7.2 Low-Involvement Versus High-Involvement Buying Decisions and the Consumer’s Decision-Making Process
Depending on a consumer’s experience and knowledge, some consumers may be able to make quick purchase decisions, and other consumers may need to get information and be more involved in the decision process before making a purchase. The level of involvement reflects how important or interested you are in consuming a product and how much information you need to decide.
The level of involvement in buying decisions may be considered a continuum from fairly routine decisions (consumers are not very involved) to decisions that require extensive thought and a high level of involvement. Whether a decision is low, high, or limited, involvement varies by consumer, not by product, although some products, such as purchasing a house, typically require a high involvement for all consumers. Consumers with no experience purchasing a product may have more involvement than someone who is replacing a product.
Low Involvement Purchasing
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. Consumers often engage in routine response behaviour when they make low-impulse buying involvement decisions—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 behaviour. 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. Similarly, if you run out of Diet Coke at home, you may buy more without any information search.
Some low-involvement purchases are made with no planning or previous thought. These buying decisions are called impulse buying. While you’re waiting to check out at the grocery store, perhaps you see a magazine with a famous person on the cover and buy it on the spot simply because you want it. You might see a roll of tape at a check-out stand and remember you need to impulse buy one, or you might see a bag of chips and realize you’re hungry or just want them. These are items that are typically low-involvement decisions. Low-involvement decisions aren’t necessarily products purchased on impulse, although they can be.
High-Involvement Purchasing
By contrast, high-involvement decisions carry a higher risk to buyers if they fail, are complex, and/or have high price tags. A car, a house, and an insurance policy are examples. These items are not purchased often but are relevant and important to the buyer. Buyers don’t engage in routine response behaviour when purchasing high-involvement products. Instead, consumers engage in what’s called extended problem solving, where they spend a lot of time comparing different aspects, such as the features of the products, prices, and warranties.
High-involvement decisions can cause buyers a great deal of postpurchase dissonance (anxiety) if they are unsure about their purchases or if they have a difficult time deciding between two alternatives. Companies that sell high-involvement products are aware 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 may be utilized to answer questions and do a lot of customer “hand-holding.”
Customers Limit Involvement When Able
Advertising Considerations
Products, such as chewing gum, which may be low-involvement for many consumers, often use advertising, such as commercials and sales promotions, such as coupons, to reach many consumers at once. Companies also try to sell products such as gum in as many locations as possible. Many products that are typically high-involvement, such as automobiles, may use more personal selling to answer consumers’ questions. Brand names can also be very important regardless of the consumer’s level of purchasing involvement. Consider a low- versus high-involvement decision—say, purchasing a tube of toothpaste versus a new car. You might routinely buy your favourite brand of toothpaste, not thinking much about the purchase (engage in routine response behaviour), 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 brand or brand. For example, in the 1970s, American-made cars had such a poor reputation for quality that 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 manufacturers of products that are typically high-involvement decisions can’t become complacent about the value of their brands.
1970s American Cars
Today, Lexus is the automotive brand that experiences the most customer loyalty. For a humorous, tongue-in-cheek look at why the brand reputation of American carmakers suffered in the 1970s, check out this clip.
Video: “Why 1970s American Cars are Awful | Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld” by Top Gear [2:18] is licensed under the Standard Youtube License. Captions and transcripts are available on YouTube.
Key Takeaways
- Consumer behaviour looks at the many reasons why people buy things and later dispose of them.
- A consumer’s level of involvement is how interested he or she is in buying and consuming a product.
- Low-involvement products are usually inexpensive and pose a low risk to the buyer if he or she makes a mistake by purchasing them.
- High-involvement products carry a high risk to the buyer if they fail, are complex, or have high price tags. Limited-involvement products fall somewhere in between.
“3.2 Low-Involvement Versus High-Involvement Buying Decisions and the Consumer’s Decision-Making Process” from Principles of Marketing by [Author removed at the request of original publisher] is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—modifications: added headings; removed learning objectives, exercises and review questions, and Stages in the Buying Process.
