Consumer Behaviour and Sales

Perception

Process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world

Selective Distortion vs. Retention

•       Selective Distortion

–      Interpreting information in a way that supports what you already believe.

•       Selective Retention

–      Remembering the good aspects of something you like and forgetting the bad aspects of something you dislike.

Learning

•       One Definition:

–      A relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience.

•       Driven by stimulus-response chains (conditioning).

•       Strongly influenced by behavioral consequences (Operant Conditioning)

–      Behaviors with satisfying results are repeated.

–      Behaviors with unsatisfying results are avoided.

•       Different from deliberation

Beliefs and Attitudes

•       A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something.

•       An attitude is a person’s consistently favorable or unfavorable feelings, evaluations, and tendencies toward an object or idea.

•       Both have lots of staying power.

–      Emotional precedents

–      Advertising tries to modify beliefs and attitudes.

The Buyer Decision Process

Need Recognition

Buyers recognize a need or problem as a result of internal or external stimuli.

Marketing communications often stimulate need recognition.

Triggering Need Recognition

Sales and Advertising

Information Search

•       High vs. Low Involvement Purchases

•       Cost vs. Benefit Model

•       “Big-Ticket” Anomolies

•       Cognitive Economy

•       Personal

•       Family, friends, neighbors, and casual or work acquaintances

•       Commercial

•       Advertising, salespeople, dealers, Web sites, packaging, and displays

•       Public

•       Mass media articles or news programs, Internet searches, consumer rating organizations

•       Experiential

•       Using, handling, examining or sampling the product

Which source is most influential?

Evaluation of Alternatives

•       Elaboration Likelihood Model: 
Central vs. Peripheral Route processing

•       Some Types of Evaluation Calculus:

–      Compensatory vs. Non-compensatory

–      Weighted Tally Processes

–      Elimination-by-aspects

–      Lexicographic

–      “Checkbox Choice”

–      Affect Referral

Purchase Decision

•       Intentions to purchase are sometimes interrupted.

•        Potential “Interrupters”:

–      Attitudes & influences of others

–      Unexpected situational
factors

–      Buyer’s Remorse

–      Speed of decision

Postpurchase Behavior

•       Consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction results from gaps between expectations and perceived performance.

–      Performance BELOW Expectations → Disappointment

–      Performance EQUALS Expectations → Satisfaction

–      Performance GREATER than Expectations → Delight

–      Performance MUCH GREATER than Expectations →

                Expectation Recalibration

Cognitive Dissonance (Buyers Remorse)

•       Cognitive Dissonance:  “Did I make the right purchase?   Should I have bought this?”

•       Minimize dissonance by:

–      Offering mechanisms for making complaints
(Customer Service, 800 hotlines, e-mail, etc.)

–      Being responsive to problems and questions

–      Advertising (remind consumer why choice made sense)

–      Minimizing the potential for product misuse (good product  instructions) and “Poke-Yoke”.

Applying Principles – Example

Mr & Mrs Jones have decided they need a new family car to accommodate their family. They have two children aged 7 years old and 16 years old. Mr Jones wants a vehicle that is relatively stylish and fast, but that meets the practical needs of the family. Mrs Jones main concern is safety. It is intended the car will be used primarily by Mrs Jones as Mr Jones uses public transport to travel to and from work. The children have different opinions, with the younger child wanting in-car entertainment, and the oldest child suggesting a brand name that will impress his peer group.

What are the influences a car manufacturer could use to persuade the Jones family to choose their vehicle in preference to a competitor’s. Give examples to support your answer.