Consumer Behaviour

Front 1

Reference Group

Back 1

Group of individuals who has significant relevance for a consumer and who impacts the consumers evaluations, aspirations and behaviour

Front 2

Group Influence

Back 2

Ways in which group members influence the attitudes, opinions and behaviours of others within the group.

Front 3

Types of Groups

P. S. F. I. A. D

Back 3

Primary Groups: includes members who have frequent, direct contact with one another

Secondary Groups: where interaction within the group is much less frequent than in a primary group

Formal Group: a group in which a consumer formally becomes a member

Informal Group: a group that has no membership or application requirements

Aspirational Group: a group in which a consumer desires to become a member

Dissociative Group: a group to which a consumer does not wish to belong

Front 4

Conformity

Back 4

When an individual yields to attitudes and behaviours of other consumers

Front 5

What is Social Power and what are the types of social power?

R. L. E. R. C

Back 5

Refers to the ability of an individual or a group to alter the actions of others. Types of social power include:
- Referent Power: a consumer who admires the qualities of a group and emulates their behaviour. E.g. a mum wishes to join a local mothers preschoolers group
- Legitimate Power: where specific agreements are made within the group regarding membership and the punishment for non-conformity is understood. E.g. a neighbourhood association has the power to annually increase membership fees.
- Expert Power: Groups that possess knowledge that members, prospective members or consumers seek. E.g. Consumers seeking out medical information from groups such as Medicare
- Reward Power: groups that have power to reward members for various behaviours. E.g. A weight loss club gives out prizes for achieving weight loss goals.
- Coercive Power: groups that have the power to sanction group members for breaking rules or failing to follow expectations.

Front 6

Categories of Influence

I. U. V

Back 6

Informational Influence: consumers who use the behaviours and attitudes of reference groups as information into making their own decisions

Utilitarian Influence: consumers who conform to group expectations to receive a reward or avoid punishment.

Value-expressive Influence: consumers who internalise a groups values or join groups to express their own values and beliefs

Front 7

Values and Reference Groups

Back 7

External Influences have a direct impact on the value of many activities.
- Utilitarian value: a means to a valued end state
- Hedonic value: value is an end in itself

Front 8

Social Media and Consumer Behaviour

Back 8

Social Media - refers to media through which communication occurs

Social Networks - networks of consumers that are formed based on common interest, associations or goals

Social Networking Websites - websites that facilitate online social networking

Front 9

Word-of-Mouth

Back 9

Information about products, services and experiences that is transmitted from consumer to consumer.

Two types:
- Organic
- Amplified

Front 10

Positive and Negative W.O.M

Back 10

- Satisfied consumer are more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth.
- Negative WOM is very influential

E.g. Rolex hires Roger Federer as a brand ambassador because of his remarkable standing in the world of sports (this helps develop a positive word-of-mouth)

Front 11

Value and Word-of-Mouth

Back 11

- WOM is affected largely by the perceived value that consumers receive from products and services
- The more value consumers receive, the more likely they are to tell others about their experiences

Front 12

WOM in the Digital Age

Back 12

- Consumers seek out other online users for advice (Yahoo Answers)
- Many companies actively encourage WOM by including discussion boards on their own websites

Front 13

Who are Opinion Leaders?

Back 13

Consumers who have a great influence on the behaviour of others relating to product adoption and purchase.

Front 14

What is a Surrogate Consumer?

Back 14

A consumer who is hired by another consumer to provide input into a purchase decision

Front 15

What is a Market Maven?

Back 15

A consumer who spreads information about all types of products and services.

Front 16

Household Purchase Roles

I. G. U. P

Back 16

Influencer: the person in the household who recognises a need (provides information about potential purchase to others)

Gatekeeper: the person who controls information flow through the household

User: the actual user of the product

Purchaser: the person who actually buys the product

Front 17

What is culture?

Back 17

Consumer culture represents the commonly held societal beliefs that define what is socially gratifying within a specific society

Front 18

Culture, Meaning and Value

Back 18

1. Giving Meaning to objects: consider how much culture defines the meaning of furniture, religious objects, and everyday items like food or drink

2. Giving Meaning to activities: consider, for example the role of things as simple as recreational activities and even washing (hygiene)

3. Facilitating communication: the shared meaning of things facilitates communication. When strangers meet, culture indicates whether a hand shake, hug, or kiss is more appropriate.

Front 19

Cultural Norms #important

Back 19

Rules that specify the appropriate behaviour in a given situation within a specific culture.

Front 20

Cultural Sanctions #important

Back 20

Penalties associated with performing a non-gratifying or culturally inconsistent behaviour

Front 21

Dimensions of Cultural Values #important

I. M. U. L

Back 21

Individualism: extent to which people are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families.

