Part Four Target Markets and Customer Behavior 9 Consumer Buying Behavior.

Part FourPart FourTarget Markets and Customer Behavior

99Consumer Buying Behavior

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Objectives

1. To understand consumers’ level of involvement with a product and the types of consumer problem-solving processes

2. To recognize the stages of the consumer buying decision process

3. To explore how situational influences may affect the consumer buying decision process

4. To understand the psychological influences that may affect the consumer buying decision process

5. To examine the social influences that affect the consumer buying decision process


Chapter Outline

• Level of Involvement and Consumer Problem-Solving Processes

• Consumer Buying Decision Process• Situational Influences on the Buying

Decision Process• Psychological Influences on the Buying

Decision Process• Social Influences on the Buying

Decision Process


Introduction: Key Terms

• Buying Behavior– The decision processes and acts of people

involved in buying and using products

• Consumer Buying Behavior– Buying behavior of people

who purchase products for personal use and not for business purposes


Level of Involvement and Consumer Problem-Solving Processes

• Level of Involvement– An individual’s intensity of interest in a

product and the importance of the product for that person• Enduring involvement• Situational involvement

• Routinized Response Behavior– The process used when buying frequently

purchased, low-cost items that require little search-and-decision effort


Level of Involvement and Consumer Problem-Solving Processes (cont’d)

• Limited Problem Solving– The process that buyers use when purchasing

products occasionally or when they need information about an unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category

• Extended Problem Solving– The process employed when purchasing

unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently bought products

• Impulse Buying– An unplanned buying behavior resulting from a

powerful urge to buy something immediately


Consumer Buying Decision Process and Possible Influences on the Process

FIGURE 9.1


Consumer Buying Decision Process

• Problem Recognition– Occurs when a buyer becomes aware of a

difference between a desired state and an actual condition

– May occur rapidly or slowly

• Information Search– Internal search

• Buyers search their memories for information about products that might solve their problem

– External search• Buyers seek information from outside sources


Consumer Buying Decision Process (cont’d)

• Evaluation of Alternatives– Consideration set

• A group of brands that the buyer views as alternatives for possible purchase

– Evaluative criteria• Objective and subjective characteristics that

are important to a buyer

– Framing the alternatives• Describing the alternatives and their attributes

in a certain manner to make a particular characteristic appear more important especially to the inexperienced buyer



• Purchase– Choosing the product or brand to be

bought based on the outcome of the evaluation stage

– The choice of seller may affect the final product selection.

– Factors such as terms of sale, price, delivery, and warranties may affect the sale.



• Postpurchase Evaluation– Cognitive dissonance

• A buyer’s doubts shortly after a purchase about whether the decision was the right one

– Buyers are most likely to seek reassurance after the purchase of an expensive, high-involvement product


Situational Influences on the Buying Decision Process

• Situational Influences– Factors that can influence a buyer’s purchase

decision and may cause the buyer to shorten, lengthen, or terminate the process.

• Situational Factors– Physical surroundings– Social surroundings– Time perspective– Reason for purchase– Buyer’s momentary mood

and condition


Psychological Influences on the Buying Decision Process

• Psychological Influences– Factors that in part determine people’s

general behavior, thus influencing their behavior as consumers

• Perception– The process of selecting,

organizing, and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning


Psychological Influences on the Buying Decision Process (cont’d)

• Selective Exposure– The process of selecting inputs to be exposed to

our awareness while ignoring others

• Selective Distortion– An individual’s changing or twisting of information

when it is inconsistent with personal feelings or beliefs

• Selective Retention– Remembering information inputs that support

personal feelings and beliefs and forgetting inputs that do not



• Perceptual Organization– Organizing and integrating new information

with what is already stored in memory. • Closure occurs when

a person mentally fills in missing elements in a pattern or statement



• Interpretation– The assignment of meaning to what has

been organized based on what is expected or what is familiar

– Attempts by marketers to influence interpretation can fail because• consumers block out seller’s information.• consumers interpret seller’s information

differently than intended.• consumers discard information that is

inconsistent with prior beliefs.



• Motives– An internal energizing force that directs a person’s

behavior toward satisfying needs or achieving goals

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs– The five levels of needs that humans are

motivated to seek and satisfy, from least to most important are• Physiological needs—food, water, sex, clothing, shelter• Safety needs—security, freedom• Social needs—love, affection, belonging• Esteem needs—respect, recognition, self-worth• Self-actualization needs—personal growth needs


Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsMaslow believed that people seek to fulfill five

categories of needs.

FIGURE 9.2



• Learning– Changes in an individual’s thought processes and

behavior caused by information and experience– Behaviors that produce satisfying consequences

are likely to be repeated.

• Consumers learn about products by– experiencing the products personally.– gaining additional product knowledge from seller-

provided information.– indirect information from other purchasers/users.



• Attitudes– An individual’s enduring evaluation of, feelings

about, and behavioral tendencies toward an object or idea

• Attitudinal Components– Cognitive

• Knowledge and information about the object or idea

– Affective• Feelings and emotions toward the object or idea

– Behavioral• Individual’s action regarding the object or idea



• Attitude Scale– A means of measuring consumer attitudes

by gauging the intensity of individuals’ reactions to adjectives, phrases, or sentences about an object



• Personality and Self-Concept– Personality

• A set of internal traits and distinct behavioral tendencies that result in consistent patterns of behavior in certain situations

– Self-concept (self-image)• Perception or view of oneself

• Lifestyles– Lifestyle

• An individual’s pattern of living expressed through activities, interests, and opinions


Social Influences on the Buying Decision Process

• Social Influences– The forces other people exert on one’s buying

behavior

• Role– Actions and activities that a person in a particular

position is supposed to perform based on expectations of the individual and surrounding persons

– Multiple role-expectation sets affect behavior.– Roles influence both general and buying

behaviors.


Social Influences on the Buying Decision Process (cont’d)

• Family Influences– Consumer socialization

• The process through which a person acquires the knowledge and skills to function as a consumer

• Family decision-making processes– Autonomic—equally shared decision-making– Husband-dominant—husband makes decisions– Wife-dominant—wife makes decisions– Syncratic—decisions made jointly



• Reference Groups– Any group that positively or negatively

affects a person’s values, attitudes, or behavior• Membership• Aspirational• Disassociative

• Opinion Leader– A knowledgeable, accessible individual

who provides information about a specific sphere of interest to followers



• Social Class– An open group of individuals with similar

social rank– Individuals in the same social class

• develop and assume common behavioral patterns.

• have similar attitudes, values, language patterns, and possessions.

– Influences many major life decisions– Influences shopping patterns and

spending habits



• Culture– The accumulated values, knowledge, beliefs,

customs, objects, and concepts of a society• Culture influences buying behavior.• Cultural changes affect product development,

promotion, distribution, and pricing.

• Subcultures– Groups of individuals whose characteristic values

and behavior patterns are similar and differ from those of the surrounding culture• African American • Hispanic • Asian

American


After reviewing this chapter you should:

• Understand the level of involvement and types of consumer problem-solving processes

• Recognize the stages of the consumer buying decision process

• Know how situational influences may affect the consumer buying decision process

• Understand the psychological influences that may affect the consumer buying decision process

• Be familiar with social influences that affect the consumer buying decision process

Part Four Target Markets and Customer Behavior 9 Consumer Buying Behavior.

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Transcript of Part Four Target Markets and Customer Behavior 9 Consumer Buying Behavior.