Chapter 5: Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior

Online Social Networks

Online social communities - blogs, social networking web sites, and other online communities - where people socialize or exchange information and opinions.

Family

The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society, and it has been researched extensively - Roles are shifting in households between men and women

Economic Situation

Watch trends in personal income, savings, and interest rates.

Groups

-Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups.

Stages in the Adoption Process

1. Awareness 2. Interest 3. Evaluation 4. Trial 5. Adoption

Characteristics that Affect Consumer Behavior

1. Cultural Factors 2. Social Factors 3. Personal Factors 4. Psychological Factors

The Buyer Decision Processes

1. Need Recognition 2. Information Search 3. Evaluation of Alternatives 4. Purchase Decision 5. Post-purchase Behavior

3. Personal Factors

A buyer's decisions also are influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyer's age and life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept.

2. Social Factors

A consumer's behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the consumer's small groups, family, and social roles and status.

Belief

A descriptive thought that a person holds about something

New Product

A good, service, or idea that is perceived by some potential customers as new.

Motivation

A need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need.

Roles and Status

A person belongs to many groups - family, clubs, organizations, online communities. The person's position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. Role: Consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the people around them Status: Each role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it by society.

Opinion Leader

A person within a reference group who, because of special skills, knowledge, personality, or other characteristics, exerts social influence on others.

4. Psychological Factors

A person's buying choices are further influenced by four major psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.

Attitude

A person's consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea

Occupation

A person's occupation affects the goods and services bought.

Lifestyle

A person's pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions.

Consumer Market

All the individuals and households that buy or acquire goods and services for personal consumption

Social Classes

Are society's relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors. - Social class is not determined by a single factor, such as income, but is measured as a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth, and other variables. - Marketers are interested in social class because people within given social class tend to exhibit similar buying behavior.

1. Cultural Factors

Broken up into 3 subclasses: Culture, subculture, and social class

Cognitive Dissonance

Buyer discomfort caused by postpurchase conflict

Learning

Changes in individual's behavior arising from experience

Influence of Product Characteristics on Rate of Adoption

Check Book

Complex Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by high consumer involvement in a purchase and significant perceived differences among brands.

Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by high involvement but few perceived differences among brands

Habitual Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by low consumer involvement and few significant perceived brand differences

Variety-seeking Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by low consumer involvement but significant perceived differences

Subcultures

Each culture contains smaller subcultures, or groups of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. - They include nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic regions. Many subcultures make up market segments (Hispanic American, African American, Asian American, etc)

Culture

Is the most basic cause of a person's wants and behavior. Human behavior is largely learned. Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors from his or her family and other important institutions. - Marketers are always trying to spot cultural shifts so as to discover new products that might be wanted.

Age and Life-Cycle Stage

People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related. - Life changes usually result from demographics and life-changing events - marriage, having children, purchasing a home, divorce, children going to college, changes in personal income, moving out of the house, and retirement.

Consumer Buyer Behavior

Refers to the buying behavior of final consumers - individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption.

Purchase Decision

The buyer's decision about which brand to purchase

Awareness

The consumer becomes aware of the new product

Evaluation

The consumer considers whether trying the new product makes sense

Adoption

The consumer decides to make full and regular use of the new product

Interest

The consumer seeks information about the new product

Trial

The consumer tries the new product on a small scale to improve his or her estimate of its value

Need Recognition

The first stage of the buyer decision process, in which the consumer recognizes a problem or need

Word-of-Mouth Influence

The impact of personal words and recommendations of trusted friends, associates, and other consumers on buying behavior.

Adoption Process

The mental process through which an individual passed from first hearing about an innovation to final adoption

Perception

The process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.

Post-purchase Behavior

The stage of the buyer decision process in which consumers take further action after purchase, based on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction

Information Search

The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer is motivated to search for more information

Alternative Evaluation

The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer uses information to evaluate alternative brands in the choice set

Personality

The unique psychological characteristics that distinguish a person or group.