Consumer Behavior

Introduction to Marketing

• Welcome to Week 3 of Introduction to Marketing.
• Today we will explore Consumer Behavior.
• We will cover the consumer decision-making process, influences on buying behavior, and B2B vs B2C purchasing.

• Consumer buyer behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers.
• The consumer market consists of all the individuals and households that buy or acquire goods and services for personal consumption.
• Understanding this process is key to predicting how consumers will respond to marketing strategies.

• The buying process starts with need recognition.
• The buyer recognizes a problem or need triggered by internal or external stimuli.
• Marketers must research to find out what kinds of needs or problems arise, what brought them about, and how they led the consumer to a particular product.

• Once a need is triggered, consumers may or may not search for more information.
• Information sources include personal sources, commercial sources, public sources, and experiential sources.
• The most effective sources tend to be personal, as they legitimize or evaluate products for the buyer.

• Consumers use information to evaluate alternative brands in the choice set.
• The process varies significantly depending on the individual consumer and the specific buying situation.
• Marketers should study buyers to find out how they actually evaluate brand alternatives.

• In the evaluation stage, the consumer ranks brands and forms purchase intentions.
• Generally, the consumer's purchase decision will be to buy the most preferred brand.
• However, attitudes of others and unexpected situational factors can come between the purchase intention and the purchase decision.

• The marketer's job does not end when the product is bought.
• Postpurchase behavior focuses on whether the consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the purchase.
• Cognitive dissonance, or buyer discomfort caused by postpurchase conflict, is a common occurrence.

• Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics.
• Marketers cannot control such factors, but they must take them into account.
• These factors help us understand why consumers act the way they do.

• A consumer's behavior is influenced by social factors such as small groups, social networks, family, and social roles.
• Reference groups serve as direct or indirect points of comparison or reference in forming a person's attitudes or behavior.
• Word-of-mouth influence and influencer marketing play a massive role here.

• A person's buying choices are further influenced by four major psychological factors.
• These are motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.
• Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.

• While B2C (Business-to-Consumer) marketing focuses on the final consumer, B2B (Business-to-Business) focuses on organizations.
• Business buyer behavior refers to the buying behavior of organizations that buy goods and services for use in the production of other products.
• The business market is huge and differs from the consumer market in several key ways.

• The business marketer normally deals with far fewer but far larger buyers than the consumer marketer does.
• Business demand is derived demand; it ultimately derives from the demand for consumer goods.
• B2B demand is also more inelastic and fluctuating compared to B2C.

• B2B purchases are rarely made by a single individual.
• The buying center consists of all the individuals and units that play a role in the purchase decision-making process.
• It includes users, influencers, buyers, deciders, and gatekeepers.

• Compared with consumer purchases, a business purchase usually involves more decision participants and a more professional purchasing effort.
• Business buying is done by trained purchasing agents who spend their professional lives learning how to buy better.
• Therefore, B2B marketers must have well-trained salespeople to deal with well-trained buyers.

• Understanding the consumer decision-making process is foundational to effective marketing.
• Cultural, social, and psychological factors continuously shape consumer preferences.
• While B2B and B2C markets share some similarities, B2B purchasing is generally more complex, professional, and relationship-driven.