Consumer Behavior

Unplanned Purchases

  • Unplanned Restocking: Replenishing items not planned for purchase but running low.

  • Unplanned New Purchase: Buying products not previously considered before shopping.

  • Impulse Purchase: Spontaneous purchase triggered by emotions or environment.

Priming

  • Priming: Subtle cues affecting decision-making and behavior.

    • Semantic Priming: Concepts linked in memory (e.g., "bread" primes "butter").

    • Procedural Priming: Familiar procedures influence actions.

    • Goal Priming: Encouraging actions toward specific objectives.

Sensory Marketing

  • Sensory Marketing: Using sensory stimuli (sound, sight, smell) to influence consumers.

  • Store Atmospherics: Designing store environments to enhance customer experience.

  • Color Symbolism: Psychological impact of colors (e.g., green for eco-friendliness).

  • Sound Symbolism: Use of sound (e.g., music tempo) to influence shopping behavior.

Market Segmentation

  • Demographic Segmentation: Dividing the market based on age, gender, income, etc.

  • 5 Criteria for Effective Segmentation (MASDA):

    • Measurable, Accessible, Substantial, Differentiable, and Actionable.

  • Psychographic Segmentation: Grouping consumers by lifestyle, values, and attitudes.

    • Psychographics: Characteristics that influence consumer preferences.

    • AIOs: Activities, Interests, and Opinions.

    • VALS: Consumer classification tool using 3 primary motivations:

      • Ideals: Beliefs and knowledge.

      • Achievement: Social recognition and status.

      • Self-expression: Creativity and individuality.

Behavioral Segmentation

  • Rogers’s 5 Adoption Factors: Influencing adoption of innovations—relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability.

  • Innovation Diffusion Curve: Categorizes adopters (Innovators to Laggards).

  • Product Life Cycle: Stages of a product—Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline.

Cross-Cultural Marketing

  • Culture: Shared societal norms, beliefs, and practices.

  • Values: Core principles guiding consumer choices.

    • Instrumental: Behavioral means (e.g., honesty).

    • Terminal: Desired end-states (e.g., happiness).

  • Country-of-Origin Effects: Consumer perception influenced by product's origin.

  • Consumer Ethnocentrism: Preference for domestically produced goods.

  • Hofstede's 6 Cultural Dimensions: Analyzing cultural differences like Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term Orientation, and Indulgence.

Brands and Consumption Communities

  • Brand: Symbol or design distinguishing a product.

    • Keller’s 4 Level Brand Equity Model: Salience, Performance, Imagery, Resonance.

    • Aaker’s 5 Brand Personality Dimensions: Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, Ruggedness.

    • Geuens’s 5 Brand Personality Dimensions: Alternate personality dimensions for brands.

  • Consumption Communities: Groups sharing attachment to brands/products.

    • Muniz & O’Guinn’s 3 Markers: Shared consciousness, rituals, moral responsibility.

    • 3 Forms of Affiliation: Aspirational, Associative, Dissociative.

Self and Consumption

  • Self-concept: How people perceive themselves.

  • Compensatory Consumption: Buying products to offset perceived deficiencies.

  • Extended Self: Identity intertwined with possessions.

  • Materialism: Importance placed on owning material goods.

  • Conspicuous Consumption: Publicly showcasing wealth via purchases.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

  • CSR: Corporate commitment to social and environmental well-being.

  • Stakeholder Theory: Balancing interests of all stakeholders (employees, customers, etc.).

  • Social Marketing vs. Cause-related Marketing: Promoting social good (social marketing) vs. associating brands with causes (cause-related marketing).

  • Consumer Activism: Consumers advocating for ethical practices.

Market Research

  • Basic vs. Applied Research: Pure science vs. practical problem-solving.

  • Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research: Narrative insights vs. data-driven results.

  • 3 V’s of Big Data: Volume, Variety, Velocity—characteristics of large-scale data analysis.

  • Causality:

    • Association: Correlation between variables.

    • Precedence: Cause occurs before effect.

    • Non-spuriousness: True causal relationship, not by chance.

Retailing and Technology

  • Evolution of Retailing: Shifts in consumer shopping preferences over time.

  • Multi-channel vs. Omni-channel: Using multiple platforms vs. seamless integration.

  • eCommerce Marketplaces: Digital platforms for buying and selling.

  • Experiential Retail: Focus on interactive and immersive shopping experiences.

Social Influence

  • Reference Groups: Groups influencing consumer decisions.

    • 3 Types: Aspirational, Associative, Dissociative.

    • Normative Influence: Impact of societal norms on behavior.

      • Descriptive Norms: What is typically done.

      • Injunctive Norms: What is perceived as approved.

  • Informational Influence: Guidance from knowledgeable sources.

Ethics

  • Ethics: Principles guiding moral decisions in marketing.

    • Deontological: Focus on rules/duties.

    • Teleological: Focus on outcomes/consequences.

Differentiation vs Distinctiveness

  • Differentiation: Differentiation is about features of a product or service that differentiate a brand in the eyes of the customer 

  • Distinctiveness: Distinctiveness is all about making your brand easily identified by customers.

  • Key Differences: While differentiation emphasizes unique attributes that provide value, distinctiveness focuses on visual or verbal cues that make the brand memorable.