Chapter 6 Class Notes

Contents of Chapter 6 Class Notes

What is Consumer Buying Behavior? Stages of Consumer Buying Behavior? Types of Consumer Buying Behavior. Categories That Effect Consumer Buying Behavior.

o Personal o Psychological o Social

Please Email alex@udel.edu any comments Return to Syllabus Return to Homepage

What is Consumer Buying Behavior?

Definition of Buying Behavior:Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products.

Need to understand:

why consumers make the purchases that they make? what factors influence consumer purchases? the changing factors in our society.

Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of the ultimate consumer. A firm needs to analyze buying behavior for:

Buyers reactions to a firms marketing strategy has a great impact on the firms success. The marketing concept stresses that a firm should create a Marketing Mix (MM) that

satisfies (gives utility to) customers, therefore need to analyze the what, where, when and how consumers buy.

Marketers can better predict how consumers will respond to marketing strategies.

Return to Contents List

Stages of the Consumer Buying Process

Six Stages to the Consumer Buying Decision Process (For complex decisions). Actual purchasing is only one stage of the process. Not all decision processes lead to a purchase. All consumer decisions do not always include all 6 stages, determined by the degree of complexity...discussed next.

The 6 stages are:

1. Problem Recognition(awareness of need)--difference between the desired state and the actual condition. Deficit in assortment of products. Hunger--Food. Hunger stimulates your need to eat.Can be stimulated by the marketer through product information--did not know you were deficient? I.E., see a commercial for a new pair of shoes, stimulates your recognition that you need a new pair of shoes.

2. Information search-- o Internal search, memory. o External search if you need more information. Friends and relatives (word of

mouth). Marketer dominated sources; comparison shopping; public sources etc.

A successful information search leaves a buyer with possible alternatives, the evoked set.

Hungry, want to go out and eat, evoked set is

o chinese food o indian food o burger king o klondike kates etc

3. Evaluation of Alternatives--need to establish criteria for evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want. Rank/weight alternatives or resume search. May decide that you want to eat something spicy, indian gets highest rank etc.If not satisfied with your choice then return to the search phase. Can you think of another restaurant? Look in the yellow pages etc. Information from different sources may be treated differently. Marketers try to influence by "framing" alternatives.

4. Purchase decision--Choose buying alternative, includes product, package, store, method of purchase etc.

5. Purchase--May differ from decision, time lapse between 4 & 5, product availability. 6. Post-Purchase Evaluation--outcome: Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction. Cognitive

Dissonance, have you made the right decision. This can be reduced by warranties, after sales communication etc.After eating an indian meal, may think that really you wanted a chinese meal instead.

Handout...Pillsbury 1-800#s

1-800 #s gives the consumer a way of communicating with the marketer after purchase. This helps reduce cognitive dissonance when a marketer can answer any concerns of a new consumer.Return to Contents List

Types of Consumer Buying Behavior

Types of consumer buying behavior are determined by:

Level of Involvement in purchase decision. Importance and intensity of interest in a product in a particular situation.

Buyers level of involvement determines why he/she is motivated to seek information about a certain products and brands but virtually ignores others.

High involvement purchases--Honda Motorbike, high priced goods, products visible to others, and the higher the risk the higher the involvement. Types of risk:

Personal risk Social risk Economic risk

The four type of consumer buying behavior are:

Routine Response/Programmed Behavior--buying low involvement frequently purchased low cost items; need very little search and decision effort; purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack foods, milk etc.

Limited Decision Making--buying product occasionally. When you need to obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category, perhaps. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering. Examples include Clothes--know product class but not the brand.

Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or infrequently bought products. High degree of economic/performance/psychological risk. Examples include cars, homes, computers, education. Spend alot of time seeking information and deciding.Information from the companies MM; friends and relatives, store personnel etc. Go through all six stages of the buying process.

Impulse buying, no conscious planning.

The purchase of the same product does not always elicit the same Buying Behavior. Product can shift from one category to the next.For example:Going out for dinner for one person may be extensive decision making (for someone that does not go out often at all), but limited decision making for someone else. The reason for the dinner, whether it is an anniversary celebration, or a meal with a couple of friends will also determine the extent of the decision making.

Return to Contents List

Categories that Effect the Consumer Buying Decision Process

A consumer, making a purchase decision will be affected by the following three factors:

1. Personal 2. Psychological 3. Social

The marketer must be aware of these factors in order to develop an appropriate MM for its target market.Return to Contents List

Personal

Unique to a particular person. Demographic Factors. Sex, Race, Age etc.Who in the family is responsible for the decision making.Young people purchase things for different reasons than older people.

