In addition to understanding the purchasing decision, marketers are interested in a number of different aspects of consumer behaviour that occur before, during, and after making a purchase choice. Areas of particular interest include risk perception and risk reduction activities, brand switching, channel switching, brand loyalty, customer citizenship behaviours, and post purchase behavioural intentions and behaviours including brand advocacy, referrals, word of mouth activity etc.
Risk perception and risk reduction activities The consumer's
perceptions of risk are a major consideration in the pre-purchase stage of the purchasing decision. Perceived risk is defined as "the consumer's perceptions of the uncertainty and adverse consequences of engaging in an activity". Risk consists of two dimensions:
consequences which refer to the
degree of importance or the severity of an outcome and
uncertainty which is the consumer's subjective assessment of the likelihood of occurrence. For example, many tourists are fearful of air travel because, although the probability of being involved in an airline accident is very low, the consequences are potentially dire. The marketing literature identifies many different types of risk, of which five are the most frequently cited: •
Financial Risk: the potential financial loss in the event of a poor decision •
Performance Risk (also known as
functional risk): the idea that a product or service will not perform as intended •
Physical Risk: the potential for physical harm if something goes wrong with a purchase •
Social Risk: the potential for loss of social status associated with a purchase •
Psychological Risk: the potential for a purchase to result in a loss of self-esteem If a consumer perceives a purchase to be risky, they will engage in strategies to reduce the perceived risk until it is within their tolerance levels or, if they are unable to do so, withdraw from the purchase. Thus, the consumer's perceptions of risk drive information search activities. Services marketers have argued that risk perception is higher for services because they lack the search attributes of products (i.e. tangible properties that can be inspected prior to consumption). In terms of risk perception, marketers and economists identify three broad classes of purchase:
search goods,
experience goods, and
credence goods with implications for consumer evaluation processes. Search goods, which include most tangible products, possess tangible characteristics that allow consumers to evaluate quality prior to purchase and consumption. Experience goods, such as restaurants and clubs, can only be evaluated with certainty after purchase or consumption. In the case of credence goods, such as many professional services, the consumer finds it difficult to fully appreciate the quality of the goods even after purchase and consumption has occurred. Difficulties evaluating quality after consumption may arise because the cost of obtaining information is prohibitive, or because the consumer lacks the requisite skills and knowledge to undertake such evaluations. These goods are called credence products because the consumer's quality evaluations depend entirely on the trust given to the product manufacturer or service provider. Typical risk-reduction strategies used include: •
Advertising and Promotional Messages: pay closer attention to product or brand related promotion including advertising messages •
Shopping Around: comparing offers and prices, inspecting the merchandise •
Buy Known Brand: using a known, reputable brand as an indicator of quality merchandise •
Buy from Reputable Store: relying on a reputable retail outlet as an indicator of quality •
Product Reviews: reading independent reviews in main media (e.g. newspapers, magazines), written by independent experts •
Online product reviews or consumer-generated testimonials: reading about the experiences of other consumers (e.g. TripAdvisor, Amazon customer reviews) •
Sampling or Limited-scale Trial: where practical, obtaining samples, free trial or a 'test-drive' prior to purchase •
Manufacturer Specifications: reading information provided by manufacturers e.g. brochures or specs •
Referrals: obtaining referrals from friends or relatives •
Sales Representatives: talking to sales reps in retail outlets •
Product Guarantees: looking for formal guarantees or warranties
New product adoption and diffusion of innovations Within consumer behaviour, a particular area of interest is the study of how innovative new products, services, ideas, or technologies spread through groups. Insights about how innovations are diffused (i.e., spread) through populations can assist marketers to speed up the new product adoption process and fine-tune the marketing program at different stages of the diffusion process. In addition, diffusion models provide benchmarks against which new product introductions can be tracked. A sizeable body of literature has been devoted to the diffusion of innovation. Research studies tend to fall into two broad categories: general diffusion research which is an approach that seeks to understand the general process of diffusion and applied diffusion research which consists of studies that describe the diffusion of specific products at particular moments in time or within given social communities. Collectively these studies suggest a certain regularity in the adoption process; initially few members adopt the innovation but over time successive, overlapping waves of people begin to adopt the innovation. This pattern contributes to a generalised S-shaped curve, as shown in the figure at right. However, the exact shape and timing of curves varies in different product markets such that some innovations are diffused relatively quickly, while others can take many years to achieve broad market acceptance. The diffusion model developed by
