1. Chapter 1What is CB and Why Should I Care?

2. Learning Outcomes • Understand the meaning of consumption and consumer behavior • Describe how competitive marketing environments lead to better outcomes for consumers • Explain the role of consumer behavior in business and society • Be familiar with basic approaches to studying consumer behavior • Appreciate how dynamic the field of consumer behavior continues to be

3. Consumer Behavior Perspectives • Human thought and action involved in consumption • A field of study (human inquiry)

4. Consumer Behavior as Human Behavior • Consumer behavior- Set of value-seeking activities that take place as people go about addressing and attempting to address realized needs • A process kicks in as the consumer sets out to find ways to fill the need—thinking, feeling, behaving culminating in value

5. Consumption • Process by which goods, services or ideas are used and transformed into value • Marketer and the consumer interact to produce value • Consumption outcomes affect consumer well-being by affecting quality of life

6. Consumer Behavior as a Field of Study • CB is the science of studying how consumers seek value in an effort to address real needs • As a field of study, CB is a very young field—books on CB date from the 1960s • CB researchers continue to expand the knowledge base at a fast pace • CB field has family roots in other disciplines—economics, psychology, social psychology, marketing etc

7. How are Consumers Treated? • Every organization is not consumer-oriented • Some organizations can survive while treating customers little better than dirt • Others need to pamper customers just to have a chance of surviving • Organizations must determine the importance of serving customers • How competitive is the marketing environment? • How dependent is the marketer on repeat business?

8. Firm Orientations and Consumers • Consumer orientation - A business’s priority is consumer value and satisfaction • Market orientation - Organizational culture emphasizing consumer value • Stakeholder marketing - Recognizes that all stakeholders are involved in and/or are affected by the firm’s marketing in some way

9. Relationship marketing and CB • Relationship marketing - A firm’s marketing activities aimed at increasing repeat business • Touchpoints - Direct contacts between the firm and a customer • Customer–marketer relationship will continue only as long as both parties see the partnership as valuable

10. Why Study CB? • Input to business/marketing strategy • Force that shapes society • Input to making responsible decisions as a consumer

11. Resource-Advantage Theory • Explains why companies succeed or fail • Companies succeed by acquiring more resources from consumers and in turn using those resources to gain advantages in physical and intellectual capital

12. What do people buy? • To buy something, a consumer gives up resources in the form of time, money, and energy in return for the product • A product is a potentially valuable bundle of benefits • Emphasis lies in the value the customer receives rather than the product itself

13. Ways of Doing Business • Undifferentiated marketing - The same basic product is offered to all customers • Production-oriented • Differentiated marketing - Serving multiple market segments each with a unique product offering • Market-oriented • Niche marketing - Serving one market segment with particularly unique demand characteristics

14. CB and Society • Consumer behavior creates the society in which we live and serves as an important source of input to public policy in a free society

15. CB and Personal Growth • Studying CB helps consumers make better decisions by understanding: • Consequences of poor budgeting • Role of emotions • Avenues for redress • Social influences • Environmental effects

16. Different Approaches to Studying CB • Interpretive research - Seeks to explain the inner meanings and motivations associated with specific consumption experiences • Phenomenology: Represents the study of consumption as a “lived experience” • Ethnography: Involves analyzing the artifacts associated with consumption • Quantitative research - Addresses questions about consumer behavior using numerical measurement and analysis tools

17. Consumer Behavior is Dynamic • The way marketers respond to consumers is changing dramatically due to: • Internationalization • Technological changes • Changing communications • Changing demographics • Changing economy