Session 9-10 Flashcards
What is the study of consumer behavior?
Study of the process involved when consumers select, purchase, use and dispose of products, services, ideas and experiences
What is the purpose of studying consumer behavior?
- Observe and understand predictable patterns that underlie consumer behavior
- Capitalize on patterns to their advantage
What is the consumer purchase decision process?
- Problem recognition/need recognition: perceive a need
- Information Search: Seek value
- Alternative evaluation: assess value
- Purchase decision: Buying value
- Post-purchase behavior: Value in consumption or use
What is need recognition?
Detecting a difference between perceived actual state vs plausible desired state. Difference has to exceed a certain threshold.
How can firms influence a consumer’s need recognition?
- Change consumer’s desired state
- Change perceived actual state
- Make consumers aware of possible negative consequences of not using their product
How can the perceived actual state be influenced?
Through marketing, it can activate a consumer’s decision process by showing shortcoming of products currently being used
What kind of research is done to understand needs?
Exploratory marketing research to get information about consumer’s needs: Focus groups, ethnographic research
What is information search/information processing
The consumer searches for information to make a decision, they can find this information from a variety of sources such as:
-Memory (past experience)
-Media/internet (Marketing sources)
-Friends’ recommendations (Personal sources and marketing sources)
Describe the two things consumers can be exposed to
Exposure: One or more senses are activated
Consumers are exposed to:
1. Firsthand Experience: product trial, free sample, testers, free cosmetic samples/makeovers
2. Secondhand Information: Logos, point of purchase and shelf space, sales reps, coupons, consumer reports
What is the danger of overexposure?
Mere exposure effect: the more we have a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it (positive habituation)
But: boredom causes negative habituation, therefore advertising wears-out, limited availability of high-fashion clothing.
Attitude vs exposure follows reverse parabole
What is a subliminal message?
When percievers are not aware that they are seeing the message
What is supraliminal message?
When perceivers are aware of the product/message but are not aware of its influence (Product placement in movies)
What is exposure vs attention?
Exposure: contact with a stimulus
Attention: Thinking about the stimulus, the amount of cognitive resources focused toward a stimulus
What are the limits on attention?
-Attention span
-Cluttered marketing environment: Advertising in all possible places, huge frequency of ads, huge number of products
How do you grab consumers’ attention?
- Promote voluntary attention:
- Connect with consumers’ needs. make the message relevant and make them want to focus on information that is relevant to their current plans, intentions, goals.
- Persuading consumers to volunteer their attention in return for some tangible benefit - Promote involuntary attention:
- Suprise/shock
- incomplete stimuli
- big, intense, colorful
- different, creative, novel
- funny
- sex appeal
- choose the right place
What are attitudes?
More or less complex judgments about a stimulus based on feelings, perceptions, facts, evidence, attributes and automatic associations
What is an example of classical conditioning
Existing association: Meat –> Salivating
Stimulus pairing: Bell + Meat –> Salivating
Conditioned association:
Bell –> Salivating
What is an evoked set?
Small group of products being evaluated. usually smaller than total number of products available for purchase
What is step 3: Evaluate alternatives?
Considering evoked sets, and the alternatives considered.
Consumers evaluate the objective attributes of a product and the subjective attributes when comparing and deciding what to purchase
What are biases in evaluation?
Cognitive biases: Why our decisions are not always rational. Appear in everyday’s life, including when making purchase decision
What is purchase decision?
- What to buy
- When to buy
- WHere to buy
- WHo will buy
- How to pay
- How much to pay
What is post-purchase behavior
State of the buyer decision process in which consumers take further action after purchase based on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Satisfaction is Performance > Expectations
What is cognitive dissonance?
Internal conflict:
- DId i make a good decision?
- Did i buy the right product?
- Did I get a good value?
What is personality?
Consistent behaviors or responses to stimuli.
Personality traits include assertiveness, introversion, compliance, dominance, etc.
How is personality revealed to marketers?
Through a person’s self concept, which is how people see themselves and how they think others see them. People purchase products that reinforce their self concept
What is motivation?
Reason for customer to purchase or not purchase.
Can be for different reasons such as:
Physical reasons, safety reasons, Social reasons (links to group), Reflect success, to better themselves
What is perception?
Process by which the customers selects, organizes and interprets information. THis affects purchasing.
What is lifestyle and the three main types?
Values, attitudes and behaviors exhibited by customers. How they spend their time and allocate their resources is important. Examples of lifestyle are:
Achievers: Live busy, strong goals, commitment to career and family, consume time saving and prestige products
Strivers: Trendy, fun-loving and less confident customers that can purchase for safety reasons
Thinkers: Mature, reflective, educated, buy durable and functional products instead of stylish products.
What are situational influences?
The Physical environment: Atmosphere of the store, restaurant, etc. Color, smell, size, crowding, noise, etc.
Time: Amount of time available to make a decision
Personal Factors: mood, amount of money, who you are shopping with
What is an opinion leader?
Person who has the ability to influence other’s attitudes or behaviors.
Provide valuable info: knowledgeable, early adopters, significant status
What is a reference group?
They influence an individual’s purchase behavior. Cluster of poeple that share the same attitudes, evaluations, aspirations, behaviors.
What are socio-cultural influences (Define Culture and Social Class)?
Culture: group within a society whose members share a distinctive set of beliefs, characteristics or experience
Social Class: Overall rank of people in society, measured by occupation, income, education and wealth. Often have common taste in clothing, style, leisure activities
What are influences of Customer purchase decision process?
personality, motivation, perception, lifestyle, physical environment, time, personal factors, opinion leader, reference group,
