MARK101 Week 4 Tuesday - Consumer Behaviour and the Buyer Decision Process


Lecture Outline

  • What is buyer behaviour?

  • Buyer Decision Process

  • An Example

  • Model of buyer behaviour

  • Key Takeaways

Readings for the Week

  • Chapter 5

Why We Buy?

  • (This section is a general question prompting consideration of motivations behind purchasing decisions.)

Model of Buyer Behaviour

  • Environment

    • Marketing Stimuli: Product, Price, Place, Promotion

    • Other: Economic, Technological, Social, Cultural

  • Buyer's Black Box

    • Buyer's Characteristics

    • Buyer's Decision Process

  • Buyer Responses

    • Buying Attitudes and Preferences

    • Purchase Behaviour: What the buyer buys, when, where, and how much

    • Brand Engagements and Relationships

The Buying Decision Process

  • Need Recognition: Identifying a need or problem.

  • Information Search: Seeking information about potential solutions.

  • Evaluation of Alternatives: Assessing different options.

  • Purchase Decision: Making the buying choice.

  • Post-Purchase Behaviour: Evaluating satisfaction after the purchase.

Need Recognition

  • Can be triggered by:

    • Psychological needs

    • Functional needs

Buying Decision Process (Revisited)

  • Need Recognition

  • Information Search

  • Evaluation of Alternatives

  • Purchase Decision

  • Post-Purchase Behaviour

Buying Decision Process - Example: Running Shoes

  • Need Recognition

    • "Run faster for longer as I get older and protect by over pronation (2012)"

    • Experience: 30 years (Aasics), Saucony (5 years), Salomon (3 years)

Information Search

  • Internal Search: Memory/knowledge of past experiences (Nike, Aasics, Adidas, Salomon, Saucony).

  • External Search: Runner friends, salespeople in retail stores, consumer reports (unbiased), running magazines (biased), company websites, running blogs, professional runner endorsements, user-generated content by other runners.

  • Factors affecting information search:

    • Perceived risk and consumer involvement

    • Complexity of the purchase

    • Availability and credibility of the information sources

Alternative Evaluation

  • Universal Set: ALL possible choices in a category.

  • Retrieved Set: Those brought from memory (Nike, Adidas, Saucony, Salomon, Aasics, Hoka).

  • Evoked Set: Alternatives considered in making a purchase decision (Aasics, Hoka, Saucony).

  • THREE ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

Purchase Decision

  • Purchase intention versus the purchase decision.

  • No availability in UAE (physical location).

  • Online purchases (availability/price).

  • Product knowledge and service advice.

  • Exchange policy.

Post Purchase

  • Expectations versus the performance of the shoe. "I was NOT disappointed!!"

  • Feedback and complaints actively encouraged (product performance).

  • Cognitive dissonance post purchase.

  • Email newsletter.

  • Social media connection pre, during, and post MDS.

  • The 30-day guarantee.

Cognitive Dissonance

  • Braun aims to reduce post-purchase conflict with a money-back guarantee for its shavers.

Key Takeaways

  • A model of buyer behaviour

  • The buying decision process (5 stages)

  • An example: running shoes