Why People Buy
Influences
Psychological
Social and Interpersonal
Situational
Psychological Influences
1. Needs and Motives
All purchases are driven by needs – gaps between buyers’ current conditions and
their ideal conditions. Needs create motives and wants.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-actualization
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
*Refer to the chart in class
3. Attitude and Life Style

Attitude is a lasting, general evaluation of objects.
 Three attitude components: Cognitive, Affective, Behavioral
 Attitude (+ Demographics)  Life-style
 VALS
 refer to chart in class
Station Break
Go to the SRI International Web site at www.future.sri.com and participate in an actual
VALS lifestyle survey.
Next, discuss the characteristics of the online shopper or e-buyer.
How is this group different from the eight groups described in Figure 4.5?
What are your thoughts on how to construct a VALS scheme that would aid advertisers
that are seeking to advertise internationally? Notice how SRI has approached this
problem.
THE NINE VALS TYPES (Exhibit 6-16, page 197)
 Need Driven
 Survivors: Elderly females who might be poorly educated and ill, or innercity or rural families.
 Sustainers: Mostly young and unemployed.Struggling to find a place in
society.
 Outer-Directed
 Belongers: The solid middle class; 4 out of 10 Americans. They value
security, stability, and group identification; they don't like to take risks or
be flashy.
 Emulators: One in every 10 Americans. They spend ostentatiously, tend to
be in debt, and are a study in frustrated ambitions.
 Achievers: One out of five. Older, wealthy, well educated, married
homeowners. Emulators are struggling to join this group.
 Inner-Directed
 I-Am-Me: Mostly students. Passionate about self-expression, loud music,
outrageous clothes, and opposition to the Outer-Directed.
 Experientials: Believe In education, saving the environment, and having
peak experiences. Many are former I-Am-Mes.
 Socially Conscious: The best-educated group. Early middle-aged adults
who moved from flower power to Vietnam, Watergate and The Big Chill.
Although suspicious of large institutions, many make comfortable livings
and have influential jobs.
 Integrated
 Combines Outer and Inner values. Mature and psychologically balanced.
One In
50 Americans.
Social and Interpersonal Influences
Division of social classes
 Changing family roles and expectations
 New reference and membership groups
 Definition of race and ethnicity
 Gender identification
 Formation of brand communities
Psychological and Social Processes
• Psychological influences:
• brand attitudes
• salient beliefs
• cognitive consistency
• overload and clutter
Social influences:
• cultural contexts
• regional values
• ritual behavior
Factors Affecting Decision-Making
How People Buy
Perception-Selective
Information-Cognition
Affect-Emotional Response
Perceptions (Selective)
Organize by simple patterns
Focus on single aspect
Relate things
Fill in missing parts
Information
Cognition
Affect
Emotional Response
Emotional Response Predicts Intentions and Interest
Emotional Response and Ads
Robust study of over 23,000 responses to 240 advertising messages
Emotion shown to dominate over knowledge and beliefs for predicting intentions
FCB Grid
Learn Feel DO
Feel Learn Do
Do Feel Learn
Do Learn Feel
FCB Grid – Refer to chart in class
Decision Making
1. Need recognition
2. Information search and comparison
3. Purchase
4. Postpurchase use and evaluation