Consumer Behavior

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Buying, Having, and
Being

ELEVENTH EDITION

Michael R. Solomon

Consumer Behavior
 Consumer Behaviour
• This course begins with a look at the role of
consumers.

• How consumers influence the field of marketing.

• How marketers influence consumers.

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 Consumer Behaviour
• Topic 1: Consumer Behavior Foundation
• Topic 2: Cultural Influences
• Topic 3: Consumer Perception and Social Well-Being
• Topic 4: Learning, Memory and The Self
• Topic 5: Attitudes & Persuasion
• Topic 6: Buying & Disposing
• Topic 7: Consumer Identity
• Topic 8: Networked Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior
 chapter one
Introduction to
Consumer Behavior
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Buying, Having, and
Being

ELEVENTH EDITION

Michael R. Solomon

Consumer Behavior 1-4

 Lecture Objectives
1. Identifying consumer behavior as a process.

2. Understanding the needs and wants of different consumer

segments.

3. Explaining motivations to consume

4. Different disciplines in consumer research.

5. The different perspectives regarding how and what we

should understand about consumer behavior.

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 Learning Objective 1:
What is consumer behavior?
• In the early stages of development, researchers
referred to the field as buyer behavior.

• Later marketers recognized that consumer behavior is

an ongoing process, not only what happens at one
point in the transaction cycle.

• We call the transaction of value between two or more

an exchange. It’s an integral part of marketing but
consumer behavior recognizes that the entire
consumption process is important for marketers.
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 Learning Objective 1:
Consumer behavior is a process

Consumer is the person who

and
has a need makes a
disposes
or desire, purchase,
the product

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 Learning Objective 1:
What is consumer behavior?
The study of the processes
involved with individuals or
groups identifying a need or a
desire to purchase and then
use or dispose products, or
services to satisfy their
needs.
Purchaser is a customer
Vs.
Consumer Behavior
User is a consumer
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 Learning Objective 1:
Scope of consumer behavior
• Consumer behavior answers the following
questions:
• ‘What’ consumers buy. (goods / services)
• ‘Why’ they buy it. (need and want)
• ‘When’ do they buy it. (time)
• ‘Where’ they buy it. (place)
• ‘How often they buy it. (time interval)
• ‘How often they use it. (frequency of use)

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 Learning Objective 1:
Consumers’ impact on marketing
• Understanding consumer behavior is good
business because understanding people is
important to be able to satisfy them.

• Knowledge and data about customers

• Help to define the market
• Identify threats/opportunities to a brand

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 Learning Objective 1:
Stages in the consumption process
• There are three key stages:

• Pre-purchase,
• Purchase
• Post-purchase.

• Marketers need to understand all three stages.

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 Figure 1.1: Stages in the consumption process

/conclude

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 Learning Objective 2:
Understand the needs and wants of
different consumer segments.
• Marketers must understand the various
consumer segments they are targeting.
• Many dimensions are relevant for
understanding consumer needs and
wants.
• Demographic variables
• Psychographics variables
• Usage rate
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 Learning Objective 2:
Consumer segmentation
• Market segmentation is an important aspect of
consumer behavior.
• Market segmentation is when a firm breaks up its
market (its customers) into smaller groups
(segments) that share similar characteristics. They
will then target different products at different
segments.
• Relationship marketing (lifelong relationships) and
database marketing (track one’s buying habits) made
marketers much more aware of the different
consumer groups.
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 Learning Objective 2:
Tapping into consumer lifestyles
• Relationship marketing: interact with customers
regularly giving them reasons to maintain a bond
with the company

• Database marketing: tracking specific consumers’

buying habits and crafting products and messages
tailored precisely to people’s wants. The collection
and analysis of extremely large datasets is called
Big Data. Generated from:
• Smartphone GPS signals/ Credit card
transactions
• Google searches/ Social media posts
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 Class discussion..
• State some examples of:

• Demographic segmentation

• Psychographics segmentation

• Product usage segmentation

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 Learning Objective 2:
Consumer’s choices in relation to the
rest of their lives.
Popular Culture….Entertainment Industry
• Many people don’t realize the extent to which
marketers influence popular culture.
• music,
• movies,
• sports,
• books
• celebrities, or
• entertainment.
• These forms of popular culture; both influence
and are influenced by marketing.
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 Learning Objective 3:
Motivation

• Our motivations is the processes that lead

people to behave as they do and to consume
certain products and services.
• Consumer- Brand relationships: People often
buy products not for what they do (functional)
but for what they mean (hedonic).
• People may have various relationships with a
product/brands over time.
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 Learning Objective 3:
Consumer-brand relationships
Self-concept attachment
• Means that the product helps to create the user’s identity
"I am a Harley Rider"

Nostalgic attachment
• Means the product serves as a link to the consumer’s past.

