CHAPTER 1 Introduction: The Impact of the Digital Revolution on Consumer Behavior LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter

students should be able to: 1. Understand the impact of the digital revolution on general consumer behavior. 2. Define consumer behavior. 3. Identify the two major approaches to the study of consumer behavior. 4. Understand the development of the marketing concept. 5. Understand the role of consumer research in the study of consumer behavior. 6. Understand how segmentation, targeting, and positioning are used in the study of consumer behavior. 7. Define customer value, satisfaction, and retention. 8. Discuss the role of ethics in marketing. 9. Describe the societal marketing concept. 10. Briefly discuss the three interlocking stages of consumer decisionmaking. CHAPTER SUMMARY The study of consumer behavior enables marketers to understand and predict consumer behavior in the marketplace; it is concerned not only with what consumers buy but also with why, when, where, and how they buy it. Consumer research is the methodology used to study consumer behavior; it takes place at every phase of the consumption process: before the purchase, during the purchase, and after the purchase. Consumer behavior is interdisciplinary; that is, it is based on concepts and theories about people that have been developed by scientists in such diverse disciplines as psychology, sociology, social psychology, cultural anthropology, and economics. Consumer behavior has become an integral part of strategic market planning. The belief that ethics and social responsibility should also be integral components of every marketing decision is embodied in a revised marketing conceptthe societal marketing conceptthat calls on marketers to fulfill the needs of their target markets in ways that improve society as a whole.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION 1. As demonstrated in the movie Minority Report, consumers can now purchase highly personalized versions of many products. 2. For example, on Nikes Web site, buyers can now choose from many models of sneakers in different price ranges, customize the chosen shoe using several colors and features, put a personalized ID on each shoe, pay for the product, and have it shipped directly to them. 3. The age of one-to-one marketing has arrived. 4. The digital revolution of the marketplace allows much greater customization of products, services, and promotional messages than older marketing tools. 5. Businesses are able to build and maintain relationships with customers in ways never conceived before. 6. Digital technologies enable marketers to collect and analyze increasingly complex data on consumers buying patterns and personal characteristics. *****Use Key Term digital revolution Here***** 7. Over a period of a decade of so, the digital revolution has introduced several drastic changes into the business environment. a) Consumers have more power than ever before. b) Consumers have access to more information then ever before. c) Marketers can offer more services and products than ever before. d) The exchange between marketers and customers is increasingly interactive and instantaneous. e) Marketers can gather more information about consumers more quickly and easily. f) Impact reaches beyond the PC-based connection to the Web. 8. Some suggest that because virtual competition eliminates distance and location-based benefits and, because it is increasingly dominated by intelligent merchant/brokerage agents that steer consumers toward the lowest possible price for a chosen product, online competition is likely to resemble perfect competition. a) Some agree with this observation; others do not. b) Will branding and competitive differentiation become meaningless? *****Use Learning Objective #1 Here; Use Discussion Question #1 Here*****

THE DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 1. Consumer behavior is defined as the behavior that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs.

*****Use Key Term consumer behavior Here; Use Learning Objective #2 Here***** a) Consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources on consumption related items. b) We are all consumers. We all consume on a regular basis. c) To succeed, businesses need to know everything they can about consumers. i) They need to understand the personal and group influences that affect consumer decisions and how these decisions are made. 2. The term consumer behavior is often used to describe two different kinds of consuming entities: the personal consumer and the organizational consumer. a) The personal consumer buys goods and services for his or her own use, for the use of the household, or as a gift for a friend. i) Products are bought for final use by individuals (referred to as end users or ultimate consumers). b) The organizational consumerincludes profit and not-for-profit businesses, government agencies, and institutions, all of which must buy products, equipment, and services in order to run their organizations. 3. Despite the importance of both categories of consumers, individuals and organizations, this book will focus on the individual consumer, who purchases for his or her own personal use or for household use. a) End-use consumption is perhaps the most pervasive of all types of consumer behavior. *****Use Learning Objective #3 Here; Use Discussion Question #2 Here*****

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARKETING CONCEPT AND THE DISCIPLINE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 1. The field of consumer behavior is rooted in the marketing concept, a business orientation that evolved in the 1950s through several alternative approaches toward doing business referred to, respectively, as the production concept, the product concept, and the selling concept. *****Use Key Term marketing concept Here***** 2. The production concept is characterized as the concept used by Henry Ford in the early 1900s. a) Ford produced a car for $850 in an era when only the wealthy could afford a car. b) The assembly line concept allowed him to reduce the price to $360.

