Advance Consumer Behaviour Assignment 3

This essay analyzes the Waitrose Christmas advert 2016, focusing on consumer irrationality as described in Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational." The analysis explores how the advert leverages social norms to create a warm, family-oriented feeling, associating these positive emotions with the Waitrose brand. The essay then delves into two aspects of consumer irrationality: self-control and the influence of relational norms. It argues that consumers often lack self-control, making them susceptible to marketing tactics that exploit their desires, even if those desires are detrimental to their long-term well-being. The essay also discusses how the perception of monetary value can influence behavior, sometimes leading consumers to prioritize monetary benefits over product quality. Finally, the essay suggests ways to improve advertising by understanding consumer behavior, using simple language, and employing effective visual elements.

Running Head: ADVANCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 1
Advance Consumer Behaviour

ADVANCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 2
Assignment 3
It is the last assignment and for this a book named “Predictably Irrational”, written
Top-researcherDan Ariely and by MIT professor will be used. It is the book that thoroughly
highlights the fact that people are not only irrational in nature but they are also quite
manipulative.
The Task:
In this essay we are analysing the advert given "Advert: Waitrose Christmas advert 2016 #home
for Christmas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtKYdG9r0Pk based on the book.
In this particular essay we are working and analyzing the advert given "Advert: Waitrose
Christmas advert. In this video it has been observed that the concept of social norms were
highlighted in a wonderful manner as the spirit of being with family during the time of Christmas
was highlighted. They were transferring the warm feeling of the family home/family to the brand
by trying to showcase that they are part of the friend or their family. It can be said that social
norms mainly are informal in nature and the social psychology also examines smaller group units
such as office or even a team may separately endorse those norms or even in an additional
manner in terms of societal or cultural expectations. Throwing light on the above-mentioned
discussion an example can be given that is if any near and dear ones expect help from us we just
help them and do not expect anything in return as market or business norms where there is
always a give and take policy. Moreover, it will also be a breach of social norms if dear ones are
treated as per the rules and regulations of the market norms.

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In terms of relativity it has been observed that advert tried to trigger the feelings of the
consumers with regards to the festive season in a different and unique manner and most of the
people wants to return or stay with the family during the time of their festival.
In this particular segment how the irrationality of the consumer is assumed by the
advertiser will be highlighted and discussed. The two of the sub-topics that has been taken into
account for the consumer irrationality are as follows: Self control and expectation. As per one of
the famous companies named McKinsey has informed the ways by which consumers make
decisions (Vohs, Mead and Goode, 2008).
Throwing light on the above-mentioned discussion it can be said that irrationality can be
described in a lot of ways but being irrational simply means that an individual tends to behave in
an illogical manner where they are supposed to behave in a logical manner and make sound
decisions. Most of the consumer does not like the idea of making any decisions. In this particular
scenario there are a lot of marketers who try to understand their consumer and for this they
design certain experiences for making it easier for them in terms of what they should actually do.
On the contrary, there are some marketers who take negative advantage from this situation and
they try to convince the consumers with false representations (Dhar, Nowlis and Sherman, 2000).
Firstly, self-control with regards to the irrational consumer will be discussed. It has been
assumed that a consumer may feel a lot fuller when they consume each and every unit of the
food and the self-control won’t be exerted and a consumer also tends to eat a large amount more
than that is expected for their life expectancy and immediate health. It has been also argued that a
rational individual has self-control and they are mainly influenced by the external factors and
certain emotions and therefore they very well know what is best for them. As per the behavioral

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economics it has been suggested that human beings are not at all rational but they are inadequate
of making decisions that are good. For instance, if TV advertises a particular brand of ice-cream
quotes that each and every human beings needs at least 3000 calories per day for functioning in
an effective manner along with an attractive price then there are most of the people who will fall
in this sweet fake trap because of the ice-cream’s image, price and along with the fake attractive
statistics and within a short period of time they will be losing their self-control. Hence, it can be
said that it is also the place where the marketers succeeds as they are able influence the decision
of irrational consumers. It can be also said that a lack of self-control may also explain well about
the common phenomenon known as under-saving retirement. The under-saving retirement
highlights the idea that even though the individuals know that saving is important before their
retirement still they will be spending money instead of saving the money and putting it under the
savings scheme in a bank. Some of the famous behavioral psychologists have also argued with
the fact that human beings are quite impatient when they are mainly confronted with a short-term
decision especially about consumption. Furthermore, it is also a tendency of the human beings of
performing certain things that they regret later in their life. Sometimes, loosing self-control may
result into some of the dangerous situations for instance, even though a consumer knows the
harmful effects of the fried foods still they have it and later on they regret when they are obese.
The above-mentioned behavior highlights some of the most ironic experiences of the human
beings along with a lasting puzzle for any type of theory that is related to the rational behavior. It
can be also commented that in one form or the other the struggle between reason and desire,
morality and impulse it is well-known to everyone.
The second sub heading will be discussed in this section that is relational norms of the
irrational consumers.Money is regarded as one of the most important components for changing

