Consumer Behavior PDF

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR A. MODEL OF CONSUMER BIHAVIOUR The starting point for understanding buyer behavior 15 the stimulus-response model shown in figure 1: Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the buyer's consciousness. The buyer's cha...

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR A. MODEL OF CONSUMER BIHAVIOUR The starting point for understanding buyer behavior 15 the stimulus-response model shown in figure 1: Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the buyer's consciousness. The buyer's characteristics and decision process lead to certain purchase decisions. The marketer's task is to understand what happens in the buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli and the buyer’s purchase decisions Marketing Other Buyer’s Buyer’s Decision Buyer’s Decision Stimuli stimuli Characteristics process Product choice Product Economic Cultural Problem recognition Price Technological Social Information search Brand Choice Place Political Personal Evaluation of Dealer Choice Alternatives Promotion Cultural Purchase timing Psychological Purchase decision Post purchase Purchase choice behaviour Figure 1: Model of Buyer Behaviour 1. The major factors influencing buying behaviour A consumer buying behaviour is influenced by cultural, Social, Personal, and psychological factors. Cultural factors exert the broadcast and deepest influence. l.1 Cultural Factors. Culture, subculture, and social class are particularly important in buying behaviour 1.1.1 Culture Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behaviour The growing child a set of values. perceptions, preferences and behaviour through his or her family and other key institutions. Examples of value that a child is exposed to include: achievement and success, activity, efficiency and practicality progress, material comfort, individualism, freedom, external comfort, humanitarianism, und youthfulness. 1.1.2 Subculture Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more specific identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic region. Many subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design products and marketing programmes tailored to the needs of each subculture.  1.1.3 Social Class Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification. Stratification sometimes takes the form of a caste system where members of different castes are reared for certain roles and cannot change their Caste membership. More frequently, stratification takes the form of social classes Social Classes are relatively homogenous and enduring divisions in a society, which are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviour. Social classes do not reflect income alone, but also ‘other indicators such as occupation, Education, and area of residence. Social classes differ in dress, speech patterns, recreational preferences, and many other characteristics. Table 1 describes seven possible social classes identified by social scientists for any nation. Table 1: Characteristics of Social Classes Upper The social elite who live on inherited wealth. They give large sum to charity. Maintain more than one home, send their children Upper to the finest schools. They are a market for jewelry, antiquities, homes and vacations. They often buy and dress conservatively. (1%) Although small as a group, they serve as reference to the extent that their consumption decisions are imitated by the other social classes Lower Persons who have earned high income or wealth through exceptional ability.in the profession or business. They usually come Upper from the middle class. They tend to be active in social and civic affairs and seek to buy the symbols of status for themselves and (2%) their children. They include the nouveau riche, whose pattern of conspicuous consumption is designed to impress those below them. The ambition of the lower uppers is to be accepted in the upper-upper stratum Upper Posses neither family status nor unusual wealth. They are primarily concerned with career. They have attained positions as Middles professionals, independent business persons, and corporate managers. They believe in education and want their children to develop (12%) professional or administrative skills. Members of this class like to deal in ideas and are highly civic minded. They are home- oriented and are the quality market for god homes, clothes, furniture and appliances Middles Average-pay white and blue-collar workers who live on the right side of town. Often, they buy products that are popular to keep Class with trends. Twenty-five percent own imported cars, and most are concerned with fashion. the middle class believes in spending (32%) more money on worthwhile expenses for their children and aiming them toward a college education Working Average-pay blue-collar workers and those who lead a working glass lifestyle, whatever their income, school background or job. Class The working class depends heavily on relatives for economic and emotional support for tips on job opportunities, for advice, and (38%) for assistance. A working-class vacation means staying in town and ‘going away’ to a lake or resort no more than two hours away. The working class tends to maintain sharp sex-role divisions and stereotyping Upper Upper lowers are working, although their living standard is just above poverty. They perform unskilled work and are very poorly Lowers paid. Often, upper lowers are educationally deficient. (9%) Lower Lower lowers are on welfare, visibly poverty stricken, and usually out of work. Some are not interested in finding a permanent