Download Part I: An Introduction to Consumer Behavior

Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and
Web Sites
You may have access to netLibrary through your campus Internet connection. At
www.netlibrary.com, you can search, view, and borrow eBooks, including reference, scholarly, mass
market, and professional publications. Another great resource for students is www.findarticles.com,
which is a vast database of thousands of magazines that is searchable by subject for free. Google
Scholar is a search engine that finds academic articles and can be accessed at www.googlescholar.com.
Remember to check the listed Web sites before class as the Internet is a dynamic environment and there
may be changes since the Instructor’s Resource Manual was published.
To stay current in marketing examples to use in class, there are several newsletters you can sign up for,
including:

www.mediapost.com is an organization that disseminated newsletters and other information to
advertising and marketing professionals. They have several e-newsletters that arrive almost
daily and are pertinent to consumer behavior, including: MediaDailyNews, TV Watch,
Magazine Rack, Research Brief, Media Creativity, Online Media Daily, MARKETING,
Marketing Daily, Behavioral Insider, etc. The sign up for these newsletters is free. Just be
warned that sometimes these fill up a mailbox if you sign up for too many. However, the
information is timely and useful for class examples.

Advertising Age also has a daily e-newsletter that you can sign up for. You can have limited
access to the stories if you sign up for the free service at www.adage.com.
Several journals also have consumer behavior content including (but not limited to): Journal of
Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Journal of
Consumer Marketing, Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Culture and Journal of
Marketing. In addition, the proceedings for the Association of Consumer Research’s annual conference
entitled Advances in Consumer Research is a good source of current academic research that has not yet
made it to journals.
PART I: AN INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Understanding Consumer Behavior: Background Reading
John F. Sherry, Jr., Contemporary Marketing and Consumer Behavior, Sage, 1995. This book
examines consumer behavior from an anthropological perspective.
Mihaly Csikszenthmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halson, The Meaning of Things: Domestic
Symbols and Self, Cambridge University Press, 1989. The book is a revised edition of a classic on
symbolic consumer behavior.
Richard E. Petty and John T. Cacioppo, Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral
Routes to Attitude Change, Springer-Verlag, 1986. This is a classic book on attitude formation and
change processes.
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xvi
Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
Thomas S. Robertson and Harold H. Kassarjian, Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Prentice-Hall,
1991. A compilation of academic articles that review research on a large number of domains
associated with consumer behavior (e.g., decision-making, adoption of innovations, attitude, and
affect in consumer behavior).
The University of Texas’ Department of Advertising provides excellent examples of student work
on relevant consumer behavior topics. Go to the Theories of Persuasive Communication and
Consumer Decision Making class page to see these examples at
http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/03_spring/theory/spring03_382j_1.html.
Brand Forward’s Web site includes an excellent flow chart of the brand management process,
which shows the interrelationship among consumers’ insights, consumer benefits, competitive
knowledge, and brand strategies. This information is available at
www.brandforward.com/bf_home.html by following the Brand Management and Marketing
Resources link and clicking on Overview of the Brand Management Process.

