Consumer Behaviour – How consumers make purchase Chapter 05 – Consumer Decision Making

decisions and how they use and dispose of purchased

goods or services; also includes the factors that influence
purchase decisions and product use
• Need recognition occurs when consumers are faced
with an imbalance between actual and desired states. It
is triggered when a consumer is exposed to either an
internal or external stimulus.
• A want is a particular product or service that the
customer believes could satisfy an unfulfilled need.
Marketing managers can create wants on the part of the
consumer
• In evaluating alternatives, a consumer will use the
information stored in memory and obtained from outside
sources to develop a set of criteria.
• These criteria will help the consumer to evaluate and
compare alternatives.
• The goal of the marketer at this stage is to understand
which attributes have the most influence on a
consumer’s choice.
• An information search can occur internally, externally
The Consumer or both
Decision- Making • Internal information search is the process of
recalling information stored in one’s memory
• External information search is the process of
Need Recognition seeking information in the outside environment. It
includes two sources
o Nonmarketing-controlled source – a
product information source that doesn’t
originate from the company(ies) making the
product
Information Search o Marketing controlled information source –
a source that originates with marketers
promoting the product
o Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) reviews -
consumers’ reviews of products on the
vendors’ sites where the products were
Evaluation of purchased
Alternatives
• When buying products, consumers expect certain
outcomes from the purchase. How well these
expectations are met determines whether the
consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the
purchase.
Purchase
• Cognitive dissonance –the inner tension that a
consumer experiences after recognizing an
inconsistency between behaviour and values or
opinions.

Consumers can reduce Marketers can reduce

Postpurchase dissonance dissonance
• Following the evaluation of alternatives, the consumer
Behaviour • Justify decision • Send post purchase
decides which product to buy or decides not to buy a thank you or letter
• Seek new
product at all. information • Display product
• Avoid contradictory superiority in ads
information • Offer guarantees
• Return product
 Involvement – the
amount of time and effort
a buyer invests in the
search, evaluation and
decision processes of
consumer behaviour
Marketing Implications
of Involvement
The marketing mix will
have to be adopted to
meet different levels of
consumer involvement
Consumer Involvement Types of Consumer Buying Decisions
Routine Response Limited Decision Extensive Decision
Behaviour Making Making
Factors Determining the
Level of Consumer The type of decision The type of decision The most complex type of
Involvement making exhibited by making that requires a consumer decision making,
moderate amount of used when considering the
consumers buying
• Previous experience time for gathering purchase of an unfamiliar,
frequently purchased expensive product or an
• Interest information and
• Perceived risks of low cost goods and deliberating about an infrequently purchased item;
negative consequences services that require unfamiliar brand in a requires the use of several
• Situation little search and familiar product criteria for evaluating options
• Social visibility decision time category and much time for seeking
information

Cultural Influences on Consumer Buying
Decisions
• Culture and values
o Culture comprises the set of values,
norms, attitudes and other meaningful
symbols that shape human behaviour and
the artifacts, or products of that behaviour
as they are transmitted from one
generation to the next
o Culture is pervasive, functional, learned
and dynamic. The most defining element
of culture is its values. They have a
profound impact on consumer behaviour
• Subculture
o A subculture is a homogenous group of
people who share elements of the overall
culture and also have their own unique
cultural elements. The subculture of an
individual will influence their behaviour.
• Social class
o Social class is a group of people who are
considered nearly equal in status or
community esteem, who regularly socialize
among themselves both formally and
informally. They share behavioural norms
Social Influences on Consumer Buying
Decisions
• Reference Groups – a group in society that
influences an individual’s purchasing
behaviour. There are different types.
• Opinion Leaders – an individual who
influences the opinions of others
• Family – responsible for the socialization
process and passing down cultural values and
norms to children
Individual Influences on Consumer Buying
Decisions
• Gender – physiological differences between
men and women result in different needs
• Age & Family Life-Cycle Stage – have a
significant impact on consumer behaviour
• Personality, Self-Concept & Lifestyle –
personality will determine a person’s reaction
to a situation, self-concept reflects how a
person perceives him/herself in terms of
attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and self-
evaluations, and lifestyle which is a mode of
living as identified by a person’s activities,
interests, and opinions.
Psychological Influences on Consumer
Buying Decisions
• Perception
o The process by which people select,
organize and interpret stimuli into a
meaningful and coherent picture.
Behaviour will be driven based on how
individuals perceive stimuli
• Motivation
o A motive is a driving force that causes a
person to take action to satisfy specific
needs. Maslow’s hierarchy classify
human needs and motivations into five
categories.
• Learning
o A process that creates changes in
behaviour, immediate or expected,
through experience and practice.
Reinforcement and repetition will boost
learning.
• Beliefs and Attitudes
o An organized pattern of knowledge that
an individual holds as true about his or
her world
o An attitude is a learned tendency to
respond consistently towards a brand