reflective essay on consumer behavior

Understanding Consumer Behavior Essay

Introduction.

Understanding consumer behavior is one of the critical elements in the success of a business. Consumers play a significant role in any economic model in determining products that are in demand. According to BBC, since the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer behavior has significantly changed (Latham, 2021).

Many consumers are more conscious of the environmental impact of the products they are consuming. Additionally, due to the economic hardships that the pandemic has caused, consumers are becoming more ethical in making their purchases, with many of them preferring affordable products. According to the article, sustainability has become a significant influence on the choices the consumers (Latham, 2021). The evolved behavior is influencing the consumers to make choices aimed at reducing the length of the supply chains for better outcomes for the environment. For instance, since the pandemic, consumers make most of their purchases locally, especially from small businesses.

One of the primary reasons for this change is attributed to the lockdown period when people spend most of their time with their families and enjoy nature. As a result, they developed a more positive approach towards the environment, thus becoming ethically aware of the environmental impact of some of the products and the need to consume more sustainable products (Latham, 2021). According to The Theory of Individual Behavior topic, consumer behavior is categorized into two elements: consumer opportunities and consumer preferences (Baye & Prince, 2022). Consumer opportunities provide people with choices on goods and services, while consumer preferences are the choices people can afford.

The recent consumer behavior influenced by the pandemic focuses more on consumer preferences than consumer opportunities. Consumers are only purchasing essential goods and reducing expenditure on secondary goods (Baye & Prince, 2022). The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has made people be prepared for emergencies hence the need to be cautious about their expenditure.

Latham, K. (2021). Has coronavirus made us more ethical consumers? . BBC News. Web.

Baye, M., & Prince, J. (2022). Managerial Economics & Business Strategy (10th ed., pp. 104-108). McGraw Hill LLC.

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Journal — Reflective Journal: Consumer Behavior and Marketing Psychology

Reflective Journal: Consumer Behavior and Marketing Psychology

• Categories: Consumer Behavior Journal

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Words: 2155 |

11 min read

Published: Aug 30, 2022

Words: 2155 | Pages: 5 | 11 min read

Table of contents

Executive summary, examination, recommendation.

• Place of distribution
• Physical Evidence
• Regular research
• Competitor Recommendation
• Product Recommendation
• Provide additional advantages for purchasing its products like warranties, after-sales services, discounts etc.
• Identify opportunities and introduce products to match the current trend of the market.
• Test the product before launching in the market
• Improve the packaging of its product so that it will be easy to transport and use.
• Mark the price in such a way that it would be a threat to the competitor but do not compromise in quality.
• Improve their site and make it user-friendly.
• A2M Com, 2019, Annual report, viewed: 4th Oct 2019 retrieved from https://thea2milkcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/A2M-Annual-Report-FY18.pdf
• Arnarsan. A, 2019, A1 vs A2 milk – Does it Matter?, Health line, viewed: 2nd Oct, 2019 Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/a1-vs-a2-milk
• Davis. H, 2018, The A2 Milk Company Limited Marketing Mix Strategy 7Ps Analysis, essay48, viewed on 4th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.essay48.com/term-paper/672-The-A2-Milk-Company-Limited-Marketing-Mix
• Grant. R, 2015, Sacred cows: The secret to A2 Milk’s success, Marketing, viewed on: 5th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/sacred-cows-secret-a2-milks-success/
• Haddad. S, 2016, The a2 Milk company (A2M) Easy to stomach, Bell Potter, viewed on: 7th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.belldirect.com.au/smarter/images/uploads/bell_direct/pdfs/Bell_Potter_research_report_a2_Milk.pdf
• Harvey. M, 2018, Marketing strategy of a2 milk company limited, essay48, Viewed on 3rd Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.essay48.com/marketing-strategy/672-The-A2-Milk-Company-Limited-Marketing-Strategy
• Jancer. M, 2018, Is A2 Milk Good For People With Lactose Intolerance?, Health, Vice, viewed on 5th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59jy3k/-a2-milk-lactose-intolerance-does-it-work
• Kurajdova. k & Petrovicova. J, 2014, Literature Review on Factors Influencing Milk Purchase Behavior, International Review of Management and Marketing, Vol. 5, No.1, 201, pp.9-25 viewed on: 6th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/366697
• LaFrenz. C, 2019, The a2 Milk Company gains in key markets, Financial Review, Viewed on: 3rd Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/the-a2-milk-company-gains-in-key-markets-20190501-p51ivt
• Marketwatch, 2019, A2 Milk Market Business Opportunities, Leading Players, Trends Outlook Up to 2028, Press release, viewed on: 7th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/a2-milk-market-business-opportunities-leading-players-trends-outlook-up-to-2028-2019-04-23
• Save Our Sleep, 2012, Baby’s Milk, Breast, Formula, Cow’s or A2, Save Our Sleep, viewed on: 5th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.saveoursleep.com/2012/03/27/babys-milk-breast-formula-cows-or-a2/
• Snape. J, 2016, The A2 Milk Company, Bell Potter, viewed: 2nd Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.belldirect.com.au/smarter/images/uploads/bell_direct/pdfs/Bell_Potter_research_report_a2_Milk.pdf
• VCNN, 2019, A2 Milk Market Research Report by Size, Share, Trend, Global Analysis, Key Players Strategy, Business Overview and Forecast, Reuters Plus, VC News Network, viewed on: 6th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/brandfeatures/venture-capital/article?id=84077
• Wilson. D, All about milk, Medical News Today, News Letter, viewed on: 7th Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/273451.php
• Xie .W, 2018, 7 key decisions to a2 milk’s road to success, live wire, viewed on 2nd Oct, 2019 retrieved from: https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/7-key-decisions-on-a2-milk-s-road-to-success

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Understanding and shaping consumer behavior in the next normal

Months after the novel coronavirus was first detected in the United States, the COVID-19 crisis continues to upend Americans’ lives and livelihoods. The pandemic has disrupted nearly every routine in day-to-day life. The extent and duration of mandated lockdowns and business closures have forced people to give up even some of their most deeply ingrained habits—whether spending an hour at the gym after dropping the kids off at school, going to a coffee shop for a midday break, or enjoying Saturday night at the movies.

