Consumer Behavior

The Importance of Understanding

Consumer Behavior

Explain why
marketing managers
should understand
consumer behavior
Understanding Consumer
Behavior
consumers
consumers make
make
purchase
purchase decisions
decisions

Consumer
Consumer
behavior = HOW
behavior

consumers
consumers useuse and
and
dispose
dispose of
of product
product
The Consumer
Decision-Making Process

Analyze the
components
of the consumer
decision-making
process
Consumer
Decision-Making Process

Consumer
Consumer
Decision-Making
Decision-Making
Process
Process A five-step process used
by consumers when
buying goods or services.
Exhibit 4.1
Consumer Decision-
Making Process
Need Recognition
Need
Need
Recognition
Recognition

Result of an imbalance between

actual and desired states.
Need Recognition

Int
e
Sti rnal
mu
li

Preferred
Preferred
Present
Present State
State
Status
Status
n al
t er li
Ex timu
S Marketing helps consumers recognize
an imbalance between present status
and preferred state.
Stimulus
Stimulus
Stimulus

Any unit of input affecting

one or more of the five senses:
•sight
•smell
•taste
•touch
•hearing
Recognition of
Unfulfilled Wants
• When a current product isn’t
performing properly

• When the consumer is running out of a

product

• When another product seems superior

to the one currently used
Information Search

Internal Information Search

• Recall information in memory

External Information search

• Seek information in outside environment

• Nonmarketing controlled
• Marketing controlled
External
Information Searches
Need Less Need More
Information Information

Less Risk More Risk

More knowledge Less knowledge
More product experience Less product experience
Low level of interest High level of interest
Confidence in decision Lack of confidence
Evoked Set

Evoked
EvokedSet
Set

Group of brands, resulting from an

information search, from which a
buyer can choose
Evaluation of Alternatives
and Purchase
Evoked Set Analyze
Analyze product
product
attributes
attributes

Use
Use cutoff
cutoff criteria
criteria

Rank
Rank attributes
attributes by
by
importance
importance
Purchase!
Purchase

To buy
or not to buy...

Determines which attributes

are most important
in influencing a
consumer’s choice
Postpurchase Behavior

Explain the consumer’s

postpurchase
evaluation process
Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive
Cognitive Inner tension that a
Dissonance
Dissonance consumer experiences
after recognizing an
inconsistency between
behavior and values or
opinions.
Postpurchase Behavior
Consumers can reduce dissonance by:
 Seeking information that reinforces positive
ideas about the purchase

 Avoiding information that contradicts the

purchase decision

 Revoking the original decision by returning

the product
Marketing can minimize dissonance through effective
communication with purchasers.
Types of Consumer Buying Decisions and
Consumer Involvement

Identify the types of

consumer buying
decisions and discuss
the significance of
consumer involvement
Consumer Buying Decisions
and Consumer Involvement

Routine
Routine Limited
Limited Extensive
Extensive
Response
Response Decision
Decision Decision
Decision
Behavior
Behavior Making
Making Making
Making

Less More
Involvement Involvement
Involvement

Involvement is…
the amount of time and effort a buyer invests
in the search, evaluation, and decision
processes of consumer behavior.
Exhibit 4.2
Continuum of
Consumer Buying
Decisions
Routine
Response Behavior
 Little involvement in selection
process

 Frequently purchased low cost goods

 May stick with one brand

 Buy first/evaluate later

 Quick decision
Limited Decision Making
 Low levels of involvement

 Low to moderate cost goods

 Evaluation of a few alternative

brands

 Short to moderate time to

decide
Extensive Decision Making
 High levels of involvement

 High cost goods

 Evaluation of many brands

 Long time to decide

 May experience cognitive

dissonance
Factors Determining the Level of
Consumer Involvement
Previous
Previous Experience
Experience

Interest
Interest

Perceived
Perceived Risk
Risk of
of
Negative
Negative Consequences
Consequences

Situation
Situation

Social
Social Visibility
Visibility
Marketing Implications
of Involvement

High-involvement
High-involvement Extensive
Extensiveand
andinformative
informative
purchases
purchases require:
require: promotion
promotionto
totarget
target market
market

In-store
In-store promotion,
promotion,
eye-catching
eye-catchingpackage
package
Low-involvement
Low-involvement design,
design,and
andgood
gooddisplays.
displays.
purchases
purchases require:
require: Coupons,
Coupons,cents-off,
cents-off,
2-for-1
2-for-1offers
offers
Cultural Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions

Identify and
understand the
cultural factors that
affect consumer
buying decisions
Factors Influencing Buying
Decisions

Cultural Social
Factors Factors CONSUMER
DECISION- BUY /
MAKING DON’T BUY
PROCESS
Psycho-
Individual
logical
Factors
Factors
Components of Culture
Values
Values

Language
Language

Myths
Myths

Customs
Customs

Rituals
Rituals

Laws
Laws

Material
Material artifacts
artifacts
Culture is. . .

