Lecture 4 involvement

Involvement

Topics for Today
•

What is Involvement?

•

What are the Sources of Involvement?

•

Advertising Implications?

•

The Role of Heuristics

•

Involvement & Strategy

How do people go through the
purchase process?
• Do consumers learn facts about
products/services deliberately or at random?
• Do consumers seek information?
• Do consumers form an active or a passive
audience for advertisers?
• Do consumers evaluate products/services
before purchase?

A Traditional View of the Consumer
• Consumers are deliberate information
processors.
• Consumers are information seekers.
• Consumers form an active audience, so the
effect of advertising is weak.
• Consumers evaluate brands before buying.

A Traditional View of the Consumer
Problem Recognition

• Reference groups influence consumer behaviour
because of the importance of the purchase to group
norms and values.

Search

Alternative Evaluation
Purchase
Consumption
Post Purchase Evaluation

A new view of the consumer
• Consumers learn at random.
• Consumers are information gatherers.
• Consumers are a passive audience for
advertisers, therefore the effect of advertising
is strong.

• Consumers buy first and then (perhaps)
evaluate the purchase.
• Important others influence consumption
-sometimes

Definition of Involvement
• The number of “connections” - conscious
bridging experiences or personal references
per minute - that the subject makes between
the content of the persuasive stimulus and the
contents of his/her life. (Krugman, Public
Opinion Quarterly, 1965, p66)

In English, this means . . .
• Involvement = personal relevance. i.e. how
relevant & interesting something is to you
personally.
• Keep in mind, that there are 2 main types:
– 1. Situational Involvement
– 2. Intrinsic Involvement

The Dimensions of Involvement
Antecedents of
involvement
Person Factors
- needs
- importance
- interest
- values
Object/Stimulus
Factors
- differentiation of
alternatives
- source of
communication
- content of
communication
Situational Factors
- purchase/use
- occasion

Possible results of
involvement
counter arguments

Involvement

effectiveness of ad

with ads

importance of product
class

with products

perceived differences in
attributes
preference of brand

with purchase
decisions

influence of price
amount of info. search
time spent deliberating
type of decision rule

Advertising Implications?
• Some media suit presenting high or low involvement
information.
• High involvement?
– Focus on Product benefits to persuade.
– Medium? Print ads Web sites brochures Sales Reps

• Low involvement?
– Focus on Image & Brand Recognition
– Medium? TV; Radio ads (time restriction; passive)

Important Point to Note

• While we often refer to “high” & “low”
involvement products, we are talking not so
much about the product but the level of active
thinking it generates in the consumer.
• Involvement is individual-specific, hence we
measure it for segments we are interested in.

Involvement and the Hierarchy of Effects
High Involvement
Hierarchy

Low Involvement
Hierarchy

Cognition

Cognition

Attitude

Behaviour

Behaviour

Attitude
Figure 10.6

Low Involvement Heuristics
• Definition: - mental short-cuts or “rules
of thumb.” Also called cues.
• Examples:
» Brand cues
» Price cues

Involvement and Strategy
High

Involvement Level

Significant

Differences
between
Brands

Brand Loyalty

Few
Differences
Between
Brands

Cognitive
Dissonance

Low

Random Selection

Spurious Loyalty

SUMMARY

• Research has broadened the view of the consumer
beyond High Involvement processing.
• Involvement = degree of personal relevance.
Influences decision-making
. Involvement is our motivation to process information and
is therefore linked to motivation, perception, memory
and learning