Consumer Behavior
Buying, Having, and Being
Sixth Edition
10 - 1
Situational Effects on
Consumer Behavior
• Consumption Situation:
– Factors beyond characteristics of the person and of the product that influence the buying and/or using of products and services
• Situational Self-Image:
– The role a person plays at any one time.
10 - 2
Purchase and Postpurchase Issues
Figure 10.1
10 - 3
Situation Influences Choice
• Clothing choices often are heavily influenced by the situation in which they need to be worn. 10 - 4
Social and Physical Surroundings
• Co-consumers:
– Other patrons in the setting
• Density
– The actual number of people occupying a space
• Crowding:
– Exists only if a negative affective state occurs as a results of density
• Temporal Factors:
– Time Poverty: A consumer’s feeling that he or she is pressed for time
10 - 5
Physical Environments
• Many stores and services (like airlines) try to differentiate themselves in terms of the physical environments they offer, touting amenities such as comfort.
10 - 6
Temporal Factors
• Economic Time:
– Time is an economic variable (i.e., it is a resource that must be allocated)
– Time Poverty: A consumer’s feeling that they are pressed for time
• Psychological Time
– Time Categories
•Flow Time
•Occasion Time
•Deadline Time
•Leisure Time
•Time To Kill
10 - 7
Time Poverty
• Time poverty is creating opportunities for many new products
(like portable soups) that let people multitask. 10 - 8
Drawings of Time
Figure 10.2
10 - 9
Psychological Time
• Linear Separable Time:
– Events proceed in an orderly sequence and different times are well defined.
• Procedural Time:
– When people ignore the clock and do things “when the time is right”
• Circular or Cyclic Time
– Time is governed by natural cycles
• Queuing Theory
– The mathematical study of waiting in lines
10 - 10
Antecedent States
• If It Feels Good, Buy It…
• Pleasure and Arousal:
– Two dimensions which determine if a shopper will react positively or negatively to a consumption environment • Mood:
– Some combination of pleasure and arousal
– Consumers give more positive evaluations when they are in a good mood
– Can be affected by store design, weather, or other factors specific to the consumer
10 - 11
Dimensions of Emotional States
Figure 10.3
10 - 12
Shopping: A Job or An Adventure?
• Reasons for Shopping:
– Shopping Orientation: General attitudes about shopping – Hedonic Shopping Motives:
•
•
•
•
•
Social Experiences
Sharing of Common Interests
Interpersonal Attraction
Instant Status
The Thrill of the Hunt
• E-Commerce: Clicks Versus Bricks
10 - 13
Pros and Cons of E-Commerce
10 - 14
Discussion Question
• E-Commerce is changing the way people shop. Ecommerce sites like
Bluefly give shoppers the option of shopping without leaving home.
• What products do you not feel comfortable buying online? Why?
10 - 15
Retailing as Theater
• Retail Theming
– The strategy of creating imaginative environments that transport shoppers into fantasy worlds or providing other kinds of stimulation.
•Landscape themes
•Marketspace themes
•Cyberspace themes
•Mindscape themes
• Store Image
– The personality of a store including the store’s location, merchandise suitability, and the knowledge and congeniality of its sales staff.
• Atmospherics
– The “conscious designing of space and its various dimensions to evoke certain effects in buyers.”
10 - 16
FedEx Brand Position
Figure 10.4
10 - 17
In-Store Decision Making
• Spontaneous Shopping
– Unplanned buying: Occurs when a person is unfamiliar with a store’s layout or when under some time pressure; or, a person may be reminded to buy something by seeing it
– Impulse buying: Occurs when the person experiences a sudden urge that cannot be resisted
– Impulse items: Items conveniently placed near a checkout 10 - 18
Spontaneous Shopping
• Smart retailers recognize that many
purchase
