Short notes: cognitive dissonance, psychological pricing, social marketing, sustainability marketing myopia, IMC

Any three of the five notes are to be attempted, at 6 marks each. A note on every topic is given so that the reader may choose.

(a) Cognitive dissonance

Meaning. Cognitive dissonance (post-purchase dissonance) is the mental discomfort a buyer feels after a purchase when he or she doubts whether the right choice was made. Every purchase involves compromise: the chosen brand has some drawbacks, and the rejected brands had some attractions. After buying, the buyer becomes aware of these and feels uneasy. The idea comes from psychology, where it describes the tension caused by holding conflicting beliefs.

When it is likely. The purchase is costly and important (a car, a house, a laptop); it is hard to reverse; several alternatives were attractive; the buyer made the choice alone; or the buyer later hears negative comments or sees a lower price elsewhere.

How buyers reduce it. They seek information that supports their choice (reading favourable reviews, noticing the brand's advertisements), avoid information that questions it, persuade themselves that the rejected brands were worse, seek reassurance from friends, or, if dissonance is strong, return the product or complain.

Why it matters to marketers. An unhappy buyer may return the product, complain, write negative reviews and not buy again; a reassured buyer becomes loyal and recommends the brand.

How marketers reduce it. Honest advertising that does not raise unrealistic expectations; thank-you and welcome messages confirming the wisdom of the choice; clear instructions and installation support; warranties, easy returns and quick service; follow-up calls and satisfaction surveys; user communities and loyalty benefits; and advertising directed at recent buyers.

Example. A buyer of an expensive smartphone sees a rival model reviewed favourably the next week and feels uneasy. The brand's welcome e-mail, free accessories, an app showing tips and a prompt software update reassure the buyer that the choice was right.

(b) Psychological pricing

Meaning. Psychological pricing sets prices with an eye on how buyers will feel about the number, not only on cost and demand. It uses the way buyers read and react to prices to make a product seem cheaper, better or more desirable. Buyers judge whether a price is in line with the value of the product, and that judgement can be shaped.

Common forms.

1. Odd (charm) pricing. Prices just below a round figure, such as ₹99 or ₹499 instead of ₹100 or ₹500. Buyers read from the left and perceive the price as being in a lower band.
2. Prestige pricing. Deliberately high, round prices (₹50,000) for luxury goods, because buyers use price as a signal of quality and status; a lower price might reduce demand.
3. Reference pricing. Showing a higher original or maximum retail price next to the selling price, or placing a product beside a costlier one, so that the price seems a bargain.
4. Price lining. Offering products at a few distinct price points (₹499, ₹999, ₹1,499 shirts), which simplifies choice and suggests quality levels.
5. Bundle and decoy pricing. Offering a combination, or adding a third, deliberately inferior option (the decoy) that makes another choice look like the best value: a 200 ml cold coffee at ₹110, a 300 ml one at ₹150 (the decoy) and a 500 ml one at ₹160; beside the 300 ml cup, the large one looks like a bargain.
6. Buy-one-get-one and free offers. The word free has a strong appeal even when the saving equals a discount.

Advantages. It raises sales without large price cuts, shapes the perception of value and quality, and helps positioning.

Limitations. Overuse can look manipulative and damage trust; an inflated original price shown beside the offer price misleads buyers; and well-informed buyers who compare prices online may not be swayed.

Example. An online fashion store prices a T-shirt at ₹499, shows a struck-out maximum retail price of ₹999, and offers buy two, get one free: three psychological devices used together.

(c) Social marketing

Meaning. Social marketing borrows the methods of selling products, research on the audience, segmentation, the four Ps, persuasive communication, and uses them to persuade people to change a behaviour of their own free will, for their own good and society's. Its product is usually a behaviour or an idea, washing hands, using helmets, saving water, getting vaccinated, quitting tobacco, rather than a good sold for profit. It is practised mainly by governments, non-profit organisations and international agencies, and sometimes by companies.

Features.

