Consumer Behaviour

Page 1

Consumer behaviour

Marketers must understand consumer behaviour in order to satisfy their needs.

Consumer behaviour:

processes of individuals/groups

actions to select/purchase

goods/services/experiences

to satisfy their needs/wants/desires

Classifying decisions

Level of perceived risk (involvement)

Frequency of purchase

Actions in the consumer decision process

Step

Problem identified

Consumer compares current to desired state

Marketer encourage/stimulate desire

Information search

Consumer surveys environment and identifies options

Marketer ensures availability of info

Option evaluation

Consumer evaluated options using criteria

Marketer understands the criteria and presents itself as superior

Choice made

Consumer selects choice

Marketer understands heuristics

Evaluation post-purchase

Consumer compares satisfaction to expectations

Marketer ensures expectations were accurate to avoid cognitive dissonance

Influences on consumer decisions

Internal

Perception

Affect

Exposure

Interpretation

Motivation (needs)

Learning

Consumer characteristics:

Personality

Attitudes

Family life cycle

Age group

Lifestyle

Situational

Time

Environment

Social

Cultural rituals/values

Sub-culture

Gender

Opinion leaders

Group membership

Social class

Key terms

Heirarchy of needs

Cognitive dissonance

Heuristics

Additional reading:

Dholakia, Utpal M: Model of "motivational constructs": product involvement and consumer risk perception

Conceptual motivational process model

empirical study

Pyschological mechanisms influencing one another

distinct motivational relationships are found to exist between their components

Holbrook Morris., Hirschman

traditional rational decision making models

our choices are not always well planned/researched

a result of our pursuits of fantasies, feelings and fun.

evolution of consumer behavioural studies: rational choice to focus on irrational buying needs

recent concern for neglect of experiential view