Consumer Behavior
Professor Lawrence Feick
University of Pittsburgh
Outline
• Consumer decision process
• Interpersonal influences on consumer
behavior
• Personal influences on consumer behavior
• Organizational buying
Consumer decision process
Personal
PersonalInfluences
Influenceson
onBuyer
BuyerBehavior
Behavior
Problem
recognition
Information
search
Evaluation of
alternatives
Purchase
decision &
action
Interpersonal Influences on Buyer Behavior
Post
purchase
Problem recognition
• Triggered by
– external inputs: car breaks down, pass a bakery,
see an ad for a computer
– internal inputs: hunger, thirst, etc..
Information search
• Internal information sources: memory for
brands, attributes, importance weights
• External information sources:
– company sponsored sources: ads, brochures,
direct mail, salesperson, etc.
– experiential sources: in-store trial
– independent sources: evaluation and enthusiast
magazines
– personal sources: Uncle Bob
Evaluation of alternatives
• Needed to evaluate:
–
–
–
–
set of brands and attributes
brand performance on attributes
attribute importances
process for combining brand and attribute
information
Consider: choice of a car
Car choice: often a staged
process
• Stage 1: Narrow the set of all alternatives
(in US, hundreds of brands) to a smaller
consideration (also called evoked) set
– often done on basis of meeting the threshold on
one or a few attributes (noncompensatory)
• Stage 2: Choose the best alternative from
the consideration set
– often done comparing the “weighted average
scores” across cars (linear-compensatory)
Example: stage 1
• Individual narrows choice to (forms
consideration set that includes) small sedans
based on objectives, price range, operating
costs, etc
Example: stage 2
• Choosing a best alternative from the
consideration set
• Formation of a brand by attribute matrix
Brand by attribute matrix: cars
Fuel
economy
Ease/cost of
repair
Reliability
Price
Civic
4
2
5
2
Golf
5
3
3
2
Excel
5
3
2
4
Cavalier
4
5
2
5
For each attribute, 1=poor performance, 5=excellent performance
Bob & Mary’s attribute weights
for cars
Fuel
economy
Ease/cost of
repair
Reliability
Price
Bob’s attribute
weights
.3
.3
.1
.3
Mary’s
attribute
weights
.1
.3
.5
.1
For each attribute, 1=poor performance, 5=excellent performance
Mary’s total scores for cars
Fuel
Ease/cost Reliability
economy of repair
Price
Total
Score
Civic
4
2
5
2
3.7
Golf
5
3
3
2
3.1
Excel
5
3
2
4
2.8
Cavalier
4
5
2
5
3.4
Attribute
weights
.1
.3
.5
.1
1.0
For each attribute, 1=poor performance, 5=excellent performance
Bob’s total scores for cars
Fuel
Ease/cost Reliability
economy of repair
Price
Total
Score
Civic
4
2
5
2
2.9
Golf
5
3
3
2
3.3
Excel
5
3
2
4
3.8
Cavalier
4
5
2
5
4.4
Attribute
weights
.3
.3
.1
.3
1.0
For each attribute, 1=poor performance, 5=excellent performance
Purchase decision (choice)
• Outcome of evaluation:
– preferred brand or brands
Question: What do you do
• ...if you are Hyundai and a segment that you
want to attract thinks like Mary?
Purchase action
•
•
•
•
Impact of budget constraints
Impact of availability of product
Impact of immediacy of need
Impact of point of purchase:
– presentation on shelf, displays, packaging,
salesperson, price specials
Postpurchase
• Does the product meet expectations?
• Does the product perform satisfactorily?
• Dissatisfaction if either is no
Some thoughts on consumer
thinking: how much thought?
Extended Problem Solving
Cola
Limited Problem Solving
Routinized Response Behavior
Some thoughts on consumer
thinking: where decisions occur
• Planned decisions (the brand-level decision
is made prior to store visit)
– specifically planned purchases
• In-store decisions
– generally planned purchases
– substituted purchases
– unplanned (impulse) purchases
Planned and in-store purchases
Product
Category
Specific
Planned
Total
In store
Overall
30%
70%
Hair care
23
77
Oral
hygiene
Cereal
29
71
33
67
Soft drinks
40
60
Source: 1995 POPAI Consumer Buying Habits Study
Influences on the decision
making process
• Personal influence
• Interpersonal influence
Personal influences
•
•
•
•
•
Needs and Maslow’s hierarchy
Perception
Attitudes
Learning
Self concept
A focus on…needs
• Needs: an imbalance between desired and
actual states
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Self
Actualization
Esteem
Social/belongingness
Safety
Physiological needs
Marketing implications of
Maslow
• For a brand to be considered it must satisfy
some need
• Hierarchical: lower needs met before upper
needs
• Countries, cultures, segments can differ in
focus on needs
Marketing implications of
Maslow’s hierarchy(text: Table 8.1)
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
Products
Vitamins, herbal supplements, medicines, low-fat foods,
exercise equipment, fitness clubs
Quaker Oatmeal--”Oh, what those oats can do!”
Boost nutritional drink--”Your body will thank you.”
Marketing Kaiser-Permanente--”More people turn to us for good
approaches health.”
Ginkoba ginseng--”The thinking person’s supplement.”
Advil--”Advanced medicine for pain.”
SAFETY NEEDS
Products
Car accessories, burglar alarm systems, retirement
investments, insurance, smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors
Allstate Insurance--”You’re in good hands with Allstate.”
Ford Motor Company--”Only your mother is more
Marketing
obsessed with your safety.”
approaches Lysol Basin Tub & Tile Cleaner--”This is no place for
germs.”
Merrill Lynch--”A tradition of trust.”
BELONGINGNESS NEEDS
Products
Beauty aids, entertainment, clothing
Carnival Cruise Lines--”The most popular cruise line in
Marketing
the world.”
approaches Sears Mainframe Junior Dept.--”Got to have the clothes.”
Lady Foot Locker--”One store. Every woman.”
ESTEEM NEEDS
Products
Clothing, cars, jewelry, liquors, hobbies, beauty spa
services
Jeep--”There’s only one.”
Movado Museum Watch--”The making of a legendary
Marketing
classic.”
approaches
Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin--”Pour something priceless.”
BMW--”The ultimate driving machine.”
SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS
Products
Education, cultural events, sports, hobbies
Nike--”If you let me play, I will like myself more.”
Marketing
Outward Bound Schools--”The adventure lasts a lifetime.”
approaches
Danskin--”Not just for dancing.”
Interpersonal influence
•
•
•
•
Culture
Reference groups
Opinion leaders
Family
Reference groups
• Groups whose values affect individuals’
behavior
– Membership
– Aspirational
– Disassociative
• Examples? Implications?
Opinion leaders
• Individuals who:
– know about a product category
– learn about new products earlier
– provide information and influence decisions
• Examples? Implications?
Family
• Key influence
• Family lifecycle
– incorporates age, marital status, presence of
children
• Key trends
– increase in sharing of decision rights
– changes in family structure
– influence of children
Family life cycle
Young
single
Newly
Married
Full
Nest
Empty
Nest
Solitary
Survivor
Summary: what do we know?
• Purchase decision process
• Influences on the process
– personal influences
– interpersonal influences