AMN400 Consumer Involvement Literature Review Analysis

This literature review examines the concept of consumer involvement in marketing, exploring its influence on customer behavior and purchasing decisions. It delves into the definition of involvement, tracing its evolution from psychology to modern marketing, and highlights its significance as a tool for motivating consumers and reducing perceived risks. The review analyzes various factors affecting consumer involvement, including brand management, pricing, and personal, object, and situational factors, along with information processing. It discusses different theories of involvement, such as the elaboration likelihood model, and emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer attitudes, brand personality, and the concept of individual centrality in the context of marketing. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the key concepts and research findings related to consumer involvement, offering valuable insights into how marketers can better understand and engage with their target audiences.

Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW
Consumer involvement: Literature review
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Consumer involvement: Literature review
One of the hardly used concepts, though it has remained relevant over a long period in
the field of marketing, is customer involvement. This concept has its influencing capability
on the shopping behaviour of the customer. A customer is considered to be one of the critical
elements in the marketing field. The customer possesses different behaviours towards a
particular service or product. It is the responsibility of the marketers to anticipate the
customer’s behaviour towards a particular service or product so as to evaluate the most
appropriate strategy to employ while marketing their products to attract more customers.
According to Brosekhan and Velayutham (2008), the study of customer behaviour is made
possible by evaluating and examining the buying patterns of a customer. The marketers play
a role of a buyer, a payer and a user to effectively learn the customer buying behaviour. This
study reviews the various literature concerning consumer involvement and its relation to
consumer attitudes that influence buying behaviour.
Involvement is considered as one of the most critical factors that influence consumer
buying behaviour. But what is consumer involvement? An apt definition describes
involvement as a perceived personal relevance of a brand. In its effective application,
involvement stands to be a significant factor since the marketers can use it as a tool of
motivating the consumers. It simultaneously reduces the risk involved in buying. The
marketer employs the strategic design to create a feeling of brand relevancy to the customer’s
purpose and personality (Bian & Moutihno, 2008). Involvement as a concept was initially
introduced in the field of psychology back in the year 1947. The proponents of the concept
were Sherif and Cantril. In modern marketing, involvement can be identified as a close
interaction between the customer and the brand. The evolution of customer involvement can
be traced back to the sheriff and his partner’s development of the social judgment theory. The
social judgment theory examines the consumer’s attitudes as a mixed outcome of non-

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commitment, rejection and acceptance. Aghdale and sharabiany (2014) argue that the
consumer’s probability of changing their attitude is highly dependent on their level of ego
involvement with the brand and also the interaction between rejection, acceptance and non-
commitment.
The contemporary marketing researchers and thinkers view consumer involvement as
a vague concept. The basic reason for this biased view is its inter-relation with the diversified
fields of study, thus, possessing varying meanings and conceptualization. The marketing field
possesses a unique meaning of the involvement concept in comparison to other fields of study
(Sahney, 2016). The nature of involvement, as viewed in the field of marketing, looks at how
a consumer interacts with a brand through brand advertisements and the advertising media.
Nonetheless, there exists no precise definition of involvement in the marketing field.
According to Sahney (2016), the researchers and marketing thinkers consider involvement as
an effective variable with the capability of reinstating personal attachment and the importance
of the existing events and goals.
The seasonal thinkers, authors and researchers had different definitions of
involvement. The evolution of contemporary authors and researchers have greatly contributed
to the changing nature of the definition. The definition of the concept has been subjected to
various transformations over time. In his contribution to the definition of involvement back in
1964, freedman described it as a commitment, a concern or an interest to a given issue or
position. The definition was developed further in 1989 when Mittal described the concept as
a decision task or situation or even a stimulus-activated motivational state. However, such
proposed definition does not limit the broader essence of involvement. Choubtarash, Mahdieh
and Marnani (2013) note that there exist other influential factors that assist the effective
implementation of the concept in the real marketing world.