Handout...From choices to checkout...

Highlights the differences between male and female shoppers in the supermarket.

Return to Contents List

Psychological factors

Psychological factors include:

Motives--

A motive is an internal energizing force that orients a person's activities toward satisfying a need or achieving a goal.Actions are effected by a set of motives, not just one. If marketers can identify motives then they can better develop a marketing mix.MASLOW hierarchy of needs!!

o Physiological o Safety o Love and Belonging o Esteem o Self Actualization

Need to determine what level of the hierarchy the consumers are at to determine what motivates their purchases.

Handout...Nutrament Debunked...

Nutrament, a product marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb originally was targeted at consumers that needed to receive additional energy from their drinks after exercise etc., a fitness drink. It was therefore targeted at consumers whose needs were for either love and Belonging or esteem. The product was not selling well, and was almost terminated. Upon extensive research it was determined that the product did sell well in inner-city convenience stores. It was determined that the consumers for the product were actually drug addicts who couldn't not digest a regular meal. They would purchase Nutrament as a substitute for a meal. Their motivation to purchase was completely different to the motivation that B-MS had originally thought. These consumers were at the Physiological level of the hierarchy. BM-S therefore had to redesign its MM to better meet the needs of this target market.Motives often operate at a subconscious level therefore are difficult to measure.

Perception--

What do you see?? Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning. IE we chose what info we pay attention to, organize it and interpret it.Information inputs are the sensations received through sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch.

Selective Exposure-select inputs to be exposed to our awareness. More likely if it is linked to an event, satisfies current needs, intensity of input changes (sharp price drop).

Selective Distortion-Changing/twisting current received information, inconsistent with beliefs.

Advertisers that use comparative advertisements (pitching one product against another), have to be very careful that consumers do not distort the facts and perceive that the advertisement was for the competitor. A current example...MCI and AT&T...do you ever get confused?

Selective Retention-Remember inputs that support beliefs, forgets those that don't.Average supermarket shopper is exposed to 17,000 products in a shopping visit lasting 30 minutes-60% of purchases are unplanned. Exposed to 1,500 advertisement per day. Can't be expected to be aware of all these inputs, and certainly will not retain many.

Interpreting information is based on what is already familiar, on knowledge that is stored in the memory.

Handout...South Africa wine....

Problems marketing wine from South Africa. Consumers have strong perceptions of the country, and hence its products.

Ability and Knowledge--

Need to understand individuals capacity to learn. Learning, changes in a person's behavior caused by information and experience. Therefore to change consumers' behavior about your product, need to give them new information re: product...free sample etc.

South Africa...open bottle of wine and pour it!! Also educate american consumers about changes in SA. Need to sell a whole new country.

When making buying decisions, buyers must process information.Knowledge is the familiarity with the product and expertise.

Inexperience buyers often use prices as an indicator of quality more than those who have knowledge of a product.

Non-alcoholic Beer example: consumers chose the most expensive six-pack, because they assume that the greater price indicates greater quality.

Learning is the process through which a relatively permanent change in behavior results from the consequences of past behavior.

Attitudes--

Knowledge and positive and negative feelings about an object or activity-maybe tangible or intangible, living or non- living.....Drive perceptions

Individual learns attitudes through experience and interaction with other people.Consumer attitudes toward a firm and its products greatly influence the success or failure of the firm's marketing strategy.

Handout...Oldsmobile.....

Oldsmobile vs. Lexus, due to consumers attitudes toward Oldsmobile (as discovered by class exercise) need to disassociate Aurora from the Oldsmobile name.

Exxon Valdez-nearly 20,000 credit cards were returned or cut-up after the tragic oil spill.

Honda "You meet the nicest people on a Honda", dispel the unsavory image of a motorbike rider, late 1950s. Changing market of the 1990s, baby boomers aging, Hondas market returning to hard core. To change this they have a new slogan "Come ride with us".

Attitudes and attitude change are influenced by consumers personality and lifestyle.

Consumers screen information that conflicts with their attitudes. Distort information to make it consistent and selectively retain information that reinforces our attitudes. IE brand loyalty.

There is a difference between attitude and intention to buy (ability to buy).

Personality--

all the internal traits and behaviors that make a person unique, uniqueness arrives from a person's heredity and personal experience. Examples include:

o Workaholism o Compulsiveness o Self confidence o Friendliness o Adaptability o Ambitiousness o Dogmatism

o Authoritarianism o Introversion o Extroversion o Aggressiveness o Competitiveness.

Traits effect the way people behave. Marketers try to match the store image to the perceived image of their customers.

