Lamb, Hair, McDaniel
2010-2011
CHAPTER 6
Consumer Decision Making
1
Learning Outcomes
LO 1 Explain why marketing managers should understand
consumer behavior
LO 2 Analyze the components of the consumer decisionmaking process
LO 3 Explain the consumer’s postpurchase evaluation
process
LO 4 Identify the types of consumer buying decisions and
discuss the significance of consumer involvement
2
Learning Outcomes
LO 5 Identify and understand the cultural factors that
affect consumer buying decisions
LO 6 Identify and understand the social factors that
affect consumer buying decisions
LO 7 Identify and understand the individual factors that
affect consumer buying decisions
LO 8 Identify and understand the psychological factors
that affect consumer buying decisions
3
The Importance of Understanding
Consumer Behavior
Explain why
marketing managers
should understand
consumer behavior
LO1
4
Understanding Consumer
Behavior
consumers make
purchase decisions
Consumer
behavior
= HOW
consumers use and
dispose of product
LO1
5
The Consumer
Decision-Making Process
Analyze the
components
of the consumer
decision-making
process
LO2
6
Consumer
Decision-Making Process
Consumer
Decision-Making
Process
LO2
A five-step process used
by consumers when
buying goods or services.
7
Consumer
Decision-Making Process
Need Recognition
Cultural, Social,
Individual and
Psychological
Factors
affect
all steps
LO2
Information Search
Evaluation
of Alternatives
Purchase
Postpurchase
Behavior
8
Need Recognition
Need
Recognition
Result of an imbalance between
actual and desired states.
LO2
9
Need Recognition
Present
Status
Preferre
d State
Marketing helps consumers recognize
an imbalance between
present status and preferred state.
LO2
10
Stimulus
Stimulus
Any unit of input affecting
one or more of the five senses:
•sight
•smell
•taste
•touch
•hearing
LO2
11
Recognition of
Unfulfilled Wants
• When a current product isn’t performing
properly
• When the consumer is
running out of a product
• When another product seems superior to
the one currently used
LO2
12
Information Search
Internal Information Search
•
Recall information in memory
External Information search
•
LO2
Seek information in outside environment
•
•
Nonmarketing controlled
Marketing controlled
13
External
Information Searches
Need Less
Information
Less Risk
More knowledge
More product experience
Low level of interest
Confidence in decision
LO2
Need More
Information
More Risk
Less knowledge
Less product experience
High level of interest
Lack of confidence
14
Evoked Set
Evoked Set
Group of brands, resulting from an
information search, from which a
buyer can choose
LO2
15
Evaluation of Alternatives
and Purchase
Evoked Set
Analyze product
attributes
Use cutoff criteria
Rank attributes by
importance
LO2
Purchase!
16
Purchase
To buy
or not to buy...
Determines which attributes
are most important
in influencing a
consumer’s choice
LO2
17
Postpurchase Behavior
Explain the consumer’s
postpurchase
evaluation process
LO3
18
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive
Dissonance
LO3
Inner tension that a
consumer experiences
after recognizing an
inconsistency between
behavior and values or
opinions.
19
Postpurchase Behavior
Consumers can reduce dissonance by:
 Seeking information that reinforces positive
ideas about the purchase
 Avoiding information that contradicts the
purchase decision
 Revoking the original decision by returning
the product
Marketing can minimize through:
Effective Communication
Follow-up
Guarantees
Warranties
LO3
20
Consumer Buying Decisions
and Consumer Involvement
Identify the types of
consumer buying
decisions and discuss
the significance a of
consumer involvement
LO4
21
Consumer Buying Decisions
and Consumer Involvement
Routine
Response
Behavior
Less
Involvement
LO4
Limited
Decision
Making
Extensive
Decision
Making
More
Involvement
22
Five Factors
Influencing Decisions
1. Level of consumer involvement
2. Length of time to make decision
3. Cost of good or service
4. Degree of information search
5. Number of alternatives considered
LO4
23
Continuum of Consumer
Buying Decisions
LO4
24
Routine
Response Behavior