Masculinity: role distinction within a group that values assertiveness and control (opposite of femininity)

Uncertainty Avoidance: extent to which a culture is uncomfortable with things that are ambiguous or unknown.

Long-term Orientation: prioritisation of future rewards over short term benefits.

Front 22

How is Culture Learned? #important

S. E. A

Back 22

Socialisation: learning through observation and the active processing of information about everyday experiences.

Enculturation: the way a person learns his or her native culture.

Acculturation: process by which consumers come to learn a culture other than their native culture.

- Ethnic identification: degree to which consumers feel a sense of belonging to their culture.
- Consumer ethnocentrism: belief among consumers that the products that come from their native land are superior to other products.

Front 23

Four Institutions that Shape Consumer Culture (Quartet of Institutions)

Back 23

1. Family
2. School
3. Church
4. Media

Are responsible for communicating core societal values through both formal and informal processes from one generation to another.

- Family, school and church are recognised as agents for acculturation and enculturation. Each has been recognised as a vehicle for teaching values to children, therefore they are agents of enculturation.

- Media offers a channel which consumers learn and gain perspectives, influencing acculturation.

Front 24

Modelling and Shaping

Back 24

Modelling: imitating others behaviour

Shaping: slowly adapting to a culture through a series of rewards and sanctions

Front 25

Situational Influences

T. P. C

Back 25

Influences that affect a consumers purchasing situation, not in terms of brand or product characteristics

Time - the amount of time available influences how able a consumer is to obtain and process relevant information; time of day, time of year also change the types of things consumers find desirable.

Place - ones environment, both geographical location and any interior structure, serve to frame the way products are viewed. E.g. a casino should sound and look like a casino, not a church.

Conditions - how temporary states such as weather shape value of products. E.g. a cup of tea in winter vs. summer

Front 26

Time and Consumer Behaviour #important

TP. TY. TD

Back 26

Time Pressure: represents an urgency to act based on some real or self-imposed deadline

Time of the year: seasonality, referring to regularly occurring conditions that vary with the time of the year. E.g. purchasing a coat in summer is unnecessary.

Time of the day: refers to circadian cycles, where the rhythm (level of energy) of the human body varies in specific times of the day

Front 27

Shopping Activities #important

A. E. E. I

Back 27

Acquisitional - activities orientated toward a specific intended purchase

Epistemic - activities orientated toward acquiring knowledge about products

Experiential - recreationally orientated activities designed to provide interest, excitement, relaxation, fun, social interaction or some desired feeling

Impulsive - spontaneous activities characterised by diminished regard for consequences, heightened by emotional involvement and a desire for immediate self-fulfilment

Front 28

Personality Traits

I. CS-R

Back 28

Impulsivity: represents how sensitive a consumer is to immediate reward

Consumer self-regulation: tendency for consumers to inhibit outside, or situational influences from interfering with shopping intentions.
- Action orientated: high capacity to self-regulate
- State orientated: low capacity to self-regulate

Front 29

Compulsive Consumer Behaviour

Back 29

Compulsive CB can be:
- Harmful
- It seems to be uncontrollable
- Driven by chronic depression

Front 30

Retail and Service Atmospherics

Back 30

Atmospherics: feelings created by the total aura of physical attributes that comprise the physical environment

Servicescape: physical environment in which consumer services are performed

Front 31

Atmosphere Elements

Back 31

Two elements:
- Fit: appropriateness of the elements for a given environment
- Congruity: consistency of the elements with one another

Elements:
- Odours
- Music
- Colour
- Merchandising
- Social setting
- Virtual shopping
- Crowding

Front 32

What is Crowding? #important

Back 32

Crowding refers to the density of people and objects within a given space.

Crowding exerts a non-linear effect on consumers, meaning that a plot of the effect by the amount of crowding does not make a straight line

- No customers might signal poor quality
- Mild degree of crowding produces the most positive outcomes
- Decreasing the amount of merchandise on the sales floor and creating a less crowded shopping environment is optimal

Front 33

Perspectives on Consumer Decision Making

R. E. B

Back 33

Rational Decision Making Perspective: assumes consumers gather information about purchases, carefully compare various brands of products on attributes, and make informed decisions regarding what brand to buy.

Experiential: assumes consumers often make purchases and reach decisions based on the feeling attached to the product

Behavioural: assumes many consumer decisions are actually learned responses to environmental influences.

Front 34

Perceived Risk

Back 34

Refers to the perception of the negative consequences that are likely to result from a course of action and the uncertainty of which course of action is best to take.

