IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

Indian Institute of Management Amritsar

MBA : Term 4
Consumer Behavior
Pointers to class discussions

1. Capturing and Using Consumer Insights

A. Consumer Insights are easy and tough to figure: Some Cases

B. How to capture consumer insights

• Are all insights equally powerful and good to use?
o Original
o Reliable
o Usable
o Compatible
• Information for Consumer Insights
o Information – is it overrated?
o Myths about ‘information requirement’ for decision making
o Cost and quality of information
o Skills to use information
• Research as a Solution to Capture Consumer Insights
• Limitations of Quantitative Research
o Can it capture everything?
o Do you know what to research for to get insights?
o Resources?
o Memory?
o Art of asking the right questions
• Big Data as a solution
• Issues with big data
• Ethnography as a solution
• Limitations of Ethnography
• Tools / Techniques in Trend
o Real-time Experience Tracking (RET) –
o MESH
o Resonate
o Adobe experience Cloud
o JTBD / Laddering
o Netnography
o Google Analytics
o KissMetrics
o HitSteps
o Reactflow
• Where to look for insights: The 10 Os

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

2. Consumer Decision Making Process: 5 stages model & Impulse purchase

decisions
A. Need Recognition
o Understanding ‘Need’ and How it works
o Types of Needs
o Do marketers create needs? Yes? No? Why do you think so?
o Need Recognition and its connection with - Motivation
o Putting consumers in the state of Need Recognition : Some Strategies
o What if consumers realize the need but still don’t act : causes & strategies

B. Information Search
o Depends on:
▪ The product’s rate of change
▪ Consumer traits
▪ Frequency of purchase
▪ What is at stake
o Internal & External Sources of Information
o Why it makes more sense to put information in the ‘internal source’?
o Evoked, Inept & Inert Set and Information Search

C. Evaluation of Alternatives
o EoA = PR - PV
o 6 types of Perceived Risks
o 5 types of Perceived Values
o Evoked, Inept & Inert Set and Information Search & Evaluation of
Alternatives

D. Purchase
o Purchase Decision vs Purchase
o Is not one decision – many decisions are taken here
o Role of marketers at this stage?
o Types of purchase decisions and how consumers take them
▪ Routine Problem Solving
▪ Limited Problem Solving
▪ Extended Problem Solving

E. Post-purchase Behavior
o Concept of Cognitive Dissonance
o What are the options with the consumers as / if they feel cognitive dissonance?
o How marketers convert ‘what consumers do to manage cognitive dissonance’
into strategies
o Post purchase rationalization and its use in marketing

F. Impulse Purchase
o Why and how do consumers make impulse purchases
o What can marketers do to trigger impulse purchases?
o Types of impulse purchases and marketing strategy

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

G. Evolution of Consumer Decision Making Journey

o Linear or Funnel Shaped Decision Making Journey
o Diamond Shaped Decision Making Journey
o Circular Shaped Decision Making Journey
o Why is the shape of Decision Making Journey changing?

Internal Influences on Consumer Behaivior

3. Motivation (beyond need recognition)

A. Need Recognition & its connection with Consumer Motivation

B. Major Motivators for Consumers

o Visceral drives
o Activity drives
o Aesthetic drives
o Basic Needs
o Safety & Security
o Convenience
o Image
o Fun
o Emotions, Feelings and Moods, and their connection with Motivation
▪ Emotion Arousal & Emotional Reduction

C. How marketers use all the above in their strategies to motivate consumers?

4. Formation and Role Perception and Attitude in Affecting Consumer Behavior

A. Defining Perception (from marketing perspective)

B. Why, what Consumers’ perceive, is it important for Marketers?

C. Process of Perception formation

• Stimuli (Internal / External) >> Register >> Interpret >> Memorize (long /
short term memory)

D. Perceptual Filters and dealing with them

a. Environment
b. Information Characteristics
c. Experiences and Culture
d. Involvement

E. How consumers’ involvement affects perception formation and change of

perception?

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar

F. Important Concepts related to the functioning of this process of perception

formation
• Absolute Threshold & its application in Marketing
• Sensory Adaptation a big challenge for marketers + some strategies to deal
with it
• Just Noticeable Difference (JND) to break Sensory Adaptation
• In which cases, marketers would deliberately act in a way which is below
JND? Why will they do that?

G. How to build favorable perception

a. Work on information
i. Creative
ii. Clear
iii. Consistent
iv. Complete
b. Work on the environment of information

5. Consumer Attitude

A. Connection between – Perception and Attitude

B. In terms of Consumer Behavior, which is more powerful – Perception or

Attitude?

C. Why is understanding and managing ‘consumers’ attitude’ important for

marketers?

D. Do consumers always behave in accordance with their attitudes?

E. How to change consumers’ negative attitude towards your product / brand?

IIM Amritsar Term 4 - CB Anurag Dugar