Consumer Markets and

Consumer Buyer Behavior

 Learning Goals
1. Learn the consumer market and
construct model of consumer buyer
behavior
2. Know the four factors that influence
buyer behavior
3. Understand the types of buying
decision behavior and stages in the
process
4. Comprehend the adoption and
diffusion process for new products

5-2
 Definitions
• Consumer buyer behavior refers
to the buying behavior of final
consumers – individuals and
households who buy goods and
services for personal consumption
• All of these final consumers
combine to make up the consumer
market

5-3
Goal 1: Learn the consumer market & construct model of buyer behavior
 Stimulus-Response Model of
Consumer Behavior
Stimuli Buyer’s Black Box Buyer Response
4P’s Buyer characteristics Product choice
Other characteristics Buyer decision process Brand choice
• economic
Dealer choice
• technological
Purchase timing
• political
• cultural Purchase amount

5-4
Goal 1: Learn the consumer market & construct model of buyer behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Culture
 The fundamental
determinant of a person’s
Key Factors wants and behaviors
acquired through
socialization processes with
Cultural family and other key
Social institutions
• Forms a person’s wants
Personal and behavior – spot
Psychological cultural shifts- drinking
water, fast food. Casual
clothing.

5-5
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Subculture
• Groups with shared value
Key Factors systems- can form
important segments.

Cultural
 Nationalities
Social  Religions
Personal  Racial groups
Psychological
 Geographic regions
 Special interests

5-6
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Social Class
• Upper uppers
Key Factors
• Lower uppers
Cultural • Upper middles
Social • Middle class
Personal • Working class
Psychological • Upper lowers
• Lower lowers

5-7
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics of Social
Classes
• Within a class, people tend to behave
alike.
• Social class conveys perceptions of
inferior or superior position.
• Class may be indicated by a cluster of
variables (occupation, income,
wealth).
• Class designation is mobile over time.
 Characteristics Affecting Consumer
Behavior
 Reference Groups:
 Groups having a direct
influence on a person
are called membership
Key Factors groups
 primary groups such as
family, friends, neighbors,
and co-workers with whom
Cultural the person interacts fairly
Social continuously and informally.
 Some membership groups
Personal are secondary groups such as
religious, professional groups
Psychological that tend to be more formal

5-9
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting Consumer
Behavior

 Reference Groups
• People are also
Key Factors influenced by groups to
which they do/ not
belong:
Cultural – Aspirational groups
Social are those a person
hopes to join.
Personal
– Dissociative groups
Psychological are those whose
values or behavior an
individual rejects.

5 - 10
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting Consumer
Behavior

 Family
• Many influencers- The
family is the most
Key Factors important consumer-
buying organization in
society, and family
members constitute the
Cultural most influential primary
Social reference group.

Personal
• Husband dominant- Life
Psychological insurance, Car, TV
• Wife dominant- Washing
machine, carpet, furniture

5 - 11
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting Consumer
Behavior
 Roles and Status- activities
people are expected to
perform according to the
people around them.
Key Factors • A person participates in
many groups and a
person’s position in each
Cultural group can be defined in
terms of role and status.
Social • Each role carries a status.
Personal • Marketers must be aware
of the status symbol
Psychological potential of products and
brands.
• Supreme court judge vs.
sales manage vs office
clerk
5 - 12
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Age and life cycle
 Occupation
Key Factors 

Economic situation
Lifestyle
•Activities, interests and
Cultural opinions
Social •Lifestyle segmentation
 Personality and self-concept-
Personal traits like sociability, self-
confidence, dominance,
Psychological aggressiveness etc.
 Starbucks, Cafe` Coffee Day,
environment to relax and
socialise - heavy coffee drinkers
high on sociability---more
5 - 13
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Age and life cycle
 People buy different
Key Factors goods and services
over a lifetime.
Cultural •Consumption is also
Social shaped by the family life
cycle.
Personal •Critical life events or
Psychological transitions give rise to
new needs.