Lowers job, and most are dependent on public aid or Charity for income. (7%) Some C1asses have several characteristics. First, those within each social class tend to behave alike than persons from two different social classes. Second persons are perceived as occupying inferior or Superior positions according to social class. Third, social class is indicated by a cluster of variables. such as occupation, education, and value orientation rather than by any single variable. Fourth, individuals can move from one social class to another, Up or down during their lifetime. The extent of this mobility varies according to the rigidity of social stratification in a given society. Social classes show distinct product and brand preferences in many areas, including, clothing, home furnishings, leisure activities, and automobiles. Some marketers focus their efforts on one social class. In this line of thought we can see that Mr. Biggs’, tantalizers, Chicken republic focus mostly on white collar job and wealthy market while the unbranded roadside food joints focus on the blue collar, illiterate, and low income illiterate, and low income market. Social classes differ in media preferences, with upper-class consumers preferring magazines and books and the lower class consumers preferring television. Even within a media category such as TV, Upper-class consumers prefer news and drama, and lower-class, consumers prefer soap operas and sports programmes. There are also language differences/preferences among the social classes. 2.1 Social factors In addition to cultural factors. A consumer’s behaviour is influenced by such social factors as reference groups, family, and social roles and statuses. 2.1.1 Reference groups A person’s reference groups consist of all the groups that have, a direct (face-to-face) or indirect influence on the person’s attitudes or behavior. Groups having a direct influence on a person are called membership groups Some membership group are primary groups, such as family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers whom the person interacts fairly continuously and informally. People also belong to secondary groups, such as religious, professional, and trade union groups, which tend to be more formal and require less continuous interaction. People are significantly influenced by their reference groups in at least three ways and these ways affect actual product and brand choices i. Behaviours and lifestyles ii. Attitude and self-concept iii. Pressure for conformity 2.1.2 Family The family is the most important consumer-buying organisation in society, and it has been researched extensively. Family members constitute the most primary reference group We can differentiate between two families in the buyer’s life. The family of orientation consists of one’s parent and siblings. From parent, a person acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, and economics and a sense or personal ambition, self-worth, and love. Even if the buyer no longer interacts very much with his or her parents, their influence on buyer’s behaviour can be significant. In countries where parents live with the grown children, their influence can be substantial. A more direct influence on everyday buying behaviour is one’s family of procreation such as one’s spouse and children Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of the husband, wife, and children in the purchase of a large variety or products and services. These roles vary widely in different countries and social classes. In some families, the wife has traditionally acted as the family’s main purchasing agent, especially for food, sundries, and staple-clothing items. In the case of expensive products and services like vacations or housing, husbands and wives have engaged in many joint decision-making. Marketers need to determine which member normally has the greater, influence in choosing various products. Often, it is a matter of who has more power or expertise. Given women’s great strides in the workplace, especially in non-traditional jobs, traditional household purchasing patterns are gradually changing. Shifts in social values regarding the division of domestic labour have also weakened such standard conceptions as women buy all the household goods’. 2.1.3 Roles and Statuses A person participates in many groups: family, clubs, and organisations. He persons position in each group can be denied in terms of role and status, A role consists of the activities that a person is expected to perform. Each role carries status. A Supreme Court Justice has more status than an office clerk. People choose products that communicate their role. And status in society. Thus, company presidents drive the latest in automobiles, wear expensive suits, and a host of other unique consumptions. 