Interdependence
• Means that the product is a part of the user’s daily routine.
"I have one cup everyday. It's part of my routine."

Love
• Means that the product brings out emotional bonds of or
other strong emotion.
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 Class discussion..

• Through understanding the different relations..

How do these relationships affect your behavior?

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 Question
Do marketers create artificial needs?
Objective of marketing: create awareness that
needs exist, not to create needs

Need: a basic versus Want: one way

biological that society has
motive taught us that
the need can be
satisfied

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 Question
Is marketing necessary?

• Products are designed to meet existing needs.

• Marketing triggers the wants and only helps to

communicate their existence.

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 Learning Objective 3:
Classifying consumer needs

• relates to our desire to be associated with

Need for specific people to feel accepted and be in
affiliation: company from others (social pressure).

• relates to our desire to have a mastery

Need for power: over our environment and surroundings.

Need for • relates to our desire to be distinctive.

uniqueness:

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is also useful in
understanding needs and how consumers seek
to fulfill those needs.
• The needs include:
• Physiological (lower level)
• Safety (lower level)
• Social (upper level)
• Esteem (upper level)
• Self-actualization (upper level)

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 Figure 1.2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

When the basics

lower order
needs are met, a
person can
fulfill higher
order needs.

In order to move
up the hierarchy,
a person must
have these basic
needs met

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 Learning Objective 3:
Technology
• The Internet changes who you may interact with,
the information you can find, the choices you
see as available and the time and energy you
spend dealing with various decisions.
• The Internet has created different channel of
distribution
• business to consumer (B2C): business or transactions
conducted directly between a company and consumers
who are the end-users.
• consumer to consumer (C2C): in the form of person-to-
person transactions taking place everyday
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 Learning Objective 4:
Different disciplines in consumer
research.
Disciplinary Focus Product Role
Experimental Perception, learning, and memory processes
Psychology
Clinical Psychology Psychological adjustment
Microeconomics/Human Allocation of individual or family resources
Ecology
Social Psychology Behavior of individuals as members of social groups
Sociology Social institutions and group relationships
Macroeconomics Consumers’ relations with the marketplace
Semiotics/Literary Verbal and visual communication of meaning
Criticism
Demography Measurable characteristics of a population
History Societal changes over time
Cultural Anthropology Society’s beliefs and practices

Table 1.2 (abridged)

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 Learning Objective 4:
Pyramid of consumer behavior
MICRO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
(INDIVIDUAL FOCUS)

Consumer behavior
involves many different
disciplines
Experimental Psych
Clinical Psychology
Develop Psychology
Human Ecology
Microeconomics
Social Psychology
Sociology
MACRO CONSUMER Macroeconomics
Semiotics/Literary Criticism
BEHAVIOR Demography
(SOCIAL FOCUS) History
Cultural Anthropology
Figure 1.2
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 Learning Objective 5:
The different perspectives of consumer
behavior
• We call a set of beliefs that guide our understanding of
the world a paradigm.

• Some belief consumer behavior is in the middle of a

paradigm shift, which occurs when a competing
paradigm challenges the dominant set of assumptions.

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 Learning Objective 5:
The different perspectives of consumer
behavior
• Positivist approach (modernism)
- It emphasizes that there is a single, objective truth that can be discovered
by science. Positivism regard the world as a rational, ordered place with a
clearly defined past, present, and future.

• Interpretivist approach (postmodernism)

- Proponents of this view argue that there is an overemphasis on science
and technology in our society and that this ordered, rational view of
consumers denies the complex social and cultural world in which we live.

- It stresses the importance of symbolic, subjective experience and the

idea that meaning is in the mind of the person. That is, we each construct
our own meanings based on our unique and shared cultural experiences;
there are no unique right or wrong answers.
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 Interpretivist Positivist
perspective
perspective
(quantitative)
(qualitative)

• Subjective • Objective
• His view of • His view of
causality causality
depends on depends on
multiple events existence of real
• Consumer causes
subject to • Consumer is a
multiple rational (logical)
interpretations decision maker
• 1+1=3 • 1+1=2
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 How do you think the two paradigms of consumer research affect the choices
marketers make in targeting consumer segments?

