Buyer Behaviors

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Figure 4-1 Basic Model of Consumer Decision Making
 Consumer
Purchasing Process
• Problem Recognition
• measured by a difference between consumer’s ideal state
and actual state
• Consumers recognize a need or want
– Physical
– Social
– Psychological
• Can be triggered by advertising
• Motives: Factors that compel a consumer to take a
particular action
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• The first step in the consumer decision-
making process is the recognition of a need
or want. It can be a physical need or want,
such as thirst or hunger. It can be a social
need or want, such as seeing a friend with
the latest cell phone or a new car. It can be a
psychological need or want, such as
purchasing a new outfit to wear to feel good
about themselves, or because they are
depressed and buying something lifts their
spirits. Many purchases are triggered by
running out of something, such as groceries,
food, and beverages. But, advertising can
also trigger a need or want. The desire can
be reinforced through seeing someone else
using the product.
Figure 4-2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, from the base of
the pyramid to the top, are:
• Physiological needs (hunger, thirst)
• Safety needs (security, protection)
• Social needs (sense of belonging, love)
• Esteem needs (self-esteem, recognition, status)
• Self-actualization needs (self-development and
realization)
• Marketers devote considerable attention to
examining motives, which are factors that compel
a consumer to take a particular action. Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs theory suggests five basic
levels of human needs, arranged in a hierarchy
based on their importance.
•Lower-level needs are an ongoing source of motivation
for consumer purchase behavior.
•People are unlikely to move through the needs
hierarchy in a stair-step manner.
•Because basic, lower-level needs are met in most
developed countries, marketers often target
consumers’ higher-level needs in order to sell
products.
•Advertising can be used to show how a brand can fulfill
these needs.
Volvo uses an appeal to security needs
by focusing on safety
 Information Search
• Internal Search:
• Think about brands
• Quickly reduce options
• Choice based on past experience
• Brand awareness and brand equity are
important
• External Search:
• External information comes from many sources,
including:
• Friends and relatives
• Other consumers
• Books, magazines, newspapers, and searches of
the Internet
• Advertisements
• In-store displays
• Salespeople
• The internal search for information is a mental activity.
Consumers search their memories for information. They
think about brands they have purchased in the past. If the
brand met their needs and the experience was good, it is
very likely they will buy the same brand again. If not, they
will conduct a longer internal search or move to the
external search for additional information. Past experience
is an important part of an internal search and how long
the individual thinks about various brands. Consumers
typically reduce the number of options quickly and
concentrate on only a couple or small set of options. With
internal search, brand awareness and brand equity are
important. If a consumer is not aware of a brand, such as
Kraft, then it will not be considered as a purchase option
unless the search process moves to an external search.
The higher the level of brand equity, the more likely the
brand will be purchased with little mental effort and no
additional consideration of other brands.
• Perception
– Receiving, selecting, organizing, and interpreting
information to create a meaningful picture of the
world
• Perception is an individual process; it depends
on internal factors, such as a person’s beliefs,
experiences, needs, moods, and expectations.
• The process is also influenced by the
characteristics of a stimulus, such as its size,
color, and intensity, and the context in which it
is seen or heard.
• Evaluation of Alternatives
– Comparing the brands one has identified as being
capable of:
• Solving the consumption problem
• Satisfying the needs or motives that initiated the decision
process
– Evaluative Criteria and Consequences
• Evaluative criteria: Dimensions or attributes of a product
that are used to compare different alternatives
– Objective or subjective
– Evoked set – Subset of all the brands of which the
consumer is aware
• Size depends on the:
– Importance of the purchase
– Time and energy spent comparing alternatives
 Consumer Attitude

• Affective
• Cognitive
• Conative

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• Consumer attitude can be impacted by effective
marketing communications. Attitude is the
mental position a person takes towards a topic,
person, or an event that influences an
individual’s feelings, perceptions, learning
processes, and behaviors. Attitude consists of
three components.
• Affective is the feeling and emotional part of
attitude.
• Cognitive is the individual’s knowledge,
understanding, and interpretation of a topic,
person, or thing.
• Conative is an individual's intentions, actions,
or behavior.
 Attitude Sequence

Cognitive  Affective  Conative

Affective  Conative  Cognitive

Conative  Cognitive  Affective

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• In terms of influencing or changing consumer
attitudes, marketers have three options. The most
common sequence is to first impact a person’s
cognitive beliefs and knowledge about a product, then
develop emotions and feelings for the brand, which
then results in purchasing the product. The second
sequence begins with affective, the feelings and
emotions. The marketing message is designed to elicit
an emotional response followed by the purchase
action. Then once the person has tried the product,
he/she will make judgments about it. The third
sequence begins with the conative. The idea is to get
the person to try it. Food items and other low cost
products often use this approach. After trying a
product, a person will develop thoughts about it and
then decide if he/she likes it or not. Feelings follow the
knowledge. The sequence determines the content and
how an ad is designed. Ads aimed at the affective
component will look different than ads designed to
impact the cognitive or conative component of attitude.
• Integration Processes and Decision Rules
– Integration processes
• Combining product knowledge, meanings, and beliefs
to evaluate alternatives

• Postpurchase Evaluation
– Satisfaction—Consumer’s expectations are met or
exceeded
– Dissatisfaction—Product performance is below
expectations
– Cognitive dissonance: Psychological tension
experienced after a difficult purchase choice