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the motivation of the human beings to a great extent and most of the time it is mainly for the
positive and betterment but their behavior is influenced by the money towards other people for
the worse. Some of the researchers have even criticized the fact that the consumer-brand
relationships and research of the relational norms because those researcher draw on the literature
of the interpersonal relationship (Ludwig and et al., 2016).
In one of the article it has been highlighted that money playsan important role in the lives
of the human being in spite of that only little amount of experimental attention has been given to
the psychological underpinnings with regards to the money. In one of the experiments it has been
observed that when the individuals reminded of money were not at all helpful and they were also
not at all reminded about the money then they preferred less physical intimacy and engaged
themselves in the solitary activities. On the other hand, the individuals who were reminded of
money for working harder on the tasks that are challenging and it resulted to take more tasks
when contrasted to the individuals who were not reminded of money. It can be concluded that
even little reminders of money may cause biggest changes in the behavior of the human beings.
One of the most prominent example of this is consumers are more attracted to the products that
give them monetary benefits even if those products are not of good quality (Raghunathan, Naylor
and Hoyer, 2006).
There are different ways examined with the help of which the advertisement which is
being formed by the company in relation to the products and services which they are offering
could be improved. In this regard, it can be said that for the firm it is essential that it should make
measure in terms of understanding the behavior of its buyers. Herein, it should gather thorough
information about the factors which transform the non-purchasing behavior of buyers into
purchasing one. In this regard, here manager should basically gather information about the things

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which its targeted buyers want to see. The things could be related with the price of product,
quality of product or may be related with the benefits which the customers gain on using the
product of company. Here, with the use of these given factors the manager of firm can attract
large number of buyers towards the product of firm (Dion, Tooker&Khenfir, 2018). The given
thing will provide benefit to enterprise in the form of increased profit and sales in an effectual
way.
In addition to this, another way to improve the advertisement of company could be to use
simple language in the ad. This is because, it has been seen that there are many customers who
don’t give response to the products and services which is being offered by company is due to the
language issue. Here, if they do not understand what the manager of firm is trying to
communicate them through the advertisement then in the given situation it will became very
difficult for them with respect to attract the large number of buyers towards company. In addition
to this, in the given situation it is essential that manager should have good knowledge about the
market where it is giving its advertisement. Here, for firm it is necessary that it should gather
preferences of its buyers in relation to things which persuade them most while looking at that
advertisement. Thus, the given thing will guarantee the success of the ad which is being made by
the corporation in an effectual manner (Aoyama, 2017). However, it is to be critically evaluated
that with an aim to so the same firm will need sufficient time and money. Thus, if they lack in
any aspect then in the given situation the significant impact of the same will have on the profit.
Further, the advertisement which is being given by company can also be improved by
using different transition or the animation in the ad. Here, for example of firm is giving some
discounts to its respective buyers. Then the given thing should be highlighted first and should be
continually shown in the ad which is being framed by the company. Overall, it can be depicted

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that these are being regarded as some of the way with the help of which the ad given by the
company can be improved. This will also enable firm in terms of attracting the large number of
buyers towards the company.

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References
Aoyama, K. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,838,752. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office.
Dhar, R., Nowlis, S. M., and Sherman, S. J. (2000). Trying hard or hardly trying: An analysis of
context effects in choice. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9(4), 189-200.
Dion, D., Tooker, M. &Khenfir, M. (2018). U.S. Patent No. 9,953,341. Washington, DC: U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office.
Ludwig, S., Van Laer, T., De Ruyter, K., and Friedman, M. (2016). Untangling a web of lies:
Exploring automated detection of deception in computer-mediated
communication. Journal of Management Information Systems, 33(2), 511-541.
Raghunathan, R., Naylor, R. W., and Hoyer, W. D. (2006). The unhealthy= tasty intuition and its
effects on taste inferences, enjoyment, and choice of food products. Journal of
Marketing, 70(4), 170-184.
Vohs, K. D., Mead, N. L., and Goode, M. R. (2008). Merely activating the concept of money
changes personal and interpersonal behavior. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 17(3), 208-212.