Chapter one:

1. Definition of Consumer behavior

Consumer behavior has been always of great interest to marketers. The knowledge of consumer behavior
helps the marketer to understand how consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products,
brands and the like and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference groups,
family, and salespersons and so on. A consumer’s buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social,
personal and psychological factors. Most of these factors are uncontrollable and beyond the hands of
marketers but they have to be considered while trying to understand the complex behavior of the
consumers.
1.1. A formal definition helps to focus on key points and concepts
Consumer behavior is the study of the behavior that consumers display during the processes of searching
for, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy
their needs.
Consumer Behavior describes two kinds of consuming entities:
1. The Personal Consumer and;
2. The Organizational Consumer
Personal Consumer
Buys goods for his/her own use, for the use of household or as gift for friends/families
Organizational Consumer
Includes profit and not-for-profit businesses, government agencies and institutions
In the marketing context, the term „consumer ‟ refers not only to the act of purchase itself, but also to
patterns of aggregate buying which include pre-purchase and post-purchase activities. Pre-purchase
activity might consist of the growing awareness of a need or want, and a search for and evaluation of
information about the products and brands that might satisfy it. Post-purchase activities include the
evaluation of the purchased item in use and the reduction of any anxiety which accompanies the purchase
of expensive and infrequently-bought items.
Consumer Behavior reflects the totality of consumer decisions with respect to acquisition, consumption,
and disposition of goods, services, Activities, Experiences, People, time, and ideas by decision making
units over a time. Consumer Behavior Involves Goods, Services, Activities, Experiences, People, time
and Ideas. Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers (individuals &
households) who buy goods and services for personal consumption.
Consumer Behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time,
money, effort) on consumption related item. That includes:
 What they buy
 Why they buy it
 When they buy it
 Where they buy it
 How often they buy it
 How often they use it
 How they evaluate it after the purchase
 The impact of such evaluation on future purchases, and
 How they dispose of it
Consumer behavior means more than just the way that a person buys tangible products such as bath soap
and automobiles. It also includes consumers’ use of services, activities, experiences, and ideas such as
going to the doctor, visiting a festival, signing up for yoga classes, taking a trip, etc
Consumer Behavior is the mental, emotional, and physical activities that people engage in when
selecting, purchasing, using, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy needs and desires.

The Totality About

of the consumption
Of an offering By decision making unitovertime

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 Decisions

Whether Acquisition Products Initiators Days

What Usage Services Influencers Weeks
Why Disposition Time Information keeper Months
How Ideas Decider Years
Where Purchaser
when User
How much
How often

The “seven keys” to Consumer Behavior:

1. CB is motivated
2. CB includes many activities
3. CB is a process
4. CB varies in timing and complexity
5. CB involves different roles
6. CB is influenced by external factors
7. CB differs for different people.
• Motivation: CB occurs to satisfy needs and desires .CB is aimed at (the means of) achieving
particular goals (end).
• CB activities: features such as thoughts, feelings, plans, decisions, purchases, and the experiences that
follow.
• CB as a process involves interrelated stages.
• CB differs in timing and complexity.
• Timing: when the decision takes place and how long the entire process takes
• Complexity: the number of activities involved in a decision and the difficulty of the decision itself.
1.2. Reasons for studying consumer behavior
The Study of Consumer Behavior has become essential. Study consumer behavior to answer: “How do
consumers respond to marketing efforts the company might use?”
Consumers are the kings of markets. Without consumers no business organization can run. All the
activities of the business concerns end with consumers and consumer satisfaction. Customer behavior
study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user,
payer and buyer. Consumer buying behavior has become an integral part of strategic market planning.
The most important reason for studying consumer behavior is the role that it plays in our lives. We spend
a lot of time in shops and market places. We talk and discuss with friends about products and services
and get lot of information from T.V. This influences our daily lives.
Consumer decisions are affected by their behavior. Therefore, consumer behavior is said to be an applied
discipline. This leads to the micro-perspective and societal perspective.
Micro Perspective It involves understanding consumer for the purpose of helping a firm or organization
to achieve its objectives. All the Managers in different departments are keen to understand the consumer.
They may be Advertising Managers, Product Designers, Marketing and Sales Managers and so on.
Societal Perspective is on the macro level. Consumers collectively influenced economic and social
conditions within a society. Consumers strongly influence what will be product, what resources will be
used and it affects our standard of living.

