Consumer Markets & Consumer

Buying Behavior
Chapter 4
The Nature of Consumer Behaviour and Decision
Making
Consumer behaviour can be defined as the mental and
emotional processes and the physical activities that
people engage in when they select, purchase, use, and
dispose of products or services to satisfy particular
needs and desires.

Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers

individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal
.consumption

**Identifying and understanding consumer needs and

preferences and their determinants is critical in the
pursuit of profitable business opportunities.
 Consumer Behavior
Marketers study consumers purchases to answer questions
about:
•What consumer buy
•Where consumers buy
•When consumers buy consumer’s
•How consumers buy responses
•How much thy buy
•Why consumer buy
The answers to these questions require 2 things:
First: Identifying factors (environmental and personal) that influence consumer
behavior.
Second: Analyzing the consumer buying decision
 Consumer Behavior
All the elements mentioned above constitute
The stimulus- response model of behavior

Environmental Personal Buying Consumer

Stimuli characteristics Decision Response
process
 stimulus-response model of buyer behavior
. The starting point is the stimulus-response model of buyer behavior shown in Figure 4-1

. Marketing stimuli consist of the four Ps; product, price, place, and promotion
Other stimuli include major forces and events in the buyer's environment: economic, technological,
.political, and cultural
All these inputs enter the buyer's black box, where they are turned into a set of observable buyer
responses: product choice, brand choice, dealer
.choice, purchase timing, and purchase amount
The Consumer Decision Process
1. Need recognition
It may be: Internal stimuli or external stimuli
{Motivation}
2. Information search
An aroused consumer need may or may not search for
more information.
There are several sources for information:
 Personal sources: family, friends, Neighbors, acquaintances
 Commercial sources: advertising, salespeople, dealers,
packaging, displays
 Public sources: mass media, consumer-rating organizations
 Experiential sources: handling, examining, using the product
3. Evaluation of alternatives

a. product attributes
b. degrees of importance
c. brand beliefs
d. total product satisfaction
e. evaluation procedure
4. Purchase decision
Two factors can come between the purchase
intention and the purchase decision.
 Attitudes of others
 Unexpected situational factors
5. Post purchase Behavior
Does the buyer satisfied or dissatisfied with a
purchase?
• The answer lies in the relationship between the consumer's expectations
and the product's perceived performance.
• If the product's performance falls short of the customer's
expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied.
• If performance matches expectations, the buyer is satisfied.
• If performance exceeds expectations, the buyer is delighted.
Influence of the Social Environment
1. Cultural Influences
Culture refers to the values, ideas, attitudes, and symbols that people adopt
to communicate, interpret, and interact as members of society.
 Marketers are always trying to spot cultural shifts in order to
discover new products that might be wanted.
Values are shared beliefs or cultural norms about what is important or
right.
Subcultures The norms and values of specific groups
or subcultures within a society.
Members of a subculture share similar values and patterns
of behaviour, making them attractive marketing targets for
specific products and brands.
2. Social Class Influences
Social classes are relatively divisions within a society
that contain people with similar values, needs, lifestyles,
and behaviour.
Consumer analysis describes four social classes:
1. Upper Class
2. Middle Class
3. Working Class
4. Lower Class
each of which can be further subdivided.
A social class is influenced by:
• Level of education
• Occupation
• Social skill
• Community participation
• Cultural level
• Family history

** Social classes are relatively stable, but educational

experiences and career moves enable individuals to shift
from one class to another.
3. Family Influences and the Family Life Cycle
Family influences are the most influential factor on an
individual's behaviour, values, and attitudes.

Lifestyles
The process by which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes
relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace.
**Individual family members also influence
purchase decisions through their performance of
different roles within the family.
Members of a family or household may assume
different roles, and roles may change, depending on
the situation.
Family life cycle is relevant to consumer behavior.

It describes the sequence of steps a family goes

through: from young, single adults, to the married
Couple with or without children , Couple whose children have left home,
to, possibly, the
retired survivor.
 Interpersonal Influences. 4

Reference groups
• Marketers recognize interpersonal influences beyond the family,
including friends, co-workers, and others.
• These sources of influence are often referred to as, or those others look
to for help and guidance.
• They may be groups a person belongs to and ones she or he admires or
wants to join.
Word-of-Mouth Communications
Opinion leaders influence consumer behavior through

word-of-mouth communications.
They were viewed as intermediaries between sources of
information, such as advertising and other media, and the

consumer.
Personality
Personality reflects a person's consistent response
to his or her environment.

Lifestyles and Psychographics

Lifestyle describes a person's pattern of living as
expressed in activities, interests, and opinions
(AIO statements).
AIO dimensions:
 Activities (work , hobbies, shopping, sports, social events}
 Interests (food, fashion, family, recreation)
Opinions (about themselves, social issues, business,
products).
1.Motivation
2.perception:
-consumer behaviour is influenced by his or her perception.
-The consumer receives sensory information through five senses ( sight-
hearing – smell- touch- taste)
Perception is the process of (selecting- organizing- interpreting).
3. Learning
When people act, they learn. Learning describes
changes in an individual's behavior arising from
experience. Learning occurs through the interplay of:
A drive is a strong internal stimulus that calls for action.

A drive becomes a motive when it is directed toward a

particular Stimulus object, (product).
Cues are minor stimuli that determine when, where, and
how the person responds.
Response is the action.
Reinforcement is repeating the usage of product or brand.
4. Beliefs and Attitudes
A belief is a descriptive thought that a
person has about something.
 Real knowledge
 Opinion
 Faith
 May or may not carry an emotional charge.

Attitudes are difficult to change. A person's attitudes fit into a pattern, and
to change one attitude may require difficult adjustments in many others.
 Politics
 Clothes
 Music
 food
People might play any of several roles in a buying
:decision
Initiator: the person who first suggests or thinks of
the idea of buying a particular product or
service
Influencer: a person whose views or advice
influences the buying decision
Decider: the person who ultimately makes a buying
decision or any part of it, whether to buy,
what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy
Buyer: the person who makes an actual purchase
User: the person who consumes or uses a product
or service