3.1 Personal factors A buyer’s decisions are influenced by personal characteristics. These include the buyer’s age and stage in life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle., and personality and self-concept 3.1.1 Age and Stage in Life Cycle People buy different goods and services over a lifetime. They eat baby food in the early years, most foods in the growing and mature years, and special diets in the later years. Taste in clothes, furniture, and recreation is also age related. Consumption is shaped by the family life cycle. Nine stages of the family life cycle are listed in Table 2 along with the financial situation and typical product interests for each group. Marketers often choose life-cycle groups as their target market, Psychological life cycle stage is another important actor. Adults experience certain “passage” or “transformations” as they go through life. Managers pay close attention to changing life circumstances such as divorce, widowhood, remarriage and their effect on consumption behaviour. Table 2: Stage in Family Life Cycle Buying or Behavioural Pattern Bachelor stage: young Few financial burdens. Fashion opinion leaders. Recreation oriented, Buy basic home equipment, furniture, cars, single, not living at home equipment for the mating game, vacations Newly married couples: Highest purchase rate and highest average purchase of durables: cars, appliances, furniture, vacations young, No children Full nest I; youngest child Home purchasing at peak. Liquid assets low. Interested in new products, advertised products. Buy washers, driers, under six TV, baby food, chest rubs and cough medicines, vitamins, dolls Full nest II: youngest child Financial position still better. Less influence by advertising. Buy large-size packages, multiple-unit deals. Buy six or over many food, cleaning materials, bicycle, music lessons, pianos Full nest III: older married Financial position still better. Some children get jobs. Hard to influence with advertising. High average couple with dependent purchasing of durables: new, more tasteful furniture, auto travel, unnecessary appliances boats, dental services, children magazines Empty nest I; Older married Home ownership at peak. Most satisfied with financial position and money saved. Interested in travel, recreation, couples, no children living self-education. Make gifs ne contributions. Not interested in the products. Buy, vacation, luxury, home with them, head of improvements household in labour force Empty nest II; Older Drastic cut in income. Keep home. Buy crucial appliances, medical-care products married. No children living at home head of household retired Solitary Survivor, in Income still good but likely to sell home labour force Solitary Survivor, retired Same medical and product needs as other retired groups, drastic cut in income. special need for attention, affection, and security 3.1.2 Occupation and Economic Circumstances Occupation also influences a person’s consumption pattern. A blue-collar worker will buy work clothes, work shoes, and lunch boxes. A company president will buy expensive suits, air travel, country club membership. Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have above- average interest in their product and services. A company can even specialize its products for certain occupational groups. Product choice is greatly affected by economic circumstances; spendable income (level Stability and time pattern), savings and assets (including percentage that is liquid), debts, borrowing power, and attitudes toward spending versus saving. Marketers of income sensitive goods pay constant attention to trends in personal income, savings, and interest rates. If economic indicators point to a recession, marketers can take steps to redesign, reposition, and reprice their products so they continue to offer value to target customers. 3.1.3. Lifestyle People from the same subculture, ‘social class, and occupation may lead quite different lifestyles A lifestyle is the person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in. activities, interests, and opinion. lifestyle portrays the whole person’s interacting with his or her environment Marketers search for relationship between their products and lifestyle groups. For example, a computer manufacturer might find that most computer buyers are achievement-oriented. The marketer may then aim the brand move clearly at the achiever lifestyle. Psychographics is the science of measuring and category consumer lifestyles. One of the most popular classifications based on psychographic measurements is the VALS 2 framework. This classifies adult into eight groups based on psychological attributes. The major tendencies of the four groups with greater resources are: i. Actualizers: successful, sophisticated, active, take-charge people. Purchases often reflect cultivated tastes for relatively upscale, niche-oriented products. ii. Fields: Mature, satisfied, comfortable, reflective. Favour durability, functionality, and value in products iii. Achievers: Successful, career- and work-oriented. Favour established, prestige products that demonstrate success to their peers. iv. Experiencers: Young, vital, enthusiastic, impulsive, and rebellious. Spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on clothing, fast food, music, movies, and video The major tendencies of the four groups with fewer resources are: v. Conservative, conventional, and traditional. Favour familiar products and established brands vi. Strivers: Uncertain, insecure, approval-seeking, resource constrained, Favour stylish products that emulate the purchases of those with greater material wealth vii. Makers: Practical, self-sufficient, traditional, family-oriented. Favour only products with a practical or functional purpose such as too1s, utility vehicles. viii. Strugglers: Elderly, resigned, passive, concerned, resource constrained. Cautious consumers who are loyal to favourable brands 3.1.4 Personality and Self-Concept Each person has a distinct personality that influences his/her buying behaviour Personality is referred to as the distinguishing psychological characteristics That leads to relatively consistent and endurng responses to environment Personality is usually described in terms of such traits as sell-confidence, dominance, autonomy, deference, sociability, defensiveness, and adaptability. Personality can be a useful variable in analyzing consumer behaviour provided that personality types can be