Chapter 6:

Consumer
Buying Behavior

Pride/Ferrell
Foundations of Marketing
Fourth Edition

Prepared by Milton Pressley

University of New Orleans

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 Objectives
1. Describe the level of involvement and types of
consumer problem-solving processes.
2. Recognize the stages of the consumer buying
decision process.
3. Explain how situational influences may affect the
consumer buying decision process.
4. Understand the psychological influences that may
affect the consumer buying decision process.
5. Be familiar with the social influences that affect the
consumer buying decision process.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 • Buying Behavior
– decision processes and actions of people
involved in buying and using products
– all types of buyers: businesses,
organizations, and consumers
• Consumer Buying Behavior
– decision processes and purchasing
activities of people who purchase
products for personal or household use
and not for business purposes

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 Consumer Problem Solving

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 Involvement
• Level of Involvement
– degree of interest in a product and the importance of the
product for that person
– varies w/ age, income, life stage
– the importance of education to you now
• Enduring Involvement
– ongoing and long-term involvement with a product or
product category
– interest in sports, music, entertainment
• Situational Involvement
– temporary, or dynamic involvement resulting from a
particular set of circumstances
– you run over a nail and need a new tire

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 Four Types of Problem Solving
• Routinized response behavior
– used when buying frequently purchase, low-cost
items
• Limited problem solving
– used when purchasing products occasionally or
unfamiliar brands in familiar product categories
• Extended problem solving
– used when purchasing unfamiliar, expensive, or
infrequently purchased products
• Impulse buying
– resulting from a powerful urge to buy something
immediately
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 Consumer Problem Solving

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 Consumer Problem Solving

Consumer
Buying
Behaviors

Limited Extended
Routinized Impulse
Problem Problem
Response Buying
Solving Solving

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 Figure 6.1 Consumer Buying Decision

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 Problem Recognition
• Occurs when a buyer becomes aware of a difference
between a desired state and an actual condition

Problem Recognition
Problem recognition is the first stage of the consumer buying decision
process. In this advertisement, the maker of Ban deodorant is
attempting to stimulate problem recognition.

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 Information Search

Search for Information

Internal External
Search Search

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 Information Search
• Internal search
- buyers search their
memories for information
about products that might
solve their problem

• External search
- buyers seek information
from outside sources

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 Evaluation of Alternatives
• Consideration set
- a group of brands that a buyer
views as alternatives for possible
purchase
• Evaluative criteria
- objective and subjective
characteristics that are
important to a buyer

Framing Product Attributes

The maker of Palmolive Pure + Clear frames
product attributes that include no unnecessary
chemicals, no heavy fragrances, non-irritating
dyes, and no harmful residuals left on dishes.

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 Purchase and Post-Purchase
Evaluation
• Purchase • Post-Purchase
- chooses the product or Evaluation
brand to be bought
- Cognitive dissonance: a
buyer’s doubts shortly
- chooses the seller after a purchase about
whether the decision was
the right one
- negotiates the terms of the
transaction -Also known as ‘post
purchase dissonance’ and
‘buyer’s remorse’
- makes the purchase or
terminates the process

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 Give an Example
• Give an example about a purchase for
which you experienced post-purchase
cognitive dissonance. Then, explain how
you overcame the cognitive dissonance.

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 Situational Influences on the Buying
Decision Process
• Situational Influences-result from
circumstances, time and location that
affect the consumer buying decision
process
– Physical surroundings
– Social surroundings
– Time perspective
– Reason for purchase
– Buyer’s momentary mood and condition

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 Psychological Influences on the
Buying Decision Process
• Psychological Influences
- Perception
- Motives
- Learning
- Attitudes
- Personality and self-concept
- Lifestyle

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 About Perception
• Perception
– the process of selecting, organizing, and
interpreting information inputs to produce
meaning
• Information inputs
– sensations received (sight, taste, hearing,
smell and touch)

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 Three-Step Perception Process

Selective
1 Exposure

Receiving some inputs

while ignoring others

Selective Selective
3 Retention 2
Distortion

Remembering those Changing information

inputs that support when inconsistent with
personal feelings and personal feelings or
beliefs and forgetting beliefs
those that don’t

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 Motives
• Motive
– internal energizing force that directs a person’s behavior
toward satisfying needs or achieving goals
• thirst/hunger
• cold/hot
• fear
• success
• Patronage Motives
– influence where a person purchases products on a regular
basis
• affiliation
• convenience
• price/value
• tradition
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 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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 • Learning
– changes in an individual’s
thought processes and
behavior caused by
information and experience
– unfreeze attitudes &
behaviors…refreeze
• Sources of Learning
– behavioral consequences
– information processing
– experience
Learning
Changing thought processes and behaviors is
challenging. In this advertisement the make of
Slim-Fast is attempting to change thought
processes and behaviors toward food choices
and fitness.