c) Because of Fords products, Americans developed the nations extensive highway system and, eventually, suburbs and their adjacent shopping malls. d) The production concept assumes that consumers are mostly interested in product availability at low prices. i) Implicit marketing objectives are cheap, efficient production, and intensive distribution systems. ii) This concept makes sense when consumers are more interested in obtaining the product than they are in specific features. 3. The product concept assumes that consumers will buy the product that offers them the highest quality, the best performance, and the most features. a) A product orientation leads the company to strive constantly to improve the quality of its product and to add new features that are technically feasible without finding out first whether or not consumers really want these features. b) This concept leads to marketing myopia, that is, a focus on the product rather than on the consumer needs it presumes to satisfy. i) Railroads are often used as an example of marketing myopia. ii) A more modern example might be the PDA. 4. The selling concept is a natural extension of the production and product concepts. In this concept, marketings primary focus is selling the product(s) that it has unilaterally decided to produce. a) A hard sell approach is often used to persuade consumers to buy something (even if they dont really want it). b) A negative of this concept is that consumers may not return for repeat sales because they may not have wanted the product to begin with. c) This approach is typically used by the marketers of unsought goods (such as life insurance). *****Use Learning Objective #4 Here; Use Discussion Question #2 Here; Use Exercise #3 Here*****

The Marketing Concept 1. The field of consumer behavior is rooted in a marketing strategy that evolved in the late 1950s. 2. Instead of trying to persuade customers to buy what the firm had already produced, marketing-oriented firms found that it was a lot easier to produce only products they had first confirmed, through research, that consumers wanted. a) This consumer-oriented concept came to be known as the marketing concept. b) Consumer needs and wants became the firms primary focus. 3. The key assumption:

a) To be successful, a company must determine the needs and wants of specific target markets, and deliver the desired satisfactions better the competition. 4. The marketing concept is based on the premise that a marketer should make what it can sell, instead of trying to sell what it has made. a) The older selling concept focused on the needs of the seller. b) The marketing concept focuses on the needs of the buyer. *****Use Learning Objective #4 Here; Use Discussion Question #2 Here; Use Exercise #3 Here; Use Table 1-1 Here***** Implementing the Marketing Concept 1. The widespread adoption of the marketing concept by American business fed the need to study consumer behavior. 2. They discovered that consumers were highly complex individuals, subject to a variety of psychological and social needs quite apart from their survival needs. a) The needs and priorities of different consumer segments differed dramatically, and in order to design new products and marketing strategies that would fulfill consumer needs, they had to study consumers and their consumption behavior in depth. 3. The strategic tools that are used to implement the marketing concept include segmentation, targeting, positioning, and the marketing mix. *****Use Learning Objective #4 Here***** The Role of Consumer Research 1. Consumer research describes the process and tools used to study consumer behavior. 2. Broadly speaking, there are two theoretical perspectives that guide the development of consumer research methodology: a) The positivist approachtends to be objective and empirical, to seek causes for behavior, and to conduct research studies that are generalized to larger populations. i) Consumer research designed to provide data to be used for strategic managerial decisions falls into this category of research. b) The interpretivist approachtends to be qualitative and based on small samples. i) Interpretivists seek to find common patterns of operative values, meanings, and behavior across consumption situations. *****Use Key Term consumer research Here; Use Learning Objective #5 Here; Use Discussion Question #3 Here*****

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning 1. The focus of the marketing concept is consumer needs. 2. Three elements form a strategic framework for bringing marketing efforts to consumers: a) Market segmentationthe process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics. b) Market targetingselecting one or more of the segments identified for the company to pursue. c) Positioningdeveloping a distinct image for the product or service in the mind of the consumer, an image that will differentiate the offering from competing ones and squarely communicate to consumers that the particular product or service will fulfill their needs better than competing brands. i) Key principles include: Communicating the benefits that the product will provide rather than the products features. Developing a unique selling propositiona distinctive benefit or point of difference. *****Use Key Terms market segmentation, market targeting, and positioning Here; Use Learning Objective #6 Here; Use Discussion Question #3 Here***** The Marketing Mix 1. The marketing mix consists of a companys service and/or product offerings to consumers and the methods and tools it selects to accomplish the exchange. 2. Four basic elements include: a) The productfeatures, designs, brands, packaging, etc. b) The pricelist price (including discounts, allowances, and payment methods). c) The placedistribution of the product or service. d) Promotionadvertising, sales promotion, public relations, and sales efforts designed to build awareness of, and demand for the product or service. *****Use Key Term marketing mix Here; Use Discussion Question #3 Here; Use Table 1-2 Here*****

