Consumer Behavior

Dr. Mary Wolfinbarger

Marketing 300
Topics
 Classes of buying decisions
 Decision process
 Motivations for Buying: Maslow’s
Hierarchy
 Major influences on CB
Classes of Buying Decisions
 Routine DM
 Limited DM
 Extensive DM
Routine Decision Making
 Consumer mindlessness
 Typically choose from an “evoked” or
“consideration” set
 Often purchased lower priced items
 Little thought, search or time
 May stick with one brand
 Buy first, evaluate later
Routine Decision Making/
Marketer’s Task
For current customers:
 maintain brand’s quality, stock
and value
Routine Decision Making/
Marketer’s Task
For non-customers
 break normal buying habits

How?
 Use promo to call attention to brand,
USP
Routine Decision Making/
Marketer’s Task
In general:
 ads/promos focus on one message
 messages are repeated often
 initial trial occurs due to brand
recognition or variety seeking, not
brand evaluation
 can raise purchase involvement level
(The Gillette Mach series blades – “The
Best a Man can Get”)
Limited Decision Making
 Low to medium levels of involvement
 Low to moderate cost goods
 Buyers may reduce risk through some
information gathering
 New brands may be considered for each
purchase
 Short to moderate time to decide
Limited Decision Making
Marketer’s Task
 provide reasons for buying brand (not
just reminder advertising)
Extensive Decision Making
Products may be
 new
 expensive
 complex
 important to consumer
Extensive Decision Making
 may be many choices
 may not know criteria to use
 high level of involvement
 longer time frame to make decision
 Example: computers, houses, cars
Extensive Decision Making
 Buyers will search for info
 Personal selling promo messages can be
longer/ more informative
 Consumers may perceive risk
 marketers must work to reduce this
perception
The Decision Process
The Decision Process
 Model most relevant for extensive DM
 Some of these 5 steps exist in any
decision
Need Recognition
 An imbalance between actual and
desired states
Need Recognition
Cues:
 social cues
 new life situation
 marketing cues
 Marketing communications
 See a superior product
 physical drive
 stock-out/ worn product
 emergency
Information Search
Reduces risks of DM
 Financial
 Performance
 Social
 Time
 Physical
 Psychological
Information Search
Two types:
 Internal Search: Past experiences/
knowledge
 External Search: several sources
Information Search
Sources of external search:
 marketing
 consumers: word of mouth or word
of mouse, the internet (CGM –
“consumer generated media”)
 neutral sources: Consumer Reports,
news reports
Information Evaluation

Determine
 important attributes
 relative importance of attributes
 acceptable tradeoffs
 attributes won’t tradeoff
 knowing how consumers evaluate
info helps product development/
positioning
Information Evaluation
Example: Friday night’s date
 important attributes -- looks, personality, cash
 relative importance of attributes -- looks, cash,
personality
 acceptable tradeoffs -- less good personality
may be compensated by cash
 attributes won’t tradeoff -- need a level of
minimal acceptable looks (no amount of cash
or personality will compensate!)
Purchase Decision
 To buy or not to buy?
 Best alternative is chosen
 Choose place/method of purchase
 Out-of-stock prompts more evaluation
Post-purchase Behaviors
 Evaluation of satisfaction
 Cognitive dissonance -- the feeling that
some other choice would have been
better, including not buying at all
 More likely when choice is inconsistent with
values and opinions and/or
 More likely when choices were close
Post-purchase Behavior
 Complaint behavior, grudge-holding
 Positive/negative word of mouth
 More purchases if satisfied
 More issues for the 5-step model
 Some researchers argue that many CB
decisions occur spontaneously – it
simply seems “right”
 Part way through the evaluation
process consumers now often add
alternatives for consideration
 Read “Is the purchase funnel dead?”
 More issues for the 5-step model
 Consumers may explain their behavior
emphasizing factors that are rational and
logical
 Do we make decisions with our “reptilian” minds?
(MOTL)

 Read “The Culture Code”