Everett Rogers is widely used in consumer marketing because it segments consumers into five groups, based on their rate of new product adoption. Rogers defines the diffusion of innovation as the process by which that innovation is "communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system." Thus the diffusion process has a number of elements, the innovation, the communication channels, time and the social system. An innovation is any new idea, object or process that is perceived as new by members of the social system. Communication channels are the means by which information about the innovation is transmitted to members of the social system and may include mass media, digital media and personal communications between members of the social system. Time refers to the rate at which the innovation is picked up by the members of the social system. Table 1: Adopter Categories A number of factors contribute to the rate at which innovations are diffused through a social community. •
Relative advantage: the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be superior to alternatives •
Compatibility: the extent to which an innovation fits in with an individual's values, lifestyles and past experiences •
Complexity: the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be easy or difficult to understand and use •
Trialability: the extent to which an individual can experiment with the innovation on a limited scale prior to adoption •
Observability: the degree to which the results of the innovation are visible to other members of the social community Innovations with some or all of these factors are more likely to be adopted quickly. Accordingly, marketing communications may stress the innovation's relative benefits over other solutions to the consumer's problem. Marketing messages may also focus on compatibility and observability. Marketers can also facilitate adoption by offering limited scale trial (e.g. samples, test drives, sale on approval) enabling consumers to develop an understanding of the innovation and how it is used prior to purchase. Studies have shown that the diffusion rate for many new technologies is speeding up. The figure in the
Household Penetration of Selected Communications Technologies report illustrates U.S. household penetration rates of selected communications technologies, measured as a percentage of all households. The slope of the curve becomes steeper with each successive innovation indicating a more rapid diffusion rate. For example, it took decades for the telephone to achieve 50 percent penetration rates beginning in around 1900, but it took less than five years for cellphones to achieve the same penetration rates. In order to explain the increasing pace of adoption, some have pointed to supply-side issues such as reduced barriers to entry and lower costs of innovation, while others have argued that consumers drive adoption rates because they place a high value on the convenience of new innovations.
Brand-switching Brand-switching occurs when a consumer chooses to purchase a different brand from their regular or customary brand. Consumers switch brands for a variety of reasons including that the store did not have the regular brand or the consumer's desire for variety or novelty in brand choice. In the fast moving consumer goods market (FMCG), the incidence of switching is relatively high. A great deal of marketing activity is targeted at brand-switchers. Rossiter and Bellman have proposed a classification of consumers based on brand-loyalty/switching behaviour: ;Brand Loyals: Purchase preferred brand on almost every purchase occasion ;Favourable Brand Switchers: Exhibit moderate preference for the brand or brands that they buy and can be readily enticed to purchase competing brands ;Other Brand Switchers: Normally purchase a competing brand, possibly because they are unaware of our brand or due to a negative experience with our brand ;New Category Users: Those who are unaware of a category but have potential to become new users Marketers are particularly interested in understanding the factors that lead to brand-switching. A global, large sample survey carried out by Nielsen shows that four in 10 shoppers (41%) said that getting a better price would encourage them to switch brands (or service provider/retailer), 26% said quality was an incentive to switch, 15% looked for a better service agreement and 8% said that improved features are a switching incentive. However, cross-cultural differences were observed among respondents. Price was the major switch incentive for more than half of North Americans (61%) and Europeans (54%) but price and quality held equal sway in Asia-Pacific and Middle East/Africa, with roughly one-third of respondents each in both regions reporting that both price and quality were the major incentives to switching. The concept of
