Summary Marketing Lectures
End-Term Pre-Master
Tilburg University
Topic 1: Introduction 2
Topic 2: Motivation, Ability & Opportunity (MAO) 5
Topic 3: Problem Recognition & Information Search 12
Topic 4: External Information 16
Topic 5: Knowledge & Understanding 21
Topic 6: Attitudes 28
Topic 7: Evaluation of Alternatives & Decision Making 39
Topic 8: Choice Reflection 51
Topic 9: Social Influences 59
Practice Questions & Solutions: 70
,Lecture 1: Introduction
Learning Objectives:
- Illustrate; The position of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Management
- Understand; A sneak preview of how Consumers and Marketing interact
- Convince; The importance of really understanding Consumer Behavior
Marketing’s positioning in a company is the relationship between the consumer & the business.
Marketing= the social & managerial process by which individuals & groups obtain what they
need & want through creating & exchanging products and value with others.
Furthermore, Marketing is an inside-out – outside-in concept, in the sense that Marketing has
two strategies: Marketing Management that is from;
Inside-Out from the Business to the Consumer, which implies focusing on the strengths &
capabilities within the Business.
Outside-In is based on focusing on Consumer Behavior, that is the link from the Consumer to
the Business, and consists of [Motivation, Capacity (Ability), Opportunity & Social Influences.]
[Consumer Behavior: is the totality of consumer decisions with respect to the consumption of
an offering by (human) decision making units over time.
Consumption: Acquisition, Usage, Disposition.
Offering: goods, services, activities, experiences, people, ideas and places.
Decision Making Units: decision maker, buyer, information gatherer
Over time: days, weeks, months, years.]
[Why do we need Consumer Behavior?:
- misconception #1: consumers are sales numbers.
- misconception #2: we can rely on our intuition.
- misconception #3: we know what consumers want.
#1 Consumers are real people with emotions & needs, thus not data points nor dead sales
figures.
2-3# We are often wrong with assumptions & intuition about what consumers want, think & feel.
-Marketing Managers need to really understand their consumers to create value for them.
-Consumers act upon perception and not on objective reality
-Objective product benefits = not the same as personal benefits.]
The mistake companies make= they focus on the stimulus as a direct cause to response, while
skipping the organism (consumers) in the process.
,The Organism is the Consumers, how they think, feel & act. (behavior)
Which consists of 1) the Psychological Core, 2) Decision Making Process, 3) Social Influences.
1) The Psychological core;
- Motivation, Ability, Opportunity (MAO)
- Internal Information: learning & memory (knowledge)
- External Information: attention & perception
- Understanding: comprehension & categorization (knowledge structure / associative
network)
- Attitudes: cognition & affect
2) Decision Making Process:
- Problem Recognition & Information Search
- Alternatives Evaluation & Decision Making
- Choice Reflection& Post-Decision Evaluation
3) Social Influences:
- Conformity
- Compliance
- Obedience & Authority
, Consumer Insight:
Knowledge versus Understanding:
Knowledge are the facts spread all around like the stars.
Understanding is taking those stars and turning it into 1 whole star-sign.
Ex. You know how to do the math, but don’t understand it. You know the meanings of the words
in the sentence, but don’t understand the meaning of the sentence.
An understanding is a mental construct, an abstraction made by the human mind to make sense
of many pieces of knowledge.
Correlation vs Causality
- Correlation does not mean causality
- Causality is always based on correlation (relationship of 2 data, observed same time)
- To demonstrate causality need to show a directional relationship with no alternative
explanation. Where dependent variable is the result of the independent variable.
- Example of Ice Cream Sales & Shark Attacks, Correlation but no Causation.
Causal Research has two main objectives:
- Identifying which variables are the ‘cause’ & which variables are the effect.
- Understanding the nature of the relationship between the cause & effect variables.
+Is Experimental in nature, must be defined correctly, else prone to bias & lack credibility.
• In order to manage customers, we need to really understand (not just know)
how/why/when/where they process information and make decisions, and look back on them
•Decisions are often complex and difficult. To make decisions quickly and efficiently, consumer
may use heuristics (i.e., cognitive shortcuts)
•Heuristics can lead to systematic errors and biases; mistakes people repeat over-and-over
again (i.e., not always rational but sometimes predictably irrational)
•Understanding both rational and irrational behavior is important for consumers, managers and
policy makers in e.g., financial decision making, HR management, product pricing, marketing
strategy, health policies, et cetera.
