Consumer Behavior Unit I Review

Unit I: Introduction to Consumer

Behavior and Decision-Making

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I

1. Discuss how the field of marketing is influenced by the actions of consumers.

1.1 Analyze how the actions of consumers impact an organization.

3. Explain how consumers interpret information about products and people.

3.1 Describe factors that will impact how consumers view and ultimately purchase products and services.

7. Explain the steps of the consumer decision-making process. 7.1 Explain the steps in the consumer decision-making process and how they relate to consumer behavior.

Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior is the process of individuals or groups purchasing or using products or services to satisfy desires and needs.

• Consumers are very different based on age, gender, family, social class, race, and lifestyles.

Global community (Geralt, 2013)

Marketing’s Impact on Consumers

• Popular culture: This encompasses forms of entertainment that the mass market produces and consumes. It is used as inspiration for marketers.

• Role theory: This is the view that much of consumer behavior resembles actions in a play. Marketers must provide each of us “actors” with the props we need to play our various roles.

Consumption

• Motivation: These are processes that lead people to behave as they do.

• Drive theory: These are biological needs.

• Wants vs. Needs:

– Need for affiliation (e.g., people in groups)

– Need for power (e.g., sports cars, extra loud music)

– Need for uniqueness (e.g., individual qualities)

Apple (Zjazjoie, 2012)

Consumer Decisions • Constructive processing: This is

the thought process that evaluates the effort the consumer will need to make a choice versus the amount of effort to get the job done.

• Three buckets of consumer decision-making are listed below. – Cognitive is deliberate and

rational. – Habitual is behavioral and

unconscious. – Affective is emotional and

instantaneous.

Influences

• Cognitive

• Habitual

• Affective

Information

• Searching

• Choices

• Communication

Marketing

• Market Research

• Strategy

Cognitive Decision Making Steps involved with the consumer decision process are listed below.

• Step 1: Problem recognition – Consumers recognize a need.

• Step 2: Information search – Consumers search for potential products or services that will

fulfill the need.

• Step 3: Evaluate alternatives – Consumers evaluate multiple alternatives.

• Step 4: Product choice/decision – Consumers decide to purchase a product or service.

Habitual Decision-Making Habitual decision-making describes the choices we make with little effort.

• Purchase momentum: This occurs when our initial impulse purchases increase the likelihood that we will buy even more.

• Maximizing solution: This is the desire to arrive at the best result possible.

• Prospect theory: This describes how people make choices in terms of gains and losses.

Nutella (WerbeFabrik, 2017)

Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts

• Co-variation: This can be associations among events that may or may not influence each other.

• Country of origin: This is an association of products to certain countries.

• Familiar brand names: This is associated with reliability.

• Higher prices: This is associated with increased quality.

References

Geralt. (2013). Hand, ball, faces, world [Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/hand-ball-faces-world-population-1592415/

WerbeFabrik. (2017). Nutella, chocolate, delicious [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/nutella-chocolate-delicious-sweet- 2064069/

Zjazjoie. (2012). Apple, red or green, fresh [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/apple-green-or-red-fresh-choice-1676683/

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