5 - 14
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Occupation
 A blue collar worker will buy
Key Factors work clothes, work shoes.
 A company President will buy
expensive suits, air travel, club
Cultural membership.
 A co. can even specialize their
Social products for certain
Personal occupational groups- Computer
software for- lawyers, brand
Psychological managers, doctors, professors

5 - 15
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior

Economic situation
Key Factors 
• Spendable income
(level, stability, and
Cultural time pattern).
• Savings and assets.
Social • Debts.
Personal • Borrowing power.
Psychological • Attitudes toward
spending and saving.

5 - 16
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Lifestyle
People from the same
Key Factors subculture, social class,
and occupation may lead
quite different lifestyles.
Cultural A lifestyle is a person’s
pattern of living in the
Social world as expressed in
activities, interests, and
Personal opinions.
Psychological Belonging lifestyle-
family, conservative
Achiever Lifestyle- long
working hours.

5 - 17
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 Personality and self-concept-
traits like sociability, self-
Key Factors confidence, dominance,
aggressiveness etc.

Cultural  Starbucks, Cafe` Coffee Day,

environment to relax and
Social socialise - heavy coffee
drinkers high on sociability---
Personal more
Psychological  The idea is that brands have
personalities and consumers
are likely to choose brands
whose personalities match
their own

5 - 18
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
 The marketer’s task is
to understand what
happens in the
Key Factors consumer’s
consciousness between
the arrival of the
Cultural outside marketing
stimuli and the ultimate
Social purchase decisions.
Personal
 Motivation
Psychological  Perception
 Learning
 Beliefs and attitudes

5 - 19
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Psychological Factors
Motivation
• A motive is a need that is sufficiently
pressing to direct the person to seek
satisfaction
• Motivation research is based on Freud;
Looks for hidden and subconscious
motivation
• Maslow ordered needs based on how
pressing they are to the consumer

5 - 20
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs Self-actualization needs
(self-development, realization)

Esteem needs
(self-esteem, recognition, status)

Social needs
(sense of belonging, love)

Safety needs
(security, protection)

Physiological needs
(hunger, thirst)

5 - 21
 Perception
• How the motivated person actually acts
is influenced by his or her view or
perception of the situation.
• Perception is the process by which
people select, organize, and interpret
stimuli (through touch, sight, smell,
and taste) into meaningful thoughts
and pictures.
 Psychological Factors
Perception
• The key point is that perceptions vary widely among
individuals exposed to the same reality.
• In marketing, perceptions are more important than the
reality, as it is perceptions will affect consumers’ actual
behavior

• Different perception of the same stimuli because

of 3 perceptual process:
 Selective attention
• Consumers screen out information
 Selective distortion
• People interpret to support beliefs
 Selective retention
• People retain points to support attitudes

5 - 23
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
• How many ads, or brand
communications are you exposed to
every day ?
 Selective attention means that marketers
have to work hard to attract consumers’
notice.
– People are more likely to notice stimuli that
relates to a current need.
– People are more likely to notice stimuli that
they anticipate.
– People are more likely to notice stimuli whose
deviations are large in relation to the normal size
of the stimuli.
 Selective Distortion/
comprehension
• Selective distortion is the tendency to
interpret information in a way that will fit
our preconceptions. Consumers will often
distort information to be consistent with
prior brands and product beliefs.
• Selective distortion can work to the
advantage of marketers with strong brands
when consumers distort neutral or
ambiguous brand information to make it
more positive.
 Selective Retention
• People will fail to register much
information to which they are exposed
in memory, but will tend to retain
information that supports their
attitudes and beliefs.
• Because of selective retention, we
are likely to remember good points
about a product we like and forget
good points about competing products.
 Psychological Factors
Learning
Learning describes changes in an
individual’s behavior arising from
experience
Learning occurs through:
 Drives
• Internal stimulus that calls for action
 Stimuli
• Objects that move drive to motive
 Cues
• Minor stimuli that affect response
 Reinforcement
• Feedback on action

5 - 27
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Psychological Factors
Beliefs and Attitudes
Belief
 a descriptive image or thought about a
brand or service
 may be based on real knowledge, opinion,
or faith
Attitude
 describes a person’s evaluations, feelings
and tendencies toward an object or idea
 They are difficult to change

5 - 28
Goal 2: Know the four factors that influence consumer buying behavior
 Four Types of Buying
Behavior

