Postpurchase Processes, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Commitment

Postpurchase Processes, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Commitment

Part IV: Consumer Decision Process

  • External Influences:
    • Culture
    • Subculture
    • Demographics
    • Social Status
    • Reference Groups
    • Family
    • Marketing Activities
  • Internal Influences:
    • Perception
    • Learning
    • Experiences and Acquisitions
    • Self-Concept and Lifestyle
    • Needs
    • Desires
    • Motives
    • Personality
    • Emotions
    • Attitudes
    • Memory
  • Situations
  • Decision Process:
    • Problem Recognition
    • Information Search
    • Alternative Evaluation and Selection
    • Outlet Selection and Purchase
    • Postpurchase Processes
    • Experiences and Acquisitions

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the various postpurchase processes engaged in by consumers
  • Define and discuss postpurchase dissonance
  • Discuss the issues surrounding product use and nonuse and their importance to marketers
  • Summarize disposition options and their relevance to marketers and public policy
  • Explain the determinants and outcomes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction
  • Describe the relationship between satisfaction, repeat purchase, and customer commitment

Postpurchase Consumer Behavior

  • Purchase
  • Postpurchase:
    • Dissonance
    • Nonuse
    • Usage
    • Product disposal
    • Evaluation
    • Complaint behavior
    • Satisfaction
    • Committed customers
    • Repeat purchases
    • Increased use
    • Brand switching
    • Discontinued use

Postpurchase Dissonance

  • Occurs when a consumer has doubts or anxiety regarding the wisdom of a purchase made.
  • Is a function of the following:
    • The degree of commitment or irrevocability of the decision
    • The importance of the decision to the consumer
    • The difficulty of choosing among the alternatives
    • The individual’s tendency to experience anxiety

Reducing Dissonance

  • After the purchase, the consumer may utilize one or more of the following to reduce dissonance:
    • Increase the desirability of the brand purchased
    • Decrease the desirability of rejected alternatives
    • Decrease the importance of the purchase decision
    • Reverse the purchase decision (return before use)

Product Use and Nonuse

  • Retailers can promote complementary items by:
    • Jointly displaying them
    • Training sales personnel to make relevant complementary sales
    • Example: dresses and shoes.
  • The use of one product may require or suggest the use of other products

Product Disposition

  • Options include:
    • Retain
      • Store
      • Use for original purpose
      • Use for a new purpose
    • Get rid of
      • Recycle
      • Throw away
        • As garbage
        • As litter
      • Trade in
      • Sell
        • To end user
        • To middleman
        • Through middleman
      • Give away
        • To be used
        • To be sold
      • Loan

Product Disposition and Marketing Strategy

  • Marketers must be aware of the disposition factors that ultimately affect consumer purchase decisions.
  • Helping consumers with the disposition of a used product can help the consumer through this process (e.g., developing products, packages, and programs that encourage proper disposition).

Purchase Evaluation and Customer Satisfaction

  • The Evaluation Process:
    • Expectations, Performance, and Satisfaction
Perceived Performance Relative to ExpectationBelow Minimum Desired PerformanceAbove Minimum Desired PerformanceExpectation Level
BetterSatisfaction*Satisfaction/Commitment
SameNonsatisfactionSatisfaction*Assuming the perceived performance surpasses the minimum desired level.
WorseDissatisfactionDissatisfaction

Dissatisfaction Process

  • Take Action:
    • Complain to store or manufacturer
    • Stop buying that brand or at that store
    • Complain to private or government agencies
    • Initiate legal action
    • Engage in negative word of mouth
  • Take No Action:
    • Less favorable attitude

Customer Satisfaction, Repeat Purchases, and Customer Commitment

  • Creating Committed Customers Is Increasingly the Focus of Marketing Strategy
    • Total Buyers > Satisfied Buyers > Repeat Purchasers > Committed Customers

Repeat Purchasers vs. Brand Loyalty

  • Repeat purchasers continue to buy the same brand though they do not have an emotional attachment to it.
  • Switching costs are the costs of finding, evaluating, and adopting another solution.
  • Brand loyalty involves commitment to the brand – it is a biased behavioral response expressed over time.

Customer Satisfaction Outcomes

  • Customer satisfaction can lead to:
    • Repeat purchases
    • Brand loyalty
    • Positive word-of-mouth (WOM)
    • Increased use
  • Superior value is expected and perceived, influenced by our total product, the consumer decision process, and competitors' total products.