1.3. Who Benefits from the Study of Consumer Behavior?

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 Why do people study consumer behavior? The reasons are as varied as the four different groups who use
consumer research: marketing managers, ethicists and advocates, public policy makers and regulators,
and consumers.
A. Marketing Managers
The study of consumer behavior provides critical information to marketing managers for developing
marketing strategies and tactics.
The American Marketing Association’s definition of marketing shows why marketing managers need to
learn about consumer behavior:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and
exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
As this definition makes clear, marketers need consumer behavior insights to understand what consumers
and clients value; only then can they develop, communicate, and deliver appropriate goods and services.
B. Ethicists and Advocacy Groups
Marketers’ actions sometimes raise important ethical questions. Concerned consumers sometimes form
advocacy groups to create public awareness of inappropriate practices. They also influence other
consumers as well as the targeted companies through strategies such as media statements and boycotts.
For example, Mothers against Violence in America is one of several groups protesting video games that
feature physical violence. Despite such labeling, advocacy groups are concerned that younger teens can
easily acquire and play games intended for older consumers.
Consumer behavior can be quite useful to legislators, regulators, and government agencies in developing
policies and rules to protect consumers from unfair, unsafe, or inappropriate marketing practices. In turn,
marketers’ decisions are affected by these public policy actions. Consider the regulatory limits on
tobacco marketing that are designed to discourage underage consumers from smoking and to inform
consumers of smoking’s health hazards. The United States, European Union, and other areas ban
cigarette advertising on television and radio and in certain other media; they also require warning labels
on each pack.
Understanding how consumers comprehend and categorize information is important for recognizing and
guarding against misleading advertising. For instance, researchers want to know what impressions an ad
creates and whether these impressions are true.
They also want to know how marketing influences consumers’ decisions to comply with product usage
instructions, such as using medical treatments as prescribed and consumer behavior research helps
government officials understand and try to improve consumer welfare.
C. Academics
Consumer behavior is important in the academic world for two reasons. First, academics disseminate
knowledge about consumer behavior when they teach courses on the subject. Second, academics generate
knowledge about consumer behavior when they conduct research focusing on how consumers act, think,
and feel when acquiring, using, and disposing of offerings. In turn, such academic research is useful to
marketing managers, advocacy groups, regulators, and others who need to understand consumer
behavior.
Consumers and Society understanding of consumer behavior can help make a better environment for
consumers. For example, research indicates that we better understand the differences among brands when
we can view a chart, matrix, or grid comparing brands and their attributes. Thus, matrices such as those
presented in Consumer Reports are likely to help many consumers make better decisions. Product,
service, and communications developments to protect certain consumer segments have also grown out of
understanding how consumers behave.
Many people want to protect children against inappropriate advertising or guard themselves against
invasion of privacy. Some companies have changed their marketing voluntarily, whereas others have
waited until legislators, regulators, or advocacy groups forced them to make changes in their marketing.
Finally, research on disposition behavior has the potential to aid recycling programs and other activities
related to environmental protection,

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D. Consumer
Why is it so important to satisfy the customer? Such satisfaction is important because a company’s sales
come from two basic groups – new customers and repeat customers. It usually costs more to attract new
customers than to retain current ones. Keeping current customers is therefore often more critical than
attracting new ones, and the best way to do this is to make current customers happy.
A satisfied customer buys a product again, talks favorably to others about the product, pays less attention
to competing brands and advertising, and buys other products from the company. Many marketers go
beyond merely meeting the expectations of customers – they aim to delight the customer.
A delighted customer is even more likely to purchase again and to talk favorably about the product and
company. A dissatisfied consumer responds differently. Whereas, on average, a satisfied customer tells
three people about a good product experience, a dissatisfied customer gripes to 11 people.

1.4 CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT

Some consumers are characterized as being more involved in products and shopping than others. A
consumer who is highly involved with a product would be interested in knowing a lot about it before
purchasing. Hence he reads brochures thoroughly, compares brands and models available at different
outlets, asks questions, and looks for recommendations. Thus consumer involvement can be defined as
heightened state of awareness that motivates consumers to seek out, attend to, and think about product
information prior to purchase.

