This work allows us to identify the influencing factors in consumer behavior such as problem solving, to satisfy needs. It also provides knowledge of the problem-solving process, the influences that determine said behaviors and the levels of existing responses according to the degree of participation in the purchase.
It also allows you to acquire tools for the classification and measurement of the different levels of consumption response.
Questionnaire and Answers.
1) What relationship exists between consumer behavior of human persons and organizations with the contents of Unit II?
In consumer behavior there are three basic moments that are: before, during and after the purchase. Before the purchase, the consumer identifies the product-service that satisfies his problem, the consumer uses the information provided by the producer through advertising and promotion, knowing the qualities, attributes and benefits that the product offers.
During the purchase, the selected product must be available, that is, the producer must make the goods and services available to consumers through the distribution channel to achieve an effective exchange. The product must be in the specific places and times for the exchange to take place.
After having bought and used the product, the consumer or the buyer forms a new attitude based on the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. According to this, it will lead to a post-purchase behavior that will lead to the loyalty or not of a brand.
2) What relationship is observed between consumer behavior as a problem-solving process and the contents of Unit II?
The following relationships are observed between consumer behavior and the problem-solving process. a) The problem is identified and defined. b) There is a search for information that is related to information dominated by the consumer, dominated by the producer and neutral, concepts expressed in Unit II.
The information sources dominated by the producer, that is, the advertising, the opinion and advice of the sellers and distributors, the samples and prospects. The advantages of this type of information are free and easy access. However, it is nothing more than incomplete and targeted information, in the sense that they only value the positive characteristics of the product and tend to hide the others.
Personal information sources, dominated by consumers, are those communicated by friends, neighbors, opinion leaders, etc. What is called oral transmission. This type of information is often highly adapted to the needs of the future buyer. Its reliability will obviously depend on the issuer of the information.
Neutral information sources, such as articles in newspapers and specialized magazines related to housing, furniture, hunting, audiovisuals, the automobile, etc. These publications allow access to a large number of information at a relatively low cost. Also part of these categories are official reports and specialized agencies, laboratory tests and comparative tests published on the initiative of consumer associations. The advantages of this source of information are the objectivity, the concrete character and the competence of the opinions formulated.
3. a) List and briefly explain the variables that influence consumer behavior, understood as a problem-solving process.
b) Relate the factors of influence on consumer behavior in the so-called macro and micro-segmentation.
c) Indicate and explain which are the 3 levels of the consumption response and establish the existing relationships with the variables of influence on consumption behavior.
3. a) ANALYSIS OF THE BUYER'S BEHAVIOR: MAIN INFLUENCE FACTORS ON THE BUYER'S CONDUCT.
The influence of culture on buyer behavior.
The study of culture is the study of all aspects of a society: its language, knowledge, laws, customs, etc. that give that society a distinctive character and personality. In the context of consumer behavior, culture is defined as the sum of beliefs, values and customs acquired and transmitted from generation to generation, which serve to regulate the behavior of a given society.
The impact of their culture on society is so natural and so deeply rooted that its influence on behavior is remarkable. Culture offers order, direction, and guidance to members of a society in all phases of their human problem solving. Culture is dynamic and gradual, and continually transforms to suit the needs of society.
Culture is learned as part of social experience. Since childhood, the environment of a series of beliefs, values and customs that contribute to their culture is acquired. They are acquired through formal, informal, and technical learning. Advertising enhances formal learning by reinforcing desirable patterns of behavior or expectations and enhances informal learning by providing patterns of behavior. Because the human mind has the ability to absorb and process symbolic communication, marketing can successfully promote tangible and intangible products and product concepts through mass media.
The elements of culture are transmitted by three institutions: the family, the church, and the school. A fourth institution plays a major role in the transmission of culture, they are the media, both through editorial content and advertising.
Some manifestations of culture.
