Lecture 1 – Consumer Behaviour: Introduction and Framework
The Mere-Exposure Effect = Zajonc (1968) presented participants with fake
Chinese symbols.
Each symbol was presented between 1 and 25 times
After presentation participants rated each symbol
Results indicated that participants felt more positively (i.e. they liked) the
symbols that were presented more frequently -> that’s the reason why we
have brands
The value of Consumption; three core features of value
Anticipatory consumption = we are excited about something or waiting for
food, you already saw it. Idea of consuming, what drives you to consuming
The act of consuming = physical reaction of consuming, value directly from
the experience. Most stable/well-known value
Enjoying memory of past consumption = enjoying memory of past
consumption: experience you remember, post consuming
-> try to differentiate their product, remember it differently from for example
other burgers
Inside the mind of the consumer – marketers try to understand what’s in
consumers mind. People have preferences, get in the complexity of the human
mind. Find stable factors that influence consumers mind.
Consumer behaviour = interaction between the firm and consumer, goal is to
make a favourable relationship
Kardes: Human reactions to products, services, and marketing activities
Blackwell et al: Human actions related to the obtaining, consuming and
disposing of products and services
Solomon: Processes involved in selecting, buying, using or disposing of
products, services, ideas and experiences to satisfy needs and wants
Avery et al: set of mental and physical activities undertaken by
consumers to acquire and consume products as to fulfil their needs and
wants
Peter & Olson: dynamic interactions of affect, cognition, and behaviour,
with events in the environment, that are associated with the ‘exchange
aspects’ of human life
Basic components: products, services, ideas, and experiences & relates stimuli
(ads, WOM,..)
Affects = emotions, feelings, hard to quantify,
hart
Cognition = how you process the information,
deeply or less deeply, mind
mind and hart are very much related, dynamic
system
Difference between the consumers perceptions and the
actual environment -> perception =/ experience
, Consumer puzzles – things that seems weird in the situations. Marketers like to
understand these puzzles. Knowledge about why consumers do what they do
leads to a better relationship (for example Apple – behaviour brakes normal
expectations - doesn’t fit in the standard quantity sold / product price
relationship)
Consumer Behaviour Research
Topics = motivation, advertising effects,
decision processes, consumption rituals,
etc.
Theories = psychology, sociology,
anthropology, economics
Methods = surveys, experiments,
observation, interviews, etc.
Who studies consumer behaviour?
1. Marketers
2. Social organizations
3. Public policy makers
Consumer Decision Process – general stages more extended in a framework
(important!!)
1. Need recognition – decisions are
driven by needs, when desired state
= actual state than no need.
Changes are caused by life stage
changes, new tastes (fluctuations in
design preferences) and new
technologies
Changes in the actual stage due to:
Stock depletion (need for
icecream)
Problem removal (create a need,
dog makes rubbish)
Problem avoidance (insurance)
2. Search for information
Internal – retrieval from memory, product already in your memory, than it is
already in your decision process
External – marketing sources: advertising, company websites, stores,
salespeople, brochures and non-marketing sources: other consumers (incl. Family
& friends), consumer organizations, government, media – gives you the
information directly
When you already like a brand and you see it
again you will even like it more. When you
hate a brand and see it, you are going to
hate it even more
Ways of searching for information: