Deck 8: Decision Making

Question 1

People often make decisions on the basis of mental accounting. One facet of this accounting is making a decision based on the way a problem was posed. This is called ________.

A) framing
B) the sum-cost fallacy
C) loss aversion
D) positioning

Answer 1

A

Question 2

A consumer is most likely to engage in ________ when she is in a good mood or when she is uninvolved in other activities.

A) inertia
B) extended problem solving
C) variety seeking
D) mental accounting

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The alternatives actively considered during a consumer's choice process are his or her ________ set.

A) inert
B) evoked
C) evaluative
D) consideration

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Under ________, utility is defined in terms of gains and losses.

A) prospect theory
B) heuristics
C) hyperopia
D) Zipf's law

Question 5

The first stage in the consumer decision-making process is ________.

A) information search
B) evaluation of alternatives
C) problem recognition
D) product choice

Question 6

A consumer who uses a few simple decision rules to arrive at a purchase decision is using which of the following?

A) routine decision making
B) limited problem solving
C) graduated response behavior
D) extended problem solving

Question 7

When is a consumer most likely to engage in extended problem solving?

A) This decision mode is most common when the decision is related to the person's self-concept and the outcome has a high degree of risk.
B) This decision mode is most common when the decision is related to the person's past behavior and product reinforcements.
C) This decision mode is most common when acceptable products are already contained within the consumer's evoked set.
D) This decision mode is most common when the decision is related to products that are considered to have low self-concept involvement.

Question 8

A(n) ________ refers to a set of beliefs and the way we organize those beliefs in our minds.

A) mental accounting
B) knowledge structure
C) rational perspective
D) influence perspective

Question 9

________ is the process by which the consumer surveys his or her environment for appropriate data to make a reasonable decision.

A) Problem recognition
B) Evaluation of alternatives
C) Information search
D) Product choice

Question 10

If a consumer's ideal state is very near or identical to his or her actual state, which of the following best describes the type of problem recognition the consumer would most likely have?

A) opportunity recognition
B) need recognition
C) search recognition
D) no problem recognized

Question 11

Which of the following perspectives on consumer decision making is most closely associated with the economics of information approach to the search process, assuming that consumers collect just as much data as needed to make an informed decision?

A) experiential perspective
B) rational perspective
C) constructive perspective
D) behavioral influence perspective

Question 12

Jamie is considering ordering a dessert for lunch. Before she decides on the kind she prefers, she must decide whether to get a fattening or nonfattening dessert. This decision relates to which of the following levels of abstraction of dessert categories?

A) superordinate level
B) ordinate level
C) subordinate level
D) basic level

Question 13

As a customer's product knowledge increases, what typically happens to the amount of search conducted by the consumer?

A) It will continually increase.
B) It will continually decrease.
C) It will decrease, and then increase as the customer becomes more knowledgeable.
D) It will increase, and then decrease as the customer becomes more knowledgeable.

Question 14

The presence of too many product options in the marketplace is referred to as ________.

A) purchase dilemma
B) consumer hyperchoice
C) pseudo-choice
D) hyperopia

Question 15

A decision strategy that seeks to deliver an adequate solution rather than the best possible solution is referred to as ________.

A) inertia
B) rationalizing
C) satisficing
D) anchoring

Question 16

Which of the following describes the visual nature of a social game?

A) platform
B) mode
C) milieu
D) genre

Question 17

In a thought process called ________, we evaluate the effort we'll need to make a particular choice and then we tailor the amount of cognitive "effort" we expend to make that choice.

A) utility processing
B) experiential processing
C) constructive processing
D) behavioral processing

Question 18

A consumer who moves his or her ideal state upward is experiencing ________.

A) opportunity recognition
B) search recognition
C) habitual recognition
D) need recognition

Question 19

A customer buying an unfamiliar product that carries a fair degree of risk would most likely engage in what type of problem solving?

A) extended problem solving
B) limited problem solving
C) habitual problem solving
D) recognition problem solving

Question 20

________ occurs whenever the consumer sees a significant difference between his or her current state of affairs and some desired state.

A) Information search
B) Evaluation of alternatives
C) Evaluation of the evoked set
D) Problem recognition

Question 21

A ________ rule means that a product with a low standing on one attribute cannot make up for this position by being better on another attribute.

