Consumer Decision Making Process
An Introduction
Lesson delivered by Michael Gabriel
Lesson Objectives
1) To understand the 5 stages to consumer decision making
2) To understand the main factors influencing consumer behaviour
3) Examine the role of the 4P’s in the buying process
4) To appreciate the different types of buying decisions
The Consumer Decision Making Process
Need Recognition Bill realizes that
he is fed up with
his puny b/w TV
Information Search Bill talks to a
few of his friends
about a new TV
Evaluation of Alternatives Bill goes shopping
to compare TVs
of different brands
T
Product Choice Bill chooses one
model/brand for its
features and price
Bill takes the TV
Post-purchase Evaluation home and becomes
a couch potato
Need Recognition or need to solve a problem
A need can be a basic physiological need like “I need to
eat” or more complexed problem solving needs like I need
a larger house
What is the difference between a need and a want?
Information Search
Personal Searches, recommendations, social networks, family
Internet searches, comparison websites, blogs, reviews
Advertisements
Evaluation of Alternatives
Identity alternatives and what criteria are to be used, e.g price,
quality, convenience, speed of delivery
Heuristics (Rule of Thumb) the human mind tries to simplify
the decision making process and often relies on old judgements
For Example “Higher Price equals better quality”
The Power of Brands and Brand Loyalty, brands make it easier
to chose.
Brand Loyalty
A pattern of repeat product purchases, accompanied by an underlying
positive attitude toward the brand, which is based on the belief that
the brand makes products superior to its competition.
Brand names can serve as an expectation of performance and can be
used to facilitate new product acceptance and deny alternatives
Brands are everywhere, here are just a
few
QUIZ
Name the 6 Brands
Match the brands with their well known characteristics
Estimate the approximate value of each brand
Brands stand for something
Quiz; Match the brands with
the words
Reliable and solid
High Performance
Good value
Sporting achievement
Innovation
Fast Food
Purchase Decision
Consumer decides where and how to purchase the
product or service
Physically parts with money
Post-purchase evaluation:
The process whereby a consumer evaluates the quality of the purchase
decision made, as a result of consumption and learning.
Has Performance met expectation?
Customer (dis)satisfaction: the overall feelings or attitude a person has
about a product after purchasing it.
Post-purchase evaluation:
Cognitive dissonance
Imbalance among knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that occurs after an
action or decision, such as a purchase.
• Reasons dissonance may increase:
• The value of a purchase increases.
• The rejected alternatives have desirable features that the chosen
alternatives do not provide
• The purchase decision has a major effect on the buyer.
Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour:
Personal
Cultural
Quiz
Social
Psychological
Personal
Age & Life cycle/disposable income
Occupation/
Personality type
Lifestyle, Activities, Interests and Oponions
Personality: the psychological characteristics that consistently influence t
way a person responds to situations in the environment.
Consumers like to buy products that they believe are an extension of
their personality traits.
Innovativeness: interest in trying new things such as fashion or technology.
Self-confidence: degree of positive self-evaluations may be linked to interest in
certain products that improve oneself.
Sociability: interest in social interaction can influence activities and entertainment c
Cultural
The values, beliefs, customs, and tastes that a group of
people value. Culture influences all aspects of our
lives, often without our awareness.
Cultural
What are British cultural values?
How do they differ to American, Chinese or Russian
values?
QUIZ
List 5 Major differences between British Culture and
American culture and discuss what impact they have on
a marketing plan
Possible Answers
1) Americans very patriotic, British a little more reserved
2) Americans tend to be more brash and direct, British more polite
3) Americans tend to more optimistic, British more pessimistic
4) Americans idolise wealth, British more suspicious of wealth
5) Americans less snobbish, more democratic than British
Subculture: a group within a society whose
members share a distinctive set of beliefs,
characteristics, or common experience
For example the Irish, Black, Moslem or Polish
community
Social
Social Class, Upper, Middle, Working and Lower
Family
Membership Groups
Aspirational Groups and Opinion Leaders
Reference Groups
Reference Groups
An actual or imaginary individual or group that has a significant effect on
an individual’s evaluations, aspirations, or behaviour.
We are social beings, and most of us seek a feeling of community with
others, even if only a virtual one.
The Importance of social networks including Online one’s like Facebook
Opinion Leaders
Information sometimes flows from mass media to opinion leaders
to consumers;
A person who is frequently able to influence others’ attitudes or
behaviours by virtue of their active interest and expertise in one or more
product categories.
Leading academics, sportsman, musicians, celebrities and politicians
Psychological
Motivation
Perception
Learning and Memory
Attitudes and beliefs
Motivation
A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing
to direct the person to seek satisfaction
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Identifies five levels of human needs.
• Person must at least partially satisfy lower-level needs
before higher-level needs affect behavior.
Perception
Consumers are bombarded with commercial messages, 1,000’s
per day, hence filters are applied to separate what is important.
1) Selective attention; tendency to screen out most information to which
one is exposed
2) Selective Distortion; Tendency to interpret information in a way that
supports what they already believe
3) Selective Retention; Tendency to remember the good points about a
brand they favour and forget the good points about competing brands
Learning and Memory
•
Learning; Knowledge or skill that is acquired as a result of experience, which
changes consumer behavior.
•
Learning process:
• Drive—any strong stimulus that impels action.
• Cue—any object that determines the nature of the consumer’s response
• Response; an individual’s reaction to a set of cues and drives.
• Reinforcement, the reduction in drive that results from a proper response; creates
bond between the drive and the purchase of the product
The Importance of the 5 senses as Marketing
Stimuli
1) Sight, first impression is everything, good design, packaging, logos
2) Smell, good strengthens the appeal of a product
3) Sound, creates drama and emotional responses, music has huge impact
4) Touch, people like to feel things before buying them
5) Taste, free samples are a powerful way to drive impulse purchases
Using Marketing Stimuli to trigger the 5 senses
and the 4P’s
1) Sight (Place, Product, Price and Promotion)
2) Smell (Product, Place)
3) Sound (Product, Place, Promotion)
4) Touch (Product)
5) Taste (Product)
Memory
1) Sensory memory , that experienced by the 5 senses, not consciously
controlled, ultra short term (typically 1-2 seconds) but can last a life time
if linked to a high degree of emotion or attention (wedding day)
2) Short term memory, limited capacity, most information is forgotten
unless repeated often.
3) Long term memory , indefinite storage capacity
Attitudes and Beliefs
Attitudes Person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations,
emotions, or action tendencies toward some object or idea.
Attitude Components
Cognitive—individual’s knowledge about an object or concept.
Affective—deals with feelings or emotional reactions.
Behavioral—tendencies to act in a certain manner
Attitudes and Beliefs
Do You have any inbuilt attitudes or beliefs that dissuade you from buying
certain products or services?
Types of Consumer Decision Making
1) Complex Buying Behaviour, high involvement, riskier and more expensive
with significant brand choice.
2) Dissonance Reducing, high involvement but less brand differentiation
3) Habitual, regular low involvement purchase with few brand differences.
4) Variety Seeking, low involvement but significant brand differences
Match the following products with the buying decision
Sugar
Carpets
Computer
Chocolate bar