1. Aim: social good, not the marketer's profit.
2. Behaviour change: it asks people to accept a new behaviour, reject a harmful one, modify one or abandon one.
3. Customer orientation: it studies the audience's needs, beliefs and barriers, just as commercial marketing does.
4. Marketing mix applied: product (the behaviour and its benefits), price (the cost to the audience in money, time, effort or comfort), place (where the behaviour can be adopted, such as a nearby vaccination centre) and promotion (messages and media).
5. Segmentation and targeting: campaigns are tailored to groups such as young drivers or rural mothers.

Importance. It first makes people aware of a problem and of what they can do about it; it addresses public problems, health, sanitation, safety, environment, that laws and information alone do not solve; it uses emotional and practical appeals to change deeply held habits; and it improves the effectiveness of public spending.

Examples. National campaigns for clean surroundings and use of toilets; polio-immunisation drives; road-safety and helmet campaigns; anti-tobacco warnings in cinemas; water-conservation messages.

Social marketing versus societal marketing. Social marketing promotes a social cause itself; societal marketing is a business philosophy in which a firm sells its products profitably while considering society's long-term welfare.

Limitations. Behaviour is hard to change, benefits are often delayed, the audience may resist being told what to do, and results are difficult to measure.

(d) Sustainability marketing myopia

Meaning. Sustainability marketing myopia (also called green marketing myopia) is a short-sighted approach to sustainable or green marketing. It has two forms. First, the firm sees sustainability narrowly, as a cost, a public relations exercise or a matter of legal compliance, instead of as a source of value and innovation. Second, and more commonly, the firm markets an eco-friendly product mainly on its environmental benefit, while neglecting the customer's core needs for performance, convenience, quality and value. Most buyers will not sacrifice these for the environment alone, so such products fail. The term extends the idea of marketing myopia: defining a business by its products rather than by customer needs: to green marketing.

Causes. Over-confidence in environmental appeal; the belief that a green label alone sells; poor understanding of customers; and the assumption that consumers will pay a large premium for green products.

Consequences. Green products that perform poorly, cost too much or are inconvenient do not sell; early failures make consumers sceptical of later green products; and the firm loses credibility. Exaggerated or vague claims (greenwashing) damage trust further and invite regulatory action.

How to avoid it. Four practical safeguards (our own grouping):

1. Consumer value positioning. Sell the product on benefits customers want, savings, health, performance, with the environmental benefit as an added reason to buy (energy-efficient appliances sold on lower electricity bills).
2. Calibrated knowledge. Educate buyers with credible, specific information, so that they understand the benefit.
3. Credibility. Support claims with certifications, third-party testing and transparency.
4. Innovation and quality. Make the green version at least as good as the conventional one.

Example. Suppose a start-up sells a cloth shopping bag only as plastic-free, at three times the price of a plastic one, and it tears in a month: few buy it twice. A rival that sells a strong, washable bag that folds into a pocket and lasts years, and mentions the plastic saved only as a bonus, sells steadily: the environmental benefit rides on customer value.

(e) Integrated marketing communication

Meaning. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) treats all of a firm's promotion, advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and publicity, direct and digital marketing, packaging and point-of-sale material, as one plan rather than separate campaigns. Which tools a firm combines, and in what proportion, depends on its promotion goals and circumstances; IMC is the discipline of making whatever blend it chooses speak with one message. The customer should receive one voice, whatever the touchpoint.

Why it is needed. Mass markets have broken into smaller segments; media have multiplied (television, print, websites, social media, apps, outdoor); and customers blend all the messages they receive into a single image of the brand. Conflicting messages from different tools confuse customers and weaken the brand.

Features.

1. Starts from the customer and maps every contact point at which the customer meets the brand.
2. Uses each tool for the role it does best: advertising for awareness, sales promotion for action, personal selling for persuasion and closing, public relations for credibility, digital media for engagement.
3. Keeps the message, tone and visual identity the same across tools and over time.
4. Plans and budgets all tools together, often under one communications manager.
5. Measures results across channels and adjusts the mix.

Benefits. A stronger, consistent brand image; greater impact, because the tools reinforce each other; less waste and duplication; better customer relationships; and easier measurement of what works.

Example. When a mobile network launches a new data plan, its television advertisements, social-media posts, store displays, sales staff's pitch, text messages to existing users and press releases all carry the same offer, slogan and visual identity, so the customer meets one clear message everywhere.