Chapter 11: Situational Influences

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Chapter 11 Situational Influences

Consumer Behavior - A Framework
John C. Mowen
Michael S. Minor
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Key Concepts

• Consumer Situations
• Types of situational influences
• Influence of physical surroundings
• Store location effects
• Store atmosphere

• Task definition
• Categories of gift-giving situations
• Influence of time
• Time differences across cultures
• Types of antecedent states

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The Environment and the Exchange Process
Cultural Environment
Economic Environment
Subcultural Environment
Regulatory Environment
Group/ family Processes
Situational Influencers
Individual Processes
Buying Unit
Exchange Process
Marketer
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Consumer Situations

• Temporary environmental factors that form the
  context within which a consumer activity occurs
  at a particular place and time.

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Five Types of Consumer Situations

• Physical surroundings
• Social surroundings
• Time
• Task definition
• Antecedent states

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Physical Surroundings

• The concrete physical and spatial aspects of the
  environment that encompass a consumer activity.

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Effects of Music on Shoppers

• Slower tempo music
• Customers move more slowly
• Stay longer
• Buy more
• Are not conscious of the effects of the music
  tempo

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Effects of Music continued

• Peppy music while waiting
• Louder music

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The Effects of Crowding on Consumers

• Density
• Crowding

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Consumer Crowd Behavior

• Crowd Hysteria
• High physiological arousal
• Act on a dominant idea or tendency
• Each person becomes inconspicuous and individual
  responsibility is lost.

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Store Location

• Actual vs. Perceived Distance
• Cognitive maps
• Image transference

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Store Layout

• Physical organization
• Creates specific traffic patterns
• Assists in presentation of merchandise
• Helps create a particular atmosphere

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Atmospherics

• Manipulation of retail shopping environment to
  achieve a certain effect.

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Atmospherics and Shopping Behavior
Emotional Response
Atmosphere
Behavior
Influences
Influences

• Layout
• Sounds
• Smells
• Textures
• Building design

• Pleasure/displeasure
• Arousal/boredom

• Time in store
• Affiliation
• Buying

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Olfactory Cues

• Shoppers perceive higher quality goods in scented
  stores.
  
• Odors should be consistent with store offerings.
• These cues are expensive to maintain.

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Social Surroundings

• Deals with the effects of other people on a
  consumer in a consumption situation.
  
• Conformity pressures

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The Task Definition

• Situational reasons for buying or consuming a
  product or service at a particular time and
  place.
  
• Usage situations
• Occasion-based marketing
  opportunities

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Gift-Giving Motivations
Low
High
Reciprocity creation
Voluntary
Altruism
Gift Type
Ritual obligation
Love, friendship
Obligatory
Degree of Self-Interest
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Gift Behavior and Gender

• Women start shopping earlier for Christmas
  (October vs. November)
  
• Spend more time shopping/gift (2.4 vs. 2.1 hours)
  
  
• Are more successful (fewer of their gifts are
  exchanged)
  
• But men spend 50 more/gift.

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Self-Gifts

• Premeditated, indulgent
• Rewarding an accomplishment, therapy for
  disappointment
  
• Materialism

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Time Individual Differences
Obligatory

• Work
• Necessities
• Housework
• Leisure

Discretionary
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Cultural Time Differences

• Linear Separable
• Circular Traditional
• Procedural Traditional

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Time as a Product

• Many Purchases Are Made to Buy Time
• Time as product attribute
• Time-saving as promotional feature
• Time-buying consumer

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Time as a Situational Variable

• Time available
• Impact on information search
• Time of day

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Antecedent States

• Temporary physiological and mood states that a
  consumer brings to a consumption situation.
  
• Physiological State Hunger
• Mood State Happy feelings.

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Antecedent States

• Can lead to problem recognition
• Can change the feeling component of hierarchy
  of effects
  
• Mood states influence behavior

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Managerial Implications

• Positioning
• Environment
• Research
• Marketing Mix
• Segmentation