CHAPTER 4: CONSUMER MARKETS AND

CONSUMER BUYER BEHAVIOR

4.3 Types of buying decision
4.1 Consumer markets and behavior
model of consumer behavior: 4.3.1 Complex buying behavior
4.1.1 Consumer markets 4.3.2 Dissonance-reducing
4 . 1 . 2 M o d e l o f c o n s u m e r buying behavior
behavior 4.3.3 Habitual buying behavior
4.3.4 Variety-seeking buying
4.2 Characteristics affecting behavior
consumer behavior
4.2.1 Cultural factors 4.4 The buyer decision process
4.2.2 Social factors 4.4.1 Need recognition
4.2.3 Personal factors 4.4.2 Information search
4.2.4 Psychological factors 4.4.3 Evaluation of alternatives
4.4.4 Purchase decision
4.4.5 Postpurchase behavior
 4.1. Consumer markets and model of
consumer buyer behavior
4.1.1. Consumer markets

Consumer market include all the individuals and households that
buy or acquire goods and services for personal consumption.

 4.1. Consumer markets and model of
consumer buyer behavior
4.1.2. Consumer buyer behavior

v  Consumer buyer behavior refers to the buying behavior of final
consumers - individuals and households who buy goods and
services for personal consumption

 4.1 Consumer markets and model of
consumer buyer behavior
4.1.2 Model of consumer behavior:

The environment Buyer’s black box

Buyer
responses
Marketing Other stimuli v  Buying attitudes
stimuli Buyer’s and preferences
characteristics
- Product - Economic v  Purchase
- Price -Technological behavior: what
- Place - Social the buyer buys,
- Promotion - Cultural when, where and
Buyer’s decision how much.
process

This figure shows that marketing and other stimuli enter the consumer’s “black
box” and produce certain response.
 4.2 Characteristics affecting consumer
behavior
Cultural factor
Social factor
Personal factor
v Culture v Age and life- Psychological
v Groups and social cycle stage factor
v Subculture networks
v Occupation
v Social class v Family v Motivation
v Economic
v Social roles and situation v Perception
status
v Lifestyle v Learning

v Personality and v Beliefs and

self-concept attitudes.
 4.1. Characteristics affecting consumer
behavior
4.1.2. Consumer buyer behavior

v  Cultural factors

ü  Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior.

ü  Subculture is a group of people with shared value systems based
on common life experiences and situations. Subcultures include
nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic regions.

ü  Social classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered
divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and
behaviors. Social class is not determined by a single factor, such as
income, but is measured as a combination of occupation, income,
education, wealth, and other variables.
 4.1. Characteristics affecting consumer
behavior
4.1.2. Consumer buyer behavior

v  Social factors

ü  Groups: many small groups influence a person’s behavior:
membership group (group directly influences and to which a
person belongs), aspirational group (group that a person desire to
be a member of), reference group (group that a person asks for
recommendations)

ü  Family: can strongly influence buyer behavior. For example: roles

and influence of the husband, wife, and children

ü  Roles and status: The person’s position in each group. A role

consists of the activities people are expected to perform
according to the people around them.
4.1. Characteristics affecting consumer behavior
4.1.2. Consumer buyer behavior

v  Personal factors

ü  Buyer’s age and life-cycle stage: taste of customers in food, clothes,

furniture and recreation are often age related. Life stage changes usually
result from demographíc and life-changing events – marriage, having
children, divorce, purchasing a home, retirement…

ü  Occupation: blue-collar workers, executives

ü  Economic situation: personal income, savings and interest rates

ü  Lifestyle: a person’s pa^ern of living as expressed in his psychographics.
It involves AIO – activities (work, hobbies, shopping, sports, social
events), interests (food, fashion, family, recreation), and opinions.
ü  Personality: refers to the unique psychological characteristics that
distingush a person or group. Personality is usually described in terms
of traits such as self-confidence, dominance, sociability, defensive,
autonomy, agressiveness. Brands also have personalities and consumers
are likely to choose brands with personalities that match their own.
4.1. Characteristics affecting consumer behavior
4.1.2. Consumer buyer behavior

v  Personal factors

4.1. Characteristics affecting consumer behavior
4.1.2. Consumer buyer behavior

v  Psychological factors

ü  Motivation: is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct a person to

seek satisfaction.

ü  Perception: is the process by which people select, organize, and

interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.

ü  Learning: describes changes in an individual’s behavior arising from

experience.

ü  Beliefs and a^itudes:

A belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something. Belief
may be based on real knowledge, opinion, or faith and may or may not
carry an emotional change.
A^itude describes a person’ relatively consistent evaluations, feelings, and
tendencies toward an object or idea.
4.3. Types of buying decision behavior

Complex buying behavior

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior



Habitual buying behavior


Variety-seeking buying behavior
4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.1. Complex buying behavior

Consumers undertake complex buying behavior when they are highly

involved in a purchase and perceive significant differences among
brands.