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 • Attitude
- an individual enduring
evaluation of, feelings about,
and behavioral tendencies
toward an object or idea
• Attitude scale
- means of measuring consumer
attitudes by gauging the
intensity of individual’s
reactions to adjectives, phrases,
or sentence about an object

Attempting to Change Attitudes

The SeeAmerica.org attempts to change
peoples’ attitudes regarding conservation
and to encourage them to support its
organization

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 Personality, Self-Concept & Lifestyles
• Personality
– set of internal traits and distinct behavioral
tendencies that result in consistent patterns of
behavior in certain situations
• Self-Concept
– view of one’s self
– can be positive or negative
• Lifestyles
– individual’s pattern of living expressed through
activities interests and opinions

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 Discussion Question
• Visit the L.L Bean Web & Ralph Lauren Web
Sites by clicking on the @ symbols below. After
reviewing the Sites, describe what you believe the
self concept of the typical L.L. Bean customer to
be contrasted with that of the typical Ralph
Lauren customer.

@ @
L.L. Bean Ralph Lauren

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 VALS Types
A VALS program uses a short questionnaire to help classify
consumers into groups:

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 Seven Social Influences on the
Buying Decision Process

Roles

Culture
Family
and
Influences
Subcultures

Social
Influences
Social Reference
Classes Groups

Digital Opinion
Networks Leaders

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 Types of Family Decision Making

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 Social Influences
• Roles
– actions and activities that a person in a particular
position is supposed to perform based on
expectations of the individual and surrounding
persons
– family role, work role, role in an organization
• Family Influences
– consumer socialization – the process through
which a person acquires the knowledge and skills
to function as a consumer

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Social Influences
• Reference Group
- any group that positively or negatively affects a person’s
values, attitudes or behavior

• Types of Reference Groups

• Membership: an individual actually belongs
• Aspirational: an individual aspires to belong
• Disassociative: an individual does not want to belong

• Opinion Leaders
- a reference group member who provides information about a
specific sphere that interests reference group participants

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 Examples of Opinion Leaders and

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 Social Influences on the Buying
Decision Process
• Digital Networks
– Blogs (Daily Candy)
– Wikis (Wookieepedia)
– Social Networks

Social Networks
In this advertisement,
facebook.com promotes the
idea of its social network.

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 Social Class Behavioral Traits &
Purchasing Characteristics

• Social Classes

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 Social Class Behavioral Traits &

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Social Class Behavioral Traits &

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 Social Influences
• Social Classes
– an open group of individuals with similar social
rank
– interact most often with those of the same class
• Culture
– accumulation of values, knowledge, beliefs,
customs, objects, and concepts of a society
• Subculture
– groups of individuals whose characteristic values
and behavior patterns are similar and different
from those of the surrounding culture

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 Subcultures
– African American
Subculture
– Hispanic Subculture
– Asian American
Subculture

Subculture
Subcultures can be based on
geographic areas and
demographic characteristics
such as age, religion, race,
and ethnicity.

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 Discussion Question
• The Asian American subculture includes people
from more than 15 ethnic groups. The individual
religious, language, and value system of each
group influences the purchase behavior within
each subculture. However, some traits of this
subculture carry across ethnic divisions. Click on
the Television below, watch the commercial, and
discuss which of those “cross-over” traits are
exhibited in the commercial.

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 After Reviewing This Chapter
You Should:
1. Be able to describe the level of involvement and
types of consumer problem-solving processes.
2. Recognize the stages of the consumer buying
decision process.
3. Be able to explain how situational influences may
affect the consumer buying decision process.
4. Understand the psychological influences that may
affect the consumer buying decision process.
5. Be familiar with the social influences that affect the
consumer buying decision process.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Key Concepts
• Buying behavior • Motive
• Consumer buying behavior • Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Level of involvement • Patronage motives
• Learning
• Routinized response behavior
• Attitude
• Limited problem solving • Attitude scale
• Extended problem solving • Personality
• Impulse buying • Self-concept
• Consumer buying decision process • Lifestyle
• Social influences
• Internal search
• Role
• External search
• Consumer socialization
• Consideration set • Reference group
• Evaluative criteria • Opinion leader
• Cognitive dissonance • Blogs
• Situational influences • Wikis
• Social networks
• Psychological influences
• Social class
• Perception • Culture
• Information inputs • Subculture
• Selective exposure
© 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.