A) noncompensatory decision
B) lexicographic
C) compensatory decision
D) conjunctive

Question 22

Attributes actually used to differentiate among choices are called ________ attributes.

A) evaluation
B) search
C) determinant
D) segmentation

Question 23

Which of the following most accurately describes one of linguist George Kingsley Zipf's findings in the 1930s?

A) People prefer English titles on products ten-to-one over other titles.
B) The word "the" occurs about twice as often as the word "of" in the English language.
C) People prefer short words rather than long words in advertising.
D) The word "sex" should be left out of marketing promotions.

Question 24

Les just bought a megaphone of root beer. As he drinks from the giant cup, he eventually becomes full. One of his friend's comments, "If you don't stop drinking that stuff, you will get sick." Les replies, "Hey, I bought it and I am not going to waste one drop of it." Les's behavior could best be described by which of the following mental biases?

A) loss aversion
B) hyperopia
C) risk positioning
D) the sunk-cost fallacy

Question 25

What type of cybermediaries are intelligent agents?

A) They are travel agents who answer questions online.
B) They are people who can help computer users with problems they encounter when trying to shop online; contacts are direct and in-person.
C) They are sophisticated software programs that use collaborative filtering technologies to learn from past user behavior in order to recommend new purchases.
D) They are search engines specifically designed for online marketing and other forms of e-commerce.

Question 26

Of the following products, which one would typically carry high psychological risk for the average consumer?

A) a lawn mower
B) a kitchen blender
C) an expensive mink coat
D) a family vacation to a theme park

Question 27

The tendency for people to prefer products from their own culture rather than those of another culture is called ________.

A) xenophobia
B) ethnocentrism
C) ethnographics
D) altruism

Question 28

A mental or problem-solving shortcut to make a purchase decision is called a(n) ________.

A) determinant
B) detail rule
C) heuristic
D) experience rule

Question 29

A hot and thirsty customer buys a cool drink and finds it very satisfying. He then buys another drink even though he had not initially planned on buying two and even though he is no longer thirsty. This is an example of ________.

A) purchase momentum
B) rational decision making
C) feature creep
D) inertia

Question 30

________ are dimensions used to judge the merits of competing options.

A) Evoked sets
B) Evaluative criteria
C) Levels of abstraction
D) Category exemplars

Question 31

Directories and portals, Web site evaluators, forums, fan clubs, and user groups are all forms of ________.

A) Web retailers
B) cybercash
C) design groups
D) cybermediaries

Question 32

What would be the categorization level for a taco sold in a fast-food restaurant?

A) superordinate level
B) medium level
C) basic level
D) subordinate level

Question 33

What type of information search is a female customer engaged in when she scans the newspaper ads every day for new information on fashions, even though she isn't thinking of buying anything anytime soon?

A) prepurchase search
B) ongoing search
C) internal search
D) delayed search

Question 34

Jeff is tired of the numerous breakdowns and peeling paint on his old car. When Jeff begins to actively think about his car in this way, which of the following consumer decision-making process steps is Jeff going through?

A) information search
B) evaluation of alternatives
C) problem recognition
D) product choice

Question 35

When using the ________ rule of decision-making, a consumer evaluates brands on the most important attribute, but specific cutoffs are imposed.

A) lexicographic
B) elimination-by-aspects
C) conjunctive
D) compensatory

Question 36

When the ________ rule of decision-making is used, the brand that is the best on the most important attribute is the one selected.

A) elimination-by-aspects
B) conjunctive
C) compensatory decision
D) lexicographic

Question 37

Kent, a college student, is a loyal Coca-Cola drinker. He averages about six Cokes a day. He even prefers Coke to water. However, today when he passed a vending machine in his dorm, he bought a new flavor of soft drink called Big Red. Which of the following most accurately explains his behavior, given the facts about Kent's previous behavior?

A) Kent is variety seeking.
B) Kent is brand switching.
C) Kent is involved in extended problem solving.
D) Kent is influenced by peer pressure.

Question 38

According to the theory called ________, a company can make money if it sells small amounts of items that only a few people want if the company sells enough different items.