Ø Product is often expensive, risky, purchased infrequently, and highly
self-expressive.

Ø Marketers should help buyers learn about product-class a^ributes

and their relative importance. They need to differentiate their brand’s
features and motive salespeople and reference groups to influence
the final brand choice.
4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.1 Complex buying behavior

Product:
ü  Expensive
ü Purchased infrequently
ü Risky
ü Significant differences
among brands perceived
by customers

BELIEF ATTITUDE PURCHASE

 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.2. Dissonance-reducing buying behavior:

Occurs when consumers are highly involved with a purchase but see
li^le difference among brands.

Ø Products are expensive, infrequent or risky.

Ø After the purchase, consumers might experience post purchase

dissonance (after-sale discomfort) when they notice certain
disadvantages of the purchased products or hear favorable things
about brands not purchased.

Ø The marketers’ after-sale communications should provide evidence

and support to help consumers feel good about their brand choices.
 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.2 Dissonance-reducing buying behavior:
Product:
ü  Expensive
ü Purchased infrequently
ü Risky
ü Few differences among
brands perceived by
customers.

PURCHASE BELIEF ATTITUDE

 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.3. Habitual buying behavior:

Occurs under conditions of low-consumer involvement and li^le

significant brand difference.

Ø  Products are low-cost, frequently purchased. The purchase is just like a

habit rather than strong brand loyalty. Consumers select the brand
because it is familiar.

Ø  Marketers should:
§  Use price and sales promotion to promote buying.
§  Keep shelves fully stocked.
 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.3. Habitual buying behavior:

Product: ü Low cost

ü Frequently purchased
ü Few difference among
brands perceived by
customers.

BELIEF ATTITUDE PURCHASE

 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.4. Variety-seeking buying behavior:

Occurs in situations characterized by low consumer involvement

but significant perceived brand differences.

Ø Consumers do a lot of brand switching, which occurs for the sake of

variety rather than because of dissatisfaction.
Marketing strategy may differ for the market leader and minor brands:

ü  Market leader will try to encourage habitual buying behavior by
dominating shelf, keep shelves fully stocked and running frequent
reminder advertising.

ü  Minor brands will try to encourage variety seeking by offering lower

prices, special deals, coupons, free samples, and advertising that
presents reasons for trying something new.
 4.3. Types of buying decision behavior
4.3.4 Variety-seeking buying behavior:

Product:
ü  Low cost
ü Frequently purchased
ü Significant differences
among brands perceived
by customers.

BELIEF PURCHASE ATTITUDE

 4.4. The buyer decision process
2.
[Link] 3. Evaluation
Information
recognition of alternatives
search (assessing value)
(perceiving a
(seeking value)
need)

5. Post-
4. Purchase
purchase
decision
behavior (buying value)
(realizing value)
 4.4. The buyer decision process
4.4.1. Need recognition:

v  The buyer recognizes a problem or need. The need can be
triggered by internal stimuli and/or external stimuli.

v  The marketer should research customers to find out what kinds of

needs or problems arise, what brought them about, and how they
led the consumer to this particular product.


 4.4. The buyer decision process
4.4.2. Information search:
Q&A: Where do we search for information?
 4.4. The buyer decision process
4.4.2. Information search:
Sources of information:

v Personal sources: family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances…

v Experiental sources: handling, examining, using the product.

v Commercial sources: advertising, salespeople, dealer, web sites,

packaging, display…
v Public sources: mass media, consumer rating organizations,
internet searches...

The company should carefully identify consumers’ sources of

information and the importance of each source.
 4.4. The buyer decision process
4.4.3. Evaluation of alternatives:

Marketers need to know about how the consumer evaluates options.

However, consumers do not use a simple and single evaluation
process in all buying situations. Consumer’s evaluation process
depends on the individual customer and the specific buying situation.
4.4 The buyer decision process

4.4.4 Purchase decision:

AMitudes of others
(families, friends,
Purchase acquaintances…)
Intention Purchase
decision
Unexpected situational
factor
(economic downturn,
competitor actions,
transaction fail, etc..)
 4.4 The buyer decision process
4.4.5. Post-purchase behaviour:

Q&A: What is the reactions of consumers if they are satisfied or
dissatisfied with the product?
 4.4 The buyer decision process
4.4.5. Post-purchase behaviour:

v  The larger the gap between expectation and performance, the
greater the consumer’s dissatisfaction

v When satisfied, customers will buy products again, talk

favorably to others, pay less a^ention to other brands,
recommend others to buy.
v When dissatisfied, customers will return the product, don’t buy
it again, even boyco^s.

à Companies should measure customer satisfaction regularly. It

should set up systems that encourage customers to complain.
Then the company can learn how well it is doing and how it can
improve.