consumer behavior process

8/6/2019 Consumer Behavior Process

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y Consumer behaviory The actions a person takes in purchasing and using

products and services,including the mental and social processes that

precede and follow these actions.T

he behavioral sciences help answer questionssuch as :Why people choose one product or brand over

another,How they make these choices, and

How companies use this knowledge to providevalue to consumers

yI. CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION PROCESS

Behind the visible act of making a purchase lies a decision process that must be investigated.The purchase decision process is the stages a buyer passes through in making choices about which products and

Five Stagesof

ConsumerBehavior

1. problem recognition,2. information search,3. alternative evaluation,4. purchase decision, and5. post-purchase behavior.

A. Problem Recognition: Perceiving a Need

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

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

B. Information Search: Seeking Value

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


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wo steps of informationsearch

Internalsearch

y Scanning ones memory to recall previous experiences with produy Often sufficient for frequently purchased products.

External

search

y When past experience or knowledge is insufficienty The risk of making a wrong purchase decision is highy The cost of gathering information is low.

The primary sources of external information are:

1. Personal sources, such as friends and family.2. Public sources, including various product-rating organizations suc

Reports.3. Marketer-dominated sources, such as advertising, company websit

salespeople

C. Alternative Evaluation: Assessing Value


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information search clarifies the problem for the consumer by

uggesting criteria to use for the purchase.

Yielding brand names that might meet the criteria.

Developing consumer value perception.

A consumer's evaluative criteria represent botho the objective attributes of a brand (such as locate speed on a portable CD player)o the subjective factors (such as prestige).

These criteria establish a consumer's evoked seto the group of brands that a consumer would consider acceptable from among all the brands in the product

or she is aware

D. Purchase Decision: Buying Value

Three possibilities

From whom to buy

y which depends on such considerationso Terms of saleo Past experience buying from the sellero Return policy.

When to buy

y which can be influenced byo store atmosphereo time pressureo a saleo pleasantness of the shopping experience.

Do not buy

E. Postpurchase Behavior: Value in Consumption or UseAfter buying a product, the consumer compares it with expectations and is either satisfied or dissatisfied.

Satisfaction or dissatisfaction affectso consumer value perceptionso consumer communicationso repeat-purchase behavior.

Many firms work to produce positive postpurchase communications among consumers and contribute to relationbetween sellers and buyers.

Cognitive Dissonance. The feelings of postpurchase psychological tension or anxiety a consumer often experienFirms often use ads or follow-up calls from salespeople in this postpurchase stage to try to convince buyers that

decision.

F. Involvement and Problem-Solving Variations


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y

Consumers may skip or minimize one or more steps in the purchase decision process depending ono the level of involvemento the personal, social, and economic significance of the purchase

Three characteristics of high-involvement purchase

1. is expensive,2. can have serious personal consequences, or3. could reflect on ones social image.

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

G. Situational Influences

iveational

uences

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 effects Such as time of day or the amount of time available.

Antecedent states Which include the consumers mood or amount of cash on hand


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yII. PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMERBEHAVIOR

cepts such as motivation and personality; perception; learning; values, beliefs and attitudes; and lifestyle are useful ng 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 hierarchicalo Once basic physiological needs are met, people seek to satisfy learned needs.

From lowest to highest, the hierarchy is:

Physiological needso basic to survival.

Safety needs

o self-preservationo physical well-being.

Social needs

o loveo friendship.o achievemento statuso prestigeo self-respect.

outine Problem Solving

o Virtually a habito involves little effort seeking external information and evaluating alternatives.o Typically used for low-priced, frequently purchased products.

imited 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 Problem

Solving

o Each stage of the consumer purchase decision process is usedo Considerable time and effort on

external information search and in identifying evaluating alternatives.

o Used in high-involvement purchase situations.

olvement and Marketing

Strategy

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


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Self-actualization needso personal fulfillment.

