Post Purchase Behavior

Post Purchase Dissonance

• Post Purchase Dissonance is when the customer’s state of the mind
and perception is quite uneasy after purchasing the product or service
offering of the brand.
• Post-purchase dissonance is also known as post-purchase regret.
• This results in the customer either regretting the brand or in returning
the product back from where he purchased.
• For example, a consumer may experience post-purchase dissonance if
they buy a new car and it doesn't perform as well as they thought it
would.
Reasons of Post-Purchase Dissonance
• The degree of commitment or irrevocability of the decision- The
easier it is to alter the decision, the less likely the consumer is to
experience dissonance.
• Generally, most of the consumer cannot change their purchase
decision, once purchased has been made. They have already
sacrificed their time, money and energy which cannot be reversed in
most of the purchase situations.
The importance of the decision to the
consumer
• The more important the decision, the more likely dissonance will
result. so, purchase may be related to the matter of career (like
selection of college ) with there are some products which are
purchased only once in life (like home, land, expensive ornaments,
vehicles)
• Decision’s made for such products are important decision in life. So
the probability of occurring dissonance for such products are
important decision in life. So the probability of occurring dissonance
for such product is high decision in life. So the probability of occurring
dissonance for such product is high.
The difficulty of choosing among the
alternatives
• The more difficult it is to select from among the alternatives, the
more likely is experience and magnitude of dissonance. Decision
difficulty is a function of the alternative considered.
• The number of alternatives associated with other alternatives, and
the extent to which each alternatives available with the other
alternatives.
The individual’s tendency to experience anxiety

