copyright © houghton mifflin company. all rights reserved. 8–18–1 introduction: key terms...

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 8–1

Introduction: Key Terms

• Buying Behavior

–The decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products

• Consumer Buying Behavior

–Buying behavior of people who purchase products for personal use and not for business purposes


Level of Involvement and Consumer Problem-Solving Processes

• Level of Involvement

–An individual’s intensity of interest in a product and the importance of the product for that person• Enduring involvement

• Situational involvement

• Routinized Response Behavior

–The process used when buying frequently purchased, low-cost items that require little search-and-decision effort


Level of Involvement and Consumer Problem-Solving Processes (cont’d)

• Limited Problem Solving

– The process that buyers use when purchasing products occasionally or when they need information about an unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category

• Extended Problem Solving

– The process employed when purchasing unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently bought products

• Impulse Buying

– An unplanned buying behavior resulting from a powerful urge to buy something immediately


Important Terms

• Buying Behavior

– The decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products

• Consumer Buying Behavior

– Buying behavior of people who purchase products for personal use and not for business purposes

• Level of Involvement

– An individual’s intensity of interest in a product and the importance of the product for that person


Important Terms

• Routinized Response Behavior

–A type of consumer problem-solving process used when buying frequently purchased, low-cost items that require little search-and-decision effort

• Limited Problem Solving

–A type of consumer problem-solving process that buyers use when purchasing products occasionally or when they need information about an unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category


Important Terms

• Extended Problem Solving

– A type of problem-solving process employed when purchasing unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently bought products

• Impulse Buying

– An unplanned buying behavior resulting from a powerful urge to buy something immediately

• Consumer Buying Decision Process

– A five-stage purchase decision process that includes problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and postpurchase evaluation


Consumer Buying Decision Process and Possible Influences on the Process

FIGURE 8.1


Consumer Buying Decision Process

• Problem Recognition

– Occurs when a buyer becomes aware of a difference between a desired state and an actual condition

– May occur rapidly or slowly

• Information Search

– Internal search• Buyers search their memories for information about

products that might solve their problem

– External search• Buyers seek information from outside sources


Consumer Buying Decision Process (cont’d)

• Evaluation of Alternatives

– Consideration set• A group of brands that the buyer views as alternatives for

possible purchase

– Evaluative criteria• Objective and subjective characteristics that are important to

a buyer

– Framing the alternatives• Describing the alternatives and their attributes in a certain

manner to make a particular characteristic appear more important especially to the inexperienced buyer



• Purchase

–Choosing the product or brand to be bought based on the outcome of the evaluation stage

–The choice of seller may affect the final product selection.

–Factors such as terms of sale, price, delivery, and warranties may affect the sale.



• Postpurchase Evaluation

–Cognitive dissonance• A buyer’s doubts shortly after a purchase

about whether the decision was the right one

–Buyers are mostly likely to seek reassurance after the purchase of an expensive, high-involvement product


Important Terms

• Problem Recognition

– Occurs when a buyer becomes aware of a difference between a desired state and an actual condition

• Internal Search

– An information search in which buyers search their memories for information about products that might solve their problems

• External Search

– An information search in which buyers seek information from outside sources


Important Terms

• Consideration Set

–A group of brands that a buyer views as alternatives for possible purchase

• Evaluative Criteria

–Objective and subjective characteristics that are important to a buyer

• Cognitive Dissonance

–A buyer’s doubts shortly after a purchase about whether the decision was the right one


Situational Influences on the Buying Decision Process

• Situational Influences

–Factors that can influence a buyer’s purchase decision and may cause the buyer to short, lengthen, or terminate the process.

• Major Situational Factors

–Physical surroundings

–Social surroundings

–Time perspective

–Reason for purchase

–Buyer’s momentary mood and condition


Psychological Influences on the Buying Decision Process

• Psychological Influences

– Factors that in part determine people’s general behavior, thus influencing their behavior as consumers

• Perception

– The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning

• Information Inputs

– Sensations received through the sense organs


Psychological Influences on the Buying Decision Process (cont’d)

• Selective Exposure

– The process of selecting inputs to be exposed to our awareness while ignoring others

• Selective Distortion

– An individual’s changing or twisting of information when it is inconsistent with personal feelings or beliefs

• Selective Retention

– Remembering information inputs that support personal feelings and beliefs and forgetting inputs that do not



• Motives

– An internal energizing force that directs a person’s behavior toward satisfying needs or achieving goals

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

– The five levels of needs that humans are motivated to seek and satisfy, from least to most important are• Physiological needs—food, water, sex, clothing, shelter

• Safety needs—security, freedom

• Social needs—love, affection, belonging

• Esteem needs—respect, recognition, self-worth

• Self-actualization needs—personal growth needs


Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Maslow believed that people seek to fulfill five categories of needs.

