48 B2+ | 8. Klasse | READING | Consumer society and the (global) economy Hey Abi Hope you’re free as I’m gonna pop round to yours. It’s all kicking off here and I’m sick of the shouting. Mum accidentally saw my brother’s bank statement and wants to know why most of his monthly salary goes on designer gear, gym membership and socialising! To be fair, she’s got a valid point – budgeting’s not really his thing. He earns some big bucks too, but he’s trying to downplay his lifestyle as usual. See you in a bit! Brandon Underline the parts of the text message that help you to understand which statement is an inference. 8 Working the reading task: True/False/Justification Read the article about consumer shopping habits. First decide whether the statements (1–7) are true (T) or false (F) and put a cross ( ) in the correct box. Then identify the sentence in the text which supports your decision. Write the first 4 words of this sentence in the space provided. There may be more than one correct answer; write down only one. The first one (0) has been done for you. 9 Read the text to get a general idea of what it is about. When reading the statements, think about paraphrase and watch out for opposites and negatives. Remember that there may be inference in the text or statements – you have to ‘read between the lines’ to understand what the writer is really trying to communicate. Top tips How emotions influence what we buy Dr Peter Murray examines the psychological drivers of consumer behaviour Most people believe that the choices they make result from a rational analysis of accessible alternatives. In reality, however, emotions greatly influence, and in many cases, even determine our decisions. In his book, Descartes’ Error, professor of neuroscience Antonio Damasio argues that emotion is a necessary ingredient to almost all decisions. When we are confronted with a decision, emotions from previous, related experiences affix values to the options we are considering. These emotions create preferences, which lead to our decision. Damasio’s view is based on his studies of people whose connections between the ‘thinking’ and ‘emotional’ areas of the brain had been damaged. They were capable of rationally processing information about alternative choices, but were unable to make decisions because they lacked any sense of how they felt about the options. The influential role of emotion in consumer behaviour is well-documented. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, shows that when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences), rather than information (brand attributes, features, and facts). Advertising research reveals that the consumer’s emotional response to an advert has a far greater influence on their reported intent to buy a product than does the ad’s content, by a ratio of 3:1 for television commercials and 2:1 for print ads. In fact, research conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation concluded that ‘likeability’ is the measure most predictive of whether an advertisement will increase a brand’s sales. Studies show that positive emotions toward a brand have a far greater influence on consumer loyalty than trust and other judgements, which are based on a brand’s attributes. Emotions are the primary reason why consumers prefer brand-name products. After all, many of Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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