High Low
Involvement Involvement
Significant Complex Variety-
differences Buying Seeking
between Behavior (PCs) Behavior (biscuits)
brands
Few Dissonance- Habitual
differences Reducing Buying Buying
between Behavior (carpets) Behavior (salt)
brands
 Types of Buying
Decision Behavior
Complex
 Highly involved, significant brand differences
 Example – computer
Dissonance-reducing
 Highly involved, little brand differences
 Example – carpeting
Habitual
 Low involvement, little brand differences
 Example – salt
Variety-seeking
 Low involvement, significant perceived brand
differences
 Example – cookies

5 - 30
Goal 3: Understand types of buying decisions and stages in the process
 Consumer Buying
Problem/need Process
recognition

Information
search

Evaluation of
alternatives

Purchase
decision

Postpurchase
behavior 5 - 31
 The Buyer Decision
Process
Process Stages
Needs can be triggered by:
 Internal stimuli
• Normal needs
Need recognition become strong
Information search enough to drive
Evaluation of alternatives behavior
Purchase decision  External stimuli
Postpurchase behavior • Advertisements
• Friends of friends

5 - 32
Goal 3: Understand types of buying decisions and stages in the process
 The Buyer Decision
Process
Process Stages
• Consumers exhibit
heightened attention or
actively search for
Need recognition information.
Information search • Sources of information:
Evaluation of alternatives  Personal
Purchase decision  Commercial
Postpurchase behavior  Public
 Experiential
• Word-of-mouth

5 - 33
Goal 3: Understand types of buying decisions and stages in the process
 The Buyer Decision
Process
Process Stages
Need recognition
Information search
Evaluation of alternatives
Purchase decision
Postpurchase behavior
Goal 3: Understand types of buying decisions and stages in the process
• Evaluation procedure depends
on the consumer and the buying
situation.
• Most buyers evaluate multiple
attributes, each of which is
weighted differently.
• At the end of the evaluation
stage, purchase intentions are
formed.
5 - 34
 The Buyer Decision
Process
Process Stages
• Two factors intercede
between purchase intentions
and the actual decision:
Need recognition  Attitudes of others
Information search  Unexpected situational
Evaluation of alternatives factors
Purchase decision
Postpurchase behavior

5 - 35
Goal 3: Understand types of buying decisions and stages in the process
 The Buyer Decision
Process
Process Stages
• Satisfaction is important:
 Delighted consumers
engage in positive word-
Need recognition of-mouth.
 Unhappy customers tell
Information search on average 11 other
Evaluation of alternatives people.
Purchase decision  It costs more to attract a
Postpurchase behavior new customer than it
does to retain an existing
customer.
• Cognitive dissonance is
common

5 - 36
Goal 3: Understand types of buying decisions and stages in the process
 Buyer Decision Process for
New Products
New Products
 Good, service or idea that is
perceived by customers as new.
Stages in the Adoption Process
 Marketers should help consumers
move through these stages.

5 - 37
Goal 4: Comprehend the diffusion & adoption process for new products
 Buyer Decision Process for
New Products

Stages in the Adoption Process

Awareness Interest
Evaluation Trial

Adoption
5 - 38
Goal 4: Comprehend the diffusion & adoption process for new products
 Buyer Decision Process for
New Products
Individual Differences in Innovativeness
 Consumers can be classified into five
adopter categories, each of which behaves
differently toward new products.
Product Characteristics and Adoption
 Five product characteristics influence the
adoption rate.

5 - 39
Goal 4: Comprehend the diffusion & adoption process for new products
 Individual Differences in
Innovativeness
INNOVATORS- Venturesome- 2.5 %
EARLY ADOPTORS- Opinion leaders- 13.5 %
EARLY MAJORITY-deliberate- 34 %
LATE MAJORITY- Sceptical- 34 %
LAGGARDS- Tradition bound- 16 %

5 - 40
 Buyer Decision Process for
New Products
Product Characteristics
Relative Advantage Complexity (Degree of
(degree of superiority of existing difficulty in understanding the
products) product)
Compatibility (degree of Divisibility (degree to
fitment to values and expressions) which the innovation may be
tried on a limited basis)which
the
Communicability (degree
to which the results of using the
innovation can be observed or
described to others)
5 - 41
Goal 4: Comprehend the diffusion & adoption process for new products