is word-of-mouth, and why is it more powerful than advertising?
> List three factors that help to determine store image.
> What are some important pros and cons of e-commerce?
> What is the difference between a lecture and a drama?
> Why do marketers use metaphors to craft persuasive messages? Give two examples of this technique.
> Give an example of the sunk-cost fallacy.
> Name two ways a consumer problem arises.
> The strategy of viral marketing gets customers to sell a product to other customers on behalf of the company. That often means convincing your friends to climb on the bandwagon, and sometimes you get a cut if they buy something. Some might argue that tha
> Give an example of the type of purchase that each of the three types of decision-making – cognitive, habitual, and affective - would most likely explain.
> What is prime? How does it differ from a nudge?
> What are latitudes of acceptance and rejection? How does a consumer’s level of involvement with a product affect his latitude of acceptance?
> What is a halo effect, and why does it happen?
> What is the difference between buzz and hype?
> What is source credibility, and what are two factors that influence our decision as to whether a source is credible?
> Describe the elements of the traditional communications model, and tell how the updated model differs.
> List three psychological principles related to persuasion.
> How do levels of commitment to an attitude influence the likelihood it will become part of the way we think about a product in the long-term?
> “Do as I say, not as I do.” How does this statement relate to attitude models?
> Identify a set of avoidance groups for your peers. Can you identify any consumption decisions that you and your friends make with these groups in mind?
> How can an attitude play an ego-defensive function?
> What is the basic philospophy behind a lifestyle marketing strategy?
> What is fattism?
> List the three semiotic components of a marketing message, giving an example of each.