Little involvement in selection
process

Frequently purchased low cost
goods

May stick with one brand

Buy first/evaluate later

Quick decision
LO4
25
Limited Decision Making

Low levels of involvement

Low to moderate cost goods

Evaluation of a few alternative
brands

Short to moderate time to
decide
LO4
26
Extensive Decision Making

High levels of involvement

High cost goods

Evaluation of many brands

Long time to decide

May experience cognitive
dissonance
LO4
27
Factors Determining the
Level of Consumer
Involvement
Previous Experience
Interest
Perceived Risk of
Negative Consequences
Situation
LO4
Social Visibility
28
Marketing Implications
of Involvement
High-involvement
purchases require:
Extensive and informative
promotion to target market
Low-involvement
purchases require:
In-store promotion,
eye-catching package
design, and good displays.
Coupons, cents-off,
2-for-1 offers
LO4
29
Consumer Behavior
• In Japan, only 25% of men in their 20’s want to buy a car
– Available public transportation
– Environmental impact
– Uncool to own a car
• Japanese automakers work to change perceptions by:
– Offering public test drives
– Endorsements from popular music groups
– Target women
– Increase technological features appealing to young
men
LO4
SOURCE: Murphy, John. “Japan’s Young Won’t Rally Round the Car,” The Wall
Street Journal, February 29, 2008, B1, B2.
30
Cultural Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions
Identify and
understand the
cultural factors that
affect consumer
buying decisions
LO5
31
Factors Influencing Buying
Decisions
Cultural
Factors
Individual
Factors
LO5
Social
Factors
Psychological
Factors
CONSUMER
DECISIONMAKING
PROCESS
BUY /
DON’T BUY
32
Components of Culture
Values
Language
Myths
Customs
Rituals
Laws
Material artifacts
LO5
33
Culture is. . .
Pervasive
Functional
Learned
Dynamic
LO5
34
Value
Value
LO5
Enduring belief that a
specific mode of conduct
is personally or socially
preferable to another
mode of conduct.
35
Core American Values
Success
Materialism
Freedom
Progress
Youth
http://www.thesource.com
Online
Capitalism
LO5
36
Subculture
Subculture
A homogeneous group
of people who share
elements of the overall
culture as well as unique
elements of their own
group.
http://www.dead.net
Online
LO5
37
Social Class
Social Class
LO5
A group of people in a society
who are considered nearly
equal in status or community
esteem, who regularly
socialize among themselves
both formally and informally,
and who share behavioral
norms.
38
Social Class
Measurements
Occupation
Income
Education
Wealth
Other Variables
LO5
39
The Impact of
Social Class on Marketing

Indicates which
medium to use for
advertising

Helps determine the
best distribution for
products
LO5
40
Social Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions
Identify and
understand the
social factors that
affect consumer
buying decisions
LO6
41
Social Influences
Reference
Groups
Opinion
Leaders
Family
Members
LO6
42
Reference Groups
Primary
Direct
Secondary
Reference
Groups
Aspirational
Indirect
Nonaspirational
LO6
Supplemental content – not in book
43
Influences of
Reference Groups

They serve as information
sources and influence
perceptions.

They affect an individual’s
aspiration levels.

Their norms either
constrain or stimulate
consumer behavior.
LO6
44
Opinion Leaders
Opinion Leaders
An individual who influences
the opinion of others.
LO6
45
Opinion Leaders
Marketers are looking to Web logs, or
blogs, to find opinion leaders
•Teenagers
•Movie stars
•Sports figures
•Celebrities
LO6
46
Beyond the Book
Reference Group
Today’s college students make up one of this country’s
most influential consumer groups, even though
demographically it is one of the smallest. Here’s what a
recent survey revealed about this reference group’s
preferences:
Brand: Apple
Product(s): iPod / iPhone
Store: Target
Online community: Facebook
Love/hate: Geico’s gecko
Down time: watch TV / surf the Web
SOURCE: Beth Snyder Bulik, “Apple, Target, Facebook Tops for College Students,” Advertising Age, 10/04/07
LO6
47
Family
Purchase Process Roles
in the Family
LO6
•
Initiators
•
Influencers
•
Decision Makers
•
Purchasers
•
Consumers
48
Relationships among Purchasers
and Consumers in the Family
LO6
49
Individual Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions
Identify and
understand the
individual factors
that affect consumer
buying decisions
LO7
50
Individual Influences
Gender
LO7
Age
Life Cycle
Personality
Self-Concept
Lifestyle
51
Psychological Influences on
Consumer Buying Decisions
Identify and
understand the
psychological
factors that affect
consumer buying
decisions
LO8
52
Psychological Influences
Perception
Motivation
Learning
Beliefs & Attitudes
LO8
53
Perception
Selective
Exposure
Selective
Distortion
Selective
Retention
LO8
54
Perception
Selective
Exposure
Consumer notices certain stimuli
and ignores others
Selective
Distortion
Consumer changes or distorts
information that conflicts
with feelings or beliefs
Selective
Retention
Consumer remembers only
that information that
supports personal beliefs
LO8
55
Marketing Implications
of Perception
Important attributes:
 Price
 Brand names
 Quality and reliability
 Threshold level of perception
 Product or repositioning changes
 Foreign consumer perception
LO8
56
Beyond the Book
Marketing Implications of Perception
LO8
Is Subliminal
Perception
Real?
Eat some
popcorn, ok?
57
Motivation
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
of Needs
LO8
A method of classifying human
needs and motivations into five
categories in ascending order of
importance.
58
Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
LO8
59
Types of Learning
Experiential
An experience changes
behavior
Conceptual
Not learned through direct
experience
http://www.cspinet.org
Online
LO8
60
Beliefs and Attitudes
Belief
Attitude
LO8
An organized pattern of
knowledge that an individual
holds as true about his or her
world.
A learned tendency to respond
consistently toward a given
object.
61
Changing Attitudes
•
Change beliefs
about the brand’s
attributes
•
Change the relative
importance of these
beliefs
•
Add new beliefs
LO8
62