Chapter Five:

Evaluating and Selecting

Alternatives

5-1

Evaluating and selecting alternatives

A further step in the consumer decision making
process

5-2

Chapter 5: Evaluating and selecting

alternatives
1. The nature of evaluative criteria
2. Tools for the measurement of evaluative
3.
4.
5.
6.

criteria
Consumers individual judgments are not
necessarily accurate
Role of surrogate indicators
Types of decision rules consumers may
apply
Implications of evaluative criteria for
marketing strategy
5-3

Evaluation of alternatives
Evaluation criteria
Price
Brand name
Country of origin
Determinants of criteria
Measurement of evaluation criteria
Identify important criteria
Perception of each product for these
Alternative performance of each product

5-4

Evaluation of alternatives (cont.)

Determining the alternatives
Evaluating alternatives
Selecting a decision rule
Non-compensatory
Compensatory
Constructive
Phased
Marketing implications

5-5

How Consumers Make Choices

Rational choice theory assumes the consumer has
sufficient skills to calculate which option will maximize
his/her value, and will choose on this basis.

The task is to identify or discover the one optimal
choice.

The decision maker collects information levels of
attributes across alternatives, applies the appropriate
choice rule, and the superior option is revealed.

5-6

How Consumers Make Choices

In reality, all consumers have bounded rationality

A limited capacity for processing information.
Consumers also often have goals that are different from, or
in addition to, selecting the optimal alternative.

A metagoal refers to the general nature of the
outcome being sought.

5-7

How Consumers Make Choices

Metagoals in Decision Making
Maximize the accuracy of the decision
Minimize the cognitive effort required for the decision
Minimize the experience of negative emotion
Maximize the ease of justifying the decision

5-8

How Consumers Make Choices

Three types of consumer choice processes:
1. Affective Choice
2. Attitude-Based Choice
3. Attribute-Based Choice

5-9

How Consumers Make Choices

Affective Choice
Affective choices tend to be more holistic. Brand not
decomposed into distinct components for separate evaluation.
Evaluations generally focus on how they will make the user feel
as they are used.

Choices are often based

primarily on the immediate
emotional response to the
product or service.

5-10

How Consumers Make Choices

Affective Choice
Affective choice most likely under consummatory motives.

Consummatory motives underlie behaviors that are
intrinsically rewarding to the individual involved.

Instrumental motives activate behaviors designed to
achieve a second goal.

5-11

How Consumers Make Choices

Attribute- versus Attitude-Based Choice Processes
Attribute-Based Choice

Attitude-Based Choice

Requires the knowledge of

specific attributes at the
time the choice is made,
and it involves attribute-byattribute comparisons
across brands.

Involves the use of general

attitudes, summary
impressions, intuitions, or
heuristics; no attribute-byattribute comparisons are
made at the time of choice.

5-12

How Consumers Make Choices

Attribute-Based versus Attitude-Based Choice Processes

Motivation, information availability, and situational factors

interact to determine which choice process will be used.

Example: the easier it is to access complete
attribute-by-brand information, the more likely attributebased processing will be used.

So, brands with attribute advantages but lacking
strong reputations

Should provide attribute comparisons in an easy-toprocess format in their marketing and packaging.
5-13

How Consumers Make Choices

Attribute-Based versus Attitude-Based Choice Processes
Many decisions, even for important products, appear to be
attitude-based.
Thus, marketers often have a dual task:
1. Provide promotions that resonate with consumers
making attitude-based choices.
2. Provide performance and supporting information to
create preference for consumers making attributebased choices.

5-14

Evaluative Criteria

Evaluative criteria - various

dimensions, features, or
benefits sought in response
to a specific problem.
Most decisions involve an
assessment of one or more
evaluative criteria.

5-15

Evaluative Criteria
Nature of Evaluative Criteria
Evaluative criteria are typically product features or
attributes associated with either benefits desired by
customers or the costs they must incur.
Evaluative criteria can differ in

type

number

importance

5-16

Alternative evaluation and

selection process

5-17

Perceived performance of six mobile

phones in relation to six evaluative criteria

5-18

Importance of evaluative criteria to

three buyers

5-19

The measurement of
evaluative criteria
To enable the marketing manager to develop

a sound strategy they must determine:

Which evaluative criteria are used by
the consumer
How the consumer perceives alternative
products in terms of each criterion
The relative importance of each
criterion

5-20

Determining evaluative criteria to use

Direct methods

Asking consumers
Focus groups
Observation
Indirect methods
Projective techniques
Perceptual mapping

5-21

Evaluative Criteria
Determination of Which Evaluative Criteria Are Used
1. Direct methods include asking consumers what criteria
they use in a particular purchase.
2. Indirect techniques assume consumers will not or cannot
state their evaluative criteria.

