MRA Consumer Behavior & Psychology 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which cognitive bias causes consumers to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they encounter when making decisions?
- Confirmation bias
- Anchoring bias (Correct answer)
- Availability heuristic
- Framing effect
Correct answer: Anchoring bias
Anchoring bias occurs when consumers over-rely on the first information presented, such as an initial price, which skews subsequent judgments.
Question 2: In Maslow's hierarchy, which need must be satisfied before a consumer pursues esteem-related purchases?
- Self-actualization
- Physiological
- Belongingness/love (Correct answer)
- Safety
Correct answer: Belongingness/love
Maslow's hierarchy places belongingness and love needs (social acceptance, friendship) below esteem needs, so they must be satisfied first.
Question 3: A consumer purchases an expensive gym membership but rarely attends. To reduce discomfort, they emphasize how the membership improves their identity. This is an example of:
- Post-purchase rationalization (Correct answer)
- Variety-seeking behavior
- Impulse buying
- Habitual decision-making
Correct answer: Post-purchase rationalization
Post-purchase rationalization (a form of cognitive dissonance reduction) leads consumers to justify past decisions to align behavior with self-image.
Question 4: Which theory suggests that consumers form attitudes through careful evaluation of product attributes when motivation and ability to process information are high?
- Peripheral route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model
- Classical conditioning
- Central route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Correct answer)
- Social learning theory
Correct answer: Central route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model
The central route of the ELM involves high-effort cognitive processing of argument quality when consumers are motivated and able to think carefully.
Question 5: When a market researcher finds that consumers in a focus group agree with a dominant speaker rather than sharing true opinions, this phenomenon is called:
- Demand characteristics
- Groupthink (Correct answer)
- Social desirability bias
- Observer effect
Correct answer: Groupthink
Groupthink occurs when group members suppress dissenting opinions to maintain harmony, distorting the data collected in qualitative research.
Question 6: A retailer places premium products at eye level and lower-margin items on bottom shelves. This strategy leverages which consumer psychology principle?
- Mere exposure effect
- Visual hierarchy and attention (Correct answer)
- Scarcity principle
- Reciprocity norm
Correct answer: Visual hierarchy and attention
Visual hierarchy exploits the fact that eye-level placement captures the most consumer attention, influencing purchase decisions through spatial psychology.
Question 7: Which psychological concept explains why consumers tend to purchase more items when a store uses smaller shopping carts?
- Contrast effect
- Mental accounting (Correct answer)
- Endowment effect
- Relative judgment
Correct answer: Mental accounting
Mental accounting leads consumers to feel they haven't 'filled their budget' when a smaller cart looks full quickly, prompting fewer total purchases—or conversely, larger carts make them spend more.
MRA Consumer Behavior & Psychology 2
Which cognitive bias causes consumers to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they encounter when making decisions?