Chapter three: Buyer Behavior

• “Consumer behavior is the behavior that buyers display

in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating, and
disposing of products and services that they expect will
satisfy their needs.”
-Schiffman and Kanuk
• “Consumer behavior is the study of decision making
units and the process involved in acquiring, consuming,
and disposing of goods, services, experiences, and
ideas.”
-Moven
• To achieve customer satisfaction, it is important to
understand the tastes, preferences, likes and dislikes,
consumption patterns, process of purchase etc. of the
buyers.

1
 Understanding customers
Who is
important?

What are
How do their choice
they buy? criteria?

Customers

Where do When do
they buy? they buy?

2
 • Characteristics Affecting Consumer
Behavior
• Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by
several characteristics
1. Cultural Factors
Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s
wants and behavior.
• Human behavior is largely learned.
• Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values,
perceptions, wants, and behaviors from the family
and other important institutions.
• Each culture contains smaller subcultures, or
groups of people with shared value systems
• Almost every society has some form of social class
structure
2. Social Factors
– A consumer’s behavior is also influenced by social
factors.
– A person’s behavior is influenced by many small
groups
» membership groups.
» reference groups
» An aspirational group
» Family members
» opinion leader
» Role and status
3. Personal Factors
• A buyer’s decisions also are influenced by personal
characteristics.

– lifetimes.
– Occupation
– economic situation
– Lifestyle
4. Psychological Factors
• A person’s buying choices are further influenced
by four major psychological factors:
A. Motivation:
B. Perception
C. Learning
D. A belief is a descriptive thought that a
person has about something.
• An attitude describers a person’s relatively
consistent evaluations, feelings, and tendencies
toward an object or idea.
 Types of Buying Decision Behavior
1. Complex Buying Behavior
• Consumers undertake complex buying behavior
when they are highly involved in a purchase and
perceive significant differences among brands.
• Consumers may be highly involved when the
product is
– expensive, risky, purchased infrequently, and highly
self-expressive.
• Typically, the consumer has much to learn about the
product category.
• Marketers of high-involvement products must
understand the information-gathering and
evaluation behavior of high-involvement consumers.
• 2. Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behavior
– Dissonance-reducing buying behavior occurs when
consumers are highly involved with an expensive,
infrequent, or risky purchase, but see little
difference among brands.

– After the purchase, consumers might experience

post purchase dissonance (after-sale discomfort)
when they notice certain disadvantages of the
brand or hear favorable things about brands not
purchased.

– To counter such dissonance, the marketer’s after-

sale communications should provide evidence and
support to help consumers feel good about their
brand choices.
3. Habitual Buying Behavior
Habitual buying behavior occurs under conditions of
low consumer involvement and little significant
brand difference.
• Consumers do not search extensively for information
about the brands, evaluate brand characteristics,
and make weighty decisions about which brands to
buy.

• They passively receive information as they watch

television or read magazines.

• Because buyers are not highly committed to any

brands, marketers often use price and sales
promotions to stimulate product trial.
4. Variety-Seeking Buying Behavior
– Consumers undertake variety-seeking buying
behavior in situations characterized by low
consumer involvement but significant perceived
brand differences.

– In such cases, consumers often do a lot of brand

switching.
 Business buying behaviour
Consumer or Organisational Products
Why was the product Purchased ?

 For use in the operation of a  For personal or

business or organisation. household use
 To manufacture other products
 For resale to others

CONSUMER
ORGANISATIONAL
PRODUCT PRODUCT

2
 Buying Situation Implications
Time taken for decision

New
Task

Modified
Rebuy

Straight
Rebuy

No of people involved in buying centre

10
 Participants in the Business Buying Process
• The decision-making unit of a buying organization
is called its buying center: all the individuals and
units that participate in the business decision-
making process.

• The buying center includes all members of the

organization who play any of five roles in the
purchase decision process.

– Users are members of the organization who will

use the product or service.
– Influencers often help define specifications and
also provide information for evaluating
alternatives.
 – Buyers have formal authority to select the supplier and
arrange terms of purchase.
– Deciders have formal or informal power to select or
approve the final suppliers.
– Gatekeepers control the flow of information to others.
 The buying center is not a fixed and formally
identified unit within the buying organization. It is
a set of buying roles assumed by different people
for different purchases.
 Within the organization, the size and makeup of
the buying center will vary .
 The business marketer must learn who participates
in the decision, each participant’s relative
influence, and what evaluation criteria.
 The Buying Centre
Buyers
Gatekeepers
control the flow
choose suppliers of information to the
and negotiate purchase buying centre. Purchasing
Buyer
terms often reducing
Gatekeeper
department Staff frequently
Deciders
Deciders
the actual purchase fill the role but it could be
(Decision
(Decision Makers)
Makers)
to a clerical task. Decider any member
have the authority
have (Decision
the authority
of the
Users to approve
to Maker)
approve
organisation.
actually use the the purchase.
the purchase. Influencers
product. They may supply information
be the one who initiates and advice. Outsiders
the purchase process such as consultants
User Influencer
and may develop the sometimes perform
product the role.
specification.

D Jobber, Principles and Practice of Marketing, © 2001 McGraw-Hill 5