CAUSES OF CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT

The factors that influences consumer involvement include personal, product and situational.
Personal Factors
Self-concept, needs and values are the three personal factors that influence the extent of consumer
involvement in a product or service. The more product image, the value symbolism inherent in it and the
needs it serves are fitting together with the consumer self- image, values and needs, the more likely the
consumer is to feel involved in it. Celebrities for example share a certain self-image, certain values, and
certain needs. They tend to use products and services that reflect their life style. They get highly involved
in purchasing prestigious products like designer wear, imported cars, health care products etc.
Product Factors
The consumer involvement grows as the level of perceived risk in the purchase of a good or service
increases. It is likely that consumers will feel more involved in the purchase of their house than in the
purchase of tooth paste, it is a much riskier purchase.
Product differentiation affects involvement. The involvement increases as the number of alternatives that
they have to choose from increases. This may be due to the fact that consumers feel variety which means
greater risk.
The pleasure one gets by using a product or service can also influence involvement. Some products are a
greater source of pleasure to the consumer than others. Tea and coffee have a high level of hedonic
(pleasure) value compared to, say household cleaners. Hence the involvement is high.
Involvement increases when a product gains public attention. Any product that is socially visible or that
is consumed in public demands high involvement. For example, involvement in the purchase of car is
more than the purchase of household items.
Situational Factors
The situation in which the product is brought or used can generate emotional involvement. The reason for
purchase or purchase occasion affects involvement. For example, buying a pair of socks for you is far
less involved than buying a gift for a close friend.
Social pressure can significantly increase involvement. One is likely to be more self-conscious about the
products and brands one looks at when shopping with friends than when shopping alone.

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The need to make a fast decision also influences involvement. A consumer who needs a new refrigerator
and sees a one- day- only sale‘ at an appliances retailer does not have the time to shop around and
compare different brands and prices. The eminence of the decision heightens involvement.
The involvement is high when the decision is irrevocable, for example when the retailer does not accept
return or exchange on the sale items.
Thus involvement may be from outside the individual, as with situational involvement or from with in the
individual as with enduring involvement. It can be induced by a host of personal-product-and situation
related factors, many of which can be controlled by the marketer. It affects the ways in which consumers
see, process, and send information to others.

1.5 Factors Influencing Consumer behavior

Understanding consumer behavior is critical for a retail business in order to create and develop
effective marketing strategies and employ four Ps of marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, and
Promotion) to generate high revenue in the long run.
Here are some factors which directly influence consumer buying behavior:
I. Market Conditions/Recession
In a well-performing market, customers don’t mind spending on comfort and luxuries. In
contrast, during an economic crisis they tend to prioritize their requirements from basic needs to
luxuries, in that order and focus only on what is absolutely essential to survive.
II. Cultural Background
Every child (a would-be-customer) acquires a personality, thought process, and attitude while
growing up by learning, observing, and forming opinions, likes, and dislikes from its
surrounding. Buying behavior differs in people depending on the various cultures they are
brought up in and different demographics they come from.
III. Social Status
Social status is nothing but a position of the customer in the society. Generally, people form
groups while interacting with each other for the satisfaction of their social needs.
These groups have prominent effects on the buying behavior. When customers buy with family
members or friends, the chances are more that their choice is altered or biased under peer
pressure for the purpose of trying something new. Dominating people in the family can alter the
choice or decision making of a submissive customer.
IV. Income Levels
Consumers with high income, has high self-respect and expects everything best when it comes to
buying products or availing services. Consumers of this class don’t generally think twice on cost
if he is buying a good quality product.
On the other hand, low-income group consumers would prefer a low-cost substitute of the same
product. For example, a professional earning handsome pay package would not hesitate to buy an
iPhone6 but a taxi driver in India would buy a low-cost mobile.
V. Personal Elements
Here is how the personal elements change buying behavior:
Gender: Men and women differ in their perspective, objective, and habits while deciding what
to buy and actually buying it. Researchers at Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative and the
Verde Group, studied men and women on shopping and found that men buy, while women shop.
Women have an emotional attachment to shopping and for men it is a mission. Hence, men shop
fast and women stay in the shop for a longer time. Men make faster decisions, women prefer to
look for better deals even if they have decided on buying a particular product.
Wise retail managers set their marketing policies such that the four Ps are appealing to both the
genders.

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 Age: People belonging to different ages or stages of life cycles make different purchase
decisions.

