Article Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to investigate the processing strategies consumers use for form inferences about missing product information. We evaluate the relative effect of attribute information about a partially described brand and about other fully described brands, the effect of attribute intercorrelations, and the effect of prompting inferences. We find that attribute information about a partially described brand has a greater influence than that about fully described competitive brands, that highly correlated attributes more consistently influence inferences, and that prompting inferences produces substantially different results that less intrusive measures. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
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Article Abstract:
Consumer behavior has been dealt with in the past according to traditional decision-making theory. This approach is insufficient to explain consumer behavior and a new conceptual framework is developed. This new method is based upon the concept of 'ongoing search' in which the consumer acquires information on a permanent basis independent of consumer purchase behaviors. Results from a survey with 712 respondents indicate that consumers do in fact gather data regularly on products they are interested in, in preparation for future possible purchases. The immediate reward is the pleasure of knowing about a favorite type of product.
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Article Abstract:
Consumer researchers have been putting more attention on the prepurchase acquisition of information by consumers. The behavioral process paradigm is extended into the area of group consumer information acquisition. The information acquisition activities of males and females, 'ad hoc' two- person groups (dyads), and 'intact' two person groups (married couples) are compared. Results indicate that ad hoc dyads chose significantly more information than married couples. Individuals not belonging to nominal groups acquired significantly less information than the ad hoc dyads.
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