CONSUMER Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products.
Need to understand:
why consumers make the purchases that they make?
what factors influence consumer purchases?
the changing factors in our society.
Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of the ultimate consumer. A firm needs to analyze buying behavior for:
Buyers reactions to a firms marketing strategy has a great impact on the firms success.
The marketing concept stresses that a firm should create a MARKETING MIX that satisfies (gives utility to) customers, therefore need to analyze the what, where, when and how consumers buy.
Marketers can better predict how consumers will respond to marketing strategies.

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

Stages of the Consumer Buying Process
Six Stages to the Consumer Buying Decision Process (For complex decisions). Actual purchasing is only one stage of the process. Not all decision processes lead to a purchase. All consumer decisions do not always include all 6 stages, determined by the degree of complexity...discussed next.
The 6 stages are:
Problem Recognition(awareness of need)--difference between the desired state and the actual condition. Deficit in assortment of products. Hunger--Food. Hunger stimulates your need to eat.
Can be stimulated by the marketer through product information--did not know you were deficient? I.E., see a commercial for a new pair of shoes, stimulates your recognition that you need a new pair of shoes.
Information search--
Internal search, memory.
External search if you need more information. Friends and relatives (word of mouth). Marketer dominated sources; comparison shopping; public sources etc.
A successful information search leaves a buyer with possible alternatives, the evoked set.
Hungry, want to go out and eat, evoked set is
chinese food
indian food
burger king
klondike kates etc
Evaluation of Alternatives--need to establish criteria for evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want. Rank/weight alternatives or resume search. May decide that you want to eat something spicy, indian gets highest rank etc.
If not satisfied with your choice then return to the search phase. Can you think of another restaurant? Look in the yellow pages etc. Information from different sources may be treated differently. Marketers try to influence by "framing" alternatives.
Purchase decision--Choose buying alternative, includes product, package, store, method of purchase etc.
Purchase--May differ from decision, time lapse between 4 & 5, product availability.
Post-Purchase Evaluation--outcome: Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction. Cognitive Dissonance, have you made the right decision. This can be reduced by warranties, after sales communication etc.
After eating an indian meal, may think that really you wanted a chinese meal instead.
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Types of Consumer Buying Behavior
Types of consumer buying behavior are determined by:
Level of Involvement in purchase decision. Importance and intensity of interest in a product in a particular situation.
Buyers level of involvement determines why he/she is motivated to seek information about a certain products and brands but virtually ignores others.
High involvement purchases--Honda Motorbike, high priced goods, products visible to others, and the higher the risk the higher the involvement.
Types of risk:
Personal risk
Social risk
Economic risk
The four type of consumer buying behavior are:
Routine Response/Programmed Behavior--buying low involvement frequently purchased low cost items; need very little search and decision effort; purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack foods, milk etc.
Limited Decision Making--buying product occasionally. When you need to obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category, perhaps. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering. Examples include Clothes--know product class but not the brand.
Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or infrequently bought products. High degree of economic/performance/psychological risk. Examples include cars, homes, computers, education. Spend alot of time seeking information and deciding.
Information from the companies MM; friends and relatives, store personnel etc. Go through all six stages of the buying process.
Impulse buying, no conscious planning.
The purchase of the same product does not always elicit the same Buying Behavior. Product can shift from one category to the next.
For example:
Going out for dinner for one person may be extensive decision making (for someone that does not go out often at all), but limited decision making for someone else. The reason for the dinner, whether it is an anniversary celebration, or a meal with a couple of friends will also determine the extent of the decision making.
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Categories that Effect the Consumer Buying Decision Process
A consumer, making a