CHAPTER 1

CONSUMERS RULE
Multiple Choice
1. A lot of product information as well as recommendations to use or avoid particular
brands is transmitted by conversations among real people. Which of the following
scenarios most accurately describes how the typical teenager/college student would
probably receive his or her product information about acquiring a new Palm Pilot
personal communication device?
a. Ask his or her parents.
b. Read an ad in a newspaper.
c. Visit a consumption community online.
d. Ask his or her college professor or career counselor.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 5-6
2. If a consumer researcher were to study consumers from the perspective of a persons
lifestyle and personality, the researcher would be studying a category called:
a. demographics.
b. psychographics.
c. dualism.
d. character.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 6
3. Sam Newman is an avid fisherman and outdoorsman. When Sam chooses to
investigate the newest happenings in fishing and hunting via Outdoor Worlds Web
site, he is making a ____________.
a. lifestyle statement.
b. demographic statement.
c. age statement.
d. generation statement.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (E) Application Page: 7
4. _________________ is the study of the processes involved when individuals or
groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences
to satisfy needs and desires.
a. Market research
b. Cultural dynamics
c. Role theory
d. Consumer behavior

Answer: (d) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 7

5. Some theorists believe that each consumer has lines, props, and costumes that are
necessary to put in a good performance (as a way of explaining consumer behavior).
These ideas are best classified as an explanation of which of the following?
a. Cultural theory
b. Psychographics
c. Role theory
d. Humanist theory
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 7
6. In its early stages of development, the field of consumer behavior was often referred
to as _________________.
a. home economics.
b. buyer behavior.
c. Bayesian economics.
d. consumption laws.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 8
7. When two or more organizations or people give and receive something of value,
________________ has taken place.
a. role replacement
b. semiotics
c. exchange
d. marketing
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 8
8. Mark James has decided that he needs a new DVD player before he has friends over
on Saturday night. He goes to a local electronics store, evaluates his options, and
purchases a new 5-disk multi-change DVD player. He pays cash for the unit and
hurries home to install his new player. Which of the following terms most accurately
describes Mark James according to the study of consumer behavior?
a. Mark James is a consumer.
b. Mark James is an influencer.
c. Mark James is a trendsetter.
d. Mark James is a gatekeeper.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 8
9. Which of the following questions would be considered to be prepurchase issues from a
a consumers perspective?
a. How are consumer attitudes toward products formed and/or changed?
b. What cues do consumers use to infer which products are superior to others?

c. Does the product provide pleasure or perform its intended function?

d. How does the consumer decide that he/she needs a product?
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 8, Figure 1.1
10. Jenny Rowlins is absolutely exhausted after her shopping trip to pick out a prom
dress. This has been one of the most stressful shopping trips she has ever been on.
Jenny has just faced a series of issues from a consumers perspective. Which of the
following issues categories would most accurately describe the context in which
Jennys stressful decision took place?
a. Pre-purchase issues.
b. Purchase issues.
c. Post-purchase issues.
d. Economic issues.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (H) Application Page: 8, Figure 1.1
11. It is often necessary to identify groups of consumers who are similar to one another
in one or more ways. The process of doing this is called:
a. differentiation.
b. demographics.
c. cultural exchange.
d. market segmentation.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 9
12. Measuring such statistical aspects of a population as birth rates, age distribution, and
income is called:
a. differentiation.
b. demographics.
c. cultural exchange.
d. market segmentation.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 9
13. All of the following would be areas that would be considered major segmentation
variables (ways to segment markets) EXCEPT:
a. age.
b. gender.
c. health status.
d. lifestyle.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 10-13
14. In 2002, Crest introduced Crest Rejuvenating Effects. The toothpaste is sparkly, tealtoned, and tastes like vanilla and cinnamon. Which of the following market

