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Lesson 1: Introduction to Consumer Behavior

Why Marketers Study Consumer Behavior

 
Core objectives: Define consumer behavior, and articulate why marketers study consumer behavior.
 

In this section, you'll discover what consumer behavior is and why marketers should study consumer behavior. Let’s get started!

What Is Consumer Behavior?

Consumer behavior is the study of how consumers search for, acquire, consume, and dispose of goods and services (both known as products). It is an incredibly complex area of marketing that changes constantly. Some jokingly refer to it as the moving target! Figure 1.1 is Exhibit 12.1 (pg 261) from the textbook that indicates the consumption process and the decision-making process side-by-side. These both serve as a roadmap for the course, as much of what we will discuss we relate to these processes.

Notice that the first part of the consumer decision-making process on the right in green starts with need recognition. Related to need recognition is the acknowledgment of both needs and wants. Remember that needs or things that are essential to survival, or at least to thrive whereas once relate more to less than practical, possibly more hedonistic desires. We need food to survive, but we may want a T-bone steak cooked medium rare. What’s important to recognize is that consumer behavior starts with this step. Problem recognition relates to the transition between two states of being:

Actual State ⇒ Desired State

This could be a physical state of being such as hunger or an emotional state of being such as bored. The desired state would be the opposite, which would be achieved after a purchase. What’s most profound about this particular stage of consumer behavior is the concept represented by the arrow that indicates the transition between the actual and desired states. This force is called motivation. There are many things throughout life that consumers decide they want and perhaps think they need (and marketers can be skilled at blurring the line once and needs), but recognition becomes significant enough that it triggers action, that is when there is sufficient motivation. Motivation proceeds human behavior. You may have heard the term motives used, and these are individual things that create motivation in an individual.
 
Remember that motivation has two sources, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal, and consumers can be self-motivated to consume products without any external influence. However, extrinsic motivation can be exerted by clever marketers using a variety of promotional tools, such as personal selling, sales, promotion, or advertising.
 
While the course is called consumer behavior, consumers actual behavior is of some value to observe, but the real value to markers is to observe motivation. As mentioned at the beginning of this section, consumer behavior changes rapidly. By understanding what motivates consumers to behave the way they do, companies might be able to predict changes as they occur and create competitive advantages. Regardless, the real value here is to understand what motivates consumers to buy so that we can appeal to these motives by developing a resonant marketing strategy. Marketer should also be aware of three significant categories of influencers that can impact and change consumer behavior:
 
  • internal influences like customer perceptions and motivations, learning processes, attitudes, personalities, lifestyles, and self-concept that influence their behaviors;
  • external influences of consumer behavior like group influences, opinion leaders and thought leaders, social interactions, and culture, including subcultures; and
  • situational influences like time and atmospherics, and the consumer decision-making process.

Knowing why we study consumer behavior is just the beginning of this lesson. In the remainder of the lesson, we will discover how customers perceive value, demonstrate why building value for customers is important for brand success, and learn how to discover customer insights that can help build customer value and ultimately make effective marketing decisions.


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