//Consumer Behavior includes all the decisions a consumer makes when spending their time and money.

The what, why,

when, where, and how of consumer purchases are examined in consumer behavior. It is not just individuals, but households,
families, and groups that influence the decisions we make.
/Personal Consumer -The individual who buys goods and services for his or her own use, for household use, for the use of a
family member, or for a friend. Organizational Consumer-A business, government agency, or other institution (profit or
nonprofit) that buys the goods, services, and/or equipment necessary for the organization to function.
// a.During the production orientation, companies wanted efficient production lines to mass produce products for the
consumer. Because the demand was higher than the supply, consumers were content to get a product and were not focused on
product variation. This was the time that the control was in the hands of the producers who said, if we make it they will buy
it. There was overproduction during the production orientation, which led to excess product. B.Although the products were
still similar and there was little variation, during the sales orientation period, the manufacturers focused on selling the
product which they had overproduced. C.Rather than focus on what can be manufactured, the focus shifts with the
marketing concept to what consumers prefer. It became a time to put the customer first and to understand their needs and
wants. With this information, marketers can deliver satisfaction to their target markets. We are remaining focused on the
marketing concept today as marketers become more sophisticated in understanding the consumer and in delivering products
that meet their needs.
// The goal of all marketers is to build and maintain successful relationships with their consumers. This occurs by offering a
product which has benefits that the consumer values. In addition, they see the value of those benefits as exceeding the cost
of the product the cost in terms of money, time, and opportunity costs.
If a product delivers value, the company is likely to have a high level of customer satisfaction. They will trust the marketer
and continue to purchase the product. In addition, they will tell others about the product and speak highly of it when asked or
when reviewing the product online.
A company with strong customer relationships will be able to achieve a high level of customer retention their customers
will not defect to the competitor or stop using their product. They will retain these customer over time and will be more
profitable due to these valuable loyal customers.
It is best to think of value as the consumers perception of what they gained vs. what they gave up to purchase a product or
use a service. Marketers are developing value propositions which are statements of the value their product offers to
consumers. If the value propositions are clear and applicable to the consumer, they will understand the strength of the
product benefits.
When customers are highly satisfied, they can become loyalists who continue to purchase or apostles, who provide very
positive word-of-mouth. When customers are disappointed, they can become defectors and move to the competition or
terrorists, who spread negative word-of-mouth. Some dissatisfied customers become hostages and stay with the company
but are very unhappy. Mercenaries are satisfied but are not really considered loyal and will move from company to
company.
Customer trust is closely related to customer satisfaction. Trust in a company helps build loyalty. Consumer trust differs
based on the media and the source of the message. This is seen in advertising where customers trust word-of-mouth much
more than marketing messages that are from the marketer.
Customer retention is an important strategy to all marketers. The goal is to make customers stay with your company and
generate positive word of mouth about your service and products. The Internet and cell phones have helped marketers
maintain closer relations with their consumers and have opened easier channels for the customer to contact the company if
they have questions, problems, or suggestions.
//consumer decision making- The input stage includes sources of information to the consumer how they learn and are
influenced by the marketer and their environment.
The process stage ties to the decision-making process the consumer undergoes when considering a purchase. It moves from
the inputs to the psychological factors involved in recognizing a need, searching for information, and evaluating alternatives.
The output stage involves the actual purchase and the post-purchase evaluation. This post-purchase evaluation ties to the
satisfaction topics discussed earlier in this presentation and the importance of customer loyalty to marketings profitability.

