Low-Involvement versus High-Involvement Buying Decisions
Consumers don’t necessarily go through all the buying stages when they’re
considering purchasing product. You have probably thought about many products
you want or need but never did much more than that. At other times, you’ve
probably looked at dozens of products, compared them, and then decided not to
purchase any one of them. At yet other times, you skip stages 1 through 3 and buy
products on impulse. As Nike would put, you “just do it.” Perhaps you see a
magazine with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on the cover and buy it on the spot
simply because you want it. Purchasing a product with no planning or forethought
is called impulse buying.
6. Purchases that occurs with no planning or forethought.
Chapter 3 Consumer Behavior: How People Make Buying Decisions
3.1 The Consumer’s Decision-Making Process 72
Impulse buying brings up a concept called level of involvement—that is, how
personally important or interested you are in consuming a product. For example,
you might see a roll of tape at a check-out stand and remember you need one. Or
you might see a bag of chips and realize you’re hungry. These are items you need,
but they are low-involvement products. Low-involvement products7
aren’t necessarily purchased on impulse, although they can be. Low-involvement products
are, however, inexpensive and pose a low risk to the buyer if she makes a mistake
by purchasing them.
Consumers often engage in routine response behavior8 when they buy lowinvolvement products—that is, they make automatic purchase decisions based on
limited information or information they have gathered in the past. For example, if
you always order a Diet Coke at lunch, you’re engaging in routine response
behavior. You may not even think about other drink options at lunch because your
routine is to order a Diet Coke, and you simply do it. If you’re served a Diet Coke at
lunchtime, and it’s flat, oh well. It’s not the end of the world.
By contrast, high-involvement products9
carry a high risk to buyers if they fail,
are complex, or have high price tags. A car, a house, and an insurance policy are
examples. These items are not purchased often. Buyers don’t engage in routine
response behavior when purchasing high-involvement products. Instead,
consumers engage in what’s called extended problem solving10, where they spend
a lot of time comparing the features of the products, prices, warrantees, and so
forth.
High-involvement products can cause buyers a great deal of postpurchase
dissonance if they are unsure about their purchases. Companies that sell highinvolvement products are aware of that postpurchase 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 are typically utilized to do a lot of customer “handholding.”
Limited problem solving falls somewhere in the middle.
Consumers engage in limited problem solving11 when
they already have some information about a good or
service but continue to search for a bit more
information. The backpack you’re looking to buy is an
example. You’re going to spend at least some time
looking for one that’s decent because you don’t want it
to fall apart while you’re traveling and dump everything
you’ve packed on a hiking trail. You might do a little
research online and come to a decision relatively
quickly.
You might consider the choices available at
your favorite retail outlet but not look at every
backpack at every outlet before making a decision. Or,
you might rely on the advice of a person you know
who’s knowledgeable about backpacks. In some way you
shorten the decision-making process.
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 (engage in routine response
behavior), 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.