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CHAPTER

CONSUMERSRULE

1

CHAPTERSUMMARY

Asstudentswillsoonsee,thefieldofconsumerbehaviorcoversalotofground.WhethertheconsumerisonashoppingtriptothemallorsurfingontheInternet,generalprinciplesandtheoriesofconsumerbehaviorapply.Theformaldefinitionofconsumerbehaviorusedinthetextis“thestudyoftheprocessesinvolvedwhenindividualsorgroupsselect,purchase,use,ordisposeofproducts,services,ideas,orexperiencestosatisfyneedsanddesires.”

Consumerscanbeseenasactorsonthemarketplacestage.Asinaplay,eachconsumerhaslines,props,andcostumesthatarenecessarytoputonagoodperformance.Therolesthatconsumersperformareamongthemostimportantelementstobestudiedinconsumerbehavior.Consumerbehaviorisalsoaneconomicprocesswhereexchangestakeplace.Theseexchangesofteninvolvemanyplayers.Infact,consumersmayeventaketheformoforganizationsorgroups.Whateverthecomposition,thedecisionsmadebytheconsumerandtheseotherplayersarecriticaltoanexchangebeingcarriedoutsuccessfullytothebenefitofallconcernedparties.

Marketsegmentationisanimportantaspectofconsumerbehavior.Consumerscanbesegmentedalongmanydimensions.Onesuchdimensionisdemographics（thestatisticsthatmeasuretheobservableaspectsofapopulation,suchasageorbirthrate）.Oneoftheimportantreasonsforsegmentingmarketsistobeabletobuildlastingrelationships（relationshipmarketing）withthecustomers.Marketersarecurrentlyimplementingmanypracticesthatseektoaidinformingalastingbondwiththeoftenfickleconsumer.Oneofthemostpromisingofthesepracticesisdatabasemarketingwhereinconsumers’buyinghabitsaretrackedveryclosely.Theresultofthispracticeisthatproductsandmessagescanbetailoredtopeople’swantsandneeds.

Forbetterorforworse,weallliveinaworldthatissignificantlyinfluencedbytheactionsofmarketers.Marketersfiltermuchofwhatwelearn.Therefore,consumerbehaviorisaffectedbytheactionsofmarketers.Domesticandglobalconsumptionpracticesareexaminedinthischapterwithaneyetowardtheroleofthemarketerandtheinfluenceofsuchsocialvariablesasculture.

Thefieldofconsumerbehavioranditsapplicationisnot,however,withoutitscritics.Ethicalpracticestowardtheconsumerareoftendifficulttoachieve.“Domarketersmanipulateconsumers?

”isaseriousquestion.Perhapstheanswermaybefoundbyexaminingseveralsecondaryquestionssuchas:

“Domarketerscreateartificialneeds?

”“Areadvertisingandmarketingnecessary?

”or“Domarketerspromisemiracles?

”Theresponsestothesequestionsareformulatedinthischapter.

Astherewasa“DarkForce”intheStarWarstrilogy,consumerbehaviormayalsohaveadarkside.Excesses,illegalactivities,andeventheftarenotuncommon.Ethicalpracticesdoofferpositivesolutions,however,tomostoftheseproblems.

Thechapterconcludesbyprovidingaglimpseofconsumerbehaviorasafieldofstudyandprovidesaplanforstudyofthefield.Simpledecisions（buyingacartonofmilk）versuscomplexdecisions（selectionofacomplexnetworkedcomputersystem）canallbeexplainedifconsumerbehaviorisstudiedcarefullyandcreatively.Strategicfocusandsoundconsumerresearchseemtobeamongseveraltoolsthatcanprovidetheguidinglightthatisprobablynecessaryinourcomplexandever-changingworld.

LectureSuggestions:

（a）Thefollowingoutlinecloselyfollowstheoutlineinthetext;（b）Inaregularitalicsboxyouwillfindsuggestionsthatshouldhelpgetadiscussionstarted;（c）Inabolditalicsbox（indicatedwith*****）,youwillfindreferencenotationstotheFiguresandConsumerBehaviorChallengequestionsthathavebeenplacedintheoutlinewheretheyarerelevanttothechaptercontent;（d）Youwillfindspecialboxedinsertsthatrefertointerestingconsumerbehaviorfactsthatmightbeusedtomakeorenhanceapoint（EndNotesareprovidedattheendofeachchapterintheInstructor’sResourceManual）.Becauseitisvirtuallyimpossibletodoeverythingthatisincludedhereinyourcourse,agoodwaytousethisChapterOutlineistohighlightwithamagicmarkertheportionsoftheoutlineyouwouldliketouseinclass,thequestionsyouwouldliketopose,andtheancillarymaterialsyouwillneed.Thishelpstomakeaclassflowmoresmoothly.Lastly,itisadvisedthattheinstructorassignanyoftheindividualorgroupprojectsinadvanceoftopiccoverage.Inthisway,ashortlivelydiscussioncanbeinitiated.

CHAPTEROUTLINE

1.ConsumerBehavior:

PeopleintheMarketplace

a.Theaverageconsumercanbeclassifiedandcharacterizedonthebasisof:

1）Demographics—age,sex,income,oroccupation.

