Understanding

Consumer Behavior
Learning Objectives
 Define consumer behavior and explain the
components that make up the definition
 Identify the four domains of consumer
behavior that affect acquisition, usage and
disposition decisions
 Discuss the benefits of studying consumer
behavior
 Explain how companies apply consumer
behavior concepts when making marketing
decisions
Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Overview
 What consumer behavior is
 What factors affect it
 Who benefits from studying it
 How marketers apply consumer behavior
concepts
Understanding
Consumer Behavior
DEFINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Reflects the totality of consumer’s decisions with

respect to the acquisition, consumption, and
disposition of goods, services, activities, experiences,
people and ideas by (human) decision making units
(overtime).
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Reflects the totality of consumer’s decisions with respect to the acquisition,
consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities, experiences, people
and ideas by (human) decision making units (overtime).

The Totality About the Of an By decision- Overtime

of decisions consumption offering making units
Whether Acquisition Products Information Hours
What Services gatherer Days
Why Usage Activities Influencer Weeks
How Experiences Decider Months
When Disposition People Purchaser Years
Where Ideas User
How much/
How often/
How long
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Ways to Acquire an Offering

Acquisition Method Description

Buying  Common acquisition method used for many offerings
Trading  Consumers might receive a good or service as part of a trade
Renting/Leasing  Instead of buying, consumers rent or lease cars, furniture, vacation homes and
more
Bartering  Consumers(and businesses) can exchange goods and services without having
money change hands
Gifting  Each society has many gift-giving occasions as well as informal or formal rules
dictating how gifts are to be given, what is an appropriate gift, and how to respond
to a gift.
Finding  Consumers sometimes find goods that others have lost (cellphone left ) or thrown
away
Stealing  Because various offerings can be acquired through theft, marketers have
developed products to deter this acquisition method, such as alarms to deter car
theft.
 Another method of acquisition is by sharing or borrowing. Some types of “sharing”
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Ways of DISPOSING an Offering
• Find a new use for it. Using an old toothbrush to clean rust
from tools or making shorts out of an old pair of jeans.

• Get rid of it temporarily. Renting or lending an item is one

way of getting rid of it temporarily.

• Get rid of it permanently.Throwing away an item, sending

it to a recycling center, trading it, giving it away, or selling it
are all ways of getting rid of it permanently.
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
What affects Consumer Behavior?
The many factors that affect acquisition, usage and disposition
decisions can be classified into four broad domains:
 The Psychological Core
 The process of making decisions
 The consumer’s culture
 Consumer behavior outcomes
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
What affects Consumer Behavior?
1. The Psychological Core
Before consumers can make decisions, they must have
some source of knowledge or information upon which they
base their decisions.This source-the psychological core-
covers
 Motivation, Ability and Opportunity
 Exposure, Attention, Perception and Comprehension
 Memory and Knowledge
 Attitudes
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
What affects Consumer Behavior?
2. The Process of Making Decisions

This domain involves four (4) stages

1. Problem recognition
2. Information search
3. Decision making
4. Postpurchaseevaluation
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
What affects Consumer Behavior?
3. The Consumer’s Culture. Refers to the typical or expected
behaviors, norms, and ideas that characterize a group of
people.
 Reference groups and other social influences
 Diversity influences
 Household and social class influences
 Values, personality and lifestyle
Understanding
Consumer Behavior
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR OUTCOMES AND ISSUES
 Consumer Behaviors Can SymbolizeWho
We Are
 Consumer Behaviors can diffuse through a
market
 Consumer behavior, ethics and social
responsibility
Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Who benefits from the study of Consumer Behavior?
 Marketing Managers
 Ethicists and Advocacy Groups
 Public Policy Makers and Regulators
 Academics
 Consumer and Society
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
1. MAKING BUSINESS DECISIONS BASED ON THE
MARKETING IMPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
1-1 Developing and Implementing Customer-Oriented
Strategy
• How is the Market Segmented?
• How profitable is each segment?
• What are the characteristics of consumers in each
segment?
• Are customers satisfied with existing offering?

1-2 Selecting theTarget Market

 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
1. MAKING BUSINESS DECISIONS BASED ON THE
MARKETING IMPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
1-3 Developing Products
 What ideas do consumers have for new products?
 What attributes can be added to or changed in an
existing offering?
 How should the offering be branded?
 What should the package and logo look like?

1-4 Positioning
 How are competitive offerings positioned?
 How should our offerings be positioned?
 Should our offerings be repositioned?
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
1. MAKING BUSINESS DECISIONS BASED ON THE
MARKETING IMPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
1-5 Making promotion and marketing communications
decisions
 WhatareourCommunicationobjectives?
 Whatshouldourmarketingcommunicationslooklike?
 Whereshouldadvertisingbeplaced?
 Whenshouldweadvertise?
 Hasouradvertisingbeeneffective?
 Whataboutsalespromotionobjectivesandtactics?
 Haveoursalespromotionsbeeneffective?
 Howcansalespeoplebestservecustomers?
 Understanding
Consumer Behavior
1. MAKING BUSINESS DECISIONS BASED ON THE
MARKETING IMPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
1-6 MakingPricingDecisions
 Whatpriceshouldbecharged?
 How sensitive are customers to price and price
changes?
 Whenshouldcertainpricetacticsbeused?

1-7 MakingDistributionDecisions
 Where and when are target consumers likely to
shop?
 Whatdocustomerswanttoseeinstores?
 Howshouldstoresbedesigned?