Cambridge A Level Psychology 9990: Consumer Psychology — Practice Questions

These are original practice questions written in the style of Cambridge AS & A Level Psychology (9990) assessment objectives. They are not taken from any past paper and are not endorsed by Cambridge International.

This practice set covers all five topics of Specialist Option 2, Consumer Psychology, in Cambridge International A Level Psychology 9990 (syllabus for 2024 to 2026). Section A follows the Paper 3 pattern of short answers and a structured essay (6 marks describe, 10 marks evaluate). Section B follows the Paper 4 pattern of applying content and research methods to a scenario. All scenarios are fictional.

Related: Consumer Psychology revision notes · Consumer Psychology study guide

Section A: Paper 3 style questions

1. (a) Describe the racetrack layout of a store interior. [2]

1. (b) Outline the pleasure-arousal-dominance (PAD) model of the effects of ambience. [3]

2. Explain the difference between satisficing and utility theory as models of consumer decision-making. [4]

3. (a) Describe the procedure of the study by Hall et al. (2010) on choice blindness. [3]

3. (b) Explain one ethical issue raised by this study. [2]

4. (a) Describe research into how packaging design affects taste perception. [6]

4. (b) Evaluate research into packaging and positioning of a product, including a discussion of reductionism versus holism. [10]

Section B: Paper 4 style questions

5. Café Lumen plans a new menu. The owner wants to sell more of her most profitable dish, a mushroom risotto.

(a) Using research into menu design, suggest two ways she could increase sales of the risotto. [4]

(b) She tests one of your suggestions over four weeks, alternating the old and new menus each week. Identify the independent and dependent variables. [2]

(c) Explain one reason why this field experiment may lack internal validity. [2]

6. A phone salesperson tells a customer: “This plan is 3,000 pence a month… that’s just £30. Great value.”

(a) Name the sales technique being used. [1]

(b) Using Kardes et al. (2007), explain which customers are most likely to be persuaded by it. [3]

7. Snyder and DeBono (1985) found that high and low self-monitors respond differently to adverts.

(a) Suggest how a perfume company could use this finding to design two adverts. [2]

(b) Explain one weakness of measuring self-monitoring with a self-report questionnaire. [2]

8. A researcher wants to replicate North et al. (2003) in a different country. Describe how she could measure customers’ spending objectively, and explain why this is better than asking customers. [4]

Answers

1. (a) Up to 2 marks. A main aisle forms a loop around the store (1), leading shoppers past every department and exposing them to more products (1). Example: department stores or furniture stores with a set path.

1. (b) Up to 3 marks. Environmental stimuli such as music, lighting and odour produce emotional states (1) of pleasure, arousal and dominance (feeling in control) (1). These states lead to approach behaviour, such as staying longer and spending more, or avoidance behaviour, such as leaving (1).

2. Up to 4 marks. Utility theory assumes the consumer is rational and weighs all information to choose the option with the greatest value or benefit (1+1). Satisficing proposes that consumers lack the time or capacity to compare everything, so they accept the first option that meets a minimum standard (1+1). Credit an example, such as buying the first acceptable kettle rather than researching every model.

3. (a) Up to 3 marks. Shoppers at a supermarket tasting stall sampled two jams or smelled two teas and chose which they preferred (1). They were asked to sample their chosen item again and explain their choice (1). Using double-ended containers, the researchers secretly switched the samples so participants were given the option they had rejected (1).

3. (b) Up to 2 marks. Deception (1): participants were misled about what they were tasting, so they had to be fully debriefed and told the purpose and their right to withdraw their data (1). Credit lack of fully informed consent if explained.

4. (a) Up to 6 marks. Becker et al. (2011) (1): yoghurt packages varied in shape, angular or rounded (1), and in colour saturation (1). Participants tasted the yoghurt and rated taste and product evaluations (1). Angular shapes and highly saturated colours led to stronger, more intense taste ratings (1), and effects were strongest for consumers who care about visual design (1). Credit Atalay et al. (2012) on shelf position if linked to perception of the product.