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The contribution of the media together with other tools necessary for promotional
strategies plays a critical role in determining the level of consumer involvement in the brand.
Dodd (2014) acknowledges the contribution of Krugman Herbert who stated that television
advertisements lead to low involvement conditions while the print media advertisements lead
to high involvement conditions. Krugman research leads to the conclusion that involvement
is a conduit for bridging personal references, connections and experiences. The consumer
attempts to develop the bridge between the pre-exposed stimuli and their personal life.
Researchers have appreciated the presence of a close association between the consumer’s
commitment to a brand together with the consumer’s involvement in the brand. The
relationship is dynamic and double-folded in that it can take a positive or negative
perspective. Edu (2008) asserts that the relationship can be demonstrated through instances
where the level of consumer involvement with the product tends to be high while
commitment towards the same brand ends up being low. It is also true to note that Edu (2008)
recognizes the instances where the commitment towards a given brand remains to be high
while the level of involvement remains low.
Another influencing factor in the consumer’s level of involvement towards a
particular brand is brand management. Efficient and effective brand management contributes
to a high level of consumer involvement while poor brand management results in low
involvement. In the case of poor brand management, the consumers fail to consider the
affected brands during the purchase decision-making process; hence, the brand remains at the
lowest point of the consumer’s choice list. Hornik and Te’eni-Harari (2010) associates the
misplacing of applicable company resources and strategies during the development of the
product or in the process of introducing a new service to the market with the poor brand
management which consequently leads to a low level of consumer involvement. For the
company to realize a high level of consumer involvement, its resources and strategies should

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be aligned to the development of a product and introduction of new service that have a
connection with the consumer.
The pricing aspect is another factor which is considered in the concept of consumer
involvement and consumer attitudes towards the purchase behaviour. There exists a
perception that the products or brands which are characterized by higher costs have a high
level of consumer involvement as opposed to the low-cost associated brands. The purchase
decision for higher cost products is always made after in-depth consumer research. Marketing
and psychological researchers argue that under the high consumer involvement conditions,
there is an extended sequential stage of the decision-making process undergone by the
buyer’s decision processes. As opposed to high involvement conditions, in low involvement
incidences, the consumer is unable or unwilling to put an effort in processing the precise data
about the service or product.
A group of researchers has identified three categories for factors influencing the level
of consumer involvement. The three categories include the situational factors, the object
factors and the personal factors. According to Beatty and Kahle (2008), the personal factors
are believed to comprise of values, interests, importance and needs. Beatty and Kahle (2008)
continue to list the source and content of communications together with the differentiation of
alternatives as the elements forming the object factors. The elements comprised in the
situational factors as listed by Beatty and Kahle (2008) include the occasion, use and
purchase. The three factors notwithstanding, consumer involvement also recognizes the
influence of information processing. While invoking the information processing, the
consumer faces the information, then they notice and retains them, before restoring them in
the future for further utilization. Damawati (2013) notes that the inherent challenge in
information processing appears when deciding how the marketer should encourage the
customers towards information gathering and processing. Encouraging consumers towards

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information gathering and processing would help them to use the acquired information to
make effective purchasing decisions for services and products in the future.
The contribution of Krugman to the concept of involvement, through his assessment
on the influence of advertisement to the contemporary period of marketing, marked the
linking of involvement elements with the consumer and marketing behaviour. This triggered
the mushrooming and pre-existing researchers to concentrate on object involvement such as
the promotional activities/advertisements, the purchasing duties and the actual message
behind a service or product (Steinhart & Mazursky, 2009). Another clique of researchers
views consumer involvement as an extension of importance. This means that there exists a
tendency of involvements returning to the relationship and the interests which are emerging
from marketing stimuli. To retain its integrity, involvement requires to be viewed from a
multi-faceted analytical dimension other than a single dimensional analysis. Lennox and
McClaren (2013) outline the five critical dimensions for the multi-faceted analysis including
risk importance, sign value, risk probability, pleasure-based value and a keen interest in the
service or product.
An “extended problem solving” is described as an appropriate way of decision
making when the consumer with a high level of involvement with a product makes the first
time purchase. This is because the consumers involved with a product at a high level are
perceived to face a higher risk level. Therefore, they end up expressing concerns about the
consequences of the intended purchase. On the contrary, the proper decision process for
consumers who have low-level involvement for the first purchase is said to be of a ‘solving-
limited problem’ type. Aghdaie & Sharabiany (2014) asserts that such kind of involvement
influences the passive role played by the customers in the process of problem-solving. To
motivate such customers, the structure of the information sent to them should contain a short
and lower environment. A clear idea will be provided concerning the nature of the areas

