Summaries Consumer Behavior
Summary Chapter 1 (understanding consumer behavior)
Motivation An inner state of activation that provides energy needed to achieve a goal.
Offering = products, activities, experiences, ideas and services
Acquisition/ usage/ disposition
Affecting consumer behavior:
- Psychological core
- The process of making decisions
- The consumers’ culture
- Consumer behavior outcomes
Consumer behavior involves understanding the set of decisions (what, whether, why, when, how,
where, how much, and how often) that an individual or group of consumers makes over time about
the acquisition, use, or disposition of goods, services, ideas, or other offerings. The psychological
core exerts considerable influence on consumer behavior. A consumer’s motivation, ability, and
opportunity affect his or her decisions and influence what a person is exposed to, what he or she
pays attention to, and what he or she perceives and comprehends. These factors also affect how
consumers categorize and interpret information, how they form and retrieve memories, and how
they form and change attitudes. Each aspect of the psychological core has a bearing on the consumer
decision-making process, which involves (1) problem recognition, (2) information search, (3)
judgments and decision-making, and (4) evaluating satisfaction with the decision. Consumer behavior
is affected by the consumer’s culture and by the typical or expected behaviors, norms, and ideas of a
particular group. Consumers belong to a number of groups, share their cultural values and beliefs,
and use their symbols to communicate group membership. Household and social class influences are
involved in consumer behavior, as are each individual’s values, personality, and lifestyles. Consumer
behavior can be symbolic and express an individual’s identity. It is also indicative of how quickly an
offering spreads throughout a market. Further, ethics and social responsibility play a role in consumer
behavior. Marketers study consumer behavior to gain insights that will lead to more effective
marketing strategies and tactics. Ethicists and advocacy groups are keenly interested in consumer
behavior, as are public policy makers and regulators who want to protect consumers from unsafe or
inappropriate offerings. Consumers and society can both benefit as marketers learn to make products
more user-friendly and to show concern for the environment. Finally, studying consumer behavior
helps marketers understand how to segment markets and how to decide which to target, how to
position an offering, and which marketing-mix tactics will be most effective.
,Summary chapter 2 (MOA)
Motivation = An inner state of activation that provides energy needed to achieve a goal.
Ability = To which extent consumers have the necessary resources to make the outcome happen.
Opportunity = The final factor affecting whether motivation results in action is consumers’
opportunity to engage in a behavior.
Goals – there are multiple kinds of goals:
- Abstract – longer period of time
- Concrete – very clear
- Promotion-focused – positive outcomes
- Prevention-focused – avoid negative outcomes
Motivation reflects an inner state of activation that moves the consumer to engage in goal-relevant
behaviors, effortful information processing, and detailed decision-making. Motivated consumers
often experience affective or cognitive involvement. In some cases, this involvement may be
enduring; in other cases, it may be situational, lasting only until the goal has been achieved.
Consumers experience greater motivation when they regard a goal or object as personally relevant,
or when it relates to their self-concept, values, needs, emotions, goals, and/or calls for self-control;
when it entails perceived risk; or when it is moderately inconsistent with their prior attitudes. Even
when motivation is high, consumers may not achieve their goals if their ability or opportunity to do
so is low. Similarly, if consumers lack the financial, cognitive, emotional, physical, or social and
cultural resources, they may not have the ability to make a decision. Age and education also affect
ability. Highly motivated consumers may also fail to achieve goals if lack of time, distractions, complex
or large amounts of information, or lack of control over information flow limit the opportunity to
make decisions.
, Summary Chapter 3 (exposure to comprehension)
Exposure – attention – perception – comprehension
1. Exposure = coming into physical contact with a stimulus.
Marketing stimuli = information about a commercial offering by marketer or non-marketing
resources.
2. Attention = the amount of mental activity a consumer devotes to a stimulus.
- Limited (not all can be seen)
- Selective (because of limited)
- Divided (attention over time or certain tasks)
Focus on stimulus – focal attention/ Being exposed to other stimuli – nonfocal attention.
Preattentive processing – nonconscious processing of stimuli:
- Pleasant/ Personal / Surprising / Easy to process.
Prominence – stand out
Concreteness – imagined
3. Perception = stimulus has our attention and now we are going to perceive it. 5 zintuigen.
To perceive a stimulus it must be sufficiently intense:
- absolute threshold (minimum needed to detect a stimulus).
- Just noticeable difference/ differential threshold (difference between 2 stimuli before
they are perceived as different.)
Weber’s Law – initial stimulus strong, next one has to be stronger.
Subliminal perception - Below conscious awareness
Perceiving a stimuli:
- Grouping
- Preference for the whole
- Closure
- Perceptual organization
- Figure and ground
4. Comprehension = The process of extracting higher-order meaning from what we have
perceived in the context of what we already know.
- Source identification
- Message comprehension
The ease in perceiving and processing information is known as perceptual fluency
For a marketing stimulus to have an impact, consumers must be exposed to it, allocate some
attention to it, and perceive it. Consumers need a basic level of attention to perceive a stimulus
before they can use additional mental resources to process the stimulus at higher levels. Exposure
occurs when the consumer is presented with a marketing stimulus. Attention occurs when the
consumer allocates mental activity to the stimulus. Attention is limited, selective, and can be divided,
and may be focal or nonfocal. Consumers perceive a stimulus by using one or more of their five
senses. Perceptual thresholds determine the point at which stimuli are perceived. Consumers can
sometimes perceive things outside of their conscious level of awareness, a phenomenon called
subliminal perception. Perceptual organization occurs when consumers organize a set of stimuli into a
Summary Chapter 1 (understanding consumer behavior)
Motivation An inner state of activation that provides energy needed to achieve a goal.