switching costs (also known as
switching barriers) is pertinent to the understanding of brand switching. Switching costs refer to the costs incurred by a consumer when they switch from one supplier to another (or from one brand to another). Although switching costs are often monetary, the concept can also refer to psychological costs such as time, effort, and inconvenience incurred as a result of switching. When switching costs are relatively low, as in the case of many fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), the incidence of brand switching tends to be higher. An example of switching that includes both monetary and psychological costs is when Android or Apple users wish to switch to a different platform, they would need to sacrifice their data, including purchased music tracks, apps, or media and may also need to learn new routines to become an efficient user. On the contrary, a key strategy to control the perception of a product to prevent brand switching through marketing is the halo effect. First coined by Edward Thorndike, the halo effect refers to the phenomenon whereby a product is viewed under a positive light because of the overall positive perception of the brand, of a concept highlighted in the marketing or related to its packaging. Similarly, the products of luxury brands such as Hermes or Louis Vuitton are also influenced by the halo effect. Similarly, in the food industry, packaging that includes the words "Ecological" or "Organic," tends to create a halo effect around the quality and healthiness of the product.
Channel-switching Channel-switching (not to be confused with zapping or channel surfing on TV) is the action of consumers switching to a different purchasing environment (or distribution channel) to purchase goods, such as switching from brick-and-mortar stores to the internet. A major reason for this channel switching behaviour is the convenience that online shopping provides for consumers. Consumers can shop online at any hour of the day, without having to drive, travel or walk to a physical store, and browse for as little or as much time as they please. The additional lure of 'online only' deals and discounts helps enforce a consumer's preference to shop online. Other factors for this shift are the globalisation of markets, the advent of
category killers (such as
Officeworks and
Kids 'R Us) as well as changes in the legal regulatory environment. For instance, in Australia and New Zealand, following a relaxation of laws prohibiting supermarkets from selling therapeutic goods, consumers are gradually switching away from pharmacies and towards supermarkets for the purchase of minor analgesics, cough and cold preparations and complementary medicines such as vitamins and herbal remedies. For the consumer, channel switching offers a more diverse shopping experience. However, marketers need to be alert to channel switching because of its potential to erode market share. Evidence of channel switching can suggest that disruptive forces are at play, and that consumer behaviour is undergoing fundamental changes. A consumer may be prompted to switch channels when the product or service can be found cheaper, when superior models become available, when a wider range is offered, or simply because it is more convenient to shop through a different channel (e.g. online or one-stop shopping). As a hedge against market share losses due to switching behaviour, some retailers engage in multi-channel retailing.
Impulse buying According to 1962 research from Hawkins Stern,
impulse purchases fall into four categories: including pure impulse buying, reminded impulse buying, suggestion impulse buying, and planned impulse buying. While pure impulse buying involves a customer experiencing strong desire for a product they didn't initially plan to buy, reminded impulse buying occurs when a buyer remembers a need for a product by seeing it in a store. Suggestion impulse buying occurs when a consumer sees a product that they have no prior knowledge about, envisions a use for it, and decides that they need it, and planned impulse buying happens when a consumer's purchasing plan changes while shopping. 2013 research carried out by Nielsen International suggests that about 72 percent of FMCG purchases are planned, but that 28 percent of supermarket purchases are unplanned or impulse purchases. The top unplanned purchases in the food category are candy (lollies), chocolate, cookies (biscuits), frozen desserts, and snacks and the top unplanned purchases in the non-food category are cosmetics, air-fresheners, toothbrushes, hand-soaps, and hand/body lotions. This explains why supermarkets place these types of products at the front of the store or near the checkout where the consumer spends more time and is more likely to notice them and therefore more likely to pop them into the shopping basket. Retailers use insights from this type of research to design stores in ways that maximise opportunities for impulse-buying. A study suggests that subtle tactile cues—such as mobile phone vibrations—may reinforce impulse buying behavior in digital shopping environments. These haptic signals function as secondary reinforcers, potentially increasing the likelihood of spontaneous purchases and contributing to the formation of purchasing habits over time.