- National character Subcultures Non-verbal language: postures, gestures, food preferences Importance of symbols, taboos, prohibitions, ritual attitudes (rites of passage: graduation, marriage, retirement and death)
This cultural meaning is drawn from the world of culture itself and transferred to a consumer good through advertising and the fashion system. These goods are then transferred to consumer behavior through certain consumer rituals.
SUBCULTURAL ASPECTS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Subcultural analysis allows mkt to segment the market to reach the needs, motivations, perceptions and attitudes that are shared by the members of a specific subcultural group.
A subculture is a distinguishable cultural group that exists as an identifiable sector within a larger and more complex society. Its members possess beliefs, values and customs that set them apart from other members of the same society. The main subcultural categories are: nationality, race, religion, geographic location, age, sex and education.
Ethnic S ubculture: attend to origins. Descent of common ancestors: they tend to vizier closely, they usually marry people from the same group, they share a sense of belonging.
Age.
Youth subculture. Not only does the teen market spend a lot of money of their own, they make their family members spend too. Children greatly influence family consumption decisions. Corporations take advantage of the persistent tendency of children in search of a new product.
When designing messages for the youth market, the following guidelines should be considered:
- Never belittle young people Be totally, absolutely and unconditionally sincere Recognize young people the merit of being motivated by rational values Be as personal as possible
Subculture of the elderly.
It is necessary to recognize certain unfavorable characteristics:
- They are conservative They have less than half the income of the entire population Their mental faculties may be altered They have poor health They tend to isolate themselves from people
Long-lived people shop close to home and show attention to the product and brand suggestions indicated by the seller.
A successful promotional strategy is the so-called “transgeneration” in which adults, children and the elderly all appear together. In addition, it should be sought in the message:
- Keep it simple Contain familiar elements Step by step Give preference to print media Take advantage of context by appealing to evocation
SOCIAL CLASS.
Social classes are MULTIDIMENSIONAL since they are based on numerous components: they are not equivalent to income; or to some other isolated criterion or are consequently determined by any of them. Income is often a misleading indicator of position in social class.
Occupation generally provides a good indication of social class, as does housing.
The social class structure can cover a range from two to nine classes. A frequently used classification divides them into five groups: high, medium high, medium, medium low, low. The profiles of each of these classes indicate that socioeconomic differences are reflected in differences in attitudes, in free time activities and in consumption habits.
The investigation revealed differences between the classes in terms of clothing habits, home decoration, use of the telephone, use of free time, preference of places of purchase and habits of saving, expenses and use of credits. All of this can be strategically used in marketing. Studies of consumer dissatisfaction reveal a relationship between the type of problems posed by the consumer and social class.
SOCIAL FACTORS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Primary Group: is one in which personal relationships are face to face with a certain frequency and even intimate and affective level. In these groups develop norms and roles. Family, work groups, friends are examples of such groups. The primary group exercises informal control over its members, a non-institutionalized but no less effective control.
Secondary group: this includes all those groups that are not primary, such as political groups, aid associations, neighborhood commissions, etc.
In these groups, the individual is not interested in others in terms of people but rather as officials who play a role. Unlike the primary groups, the control that is applied is formal, that is, there are regulations that establish norms and sanctions.
Reference groups: it is the group to which one wants to belong, it can be defined as a group of people who influence activities, values, behaviors and can influence the purchase of a product and / or the choice of the brand.
The marketer must identify a thought leader within the reference group to sell a product or brand.
They can be classified into positive aspirational and negative aspirational groups (dissociative groups).
The reference groups most used in mkt are: personalities, experts and the "common man". Celebrities are used to give testimony or endorsements or as spokespersons for the company. Experts can actually be experts or be actors playing such a role. The common man approach is designed to show that individuals such as the prospect are satisfied with the advertised product.
Reference group appeals are effective promotional strategies because they serve to increase product recall and to reduce perceived risk among potential customers.
