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Chapter 5 Understanding Consumer and Business Buyer Behavior
CHAPTER 5
UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER AND BUSINESS BUYER BEHAVIOR
PREVIEWING THE CONCEPTS – CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the consumer market and the major factors that influence consumer buyer
behavior.
2. Identify and discuss the stages in the buyer decision process.
3. Describe the adoption and diffusion process for new products.
4. Define the business market and identify the major factors that influence business buyer
behavior.
5. List and define the steps in the business buying decision process.
JUST THE BASICS
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
In this chapter, we continue our marketing journey with a closer look at the most
important element of the marketplace—customers.
The aim of marketing is to affect how customers think about and behave toward the
organization and its market offerings.
But to affect the whats, whens, and hows of buying behavior, marketers must first
understand the whys.
We look first at final consumer buying influences and processes and then at the buying
behavior of business customers.
ANNOTATED CHAPTER NOTES/OUTLINE
FIRST STOP
Harley-Davidson: Selling Freedom, Independence, Power, and Authenticity
Few brands engender such intense loyalty as that found in the hearts of Harley-Davidson owners.
In August 2013, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people flocked to Harley-Davidson’s 110th
anniversary celebration in Milwaukee, the city where it all began.
Riding such intense emotions, Harley-Davidson has long dominated the U.S. motorcycle market.
The brand captures 30 percent of all U.S. bike sales and nearly 55 percent of the heavyweight
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Chapter 5 Understanding Consumer and Business Buyer Behavior
segment, and its sales and profits are growing at a smooth-riding pace.
The average Harley customer is a 50-something male with a median household income of
$87,000. More than 12 percent of Harley purchases today are made by women.
In recent years, the company has been extending the Harley-Davidson family beyond the core
segment of older Caucasian males who now account for about two-thirds of buyers. It has crafted
products and programs specifically designed to attract what it calls “outreach customers,”
segments such as young adults ages 18 to 34, women, African Americans, and Hispanics.
Harley-Davidson makes good bikes, and to keep up with its shifting market, the company has
upgraded its showrooms and sales approaches. But Harley customers are buying a lot more than
just a quality bike and a smooth sales pitch.
A Harley renews your spirits and announces your freedom and independence. A popular line at
Harley-Davidson is that “Thumbing the starter of a Harley does a lot more than fire the engine. It
fires the imagination.” The classic look, the throaty sound, the very idea of a Harley—all
contribute to its mystique. Owning this “American legend” makes you a part of something
bigger, a member of the Harley-Davidson family.
Riding a Harley changes you from within. The effect is permanent. Maybe it’s time you started
feeling this strongly. Things are different on a Harley.
CONSUMER MARKETS AND CONSUMER BUYER BEHAVIOR
Consumer buyer behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers—individuals and
households who buy goods and services for personal consumption.
All of these consumers combine to make up the consumer market.
The American consumer market consists of more than 320 million people.
Use Key Terms Consumer Market, Consumer Buyer Behavior here.
Use Chapter Objective 1 here.
Model of Consumer Behavior
The central question for marketers is: How do consumers respond to various marketing efforts
the company might use?
The starting point is the stimulus-response model of buyer behavior shown in Figure 5.1.
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Use Figure 5.1 here.
Marketing stimuli consist of the Four Ps.
Other stimuli include major forces and events in the buyer’s environment: economic,
technological, political, and cultural.
The marketer wants to understand how the stimuli are changed into responses inside the
consumer’s black box, which has two parts.
1. The buyer’s characteristics influence how he or she perceives and reacts to the stimuli.
2. The buyer’s decision process itself affects the buyer’s behavior.
Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior
Cultural Factors
Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior.
Marketers are always trying to spot cultural shifts.
Use Key Term Culture here.
Use Figure 5.2 here.
Subcultures are groups of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences
and situations.
Use Key Term Subculture here.
The African American market is growing in affluence and sophistication.
The U.S. Hispanic market consists of more than 55 million consumers.
Asian Americans are the most affluent U.S. demographic segment.
By targeting segments such as Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans with
specially tailored efforts, marketers now embrace a total marketing strategy—the practice of
including ethnic themes and cross-cultural perspectives within their mainstream marketing.
Social classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share
similar values, interests, and behaviors.
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Social class is not determined by a single factor but is measured as a combination of occupation,
income, education, wealth, and other variables.
Use Key Term Total Marketing Strategy and Social Class here.
Social Factors
Groups and Social Networks. A person’s behavior is influenced by many small groups.
