There are four common types of consumer behavior: habitual buying, complex buying, variety-seeking, and dissonance-reducing buying behavior (American Marketing Association, 2024). Dissonance-reducing behavior occurs when purchasing products/services with high involvement but low differences (Jacquerye, 2020). The behavior derives from cognitive dissonance theory, which is a subset of cognitive theory. Cognitive theory is the study of how people think. In reference to marketing, let's simplify it further. Cognitive theory suggests that people experience varying degrees of negative effects when they detect differences between their perception and reality (Cancino-Montecinos et al., 2020). For the sake of this post, we will focus on the consumer journey as opposed to the science behind cognitive theory.
Cespedes and Nunes (2003) took a different approach to consumer behaviors, segmenting them into habitual, high-value deal seekers, variety-loving, and high-involvement shoppers. We used their framework and applied the purchasing process of high-value deal seekers to dissonance-reducing behavior. Let’s dive into purchasing a TV as an example.
Your TV is no longer compatible with new wireless connectivity options, which triggers the thought that it may be time to purchase a new TV. As you search for a new TV online, you realize it might be easier to walk into a store. You visit your local electronics store and walk over to the TV aisle. You evaluate the different options and find yourself staring at a wall where the TVs are almost identical. As you read the specifications, you notice many unfamiliar acronyms, so you call over an employee who knows about TVs. They begin to explain the differences. When you turn on the TV in your home, you are happy with the sound and picture quality.
Do customers exhibit dissonance buying behavior when purchasing your product/service? How do we leverage our understanding of this consumer behavior to market our offers more efficiently? One approach is breaking down the customer selection process and explaining why it works for that specific use case. In the TV example, we find that it can be daunting to make a selection, and we quickly realize that it takes work to understand the differences despite having some knowledge of TV technology. One retailer had the real estate and took a common approach. They created multiple living spaces containing these products, showcased in the sections. Additionally, when you walk into one area, they display alternatives. They used lighting and other factor to show how the TV would look in different spaces and explained the technology to help create a more seamless decision process for their consumers.
This approach is common in the furniture industry. Think of creative ways to present your products and services to make them easy for consumers to digest. How can this be done with a service? One approach is to present a use case—for example, present common scenarios where other customers purchase based on their goals or needs. Software companies do this by displaying comparative specification sheets and then suggesting the application based on team sizes, for example, good for teams with 5-10, 10-20, and 20+ members. Break down how the team will likely interact with each package, allowing the customer to visualize how it will operate within their use case.
American Marketing Association (2024). Consumer behavior. American Marketing Association. https://www.ama.org/topics/consumer-behavior/
Cancino-Montecinos, S., Björklund, F., & Lindholm, T. (2020). A General Model of Dissonance Reduction: Unifying Past Accounts via an Emotion Regulation Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 540081–540081. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.540081
Cespedes, F. & Nunes, P. (2003). The customer has escaped. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2003/11/the-customer-has-escaped
Jacquerye, F. (2020). Understanding luxury brand equity through consumer purchase decision. Medium. https://medium.com/woodshores/understanding-luxury-brand-equity-through-consumer-purchase-decision-5959577df596
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