A) feature creep
B) the long tail
C) Zipf's Law
D) neuromarketing

Question 39

Susan is trying to select the right tour. She is going to Scotland but can't make up her mind what she wants to do when she gets there. There are so many variables including cost, the weather, and Susan's desire to see the village her grandmother called home. Susan's problem emphasizes the importance of the ________ in designing an effective hospitality-marketing program for the tourism industry.

A) experiential perspective
B) behavioral influence perspective
C) purchase momentum phenomenon
D) rational perspective

Question 40

People who post to Web sites offering user reviews are typically not paid for their time and contributions. However, they can gain recognition for good recommendations. This reward system is known as the ________.

A) noncompensatory rule
B) reputation economy
C) long tail
D) consideration set

Question 41

The first step in the consumer decision-making process is to conduct an information search.

Question 42

A consumer could recognize a problem as either an opportunity or a need. How would promotions differ between those emphasizing opportunities and those emphasizing needs?

A) Promotions emphasizing needs should attempt to increase the consumer's ideal state, while promotions emphasizing opportunities should simply give locations where the products can be found for purchase.
B) Promotions emphasizing opportunities should attempt to increase the ideal state, while promotions emphasizing needs should give locations where the products can be purchased.
C) Promotions emphasizing needs should increase the ideal state, while opportunity promotions should attempt to decrease the ideal state.
D) Promotions emphasizing needs should decrease the ideal state, while promotions emphasizing opportunities should provide buying locations.

Question 43

Decisions are influenced by the way a problem is posed. This is called framing.

Question 44

Coca-Cola is an example of a(n) ________ product because it has come to characterize an entire category of soft drinks.

A) exemplar
B) criteria
C) heuristic
D) evoked

Question 45

Latrell finds that every time he goes to select athletic shoes, he always buys the same brand. In fact, he doesn't even remember trying on any of the other competitive brands even though some of these brands have attractive styles and prices. Latrell's purchase decision process has become one of less and less effort. Latrell's decision process is an example of ________.

A) cognitive dissonance
B) information discrimination
C) ineptness
D) inertia

Question 46

Incidental learning occurs after a very concentrated search for information.

Question 47

Needs are created when the actual state of a customer declines.

Question 48

Mel Howard is determined to make his used car lot a successful business venture. One of the cornerstones of his sales strategy is to make every used car appear as if it just rolled off the assembly line. His cars are clean, clean, clean! Mr. Howard is relying on which of the following signal forms to send a "signal of quality" to his customers?

A) demonstration signal
B) product signal
C) promotional signal
D) design signal

Question 49

A small company, Craig Inventions, produced a pill that had the nutrient value of a healthy breakfast. The company put the product on the market as a substitute for breakfast for busy people. The product failed. Craig Inventions then marketed the pill as a diet product and it became very successful. What does the example best demonstrate?

A) The company did not position the product well. It was difficult to convince consumers that a pill was a breakfast on the superordinate level; however, it did appear to fit appropriately within the superordinate category of diet pills.
B) The company confused a subordinate level with a basic level of categorization, which led to the company's failure to identify the product's most important competitors.
C) The company confused a superordinate level with a subordinate level of categorization.
D) The determinant attributes between diet pills and breakfast were not sufficiently strong.

Question 50

When Japanese cars first became popular in the United States, some drivers of domestic cars placed bumper stickers on their vehicles that stated "Hungry? Eat your foreign car." These stickers encouraged people to support local workers and keep an American advantage in the balance of trade between Japan and the United States. The attitude expressed by the stickers is called ________.

A) national inertia
B) lexicographic determinism
C) stereotyping
D) ethnocentrism

Question 51

People tend to emphasize their losses more than their gains.

Question 52

Ellen stated that she would marry a millionaire. She applied a heuristic in judging men. They must wear expensive shoes and have an expensive automobile. What type of decision rule was Ellen applying in her search for a millionaire husband?

A) lexicographic rule
B) elimination-by-aspects
C) conjunctive rule
D) weighted additive rule

Question 53

Chen Lo used a decision rule that says, "only buy well-known brand names" when selecting a set of golf clubs. He did not look at price, the store, or even discounts when purchasing clubs. Chen Lo's purchasing pattern is an example of a consumer using a ________ rule.

A) habitual decision
B) compensatory
C) noncompensatory
D) conjunctive

Question 54

Casinos make their interiors very plush and expensive looking, knowing that gamblers who would be reluctant to make a $10 bet in average surroundings would gladly make $100 wagers in luxurious surroundings. Which of the following best explains the gamblers' behavior?