CUSTOMER VALUE, SATISFACTION, AND RETENTION

1. Since the 1950s many companies have successfully adopted the marketing concept. 2. The marketplace is now increasingly competitive. 3. Savvy marketers today realize that in order to outperform competitors they must achieve full profit potential from each and every consumer. a) An exchange with a consumer is part of a customer relationship, not just a transaction. 4. Three drivers of successful relationships between marketers and consumers are: a) Customer value. b) High levels of customer satisfaction. c) Building a structure of customer retention. *****Use Learning Objective #7 Here; Use Exercise #1 Here***** Providing Customer Value 1. Customer value is defined as the ratio between the customers perceived benefits (economic, functional, and psychological) and the resources (monetary, time, effort, psychological) used to obtain those benefits. a) Perceived value is relative and subjective. b) Developing a value proposition is the core of successful positioning. *****Use Key Term customer value Here; Use Learning Objective #7 Here; Use Exercise #1 Here*****

Customer Satisfaction 1. Customer satisfaction is the individuals perception of the performance of the product or service in relation to his or her expectations. a) The concept of customer satisfaction is a function of customer expectations. 2. With respect to customer satisfaction there might be several types of customers: a) Loyalistscompletely satisfied customers who keep purchasing. b) Apostleswhose experiences exceed their expectations and who provide very positive word of mouth about the company to others. c) Defectorswho feel neutral or merely satisfied and are likely to stop doing business with the company. d) Terroristswho have had negative experiences with the company and who spread negative word of mouth. e) Hostageswho are unhappy customers who stay with the company because of no choice (or other reasons). f) Mercenariesvery satisfied customers but who have no real loyalty to the company and may defect. *****Use Key Term customer satisfaction Here; Use Learning Objective #7 Here; Use Exercise #1 Here***** Customer Retention 1. The overall objective of providing value to customers continuously and more effectively than the competition is to have highly satisfied customers. 2. Customer retention makes it in the best interest of customers to stay with the company rather than switch to another firm. 3. Studies have shown that: a) Loyal customers buy more products. b) Loyal customers are less price sensitive and pay less attention to competitors advertising. c) Servicing existing customers is cheaper. d) Loyal customers spread positive word of mouth and refer other customers. 4. One-to-one marketing offers more value through customer intimacy and keeping customers returning to the company. a) Marketers seek to build selective relationships. b) Customer profitability-focused marketing tracks costs and revenues of individual customers and then categorizes them into tiers based on consumption behaviors that are specific to the companys offerings. Examples include: i) Platinum tier ii) Gold tier

iii) Iron tier iv) Lead tier

*****Use Key Term customer retention Here; Use Learning Objective #7 Here; Use Discussion Question #5 Here; Use Exercise #1 Here; Use Table 1-3 and 1-4 Here*****

MARKETING ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 1. The societal marketing concept requires that all marketers adhere to principles of social responsibility in the marketing of their goods and services. 2. A restructured definition of the marketing concept (to reflect social responsibility) would be to fulfill the needs of the target audience in ways that improve society as a whole, while fulfilling the objectives of the organization. a) A serious deterrent to the societal marketing concept is a short-term orientation toward increased market share and quick profits. *****Use Key Term societal marketing concept Here; Use Learning Objective #9 Here; Use Exercise #2 Here***** 3. To avoid exploiting consumers, marketers should develop a code of ethics many have accomplished this task. 4. It is better to self-regulate than to be regulated by government. 5. Marketing ethics and social responsibility are important components of organizational effectiveness. *****Use Key Term marketing ethics Here; Use Learning Objective #8 Here*****

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND DECISION MAKING ARE INTERDISCIPLINARY 1. Consumer behavior was a relatively new field of study in the mid-to-late 1960s. 2. Marketing theorists borrowed heavily from concepts developed in other scientific disciplines: a) Psychologythe study of the individual. b) Sociologythe study of groups. c) Social psychologythe study of how an individual operates in groups. d) Anthropologythe influence of society on the individual. e) Economics to form the basis of this new marketing discipline.