segmentation variables did Crest use to construct its introduction strategy for this
product?
a. Gender.
b. Age.
c. Race and ethnicity.
d. Social class and income.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 12
15. Researchers have found that consumers within __________________ are
approximately equal in terms of their incomes and social standing in the community.
a. the same culture
b. the same neighborhood
c. the same reference group
d. the same social class
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 12
16. Many marketers have realized that a key to success is building relationships between
brands and consumers that will last a lifetime. This form of marketing interaction
with consumers is called:
a. database marketing.
b. success marketing.
c. partnership marketing.
d. relationship marketing.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 13
17. _________________ involves tracking consumers buying habits very closely and
crafting products and messages tailored precisely to peoples wants and needs based
on this information.
a. Database marketing
b. Psychographic marketing
c. Relationship marketing
d. Partnership marketing
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 13
18. Which of the following is the BEST illustration of the use of database marketing?
a. Budweiser Beer featuring an athlete competing in a wheelchair marathon.
b. Microsoft targeting teenagers with their newest Windows 2000 software product.
c. Ritz-Carlton hotels recording a guests preferences on one visit (such as a desire
for decaf coffee) so room service will be prepared to honor the preference when the
guest next visits any Ritz-Carlton hotel.
d. A local dinner theater advertising coming attractions in the local newspaper and
online.

Answer: (c) Difficulty: (H) Application Page: 13

19. ________________, consisting of music, movies, sports, books, celebrities, and
other forms of entertainment consumed by the mass market, is both a product of and
an inspiration to marketers.
a. The New Age
b. Popular consumption
c. Popular culture
d. Trends
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 13
20. One of the fundamental premises of the modern field of consumer behavior is that
people often buy products not for what they do, but for:
a. how other people see them.
b. their cost.
c. irrational reasons.
d. what they mean.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 14
21. Lucy Chiang recently purchased a lovely ceramic bowl that featured a red dragon
design. When she thought about her purchase, she found that she really had no
justifiable reason for the purchase other than it reminded her of the bowls her mother
used for evening meals when she was a child in Hong Kong. Which of the following
types of relationships with a product would be the best explanation for Lucys
purchase of the dragon bowl?
a. Self-concept attachment.
b. Nostalgic attachment.
c. Interdependence.
d. Cohort attachment.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 15
22. Consumption may be viewed as a process that can be described as any of four
distinct types of activities. Which of the following consumption
activities would BEST MATCH a situation where there was an emotional or
aesthetic reaction to consumption of objects?
a. Consuming as experience.
b. Consuming as integration.
c. Consuming as classification.
d. Consuming as play.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 15

23. Consumption may be viewed as a process that can be described as any of four
distinct types of activities. Which of the following consumption
activities would BEST MATCH a situation where learning and manipulating
consumption objects are used to express certain aspects of self or society?
a. Consuming as experience.
b. Consuming as integration.
c. Consuming as classification.
d. Consuming as play.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 15
24. Fred Samuels and Tim Ryan love going to Chicago Cubs games. Part of the reason
for their enjoyment is the real feeling of family that they get while sitting in Wrigley
Field. From talking with other fans to participating in a wave to cheer the team on
or just feeling that one is really a part of the Cubs team, both Fred and Tim get the
chance once a week to really lose themselves in the pure pleasure and fun of being
Cubbies. Which of the following consumption activities would BEST MATCH the
situation being experienced by Fred and Tim?
a. Consuming as experience.
b. Consuming as integration.
c. Consuming as classification.
d. Consuming as play.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (H) Application Page: 15
25. The Internet has had a profound impact on the way consumers shop and process
information. In 2001, __________ of Americans had access to the Internet.
a. 58 percent
b. 74 percent
c. 83 percent
d. 96 percent
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 18
26. Electronic marketing has increased convenience by breaking down many of the
barriers caused by:
a. cost and availability.
b. time and location.
c. desire and style.
d. supply and demand.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 18
27. James Washington loves R&B and Soul music. One of his true pleasures in life is to
go online several times a week and discuss music trends with new friends that he has
met via the Internet. Motown Records sponsors an online meeting space for

collectors and enthusiasts just like James. Which of the following would best describe
where James Washington goes several times a week to discuss his passion?
a. A general chat room.
b. A consumer network.
c. A virtual brand community.
d. An extranet.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 18
28. What has been the impact of the World Wide Web on consumers? According to a
recent study, more than one-third of respondents who have access to the Internet
reported that they were online at least __________ per week.
a. 5 hours
b. 8 hours
c. 10 hours
d. more than 15 hours
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 19
29. Business ethics are:
a. standards applied to Fortune 500 companies.
b. diminishing in importance as we move to a wired world where personal contact
is being reduced.
c. rules of conduct that guide actions in the marketplace.
d. rules of conduct enforced by the Bureau of Ethical and Consumer Affairs.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 21
30. A Conference Board survey of U.S. consumers found that the most important
criterion when forming opinions about corporations is:
a. social responsibility.
b. promotion and advertising.
c. history of the organization.
d. who is the CEO.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 21
31. ____________ essentially are rules of conduct that guide actions in the marketplace.
a. Business etiquette
b. Business policies
c. Business law
d. Business ethics
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 21
32. According to the material provided in the chapter, one of the most common and