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 s

characteristics common among people of a country or society.

o Personality characteristics are often revealed in a persons self-concept, which is the way people see themselvesbelieve 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 i1. Selective Perception

Selective perception

o Filtering exposure, comprehension, and retention

o in the human brains attempt to organize and interpret information.

Selective exposure

o Consumers can pay attention to messages that are consistent with their own attitudes ao Consumers can ignore messages that are inconsistent.

Selectivecomprehension

o Involves interpreting (distorting?) information so that it is consistent with a person's at

Selective retentiono Consumers do not remember all the information they see, read, or hear.

ubliminal 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


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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 upo 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 anoto Using the same brand name for different products is an application of this co

Stimulus discrimination

o Refers to a person's ability to perceive differences in stimuli.o The advertising forBud Light beer is an example of this concept.

2. Cognitive learning

o Involves making connections between two or more ideaso or simply observing the outcomes of others behaviorso 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

ttitude

o A learned predisposition to respond to an object or class of objects in a consistently favorable or unfo Shaped by our values and beliefs, which are learned.


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Valueso personally or socially preferable modes of conduct or states of existence that are enduring.

Beliefso consumer's subjective perception of how well a product or brand performs on different attributes.

2. Attitude ChangeApproaches

to try tochange consumer

attitudes

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 Internationalo Identified eight interconnected categories of adult lifestyleso based on a persons self-orientation and resources.

Self-orientation Resourc

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.

o incomeo educationo self-confio healtho eagernesso intelligeno energy le

y

III. SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON CONSUMERBEHAVIOR

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

Influences Include


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Personal influence Reference groups The family Social class Culture Subculture.

A. Personal Influence

Aspects of personal influence important tomarketing

Opinion leaderso individuals who exert direct or indirect social in

others

Word of mouth

o People influencing each other during face-to-fao Power of word of mouth has been magnified by

e-mail

B. Reference Groups

rence groups are people to whom an individual looks as a basis for self-appraisal or as a source of personal standard

ps have an important influence on the purchase of luxury products but not of necessities. :

ree groups have clear marketing

implications

Membershipgroup

o one to which a person actually belongs

Aspiration groupo one with which a person wishes to be identified.

Dissociative

group

o one from which a person wants to maintain a distance bedifferences in values or behaviors

C. Family Influence

Family influences on consumer behavior result from three sources: consumer socialization passage through the family life cycle decision making within the family.

sumer

alization

Consumer socialization is the process by which people acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes ne

function as consumers

ly Life

e

o The distinct phases that a family progresses through from formation toretirement

o Each phase bringing with it identifiable purchasing behaviors.

o young singleso Young marrie

childreno Young marrieo The older maro older unmarri


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ily Decision

ing

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-parenthouseholds.

Five roles of individumembers in the purch

o information go influencero decision makeo purchasero user

D. Social Class

The relatively permanent, homogeneous divisions in a society into which people sharing similar values, interests

grouped.Determinants of social class include

occupation, source of income (not level of income) education.

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 even 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

ure refers to the set of values, ideas and attitudes that are accepted by a homogeneous group of people and transmittration.

Subcultures - groups within the larger, or national, culture with unique values, ideas, and attitudes.three largest racial/ethnic subcultures in the U.S Hispanics, African-Americans Asians .

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

1. African-American Buying Patterns

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

While price conscious, they are motivated by product quality and choice.Respond to products and advertising that appeal to their African-American pride and heritage as well as address

features and needs.

2. Hispanic Buying Patterns

Hispanics represent the largest subculture

About 50% are immigrantsThe majority are under the age of 25.Marketing to Hispanics has proven to be a challenge because


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The diversity of this subculture The language barrier.

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

3. Asian Buying Patterns

The Asian is the fastest growing subculture.About 70% of Asians are immigrants

Most are under the age of 30.Asians represent a diverse subculture, including Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, Asian-Indians, people fro

and Pacific Islanders.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 behavior process

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