Question

In the past, I have made purchases that have been made solely on the influence of others. One example of being influenced was when purchasing a new bed. There are many options to choose from, and in this decision, my husband was an influence. I wanted perfection, and considering the pros and cons of all the available sizes and styles was very important. I was very indecisive and did not know what to purchase. Influenced by my husband’s opinion in considering a large bed, unlike the one we previously had. I decided to go for the biggest one that there was. The anxiety I had before making the purchase reflected cognitive dissonance. The inconstancy I encountered resulted in my dissonance to arise. This purchase was an example of cognitive dissonance.

please put summary and opinion based on above ideas.

Answer 1

Firstly, the cognitive dissonance basically means the discomfort people feel when their behaviour go against their belief. This happens in almost all aspects of life. It even happens when a consumer makes a purchase. As said above in the example given, when the wife had her own belief in style and sizes of the type of bed they wanted to purchase, but then the husbands opinion gradually influenced her making her buy the biggest bed available. The decision went exactly opposite to what she wanted, which lead to arise in cognitive dissonanace. It is said that marketers can actually reduce the congnitive dissonance of the customers by influencing them and makig them understand more about the product and the purchase they make.The cognitive dissonance can be reduced by changing the conflicting belief or giving less imporatance to the existing belief or adding up new beliefs.