4. (b) Level-based: 9–10 marks for well-developed, balanced evaluation including the named debate and a conclusion. Indicative content:

• Reductionism vs holism: Becker et al. isolate single features (shape, colour), which is reductionist and allows cause and effect, but real purchases depend on the whole package, brand, price and situation, which a holistic view would consider.
• Validity: lab tasting is artificial; Atalay et al. use eye-tracking, which gives objective data on attention, but looking is not the same as buying.
• Generalisation: narrow product range (yoghurt); may not apply to non-food goods or other cultures.
• Application: findings inform package design and planograms, so the research is useful to retailers.
• Determinism: implies consumers’ taste is shaped by design without awareness, raising ethical questions.
• Conclusion: good evidence that packaging and position change perception, but effects work alongside many other factors.

5. (a) Two marks per suggestion: one for the idea, one for linking to research. Place the risotto first or last in its menu section, because Dayan and Bar-Hillel (2011) found items at the beginning and end of a list are chosen more (primacy and recency) (2). Highlight it with a box or graphic at a point where diners look first, following Pavesic (2005) (2). Give it an appealing descriptive name, following Lockyer (2006) (2).

5. (b) IV: menu design, old or new (1). DV: number of risotto dishes sold per week (1).

5. (c) Up to 2 marks. Other variables changed from week to week, such as weather, events or different customers (1), so changes in sales may not be caused by the menu (1).

6. (a) Disrupt-then-reframe (1).

6. (b) Up to 3 marks. Kardes et al. linked the technique’s success to the need for cognitive closure (1). Customers with a high need for closure want a quick, firm answer, so after the confusing “3,000 pence” they readily accept the reframe “great value” (1). Need for closure rises with time pressure, tiredness or noise, so a rushed or tired customer in a busy shop is most likely to be persuaded (1).

7. (a) One mark each. An image-based advert showing a glamorous lifestyle or celebrity, for high self-monitors (1). A quality-based advert stressing ingredients and long-lasting scent, for low self-monitors (1).

7. (b) Up to 2 marks. Participants may give socially desirable answers or lack insight into their own behaviour (1), so scores may not reflect real self-monitoring, lowering validity (1).

8. Up to 4 marks. Use the till receipts or bill totals for each table (1), divided by number of diners to give spending per head (1). This is objective because it does not depend on interpretation or memory (1); customers asked might misremember or give socially desirable answers, and asking could alert them to the aim, creating demand characteristics (1).

Frequently asked questions

How are Paper 3 and Paper 4 structured? Each is 1 hour 30 minutes and 60 marks. On Paper 3, each of your two options has three short-answer questions (14 marks) and a structured essay (6-mark describe, 10-mark evaluate). On Paper 4, Section A has two structured questions on each option, and Section B is one planning question from a choice of four: plan a study (10 marks), then evaluate the plan (14 marks).

Will Paper 3 and Paper 4 test the same topic? No. The 9990 syllabus says the topic areas assessed for an option on Paper 3 will be different from those assessed on Paper 4, so revise the whole consumer psychology option.

How detailed should key study answers be? Know the aim, sample, procedure, main results and conclusions. For Robson et al. (2011), for example, that means the web survey of 1,013 Americans, the 6, 12 and 24 inch spacings, the three dining scenarios and the strongest effect in the romantic scenario.

Where marks are usually lost

• Giving a procedure that includes results, or results without the switch in Hall et al.
• Naming a technique without explaining how it works in the scenario.
• Writing “lab experiments lack ecological validity” without saying why for this study.
• In question 5, giving suggestions that are not based on any named research.

Next steps

Review the topics you found hardest in the Consumer Psychology study guide, and practise IV, DV and validity terms with the Paper 2 Research Methods practice questions.

Official syllabus

Cambridge International AS & A Level Psychology 9990 syllabus for 2024, 2025 and 2026, Specialist Option 2: Consumer Psychology, and section 4 Details of the assessment — cambridgeinternational.org.