Consumer Behaviour: Applications in Marketing

What′s the best day to advertise groceries? Does a lookalike damage the brand it mimics? Do your long-term customers recommend you more than others? How damaging is negative word of mouth? Should retailers use 9-ending prices? These are some of the fascinating questions you will explore in this text.

The text is written by respected marketing academics across the globe with a strong focus on the use of research to help higher-level students develop analytical and evidence-based thinking in marketing. It extends beyond a psychological approach to provide an empirical understanding of the subject for success in industry roles or further research in the field, and takes into consideration not just the individual but the market environment.

New to this second edition:

- Fully updated with contemporary, global examples and case studies to encourage an international readership

- Further coverage of cross-cultural comparison, including a new chapter on Consumer Differences which also incorporates age and gender differences

- Study features such as exercises, questions/answers, and a fully updated companion website with lecturer and student resources - www.sagepub.co.uk/east2e

This textbook is essential reading for postgraduate students (MA, MSc, MBA) taking courses in consumer behaviour and undergraduate students specialising in consumer behaviour.

Robert East is emeritus professor at Kingston Business School, Kingston University London and adjunct professor at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of the University of South Australia. He trained as a social psychologist and is a postgraduate of London Business School. His research has mainly focused on word-of-mouth patterns where his new evidence has shown that some widely-held beliefs are mistaken. As a teacher of consumer behaviour, he has been keen to deliver knowledge that is useful to students while not over simplifying the subject.

Malcolm Wright is professor of marketing at Massey University, New Zealand, and adjunct professor at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of the University of South Australia. He applies empirical principles to marketing problems and has made interrelated discoveries about brand loyalty, the use of probability scales, new product forecasting and optimizing the advertising budget. He has also published many articles critically examining the foundations of popular marketing knowledge.

Marc Vanhuele holds a PhD from UCLA and is professor of marketing at HEC Paris. As expert in consumer information processing, his research focuses on how consumers treat price information. A second field of research is how marketing managers can improve their decision making through better use of quantitative information on the consumer’s mind-set. His research has been published in the leading academic journals. He also works as consultant to consumer goods and market research companies.