chapter 3: consumer behaviour & target audience decisions

consumer behaviour

activities people experience when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, & disposing of products to satisfy their needs & desires

what are the 5 stages in consumer behahviour?

1. need recognition

2. information search

3. alternative evaluation

4. purchase decision

5. post-purchase decision

need recognition (stage 1)

customer observes a need & is motivated

• can be sourced internally or externally, complex or simple need, motives, changes in consumer’s situation

• maslow’s hierarchy of needs

information search (stage 2)

occurs once a consumer concludes that a need is satisfied with a product purchase

• internal search: assessing past experiences or knowledge from memory

• external search: find information from advertising, other people, public sources

information stage “active shopping mode”

when a consumer is actively trying to find information

“passive shopping mode”

when consumers receive unsolicited information

paid media

media that channel marketers pay for ex. TV, print

owned media

media that a marketing communication channel or company controls ex. a website, blog, mobile app, social media channels

earned media

media that is generated by people outside of the company such as media through sharing on social media

alternative evaluation (stage 3)

the stage where a consumer compares the brands identified as being capable of satisfying their needs

evoked set

the set of brands identified as purchase options

• effective marketing communication increases the likelihood that the brand will be included in a consumers evoked set

what are the 3 different benefits

1. functional

2. performance

3. experiential

functional benefit

the concrete outcomes from using a product that are tangible & directly related to a products performance

performance benefit

a less tangible & more subjective product usage outcome based on how the product attributes abstractly affect a consumer

experiential benefit

how a product makes the consumer feel while consuming the product

purchase decision (stage 4)

the stage where a consumer stops searching & evaluating brands in the evoked set

• starts with purchase intention

• decides when to buy, where to buy, & how much to spend

• usual time delay between purchase decision & the purchase itself

• still an opportunity for the actual bran purchased to be different from the initially planned brand purchase

how does social media impact consumers during the purchase decision stage?

• they can see price comparisons

• react to “buy now” messages

• see other promotions

• see others experiences

post purchase evaluation (stage 5)

the stage where a consumer explores a number of activities to assess the product’s performance

cognitive dissonance (post-purchase evaluation stage)

a feeling of psychological tension or post-purchase doubt a consumer experiences after making a difficult purchase choice

what are the 3 types of decision making?

1. routine problem solving

2. limited (extended problem solving

3. group decision making

routine problem solving

when the decision making process consists of little or no effort with external search or alternative evaluation & making quick internal search

limited extended problem solving

a type of decision making process when consumers have limited experience in purchasing a particular product & have little or no knowledge of the brands available &/or the criteria to use in the purchase decision

group decision making

a type of decision making process where there are 2 or more individuals make a purchasing decision together based on a shared set of norms, values, or beliefs

• ex. a family making a decision to buy a new family car

what are the 5 segmentation variables?

1. geographic

2. demographic

3. socioeconomic: divide based on income, education, occupation

4. psychographic: divide based on values, personality, culture, lifestyle

5. behaviour

brand loyalty (behaviour segmentation)

consumers who regularly buy marketer’s products