Developing and Using Information about Consumer Behavior
The Handbook of Marketing Scales: Multi-item Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior
Research, 1999, by William O. Bearden and Richard G. Netemeyer helps marketing researchers
avoid reinventing the wheel by describing and analyzing marketing scales that have been created
on a variety of consumer behavior topics. Another source of marketing scales is the Marketing
Scales Series that came out with its latest volume in 2005, Marketing Scales Handbook, Volume
IV: Consumer Behavior by Gordon C. Bruner, Paul J. Hensel, and Karen E. James.
The website www.adslogans.co.uk/links provides a series of links to advertising resources, which
include links to advertising awards and recognition. This will provide both national and
international examples of award-winning ads to see how companies use creative advertising
strategies. For U.S. advertising awards, see www.clioawards.com.
TasteTest is a sensory research company that completes taste tests for retail and institutional food
and beverage markets. Its Web site provides a sample survey of how the firm gathers consumer
information at www.tastetester.com/downloads/Survey.pdf.
Susan Mitchell in Generation X: The Young Adult Market, Library Binding, 1997, presents the
U.S. Census data in small doses and shows how the data provide information on spending patterns
and trends. The instructor can use this information for demographic background.
Ann Sutherland and Beth Thompson, 2003, Kidfluence: The Marketer’s Guide to Understanding
and Researching Generation Y—Kids, Tweens and Teens, includes demographic data and sociocultural trends of young adults born after 1980.
“Listen. No, Listen Carefully” in Fast Company, May 2000, pp. 307–316 emphasizes the
importance of understanding customers. It quotes retailers such as Nike and Burton Snowboards
that believe there is a better way than using focus groups. The article can be used to elicit
discussion or to serve as lecture material, or as an out-of-class reading.
“Storytelling: A New Way to Get Close to Your Customer” by Ronald B. Leiber, Fortune,
February 3, 1997. The article describes some new and interesting ways of gathering insights into
consumer behavior through the use of metaphors and stories.
Have students visit www.bls.census.gov/cps, www.gallup.com, or www.census.gov/main to learn
about the types of information that are available about consumers.
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
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xvii
Lifestyles
Students can access PRIZM lifestyle information about consumers in their home or school zip
code by clicking on “You are Where You Live” on the Claritas Web site at www.claritas.com.
The Cultural Dynamics Web site focuses on ethnographic research. Go to The Cultural Dynamics
Web site focuses on ethnographic research. Go to http://www.culturaldynamics.com/
PART II: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CORE

General Psychology
A variety of psychological topics and theories are discussed on the website:
http://psychology.com, including an in-depth discussion of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
The Handbook of Consumer Psychology (Marketing and Consumer Psychology Series), 2008,
edited by Haugtvedt, Herr, and Kardes is a good source of current consumer psychology research.

Motivation
For a look at how consumer motivations can be used in marketing research, go to
www.icrsurvey.com/docs/Motivational%20Research.doc for ICR’s discussion about the topic.
Tourism New Zealand commissioned a study of consumers’ motivations and needs to visit New
Zealand for their three major markets: Japan, USA and UK. Go to
http://www.tourismnewzealand.com/tourism_info/index.cfm?912DFD3E-BCD8-304B-0EC0C3CA1BBACE2E to access these studies.

Self Concept
Find-Health-Articles.com provides current articles about various health-related topics. For
articles on self concept, go to: http://www.find-health-articles.com/msh-self-concept.htm.

Exposure
A method that marketers use to expose even reluctant consumers to products is product placement
in movies, TV shows and video games. Advertising Age has a website devoted to product
placement. This can be found at http://adage.com/madisonandvine/.

Attention and Perception
Selective perception in advertising is discussed at Selective perception in advertising is discussed
at http://www.ciadvertising.org/sa/spring_03/382j/analiza/selectivity.htm

The Five Senses

Two books that describe the five senses in historical and cultural perspectives are: Constance
Classen, 1993, World of Sense and Diana Ackerman, 1990, A Natural History of the Senses.

The Sense of Vision: Color
For a set of outstanding articles and exercises exploring the psychology of color and its effect on
consumer behavior, see http://psychology.about.com/blsub_soimg_color.htm
The ColorMatters Web site is the brainchild of former Architecture Professor J. L. Morton. The
site, located at www.colormatters.com, examines the ways that color affects our minds and our
actions. It provides links to a number of columns and additional color resources.
Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
xviii
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
The Sense of Vision: Perceptual Illusions
For an exercise on how perception influences what we believe, go to
http://www.exploratorium.edu/seeing/exhibits/ The “Changing Illusions” link has four
interactive illusions.

The Sense of Taste
TasteTest is a sensory research company that completes taste tests for retail and institutional food
and beverage markets. Its Web site provides a sample survey of how the firm gathers consumer
information at www.tastetester.com/downloads/Survey.pdf.

The Sense of Smell
The following Web site www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s278744.htm presents the
technology of using the science of smell on-line, which will allow consumers to use their sense of
smell online to smell a perfume, for example, before they buy or to receive scented e-mails.
Website of the Sense of Smell Institute (SOSI) has list of publications about olfaction and it
affects on consumers. www.senseofsmell.org.
The Social Issue Research Center’s smell report can be found at
www.sirc.org/publik/smell_human.html.
Dr. Alan Hirsh of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation has conducted over 200
studies on human olfaction. Information can be found at www.smellandtaste.org.
Contance Classen, David Howes and Anthony Synnott’s, 1994, book entitled Aroma: The
Cultural History of Smell provides an interesting cross-cultural perspective on olfaction.