There is a weak association between personality and Buying Behavior, this may be due to unreliable measures. Nike ads. Consumers buy products that are consistent with their self concept.

Lifestyles--

Recent US trends in lifestyles are a shift towards personal independence and individualism and a preference for a healthy, natural lifestyle.

Lifestyles are the consistent patterns people follow in their lives.

EXAMPLE healthy foods for a healthy lifestyle. Sun tan not considered fashionable in US until 1920's. Now an assault by the American Academy of Dermatology.

Handout...Here Comes the Sun to Confound Health Savvy Lotion Makers..

Extra credit assignment from the news group, to access Value and Lifestyles (VALS) Program, complete the survey and Email alex@udel.edu the results. This is a survey tool that marketers can use to better understand their target market(s).Return to Contents List

Social Factors

Consumer wants, learning, motives etc. are influenced by opinion leaders, person's family, reference groups, social class and culture.

Opinion leaders--

Spokespeople etc. Marketers try to attract opinion leaders...they actually use (pay) spokespeople to market their products. Michael Jordon (Nike, McDonalds, Gatorade etc.)

Can be risky...Michael Jackson...OJ Simpson...Chevy Chase

Roles and Family Influences--

Role...things you should do based on the expectations of you from your position within a group.People have many roles.

Husband, father, employer/ee. Individuals role are continuing to change therefore marketers must continue to update information.

Family is the most basic group a person belongs to. Marketers must understand:

o that many family decisions are made by the family unit o consumer behavior starts in the family unit o family roles and preferences are the model for children's future family (can

reject/alter/etc) o family buying decisions are a mixture of family interactions and individual

decision making o family acts an interpreter of social and cultural values for the individual.

The Family life cycle: families go through stages, each stage creates different consumer demands:

o bachelor stage...most of BUAD301 o newly married, young, no children...me o full nest I, youngest child under 6 o full nest II, youngest child 6 or over o full nest III, older married couples with dependant children o empty nest I, older married couples with no children living with them, head in

labor force o empty nest II, older married couples, no children living at home, head retired o solitary survivor, in labor force o solitary survivor, retired o Modernized life cycle includes divorced and no children.

Handout...Two Income Marriages Are Now the Norm

Because 2 income families are becoming more common, the decision maker within the family unit is changing...also, family has less time for children, and therefore tends to let them influence purchase decisions in order to alleviate some of the guilt. (Children influence about $130 billion of goods in a year) Children also have more money to spend themselves.

Reference Groups--

Individual identifies with the group to the extent that he takes on many of the values, attitudes or behaviors of the group members.

Families, friends, sororities, civic and professional organizations.Any group that has a positive or negative influence on a persons attitude and behavior.Membership groups (belong to)Affinity marketing is focused on the desires of consumers that belong to reference groups. Marketers get the groups to approve the product and communicate that approval to its members. Credit Cards etc.!!

Aspiration groups (want to belong to)Disassociate groups (do not want to belong to)Honda, tries to disassociate from the "biker" group.

The degree to which a reference group will affect a purchase decision depends on an individuals susceptibility to reference group influence and the strength of his/her involvement with the group.

Social Class--

an open group of individuals who have similar social rank. US is not a classless society. US criteria; occupation, education, income, wealth, race, ethnic groups and possessions.

Social class influences many aspects of our lives. IE upper middle class Americans prefer luxury cars Mercedes.

o Upper Americans-upper-upper class, .3%, inherited wealth, aristocratic names. o Lower-upper class, 1.2%, newer social elite, from current professionals and

corporate elite o Upper-middle class, 12.5%, college graduates, managers and professionals o Middle Americans-middle class, 32%, average pay white collar workers and

blue collar friends o Working class, 38%, average pay blue collar workers o Lower Americans-lower class, 9%, working, not on welfare o Lower-lower class, 7%, on welfare

Social class determines to some extent, the types, quality, quantity of products that a person buys or uses.

Lower class people tend to stay close to home when shopping, do not engage in much prepurchase information gathering.Stores project definite class images.

Family, reference groups and social classes are all social influences on consumer behavior. All operate within a larger culture.

Culture and Sub-culture--

Culture refers to the set of values, ideas, and attitudes that are accepted by a homogenous group of people and transmitted to the next generation.

Culture also determines what is acceptable with product advertising. Culture determines what people wear, eat, reside and travel. Cultural values in the US are good health, education, individualism and freedom. In american culture time scarcity is a growing problem. IE change in meals. Big impact on international marketing.

Handout...Will British warm up to iced tea?

No...but that is my opinion!!...Tea is a part of the British culture, hot with milk.

Different society, different levels of needs, different cultural values.

