CHAPTER 5Consumer Behavior:

How and Why People Buy

M A R K E T I N G

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Consumer Behavior

The process individuals and groups go through to select, purchase, or use goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires

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Figure 5.1: The Consumer Decision-Making Process

Problem Recognition

Information Search

Evaluation of Alternatives

Product Choice

Postpurchase Evaluation

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Figure 5.2: EPS versus HDM

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Epinions.com

Web sites like this one help consumers in the evaluation of alternatives stage

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Product Choice

• People may ultimately make the choice based on heuristics

• Heuristics represent rules of thumb– brand loyalty– country of origin– liking

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Postpurchase Evaluation

• How good a choice was it?

• Customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction

• Ultimately affects future decisions and word-of-mouth communication

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Consumer Behavior

• Psychological Factors– Motivation– Perception– Learning– Attitudes– Information

processing

• Social Factors– Culture– Subculture– Social class– Reference groups– Family

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Perception

• Process by which people select, organize, and interpret information

Exposure Attention Interpretation

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Subliminal

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Pepsi

This ad embedsimages in the ad to affect perception

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Motivation - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

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Learning

• Learning is a change in behavior caused by information or experience

BehaviorLearning

CognitiveLearning

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Attitude - Personality

Innovativeness

Self-confidence

Sociability

Materialism

Need for Cognition

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Are you what you buy? Does your personality match the personality of the brands you

purchase?

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Age Groups – Family Life Cycle - Lifestyle

• Children – Teen – Young adults – Middle aged – Elderly

• Single, new couple, full nest empty nest, sole survivors

• How people choose to spend their time, money, and energy and reflects their values, tastes, and preferences

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Situational Influences

PhysicalEnvironment

Time

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Place-based Media

Place-based media offers a way to reach consumers when they are a captive audience

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Social Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Culture

Subculture

Social Class

Reference Groups

Family

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Sex Roles

‘Cool Shoppin’ Barbie reinforces sex roles

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Opinion Leaders

• An opinion leader is a person who influences others’ attitudes or behaviors because they are perceived as possessing expertise about the product

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Consumer-to-Consumer E-Commerce

• Communications and purchases that occur among individuals without directly involving the manufacturer or retailer

• Virtual Communities– Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs)– Rooms, Rings, Lists– Boards– Product Rating sites– Protest sites

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Disgruntled BK Employee

A former Burger King employee created this protest site

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• Does conformity from reference groups exert a positive or negative influence on consumers? With what types of products is conformity more likely to occur?

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• What do you think the future of C2C e-commerce is? How will it affect traditional marketing firms?

• How would you describe the decision process for impulse products placed near a store’s checkout area?