Summary consumer behavior chapters 1 – 6
Chapter 1
Consumer behavior: Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumers’ decisions with
respect to the acquisition, consumption, and dis- position of goods, services, activities,
experiences, people, and ideas by (human) decision-making units over time.
Example: It’s not just about buying tangible products, it also includes use of service, such as going to the
dentist, attending a concert, taking a trip, and donating to UNICEF. It also involves choices about the
consumption of time (checking facebook, watching Youtube).
Offering: A product, service, activity, experience, or idea offered by a marketing organization
to consumers.
Nederlands: Het is dus het geheel van producten, diensten, activiteiten, ervaringen, of ideeën dat een
marketingorganisatie aan consumenten aanbiedt om in hun behoeften of wensen te voorzien.
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.
About the consumption
Acquiring an offering: The process by which a consumer comes to own or experience an
offering.
Using an offering (Usage) : The process by which a consumer uses or consumes an offering.
Context: the products we use and the descisions we make symbolise who we are (jewellery, music etc.)
Disposing an Offering: The process by which a consumer discards an offering.
Context: getting rid of the product (by selling it, throwing it away, recycle etc.)
Consumers behavior involves many decisions, like;
Whether
What
Why
Among the most important reasons, are the ways in which an offering meets
someone’s needs, values or goals. Sometimes our reasons are filled with conflict, like
when smoking cigarettes (you know it’s harmful, but you want to fit in)
• How
Ways of acquiring an offering: buying, trading, renting/leasing, bartering
(exchanging),
gifting, finding, stealing
, Ways of using an offering: what we use with the offering and how we store and
organize the items in our homes.
Ways of disposing of an offering: Find a new use for it, get rid of it temporarily or get
rid of it permanently
When
When consumer behavior takes place, depends on the following factors: timing,
need for variety, transitions (like marriage, birthdays, graduation).
Where
(where to consume and dispose)
How much/ How often/ How long
Sales of a product can be increased when the consumer (1) uses larger amounts of
the product, (2) uses the product more frequently, or (3) uses it for longer periods of
time.
Consumers often use products to regulate their feelings.
There are several roles within the buying process;
Information gatherer
Influencer
Decider
Purchaser
User
,8 ways to aquire an offering
Buying
Buying is a common acquisition method used for many offerings.
Trading
Consumers might receive a good or service as part of a trade.
Renting or leasing
Instead of buying, consumers rent or lease cars, furniture, vacation homes, and more.
Bartering
Consumers (and businesses) can exchange goods or services without having money change
hands.
Gifting
Each society has many gift-giving occasions as well as informal or formal rules dictating how
gifts are to be given, what is an appropriate gift, and how to respond to a gift.
Finding
Consumers sometimes find goods that others have lost (hats left on a bus) or thrown away.
Stealing
Because various offerings can be acquired through theft, marketers have developed
products to deter this acquisition method, such as alarms to deter car theft.
Sharing
Another method of acquisition is by sharing or borrowing. Some types of “sharing” are
illegal and border on theft, as when consumers copy and share movies. A “sharing economy”
has now developed through online communities.
What affects consumer behavior?
The many factors that affect acquisition, usage and disposition decisions can be classified
into four broad domains;
1. The psychological core: internal consumer processes. Before consumers can make
decisions, they must have some source of knowledge upon which they base their
decisions. This source – the psychological core – covers;
1. Motivation, opportunity, ability (MOA)
2. Exposure, attention, perception and comprehension
3. Memory and knowledge
4. Attitudes about an offering
2. The process of making decisions
1. Problem recognition and information search
2. Judgment and decision-making
3. Post-decision processes
3. The consumers culture: culture refers to the typical or expected behaviors, norms
and ideas that characterize a group of people.
1. Social influences on consumer behavior
2. Consumer diversity
3. Household and social class influences
4. Psychographics: values, personality and lifestyles
4. Consumer behavior outcomes
1. Innovations: adoption, resistance and diffusion
2. Symbolic consumer behavior (Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger etc.)
, 3. Marketing, ethics and social responsibility in today’s consumer society
Marketing: the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and
society at large.
Who Benefits from the Study of Consumer Behavior?
Marketing managers: marketers need consumer behavior insights to understand what
consumers and clients value; only then can they develop, communicate, and deliver
appropriate goods and services.
Ethicists and advocacy groups: marketers’ actions sometimes raise important ethical
questions. Concerned consumers sometimes form advocacy groups to create public
awareness of inappropriate practices.
Policymakers and regulators: Understanding consumer behavior is essential for creating
rules that protect consumers from unfair or unsafe marketing practices.
Academics: share knowledge about consumer behavior by teaching courses on the topic.
They also create new insights through their research.
Consumers and society: understanding consumer behavior enables marketers and other
organizations to provide tools for more informed decision-making.
Developing and Implementing Customer-Oriented Strategy
How is the market segmented?
How profitable is each segment?
What are the characteristics of consumers in each segment?
Are consumers satisfied with existing offerings?
Selecting the Target Market
Developing Products:
What ideas do consumers have for new products?
What attributes can be added to or changed in an existing offering?
How should the offering be branded?
What should the package and logo look like?
Positioning:
How are competitive offerings positioned?
How should our offerings be positioned?
How should our offerings be repositioned?
Making:
What are our communication objectives?
What should our marketing communications look like?
Where should advertising be placed?
When should we advertise?
Has our advertising been effective?
What about sales promotion objectives and tactics?
