CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO 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, 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.
According to Shifmen, Consumer behavior is a study of how or why individuals spend their
time, energy, and resource while making purchase decisions.
Consumer Behaviour is defined as the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the
processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to
satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.
“Consumer behavior refers to the actions and decision processes of people who purchase
goods and services for personal consumption.”
Consumer behavior refers to “the mental and emotional processes and the physical activities
of people who purchase and use goods and services to satisfy particular needs and wants.”
Technical Terms of Consumer Behavior
 Consumer and Customer
The term ‘customer’ is specific in terms of brand, company, or shop.
It refers to a person who customarily or regularly purchases a particular brand,
purchases a particular company’s product, or purchases from a particular shop. Whereas the
‘consumer’ is a person
who generally engages in the activities - search, select, use, and dispose of
products, services, experience, or ideas.

 Buyers and Users

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The person who buys a particular product may not necessarily be the user or the only user of
this product. Likewise, it is also true that the person who purchases the product may not be
the decision-maker. For example, the father buys a bicycle for his school-going son (the son
is the user), or he buys a pack of toothpaste (used by the entire family), or the mother is the
decision maker when she buys a dress for her three-year-old daughter. The husband and wife
together may buy a car (both share the decision). It is clear that in all cases buyers are not
necessarily the users of the products they buy. They also may not be the persons who make
the product selection decisions.
Selected Consumer Behavior Roles
Role Description
Initiator The initiator is the individual who determines that some need or want is
not being fulfilled and authorizes a purchase to rectify the situation.
Gatekeeper Influences the family’s processing of information. The gatekeeper has
the greatest expertise in acquiring and evaluating the information.
Influencer An influencer is a person who, by some intentional or unintentional
word or action, influences the buying decision, actual purchase, and/or
the use of a product or service.
Decider The person or persons who determine which product or service will be
chosen.
Buyer The buyer is an individual who makes the purchase transaction.
User(s) A user is a person most directly involved in the use or consumption of
the purchased product.

Different household members can perform each of the roles singly or collectively. For
example, in deciding which videocassette to rent for entertainment, parents might decide on
the movie but children may play a role directly by making their preferences known, or
indirectly when parents keep the children’s likes in mind. One parent may go to the store to
get the video, but the entire family may watch it.
Consumer Behavior describes two kinds of consuming entities:
1. The Personal Consumer and;
2. The Organizational Consumer
Personal Consumer
Buys goods for his/her use, for the use of household, or as a gift for friends/families
Organizational Consumer
Includes profit and not-for-profit businesses, government agencies, and institutions

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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.
The 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 concerning the acquisition,
consumption, and disposition of goods, services, Activities, Experiences, People, time, and
ideas by decision-making units over 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 a consumption-related item. That includes:
 What they buy
 Why did they buy it
 When they buy it
 Where they buy it
 How often do they buy it
 How often do 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 to satisfy needs and
desires.

The Totality of About the Of an offering By decision-making overtime

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 Decisions consumption unit

Whether Acquisition • Products • Initiators Days

What Usage • Services • Influencers Weeks
Why Disposition • Time • Information Months
How • Ideas keeper Years
Where • Decider
when • Purchaser
How much • User
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 concern end with consumers and consumer satisfaction.
Customer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing

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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 marketplaces. We talk and discuss with friends
about products and services and get a 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 consumers to help 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.
The societal Perspective is on the macro level. Consumers collectively influenced economic
and social conditions within a society. Consumers strongly influence what will be the
product, and what resources will be used and it affects our standard of living.
1.2 Disciplines involved in the Study of Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior was a relatively new field of study during the second half of the 1960s
without a history or research of its own. It is a subset of human behavior and it is often
difficult to draw a distinct line between consumer-related behavior and other aspects of
human behavior. The discipline of consumer behavior has borrowed heavily from concepts
developed in other disciplines of study such as psychology, sociology, social psychology,
cultural anthropology, and economics.
Psychology is the study of the individual which includes motivation, perception, attitudes,
personality, and learning theories. All these factors are critical to an understanding of
consumer behavior and help us to comprehend the consumption-related needs of individuals,
their actions and responses to different promotional messages and products, and the way their
experiences and personality characteristics influence product choices.
Sociology is the study of groups. When individuals form groups, their actions are sometimes
quite different from the actions of those very individuals when they are operating alone. The
influences of group memberships, family, and social class on consumer behavior are
important for the study of consumer behavior.
Social psychology: is a combination of sociology and psychology and studies how an
individual operates in a group. It also studies how those whose opinions they respect such as

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peers, reference groups, their families, and opinion leaders influence individuals in their
consumption behavior.
Cultural anthropology is the study of human beings in society. It explores the development
of core beliefs, values, and customs that individuals inherit from their parents and
grandparents, which influence their purchase and consumption behavior. It also studies
subcultures and helps compare consumers of different nationalities and cultures.
Economics: An important aspect of the study of economics is the study of how consumers
spend their funds, how they evaluate alternatives, and how they make decisions to get
maximum satisfaction from their purchases. Even though consumer behavior, as a field of
study, is relative of recent origin, it has grown enormously and has become a full-blown
discipline of its own and is used in the study of most programs of marketing study.
1.3 Who Benefits from the Study of Consumer Behavior?
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
policymakers 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.
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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 an 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 an 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
grips 11 people.