About the authors

This article, a collaboration between McKinsey and the Yale Center for Customer Insights, was written by Tamara Charm, Ravi Dhar, Stacey Haas , Jennie Liu, Nathan Novemsky, and Warren Teichner .

Such disruptions in daily experiences present a rare moment. In ordinary times, consumers tend to stick stubbornly to their habits, resulting in very slow adoption (if any) of beneficial innovations  that require behavior change. Now, the COVID-19 crisis has caused consumers everywhere to change their behaviors —rapidly and in large numbers. In the United States, for example, 75 percent of consumers have tried a new store, brand, or different way of shopping  during the pandemic. Even though the impetus for that behavior change may be specific to the pandemic and transient, consumer companies would do well to find ways to meet consumers where they are today and satisfy their needs in the postcrisis period.

Behavioral science tells us that identifying consumers’ new beliefs, habits, and “peak moments” is central to driving behavioral change. Five actions can help companies influence consumer behavior for the longer term:

• Reinforce positive new beliefs.
• Shape emerging habits with new offerings.
• Sustain new habits, using contextual cues.
• Align messages to consumer mindsets.
• Analyze consumer beliefs and behaviors at a granular level.

Reinforce positive new beliefs

According to behavioral science, the set of beliefs that a consumer holds about the world is a key influencer of consumer behavior. Beliefs are psychological—so deeply rooted that they prevent consumers from logically evaluating alternatives and thus perpetuate existing habits and routines. Companies that attempt to motivate behavioral change by ignoring or challenging consumers’ beliefs are fighting an uphill battle.

The COVID-19 crisis, however, has forced many consumers to change their behaviors, and their new experiences have caused them to change their beliefs about a wide range of everyday activities, from grocery shopping to exercising to socializing. When consumers are surprised and delighted by new experiences, even long-held beliefs can change, making consumers more willing to repeat the behavior, even when the trigger (in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic) is no longer present. In other words, this is a unique moment in time during which companies can reinforce and shape behavioral shifts to position their products and brands better for the next normal.

When consumers are surprised and delighted by new experiences, even long-held beliefs can change, making consumers more willing to repeat the behavior.

For example, approximately 15 percent of US consumers tried grocery delivery for the first time during the COVID-19 crisis. Among those first timers, more than 80 percent say they were satisfied with the ease and safety of the experience; 70 percent even found it enjoyable. And 40 percent intend to continue getting their groceries delivered after the crisis, suggesting that they’ve jettisoned any previously held beliefs about grocery delivery being unreliable or inconvenient; instead, they’ve been surprised and delighted by the benefits of delivery.

Another example of changing beliefs involves at-home exercise. The US online fitness market has seen approximately 50 percent growth in its consumer base since February 2020; the market for digital home-exercise machines has grown by 20 percent. It’s likely that many people who tried those fitness activities for the first time during the pandemic believed that at-home exercise couldn’t meet their exercise needs. That belief has clearly changed for many of these consumers: 55 percent who tried online fitness programs and 65 percent who tried digital exercise machines say they will continue to use them, even after fitness centers and gyms reopen. To reinforce the new belief that online fitness can be motivating and enjoyable, NordicTrack, in a recent TV ad titled “Face Off,” shows that online workouts can foster the same friendly competition and connection that people look for when they go to the gym or attend in-person exercise classes.

An effective way to reinforce a new belief is to focus on peak moments—specific parts of the consumer decision journey that have disproportionate impact and that consumers tend to remember most. Peak moments often include first-time experiences with a product or service, touchpoints at the end of a consumer journey (such as the checkout process in a store), and other moments of intense consumer reaction.

Some companies have focused on enhancing the consumer’s first-time experience. Plant-based-meat  manufacturer Beyond Meat, for instance, was already benefiting from delays in meat production in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis: its sales more than doubled between the first and second quarters of 2020. In collaboration with local restaurants  and catering companies, the company has been delivering free, professionally prepared food to hospitals and other community centers. By giving away Beyond Burgers prepared by professional chefs, Beyond Meat is creating positive first experiences with its product at a time when consumers are more open to trial.

As the consumer journey has changed, so have the peak moments, and it’s crucial for companies to identify and optimize them. For example, a peak moment in a grocery store might be the discovery of an exciting new product on the shelf. In the online-grocery journey, however, a peak moment might instead be on-time delivery or the “unboxing” of the order (the experience of taking the delivered items out of the packaging). Grocers could consider including a handwritten thank-you note or some other surprise, such as a free sample, to reinforce consumers’ positive connections with the experience.

Highly emotional occasions can spark intense consumer reactions and therefore present an opportunity for companies to create peak moments associated with their products or brands. For example, when graduations shifted from formal, large-scale ceremonies to at-home, family celebrations, Krispy Kreme offered each 2020 graduate a dozen specially decorated doughnuts for free. With that promotion, the company connected its brand with an emotional event that may not have been a key occasion for doughnuts prior to the pandemic.

Shape emerging habits with new products

Companies can nudge consumers toward new habits through product innovation. For instance, the COVID-19 crisis has spurred consumers to become more health oriented  and increase their intake of vitamins and minerals. Unilever reported a sales spike in beverages that contain zinc and vitamin C, such as Lipton Immune Support tea. The company is therefore rolling out such products globally. It’s also aligning its innovation priorities with consumers’ emerging health-and-wellness concerns.

Similarly, packaged-food companies can encourage the habit of cooking at home. Spice manufacturer McCormick’s sales in China have sustained double-digit increases compared with 2019, even as the Chinese economy has reopened  and people go back to their workplaces. The same pattern could play out in other countries. Kraft Heinz’s innovation agenda for its international markets now prioritizes products that make home cooking pleasurable, fast, and easy—products such as sauces, dressings, and side dishes. These will be targeted at “light” and “medium” users of Kraft Heinz products.

Sustain new habits, using contextual cues

Habits can form when a consumer begins to associate a certain behavior with a particular context; eventually, that behavior can become automatic. To help turn behaviors into habits, companies should identify the contextual cues that drive the behaviors. A contextual cue can be a particular task, time of day, or object placement. For example, more consumers are keeping hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes near entryways for easy access and as a reminder to keep hands and surfaces clean. Product packaging and marketing that reinforces the put-it-by-the-door behavior can help consumers sustain the habit.

