MQM 328 E

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MQM 328E The Arts 1

• Chapter 4 Consumer Behaviors

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Basic Function of Marketing

• Meeting Consumer Need by
• Creating a product that fulfills a specific
  consumer need or
• Positioning your product in regards to the needs
  of a specific segment of the population

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Meeting Consumer Needs

• Consumers always base their purchase decision on
  two things
• Internal (Previous experience)
• External (Type of product, word of mouth, etc)

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Consumer Decision Making

• Based on three major types of variables
• Those related directly to consumers themselves
• Those related to the purchasing context or
  situation
• Those related to the product being considered

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Motivation

• Consumers will not purchase a product unless they
  are strongly motivated to do so.
• Consumer motivation, a definition
• The imbalance between the consumers current and
  desired state.

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Individual Variables

• Product involvement, a definition
• The feeling of importance or personal interest
  associated with the product in a given situation

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Individual Variables

• Product Involvement is a function of
• Level of functional risk
• The possibility that the product does not meet
  consumer expectations
• Level of economic risk
• The more expensive the product, the more
  complicated the decision making process is

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Individual Variables

• Level of psychological risk
• Must correspond to my own sense of self image
• Level of social risk
• What will others think?

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Individual Variables

• Experience
• The broader the experience, the shorter the
  decision making process
• Many consumers are seeking continuity
• Consumers categorize previous experiences into
• Known
• Unknown
• Retained
• Rejected

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Individual Variables

• Socio-demographic variables
• Have an impact on consumer behavior largely
  because they determine the intensity of existing
  risks

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Individual Variables

• Personality
• Least conclusive of all in terms of consumer
  behaviors
• Some consumers tend to imitate peer behavior but
  a significant number seem to behave according to
  their own dispositions

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Individual Variables

• Benefits sought
• Many and varied
• Many times consumers may not be able to
  articulate the benefits they seek

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The Decision Making Process

• The decision making process is often colored by
  highly emotional factors

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The Decision Making Process

• Attitude
• Requires both experience and involvement in the
  particular cultural product or category of
  cultural products
• Allows the consumer to reach a decision simply,
  quickly, and effectively using positive past
  experience and the ensuing personal judgment

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The Decision Making Process

• Cognitive processes
• Used with products that require a high degree of
  involvement (as in an experienced consumer)
• (Linear compensatory decision making model)
• (
• Conjunctive model)

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The Decision Making Process

• Subordinate Processes
• Used when the consumer lacks the time or ability
  to absorb the necessary product information
• Decisions will then be based on imitation,
  recommendation, or compliance

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The Decision Making Process

• Affective Processes
• Relies heavily on emotional elements (love, hate,
  joy, boredom, fatigue, etc.)
• Particularly common among consumers of cultural
  products

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The Decision Making Process

• Habit
• Characterized by a low level of involvement
• Provides consumers with an easy, routine way of
  selecting a product, especially when the purchase
  or consumption involves very little risk

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The Decision Making Process

• Impulse Purchasing
• Characterized by a low level of involvement
• Purchases are generally unplanned and of little
  consequences

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Situational Variables

• Period
• Time available
• Reference groups
• Economic variables
• Place

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Information Processing

• A key function of marketing is to provide
  consumers with information
• The more experience the consumer has, the less
  interested he will be in information from outside
  sources.