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3. Many early theories concerning consumer behavior were based on economic theory, the idea that individuals act rationally to maximize their benefits (satisfactions) in the purchase of goods and services. 4. Later research discovered that consumers are just as likely to purchase impulsively, and to be influenced not only by family, friends, advertisers and role models, but by mood, situation, and emotion. *****Use Discussion Question #4 Here***** A Simplified Model of Consumer Decision-Making 1. The process of consumer decision-making can be viewed as three distinct but interlocking stages: the input stage, the process stage, and the output stage. 2. The input stage influences the consumers recognition of a product need and consists of two major sources of information: a) The firms marketing efforts (the product itself, its price, promotion, and where it is sold). b) The external sociological influences on the consumer (family, friends, neighbors, other informal and noncommercial sources, social class, cultural and subcultural memberships.) 3. The process stage focuses on how consumers make decisions. a) The psychological factors inherent in each individual (motivation, perception, learning, personality, attitude) affect how the external inputs influence the consumers recognition of a need, prepurchase search for information, and evaluation of alternatives. b) The experience gained through evaluation of alternatives, in turn, affects the consumers existing psychological attributes. 4. The output stage of the consumer decision-making model consists of two closely-related post decision activities: a) Purchase behavior, which can be a trial purchase or a repeat purchase. b) The postpurchase evaluation of the product feeds directly into the consumers experience in the process stage of the model. *****Consumer decision-making is examined in greater depth in Chapter 16***** *****Use Key Term consumer decision-making Here; Use Learning Objective #10 Here; Use Discussion Question #4 Here; Use Figure 1-1 Here*****

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Describe the interrelationship between consumer behavior as an academic discipline and the marketing concept. The term consumer behavior refers to the behavior that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. The study of consumer behavior is the study of how individuals make consumption-related decisions. The key assumption underlying the marketing concept is that a company must determine the needs and wants of specific target markets, and deliver the desired satisfaction better than the competition. The marketing concept is based on the premise that a marketer should make what they can sell, instead of trying to sell what they have made. Thus, a company which adopts the marketing concept must continuously research and monitor its customers and potential clients needs and consumption-related behavior in order to develop, effectively promote, and deliver products and services which satisfy clients needs better than the competition. 2. Describe the interrelationship between consumer research, market segmentation and targeting, and the development of the marketing mix for the manufacturer of high definition TV sets. Consumer research describes the process and tools used to study consumer behavior. Broadly speaking, there are two theoretical perspectives that guide the development of consumer research methodology: the positivist approach (objective and empirical causal research) and the interpretivist approach (qualitative and based on small samples). The focus of the marketing concept is consumer needs. Three elements for creating a strategic framework for discovering and analyzing those needs are market segmentation, market targeting, and positioning. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics. Because most companies have limited resources, few companies can pursue all of the segments identified for the company to pursue. Market targeting is selecting one or more of the segments identified for the company to pursue. Because many companies have adopted the marketing concept, the marketplace is filled with many products and services claiming to satisfy consumer needs. Positioning is developing a distinct image for the product or service in the mind of the consumer, an image that will differentiate the offering from competing ones and squarely communicate to consumers that the particular product or

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service will fulfill their needs better than competing brands. The marketing mix consists of a companys service and/or product offerings to consumers and the methods and tools it selects to accomplish the exchange. Product, price, place, and promotion are the elements that make up this mix. In answering this question, students need to think about the need or want for a high definition TV set. As thought starters, the instructor may ask the students, what segment of the market is most interested in this higher quality, newer technology television? What segment also has the resources to purchase a high definition TV? These questions should get the conversation started. 3. Define the societal marketing concept and discuss the importance of integrating marketing ethics into the companys philosophy and operations. The societal marketing concept requires that all marketers adhere to principles of social responsibility in the marketing of their goods and services; that is, they should endeavor to satisfy the needs and wants of their target markets in ways that preserve and enhance the well-being of consumers and society as a whole. The societal marketing concept advocates a long-term perspective, recognizing that all companies would be better off in a stronger, healthier society, and that companies that incorporate ethical behavior and social responsibility in all of their business dealings attract and maintain loyal consumer support over the long term. Ethical and socially responsible practices are simply good business, resulting not only in a favorable image, but ultimately in increased sales. 4. Discuss the interrelationships among customer expectations and satisfaction, perceived value, and customer retention. Why is customer retention essential? Perceived value is relative and subjective while customer satisfaction is the individuals perception of the performance of the product or service in relation to his or her expectation. The concept of customer satisfaction is a function of customer expectations. Customers whose experiences match expectations will be satisfied and customers whose expectations are exceeded will be very satisfied or delighted. The overall objective of providing value to customers continuously and more

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effectively than to competition is to have and to retain highly satisfied customers. This is called customer retention. The purpose of customer retention is to make it the best interest of customers to stay with the company rather than switch to another firm. The reason that customer retention is essential is that in almost all business situations, it is more expensive to win new customers than to keep existing ones.

