Ch. 3 - Consumer Behaviour Flashcards
What are the three types of customers?
- Final buyers/consumers
- Business buyers who buy for the use of the company
- Government buyers who buy on behalf of public services
Final Consumers
Individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption
Black Box of the Consumer
The idea that we don’t know why consumers buy certain goods. Businesses need to do market research to hypothesize why consumers behave the way they do.
Purchase Decision-Making Process
- Need Recognition
- Information Search
- Evaluation of Alternatives
- Purchase Decision
- Post-purchase Evaluation
Need Recognition
An individual becomes aware of a difference between a desired state and an actual state. This is the first stage of the purchase decision-making process.
How is need recognition triggered?
Two ways: consumer level and marketer level.
Consumer level: e.g. something breaks, product solves a problem in your life
Marketer level: e.g. owned product is out of date, visually appealing
What are some examples of needs to fulfill?
Examples include: physiological, inventory, reference group change, dissatisfaction, boredom (variety seeking)
Information Search
The second stage of the purchase decision-making process. Involves looking for products to satisfy the need recognized in stage one.
What are the different sources of information?
- Personal
- Experiential
- Commercial
- Public
Personal Source of Information
Family, friends, neighbours
Experiential Source of Information
Handling/using a product yourself
Commercial Source of Information
A firm-controlled source of information (informative, but less influential). Examples include: advertising, salespeople
Public Source of Information
An independent source of information (informative and influential). Examples include: government agencies, consumer groups
Consideration Set
The products or brands that consumers evaluate when purchasing
Evaluation of Alternatives
The third stage of the purchase decision-making process. Consumers rank the products in their consideration set usually based on a set of criteria. Consumers will often follow their heart/intuition
Purchase Decision
The fourth stage of the purchase decision-making process. Consumers choose their highest ranked product in their consideration set. A consumer’s purchase intention does not always match their actual purchase decision.
Why might a consumer’s purchase intention not turn into their actual purchase decision?
- Not easy to justify/get others’ approval
- Price hikes
- Negative word of mouth
- Out of stock
- Run into more desirable alternatives before purchase is made
Post-purchase Evaluation
The fifth and final stage of the purchase decision-making process. Consumers evaluate their purchase decision based on product performance compared to their expectations. Consumers will take action based on their satisfaction.
What is a consumer’s satisfaction level based on a product’s performance compared to their expectations?
Performance < Expectations - Dissatisfaction
Performance = Expectations - Satisfaction
Performance > Expectations - Delight
What actions might a consumer take based on their level of satisfaction with their purchase?
Complaining (dissatisfied), spread positive/negative word of mouth, repeat purchasing (satisfied/delighted)
What factors affect a consumer’s purchasing decision?
- Marketing mix influences
- Psychological influences
- Socio-cultural influences
- Situational influences
Marketing mix influences on the consumer decision-making process
Product, Price, Promotion, Place
High Involvement Purchases
- Purchases that consumers research extensively before purchasing
- Need to stand out and fulfill their purpose
- Expensive, buy once and you’re good for a while
Low Involvement Purchases
- Purchases that are habitual and low risk
- Need to fulfill their purpose
- Cheap, consumed (need to be repurchased regularly)
Give an example of a high involvement purchase
Examples include: cars, smartphones, appliances
Give an example of a low involvement purchase
Examples include: toothpaste, bread, fast food
True or False: Consumers need to go through all stages of the purchase decision-making process for low involvement purchases.
False. Consumers often go from need recognition (stage 1) to a purchase decision (stage 4) for low involvement purchases. Consumers will spend less time making low involvement purchases compared to high involvement purchases.
Cognitive Dissonance
Buyer discomfort caused by post-purchase conflict. Occurs when a consumer receives information which contradicts their existing beliefs. The consumer feels that there are better alternatives.
List the 5 situational influences on consumer purchase decisions
- Purchase Task
- Social Surroundings
- Physical Surroundings
- Temporal Effects
- Antecedent States
Purchase Task
The reason for engaging in a purchase decision (e.g. buying a gift or buying for yourself). People tend to spend more on others (especially people they respect)
Social Surroundings
How others influence a person’s purchase decisions
Physical Surroundings
Lighting, smell, music, mannequins
Temporal Effects
Time of day/year, day of the week, amount of time available to shop
Antecedent Effects
Mood (consumers are more impulsive when they are happy), amount of cash on hand
Psychological Influences on consumer purchase decisions
- Motivation
- Personality
- Perception
- Learning
- Values, beliefs, attitudes
- Lifestyle
Psychological Influences: Motivation
A need that is sufficiently pressing to direct a person to seek its satisfaction (why consumers buy what they do)
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
From top to bottom: Self-actualization, Esteem, Love/Belonging, Safety, Physiological. The needs at the bottom need to be fulfilled to fulfill the needs at the top.
Physiological Needs
Basic needs for survival that must be satisfied first. E.g. food, water, shelter, breathing
Safety Needs
Self-preservation and physical well-being
Social Needs (Love/Belonging)
Needs concerned with love and friendship (relationships)
Esteem Needs
The need for achievement, status, prestige, and self-respect
Self-Actualization
The full realization of one’s creative, intellectual, and social potential through internal drive
Personality
A person’s character traits that influence behavioural responses
Attention
Devoting cognitive resources to a stimulus
What 3 attributes describe attention?
- Selective (one can decide what to focus on)
- Dividable (can be divided, can multi task)
- Limited (we can only do so much at once)
What different methods do companies use to get consumers’ attention?
- Novelty (unique marketing)
- Humour
- Zeigarnik Effect
Zeigarnik Effect
Tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks more easily than completed tasks. In marketing, stimuli can be incomplete to get consumers to devote cognitive resources to process the stimulus (thus they are more likely to remember the stimulus)
Exposure
Contact with a stimulus
Why do marketers care about exposure without attention?
Exposure leads to familiarity and recognition. Generally, the more often we see something, the more we like it (mere exposure effect)
Perception
The process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world
Learning
Changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience (learn from observation, experience, or thinking)
Learning Process
- Drive (problem recognition)
- Cues (something to satisfy drive)
- Response (effort to satisfy drive)
- Reinforcement (happens when response is satisfying; know that a product can satisfy a drive)
Values
Deeply held beliefs that are resistant to external influences, but may change over time
Belief
A descriptive thought about an object based on personal experience, advertising, and word of mouth
Attitude
A consistent evaluation of a target object which has action implications. Attitude is shaped by values and beliefs
Culture
Set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviours learned from family and important institutions. Core values that remain stable or change slowly
Subculture
A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations
Properties of Groups
- Norms
- Status
- Roles
Norms
Values, attitudes, and behaviours that the group deems appropriate for members
Status
Relative position within a group (e.g. hierarchy)
Roles
Behaviour the group expects of individuals who hold specific positions within the group
Reference Group
A group that you do not belong to that serves as a point of comparison in forming attitudes and making choices
Aspirational Group
A reference group that you want to be in
Dissociative Group
A reference group that you do NOT want to be in
Associative Group
A group that you belong to