The Sense of Hearing
“The Effects of Music in a Retail Setting on Real & Perceived Shopping Times,” describes the
importance of sound in the consumer experience. The article can be found at
http://faculty.bschool.washington.edu/ryalch/Research/atmosphe.htm
Dr. Alan Hirsh of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation has also conducted
studies on human’s sense of taste. www.smellandtaste.org

The Sense of Touch
The following Web site http://www.sedl.org/scimath/pasopartners/senses/lesson4.html explains
the purpose of the touch senses and some exercises that can be used to help students discern the
importance of touch.
Contance Classen’s The Bo of Touch looks at the cultural formations of tactility across time and
culture.

Brand Personality
Jennifer Aaker has developed a framework of the dimensions of brand personality. A summary of
her framework can be found at
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_aaker_brand_personality_framework.html. For
a practitioner look at brand personality, look at the white paper by the Amicus Group at
http://www.amicusgroup.com/personality.pdf
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
xix
Brawny paper towels conducted extensive focus group research with women consumers to
establish the personality of its Brawny Man. Brawny Academy is a tongue-in-cheek, web-based
“reality” series that demonstrates this sensitive male teaching the art of being a gentleman to a
group of “typical” manly men. While more than a bit sexist, this is an amusing example of a
brand, of paper towels no less, trying to develop a personality. Episodes of Brawny Academy are
available at: http://brawny.iti.fallon.com/brawny_academy/brawnyacademy.html

Changing consumers’ schemas
High fructose corn syrup has the reputation of being particularly unhealthy and a cause of obesity.
However, a recent (2008) American Medical Association study determined it was not any worse
than other caloric sweeteners. The Corn Refiners Association is paying for a series of TV ads
dispelling consumers’ negative opinions. The ads lead consumers to a website:
www.sweetsurprise.com that give additional facts about the ingredient of many fruit drinks and
other sweet products.

Attitudes
Polls of American’s attitudes on a variety of contemporary issues can be found at:
www.ask500people.com

Theory of Reasoned Action
This University of Texas Web site introduces browsers to the Theory of Reasoned Action and
how it applies to the field of advertising. To learn more about potential applications, see
http://www.ciadvertising.org/sa/spring_03/382j/levina/introduction.html.

Low Level Processing
The “Got Milk” campaign is catchy and memorable and does not require a lot of processing. For
more information on this series of ads, see Jeff Manning, Got Milk: The Book, Prima Publications,
1999. The book is the story of the Got Milk campaign by its creator. It includes ads and scripts.
You also can log on to the Got Milk Web site at www.gotmilk.com and play the “Get the Glass”
game that is designed to engage children.
The Milk Mustache Book: A Behind the Scenes Look at America’s Favorite Advertising Campaign
by Jay Schulberg, Bernie Hogya, and Sal Taiba, Ballantine Books, 1999 tells the story of the milk
mustache campaign and includes most of the ads through its publication date.

The Mere Exposure Effect
The textbook uses Absolut as an example of the mere exposure effect. The instructor can read
Absolute Book: the Absolut Vodka Advertising Story by Richard W. Lewis, Journey Editions,
1996. The book presents the history of Absolut’s creative magazine advertising campaign. It
contains almost 500 ads, including many that were rejected and never shown. Also, go to
Absolut’s Web site at www.absolut.com.

Pleasant Stimuli
See the Absolut Vodka book and site mentioned previously. The textbook cites Absolut as an
example of pleasant stimuli.

Mystery Ads
Some companies are adopting the practice of “mystery marketing,” the practice of making it
difficult to determine what product is being advertised in an ad, or even whether the
communication is an ad at all. To learn why this tactic is being adopted, read “Great Ad. What’s It
For?” by Ellen Neuborne in Business Week on July 20, 1998.
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
Memory
The Exploratorium Web site at www.exploratorium.edu/memory/links.html provides the
instructor with resources for studying human memory. These resources can be used in the class
lecture or out of class.
Students can play five Web games that explore memory. The games focus on recognition,
mnemonics, recall, interference, and STM. To learn more, please visit
http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/cognition/tutorials/index.html.

