CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR
C O G N I T I V E D I S S O N A N C E I N C O N S U M E R B U Y I N G B E H AV I O R

GROUP 4
DEFINITION

- Cognitive dissonance is a psychological concept related to self-doubt when

making decisions.
- relates to the uncertainty customers feel after making a tough purchasing
decision.
- occurs when someone holds two or more conflicting attitudes or beliefs about
one product or service. Cognitive dissonance is most likely to occur after a
consumer makes a purchase.
• People tend to seek consistency in their beliefs
and perceptions.
• The term cognitive dissonance is used to
describe the feeling of discomfort that results
from holding two conflicting beliefs. When there
is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviours ,
something must change in order to eliminate or
reduce the dissonance.
 DISSONANCE IN CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
• In dynamic business environment, marketers have always been trying to not
only acquire new customer base but also retain the existing one by providing
value, satisfying customers’ exchange expectations.
• dissonance motivates the individual to bring harmony to inconsistent elements
and thereby reduce psychological tension.
• Dissonance is known to arise mainly in three ways:
-logical inconsistency
-dissonance created between attitude and behaviour
-expectation is disconfirmed
CAUSES OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

• Forced Compliance Behaviour

• Decision Making
• Effort
• Gaining New Information
 FACTORS INFLUENCING
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

• Personal cognitions
• The importance of the cognition
• The disparity between the consonant
(harmonious) belief and the dissonant
(conflicting) thoughts, action or information
• The possibility of explaining the dissonance
in other ways
• The ramifications of the decision
EXAMPLES OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

• Consider a situation in which a man who

places a value on being environmentally
responsible just purchased a new car that
he later discovers does not get great gas
mileage.

The conflict :-
• It is important for the man to take care of
the environment.
• He is driving a car that is not
environmentally- friendly.
WAYS OF REDUCING COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

1 2 3
Change The Change The Reduce The
Dissonant Beliefs Conflicting Action Significance Of
Or Behaviour The Conflicting
Belief
 STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE COGNITIVE
DISSONANCE
1. Focus on more 3. Change the conflicting 4. Focus on more
encouraging beliefs that 2. Reduce the importance belief so that it is consistent encouraging beliefs that
offset the dissonant belief of the contradictory belief. with other beliefs or offset the dissonant belief
or behaviour. behaviours. or behaviour.

6. Looking for credible

5. Change the conflicting
belief so that it is consistent
with other beliefs or
behaviours.
source which the target
8. Finding out the sources
consumer's trust. At the 7. Emphasize on selecting a
which match customer’s
same time • word-of-mouth likeable source.
previous belief. •
communications need to be
increased.

9. Unexpected source
sometimes may have more
impact on consumer’s
attitudes.
 CONCLUSION
• Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort we feel when our actions and behaviour
are not aligned with our beliefs and values. This feeling of discomfort is so great that
cognitive dissonance can have a very significant influence on our decisions and the actions
we take.
• Cognitive dissonance can also be used to manipulate us into doing things we do not want
to.
• Becoming aware of the effect of cognitive dissonance on our decisions and understanding
how we can overcome it can help us make better decisions and help us make positive
behaviour changes rather than continue lying to ourselves.
THANK YOU!

PRATIK AGRAWAL A022

KRITIKA BAHETI A024
AYUSHI AGRAWAL A029
PRANAV FURIA B007
ADITYA TULSHAN B013
ANMOL AGRAWAL B027