classified accurately and that Strong correlations exist between certain personality types and product or brand choices. For example, a product company might discover that many prospects show high self-confidence, dominance, and autonomy. This suggests designing product advertisement to appeal to these traits related to personality is self-concept (or self-image). Marketers try to develop brand images that match the target market’s self-image. It is possible that a person’s actual self-concept (how he/she views his/herself) differs from his/her ideal self-concept (how he/she would like to view his/herself) and from his/her others-self-concept (how he/she thinks others see him/her). Which self-will he/she try to satisfy in making a purchase? Because it is difficult to answer this question, self-concept theory has had a mixed record of success in predicting consumer responses to brand images 4.1 Psychological factors A person’s buying choices are influenced by four psychological choices: motivation. perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes 4.1.1 Motivation A consumer has many needs al any given time. Some needs are biogenic; they arise from physiological states of tension such as hunger, thirst, discomfort. Other needs are psychogenic, they arise from psychological states of tension such as the need for recognition, esteem, or belonging. A need becomes a motive if it’s aroused to a sufficient level of intensity. A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing to drive a person to act. Psychologists have developed theories of human motivation. Three of the best known are Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, and Fredrick, Herzberg, all with different implications for Consumer analysis a. Freud's Theory Sigmund Freud assumed that the psychological forces shaping people's behavior are largely unconscious, and that a person cannot fully understand his or her own motivation. Technique called laddering can be used to trace a person's, motivation from the stated Instrumental ones to the more terminal ones. Then, the marketer can decide at what level to develop the message and appeal. When a person examines specific brands, he or she will react not only to their stated capabilities but also to other, less conscious cues. Shape Size, weight, material, colour, and brand name can all trigger certain associations and emotion b) Maslow’s Theory Abraham Maslow sought to explain why people are driven by particular needs at particular Times. Why does one person spend considerable time and energy on personal safety and another pursuing the high opinion of others? Maslow’s answer is that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy, from the most pressing to the least pressing. In their order of Importance, they are psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization, needs (Figure 2) Self Actualization Needs (self- Development and realization Esteem needs (Self-esteem, recognition. Status) Social needs (Sense of belonging. Love) Safety needs (security, protection) Physiological needs (food, water shelter) Figure 2: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs c) Herzberg’s Theory Frederick Herrzberg developed a two-factor theory that distinguishes dissatisfies (factors that cause dissatisfaction) and satisfiers (factors that cause satisfaction). The absence of dissatisfiers is not enough: satisfiers must be actively present to motivate a purchase. For example, a mobile phone without a warranty would be a dissatisfier. Yet the presence of a product warranty would not act as a satisfier or motivator of a purchase, because it is not a Source of intrinsic satisfaction with the phone. Ease of use would be a satisfier. Herzberg's theory has two implications. First, sellers should do their best to avoid dissatisfiers (for example, a poor training manual or poor service policy). Although, these things will not sell a product, they might easily unsell it. Second, the marketers should identify the major satisfier or motivators of purchase in the market and then supply them, these satisfiers Will make the major difference as to which brand the customer buys. 4.1.2 Perception A motivated person is ready act. How the motivated person actually acts is influenced by his or her perception of the situation. Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture or the world Perception depends not only on the physical stimuli but also on the stimuli’s relation to the surrounding field and on condition within individual. The, key word in the definition of perception is individual. One person might perceive a past-talking salesperson as aggressive and insincere another as intelligent and helpful. People can emerge with different perceptions on the same object because of three perceptual, processes, Selective attention, selective distortion, and selective retention a) Selective attention: people are exposed to a tremendous amount of daily stimuli: The average person may be exposed to over 1,300 advertisements a day. Because a person cannot possibly attend to all of these, most stimuli will be screened out, a process called selective attention. Selective attention means that marketers have to work hard to attract consumers' notice. The real challenge is to explain which stimuli people will notice. The following are some examples: i. People are more likely to notice stimuli that relate to current need A person who is motivated to buy a mobile phone will notice mobile phone advertisements, he or she will probably not notice computer advertisement ii. People are more likely that they are anticipate. One is more likely to notice mobile