CHAPTER

CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
 Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior - the actions a person takes
in purchasing and using products and services,
including the mental and social processes
that come before and after these actions.
 Purchase Decision Process

Need Recognition
Perceiving a value

Information Search
Seeking a value
Cultural, Social,
Individual and
Psychological Evaluation of Alternatives
Assessing value
Factors
affect
all steps Purchase
Buying value

Post-purchase Behavior
Assess value in consumption
 Need Recognition

Marketing helps
consumers
recognize an
Internal Stimuli
imbalance between and
present status and External Stimuli
preferred state
Preferred
State

Present
Status
Information Search: Seeking Value

 Internal Search-
Recall information from memory

 External Search
information from outside environment

Non-marketing controlled
Marketing controlled
FIGURE 5-2 Consumer Report’s evaluation
of portable MP3-capable CD players
 Alternative Evaluation

Consideration
Set Analyze product attributes

Use cutoff criteria

Rank attributes by
importance
Purchase!
 Post-purchase Behavior-
Cognitive Dissonance
Inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing
an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions.

Cognitive
Dissonance

?
Did I make a good decision?
Can minimize through:
Effective Communication
Follow-up
Guarantees
Did I buy the right product? Warranties

Did I get a good value?

Involvement and Problem-Solving Variations

Routine Limited Extensive

Response Decision Decision
Behavior Making Making

Less More
Involvement Involvement
Comparison of problem-solving variations
When to use Routine Response Behavior

 Little involvement in selection

process
 Frequently purchased low cost
goods
 May stick with one brand
 Buy first/evaluate later
 Quick decision
When to use Limited Decision Making

 Low levels of involvement

 Low to moderate cost goods

 Evaluation of a few alternative brands

 Short to moderate time to decide

When to use Extensive Decision Making

 High levels of involvement

 High cost goods

 Evaluation of many brands

 Long time to decide

 May experience cognitive

dissonance
 PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
 Motivation – what stimulates behavior to satisfy a need

Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs
 PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
• Perception

Selective Consumer pays attention to certain

Exposure stimuli and ignores others

Selective Consumer interprets info so that is is

Comprehension consistent with his beliefs

Selective Average consumer only remembers

Retention 30% of information heard
 PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

 Perceived Risk
• Obtain Seals of Approval

• Secure Endorsements from Influential People

• Provide Free Trials of the Product

• Give Extensive Usage Instructions

• Provide Warranties and Guarantees

 How do consumers make purchase decisions?

Psychographics – the analysis of people’s lifestyles

VALS™
Consumer
Segments
Sociocultural Influences on Consumer Behavior

Social Influences on
Buying Decisions

Reference Opinion Family

Groups Leaders Members
SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Reference groups are people to whom an individual looks as a

basis for self-appraisal or as a source of personal standards.

Primary
Direct – Face
to face

Reference Secondary
Groups

Indirect- – Aspirational
No Personal
Contact
Dissociative
Why use celebrity spokespersons?

Opinion Leaders
 SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES
ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
 Family Life Cycle
 SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES
ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
 Family Decision Making
• Information Gatherer • Purchaser • Decision Maker
• Influencer • User

mbers assume different roles for different products

n’s clothes?
eakfast cereal?
mputer?
 Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior consists of the

actions a person takes in purchasing and
using products and services, including the
mental and social processes that come
before and after these actions.
 Purchase Decision Process

The purchase decision process is the

stages a buyer passes through in making
choices about which products and
services to buy.
 Involvement

Involvement consists of the personal,

social, and economic significance of the
purchase to the consumer.
 Motivation

Motivation is the energizing force that

stimulates behavior to satisfy a need.
 Perception

Perception is the process by which an

individual selects, organizes, and
interprets information to create a
meaningful picture of the world.
 Perceived Risk

Perceived risk represents the anxieties

felt because the consumer cannot
anticipate the outcomes of a purchase but
believes that there may be negative
consequences.
 Learning

Learning refers to those behaviors that

result from (1) repeated experience and
(2) reasoning.
 Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is a favorable attitude

toward and consistent purchase of a single
brand over time.
 Attitude

An attitude is a “learned predisposition

to respond to an object or class of objects
in a consistently favorable or unfavorable
way.”
 Beliefs

Beliefs are a consumer’s subjective

perception of how a product or brand
performs on different attributes based on
personal experience, advertising, and
discussions with other people.
 Opinion Leaders

Opinion leaders are individuals who

exert direct or indirect social influence
over others.
 Family Life Cycle

The family life cycle describes the

distinct phases that a family progresses
through from formation to retirement,
each phase bringing with it identifiable
purchasing behaviors.