After reviewing Chapter 3 from the textbook, post a 500-word synopsis of your understanding of the marketing concepts. In your posting, include questions about any marketing concepts that are unclear.

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Attached PPT Document 

Chapter 3

Consumer Behavior

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Chapter Outline
Social influences on consumer decision making
Marketing influences on consumer decision making
Situational influences on consumer decision making
Psychological influences on consumer decision making
Consumer decision making

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Figure 3.1: An Overview of the Buying Process

Jump to
Figure 3.1: An Overview of the Buying Process
, Appendix

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Culture
Influences an individual’s needs, wants, and behavior
Determinant of certain aspects of consumer behavior
Cultural values are transmitted through:
Family
Religious organizations
Educational institutions

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Culture and Subculture
Marketing managers should:
Adapt the marketing mix to cultural values
Constantly monitor value changes and differences in both domestic and global markets
Subcultures
Arise when a population loses a significant amount of its homogeneity
Based on geographic areas, religions, nationalities, ethnic groups, and age

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Social Class
Develops on the basis of wealth, skill, and power
Tends to have different attitudinal configurations and values that influence the behavior of individual members

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Social Class: Classification
Differentiated mainly by having high incomes
Upper Americans
Concerned with doing the right thing and buying what is popular
Middle class
Family folk who depend heavily on relatives for economic and emotional support
Working class
Have the lowest education levels and resources and lie at the bottom of the social class hierarchy
Lower Americans
Jump to
Social Class: Classification, Appendix

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Reference Groups
Groups that an individual looks to when forming attitudes and opinions
Primary reference groups: Family and close friends
Family life cycle: Framework that divides the development of a family into a number of stages based on the needs, assets, debts, and expenditures that change with time
Secondary reference groups: Fraternal organizations and professional associations

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Marketing Influences on Consumer Decision Making
Brand name, quality, newness, complexity, physical appearance of the product, packaging, and labeling information
Product influences
Sales depend on competitive offering
Price influences
Advertising, sales promotions, salespeople, and publicity
Promotion influences
Convenience in buying
Products being sold in exclusive outlets
Products being offered by nonstore methods
Place influences
Jump back to
Marketing Influences on Consumer Decision Making
, Appendix

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Situational Influences on Consumer
Decision Making, 1
Factors particular to a time and place that have a demonstrable and systematic effect on current behavior
Physical features: Geographical and institutional location, decor, sounds, aromas, lighting, weather, and visible configurations of merchandise or other materials
Social features: Other persons present, their characteristics, their apparent roles and interpersonal interactions
Time: Temporal dimension of a situation
Task features: An intent or requirement to select, shop for, or obtain information about a general or specific purchase
Current conditions: Momentary moods and conditions that influence consumer behavior

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Psychological Influences on Consumer Decision Making: Product Knowledge
Amount of information a consumer has about particular products and ways to purchase them
Influences:
How much information is sought to make a purchase
How quickly a consumer goes through the decision-making process

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Psychological Influences on Consumer Decision Making:
Product Involvement
Consumer’s perception of the importance or personal relevance of an item
High-involvement product: Consumers develop a high degree of product knowledge
High degree of product involvement: Increases the time it takes to go through the decision-making process

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Figure 3.2: The Consumer Decision-Making
Process

Jump to
Figure 3.2: The Consumer Decision-Making Process, Appendix

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Types of Decision Making
Requires the most time and effort since the purchase typically involves a highly complex or expensive product that is important to the consumer
Extensive decision making
Requires a moderate amount of time and effort to search for and compare alternatives
Limited decision making
Involves little in the way of thinking and deliberation
Routine decision making
Jump to
Types of Decision Making, Appendix

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Need Recognition
Consumer’s recognition of an unsatisfied need is the starting point in the buying process
Stimulated by either internal or external stimuli
Marketing managers must find out:
What needs and wants a particular product satisfies
What unsatisfied needs and wants consumers have for which a new product could be developed

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Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological needs: Primary needs of the human body such as food, water, and sex
Safety needs: Protection from physical harm, ill health, and economic disaster and avoidance of the unexpected
Belongingness and love needs: Social and gregarious nature of humans and the need for companionship
Esteem needs: Awareness of importance to others and actual esteem from others
Self-actualization needs: Desire to become everything one can become and fully realize talents and capabilities

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Sources of Alternative Search
Consumer’s stored information and experience to deal with a particular need
Internal sources
Communication with other people
Group sources
Advertising, salespeople, dealers, packaging, and displays offered by marketers
Marketing sources
Newspaper articles, and independent ratings of the product
Public sources
Information a consumer gets from handling, examining, and trying a product
Experiential sources
Jump to Sources of Alternative Search,
Appendix

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Steps in Information Processing
Being exposed to information
Becoming attentive to the information
Understanding the information
Retaining the information

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Describing Evaluation Process, 1
Consumer has information about a number of brands in a product class
Consumer perceives that some of the brands in a product class are viable alternatives for satisfying a recognized need
Each of these brands has a set of attributes
Set of these attributes is relevant to the consumer

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Describing Evaluation Process, 2
Consumer perceives that different brands vary in how much of each attribute they possess
Consumers prefer brands that have desired attributes in desired amounts and desired order
Brand the consumer likes best is the brand the consumer will intend to purchase