Have our sales promotions been effective?
Chapter 1
Consumer behavior: Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumers’ decisions with
respect to the acquisition, consumption, and dis- position of goods, services, activities,
experiences, people, and ideas by (human) decision-making units over time.
Example: It’s not just about buying tangible products, it also includes use of service, such as going to the
dentist, attending a concert, taking a trip, and donating to UNICEF. It also involves choices about the
consumption of time (checking facebook, watching Youtube).
Offering: A product, service, activity, experience, or idea offered by a marketing organization
to consumers.
Nederlands: Het is dus het geheel van producten, diensten, activiteiten, ervaringen, of ideeën dat een
marketingorganisatie aan consumenten aanbiedt om in hun behoeften of wensen te voorzien.
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.
About the consumption
Acquiring an offering: The process by which a consumer comes to own or experience an
offering.
Using an offering (Usage) : The process by which a consumer uses or consumes an offering.
Context: the products we use and the descisions we make symbolise who we are (jewellery, music etc.)
Disposing an Offering: The process by which a consumer discards an offering.
Context: getting rid of the product (by selling it, throwing it away, recycle etc.)
Consumers behavior involves many decisions, like;
Whether
What
Why
Among the most important reasons, are the ways in which an offering meets
someone’s needs, values or goals. Sometimes our reasons are filled with conflict, like
when smoking cigarettes (you know it’s harmful, but you want to fit in)
• How
Ways of acquiring an offering: buying, trading, renting/leasing, bartering
(exchanging),
gifting, finding, stealing
, Ways of using an offering: what we use with the offering and how we store and
organize the items in our homes.
Ways of disposing of an offering: Find a new use for it, get rid of it temporarily or get
rid of it permanently
When
When consumer behavior takes place, depends on the following factors: timing,
need for variety, transitions (like marriage, birthdays, graduation).
Where
(where to consume and dispose)
How much/ How often/ How long
Sales of a product can be increased when the consumer (1) uses larger amounts of
the product, (2) uses the product more frequently, or (3) uses it for longer periods of
time.
Consumers often use products to regulate their feelings.
There are several roles within the buying process;
Information gatherer
Influencer
Decider
Purchaser
User
,8 ways to aquire an offering
Buying
Buying is a common acquisition method used for many offerings.
Trading
Consumers might receive a good or service as part of a trade.
Renting or leasing
Instead of buying, consumers rent or lease cars, furniture, vacation homes, and more.
Bartering
Consumers (and businesses) can exchange goods or services without having money change
hands.
Gifting
Each society has many gift-giving occasions as well as informal or formal rules dictating how
gifts are to be given, what is an appropriate gift, and how to respond to a gift.
Finding
Consumers sometimes find goods that others have lost (hats left on a bus) or thrown away.
Stealing
Because various offerings can be acquired through theft, marketers have developed
products to deter this acquisition method, such as alarms to deter car theft.
Sharing
Another method of acquisition is by sharing or borrowing. Some types of “sharing” are
illegal and border on theft, as when consumers copy and share movies. A “sharing economy”
has now developed through online communities.
What affects consumer behavior?
The many factors that affect acquisition, usage and disposition decisions can be classified
into four broad domains;
1. The psychological core: internal consumer processes. Before consumers can make
decisions, they must have some source of knowledge upon which they base their
decisions. This source – the psychological core – covers;
1. Motivation, opportunity, ability (MOA)
2. Exposure, attention, perception and comprehension
3. Memory and knowledge
4. Attitudes about an offering
2. The process of making decisions
1. Problem recognition and information search
2. Judgment and decision-making
3. Post-decision processes
3. The consumers culture: culture refers to the typical or expected behaviors, norms
and ideas that characterize a group of people.
1. Social influences on consumer behavior
2. Consumer diversity
3. Household and social class influences
4. Psychographics: values, personality and lifestyles
4. Consumer behavior outcomes
1. Innovations: adoption, resistance and diffusion
2. Symbolic consumer behavior (Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger etc.)
, 3. Marketing, ethics and social responsibility in today’s consumer society
Marketing: the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and
society at large.
Who Benefits from the Study of Consumer Behavior?
Marketing managers: marketers need consumer behavior insights to understand what
consumers and clients value; only then can they develop, communicate, and deliver
appropriate goods and services.
Ethicists and advocacy groups: marketers’ actions sometimes raise important ethical
questions. Concerned consumers sometimes form advocacy groups to create public
awareness of inappropriate practices.
Policymakers and regulators: Understanding consumer behavior is essential for creating
rules that protect consumers from unfair or unsafe marketing practices.
Academics: share knowledge about consumer behavior by teaching courses on the topic.
They also create new insights through their research.
Consumers and society: understanding consumer behavior enables marketers and other
organizations to provide tools for more informed decision-making.
Developing and Implementing Customer-Oriented Strategy
How is the market segmented?
How profitable is each segment?
What are the characteristics of consumers in each segment?
Are consumers satisfied with existing offerings?
Selecting the Target Market
Developing Products:
What ideas do consumers have for new products?
What attributes can be added to or changed in an existing offering?
How should the offering be branded?
What should the package and logo look like?
Positioning:
How are competitive offerings positioned?
How should our offerings be positioned?
How should our offerings be repositioned?
Making:
What are our communication objectives?
What should our marketing communications look like?
Where should advertising be placed?
When should we advertise?
Has our advertising been effective?
What about sales promotion objectives and tactics?
Have our sales promotions been effective?
