Public Relations and Social Marketing

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MARKETING 4(1+3)

Lesson 15 : Analyzing Consumer Market and Buyer Behavior

Stages of buying decision process

1. Problem recognition
   The buying process starts when the buyer recog­nizes a problem or need. The buyer senses a difference between his or her actual state and a desired state. The need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli. In the former case, one of the person's normal needs-hunger, thirst, sex-rises to a threshold level and become a drive. In the latter case, a need is aroused by an external stimulus.

2. Information search
   An aroused consumer will be inclined to search for more information. There are two levels of arousal.

   The milder search state is called heightened attention. At this level individual simply becomes more receptive to information about products.

   At the next level, he may enter active information search. Individual looks for reading material, phone’s friends, and engages in other activities to learn about computers.

   Consumer information sources fall into four groups:

• Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances
  
• Commercial sources: Advertising, salespersons, dealers, packaging, displays
  
• Public sources: Mass media, consumer-rating organizations
  
• Experiential sources Handling, examining, using the product



3. Evaluation of alternatives
   There are several decision evaluation processes. In this process the consumer initially tries to satisfy a need, then look for benefits from the product solution and finally evaluates each product as a bundle of attributes with varying abilities of delivering the benefits sought to satisfy this need. The consumer will pay the most attention to the attributes that deliver the sought benefits.

4. Purchase decision
   In the evaluation stage, the consumer forms prefer­ences among in the choice set. The consumer may also form an inten­tion to buy the most preferred brand. However, two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and the purchase decision

• Factor-1 Attitudes of others

• the intensity of the other person's negative attitude toward the consumer's preferred alternative.
  
  A buyer's preference for a brand will increase if some­one he or she likes favors the same brand strongly.

• the consumer's motivation to comply with the other person's wishes. The more intense the other person's negativism and the closer the other person is to the consumer, the more the consumer will adjust his or her purchase intention.
  
  The influence of others be­ comes complex when several people close to the buyer hold contradictory opin­ions and the buyer would like to please them all.

• Factor -2 Unanticipated situational factors
  These may erupt to change the purchase intention. Preferences and even purchase intentions are not completely reliable predictors of purchase behavior.
  
  A consumer's decision to modify, postpone, or avoid a purchase decision is heavily influenced by perceived risk. The amount of perceived risk varies with the amount of money at stake, the amount of attribute uncertainty, and the amount of consumer self-confidence. Consumers develop routines for reducing risk, such, as decision avoidance, information gathering from friends, and prefer­ence for national brand names and warranties, Marketers must understand the fac­tors that provoke a feeling of risk in consumers and provide information and sup­port to reduce the perceived risk.

5. Post purchase behavior
   After purchasing the product, the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The marketer's job does not end when the product is bought but continues into the post purchase pe­riod. Marketers must monitor post purchase satisfaction, post purchase actions, and post purchase product use and disposal.

• Post purchase Satisfaction. After purchasing a product, a consumer may detect a flaw. The importance of post purchase satisfaction suggests that sellers must make product claims that truthfully represent the product's likely performance. Some sellers might even understate performance levels so that consumers experience higher-than-expected satisfaction with the product.
  For example, a seller may create more satisfaction by promising delivery by 4 P.M. and actually delivering by 2 P.M. than if the seller promised delivery by 11 A.M. and didn't deliver until 12 noon.

• Post purchase Actions. The consumer's satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the prod­uct will influence subsequent behavior. If the consumer is satisfied, he or she will exhibit a higher probability of purchasing the product again.Post purchase Use and Disposal. Marketers should also monitor how the buyers use and dispose of the product . If consumers store the product in their closet, the product is probably not very satisfying, and word-of-mouth will not be strong. If they sell or trade the product, new-product sales will be depressed. If consumers find new uses for the product, marketers should advertise these uses.