High involvement products

1. Literature review
The concept of involvement was introduced in psychology in 1947 by Sherif and
Cantril and was used in the beginning to explain the receptivity of individuals on
communications. The definition of involvement used in the present study is: a
person’s perceived relevance of the object based on inherent needs, values and
interests (Zaichkowsky, 1985). The term “low and high involvement products” can be
misleading in the sense that involvement is not a property of a product (Salmon,
1986). Involvement is recognized as the interaction between the product and the
individual. Although involvement tends to be defined as the relevance of a product
rather than the interest of an individual in a product, involvement can be interpreted to
be more on the side of the stimulus than on the side of the viewer (Salmon, 1986).
Clothing is an item, which is regularly and habit of consumers to purchase and it
deeply signifies one’s personality and symbolic meaning to it and also strengthens the
person’s image and psychological contention. As consumers has a self-concept
interaction with this form of brand and associate it strongly and relate it to others (Oh
& Fiorito, 2002). When consumers purchase low-involvement product such as tea,
creating brand awareness is still vital as brand awareness alone could lead to the
consumer choosing a product i.e. having a sense of familiarity (Keller, 2003).
Consumers’ decisions are based on heuristics as well such as “the brand mostly
known to them” or “Mostly heard brand” and then purchase the one they are
recognize (Keller, 2003). If involvement can be defined according to the stimulus,
then products can be organized into different product involvement categories and
ideally, markets can be segmented on the basis of product involvement (Grunig, 1989;
Taylor & Joseph, 1984). The phrase of Brand awareness is the strength of the brand
node in consumer`s mind, i.e. how easy it is for consumers to remember (Keller,
1993). In other words, brand awareness is the ability to distinguish the brand and
recall it under distinctive conditions (Keller, 1993). One of the ways of identifying
whether product involvement is high or low is to find out the perceived risk and return
from the purchase. In case of high involvement products, consumer perceives high
risk and also high levels of satisfactions are achieved if the purchase is as per his
perceived benefits. On the other hand, if a wrong purchasing decision is made, it
involves huge amount of risks in terms of costs, time and satisfaction. Hence, for high
involvement products, consumer spends lot of time gathering information about the
product. He inquires about its price and compares it with its attributes in detail. He
also asks for feedbacks and experiences of others who have used the same or a similar
kind of product. The concept of involvement and research on it is a relatively recent
concept. Research on this area can be traced back to “Social Judgement Theory”
developed by Sherif and his colleagues (Sherif and Cantril 1947; Sherif and Hovland
1961; Sherif et. Al. 1965). According to this theory, attitude is assumed to be reflected
by latitudes of acceptance, rejection and non-commitment. The probability of attitude
change as a result of persuasive communications depends upon the width of above
mentioned three attitudes which is assumed to be affected by the individual’s level of
ego involvement with the issue (Sharma Kavita, 2000). This included information
provided by the seller (i.e., advertising, promotional activities) as well as information
provided by family members, close friends, and in some instances trusted experts.
From a seller’s perspective celebrity endorsement in advertising is more effective
creating brand awareness than expert opinion, conversely expert opinion proves more
effective when product quality is the marketing factor to be emphasized (Biswas et
al., 2006). Celebrity endorsement also plays an important role influencing purchase
intentions, but it is based on the image and credibility carried by the endorser (La
Ferle and Choi, 2005). Brands with strong recognition generally impact brand attitude
and purchase intentions (Kamis and Marks, 1991). Studies on brand valuation indicate
that brands receiving high valuations strongly influence consumer s perceived value
(Dodds et al., 1991; Grewal et al., 1998). A number of studies have looked at
purchase behavior for products considered general consumer goods and the issue of
involvement. (Lichtenstein et al., 1991; Jones et al., 2003; Holzwarth et al., 2006).
Other authors like Raghubir and Corfman focused on the influence of price promotion
on brand valuation. They considered perceived product quality as an important
element on brand valuation (Raghubir and Corfman, 1999). Personal involvement is
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 content of his own life (Krugman,1966). Information processing hierarchy is
characterized by the sequence, cognitive conative, affective development (low
involvement hierarchy). Cognitive affective conative development (learning
hierarchy) and conative affective cognitive development (Ray, 1973). In the case of
no involvement a consumer will not participate in the process at hand. For zero order
involvement an individual behaves without first developing an attitude. Higher-order
loyal involvement occurs when behavior is the result of continued loyalty to a brand,
i.e. a deeply rooted attitude. For higher order information-seeking involvement
behavior is a result of active information seeking and evaluation (Rothschild, 1975).