Affect: Emotions, feelings and mood The consumer's affective state has implications for a number of different dimensions of consumer behaviour, including information search, evaluation of alternatives, product choice, service encounters, complaining, and advertising responses. Westbrook (1987, p. 259) defines affect as a "class of mental phenomena uniquely characterised by a consciously experienced, subjective feeling state, commonly accompanying emotions and moods." Research suggests that affect plays an important role in underlying attitudes, as well as shaping evaluation and decision-making. Consumer researchers have noted the difficulties separating the concepts of affect, emotions, feelings, and mood. The line between emotions and mood is difficult to draw and consumer researchers often use the concepts interchangeably. Yet other researchers note that a detailed understanding of the relationship between affect and consumer behaviour has been hampered by the lack of research in the area. Indeed, within the consumer behaviour literature, there is widespread agreement that the role of emotions is an area that is currently under-researched and is in need of greater attention, both theoretically and empirically.
Information search Studies have found that people in a positive mood are more efficient at information search activities. That, is they are more efficient at processing information, are able to integrate information by identifying useful relationships and arrive at creative solutions to problems. Due to their efficiency processing information, those who are in a positive mood are generally quicker to make decisions and easier to please. Research consistently shows that people in a positive mood are more likely to evaluate information positively. As online environments become more important as a consumer search tool, it may be prudent for web designers to consider site-design issues such as ease of navigation, lest poor design contribute to customer frustration thereby engendering a bad mood and ultimately leading to unfavourable product/brand evaluations.
Choice Affect may play an important role in
impulse-
buying decisions. Research suggests that consumers place higher weightings on immediate affective rewards and punishments, while
delayed rewards receive less weighting. For instance, the immediate pleasure of eating a sweet treat often outweighs the longer term benefits of eating a healthy alternative such as fruit. This occurs because the immediate emotional gain is a strong driver, and one that consumers can readily visualise whereas the more distant goal lacks sufficient strength to drive choice.
Customer experience Customers who are in a bad mood are more difficult to please. They are slower to process information and consequently take longer to make decisions. They tend to be more argumentative and are more likely to complain.
Customer satisfaction The relationship between affect and customer satisfaction is an area that has received considerable academic attention, especially in the services marketing literature. The proposition that there is a positive relationship between affect and satisfaction is well supported in the literature. In a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence, carried out in 2001, Szymanski et al., suggest that affect may be both an antecedent to and an outcome of satisfaction. Emotions elicited during consumption are proposed to leave affective traces in memory that are available for consumers to access and integrate into their satisfaction assessments. A 2011 meta-analysis illustrates how both repurchase intent and loyalty enjoy a strong positive relationship (0.54) with customer satisfaction. Another meta-analysis finds that "The results indicate that both cognitive-related variables (including brand awareness, brand personality, and brand identity) and hedonic-related variables (including hedonic attitude, entertainment, and aesthetic appeal) have significant impacts on quality and value perceptions towards the brand (including perceived quality, reputation, brand image, perceived value, commitment, and trust). In addition, these variables are all significant predictors of brand loyalty." A third meta-analysis, from 2013 elaborates on the concept of brand personality (bp): "First, the key drivers of BP are communication with hedonic benefit claims, branding activities, a brand's country-of-origin, and consumer personalities. Second, the study finds that the effects of BP are stronger for mature brands than for brands in the early life cycle stages. Third, sincerity and competence have the strongest influence on brand success variables (e.g., brand attitude, image, commitment, purchase intention), while excitement and ruggedness have the weakest influence on brand attitude and brand commitment."
