Consumer Decision

Making
Levels of Consumer Decision
Making
Extensive Problem
Solving

Limited Problem
Solving

Routine Response
Behavior
Models of Consumers: Four
Views of Consumer Decision
Making
 An Economic View
 A Passive View
 A Cognitive View
 An Emotional View
Goal Setting and Pursuit
Feedback

Goal
Goal Attainment/
Setting Failure

Formation Action
Action
of Goal Initiation/
Planning
Intention Control
 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
Purchase
Output
1. Trial Postpurchase Evaluation
2. Repeat purchase
Three Stages of Consumer
Decision Making

 Need Recognition
 Prepurchase Search
 Evaluation of Alternatives
 Factors that are Likely to Increase
Prepurchase Search

Product Factors
Long interpurchase time (a long-lasting or
infrequently used product)
Frequent changes in product styling
Volume purchasing (large number of units)
High price
Many alternative brands
Much variation in features
 continued
Experience
First-time purchase
No past experience because the product is new
Unsatisfactory past experience within the product category
Social Acceptability
The purchase is for a gift
The product is socially visible
Value-Related Considerations
Purchase is discretionary rather than necessary
All alternatives have both desirable and undesirable consequences
Family members disagree on product requirements or evaluation of
alternatives
Product usage deviates from important reference group
The purchase involves ecological considerations
Many sources of conflicting information
 continued

Product Factors
Demographic Characteristics of Consumer
Well-educated
High-income
White-collar occupation
Under 35 years of age
Personality
Low dogmatic
Low-risk perceiver (broad categorizer)
Other personal factors, such as high product involvement and
enjoyment of shopping and search
 Issues in Alternative
Evaluation
 Evoked Set
 Criteria Used for Evaluating Brands
 Consumer Decision Rules
 Lifestyles as a Consumer Decision Strategy
 Incomplete Information and Noncomparable
Alternatives
 Series of Decisions
 Decision Rules and Marketing Strategy
 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
(5)
 Brands that a consumer
Inept Set excludes from purchase
consideration.
 Brands that a consumer
is indifferent toward
Inert Set because they are
perceived as having no
particular advantage.
Consumer Decision Rules
 Compensatory
 Non compensatory
 Conjunctive Decision Rule
 Disjunctive Decision Rule
 Lexicographic Rule
 A type of decision
rule in which a
consumer evaluates
each brand in terms
Compensatory
of each relevant
Decision Rules
attribute and then
selects the brand
with the highest
weighted score.
 A type of consumer
decision rule by which
Non- positive evaluation of
compensatory a brand attribute does
Decision not compensate for a
Rules negative evaluation of
the same brand on
some other attribute.
 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.
 A noncompensatory
decision rule in which
consumers establish a
Disjunctive
minimally acceptable
Rule
cutoff point for each
relevant product
attribute.
 A noncompensatory
decision rule -
consumers first rank
product attributes in
Lexicographic
terms of importance,
Rule
then compare brands
in terms of the
attribute considered
most important.
 A simplified decision
rule by which consumers
make a product choice
Affect
on the basis of their
Referral
previously established
Decision
overall ratings of the
Rule
brands considered, rather
than on specific
attributes.
Outcomes of Postpurchase
Evaluation
 Actual Performance Matches
Expectations
 Neutral Feeling
 Actual Performance Exceeds
Expectations
 Positive Disconfirmation of Expectations
 Performance is Below Expectations
 Negative Disconfirmation of Expectations
Gifting Behavior
Gifting is an act of symbolic
communication, with explicit and
implicit meanings ranging from
congratulations and love, to regret,
obligation, and dominance.
 A Simple Model of Consumption
Choice or Purchase Decision
Consumption Set
Input Added to one’s assortment or portfolio
Consuming Style
How the individual fulfills his or her
consumption requirements

Process of
Consuming Consuming and Possessing Things and Experiences
and Using, Possessing, Collecting, Disposing
Possessing

Feelings, Moods, Attitudes, Behavior

Output Altered consumer satisfaction, change in lifestyle and/or
quality of life, learning and knowledge, expressing and
entertaining oneself