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Introduction to

Consumer Behavior

ByDr. Kevin Lance Jones

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Intro to Consumer Behavior

• Consumer behavior--what is it?

• Applications• Consumer Behavior

and Strategy– Elements of strategy– Consumer Analysis

• Consumer behavior outcomes

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One Definition

• Consumer behavior: the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.

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Applications of Consumer Behavior

• Marketing Strategy• Regulatory (Public)

Policy• Social Marketing• Personal Consumer

Skills

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Orientations in the Study of Consumer Behavior

• Anthropology• Economics• History and

geography• Psychology• Sociology

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Anthropology

• The study of people within and across cultures

• Emphasis on cross-cultural differences

• Questioning of assumptions within own culture

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Economics

• Basic economic issues– Supply and demand– Rational decision making– Perfect information

• Emphasis on predicting behavior

• Complications in real life• Behavioral economics—

e.g., “mental accounting”

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History and Geography

• Origins of behavior, perspectives, and traditions

• Impact of geography on individuals– Isolation– Language development– Climate

• Geographic determinism

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Psychology

• Study of human thinking and behavior

• Some issues– Personality– Personal development– Cognition (thinking),

perception– Attention and its limitations– “Learning”—e.g.,

acquired tastes

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Sociology

• Cultural and interpersonal influences on consumption—e.g.,– Fads, fashions– Diffusion of

innovation– Popular culture

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Marketing Strategy and Consumer Behavior

MARKETANALYSIS

MARKETINGSTRATEGY

MARKETSEGMENTATION

CONSUMER DECISION

PROCESSES

OUTCOMES

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Market Analysis Components

• Consumers• Firms• Competitors• Conditions

(environment)

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Market Segmentation

• Product-related need sets

• Segments: customers with similar needs and responses

• Segment description• Segment selection

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Elements in Marketing Strategy

• Product• Communications• Price• Distribution• Service

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Outcomes

• Firm– Product

position/perception– Sales– Customer

satisfaction• Individual

– Need satisfaction– Injurious

consumption

• Society– Economic– Physical

environment– Social welfare

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The Nature of Consumer Behavior

• External Influences

• Internal Influences• Self-Concept• Situations• Experiences and

acquisitions

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Why We Buy: Some Issues

• Questions academics answer relatively well: Whether, how, why?

• Questions academics answer less well: –How much?–Which effect is stronger?–What if…?

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Why We Buy Issues

• “Conversion” and “interception” rates• The “Transition Zone”• Thinking like a consumer who is in the

shopping setting!• A note on exam questions from the text: You

need to have read the book to be able to answer! (The answers are not obvious.)