Culture can be divided into subcultures:

o geographic regions o human characteristics such as age and ethnic background.

IE West Coast, teenage and Asian American.

Culture effects what people buy, how they buy and when they buy.

Understanding Consumer Buying Behavior offers consumers greater satisfaction (Utility). We must assume that the company has adopted the Marketing Concept and are consumer oriented.

Return to Contents ListGo to Chapter 1 NotesGo to Chapter 2 NotesGo to Chapter 3 NotesGo to Chapter 6 NotesGo to Chapter 9 NotesGo to Chapter 8 NotesGo to Chapter 10 NotesGo to Chapter 11 NotesGo to Chapter 12 NotesGo to Chapter 15 NotesGo to Chapter 17 NotesGo to Chapter 18 NotesGo to Chapter 19 NotesGo to Chapter 20 NotesGo to Chapter 13 NotesGo to Chapter 24 Notes

Blog Archive

partner-pub-8204 ISO-8859-1

Search

pgdba.blogspot.c subscribe feed..

January 2010 (5)

December 2009 (47)

October 2009 (37)

September 2009 (32)

July 2009 (6)

June 2009 (22)

May 2009 (7)

April 2009 (8)

February 2009 (33)

January 2009 (136)

December 2008 (41)

October 2008 (41)

September 2008 (134)

August 2008 (42)

July 2008 (44)

June 2008 (57)

May 2008 (17)

April 2008 (29)

March 2008 (29)

February 2008 (36)

January 2008 (96)

December 2007 (60)

November 2007 (31)

October 2007 (34)

September 2007 (16)

August 2007 (15)

July 2007 (15)

June 2007 (9)

December 2006 (1)

August 2006 (1)

December 2005 (5)

January 2005 (1)

December 2004 (1)

December 2003 (1)

You are here: Home > Principles Of Marketing > Factors influencing consumer behaviour

Friday 9 May 2008

Factors influencing consumer behaviour

Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by or there are four factors.

01. Cultural Factor

02. Social Factor

03. Personal Factor

04. Psychological Factor.

01. Cultural Factor :-

Cultural factor divided into three sub factors (i) Culture (ii) Sub Culture (iii) Social Class

o Culture:- The set of basic values perceptions, wants, and behaviours

learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behaviour. Every group or society has a culture, and cultural influences on buying behaviour may vary greatly from country to country.

o Sub Culture :- A group of people with shared value systems based on

common life experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people

with shared value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture includes nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture make up important market segments and marketers often design products.

o Social Class:- Almost every society has some form of social structure,

social classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests and behaviour.

02. Social Factors :-

A consumer’s behaviour also is influenced by social factors, such as the (i) Groups (ii) Family (iii) Roles and status

o Groups :- Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or

mutual goals. A person’s behavious is influenced by many small groups.

Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups.

Some are primary groups includes family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Some are secondary groups, which are more formal and have less regular interaction. These includes organizations like religious groups, professional association and trade unions.

o Family:- Family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour.

The family is the most important consumer buying organization society and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services.

o Roles and Status :- A person belongs to many groups, family, clubs,

organizations. The person’s position in each group can be defined in terms

of both role and status. For example. M & “X” plays the role of father, in his family

he plays the role of husband, in his company, he plays the role of manager, etc. A Role consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the persons around them.

03. Personal Factors :-

It includes i) Age and life cycle stage (ii) Occupation (iii) Economic situation (iv) Life

Style (v) Personality and self concept.o Age and Life cycle Stage:-

People changes the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle.

o Occupation :- A person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought.

Blue collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-collar workers buy more business suits. A Co. can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group. Thus, computer software companies will design different products for brand managers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and doctors.

o Economic situation :-

A person’s economic situation will affect product choiceo Life Style :-

Life Style is a person’s Pattern of living, understanding these forces involves measuring consumer’s major AIO dimensions.

i.e. activities (Work, hobbies, shopping, support etc) interest (Food, fashion, family recreation) and opinions (about themselves, Business, Products)

o Personality and Self concept :- Each person’s distinct personality influence his or her

buying behaviour. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one’s own environment.

04. Psychological Factors :-

It includes these Factors. i) Motivation (ii) Perception (iii) Learning (iv) Beliefs and attitudes

Motivation :-o Motive (drive) a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the

person to seek satisfaction of the need Perception :-

o The process by which people select, Organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.

Learning:-o Changes in an individuals behaviour arising from experience.