CHAPTER TWO
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 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

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complex, involved, extended, and perhaps ongoing process. It begins with realizing one's
need to purchase followed by studying some catalogs, visiting various stores, talking to
friends, weighing alternatives, and finally getting tired of being indecisive and choosing one,
paying for it, and buying it at 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 consumers’ decisions, not as the endpoint but 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 decision-maker and the
levels of decision-making involvement.
2.1. What Is A Decision?
A decision is the selection of a potion from two or more 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 a decision. Thus, there is almost always a choice that allows 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 from 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 the buyer feel good” or “his or
her friend will like it”. Purchase decisions can be made by individuals in households or by
groups of people such as spouses or by committees in business organizations. When
individuals make decisions about any product, he or she is deciding for their use.
A single individual plays three customer roles:
a) A user (a person who consumes or uses the product or receives the benefits of the
service);
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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, airplanes, 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 public places is much less separated in time
from the purchase decisions.
2.32 Levels of Consumer Decision-Making
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.
2.2.1. 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
solution. In other words, consumers simply review what they already know. Evaluation
occurs only not the brand files 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 I
best meet their overall needs and formed an emotional attachment to it. Repeat purchase
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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 it
satisfactory, customers purchase it using habitual decision-making. Consumers are repeat
purchasers, but they are not committed to it. Competitors can easily attract them.
2.2.2. 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 are 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 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 a meal depending on the expected orders of his or
her companions. It also occurs in response to some emotional and environmental needs.
2.2.3. 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 o 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 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 a home, choice of a university, complex
recreational items (sleeping bags and tents), personal computers, and a car are frequently
purchased via extended decision-making.
2.3. Consumer Decision-Making Process
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The buying process starts long before the actual purchase and continues long after. Thus,
marketers have to focus on the entire continuum of the buying process.

Problem Recognition

Information Search

Purchase Decision

Evaluation
Post purchase
Behavior
There are five essential 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 a 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 begun 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 such as hangers and dirt and others are
psychological such as any state of deprivation, discomfort, or wanting to be felt by a person.
Thus, problem 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 stimuli. Internal stimuli are perceived states of
discomfort that can be physical or psychological. External stimulate are marketplace

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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 states or the current status 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 produce 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 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
computer, consumers are likely to recognize opportunities for using certain software
packages and other accessories. Similarly, the purchase of a car, home, tapes, cameras,
etc. Triggers prospects for problem recognition (a need to buy other items).
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 desires 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 down the available supply of
products usually through consumption. It is the cause of most routine purchases or
replacement decisions.
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3) The normal process of individual development may alter our perceptions of our existing
states.
4) Emotions can be an 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 a 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 repairing 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 determining 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 consists of brands a customer is aware of An evoke de 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, evoke, and consider set. It leads to reduce uncertainty about a particular issue.
Consumer information search refers to a 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 works of literature and brochures,
in-store display, and internet or company websites.
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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 feelings of the family, friends, neighbors, relatives, and acquaintances with greater
knowledge of the product category. Consumers' own experience with the product.
Professional sources such as pamphlets, articles, books, organizations with relevant
expertise, and personal contacts.
Commercial sources are presented in advertisements and displays, salespersons, dealers,
packages, consumer reports or public sources, and consumer-rating organizations.
Independent sources such as consumer groups and government agencies.
2.4.2.1. 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 making a
consumer decision. Each of us engages in considerable information search each time we
look through shops in 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 a 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 rules of thumb and shortcuts used to make decisions.
2.4.3. Alternative Evaluation
Consumers select one of the several alternatives (brands, dealers, and so on) available to
them. Researchers referred to these specific processes and steps as choice models or
evaluation criteria.
Evaluative criteria refer to product features or attributes associated with either benefit 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 a 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's purchase decision are feelings and emotions surrounding a
brand, which are difficult for consumers to articulate and form marketing managers to
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measure or manipulate. The number of evaluative criteria used depends on the type of
product, the consumer, and the situation. For fairly simple products such as soap, cigarettes,
or toothpaste, the number of evaluative criteria used are few
2.4.4. Purchase decision
The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer 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 the 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.
2.4.5. 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.
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

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dissatisfaction. This fact suggests that the seller should make product claims that represent
faithfully the product’s performance so that buyers are satisfied.
2.5. 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 among 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 an attitude, and then make 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 except for insignificant differences 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

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In habitual buying behavior, consumers’ 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.
Advertising repetition creates brand familiarity rather than brand conviction. Simply low prices
and sales promotions to stimulate product trials of consumers are expected from marketers
because buyers are not highly committed to any brand. In an advertisement,s 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
advertising that presents reasons for trying something new.

18 HUCBE, CB Handout, 2023