Chapter 3 - Buyer behavior

Question 1

What kind of buyer behaviors are there?

Answer 1

1. consumer buyer behavior
2. Business-to-business buyer behavior

Question 2

What components are in the consumer decision making process?

Answer 2

1. Problem recognition
2. Information search
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase decision
5. Post purchase evaluation

Question 3

How do consumers search for information in the consumer decision making process?

Answer 3

1. Internal = thinking of brands you may consider, previous brands with good experience.
2. External = This happens when consumer is still uncertain after looking at brands they had an experience with before. You gather info from a variety of sources, friends, social media, books, etc.

Question 4

The amount of time a consumer spends on the external search depends on three factors. What are these factors?

Answer 4

1. Ability to search (educational level + knowledge about brands)
2. Motivation (level of involvement = is it relevant to need or want, need for cognition = tendency to enjoy and engage in mental challenges, level of shopping enthusiasm = shopping fanatics tend to do more research for goods.
3. Costs vs benefits

Question 5

What are consumer attitudes?

Answer 5

Reflection of the mental position taken toward a topic, person or event that influences the persons feelings, perceptions, learning process and subsequent behaviors.

Question 6

What are the three components in consumer attitudes?

Answer 6

1. Cognitive = refers to a persons mental images, understanding and interpretations of the person, object or issue.
2. Affective = contains feelings or emotions a person has about the object, topic or idea
3. Conative = Hold individuals intentions, actions or behavior

Question 7

What are the three processes for consumer attitudes?

Answer 7

1. Cognitive –> Affective –> Conative
   First develop an understanding about the idea or object, this comprehension centers on the benefits of the good or service. Eventually, these concepts become beliefs the consumer holds. When it feels right, they will purchase.
2. Affective –> Conative –> Cognitive
   Marketing communications (ads) can appeal to the emotions held by consumers in order to move them to like the product and make the purchase. Cognitive reasoning follows the emotional experience.
3. Conative –> Cognitive –> Affective
   Purchases that require little thought, have a low price, or do not need a great deal of emotional involvement. Consumer has never seen a product and decides to give it a try. When a positive experience follows, they will check out the info on the package. Feeling will develop afterwards.

Question 8

What are Consumer Values?

Answer 8

Strongly held beliefs about various topics or concepts. By appealing to these values, marketer attempt to convince prospective customers that the company’s products align with what they view as important. Exp = Equality, Freedom, Fun, Happiness, Security.

Question 9

What is Cognitive Mapping?

Answer 9

Simulate the knowledge structures and memories embedded in an individuals mind. These structures contain a persons assumptions, beliefs, interpretations of facts, feelings and attitudes. Such thought process deciphers new information and determine responses to fresh info.

Exp = Hearing the name and thinking about the experience. Linking other companies to that same feeling.

Exp = Seeing the image of the place and surrounding buildings in you head

Exp = Focused on employees, having a friend work there

Question 10

What two ways do we use to process new information?

Answer 10

1. When new info remains consistent with the current info, it tends to strengthen an existing linkage.
2. When a message has no current linkages, you have to create a new one. The consumer creates linkage between the new information and the brand.

Question 11

What three ways do we use to evaluate alternatives in the consumer decision making process?

Answer 11

1. Evoked set method
2. Multi attribute approach
3. Affect referral

Question 12

What is the Evoked Set Method?

Answer 12

A persons evoked set consist of the brands they first consider in a purchasing situation. 2 additional brand sets become part of the evaluation of purchase alternatives:
1. Inept set = contains brand that are part of consumers memory but aren’t considered because they elicit negative feelings.

2. Inert set = brands that consumer is aware of but doesn’t have a specific feeling about. These brand haven’t entered any cognitive map yet. The lack of knowledge causes brand to be eliminated.

Question 13

What is the Multi Attribute Approach?

Answer 13

Assist in high-involvement purchases. Consumers often examine sets of product attributes across an array of brands. The attributes are characteristics and personality traits of the brand, consistency, relevance, price, etc. The attitude is determined by
1. Performance of the brand on product or brand attributes
2. Importance of each attribute to the consumer

Question 14

What is Affect Referral?

Answer 14

Suggests that consumers choose brands they like the best or the once with which they maintain emotional connections. The individual doesn’t evaluate brands or think of the attributes. Instead the buyer picks the brand they like best, that creates a positive feeling. Usually used with low-involvement purchases.

Question 15

What trends are affecting purchasing patterns in the buying environment?

Answer 15

1. Age complexity
2. Gender complexity
3. Active, busy lifestyles
4. Diverse lifestyles (LGBTQ)
5. Communication revolution (reviews on social media)
6. Experience pursuits (cruise over bag, they buy experiences not products)
7. Health emphasis

Question 16

In the business-to-business buyer behaviors, there are a few roles in the buying center, what are these roles?

Answer 16

1. Users
2. Buyers
3. Influencers (shape purchase by giving info needed to make purchase decision)
4. Deciders (authorizing purchase)
5. Gatekeepers (control the information flow within buying center.

Question 17

What is the buying center in business-to-business buyer behaviors?

Answer 17

Consists of a groups of individuals that make a purchase decision on behalf of a business.

Question 18

What are the two types of influences?

Answer 18

1. Organizational
2. Individual

Question 19

What 7 individual factors effect the members of the buying center?

Answer 19

1. Personality (introvert/extravert)
2. Roles (how they see their role)
3. Motivation (do individual goals and organizations goals match?)
4. Level of power (how much power they think their role has)
5. Risk (reducing risk might be priority)
6. Levels of cognitive involvement (the smarter they are, the more likely to ask the right questions)
7. Personal objectives (making a purchase decision that helps personal connections (buying from company of the boss’s best friend))

Question 20

What types of sales happen in business-to-business purchase decisions?

Answer 20

1. Straight rebuy = replacing the same order from a company.
2. Modified rebuy = Buying team considers alternatives for 4 reasons (dissatisfaction, better offer from new vendor, end of contract, buyer has no experience with current product)
3. New task buy = Buying a product for the first time or really long time after last purchase.

Question 21

What are the steps in the business-to-business buying process?

Answer 21

1. Identification of needs
2. Establishment of specifications
3. Identification of vendors
4. Vendor evaluation
5. Vendor selection
6. Negotiation of terms
7. Post purchase evaluation

Question 22

What is Dual Channel Marketing?

Answer 22

Selling to both consumers and to businesses.

Question 23

In what situations do we use Dual Channel Marketing?

Answer 23

1. Product sold in business markets can be adapted into consumer markets.
2. Spin-off sales = when individual uses something at work, and purchase it for personal use.
3. Marketing decisions = when they know if they emphasize on similarities or differences between the 2 markets

Question 24

What is a Cultural Assimilator?

Answer 24

Valuable member of the marketing team in international projects. They understand the nuances of the purchasing process for transactions that take place in foreign countries.