Abstract
Most literature on consumer decision-making concentrate on which attributes a certain brand evokes, how a brand is evaluated, or how well a brand can stand the competition of another brand. This is a bit funny since one of the most obvious aspects of decision-making for fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) is that most products are never considered. Recalling a typical trip to a grocery store one probably realizes that most of the products simply were given no conscious attention. Chances are that a consumer notices less than 1% (of the perhaps close to 10.000 items in a regular grocery store) enough to consider if the item is of any interest. Therefore, in the present thesis the focus is on the influences that enhance, inhibit, or affect the processing of brands, brand associations, ads, or decision criteria, prior to reaching the level of conscious decision-making. These influences are regarded as non-conscious filters, making consumer decision-making as simple and flexible as required by many situations. The filters allow consumers to notice what they search for or what they normally pay attention to, and to ignore complex, disturbing, or unfamiliar stimuli. The thesis consists of an introduction chapter and five articles. The introduction chapter provides a comprehensive picture of the common theme of the articles, namely non-conscious influences on decision-making. The articles cover non-conscious influences during each of the five steps commonly included in the consumer decision-making process. Examples of questions that are elaborated on are: Which criteria influence the degree to which people behave habitually versus respond to marketing stimuli? What is influencing the choice of decision strategy? For example, what influences people to be more loyal versus more deal prone? And what makes people learn something new from an ad instead of just rehearsing what they already new? One aim of the present thesis is to answer questions like the ones stated above. Furthermore, it is argued that these influences are active at a stage before what could be defined as full conscious control.