5. Discuss the role of social and behavioral sciences in developing the consumer decision-making model. Consumer behavior was a relatively new field of study in the mid- to late1960s. Because it had no history or body of research of its own, marketing theorists borrowed heavily from concepts developed in other scientific disciplines. These disciplines were psychology (the study of the individual), sociology (the study of groups), social psychology (the study of how an individual operates in groups), anthropology (the influence of society on the individual), and economics. Many early theories concerning consumer behavior were based on economic theory on the notion that individuals act rationally to maximize their benefits (satisfactions) in the purchase of goods and services. Later research discovered that consumers are just as likely to purchase impulsively and to be influenced not only by family, friends, advertisers, and role models, but also by mood, situation, and emotion. All of these factors combine to form a comprehensive model of consumer behavior that reflects both the cognitive and emotional aspects of consumer decisionmaking. 6. Apply each of the two models depicted in Table 1-2 (i.e., traditional marketing and value and retention marketing) to the marketing of cellular phone services. You may want to incorporate into your answer the experiences that you and your peers have had in selecting cellular communication providers. Students are free to create with this discussion question. Students should, however, observe the differences between the two approaches outlined in Table 1-2. While using the traditional marketing concept is a useful and correct approach (see features), it does not incorporate modern technology the way the value and retention concept does. Interactivity is also important to the value and retention model. One way to make this exercise fun is to bring ads from cellular phone services to class. Ask students if they can identify the approaches being

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used. Next, ask them to change the approach observed to the other approach using information found in Table 1-2. This will aid students in learning the advantages and disadvantages of both concepts.

EXERCISES 1. You are the marketing manager of Citibanks Online Banking Division. How would you apply the concepts of providing value and customer satisfaction and retention to designing and marketing effective online banking? Instructors Discussion In order to answer this question, students should refer to Table 1-2 (to get ideas on value and retention-focused marketing). They should especially take notice of the use of information technology, databases, interactive communications, and usage of satisfaction surveys. Students might also wish to be aware of the introductory remarks to the chapter on the digital revolution and how this revolution might apply to the exercise. Note that customer value is defined as being the ratio between the customers perceived benefits (economic, functional, and psychological) and the resources (monetary, time, effort, and psychological) used to obtain those benefits. Perceived value is relative and subjective. Citibank would need to develop a value proposition (unique selling proposition) for its service. What ideas do students have for doing this? Customer satisfaction is the individuals perception of the performance of the product or service in relation to his or her expectations. Consumers often differ drastically with respect to the degree of satisfaction obtained. What are the factors that would ensure customer satisfaction with online banking (security, speed, accuracy, etc.)? Lastly, students should carefully analyze customer retention. What types of customers would the bank most like to have? How could the bank retain these customers with their online banking service 2. Locate two examples (e.g., advertisements, articles, etc.) depicting practices that are consistent with the societal marketing concept and two examples of business practices that contradict this concept. Explain your choices.

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The societal marketing concept is described as being one where the marketer is required to adhere to the principles of social responsibility in the marketing of their goods and services; that is, they should endeavor to satisfy the needs and wants of their target markets in ways that preserve and enhance the well-being of consumers and society as a whole. Thus, the restructured definition of the marketing concept calls on marketers to fulfill the needs of the target audience in ways that improve society as a whole, while fulfilling the objectives of the organization. A serious deterrent to widespread implementation of the societal marketing concept is the short-term orientation embraced by most business executives in their drive for increased market share and quick profits. Students should be clear as to why examples fit the pro and con approaches. Open the discussion with a clear definition of what the societal marketing concept is (see above). Next, match this concept to the supplied advertisements or articles. Conclude the discussion with comments on the applicability of the concept to modern business. 3. Apply each of the concepts featured in the section describing the development of the marketing concept to manufacturing and marketing high-definition TVs. The concepts to be reviewed are the production concept (assumes that the consumer is mostly interested in product availability at low prices), the product concept (assumes that consumers will buy the product that offers them the highest quality, the best performance, and the most features), the selling concept (assumes that consumers are unlikely to buy the product unless they are aggressively persuaded to do so), and the marketing concept (assumes that for a company to be successful it must determine the wants and needs of specific target markets and deliver the desired satisfactions better than the competition). Note that if the discussion is to be extended to the societal marketing concept review material is found in Exercise 2 above. Before students make their application have them read Table 1-1 for additional business views toward the concepts. As an additional thought question, have students analyze Henry Fords famous statement, consumers can have any color of car they wish as long as it is black.

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