Principles of Marketing

Consumer Markets &

Buying Behavior
Consumer Buying
Decision?
 Social and Group Forces Psychological Fac tors
Culture Motivation
Subculture Perception
Social Class Learning
Reference Group Personality
Family & Households Attitudes

Consumer Buying Decision Process

Information Situational Factors
1.Need Recognition
Commercial Sources 2.Identification of alternatives When ?
3.Evaluation of alternatives Where?
4.Purchase & related decisions Why?
Social Sources Conditions under which consumers
5.Postpurchase behavior
Social & Group Forces

 Social influences not only affect the

Psychological factors but also the
consumer buying decision process.
These forces are:


 - Culture
 - Subculture
 - Social Class
 - Reference Group
 - Family & Households



Culture

 “ Set of symbols &

artifacts created by
a society and
handed down from
generation to
generation as
determinants and
regulators of
human behavior.”
Cultural trends affecting
the buying behavior of
Pakistani consumers?
 Changing gender roles
 Coping with Inflation
 Status consciousness / show off
 Influx of population from rural to urban
areas
 Changing cultural values
 Fast food/ready to eat food acceptance
 Sophistication of lifestyle
 Healthy Lifestyle


Subculture

 “ Subcultures are groups in a culture that

exhibit characteristic behavior patterns
sufficient to distinguish them from other
groups within the same culture”


 - is distinguished on basis of race,

nationality, religion and urban-rural
identification.


 - For example: Kailash, Urdu speaking

population, pashtuns etc.
Social Class
 “ Ranking within a society determined by the
members of the society.”


1.The Upper Class: old families with inherited wealth

or corporate executives or business owners.
2.The Upper Middle Class: moderately successful
business owners or professionals, well educated.
3.Middle Class: Managerial position holders or
government job holders, professionally educated.
4.Lower Middle Class: Office workers, teachers,
technicians, small business owners.(white collar
workers)
5.Upper Lower class: Blue collar working class,
semiskilled.
6.Lower- Lower class: Unskilled workers or
chronically unemployed, uneducated, low or no
Reference Groups


“ A person’s reference group consists



of all the groups that have a direct

(face to face) or indirect influence on
the person’s attitude or behavior.”


 e.g. friends and households, coworkers,

peers, membership or associative groups
etc.

Psychological Factors

 Motivation
 Perception
 Learning
 Personality
 Attitudes

Motivation
 Perception
 “ is a process of receiving, organizing and
assigning meaning to information or stimuli
detected by our five senses.”


- Since consumers are exposed to tremendous

amount of information, Selective Perception
Techniques are used :
-
 1. Selective Attention: People are more likely to notice
stimuli that either relates to a current need or relates to their
anticipation or whose deviations are large as compared to
normal stimuli.


 2. Selective Distortion: is the tendency to twist

information into personal meanings and interpret information
that fits our established beliefs.

Learning


“ Learning involves changes in an



individual’s behavior arising from

experience & observation.”


- Learning theory teaches marketers that



they can build up demand for a product by

associating it with strong drives,
motivating cues and providing positive
reinforcement.
Personality & Self-Concept
Theory
 “an individual’s pattern of traits that
influence behavioral responses. These
traits can be self-confident, introvert,
dominant, social, adaptable, flexible etc”


 - Self Concept is self image or how you

see yourself.
- Ideal Self Concept is how you would like
to see yourself.
- Others- self concept is how you think
others see you

Attitudes

“ Attitude is a learned tendency to



respond to an object in a consistently

favorable or unfavorable way.”
Attitudes are:
- Learned
- Have direction and intensity
- Tend to be stable and generalizable


“ Belief is a descriptive thought that a



person holds about something.”

Information
 Sources:


- Commercial Sources: Advertising, salespeople,

dealers, packaging, displays etc.
-
- Personal Sources: Family, friends, neighbors,
acquaintances etc
-
- Public sources: Mass Media, Consumer rating
organizations.
-
- Experiential sources: Handling, examining,
using the product etc.
Consumer Buying Decision
Process

1. Need Recognition: The consumer is

moved to action by a need, desire or
problem.


 - The stimulus can be internal or

external.


 - Need can also be triggered by

depletion of an existing product or
dissatisfaction of with a current product.
Consumer Buying Decision
Process

2. Identification of alternatives: After need

recognition, consumers identify the
alternatives capable of need
satisfaction.


 - Identification of product is followed by

identification of brand, based on personal
experience or extensive external search.


 - Some or all information sources are

utilized.
Consumer Buying Decision
Process

3.Evaluation of Alternatives: The

alternatives are evaluated by the
consumer based on single or
multiple criteria.

Situational Influences
 “ A temporary force associated with the
immediate purchase environment that
affects behavior.”


- Time
- Surroundings
- Terms of Purchase
- Consumer Moods and motives
Consumer Buying Decision
Process

4. Purchase Decision: Consumers form

preferences among the brands in the
choice set and also form an intention to
make the purchase.


 Two factors intervene here:

 - Attitude of Others: Negative response
of others and consumer’s motivation to
comply with other person’s wishes.
 - Unanticipated situational factors: such
as attitude of sales person.
Consumer Buying Decision
Process

 5. Post-Purchase Behavior: Consumers

experience level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction
after purchase.


- Post-Purchase satisfaction: is a function of

closeness between buyer’s expectations and
product’s perceived performance. The resulting
feelings can be satisfaction, disappointment,
Delight.
-
- Post-Purchase Actions: Satisfaction leads to
repeat purchase. Dissatisfied consumers will
return or abandon the product. (WOM)