04-02-2019

Chapter 3
Consumer behaviour

Overview on consumer behaviour

•Main challenge is to influence the

purchase behavior of the consumers in
favor of the product/service they offer.
•The process and activities people engage
in when searching for, selecting,
purchasing, using, evaluating, and
disposing of products and services to
satisfy needs/desires

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Basic Model of Consumer Decision Making

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Problem Recognition
• occurs when the consumer perceives a need and becomes motivated to solve the
problem. caused by a difference between what the consumer wants and what the
consumer has.
• Recognition that there is a problem can be triggered by both internal and external

Some of the sources of problem

factors.

recognition are:
• Out of stock – consumers use their existing supply and it must be replenished
• Dissatisfaction – consumers become dissatisfied with the current state of affairs
and/or product being used
• New needs/wants – changes in consumers’ lives often result in new needs/wants
• Related products/purchases – other needs are stimulated by the purchase of a
product
• Market-induced recognition – marketers encourage consumers to be dissatisfied
with their current situation, and they try to create new needs and wants
• New products – innovative products are introduced and brought to the attention of
consumers

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Activity – Identify if the advertisement is

focused at ‘Active state’ or ‘ Desired
state’

Stimulate Problem recognition – Attempt to create a new IDEAL OR DESIRED

state (Here in this ad 6% is the new IDEAL state)

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What prompts new needs /wants?

Understanding consumer motivations

• Motives- factors which compel a consumer to take a

particular action.
• popular approaches to understanding consumer
motivation -classical theory of human motivation by
Abraham Maslow.
• postulates five basic levels of human needs, arranged
in a hierarchy based on their importance.
• Lower-level needs are an ongoing source of motivation
for consumer purchase behavior
• People are unlikely to move through the needs
hierarchy in a stair-step manner.
• Advertising can be used to show how a brand can
fulfill these needs.

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Maslows hierarchy of needs

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Motivation research- probing the consumers
mind

• consumer’s motivation for purchasing is often complex and

unclear to the casual observer, and often to consumers themselves.
• these motives can only be determined by probing the
subconscious. This type of approach is called motivation
research.
Some of the research methods used to probe the consumers mind
include:
• In-depth interviews – unstructured interviews where the participant is
encouraged to speak freely. Designed to obtain insights into motives,
ideas, and opinions.
• Projective techniques – projecting internal states upon external objects.
Designed to gain insights into values, motives, attitude, or needs.
• Association tests – participant is asked to respond to the first thing that
comes to mind when they are presented with a stimulus (picture, word)
• Focus groups – small groups brought together to discuss particular
products, ideas, or issues.

Information search
• Once consumers perceive a problem or need they begin
to search for information needed to make a purchase
decision.
• Internal search: past memory for routine items
• External search:
• Personal sources – friends, relative, co-workers
• Market sources – information from advertisers,
salespeople, in-store displays and the Internet
• Public sources, etc. – articles in magazines or
newspapers
• Personal experience – handling, examining, or using the
product

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Perception

• Its an individual process

• The process by which an individual receives, selects,
organizes and interprets information to create a
meaningful picture.
• Depends : beliefs, experiences, needs, moods and
expectations, characteristics of stimulus and its context
Marketers want to know
• How consumers sense external information
• How they select and use sources of information
• How information is interpreted and
given meaning

Perception process

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Selective Perception

Process
• filtering process in which internal and external factors influence what
is received and how it is processed and interpreted.
• The sheer volume and complexity of the marketing stimuli a person is
exposed to in a day requires that this filtering occur.

• Selective perception occurs as:

• Selective exposure – occurs as consumers choose whether to make
themselves available to information
• Selective attention – occurs when the consumer chooses whether to focus
attention on certain stimuli while excluding others.
• Selective comprehension – occurs when consumers interpret information
on the basis of their own attitudes, beliefs, motives, and experiences.
• Selective retention – occurs as consumers cannot recall all of the
information they receive but may choose to retain information of
particular relevance.

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Evaluation criteria

Evaluative criteria

• Evaluative criteria are the dimensions or attributes

of a product or service that are used to compare
different alternatives.
Two types of criteria are:
• Objective – based on concrete attributes that
are tangible and can be directly judged or
experienced by the consumer, such as price or
warranty.
• Subjective – based on abstract attributes that
are intangible and more subjective in nature,
such as style, appearance, or product image.

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Changing attitudes

Strategies For Communication

 Modify Your Brand – Real Repositioning

 Alter Beliefs About Your Brand On The Important Attribute– Psychological
Repositioning
 Alter Beliefs About Competitor’s Brand – Competitive Depositioning
 Alter Importance Weights/ Change Perceptions Of Which Attribute Should Or
Should Not Be Important
 Call Attention To Neglected Attributes/Add A New Attribute To Attitude
Formation Mix
 Shift Buyer’s Ideals

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ATTITUDE MODEL

FISHBEIN’S THEORY OF REASONED ACTION MODEL

Beliefs that the
Behavior leads to
Certain outcomes

Attitude toward
the behavior

Evaluation of
the outcomes

Intention Behavior
Beliefs that specific
Referents think I
Should or should not
Perform the behavior

Subjective
norm
Motivation to
comply with the
Specific referents
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Purchase Decision and EvaluationW

Heuristics- inquiring

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