Pervasive
Pervasive

Functional
Functional

Learned
Learned

Dynamic
Dynamic
Value

Enduring belief that a specific mode of

Value
Value conduct is personally or socially
preferable to another mode of
conduct.
Understanding Cultural
Differences
• A firm has little chance of selling products in
a culture that it does not understand.
• Like people, products have cultural value.

In China In U.S.
Color of
mourning
Brides wear
Subculture

A homogeneous group
Subculture of people who share elements of the
overall culture as well as cultural
elements unique to their own group.
Social Class

A group of people in a society who are

considered nearly equal in status or community
Social
Social Class
Class esteem, who regularly socialize among
themselves both formally and informally, and
who share behavioral norms.
 Exhibit 4.4
India’s Social Classes

SOURCE: Adapted from Richard P. Coleman, “The Continuing Significance of Social Class to Marketing,” Journal of Consumer Research, December 1983, 267; Dennis Gilbert and
Joseph A. Kahl, The American Class Structure: A Synthesis (Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1982), ch. 11.
Social Class Measurements

Occupation
Occupation

Education
Education
The Impact of
Social Class on Marketing

 Indicates which medium to use for

advertising

 Helps determine the best distribution

for products
Social Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions

Identify and
understand the
social factors that
affect consumer
buying decisions
Social Influences
Reference
Reference
Groups
Groups

Opinion
Opinion
Leaders
Leaders

Family
Family
Members
Members
Exhibit 4.5
Types of Reference Groups
Influences of
Reference Groups
 They serve as information sources and
influence perceptions.

 They affect an individual’s aspiration levels.

 Their norms either constrain or stimulate

consumer behavior.
Opinion Leaders

Opinion
OpinionLeaders
Leaders
An individual who influences
the opinion of others.
Opinion Leaders…
…are the first to try new products
and services out of pure curiosity.
…can be challenging to locate.

Marketers are increasingly using

blogs, social networking, and other
online media to determine and attract
opinion leaders.
Family
Purchase Process Roles
in the Family
• Initiators

• Influencers

• Decision Makers

• Purchasers

• Consumers
Individual Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions

Identify and
understand the
individual factors
that affect
consumer buying
decisions
Individual Influences

Personality
Personality
Age
Age
Gender
Gender Self-Concept
Self-Concept
Life
Life Cycle
Cycle Lifestyle
Lifestyle
Age and Family Life Cycle
Stage
• Consumer tastes in food, clothing, cars,
furniture, and recreation are often age
related.

• Marketers define target markets

according to life cycle stages such as
“young singles” or “young married with
children.”
Personality, Self-Concept, and
Lifestyle
• Personality combines psychological
makeup and environmental forces.
• Human behavior depends largely on self-
concept.
• Self-concept combines ideal self-image
and real self-image.
Psychological Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions

Identify and
understand the
psychological
factors that affect
consumer buying
decisions
Psychological Influences

Perception
Perception

Motivation
Motivation

Learning
Learning

Beliefs
Beliefs &
& Attitudes
Attitudes
 Perception

Selective
Selective Consumer
Consumer notices
notices certain
certain stimuli
stimuli
Exposure
Exposure and
and ignores
ignores others
others

Consumer
Consumer changes
changes oror distorts
distorts
Selective
Selective information
information that
that conflicts
conflicts
Distortion
Distortion with
with feelings
feelings or
or beliefs
beliefs
Consumer
Consumer remembers
remembers only
only
Selective
Selective that
that information
information that
that
Retention
Retention supports
supports personal
personal beliefs
beliefs
Marketing Implications
of Perception
 Important attributes
 Price
 Brand names
 Quality and reliability
 Threshold level of perception
 Product or repositioning changes
 Foreign consumer perception
 Subliminal perception
 Motivation

Maslow’s
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
Hierarchy
of
ofNeeds
Needs
A method of classifying human
needs and motivations into five
categories in ascending order of
importance.
 Exhibit 4.6
Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs
 Types of Learning

An
An experience
experience changes
changes
Experiential
Experiential behavior
behavior

Not
Not learned
learned through
through direct
direct
Conceptual
Conceptual experience
experience
Beliefs and Attitudes

An organized pattern of
Belief knowledge that an individual
Belief
holds as true about his or her
world.

A learned tendency to respond

Attitude consistently toward a given
Attitude
object.
 Changing Beliefs

• Change beliefs about the brand’s attributes

• Change the relative importance of these
beliefs
• Add new beliefs