Advertising Emotion can play an important role in advertising. In advertising, two different approaches to persuasion are common: (a)
thinking ads that require cognitive processing (also known as the
central route to persuasion) and, (b)
feeling ads that are processed at an emotional level (also known as the
peripheral route). Advertisers can bypass cognitive, rational processing which can lead to counter-arguing by simply appealing to the emotions. Neuro-imaging studies suggest that when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences) rather than information (brand attributes, features, and facts). It is relatively widely accepted that emotional responses require fewer processing resources (i.e. are easier) and also result in more enduring associations with the brand being advertised. Feelings elicited by the advertising message can shape attitudes towards the brand and to the advertisement.
Customer loyalty Customer loyalty, defined as "the relationship between an individual's relative attitude and repeat patronage" (Dick and Basu, 1994: p. 99). Thus, by definition, loyalty has both an attitudinal component and a behavioural component. Dick and Basu proposed four types of loyalty based on relative attitude and patronage behaviour: ;No Loyalty: Characterised by low relative attitude and low repeat patronage behaviour. May occur when competing brands are seen as similar or in the case of new brands (or categories) where insufficient time has elapsed for loyalty to become established. ;Spurious Loyalty: Characterised by low relative attitude and high repeat patronage. Spurious loyalty occurs when the consumer undertakes repeat purchasing due to situational factors such as access, convenience. or shelf placement. Spurious loyalty can also occur when there are no genuine alternatives or the consumer is 'locked-in' to purchasing a given brand due to some quasi-contractual arrangement or membership status which creates difficulties for switching. In other words, where switching costs are relatively high, high patronage behaviour may be observed despite the absence of a favourable attitude towards the brand. An example would be a consumer who always purchases petrol from the same outlet on the way to work because there are no other outlets in the vicinity. ;Latent Loyalty: Characterised by high relative attitude and low repeat patronage. Latent loyalty occurs when situational factors over-ride strong favourable attitudes. For example, a person may have a preferred restaurant but may not patronise it due to the preferences of dining companions. ;Loyalty: (i.e. true loyalty) Characterised by favourable attitude and favourable patronage behaviour. For marketers, true loyalty is the ideal situation.
Loyalty marketing programs are built on the insight that it costs 5-20 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing customer. Marketers use a variety of loyalty programs to strengthen customer attitudes towards the brand (or service provider/retailer) in order to retain customers, minimise customer defections, and strengthen loyalty bonds with existing customers. Broadly there are two types of program: reward and recognition programs. In a
Reward Program, the customer accumulates points for each purchase, and the points can subsequently be exchanged for goods or services.
Recognition Programs operate on a quasi-membership basis where the consumer is issued with a card that upon presentation leads to various entitlements such as free upgrades, special privileges, or access to products/services that are not normally available to non- members, and that acknowledge the loyal customer's "VIP" status. For example, a hotel might recognise loyal patrons by providing a complimentary fruit bowl and bottle of champagne in the room on arrival. Whereas reward programs are motivated by the consumer's desire for material possessions, recognition programs are motivated by the consumer's need for esteem, recognition, and status. Many commercial loyalty programs are hybrid schemes, combining elements of both reward and recognition. In addition, not all reward programs are designed to encourage loyalty. Certain reward programs are designed to encourage other types of positive customer behaviour such as the provision of referrals or providing positive word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations. Loyalty marketing can involve the use of databases and sophisticated software to analyse and profile customer loyalty segments with a view to identifying the most desirable segments, setting goals for each segment, and ultimately attempting to increase the size of the loyal customer base.
Customer citizenship behaviour Customer citizenship behaviour is the labor that customers do for brands out of loyalty. The
services marketing literature identifies seven distinct types of citizenship behaviour: voice (when customers direct their complaint to the service provider in order to rectify and maintain the relationship), display of affiliation, policing (the observation of other customers to ensure their appropriate behaviour), flexibility, service improvement (providing ideas and suggestions for organisations), word-of-mouth referrals, and benevolent acts of service.