stinging criticisms of marketing is that marketing techniques (especially advertising)

are responsible for: (Pick the BEST answer provided that it covers MOST situations)
a. convincing consumers that they need many material things and that they will be
unhappy if they dont have these necessities.
b. making consumers feel inferior if they dont match Madison Avenues standard
of wealth and power.
c. making consumers feel inadequate if they cannot cook a family meal and prepare
it in elegant surroundings.
d. making consumers feel inadequate with respect to sexual needs and desires.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 22
33. Jillian Brooks loves dance, the arts, and music. As she has purchased and explored
via the Internet, she has requested that dance, art-oriented, and music Web sites
contact her with new information (as it becomes available), products, and further
ways to explore her hobbies. With respect to who controls market offerings, Jillian
has created what is called:
a. marketspace.
b. timespace.
c. buyingspace.
d. consumerspace.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 22
34. According to information presented in the textbook, all of the following would be
serious questions facing marketers today EXCEPT:
a. do marketers create artificial needs?
b. are advertising and marketing necessary?
c. do marketers kill or maim consumers?
d. do marketers promise miracles?
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 23-25
35. When an advertisement for a national brand shampoo shows a plain woman using
the product, then being transformed with a new hairstyle, dressing in elegant clothes,
and having the man of her dreams appear on her doorstep, this would be an
illustration of which of the following criticisms of the marketing system?
a. Advertising and marketing making their functions necessary.
b. Promising miracles.
c. Creating artificial needs.
d. Spending the most creates the most demand.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (E) Application Page: 25
36. Which of the following Federal acts established the Consumer Products Safety
Commission to identify unsafe products, establish safety standards, recall defective

products, and ban dangerous products?

a. Robinson-Patman Act.
b. Federal Fair Packaging and Labeling Act.
c. Consumer Goods Pricing Act.
d. Consumer Product Safety Act.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 25, 26, Table 1.1
37. Morris Davis believes that advertising and marketing have too much impact on
a consumers daily life. To fight this problem, Mr. Davis has just recently initiated
a Web site called Junk It! His Web site invites disgruntled consumers to
communicate with him about marketing invasions of their privacy and individual
space. Mr. Davis believes that change comes slowly but that consumers must fight
to preserve their culture and freedom from marketers and advertisers. Which of the
following terms best expresses the actions being taken by Mr. Davis to disrupt what
he perceives are inappropriate marketing and advertising actions?
a. Marketing myopia.
b. Cultural symbolism.
c. Culture jamming.
d. Blackmailing spammers.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 25, 26
38. Many firms choose to protect or enhance the natural environment as they go about
their business activities. This practice is known as:
a. consumer marketing.
b. social marketing.
c. natural marketing.
d. green marketing.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 28
39. If a company tries to encourage such positive behaviors as increased literacy and
social responsibility through its own marketing practices, the company is practicing:
a. consumer marketing.
b. social marketing.
c. natural marketing.
d. green marketing.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 28
40. There is a dark side to consumer behavior. All of the following practices would
embrace this dark side EXCEPT:
a. consumer terrorism.
b. addictive consumption.
c. lifestyle consumption.

d. compulsive consumption.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 30, 31
41. Trigon Products is considering adding a new product to its line of candies for
teenagers. The new product will be Nico Mints. These nicotine-laced mints will give
the person consuming the mint about the same amount of nicotine found in a lite
cigarette. If Trigon Products goes through with its plans, then it will be orienting its
marketing and production strategies to which of the following consumption practices?
a. Consumer terrorism.
b. Addictive consumption.
c. Lifestyle consumption.
d. Compulsive consumption.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 30
42. When asked, a buyer confessed that I seemed possessed when I went into a store. I
didnt care what I bought. I loved the attention I received while I was buying. Buying
made me feel important. This form of behavior would be an example of which of the
following?
a. Advertising-related behavior.
b. Consumer manipulation.
c. Compulsive consumption.
d. Addictive credit card use.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (E) Application Page: 31
43. All of the following are considered to be elements of negative or destructive
consumer behavior EXCEPT:
a. the behavior is not done by choice.
b. the gratification derived from the behavior is short lived.
c. the person experiences strong feelings of regret or guilt afterwards.
d. the person seeks to punish others with their behavior.
Answer: (d) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 31
44. People who are used or exploited, willingly or not, for commercial gain in the
marketplace are called:
a. consumed consumers.
b. disadvantaged consumers.
c. compulsive consumers.
d. fringe consumers.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 31
45. ________________ is the industry term for inventory and cash losses due to