Logical
thinking
Existence
of real
(small)

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Positivist versus Interpretivist approaches to
studying consumer behavior

Assumptions Positivist Approach Interpretivist Approach

Nature of Objective, tangible Socially constructed

reality Single Multiple

Goal Prediction Understanding

Knowledge
generated Context-independent Context dependent

View of Existence of real causes Multiple, simultaneous

causality shaping events

Research Separation between Interactive, cooperative

relationship researcher and subject with researcher being
part of phenomenon
under study

Table 1.3
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 Decision Making
• So how consumers make decisions in different
ways?
• Some of our decisions are highly rational.
• Others are made by habit.
• Still others are made on the basis of emotion.

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 Learning Objective 8
• The three categories of consumer decision-
making are:
I. cognitive,
II. habitual, and
III. affective.

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 I. Cognitive Purchase

• The first category of consumer decision-making:

A cognitive purchase decision is the outcome of
a series of stages that results in the selection of
one product over competing options.

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 I. Cognitive Purchase
• Traditionally, consumer researchers have
approached decision-making from an information-
processing perspective.
• According to this view, people integrate as much
information as possible with what they already know
about a product, weigh the pluses and minuses of
each alternative, and arrive at a satisfactory
decision.
• Then after collecting as much data as needed;
decision can be done.

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 Steps in the Decision-Making Process

Problem recognition

Information search

Evaluation of alternatives

Product choice

Post purchase evaluation

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 Stage 1: Problem Recognition
• Occurs when consumer sees difference between
current state and ideal state he/she wishes to
achieve.

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Sources of Problem Recognition

Out
Out of
of Stock
Stock Dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction New
New Needs
Needs

New
New Products
Products
What Prompts New Needs/Wants?

Employment
Employment
Financial
Financial Changes
Changes Lifestyle
Lifestyle
Status
Status

Knowledge
Knowledge Personality
Personality
 Figure 2.6 Problem Recognition
• This figure illustrates the two causes of problem
recognition.

actual state declines

The person
experiences a
ideal state moves upward decline in the quality
The person experiences of his actual state
an increase in the desire
for his ideal state.

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 Stage 2: Information Search
• Once we know we have a problem, we search out how
we can solve the problem.
• These searches will typically take place before
purchase (prepurchase or ongoing search if a purchase
is not immediately forthcoming) to survey the
environment for appropriate data to make a reasonable
decision
• Internal search (come from our own memory), or
• External search (come from online search, friends,
newspapers,…)
• Search engines have made vast amounts of information
available to us as we search out product information.
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 So,
to what extent (time frame) we will
survey the environment for
appropriate data to make decision

Depends on
consumer’s level of interest in a
particular product
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 Consumer Involvement

• Involvement is a person’s perceived relevance of

the object/product/brand/ad/purchase based on
their inherent needs, values, and interests.

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 Types of Involvement

Product • Is a consumer’s level of interest in a

involvement: particular product.

Message • Refers to the influence media have on the

involvement: consumers.

• Takes place at the time of purchase within

Situational a store, website, or a location where
involvement: people consume a product or service.

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 Message Involvement
• McDonalds: Pay with Loving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq2Sm2XGv_s
&x-yt-ts=1422579428&x-yt-cl=85114404

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 Table 2.1
Example to a Scale to Measure Involvement
Table 2.1 illustrates a scale that consumer researchers
can use to measure involvement.

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 So
Consumers measure their
involvement based on their needs,
values, and interests in order to take
purchasing decisions

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 Purchasing Decisions
• As a general rule, purchase decisions that are
perceived as risky will involve more searches.
• Risk is felt whenever there is a belief that there
may be a negative consequence associated with
the decision.

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 Five Types of Perceived Risk
• Occurs when making a poor choice will have a
Monetary monetary consequence.
risk • e.g. high dollar items (car)

• Is the risk that the product may not function as

Functional the consumer needs.
risk • e.g. cell phone provider

• Is the risk that the choice may physically threaten

Physical the consumer.
risk • e.g. bungee jumping
• Is the risk that the choice will reflect poorly on the
Social consumer and damage his or her self-esteem or
risk confidence.
• Socially visible or symbolic goods, e.g. car
• Is the risk that one may lose self-respect due to
making a bad decision.
Psychological risk • For instance, expensive luxury goods could
cause the consumer to feel extensive guilt (fur).
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• What risky products have you considered
recently?
• Which forms of risk were involved?

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 So,
how to represent information we
have about products?

In Knowledge Structures

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 Levels of Abstraction
• The term refers to a set of beliefs and the way
we organize these beliefs in our minds.

• These structures matter to marketers because

we need to ensure consumers are categorizing
product information correctly.