Projective techniques - allow the respondent to

indicate the criteria someone else might use.

Perceptual mapping - researcher uses judgment to

determine dimensions underlying consumer
evaluations of brand similarity.

5-22

Perceptual mapping of soap brands

5-23

Uses of perceptual mapping

We use this method to help us understand

consumers perceptions and the evaluative

criteria they use
We can use this information to determine:
How different brands are positioned according
to evaluative criteria
How the positions of brands change in
response to marketing efforts
How to position new products using evaluative
criteria
5-24

Determining consumers judgments

of brand performance in terms of
specific evaluative criteria
Rank-ordering scales
Semantic-differential scales (see

table on page 130)

Likert scales

5-25

Evaluative Criteria
Determination of the Relative Importance of
Evaluative Criteria
The importance assigned to evaluative criteria can be
measured either by direct or by indirect methods.

The constant sum scale is the most common direct
method.

5-26

Determining the relative importance of evaluative

criteria - constant sum method
Evaluative criteria

Importance (in points)

Price

20

Size

15

Warranty

15

Quality of digital camera

Compatibility with email system

10

Ease of use

35

Total

100

5-27

Determining the relative importance

of evaluative criteria (cont.)
Indirect methods

Conjoint analysis: a technique that

provides data on the structure of
consumers preferences for product
features and their willingness to trade one
feature for more of another.

5-28

Evaluative Criteria
Determination of the Relative Importance of
Evaluative Criteria
Conjoint analysis is the most popular indirect method.

Conjoint presents consumes with a set of product
descriptions which they evaluate.

Statistical analysis is used to derive attribute importance
from these overall evaluations.

5-29

One possible application of conjoint

analysis

5-30

Using conjoint analysis to determine the

importance of evaluative criteria

5-31

Individual Judgment and Evaluative Criteria

Accuracy of Individual Judgments
Consumers can have difficulty judging competing brands
on complex evaluative criteria such as quality or durability.

Consumers can and do make such judgments.

But even seemingly simple judgments such as price
comparisons can be complex!

The inability of consumers to accurately evaluate
many products can result in inappropriate purchases.

This is a major concern of marketing regulators.
5-32

Individual Judgment and Evaluative Criteria

The Relative Importance and Influence of Evaluative
Criteria
Factors influencing the importance of various criteria:

Usage situation

Competitive context

Advertising effects

5-33

Individual judgment and

evaluative criteria
The accuracy of individual judgments
1.

Use of a surrogate indicator

2.

Sensory discrimination

3.

Just-noticeable difference
5-34

Sensory discrimination and JND

Read details on pages 133-134
We will touch on JND in a later lecture on

Perception
Important BB topic

1-35

Use of surrogate indicators

Consumers frequently use an observable
attribute of a product to indicate the
performance of the product on a less
observable attribute
Reliance depends on:

Predictive value

Confidence value

5-36

Individual Judgment and Evaluative Criteria

Use of Surrogate Indicators
A Surrogate indicator is an attribute used to stand for or
indicate another attribute.
For example, consumers often use the following factors as
surrogate indicators of quality (a.k.a. quality signals):

price

advertising intensity

warranties

brand

country of origin
5-37

Use of surrogate indicators (cont.)

Price
Used to judge the perceived quality of a large rang
of goods
Brand
Often used as a surrogate indicator of quality

E.g. jeans

5-38

Use of price to indicate the quality of

jewellery

5-39

Individual Judgment and Evaluative Criteria

Evaluative Criteria, Individual Judgments, and Marketing
Strategy
1. Marketers must understand the evaluative criteria
consumers use and develop products that excel on
these features.
2. Marketers must understand consumer use of surrogate
indicators.
3. Marketers must understand the factors influencing
consumer perceptions of the importance of evaluative
criteria.

5-40

Evaluative criteria, individual

judgments and marketing strategy
Consumers use surrogate indicators

Marketers can ensure that their products

are superior for these criteria by:

Making direct reference to them in
ads

Using brand names

Using celebrity endorsement

Using country-of-origin

5-41

Use of celebrity endorsement

5-42

Use of country of origin

5-43

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Choice rules can be characterized as either compensatory
and non-compensatory.

