Chapter 4: Consumer Behaviour
• Consumer Behaviour: process through which buyers make purchase decisions
• B = f(P, E)
•
Interpersonal Determinants of Consumer Behaviour…
• Culture: values, beliefs, preferences, and tastes handed down from one generation to
the next
o Broadest environmental determinant of consumer behaviour
o Core values are underlying motivations that move society forward and are
shaped by the people one grows up with
• They do not change over time as cultural values do
o Microcultures: smaller groups within a society that have their own distinct
characteristics and modes of behaviour
o More than 80 cultural groups across the country
• Social Influences
o Every consumer belongs to a number of influential social groups
o Groups establish norms of behaviour
o Differences in status and roles within the group also influence behaviour
o A child's earliest group experiences comes from membership in a family
The Asch Phenomenon: S.E. Asch ; individuals conform to majority rule, even if that majority
rule goes against their beliefs
1. Reference Groups: people or institutions whose opinions are valued and to
whom a person looks for guidance in his or her own behaviour, values, and conduct,
such as family, friends, or celebrities
• Strong influence by a group on a member's purchase requires two
conditions: 1. The purchased product must be one that others can see and identify
2. The purchased item must be conspicuous; it must stand out as something
unusual, a brand or product that not everyone owns
1. Social Classes
o Research has identified six classes within the social structures of North
American cities:
i. Upper-upper
i. Lower-upper
ii. Upper-middle
iii. Lower-middle
iv. Working class
v. Lower class
• Determined by occupation, income (income not always a primary factor),
education, family background, and residence location
1. Opinion Leaders: trendsetters who purchase new products before others in a
group and then influence others in their purchases
• Present in nearly every reference group
• Individuals tend to act as opinion leaders for specific goods or services
based on their knowledge of an interest In those products.
Chinese Cdn Consumers
-hongkong 80's
-average spending more than the average spending of canadian population
--> companies can target more expensive things
South-asia cdn consumers
-largest growing, younger population
-by 2031 going to be largest cultural group
• Family Influences
o The family group is perhaps the most important determinant of consumer
behaviour because of the close, continuing interactions among family members
Family Structure is changing over the last century due to
- declining birthrate
- An increase in the number of childless couples
- higher divorce and separation rates
- children staying at home longer
o Marketers describe the role of each spouse using 4 categories:
i. Autonomic Role is seen when the partners independently make equal
numbers of decisions
ii. Husband-Dominant Role occurs when the husband usually makes certain
purchase decisions
iii. Wife-Dominant Role has the wife making most of the buying decisions
i. Syncratic Role refers to joint decisions o Children and Teens in Family purchases
- they represent a huge market
- influence what their parents buy, from cereal to cars
Personal Determinants of Consumer Behaviour…
• Individual purchase behaviour is driven by the motivation to fill a perceived need
o Need: imbalance between a consumer's actual and desired states
o Motive: inner state that directs a person toward the goal of satisfying a need
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
o Pyramid of needs for satisfaction
o An individual must satisfy lower-level needs before higher level needs can be
actualized
• Physiological Needs
Requirements for survival
• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Safety Needs
Financial or lifestyle security
• Insurance
Physical Protection
• Social/Belongingness Needs
Desire to be accepted by people and groups
• Memberships
• Esteem Needs
Universal desire for a sense of accomplishment or achievement
• Respect through brand-name products
• Self-Actualization Needs
Desire to realize their full potential and to find fulfillment by
expressing their unique talents and capabilities
• Vacations and exotic adventure trips
• Perception: meaning that a person attributes to incoming stimuli gathered through the
five senses
o
Results from the interaction of two types of factors
i. Stimulus Factors
Characteristics of the physical object
• Size
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