Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Research

Buying centre (who buys) and its implications

some buying decisions are made individually, others by a group. A group decision may be in the hands of a buying centre with up to five roles: Initiator, Influencer, Decider, Buyer & User – interaction between them decides whether a purchase is made.

What are the 3 influences on consumer behavior ?

Buying situation:

o extended problem solving (involves high degree of information search, eg: purchase cars

o limited problem solving (many purchases, which involve already experience with the product,

internal search mainly-memory, external search-checking prices)

o habitual problem solving (repeat-buys, little or no evaluation of alternatives, eg: same breakfast

cereals)

- Personal influences:

o Information processing (involves perception&learning;

o Motivation (relationship between needs, drives and goals)

Maslow (Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and love, Esteem and status, Self-actualization)

o Beliefs and attitudes (belief=thought someone holds about a product or service on one or more

choice criteria eg. beliefs about car-that it’s safe ; attitude=overall un- or favorable evaluation of a

product or service  consequences of a set of beliefs may be positive or negative attitude towards

a product, beliefs and attitudes play an important role in the evaluation process of alternatives)

o Personality (= inner psychological characteristics of individuals, brand personality=the brand’s

characterization as perceived by consumers, eg: Nike – for winners, T.Hilf. – young people,.. ; brand

personality appeals to people who identify with the brand)

o Lifestyles (= pattern of living as expressed in a person’s activities and interests ; major groups:

- The mainstreamers: largest group, conventional, trusting, family centred

- The aspirers: ambitious, suspicious, unhappy, leisure: includes trendy sports

- The succeeders: leaders, confident, happy, leisure: travel, sports

- The transitionals: liberal, rebellious, intuitive)

o Life-cycle and age (level of disposal income and purchase requirements (needs) may depend on the

stage people have reached during their life)

- Social influences:

o Culture, Social class, Geodemographic, Reference groups

What is the consumer decision making process

1) Need recognition:

awareness of consumer problems can create opportunities for building a competitive advantage and planning strategies; can be stimulated through marketing communications to help form the consumer’s decision making process

2) Information search:

consumers look for information to help solve their decision-making; company should make sure that company’s brand appears in the consumer’s awareness set.

3) Evaluation of alternatives:

when consumer is highly involved, they might require much information about the positives of making a particular buying decision, therefore companies should provide detailed information to aid decision-making. For low-involvement decisions: creating top-of-mind awareness through repetitive advertising

4) Purchase

5) Post purchase:

consumers can experience cognitive dissonance after making a purchase and might need reassurance. Advertisements, direct mail or reviews and other communications can act as positive reinforcers.

What is a high involvement situation

the consumer is more likely to carry out extensive evaluation and take into account beliefs about the perceived consequences of buying the brand, the extent to which important others believe they should or should not buy the brand, attitudes (which are the degree to which the consumer likes or dislikes the brand overall), and subjective norms (which form an overall evaluation of the to which important others approve or disapprove of the purchase)

What is a low involvement situation

the consumer carries out a simple evaluation and uses simple choice tactics to reduce time and effort.

Awareness precedes trial, which, if satisfactory, leads to repeat purchase. The behavior may become habitual, with little conscious thought or formation of attitudes before purchase.

What are the types of market research

1) External continuous data sources (Ikeas choice)

- consumer panels, retail audits, television viewership panels, marketing database, customer relationship management systems and website analysis)

- Loyalty cards are also a source of continuous data, providing information customer purchasing patterns and responses to promotions.

2) External ad hoc data

- custom designed and omnibus studies (quantitative marketing research where data on a wide variety of subjects is collected during the same interview)

- gathered often by surveys, advertising and product testing;

- more traditional market research eg: telephone, interviews face-to-face, today are replaced by eg: email surveys – internet as new tool, social media new innovative form of information gathering – as companies can easily analyze online conversations

Level of involvement

degree of perceived relevance and personal importance accompanying the brand choice