PERSONAL INFLUENCE FACTORS ON CONSUMER CONDUCT.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Personality: Personality is defined as the pattern of an individual's traits that depend on behavioral responses. These have been used to study consumer behavior and explain the organized totality of their behavior. We know that a person's personality is often reflected in the clothes they wear, the make and type of car they drive, the restaurants where they eat, etc. but we cannot quantify the individual traits of each individual.
The Autoconcepto is perceived by the subject himself. And at the same time it is the image that we think others have of ourselves. The importance of studying self-concept in mkt is given because the person through consumption describes himself.
Motivation: to understand why consumers observe certain behavior, it is first necessary to ask what it is that drives a person to act. All behavior begins with motivation, the motive (or impulse) is a need, it is a stimulated need that the subject tries to satisfy. One or more motives within a person trigger behavior toward a goal that is supposed to bring satisfaction.
It is important that the need has to be stimulated so that it becomes a motive. Sometimes man has needs that are latent, for the same reason, they do not activate the behavior because they are not intense enough, that is, they have not been awakened. The source can be internal (we get hungry) or environmental (we see a food advertisement). It is also possible that simply thinking about a need (food) arouses the need (hunger).
Family: Of the small groups to which we belong for years, there is one that usually has the most profound and lasting influence on our perceptions and behavior, this group is the family. This directly performs the function of final consumption operating as an economic unit, earning and spending money. By doing this, family members are forced to establish individual and collective consumer priorities, to select which products and brands to buy and how they will be used to meet the goals of family members.
Most consumer studies classify family consumption decisions into: _Male predominant (husband) _ female predominant (wife) _ joint _ automatic
Perception: it is the process by which the individual selects, organizes and interprets stimuli to build a meaningful and coherent painting of the world. The consumer makes decisions based on what he perceives rather than on objective reality.
People usually perceive the things they need or want and block the perception of unfavorable or ungrateful stimuli.
The way the products are perceived is more important to their success than the actual characteristics they possess. Products that are perceived favorably, obviously, have a better chance of being bought.
Learning, retention and memorization.
The first is the process by which the individual acquires the knowledge and experience of purchase and consumption that will be applied in their future behavior. Some of the learning is intentional but much of it is casual.
Time management in the learning process influences the duration of retention of what has been learned. Mass learning causes greater initial uptake, while gradual learning achieves greater temporal persistence. The most typical way of human learning is through problem solving, which involves a mental process.
A very simple process of memory structure and operation suggests the existence of three storage units:
- Sensory Short term Long term
The memory process encompasses the testing, encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.
3. b) At the macrosegmentation level, only general characteristics are taken into account when the future buyers are organizations; which is related to the variables of influences on consumer behavior by cultural factors and within this subculture and social class.
But when it comes to consumers (people), it is necessary to refine the definition of the characteristics of the buyers: ages, lifestyles, purchasing behaviors, desired advantages, which is typical of micro-segmentation and is closely related to social factors and personal in consumer behavior (see 3 a)
3. c) Cognitive response: refers to the area of knowledge, that is, to the set of information and beliefs that an individual may have a group of people "process by which an individual selects or interprets the information to which they are exposed"
Affective response: it is essentially evaluative. It refers to the field not only of knowledge but also of sentiment, preferences of intentions, favorable or unfavorable judgments of a brand or an organization.
Behavioral response: the simplest and most direct measure of the behavioral response is given by the sales statistics of the product or the brand, completed by an analysis of the market share within each covered segment. Another type of information is the set of information on field habits, conditions and circumstances and information on post-purchase behavior (loyalty, market share, satisfaction, etc.)
4) Marketing describes the buying behavior of consumers as a rational problem solving process. Develop this proposition by describing the consumer choice process in situations of varying complexity and risk.
The acquisition of a used car is proposed as a complex purchase situation and with a certain degree of risk. The complexity lies in the transaction, transfer, insurance, patents, and the risk situation is the operating status of the vehicle.