Beliefs and attitudes :-o Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something o Attitude, a Person’s consistently favourable or unfavourable

evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea

•

SOCIAL BOOKMARK THIS POST • V IEW BLOG REACTIONS

TRANSLATE THIS POST: P O R T U G U Ê S | F R A N Ç A I S | E S P A Ñ O L | D E U T S C H | I T A L I A N O |

C H I N E S E | K O R E A N | J A P A N E S E | A R A B I C

LABELS: PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

3 C O M M E N T S :

belle.me09 said...

Your blog is informative. These factors certainly influence the customer

behavior. It would also reflect to the industry lifecycle. As explained in

this article:http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/industry_lifecycle.htm,

customer behavior would depend on the stage of the lifecycle too and so

strategies should be aligned to them too.

15 MAY 2008 1:23 AM

Jyoti said...

Dear these notes are copied from kottler & keller's mkt. book i think. This

is good to revise but neither in book nor u have given the suitable

example for each factor. I think if we get examples this is more effective.

27 JUNE 2009 9:34 AM

Running Thoughts said...

Today is my exam....and I had no clue about the subject...and thanks to

you...the way you have formated...really precise and

informative...thanks...

9 DECEMBER 2009 9:53 AM

http://w w w .blogg Dr.Vishaal Bhat Factors influencin http://pgdba.blogs

http://w w w .blogg Dr.Vishaal Bhat Factors influencin http://pgdba.blogs

http://w w w .blogg Dr.Vishaal Bhat Factors influencin http://pgdba.blogs

P O S T A C O M M E N T

Newer Post Older Post Home

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Subscribe

Followers

Post Categories

Accountancy Notes

Adam Smith

Advertising Management

Alfred Marshall

Belief

Bill Clinton

Business

Business Accounting

Business Communication

Business Environment

Business Law

Business Organizations

Business Research Methods

Career Guidance

Mba-MyNotes en_US Subscribe by email

Causality

Coercion

Communication

Communications

Conflict

Conflict Resolution

Consulting

Continental Airlines

CRM

Customer Relationship Management

Decision making

Disclosure

E-Business Management

Economic

Education and Training

Employment

Empowerment

Facebook

FAQ

Financial Management

Harvard Business School

History

Hofstra University

HR-related Skill Development

Human Resource Management Notes

Human resources

Intellectual Property

Interpersonal relationship

John Cleese

Management

Management Accounting

Management Information Systems

Managerial Economics

Manpower Planning

Marketing

Mass media

Money

Office

Opportunity cost

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Management

Organization

Perception

Performance Appraisal

Physiology

Policies And Procedures

Power

Principles Of Management

Principles Of Marketing

Question And Answers

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Sales Marketing

Social media

Stock market

Syllabus

Trade

Training and Development

Turnover

United States

Washington

Washington D.C.

Washington DC

Wealth of Nations

Win-win game

Work

Disclosure Policy

I occasionally make recommendations and post links for which I get

compensation.

These recommendations are based first and foremost on their merit.

Most affiliate links are added incidentally or subsequently. Some links are

direct, and do not have any affiliation or compensation.

Some endorsements are obtained through compensation, such as free

review copies.

For More Information see Disclosure Policy

 

Disclaimer

No war ran ty i s made as to the accuracy o f the in fo rmat ion conta ined in these

notes . They are no tes taken f rom a l i ve c lass and as such inaccurac ies are

poss ib le . Th is s i te , nor any par t ies ment ioned, w i l l no t accept any

respons ib i l i t i es o r l iab i l i t y fo r ac t ions taken based upon these notes . P lease

consu l t p ro fess iona l lega l adv isors when mak ing any bus iness or lega l dec is ion .

3 COLUMN MINIMA TEMPLATE - MODDED BY IMESSENGR.COM

how to print notes

Consumer behavior The actions a person takes in purchasing and using products and

services,including the mental and social

processes that precede and follow these actions.

The behavioral sciences help answer questions such as :

Why people choose one product or brand over another,

How they make these choices, and How companies use this knowledge

to provide value to consumers

I. CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION PROCESS

o Behind the visible act of making a purchase lies a decision process that must be investigated.

o The purchase decision process is the stages a buyer passes through in making choices about which products and services to buy. :

Five Stagesof

Consumer Behavior

3. problem recognition, 4. information search, 5. alternative evaluation, 6. purchase decision, and 7. post-purchase behavior.

A. Problem Recognition: Perceiving a Need

o Perceiving a difference between a person's ideal and actual situations big enough to trigger a decision.

o Can be as simple as noticing an empty milk carton or it can be activated by marketing efforts.

B. Information Search: Seeking Value

The information search stage clarifies the options open to the consumer and may involve 

two steps of information search Internal

search

o Scanning one’s memory to recall previous experiences with products or brands.

o Often sufficient for frequently purchased products.