Brand Naming
NameBase provides branding services for businesses. The site includes examples of brand names
the company has selected and the rationale for their selection. Instructors can ask students what
consumer behavior principles the firm is using in its name selections. Go to
http://www.namebase.com.
PART III: THE PROCESS OF MAKING DECISIONS

Problem Recognition
The Web site http://www.crab.rutgers.edu/~ckaufman/consumerbehaviorprsearchnotes.html has a
plethora of examples involving problem recognition in consumer behavior.

Information Search
This Web site http://www.udel.edu/alex/chapt6.html hosted by University of Delaware is an
excellent resource for students to reinforce information search and many other facets of consumer
behavior.

The five stages of decision making
The Web site http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt05/ has excellent visuals to
help students remember the five stages of decision-making. The site then delves into an example
of evaluating products using Sony products versus others from Consumer Reports. This would be
an excellent resource to start class with or have the students look at.

Decision Making: General Information
Grocery Revolution: The New Focus on the Consumer by Barbara E. Kahn and Leigh McAlister,
Addison Wesley Publishing Co., 1997. Written by two marketing academics, the text discusses
how consumers make decisions in the grocery store and discusses trends for the packaged goods
industry.

Perceptual Mapping
The DSS Research Web site includes a perceptual map. Students can change the attribute
evaluation numbers and see how the map changes. To access this interactive perceptual mapping
example, see www.dssresearch.com/PerceptualMap.

Negative word of mouth
Consumers are now able to post their complaints about products online. Several websites are
devoted to the dissatisfied consumer, including http://www.pissedconsumer.com/ and
http://www.complaints.com/. While many websites discuss what to do about negative word of
mouth, the word of mouth guru write a blog that is dedicated to the topic. This can be found at:
http://wordofmouthguru.wordpress.com/
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
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xxi
Boycotts
For a list of current consumer boycotts, go to:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Issues_and_Causes/Consumer_Advocacy_and_Inform
ation/Consumer_Opinion/Boycotts/

Disposition
Consumers often do not consider that household products may be hazardous if just thrown in the
garbage. The website
http://www.healthgoods.com/Education/Healthy_Home_Information/Home_Health_Hazards/haza
rdous_household_disposal.htm offers a detailed list of hazardous products and how to properly
and safely dispose of them.
PART IV: THE CONSUMER’S CULTURE

Regional
The following Web site from the American Sociological Association provides a series of relevant
links on topics related to “Consumers, Commodities, and Consumption,” at
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dtcook/www/CCC.

Ethnicity: Hispanics
Online portals are targeting Spanish speakers. The “Americas Online” article in the January 2000
issue of Business 2.0 discusses the complexities of reaching the Latino market and provides links
to Latino-oriented sites, including www.starmedia.com.
Hispanic consulting companies are helping all industries understand the nuances of this extremely
fast growing ethnicity. Visit http://www.hispanicbusiness.com and click on research for
information about such a companies.
The Multicultural Marketing Resource Center discusses the importance of Hispanic teens to
marketers, http://www.korzenny.com/.
The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agency details the buying power of the Hispanic
market, trends in Hispanic advertising, Hispanic teens, as well as Hispanic internet usage. Find
this information at http://www.ahaa.org/about/about.htm.
“Hispanic On-line” is a Web portal for the Spanish speaking market. The site can be used to
understand the interests and activities of the Latino market. Go to http://hispaniconline.com.

Ethnicity: African Americans
BET.com, a site affiliated with TV’s Black Entertainment Television and three magazines, is
targeting Black consumers. The site hosts areas for urban life, professionals, women, and families.
Go to www.bet.com. Another site catering to Black Web surfers is www.ebonyjetmag.com.
http://www.marketresearch.com/map/prod/261606.html provides a segmentation of AfricanAmerican consumers to aid in a marketer’s understanding of the unique opportunities and
challenges of marketing to this distinctive target group.
A good Web portal for the Black consumer is “Black Voices,” which can be found at
http://www.blackvoices.com/.
Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
xxii
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
Ethnicity: Asian Americans
Students can go to www.asianinfo.org for a list of Asian magazines and marketing resources to
gain a better understanding of this culture. Additionally a repository of Asian American links can
be found at http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/Asian.links.html.
http://www.asian-nation.org/index.shtml is site on the history, demographics and issues of Asian
Americans including consumption behavior.

