Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time, 2009a

in creating and maintaining it. In a study of the market leaders in thirty product categories, twentyseven
of the brands that were number one in 1930 (such as Ivory Soap and Campbell’s Soup) still were
at the top over fifty years later. [4] Clearly “choose a well-known brand name” is a powerful heuristic.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Some purchases matter to us a lot more than others, so it makes sense that we don’t devote the same
amount of attention to advertising for every idea, product, or service. An advertiser needs to appreciate
how involved her customers are likely to be; we are more likely to search out detailed information for
products that are highly involving to us. In other cases we tend to fall back on heuristics, “rules of thumb”
that reflect well-learned rules (such as “it must be better if it costs more”).
EXERCISES
a. Take a common product or service and demonstrate the decision-making process that an average
consumer would go through when purchasing it.
b. Consumer motivation is very important to marketers and advertisers. Describe how involvement and
perceived risk are used to heighten consumer motivation.
c. What is a heuristic? How do marketers and advertisers use heuristics to achieve brand loyalty?
[1] Nancy Michael, “Customer Loyalty: Elusive, but Critical,” ABA Banking Journal 99, no. 2 (2007): 42.
[2] Roger Slavens, “Understand Client Priorities, Then Deliver Solutions” B to B, March 12, 2007, 24.
[3] Beverley Sparks, Ken Butcher, and Grace Pan, “Understanding Customer-Derived Value in the Timeshare
Industry,” Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly 48 (February 2007): 28.
[4] Richard W. Stevenson, “The Brands with Billion-Dollar Names,” New York Times, October 28, 1988, A1.
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