Week 2 | Buyer Behavior

Question 1

Why study consumer behaviour?

Answer 1

Understanding the psychology of consumption behaviour is vital to organisations because markets have to be understood before marketing strategies can be developed.

Question 2

Consumer behaviour

Answer 2

Consumer buyer behaviour is the buying behaviour of final consumers—individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption.

Question 3

Consumer roles on purchase decisions

Answer 3

• Initiator
• Influencer
• Decider
• Buyer
• User

Question 4

Consumer influences

Answer 4

• Cultural influences
• Social influences
• Individual influences
• Psychological influences

Question 5

The consumer decision-making process

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Need recognition

Answer 6

The buying process starts with need recognition. This is when there is an imbalance between the consumer’s actual and desired states. he need can be triggered by internal stimuli (e.g. feeling thirsty or hungry) or external stimuli (e.g. package design or advertisement).

Question 7

Information search

Answer 7

The information search stage is the stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer is motivated to search for more information. Consumers search for information about the various alternatives available so that an informed evaluation may be conducted.

Question 8

Evaluation of alternatives

Answer 8

The information search stage results in a group of brands from which the buyer will make their choice. This is known as the evaluation of alternatives stage. Buyers don’t take into account all brands on the market, instead they tend to consider around five to seven when contemplating a purchase (Lamb et al. 2018, p. 50). This group of brands is known as the buyer’s evoked set (or consideration set).

Question 9

Purchase decision

Answer 9

Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the purchase decision is the buyer’s decision about which brand to purchase, from whom to purchase and when to purchase. There are two key factors that can impact the process between deciding to buy (purchase intention) and actually making the purchase.

• Attitude of others and social desirability bias relates to the attitude of those in our sphere of influence.
• Unanticipated situational factors refers to any complications that may arise to derail the buying process at the time of sale

Question 10

Post purchase evaluation

Answer 10

Once the purchase has been made, how well the product meets the consumer’s expectations will determine how satisfied or unsatisfied the consumer is with the product (Lamb et al. 2018, p. 51). This is known as post purchase evaluation. If the consumer is unhappy with the product, they may experience cognitive dissonance.

Question 11

Involvement

Answer 11

Lamb et al. (2018, p. 52) describe involvement as the amount of time a buyer invests in the search, evaluation and decision processes associated with a particular purchase. Involvement level has a strong impact on the manner by which a consumer moves through the decision-making process, and has important implications for marketing strategy.

Question 12

Levels of Involvement

Answer 12

1. Previous experience
2. Knowledge about the product category
3. Interest levels
4. Perceived risk of negative consequences
5. Situation
6. Social visibility

Question 13

Cultural factors

Answer 13

Culture is the set of basic values, perceptions, behaviours learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions. Subcultures are groups of people within a culture with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. Social classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviours (measured as a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth, and other variables).

Question 14

Social factors

Answer 14

The social factors that influence consumer behaviour can be separated into two types: membership and aspirational groups. Membership groups are those a person already belongs to, which have a direct influence. Aspirational groups are groups of people to whom we would like to belong, and that we aspire to.

Question 15

Personal factors

Answer 15

Membership groups are those a person already belongs to, which have a direct influence. Aspirational groups are groups of people to whom we would like to belong, and that we aspire to.

Question 16

Psychological factors

Answer 16

This is another factor that is broken up into four parts: beliefs and attitudes, motivation, perception, and learning.

Question 17

Learning factors

Answer 17

Finally, learning is the change in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience and occurs through the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues, responses and reinforcement.