• Some individuals have a higher tendency to experience anxiety than do

others. The higher the tendency to experience anxiety, the more likely
the individual with experience post purchase dissonance.
Unselected alternatives have desirable features
Generally after making a purchase decision; consumers may feel
uncomfortable with their purchase. It’s a human nature that whatever
we don’t have with us gets more valuable than whatever we have
already attractive features of unselected brands. Later, after making a
purchase decision, we wish to have that product which we have left
behind( unselected) as a result this painful situation results dissonance.
Available alternatives are quite dissimilar in
their quality.
• In extended decision making, consumer consider different alternative,
sometime these alternatives are not similar in terms of attributes and
functions.
• It becomes difficult for purchaser to compare one product from another.
• In such situation consumer finds difficult to figure out the best
alternatives because of the confusion in making best selection.
• Such condition occurs when the alternatives are quite dissimilar and
consumer find difficult to compare the alternatives.
• so when a purchase decision has been made in such situation, the
likelihood of post purchase dissonance is also high.
 Reducing Dissonance
• Increase the desirability of the brand purchased
• Decrease the desirability of rejected alternatives
• Decrease the importance of the purchase decision
• Reverse the purchase decision
• Searching the additional external information that serves to confirm
the wisdom of a particular choice
• change attitude
• Feedback to company so that company will work on it.
• Reduce expectations
Marketing strategy on Reducing Dissonance
• Marketers should deliver the promise- Marketers should not create
false expectation or false promise in the marketing communication.
Rather they should make sure to deliver on the promises they have
made from various marketing communications.
• The sale doesn’t end with the sale- Sale is the start, not the end of
the relationship- so seller/marketers should behave in that way.
Follow up on the sale, ask for feedback (and act on it).
• Anticipate what might go wrong- Marketers/Sellers should think
through the consumer journey and try to remove any of the pain-
points they might hit.
Cont….
• If something does go wrong, act promptly
• Sometimes things go wrong- that’s life. It always amazes that the
majority of companies never say sorry. Say sorry and fix the problem.
 Product Use
• Most purchases are followed by product use. This use may be by the
purchaser or by some other member of the purchasing unit. Marketing
managers are interested in product use for a variety of reasons.
• The main reason is that consumers use a product to fulfil certain needs. If the
product does not fulfil these needs, a negative evaluation may result.
Therefore, managers must be aware of how products perform in use.
• Monitoring product usage can indicate new uses for existing products,
needed product modifications, appropriate advertising themes, and
opportunities for new products.
• Product liability laws have made it increasingly important for marketing
managers to be aware of all potential uses of their products.
Cont….
• Marketers need to understand how consumers use their products
for a variety of reasons
Understanding both the functional and symbolic ways in which a
product is used can lead to more effective product designs. For
example, Nike uses observation of basket-ball players at inner-city
courts to gain insights into desired functional and style features.
Marketers need to develop new uses for their product- Marketers who
discover new uses for their products can greatly expand sales.
Cont….
• Manufacturer must design products with both the primary purpose
and other potential uses in mind
• This requires substantial research into how consumers actually use
products. When marketers discover confusion about the proper way
to use a product, it is often to their advantage to teach consumers
how to use it and engage in marketing communications that increase
the chances of proper use.
 Product Non Use
• Not all products are followed by product use.Product non use occurs
when a consumer actively acquires a product that is not used or used
on sparingly relative to its potential use.
• For many products and services, the decision to purchase and
consume simultaneously as in restaurants but for some products it is
affected by other environment.
• Thus non-use can occur because the situation or the purchaser
changes between the purchase and the potential usage occasion.
Nonuse can occur because the situation or the purchaser changes
between the purchase and the potential usage occasion
• for many products and most services, the decisions to purchase and
to consume are made simultaneously. A person who orders a meal in
a restaurant is also deciding to eat the meal at that time.
Some products are known to be kept on hand by consumers
• Sometime consumers purchase items to make stock for potential
future use.That is they stock up certain items.
Product Disposition
• Disposal of the product or its package may occur before, during or after
product use.
• Understanding disposal behaviour has become increasingly important to
marketing managers, because of the ecological concerns of many consumers,
the costs and scarcity of raw materials, and the changing laws; for example,
laws in the EU make manufacturers responsible for package disposal.
• The ease of recycling or re-using a product’s container is an important
product attribute for many consumers. These consumers, sometimes referred
to as ‘socially-conscious’ consumers, are an important market segment not
only because of their purchases, but also because of their social and political
influence.
Product Disposition
Cont….
• Millions of pounds of product packages are disposed of everyday.
These containers thrown away as garbage, used in some capacity by
the consumer, or recycled.
• Creating packages that utilize a minimal amount of resources is
important for economic reasons as well as being a matter of social
responsibility.
• Many firms are responding to this issue, as the examples below
illustrate:
Cont….
• Casio has redesigned both its consumer and channel-based packaging
so as to reduce the total amount of materials used.
• Company in US like crate and Barrel switched to more renewable fiber
that contains postconsumer recyclable material.
Contd….
Factors influencing disposition:
• Psychological characteristics of the decision maker: personality, attitude,
emotion, perception, learning, creativity, intelligence, social class, level of
risk tolerance, social conscience etc.
• Factors intrinsic to the product: condition, age, size, style, value, color,
technical innovation, adaptability, reliability, durability, initial cost,
replacement cost etc.
• Situational factors extrinsic to the product: finances, storage, space,
urgency, fashion changes, circumstances of acquisition (gifts vs purchase),
functional use, demand and supply, legal consideration etc.
Example
• Consider a wristwatch which is still running but is no longer stylish.
The consumer is faced with first level of decision: keep it, get rid of it
completely or temporarily. Assume he keeps it because of his
personality (Psychological characteristic) or he could have kept it
although being out of fashion due to its reliability (Product
characteristic) or because he had no money (situational factor).
Marketing Implication
• The implication of consumer product disposition process reflects on several
areas of marketing. The implication are from a public policy perspective as
well as from strategic perspective.
• Public policy effects are many as effect of disposition in environment. A
study of the many problems of polluting and littering could be better
addressed by considering consumer disposition.
• Habits of throwing away and littering might be changed by providing
consumers with information about possible uses or conversions. For
example: alternative use.
• Recycling centers might be established and consumers made aware of these
centers for their own well being.
 Marketing strategy
• 1st markets may have to become more involved in facilitating consumers
disposition processes if buyers are not to become discouraged and withdraw
from the purchasing process.
• For instance: old products are to be disposed off before new ones can be
purchased. This might be due to need for money with which a down payment
the new item, or could be lack of storage for new one dictates disposal of old
one.
• 2nd forecasting sales of new product
• 3rd promotion strategy can be made by the disposition behavior. For example
consumers acquire new products even though old ones are performing well.
• Hence marketers must identify the reasons and act accordingly.
 Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction
• Satisfaction refers to a buyers state of being adequately rewarded in a
buying situation for the sacrifice he has made.
• Adequacy of satisfaction is a result of matching actual past purchase
and consumption experience with the expected reward from the
brand in terms of its anticipated potential to satisfy the consumers
motive.
Contd….
• Customer form a certain expectation before purchase. The expectation may
be about:
• The nature and performance of product or service (anticipated benefits)
• The cost and effort to be expended
• The social benefits
• Advertisement may often be an important factor influencing these
expectations.
• Once the product is purchased the customer either becomes satisfied or
dissatisfied.
• Determinants which influence satisfaction include: Demography, personality
etc. for example older people tend to have less expectation
Contd….
• Basically, consumers develop certain expectations about the ability of
the product to fulfil instrumental and symbolic needs. To the extent
that the product meets these needs, satisfaction is likely to result.
When expectations are not met, dissatisfaction is the likely result.
Contd….
Dissatisfaction Responses
• Possible outcomes of a negative purchase evaluation:

