Marketing
Levels of Consumer Involvement in Voluntary Transfers of Property
In your marketing class, you may have discussed the varying levels of consumer involvement in purchasing decisions, or decisions as to whether a consumer wants to acquire title to property. These levels of consumer involvement are sometimes labeled routine problem solving, limited problem solving, and extended problem solving. Routine problem solving refers to purchasing decisions in which consumers have the lowest level of involvement, in the sense that consumers spend very little time examining alternative brands, evaluating differentiating characteristics, or seeking the advice of others to make their purchases. Routine problem solving would likely involve the purchasing of products such as toothpaste, deodorant, and household cleaners.

Limited problem solving refers to purchasing decisions in which consumers spend more time researching several alternatives and may perhaps rely on external sources for more information. Examples include a consumer's purchasing a toaster, choosing a restaurant for dinner, or buying a CD. Finally, extended problem solving refers to high-involvement purchasing decisions in which consumers spend much time comparing, researching, and seeking advice from other sources before making a decision. Examples include a consumer's purchasing a car, computer, or high-end audio system. These distinctions in consumer involvement may be useful for marketers in the sense that for low-involvement purchases, companies could place a greater emphasis on maintaining product quality and reassuring consumers that they made the right choice. In contrast, companies might continuously provide additional product information and introduce new evaluative criteria that distinguish their products in high-involvement purchasing decisions, as the companies realize consumers are constantly evaluating alternatives before they buy. Notice that the kinds of purchases for which the law requires more formalities for acquiring title tend to be those that fall into the high-involvement category.

Source: Roger A. Kerin et al., Marketing (New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2006), pp. 124–125.

Management and Marketing
Choosing a Carrier
As you may know from a management or marketing course, there are five primary modes of transporting products or personal property: railroads, motor carriers, air carriers, pipelines, and water carriers. To determine which mode of transportation best suits a product's delivery, individuals or business owners may employ six criteria: consideration for the cost of transportation, the time or speed of the shipment, capability of the mode to deliver a certain kind of product, dependability in the sense that business owners can rely on the carrier to avoid loss and damage of the goods, accessibility of the routes of the carrier, and frequency or scheduling of deliveries. With regard to relative advantages and disadvantages among the three most common modes, railroads provide a less expensive mode of transportation, fully capable of transporting most kinds of goods. However, railroads can be slower than truck trailers or air carriers, but trucks and air carriers are more expensive modes. Trucks also provide the convenience of direct delivery from the pickup site to the delivery site, but they must comply with weight and size restrictions. Air carriers, although the fastest mode, have limited capabilities in addition to high costs, but air carriers transport goods without much risk of damage. The aforementioned criteria could be useful to individuals or business owners when selecting a common carrier to transport products or personal property. Fortunately for individuals relying on common carriers, the common carriers are liable for any damage to individuals' goods.

Source: Roger A. Kerin et al., Marketing (New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2006), pp. 432–434.