Consumer and Business

Buying Behavior
 Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior

Consumer buyer behavior is the buying behavior

of final consumers—individuals and households
that buy goods and services for personal
consumption.

Consumer markets are made up of all the

individuals and households that buy or acquire
goods and services for personal consumption.
Model of Consumer Behavior
 Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior
Cultural Factors

Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Cultural Factors

Culture is the set of basic values,

perceptions, wants, and behaviors
learned by a member of society from
family and other important
institutions.
Subcultures are groups of people
within a culture with shared value
systems based on common life
experiences and situations.
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Cultural Factors

Social classes are society’s

relatively permanent and
ordered divisions whose
members share similar values,
interests, and behaviors.

• Measured as a combination of
occupation, income, education,
wealth, and other variables
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Cultural Factors

Major Social Classes Differentiation

• Upper Class
• Middle Class
• Working Class
• Lower Class
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Social Factors

Groups and Social Networks

Membership Aspirational Reference

Groups Groups Groups
• Groups with • Groups an • Groups that
direct individual form a
influence and wishes to comparison
to which a belong to or reference
person in forming
belongs attitudes or
behavior
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Social Factors
Groups and Social Networks

• Online social networks

• Buzz marketing
• Social media sites
• Virtual worlds
• Word of mouth
• Opinion leaders
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Social Factors

• Family is the most

important consumer-
buying organization in
society.

• Role and status can

be defined by a
person’s position in a
group.
Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Personal Factors

Human Life Cycle

 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Personal Factors

Occupation affects the goods and services

bought by consumers.

Economic situations include trends in:

Personal Interest
Spending Savings
income rates
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Personal Factors
Brand Personality Traits

Sincerity Excitement Competence

Sophistication Ruggedness
 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Psychological Factors

Motivation

Perception

Learning

Beliefs and attitudes

 Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Psychological Factors
Figure Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 The Buyer Decision Process

FIGURE Buyer Decision Process

 The Buyer Decision Process
for New Products

FIGURE Adopter Categories Based on Relative Time of Adoption of Innovations

 The Buyer Decision Process for
New Products
Influence of Product
Characteristics
on Rate of Adoption

Relative
Compatibility Complexity
advantage

Divisibility Communicability
 Business
Markets and
Business
Buyer Behavior
 Business Markets and Business
Buyer Behavior

Business buyer behavior refers to the buying

behavior of the organizations that buy goods
and services for use in the production of other
products and services that are sold, rented, or
supplied to others.

The business buying process is the process

where business buyers determine which
products and services are needed to purchase,
20

and then find, evaluate, and choose among

Key Differences in Business vs.
Consumer Markets
 Differences Between
Organizational and Consumer
Markets (1 of 2)
Organizational Markets Consumer Markets

• Purchases made for some purpose other than personal

consumption • Purchases for individual or household consumption

• Purchases made by someone other than the user of the

product • The ultimate user often makes the purchase

• Individuals or small groups like couples and families usually

• Several people frequently make the decisions decide

• Purchases made according to precise technical specifications • Purchases often based on brand reputation or personal
based on product expertise recommendations with little or no product expertise

• Purchases made after careful weighing of alternatives • Purchases frequently made on impulse

• Purchases based on emotional responses to products or

• Purchases based on rational criteria* promotions
• Purchasers often engage in lengthy decision processes • Individual purchasers often make quick decisions

• Interdependencies between buyers and sellers; long-term • Buyers engage in limited-term or one-time-only
relationships relationships with many different sellers
• Purchases may involve competitive bidding, price
negotiations, and complex financial arrangements • Most purchases made at “list price” with cash or credit cards
 Differences Between
Organizational and
Consumer Markets (2 of 2)

• Products frequently purchased directly from producer • Products usually purchased from someone other than
producer of the product

• Purchases frequently involve high risk and high cost • Most purchases are relatively low risk and low cost

• Limited number of large buyers • Many individuals or household customers

• Buyers often geographically concentrated in certain areas • Buyers generally dispersed throughout total population

• Products often complex; classified based on how • Products: consumer goods and services for individual use
organizational customers use them

• Demand derived from demand for other goods and services, • Demand based on consumer needs and preferences, is
generally inelastic in the short run, subject to fluctuations, generally price elastic, steady over time and independent of
and may be joined to their demand for other goods and demand for other products
services

• Promotion emphasizes personal selling • Promotion emphasizes advertising

The Business Marketplace
 Business Markets

Market Structure and Demand

Fewer but larger buyers

Derived demand

Inelastic demand

Fluctuating demand
 Business Buyer Behavior
Major Types of Buying Situations
Derived Demand
 The Business Buying Process

FIGURE Stages of Business Buying Behavior

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Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Roles in the Buyer Center

Role Potential Player Responsibility

• Production employees, sales • Recognizes that a purchase needs to be

• Initiator manager, almost anyone made

• Production employees, secretaries, • Individual(s) who will ultimately use the

• User almost anyone product

• Controls flow of information to others in

• Gatekeeper • Buyer/purchasing agent the organization

• Engineers, quality control experts,

• Affects decision by giving advice and
• Influencer technical specialists, outside
sharing expertise
consultants

• Decider • Purchasing agent, managers, CEO • Makes the final purchase decision

• Buyer • Purchasing agent • Executes the purchase decision