2. High-Involvement Versus Low-Involvement according to the

perspective of two focuses group
First of all, we can briefly read the literature reviews put in this paper then we are able
to saying that in this era of life consumers more involve in product purchase decision
as compare to previous few years’ technology play an important role in every field of
life so we cannot ignore the importance of technology in marketing field. when
combining the two top categories of importance, the majority over ninety percent of
the new generation of buyers considered performance, durability, reliability, and price
as the key factors to evaluate when purchasing high involvement products. When
looking at the great importance category, a second set of factors identified as relevant
by sixty percent of respondents included functional features, price, perceived value,
customer service, and aesthetics. High involvement holds strong beliefs about the
product quality and the attributes stated by the brand about whereas, low involvement
individuals do not hold strong beliefs about product attributes. As we have seen,
many factors influence a consumer’s behavior. Depending on a consumer’s
experience and knowledge, some consumers may be able to make quick purchase
decisions and other consumers may need to get information and be more involved in
the decision process before making a purchase. The level of involvement reflects how
personally important or interested you are in consuming a product and how much
information you need to make a decision. The level of involvement in buying
decisions may be considered a continuum from decisions that are fairly routine to
decisions that require extensive thought and a high level of involvement. High-
involvement decisions carry a higher risk to buyers if they fail, are complex, and/or
have high price tags. A car, a house, and an insurance policy are examples. These
items are not purchased often but are relevant and important to the buyer. Buyers
don’t engage in routine response behavior when purchasing high-involvement
products. High-involvement decisions can cause buyers a great deal of post purchase
dissonance (anxiety) if they are unsure about their purchases or if they had a difficult
time deciding between two alternatives. Companies that sell high-involvement
products are aware that post purchase dissonance can be a problem. Frequently, they
try to offer consumers a lot of information about their products, including why they
are superior to competing brands and how they won’t let the consumer down.
Salespeople may be utilized to answer questions and do a lot of customer hand-
holding. For example, people purchase a costly cell phone not because it satisfies the
need for communication with others better than a cheaper phone. Brand names can be
very important regardless of the consumer’s level of purchasing involvement. Consider a low-
versus high-involvement product—say, purchasing a tube of toothpaste versus a new car. You
might routinely buy your favorite brand of toothpaste, not thinking much about the purchase
but not be willing to switch to another brand either. Having a brand you like saves you
“search time” and eliminates the evaluation period because you know what you’re
getting. When it comes to the car, you might engage in extensive problem solving but,
again, only be willing to consider a certain brands or brands. For example, in the
1970s, American-made cars had such a poor reputation for quality, buyers joked that a
car that’s “not Jap [Japanese made] is crap.” The quality of American cars is very
good today, but you get the picture. If it’s a high-involvement product you’re
purchasing, a good brand name is probably going to be very important to you. That’s
why the makers of high-involvement products can’t become complacent about the
value of their brands.

3. Factors influencing High involvement purchase

consumer products which are high involvement purchases are air conditioners, a
costly smartphone, a high end laptop or television, or anything that is costly and
requires some thinking before spending the money. There is a risk associated with the
purchase.

1) Product Features

2) Differentiation

3) Brand recall

4) Word of mouth

5) Product fit with the customer requirement

6)  Price

7) Value provided
 8)  Marketing

9) Internet

4. CONCLUSIONS
This study shows there is a potential shift in the way the new generation of buyers
approach the decision making process regarding the important factors considered in
the purchase of high involvement products. Technological advances have provided
the new generation of buyers with the tools to obtain, almost in real time, all the
information pertaining to products/services thus facilitating, in this way, the decision
making process and allowing the buyers to focus on a set of relevant factors they
considered crucial when purchasing high involvement products. One major deviation
from what traditionally has been considered relevant factors in the purchase process,
is that for more than one third of the new generation of buyers, brand name,
introductory discounts, and product service seems to have little or no importance in
the purchase of high involvement products only about a quarter of the respondents
placed brand name as having great importance. On the other hand, when combining
the two top categories of importance, the majority over ninety percent of the new
generation of buyers considered performance, durability, reliability, and price as the
key factors to evaluate when purchasing high involvement products. When looking at
the great importance category, a second set of factors identified as relevant by sixty
percent (on average) of respondents included functional features, price, perceived
value, customer service, and aesthetics. Some preliminary
suggestions/recommendations to business organizations selling high involvement
product/services is to consider performance, durability, reliability, and price as
decisive relevant factor for the new generation of buyers. Furthermore, three of these
factors: performance, durability, and reliability are usually related to quality.
Consequently, focusing on quality and price issues should prove quite positive in the
promotion and sales of high involvement products/services to the new generation of
buyers. A second set of factors: functional features, perceived value, customer
service, and aesthetics also require attention and should be consider relevant as
business organizations engage in the promotional activities and sales of high
involvement products.