Religion
The following Web site by Dr. Lars Perner of the University of California, Riverside,
http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/, tackles many relevant consumer behavior issues such as
the potential effect of religion on a consumer’s social and individual buying behavior.
Lindridge, Andrew (2005) “Religiosity and the Construction of a Cultural-Consumption Identity.”
Journal of Consumer Marketing. Vol. 22, Issue. 3, pp. 143-151, provides insight on the religious
influences on consumers.

Culture and Ethnicity
The Hallmark Web site, located at http://www.hallmark.com/hmk/Website/hallmark_home.jsp,
can be used for a discussion about the variety of groups, rituals, and customs celebrated by
American consumers. The site could serve as a starting point for a discussion on culture-created
occasions and marketer-created occasions.
Marketing relevant journals such as the Journal of Consumer Culture, found at
www.joc.sagepub.com, contain a wealth of information that illustrates many of the course
concepts.
Ad-endum is a site that serves as a repository for multi-cultural media websites,
http://www.adendum.com/search_engines/ethnic_specific_marketing.htm. One can learn about
media planning and buying in multicultural markets as well as telecommunications marketing
opportunities to ethnic groups.
Instructors may want to visit some of the2008 Fortune Global 100 companies’ Web sites. The
following are the names and locations of the Fortune Global Top Ten:
Wal-Mart
Exxon Mobil
Royal Dutch Shell
BP
Toyota Motor
Chevron
ING Group
Total
General Motors
ConocoPhillips

www.walmartstores.com
www.exxonmobil.com
www.shell.com
www.bp.com
www.toyota.co.jp
www.chevron.com
www.ing.com
www.total.com
www.gm.com
www.conocophillips.com
Body Ritual
The article “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner reinforces the cultural diversity
in our world. The article can be used as a starting point for a discussion on cultural diversity and
the importance of understanding the unique attitudes and beliefs of the target group. Available at
https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
xxiii
Jerry Adler writes about body piercing in “Body Art: Marks of Identity at the American Museum
of Natural History,” Newsweek, November 29, 1999 (volume 134, no. 22, pp. 74–76). He
evaluates the piercing exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History and discusses how the
long-suppressed custom of body art is gaining popularity.

Social Class
Have students visit www.thefrugalshopper.com to view a list of resources targeted to the frugal
consumer.
The “Robb Report” Web site explores a lifestyle and the associated luxury items for the wealthy.
The company presents itself as the leading authority on the luxury lifestyle and includes in its
holdings the Robb Report magazine, and Showcase and Luxury Golf Homes & Resorts (“Luxury
Golf”). Available at http://www.robbreport.com/.

Gender
For a study on how men and women use the Internet, go to:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/171/report_display.asp

Gender: Women
Former Nike executive Sue Levin has founded lucy.com, a women’s sporting apparel retailer.
Instructors can provide Conlin’s short online article to their students, as well as log on to the Web
site to discuss techniques lucy.com is using to motivate women to go to the site. See the “Friends
of Lucy” network, which is made up of well-known women athletes; tips for busy women on
exercise, clothes, nutrition, and relaxation; and the creation of the persona of lucy.com, who is
portrayed as an actual woman.
“Hits and Mrs.” by Casey Greenfield contains information on women’s increasing use of the
Internet, what they want a Web site to do for them, and sites regularly frequented by women.
Among the sites discussed are iVillage.com, Oxygen.com, and BreakupGirl.com. The article was
published in Yahoo Internet Life, March 2000, pp. 132–135.
Some websites cater to female consumers in traditionally male domains. For example:
www.femmefan.com is an informational website targeting women sports fans and the stores at
www.nascar.com and www.mlb.com offer women’s products to female NASCAR and baseball
fans.