Why do people shop?
Two general motivations:
 Goal oriented – shopping to buy or
find specific information
 Experiential or hedonic – shopping to
shop
 These two motivations are seen in
retailing and in online shopping
 The five step model is most consistent with
which motivation?
 Which motivation is more likely in online
shopping (except at eBay)?
Maslow’s Hierarchy
 A conceptual model developed to
explore basic and universal needs
 Ideas used in VALs segmentation
(MOTL)
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Suggests five types of needs:
 Physiological
 Safety
 Social
 Esteem
 Self-Actualization
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Physiological Needs
 Basic needs for food, rest, shelter
 Mostly taken for granted in U. S., but
are the basis for some ad appeals
 Examples: Gatorade, “For that deep
down body thirst”
Safety Needs
 The need to protect one’s self from
anything threatening
 U.S. is a relatively risk-averse society
 Alarms, insurance, health, tires, cars,
medications….
 Michelin Tires “Because so much is riding
on your tires”
Social Needs
 Needs for friendship and belonging
 Products: cosmetics, clothing, cigarettes
and beer
 A pervasive ad appeal
 Sometimes the appeal is wrong choice
will not be accepted by friends or
family
 Example: JIF
Esteem Needs
 Need for status and respect
Self-Actualization
 Living up to one’s potential, being self-
fulfilled
 Exercise ads?
 Example: Army ads, “Be all that you can
be”
Comments on Maslow’s
Hierarchy
 Needs aren’t fulfilled one at a time in order
 There may be other needs
 Need for self-expression
 Need for complexity
 Need for novelty
 Other models– e.g. Schwartz’
“Circle of Values” (much more recent)
 Focuses on basic values rather than “needs”
 Has been applied to 75,000 people in 68 countries
 Openness to
Self-
Change Self-
Direction Universalism
Creativity, Social Justice, Transcendence
Freedom Equality
Stimulation
Exciting Life
Benevolence
Helpfulness

Hedonism
Pleasure Conformity Tradition
ObedienceHumility
Devoutness

Achievement
Success,
Ambition Security
Social Order
Power Conservation
Self- Authority,
Wealth
Enhancement
Organized by motivational
similarities and dissimilarities

10 values -- Values that are next to each other are similar: opposite
values are dissimilar
4 quadrants: openness to change, self-transcendence, self-enhancement,
conservation
Ads – to what motivations do they
play?
 Apple Ad?
 BomChickaWahWah? (Axe)
 Loreal (Because I’m worth it”)
 Original Coke ad “I’d like to teach the
world to sing”?
 AFLAC Goat
ReadyMade
 To what value on the “Circle of Values”
does the ReadyMade magazine appeal?
 How did the founders get the idea for the
business?
 How is the magazine designed to appeal to
their target audience(s)?
 How do they choose advertisers?
 What postpurchase behavior that ocurred
after the publication of the first issue does
the film mention?
Major Influences on
Consumer Behavior
Cultural Characteristics
 Fundamental/ubiquitous
 Cultures shift, but only slowly
 One’s own culture is tacit
 Example: shaving?
 Example: Deodorant commercial with
octopus shown to Japanese businessmen
Cultural Characteristics
 Lost in Translation Clip
 What’s the point of this clip?
 There are many subcultures within a country
Demographics
 Example: Age/cohort; social class
(mentioned in book, but there are
more!)
 MOTL in Segmentation lecture
Reference Groups/
Group Membership
 Primary: family, close friends,
neighbors, workmates
 Secondary: professional/fraternal
orgs
 Aspirational groups: sports heroes,
movie stars, CEOs?
Reference Groups
Different groups influence different
decisions
 casual clothes?
 career clothing?
 Tennis shoes?
 Music?
 Food?
 Furniture? Refrigerator? TV?
Reference Groups
 Dissociative groups: groups you don’t
want to be like
 Ex: VH-1 ads: “Keeping you from
becoming your parents”
Lifestyle, Self-Concept
 Lifestyle: pattern of living
 Ex: “health nut,” soccer mom, Nascar Dad,
Netizen
 Self-concept: -- buy a product because
“it’s me!”
 Ex: cars, clothing
 Ex: Rich people in East Africa who drive a
Mercedes Benz are called “WaBenzi” –
members of the Mercedes Benz tribe
 Ideal self-concept: Dove ad uses this idea
subversively
Branding and Self-Concept
Branding enables us to define ourselves
“

in terms of recognized standards and

symbols. Lexus, Tommy Hilfiger…make
precise and easily recognized
statements about who they are and by
inference about us, the people who buy
them.”
--Wally Olins, Branding consultant
Other Concepts to Read About
 Perception
 Selective exposure
 Selective distortion
 Selective retention
 Learning
 Stimulus generalization and discrimination
 Beliefs and Attitudes (and changing them)
 Example: Technology Optimism, attitude towards
a brand
 Personality
 Example: Curiosity, self-efficacy, innovativeness,
materialism
An example of attitudes and
personality

 How would you predict that

technology optimism is related to
adoption of the internet by seniors?
 How about curiosity? How about
innovativeness? Self-efficacy?
 Which would you anticipate has more
of an impact? Technology optimism or
curiosity?