Consumer Behaviour
1. Introduction Consumer Behaviour
1.1 What is it CB about?
What? Repeated patterns, habits, the characteristics of the consumers you want to attract -> price
sensitivity, -> lifestyle (values) -> demographics -> behavior trends, persuasion
The core is decision making -> trying to understand
DEF= the study of processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of
products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
Consumer characteristics= why do certain people choose for certain products?
Family size, occasion, someone is on a diet, there is a promotion, price, favorite brand, packaging
motivational
Purpose-> culture, influencers group social
CB = interdisciplinary science, based on 4p’s Product, price, promotion, place
Consumer= user, actually a wider set of roles that a person can fulfill not only a
role as a buyer more than a customer
Requirements that I need fulfilled by the products I buy (e.g. Healthy, durably…)
Shopper= buyer the person who actual buys the product
Example Old spice = deo for men girl suggestive liking for ice-cream. 80% of their deo is bought by the
wives instead of the men so this deo with a girl on it is not effective at all.
Requirements that I need fulfilled as part of the shopping process (e.g. variaty, value…)
Buying roles consumer
• Initiator: Initiates idea
• Influencer: Influences
• Decider: Ultimate buying decision
• Buyer: Actual purchase
• Payer: Pays
• User: Consumes
• Gatekeeper: Controls access
CB as a process with 3 phases (Customer journey)
1
,CB as subjective and situational Consumer influences
1.2 Why study CB?
Selling >< Marketing (=Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups
obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.)
consumer at center: his needs and his values
Customer value =
consumer’s assessment of the overall capacity of offerings to satisfy needs and wants (Customer is
always right because he or she decides whether she is going the spend her money or not. )
Utilitarian value: Helps to accomplish some task, functional need that you are trying to seek. E.g.
Burger King
Hedonic value: Immediate gratification, experience and emotions! E.g. happy meal refer to
positive experience, could also be negative but less. ‘’what it represents’’. Buying because of this.
VALUE DISCIPLINE
1. Product leadership: ‘’best product’’ continuous innovation and creativity. New products to
market quickly. E.g. Tesla
2
, 2. Operational excellence: ‘’best total cost’’ leading in price and convenience. Redue costs and
create efficient value-delivery system. E.g. Walmart
3. Customer intimacy: ‘’best total solution’’ constantly tailor offering to needs of target customers
based on knowledge of individual customers. E.g. Dell: change everything to your own needs.
More and more focus on customer intimacy, focus on least of one of this disciplines.
e.g. When you buy a car= functional: transportation however the hedonic value: explains why people
dream of Ferraris and Bentley’s and porches all the extra features for status and is part of the experience
of driving.
People don’t buy the product but buy for the idea you stand for, the ethics
behind your organization. Always ask: ‘where do we stand for?’’ purpose
more value than product itself!
= base, why market this product? Everything starts with the WHY question
Why is CB important in marketing?
BOTTOM LINE: BASIS to ensure that products/service meet consumer needs
BUT ALSO: STRENGHT improve marketing strategies to facilitate the
creation of value
AND: UNDERSTANDING by generating a better understanding of how customers think, feel, reason, are
influenced by their environment, their motivations and decision strategies
Studying consumer behavior can make YOU a “better” consumer -> better as in the awareness of what
the circumstances are.
Consumers’ impact in marketing strategies
Understanding CB is good business > basic marketing concepts rely on satisfying consumer needs
• marketers can only satisfy needs to the extent that they understand the consumers
• marketers have to understand the wants and needs of different consumer segments
Carefully defining consumer segments and listening to consumers more important in the context of
• relationship marketing
• database marketing
No ‘’one size fits all’’
Market segmentation= delineating segments whose members
are similar to one another in one or more characteristics and
different from members of other segments, creating value for
everyone is not possible so you have to choose but choosing is
losing
Impact of marketing on consumer: the dark side of the force
3
, -Consumerism: Black Friday
-Adding to the waste cycle
-Gender stereotyping
The light side of the force
-Promotes sustainability
-Challenges gender roles
-Encourages behavior change
1.3 How study CB?
Primary >< Secondary
Primary research = uses primary data, i.e., data collected directly by researchers, who design the study
and have control of what the data measure
e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups, diaries, case studies...
Secondary research = uses secondary, already available data, which researchers can use for their currant
research objective
e.g., trade reports, government statistics, published articles, company websites, blogs...
Primary: Collect your own data, first person who collect it, you as researcher collecting the data
Secondary: using data that is already there, someone else did the research study this data to make
conclusions for your own research
Focus on primary!
Qualitative >< Quantitative
Combination
of both is the best!
Summary
Qualitative Quantitative
Case analyses: In-depth interviews, Numerical measurement & analyses
focus group interviews, observations, ...
