Summary Consumer Behavior | Midterm 1: Chapter 1-6 | Tilburg university | MPM

Summary marketing
Book Consumer
Behavior, 8e (Wayne D. Hoyer,
Deborah J. MacInnis etc.)

, Part 1: An introduction to consumer behavior
Chapter 1: Understanding Consumer Behaviour
Introduction
Success of a business depends on understanding consumer behaviour and trends
so they can create goods and services that consumers will want, like, use, and
recommend to others.

1-1 defining Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior = The totality of consumers’ decisions with respect to the
acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities,
experiences, people, and ideas by (human) decision-making units (over time).
1-1a Consumer Behavior Involves Goods, Services, Activities, Experiences,
People, Places, and Ideas
Consumer behavior means more than just the way that a person buys tangible
products such as bath soap and auto mobiles. It also includes:
- consumers’ use of services, activities, experiences, and ideas
o such as going to the dentist, attending a concert, taking a trip, and
donating to UNICEF.
o making decisions about people (voting for a politician).
o Become attached to commercial spaces, such as stores, hotels,
restaurants, etc.
o Choices about consumption of time, a scarce resource. How we use
time reflects who we are, what our lifestyles are like, and how we
are both the same as and different from others.
We also use the simple term offering that includes all consumptions above.
Offering = A product, service, activity, experience, or idea offered by a
marketing organization to consumers.

,1-1b Consumer Behavior Involves More than Buying
Consumer behavior is much more than just buying products. Not only are there a
variety of ways to acquire goods and services, but marketers are intensely
interested in how consumers use and dispose of goods as well. They also study
how consumers make decisions about personal finances.
- Acquiring an Offering
Buying represents one type of acquisition behavior. Acquiring includes other ways
of obtaining goods and services, such as renting, leasing, trading, and sharing.
Decisions about time and money. In fact, consumers often tend to believe that
the amount of time or effort one spent on a purchase better signals their
preferences than the amount of money they spent on it.
- Interruption can affect the buying experience
- Deadlines can affect acquisition behavior (Consumers tend to procrastinate
in redeeming coupons and gift cards with far-future deadlines)
Acquisition = The process by which a consumer comes to own or experience an
offering.


- Using an offering
After consumers acquire an offering, they use or consume it, which is why usage
is at the very core of consumer behavior. Whether and why we use certain
products can symbolize something about who we are, what we value, and what
we believe. The customer experience is very critical. Consumers interact with
firms through a myriad of touch points, and it is critical for companies to
maximize the customer experience at every point of their journey.
Usage = The process by which a consumer uses an offering


- Disposing of an offering
Consumers can give away their used possessions, recycle them, sell them on
eBay or on consignment to vintage stores, rent them via sharing websites, or
lend them to others.
Disposition = The process by which a consumer discards an offering.
- Managing money and making financial decisions
How do consumers make financial decisions before, during, and after acquiring
an offering? What are their attitudes toward money and prices?
4 segments of consumers in terms of financial well-being:
- stretched spenders (live paycheck to paycheck and feel anxious about
their financial situation),
- carefree spenders (live paycheck to paycheck and do not feel anxious
about their financial situation),
- security seekers (don’t live paycheck to paycheck, yet feel anxious about
their financial situation),
- cushioned savers (don’t live paycheck to paycheck and do not feel anxious
about their financial situation).

, 1-1c Consumer behavior is a dynamic process
The sequence of acquisition, consumption, and disposition can occur over time in
a dynamic order. One person's disposal (like selling a family car) can create an
acquisition (purchase) for another person. Entire markets are designed around
linking one consumer’s disposition decision to other consumers’ acquisition
decisions.
1-1d Consumer behavior can involve many people
Consumer behavior doesn’t necessarily involve the actions of a single individual.
There are several roles:
- Information gatherer (research)
- Influencer (affect the outcome of the decision)
- Purchaser (paying)
- User
1-1e Consumer behavior involves may decisions
Often related to personal goals, safety concerns, or a desire to reduce economic,
social, or psychological risk.
Consumer behavior involves many decisions, like:
- Whether (to acquire, use or dispose of an offering)
- What (Brands of categories)
- Why
o Among the most important reasons, are the ways in which an
offering meets someone’s needs, values or goals.
o Acquisition may be related to a consumer’s attitudes toward money,
materialism, status, emotions, and self-control
 Sometimes our reasons are filled with conflict, like when
smoking cigarettes (you know it’s harmful, but gain
acceptance)
- How
o Ways of acquiring an offering: buying, trading, renting/leasing,
bartering (exchanging), gifting, finding, stealing
o Ways of using an offering: what we ‘correctly’ use with the offering
(e.g. chips with salsa) and how we store and organize the items in
our house
o Ways of disposing of an offering
 Find a new use for it
 Get rid of it temporarily
 Get rid of it permanently
- When: when consumer behavior takes place, depends on the following
factors:
o Timing
o Need for variety
o Transitions: like marriage, birthdays, graduation (upgraded product)
o Knowing when others will (not) buy an item (waiting for sale,
popularity)
o Consumers are more impatient about consuming experiential (e.g.,
vacations) than material purchases.