External search

o When past experience or knowledge is insufficient

o The risk of making a wrong purchase decision is high

o The cost of gathering information is low.

The primary sources of external information are:

15. Personal sources, such as friends and

family. 16. Public sources, including various

product-rating organizations such as Consumer Reports.

17. Marketer-dominated sources, such as advertising, company websites, and salespeople

C. Alternative Evaluation: Assessing Value

The information search clarifies the problem for the consumer by

(1) Suggesting criteria to use for the purchase.

(2) Yielding brand names that might meet the criteria.

(3) Developing consumer value perception.

o A consumer's evaluative criteria represent both the objective attributes of a brand (such as locate speed on a portable

CD player) the subjective factors (such as prestige).

o These criteria establish a consumer's evoked set the group of brands that a consumer would consider acceptable from

among all the brands in the product class of which he or she is aware

D. Purchase Decision: Buying Value

Three possibilities

From whom to buy

o which depends on such considerations

Terms of sale Past experience buying from the

seller Return policy.

When to buy

o which can be influenced by store atmosphere time pressure a sale pleasantness of the shopping

experience.

Do not buy

E. Postpurchase Behavior: Value in Consumption or Use

o After buying a product, the consumer compares it with expectations and is either satisfied or dissatisfied.

o Satisfaction or dissatisfaction affects

consumer value perceptions consumer communications repeat-purchase behavior.

o Many firms work to produce positive postpurchase communications among consumers and contribute to relationship building between sellers and buyers.

o Cognitive Dissonance. The feelings of postpurchase psychological tension or anxiety a consumer often experiences

o Firms often use ads or follow-up calls from salespeople in this postpurchase stage to try to convince buyers that they made the right decision.

F. Involvement and Problem-Solving Variations

o Consumers may skip or minimize one or more steps in the purchase decision process depending on

the level of involvement the personal, social, and economic significance of the purchase

o Three characteristics of high-involvement purchase

1. is expensive, 2. can have serious personal consequences, or 3. could reflect on one’s social image.

Three general problem-solving variations exist in the consumer purchase decision process:

Routine Problem Solving

o Virtually a habit o involves little effort seeking external information

and evaluating alternatives. o Typically used for low-priced, frequently

purchased products.

Limited Problem Solving

o Involves the use of moderate information-seeking efforts.

o Often used when the buyer has little time or effort to spend.

Extended ProblemSolving

o Each stage of the consumer purchase decision process is used

o Considerable time and effort on

external information search and in identifying evaluating alternatives.

o Used in high-involvement purchase situations.

Involvement and Marketing Strategy

o Low and high consumer involvement has important implications for marketing strategy, which differs for products that are market leaders from their challengers.

G. Situational Influences

Fivesituationalinfluences

The purchase taskThe reason for engaging in the decision.

Social surroundings

Including others present when a purchase decision is made.

Physical surroundings

Such as decor, music, and crowding in retail stores.

Temporal effectsSuch as time of day or the amount of time available.

Antecedent statesWhich include the consumer’s mood or amount of cash on hand

II. PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Concepts such as motivation and personality; perception; learning; values, beliefs and attitudes; and lifestyle are useful for interpreting buying processes and directing marketing efforts.

A. Motivation and Personality

1. Motivation

o is the energizing force that causes behavior that satisfies a need. o Needs are hierarchical o Once basic physiological needs are met, people seek to satisfy learned

needs. 

From lowest to highest, the hierarchy is:

Physiological needs

Safety needs

Social needs

Self-actualization needs

2. Personality

o A person's consistent behavior or responses to recurring situations. o Research suggests that key traits affect brand and product-type

preferences.

o Cross-cultural analysis also suggests that residents of different countries have a national character, or a distinct set of personality characteristics common among people of a country or society.

o Personality characteristics are often revealed in a person’s self-concept, which is the way people see themselves and the way they believe others see them.

B. Perception

o The process by which an individual uses information to create a

meaningful picture of the world by selecting, organizing interpreting

o Perception is important because people selectively perceive what they want and it affects how people see risks in a purchase.

1. Selective Perception

Selective perception

o Filtering exposure, comprehension, and retention

o in the human brain’s attempt to organize and interpret information.

Selective exposure

o Consumers can pay attention to messages that are consistent with their own attitudes and beliefs

o Consumers can  ignore messages that are inconsistent.

Selective comprehension

o Involves interpreting (distorting?) information so that it is consistent with a person's attitudes and beliefs.

Selective retentiono Consumers do not remember all the information they

see, read, or hear.

