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Class Exercise 2: The Stages of the Consumer Buying Decision Process
For this exercise, each of the stages of the consumer buying decision process should be thoroughly
discussed and made available to the students before they answer these questions.
Prompt for Students:
In which stage of the consumer buying decision process is each of the following people?
1. A recent college graduate reads Consumer Reports to compare automobile ratings.
2. On the first day of class, a student finds out that a programmable calculator is needed for the
course, but she doesn’t own one.
3. After purchasing an evening gown, a woman decides that it is not quite appropriate for her special
occasion.
4. A car buyer gets a loan to purchase a new car.
5. A teenager compares numerous MP3 players and narrows the choice down to two players.
6. While on the way to work, a person’s automobile stalls and will not start again.
7. At an open-house party, a guest realizes that the host already owns the gift he plans to give.
8. A person receives a sample package of laundry detergent in the mail and uses it to wash a load of
clothes.
Answers:
There are many possible answers for each question. For example, in Question 1, the recent college
graduate reading Consumer Reports to compare automobile ratings could be in any of four stages:
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CHAPTER QUIZ
1. When individuals choose which information inputs will reach their awareness and ignore other
inputs, they are using
a. perception.
b. selective distortion.
c. selective exposure.
d. cognitive dissonance.
e. selective retention.
2. Which type of problem solving is frequently used for purchasing high-involvement products?
a. impulse
b. routinized
c. extended
d. limited
e. selective
3. Human requirements for love, affection, and a sense of belonging would be classified by Maslow as
_________ needs.
a. safety
b. esteem
c. social
d. physiological
e. self-actualization
4. A publication such as Consumer Reports may be initially used during a(n)
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SEMESTER PROJECT
Increasingly, organizations seek to attract and hold onto top talent by offering a variety of unique benefits
designed to appeal to employees. These benefits go beyond the traditional health care, retirement, and
vacation plans to include such benefits as concierge services, provisions to bring your dog to work, vegan
or vegetarian entrees in the cafeteria, etc.
For many employees, these benefits are crucial to their lifestyle and therefore crucial to their work
environment. In this exercise, you are to consider the types of benefits you want an organization to
provide. Conduct some research on which types of organizations provide these types of benefits.
Step 1: Research some of the alternative benefits being offered by organizations.
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ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION AND REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What are the major stages in the consumer buying decision process? Are all of these stages
used in all consumer purchase decisions? Why or why not?
The major stages in the consumer buying-decision process are problem recognition, information
2. How does a consumer’s level of involvement affect his or her choice of decision-solving
process?
In a particular situation, a consumer’s level of involvement determines the importance and interest
3. Name the types of consumer decision-making processes. List some products you have bought
using each type. Have you ever bought a product on impulse? If so, describe the
circumstances.
The types of consumer decision-making processes include routinized response behavior, limited
decision making, and extended decision making.
2. What are the categories of situational factors that influence consumer buying behavior?
Explain how each of these factors influences buyers’ decisions.
Situational factors can be classified into categories: physical surroundings, social surroundings, time
perspective, purchase reason, and the buyer’s momentary mood and condition. Physical
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3. What is selective exposure? Why do people engage in it?
Selective exposure is the process of receiving information, then internally screening information
4. How do marketers attempt to shape consumers’ learning?
Marketers attempt to influence consumers’ learning by exposing them to product experiences
5. Why are marketers concerned about consumer attitudes?
Consumer attitudes toward an organization and its products strongly influence the success or failure
6. In what ways do lifestyles affect the consumer buying decision process?
A lifestyle is an individual’s pattern of living expressed through activities, interests, and opinions.
7. How do roles affect buying behavior? Provide examples.
A role consists of a set of actions and activities expected of a person holding a certain position
8. What are family influences, and how do they affect buying behavior?
Family influences have a very direct impact on the consumer buying decision process. Parents teach
children how to cope with a variety of problems, including purchasing decisions. Children often
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9. What are reference groups? How do they influence buying behavior? Name some of your own
reference groups.
A reference group is a group of people with which an individual strongly identifies with, taking on
102. How does an opinion leader influence the buying decision process of reference group
members?
113. How might consumer behavior be influenced by digital networks?
Increasingly, consumers use the Internet for information about products and services. Consumers
12. In what ways does social class affect a person’s purchase decisions?
Individuals within social classes often exhibit common consumer behavior patterns; they share
13. What is culture? How does it affect a person’s buying behavior?
Culture is everything in our surroundings made by human beings, including tangible and intangible
14. Describe the subcultures to which you belong. Identify buying behavior unique to one of your
subcultures.
This question lets students probe the unique subcultures to which they belong. Students should be
encouraged to relate the particular features of their subcultures to their purchasing behavior.
17. What is consumer misbehavior? Describe the various forms of consumer misbehavior.
Consumer misbehavior is behavior that violates generally accepted norms of a particular society.
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ANSWERS TO APPLICATION QUESTIONS
1. Consumers use one of three decision-making processes when purchasing goods or
services: routinized response behavior, limited decision making, or extended decision
making. Describe three buying experiences you have had (one for each type of decision
making), and identify which decision-making type you used. Discuss why that
particular process was appropriate.