phones than radio in a mobile phone store because you do not expect the store to carry radio. iii. People are more likely to notice stimuli whose deviations are large in relation the normal Size of the stimuli, You are more likely to notice an advertisement offering N1,000 off the list price of a mobile phone than one offering N200  b) Selective distortion: even noticed stimuli do not always come across in the way senders intended. Selective distortion is the tendency to twist information into personal meanings and interpreted information in Way that will fill our preconception. Unfortunately, there is not much, that marketers can do about selective distortion. c) Selective retention: People will forget much that they learn will tend to retain information that supports their attitudes and beliefs. Because of selective retention, We are likely to remember good points mentioned about a product we like and forger the good points mentioned about competing products. Selective retention explains why marketers use drama and repetition in sending messages to their target market. 4.1.3 Learning When people act, they learn. Learning involves changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience. Most human behaviour is learned. Learning theorists believe that learning is produced through the interplay of drives stimuli cues, responses, and reinforcement. A drive is a strong internal stimulus impelling action. Cues are minor stimuli that determine when, where and how a person responds. Suppose you buy a Samsung phone. If your experience is rewardıng, your response to phones and Samsung will be positively reinforced. Later on, when you want to buy a flat screen TV, you may assume that because Samsung makes good phones, Samsung also makes good TV. In other words, you generalise your response to similar stimulus. A countertendency to generalization is discrimination. Discrimination means that the person has learned to recognise differences in sets of similar stimuli and can adjust responses accordingly 4.1.4 Beliefs and Attitudes Through doing and learning, people acquire beliefs and attitudes. These in turn influence buying behaviour. A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something Belief may be based on knowledge, opinion, or faith. They may or may not carry emotional have. Manufacturers are very interested in the beliefs people carry about their products and services. These beliefs make up product and brand images, and people act on their images. If some beliefs are wrong and inhibit purchase, the manufacturer will want to launch a campaign to correct these beliefs Particularly important to global marketers is the fact that buyers often hold distinct beliefs about brands or product is based on their country of origin. Several county-of-origin studies have found the following: i. The impact of country of origin vanes with the type of product. Consumers would want to know where a car was made but not where the lubricating oil came from. ii. Certain countries enjoy a reputation for certain goods: Japan for automobiles and consumer electronics: the US for high-tech, innovations, soft drinks, toys, cigarettes, and jeans; and. France for wine, perfume, and luxury goods iii. The more favourable a country’s image, the more prominently the “Made in Label” should be displayed in promoting the brand iv. Attitudes toward country of origin can change over time. Japan had a poor quality image before World War II A Company has several options when its products are competitively priced but their place of origin turns off consumers. The company can consider co-production with a foreign company that has a better name: South Korea could make a fine leather jacket that it sends to Italy for finishing. A company can hire a world class celebrity to endorse its product. Nike has had a great ideal of success using basketball star Michael Jordan to promote its footwear 1n Europe. Just as important as beliefs are attitudes. An attitude is a person’s enduring favourable or Unfavourable evaluations, emotional feelings. And action tendencies toward some object or idea. People have attitudes toward almost everything: religion. Politics, clothes, music, food. Attitudes put them into a frame of mind of liking or disliking an object. Moving toward or it. Attitudes lead people to behave in a fairly consistent way toward similar objects. People do not have to interprete and react to, every object in a fresh way. Because attitudes economize on energy and thought, they are very difficult to change. Thus a company would be well advised to it its product into existing attitudes rather than try to change attitudes. Although, there are occasions where the cost of trying to change attitudes might pay off. B: THE BUYING DECISION PROCESS Marketers have to go beyond the various influences on buyers and develop an understanding of how consumers actually make their buying decisions. Specifically, marketers must identify who makes the buying decision, the types of buying decisions, and the steps in the buying process. 