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 Figure 2.8 Example
Levels of Abstraction (from consumer point of view)

is more abstract

It classifies products and

groups things together based
on commonalities but still
permit a broad range of
alternatives.

often includes individual brands

Evoked
Set
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 • Share a situation in which you searched for
information on purpose and one in which you
had developed product knowledge incidentally.
How would you say the variations in information
search affected your decision?

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 Stage 3: Evaluation of Alternatives
• When evaluating alternatives, consumers may focus
on one or two product features while ignoring
others.
• This helps us narrow down our options.

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 Table 2.2: Example –
Hypothetical Alternatives for a TV Set

Evaluative
criteria
are the
dimensions we
use to judge the
qualities of
competing
options.

Determinant
attributes
are the features
that we actually
use to
differentiate
among our
choices.

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 Stage 4: Product Choice
• In this stage the consumer decides. There are decision
rules that may guide our choices called Fishbein’s Multi-
Attribute Model.
• Non-compensatory decision rules: a product with a low
standing on one attribute cannot make up for this
position by being better on another attribute. Rules
within this structure can be: lexicographic rule,
elimination-by-aspects rule, or conjunctive rule
• Compensatory decision rules: Give a product a chance
to make up for its shortcomings. Rules within this
structure can be: simple additive rule, or weighted
additive rule.
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 Non-Compensatory Decision Rules
• Consumers select the brand that is the
Lexicographic best on the most important attribute
• Ex: the most important attribute in TV is
rule: Screen
• Consumers choose specific attributes
and automatically rejects any brands that
Elimination- do not have these certain attributes / level
by-aspects of attributes
• Ex: choosing the existence of flash
rule: memory in TV but if it is not saving, then it
is still ok

Conjunctive • Consumer demands products by brand

rule:

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 Compensatory Decision Rules

• The consumer just chooses the

Simple alternative that has the largest number of
Additive Rule positive attributes

• The consumer takes into account the

relative importance of positively rated
Weighted attributes, essentially multiplying brand
Additive Rule ratings by importance weights
• Weight * importance = score (take
highest)

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 Stage 5: Post Purchase Evaluation
• It occurs when we experience the product or service
we selected and decide whether it met our
expectations.
• We form beliefs about product performance based
on our prior experience with the product or
communications about the product that imply a
certain level of quality.
• If the experience matches our beliefs, we are
satisfied. If not, we are dissatisfied.

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Marketer’s Evaluative View

Weight Too
okay? pricy?
Enough
power?

The product is a
bundle of
attributes or
characteristics
Consumer’s Evaluative View
How does it cut Will the neighbors
tall, thick grass? be impressed with
my grass?

How close can I

get to shrubs? Will it still be
fun later this
summer?

Will it pull that Will I have

trailer I saw at more time for
the store? tennis?

Product Is Seen As
Functional
Functional Psychological
Psychological
A Set of Outcomes (Hedonic
(Hedonic mean)
mean)
 II. Habitual Decision-Making
• The second category of consumer decision-
making:
• Habitual decision-making occurs with little to no
conscious effort.
• Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts

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Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts
• Heuristics are mental rules-of-thumb that lead to a
speedy decision.
• Some choices we make just on the basis of routine
with little or no conscious effort.
• Examples:
• higher price = higher quality
• buy the same brand your mother bought
• buy the cheapest
• buy the brand with the brightest packaging
• Can lead to bad decisions due to faulty
assumptions and lack of information.
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 Examples to Heuristics

Country of Origin

Familiar Brand Names

Higher Prices

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 • Think of some of the common country of origin
effects (e.g., watches).
• Which ones affect your consumer choices?
• What could brands from other countries do to
compete such effects?

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 III. Affective Decision-Making
• The last category of consumer decision-making:
Affective decision-making, it is making some
decisions on the basis of an emotional reaction
rather than as the outcome of a rational thought
process.

• Marketers often try to draw a positive emotional

response via advertising or other communication
channels so that consumers form a bond (or love
mark) with their offering.

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 Three Types of Decision-Making

A cognitive • Is the outcome of a series of stages that results

purchase in the selection of one product over competing
options.
decision
• Consumers do not search for information about
the brands or evaluating their characteristics,
A habitual and make a decision on which brand to buy.
purchase • They just go to the store and reach their
product unconsciously.
decision
• If they keep reaching for the same brand, it is
out of habit, not strong brand loyalty.
An affective • Occurs when our emotional reactions
determine how we react to a product.
purchase • Ex: coca personalized names (during the
decision campaign)

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 • When have you made a high involvement
decision on the basis of affect?

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