Phenomenology: Interpretation of the Statistical models
lived experience (interviews, …)
Ethnography: Analyzing artifacts (e.g., Tracking consumer purchases
trash, fridge, …)
Netnography: Online cultures Surveys
and communities
4
1. Introduction Consumer Behaviour
1.1 What is it CB about?
What? Repeated patterns, habits, the characteristics of the consumers you want to attract -> price
sensitivity, -> lifestyle (values) -> demographics -> behavior trends, persuasion
The core is decision making -> trying to understand
DEF= the study of processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of
products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
Consumer characteristics= why do certain people choose for certain products?
Family size, occasion, someone is on a diet, there is a promotion, price, favorite brand, packaging
motivational
Purpose-> culture, influencers group social
CB = interdisciplinary science, based on 4p’s Product, price, promotion, place
Consumer= user, actually a wider set of roles that a person can fulfill not only a
role as a buyer more than a customer
Requirements that I need fulfilled by the products I buy (e.g. Healthy, durably…)
Shopper= buyer the person who actual buys the product
Example Old spice = deo for men girl suggestive liking for ice-cream. 80% of their deo is bought by the
wives instead of the men so this deo with a girl on it is not effective at all.
Requirements that I need fulfilled as part of the shopping process (e.g. variaty, value…)
Buying roles consumer
• Initiator: Initiates idea
• Influencer: Influences
• Decider: Ultimate buying decision
• Buyer: Actual purchase
• Payer: Pays
• User: Consumes
• Gatekeeper: Controls access
CB as a process with 3 phases (Customer journey)
1
,CB as subjective and situational Consumer influences
1.2 Why study CB?
Selling >< Marketing (=Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups
obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.)
consumer at center: his needs and his values
Customer value =
consumer’s assessment of the overall capacity of offerings to satisfy needs and wants (Customer is
always right because he or she decides whether she is going the spend her money or not. )
Utilitarian value: Helps to accomplish some task, functional need that you are trying to seek. E.g.
Burger King
Hedonic value: Immediate gratification, experience and emotions! E.g. happy meal refer to
positive experience, could also be negative but less. ‘’what it represents’’. Buying because of this.
VALUE DISCIPLINE
1. Product leadership: ‘’best product’’ continuous innovation and creativity. New products to
market quickly. E.g. Tesla
2
, 2. Operational excellence: ‘’best total cost’’ leading in price and convenience. Redue costs and
create efficient value-delivery system. E.g. Walmart
3. Customer intimacy: ‘’best total solution’’ constantly tailor offering to needs of target customers
based on knowledge of individual customers. E.g. Dell: change everything to your own needs.
More and more focus on customer intimacy, focus on least of one of this disciplines.
e.g. When you buy a car= functional: transportation however the hedonic value: explains why people
dream of Ferraris and Bentley’s and porches all the extra features for status and is part of the experience
of driving.
People don’t buy the product but buy for the idea you stand for, the ethics
behind your organization. Always ask: ‘where do we stand for?’’ purpose
more value than product itself!
= base, why market this product? Everything starts with the WHY question
Why is CB important in marketing?
BOTTOM LINE: BASIS to ensure that products/service meet consumer needs
BUT ALSO: STRENGHT improve marketing strategies to facilitate the
creation of value
AND: UNDERSTANDING by generating a better understanding of how customers think, feel, reason, are
influenced by their environment, their motivations and decision strategies
Studying consumer behavior can make YOU a “better” consumer -> better as in the awareness of what
the circumstances are.
Consumers’ impact in marketing strategies
Understanding CB is good business > basic marketing concepts rely on satisfying consumer needs
• marketers can only satisfy needs to the extent that they understand the consumers
• marketers have to understand the wants and needs of different consumer segments
Carefully defining consumer segments and listening to consumers more important in the context of
• relationship marketing
• database marketing
No ‘’one size fits all’’
Market segmentation= delineating segments whose members
are similar to one another in one or more characteristics and
different from members of other segments, creating value for
everyone is not possible so you have to choose but choosing is
losing
Impact of marketing on consumer: the dark side of the force
3
, -Consumerism: Black Friday
-Adding to the waste cycle
-Gender stereotyping
The light side of the force
-Promotes sustainability
-Challenges gender roles
-Encourages behavior change
1.3 How study CB?
Primary >< Secondary
Primary research = uses primary data, i.e., data collected directly by researchers, who design the study
and have control of what the data measure
e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups, diaries, case studies...
Secondary research = uses secondary, already available data, which researchers can use for their currant
research objective
e.g., trade reports, government statistics, published articles, company websites, blogs...
Primary: Collect your own data, first person who collect it, you as researcher collecting the data
Secondary: using data that is already there, someone else did the research study this data to make
conclusions for your own research
Focus on primary!
Qualitative >< Quantitative
Combination
of both is the best!
Summary
Qualitative Quantitative
Case analyses: In-depth interviews, Numerical measurement & analyses
focus group interviews, observations, ...
Phenomenology: Interpretation of the Statistical models
lived experience (interviews, …)
Ethnography: Analyzing artifacts (e.g., Tracking consumer purchases
trash, fridge, …)
Netnography: Online cultures Surveys
and communities
4