Subliminal perception

o Consumers see or hear messages without being aware of them.

o This is a hotly debated issue with more popular appeal than scientific support.

o Research suggests that such messages have limited effects on behavior

2. Perceived Risk

o Anxieties felt Consumes  cannot anticipate the outcomes of a purchase Believe that there may be negative consequences.

o Marketers try to reduce a consumer's perceived risk and encourage purchases by strategies such as providing

Free trial of a product Securing endorsements from influential people Providing warranties and guarantees.

C. Learning

o Those behaviors that result from Repeated experience Thinking.

1. Behavioral Learning

o The process of developing automatic responses to a situation built up o through repeated exposure to it.

Four variables central to how consumers learn from repeated experience are:

drive A need that moves an individual to action

cue A stimulus or symbol perceived by consumers

response The action taken by a consumer to satisfy the drive.

reinforcement The reward.

Marketers use two concepts from behavioral learning theory:

Stimulus generalization

o Occurs when a response elicited by one stimulus (cue) is generalized to another.

o Using the same brand name for different products is an application of this concept

Stimulus discrimination

o Refers to a person's ability to perceive differences in stimuli.

o The advertising for Bud Light beer is an example of this concept.

2. Cognitive learning

o Involves making connections between two or more ideas o or simply observing the outcomes of others’ behaviors o and adjusting one's accordingly.

3. Brand loyalty

o Is a favorable attitude and consistent purchase of a single brand over time.

o Brand loyalty differs across countries

D. Values, Beliefs, and Attitudes

1. Attitude Formation

Attitudeo A learned predisposition to respond to an object or class of

objects in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way. o Shaped by our values and beliefs, which are learned.

Valueso personally or socially preferable modes of conduct or states of

existence that are enduring.

Beliefs o consumer's subjective perception of how well a product or brand

performs on different attributes.

2. Attitude Change

Approachesto try tochange

consumerattitudes

o Changing beliefs about the extent to which a brand has certain attributes.

o Changing the perceived importance of attributes. o Adding new attributes to the product.

E. Lifestyle

Lifestyle is a mode of living that is identified by

activities How a person spends time and resources

interests What a person considers important in the environment

opinions what a person thinks of self and the world

o Psychographics The analysis of consumer lifestyle helps to segment and target consumers for new and existing

products.

Values and Lifestyles (VALS) Program

o Developed by SRI International o Identified eight interconnected categories of adult lifestyles o based on a person’s self-orientation and resources.

Self-orientation

o Three patterns of attitudes and activities that help people reinforce their social self-image.

o The three patterns are oriented toward principles, status, action.

III. SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

o Sociocultural influences evolve from a formal and informal relationships with other people.

o Influences Include Personal influence Reference groups The family Social class Culture Subculture.

A. Personal Influence

Aspects of personal Opinion leaders o individuals who exert direct or indirect social influence over

influence important to marketing

others

Word of mouth

o People influencing each other during face-to-face conversations.

o Power of word of mouth has been magnified by the Internet and e-mail

B. Reference Groups

Reference groups are people to whom an individual looks as a basis for self-appraisal or as a source of personal standards. Reference groups have an important influence on the purchase of luxury products but not of necessities. :

Three groups have clear marketing

implications

Membership group

o one to which a person actually belongs

Aspiration group

o one with which a person wishes to be identified.

Dissociative group

o one from which a person wants to maintain a distance because of differences in values or behaviors

C. Family Influence

o Family influences on consumer behavior result from three sources: consumer socialization passage through the family life cycle

decision making within the family.

Consumer Socialization

Consumer socialization is the process by which people acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to function as consumers

Family Life Cycle

o The distinct phases that a family progresses through from formation to retirement

o Each phase bringing with it identifiable purchasing behaviors.

o

o

o

o

o

Family Decision Making

o Two decision-making styles exist: spouse-dominant (either wife

or husband is responsible) joint decision making (most

decisions are made by both husband and wife).

o Increasingly, preteens and teenagers are assuming these roles for the family, given the prevalence of working parents and single-parent households.

Five roles of individual family members in the purchase process exist

o

o

o

o

o

D. Social Class

o The relatively permanent, homogeneous divisions in a society into which people sharing similar values, interests, and behavior are grouped.

o Determinants of social class include occupation, source of income (not level of income)

education.

o Social class is a basis for identifying and reaching particularly good prospects for products and services.

Upper classes are targeted by companies for items such as financial investments, expensive cars, and evening wear.

Middle classes represent a target market for home improvement centers and automobile parts stores.

Lower classes are targeted for products such as sports and scandal magazines.