FIGURE 8.3


Important Terms

• Situational Influences– Factors that can influence a buyer’s purchase

decision and may cause the buyer to shorten, lengthen, or terminate the process

• Psychological Influences– Factors that in part determine people’s general

behavior, thus influencing their behavior as consumers

• Perception– The process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting

information inputs to produce meaning• Information Inputs

– Sensations received through the sense organs


Important Terms

• Selective Exposure

– The process of selecting inputs to be exposed to our awareness while ignoring others

• Selective Distortion

– An individual’s changing or twisting of information when it is inconsistent with personal feelings or beliefs

• Selective Retention

– Remembering information inputs that support personal feelings and beliefs and forgetting inputs that do not


Important Terms

• Perceptual Organization

–Organizing and integrating new information with what is already stored in memory

• Interpretation

–The assignment of meaning to what has been organized based on what is expected or what is familiar


Important Terms

• Motive

–An internal energizing force that directs a person’s behavior toward satisfying needs or achieving goals

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

–The five levels of needs that humans are motivated to seek and satisfy

• Patronage Motives

–Motives that influence where a person purchases products on a regular basis



• Learning

– Changes in an individual’s thought processes and behavior caused by information and experience

– Behaviors that produce satisfying consequences are likely to be repeated.

• Consumers learn about products by

– experiencing the products personally.

– gaining additional product knowledge from seller-provided information.

– indirect information from other purchasers/users.



• Attitudes

– An individual’s enduring evaluation of, feelings about, and behavioral tendencies toward an object or idea

• Attitudinal Components

– Cognitive• Knowledge and information about the object or idea

– Affective• Feelings and emotions toward the object or idea

– Behavioral• Individual’s action regarding the object or idea



• Attitude Scale

–A means of measuring consumer attitudes by gauging the intensity of an individual’s reactions to adjectives, phrases, or sentences about an object



• Personality and Self-Concept

–Personality• A set of internal traits and distinct behavioral

tendencies that result in consistent patterns of behavior in certain situations

–Self-concept (self-image)• Perception or view of oneself

• Lifestyles

–Lifestyle• An individual’s pattern of living expressed through

activities, interests, and opinions


Important Terms

• Learning

– Changes in an individual’s thought processes and behavior caused by information and experience

• Attitude

– An individual’s enduring evaluation of, feelings about, and behavioral tendencies toward an object or idea

• Attitude Scale

– A means of measuring consumer attitudes by gauging the intensity of individuals’ reactions to adjectives, phrases, or sentences about an object


Important Terms

• Personality

–A set of internal traits and distinct behavioral tendencies that result in consistent patterns of behavior in certain situations

• Self-Concept (Self-Image)

–Perception or view of oneself


Social Influences on the Buying Decision Process

• Social Influences

– The forces other people exert on one’s buying behavior

• Role

– Actions and activities that a person in a particular position is supposed to perform based on expectations of the individual and surrounding persons

– Multiple role-expectation sets affect behavior.

– Roles influence both general and buying behaviors.


Social Influences on the Buying Decision Process (cont’d)

• Family Influences

–Consumer socialization• The process through which a person acquires the

knowledge and skills to function as a consumer

• Family Decision-Making Processes

–Autonomic—equally shared decision-making

–Husband-dominant—husband makes decisions

–Wife-dominant—wife makes decisions

–Syncratic—decisions made jointly



• Reference Groups

–Any group that positively or negatively affects a person’s values, attitudes, or behavior• Membership

• Aspirational

• Disassociative

• Opinion Leader

–A knowledgeable, accessible individual who provides information about a specific sphere of interests to followers



• Social Class

–An open group of individuals with similar social rank

–Individuals in the same social class• develop and assume common behavioral patterns.

• have similar attitudes, values, language patterns, and possessions.

–Influences many major life decisions

–Influences shopping patterns and spending habits


Table 8.1

Source: Adapted from Richard P. Coleman, “The Continuing Significance of Social Class to Marketing,” Journal of Consumer Research. Dec. 1983, pp. 265-280. Reprinted with permission from The University of Chicago Press. With data from J. Paul Peter and Jerry C. Olson, Consumer Behavior Marketing Strategy Perspective (Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1987), p. 433. Copyright © 1987 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Reprinted with permission.



• Culture

– The accumulated values, knowledge, beliefs, customs, objects, and concepts of a society• Culture influences buying behavior.

• Cultural changes affect product development, promotion, distribution, and pricing.

• Subcultures

– Groups of individuals whose characteristic values and behavior patterns are similar and differ from those of the surrounding culture• African American • Hispanic • Asian American


Important Terms

• Lifestyle

– An individual’s pattern of living expressed through activities, interests, and opinions

• Social Influences

– The forces other people exert on one’s buying behavior

• Role

– Actions and activities that a person in a particular position is supposed to perform based on expectations of the individual and surrounding persons


Important Terms

• Consumer Socialization

– The process through which a person acquires the knowledge and skills to function as a consumer

• Reference Group

– Any group that positively or negatively affects a person’s values, attitudes, or behavior

• Opinion Leader

– A knowledgeable, accessible individual who provides information about a specific sphere of interests to followers


Important Terms

• Social Class

–An open group of individuals with similar social rank

• Culture

–The accumulated values, knowledge, beliefs, customs, objects, and concepts of a society

• Subcultures

–Groups of individuals whose characteristic values and behavior patterns are similar and differ from those of the surrounding culture

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