CH 1-1 Understanding Consumer Behavior

Individual consumers

purchase goods and services to:

• Satisfy their own personal needs and wants.

• Satisfy the needs and wants of other individuals.

Organizational consumers

purchase goods and services to:

• Produce other good or services.

• Resell goods and services.

• Help manage their organizations.

Who wrote the academic article "What is consumer research?” and when was it written.

Holbrook 1987

"What is consumer research?”

(Holbrook 1987)

“In attempting to answer this question, I shall

pursue an argument influenced by various efforts

to broaden our concept of consumer behavior to

include not only acquisition but also usage and

disposal activities (Jacoby 1978) and to extend our

view of products to embrace not only traditional

durable and nondurable goods but also other

more intangible services, ideas, and events

(Holbrook and Hirschman 1982).”

Consumption involves the _____, _____, and _____ of products.

• Purchase/acquisition

• Usage

• Disposal

consumer research studies _____ _____.

consumer behavior

_____ are goods, services, ideas, events, or any other

entities that can be acquired, used, or disposed of in ways

that potentially provide value.

products

_____ is a type of experience that occurs for some living

organism when a goal is achieved, a need is fulfilled, or a

want is satisfied.

value

Consumer research is relatively:

• Young (1987)

• Fluxional (changing all the time)

• Dynamic (changing all the time)

• Interdisciplinary

Augmented reality (AR)

systems show virtual

objects in the user’s real-

world surroundings.

Virtual reality (VR)

a simulated experience

that employs pose

tracking and 3D near-

eye displays.

Motivation Research

• One of the earliest approaches (emerged shortly after WWII)

• From applied psychoanalytic therapy and clinical psychology

• The Freudian psychoanalytic skills to uncover a person’s hidden or unconscious motivations

• Fell out of fashion in the 1960s

• Criticism: the speculation rather than an empirical testing

• Two legacies:

(1) the technique of in-depth interviewing (IDI)

(2) a focus on consumer motivations of why

Behavioral Science

• Since 1960s, A.K.A. positivism and social science

• Applies the scientific and technological method, relying on

systematic, rigorous procedures to explain, control, and

predict consumer behavior (influenced by natural science)

• The scientific method: theory building, hypotheses,

observation, analysis, discussion, implications, conclusion.

• The primary methods of behavioral science: the experiment

and the marketing science approach, using mathematical

models and quantitative research methods

• Assumption: consumers are rational

• Criticism: (1) sampling isn’t perfect & (2) generalization

from a small sample size can be dangerous.

Interpretivism

• A.K.A. Postmodernism

• Views consumers as non-rational beings and

reality being highly subjective

• Attempts to understand consumers from a

broader societal perspective

• Focuses on the qualitative research methods,

emphasizing an individual consumer’s subjective

experience with the product or service

• Criticism: lacks generalizability

• It provides in-depth, detail-rich descriptions of

consumers’ experiences that can be useful in

developing further questions

Consumer Responses

• Affect (emotion)

• Cognition (mental)

• Behavior

PURCHASE ACTIVITIES

• Everything done leading up to the purchase or acquisition, such as information search and evaluating alternatives.

• Transaction method & additional services (e.g., delivery methods and fees, installation, warranties) influence purchase activities.

USE ACTIVITIES

• Where? on premise vs. off premise

• When? immediate vs. delayed consumption

• How? complete vs. partial consumption

Purchase/acquisition activity

Alex wants to buy a new smartphone, so he starts by

reading online reviews and watching comparison videos

to see which models have the best camera and battery

life (information search and research). Alex is currently

engaged in what consumer activity?

False

One of the criticisms toward the behavioral research is that its conclusion is

based on a speculation (e.g., women feel a strong connection with Pillsbury doughboy due to their natural desire for children).

disposal activities

What consumers

do with products

and/or packaging

after use

examples of disposal activities

• Discarding/landfilling

• Recycling

• Upcycle

• Precycle (package free)

• Reselling (garage sales, flea

markets, eBay, Facebook

Marketplace, Craig’s List)

• Donation/Charity

• Combustion with energy recovery

• Composting

up-cycle

reuse the product

or packaging for

another use

pay-as-you-throw (PAYT)

In a _______ scheme, the costs of waste

disposal are charged based on the unit of volume or

consumption just like electricity or water.

precycle

the practice of reducing

waste by making

conscious choices to

avoid items that will

become trash. It focuses

on minimizing the

generation of waste

before it happens, by

thinking ahead about

the environmental

impact of products and

packaging.