Deck 4: Pre-Purchase Processes: Need Recognition, Search, and Evaluation

Question 1

Need recognition is defined as the perception of a difference between the desired state of affairs and the actual situation sufficient to arouse and activate the decision process.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Need recognition occurs whenever some discrepancy exists between the actual state and the desired state, regardless of the size of this discrepancy.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

One potential benefit of understanding need recognition is that it may reveal a market segment with unsatisfied desires, thereby providing businesses with new sales opportunities.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The passage of time can activate consumption needs.

Question 5

Simply reminding consumers of their needs is not sufficient for stimulating need recognition.

Question 6

Educating consumers about unrecognized problems is one way to activate need recognition.

Question 7

Product innovations can cause need recognition.

Question 8

A company seeking to create demand for its specific brand would want to activate generic need recognition.

Question 9

The "got milk?"
campaign hopes to encourage consumers to drink more milk. This campaign is attempting to elicit selective need recognition.

Question 10

Search can be defined as the motivated activation of knowledge stored in memory or acquisition of information from the environment.

Question 11

Internal search involves the retrieval of knowledge from memory.

Question 12

The degree of satisfaction with prior purchases has been shown to be unrelated with the consumer's reliance on internal search.

Question 13

When information acquisition occurs on a relatively regular basis regardless of sporadic purchase needs, it is called pre-purchase search.

Question 14

The primary motivation behind pre-purchase search is the desire to make better product choices.

Question 15

The external search set is comprised of those choice alternatives that consumers gather information about during pre-purchase search.

Question 16

Haptic information is information acquired through the consumer's sense of smell.

Question 17

A funnel search strategy is where consumers begin their Internet search with generic terms but eventually refine their search with terms focusing on specific products.

Question 18

Consumers search for more decision-relevant information as long as benefits of the search are less than the perceived costs.

Question 19

An important reason why consumers do not shop around is the perception that it's not worth the effort.

Question 20

Consumers try to reduce perceived risk by decreasing the amount of search they perform.

Question 21

Consumer search is affected by many factors, but it is not affected by a product's price.

Question 22

There is an inverted-U relationship between search and consumer knowledge.

Question 23

Ideally, firms should focus their promotional efforts on those areas where their target customers are likely to search.

Question 24

Companies should always encourage consumers to search.

Question 25

Those alternatives considered by consumers during decision making are known as the decision set.

Question 26

Consumers' external search sets are synonymous with their consideration sets.

Question 27

The most notable difference between the consideration set and the retrieval set is that the size of the retrieval set is always larger than the size of the consideration set.

Question 28

Gaining entry into the consideration set is a top business priority. Failure to do so means that a company's offering will not be purchased.

Question 29

Influencing product recognition is a more effective way of gaining consideration than influencing product recall, especially when the consideration set is formed based on a search of memory.

Question 30

When choosing between two or more familiar brands such as Coke and Pepsi, consumers often rely on their pre-existing evaluations.

Question 31

Under categorization processing, the evaluation of a choice alternative is determined primarily by the category to which the alternative is assigned.

Question 32

When a consumer uses a piecemeal process, a choice alternative is evaluated in terms of the category to which it is assigned.

Question 33

Brand extensions are one way companies use piecemeal processing to their advantage.

Question 34

There is an inverted-U relationship between a brand extension's similarity to the core brand and consumers' willingness to transfer their attitudes toward the core brand to the extension.

Question 35

Piecemeal processing normally involves constructing an evaluation of a product by adding together bits and pieces of information.

Question 36

The importance consumers place on brand names and product logos when making their purchase decisions has been increasing in recent times.

Question 37

"Noncomparable"
alternatives may require the consumer to use less abstract criteria during evaluation.

Question 38

Judgments about choice alternatives can depend on the presence or absence of certain cues or signals, such as price, brand name or warranty.

Question 39

Cutoffs are an important part of the categorization process.