Offering = products, activities, experiences, ideas and services
Acquisition/ usage/ disposition
Affecting consumer behavior:
- Psychological core
- The process of making decisions
- The consumers’ culture
- Consumer behavior outcomes
Consumer behavior involves understanding the set of decisions (what, whether, why, when, how,
where, how much, and how often) that an individual or group of consumers makes over time about
the acquisition, use, or disposition of goods, services, ideas, or other offerings. The psychological
core exerts considerable influence on consumer behavior. A consumer’s motivation, ability, and
opportunity affect his or her decisions and influence what a person is exposed to, what he or she
pays attention to, and what he or she perceives and comprehends. These factors also affect how
consumers categorize and interpret information, how they form and retrieve memories, and how
they form and change attitudes. Each aspect of the psychological core has a bearing on the consumer
decision-making process, which involves (1) problem recognition, (2) information search, (3)
judgments and decision-making, and (4) evaluating satisfaction with the decision. Consumer behavior
is affected by the consumer’s culture and by the typical or expected behaviors, norms, and ideas of a
particular group. Consumers belong to a number of groups, share their cultural values and beliefs,
and use their symbols to communicate group membership. Household and social class influences are
involved in consumer behavior, as are each individual’s values, personality, and lifestyles. Consumer
behavior can be symbolic and express an individual’s identity. It is also indicative of how quickly an
offering spreads throughout a market. Further, ethics and social responsibility play a role in consumer
behavior. Marketers study consumer behavior to gain insights that will lead to more effective
marketing strategies and tactics. Ethicists and advocacy groups are keenly interested in consumer
behavior, as are public policy makers and regulators who want to protect consumers from unsafe or
inappropriate offerings. Consumers and society can both benefit as marketers learn to make products
more user-friendly and to show concern for the environment. Finally, studying consumer behavior
helps marketers understand how to segment markets and how to decide which to target, how to
position an offering, and which marketing-mix tactics will be most effective.
,Summary chapter 2 (MOA)
Motivation = An inner state of activation that provides energy needed to achieve a goal.
Ability = To which extent consumers have the necessary resources to make the outcome happen.
Opportunity = The final factor affecting whether motivation results in action is consumers’
opportunity to engage in a behavior.
Goals – there are multiple kinds of goals:
- Abstract – longer period of time
- Concrete – very clear
- Promotion-focused – positive outcomes
- Prevention-focused – avoid negative outcomes
Motivation reflects an inner state of activation that moves the consumer to engage in goal-relevant
behaviors, effortful information processing, and detailed decision-making. Motivated consumers
often experience affective or cognitive involvement. In some cases, this involvement may be
enduring; in other cases, it may be situational, lasting only until the goal has been achieved.
Consumers experience greater motivation when they regard a goal or object as personally relevant,
or when it relates to their self-concept, values, needs, emotions, goals, and/or calls for self-control;
when it entails perceived risk; or when it is moderately inconsistent with their prior attitudes. Even
when motivation is high, consumers may not achieve their goals if their ability or opportunity to do
so is low. Similarly, if consumers lack the financial, cognitive, emotional, physical, or social and
cultural resources, they may not have the ability to make a decision. Age and education also affect
ability. Highly motivated consumers may also fail to achieve goals if lack of time, distractions, complex
or large amounts of information, or lack of control over information flow limit the opportunity to
make decisions.
, Summary Chapter 3 (exposure to comprehension)
Exposure – attention – perception – comprehension
1. Exposure = coming into physical contact with a stimulus.
Marketing stimuli = information about a commercial offering by marketer or non-marketing
resources.
2. Attention = the amount of mental activity a consumer devotes to a stimulus.
- Limited (not all can be seen)
- Selective (because of limited)
- Divided (attention over time or certain tasks)
Focus on stimulus – focal attention/ Being exposed to other stimuli – nonfocal attention.
Preattentive processing – nonconscious processing of stimuli:
- Pleasant/ Personal / Surprising / Easy to process.
Prominence – stand out
Concreteness – imagined
3. Perception = stimulus has our attention and now we are going to perceive it. 5 zintuigen.
To perceive a stimulus it must be sufficiently intense:
- absolute threshold (minimum needed to detect a stimulus).
- Just noticeable difference/ differential threshold (difference between 2 stimuli before
they are perceived as different.)
Weber’s Law – initial stimulus strong, next one has to be stronger.
Subliminal perception - Below conscious awareness
Perceiving a stimuli:
- Grouping
- Preference for the whole
- Closure
- Perceptual organization
- Figure and ground
4. Comprehension = The process of extracting higher-order meaning from what we have
perceived in the context of what we already know.
- Source identification
- Message comprehension
The ease in perceiving and processing information is known as perceptual fluency
For a marketing stimulus to have an impact, consumers must be exposed to it, allocate some
attention to it, and perceive it. Consumers need a basic level of attention to perceive a stimulus
before they can use additional mental resources to process the stimulus at higher levels. Exposure
occurs when the consumer is presented with a marketing stimulus. Attention occurs when the
consumer allocates mental activity to the stimulus. Attention is limited, selective, and can be divided,
and may be focal or nonfocal. Consumers perceive a stimulus by using one or more of their five
senses. Perceptual thresholds determine the point at which stimuli are perceived. Consumers can
sometimes perceive things outside of their conscious level of awareness, a phenomenon called
subliminal perception. Perceptual organization occurs when consumers organize a set of stimuli into a