Some companies may need to identify—and create—new contextual cues. Before the COVID-19 crisis, a contextual cue for chewing-gum consumption was anticipation of a social interaction—for instance, before going to a club, while commuting to work, and after smoking. As social occasions have waned during the pandemic, a chewing-gum manufacturer must look for new contextual cues, focusing largely on solo or small-group activities, such as gaming and crafting. Gum manufacturers could consider designing packaging, flavors, and communications that reinforce those new associations.

Align messages to consumer mindsets

People across the country have felt an intensified mix of anxiety, anger, and fear because of recent events, making marketing a tricky terrain to navigate. The heightened emotions and increased polarization of the past few months could drive lasting changes in consumers’ behavior and shape their long-term preferences. Companies should therefore ensure that all their brand communications are attuned to consumer sentiment. The quality of a company’s communication  and its ability to strike the right tone will increasingly become a competitive advantage.

McKinsey’s consumer-sentiment surveys  show that consumers are paying closer attention to how companies treat their employees  during this crisis—and taking note of companies that demonstrate care and concern for people. That has implications for how brands connect with consumers and what types of messages will resonate. Hair-care brand Olaplex, for example, became one of the most mentioned hair-care brands on social media when it started an affiliate program: the company donated a portion of its proceeds from product sales to customers’ local hairstylists, helping them stay afloat during salon closures.

That said, consumers will see through—and reject—messages and actions that are performative and that seek to commercialize social issues. A brand’s communications must align with its purpose ; otherwise, the messages won’t ring true. Testing marketing messages among a diverse group of consumers, in the context in which those messages will appear, could help prevent costly missteps.

Analyze consumer beliefs and behaviors at a granular level

Consumer beliefs, habits, occasions, and emotional-need states will continue to evolve rapidly over the next year or two as the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine. For consumer companies to stay abreast of those changes, monitoring product sales alone won’t be sufficient. Companies must also conduct primary consumer-insights work, with a focus on identifying changed behaviors and associated changed beliefs and motivators to get a comprehensive picture of the changing consumer decision journey.

Qualitative, exploratory research will have a particular role to play as a precursor to (and, in some cases, a substitute for) quantitative research. Digital data-gathering and monitoring techniques—such as mobile diaries, social-media “listening,” and artificial-intelligence-driven message boards—will be vital tools to help companies understand emerging behaviors and contextual cues. When structured well, those insights generate new thinking within an organization that can be validated through larger-scale surveys and in-market testing. Companies can then refine their product offerings and marketing messages accordingly.

In addition, granular analyses of footfall data and omnichannel sales will unearth telling details, such as which geographic regions are seeing in-person commerce rebound first and which products consumers are buying (such as smaller pack sizes to avoid sharing, activewear versus office wear, and so on). Whereas in the past, companies might have fielded high-level usage and attitude surveys and brand trackers a few times a year, it’s especially important now for companies to keep a closer eye on the evolution of consumer behavior on a weekly or monthly basis.

The COVID-19 crisis has changed people’s routines at unprecedented speed—and some of those changes will outlast the pandemic. Even in states and cities that have reopened, consumers remain cautious about resuming all of their precrisis activities. We’ve seen differences in consumer behavior across geographic markets and demographic groups, and those differences will only widen during the recovery phase, given that the health, economic, and social impact of COVID-19 isn’t uniform. Companies that develop a nuanced understanding of the changed beliefs, peak moments, and habits of their target consumer bases—and adjust their product offerings, customer experiences, and marketing communications accordingly—will be best positioned to thrive in the next normal.

Tamara Charm is a senior expert in McKinsey’s Boston office; Ravi Dhar is director of the Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management; Stacey Haas is a partner in McKinsey’s Detroit office; Jennie Liu is executive director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights; Nathan Novemsky is a marketing professor at the Yale School of Management; and Warren Teichner is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New Jersey office.

This article was edited by Monica Toriello, an executive editor in the New York office.

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Individual Consumer Decision Making

32 Chapter Reflections

Continue Learning

• Consumer decision making isn’t nearly as straight forward as, “need/want > buy”. Making choices in a world of abundance can be an intense and often discouraging process. Watch this short Ted Talk by Dr. Sheena Iyengar about how to make choosing easier. What lessons should marketers take away from Dr. Iyengar’s research and recommendations?
• As consumers we are often faced with the question (or dilemma) of what to do with our “stuff” when we’re done with it. Throw it away? Add to the landfills in and around our cities? Donate? Repurpose? One popular form of disposal is called “lateral cycling.” Explore lateral cycling as a marketing concept and a lifestyle related to anti-consumerist movements.
• What do upcycling and Habitat for Humanity have in common? Explore the Habitat for Humanity website to learn more about how upcycling factors into their building and design practices.
• How does “Upcycle That” turn peoples’ trash into treasures? How can disposable consumer products be repositioned into luxury purchases? Learn more about Upcycle That’s community and marketplace .
• Watch this video related to lateral cycling that shows how one woman created a movement by re-purposing children’s’ dolls. What is marketing’s responsibility when it comes to disposal options and designing for longevity?
• What does it say about our consumption habits that in Canada alone, the food waste problem costs us $31 billion? We buy and we waste. We buy more, and then waste more. Why is there such a need for abundance, and can we change our behaviours and attitudes towards food waste to help reduce the negative impacts it has on climate change? This is by far one of the most concerning issues around food waste. Watch this video where John Oliver tackles the food waste problem in the US . As a consumer, which aspects of the food waste problem troubles you the most? What changes would you like to see in…yourself, society, and government to help address the problems of food waste? How are marketers responsible for contributing to the problem and what can they do to eliminate it?
• What are the consequences of advertising to children? Consider food marketing: what impact does advertising junk food have on children? What about toys? What standards and expectations do these create in children and how can advertising to children evolve into excessive consumption? Learn more about Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act . Do you think banning advertisements to children could curb excessive consumption in our society? What role can legislation play in changing attitudes and behaviours in society?
• See Green America’s 9 Cool Ways to Avoid Sweatshops . Discuss how a marketing campaign could be devised to persuade more corporations to actively avoid the use of sweatshops for production.
• Perhaps one of the most unique campaigns of 2016 came from Patagonia , a well-known brand committed to sustainability, who actually encouraged consumers to NOT purchase their products. Imagine that! This Drum article discusses the campaign and Patagonia’s embrace of anti-consumerism with the intent to inspire more conscious consumption. Discuss Patagonia’s anti-consumerism: can the brand attract more consumers by encouraging them to “buy less”? Will Patagonia inspire consumers to engage in more “conscious consumption”?