• Taking no action
• Switching brands, products or stores
• Warning friends and colleagues
Contd….
Marketing Strategy and Dissatisfied
Consumers
• Firms need to satisfy consumer expectations by
• Creating reasonable expectations through promotional efforts,
and
• Maintaining consistent quality so the reasonable expectations
are fulfilled.
Consumer Complaint Behavior
• When a consumer becomes dissatisfied there are several negative outcome.
• 1st the consumers may exhibit negative word of mouth. Studies show that
customers tell twice as many people about their bad experiences as good ones.
Such behavior can damage company’s image.
• Second, consumers may not repurchase the brand.
• Third action is to complain. Several generalizations exists from research on
consumer complaining:
• Complainers tend to be members of more upscale socioeconomic groups than no
complainers.
• The severity of the dissatisfaction or problems is positively related to complaint behavior.
• Complaining is more likely when there is a more positive perception of retailers
responsiveness to customer complaints.
Contd….
• Model of consumer complaint behavior:

•Dissatisfaction Occurs
•Voice response
•e.g. seek compensation from seller; no action

•Private responses
•e.g. word of mouth communication

•Third Party response

•e.g. take legal action
Contd….
• Two factors deter consumers from complaining to the company. 1st is our
culture which does not encourage being a whiner and 2nd employees don’t
encourage it because they may view it as a personal attack on their self
esteem.
• Nevertheless, when companies invest money on units that handle
complaints and inquires the average return is over 100% for makers of
certain consumer durables.
• Companies such as GE, Coca Cola, British airways are investing millions of
dollars to improve complain handling.
• Program includes toll free number, intensive staff training, liberal refund
system, and even booths where irate customers can complain.
Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty
• Repeat purchasers continue to buy the same brand though they do
not have an emotional attachment to it.
• Switching costs are the costs of finding, evaluating, and adopting
another solution.
• Brand loyalty involves commitment to the brand – it is a biased
behavioral response expressed over time.
Contd….
Note the difference between:
• Brand loyalty
• implies a psychological commitment to the brand

• Repeat purchase behaviour

• simply involves the frequent repurchase of the brand
Brand Loyaltiy is…
• Biased
• a behavioural response
• expressed over time
• where a consumer selects a brand over alternative brands
• a function of psychological processes
Benefits from Brand Loyality
• Dramatic effect on profitability.
• Longer tenure as a customer.
• Lower sensitivity to price increase.
Importance of Customer Satisfaction
• The business of business is getting and keeping customers.
(Drucker, 1979)
• Delivering high-quality service and high customer satisfaction is closely linked to
profits, cost savings, and market share.
(PIMS, Profit Impact of Market Share, 1970s)
• Customer satisfaction is not new to marketing and business. Peter Drucker, a
leading marketing writer, was discussing this concept in the 70s.
• The realization of the importance and impact on profits was also being discussed
and measured by the PIMS market analysts in the 70s.
• Thus, customer satisfaction is an important component of business and
marketing strategy
Value of Customer Loyalty
• Increased purchases of the existing product
• Cross-purchases of your other products
• Price premium due to their appreciation of your added-value services
• Reduced operating cost because of familiarity with your service
system
• Positive word-of-mouth which refers other customers to your firm
Measuring Customer Satisfaction
• Qualitative measurement techniques

• Focus groups

• Monitoring surveys