Economic Buyers

people who know all the facts and logically compare choices to get the greatest satisfaction from spending their time and money.

- decide what to buy based on economic needs

- which are concerned with making the best use of a consumer's time and money (as the consumer judges it)

Examples of Economic Needs

1. economy of purchase or use
2. efficiency in operation or use
3. dependability in use
4. improvement of earnings
5. convenience

discretionary income

what is left of income after paying taxes and paying for necessities

Needs

are the basic forces that motivate a person to do something

- can involve a person's physical well-being

- can involve the individual's self-view and relationship with others

- more basic than wants

Wants

are "needs" that are learned during a person's life

- ex: everyone needs water, but some people have learned to want a specific brand of water

Drive

a strong stimulus that encourages action to reduce a need

- they are internal

- they are the reasons behind certain behavior patterns

- an unsatisfied need leads to a drive

ex: need for liquid leads to a thirst drive

Physiological needs

are concerned with biological needs

- food, liquid, rest, and sex

Safety needs

are concerned with protection and physical well-being

- health, security, medicine, and exercise

Personal Needs

are concerned with an individual's need for personal satisfaction

- unrelated to what others think or do

- selfesteem, accomplishment, fun, freedom, and relaxation

Social Needs

are concerned with love, friendship, status, and esteem

- things that involve a person's interaction with others

Perception

how we gather and interpret information from the world around us

Selective Processes:

exposure, perception, retention

selective exposure: our eyes and minds seek out and notice only information that interests us (why we can easily ignore pop-up windows)

selective perception: we screen out or modify ideas, messages, and information that conflict with previously learned attitudes and beliefs

selective retention: we remember only what we want to remember

Learning

is a change in a person's thought processes caused by prior experience

- often based on direct experience

- almost all consumer behavior is learned

Cues

products, signs, ads and other stimuli in the environment

- an individual chooses some specific response

- an effort to satisfy a drive

- response depends on cues and person's past experience

Reinforcement

occurs when the response is followed by satisfaction

- a reduction in the drive

- strengthens the relationship between the cue and the response

Attitude

a person's point of view toward something

- a product, an advertisement, a salesperson, a firm or an idea

- effect the selective process, learning and buying decisions

- involve liking or disliking something and therefore have some action implications

Belief

a person's opinion about something

- may help shape a consumer's attitudes but don't necessarily involve any liking or disliking

Expectation

an outcome or event that a person anticipates or looks forward to

- often focus on the benefits or value that the consumer expects from a firm's marketing mix

Psychographics or Lifestyle Analysis

the analysis of a person's day-to-day pattern of living as expressed in that person's Activities, Interests, and Opinions - sometimes referred to as AIOs

Reference Group

the people to whom an individula looks when forming attitudes about a particular topic

Opinion Leader

a person who influences others

- opinion leaders on one subject aren't necessarily opinion leaders on another

Culture

is the whole set of beliefs, attitudes and ways of doing things of a reasonably homogeneous set of people

Extensive Problem Solving

what customers do when they put much effort into deciding how to satisfy a need

- likely for a completely new purchase or to satisfy an important need

Limited Problem Soving

used by consumers when some effort is required in deciding the best way to satisfy a need

- typical when the consumer has some previous experience with a product but isn't quite sure which choice to make at the moment

routinized response behavior

what a consumer uses when they regularly select a particular way of satisfying a need when it occurs

- requires no new information

Low-Involvement Purchases

purchaes that have little importance or relevance for the customer

- like buying a box of salt

Dissonance

a feeling of uncertainty about whether the correct decision was made

- may lead a customer to seek additional information to confirm the wisdom of the purchase

Adoption Process

the steps individuals go through on the way to accepting or rejecting a new idea

1. Awareness: knowledge of product, but lack of details
2. Interest: the customer starts to gather facts about product
3. Evaluation: give product a "mental trial"
4. Trial: May buy the product if they can rationalize the price
5. Decision: either adopt or reject the product
6. Confirmation: rethinks decision, searches for reinforcement