Introduction to Consumer Behaviour Copyright © 2021 by Andrea Niosi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Learning Theories

11 Chapter Reflections

Continue learning.

• As an example of Classical Conditioning, explore the repeated pairing of Royale toilet paper and its imagery of fluffy white kittens . Describe how this learning theory is being used and how it may impact a consumer.
• Pick a well-known or popular consumer product that has a copy-cat brand (e.g. cereal, soft drinks, shampoo, pasta) available next or near it at a store. Take a photo of the products and discuss how stimulus generalization supports the strategy behind copy-cat branding.
• Many well-established health and beauty product lines have grown through product-line extensions. Find an example of product-line extension and describe how this relates to behavioural learning.
• Which brands use celebrity endorsement as a means to “model” behaviour for a youth target audience? Share and discuss your example using the concepts from the section on cognitive learning.
• Using Google and/or YouTube, identify as many celebrities as possible who have acted as endorsers for skincare product company ProActive. Who is this company targeting? What learning theory underpins the use of celebrity endorsers? Is this effective in your opinion – why or why not?
• There are many examples of how marketers use modelling as a way to both position and teach an audience about a brand. For example, skin care company Proactive has used many well-known celebrities as spokespeople to represent their skin care line. Discuss why modelling is an effective learning strategy in marketing using examples such as this commercial where Justin Bieber endorses Proactive .
• Provide examples of brands who have used “nostalgia” as a means to reach an audience and provide a longing for the past. Why is nostalgia used and is it an effective marketing tool? For inspiration, watch this video from Microsoft and discuss why it may make you feel nostalgic.
• Watch Dan Ariely’s Ted Talk, “ Are we in control of our own decisions? ” and discuss the different ways confirmation biases influence our decision making as consumers.
• Read Peter Yang’s article, “ How to Use Cognitive Biases For More Effective Marketing ” and discuss the pro’s, con’s, and ethics of using confirmation biases as a marketing strategy to influence consumer decision making.

Introduction to Consumer Behaviour Copyright © by Andrea Niosi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Consumer Behavior Course Reflection

Consumer behavior (CB) is a broad area with many interconnected aspects, theories, and frameworks, which require an in-depth understanding to relate. This course was instrumental as it enabled me to understand the key concepts in this subject and how they are connected. Consumers select and use products depending on a number of factors, some of which drive them to prefer or avoid certain goods or services.

Before deciding to purchase a product, customers usually consider the extent to which it will satisfy their needs. Manufacturers and business invest much in understanding consumer behavior to ensure they produce goods and services which meet the expectations of their customers. This strategy gives such organizations an advantage over their competitors in the same industry or by manufacturing customized products tailored to meet consumer needs.

From this course, I learned many concepts, including the consumer behavior value framework, motivations and emotions driving CB, and the significance of understanding CB, all of which immensely contributed to my curiosity and learning.

The first chapter laid the foundation for the course and improved my understanding of consumer behavior and its importance. From this section of the course, I understood the factors that influence the buying decisions of consumers. This knowledge is applicable since, in my life, after studies, I can apply it to bridge the CB gap in the market and identify which products meet customers’ needs. There are alternatives or many brands of the same product whose manufacturers compete for the same consumers in most cases.

This chapter helped me comprehend what influences a customer to choose one brand over another, despite the fact that they are meant to satisfy the same need. Some of these factors were personal: individual differences based on age, gender, and culture, psychological: how persons respond to a marketing message, and social: the way social media, family, and friends talk about a product. I also learned that each client has a different consumption process and attitudes towards a specific product, manufacturer, or seller. Therefore, this chapter’s information was important as it set the stage for the rest of the course.

One of the concepts which stood out to me was the consumer behavior value framework (CBVF). Mostly, consumers can sacrifice quality and satisfaction, but not value. From chapter 2, I learned that CBVF is a theory illustrating the factors shaping consumer behaviors to determine the value associated with their consumption.

For example, in the entertainment industry, listeners can love one song and loathe the other, although by the same band, which reveals that customers have a specific set of characteristics that they expect in a particular product. Thus, one of the best decisions businesses make is to be consumer-oriented because most CB issues tie back to value. I found this framework useful in explaining the complexity surrounding consumption. At the core of understanding and experiencing CB is value.

However, to better understand this, it is vital to know the relationship between the brand, product, customer, and the retailer or service provider, reflecting the relational quality. In business, when consumers buy specific brands from a seller whenever they need the product, they become loyal customers. Therefore, the CBVF helps explain the interconnectedness between the consumer and the product based on value.

Moreover, businesses create high-quality relationships with their customers when the latter realize high value by purchasing from a specific company. Such consumers develop into loyal and committed customers when they experience high satisfaction from dealing with a particular company, according to CBVF. With a significant client base, a business does not have to advertise heavily to attract buyers because loyal customers will always return because they attach value to the product and find satisfaction using it.

For example, Apple Inc. has been successful in the telecommunication industry because of many loyal customers, who value iPods, iPhones, and Macs. This explains the consumption process, which involves a great deal of decision making. From this chapter, I learned that consumers decide what they need, consider a number of alternatives available, and focus on one. At the end of the consumption process, a customer reacts to the degree to which the product satisfied their needs, which then dictates the kind of value they attach to the brand, product, or company.

I learned that many factors, internal and external, influence the consumption process. The former include the personality and psychology of the consumer. Both cognitive and affective processes are a part of the psychology of the consumer. Knowledge comes from the cognition process, which involves how people perceive and store information.

For example, when a child hears her parents talk nastily about smoking, she develops a negative attitude towards it. On the other hand, if the parents speak positively about sandwiches, she will attach value to them. Similarly, if a consumer talks about satisfying experiences using a product, other people will be motivated to try it to meet their needs. Therefore, individuals’ perceptions about goods or services shape these products’ desirability, which illustrates the value they attached to the company producing the goods.

Conversely, the personality of the consumer includes individual differences that determine consumer behavior. I learned that businesses and manufacturers invest heavily in harnessing customers’ individual differences in order to produce goods tailored to meet individual consumer needs. Therefore, the consumption process is an important concept to learn and how it is connected to consumer behavior.