2）Psychograpics—referstoaperson’slifestyleandpersonality.

b.Theaverageconsumer’spurchasedecisionsareheavilyinfluencedbytheopinions

andbehaviorsoftheirfamily,peers,andacquaintances.

1）ThegrowthoftheWebhascreatedthousandsofonlineconsumption

communitieswheremembersshareviewsandproductrecommendations.

2）Groupsexertpressuretoconform.

c.Asamemberofalargesociety,U.S.consumerssharecertainculturalvaluesor

stronglyheldbeliefsaboutthewaytheworldshouldbestructured.

1）Someofthevaluesarebasedonsubcultures（suchasHispanicsorteens）.

d.Theuseofmarketsegmentationstrategiesmaybeusedtotargetabrandtoonly

specificgroupsofconsumersratherthantoeverybody.

e.Brandsoftenhaveclearlydefinedimagesor“personalities”createdbyproduct

advertising,packaging,branding,andothermarketingstrategiesthatfocuson

positioningaproductinacertainway.

f.Whenaproductsucceedsinsatisfyingaconsumer’sspecificneedsordesires,it

mayberewardedwithmanyyearsofbrandloyalty.

1）Thisbondisoftendifficultforcompetitorstobreak.

2）Achangeinone’slifesituationorself-concept,however,canweakenthe

bond.

g.Consumers’evaluationsofproductsareaffectedbytheirappearance,taste,texture,

orsmell.

1）AgoodWebsitehelpspeopletofeel,taste,andsmellwiththeireyes.

2）Aconsumermaybeswayedbytheshapeandcolorofapackage,symbolism

usedinabrandname,oreveninthechoiceofacovermodelforamagazine.

h.Inamodernsense,aninternationalimagehasanappealtomanyconsumers.

Increasingly,consumersopinionsanddesiresareshapedbyinputfromaroundthe

world.

WhatIsConsumerBehavior?

i.Consumerbehavioristhestudyoftheprocessesinvolvedwhenindividualsor

groupsselect,purchase,use,ordisposeofproducts,services,ideas,orexperiences

tosatisfyneedsanddesires.

1）Consumersareactorsonthemarketplacestage.

a）Theperspectiveofroletheorytakestheviewthatmuchofconsumer

behaviorresemblesactionsinaplay.

DiscussionOpportunity—Askstudentstoconsiderandevenwritedownsomeoftherolestheyplayinlife.Havethemalsoconsideriftheyweretodescribethemselvesasafamousactororactress,whowouldtheybe?

Askstudentstosharewhattheyhavewritten,followedbythequestion,“Whatdoestheactororactressyouhaveselectedhavetodowiththerolesyouplayinlife?

”

b）Peopleactoutmanyrolesandsometimesconsumptiondecisionsareaffected.

c）Evaluationcriteriamaychangedependingonwhichroleinthe“play”

aconsumerisfollowing.

2）Consumerbehaviorisaprocess.

a）Mostmarketersrecognizethatconsumerbehaviorisanongoingprocess,

notmerelywhathappensatthemomentaconsumerhandsovermoneyor

acreditcardandinturnreceivessomegoodorservice.

b）Theexchange—atransactionwheretwoormoreorganizationsorpeople

giveandreceivesomethingofvalue—isanintegralpartofmarketing.

1.Theexpandedviewemphasizestheentireconsumptionprocess.

2.Thisviewwouldincludeissuesthatinfluencetheconsumerbefore,

during,andafterapurchase.

*****UseFigure1-1Here;UseConsumerBehaviorChallenge#5Here*****

3）Consumerbehaviorinvolvesmanydifferentactors.

a）Aconsumerisgenerallythoughtofasapersonwhoidentifiesaneedor

desire,makesapurchase,andthendisposesoftheproductduringthe

threestagesintheconsumptionprocess.

b）Thepurchaseranduserofaproductmightnotbethesameperson.

c）Aseparatepersonmightbeaninfluencer.Thispersonprovides

recommendationsfororagainstcertainproductswithoutactuallybuying

orusingthem.

d）Consumersmaybeorganizationsorgroups（inwhichonepersonmay

makethedecisionforthegroup）.

*****UseConsumerBehaviorChallenge#1Here*****

2.Consumers’ImpactonMarketingStrategy

a.Understandingconsumerbehaviorisgoodbusiness.Abasicmarketingconcept

statesthatfirmsexisttosatisfyconsumers’needs.

1）Consumerresponseistheultimatetestofwhetheramarketingstrategywillsucceed.

2）Dataaboutconsumershelpsorganizationstodefinethemarketandtoidentify

threatsandopportunitiestoabrand.

SegmentingConsumers

b.Theprocessofmarketsegmentationidentifiesgroupsofconsumerswhoare

similartooneanotherinoneormorewaysandthendevisesstrategiesthat

appealtooneormoregroups.Therearemanywaystosegmentamarket.

1）Companiescandefinemarketsegmentsbyidentifyingtheirmostfaithful,core

customersorheavyusers.

2）Demographicsarestatisticsthatmeasureobservableaspectsofapopulation,

suchasbirthrate,agedistribution,andincome.

a）TheU.S.CensusBureauisamajorsourceofdemographicdataonfamilies.

3）Importantdemographicdimensionsinclude:

a）Age

b）Gender

c）Familystructure