A) Mental accounting emphasizes the extraneous characteristics of the choice environment even if the results are not rational.
B) Most people are unaware of the True risk of making certain decisions and believe that a larger wager has higher odds of winning.
C) The luxurious surroundings increase the probability of classical conditioning through mere exposure, which results in behavior that is not rational.
D) The functional risk of gambling is decreased in luxurious surroundings, leading gamblers to wager more.

Question 55

Social risk occurs when the consumer's risk capital consists of self-esteem and self-confidence.

Question 56

People often engage in brand switching, even when their current brand satisfies their needs.

Question 57

What is a major distinction between customers who purchase a product because they are brand loyal and those who purchase by inertia?

A) the cost of the product
B) the social risk of the product
C) whether the purchase is made after a compensatory or noncompensatory decision process
D) whether the customers hold a very positive or weak attitude toward the product

Question 58

Habitual decision-making is the lowest order of buying decision-making.

Question 59

Traditionally, consumer researchers have approached the study of decision making from a rational perspective.

Question 60

The experiential perspective stresses the importance of learning in decision-making.

Question 61

List and define the five stages of the consumer decision-making process.

Question 62

Briefly describe and compare the three perspectives on decision-making emphasized in the text.

Question 63

A consumer who falls back on "mental rules of thumb" when making a decision is using heuristics.

Question 64

Define noncompensatory rules used in purchase decision-making. Describe the types of rules that fall under this category.

Question 65

Describe the four forms of bias that might be present in the information search portion of the decision-making process. Be sure to specifically identify and examine these biases.

Question 66

The success of a positioning strategy hinges on the marketer's ability to convince the consumer to consider its product within a given category.

Question 67

Lindsay is a buyer of rugs made in Asia. She is extremely knowledgeable about her product line. One of her clients wants to purchase a rug made by a supplier with whom she has had little contact. Lindsay is more likely to engage in a broader search for information and gather more opinions from others about this new product than someone who was only moderately knowledgeable about the product line.

Question 68

Neuromarketing refers to the use of software tools that try to understand and then apply a human decision maker's multiattribute preferences for a product category.

Question 69

Jonesy will buy only the lowest-priced spark plug when he goes shopping for auto supplies. Because his car is very old, he really doesn't care about any other qualities. Jonesy is using the noncompensatory decision rule.

Question 70

Sylvester is a financially poor college student. He tries to make every purchase decision a wise one because of his economic situation. Based on the types of risk mentioned in the text, Sylvester's primary risk when making decisions would appear to be a psychological risk.

Question 71

Cedric runs out of gas. He thinks to himself, How stupid I am! Cedric has just experienced a form of problem recognition that is being dominated by a downward movement in his actual state.

Question 72

The examples of mental accounting, prospect theory, and perceived risk all remind a marketer that the customer's perception is more important than an objective reality when trying to understand consumer behavior.

Question 73

Hirosi ordered the expensive "heart attack special" at his local pub. It came with a full pound of hamburger and a full bucket of fries. Halfway through the meal, Hirosi was not feeling well. Yet according to the sunk-cost fallacy, Hirosi will likely continue until he has finished the "special."

Question 74

Claire remembers that uniquely wonderful taste that can only come from a frosty mug of root beer. As she heads to the soft drink aisle in her grocery store, she decides that today is the day to experience root beer again. Claire has just conducted what is called an internal search for information.

Question 75

If a consumer is following the lexicographic rule in her decision making, then she would select a brand that is the best on the most important attribute.

Question 76

Unless a purchase decision is risky and/or has high involvement, it is reasonable for a customer to shorten the decision process by limiting the information search and evaluation of alternative stages rather than thoroughly undertaking each step.

Question 77

Olga decided to buy a product at her grocery store because of a "surprise special." This is an illustration of the behavioral influence perspective at work in the decision-making process.

Question 78

Alternatives a consumer knows about are his evoked set and the ones that he actually considers are called his consideration set.

Question 79

What is a decision-making heuristic? Describe two typical heuristics used in consumer decision-making situations.

Question 80

A satisficer is more likely to experience the Sisyphus Effect than is a maximizer.