Applying the consumer decision model to enforce minimum age tobacco purchasing laws

This paper describes how the consumer decision-making model can be applied to store clerks faced with determining which customers should be carded for the purchase of tobacco products. Assuming that this task induces a vigilant (high involvement) decision state, clerks (N = 256) rated four combined shopper-product profiles and assessed the likelihood that the shopper would be asked to provide identification. Results indicated that both age-related facial qualities and the gender of the customer contributed to the decision to request identification. The managerial implications and utility of the consumer decision model for enhancing compliance with minimum age purchasing laws are considered.