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shoplifting and employee theft.

a. Gray marketing
b. Black marketing
c. Shrinkage
d. Spiffs
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 32
46. When members of the clergy in areas that are heavily populated by minorities
organize rallies to protest the proliferation of cigarette and alcohol advertising in
their neighborhoods (even to the point of defacing or destroying billboards that carry
the messages), they are participating in a practice called:
a. cultural resistance.
b. anti-consumption practices.
c. environmental monitoring.
d. social responsibility activism.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 33
47. If a consumer researcher wished to explore ways in which underlying messages
were communicated by models and ads in a magazine, the consumer researcher
would adopt which of the following disciplinary focus?
a. Semiotics/literary criticism.
b. Sociology.
c. Cultural anthropology.
d. Clinical psychology.
Answer: (a) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 35, Table 1.2
48. A _____________ occurs when a competing paradigm challenges the dominant set of
assumptions.
a. paradigm model
b. paradigm shift
c. paradigm alignment
d. paradigm vortex
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 36
49. The perspective that emphasizes human reason is supreme and that there is a
single, objective truth that can be discovered by science is called:
a. fundamentalism.
b. interpretivism.
c. positivism.
d. postmodernism.
Answer: (c) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 36

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50. The perspective that what should be stressed in attempting to understand human
behavior is to focus on the importance of symbolic, subjective experience, and the
idea that meaning is in the mind of the personthat is, we each construct our own
meanings, based on our unique and shared cultural experiences, so there is no single
right or wrong answers is called:
a. fundamentalism.
b. interpretivism.
c. positivism.
d. modernism.
Answer: (b) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 36, 37
True/False
51. Consumer behavior is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups
select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy
needs and desires.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 7
52. Role theory is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups
select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy
needs and desires.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 7
53. If a transaction occurs between two or more organizations or people who give and
receive something of value, an exchange has taken place.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 8
54. We normally think of a consumer who eats, drinks, or wears a product.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 8
55. How consumer attitudes toward products are formed and/or changed is a question
asked from a marketing perspective in the pre-purchase phase of the consumption
process.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 8, Figure 1.1
56. The process of demographics identifies groups of consumers who are similar to one
another in one or more ways, then devises marketing strategies that appeal to
one or more groups.

12

Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 9

57. Demographics are statistics that measure observable aspects of a population.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 9
58. Sam Wilkes is a researcher for the National Board of Labor Statistics. If he were to
obtain data about a persons family and marital status, Wilkes would be obtaining
information about family structure.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Application Page: 12
59. If SoBe Beverages targets its new age drinks to African-American consumers
exclusively, using an ethnic spin to all promotions, then SoBe Beverages is using
a lifestyle approach to its marketing segmentation strategy.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 12
60. Relationship marketing is an extension of the idea that the key to success in
marketing is in building relationships between brands and customers that will last a
lifetime.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 13
61. Database marketing involves tracking consumers buying habits very closely and
crafting products and messages tailored precisely to peoples wants and needs based
on this information.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 13
62. Wal-Mart has opened the year with a new campaign to sell lawn furniture. The
campaign emphasizes how lawn furniture has been used over the decades in
movies, books, by celebrities, and as essential ingredients to home entertainment.
Such an appeal is focusing on popular culture of the American consumer.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 13
63. With respect to relationships with products, nostalgic attachment occurs if the
product is part of the users daily routine.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 15
64. According to the four distinct types of consumption activities mentioned in the
chapter, consumption activities such as consuming as experience means
learning and manipulating consumption objects to express aspects of the self or

