Demographics

Objective, quantifiable, easily identifiable, and

measurable population data.

Lifestyles

Discretionary Income

Money left after paying taxes and buying necessities.

Culture

Distinctive heritage shared by a group of people. It passes

on beliefs, norms, and customs

Social Class

Informal ranking of people based on income, occupation,

education, and other factors.

Reference Groups

Influence people's thoughts and behavior. They may be

classified as aspirational, membership, and dissociative.

Family Life Cycle

How a traditional family moves from bachelorhood to

children to solitary retirement.

Household Life Cycle

Incorporates the life stages of both family and nonfamily

households.

Personality

Sum total of an individual's traits, which make that

individual unique.

Class Consciousness

Extent to which a person desires and pursues social status.

Attitudes

(Opinions)

Positive, neutral, or negative feelings a person has about

different topics.

Perceived Risk

Level of risk a consumer believes exists regarding the

purchase of a specific good or service from a given retailer,

whether or not the belief is actually correct.

Motives

Reasons for consumer behavior.

Outshopping

When a person goes out of his or her hometown to shop.

Cross-Shopping

Occurs when consumers shop for a product category

through more than one retail format during the year or visit

multiple retailers on one shopping trip.

Consumer Behavior

The process by which people determine whether, what,

when, where, how, from whom, and how often to purchase

goods and services.

Consumer Decision Process

Stages a consumer goes through in buying a good or service:

stimulus, problem awareness, information search, evaluation of

alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase behavior.

Demographics and life-style factors affect this decision process.

Stimulus

Cue (social or commercial) or a drive (physical) meant to

motivate or arouse a person to act.

Problem Awareness

Stage in the decision process at which the consumer not

only has been aroused by social, commercial, and/or

physical stimuli, but also recognizes that the good or service

under consideration may solve a problem of shortage or

unfulfilled desire.

Information Search

Consists of two parts: determining alternatives to solve the

problem at hand (and where they can be bought) and

learning the characteristics of alternatives. It may be

internal or external.

Evaluation of Alternatives

Stage in the decision process where a consumer selects one

good or service to buy from a list of alternatives.

Purchase Act

Exchange of money or a promise to pay for the ownership

or use of a good or service. Purchase variables include the

place of purchase, terms, and availability of merchandise.

Post-Purchase Behavior

Further purchases or re-evaluation based on a purchase.

Cognitive Dissonance

Doubt that occurs after a purchase is made, which can be

alleviated by customer after-care, money-back guarantees,

and realistic sales presentations and advertising campaigns.

Extended Decision Making

Occurs when a consumer makes full use of the decision

process, usually for expensive, complex items with which

the person has had little or no experience.

Limited Decision Making

Occurs when a consumer uses every step in the purchase

process but does not spend a great deal of time on each of them.

Routine Decision Making

Takes place when a consumer buys out of habit and skips

steps in the purchase process.

Impulse Purchases

Occur when consumers buy products and/or brands they

had not planned to before entering a store, reading a

catalog, seeing a TV shopping show, turning to the Web,

and so forth.

Customer Loyalty

Exists when a person regularly patronizes a particular

retailer (store or nonstore) that he or she knows, likes, and

trusts.