 Occupation: The occupational status changes the requirement of the products or services. For
example, a person working as a small-scale farmer may not require a high-priced electronic
gadget but an IT professional would need it.
 Lifestyle: Customers of different lifestyles choose different products within the same culture.
 Nature: Customers with high personal awareness, confidence, adaptability, and dominance
are too choosy and take time while selecting a product but are quick in making a buying
decision.
VI. Psychological Elements
Psychological factors are a major influence in customer’s buying behavior. Some of them are:
 Motivation: Customers often make purchase decisions by particular motives such as natural
force of hunger, thirst, need of safety, to name a few.
Perception: Customers form different perceptions about various products or services of the same
category after using it. Hence perceptions of customer leads to biased buying decisions.
 learning: Customers learn about new products or services in the market from various
resources such as peers, advertisements, and Internet. Hence, learning largely affects their buying
decisions. For example, today’s IT-age customer finds out the difference between two products’
specifications, costs, durability, expected life, looks, etc., and then decides which one to buy.
 Beliefs and Attitudes: Beliefs and attitudes are important drivers of customer’s buying
decision.

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 Chapter Two
2.1. Consumer Decision Making
Consumer decision is a careful evaluation of the attributes of a set of products, brands, or services and
rationally selecting the one that solves a clearly recognized need for the least cost. If you think back to a
recent major purchase you have made, you may recall that it was a complex, involved, extended, and
perhaps an ongoing process. It begins with realizing ones need to purchase followed by studying some
catalogs, visiting various stores, talking to friends, weighting alternatives,, and finally got tired of being
indecisive and chose one, paid for it, and bought it home. Now you are eager to find out how it works
out. Not it works fine; you will try to solve one more problem. This Unit draws together many of the
psychological, social, and cultural concepts into a framework for understanding how consumers make
decisions. It considers consumer’s decisions not as the end point rather as the beginning point of a
consumption process.
The customer’s decision to purchase a product or service is an important moment for most marketers that
can signify whether a marketing strategy has been wise, insightful, and effective, or whether it was
poorly planned and missed the market. This section gives you an introductory idea about decision-
making. It analyzes the roles of the decisions maker and the levels of decision-making involvement.
2.2. What Is A Decision?
A decision is the selection of a potion form two or more alternative choices.
This definition implies that, for a person to make a decision, a choice of alternatives must be available.
When a person has a choice between making a purchase and not making a purchase, a choice between
brand X and brand Y, or a choice of spending time doing A or B, that person is in a position to make
decision. Thus, there is almost always a choice that gives an opportunity for consumers to make a
decision. Customer decisions are choices that customers make in the marketplace as buyers, and users.
These decisions include whether to purchase, what to purchase, when to purchase form whom to
purchase, and how to pay for it.
Many consumer decisions focus not on brand attributes but rather on the emotions associated with
acquiring and using the brand, or with the environment in which the product is purchased and used.
A brand may be selected not because of the attributes of a product (Price, style, strength, and other
functional characteristics) but rather because “it makes he buyer feel good” or “his or her friend will like
it”. Purchase decisions can be made by individuals in the households or by groups of people such as
spouses or by committees in business organizations. When individuals make decisions about any
produce, he or she is making the decision for his or her own use.
A single individual plays three customer roles:
a) A user (a person who actually consumes or uses he product or receives the benefits of the service);
b) the payer (the person who influences the purchase, and
c) Buyer (the person who participates in the physical exchange of the product with the marketer).
d) Different individuals could also play these roles. Often, at least two of the roles of a consumer (buyer and
user) come together within a single person.
Individual consumption can occur in three places:
a) At home,
b) In business organizations (at work, at school, and so on), and
c) In public places (restaurants, airplane, on the road, in the park, on the beach, and so on).
 For products consumed at home, purchase decisions tend to be made in advance, substantially ahead of
time.
 Consumption in organizational settings and in public places is much less separated in time from the
purchase decisions.
2.3. Levels of Consumer Decision-Making