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Purchase Decision
Involves:
Product type
Brand
Model
Dealer selection
Method of payment
Consumers minimize their risk by either reducing negative consequences or uncertainty

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Postpurchase Evaluation
Probability of repurchase increases if the product fulfills the need for which it was purchased
Cognitive dissonance: Lack of harmony among a person’s thoughts after a decision has been made
Related to the occurrence of postdecision dissonance
Disconfirmation paradigm: Views consumer satisfaction as the degree to which the actual performance of a product is consistent with expectations a consumer had before purchase
Related to the postpurchase consumer satisfaction

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Implications of Postpurchase Evaluation
Marketers should not raise prepurchase expectations to such a level that the product cannot possibly meet them
Creating positive expectations consistent with the product’s likely performance is important

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APPENDICES

Figure 3.1: An Overview of the Buying Process, Appendix
The top row contains three boxes that are arranged beside each other. Starting from the left, the first box is labeled social influences, the second box is labeled marketing influences, and the third box is labeled situational influences. Arrows extend from each of these boxes that connect them to a fourth box below. The fourth box is labeled psychological influences. An arrow extends from this box and connects it to a fifth box below. The fifth box is labeled consumer decision making.
Jump back to
Figure 3.1: An Overview of the Buying Process

© McGraw-Hill Education

25

Social Class: Classification, Appendix
There are 4 small rectangular boxes partially overlapping 4 large rectangular boxes. Each pair of small and large boxes is placed one below the other. The content in the large box explains the term provided in the small box. In the first pair of boxes, the small box is labeled upper Americans. The content in the large box reads differentiated mainly by having high incomes. In the second pair of boxes, the small box is labeled middle class. The content in the large box reads concerned with doing the right thing and buying what is popular. In the third pair of boxes, the small box is labeled working class. The content in the large box reads family folk who depend heavily on relatives for economic and emotional support. In the fourth pair of boxes, the small box is labeled lower Americans. The content in the large box reads have the lowest education levels and resources and lie at the bottom of the social class hierarchy.
Jump back to
Social Class: Classification

© McGraw-Hill Education

26

Marketing Influences on Consumer
Decision Making, Appendix
There are 4 small rectangular boxes partially overlapping 4 large rectangular boxes. Each pair of small and large boxes is placed one below the other. The content in the large box contains examples of the term provided in the small box. In the first pair of boxes, the small box is labeled product influences. The content in the large box reads brand name, quality, newness, complexity, physical appearance of the product, packaging, and labeling information. In the second pair of boxes, the small box is labeled price influences. The content in the large box reads sales depend on competitive offering. In the third pair of boxes, the small box is labeled promotion influences. The content in the large box reads advertising, sales promotions, salespeople, and publicity. In the fourth pair of boxes, the small box is labeled place influences. The content in the large box reads convenience in buying, products being sold in exclusive outlets, and products being offered by nonstore methods.

Jump back to
Marketing Influences on Consumer Decision Making

© McGraw-Hill Education

Figure 3.2: The Consumer Decision-Making
Process, Appendix
It consists of four square-shaped boxes. Starting from the left, the first box is labeled need recognition. An arrow extends from this box to the next box, which is labeled alternative search. An arrow extends from this box to the next box, which is labeled alternative evaluation. An arrow extends from this box to the next box, which is labeled purchase decision. An arrow extends from this box to the next box, which is labeled postpurchase evaluation. An arrow extends from this box and connects it back to the first box labeled need recognition from the left.
Jump back to
Figure 3.2: The Consumer Decision-Making Process

© McGraw-Hill Education

Types of Decision Making, Appendix
There are 4 small rectangular boxes partially overlapping 4 large rectangular boxes. Each pair of small and large boxes is placed one below the other. The content in the large box explains the term provided in the small box. In the first pair of boxes, the small box is labeled extensive decision making. The content in the large box reads requires the most time and effort since the purchase typically involves a highly complex or expensive product that is important to the consumer. In the second pair of boxes, the small box is labeled limited decision making. The content in the large box reads requires a moderate amount of time and effort to search for and compare alternatives. In the third pair of boxes, the small box is labeled routine decision making. The content in the large box reads involves little in the way of thinking and deliberation.

Jump back to
Types of Decision Making

© McGraw-Hill Education

Sources of Alternative Search, Appendix
There are 5 small rectangular boxes partially overlapping 5 large rectangular boxes. Each pair of small and large boxes is placed one below the other. The content in the large box explains the term provided in the small box. In the first pair of boxes, the small box is labeled internal sources. The content in the large box reads consumer’s stored information and experience for dealing with a particular need. In the second pair of boxes, the small box is labeled group sources. The content in the large box reads communication with other people. In the third pair of boxes, the small box is labeled routine marketing sources. The content in the large box reads advertising, salespeople, dealers, packaging, and displays offered by marketers. In the fourth pair of boxes, the small box is labeled public sources. The content in the large box reads newspaper articles, and independent ratings of the product. In the fifth pair of boxes, the small box is labeled experiential sources. The content in the large box reads information a consumer gets from handling, examining, and trying a product.
Jump back to
Sources of Alternative Search

© McGraw-Hill Education