I also expanded my knowledge and thinking on how motivations and emotions drive consumer behavior. From chapter 5, we defined motivation as the driving force or internal reason behind human action. In CB, consumers are motivated by their needs to find products or services which can satisfy them. I learned that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs affects motivation in a number of ways. To understand this, we distinguished between utilitarian and hedonic motivation.

The former included consumers’ drive to obtain goods to accomplish things. For example, using an air freshener to cover up an unpleasant smell in the house or shopping with sellers who seem useful and easy to use is utilitarian. On the other hand, hedonic motivation is a more common one and involves the drive to look for a product or service which is personally satisfying. Examples include using an air fresher for liking its smell or shopping with exciting and funny retailers. Besides, I learned that consumer emotions, which can be measured through autonomic and self-report aspects, greatly help shape value. Therefore, consumer behavior is significantly influenced by motivations and emotions.

I got myself thinking about things differently in terms of personality, lifestyles, and self-concept, all learned under chapter 2. We defined personality as a totality of behaviors, intentions, emotions, and thoughts which an individual consistently exhibits. The psychoanalytic approach developed by Freud can help explain the personality differences among consumers.

Customer qualities are unique but can be conceptualized as a combination of individual characteristics, which interact with situations to influence consumer behavior, varying across time. The psychoanalytic approach focuses on such aspects as identity, focusing on immediate gratification and pleasure-seeking motives; superego, matching societal norms and expectations; and ego, which focuses on bridging the gap between the two aforementioned elements.

Conversely, we defined lifestyle as the way a person spends time and money, directing their consumption pattern evidenced by how they allocate their income to meeting their needs through the purchase of goods and services. I also learned essential marketing traits, value consciousness, materialism, innovativeness, self-monitoring, and competitiveness. Therefore, this chapter taught me the various ways self-concept, personality, and lifestyles are connected to consumer behavior.

The concept of group and interpersonal influence piqued my curiosity. I learned how the various types of reference groups impact the consumer’s value perception. The different types of reference group influences: value-expressive (ways consumers internalize values), utilitarian, how customers conform to group expectations, and informational, ways clients utilize the reference group’s attitudes and behaviors as information. I used to think word-of-mouth (WOM) is not effective, but I learned that it significantly influences consumer behavior in this chapter.

The information about a product or service experience can be passed from one consumer to another by WOM. A negative message from this exchange is likely to cause damage more damage to the product or brand than the positive one. I learned how marketers harness the potential of the WOM by building brand communities to learn the various ways they can improve their products. Therefore, group and interpersonal influence is significant in understanding consumer behavior and how customers attach values based on the information they obtain by WOM.

Another area I expanded my knowledge on is how cultures and micro-cultures influence consumer behavior. In chapter 9, we defined culture as a set of beliefs, values, and behavior shared by society members, which dictates what is socially satisfying. Customers learn about the culture’s expectations by enculturation (learning from their lineage) and acculturation (learning new ways from other people). There are two cultural norms, enacted and crescive, which direct consumers to attach value or develop attitudes toward a particular brand or product.

On the other hand, in chapter 10, I learned about micro-culture, which we defined as a group of individuals, who share some tastes and values, and are a part of the major culture. Since consumers are members of these sub-cultures, their interaction with other people in the same group influences their behavior as they attach value to products, services, or brands depending on the idiosyncrasies, habits, and expectations of the minor culture. Therefore, consumer behaviors are significantly influenced by cultures and micro-cultures.

My thinking concerning marketing has become different after what I learned from this course. The first concept was buzz marketing, which is aimed at creating excitement among customers and can be spread among other segments of the market. I learned the promotion of a product or service using unconventional means, guerrilla marketing. On the other hand, online technologies, such as social networking sites (SNS), can help facilitate word-of-mouth advertising; viral marketing.

However, in some instances, product promotion is done without consumers being entirely unaware that they are being marketed to, stealth marketing. Lastly, under marketing, I learned about the significant role household influence plays in consumer behavior.

In the household, there is an influencer, who gathers essential information about a product and a gatekeeper, who controls how that information flows in the family. There is also the decision-maker, who authorizes the purchase, the buyer, who pays for the product, and the user, who is the consumer. Therefore, I found myself thinking differently about marketing after learning the way it influences consumer behavior.

In conclusion, the course was beneficial in providing me with useful information regarding consumer behavior. The consumer behavior value framework was one of the many new aspects I learned from this course, with detailed ways in which value is interconnected with CB and how the individual consumer differences dictate their buying decisions. When companies have established a good relationship with customers and won their loyalty, they lower their advertising investment because of a client base.

Consumers attach value to a service or product depending on how well it satisfies their needs. When a person talks positively or explains a gratifying experience with a specific brand, the testimony tempts and encourages family and friends, who are prospective customers, to try the product.

The course also highlighted how motivations and emotion are related to consumer behavior and how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs influences motivation. Some consumers buy goods to accomplish things while others look for a personally gratifying product, for example, two consumers purchasing an air freshener for different reasons. Overall, the course was helpful, and I learned much about consumer behavior.

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Consumer Behavior Essay: Critical Reflection On Consumption Practices

Task: Your task is to write a consumer behavior essay critically reflecting on the consumption practices.

Introduction It is evident herein consumer behavior essay that the modern day business environment faces intense competition in the international market. Thus, organizational leaders and senior managers across the world are focused on forming strategies that can help them to sustain in the global market and gain competitive advantage. Thus, consumerism is considered to be one of the significant strategies that has helped firms across the world to grow in their respective sector. Strategies adopted to protect the needs and the interests of the customers are known as consumerism. Organizations tend to focus on consumerism because it helps in changing the lifestyle and well-being of the consumers (Brown and Vergragt, 2016). It is found that consumption practice of an individual often depicts their personality and background. The aim of this essay is to critically reflect on my consumption practices and the essay will also focus on discussing the impact of my consumption practice on the society as a whole.

