THE FIRST CULTURE 

Chapter 5 
CUSTOMERS, BUYERS, CLIENTS AND CONSUMERS

1. A need is defined as a ‘state of felt deprivation’. There is an absence of something.

2. Wants are those things which we perceive as having those characteristics which will fulfill
particular need, that is, which we imagine will satisfy us in some way that an alternative
product may not.

3. The marketer’s task is to recognize the basic need and, by crafting a marketing mix, shape
that need towards a want for the organization’s product or service.

4. Consumer buying behavior can be defined as, ‘the decision processes and acts of individuals
involved in buying and using products or services.’ ( Marketing concepts and Strategies)

5. Altering beliefs about the brand. Kotler recommends that this course of action be pursed
if the consumer underestimates the qualities of the brand. He calls this ‘psychological
repositioning.

6. Altering beliefs about competitors’ brands. This course of action would be appropriate if the
consumer mistakenly believes that a competitor’s brand has more quality than it actually has,
and can be referred to as ‘competitive repositioning.

7. Altering the importance weighting of attributes. The marketer would try to persuade
consumers to attach more importance to the product attribute in which the brand excels.

8. There will be some brands of which the individual will not be aware at all.
This unawareness set will not impact on his decision.

9. There will be a group of brands of which the customer is aware – his awareness set- and from
which he will make his selection.

10. Within the awareness set, there will be group of brands which the consumer will call to mind
and consider purchasing. This is called the evoked set.

11. An inert set of brands, of which the individual is aware but about which he is completely
indifferent. (Perhaps he has insufficient data to make a judgment or perhaps the evoked sets of
brands are already sufficient for his needs.

12. An inept set of brands of which the individual is aware, but about which he is negative
because of past bad experience, negative associations or poor reports.

13. Awareness sets represent consumer perceptions, so they can be a useful indicator of a brand’s
position.

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14. The presence of a brand in the evoked set of most consumers is very positive. Awareness
campaigns would be required to remind the market of the brand’s presence and key features,
in order to keep it in the set.

15. The presence of a brand in the unawareness would indicate the need for a marketing
strategy to raise the brand’s profile in the market place.

16. The presence of a brand in the inept set of most consumers would indicate the need to
improve the product, or promotional message, to counteract its negative image.

17. Expectations are based on past experience, the knowledge derived from it (by learning), and
the social and cultural influences associated with it.

18. Expectations create in each individual or readiness to respond in a learned/accustomed way to

a given stimulus or group of stimuli. This readiness to respond is called the individual’s
perceptual set.

19. Expectations can affect perception in various ways that are relevant to the marketer. If
someone experts something to be so on the basis of past experience, or on the say- so of
a trusted person then they are more likely to perceive it to be so. Their mind will filter out any
inconsistent data, and fill in any missing data, to create the picture they expect to see.

20. Purchase intention is also influenced by unanticipated situational factors that may intervene
between purchase intention and decision.

21. The core process of consumer buying behavour will be influenced by a number of outside
variables. These variables have been classified by Wilson as follows, with the focus
progressively narrowing.
 Cultural
 Social
 Personal
 Psychological

22. Culture is a much broader concept than the sense in which it is most often used by people to
refer to classical aesthetic or artistic pursuits The term is used by sociologists and
anthropologists to encompass the sum total of the learned beliefs, values, customs, artifacts and
rituals of a society or group.

23. A micro-culture is a distinct and identifiable cultural group within society as a whole: it will
have certain beliefs, values, customs and rituals of the whole society or mainstream culture.

24. Socialization is the process by which the individual learns the social expectations, goals,
beliefs, values and attitudes that enable him to exist in society. In other words, socialization is

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the process by which he acquires sufficient knowledge of a society and its ways to be able to
function and participate in it.

25. Consumer socialization is the process by which children acquire the skills, knowledge and
attitude that enable them to function in society as consumers.

26. Primary membership groups, which are generally informal and to which individuals belong
and within which they interact (family, friends, neighbors, work colleagues and so on).

27. Secondary membership groups, which tend to be more formal than primary groups and
within which less interaction takes place ( trade unions, religious groups and professional
societies are examples).

28. Opinion leaders are those individuals who reinforce the marketing messages sent and to
whom other receivers look for information, advice and opinion.

29. Motivation has defined as, an inner state that energises, activities, or moves, that directs or
channels behavior towards goals (Assael).

30. Perception is defined by Assael as the process by which people select, organize and interpret
sensory stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture.

31. A drive is a strong internal force impelling action, which will become a motive when it is
directed to a particular.

32. A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something.

33. An attitude comprises a person’s enduring favourable or unfavourable cognitive evaluations,

emotions, and action tendencies toward some object or idea.

34. Organization (or industrial) buying may be defined as the decision-making process by
which formal organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and
identify, evaluate and choose among alternative brands and suppliers.

35. Producer markets comprise those organization that purchase products for the purpose of
marking a profit by using them to produce other products or by using them in their own
operations.

36. Reseller markets consist of intermediaries such as retailers and wholesalers who buy the
finished goods in order to resell them to make a profit.

37. Government markets comprise those national and local governments who buy a variety of
goods and services to support their internal operations and to provide the public services that
are within their remit, normally making their purchases through bids or negotiated contracts.

38. Environment forces include such factors as the level of primary demand, the economic
outlook, and the cost of money, the rate of technological change, political and regulatory
developments and competitive developments.

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39. Interpersonal factors are important where the buying decision may involve a number of
people.

40. Individual factors are the personal characteristics of the individuals in the buying group such
as age, education, personality in the organization. These will affect the decision-making
process, and the seller must be aware of their potential influence.

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