Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Chapter 6
Consumer Behavior
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The study of consumers and
how they make decisions is
called consumer behavior.
Consumer behavior includes
factors that influence the
purchase and use of products.
Final Consumers
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Most people picture a customer
as someone who enters a store,
purchases a product, takes it
home, and uses it.
For example, when you buy a
notebook and use it in your
marketing class, you are a final
consumer.
A final consumer buys a product
or service for personal use.
Business Consumer
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The second category is a
business consumer.
A business consumer buys
goods and services to produce
and market other goods and
services or for resale.
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An example is a notebook manufacturer.
The manufacturer buys paper, glue, ink,
wire and other raw materials to produce
the notebook.
Consumers’ Wants & Needs
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All consumers have wants and
needs.
A want is an unfulfilled desire.
Consumers want pizzas, BMW’s,
vacations, different hair color, etc.
A need is anything you require to
live. You need nutritious food, a
good night’s sleep, shelter from the
weather, air to breathe, and clean
water
Hierarchy of Needs
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Abraham Maslow’s classic work
on motivation theory has helped
marketers immensely in their
study of needs.
Maslow identified five areas of
needs that people have. They
are physiological, security,
social, esteem, and selfactualization.
Maslow’s Theory
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Maslow believed that these groups
of needs are satisfied in a hierarchy
and that the needs of people change
as they satisfy the needs at each
level.
Everyone must satisfy physiological
needs. They are not options. You
must eat, sleep, and breathe to exist.
Once these are satisfied you can
start to move on to security needs,
etc.
Hierarchy of Needs
Trivia Game
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Identify which need is satisfied
from Maslow’s Hierarchy:
A Gym Membership
 Online Dating
 Water
 Health Insurance
 College Degree
 Bible/Koran/Torah
 Air Conditioning
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Buying Motives
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As you decide you want or need
products or services, you are
motivated by buying motives:
the reasons that you buy.
There are three motives that
drive consumers:
Emotional Motives
 Rational Motives
 Patronage Motives
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Emotional Motives
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Emotional Motives are reasons
to purchase based on feelings,
beliefs, or attitudes.
Forces of love, affection, guilt,
fear, or passion often compel
consumers to buy.
Marketers realize that emotional
motives are very strong.
Examples
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Hallmark card advertisements
encourage you to buy greeting cards
because of love and affection.
Folger’s presents drinking coffee as
a relaxing social experience.
McDonald’s appeals to family values
by showing busy young parents
taking children to their restaurants.
Security systems prey on families
fear to maintain safety and prevent
robberies.
Rational Motives
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Rational motives are reasons to buy
based on facts or logic.
These include factors such as saving
money, durability, and saving time.
Usually these products or services
are expensive.
You can be convinced to upgrade
your computer because it’s more
powerful, faster, and as more
memory.
Rational Motives Continued
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Automobile purchases are
rational when you consider
features such as price, gas
mileage, warranties, or
extended mileage protection
packages.
Rational Motives can turn into
Emotional Motives when you
really want that Mercedes
Convertible!!
Patronage Motives
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Patronage Motives are based on
loyalty.
They encourage consumers to buy
at a particular business or to buy a
particular brand.
It is important to remember that
people who are motivated by this are
very loyal to the product, service or
brand.
Companies use this approach to
eliminate the competition.
The Consumer Decision
Making Process
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A consumer goes through five
steps when making a purchase
decision
Problem Recognition
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First the consumer must
recognize a need, desire, or
problem
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In order to play the piano, you
recognize you need to find a
good piano instructor.
Information Search
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Next, the consumer gathers
information about alternative
solutions.
After you recognize the need for
a piano instructor, you talk to
your parents, teachers, or
friends about piano teachers.
You might look through the
phone book or search the
classified section, etc.
Evaluation of Alternatives
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After gathering information, the
consumer evaluates the various
alternatives to determine which is
best. Sometimes this involves
summarizing information, comparing
pros and cons of each choice,
making tradeoffs between price and
various options, etc.
You may need to decide between
what you can afford, what hours are
convenient, and reputation of
instructor.
Post-Purchase Evaluation
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After the purchase of course the
consumer judges the
satisfaction or dissatisfaction
with the product or service
purchased.
Recently, marketers have been
focusing on this by gathering
feedback. Toll-Free numbers
allow customers to let
companies know.
Influences on the Consumer
Decision Making Process
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The first influence is personality.
Personality is a well defined,
enduring pattern of behavior.
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Personalities influence buying
decisions because everyone
has individual preferences
based on his or her patterns of
behavior.
Personality and a Car
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You may be the flashy
convertible type
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The laid back pick-up type
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Or the conservative four-door
sedan type
Social Class
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A second influence is social class; or
the lifestyle, values, and beliefs that
are common to a group of people.
These are usually identified by
income level or neighborhood.
Your social class affects whether or
not you have the money available to
purchase something
This will affect what brands or
particular types of products you
choose.
Cultural Environment
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The third influence is cultural
environment; a set of beliefs or
attitudes that are passed on
from generation to generation.
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In Long Valley many students
have access to a car, but in the
inner cities students very rarely
have access to a car.
Reference Groups
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Reference groups are groups or
organizations from which you
take your values and attitudes.
They might include church
groups, fraternities, work
groups, civic organizations,
families, or friendship circles.
Types of Decision Making
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Routine – are for purchases that are
made quickly and do not require
thought. Customers are familiar with
the product
Limited – often associated with a
product that is more expensive or is
purchased less frequently. You need
to evaluate alternatives before
making decision
Extensive – occurs when the
consumer methodically goes through
all five steps of decision making
process.