Consumer Behavior,

SCHIFFMAN &
KANUK

Chapter 14

Consumer Decision Making

and Beyond

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WHAT IS CONSUMER
DECESION MAKING
• Selection of an option from two or more
alternative choices.
• For a person to make a decision choice of
alternatives must be available.
• If there is no choice then you are bound
to do that thing then there is no decision
making
 Levels of Consumer Decision
Making
Extensive Problem
Solving

Limited Problem
Solving

Routine Response
Behavior

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 A search by the consumer to
establish the necessary
Extensive
product criteria to evaluate
Problem
knowledgeably the most
Solving
suitable product to fulfill a
need.

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 A limited search by a
Limited consumer for a product
that will satisfy his or her
Problem basic criteria from among
Solving a selected group of brands.

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  Routinized .
response
behavior occurs after sufficient
Routinized number of 'trials' or purchases
Response of a particular brand.
Behavior The decision to again buy the
product requires little or
no decision making as
the routinized choice behavior 
becomes habitual with each
subsequent purchase

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 Models of Consumers: Four Views
of Consumer Decision Making
• An Economic View
• A Passive View
• A Cognitive View
• An Emotional View

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 The Economic view
• This model assumes consumer is a
rational person and he takes rational
decisions. He compares various
products, evaluates the benefits and
disadvantages and then make a
purchase decision on basis of
information collected

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 • A Passive View

• A Cognitive View

• An Emotional View - mood

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 A Model of Consumer Decision
Making
INPUT

PROCESS

OUTPUT

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 Figure 16.2 A Simple Model of Consumer Decision Making
External Influences
Sociocultural Environment
Firm’s Marketing Efforts
1. Family
Input 1. Product
2. Informal sources
2. Promotion
3. Other noncommercial sources
3. Price
4. Social class
4. Channels of distribution
5. Subculture and culture
Consumer Decision Making
Psychological Field
1. Motivation
Need Recognition 2. Perception
3. Learning
Process Prepurchase Search 4. Personality
5. Attitudes
Evaluation of Alternatives
Experience

Postdecision Behavior

Output Purchase
1. Trial Postpurchase Evaluation
2. Repeat purchase
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CONSUMER DECISION MAKING
PROCESS
A five step process used by consumers
when
buying goods or services.
Consumer Decision Making Process

Need Recognition

Information Search
Cultural, Social,
Individual and Evaluation of Alternatives
Psychological
Factors affect all Purchase
steps

Post purchase Behavior

1. Need Recognition
The realization by the consumer that there
is a difference between “What is” and
“what should be.”
 Need Recognition

Marketing helps
consumers
recognize an Internal Stimuli
imbalance between And
present status and External Stimuli
preferred state.

Preferred state

Present Status
Want
Recognition of an unfulfilled need
and a product
(or attribute or feature)that will
satisfy it.
 Recognition of Unfulfilled Wants

 When a current product isn’t performing

properly.
 When the consumer is running out of an
product.
 When another product seems superior to the
one currently used.
 Information Searches
Internal:

Process of recalling past information

stored in the memory.

External:

Process of seeking information in the

outside environment.
 Information Searches
Internal Information Search:
 Recall information in memory

External Information Search

 Seek information in outside environment

 Non-marketing controlled

 Marketing controlled
 Evaluating Alternatives
 Determine criteria to be used for
evaluation of products.
 Assess the relative importance of each
criteria.
 Evaluate each alternative based on
the identified criteria.
 Evaluation of Alternatives
 When evaluating potential alternatives,
consumers tend to use two types of
information.
 A list of brands (The evoked Set)
 The criteria they will use to evaluate each
brand.
 The Evoked Set refers to the specific brands the
consumer considers in making a purchase in a
particular product category.
 Evaluation of Alternatives
 The inept set consists of brands the consumer
excludes from purchase consideration as
unacceptable.
 The insert set is those brands to which the
consumer is indifferent of because they’re
perceived as having no advantage.
 Figure 16.3 The Evoked Set as a Subset
of All Brands in a Product Class
All
Brands

Known Unknown
Brands
Brands (1)
Evoked Set Inept Set Inert Set
Acceptable Unacceptable Indifferent Overlooked
Brands Brands Brands Brands
(2) (3) (4)

Purchased Not Purchased

Brands Brands
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 Purchase
To buy or not to buy ……..

Marketing
Determine which attributes are
most important in influencing a
consumer’s choice.
 Types of Purchase
Consumer make three types of purchase:

Trial Repeat
Purchase Purchase

Long Term
commitment
Purchase
POST-PURCHASE
BEHAVIOUR
Explains the Consumer’s
Post-Purchase Evaluation
Process
 Post Purchase Behavior

Cognitive Dissonance Marketing

Did I make a good Can minimize
decision? through:
Did I buy the right product? Effective communication

Did I get a good value? Follow up

Guarantees
Warranties
Outcomes of Post-Purchase Evaluation
 A consumer use a product, they evaluate its
performance in light of their own expectations.
 There are three possible outcomes of each

evaluation:
-Actual performance matches the standard
leading to a neutral feeling.
-Positive disconfirmation when the performance
exceeds the standard.
- Negative disconfirmation when the performance
is below the standard.
 Cognitive Dissonance
 An important aspect of purchase process is to
reduce post-purchase cognitive dissonance,
when consumers wants to reassure themselves
that their choice was a wise one.

 Inner tension that a consumer experiences after

recognizing an inconsistency between behavior
and values or opinions.
 Consumer Decision Rules
• Compensatory
• Noncompensatory
– Conjunctive Decision Rule
– Disjunctive Decision Rule
– Lexicographic Rule

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 A type of decision
rule in which a
consumer evaluates
each brand in
Compensatory terms of each
Decision Rules relevant attribute
and then selects the
brand with the
highest weighted
score.

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 A type of consumer
decision rule by
which positive
Non- evaluation of a
compensatory
brand attribute does
Decision
not compensate for
Rules
a negative evaluation
of the same brand on
some other attribute.

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 A noncompensatory
decision rule in which
consumers establish a
minimally acceptable
Conjunctive cutoff point for each
Decision attribute evaluated.
Rule Brands that fall below
the cutoff point on any
one attribute are
eliminated from further
consideration.
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 A noncompensatory
decision rule in which
consumers establish a
Disjunctive
minimally acceptable
Rule
cutoff point for each
relevant product
attribute.

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 A noncompensatory
decision rule -
consumers first rank
product attributes in
Lexicographic
Rule terms of
importance, then
compare brands
in terms of the
attribute considered
most important.

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 A simplified decision
rule by which consumers
make a product choice
Affect
on the basis of their
Referral
previously established
overall ratings of the
Decision
brands considered,
Rule
rather
than on specific
attributes.

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 Table 16.7 Hypothetical Use of
Popular Decision Rules in Making a
Decision to Purchase an Ultralight
Laptop
DECISION RULE MENTAL STATEMENT
Compensatory rule “I selected the computer that came out best when I
balanced the good ratings against the bad
ratings.”
Conjunctive rule “I selected the computer that had no bad features.”

Disjunctive rule “I picked the computer that excelled in at least one

attribute.”
Lexicographic rule “I looked at the feature that was most important to me and
chose the computer that ranked highest on that attribute.”

Affect referral rule “I bought the brand with the highest overall rating.”

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