E. Culture and Subculture

Culture refers to the set of values, ideas and attitudes that are accepted by a homogeneous group of people and transmitted to the next generation.

o Subcultures - groups within the larger, or national, culture with unique values, ideas, and attitudes.

o three largest racial/ethnic subcultures in the U.S Hispanics, African-Americans Asians  .

o Each of these groups exhibits sophisticated social and cultural behaviors that affect their buying patterns.

1. African-American Buying Patterns

o African-Americans have the largest spending power of the three subcultures

o While price conscious, they are motivated by product quality and choice. o Respond to products and advertising that appeal to their African-

American pride and heritage as well as address their ethnic features and needs.

2. Hispanic Buying Patterns

o Hispanics represent the largest subculture o About 50% are immigrants o The majority are under the age of 25. o Marketing to Hispanics has proven to be a challenge because

The diversity of this subculture The language barrier.

o Sensitivity to the unique needs of Hispanics by firms has paid huge dividends.

3. Asian Buying Patterns

o The Asian is the fastest growing subculture. o About 70% of Asians are immigrants o Most are under the age of 30. o Asians represent a diverse subculture, including Chinese, Japanese,

Filipinos, Koreans, Asian-Indians, people from Southeast Asia, and Pacific Islanders.

o Two groups of Asian-Americans have been identified: Assimilated Asians are

conversant in English highly educated exhibit buying patterns very much like "typical" American

consumers. Nonassimilated Asians

recent immigrants who cling to their native languages and customs.

Consumer behaviour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

Each method for vote counting is assumed as a social function but if Arrow’s possibility theorem is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of the social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonicity, unanimity, homogeneity and weak and strong Pareto optimality. No social choice function meets these requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relation with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind, the productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of the cycle, the consumer (Kioumarsi et al., 2009).

Contents

[hide]

1 Black box model 2 Information search 3 Information evaluation 4 Purchase decision 5 Postpurchase evaluation 6 Internal influences 7 External influences 8 See also 9 References

[edit] Black box model

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS BUYER'S BLACK BOXBUYER'S

RESPONSEMarketing Stimuli

Environmental Stimuli

Buyer Characteristics

Decision Process

ProductPricePlacePromotion

EconomicTechnologicalPoliticalCulturalDemographicNatural

AttitudesMotivationPerceptionsPersonalityLifestyleKnowledge

Problem recognitionInformation searchAlternative evaluationPurchase decisionPost-purchase behaviour

Product choiceBrand choiceDealer choicePurchase timingPurchase amount

The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, decision process and consumer responses.[1] It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli (between people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people).[2] The black box model is related to the black box theory of behaviourism, where the focus is not set on the processes inside a consumer, but the relation between the stimuli and the response of the consumer. The marketing stimuli are planned and processed by the companies, whereas the environmental stimulus are given by social factors, based on the economical, political and cultural circumstances of a society. The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the decision process, which determines the buyers response.

The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem. However, in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a determined problem by the consumer.

[edit] Information search

Once the consumer has recognised a problem, they search for information on products and services that can solve that problem. Belch and Belch (2007) explain that consumers undertake both an internal (memory) and an external search.

Sources of information include:

Personal sources Commercial sources Public sources Personal experience

The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with information search is perception. Perception is defined as 'the process by which an individual receives, selects, organises, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world'

The selective perception process

Stage Description

- Selective exposure consumers select which promotional messages they will expose themselves to.- Selective attention consumers select which promotional messages they will pay attention to- Selective comprehension consumer interpret messages in line with their beliefs, attitudes, motives and experiences

- Selective retention consumers remember messages that are more meaningful or important to them

The implications of this process help develop an effective promotional strategy, and select which sources of information are more effective for the brand.

[edit] Information evaluation

At this time the consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. How can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the consumer's evoked (consideration) set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most important in terms of making a decision.

[edit] Purchase decision

Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing organization must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention. The organisation can use variety of techniques to achieve this. The provision of credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is integration.Once the integration is achieved, the organisation can influence the purchase decisions much more easily.

[edit] Postpurchase evaluation

It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as “cognitive dissonance”. The customer, having bought a product, may feel that an alternative would have been preferable. In these circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is likely to switch brands next time.

To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade the potential customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs. Then after having made a purchase, the customer should be encouraged that he or she has made the right decision.it is not effected by advertisement.

[edit] Internal influences

Consumer behaviour is influenced by: demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. consumer behaviour concern with consumer need consumer actions in the direction of satisfying needs leads to his behaviour of every individuals depend on thinking

[edit] External influences

Consumer behaviour is influenced by: culture, sub-culture, locality, royalty, ethnicity, family, social class, reference groups, lifestyle, sex and al