Consumer Behavior and Business-to-Business Marketing

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts in consumer buying behavior, psychological influences, decision processes, and organizational B2B marketing from the lecture notes.

Need (Marketing Definition)

Any perceived difference between a consumer's present state and a desired state.

Want

A desire or requirement for a specific product or service that is learned over time based on individual preferences.

Purchase Decision Process

The five-step series of stages consumers go through when buying goods or services: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and postpurchase behavior.

Internal Search

A stage in the information search process where a consumer scans their own memory and brain contents to evaluate purchase options based on existing knowledge.

External Search

The process of gathering information from outside sources—including personal sources, public sources, and marketer-dominated sources—when internal knowledge is insufficient.

Consideration Set

The group of acceptable brands or product options that a consumer evaluates after immediately eliminating unsatisfactory choices.

Postpurchase Behavior

The final stage of the purchase decision process where consumers realize value and assess satisfaction; satisfied customers tell an average of 3 people, while dissatisfied customers tell an average of 9 people.

Routinized Buying Behavior

Habitual, low-involvement purchasing of frequently bought products (such as milk or cereal) that bypasses extensive information search and alternative evaluation.

Involvement

The degree of mental energy, attention, and cognitive activity a consumer expends to make a purchase decision.

Extended Problem Solving

A high-involvement purchasing process involving high risk or cost where consumers evaluate many brands, sellers, product attributes, and external information sources.

Customer Retention Profitability Impact

Quantitative research finding that increasing customer retention by 5% can increase overall profitability by 70% to 80%.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A psychological motivation model adapted by marketers, structured from urgent physiological needs at the base, up through safety needs, social needs, personal/esteem needs, and self-actualization at the top.

Self-Actualization Needs

The highest tier of human needs in Maslow's hierarchy, driven by personal growth, education, fulfillment, and long-term career development.

System 1 Thinking

Nonconscious brain processing that automatically handles sensory input and the vast majority of daily brain activity without active cognitive effort.

System 2 Thinking

Conscious level of brain function that engages when deliberate mental effort, focused attention, or sudden problem-solving is required.

Selective Exposure

A component of selective perception where consumers choose to pay attention to specific media or ad messages that interest them while ignoring others.

Perceived Risk

The anxiety felt by consumers when contemplating a purchase due to uncertainty regarding financial cost or functional failure.

Behavioral Learning Theory

A learning framework based on experience and action, consisting of drives, cues (symbols), responses, and positive or negative reinforcement.

Stimulus Generalization

A marketing application of behavioral learning where a new product's packaging or design is made to resemble existing, familiar products so consumers apply existing knowledge to it.

Attitude

A learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way toward a specific object or brand.

Touch Points

Any point of contact where a consumer encounters or interacts with a brand along their customer journey map.

Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing

The marketing of goods and services to commercial organizations, resellers, or government entities rather than directly to ultimate end consumers.

Reseller Markets

B2B markets made up of wholesalers and retailers that purchase manufactured goods and resell them to others without altering the product.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

A six-digit numerical coding system used to categorize and identify every business and industry sector operating across North America.

United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)

The trade agreement that supplanted NAFTA to facilitate business and lower trade barriers among North American nations.

Derived Demand

Industrial demand for commercial component parts or materials that is driven directly by customer demand for ultimate consumer goods.

Just-In-Time (JIT)

An industrial logistics strategy where suppliers deliver inventory in precise quantities right as it is needed in production, minimizing carrying costs and storage.

Straight Rebuy

A routine organizational purchase scenario involving standard reorders of existing items with no modifications, typically managed automatically by purchasing systems.

Modified Rebuy

An organizational purchase situation where buyers want to reorder a product but require updated technical specifications, price adjustments, or alternate suppliers.

New Purchase (New Buy)

A highly complex industrial purchasing scenario involving first-time purchases, high financial risk, and a full buying center team.

Buying Center

A formal or informal group of individuals within an organizational unit who participate in purchasing decisions and share common goals and risks.

Buyer

The buying center role with official formal authority to negotiate contractual terms, select vendors, and sign purchasing agreements.

Gatekeepers

Buying center members—such as administrative support staff—who control physical access, schedule availability, and the flow of information to key decision-makers.

Influencers

Buying center members who help define product specifications, provide technical evaluation inputs, or offer opinions that affect the final purchase choice.