Consumer Behavior & Psychology
Definition
 Consumer buyer behavior refers to the buying behavior of
final consumers- individuals and households that buy goods
for consumption- Kotler
 All these final consumers make up the consumer market
Model of Consumer Behaviour
 How do consumers respond to various marketing efforts the
company might use?
Characteristics Affecting Consumer
behavior
Cultural Factors
 Culture- set of basic values, perceptions and behavior learned by
a member of society from family and other institutions
 Subculture- a group of people with shared value systems based
on common life experiences
 Social class- relatively permanent and ordered divisions in a
society whose members share similar values and behavior
Social Factors
 Groups- 2 or more people interact to achieve mutual goals.
Reference groups serve as points of comparison and influence
buyer behavior. Opinion leaders drive trends and influence mass
opinion
 Family- buying roles have changed with evolving consumer
lifestyles. Wives, children play a larger role.
 Roles & Status- a person plays different roles in their lives and is
accorded a status based on these roles.
Personal Factors
 Age & life-cycle stage- impact of the family life cycle needs
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to be considered.
Occupation
Economic situation
Lifestyle- depicts a persons pattern of living. Lifestyle
profiling helps to understand persons method of interaction
with the world
Personality & self concept- can be used to describe certain
characteristics like sociability, aggressiveness, etc.
Psychological Factors
 Motivation- a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the
person to seek satisfaction
 Perception- process by which people select, organize &
interpret information to form a meaningful picture
 Learning – changes in an individuals behavior arising from
experience
 Beliefs & Attitudes- belief is a descriptive thought that a
person has about something. Attitude describes a persons
consistent tendency towards and object/idea. Attitudes are
difficult to change
Types of Buying Decision Behaviour
Complex Buying Behaviour
Type of Product
•
Expensive
•
Risky
•
Purchased infrequently
•
Highly self-expressive
Brand
eg: Electronics
 Must understand the information gathering and evaluation behaviour of buyers
 Need to help buyers learn about the product –class, attributes and relative importance
 Describe benefits – Print media
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Motivate stores sales people and buyers acquaintance to influence the final brand choice
Dissonance-reducing Buying Behaviour
Type of product
•
Expensive
•
Risky
•
Purchased infrequently
•
Highly self-expressive
Brand
 Provide a good price
 Offer convenience
eg; Carpets, Furniture
 Mitigate dissonance - provide after sales communication with evidence and support to
help consumers feel good about there product
Habitual Buying Behaviour
Type of product
•
In expensive
•
Frequently Purchased
•
Familiar/ loyal
Brand
 Provide a good price
eg; personnel care products
 Offer Promotions
 Create top of mind – use colors symbols (TV led advertising)
Variety Seeking Buying Behaviour
Type of product
•
In expensive
•
Frequently Purchased
•
Familiar
•
Large choice/variety
Brand
 Market Leader – create habitual behaviour
eg; confectionary
 Dominating shelf space
 Stocking up
 Reminder advertisements
 Challengers
 Offers lower price/special deals
 Coupons, samples
 Advertising that presence reason for trying something new
The Buyer Decision Process
The Buyer Decision Process for New
Products
Consumer go through five stages in the process of
adopting a new product:
 Awareness
 Interest
 Evaluation
 Trial
 Adoption
Zero Moment of Truth
Individual Differences in
Innovativeness
Marketing efforts in innovation
Influence of Product Characteristics on
Rate of Adoption
 Relative advantage
 Compatibility
 Complexity
 Divisibility
 Communicability
Business Buyer Behavior
Major types of Buying situations
 Straight re-buy- buyer routinely reorders without any
modification
 Modified re-buy- buyer may modify product specs, prices,
terms, etc.
 New task- purchases a product or service for the first time
 Systems selling- buying a packaged solution from a single
seller
Participants in the Business buying
 Users- Members who will actually use the product
 Influencers- people who affect the buying decision. Will
provide information to evaluate alternatives
 Buyers- people with authority to select buyer and arrange
terms of purchase
 Deciders – have the power to select/approve the vendor
 Gatekeepers- control the flow of information to others
Major influences on business buyer
behavior
Stages of the business buying process