Identification of consumption practice I am an ethical consumer. According to the study conducted by Pecoraro and Uusitalo, (2014) when a consumer is conscious about their consumption practices and refuse to consume or buy anything that has a negative impact on the environment it is known as ethical consumption practice. The author states that ethical consumption can be also termed as sustainable consumption. Ethical food consumption, Purchase of daily requirements that is sustainable and eco-friendly in nature are major aspects of ethical consumption. I am intrigued to get informed about the sourcing of the products that I am purchasing from the mall. I tend to reject buying products that are not morally or ethically manufactured or sources. In my opinion, this habit of mine or this purchasing behaviour of mine has helped me to become ethically and socially responsible and has made me an ethical consumer.

However, as argued by Carrigan and Attalla, (2001), ethical consumerism has not yet received significant acceptance by the leaders or the senior managers of the organization. Organizational leaders or the senior team of several firms fail to understand the sustainable need of the consumers. The leaders tend to research less about the moral and ethical values that consumers across the world possess. Thus, lack of research on ethical consumerism has prevented the organizational leaders to understand the ethical response of the buyers or the consumers across the world. This has led to significant conflicts among the external and the internal stakeholders of companies operating globally.

Segmentation of customers on the basis of their purchasing behaviour is known as class identification. According to the study conducted by Ramya and Ali, (2016), social and economic factors are considered to be one of the important factor that is often taken into consideration by consumers across the world while making any purchasing decision. The social factors or social class are further divided into 3 different class. The class includes high, medium and low. Individuals are grouped under each of this class on the basis of their annual income. It has also been stated by the author that consumers who focus on purchasing products ethically tend to fall between middle class and higher class group. However, as argued by Olson, McFerran, Morales and Dahl, (2016), the middle class is also divided into 2 types. One is upper middle class and the other one is lower middle class. People who belong to the upper middle class tend to have more income than people who belong to the lower middle class group. The author states that people with more income tend to choose ethical products. In the current market, the price of organic foods or sustainable products is higher than non-sustainable products. Since, upper middle class family and people of high class society can afford to use these types of product. Apart from the affordability factor, people from this social or economic class understands the importance of using sustainable products. They have relevant knowledge about environmental degradation. People from this community is also well-informed about the negative impact of plastics, pesticides, insecticides and other poisonous fertilizers on the mother nature. Thus, they are more intrigued towards using products that have less negative impact on the planet.

Moreover, from the above discussion it can be said that I belong to the upper middle class or high class society. I have awareness about the constant change in the climate and how it can have an impact on the future generations. Self-awareness increases self-knowledge (Viskovich and De George-Walker, 2019).This makes me environmentally and socially responsible. In my opinion, the constant information that I am getting regarding the importance of sustainability has helped me to change my purchasing decisions. I have understood that how each one of us is responsible for the degradation of the environment and how it is a threat to our existence. I also have a tendency to choose quality product or quality lifestyle over quantity. Thus, it can be concluded that I am an ethical consumer who is socially responsible.

The concept of consumer has come into existence after the 1990s. From then the organizational leaders have understood the importance of identifying the cultural background of the consumers, their beliefs and values while segmenting them. Thus, consumer culture is defined as the values, morals and activities that revolve around the purchasing decisions of the consumer. According to the study conducted by Welch and Warde, (2015), there are different types of consumers that are encountered by organizational members of the world. The behaviour, motives and the purchasing decisions undertaken by these consumers are used to identify the cultural background of the consumers. The author states that currently with the increase in protests regarding climate change across the world, consumers have become concerned about this issue. They are spending their money on sustainable products, organic fruits and vegetables. This type of consumers is considered to be collective in nature and they have collective cultural background. Finally, it is found that consumers who are considered to be collective in nature are also socially competent. However, as argued by Minton, Spielmann, Kahle and Kim, (2018), infrastructure of a nation is considered to have influence on the consumers that further controls the purchasing behaviour of the consumer. In several nations across the world, when a person expresses their in-built ethics and values, they are considered to have esteemed cultural background. These value and ethics drive humans to focus on sustainable consumption. The author also states that authorities of several nations across the world guides and motivate business leaders to undertake sustainable actions and it also motivates the consumers to focus on sustainable consumption. The author considers the concept of Hofstede’s cultural dimension and states that it is the responsibility of the highest power in a nation to train the mind of the people of the nation. The government, organizational leaders of large firms have the ability to influence and motivate individuals or group of individuals to take sustainable purchasing into consideration. Thus, from the above discussion it can be found that the first scholar says that collective culture or ethical practices is an inbuilt value. On the other hand, the work of the second group of scholars argues that it is the responsibility of the leaders of a nation to build the nation in such a way so that people focus on sustainable or socially responsive purchasing.

In my opinion, I come from a collective cultural background. Collectivism helps in improving self-image and brand image (Frank, Enkawa and Schvaneveldt, 2015). I have been raised in such a way so that I can understand the importance of social responsibilities and ethical purchasing. Thus, it can be said that the purchasing behaviour of mine can be identified as an in-built value. The value that helps me to think about all the people across the world and not just me.

In the previous part of the essay, I have identified myself as an ethical consumer who focus on consuming sustainably. The objective of this part is to critically reflect my consumption practice. According to the study conducted by Ferreira and Ferreira, (2018), ethical consumption undertaken by customers across the world has brought major advantages to the world. Ethical consumption is not only reducing environmental degradation but it is considered to be one of the major act that is helping in initiating trade justice among nations across the world. Ethical consumers are working together collectively to help the organizational leaders understand the importance of sustainable consumption and socially responsible business practices. The author also states that in several nations like USA, ethical consumers are not only focusing on purchasing responsibly but a huge section of these consumers are motivating other members of the nation to switch from non-sustainable buying to sustainable buying. It is found that constant effort made by the ethical consumers and other activists to focus on purchasing ethically has discouraged companies to make products that can degrade the environment. With the increase in the number of ethical buyers, organizations are also focusing on investing in Research & Development so that they can come up with innovative and unique products in the market. Thus, from the above discussion it can be found that ethical consumption not only helps in degradation of the environmental conditions but it also helps firm to sustain in the market and gain competitive advantage. However, as argued by Carrigan and Attalla, (2001), it is found that consumers often get motivated to buy sustainable and organic products but they are not ready to protest against organizations who are not adopting sustainable business strategies. Thus, it can be said that ethical consumers might start consuming sustainable products but they are not capable of bringing any change within the organization. The author also states that one of the depressing but real situation that the world is witnessing is constant increase in non-sustainable practices by big nations across the world. Animal testing, use of harmful chemicals in the process of manufacturing and many other practices are significantly increasing. The author considers, this situation as depressing because it not only harms the whole environment in general but it is found that these non-sustainable business practices are having no negative impact on the consumers. This reveals that lack of awareness among the consumers is one of the alarming condition in the modern day business world.