Internet consumer behaviour Traditional models of consumer behaviour were developed by scholars such as Fishbein and Ajzen and Howard and Sheth in the 1960s and 70s. More recently, Shun and Yunjie have argued that online consumer behaviour is different to offline behaviour and as a consequence requires new theories or models. After COVID-19, online consumer behaviour seems more essential, because since COVID-19 began, there were about 31% more people started shopping online with 43% of all respondents compared to only 12% of respondents before COVID-19. Research has identified two types of
consumer value in purchasing, namely product value and shopping value. Product value is likely to be similar for both online and offline shoppers. However, the shopping experience will be substantially different for online shoppers. In an offline shopping environment, consumers derive satisfaction from being within the physical store environment or retail landscape (hedonic motivations). In the case of online purchasing, shoppers derive satisfaction from their ability to navigate a website and the convenience of online searching which allows them to compare prices and 'shop around' with minimal time commitment. Thus the online consumer is motivated by more utilitarian factors.
Different types of online behaviour Consumers may use online platforms for various stages of the purchase decision. Some consumers use online sources simply to acquire information about planned purchases. Others use online platforms for making the actual purchase. In other situations, consumers may also use online platforms to engage in post-purchase behaviours, such as staying connected with a brand by joining a brand community. Or they may become a brand advocate by posting a product review online, or providing brand referrals via social media. Some e-commerce providers have encountered a challenge in courting consumers who seek information online, but still prefer to turn to bricks and mortar retailers for their purchase. To understand the needs and habits of these and other kinds of online shoppers, online marketers have segmented consumers into different kinds of online behaviour in accordance with their online behavioural characteristics. Lewis and Lewis (1997) identified five market segments based on the way that consumers use the Internet in the purchase decision process: • "Directed Information-seekers" are users that primarily look for information about a product or service online, but there is no guarantee that they may be converted into online buyers. • "Undirected Information-seekers" are newcomers to a product or service. They are more likely to interact with online prompts, and click through to web pages linked in advertising. • "Directed Buyers" have a predetermined mindset and wish to purchase a specific product or service online. • "Bargain Hunters" are price-sensitive users that like to discover products during sales promotions. For these users, discounts are a major attraction to online sales conversion. • "Entertainment Seekers" are online consumers that are attracted to marketing delivered as a fun activity. Interactive online games could be useful in attracting this kind of customer.
A typology of online consumer behaviour Wendy Moe (2003) argues that in the offline environment, consumers who are shopping in stores can be easily classified by experienced sales employees only by watching their shopping behaviours. Such classification may not appear online, but Moe and Fader argued that it is feasible to predict practical buying, surfing, and searching action online by investigating click patterns and repetition of visit within online behaviour. In addition, a report of E-consultancy about "benchmarking of user experience" outlined three kinds of online consuming behaviour as a valuable classification for the research of design of web pages to better serve different kinds of consuming behaviour. The three categories are: "trackers", "hunters", and "explorers". • "Trackers" are the online consumers who are exactly looking for a product that they definitely wish to buy. They use the Internet for the information about its price, delivery methods, post-purchase service, and so on. Once they have found the proper information, little effort is needed to let them do the business. • "Hunters" just know the categories of the product that they need, for instance, a novel for leisure time. However, they have not made specific decision on whose novel to buy. They use the Internet to find a list of product of their needed categories to make comparison. This kind of online consumer needs advice and help to do their business. • "Explorers" do not even have the categories of product on their minds. In fact, they just want to buy something online. There is more uncertainty of this type of online consumers.
