Marketing Chapter 6 Flashcards

Consumer Behavior Fundamentals

• Consumer behavior involves the processes used to make purchase decisions, as well as using and disposing of products.
• Factors influencing consumer decisions include personal, social, and cultural elements.

Consumer Decision-Making Process

• A five-step process guides consumers through purchasing goods and services, from need recognition to post-purchase evaluation.

Key Concepts in Decision Making

• Need recognition arises from a gap between actual and desired states.
• A want represents the method a consumer employs to satisfy a recognized need.
• Stimuli, including sensory inputs, play a crucial role in influencing consumer behavior.

Information Search Techniques

• An internal information search draws on past experiences.
• An external information search involves seeking information from outside sources.

Information Source Categories

• Nonmarketing-controlled sources provide unbiased product information, while marketing-controlled sources promote products through advertising.

Brand and Product Evaluation

• The evoked set consists of brands a consumer considers after an information search.
• Brand extensions leverage the reputation of a well-known brand into new product categories.

Post-Purchase Feelings

• Cognitive dissonance refers to the stress consumers feel when their beliefs and behaviors are inconsistent.

Level of Consumer Involvement

• Routine response behavior involves minimal effort in purchasing low-cost items.
• Limited decision making is required for familiar products that are less frequently purchased.
• Extensive decision making is essential for high-involvement purchases of unfamiliar, expensive items.

Cultural and Social Influences

• Culture consists of shared values, norms, and symbols that shape behavior through generations.
• Subcultures reflect unique aspects within a larger culture, while social classes group individuals based on socioeconomic status.
• Reference groups, including primary and secondary membership groups, influence purchasing behavior through social interactions.

Personal Identity and Consumer Attitudes

• Self-concept captures how individuals perceive themselves, influencing their purchasing decisions.
• The ideal self-image is the desired perception, whereas a real self-image reflects current self-views.

Psychological Factors in Consumer Behavior

• Personality and lifestyle are important identifiers of consumer behavior.
• Perception involves organizing and interpreting sensory information, leading to selective exposure and retention of relevant data.

Motivations and Needs

• Motivations drive actions to fulfill specific needs, classified by Maslow's hierarchy into five ascending categories: psychological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.

Learning and Attitude Formation

• Learning, shaped by experience, leads to behavioral changes.
• Attitudes represent consistent behavioral tendencies towards objects, influenced by beliefs, which are individual truths about the world.

Stimulus Responses

• Stimulus generalization extends learned responses to similar stimuli.
• Stimulus discrimination helps consumers differentiate between similar products.