Consumer behavior ch.1

Consumer behavior

The totality of consumers’ decisions with respect to the acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, time, places, and ideas by human-decision making units. (Over time)

Offering

A product, service, activity, experience, or idea offered by a marketing organization to consumers.

Acquision

The process by which a consumer comes to own or experience an offering

Usage

The process by which a consumer uses or consumes an offering.

Disposition

The process by which a consumer discards an offering

Psychological core

Before consumers can make decisions, they must have some source of knowledge or information upon which to base their decisions.

Process of making decisions

• Problem recognition and the search for information

• Making judgments and decisions

• Making post decision evaluations

Culture

The typical or expected behaviors, norms, and ideas that characterize a group of people

Reference group

Group of people consumers compare themselves with for information regarding behavior, attitudes, or values

Symbols

External signs that consumers use to express their identity

Marketing

The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings with value for individuals, groups, and society

Primary data

Data originating from a researcher and collected to provide information relevant to a specific research project

Secondary data

Data collected for some other purpose that is subsequently used in a research project

Survey

Method of collecting information from a sample of consumers, predominantly by asking questions

Focus group

A form of interview involving 8 to 12 people; a moderator leads the group and asks participants to discuss a product, concept, or other marketing stimulus.

Storytelling

A research method by which consumers are asked to tell stories about the product

Independent variable

The “treatment” or the entity that researchers vary in a research project.

Market test

A study in which the effectiveness of one or more elements of the marketing mix is examined by evaluating sales of the product in an actual market, for example, a specific city.

Conjoint analysis

A research technique to determine the relative importance and appeal of different levels of an offering’s attributes.

Ethnographic research

In-depth qualitative research using observations and interviews of consumers in real-world surroundings.

Purchase panels

Tracking what consumers buy on different occasions or in different places

Data mining

Searching for patterns in a company database that offer clues to customer needs, preferences, and behaviors

Netnography

Observing and analyzing the online behavior and comments of consumers.