1. Consumer Decision Making
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Consumer Decision Making
Chapter 6
Lamb, Hair, McDaniel
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2. © 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Explain why marketing managers should understand consumer behavior
Analyze the components of the consumer decision-making process
Explain the consumer’s postpurchase evaluation process
Identify the types of consumer buying decisions and discuss the significance of consumer involvement
Identify and understand the cultural factors that affect consumer buying decisions
Identify and understand the social factors that affect consumer buying decisions
Identify and understand the individual factors that affect consumer buying decisions
Identify and understand the psychological factors that affect consumer buying decisions
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3. Why a marketer should understand consumer behavior
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Why a marketer should understand consumer behavior
Consumer behavior
consumers make purchase decisions
consumers use and dispose of product
= HOW
Notes:
Understanding consumer behavior can help marketing managers adapt the marketing mix to influence consumer purchasing decisions.
For example, if a manager knows through research that gas mileage is the most important attribute for a certain target market, the manufacturer can redesign the product, and create the appropriate marketing mix, to meet that criterion. 1
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4. Consumer Behavior Consumer Behavior
Chapter 5 Consumer Decision Making
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Behavior
is the Study of
Consumer Decision
Making Process
Processes a consumer uses to make purchase decisions, as well as to use and dispose of purchased goods or services; also includes factors that influence purchase decisions and the product use. 4 4

5. Exhibit 6.1 Consumer Decision-Making Process
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Exhibit 6.1 Consumer Decision-Making Process
Notes:
The consumer decision-making process is shown here and described on subsequent slides. 2
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

6. Consumer Decision Making Process6

7. Situational Influences on the Buying Decision Process
Factors that can influence a buyer’s purchase decision and may cause the buyer to shorten, lengthen, or terminate the process.
Situational Factors Include
Physical surroundings
Social surroundings
Time perspective
Reason for purchase
Buyer’s momentary mood and condition 7

8. Psychological Influences on the Buying Decision Process
Factors that in part determine people’s general behavior, thus influencing their behavior as consumers
Psychological Influences Include
Perception
Motives
Learning
Attitudes
Personality and self concept
Lifestyles 8

9. Social Influences on the Buying Decision Process
The forces other people exert on one’s buying behavior
Roles
Family
Reference groups
Opinion leaders
Social class
Culture and subcultures 9

10. Cognitive Dissonance and Postpurchase Behavior
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Cognitive Dissonance and Postpurchase Behavior
Cognitive Dissonance: Inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions.
Consumers can reduce dissonance by:
Seeking information that reinforces positive ideas about the purchase
Avoiding information that contradicts the purchase decision
Revoking the original decision by returning the product
Notes:
In some instances, people deliberately seek contrary information in order to refute it and reduce dissonance.
Discussion/Team Activity:
Discuss any of your purchases that generated cognitive dissonance and what was done to address the situation. What role, if any, did marketing play in minimizing cognitive dissonance? What was the outcome? Discuss ways in which the provider of the products/services might have reduced this inner tension. 3
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

11. Consumer Buying Decisions and Consumer Involvement
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Consumer Buying Decisions and Consumer Involvement
More
Involvement
Less
Routine
Response
Behavior
Limited
Decision
Making
Extensive
Notes:
Consumer buying decisions fall along a continuum of three broad categories: Routine response behavior, limited decision making, and extensive decision making.
Routine response behavior: Frequently purchased, low-cost goods and services, with low involvement on search and decisions by consumers before making the purchase. Consumers buy first and evaluate later.
Limited decision making: Consumer has previous product experience but is unfamiliar with the current brands available. A moderate effort is spent searching for information or in considering alternatives.
Extensive decision making: Applies to unfamiliar, expensive products, or an infrequently bought item. The most complex type of consumer buying decisions, and is associated with high involvement on the part of the consumer.
Discussion/Team Activity:
Name products that fall into each of the decision making descriptions, and describe the decision making process for each. 4
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

12. Exhibit 6.2 Continuum of Consumer Buying Decisions
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Exhibit 6.2 Continuum of Consumer Buying Decisions
Routine
Limited
Extensive
Involvement
Low
Low to Moderate
High
Time
Short
Short to Moderate
Long
Cost
Information Search
Internal Only
Mostly Internal
Internal and External
Number of Alternatives
One
Few
Many
Notes:
Exhibit 6.2 illustrates the continuum of consumer buying decisions. 4
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

13. Routine Response Behavior
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Routine Response Behavior
Little involvement in selection process
Frequently purchased low cost goods
May stick with one brand
Buy first/evaluate later
Quick decision 4
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14. Limited Decision Making
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Limited Decision Making
Low levels of involvement
Low to moderate cost goods
Evaluation of a few alternative brands
Short to moderate time to decide 4
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15. Extensive Decision Making
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Extensive Decision Making
High levels of involvement
High cost goods
Evaluation of many brands
Long time to decide
May experience cognitive dissonance 4
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

16. Marketing Implications of Involvement
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Marketing Implications of Involvement
High-involvement purchases require:
Extensive and
Informative promotion
to target market
Low-involvement purchases require:
In-store promotion, eye-catching package design, and good
displays. Coupons,
and two-for-one offers
Notes:
For high involvement products, a good ad gives consumers the information they need for making the purchase decision, as well as specifying the benefits and advantages of owning the product.
For low-involvement purchases, customers may not recognize their wants until they are in the store. In-store promotion and package design are important tools for catching the customer’s attention. Good displays can help explain a product’s purpose and create recognition of a want. 4
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

