Unit 2

Consumer Behavior
 Content
• Buyer behavior
• Buying motives
• Consumer’s purchase decision process
• Market segmentation and target marketing
• Marketing strategy
• Market structure
• Marketing mix
• Definition of types of channel
• Channel selection and problem
 Who is a buyer?
• A buyer is anyone who might buy a given
product.
• A buyer may be either an individual person or
an organization that have an interest in the
product and the means to acquire it.
• A buyer is someone who is potentially willing
and able to buy products offered by the
marketer.
 Buyer Vs Consumer
Buyer:
 A buyer is a customer—s/he is an individual or business that makes a
purchase from a seller.
 A buyer is the party that gives or transfers money to the seller to
secure a product. 
 A buyer can be a consumer.
Consumer
 A consumer is a person who uses a product or service.
 The consumer is often called an “end user” because s/he is the last
stop and does not usually transfer or sell the item to another party. 
 A consumer is not necessarily the buyer.
 The term “buyer” and “ consumer” are interchangeably used.
 Key Differences Between Customer and Consumer

• The person who buys the goods or services from a seller is known as the
Customer. The person who uses the goods or services is known as a
Consumer.
• The customer is also known as buyer or client whereas the Consumer is the
ultimate user of the goods.
• The customer can be an individual or a business entity while a Consumer can
be an individual or a family or a group of people.
• Customer pays the price of the product or service however he may recover it
from the other party, in case if he had purchased it on behalf of any person.
Conversely, Consumer not necessarily pays the price of the product, like in
case the goods are gifted or if they are purchased by the parents of a child.
• The customer purchases the goods for the purpose of resale or to add value
or for his personal use or on behalf of another person. In contrast
to Consumer, who purchases the goods for the purpose of consumption only.
 Buyer Behavior/ Consumer Behavior
• Buyer behavior refers to the decision and acts people undertake
to buy products or services for individual or group use.
• It’s synonymous with the term “consumer buying behavior,”
which often applies to individual customers in contrast to
businesses
• Consumer behavior is a study of how individuals make decision
to spend their available resources( time, money and effort) or
consumption related items
• The study of consumer behavior deals with basic questions
related to buying such as : what we buy, why we buy and how
we buy.
 Buying Motives
• Buying motives is defined as all the impulse,
desires and considerations which motivate a
buyer to purchase a product.
• Behind every purchase there is a buying motive.
• The causes and factors which stimulate consumer
to buy certain goods or services is called buying
motives.
• In fact, the motivating factor to direct consumer
behavior is buying motives.
 Participants of Buying Motive
• Initiator
• Influencer
• Decider
• Buyer
• User
Types of Buying Motives
 Emotional Buying Motive
• It prompts the prospect to act as a result of an
appeal to some sentiment or passion etc.
• The emotional motives urge the buyer to do
impulsive purchases without reason or logic.
 Factors for Emotional Buying Motives

• Pride
• Jealousy
• Comfort
• Love
• Habits
• Praise
• Imitation
 Rational Buying Motive
• It prompt the prospect to act because of an
appeal to project better judgement.
• It involve in logical analysis and reasoning of
the purchase before deciding to buy.
Factors for Rational Buying Motives
• Fear
• Convenience
• Durability
• Economy
• Suitability
• Hobbies
• Desire for money
 Patronage Buying Motives
• It refers to those considerations or reasons
which prompts the prospect to buy a product
wanted by him/her from a particular shop in
preference to other shops
 Factors for Patronage Buying Motives

• Favorable location
• Behavior of salesman
• Appearance of stores
• Credit facility
• Recommendations
• After sale service
Consumer Buying Decision Process
• A buying decision process is the process a
customer goes through when buying a
product.
• A buying process is the series of steps that a
consumer will take to make a purchasing
decision.
Stages of Consumer Buying Decision Process
 1. Need Recognition
• A purchase cannot take place without the
recognition of the need.
• The need may have been triggered by the
internal stimuli such as hunger or thirst or
external stimuli such as advertising.
• According to Maslow’s hierarchy, only when a
person has fulfilled the needs at a certain stage,
then after he/she move to the next stage.
 2. Information Search
• This is the buyer’s effort at searching the internal and
external business environments to identify and
observe sources of information related to the focal
buying decision.
• Internal search refers to recalling past experiences
with the product.
• External search is conducted when customer tries to
seek information from personal sources (family,
friends), commercial sources (advertisements, sales
people) or public sources ( newspapers, television).
 3. Evaluation of Alternatives
• At this stage, consumers evaluate different
products/brands on the basis of varying product
attributes, and whether these can deliver the
benefits that the customers are seeking.
• A factor that heavily influences this stage is the
customer’s attitude.
• Involvement is another factor that influences
the evaluation process.
 4. Purchase Decision
• In this stage, the Purchase takes place. The
final purchase decision can be disrupted by
two factors:
 Negative feedback from other customers and
the level of motivation to comply or accept
the feedback.
 The decision may be disrupted due to
anticipated situations.
 5. Post – Purchase Behavior
• At this stage, customers will compare products
with their previous expectations and will be
either satisfied or dissatisfied.
• This can greatly effect the decision process for
similar purchases from the same company in
the future, having a knock-on effect at the
information search stage and evaluation of
alternatives stage.
Market Segmentation
Types of Market Segmentation
 Demographic Segmentation
• In demographic segment market is divided
into groups on the basis of variables such as
religion, community, language, age, stage in
the family life cycle, gender, marital status,
family size, occupation, income, educational
level and social status of the consumer
Advantages of Segmentation
 Target Marketing
• A target market is a set of buyers sharing common needs and
characteristics that the marketing firm decides to serve.
• Target marketing is about attracting customers who will buy
what you are selling.
• Market segmentation refers to the identification of specific
consumer groups for the product, whereas the target market
refers to the potential customers for the particular product
or service.
• Although they are similar processes, market segmentation
should always take place before deciding the target market.
Market Segmentation Vs Target Market
Steps of Target marketing
 Marketing Strategy
• A marketing strategy refers to a business's overall game plan for
reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of
their products or services.
• Marketing strategy is used by different companies to collaborate
with their consumers.
• It is also employed to aware the customers about the features,
specifications and benefits of company’s products.
• It is basically focused on encouraging target population to buy
those specific products and services.
• The marketing strategies might be totally innovative or they can be
previously tried or tested strategies.
• Effective marketing strategies help to get ahead in the competition.