Principles of Marketing Eighteenth Edition

Chapter 5

Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior

Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Learning Objectives

5-1 Define the consumer market and construct a simple model of

consumer buyer behavior.
5-2 Name the four major factors that influence consumer buyer
behavior.
5-3 List and define the major types of buying decision behavior and
the stages in the buyer decision process.
5-4 Describe the adoption and diffusion process for new products.
Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior

Consumer buyer is the buying behavior of final consumers—

behavior individuals and households that buy goods
and services for personal consumption.

are made up of all the individuals and

Consumer market households that buy or acquire goods and
services for personal consumption.
Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Cultural
Factors
is the set of basic values, perceptions, wants,
Culture and behaviors learned by a member of
society from family and other important
institutions.

Marketers are always trying to spot cultural

shifts so as to discover new products that
might be wanted.
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Cultural
Factors
are groups of people within a culture with
Subcultures shared value systems based on common life
experiences and situations.

Total Marketing Strategy

the practice of integrating

ethnic themes and cross-
cultural perspectives within
their mainstream marketing.
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Cultural
Factors
are society’s relatively permanent and
Social Classes ordered divisions whose members share
similar values, interests, and behaviors.

Major American Social Classes Measured as a combination of:

• Upper Class
• occupation,
• Middle Class
• income,
• Working Class
• Lower Class • education,
• Wealth …

People within a social class exhibit similar behavior including similar

buying behavior
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Social
Factors I Groups and Social Networks
Groups that form a comparison or
Reference Groups reference in forming attitudes or
behavior

Opinion leaders (or People within a reference group with

influentials): special skills, knowledge or
personality who exert social
influence on others

Marketers identify them to use as

brand ambassadors (buzz
marketing)
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Social
Factors I Groups and Social Networks

Online Social are online communities where people

socialize or exchange information and
Networks
opinions

Include blogs, social networking

sites (Facebook) & virtual worlds
(Second Life)
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Social
Factors
is the most important consumer-buying
Family organization in society.

can be defined by a person’s position in a

Role and status group.

A role consists of the activities people are expected

to perform according to the people around them.
Each role carries a status reflecting the general
esteem given to it by society.
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Personal
Factors

Age and life-cycle stage:

People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes
Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related

Family life-cycle
Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life-cycle—stages through
which families might pass as they mature over time (young singles…empty
nesters, retired)
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Personal
Factors

Occupation affects the goods and services bought by consumers.

Economic situations include trends in:

Personal Interest
Spending Savings
income rates
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Personal
Factors
Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in
one’s psychographics (AIO’s)
• Activities (work, shopping, hobbies etc.)
• Interests (food, fashion, recreation, sports, etc.)
• Opinions (about themselves, social issues,
business, etc.)
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Personal
Factors

refers to the unique psychological

Personality
characteristics that distinguish a person or
group.
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I Personal
Factors

Brand Personality Traits

Sincerity Excitement Competence

Sophistication Ruggedness

The basic self-concept premise is that people’s possessions

contribute to and reflect their identities; that is,
“we are what we have.”
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I
Psychological Factors
is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct
Motive (or Drive) the person to seek satisfaction of the need.

refers to qualitative research designed to

Motivation research probe consumers’ hidden, subconscious
motivations.
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I
Psychological Factors
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I
Psychological Factors

is the process by which people select,

Perception organize, and interpret information to form a
meaningful picture of the world.

Perceptual Processes
Selective Selective Selective
attention distortion retention
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I
Psychological Factors

is the tendency for people to screen out most

Selective attention of the information to which they are exposed.

is the tendency for people to interpret

Selective distortion information in a way that will support what
they already believe.

is the tendency to remember good points

Selective retention made about a brand
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I
Psychological Factors

is the change in an individual’s behavior

Learning arising from experience and occurs through
the interplay of:

Drives Stimuli Cues

Responses Reinforcement
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior I
Psychological Factors

is a descriptive thought that a person has about

Belief something based on:
• knowledge
• opinion
• faith

describes a person’s relatively

Attitude consistent evaluations,
feelings, and tendencies
toward an object or idea.
(positive, undecided or
negative)
Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior
Types of Buying Decision Behavior
The Buyer Decision Process
The Buyer Decision Process I Need Recognition

is the first stage of the buyer decision process, in

Need recognition which the consumer recognizes a problem or
need triggered by:
• Internal stimuli
• External stimuli

• Internal stimuli: Normal needs become strong enough to drive behavior

• External stimuli:
‒ Advertisements
‒ Friend’s comments
The Buyer Decision Process I Information Search

is the stage of the buyer decision process in

Information search which the consumer is motivated to search for
more information.

Sources of information:
• Personal sources
• Commercial sources
• Public sources
• Experiential sources
The Buyer Decision Process I Evaluation of Alternatives

Alternative is the stage of the buyer decision process in

evaluation which the consumer uses information to evaluate
alternative brands in the choice set.

• How the consumer processes information to arrive at brand choices

• Depends on the individual consumer and the specific buying situation
• Most buyers evaluate multiple attributes, each of which is weighted
differently.
• At the end of the evaluation stage, purchase intentions are formed
The Buyer Decision Process I Purchase Decision

is the buyer’s decision about which brand to

Purchase decision purchase.

The purchase intention may not be the purchase decision due to:
• Attitudes of others
• Unexpected situational factors
The Buyer Decision Process I Postpurchase Behavior

Postpurchase is the stage of the buyer decision process in

behavior which consumers take further action after
purchase, based on their satisfaction or
dissatisfaction.

Cognitive is buyer discomfort caused by

postpurchase conflict.
dissonance
Postpurchase cognitive
dissonance: Postpurchase
customer satisfaction is a key
to building profitable customer
relationships. Most marketers
go beyond merely meeting the
customer expectations—they
aim to delight customers.
The Buyer Decision Process I The Customer Journey

the sum of the ongoing experiences consumers

Customer Journey have with a brand that affect their buying
behavior, engagement, and brand advocacy over
time.

The customer journey: By understanding the customer

journey, marketers can work to create brand experiences
that will result in positive purchase behavior, engagement,
and brand advocacy over time.
The Buyer Decision Process for New Products

New product is a good, service, or idea that is perceived by some

potential customers as new.

Adoption process is the mental process an individual goes through from

first learning about an innovation to final regular use.

Stages in the adoption process include:

Awareness Interest Evaluation Trial Adoption

Beyond Meat invited consumers to “try some free

—zip, zero, zilch” at their local grocery store.
The Buyer Decision Process for New Products

Individual Differences in Innovativeness

The Buyer Decision Process for New Products

• Innovators Try new ideas at some risk

• Early adopters Adopt new ideas early but carefully

Are opinion leaders in their community

• Early Mainstream Deliberate, but adopt before the average person

• Late Mainstream Skeptical

• Lagging Adopters or Traditionalists Suspicious of changes

Analyzing and Using Marketing Information

Influence of Product Characteristics on Rate of Adoption

• Relative Advantage
‒ Apparent superiority to existing products
• Compatibility
‒ How does it fit the values & experiences of potential customers?
• Complexity
‒ How difficult to understand or use?
• Divisibility
‒ Can it be tried on a limited basis?
• Communicability
‒ Can results be observed or described to others?
Analyzing and Using Marketing Information

What will be the adoption rate for this

product?
“A camcorder that can record in
complete darkness”
 Relative Advantage?
 Compatibility?
 Complexity?
 Divisibility?
 Communicability?