Consumer behavior

Wissal BEN ARFI, PhD

Associate Professor
w.benarfi@psbedu.paris
01 The general model of consumer behavior

02 The consumer buying process

03 Explanatory factors of the act of purchase

04 The purchase context

05 Types of buying decision

Introduction
 Understanding consumer behavior is essential, but tricky

 Consumer Behavior : Any individual involved in one of the three main stages of consumption (pre-
purchase, purchase and post-purchase) and whom an organization wishes to reach through a marketing
action likely to influence their behavior
The general model of consumer behavior
Consumer behavior model
The consumer buying process
Consumer buying process
Consumer buying process
The consumer decision-making process involves five steps

 Problem Recognition : It involves a consumer recognizing he/she needs something, has run out of something, or has an
interest in something

 Information Search : Consumers will first search internally for information. If they have enough information already
stored in memory, then they will move to the next step. If not, then the consumer will conduct an external search

 Evaluation of Alternatives : This may take only a few minutes for low cost, low involvement decisions to several months
for high involvement decisions

 Purchase Decision : While consumers will normally purchase the brand they intended to buy, sometimes in-store
signage or deals will alter the purchase decision

 Postpurchase evaluation : Consumers will determine the level of satisfaction with the purchase, which will impact their
next purchase decision for that product
 Consumer buying process
Need Recognition:
 Consumers recognize a need or want

o Physical : thirst or hunger

o Social : seeing a friend with the latest iPhone or a new car

o Psychological : purchasing a new outfit to wear to feel good about yourself, or because you are
depressed and buying something lifts your spirit

 Can be triggered by advertising : advertising can also trigger a need or want

 Consumer buying process
Information search
 Once a problem, need, or want has been recognized, consumers move to the next stage of the
process, information search

 Understanding information search is important for marketing communications

 There are two types of information search, internal and external.

o Internal search: consumer thinks about brands to consider

o External search: consumer gathers information from friends, relatives, influencers, other
sources
 Consumer buying process
Information search : Internal Search
 Think about brands
o Consumers search their memories for information. They think about brands they have purchased in the
past
o If the brand met their needs and the experience was good, they will (probably) buy the same brand again.
If not, they will conduct a longer internal search or move to the external search for additional information.
 Past experience is an important part of an internal search
 Quickly reduce options
o Consumers typically reduce the number of options quickly and concentrate on only a couple or small set of
options
 Brand awareness and brand equity are important
o If a consumer is not aware of a brand, such as Kraft, then it will not be considered as a purchase option
unless the search process moves to an external search
o The higher the level of brand equity, the more likely the brand will be purchased with little mental effort
and no additional consideration of other brands
 Consumer buying process
Information search : external Search
• Following an internal search, the consumer makes a mental decision regarding an external search

• It normally occurs under three conditions

o the consumer was not happy with the last purchase experience and wants another brand or
product

o It is a high-involvement decision, and the consumer wants more information

o it is a socially visible product ,and the consumer wants to make sure others will approve or be
impressed with the purchase decision
 Consumer buying process
Information search : external Search
 The amount of time consumers spend searching for information depends on :
 Consumer buying process
Ability to search
 It determines extent of search
 Education level increases search time
o Educated individuals tend to search for more information and spend more time searching than individuals
with less education
 Knowledge of product and brands affects ability
o Individuals with little knowledge of a product category or brands tend not to search for information,
primarily because they do not know where or how to search for information. They don’t know the product
category well enough to know what to look for

o Individuals with a great deal of knowledge (expert) spend less time searching since they already possess
the knowledge, but may conduct extensive searches

o The group that spends the most time searching is in the middle : They have some knowledge, so they have
an idea of what to look for and what to ask, but not enough knowledge to make a decision.
 Consumer buying process
Level of Motivation : The level of motivation has an impact on the amount of time spent in external
search. Motivation is determined by involvement, cognition, and shopping enthusiasm
 Level of involvement
o The higher the level of involvement, the more time a consumer will spend in searching for additional
information
 Need for cognition
o The need for cognition is the level of mental activity a person enjoys
o People who have a high need for cognition – that is, they want to think about options before
making a decision – will spend more time searching for information
o Some people want to weigh every option and make sure they are right, so this need to consider
all angles will lengthen the search process.
 Level of shopping enthusiasm
o Individuals who enjoy shopping and comparing brands will spend more time than individuals who dislike
shopping
o As shown in this advertisement, choosing a tuxedo for an important event will likely be a high-involvement
purchase decision
 Consumer buying process
Cost versus Benefits of Search : Consumers will weigh the cost versus the benefits of an external
search
 Actual Cost, Example driving to the mall to look at various brands
 Then there is the cost of the product: If a particular brand is purchased and the consumer doesn’t
like it, that money is basically lost
o So, for high cost items, there is more pressure to search to make sure the right decision is made
 Subjective costs
o The amount of time spent, and the anxiety involved
o If the purchase decision causes anxiety, then spending more time searching for information is worth it to
reduce the anxiety and ensure the right decision is made
 Opportunity cost
o Once the purchase is made, the consumer forgoes the alternatives.
o the perceived costs to search for information, consumers will search. Alternatively, the perceived benefit
in gathering additional information, the more time a person will spend searching.
 Consumer buying process
Evaluation of alternatives
 The third step in the buying decision-making process is the evaluation of alternatives

