Response Latency Verification of Consumption Constellations: Implications for Advertising Strategy

Abstract

Consumers are assumed to organize information about lifestyle groups much like they organize other category knowledge, in that features of the object are used by the consumer to assign it to a category. Knowledge about the complementary consumption choices—consumption constellations—associated with different lifestyles is hypothesized to be organized in associative networks. A consumption constellation is a hypothetical construct used to describe the cognitive organization of cross-category product information. This study examines several processing alternatives pertaining to consumption constellations using response latency methodology. Participants were asked to respond to stimuli (products) representative of either an aspirational or an avoidance group consumption constellation. Results suggest that, at least for products defining an aspirational lifestyle, consumption constellations exist as constructs in memory. The findings support the value of adapting cognitive processing methodologies to understand better how consumers perceive the symbolic meanings of products. The article concludes with a call for additional research and a discussion of the ramifications for advertising strategy.