Consumer behaviour research priorities Consumer research and market segmentation ensure a better ‘fit’ between products and consumers, and enable marketers to communicate more efficiently with their target markets. For this reason it is incumbent upon public policy makers to support research studies—designed and implemented by academic consumer researchers—that identify and document areas in need of government intervention, areas where self-regulation is justified and areas where consumers should take responsibility for themselves. Box 16.5 lists some of the many consumer behaviour questions that should be explored through consumer research. These can be considered consumer research priorities for 2008 and beyond. They are based on a list first suggested by the prominent American marketing scholar Alan Andreasen in the 1990s. Box 16.5 Public policy research questions M No Priorities1 How might the marketplace be improved so that consumers make better decisions about what they buy? 2 How might the marketplace be improved so that consumers are more satisfied with their consumption experiences? 3 Do consumers have adequate, undistorted information on which to base choices? Are they subject to undue pressures? 4 Do consumers have appropriate opportunities to secure reimbursement or compensation when products or services don’t perform as promised? 5 Are there specific segments of consumers who are systematically or routinely discriminated against by the marketing process? 6 In what ways do marketing exchanges place consumers at risk in terms of their lives or physical well-being? 7 In what ways can economic and social welfare transactions lead to greater consumer satisfaction? 8 Are there unidentified economic or social welfare needs that are not currently being met? 9 Are there unidentified economic or social welfare transactions that should be avoided because of their potentially negative consequences? 10 How will the Internet and other technology-mediated interactions affect consumer marketing? 11 How do specific government-sponsored consumer laws impact on consumers’ quality of life? 12 How have the marketing programs of selected non-profit organisations (e.g. civic centres, museums, preventive health programs) impacted on consumers’ quality of life?13 How do consumers’ past successes (and failures) at complaining impact on attitudes and intentions towards future complaint actions? 14 How does the concept of blame (i.e. self-blame or blame of others) affect consumers’ attitudes and behaviour with respect to dissatisfaction with products and services? 15 How does the amount of pre-purchase search (e.g. a little or a great deal) influence consumers’ sense of self- blame or blaming others? 16 What are the underlying motivations (i.e. punitive or self-protective) that account for consumers’ decisions to boycott specific products or outlets? 17 How do consumers acquire their personal strategies to improve the effectiveness of their complaining actions? 18 How do recent immigrants fare when it comes to market discrimination? Are there differences across or within immigrant groups? 19 How does declining physiological functioning among the ‘old-elderly’ affect their marketplace attitudes and behaviour? 20 Are there personality differences for high-involvement issues such as family planning decisions, dieting plans or cancer detection practices? 21 How is consumer compliance obtained for products and practices that are of individual or social benefit, but which meet with considerable consumer distaste (e.g. avoiding speeding, giving blood, undergoing disfiguring medical treatment, safe sexual behaviour)? 22 How do marketing communications affect human values and the priorities they are given? 23 How should misleading advertising and deceptive advertising be defined and identified? 24 How can corrective advertising more effectively mitigate the learning of misleading and deceptive advertising? 25 Do consumers develop evaluative criteria from ads? What kind of ‘critical mass’ is necessary for such learning to occur? 26 What is the role of marketing communications in shaping recent cultural traditions such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day and ancient traditions such as Easter and Christmas?27 Does the value hierarchy implicit in advertising correlate with society’s value hierarchy? Does it correlate with the value hierarchy of certain segments of society? Which ones? 28 Is there a cultural drift towards the values endorsed by advertising? 29 What is the impact of marketing communications on developing countries? 30 What is the impact on consumer marketing of the ever-increasing gap between rich and poor? 31 What impact do the symbolism and the scenes depicted in advertising have on the national character? 32 What formative influences does advertising have on our culture? What are the effects of such influences? 33 What are the unintended consequences of advertising on our society? 34 What are the impacts of advertising role models on behaviour? 35 To what extent does advertising alter personal values and morality? 36 Does advertising encourage unsafe behaviour? Antisocial behaviour? Pro-social behaviour? 37 To what extent does advertising develop inappropriate standards for choice? 38 Has advertising replaced such institutions as the family and the school as a social guide? 39 To what extent does advertising contribute to racial, age and gender stereotypes? 40 To what extent does advertising cause social dissatisfaction? 41 Do large companies ‘get away’ with deceptive advertising more easily than small companies because of uneven regulatory enforcement? 42 To what extent does consumerism benefit or hinder ethical businesses? 43 To what extent does caveat emptor (‘let the buyer beware’) apply to the purchase of intangible items, such as an investment service?Schiffman, Leon. Consumer Behaviour, 6th Edition. P.Ed Australia, 20130905. VitalBook file. The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy before use.