Question 40

Noncompensatory evaluation strategies are characterized by the fact that a product's weakness on one attribute cannot be offset by its strong performance on another attribute.

Question 41

A lexicographic strategy is one example of a compensatory evaluation strategy.

Question 42

Under a lexicographic strategy, brands are compared initially on the most important attribute.

Question 43

Under a conjunctive evaluation strategy, brands are compared initially on the most important attribute.

Question 44

Under compensatory evaluation strategies, a product's weakness on one attribute may be offset or compensated for by a strong performance on another attribute.

Question 45

A considerable amount of research indicates that consumers are very skilled at evaluating choice alternatives.

Question 46

The purchase of an extended warranty is always a good idea and worth the money.

Question 47

Need recognition occurs when the consumer perceives a sufficient difference between the ____ and ____ state of affairs.

A) actual; perceived
B) desired; actual
C) previous; actual
D) ideal; desired
E) None of the above.

Question 48

Which of the following could not cause need activation?

A) The passage of time.
B) Changes within the family, such as the birth of a child.
C) The purchase of a new product.
D) All of the above could lead to need activation.
E) None of the above could lead to need activation.

Question 49

Businesses are able to encourage need recognition by:

A) changing consumers' desired states
B) changing consumers' perceptions of their actual states
C) reminding consumers of their needs
D) A and B
E) A, B, and C

Question 50

Suppose an orange grower association sponsored an advertising campaign that emphasized nutritional advantages of regularly consuming some form of orange juice. This campaign is attempting to elicit ____ need recognition by changing consumers' ____ states.

A) selective; actual
B) selective; desired
C) generic; actual
D) generic; desired
E) None of the above.

Question 51

____ search involves the retrieval of knowledge from memory, whereas ____ search consists of collecting information from the marketplace.

A) Primary; secondary
B) Internal; external
C) Generic; selective
D) Subjective; objective
E) None of the above.

Question 52

Consumers are most likely to rely on internal search when:

A) they are first time buyers
B) a long time has passed since the last time a purchase decision in the product category was made
C) they are satisfied with the results of previous buying activities
D) B and C
E) A, B, and C

Question 53

Mary Jane is quite satisfied with her most recent purchase of hair care items. For future purchases of that nature, she is most likely to rely on:

A) internal search
B) the generation of new needs
C) external search
D) the advice of friends
E) the advice of her beautician

Question 54

Ongoing search involves:

A) acquisition of information on a regular basis.
B) occasional bits of information casually acquired.
C) the sudden urge to buy a previously unknown product.
D) the careful consideration of a one-time purchase.
E) None of the above.

Question 55

The primary motivation behind pre-purchase search is to:

A) make better product choices.
B) break old and established purchase habits.
C) habituate purchases which are made on a regular basis.
D) reduce consumption to expediency.
E) develop a consistent purchase pattern.

Question 56

According to a funnel search strategy, consumers begin their Internet search by entering ____ into a search engine.

A) a particular brand name
B) a generic term
C) a particular retailer's name
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 57

Consumers are more likely to search when they:

A) perceive the decision as high in risk.
B) are satisfied with their prior choices in the product category.
C) perceive the benefits of search to outweigh the costs of search.
D) A and C
E) A, B, and C

Question 58

There is ____ relationship between consumer knowledge and search.

A) a positive
B) a negative
C) a U-shaped
D) an inverted-U
E) None of the above.

Question 59

As a rule of thumb, a company should:

A) pay as much attention to the prices of its competitors as do consumers in its target market.
B) pay less attention to the prices of its competitors than do consumers in its target market.
C) pay attention to the prices of its competitors regardless of what consumers may do.
D) ignore the prices of its competitors regardless of what consumers may do.
E) always sell its product for less than the competition.

Question 60

A recent survey of consumer search and brand choice yielded the following results:
Based on these results, brand A would:

A) want to encourage consumer search.
B) not want to encourage consumer search.
C) conclude that the amount of search is unrelated to brand choice.
D) Can't tell without more information.