Use Key Terms Groups, Word-of-Mouth Influence, and Opinion Leader here.
Word-of-mouth influence is the impact of the personal words and recommendations of
trusted friends, associates, and other consumers on buying behavior.
Opinion leaders are people within a reference group who, because of special skills,
knowledge, personality, or other characteristics, exert social influence on others.
This group is also called the influentials or leading adopters.
Buzz marketing involves enlisting or creating opinion leaders to serve as “brand ambassadors”
who spread the word about a company’s products.
Online social networks are online communities where people socialize or exchange information
and opinions.
Use Key Term Online Social Networks here.
Use Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing here.
Use Discussion Question 5-2 here.
Use Marketing at Work 5.1 here.
Family is the most important consumer buying organization in society.
Husband-wife involvement varies widely by product category and by stage in the buying
process.
More than 50 percent of men grocery shop regularly.
Women outspend men on new technology purchases, and they influence 80 percent of all car
purchases.
The nation’s kids and tweens influence up to 80 percent of all household purchases.
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Roles and Status. A role consists of the activities people are expected to perform. Each role
carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it by society.
Personal Factors
Occupation. A person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought.
Age and Life Stage. People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes
in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age related.
Economic Situation. A person’s economic situation will affect product choice.
Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his or her psychographics.
Use Marketing at Work 5.2 here.
Use Key Term Lifestyle here.
AIO dimensions are activities (work, hobbies, shopping, sports, social events), interests (food,
fashion, family, recreation), and opinions (about themselves, social issues, business, products).
Personality and Self-Concept.
Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent
and lasting responses to one’s own environment.
Use Critical Thinking Exercise 5-6 here.
Use Key Term Personality here.
A brand personality is the specific mix of human traits that may be attributed to a particular
brand. One researcher identified five brand personality traits:
1. Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful)
2. Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, and up-to-date)
3. Competence (reliable, intelligent, and successful)
4. Sophistication (upper class and charming)
5. Ruggedness (outdoorsy and tough)
The basic self-concept (self-image) premise is that people’s possessions contribute to and reflect
their identities; that is, “we are what we have.”
Psychological Factors
Motivation.
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A motive (or drive) is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction.
Use Key Term Motive (or Drive) here.
Freud suggests that a person’s buying decisions are affected by subconscious motives that even
the buyer may not fully understand.
Motivation research refers to qualitative research designed to probe consumers’ hidden,
subconscious motivations.
Many marketers are using interpretive consumer research to dig deeper into consumer psyches
and develop better marketing strategies.
Maslow sought to explain why people are driven by particular needs at particular times. (Figure
5.3)
Use Figure 5.3 here.
Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a
meaningful picture of the world.
Use Key Term Perception here.
Selective attention is the tendency for people to screen out most of the information to which they
are exposed.
Selective distortion describes the tendency of people to interpret information in a way that will
support what they already believe.
Selective retention is the retaining of information that supports their attitudes and beliefs.
Subliminal advertising refers to marketing messages received without consumers knowing it.
Studies find no link between subliminal messages and consumer behavior.
Learning describes changes in an individual’s behavior arising from experience.
Use Key Term Learning here.
A drive is a strong internal stimulus that calls for action.
A drive becomes a motive when it is directed toward a particular stimulus object.
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Cues are minor stimuli that determine when, where, and how the person responds.
Beliefs and Attitudes.
A belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something.
Attitude describes a person’s relatively consistent evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an
object or idea.
Use Key Terms Belief and Attitude here.
The Buyer Decision Process (Figure 5.4)
The buyer decision process consists of five stages:
1. need recognition,
2. information search,
3. evaluation of alternatives,
4. purchase decision, and
5. postpurchase behavior.
Use Figure 5.4 here.
Need Recognition
The buyer recognizes a problem or need.
The need can be triggered by either an:
internal stimuli or
external stimuli.
Information Search
Information search may or may not occur.
Consumers can obtain information from any of several sources.
Personal sources (family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances),
Commercial sources (advertising, salespeople, dealer Web sites, packaging, displays),
Public sources (mass media, consumer-rating organizations, Internet searches), and
Experiential sources (handling, examining, using the product).
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Commercial sources inform the buyer.
Personal sources legitimize or evaluate products for the buyer.
Evaluation of Alternatives
Alternative evaluation: how the consumer processes information to arrive at brand choices.
How consumers go about evaluating purchase alternatives depends on the individual consumer
and the specific buying situation.
In some cases, consumers use careful calculations and logical thinking.
