1 5. Consumer Buying Behavior How the Ultimate Consumer Purchases

2 Level of Involvement & Consumer Problem Solving Process Consumer level of involvement –Low, high, enduring, & situational –Major determinant of problem-solving process used Routininzed response behavior Limited problem solving Extended problem solving Impulse buying

3 Consumer Buying Decision Process Five-stage purchase process 1. Problem recognition 2. Information search Internal search External search 3. Evaluation of alternatives Consideration (evoked) set Evaluative criteria Marketers can frame alternatives to influence evaluation

4 Consumer Buying Decision Process (Cont.) Five-stage purchase process (cont.) 4.Purchase decision Actual purchase is made 5.Postpurchase evaluation/behavior Cognitive dissonance may occur

5 Personal Influences On the Buying Decision Process 1. Perception (perceptual process) –Selective perception of information inputs: perceptual screens Selective exposure Selective distortion Selective retention –Perceptual organization of information inputs Closure –Interpretation of information inputs

6 Personal Influences On the Buying Decision Process (Cont.) 2. Motive: needs/wants –Motivation affects direction & intensity of behavior Some motives stronger than others Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs –Physiological –Safety –Social –Esteem/personal –Self-actualization

7 Personal Influences On the Buying Decision Process (Cont.) 3. Learning –Influenced by consequences of past behavior Drive→Cue→Response→Reinforcement Shaping: rewards & reinforcement –Inexperienced buyers differ from experienced –Consumers learn both Directly (experience) Through information from others (cognitive learning)

8 Personal Influences On the Buying Decision Process (Cont.) 4.Attitudes – Enduring evaluation, feeling, behavioral tendency –Three major components: Cognitive Affective Behavioral –Attitude scales used to measure consumer attitudes –Changing is difficult

9 Personal Influences On the Buying Decision Process (Cont.) 5.Personality & self-concept –Advertisers use positively valued personality traits –Buyers purchase products that reflect & enhance their self-concept Real self, self image, looking glass self, ideal self

10 Interpersonal Influences on the Buying Decision Process Family influences –Consumer socialization Social influences: Asch phenomenon –Roles –Reference groups Three major types –Membership –Aspiration –Dissociative –Opinion leaders, word of mouth

11 Interpersonal Influences on the Buying Decision Process (Cont.) Social influences (cont.) –Social class Determined by factors such as: –Occupation- Education- Income –Wealth- Race- Ethnic group Individuals within social classes develop common behavioral patterns Affects buying decisions, financial practices, product choices, shopping patterns

12 Interpersonal Influences on the Buying Decision Process (Cont.) Culture & subculture –Culture learned and passed from one generation to the next Especially important for international marketers –Subcultures exist within but differ from surrounding culture Boundaries usually based on geographic & demographic factors –Acculturation