 Three models portray the nature of the process

o The evoked set method;

o The multiattribute approach;
o And affect referral

 Understanding how consumers evaluate choices enables the firm’s marketing team to develop more
effective materials.
 Consumer buying process
Evaluation of alternatives
 The third step in the buying decision-making process is the evaluation of alternatives

 Three models portray the nature of the process

o The evoked set method;

o The multiattribute approach;
o And affect referral

 Understanding how consumers evaluate choices enables the firm’s marketing team to develop more
effective materials.
 Consumer buying process
The Multiattribute Approach
 The multiattribute approach is used for high-involvement purchases, such as vehicles
 Consumer evaluation (attitude) is based on two dimensions :
o brand’s performance for each attribute
o Importance of each attribute to consumer

 The higher a brand rates on important attributes, the more likely it will be purchased
 It would be extremely rare for a brand to score the highest on all attributes, but consumers must
make tradeoffs
 In purchasing a car for example, The final choice comes down to the brand that offers the most
features desired by consumers ; they will conduct a simulated approach by mentally comparing one
brand against another on various attributes.
 Consumer buying process
Affect referral
 Affect is the third part of attitude. It deals with emotions and feelings

 With the affect referral method, consumers purchase the brand they like the best

 There may not even be a strong reason they like the brand – they just do – or they may have a strong
emotional attachment to the brand for some reason

 It may have been a brand their parents used, so they developed an emotional attachment
o The affect referral method saves energy : We don’t have to think about the other brands or
consider other alternatives

o It’s possible that the multiattribute approach was used in the past to determine the best brand,
so the process does not have to be repeated.
 Consumer buying process
Purchase decision:

 This decision is the culmination of a series of micro-decisions made by the consumer

 More or less extensively and more or less consciously

 These relate to the types and sources of information consulted, the number and type of brands
evaluated, the comparison and evaluation procedure applied, the selection criteria used, the brand
and place of purchase selected.
 Consumer buying process
Post-purchase evaluation

 If the evaluation is positive, a feedback phenomenon can reinforce consumer behavior with re-
purchase, adoption and brand loyalty and lead to favorable word-of-mouth

 A negative evaluation may cause the opposite effects. We talk about cognitive dissonance
Explanatory factors of the act of purchase
Explanatory factors
 Explanatory factors
Cultural factors 1/2
 Cultural factors exerts a broad and deep influence on consumer behavior. The marketer needs to
understand the role played by the buyer’s culture, subculture, and social class
o Culture : is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior because human behavior is
largely learned.
 A child learns or is exposed to at least one of the following values : achievement and success,
activity and involvement, progress, hard work, freedom, material comfort…

o Subculture : each culture contains smaller subcultures or groups of people with shared value
systems based on common life experiences and situations.
o Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups and geographic regions…
o Many subcultures make up important market segments and marketers design products and
marketing program tailored to their need
 Example: Halal Market in France
 Hispanic market, Asian-American market, African-American market in USA
 Explanatory factors
Cultural factors 2/2

 Social Class are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar
values, interests, and behaviors

 Social scientists have identified seven typical social classes : Upper class (Upper Uppers, Lower
Uppers), Middle class (Upper Middles, Middle Class), Working class, Lower class (Upper Lowers,
Lower lowers)
 Explanatory factors
Personal Factors
 A buyer’s decisions also are influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyer’s age and life-
cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept

 Age and life-cycle stage: People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in
food, clothes, fourniture, and reaction are often age related

o Marketers often define their target markets in terms of life-cycle stage and develop appropriate
products and marketing plan for each stage

o We pass from traditional family life cycle stage : young single and married couple with children …

o … to nontraditional stages: unmarried couples, single marrying later in life, childness couples,
same sex couples, single parents, extended parents
 Explanatory factors
Personal Factors
 Occupation : A person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought.
o Blue-collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas executives buy more business
suits

o Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have an above-average interest in their
products and services

 Lifestyle: is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his or her psychographics.

o People coming from the same subculture, social class, and occupation may have quite different
lifestyles.
o Lifestyle involves measuring consumer’s major AIO dimensions: Activities (works, hobbies,
shopping, sport), Interests (food, fashion, family), and opinion (about themselves, social issues,
business, products)
o Ex: « BMW doesn’t just sell convertibles, it sells the convertible life » ; « Skies never bluer. Knuckles
never whiter”.
 Explanatory factors
Personal Factors
Personality and self-concept : Each person’s distinct personality influences his or her buying behavior
 Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and
lasting response to one’s own environment.
o It is usually describe in terms of traits such as self-confidence, dominance, sociability, autonomy,
defensiveness, adaptability and aggressiveness
o Personality can be usefull in analizing consumer behavior for brand choice. Because the idea that
brands also have personalities, and that consumers are likely to choose brands with personalities
that match their own.