Influence of the Internet on buying process As the preceding table shows, the first row indicates the process of a consumer buying a new product, while the second and third row illustrates the positive influences the Internet could have on buying process by creating effective communications with online consumers. For example, suppose a consumer carelessly sees an advertisement about laptops on
Wechat, a popular Chinese social media developed by
Tencent. He begins to feel that his laptop is a bit out of date and wants to buy a new one, which is the outcome of good advertisement placed on a daily Internet tool. He does not know anything about how to buy a new one as business changes so fast today, so he searches on
Google to find an answer. On the results page he finds promotional ads which mainly come from
JD.com and
Taobao, two competing Chinese online retailers in this field. He prefers to use
JD.com, which provides detailed comparisons of brands, prices, locations, and methods of payment and delivery. After careful selection, he makes his order through
JD.com via
Wechat payment.
JD.com has one of the fastest distribution channels within China and it supports excellent post-purchase service to maintain its position in the market.
The role of aesthetics and visual fluency in relation to consumer choice Consumers decide whether or not they like a product within 90 seconds of viewing it for the first time. Therefore, having an aesthetically pleasing product is essential in the marketplace. Studies in
processing fluency and consumer behaviour have revealed that "that people prefer visual displays that are easier to process and understand." and "When a product matches the user's associations with it it is perceived as more attractive." on a product's quality, reliability, and value. The colours blue and black are viewed as being more reliable, valuable, and expensive while yellow, orange, and brown are associated with cheapness and low quality. Therefore, a product intended to be perceived as "high quality" with a predominately orange and brown palette would lack visual fluency and would likely fail to elicit a positive response with consumers. However, this can be advantageous if the consumer is already in the market for an item that is known to be inexpensive, in which case the use of yellow, orange, or brown would be appropriate. Colour can also be used to signal brand personality.
Composition Composition is another visual tool that has the ability to affect information processing and influence in consumer perceptions. Studies have shown that consumers in western countries will associate products that are right aligned or placed on the right side of a display to be higher quality. Humans also have a center bias, which makes products that are centered or symmetrical in composition or display seem intrinsically more pleasing. When an object is centered compositionally, it easier for a viewer to interpret and understand. It becomes more "fluent" and is therefore viewed as being more aesthetically pleasing.
Imagery Evidence has shown that pictorial imagery correlates to higher instances of consumer recall and recognition. Pictorial imagery is also easier to process and gains consumer's attention faster. There is significant evidence that when consumers are presented with multiple choices, they will view objects more positively and more aesthetically pleasing when surrounded by congruent imagery.
Typographic elements Although studies have shown that of pictorial imagery is easier for consumers to process and understand, Font size has also been shown to have a direct correlation on the emotional attributes assigned to a product. One study has shown that larger type size and weight is perceived as more intimidating and authoritative. Although imagery reigns supreme in product design, type is processed just as easily as pictorial information when the consumer is already familiar with the product.
Environmental impact An aspect of
Individual action on climate change is consumer behaviour that affects how much and what kinds of materials are used to produce goods and food, how much material is
recycled or
composted, how much ends up as pollution, how much ends up in
landfills, where goods are produced, how far they travel, and the
carbon footprint of manufacturing, transportation, and disposal.
Green marketing targets consumers who take the environmental impact of their purchases into account. Household waste sorting behavior also plays a role in the environmental impact of consumption. Correct separation of recyclable materials can increase recycling efficiency and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills or incineration. Field research has shown that household waste sorting behavior is influenced by factors such as information, infrastructure, and individual motivation. There are psychological factors which contribute to a consumer's perception surrounding their personal contributions to climate change inducing actions. One of the more well studied biases is referred to as the "better-than-average", or self-enhancing bias. This bias depicts an individual's tendency to perceive that their actions are superior, especially when compared to peers or demographically similar consumers. It has been found that this cognitive bias is indeed present when considering how consumers perceive their pro-environmental efforts. This may be a result of information about climate change leading to feelings of guilt and concern, which activates an unconscious thought process (denial, the better-than-average effect, and other cognitive reactions) that leads to a reduced perception of the threat of climate change. It is a mental
defense mechanism that ultimately leads to a reduction in perceived individual responsibility to take part in green behaviours and one-planet-living. == Research methods used ==