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which they are concerned. In the extended problem-solving process, the customer develops
an attitude towards the service or product before purchasing. They also collect extended data
about the service or product and the environment involved. On the contrary, the customer in
the latter case as argued by Hu (2012) is not exposed much to product information and
information processing. The consumer relies on the intrinsic search mechanism which is not
viable in the purchase decision making the process as compared to extrinsic search
mechanism.
According to Punyatoya (2011), consumer involvement is influenced by brand
personality. The consumer purchase intention and brand preference are improved through
brand personality regardless of high or low consumer involvement. Punyatoya (2011) reviews
the concept of brand personality and the inherent relationship between brand personality and
consumer’s purchase intention together with brand preference. The contemporary researchers
have shifted their focus on involvement to purchase ‘importance.’ Under this context, a high
level of involvement is associated with those purchases that are of importance to the
consumer while the low-level involvement refers to those purchases which are deemed as not
important to the consumer. It is critical to note that most of the definitions on involvement as
frontend by different scholars appear to have a common element which is individual
centrality (Abdolvand & Nikfar, 2011). The individualism associated with the definition of
involvement is influenced by the measure of individual importance or interest.
There are various theories of involvement developed by different scholars. The
theories try to explain the various forms of involvement. The theories also focus on studying
consumer’s behaviour concerning their involvement purchasing. The elaboration likelihood
model which was developed by petty and Cacciopo in 1981 explains the relationship between
the consumer and the product (Fei, 2008). The model posits that a high motivation to process
information for a given product is influenced by a high involvement between the consumer

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and the product. This creates a personalized product-touching effect to the consumer. Low-
level involvement does not create a personalized product-touching effect. Thus, there will be
no motivation in the processing of product information. The S-O-R paradigm theory was
developed to bridge the conceptual inconsistencies surrounding involvement. The aim was to
unearth the potential of involvement through multi-disciplinary construction. The S-O-R
paradigm theory identified three forms of involvement including the situational involvement,
the enduring involvement and the response involvement (Aghdaie & Sharabiany, 2014). The
response involvement is a product of complex behavioural and cognitive processes which
characterizes the entire process of consumer decision. The enduring involvement comprises
of the progressive concern creating the purchase situation. Situational variables and product
attributes influence the extent of involvement arising from a given situation. The consumer
trait theory was developed by Kassarjian in the year 1981. According to this theory, the level
of involvement in the consumer decision-making process is influenced by individual
differences regardless of the situation or the product. The differences are as a result of
differing perceptions, differing individual demographic characteristics, differing uses of the
product and the different motivation levels to buy the product. The differences exist naturally
without the external influence of a situation or product.
Consumer involvement is important; in that, it has critical implications which are
useful for creating and deploying information systems in a firm. The understanding of a
consumer through consumer involvement helps a firm to differentiate its market offerings
from what its competitors are offering. A unique approach called ‘the Means-End Chain’ is
essential in the identification of the impacts and values which are attached to product
attributes by the consumers. These attributes create a difference between the competing
products in the mind of the customers. Every firm needs to identify the perceived attributes
which are self-relevant to their different segments (Harari & Hornic, 2010). The basic