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 All consumer decision-making situations do not require the same degree of information search. Based
on a continuum of effort that range from very high to very low level of involvement in searching
information, We can distinguish three levels of consumer decision making.
2.3.1. Habitual (Routinized) Response
At this level of problem solving, consumers have some experience with the product category and a well
established set of criteria with which to evaluate the brands they are considering.
The problem is recognized and internal search or long-term memory provides the single most solution.
In other words, consumers simply review what they already know. Evaluation occurs only not the brand
files to perform as expected. A completely habitual decision does not even include consideration of the
“do not purchase alternative,” pick it up without considering alternative brands, its price, or other
potentially relevant factors
Habitual decision-making can be broken drawn into two distinct categories:
Brand loyalty decisions whereby consumers have been highly involved in selecting a product and used an
expensive decision making process. Thus, they purchase it without further consideration. Consumers are
committed to that product because they believe that It best meet their overall needs and formed and
emotional attachment to it. Repeat purchase whereby customers believe that all brands are the same and
you may not attach much importance to the product category or purchase. Having tried the product and
found satisfactory, customers purchase it using habitual decision-making. Consumers are repeat
purchasers, but they are not committed to it. Competitor can easily attract them.
2.3.2. Limited Problem Solving
This is an intermediate type of decision-making between habitual and extensive decision-making.
Consumers already have established the basic criteria for evaluating the product category and already
know the various brands in this category but unfamiliar with the exact brand, style, and price options that
are currently available. They have not fully established preferences concerning a select group of brands.
As result it places primary emphasis on searching for a suitable alternative with less concern given to
learning about the product itself. They must gather additional brand information to discriminate among
the various brands Limited decision-making might involve in evaluating only the newest of the available
alternative.
Consumers might evaluate their purchases based on the actual or anticipated behaviors of others.
For example, one might order wine with meal depending on the expected orders of his or her
companions. It also occurs in response to some emotional and environmental needs.

2.3.3. Extensive Problems Solving

When consumers have no established criteria for evaluating a product category or specific brands in that
category or have not narrowed the number of brands they will consider to a small and manageable size,
their decision-making efforts can be classified as extensive problem solving. It is needed in response to a
very high level of purchase involvement.
Since it is the most involved decision, it requires much effort, takes a long time in gathering a great deal
of information to establish a set of criteria which to judge specific brands, and is complex. Many
consumers face this process when making their first purchase. They must learn about important attributes
and about which brands offer what benefits and at what cost.
They should develop their own criteria to evaluate which option is best for them. Thus, extensive
internal and external search for information followed by a complex evaluation of multiple alternatives is
very essential. Relatively few consumer decisions reach this extreme level of complexity. However,
products such as buying home, choice of a university, complex recreational items (sleeping bags and
tents), personal computers, and a car are frequently purchased via extended decision making.
2.4. Consumer Decision Making Process
They buying process starts long before actual purchase and continue long after. Thus, marketers have to
focus on the entire continuum of buying process.
Consumer Decision making process may be understood in terms of the following three stages:

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 There are five essentials stages of the consumer decision process.
A. Problem recognition,
B. Information search,
C. Alternative evaluation,
D. Purchase decision, and Post purchase behavior or experience.
This section tries to discuss each stage of the consumer decision-making process in detail.
2.4.1. Problem Recognition
The decision process begins when a customer recognizes problem to be solved or a need to be satisfied
and becomes highly motivated to solve that problem. For example, when a customer notices that he or
she is hungry and needs to get some food, the light bulb has blown out and needs replacement, the roof
has began to leak and needs repairing, the office copier has run out of paper, and errors in the report that
requires redoing, illustrate the existence of a problems
Some of the problems of customers are physical in nature such as hanger and dirt and others are
psychological such as any state of deprivation, discomfort, or wanting felt by a person.
Thus, problems recognition is a realization by the customer that he or she needs to buy something to get
back to the normal state of physical and psychological comfort. Problems can be recognized due to
internal or external stimulus. Internal stimuli are perceived states of discomfort that can be physical or
psychological. External stimulate are marketplace information that leads the customer to realize the
problems. An advertisement about multivitamins, the smell of coffee coming from a cafeteria, exposure
to a new style of dress in a store, marketing communications, product samples window shopping, and so
on serve as external stimuli to arose the recognition of a need. Problem recognition can also occur when
the consumer perceives a gap between his or her current state and desired state.
 This discrepancy arises when one of the desired state or the current state changes.

Major Causes of Change in the DESIRED State

1) Culture, social class, and reference groups heavily influence the desired lifestyle such as clothing,
housing, food, transportation, etc
2) The number and age of children produces changes in consumer desires.
3) Changes in financial status can cause changes in consumer expectations. In periods of declining earnings,
many households are forced to cut back on extras such as entertainment and purchase lower quality
items.
4) New and circumstances: As we encounter changes in our daily lives, we often find that entirely new
categories of consumer needs arise.
5) Purchase of other products or previous decisions: For example, once having bought a compute,
consumers are likely to recognize opportunities for using certain software packages and other accessories.
Similarly, a purchase of car, home, tapes, cameras, etc. Triggers prospects for problem recognition (a
need to buy other items).