Question 61

The consideration set:

A) consists of those alternatives considered during decision making.
B) typically contains only a subset of the total number of alternatives available in the marketplace.
C) is fairly stable in size across different consumers.
D) A and B
E) A, B, and C

Question 62

The attraction effect suggests that the introduction of a/n ____ brand into the consideration set causes the other brands in the set to be evaluated ____.

A) inferior; less favorably
B) inferior; more favorably
C) superior; less favorably
D) superior; more favorably
E) There is no attraction effect.

Question 63

When recognition at the point-of-purchase determines the consideration set, a manufacturer's marketing strategy should emphasize:

A) the product's price.
B) the packaging of the product.
C) competitors' prices.
D) brand name recall.
E) None of the above.

Question 64

When evaluating choice alternatives, consumers may:

A) rely on pre-existing evaluations.
B) construct a new evaluation using a categorization process.
C) construct a new evaluation using a piecemeal process.
D) B and C
E) A, B, and C

Question 65

Product evaluations constructed through a categorization process are based on:

A) association with a category.
B) association with an endorser.
C) piecemeal, attribute-by-attribute assessments.
D) the attraction effect.
E) comparisons against cutoffs.

Question 66

Brand extensions should be most effective when:

A) the core or parent brand is well liked.
B) the product categories of the extension and core brand are similar.
C) the product categories of the extension and core brand are dissimilar.
D) A and B
E) A and C

Question 67

A ____ is a restriction or requirement for acceptable performance.

A) standard
B) cutoff
C) signal
D) cue
E) decision rule

Question 68

Which of the following could serve as a signal to consumers in making judgments about a product's quality?

A) Price
B) Warranty
C) Brand Name
D) A and C
E) A, B, and C

Question 69

Which of the following is not a noncompensatory strategy?

A) Lexicographic
B) Weighted additive
C) Conjunctive
D) Elimination by Aspects
E) All of the above are compensatory rules.

Question 70

According to this evaluation strategy, brands are initially compared on the most important attribute.

A) Lexicographic
B) Simple additive
C) Conjunctive
D) Elimination by aspects
E) A and D

Question 71

This evaluation strategy closely resembles the lexicographic decision rule except that it also involves the use of cutoffs.

A) Simple additive
B) Conjunctive
C) Elimination by aspects
D) Compensatory
E) None of the above.

Question 72

In this evaluation strategy, cutoffs are established for each salient attribute. Each brand is compared, one at a time against this set of cutoffs.

A) Lexicographic
B) Simple additive
C) Conjunctive
D) Elimination by aspects
E) Compensatory

Question 73

Under this evaluation strategy, a perceived weakness of one attribute may be offset or compensated for by a perceived strength of another attribute.

A) Lexicographic
B) Compensatory
C) Conjunctive
D) Elimination by aspects
E) None of the above.

Question 74

Under this evaluation strategy, the consumer simply counts or adds the number times each alternative is judged favorably in terms of the evaluative criteria. The alternative having the larger number of positive attributes is chosen.

A) Lexicographic
B) Conjunctive
C) Elimination by aspects
D) Simple additive
E) Weighted additive

Question 75

What is the difference between generic and selective need recognition? When might each be an appropriate target of marketing activities?

Question 76

Why is it important to understand whether the consumer recalls a brand from a consideration set or merely recognizes it?

Question 77

What is meant by the term pre-purchase alternative evaluation?

Question 78

Consider the retailer that follows a "good" and "better" approach in stocking its product lines. That is, whenever possible, the retailer offers a good brand with a reasonable price and a better brand with a more expensive price. This retailer is now considering the addition of a third brand to its product lines. Some managers want this third brand to be a cheaper, lower quality version of the good brand. Other managers, however, want this third brand to be a higher quality, more expensive version of the better brand. What are the pros and cons of each position?