17. © 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Exhibit 6.4 U.S. Social Classes
SOURCE: Adapted from Richard P. Coleman, “The Continuing Significance of Social Class to Marketing,” Journal of Consumer Research, December 1983, 267; Dennis Gilbert and Joseph A. Kahl, The American Class Structure: A Synthesis (Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1982), ch. 11.
Upper Classes
Capitalist Class 1%
People whose investment decisions shape the national economy; income mostly from assets, earned or inherited; university connections
Upper Middle Class
14%
Upper-level managers, professionals, owners of medium-sized businesses; well-to-do, stay-at-home homemakers who decline occupational work by choice; college educated; family income well above national average
Middle Classes
Middle Class
33%
Middle-level white-collar, top-level blue-collar; education past high school typical; income somewhat above national average; loss of manufacturing jobs has reduced the population of this class
Working Class
32%
Middle-level blue-collar, lower-level white-collar; income below national average; largely working in skilled or semi-skilled service jobs
Lower Classes
Working Poor
11-12%
Low-paid service workers and operatives; some high school education; below mainstream in living standard; crime and hunger are daily threats
Underclass
8-9%
People who are not regularly employed and who depend primarily on the welfare system for sustenance; little schooling; living standard below poverty line
Notes:
1. As you can see from Exhibit 6.4, the upper and upper middle classes comprise the small segment of affluent and wealthy Americans.
2. In terms of consumer buying patterns, the affluent are more likely to own their own home and purchase new cars and trucks and are less likely to smoke.
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

18. Exhibit 6.5 Types of Reference Groups
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Exhibit 6.5 Types of Reference Groups
Reference Groups
Direct Face-to-Face membership
Primary: small, informal group
Secondary: large, formal group
Indirect Nonmembership
Aspirational Group that someone would like to join
Nonaspirational Group with which someone wants to avoid being identified
Notes:
Reference groups are characterized as either direct or indirect.
Direct reference groups may be primary or secondary. Primary membership groups include all groups with which people interact regularly in an informal way, such as family, friends, and coworkers. People associate with secondary membership groups less consistently and more formally. This includes clubs, professional groups, and religious groups.
Indirect reference groups include aspirational reference groups, such as organizations that a person would like to join. On the other hand, a nonaspirational reference group is one that someone wants to avoid being identified with. 6
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

19. Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Opinion Leaders
The first to try new products and services out of pure curiosity.
May be challenging to locate.
Marketers are increasingly using blogs, social networking, and other online media to determine and attract opinion leaders.
Notes:
Opinion leaders are often the first to try new products. Technology companies have found that teenagers, because of their willingness to experiment, are key opinion leaders for the success of new technologies.
Opinion leadership is a casual, face-to-face phenomenon. Locating opinion leaders can be a challenge. Marketers may try to create opinion leaders, such as cheerleaders or civic leaders.
On a national level, companies sometimes use prominent public figures, such as movie stars, sports figures, and celebrities to promote products.
Discussion/Team Activity:
Name examples of opinion leaders, and the promoted products/services, in each of the categories shown on this slide. 6
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20. Purchase Process Roles in the Family
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Family
Purchase Process Roles in the Family
Initiators
Influencers
Decision Makers
Purchasers
Consumers
Notes:
The family is the most important social institution for many consumers, influencing values, attitudes, and buying behavior.
Purchase decisions vary significantly among family members, who assume a variety of roles in the purchase process.
Initiators are the ones who suggest or initiate the purchase process. Influencers are those members whose opinions are valued. Decision makers actually makes the decision to buy or not to buy. The purchaser is the one who exchanges money for the product. The consumer is the one who uses the product.
Children can have great influence over the purchase decision. 6
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved.

21. Personality, Self-Concept, and Lifestyle
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Personality, Self-Concept, and Lifestyle
Personality combines psychological makeup and environmental forces
Human behavior depends largely on self-concept
Self-concept combines ideal self-image and real self-image. 7
© 2015 by Cengage Learning Inc. All Rights Reserved. 21

22. Perception Selective Exposure Selective Distortion Selective Retention
Chapter 6 Consumer Decision Making
Perception
Selective Exposure
Selective Distortion
Selective Retention
Consumer notices certain stimuli and ignores others
Consumer changes or distorts information that conflicts
with feelings or beliefs
Consumer remembers only
that information that
supports personal beliefs
Notes:
People cannot perceive every stimulus in their environment. They use selective exposure, along with the closely related concepts of selective distortion and retention, to decide which stimuli to notice and which to ignore.
Discussion/Team Activity:
Discuss examples representing each of the described perception states. 8
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23. Ch 6 Discussion Questions
What is consumer decision making process? Take automobile as an example and explain each step of the consumer decision making process.
Explain the influence of Situational, Psychological and Social Influences on consumer decision making process. I may ask you to explain one of the Influences in consumer decision making process.
What is culture and subculture? Why do marketing managers need to understand culture and subculture in a society?
Explain level of consumer involvement in purchase and its relationship in consumer decision making.
What is postpurchase cognitive dissonance? How a marketer can reduce cognitive dissonance? 23