What is Consumer Behavior?
• Consumer buyer behavior: the buying behavior of final consumers, individuals and households, who buy goods and services for personal consumption
Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior: Culture
• What is culture? LEARNED set of meanings, rituals, norms, and traditions that are shared among members of an organization or society
(socialization process).
• Content
– Beliefs, attitudes, goals, values, behaviors, customs
– Cultural icons (books, music, buildings, brands)
• Country, city, company, ethnic groups, region…
• Power is in its pervasiveness-taken for granted!!
Why do marketers care about culture? IMPORTANT
Can affect ALL aspects of consumer behavior – Expectations of product characteristics
– Perception of product benefits
– Views of morality, ethics
Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior: Social Class
Social classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors
• Measured by a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth, and other variables Components of Social Class
• Occupational prestige
– Is stable over time and similar across cultures
– Single best indicator of social class
• Income
– Wealth is not distributed evenly across classes (top fifth controls 75% of all assets)
– Income per se is not often a good indicator of social class; it’s the way money is spent and not how much is spent
How Social Class Influences
Purchase Decisions
• Consumers perceive different products/ stores as appropriate for certain social classes
– Working class: sturdy, comfortable, and familiar products (utilitarian attributes)
Less like to experiment with new products/styles
– Affluent people: appearance/body image • Good market segment for:
- Diet foods/drinks, gyms
- Modern furniture/apparel
Characteristics Affecting
Consumer Behavior
Groups and Social Networks
Membership
Groups
• Groups with direct influence and to which a person belongs
Aspirational
Groups
• Groups an individual wishes to belong to
Reference
Groups
• Groups that form a comparison or reference in forming attitudes or behavior Factors Affecting Consumer
Behavior: Family Roles
• Roles that Household Members Play
– Gatekeeper = household member who collects and controls info important to decider
– Influencer = household members who try to express their opinions and influence the decision
– Decider = person who actually determines what will be chosen
– Buyer = person who physically acquires product
– User = household member who consumes product
Children as Decision Makers
• Children make up 3 distinct markets – Primary market
– Influence market
• Parental yielding
– Future market (Why marketers care now about Generation Z!)
Lifestyles: Useful for
Segmentation
• A lifestyle:
– A pattern of living that determines how people choose to spend their time, money, and energy and reflects their values, tastes, and preferences
– Activities, interests and opinions (AIOs)
What is Consumer Behavior?
Marketin g 4 P’s
Black Box of the
Consumer
Respons e What’s in the Black Box?
MOTIVATION
EXPOSURE
ATTENTION
PERCEPTION
CATEGORIZATION
ABILITY
OPPORTUNITY
ATTITUDE
FORMATION &
CHANGE
MEMORY &
RETRIEVAL
D
E
C
I
S
I
O
N
The Buyer Decision Process
Buyer Decision Making Process
Need Recognition
Occurs whenever a consumer
Int
e recognizes a
Sti rnal mu difference li between the current state and the ideal or al n r li desired state e t x u
– Internal cues
– External cues
E tim
S
Present
Present
Status
Status
Preferred
Preferred
State
State
Marketing helps consumers recognize an imbalance between present status and preferred state. Motivational Direction
• Most goals can be reached by a number of routes…
