Active field researchers and award-winning teachers Hoyer and MacInnis provide students with an accessible and topical introduction to consumer behavior. A broad conceptual model helps students see how all chapter topics tie together, and real-world examples reinforce each concept and theoretical principle under review. The text also focuses on the implications of consumer behavior research for marketers. Updated to reflect the most recent research and examples, the Fourth Edition features streamlined content and organization--from 21 to 20 chapters--as well as a new interior design and new photos and advertisements. In addition, several pedagogical features make the material accessible and meaningful to marketing students: chapter-opening cases show the anecdotal application of concepts, while end-of-chapter questions and exercises require students to investigate consumer behavior issues and analyze advertisements and marketing strategies. A range of technology resources supports instructors and students throughout the term. New! The chapters on culture have been reorganized to include recent developments in academic research, such as new information about the values that characterize Western culture. Consolidated and streamlined coverage also includes privacy, social class influences, household consumption, demographics, and diversity. New! Updated and expanded coverage includes an examination of AMA's new definition of marketing, consumer behavior as related to environmental issues (such as recycling), the effects of memory and retrieval, and word-of-mouth communication, among others. New! Chapter-opening cases focus on companies and topics such as Swatch, ING Direct, iPod, Shopping.com, beer advertising, product placement, consumer behavior in China and Thailand, buzz marketing, and identity theft. New! Cases on consumer behavior are available through the HMXChange Business Case Database. This online resource allows business instructors to assemble, maintain, and update casebooks from any web-accessible location. The result is a printed casebook tailored to meet course objectives. New! Designed specifically for users of the Fourth Edition, the technology package includes the Online Teaching Center, HM Testing, basic and premium PowerPoint slides, Blackboard/WebCT course cartridges, Overhead Transparencies with additional advertising examples, videos, and the Online Study Center with ACE practice tests. Consumer Behavior is known for the inclusion of chapters and topics that often do not appear in other textbooks for this course, such as "Symbolic Consumer Behavior" and "The Dark Side of Consumer Behavior," which explores obesity, theft, and compulsive spending.