UNIT II

Consumer Behavior
 Consumer behavior is 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.

 It blends elements from psychology, sociology,

social anthropology, and economics.

 It attempts to understand the decision-making

processes of buyers, both individually and in
groups. It studies characteristics of individual
consumers such as demographics and behavioral
variables in an attempt to understand people's
wants.
Factors influencing consumer behavior:

There are 4 main types of factors influencing consumer

behavior:
• Cultural factors,
• Social factors,
• Personal factors and
• Psychological factors.?
1. Cultural factors
1.1. Culture:
• The set of basic values, perceptions,
wants, and behaviors learned by a
member of society from family and
other important institutions.

• Culture is crucial when it comes to

understanding the needs and behaviors
of an individual.

• Every group or society has a culture,

and cultural influence on buying
behavior may vary greatly from country
to country or even region to region.

• Marketers must always try to spot

cultural shifts so as to discover new
1. Cultural factors
1.2. Sub-culture:

• Subcultures are the group of people

with shared value systems ​based on
common life experiences and
situations.

• Subcultures include nationalities,

religions, ethnic groups, age groups,
gender, geographic regions, etc.

• The subcultures are often considered

by the brands for the segmentation
of a market in order to adapt a
product or a communication strategy
to the values ​or the specific needs of
this segment.
 1. Cultural factors
1.3. Social class:
1.Relatively permanent and ordered
divisions in a society whose members
share similar values, interests, and
behaviors.
2.Seven American social classes:
• Upper upper class
• Lower upper class
• Upper middle class
• Middle class
• Working class
• Upper lower class
• Lower lower class

Marketers are interested in the social class

because people within a given social class
tend to exhibit similar buying behavior.
 1. Social factors:
1.A consumer’s behavior also is
influenced by social factors, such as
the consumer’s :

• Small groups
• Social networks
• Family
• Social roles and
• Status
 2. Social factors
2.1. Groups and Social networks:
• The membership groups of an individual
are social groups to which he belongs
and which will influence him. The
membership groups are usually
related to its social origin, age, place of
residence, work, hobbies, leisure, etc.

• The influence level may vary depending

on individuals and groups. But is
generally observed common
consumption trends among the
members of a same group.

• The understanding of the specific

features (mindset, values​​, lifestyle,
 2. Social factors
2.1. Groups and Social networks:
• Reference groups expose a person to new behaviors and lifestyles, influence the person’s attitudes
and self-concept, and create pressure to conform that may affect the person’s product and brand
choice.

 Aspirational group: group will have a direct influence on the consumer who, wishing to belong
to this group and look like its members, will try to buy the same products.

 Word-of-mouth influence: the impact of the personal words and recommendations of trusted
friends, family, associations, and other consumers on buying behavior.

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

 Online social networks: online social communities–blogs, online social media, brand
communities, and other online forums-where people socialize or exchange information and
opinions.
2. Social factors
2.2. Family:
• Family members can strongly influence
buying behavior. It acts as the most
important consumer buying
organization in society.

• Marketers are interested in the roles

and influence of the husband, wife, and
children on the purchase of different
products and services.

• Shifting roles signal a new marketing

reality.
 2. Social factors
2.3. Roles and status:
The position of an individual within his family,
his work, his country club, his group of friends,
etc.. – All this can be defined in terms of role
and social status.

• A social role is a set of attitudes and

activities that an individual is supposed to
have and do according to his profession and
his position at work, his position in the
family, his gender, etc.. – and the
expectations of the people around him.

• Social status meanwhile reflects the rank

and the importance of this role in society or
in social groups. Some are more valued
than others.

• The social role and status profoundly

3. Personal factors:
• A buyer’s decisions also are influenced by personal
characteristics such as the buyer’s occupation, age
and stage, economic situation, lifestyle, personality,
and self-concept.
3.1. Occupation:
• A person’s occupation affects the goods and services
bought.
• Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that
have an above-average interest in their products and
services.
3.2. Age and Life stage:

• A consumer does not buy the same

products or services at 20 or 70 years.
His lifestyle, values​​, environment,
activities, hobbies, and consumer habits
evolve throughout his life.

• For example, during his life, a consumer

could change his diet from unhealthy
products (fast food, ready meals, etc..)
to a healthier diet, during mid-life with
family before needing to follow a little
later low cholesterol diet to avoid health
problems.

