Análise do Comportamento do Consumidor: valor de equivalência e avaliação de qualidade e conhecimento de marcas de café

Abstract

According to Behavioral Perspective Model, consumer behavior occurs in specific consumption scenarios which signalize reinforcing and/or aversive consequences, as well as an individual learning history. The present study aimed to estimate prices, quality and knowing, and equivalence values among 500g coffee packs. A questionnaire was applied to 30 participants buying in a supermarket in order to estimate how well known, and the estimated quality of different coffee brands. These data permitted to distinguish five informative reinforce levels, and provided five different coffee brands to be used in the experimental phase. This phase was carried out with other 30 participants: While one coffee s brand price remained constant at R$7.00, the alternative brand s price was adjusted up and down from R$0.50 to R$7.00, in order to obtain equivalence values between coffees from differing brands, and test discount functions. These participants showed two patterns: exclusive preference for some participants and diminishing equivalence values related to coffees prices obtained in supermarkets. These data replicated previous ones obtained with different methodologies. For participants with diminishing equivalence values, a power function described data, with exponents interpreted as brands substitutability degree. The present work provided high correlation rates among individual Knowing-Quality Mean (KQM), and equivalence values, indicating that the first measure may serve as a good preference predictor. The present work still tried to contribute to understand consumer behavior by incorporating a new methodology to access choice between products or brands in the operant laboratory.