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6) With increasing maturity or individual development, excitement and adventure appear to become
less desirable.
7) The individual’s current situation strongly influences the desired condition. An individual with
limited time may desire fast service while the same individual with more time desire friendly service.
8) New product opportunities for purchase: Once the product has been explained to consumers (through
advertising or friends), consumers experience a substantial increase in their desired state for it.
Major Causes of Change in Actual State
1) Past decisions and the performance of the existing product determines one’s existing set of problems
2) Depletion of resources or stock: This refers to running dawn the available supply of products usually
through consumption. It is the cause of most routine purchases or replacement decisions.
3) The normal process of individual development may alter our perceptions of our existing states.
4) Emotions can be important source of problem recognition.
5) With increasing concern for consumer welfare, consumer groups and many governmental agencies
attempt to cause a particular type of problem recognition among consumers.
6) The availability of products affects the actual state. The absence of particular products, lack of awareness
of products, or inability to afford certain products affects the existing state.
7) The current situation has a major impact on perceptions of the actual state. The presence of others,
physical conditions, temporal perspectives and antecedent stats are key elements of the actual state.
Usually hot weather may trigger problem recognition related to air conditioning and depressed mood may
initiate a clothing purchase.
8) Decrease in finances. When the funds run low, consumers will recognize problems that require a
reduction in spending. It leads to repair durable goods rather than replacing them.
9) Increase in finance through a new job, bonus, or gift, the consumer rethinks the desired state to spend the
money.
10) Once the problem is recognized, the remainder of the consumer decision process is devoted to determine
exactly how the consumer will go about satisfying the need.

2.4.2. Information Search

Once the need has been recognized, customers search for information about various alternative ways of
solving the problem. Consumers select brands by considering the following procedures:
The awareness set consisting of brands a customer is aware of an evoked set consists of the brands in a
product or service category that the customer remembers at the time of decision-making Consideration
set: of the brands in the evoked set, not all are deemed to fit your needs. Those considered unfit are
eliminated right away. The remaining brands are termed the consideration set (brands a consumer will
consider buying). Information can bring brands into awareness, evoked, and consideration set. It leads to
reduce uncertainty about a particular issue.
Consumer information search refers to deliberate attempt to gain knowledge about a product, store, or
purchase terms. Sources of information can be categorized into marketer or non-marketer. Marketer
sources are those that come from the marketer of the product itself. These include advertising,
salespersons, product or service literatures and brochures, in store display, and internet or company web
sites.
Non-marketer sources are those that are independent of the marketer’s control. Non-marketer or external
sources of information include: Personal sources such as the opinions, attitudes, and feeling of the family,
friends, neighbors, relatives, and acquaintances with greater knowledge of the product category.
Consumers own past experience with the product.
Professional sources such as pamphlets, articles, books, organizations with relevant expertise, and
personal contacts.
Commercial sources presented tin advertisements and displays, salespersons, dealers, packages,
consumer reports or public sources, consumer-rating organizations.

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 Independent sources such as consumer groups and government agencies.

2.4.3 Basic Types of Information Search

There are four primary modes of consumer information search.
1) Incidental learning: This refers to gaining information when we are not actually making a consumer
decision. Each of us engages in considerable information search each time we look through shops at the
mail. This form of information acquisition increases long-term memory for use later when an appropriate
purchase occasion might occur.
2) Directed search and evaluation: This refers to conscious search for information to make a particular
consumer purchase decision.
3) Systematic search: This is a comprehensive search and evaluation of alternatives. People search
information extensively, consult with a variety of sources, tend to shop with others, take a long time,
deliberate a lot, and are especially price comparison shoppers.
4) Heuristics: These are quick rule of thumb and shortcuts used to make decisions.
2.4.4. Alternative Evaluation
Consumers select one of the several alternatives (brands, dealers, and so on) available to them.
Researchers referred these specific processes and steps as choice models or evaluate criteria. Evaluative
criteria refer to product features or attributes associated with either benefits desired by customers or the
costs that customers incur. They can differ in type, number, and importance.
The criteria consumers use to evaluate the brands are person in terms of important product attributes. It
varies from tangible cost and performance features to intangible factors such as style, taste, prestige, and
brand image.
Equally important in May purchase decision is feelings and emotions surrounding a brand, which are
difficult for consumers to articulate and form marketing mangers to measure or manipulate. The number
of evaluative criteria used depends on the type of the product, the consumer, and the situation. For fairly
simple products such as soap, cigarettes, or toothpaste, the number of evaluative criteria used is few.