/
//segmentad- Not all consumers are alike different customers have different needs. By segmenting the market and
choosing target markets, companies can differentiate their products to provide the benefits that the segments desire. Once a
marketer has identified their segment, they can choose media that is targeted to that segment for their advertising.
/ Positioning is the unifying element of each marketing mix. Product, place, price, and promotional strategies must work to
state the product or services ability to deliver benefits to the consumer. Positioning is discussed in more detail in Chapter 6,
but it is important to think about the concept as it is closely tied to the choice of a target market.
/ There are five criteria for effective targeting. First of all, the target must be identifiable. This means that the marketer must
be able to see or find the characteristic they have chosen for segmentation. The segment must also be sizeable. It must be
large enough to be profitable to the marketer. A stable segment means that the consumers are not fickle and likely to
change very quickly. A group of consumers must be accessible to be targeted. The marketer must be able to reach that
market in an affordable way. Finally, the target must be congruent with the companys objectives and resources.
/ Demographics are the core of almost all segmentation because they are easy and logical. In addition, they are a costeffective way to reach segments and demographic shifts are easier to identify than other types of shifts. When researching
segmentation and media exposure, a consumer researcher will learn that media exposure is often directly related to
demographics. Age segmentation includes segments such as the baby boomers and generations X and Y. Family life-cycle is
based on the premise that many families pass through similar phases in their lives and share major life events such as moving,
marriage, birth of a child, and retirement. Income, education, and occupation tend to tie together and lead to segmentation
based on social class./ Geodemographic segmentation is a popular use of geography in targeting. People who live close to
one another are likely to be similar in tastes, incomes, lifestyles and consumption. They might eat similar foods, like the
same movies, and take the same types of vacations.
This web link is to Claritas Prizm classifications. If you enter your zip code, you can find out which Prizm clusters are in
your area.
/ Personality traits help us identify what segments are valuable to marketers. For instance, if an innovator also classifies
themselves high on an exhibition personality trait, it means they want to be the center of a group and might be important as
these are the type of innovators to spread word-of-mouth messages regarding new products and services.
// VALS is the most popular segmentation system that combines lifestyles and values. You can see how it is related to
Maslows hierarchy of needs and the concept of social character. The system looks at three primary motivations and then the
resources that individuals might have to draw upon. The lower resource consumer is at the bottom and labeled survivors
while the highest resource consumer is often the innovator. We will talk about innovators in later chapters who are similar to
this innovator.
This web link will take you to the VALS website so you can see where you are classified. If you are a full-time student, run
the survey twice once with your own salary and once with your parents.
// An American might identify with common American cultural values, such as fitness and health but also with sub-cultural
values if they are Hispanic or Asian Americans. In this global world, marketers must often think cross-culturally, including
many countries and more global marketing segmentation. A consumer may be cross-cultural if they were born in one country
and are now living in another.