Student answers will vary, but they should support their answers with descriptions of each
2. The consumer buying process consists of five stages: problem recognition, information
search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and postpurchase evaluation. Not every
buying decision goes through all five stages, and the process does not necessarily
conclude in a purchase. Interview a classmate about the last purchase he or she made.
Report the stages used and those skipped, if any.
3. Attitudes toward products or companies often affect consumer behavior. The three
components of an attitude are cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Briefly describe how
a beer company might alter the cognitive and affective components of consumer
attitudes toward beer products and toward the company.
The cognitive component is the person’s knowledge and information about the object or idea,
4. An individual’s roles influence that person’s buying behavior. Identify two of your
roles, and give an example of how they have influenced your buying decisions.
Student responses will vary based on their roles. They should support their answers with how
5. Select five brands of toothpaste and explain how the appeals used in advertising these
brands relate to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Student answers will vary based on the brands of toothpaste and current advertising, but
responses should cover some basic ideas:
• physiological needs: not included (humans can survive without toothpaste)
6. Assume that Reebok has developed two new types of athletic shoes. One is designed for
distance runners and the other has been developed for teenage skateboarders. As a
marketer, you need to evaluate the potential psychological influences for each of these
distinct target markets.
Rank each of the following on a scale of 1 to 5 in order of importance for distance runners
vs. teenage skate boarders. 1 is the most important variable, whereas 5 is the least
important.
Roles
Family Influences
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ANSWERS TO INTERNET EXERCISE
Amazon.com
Some mass-market e-commerce sites, such as Amazon.com, have extended the concept of
customization to their customer base. Amazon.com has created an affinity group by drawing on
certain users’ likes and dislikes to make product recommendations to other users. Check out this
pioneering online retailer at www.amazon.com.
1. What might motivate some consumers to read a “Top Selling” list?
Student responses will vary, but they should discuss ideas from their study of consumer
2. Is the consumer’s level of involvement with an online book purchase likely to be high or
low?
Because books are low-priced and low-risk products, consumer involvement is likely to be
3. Discuss the consumer buying decision process as it relates to a decision to purchase
from Amazon.com.
Student responses should cover the following general ideas:
• problem recognition: consumers realize that they would like to purchase a product
• information search: consumers search for information, which is easy to do directly on
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ANSWERS TO DEVELOPING YOUR MARKETING PLAN
The decisions and discussions of these dimensions should help you to answer some of the questions that
are a part of the online Interactive Marketing Plan exercise at www.cengagebrain.com.
1. See Table 7.1. What type of decision making are your customers likely to use when purchasing
your product?
It is essential for marketers to be able to identify and anticipate consumer decision making
2. Determine the evaluative criteria that your target market(s) would use when choosing between
alternative brands.
There are many different criteria that customers may consider when looking to purchase a product.
3. Using Table 7.2, what types of family decision making, if any, would your target market(s)
use?
4. Identify the reference groups or subcultures that may influence your target market’s product
selection.
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COMMENTS ON THE CASES
VIDEO CASE 7.1: STARBUCKS REFINES THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
Summary
Starbucks is popular in the United States thanks to its focus on the customer experience. While the
company continues to improve its American stores through innovations such as mobile pay, Starbucks is
Questions for Discussion
1. In terms of situational influences and level of involvement, what are the benefits of mobile pay?
Starbucks is working to keep customers involved by creating routinized response behavior. Mobile
2. With Evolution Fresh, which psychological influences on consumer buying decisions does
Starbucks seem to be addressing?
Motives, attitudes, personalities, and lifestyles are all important to Starbucks. With Evolution Fresh,
3. Why would Starbucks want customers to know that it believes in social responsibility?
Once again, Starbucks wants to improve consumers’ perceptions and interpretations of the company
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CASE 7.2: IAMS AND EUKANUBA UNDERSTAND PEOPLE WHO
LOVE PETS
Summary
This case discusses how Iams and Eukanuba are identifying the changing buying patterns of pet
lovers and tailoring their products to keep and attract new customers. Pet lovers consider their pets to
be members of the family. The companies are taking advantage of this trend by creating pet products
that mirror those provided to humans. For example, Iams has come up with PreBiotics for pets to aid
in digestion, and Eukanuba makes foods tailored to pets with certain medical conditions. Also, Iams
and Eukanuba are expanding into the veterinary industry, partnering with businesses to offer pet
insurance and MRIs for pets. The companies are clearly paying attention to the needs of pet owners
and making it possible for them to create healthy lifestyles for their pets.
Questions for Discussion
1. Which of the psychological influences on pet owners should marketers at Iams and
Eukanuba pay particular attention to, and why?
Motives, attitudes, personalities, and lifestyles are all very important to Iams and Eukanuba in
understanding buyers. Pet lovers’ attitudes are dramatically changing. Pet owners are now
2. During which stages of the buying decision process would you expect the educational
resources of Dog College and Cat College to have the most influence on consumers’
behavior?
Educational resources will likely have the most influence during the post–purchase stage of
3. Why would consumers continue spending on their pets even during an economic downturn?
Explain your answer in terms of consumer buying behavior concepts.
If pet owners view pets as valued members of the family, then these supply purchases are not