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