Front 35

Consumers face types of risk, which include:

F. P. P. T

Back 35

Financial Risk: associated with the cost of the product

Social Risk: risk associated with how others will view the purchase

Performance Risk: risk associated with the likelihood of the product performing as expected

Physical Risk: risk associated with the safety of the product and the likelihood physical harm will result from its consumption

Time Risk: risk associated with the time required to search for the product and the time necessary for the product to be serviced or maintained

Front 36

Decision Making Approaches

H. L. E

Back 36

Habitual Decision Making: consumers who generally do not seek information at all when a problem is recognised and a select a product based on habit

Limited Decision Making: consumers who search very little for information and often reach decisions based largely on prior beliefs about products and their attributes.

Extended Decision Making: consumers who move diligently through various problem solving activities in search of the best information that will help them reach a decision

Front 37

Search Behaviour

Back 37

Behaviours that consumers engage in as they seek information that can be used to satisfy needs.

Front 38

Consumer Search Behaviour can be categorised:

O. P. I. I. E

Back 38

Ongoing Search: search effort that is not necessarily focused on an upcoming purchase or decision rather on staying up to date on the topic.

Prepurchase Search: search effort aimed at finding information to solve an immediate problem

Information Overload: situation in which consumers are presented with so much information that they cannot assimilate the variety of information presented.

Internal Search: retrieval of knowledge stored in memory about products, services, and experiences

External Search: gathering of information from sources external to the consumer such as friends, family, salespeople, advertising etc.

Front 39

What are some factors influencing the amount of search?

Back 39

- Involvement
- Perceived Risk
- Value of search effort
- Time available
- Attitude toward shopping
- Personal factors
- Situational influences

Front 40

Search Regret

Back 40

Negative emotions that come from a failed search process.

-When consumers are unable to find a solution to their problems, the decision-making process stops

Front 41

Value and Alternative Evaluation

H. U. B

Back 41

Hedonic Criteria: emotional, symbolic and subjective attributes
Utilitarian Criteria: functional or economic aspects
Bounded Rationality: perfectly rational decisions are not always feasible

Front 42

Types of Evaluation Processes

Back 42

Affect-based Evaluation: evaluate products based on the overall feeling that is evoked by the alternative

Attribute-based Evaluation: evaluate alternatives across a set of attributes that are considered relevant to the purchase situation

Front 43

Consumer Judgement

Back 43

Mental assessments of the presence of attributes and the benefits associated with those attributes.

Consumers make judgments about:
- Presence of features
- Feature levels
- Benefits associated with features
- Value associated with benefit
- How objects differ from each other

Front 44

What are some issues affecting consumer judgements?

Back 44

- Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
- Attribute correlation
- Quality perceptions
- Brand name associations
- Consumer personality

Front 45

Consumer Choice: Decision Rules

C. N

Back 45

Compensatory Rules: allow consumers to select products that may perform poorly on one attribute by compensating for the good performance on another attribute.

Non-compensatory Rules: strict guidelines set prior to selection, and any option that does not meet the specifications is eliminated from consideration

Front 46

Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

Back 46

Satisfaction: a mild, positive, emotional state resulting from a favourable appraisal of a consumption outcome

Dissatisfaction: a mild, negative affective reaction resulting from an unfavourable appraisal of a consumption outcome.

Front 47

What are some post-consumption reactions?

Back 47

- Delight
- Disgust
- Surprise
- Exhilaration
- Anger

Front 48

Theories of Postconsumption Reactions

E. E. A

Back 48

Expectancy/Disconfirmation Theory: proposes that consumers use expectations as a benchmark against which performance perceptions are judged

Equity Theory: proposes that people compare their own level of inputs and outcomes to those in another party in an exchange.

Attribution Theory: proposes that consumers look for the cause of particular consumption experiences when arriving at satisfaction judgements.

Elements:
Locus: judgements of who is responsible
Control: the extent to which an outcome was controllable
Stability: the likelihood that an event will occur again

Front 49

Cognitive Dissonance

Back 49

An uncomfortable feeling that occurs when a consumer has lingering doubts about a decision that has occurred.

Conditions:
- The consumer is aware there are many attractive alternatives that may offer comparable value relative to the product/brand purchased
- The decision is difficult to reverse
- The decision is important and involves risk
- The consumer has low self-confidence

Front 50

Outcomes of Consumption: P. C

Back 50

Procedural Justice: extent that consumers believe the processes involved in processing a transaction, performing a service or handling a complaint is fair

Critical Incident: exchanges between consumers and business that the consumer views as unusually negative

Front 51

Complaining Behaviour

Back 51

Occurs when a consumer actively seeks out someone to share an opinion with regarding a negative consumption event.