A compensatory rule high level of one attribute can
offset a low level of another.

Non-compensatory rules high level of one attribute
cannot offset a low level of another.

5-44

Decision rules used by consumers

Conjunctive
Disjunctive
Elimination-by-aspects
Lexicographic
Compensatory

5-45

Decision rules used by consumers

(cont.)

5-46

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Choosing Between Six Notebook Computers
Final Choice Depends on Decision Rule Being Used

Note: here we use the example of choosing between

brands of notebooks.
5-47

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Conjunctive Rule:
Rule
Establishes minimum required
performance for each evaluative
criterion.
Selects the first (or all) brand(s) that
meet or exceed these minimum
standards.

Price

Weight

Processor

Battery life

After-sale support

Display quality

If minimum performance was:

5-48

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Conjunctive Rule
WinBook, Dell, IBM, and Toshiba are eliminated
because they fail to meet all the minimum standards.

Minimum
3
4
3
1
2
3

5-49

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Disjunctive Rule:
Rule
Establishes a minimum required
performance for each important
attribute (often a high level).

Price

Weight

Processor

Not critical

All brands that meet or exceed the

performance level for any key
attribute are acceptable.

Battery life

Not critical

After-sale support

Not critical

Display quality

If minimum performance was:

5-50

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Disjunctive Rule
WinBook, Compaq, and Dell meet minimum for at least
one important criterion and thus are acceptable.

Minimum
5
5
5

5-51

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Elimination-by-Aspects Rule
First, evaluative criteria ranked in
terms of importance
Second, cutoff point for each
criterion is established.
Finally (in order of attribute
importance) brands are
eliminated if they fail to meet or
exceed the cutoff.

Rank

Cutoff

Price

Weight

Display quality

Processor

After-sale
support

Battery life

If rank and cutoff were:

5-52

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Elimination-by-Aspects Rule
Step 1: Price eliminates IBM and Toshiba
Step 2: Weight eliminates WinBook
Step 3: Of remaining brands (HP, Compaq, Dell),
only Dell meets or exceeds display quality minimum.

Minimum
3
4
3
3
3
4
5-53

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Lexicographic Decision Rule
Consumer ranks the criteria in order of importance.
Then selects brand that performs best on the most important
attribute.
If two or more brands tie, they are evaluated on the second
most important attribute. This continues through the attributes
until one brand outperforms the others.
WinBook would be chosen because it performs best on Price,
our consumers most important attribute.
5-54

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Compensatory Decision Rule
The compensatory decision rule states that the brand that
rates highest on the sum of the consumers judgments of
the relevant evaluative criteria will be chosen.

5-55

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Compensatory Decision Rule
Importance Score

Assume the following

importance weights:
Using this rule, Dell has the
highest preference and
would be chosen.

Price

30

Weight

25

Processor

10

Battery life

05

After-sale support

10

Display quality

20

Total

100

The calculation for Dell is:

5-56

Decision Rules for Attribute-Based Choices

Summary of Resulting Choices from Different Decision
Rules

5-57

Note in your text

They use the example of mobile phones

instead of notebooks
Go through pages 138-141
Understand the decision rules
The rankings of the brands (depending on the
decision rule) are as follows:

1-58

Alternative decision rules and

selection of a mobile phone
Decision rule

Brand choice

Conjunctive

Samsung, Nokia

Disjunctive

Motorola, Samsung, Sony

Erickson

Elimination-by-aspects

Motorola

Lexicographic

Sony Erickson

Compensatory

Motorola

5-59

Summary of the decision rules

1. Conjunctive

Brands that meet a minimum level on each evaluative criterion

2. Disjunctive

Brands that meet a satisfactory level on any relevant evaluative

criteria

3. Elimination-by-aspects

Rank brands on evaluative criteria

Select highest ranking brands until only one is left

4. Lexicographic

Rank brands on evaluative criteria importance

Select the one that is highest on most important criteria

5. Compensatory

Select brand that has the highest score over all the relevant
evaluative criteria

5-60

Understanding target buyers decision

rules to achieve product positioning

5-61

Summary of topics in this chapter

We have discussed:
The nature of evaluative criteria
Tools for the measurement of evaluative
criteria
Consumers individual judgments are not
necessarily accurate
Role of surrogate indicators
Types of decision rules consumers may apply
Implications of evaluative criteria for
marketing strategy
5-62