1. Buying Roles It is easy to identify the buyer for many products. Marketers input must be careful in making their targeting decisions, because buying roles change. We can distinguish five roles people night play in a buying decision: i. Initiator: a person who first suggests the idea of buying the product/service ii. Influencer: a person whose view or advice influences the decision iii. Decider: a person who decides on any component of a buying decision, whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy iv. Buyer: the person who makes the actual-purchase v. User: a person who consumes or uses the product or service 2. Buying Behaviour Consumer decision making varies with the type of buying decision. The decisions to buy toothpaste, a mobile phone, a new car are all very different. Complex and expensive purchases are likely to involve more buying deliberations and more participants. There are four types of consumer buying bebaviour based on the degree of buyer involvement and the degree of differences among brands 2.1 Complex Buying Behaviour Complex baying behaviour involves a three-step process. First, the buyer develops beliefs about a product. Second, he or she develops attitudes about the product. Third, he or she makes a thoughtful choice, Consumers engage in complex buying behaviour when they are highly involved in a purchase and aware of significant differences among brands. This is usually the case when a product is expensive, bought infrequently, risky, and highly self-expressive. Typically, the consumer does not know much’ about the product category. A person buying I-pad may not know what attributes to look for. Many product features carry no meaning unless the buyer has done some research. 2.2 Dissonance-Reducing Buyer Behaviour Sometimes the consumer is highly involved in a purchase but sees little difference in brands. The high involvement is based on the fact that the purchase is expensive, infrequent, and risky. In this case, the buyer will shop around to learn what is available but will buy fairly quickly, perhaps responding primarily to a good price or to purchase convenience. After purchase, the consumer might experience dissonance that stems from noticing certain disquieting features or hearing. favourable things about other brands. The consumer will be at alert to information that supports his/her decision. In this scenario, the consumer first acted, then acquired new beliefs, then ended up with a set of attitudes. 2.3 Habitual Buying Behaviour Many products are bought under conditions of low involvement and the absence of significant brand differences. Good example of this is salt. Consumers have little involvement in this product category. They go to store and reach for the brand. If they keep reaching for the same brand, it is out of habit, not strong brand loyalty. There is good evidence that consumers have low involvement with most low-cost, frequently purchased products. With these products, consumer behaviour does not pass through the normal sequence of belief. attitude, and behaviour. Consumers do not, search extensively for information, evaluate characteristics, and make a decision on which brand to buy. Instead, they are passive recipients of information in television or print advertisements. Advertisement repetition creates brand familiarity rather than brand Conviction. After purchase, they may not even evaluate the choice because they are not highly involved with the product. For low-involvement products, the buying process begins with brand beliefs formed by passive learning and is followed by purchase behaviour, which may be followed by evaluation. Marketers of such products find it effective to use price and sales promotions to stimulate television advertising is more effective than print because it is low product trial involvement medium that is suitable for passive learning. Marketers use four techniques to try converting a low- involvement product into one of higher involvement. First, they can link the product to some involvement issue, as when particular toothpaste is linked to avoiding cavities. Second, they can link the product to some involving personal situation. For example, by advertising Coffee brand early in the morning when consumer wants to shake off sleepiness. Third, they might design advertising to trigger strong emotions related to personal values or ego defense. Fourth, they might add an important feature (for example, fortify a plain drink with vitamin). These strategies at best raise consumer involvement from a low to a moderate level; they do not propel the consumer into a highly involved buying behavior. 2.4 Varity Seeking Buying Behaviour Some buying situations are characterized by low involvement but significant brand differences. Here consumers often do a lot of brand switching, Think about indomie. the consumer has some beliefs about noodles, chooses a brand of indomie without much evaluation, and evaluates the product during consumption. Next time, the consumer may reach for another brand of noodles out of a wish for different taste. Brand switching occurs for the sake of variety rather than dissatisfaction. The market leader and the minor brands in this product category have different marketing strategies. The market leader will try to encourage habitual buying behaviour by dominating the shelf space, avoiding out-of-stock conditions, and sponsoring frequent reminder advertising. Challenger firms will encourage variety seeking by offering lower prices, deals, free samples, and advertising that parents reasons for trying something new. 3. The Stages of the Buying Decision Process Consumers pass sequentially through five stages in buying a product 3.1 Problem Recognition The buying process starts when the buyer recognises a problem or need. The need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli. Considering the internal stimuli case, one of the person's normal needs; hunger, thirst, sex rises to a threshold level and becomes a dive. In the external stimuli case, a need is aroused by an external stimulus. A person passes by a bakery and sees freshly baked bread that stinulates her hunger, she admires a neighbour’s new car, or she watches a television advertisement for a Carribean vacation. Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need. By gathering information from a number of consumers, marketers can identify the most frequent stimuli that spark an interest in a product category. They can develop marketing strategies that trigger consumer interest. 3.2 Information Search An aroused consumer will be inclined to search for more information. We can distinguish between two levels of arousal. The milder search state is called heightened attention At this level, a person simply becomes more receptive to information about a product. At the next level, the person may enter active information search: looking for reading material, phoning friends, and visiting stores to learn about the product. Of key interest to the marketer are the major information sources to which the consumer will turn and the relative influence each will have on the subsequent purchase decision. Consumer information sources will fall into four groups: i. Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances ii. Commercial sources: Advertisement, salesperson, dealers, displays iii. Public sources: Mass media, consumer-rating organisations iv. Experiential sources: Handling, examining, using the product The relative amount and influence of these information sources vary with the product category and the buyer’s characteristics. Generally speaking, the consumer receives the most information about a product from commercial sources, which is market dominated sources. But the most effective information comes from personal sources. Each information source performs a different function in influencing the buying decision. Commercial information normally performs an informing junction, and personal sources perform a legitimizing or evaluation unction. For example, physicians often learn of new drugs from commercial sources but turn to other doctors for evaluative information. 3.3 Evaluation of Alternatives This deals with how consumer process competitive information and make a final value judgement. Some basic steps will help us understand consumer evaluation processes: First, the consumer is trying to satisfy a need Second, the consumer is looking for certain benefits from the product solution. Third, the consumer sees each product as a handle of attributes with varying abilities of delivering the benefits sought to satisfy this need. The attributes of interest to buyers vary by product: i. Cameras; Picture sharpness, camera speeds, camera size, price ii. Hotels: Location, cleanliness, atmosphere, price iii. Mouthwash: Colour, effectiveness, germ-killing capacity, taste/tlavour, price iv. Tyres: Safety, tread life, ride quality, price Consumers vary as to which product attributes they see as most relevant and the importance they attach to each attribute. They will pay the most attention to attributes that deliver the Sought benefits. The market for a product can often be segmented according to attributes that are salient to different consumer groups 3.4 Purchase Decision In the evaluation stage, the consumer forms preferences among the brands in the choice set. The consumer may also form an 1ntenton to buy the most preferred brand. However, two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and the purchase decision. The first factor is the attitude of others. The extent to which another person’s attitude reduces one’s preferred alternative depends on two things: i. The intensity of other person’s negative attitude toward one’s preferred alternative ii. The consumer’s motivation to comply with the other person’s wishes The second factor is unanticipated situational factors that may erupt to change the purchase intention 3.5 Post-purchase Behaviour After purchasing the product, the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction. The marketer’s job does not end when the product is bought. He must also monitor postpurchase Satisfaction, postpurchase actions, and postpurchase product uses. a) Postpurchase Satisfaction What determines whether the buyer will be highly satisfied, somewhat satisfied, or dissatisfied is a function of the closeness between the buyer’s expectations and the product’s perceived performance. If performance falls short of expectations, the customer is disappointed; if performance meets expectations, the customer is satisfied; if performance exceeds expectation. The customer is delighted. This makes a difference in whether the customer will buy the product again and talks favourably or unfavourably b) Postpurchase Action The customer’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the product will influence subsequent behaviour. If the consumer is satisfied, he/she will exhibit a higher probability of purchasing the product again. Dissatisfied consumers may abandon or return the product they may take public action by complaining to the company, going to a lawyer. Postpurchase communication to buyers have been shown to result in fewer product returns and order cancellations c) Postpurchase Use and Disposal Marketers should also monitor how buyers use and dispose of the product. If consumers store the product in a closet, the product is probably not very satisfying, and word-of-mouth will not be strong. If they sell or trade the product, new-product sales will be depressed Consumers throw the product container away, the marketer needs to know how they dispose of it, especially if it can hurt the environment (as in the case with beverage containers and disposable diapers). Increased public awareness of recycling and ecological concerns as well as consumer complaints must all be appropriately integrated.