Consumer Behaviour

• Consumer behavior includes mental and physical activities before a purchase.

Mental Activities

• Include thoughts, feelings, and knowledge about products.
• Examples involve contemplating a purchase or recalling prices.

Physical Activities

• Involve actions taken to acquire products.

• Includes visiting stores, clipping coupons, and testing products.

• A product offers benefits to the consumer and can be physical or nonphysical.

• Consumers are individuals who acquire and use available products and services.

• A need is a discomforting human condition that can be physiological or psychological.

• Physiologically discomforting conditions can include hunger or cold.

• Psychological conditions include feeling bored or insecure.

• A want is a desire for a specific object or product to restore a satisfactory state.

• Want is the desire for specific kind of food to satisfy the need of a hungry stomach.

• The understanding of consumer behavior involves more than just buying

• Consumer behavior encompasses economic components, psychology, societal influences, biological needs, and wants.

3 Essentials of Consumer Behavior

• Exchange involves the interchange of resources for value between two parties (market and consumer).
• Marketers are individuals or organizations offering products and services for money or resources.
• Commercial entities primarily seek money as their main organizational goal.
• Nonprofits offer products and services for free or at a nominal charge.

Resources

• Are things people own or possess that others value.
• Humans use resources to satisfy needs and wants.

Five resources

• Money is the most commonly used resource for marketplace exchange.
• Time is a resource, and people buy time-saving devices to gain more of it.
• Knowledge is a resource acquired through books and courses.
• Energy is used to build bodies and enhance physical well-being.
• Social capital includes networks and connections that provide help.
• Value is the total net benefits received from.
• Value is a core goal of all exchanges.
• Consumers look for 4 values or benefits in exchange for resources known as the USER model

Utilitarian value

• Is the tangible outcomes of product usage and can be called functional value.
• Benefits come from managing daily life and managing external environments.
• Examples include food and lotions.

Social value

• Comes from ability to manage social world
• Includes interactions with peers.
• Social value can be derived from wearing name-brand clothing or donating blood.

Ego/identity value

• Arises from constructing and nurturing identities and concepts.
• Is gained through activities like eating vegetarian food or recycling

Recreation value

• Comes from activities that regenerate mental ability and remove fatigue.
• Recreation/Hedonic value, can include listening to music or watching sports.
• Resources include money, time, knowledge, energy, and social networking.
• Five visions of the consumer highlight different consumer roles.

Consumer as Problem Solver

• They search for solutions to daily needs.

Consumer as an Economic Creature

• They manage personal finances.

Consumer as Computer

• They process information.

Consumer as a Shopper

• They engage in window shopping and enjoy the store atmosphere.

Consumer as Reveler

• They seek enjoyment and good times.

Four Social Sciences of Consumer Behavior

• Anthropology studies humankind in its habitat including cultural development.
• Sociology studies social systems, groups, and organizations.
• Economics studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods.
• Psychology studies the human mind and its influence on behavior.

Why Should Students Study Consumer Behavior

• Marketers present products and messages to satisfy consumer needs.
• Social organizations use consumer behavior to promote public well-being.
• Public policy makers protect consumers from deceptive practices.
• Consumers benefit from understanding their behaviors.
• The purpose of business and marketing is to create value.