CHAPTER 5 Consumer Behavior: How & Why People Buy

1. M A R K E T I N G Real People, Real Choices CHAPTER 5Consumer Behavior: How & Why People Buy

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. Consumer Decision-Making Process • Problem recognition • Information search • Evaluation of alternatives • Product choice • Post-purchase evaluation

6. 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

7. Information Search • Consumer checks memory & surveys environment to identify what options are available • Sources might include personal experience & knowledge, friends, advertising, websites, & magazines

8. Evaluation of Alternatives • Identify consideration set • Narrow list: compare pros & cons • Use evaluative criteria to decide among remaining choices

9. Product Choice • People may ultimately make the choice based on heuristics • Heuristics represent rules of thumb • brand loyalty • country of origin • liking

10. Postpurchase Evaluation • How good a choice was it? • Customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction • regret • Ultimately affects future decisions & word-of-mouth communication

11. Internal Influences • Perception • Motivation • Personality • Age • Lifestyle

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Age Group • Products and services often appeal to a specific age group (demographics) • Children • Teens • Young Adults • Middle-aged • Elderly

17. 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

18. Situational Influences • Physical Environment • arousal • pleasure • Time • time poverty

19. Social Influences • Culture & Subcultures • Social Class • Reference Groups • Opinion Leaders & Market Mavens

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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?