Transcript Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior
Spring 2010
Dr. Abdullah Sultan
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What consumer behavior is all about?
What is Marketing?
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AMA defines marketing as an organizational
function and a set of processes for creating,
communicating, and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the
organization and its shareholders.
What is Consumer Behavior?
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Why did you decide to take this course?
What influenced where you sat today?
How did you decide what shoes to wear
today?
What impacted what you had for breakfast
this morning?
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Consumer Behavior…
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…reflects the totality of the consumers’ decisions
with respect to the acquisition, consumption, and
disposition of goods, services, time, ideas and/or
experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
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What three broad categories of consumer activity do
marketers and researchers study in consumer
behavior?
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So, it is more than just acquiring
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Acquiring
 Buying, leasing, trading, borrowing, gift-giving, finding, stealing
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Using
 Functional
 Symbolic
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Disposing
 Throw away
 Give away
 Recycle
 Ebay
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Dino Dung
Dinosaur dung sold to Ohio man at auction for nearly $1,000 to
motivate his employees and using it as a marketing tool in his pet store
More than just
“goods”
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Offering
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A product, service, activity, or idea offered by a
marketing organization to consumers
Washington State University - kre
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Important characteristics of consumers
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Classified by demographics and
psychographics
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Market segmentation strategies
Heavily influenced by the opinions and
behaviors of others
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Cultural values
Consumption communities
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Segmenting Consumers
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Why do we need segmentation?
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Segmenting Consumers
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Gather Knowledge and data
about customers…
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…Help to define the market
…Identify threats/opportunities
to a brand
Group similar consumers
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Example: “Heavy Users” of fastfood industry
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Segmenting Consumers: Demographics
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Age
Gender
Family Structure & Marital Status
Social Class & Income
Race & Ethnicity
Geography
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Why do new product fail at the launch?
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Failure rate is as high as 50%.
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Gerber's Singles: Small servings of fruits,
vegetables, and entrees intended for adults
that came in the same jars used for baby food.
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Heinz's Funky Fries: chocolate, cinnamon,
sour cream and blue-colored frozen fries
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Why Study CB?
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Who benefits from studying CB?
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Managers – strategic marketing plans are
consumer focused
Ethicists – advocacy groups, co-ops
Public policy makers – FDA, nutrition information,
investigation of misleading ads
Consumers
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Why would you study CB?
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Have you ever made a purchase that made
no sense?
Have you ever felt cheated or misled by
marketing?
Have you ever paid too much for something?
Do you ever hold (even a glimmer of) hope
that a purchase will make you more
interesting/glamorous?
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More Why’s…
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It is fun and entertaining to learn about
yourself and your friends and family
It might even be beneficial to be a welleducated, informed consumer! Why do we
do what we do??
WARNING: You will never be the same
again…
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Organization of Course
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