Essay About Buyer Behavior Learning Objectivesafter And Decision Behavior

Chapter 7 Analyzing Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior
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Chapter 7Analyzing Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior Learning ObjectivesAfter reading this chapter students should:Understand the major factors influencing consumer behaviorKnow and recognize the types of buying decision behavior        Understand the stages in the buying decision processChapter OutlineInfluencing buyer behaviorCultural factorsCulture—values, perceptions, and preferences that are the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behaviorSubcultures—nationalities, religions, racial groups, geographical regions Social class—hierarchically ordered divisions in a society; members share similar values, interests and behavior (see Table 6-1)Social factorsReference groups—all groups that have an influence on attitudes or behaviorFamily—the most influential primary reference groupRoles and statuses—activities a person is expected to perform and the status associated with eachPersonal factorsAge and life-cycle stage—people buy different goods over their lifetimeOccupation and economic circumstancesBlue collar versus white collarSpending income, savings and assets, debts, borrowing power, and attitude toward spending versus saving—all impact product choiceLifestyle—pattern of living as expressed by activities, interests, opinionsPsychographics—the science of using psychology demographics to better understand consumers (VALS)Personality and self-concept—personality characteristics that influence buying behavior (self-confidence, socialibility, etc., and ties to brand personalityPsychological factorsMotivation—correlated to the strength of a need (Freud, Maslow, Herzberg)Perception—selective attention, selective distortion, selective retentionLearning—changes in behavior arising from experienceBeliefs and attitudes—a belief is a descriptive thought a person holds about something; an attitude is a person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings, and action tendencies toward some object or ideaBuying decision processBuying roles—five different roles: initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and userBuying behaviorComplex buying behavior—high involvement, significant difference among brandsDissonance-reducing buying behavior—high involvement, little or no perceived difference among brands. Purchase is fairly quickHabitual buying behavior—low involvement, little or no brand differenceVariety-seeking buying behavior—low involvement but perceived significant brand differences. May occur to relieve boredomStages in the buying decision processProblem recognition—difference between actual state and desired stateInformation search—both internal and external sourcesEvaluation of alternatives—different process for every consumer, involves weighing product attributes and their ability to deliver benefitsPurchase decision—form a preference and intention to buy. Actual purchase can be influenced further by attitudes of others and unanticipated situational factorsPost purchase behaviorPost purchase satisfaction—understanding the differences between buyer expectation and the product’s perceived performance. Minimizing the gap and achieving truthful representationPost purchase actions—satisfaction or dissatisfaction will lead to subsequent behavior that can have both positive and negative effectsPost purchase use and disposal—learning more about use and disposal aids follow-on marketing and to enhance ecological awarenessOther models of the buying decision processHealth model—moving people to adopt healthful behaviors (smoking, diet, exercise)Customer activity cycle model—mapping the pre, during, and post phases of behavior toward a specific taskSummaryOverviewIn addition to a company’s marketing mix and factors present in the external environment, a buyer is also influenced by personal characteristics and the process by which he or she makes decisions. A buyer’s cultural characteristics, including values, perceptions, preferences, and behavior learned through family or other key institutions, is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behavior. Consumer markets and consumer buying behavior have to be understood before sound marketing plans can be developed. The consumer market buys goods and services for personal consumption. It is the ultimate market in the organization of economic activities. In analyzing a consumer market, one needs to know the occupants, the objects, and the buyers’ objectives, organization, operations, occasions, and outlets.The buyer’s behavior is influenced by four major factors: cultural (culture, subculture, and social class), social (reference groups, family, and roles and statuses), personal (age and life-cycle state, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept), and psychological (motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes). All of these provide clues as to how to reach and serve buyers more effectively.Before planning its marketing, a company needs to identify its target consumers and their decision processes. Although many buying decisions involve only one decision-maker, some decisions may involve several participants who play such roles as initiator, influencer, decider, buyer, and user. The marketer’s job is to identify the other buying participants, their buying criteria, and their influence on the buyer. The marketing program should be designed to appeal to and reach the other key participants as well as the buyer.The amount of buying deliberateness and the number of buying participants increase with the complexity of the buying situation. Marketers must plan differently for four types of consumer buying behavior: complex buying behavior, dissonance-reducing buying behavior, habitual buying behavior, and variety-seeking buying behavior. These four types are based on whether the consumer has high or low involvement in the purchase and whether there are many or few significant differences among the brands.In complex buying behavior, the buyer goes through a decision process consisting of need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and postpurchase behavior. The marketer’s job is to understand the buyer’s behavior at each state and what influences are operating. This understanding allows the marketer to develop an effective and efficient program for the target market.