Week 4
Belch, G. E., & Belch M. A. (2021/2022).
Chapter 4: Perspectives on consumer behavior
Introduction
Branding is probably not just about emotion, color, and emojis.
However, it does appear that these factors certainly contribute to
successful branding. For some products, 90 percent of snap judgements
made about product can be based on color alone. Color and brand “fit” is
important. Colors influence the perceived personality of the brand.
Consumers prefer recognizable brands, which makes color very important
in creating a brand identity. Gender impacts color preferences, there is no
single best color for impacting conversion rates on websites, and the
name of the color matters, unique names increase the intent to purchase.
Marketers will study consumer behaviors in an attempt to
understand the many factors that lead to and impact purchase decision.
Purchasing motives along with consumers’ attitudes, lifestyles, and
decision-making processes need to be understood before effective
marketing strategies can be formulated.
An overview of consumer behavior
A challenge faced by all marketers is how to influence the purchase
behavior of consumers in favor of the product or service they offer. The
ultimate goal is to influence purchase behavior. Consumer behavior can
be defined as the process and activities people engage in when searching
for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products
and services to satisfy their needs and desires.
The consumer decision-making process
Below you can see the basic model of Consumer Decision-Making
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,We will examine each stage of the purchase decision model and discuss
how various subprocesses influence what occurs at this phase of the
consumer behavior process.
Problem recognition
Problem recognition occurs when the consumer perceives a need
and becomes motivated to solve the problem. It is caused by a difference
between the consumer’s ideal state and actual state.
Sources of problem recognition
Out of stock Consumer uses his/her existing supply of a product
and must replenish his/her stock.
Dissatisfaction Consumer is dissatisfied with the current state of
affairs and/or the product or service being used.
New needs/wants Consumer’s life is changing and he/she
develops new needs and wants.
Related products/purchases Consumer has purchased another
product which leads to a new purchase intention.
Marketer-induced problem recognition Consumer is
encouraged to purchase something because of marketers’ actions.
Marketers can take advantage of consumers’ tendency toward
novelty-seeking behavior, which leads them to try different brands.
New products Innovative products are introduced and brought to
attention of consumers.
Examining consumer motivation
The way a consumer perceives a problem and becomes motivated
to solve it will influence the remainder of the decision process. To better
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,understand the reasons underlying consumer purchases, marketers
devote considerable attention to examine motives, those factors that
compel a consumer to take a particular action.
Hierarchy of needs
One of the most popular
approaches to understand consumer
motivation is based on the hierarchy
of needs theory. It postulates five
basic levels of human needs, arranged
in a hierarchy based on their
importance. Marketers also recognize
that different market segments
emphasize different need levels.
Psychoanalytic theory
Another approach is the psychoanalytic theory. The
psychoanalytic theory suggests that many motives for purchase and/or
consumption may be driven by deep motives one can determine only by
probing the subconscious. Researchers that used this approach titled their
work as motivation research.
Motivation Research in marketing
Motivation researchers use a variety of methodologies to gain
insight into the underlying causes of consumer behavior. In-depth
interviews, projective techniques, association tests, focus groups.
Problems and contributions of psychoanalytic theory and
motivation research
While often criticized, motivation research has also contributed to
the marketing discipline. The qualitative nature of the research is
considered important in assessing how and why consumers buy.
Information search
The second stage is information search. The initial search effort
often consists of an attempt to scan information stored in memory to
recall past experiences and/or knowledge regarding various purchase
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, alternatives. This information retrieval is referred to as internal search.
If the internal search does not yield enough information, the consumer will
seek additional information by engaging in external search. This
includes; internet sources (sponsored information), personal sources
(friends, relatives), marketer-controlled (commercial) sources
(advertising), public sources (newspapers), and personal experience
(testing). Determining how much and which sources of external
information to use involves several factors, the importance of the
decision, the effort, the past experience, the perceived risk, and the time
available.
Perception
The perception is the process by which an individual receives,
selects, organizes, and interprets information to create a meaningful
picture of the world. It depends on internal factors such as a person’s
beliefs, experiences, needs, moods, and expectations. It is also influenced
by the characteristics of a stimulus and the context in which it is seen or
heard.
Sensation
Sensation is the immediate, direct response of the senses (taste,
smell, sight, touch, and hearing) to a stimulus such as an ad, package, or
brand name. Marketers sometimes try to
increase the level of sensory input so that their advertising messages will
get noticed.
Selecting information
Other determinants of the perceptual process are internal
psychological factors such as the consumer’s personality, needs, motives,
expectations, and experiences. These inputs explain why people focus
attention on some things and ignore others.
Interpreting the information
Once a consumer selects and attends to a stimulus, the perceptual
process focuses on organizing, categorizing, and interpreting the incoming
information. Perception may be viewed as a filtering process in which
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