 One researcher identifies 5 brand personality traits:

o Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful) ex: Dove
o Excitement (daring spitted, imaginative, and up-to-date) ex: Apple
o Competence (reliable, intelligent, and successful)
o Sophistication (upper class and charming)
o Ruggedness (outdoorsy and tough) ex: Jeep
 Explanatory factors
Personal Factors
 A person’s buying choices are further influenced by four major
psychological factors : motivation, perception, learning, and
beliefs and attitudes

 Motivation: A person has many needs at any given times. A need

becomes a motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of
intensity.

 A motive (drive) is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the

person to seek satisfaction

 Psychologists have developed theories of human motivation. One

of the most popular is the theory of Abraham Maslow
 Explanatory factors
Personal Factors
 Perception: is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to from a
meaningful picture of the world

o A motivated person is ready to act, and how he acts is influenced by his or her own perception of the situation
o We all learn by the flow of information through our five senses. However, each of us receives, organizes, and
interprets this sensory information in an individual way

 Beliefs and attitudes : Through doing and learnings, peoples acquire beliefs and attitudes. These, in turn,
influence their buying behavior

 A belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something. It may be based on a real knowledge,
opinion, or faith and may or not carry an emotional charge.

o Marketers are interested in the beliefs that peoples formulate about the specific products and services, because
these beliefs make up product and brand images that affect buying behavior
o If one of the beliefs are wrong and prevent purchase, the marketer will want to launch a campaign to correct
them
 Explanatory factors
Personal Factors
 Attitude is the mental position a person takes toward a topic, person, or an event that influences an
individual’s feelings, perceptions, learning processes, and behaviors

 Consumer attitude can be impacted by effective marketing communications

 Attitude consists of three components

o Cognitive refers to the individual’s mental images, understanding, and interpretation of the person,
object, or issue

o Affective refers to the feeling and emotional part of attitude.

o Conative refers to an individual's intentions, actions, or behavior.

 Example: A car buyer may hold attitudes such as « buy the best », « the German make the best car in the
world » and « creativity and self-expression are among the most important things in life ». If so, the
Mercedes car would fit well with into the consumer' exciting attitudes
 Explanatory factors
Social Factors
 A consumer’s behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the consumer’s small group, family, and
social roles and status

 Group and Social networks: A group is made up of several people with common goals and needs that they
satisfy by cooperating.

o Membership group: Groups that have a direct influence and to which person belongs

o Reference group: serves as a direct (face to face) or indirect point of comparison in forming a person’s attitudes
or behavior. People are influenced by reference groups to which they don’t belong. Example: when a young
football player hope some day to emulate Kylian Mbappé and play professional football

o Importance of opinion leaders: leaders set trends, influence opinion, sell many products and relay
information to those around them
 Explanatory factors
Social Factors
 Family: Family members can strongly influence buyer behavior.

o The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society, and it has been researched extensively

o Marketers are interested in the roles and influence of the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of
different products and services

o Women are now only involved in shopping for groceries, household products and clothing. In USA, they influence
65% of all new car purchase, 92% of vacation purchases, and 91% of new home purchases.

o Such changes suggest that marketers in industries that have sold their product to only men or only women are
now courting the opposite sex

o Dell increases its impact on women buyers since they buy 50% of all technology purchases
The purchase context
The purchase context

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 Explanatory factors
The purchase situation

The social
environment:

The role to be Is the buyer The physical

performed: alone or environment:
accompanied
What is the What are the
purpose of the characteristics of
purchase? the place of
purchase?

The temporal
environment:
The internal
environment What is the time
specific to the of purchase?
individual: What is the time
available?
In what state of
mind is the
consumer?
Types of buying decision
 Types of buying decision
Complex buying behavior
 Customers undertake complex buying behavior when they are highly involved in a purchase and perceive
significant differences among brands

 They may be highly involved when the product is expensive, risky, purchased infrequently, and highly self-
expressive

 For example, a PC buyer may not know what attributes to consider. Many product features carry no real
meaning. This will pass through a learning process, first developing beliefs about the product, then
attitudes, and then make a thoughtful purchase choice.

 Marketers of high involvement products must understand the information-gathering and evaluation
behavior of high-involvement consumers. They need to help buyers learn about product-class attributes
and their relative importance.
 Types of buying decision
Habitual buying behavior
 It occurs under conditions of low-consumer involvement and little significant brand difference.

 For example: take salt. Consumers have little involvement in this product category, they simply go to the
store and reach for a brand.

 If they keep reaching for the same brand, it is out of habit rather than strong brand loyalty.

 Consumers appear to have low involvement with most low-cost, frequently purchased products

 Because buyers are not highly committed to any brand, marketers of low-involvement products with few
brand difference often use price and sales promotion to stimulate product trial
Thank you from Paris