Gender: Men
The article “Guys Who Dye” by Michael J. Weiss in American Demographics, June 1999,
discusses the interest in maintaining a youthful appearance by middle-aged menAccording to
Consumer Trends Report, male vanity or “manity” is going mass. Men from every demographic
group are realizing they won’t lose their machismo by caring about or improving how they look.
Since 1992, there has been an 80% increase in the number of plastic procedures done on men.
Over the next few years, there will be enormous growth in this industry as men’s desire to achieve
and maintain beauty and youth becomes mainstream. See
http://retailindustry.about.com/library/bl/02q4/bl_trends2003.htm. . An additional report on the
“male vanity movement” can be found at
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/123393/the_rise_of_male_vanity.html

Generational Influences
Susan Mitchell in Generation X: The Young Adult Market, Library Binding, 1997, presents the
U.S. Census data in small doses and shows how the data provide information on spending patterns
and trends. The instructor can use this information for demographic background.
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
Ann Sutherland and Beth Thompson (2003) Kidfluence: The Marketer’s Guide to Understanding
and Researching Generation Y—Kids, Tweens and Teens, includes demographic data and sociocultural trends of young adults born after 1980.

Children
One area of marketing to children that has received much attention lately is the marketing of fast
foods and other unhealthy foods. For a New York Times (July 30, 2008) article on FTC findings
on this topic, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/business/media/30adco.html and for
Guidelines for Responsible Food Marketing to Children developed by the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, Washington, DC, go to http://www.cspinet.org/marketingguidelines.pdf
The following Web sites are good examples of companies that are reaching out to the children’s
market:
Sports Illustrated for Kids
Time Magazine for Kids
Disney
Colgate Kids’ World
http://www.sikids.com/
http://www.timeforkids.com
http://disney.go.com/index
http://www.colgate.com/app/KidsWorld/US/HomePage.cvsp
Students could visit these sites and evaluate the techniques the companies are using to gain and
maintain children’s interest.
For a list of other good websites for kids, go to www.kidsites.com. or www.kids.gov.

Teenagers
The following website details the difference between marketing to teenagers and other segments
of the population: http://www.marketingprofs.com/Faqs/showfaq.asp?ID=158&CatID=3
For information on how to market to teenagers using social networks, see the article found at
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/06/marketing-to-teens-social-networking.html. An other
article also looks at how to market to teenagers online and can be found at
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2007/tc2007117_522831.htm
For a list of the 2007 best marketing communications campaigns to teens, go to
http://www.nowpublic.com/opinions/design-and-marketing-teenagers-my-top-10-2007-0

Generation Y
Ann Sutherland and Beth Thompson (2003) Kidfluence: The Marketer’s Guide to Understanding
and Researching Generation Y—Kids, Tweens and Teens, includes demographic data and sociocultural trends of young adults born after 1980.
To initiate a discussion about what’s on the mind of Generation Y, have your students visit a site
run, made, and started by teens. Go to http://www.student.com/.

Generation X
Generation X has been traditionally defined as being disenfranchised and disillusioned. However,
a new book disputes this image of the generation. Jeff Gordiner,s, 2008, X Saves the World: How
Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking, describes
accomplishments of this maligned generation in an entertaining way.
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
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xxv
Baby Boomers
“Baby Boomer Net” is a Web portal for the Boomer generation. It includes “Cool Links,” the
“Boomernet Radio Guide,” and Boomer daily news. Available at http://www.boomernet.com/.
Many websites target Baby Boomers, for examples look at: http://www.aginghipsters.com/ and
http://www.babyboomers.com/. In addition, there are several books and articles that examine
marketing to Baby Boomers. For example, Brent Green’s, 2005, Marketing to Leading Edge
Baby Boomers and the article New York Times article found at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/weekinreview/06duhigg.html both examine marketing to
this aging market.

50+ and Seniors
The http://www.seniormag.com/business/marketingtoseniors.htm gives an overview of the
growing need for marketers to target seniors.
Topics such as consumer vulnerability, experience with major fraud, and product/service
dissatisfaction among 50+ consumers are addressed at the American Association of Retired
Persons site, http://research.aarp.org/research

Social Influence
The Influence at Work Web site provides students with “a brief introduction for students of
influence, using examples from courtrooms to cults, from Aristotle to George Bush, to illustrate
the power of persuasion.” Go to http://www.influenceatwork.com/.
Word of mouth (WOM) yields an extremely potent influence on consumer behavior. Read “The
Buzz Machine” by Rick Martin and Sarah van Boven in Newsweek, July 27, 1998 to see how the
Web is affecting the power of WOM on an exponential basis.
A look at Sephora’s (www.sephora.com) In Girl Program is a good example of peer-to-peer
marketing that has worked well: http://www.internetretailer.com/internet/marketingconference/68439-online-peer-to-peer-marketing-program-winner-sephoracom.html
For up to the date information and trends in viral and social marketing, look at David Meerman
Scott’s webpage: www.davidmeermanscott.com. He has written several books including The
New Rules of Marketing and PR.