The observed process is as follows:
- Need for mobility Choice of a specific brand and model (desire) Analysis of economic resources to acquire said good Selection of the car available in the market, according to the available resources (search for information) Given the non-existence of the car as a result of our desire and According to our purchasing power, information is sought on available credits to achieve the purchase, the credit is agreed, the purchase is made and the corresponding procedures are carried out.
5) Make reference to the purchase of a durable good (TV, camera, PC, or another that you have made recently, and try to reconstruct the decision process you have followed, to identify the sources of information consulted and the type of conduct resolution that it has adopted.
Reconstruction of the decision process in the purchase of a heater.
Decision process: part of the intensive search for product information that meets the need (heating)
Information source consulted: distributors, sellers (information dominated by the producer), friends who acquired the desired product and the specific experience when verifying the satisfactory operation of the product.
The decisive behavior adopted is extensive.
6) Identify two advertisements in the newspapers, one about a product with external qualities and the other about a product with internal qualities. Compare the message content of each ad, as well as the amount of information they contain. What is from the point of view, the objective pursued by these ads? According to the objectives pursued regarding communication, can you identify what is the "philosophy of the organization" that presents them?
- The internal qualities advertisement provides more information and details about the product than the external qualities advertisement, since it is mainly based on the visual impact, the graphic display and the aesthetics of the product. From the point of view of the objective The aim of these advertisements is to reach the consumer by providing information to make the product known and to achieve its acceptance in the purchase.As for the advertisement of the company SICA classified as external qualities, the philosophy of the organization, captured by us, is transmit quality safety, economy and mainly aesthetics. Features directly stated in advertising.In the case of ARNET, the philosophy of the organization is to first differentiate itself from the competition by providing services that are adjusted to the client's needs and secondly, to have the support of a company with weight and prestige in the market such as TELECOM.
7) Choose a product or service that you are particularly familiar with as a user and about which you believe you have a good understanding. Identify the attributes that are most important to you; also indicate the “services” that it provides (If possible, differentiate them as indicated in class: basic and supplementary services (necessary and added).
Chosen product: CableVisión
Attributes: variety of channels with respect to content (sports, news, education, documentaries, etc.)
Base Service: broadcasts TV signals with a good image.
Supplementary Service: paying a certain amount you can access encrypted channels (premieres, football, adults).
Added Service: offers an advertising service on channel 2 at no charge for subscribers with daily fees. Travel draws to witness the matches of the Argentine soccer team.
Necessary Services: has more extensive current information in our context.
8) Consider the following products and services: an air trip, a "tour" to Europe, burial insurance. For each of these products, identify the BASIC SERVICE AND THE SUPPLEMENTARY, NECESSARY AND ADDED SERVICES.
Product: Air Travel.
Basic Service: Transportation
Supplementary Service: personalized attention
Necessary Service: safety and reduced transport time
Added Service: transportation of luggage to the hotel.
…..
Product: Tour to Europe
Basic Service: know Europe
Supplementary Service: personalized attention, tourist guide
Required services: recreation
Added Service: accommodation and food.
…..
Product: Burial Insurance.
Basic Service: burial
Supplementary Service: coffin, transfer to cemetery
Necessary Service: coverage in case of death
Added service: refreshments for relatives, legal advice
Conclusion.
Through this practical work, it was possible to know the factors that influence buying behavior, very important knowledge to be able to make forecasts about the market response to certain new products or to evaluate the positioning or perception of existing products in the market.
With respect to the attributes and having knowledge of the level of perception by consumers, a more effective advertising campaign of the product can be carried out, guiding the communication on the importance that the consumer gives to any of the studied attributes of the product in question..
It is noteworthy that knowing some of these factors and analyzing suitable strategies it is possible to stimulate the latent needs of the individual, this stimulus is essential to "mobilize" the individual in a purchasing behavior.
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