• The factors influencing the buying

decision process may also change. For
example, the “social value” of a brand
generally plays a more important role in
the decision for a consumer at 25 than
3.3. Economic
situation:
• The purchasing power of an individual will
have, of course, a decisive influence on his
behavior and purchasing decisions based on
his income and his capital.

• This obviously affects what he can afford,

his perspective on money, and the level of
importance of price in his purchasing
decisions. But it also plays a role in the kind
of retailers where he goes or the kind of
brands he buys.

• As for social status, some consumers may

also look for the “social value” of products
they buy in order to show “external
indications” of their incomes and their level
of purchasing power.
3.4. Lifestyle:
• The lifestyle of an individual includes
all of their activities, interests, values ​
, and opinions.

• The lifestyle of a consumer will

influence his behavior and purchasing
decisions.

• For example, a consumer with a

healthy and balanced lifestyle will
prefer to eat organic products and go
to specific grocery stores, will do
some jogging regularly (and therefore
will buy shoes, clothes, and specific
products), etc…
3.5. Personality and self-
concept:
• Personality refers to the unique psychological
characteristics that distinguish a person or
group.

• It materializes into some traits such as

confidence, sociability, autonomy, charisma,
ambition, openness to others, shyness, curiosity,
adaptability, etc…

• Brands also have personalities, and consumers

are likely to choose brands with personalities
that match their own.

• While the self-concept is the image that the

individual has or would like to have.

• In order to attract more customers, many brands

are trying to develop an image and a personality
that conveys the traits and values ​- real or
desired – of consumers they are targeting.
4. Psychological factors
A person’s buying choices are further
influenced by four major psychological factors:
 Motivation
 Perception
 Learning
 Beliefs and Attitudes.
4. Psychological factors
4.1. Motivation:
1.A motive is a need that is sufficiently
pressing to direct the person to seek
satisfaction with the need.
2.It is usually working at a subconscious
level and is often difficult to measure.
3.The two most popular motivation
theories are:
• Sigmund Freud
• Abraham Maslow’s theory
4. Psychological factors
4.2. Perception:
• Perception is the process by which
people select, organize, and
interpret information to form a
meaningful picture of the world.

• Depending on his experiences, beliefs,

and personal characteristics, an
individual will have a different
perception from another.
4. Psychological factors
4.4. Beliefs and attitudes:
• A belief is a descriptive thought that a
person holds about something.

• Marketers are interested in the beliefs that

people formulate about specific products
and services because there beliefs make up
product and brand images that affect buying
behavior.

• Attitude is a person’s consistently favorable

or unfavorable evaluations, feelings, an
tendencies towards an object or idea.

• Beliefs as well as attitudes are generally

well-anchored in the individual’s mind and
are difficult to change. For many people,
their beliefs and attitudes are part of their
 1. Societal Marketing Concept

The first stage of the buyer decision process is

in which the consumer recognizes a problem or
need.
The need can be triggered by:
• Internal Stimuli (For e.g. hunger, thirst)
• External stimuli (For e.g. Advertisement or
friend’s influence)

Two different need recognition styles:

• Actual state
• Desired state
2. Information Search

 It is that stage in which the consumer is

motivated to search for more information.
 Two basic sources of information are:
• Internal sources
• External sources

 Consumers can obtain information from

any several sources:
• Personal sources
• Commercial sources
• Public sources
• Experiential sources
 3. Evaluation of Alternatives

1.It is that stage in which the consumer uses

the information to evaluate alternative
brands in the choice set.
2.The evaluation depends on individual
consumers’ buying situation.
3.Evaluation is usually taken care of by
evaluating various attributes of products or
services.
4.Marketers tend to promote more on the
attributes that consumers take into
consideration for evaluating a product or
service.
4. Purchase Decision

1.The buyer’s decision about which brand to purchase.

2.After the evaluation stage consumer will form purchase
intention.
3.Factors that come between purchase intention and
purchase decision are:
• Attitudes of others
• Unexpected situational factors.
 5. Post-purchase

1.The stage of the buyer decision process in which

consumers take further action after purchase,
based on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
2.To determine whether the customer is satisfied or
dissatisfied lies in the relationship between the
consumer’s expectations and the product’s
perceived performance. (next image explains)
3.Not all purchases are off limit of drawbacks after
purchase, it results in Cognitive dissonance,
4.Consumers feel uneasy about the brand
purchased and missing out on the better option
of brands.