Lifestyles
Instructors could have students examine a variety of lifestyle sites and discuss what they can
ascertain about each group from the site. Sample sites included:
Veg Source (a vegetarian site)
Vegetarian Dating Service
Sierra Club (environmental)
Harley Davidson owners
Barbie doll collectors
http://www.vegsource.com/
www.veggiedate.com
www.sierraclub.org
www.hog.com
http://www.barbiecollector.c
om/
Some companies have websites that appeal to their target market’s interests and values. For
example, Lexus, the luxury automobile manufacturer, recently introduced www.LStudio.com, a
website with short episodes starring Lisa Kudrow or written by Sex & The City writers. The
content rarely mentions Lexus and the brand is only occasionally shown on the web site.
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xxvi

Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
Personality
This excellent FREE program will help students see which side of their brain they utilize more. It
is highly interactive software that gives them an overview of their mannerisms/tendencies. It is an
excellent tool to help students see the importance of understanding consumers. The brain.exe
program is available at http://www.rcw.bc.ca/test/personality.html.
You can have students complete the Keirsey Personality Character and Temperament Sorter at
http://www.keirsey.com/. You also can purchase self-scoring tests and descriptions (at reasonable
prices) if you prefer to work offline. The materials include temperament, leadership styles, and
types of intelligence.
A variety of psychological tests are available at www.queendom.com/test_frm.html. Topics
include intelligence, coping, concentration, visual memory, extroversion/introversion, leadership,
social anxiety, emotional IQ, and other personality tests.
The well-known VALS (Values and Lifestyles) survey categorizes U.S consumers into groups
based on their psychology and several key demographics. The survey emphasizes and highlights
motivations for consumer buying behavior. Try taking the survey with and without inputting your
income level to see how results change. Go to The well-known VALS (Values and Lifestyles)
survey categorizes U.S consumers into groups based on their psychology and several key
demographics. The survey emphasizes and highlights motivations for consumer buying behavior.
Try taking the survey with and without inputting your income level to see how results change. Go
to http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/presurvey.shtml

Brand Naming – Subjective Comprehension
The brandchannel.com site helps to explain the process of naming brands, and establishing brand
equity. An excellent article entitled, “Choosing a Powerful Brand Name” is linked here
http://www.brandchannel.com/brand_speak.asp?bs_id=122 This article will help students
understand the complexity of naming a brand.
PART V: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR OUTCOMES
Why do consumers engage in risky leisure behaviors, a study on extreme sports by Joan Raymond
discusses these consumers, “Going to Extremes”, American Demographics, June 1, 2002 can be found
at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2002_June_1/ai_88679068. In addition, companies
such as X-Sport Marketing have been formed that specialize in marketing extreme sports. This
company’s website can be found at: http://www.xsportmarketing.com/
Americans value their pets and marketers recognize the potential in the pet supply market. John Fetto’s
article “Pets Can Drive,” American Demographics, March 2000, provides information, including
statistics, on consumers’ relationships with their pets.

Diffusion of Innovation
The following page: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/#Diffusion explains in very easy to
understand terms for students the concept of diffusion of innovation. The author lists some
examples to help reinforce to students the key concepts.
This website http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/99_fall/theory/millman/Diffusion.htm
explains the history of the diffusion of innovation with real world examples. This website would
be an excellent resource for students to garner new knowledge on this difficult concept.
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Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites
xxvii
PC World lists the 25 most innovative computer products of 2007 on the webpage:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/140663/the_25_most_innovative_products_of_the_year.html and
Real Simple magazine lists the 25 innovative problem-solvers on the webpage:
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/0,21863,1225693,00.html

Symbolic Consumer Behavior
The following website http://www.gentleye.com/research/cb/symblcb.html explains the concept
of symbolic consumer behavior. There are several links to scholarly articles, which would be an
excellent resource for students to write a paper or to learn several facets of symbolic consumer
behavior.