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requirement in consumer satisfaction and effective creation of consumer involvement in the
products is the development of product loyalty in the mind of the customers. However, that is
not the end. The crucial part is the retention of loyalty developed. The number of loyal
customers determines the value of the product. Customers will only be able to purchase the
products once they are satisfied. The innovation diffusion theory is used to explain the means
to disseminating new products into the market. It is critical to note that there exists a differing
aspect of the amount and type of effort employed by consumers while purchasing. These
differences are significant to marketers since they influence the consumer’s reaction to
marketing strategies.
The promising variability of purchasing involvement can be viewed in three
dimensions. Purchasing involvement combined with situation and product involvement
assists in explaining the buying behaviour. Through this, identification of consumer segments
can be made by referring to their level of purchasing involvement. Additionally, an
adjustment to marketing strategies is possible since they can be adjusted according to the
combined effects of a buyer’s behaviour. The diffusion theory is used to explain the means of
disseminating new products in the market. It is critical to note that there exists a differing
aspect of the purchasing involvement, purchasing situation and purchasing product
(Heidarzadeh, Khoshpanjeh & Rahnama, 2011). Through the hypothesis of Kassarjian, in his
development of consumer trait theory, the second dimension can be witnessed where
purchasing involvement is highly related to personality variables. This provides a meaningful
link between consumer behaviour and personality. The practical significance of purchasing
involvement is its relationship with various purchasing activities that are not specific to a
particular product. This leads to a critical impact on marketing strategy. The concept of
consumer involvement is significant in the development of marketing strategy and
understanding consumer behaviour.

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Marketers need to provide purchasing motivational elements to the consumers in
order to influence their intention of purchasing a particular product. Additionally, consumers
tend to respond positively to purchasing a product in cases where they are provided with high
convenience purchase decision-making (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh, & Best, 2017). Marketers
ought to aim at providing hardy awareness to consumers so as to influence their involvement
with the product. Research has indicated that consumers feel pleased and happy once they are
tended and trusted in providing product information through hi-tech. This is because they can
acquit themselves with the firm’s data regarding the features and varieties of the product
including the portfolio of the firm. Such activities are aiming at creating a healthy and strong
bond between the customers and the company including the product. Through consumer
involvement, which enhances strong customer bonding, relationship marketing is established.
The created bond leads to the development of brand loyalty which exposes the customer into
the state of willing and frequent buying the product. This leads to the building of trust and
establishing a top-notch level of consumer satisfaction (Lakshmi, 2011). Some companies fail
to focus on identification of consumer needs but work towards creating the needs in the
minds of the consumers. To achieve the strategy, the company through the marketing team
innovates emerging and new ideas to influence the feeling of the consumer. The consumer
wants a unique feeling of using a new and innovative product. The elite class of the society is
perceived as trendsetters because they always demand competitive and unique products. They
are quality conscious. For the marketers to develop effective, new, emerging and innovative
products meant to satisfy the conscious quality group, consumer involvement is necessary. In
consumer involvement, training is a key concept. The marketers need to train the consumers
about the usage of the product and the maximum benefits they can accrue from using the
product. This will influence consumer attitudes towards that particular product.

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The above discussions portray the development of diverse perception concerning
involvement. This justifies the notion of lack of precise definition of involvement in the field
of marketing. However, its contribution to marketing especially when introducing a new
service or product in the market cannot be ignored. A customer gets involved with a product
by attaching a degree of importance to that product (Safarzadeh, Kheyri, & Agha Seyed agha,
2011). The implication of the involvement process is to enhance the marketer in compelling
the consumers towards personal, economic and social attachment with the brand. The
question arises as to how the level of management is measured. Through the analysis of the
buyer’s intensity of interests, shown towards a service or product in the process of making
critical purchasing decisions, the level of involvement stands to be measured.

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References
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Aghdaie, S. and Sharabiany, A. (2014). “Investigating the effects of involvement on the
consumer decision process.” Cesenet journal, Vol 10(22): 111- 148
Beatty, S. and Kahle, L (2008). “The involvement-commitment model: theory and
implications.” Journal of business research, Vol 16(2): 149-167
Bian, X. and Moutihno, L. (2008). “The role of product involvement, knowledge and
perceptions in explaining consumer purchase behaviour of counterfeits: direct and
indirect effects.” Journal of purchase behaviour, Vol 38(8): 101-136
Brosekhan, A. and Verayutham, M. (2008). “consumer buying behaviour-a literature review.”
IOSR Journal of business and management (IOSR-JBM), Vol 1(1): 08-16
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between consumer involvement and purchase decision (case study: Cell phone).”
Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary resource in business, Vol 4(12): 01-21
Darmawati, A. (2013). “Low involvement consumer decision making: Uny.” Journal of
consumer behaviour, Vol 33(42): 186-201
Dodd, T. (2014). “Influence of consumer attitudes and involvement on purchase behaviour in
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