13

society.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 15
65. Christina Chiang has decided to order a weeks worth of groceries from
HomeGrocer.com. She places her order and is pleasantly surprised when she
receives her order at her doorstep six hours after the order was placed. This
transaction would be a good example of the exchange that takes place in a virtual
brand community.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (H) Application Page: 18
66. Business ethics essentially are rules of conduct that guide actions in the
marketplace.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 21
67. According to a Conference Board survey of U.S. consumers, the most important
criterion when forming opinions about corporations is whether they charge high
prices or not.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 21
68. Marketspace is really the same concept as a newer term called consumerspace.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 22
69. Culture jamming occurs when two different ethnic groups merge their music, art,
or other cultural symbols together.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 25
70. Many firms choose to protect or enhance the natural environment as they go about
their business activities. This is called social marketing.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 28
71. A radical social group has threatened to interject mad cow contaminated feed
into several herds of Texas and Kansas cattle. Such a threat could be called
bioterrorism.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 30
72. A good illustration of consumption addiction is going to shopping malls.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 30, 31

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73. According to the text, examples of consumed consumers are organ, blood, and hair
donors.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 31
74. If a consumer believed that science could fix or find a cure for anything, he or she
would be following interpretivism.
Answer: (False) Difficulty: (H) Fact Page: 36
75. Link James is arguing with his friend Ali. Link is arguing that one of the reasons the
country is in sorry shape is that there is too much emphasis on science and technology
in our society; this ordered, rational view of behavior denies the complex social
and cultural world in which we live. Whether he realizes it or not, Link is presenting
an interpretivism or post-modernism view to his friend.
Answer: (True) Difficulty: (H) Application Page: 36
Essay Questions
76. According to the text, there are different issues that arise in the consumption process
depending on whether a consumers or a marketers perspective is followed. Using either
the pre-purchase or purchase issue category, cite the questions that might be asked from
both the consumers and marketers perspective. The questions must be specific.
Answer:
Pre-purchase issue phase:
Consumers perspectiveHow does a consumer decide that he/she needs a product?
What are the best sources of information to learn more about
alternative choices?
Marketers perspectiveHow are attitudes toward products formed and/or changed?
What cues do consumers use to infer which products are
superior to others?
Purchase issue phase:
Consumers perspectiveIs acquiring a product a stressful or pleasant experience?
What does the purchase say about the consumer?
Marketers perspectiveHow do situational factors, such as time pressure or store
displays, affect the consumers purchase decision?

15

Difficulty: (M) Fact Page: 8, Figure 1.1

77. Define demographics. Next, using information that you have learned from the text
about the demographics of consumers, identify three marketing opportunities that match
demographic trends. Justify your opportunities with specifics from your demographic
appraisal.
Answer:
(a) Demographics are statistics that measure observable aspects of a population, such as
birth rate, age distribution, and income.
(b) To answer the second portion of this question, the student should use facts from the
chapter, especially from the demographic dimensions listed in the chapter (age, gender,
family structure, social class and income, race and ethnicity, lifestyle, and geography.
The instructor may give additional instructions with this question (such as providing the
student with a photocopy of a table or other pertinent data). The opportunities may be in
new markets that might be emerging or new products that might be sold to new or
existing markets. It would probably be best to give specifics here so there will be
consistency in the answers among students. All students should be judged on their
creativity and their use of factual data to support their answers. Be sure to allow enough
time for this question or give it as a take-home question.
Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 9-13
78. What is relationship marketing? How might relationship marketing be used by
marketers to become closer to consumers?
Answer:
Marketers are carefully defining customer segments and listening to people in their
markets as never before. Many of them have realized that a key to success is building
relationships between brands and customers that will last a lifetime. Marketers who
believe in this philosophy, called relationship marketing, are making an effort to interact
with customers on a regular basis and giving them reasons to maintain a bond with the
company over time. The Internet has become a great tool for building relationships with
consumers.
Difficulty: (E) Fact Page: 13
79. What is database marketing? Give an example that demonstrates how database
marketing can be used by marketers to do a more effective job of marketing products and
services.
Answer:
Database marketing involves tracking consumers buying habits very closely and crafting
products and messages tailored precisely to peoples wants and needs based on this
information. The student may use examples from the chapter or original examples;