2.4.5. Purchase decision

The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer actually buys the product, in the
evaluation stage, the consumer ranks brands and forms purchase intentions. Generally, the consumer’s
purchase decision will be to buy the most preferred brand, but two factors, shown in Figure can come
between the purchase intention and the purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of others.

Figure one Steps between evaluation of alternatives and a purchase decision

Purchase intention is also influenced by unexpected situational factors. The consumer may form a
purchase intention based on factors such as expected family income, expected price and expected benefits
from the product. When the consumer is about to act, unexpected situational factors may arise to change
the purchase intention.

2.5.5. Post purchase behavior or experience

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

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 The marketer’s job does not end when the product is bought. After purchasing the product, the consumer
will be satisfied or dissatisfied and will engage in post purchase behavior of interest to the marketer.
What determines whether the buyer is satisfied or dissatisfied with a purchase? The answer lies in the
relationship between the consumer’s expectations and the product’s perceived performance. If the
product falls short of expectations, the consumer is disappointed; if it meets expectations, the consumer is
satisfied; if it exceeds expectations, the consumer is delighted. Consumers base their expectations on
messages they receive from sellers, friends and other information sources. If the seller exaggerates the
product’s performance, consumer expectations will not be met – a situation that leads to dissatisfaction.
The larger gap between expectations and performance, the greater the consumer’s dissatisfaction. This
fact suggests that the seller should make product claims that represent faithfully the product’s
performance so that buyers are satisfied.

2.3 Types of buying decision behavior

Consumer decision making varies with the type of buying decision. Consumer buying behavior differs
greatly for a tube of toothpaste, a tennis racket, an expensive camera and a new car. More complex
decisions usually involve more buying participants and more buyer deliberation. Figure 2 shows types of
consumer buying behavior based on the degree of involvement and the extent of the differences a
mong brands.

Figure 2.Four types of buying Behavior

I. Complex Buying Behavior

Consumers go through complex buying behavior when they perceive significant brand differences and if
products are expensive, highly self-expressive, risky and purchased infrequently. Because of these
factors, there is high involvement of consumers in the decision process. Consumers first develop a belief,
then attitude and then making a thoughtful purchase choice. Marketers need to help buyers learn about
product class attributes and their relative importance.
II. Dissonance Reducing Buying Behavior
The situations observed in the complex buying behavior also appear in this type of buying behavior with
the exception of insignificant difference among different brands. Hence, buyers may shop around to learn
what is available but buy relatively quickly. They may respond primarily to a good price or convenience.
After purchase, buyers might experience dissonance/discomfort when they notice certain disadvantages
of the purchased product or hear favorable things about brands not purchased. To relieve consumers from
this dissonance, marketers’ after sales communication should provide evidence and support to help
consumers feel about the purchased brand.
III. Habitual Buying Behavior- low involvement of consumers
In habitual buying behavior, consumes’ low involvement and little brand differences exist. Consumers
simply go to the store and reach for a brand especially for low cost and frequently purchased products.
Consumers passively read magazines and watch TV to receive information. Advertizing repetition creates
brand familiarity rather than brand conviction. Simply low price and sales promotion to stimulate product
trial of consumers are expected from marketers because buyers are not highly committed to any brand. In

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 advertisement marketers need to use imagery advertisements and visual symbols because they can be
remembered easily and associated with the brand. TV is more effective than print media.

IV. Variety Seeking Buying Behavior- low involvement of consumers

Consumers choose the brand without much evaluation, or the evaluation of the product is during
consumption. The next time buyers seek another brand not because of dissatisfaction but simply to try
something different. In such product categories the marketing strategy may differ for the market leader
and minor brands. The market leaders will try to encourage habitual buying behavior by dominating shelf
space-keeping shelves fully stocked and running frequent reminder advertising. Challengers will
encourage variety seeking by offering lower prices, coupons, free samples and advertizing that presents
reasons for trying something new.

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