Front 52

Complainers versus Non-complainers

Back 52

Complainers:
- Tell others when company's perform poorly
- Potentially valuable source of information
- More likely to become satisfied with company intervention
- More likely to return following exchange

Non-complainers:
- May tell others (friends, family) when company performs badly
- Not as valuable to firm because they don't complain
- Unlikely to return

Front 53

Word-of-Mouth

Back 53

Negative WOM: takes place when consumers pass on negative information about a company from one to another

Positive WOM: occurs when consumers spread information from one to another about positive consumption experiences with companies

Front 54

Influences of WOM

Back 54

- Negative public publicity (large scale)
- Doing nothing
- Denying responsibility
- Taking responsibility
- Releasing information
- Participating in negative WOM

Front 55

Implications of WOM

Back 55

- Prevents others from falling victim to a company
- Damages the image of the firm
- Creates effects that spill over to an entire industry

Front 56

Switching

Back 56

Refers to the times when a consumer chooses a competing choice, rather than the previously purchased choice, on the next purchase occasion

Front 57

Categories of Switch Costs: P. F. R

Back 57

Procedural: involves lost time and effort (E.g. PC users wishing to continue using PC although Macs are just as good, because thats what they are used to)

Financial: consists of the total economic resources that must be spent or invested (E.g. buying a plane ticket and no longer wanting to go on the flight, but having to keep the ticket and go because the financial cost is too great)

Relational: emotional and psychological consequences of changing from one brand/retailer/service provider to another (E.g. going to a new hairdresser although you were close with the other and therefore feeling bad)

Front 58

Customer Share

Back 58

Portion of resources allocated to one brand from among the set of competing brands

Front 59

Customer Inertia

Back 59

A situation in which a consumer tends to continue a pattern of behaviour until some stronger force motivates him/her to change

Front 60

Customer Commitment

Back 60

A combination of high customer share and a strong feeling or attachment, dedication, and sense of identification with a brand

Front 61

Moral Beliefs Components: M. C. R

Back 61

Moral beliefs are beliefs about the perceived ethicality or morality of behaviours

Moral Equity: beliefs regarding an acts fairness or justness

Contractualism: beliefs about the violation of laws

Relativism: beliefs about the social acceptability of an act

Front 62

Ethical Evaluations: D. T

Back 62

Deontology: evaluations regarding the inherent rightness or wrongs of specifications

Teleogical: consumers assessment of the goodness, or badness of the consequences of actions

Front 63

Consumer Misbehaviour and Problem Behaviour

Back 63

Consumer behaviour that is deemed to be unacceptable but that is seemingly beyond the control of the consumer.
- Compulsive shopping
- Addiction to drugs and alcohol

Front 64

Marketing Ethics and Misbehaviour

Back 64

Ethics: standards of moral codes of conduct to which a person, group or organisation adheres.

Marketing Ethics: consist of societal and professional standards of right and fair practices that are expected of marketing managers as they develop and implement marketing strategies

Front 65

Consumerism

Back 65

Activities of various groups to voice concern for, and to protect basic consumer rights.

Front 66

Marketing Concept

Back 66

Proposes that all the functions of the organisation should work together in satisfying its customers a wants and needs

Front 67

Categories of Products: D. S. P. D

Back 67

Deficient Products: have little to no potential to create value of any type (faulty products)

Salutary Products: are good for both consumers and society in the long run (air bags)

Pleasing products: provide hedonic value to consumers but may be harmful in the long run (energy drinks)

Desirable products: deliver high utilitarian and hedonic value and benefit the consumer and society in the long run (pleasant tasting weight-loss products)

Front 68

Corporate Social Responsibility

Back 68

An organisations activities and status related to its societal obligations.

Ethical duties: acting within expected ethical boundaries

Altruistic duties: giving back to communities through philanthropic activities

Strategic duties: strategically engaging in social responsible activities in order to increase the value of the firm

Front 69

Strategic Marketing Concept

Back 69

The concept states that marketers should consider not only the wants and needs of consumers but also the needs of society.

Front 70

Puffery

Back 70

Practice of making exaggerated claims about a product and its superiority.

E.g. QC's Coffee claims to serve "the best coffee along the West Coast"

Front 71

Public Criticism of Marketing

Back 71

- Marketing to children
- Pollution
- Planned obsolescence: act of planing the premature discontinuance of product models that perform adequately
- Price gouging
- Manipulative sales tactics

Front 72

Sales Orientation: F. D. E. I

Back 72

Focuses on the immediate sale and short term results.

Foot-in-the-door: salesperson begins with a small request and slowly leads up to one major request

Door-in-the-foot: salesperson begins with a major request and then follows with a series of smaller requests

Even-a-penny-will-help: marketing message that is sent suggesting that even the smallest donation, such as a penny, or a dollar will help

I'm working for you: used by salespeople to create the perception that they are working as hard as possible to close a sale when they aren't