16

however, all examples should demonstrate how a company takes a database and uses the
information to better reach or serve customers. The chapter cites examples concerning
Ritz-Carlton, American Express, General Motors, and Kraft/General Foods.
Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 13
80. The text proposes four distinct types of consumption activities. List the four distinct
types and a brief explanation of each.
Answer:
(a) Consuming as experiencean emotional or aesthetic reaction to consumption
objects.
(b) Consuming as integrationlearning and manipulating consumption objects to
express aspects of the self or society.
(c) Consuming as classificationthe activities that consumers engage in to communicate
their association with objects, both to self and to others.
(d) Consuming as playconsumers use objects to participate in a mutual experience and
merge their identities with that of a group.
For examples see the sports analogy used in the chapter.
Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 15, 16
81. Describe a virtual brand community. Create an example that demonstrates the
concept.
Answer:
The example used in the text is The Hollywood Stock Exchange where a simulated
entertainment stock market is found. Traders try to predict the four-week box office take
from films. Major studios and actors cannot afford to ignore this customer community
when making their real development and marketing decisions. Student examples
should reveal how their proposed virtual brand community interacts, who the members
might be, and what makes the interaction among customers special. This extension of the
chat room is a special research opportunity for the marketer and consumer behavior
specialist.
The instructor can provide more structure to this question by designating the type of
virtual brand community, such as one for cars, motorcycles, Beanie Babies, software, et
cetera.
Difficulty: (M) Application Page: 18-20
82. Considering the information presented in the text, take a positiondo marketers
manipulate consumers? Support your position with information from the text that
demonstrates an understanding of the question and responses provided by the text in
regard to this issue. Be specific in your statements.

17

Answer:
The text deals with this issue by addressing three question areas. Students should explore
each of these questions (and the associated text responses) to formulate their positions.
Question #1Do marketers create artificial needs? Notice the text response addresses
exactly what needs are. The role of the marketer is to address awareness that needs exist
and not create them.
Question #2Are advertising and marketing necessary? Evidence is presented that
social critics doubt the necessity of the advertising and marketing function. The text
response indicates that, according to the economics of information, advertising plays a
vital role in commerce. In fact, most consumers are willing to admit that advertising
provides useful information and saves them time and energy in purchasing.
Question #3Do marketers promise miracles? Many consumers believe they do.
However, the text indicates that advertising and marketing offer solutions to problems.
Promising miracles only agitates and disappoints consumers and is not a long-term
strategy that has any merit.
Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 22-25
83. Define and provide examples of the following terms: addictive consumption,
compulsive consumption, and consumed consumers.
Answer:
a). Addictive consumptionconsumer addiction is a physiological and/or psychological
dependency on products or services. Example: Chap Stick addict.
b). Compulsive consumptionrefers to repetitive shopping, often excessive, as an
antidote to tension, anxiety, depression, or boredom. Example: Gambling.
c). Consumed consumerssituations in which the consumer themselves become
commodities. Example: Prostitutes.
Difficulty: (M) Fact and Application Page: 30-32
84. Compare and contrast the paradigms of positivism and interpretivism. Be specific in
your comments and explanations.
Answer:
Positivism (sometimes called modernism): Dominant at this point in time, it is a view
which has significantly influenced Western art and science since the late 16th century. It
emphasizes that human reason is supreme and there is a single, objective truth that can be
discovered by science. Positivism encourages us to stress the function of objects, to
celebrate technology, and to regard the world as a rational, ordered place with a clearly
defined past, present, and future. A goal of positivism is to be able to predict consumer

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behavior. Some of its critics feel that positivism overemphasizes material well being and
that its logical outlook is dominated by an ideology that stresses the homogeneous views
of a culture dominated by white males.
Interpretivism (sometimes referred to as postmodernism): Proponents of this view argue
that there is an overemphasis on science and technology in our society and that this
ordered, rational view of consumers denies the complex social and cultural world in
which we live. Interpretivists stress the importance of symbolic, subjective experience
and the idea that meaning is in the mind of the person. That is, we each construct our own
meanings based on our unique and shared cultural experiences; there are no single right
or wrong answers. The value placed on products because they help us to create order in
our lives is replaced by an appreciation of consumption as a set of diverse experiences. A
goal of Interpretivists is to understand consumers and consumer behavior, rather than try
to predict them.
Difficulty: (H) Fact and Application Page: 36, 37, Table 1.3

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