In my opinion, I am an ethical consumer. I am socially responsible when it comes to buying products from the market. Despite this, I am not capable of influencing my peers to purchase sustainably. I think I should focus on building capabilities so that I can motivate other people and aware them about the constant degradation that the environment is facing. Apart from purchasing responsibly, I should also inspire people and help them to build moral values. I think until each and every consumer in this earth is shifting their buying habits, the environmental issues will not be resolved.

Ethical consumption is available to each and every individual or consumers across the world. The consumers tend to face several complexities while starting consuming ethically. There is a rapid in the percentage of middle class people. A huge section of people thinks that ethical consumption is not for the people who belong to the middle class background but several scholars believe that middle class people must be taken as an opportunity and a possibility that can further help in increase in the percentage of ethical consumption (Gregson and Ferdous, 2015). Ethical consumption is considered to be related to care. As mentioned earlier, it is responsible for removing exploitation of suppliers and workers. “Caring about” is considered to be one of the important phase which is associated with ethical consumption (Shaw, McMaster and Newholm, 2016). Since, care is the right of every individual therefore, the availability of ethical consumption is with every one irrespective of their cultural background.

In the previous part of the essay, works of several scholars have been taken into consideration to find out the advantages of ethical consumerism. The objective of this section of the essay is to focus on giving an overview of ethical and socially responsive consumption and how it has brought positivity in the modern day business world. According to the study conducted by Carrington, Zwick and Neville, (2016), ethical consumption not only has an impact on the climate change and environmental degradation. This type of purchasing behaviour of the consumer is considered to have major impact on the internal and the external stakeholders of the firm. The author states that when a consumers focus on ethical purchasing; he/she tends to get informed about the source of the product. This helps them to understand whether the suppliers of the raw materials are exploited by the organizational management team or the leaders in order to source the products. Apart from this, ethical consumers also focus on observing the condition of the workers within the firm. There are several MNCs across the world, who tend to exploit their workers by giving their less salary and by providing them with unhealthy working conditions. A huge section of ethical consumers often makes protests for product banning of firms who are exploiting their customers. Thus, it can be said that socially responsible behaviour considered by consumers across the world have a positive impact on the society. It strengthens the bond of people within the society.

However as opined by Gregory-Smith, Smith and Winklhofer, (2013), ethical consumption practices or ethical buying behaviour of a consumer not only has an impact on the external environment of the organization but it also has an impact on the internal departments of the firm. The author states that marketing communications undertaken by different organizations have changed due to the constant pressure of ethical consumers. Currently, marketers of firms are focusing on adopting “guilt appeal” strategies while formulating any campaign. The objective of this strategy is to build a sense of guilt among the consumers who are not ethically consuming or purchasing products. The guilt appeal is further helping the marketers of firms to influence and motivate people.

Therefore, in my opinion, ethical consumption practices are helping me to influence the society to change their way of living. This consumption practice will help me and each and every member of the society collectively. Furthermore, workers and suppliers are benefitted with my self-expression. Apart from environmental degradation, several issues like income inequality, exploitation and many more is also getting resolved.

Conclusion The main aim of this essay was to reflect upon my consumption practices. The essay concludes that ethical consumption is followed by me when it comes to purchasing in products. This has made me a socially responsible person. The report also focuses on presenting arguments of different scholars regarding ethical consumption. From the essay, it can be found that ethical consumption which is practiced by me has significant positive impact on the society but it is my responsibility to influence and motivate my peers to do the same. This will not only save the planet but it will also focus on development of communities across the world. Finally, the essay concludes that self-expression of mine regarding socially responsible consumption will help make me a responsible consumer and responsible citizen and it will act as a motivational factor for others.

Reference List Brown, H.S. and Vergragt, P.J., 2016. From consumerism to wellbeing: toward a cultural transition?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 132, pp.308-317.

Carrigan, M. and Attalla, A., 2001. The myth of the ethical consumer–do ethics matter in purchase behaviour?. Journal of consumer marketing.

Carrington, M.J., Zwick, D. and Neville, B., 2016. The ideology of the ethical consumption gap. Marketing Theory, 16(1), pp.21-38.

Ferreira, J. and Ferreira, C., 2018. From bean to cup and beyond: exploring ethical consumption and coffee shops. Journal of Consumer Ethics, 2(2), pp.20-34.

Frank, B., Enkawa, T. and Schvaneveldt, S.J., 2015. The role of individualism vs. collectivism in the formation of repurchase intent: A cross-industry comparison of the effects of cultural and personal values. Journal of Economic Psychology, 51, pp.261-278.

Gregory-Smith, D., Smith, A. and Winklhofer, H., 2013. Emotions and dissonance in ‘ethical’consumption choices. Consumer behavior essay Journal of Marketing Management, 29(11-12), pp.1201-1223.

Gregson, N. and Ferdous, R., 2015. Making space for ethical consumption in the South. Geoforum, 67, pp.244-255.

Minton, E.A., Spielmann, N., Kahle, L.R. and Kim, C.H., 2018. The subjective norms of sustainable consumption: A cross-cultural exploration. Journal of Business Research, 82, pp.400-408.

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This is how inbred purebred dogs have become…

By Alexandra Horowitz Graphics by Sara Chodosh and Taylor Maggiacomo

Dr. Horowitz is a cognitive scientist who studies dogs.

Sex with your sibling is called incest and is illegal in almost all 50 states. Sex with your sibling or other close relations, if you are a dog, is called inbreeding, and inbreeding is part of the practice of pure-breeding dogs.

Breeders are not typically mating siblings, though it is not prohibited by the American Kennel Club and is not unheard of. Any mating within a closed gene pool of candidates will do, as far as breeders are concerned. But according to research published by a team from the University of California, Davis, and Wisdom Health Genetics in Finland, purebred dogs have, on average, a “coefficient of inbreeding” of 0.25, the same number you get when two siblings have a child. This number indicates the probability that two individuals will share two alleles from a common ancestor, like a parent or grandparent. And this number — 0.25 — is a problem.

