Chapter 4

Consumption and Post-Purchase

Behavior

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Chapter Spotlights
 Product and service consumption
 Ritual, sacred, profane and compulsive
consumption
 Customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction
 Purchase-associated cognitive dissonance
 Post-purchase behavior
 Product disposition

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Product and Service
Consumption
 Consumption is the possession and/or use of goods
and services and the benefits they deliver
 Consumption situation
 Physical context: time and place of consumption
 Social context: the presence of others
 Consumption episode: the set of items belonging to the
same event and occurring in temporal proximity
 Consumption system: a bundle of goods and services that
are consumed over time in multiple episodes.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Types of Consumption
Situations
 Extensive marketer control
 Marketers are present during consumption and
can both watch and influence how it plays out
(e.g., services).
 Limited marketer control
 Marketers can easily see and may be able to
influence the consumption situation of goods and
services that are usually consumed close to the
place of purchase (e.g., outdoor vendors).
 No marketer control

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Ritual Consumption
 Rituals are patterns of behavior tied to events
that we consider important in our lives:
 They have some special symbolic meaning
 They occur in a fixed or predictable manner
 They are repeated with some regularity
 Ritual consumption is the consumption of
goods and services that are tied to specific
rituals.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Sacred and Profane
Consumption
 Sacred consumption is related to special
events that are out of the ordinary (e.g.,
holidays, rites of passage, religious events)
 Profane consumption is related to events that
are a part of everyday life.
 Sacralization occurs when objects, places,
people, and events are transformed from the
profane to the sacred.
 Desacralization refers to the loss of sacred
status.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Compulsive Consumption
 It refers to a response to an uncontrollable
drive or desire to obtain, use, or experience a
feeling, substance, or activity that leads the
individual to repetitively engage in behavior
that will ultimately cause harm to the
individual and/or others.
 Possible causes may include family history of
alcohol or other forms of substance abuse,
physical violence, divorce, or other types of
emotional conflict

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Satisfaction Versus
Dissatisfaction
 The level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction we
experience depends upon how well the product’s
performance meets our expectations
 A finite time period of possession is necessary to
determine satisfaction
 Satisfaction is not easily measured because:
 It means different things to different people
 The level of satisfaction can change over time
 Satisfaction can change when consumer needs and
preferences change
 Satisfaction includes a social dimension (the experience of
others may add or subtract from our own satisfaction)

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Expectation and Satisfaction
 Product experiences can be classified into three types
based on the degree to which consumer expectations
are fulfilled (confirmation) or not (expectancy
disconfirmation):
 Simple confirmation: the purchase performs as expected
(satisfaction)
 Positive disconfirmation: when performance is better than
expected (much higher satisfaction)
 Negative disconfirmation: when the purchase falls short of
expectations (dissatisfaction)
 If the negative disparity is wide it may lead to the contrast
effect (poor performance is magnified by the customers)

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Categories of Satisfactory
Performance
 Ideal: when a purchase performs as or better
than expected
 Equitable: if it is adequate to the cost and
effort the consumer made to obtain the
product
 Expected: although the purchase works out
as anticipated, it barely qualifies as
satisfactory (this is the lowest level of
satisfactory performance)

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Relationship between
Performance and Satisfaction
 Aspects of performance related to
satisfaction:
 Objective performance is product-related and
depends on whether the product meets all
functional expectations (e.g., whether a watch
keeps good time, car mpg, game software works).
 Affective performance is consumer-related and
depends on whether the purchase meets the
emotional (benefits) expectations of the buyer
(e.g., whether listening to a Pearl Jam CD makes
me feel as though I’m at a live concert).

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Closing the Gap between
Expectation and Performance
 Marketers must understand consumer
expectations and the extent to which
purchases satisfy them.
 Marketers must match product benefits to
consumer needs:
 Needs of target market and the benefits of the
product must be a good fit.
 Communication must clearly describe both the
product’s benefits and the way it is to be used
 Do not raise consumer expectations beyond the
actual benefits that the product offers.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Purchase-Associated Cognitive
Dissonance
 It occurs at “time of commitment”.
 It is the feeling of uncertainty about
whether the right choice is being made.
 There is no finite time of possession or
use requirement for it to occur.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Factors that Affect Cognitive
Dissonance
 Importance of the purchase decision
 Consumer’s tendency toward anxiety
 Finality of the purchase decision
 Clarity of the final purchase choice

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Reducing Dissonance
 What consumers do:
 Try to find ways to reinforce the desirability of the choice
made
 Try to make the “losing” choices look weaker
 Try to lessen the importance of the choice decision than
they had originally thought
 What marketers must do:
 Match their products with the appropriate target consumers
 Offer clear communication, return policies, warranties, in-
store demonstrations
 Make salespeople available to answer questions

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Post-Purchase Behavior
 It’s as important as understanding what
causes consumers to buy.
 It deals with actual rather than potential
customers
 It has an impact on future sales.
 Information learned can be used to improve
products and services, undertake better
targeted promotions, and design more
effective strategies to keep actual customers
and attract new ones.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Positive Post-purchase
Behavior
 Customer loyalty: a feeling of “commitment”
on the part of the consumer to a product,
brand, marketer, or outlet that results in high
levels of repeat purchase or outlet visit
 Loyalty develops over time through positive
market experiences
 Loyalty phases:
 Cognitive (based on beliefs only)
 Affective (like, based on repeated satisfying use)
 Conative (behavioral intention loyalty)
 Action (strong readiness to act)

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Brand Loyalty
 Fairly high levels of loyalty are evident with
products that are geared to personal tastes
(e.g., toothpaste, shampoo, bath soap) or
when there are a few dominant brands (e.g.,
camera film).
 Levels of loyalty are lower among products
that are purchased infrequently (e.g., athletic
shoes, batteries, tires, TV sets)

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

 Multiple brand loyalty
 Product benefits loyalty
 Product form loyalty
 Occasion of use loyalty

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Factors Influencing Brand
Loyalty
 Number of brands available
 Frequency of purchase
 Perceived differences among brands
 Level of involvement
 Level of perceived risk
 Brand benefits

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Characteristics of Brand Loyal
Consumers
 They tend to be self-confident
 They feel capable of making good
brand choices
 They tend to perceive quite high levels
of risk involved in product purchase
 They tend to be outlet loyal

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Negative Post-Purchase
Behavior
 Passive: lack of repeat purchase or
recommendations to other consumers
 Active: potentially damaging to the reputation
and future sales of the product
 Types of negative post-purchase behavior:
 Negative word-of-mouth
 Rumor
 Complaint behavior (no action, private action,
public action) See Exhibit 4-8

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Marketer Actions to Reduce
Dissatisfaction
 Build realistic expectations
 Demonstrate or explain product use
 Stand behind the product
 Encourage customer feedback
 Periodically make contact with
customers

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Product Disposition
 It is the process of reselling, recycling,
trashing, repairing, trading and the like
associated with the physical product,
packaging, and its promotional materials
when no longer perceived as useful by the
consumer or marketer.

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002

Product Disposition

 Role of the consumer

 Recycle, donate, repair, pass on to others, conserve
resources, consider “efficiency ratings” of products including
autos, recycle with fee (battery, oil), reuse shopping
containers, etc.
 Role of the marketer
 See CBITE 4-3 (pg. 122)
 Use more (easily) recyclable materials
 Encourage and support recycling
 Use resources more efficiently
 Demarketing
 Green marketing (www.greenmarketing.com)

Copyright Atomic Dog Publishing, 2002