//consumtion-specific seg-Usage rate is often based on whether a group of consumers are heavy, medium, light, or nonusers
of a product. Many marketers target the heavy consumers since they are often the most loyal and account for the largest
portion of sales. A company with a strong growth objective might target the other usage segments to fuel their growth in the
marketplace. Furthermore, a marketer might target those who are unaware of their product in order to start the process that
could lead to purchase. /Usage rate or amount is important to some marketers, but it might also be worth considering WHEN
a given product is used. This is the basis for a usage-situation segmentation opportunity. People might consume certain
products for special events, certain days of the week, or certain times during the year. Think of the rise of sales in chocolate
and flowers for Valentines Day./ In many ways, segmentation is tied to the benefits that a group desires from your product or
service. Knowing these benefits is important for positioning your product in the minds of the consumer. Consumers are
constantly weighing the benefits of different types of media and noticing that digital media might be preferred in immediacy
and accessibility but that traditional media often provides more depth and details.
/ Brand loyalty includes the behavior to the brand how often somebody purchases the brand, in addition to the attitude or
feeling the consumer has to a brand. Many companies have frequency award or loyalty programs where loyal customers
receive rewards and benefits for purchasing often. Customer relationships are very complex and differ based on commitment
by the customers, their sense of loyalty, their expectations of specialty treatment, their confidence in the company, and how
they are treated by staff and employees from the company.
//imple mkt stg- Micro-targeted began in 2004 and is growing field within marketing. It is growing due to the marketers
ability to use complex databases and personalized media including email and mobile phones. Micro-targeting focuses on
delivering a personalized advertising message to the user whether they are at work, at home, or on-the-go.
/Concentrated marketing usually involves only one segment, whereas a differentiated marketing strategy is targeting several
segments with individual marketing mixes. Differentiated marketing is usually used by financially strong companies that are
well established in their market sector. Countersegmentation involves combining existing segments for a company to
become more efficient and profitable.
// the consumer research process that a typical marketer might follow when conducting research. As you can see, the
marketer will first develop objectives to guide their research. Next comes the collection of secondary data which we will
learn is data that is available because it had been collected previous to the marketers particular research. In the next phase,
the marketer branches to both qualitative and quantitative research. In each of these areas, the marketer collects and analyzes
data and then presents it in either a written report, a presentation, or both.
/ Information can be classified as either primary or secondary. Secondary information is information that has been collected
for another purpose. It is already available to the researcher often for a fee. Primary research can be either qualitative or
quantitative. Qualitative research includes focus groups and in-depth interviews. The more numerically-oriented quantitative
research includes observational research, experimentation, and survey research.
/ It is extremely important that research objectives are determined at the beginning of the process. Without this agreed-upon
roadmap for the research, money can easily be wasted and research objectives not fulfilled. At this point, it is important to
define the purpose of a particular study. A small-scale exploratory study might be executed upfront if more information is
needed by the researcher. This might include a few focus group sessions or a limited number of one-on-one interviews.
/ Before jumping into primary data collection, a researcher will collect all the relevant secondary data that is available.
Some of this data is within the organization and some of it can be collected or purchased from outside organizations.
Collecting secondary information is important in guiding primary research decisions. Secondary data is readily available. As
an employee of a company, you may have access to the companys internal records and databases, which are rich with
customer, intermediary, and company data. In addition, as a student, you can access many databases through your school
library. Most of this external data comes from online databases which combine articles from books, newspapers,
periodicals, as well as trade and academic journals.
/ Qualitative research is a great way to begin your primary research. It is extremely helpful in identifying attitudes,
thoughts, and beliefs about your product. Because these methods generally use small samples, qualitative research
techniques are often followed by quantitative processes. The major types of qualitative research are shown in this slide and
explained in more detail on the following slides.
/ Depth interviews provide important information for targeting, positioning, and product redesign. They can be as short as
20 minutes or last up to an hour. The interview is often recorded, either with video or audio recordings so that the interviewer
can play it back or transcribe the session to have all the details. To get the most from the subject, an interviewer will usually
ask probing questions in order to gain more insights from the subject.

///
com projective tec
///metaphors at the root of their thoughts and communication. The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique is based on
this use of metaphors. In these studies, respondents are asked to find pictures that describe their thoughts, feelings, and
beliefs about products, companies, and brands. The results are then combined to see if there are common themes or
constructs that consumers mention in their results.
//looking-in- Look at information from threads and postings on social media, including blogs and discussion
forumsMethodology to capture consumers experiences, opinions, forecasts, needs, and interests

//
Attitude scales are used to help researchers
understand evaluations of certain product and brand attributes. In general, these scales are easy to administer and provide
excellent information for the researcher. You have probably taken many surveys that were full of attitude scales.
// It is important for every company to measure the level of customer satisfaction. Analysis can be quantitative as in the
case of customer satisfaction surveys. With these surveys, it is important to measure the difference between what the
customer expected from the company and their perception of what they received. Qualitative analysis might include mystery
shoppers who pose as customers in order to interact with service personnel. The mystery shopper files a report on how
effectively the employees work with customers. Companies should have a system where they can analyze their customer
complaint data so that they can make changes for improvement. A good complaint analysis system should encourage
customers to complain and provide suggestions for improvements in service and products.
// It is almost always impossible to get information from every member of the population. This is why marketers need to use
a sample of the population. To determine the sample a researcher will use, it is important to put together a sampling plan
which includes the details on whom to survey, how many to survey, and how the survey respondents will be chosen. Once
this is decided, the marketer can choose a probability or nonprobability sample. The basic difference between these two
types of samples is that in a probability sample, every member of the population has a chance of being selected as opposed to
a probability sample, where the researcher uses their judgment to select the respondents for the sample.
// The responses from qualitative research are analyzed in addition to the results of the quantitative research. For survey
data, the open-ended responses are coded so that they can be entered into a spreadsheet or analysis software. Once all the
data is entered, it is tabulated and then analyzed. The final step of the research process is to put together a report. In
addition to the executive summary, body, tables, and graphs, the research report might include strategic recommendations
based on the research findings.