Consumer Behavior (MBA) Decision Making 1. Think of some common country of origin effects (e.g., watches, wine). Which ones affect your consumer choices? Provide some specific examples. What could brands from other countries do to compete with such effects? 2. Read the explanations and examples of noncompensatory and compensatory decision rules provided below. Then think about when you have made a noncompensatory purchase decision and a compensatory purchase decision. Explain your examples. Why did one rule format work for one situation but not for the other? Explain. Criteria (and Importance score and ranking) Consumer perceptions (1=very poor; 5=very good) Cut-off point Acer HP Compaq Dell Price (20; 3rd) 5 2 3 4 3 Weight (15; 4th) 3 4 5 4 4 Processor (30; 1st) 2 3 1 3 3 Battery life (25; 2nd) 5 5 5 3 3 Noncompensatory rules: (1) The lexicographic rule requires the consumer to rank the criteria in order of importance. The consumer then selects the brand that performs best on the most important attribute. If two or more brands tie on this attribute, they are evaluated on the second most important attribute. This continues through the attributes until one brand outperforms the others. In the above example, the consumer would choose HP. (2) The elimination-by-aspects rule requires the consumer to rank the evaluative criteria in terms of their importance and to establish a cutoff point for each criterion. All brands are first considered on the most important criterion. Those that do not meet the cutoff point are dropped from consideration. If more than one brand remains in the set after this first elimination phase, the process is repeated on those brands for the second most important criterion. This continues until only one brand remains. In the above example, the consumer would choose HP. (3) The conjunctive rule establishes minimum required performance standards for each evaluative criterion and selects the first brand or all brands that meet or exceed these minimum standards. In the above example, the consumer would choose Dell. Compensatory rules: (1) The simple additive rule requires the consumer to choose the brand that has the largest number of positive attributes or the highest total sum score on its ratings on all criteria. In the above example, the consumer would choose Acer. (2) The weighted additive rule is a variation of the simple additive rule, which involves multiplying the brand’s rating on each attribute by the importance score attached to the attribute. In the above example, the consumer would choose Acer.