At other times, the same consumers do little or no evaluating; instead they buy on impulse and
rely on intuition.
Purchase Decision
Generally, the consumer’s purchase decision will be to buy the most preferred brand.
Two factors can come between the purchase intention and the purchase decision.
1. Attitudes of others
2. Unexpected situational factors
Postpurchase Behavior
Consumer satisfaction is determined by the difference between the consumer’s expectations and
the perceived performance of the good purchased.
If the product falls short of expectations, the consumer is disappointed; if it meets expectations,
the consumer is satisfied; if it exceeds expectations, the consumer is said to be delighted.
Cognitive dissonance, or discomfort caused by postpurchase conflict, occurs in most major
purchases.
Use Discussion Question 5-1 here.
Use Key Term Cognitive Dissonance here.
Use Marketing by the Numbers here.
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THE BUYER DECISION PROCESS FOR NEW PRODUCTS
A new product is a good, service, or idea that is perceived by some potential customers as new.
The adoption process is the mental process through which an individual passes from first
learning about an innovation to final adoption.
Use Key Term New Product here.
Use Chapter Objective 3 here.
Adoption is the decision by an individual to become a regular user of the product.
Use Key Term Adoption Process here.
Stages in the Adoption Process
Consumers go through five stages in the process of adopting a new product:
Awareness: The consumer becomes aware of the new product but lacks information
about it.
Interest: The consumer seeks information about the new product.
Evaluation: The consumer considers whether trying the new product makes sense.
Trial: The consumer tries the new product on a small scale to improve his or her
estimate of its value.
Adoption: The consumer decides to make full and regular use of the new product.
Use Discussion Question 5-2 here.
Individual Differences in Innovativeness
People differ greatly in their readiness to try new products.
People can be classified into the adopter categories shown in Figure 5.5.
Use Figure 5.5 here.
The five adopter groups have differing values.
1. Innovators are venturesome—they try new ideas at some risk.
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2. Early adopters are guided by respect—they are opinion leaders in their communities and
adopt new ideas early but carefully.
3. Early mainstream adopters are deliberate—although they rarely are leaders, they adopt
new ideas before the average person.
4. Late mainstream adopters are skeptical—they adopt an innovation only after a majority
of people have tried it.
5. Lagging adopters are tradition bound—they are suspicious of changes and adopt the
innovation only when it has become something of a tradition itself.
Influence of Product Characteristics on Rate of Adoption
Five characteristics are important in influencing an innovation’s rate of adoption.
Relative advantage: the degree to which the innovation appears superior to existing
products.
Compatibility: the degree to which the innovation fits the values and experiences of
potential consumers.
Complexity: the degree to which the innovation is difficult to understand or use.
Divisibility: the degree to which the innovation may be tried on a limited basis.
Communicability: the degree to which the results of using the innovation can be
observed or described to others.
Use Linking the Concepts here.
BUSINESS MARKETS AND BUSINESS BUYER BEHAVIOR
Business buyer behavior refers to the buying behavior of the organizations that buy goods
and services for use in the production of other products and services that are sold, rented, or
supplied to others.
Use Key Terms Business Buyer Behavior and Business Buying Process here.
Use Chapter Objective 4 here.
In the business buying process, business buyers determine which products and services their
organizations need to purchase, and then find, evaluate, and choose among alternative suppliers
and brands.
Business-to-business (B-to-B) marketers must do their best to understand business markets and
business buyer behavior.
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Business Markets
Business markets involve far more dollars and items than do consumer markets.
The main differences between business markets and consumer markets relate to the following:
market structure and demand
nature of the buying unit
the types of decisions and the decision process involved
1. Market Structure and Demand
Many business markets have inelastic demand; that is, total demand for many business products
is not affected much by price changes.
Business markets have more fluctuating demand.
The business marketer normally deals with far fewer but far larger buyers than the consumer
marketer does.
Business demand is derived demand—it ultimately derives from the demand for consumer
goods.
Use Key Term Derived Demand here.
2. Nature of the Buying Unit
Business purchases usually involve more decision participants and a more professional
purchasing effort.
3. Types of Decisions and the Decision Process
Business buyers usually face more complex buying decisions than do consumer buyers.
The business buying process tends to be more formalized.
The buyer and seller are often much more dependent on each other.
Supplier development involves systematically developing networks of supplier-partners to
ensure an appropriate and dependable supply of products and materials that they will use in
making their own products or resell to others.
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Use Critical Thinking Exercise 5-7 here.
Use Key Term Supplier Development here.
Use Discussion Question 5-3 here.
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