CHAPTER 5Consumer Behavior:

How & Why People Buy

M A R K E T I N GReal People, Real Choices

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Chapter Objectives

• Define consumer behavior & explain reasons why and what they buy

• Explain the prepurchase, purchase, & postpurchase activities of consumers

• Describe how internal factors influence consumers’ decision-making processes

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Chapter Objectives

• Understand how situational factors may influence consumer behavior

• Describe how consumers’ relationships with other people influence their decision-making process

• Understand how the Internet offers opportunities for marketing

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Consumer Behavior

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

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Consumer Decision-Making Process

• Problem recognition

• Information search

• Evaluation of alternatives

• Product choice

• Post-purchase evaluation

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Problem Recognition

• Occurs whenever a consumer recognizes a difference between the current state & the ideal or desired state

• Internal cues - consumers recognize state of discomfort

• External cues - marketers may stimulate consumers to recognize problem

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Information Search

• Consumer checks memory & surveys environment to identify what options are available

• Sources might include personal experience & knowledge, friends, advertising, websites, & magazines

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Evaluation of Alternatives

• Identify consideration set

• Narrow list: compare pros & cons

• Use evaluative criteria to decide among remaining choices

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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

– regret

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

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Internal Influences

• Perception

• Motivation

• Personality

• Age

• Lifestyle

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Perception

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

– Exposure: stimulus must be within sensory receptors to be noticed

– Attention: consumers will pay attention to some stimuli and not to others

– Interpretation: consumers assign meaning to stimuli

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Motivation

• Motivation is an internal state that drives us to satisfy needs

• Once we activate a need, a state of tension exists that drives the consumer to some goal that will reduce this tension and eliminate the need

• Consequently, only unmet needs motivate

Attitudes

• Attitude is a lasting evaluation of a person, object or issue.

• Three components to attitudes:

– Cognitions, Affect, & Behaviors

– Think, Feel, Do

• Each of these three components will be the dominant influence in creating an attitude toward the product

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Personality

• Personality: set of unique psychological characteristics that influences the way a person responds to situations in the environment– Innovativeness– Self-confidence– Sociability– Materialism– Need for cognition

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Age Group

• Products and services often appeal to a specific age group (demographics)

– Children

– Teens

– Young Adults

– Middle-aged

– Elderly

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Lifestyles

• A pattern of living that determines how people choose to spend their time, money, & energy

– reflects values, tastes, & preferences

• Expressed through preferences for sports, music, & politics

– Psychographics

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Situational Influences

• Physical Environment

– arousal

– pleasure

• Time

– time poverty

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Social Influences

• Culture & Subcultures

• Social Class

• Reference Groups

• Opinion Leaders & Market Mavens

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Cultures and Subcultures

• Culture is the values, beliefs, customs, and tastes produced & valued by a group of people

• A subculture is a group coexisting with other groups in a larger culture whose members share a distinctive set of beliefs or characteristics

– Harley Davidson subculture

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Social Class

• Social class is the overall rank of people in a society

• People in the same class tend to have similar occupations, similar income levels, share common tastes in clothes, decorating styles, & leisure activities

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Group Memberships

• A reference group is a set of people a consumer wants to please or imitate

• The “group” can be composed of one person, a few people, or many people. They may be people you know or don’t know.

– Conformity is at work when people change as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure

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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

• Market maven: person who shares general market knowledge and influences others’ behavior

– The Tipping Point

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Issues for Discussion

• What are some cultural or demographic trends that may affect marketing for the following products?– Housing– Magazines– Education– Telecommunications– Travel & tourism– Automobiles

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Issues for Discussion

• What subcultures are you a member of? What distinctive beliefs, characteristics, or experiences are a part of the subcultures?

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