Learning about Consumers and Their Behaviors
The following Web sites offer data on consumer behavior. Check out
AC Nielsen Corp. at AC Nielsen Corp. at http://www.acnielsen.com/
Maritz Marketing Research at www.maritzresearch.com
Nielsen Media Research, the leading provider of television information at Nielsen Media
Research, the leading provider of television information at http://www.nielsenmedia.com/

Consumer Groups
The following sites and articles can be used to expand the text material on various consumer
interest organizations.
The Green Party of New Jersey http://www.gpnj.org ) presents an article on the life of Ralph
Nader, founder of the Center for Study of Responsive Law. It is available at
www.gpnj.org/nosale.html. Students can read this article to set the stage for examining Nader’s
latest issues. Also, go to The Public Citizen at http://www.citizen.org/ and the Nader Page,
http://www.nader.org/
Consumers Union is a nonprofit product testing and information organization and the publisher of
Consumer Reports magazine. Instructors can access the Web site at www.consumersunion.org for
information about current consumer issues. Students could use this information to prepare position
papers on these key issues.
Action for Children’s Television is a national grassroots organization founded to ensure quality
and diversity in television programming for children and adolescents and to eliminate commercial
abuses directed at children. The Web site is located at
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/actionforch/actionforch.htm. The site recounts the
founder of Action for Children’s’ Television and the good it has done. Students could use this
information to prepare position papers on key issues.
Additional Web sites of consumer groups are:
National Consumer’s League
Better Business Bureau
National Wildlife Federation
Environmental Defense Fund
http://www.natlconsumersleague.org/
www.bbb.com/
www.nwf.org/
www.edf.org/
The Consumer Review Web site at www.ConsumerReview.com is an example of how word of
mouth is being used on the Web. The site provides consumer reviews in numerous product
categories.
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xxviii Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites

Government Organizations
Many government agencies look after consumer interests. Some of their Web sites are:
Federal Trade Commission––Office of Consumer Protection:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.sht. This site provides government regulations regarding many
topics, including advertising, autos, privacy, and telemarketing.
The Food and Drug Administration:
Federal Communications Commission:
Consumer Product Safety Commission:
The Environmental Protection Agency:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

www.fda.gov
www.fcc.gov
www.cpsc.gov
www.epa.gov
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
Dark Side of Consumer Behavior
The American Obesity Association’s website: http://www.obesity.org/ lists statistics on obesity
and how it is affecting Americans. They have a section that explains the childhood obesity
epidemic that is prevalent in America. This will give students a better understanding of the
problem with obesity and help them to understand that marketers need to understand this is a
disease no differently then alcoholism.
The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Obesity section of its website at
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/ explains the health ramifications of obesity. This site
will give students a better understanding of the health issues that come with obesity.
Have students go to http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/ where the article describes
businesses’ responsibility in the obesity epidemic affecting this country. This article could be used
as a discussion on why marketers have to be careful when the public/government is looking into
reducing obesity.
The report available at http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/22/609/0.pdf describes ethical
ways for marketers to portray healthy eating and physical activity. This article should give
students an overview of the balance marketers are trying to follow in regards to obesity and
health.
Gambling is becoming a major problem in many areas of the United States. Have students go to
http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/newsletter/FPN_4_7.html where they describe the issues
regarding gambling and its effect on society. With students having an interest in gambling, it is a
good idea to give them the facts to understand that gambling can become an addiction. In
addition, the National Council on Problem Gambling website can be found at:
http://www.ncpgambling.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1

Identity Theft
This is an important topic and one that students should be concerned about from a marketing and
personal standpoint.
The Federal Trade Commissions’ website http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ explains
the problem of identity theft and how people can avoid it. There are many statistics and
information in this site.
This Web site http://computer.howstuffworks.com/identity-theft.htm not only explains what
identity theft is and how to avoid it. It has several newspaper articles where people have become
the victims of identity theft. This would make excellent class discussion.
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