The results of pure-breeding, on display starting this Saturday at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York, are profound. The radical morphological diversity of dog breeds today — from four-pound Malteses, white-haired and small-faced, to 170-pound Great Danes, large of body and of presence — is due to selective breeding.

So, too, are the consequences: the occurrence of several hundred health disorders related to genetics or to adherence to the standards set by breed groups that have emerged since dog pure-breeding took off in the 19th century. These include changes to anatomy so drastic that they affect reproduction (the bulldog’s head is so big that the overwhelming majority cannot be birthed naturally), respiration (the pug’s small skull leads to a constellation of abnormalities that make breathing difficult) and recreation (the German shepherd and other large-breed dogs are prone to debilitating hip dysplasia).

German shepherds used to have straight backs

A German shepherd in 1958.

Erich Andres/United Archives, via Getty Images

Modern shepherds have more pronounced slopes

A German shepherd at the 2013 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

The U.C. Davis research, led by Danika Bannasch, a veterinary geneticist, also found that the more inbred a breed was, the more inherited disease the breed had. (Remember the number they found, 0.25? Healthy rates of genetic similarity occur with a coefficient of inbreeding below 0.05.) This finding aligns with what anyone who has taken biology already knows: When you limit the breeding population, the frequency of potentially unhealthy mutations increases, as deleterious but recessive alleles become prominent.

When we breed to a type, genetic diversity is lost. Now we have dozens of small- and large-scale studies showing the inevitable results of inbreeding with dogs: smaller litter sizes, fewer surviving newborns and even decreasing life spans. A large 2019 study found, controlling for size, that purebred dogs lived over a year less than mixed-breed dogs did. As a society, in other words, we’re trading a year of their lives for the ability to choose their shape, size and color.

More inbred dogs tend to have more health issues

Morbidity is a measure of suffering from disease, shown here as the number of non-routine vet visits for each breed, per 10,000 dog years, as observed by an insurance company.

Parents are cousins

Half siblings

↑ Morbidity

2,500 non-routine vet visits

Inbreeding →

Irish Wolfhound

Mixed breed

Dogs are living examples of a paradox — the paradox of our human impulses. I know no dog people who want their dogs to live a year less than they would, statistically speaking, if they were mutts. But I know lots of people who want to purchase a purebred dog. Why is this? I think it comes down to our psychological tendencies, on one hand, and consumer mind-set, on the other.

Psychologically, we love anecdotal data and are easily persuaded by single data points. As a researcher on dog cognition for the past 20 years, I have seen this demonstrated in reaction to published and replicated research when our experiences seem to belie the results. When I describe research that finds that the guilty look of dogs is a response to their owners’ behavior, not a reflection of their understanding of their own misbehavior, the most common reaction I receive is: But my dog looks guilty only when he is guilty.

Pugs used to have more prominent snouts

A pug in 1915.

Imagno/Getty Images

Modern pugs have smushed, round faces

A pug at the 2013 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

There are plenty of individual examples of long-lived purebred dogs — several of the oldest living dogs on record, north of 20 years, are purebred — so we hold on to those anecdotes, like a smoker to cigarettes because a grandmother lived until 102 clutching her Marlboros. Also contributing to our paradoxical behavior is our love for buying things, even (sometimes especially) living things. Societally, we treat dogs as commercial products, although each dog purchaser is hoping the dog will become a member of the family, not shelved with our other household objects for display.

In an era when you can get groceries and a new computer delivered to your home in an hour, I am surprised that we can’t buy puppies on Amazon (yet). But we can head online, scrolling through websites and collecting recommendations from other dog purchasers. We start to imagine the kind of dog we would like, with features we can choose. The American Kennel Club and the dog-breed clubs within it are happy to tell you about the features you can expect in your new dog — friendly, good with kids, trainable. The possibility of a reliable dog product is more fun to believe in than the scholarly research that clearly demonstrates that breed type is a poor predictor of behavior. The illusion of certainty mesmerizes us.

Chow chows were smaller, with fewer wrinkles

A chow in 1930.

Fox Photos/Getty Images

Modern chows are slightly larger, with more fluffy fur

A chow at the 2013 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The deluge of evidence showing both the ubiquity of inbreeding and its detrimental results is a chance for reflection. While science is steadily producing more details about exactly how inbreeding is deforming the species we claim to love, there is nothing fundamentally new here: We have known for years about the poor results for dogs. What the evidence may now be showing us, though, is the poor result for us: We are a species that is willfully damaging dogs.

This result is born not just of our obsession with breeds or our willingness to overlook the damage of inbreeding but also of our thinking about dogs as objects to be molded to our desires. We are drawn to the infantile look of big-eyed, flat-faced dogs, and as a result, we inadvertently created dogs whose eyes ulcerate and whose noses and tracheas are small and often nearly blocked. We are drawn to dogs with distinctive coats (Dalmatian: spotted; Rhodesian Ridgeback: with a characteristic line down the spine), the genes for which also lead to disorders (Dalmatian: deafness; Ridgeback: dermoid sinus, a neural tube defect).

Bull terriers had more typical snout bridges

A bull terrier in 1949.

Modern bull terriers have more football-shaped heads

A bull terrier at the 2013 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

As a species, we are so attached to the idea that we should be able to buy a dog who looks however we like — flat of face or fancy of coat — that we are willing to overlook the consequences for the species, for the breeds and often for the very sweet, exuberant pup we add to our families.

We have a chance to redeem ourselves. Right now, the American Kennel Club has no constraints on inbreeding (even as it encourages breeders to remember that “crippling or fatal” hereditary diseases may result). But I am not counting on the American Kennel Club. Instead, we could make outcrosses — the introduction of different genetic material to breeds — the norm. Research looking at dog genotypes and phenotypes has found several putative genes associated with longevity in dogs. What if we pursued robust health, instead of breed standards based on appearance, by investigating and working with those genes? If we loosen our grip on the idea that dogs are consumer objects to be designed and from whom we can demand certain behaviors, we will have a chance to meet dogs again on their own terms.

Methodology

The position of each dog breed in the inbreeding chart is an approximation. Within each breed, the inbreeding coefficient for a given dog will vary.

Dogs Are Not Here for Our Convenience

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