Consumer Behavior

Dual Process Theory

System 1: automatic, effortless, associative, rapid, parallel, & affective

System 2: controlled, effortful, deductive, slow, serial, & neutral

General Model of Consumer Experience

Need recognition → information search → evaluation of alternatives → purchase → post-purchase evaluation & behavior

Need Recognition

First step in the decision-making process

Result of an imbalance between actual & desired states

• When a current product is not performing properly

• When the consumer is running out of a product

• When another product seems superior to the one currently used

Information Search

Internal: process of recalling information stored in the memory (personal sources: relationships who have infomration you need have a lot of credibility)

External: process of seeking information in the outside environment (3rd party & company-sponsored information)

Third-Party Information

External information form sources without a personal tie, but also without brand affiliation

Company-Sponsored Information

Marketing information; the least credible source of external information

Evaluation Alternatives

The consumer’s infomration seach should yield a group of brans, sometimes calle dthe buyers evoked set (condiiton set), which are the consumer’s most preferred alternatives

Lexographic Rule

Assumes that attributes of products can be ordered in terms of importance

Alternative brands are first compared with respect to the most important attribute

If one alternative is preferred over all of teh others, then it is chosen

If two brands are queal, the second attribute is considered, then the third, and so on

Conjunctive Rule

Decision-making rule of thumb or heuristic in which the consumer is assumed to set up minimum cutoffs for each of several attributes or dimensions of a product or thing

If the brand or item does not meet all of the minimum criteria, it is rejected

Leads to an acceptable or non-acceptable decision

Disjunctive Rule

Rule of thumb

Assumes the consumer develpps acceptable standards for each dimension (may be higher than the minimum cutoff levels for the conjuntive heuristic)

Purchase

After getting information & constructing an evoked set of alternative products, the consumer is ready to make a decision

Customer when, where, what, & how

When to buy

Where to buy

What to buy

How to use

Factors that impact when, where, what, & how

Promotions

Stock availability

Payment options

Social influence

Post-Purchase Behavior

When buying products, consumers expect certain outcomes from the purchase

How well these expectations are met determines whether the consumer is satisfied or dissatisied with the purchase

Marketer Post-Purchase Evaluation

1. Cognitive dissonance: occurs because customerswant justification that they made a good choice, especially for purchases that are considered higher risk & more difficult to evaluate

2. Satisfaction: comparison of performance to expectations

3. Dissatisfied: result when the purchase does not meet expectations (satisfy the need)

4. Feedback: one of the most common outcomes is to tell someone about your experience, either the company or other customers

5. Word-of-Mouth: when customers tell others about their experience

Influences on customer experience

Individual infleucnes

Social influences

Contextual influences

Individual Influences

Characteristics unique to each individual, including demographic traits, personality, & perceptual differences

• Personality: individual character evidenced by a person’s thoughts, feelings, & behavior

• Self-Image: person you want others to see

• Selective Attention: what information you pay attention to & what you ignore

• Selective Interpretation: interpret information to match your beliefs

• Selective Retention: we remember what we want to

Social Influences

Other people who are important to an exchange

• Reference Groups: standard against which you measure yourself

• Aspirant Groups: groups that influence our behavior without any formal relationship because we value their opinions about certain purchase categories

• Opinion Leader: influences others when they purchase in the category

• Social Class: groups with similar hobbies, education, income levels, & often share similar views of the world & events

• Culture: values & beliefs you share with others in your general population

Contextual Influences

Include the type of decision context, time, motivation, expertise, & physical environment

• Routine Decisions: repeated & require no or limited effort on the customer’s part

• Limited Problem Solving: customer will engage in some conscious external information search & evaluation, but will likely use heuristics because the decision is not important enogh to use extensive problem solving

• Motivation: drive that prompts you to act a certain way

Attitudes

Consumer behaviors consist of all the actions taken by consumers related to acquiring, disposing, & using products & services

Ex: collecting information for a purchase, buying a product or service, providing feedback on a product or service on a blog, & disposing of a product

Consumer Attitudes are viewed as…

The amount of affect or feeling for or against a stimulus

Attitudes are the affective feelings people have about objects; attitudes are stored in long-term memory & serve four important fucntions of consumers

Attitude Important Functions of Consumers

1. Utilitarian Function: specifies people to express feelings to maximize rewards & minimize punishments received from others (spicy food)

2. Ego-Defence Focus: attitudes act to protect people from basic truths about themselves or from harsh realities of the external world (smoker’s positive attitude towards smoking)

3. Knowledge Role: attitude serevs as guidelines to simplify decision making (brand attitude toward luxury products)

4. Value-Expression Function: consumers can express their central values & self-concept to others (student organization)

Learning

A process that creates changes in behavior, immediate or expected, through experience & practice

Thus, present behavior which is a direct function of past expereinces

Two types of methods: experiential & conceptual

Experiencial Learning

When an experience changes your behavior

• Classical conditioning: Pavlov, after this conditioning ahs occured, the desired behavior is produced even in the absence of the original stimulus

• Operant conditioning: situation where a stimulus is given after the desired response (or behavior) has been obtained

Conceptual Learning

Not aquired through direct experience, but based on reasoning (power, love, relationships)

Perception

A person attributes incoming stimuli gathered through the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, & smell)

The process by which we select, organize, & interpret these stimuli into a meaningful & coherent picture

Selective Exposure

Consumer notices certain sitmuli & ignore others

Selective Distortion

Consumer changes or distorts information that conflicts with feelings or beliefs

Selective Retention

Consumer remembers only information that supports their personal beliefs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Background Information

Based on the premise that people have different kinds of needs

Motivation makes the consumer take the next level (information searching, spending more time, talking to salesperson, etc.)

By understanding their motivation, marketers can analyze the major forces influeningt heir behavior

Customers will be motivated to obtain & exhibit a certain kinds of behavior upon their state of need

Need is defined as a lack of something that is useful

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Order (top of triangle → bottom)

1. Self-actualization: top of needs → desire to realize full potential & find fulfillment by expressing their unique talents & capabilites (people are what they feel theys should be)

2. Esteem: desire to feel accomplishment & achievement to gain respect

3. Social Needs/Love/Belonging: desire to be accepted, may join groups or conform (Harley riders)

4. Safety: 2nd level → security & protection form physical harm & avoidance of the unexpected (disability insurance, security devices)

5. Phsychological: primary needs → food, shelter, & clothing (tailor product advertisements)