Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior

Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Fifth EditionBy Philip Kotler, John Bowen and James Makens

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Inc.Pearson Prentice Hall - Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

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Foreword:

Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior

To be bullfighter, you must first learn to be a bull.

- Anonymous-



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• Explain the model of buyer behavior.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

OBJECTIVES

• Outline the major characteristics affecting consumer behavior, and list some of the specific cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors that influence consumers.

• Explain the buyer decision process and discuss need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, the purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior.



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• A look at how the hotel industry reacted to a growing number of women business travelers shows why understanding consumer behavior is important

• Less than 1% of business travelers in 1970, women now account for about half of all business travelers.

• When hotel managers started to realize the importance of this new group of consumers, they were not sure how to attract them.– early programs aimed at the woman business traveler

were unsuccessful, as male hotel management did not understand the behavior of this new segment

Woman as Business Travelers


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– some women prefer rooms near the elevator, rather than having to wander down hallways

– some hotels have programs that provide women with rides to areas around the hotel so they do not have to walk alone

– another security feature is key-controlled floor access, commonly found on concierge floors or upscale hotels

– the concierge floor lounge provides a place for women to relax without having to go down to the lobby or a bar



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• Security is a more of a concern for women.

• Hotels spent a great deal of effort & resources to please female business travelers, a segment where they projected rapid growth, but did not understand.



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• Women travelers are an important consumer market, and companies that have gained an understanding of this segment have attracted a larger market share.– 81 % of women interviewed said they would be more

loyal to companies that address their needs

• Consumers vary tremendously in age, income, education level, and tastes, and they buy an incredible variety of goods and services.

• Buying behavior is affected by many different factors, yet understanding it is the essential taskof marketing management.



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• During recent years, hospitality & travel have undergone globalization, resulting in a fiercely competitive international market.

• To win this battle, companies invest in research to reveal what customers want to buy, locations they prefer, amenities important to them– how they buy and why they buy

• The company that understands how consumers will respond to product features, prices & advertising appeals has a great advantage over its competitors. – the starting point is the buyer behavior model in Fig 6–1

Introduction

A Model of Buying Behavior

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Figure 6-1 Model of Consumer Behavior

• Marketing and other stimuli enter the consumer’s “black box” and produce certain responses.

• Marketing stimuli consist of the four Ps, and major forces and events in the buyer’s environment.

• The stimuli enter the buyer’s black box, where they are turned into the set of observable buyer responses.

The Model

A Model of Buying Behavior



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• Consumer purchases are strongly influenced by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics.

Cultural Factors

Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior

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Figure 6-2 Factors Influencing Behavior



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• Culture is the most basic determinant of a person’s wants and behavior and exerts the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior.

• It comprises basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors a person learns continuously in a society.

• Culture is an integral part of the hospitality & travel business and determines what we eat, how we travel, where we travel, and where we stay

• Marketers try continuously to identify cultural shifts in order to devise new products and services that might find a receptive market.

Cultural Factors

Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behavior

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• Each culture contains smaller subcultures, or groups of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. – nationalities, religions, racial groups & geographic regions

• Subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design products & programs tailored to their needs.

• Three such important subculture groups include Hispanic, African American, and Asian consumers. – each major subculture is made of many smaller

subcultures, each with its own preferences and behavior

Subculture

Cultural Factors

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• The US Hispanic market consists of Americans of Cuban, Mexican, Central American, South American, and Puerto Rican descent.

• The Hispanic population is over 45 million & growth rate at 13% is almost four times the total population.

• Many Hispanics may be reached through the growing selection of Spanish-language broadcast and print media that cater to them.

• Hispanics are very brand loyal, and they favor companies who show special interest in them.

Hispanic Consumers

Cultural Factors

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• African-American consumers attract much marketing attention with annual buying power of $799 billion.

• The US black population is growing in affluence and sophistication.

• More price conscious than other segments, blacks are also strongly motivated by quality and selection.– blacks are the most fashion conscious ethnic group

• Brands are important. So is shopping. – black consumers seem to enjoy shopping more than other

groups, even for mundane things such as groceries

African-American Consumers

Cultural Factors

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• The most affluent US demographic segment are Asian-Americans, numbering more than 14.4 million with over $400 billion in annual spending power.

• The second-fastest-growing subsegment after Hispanics, Asian-American population is expected to make up over 9 % of the US population by 2050.

• Over 85% go online regularly & are comfortable with Internet technologies.

• As a group, Asian consumers shop frequently & are the most brand conscious of all the ethnic groups.– they can be fiercely brand loyal

Asian-American Consumers

Cultural Factors

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• For companies operating in many countries, serving & understanding the needs of consumers is daunting.

• While consumers in different countries may have some things in common, their values, attitudes, and behaviors often vary dramatically. – international marketers must understand such differences

and adjust products & marketing programs accordingly

• Failing to understand differences in customs and behaviors from one country to another can spell disaster for a company’s products and programs.– however, those companies who adapt can be winners

Consumer Behavior Across International Cultures

Cultural Factors

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– upper uppers (1 %), lower uppers (2 %)

– upper middles (12 %), middle (32 %)

– working (38 %)

– upper lowers (9 %), and lower lowers (7 %)

Social Class

Cultural Factors

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• Social classes are relatively permanent and ordered divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors. – almost every society has a form of social class structure

• Social scientists have identified the seven American social classes:



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• In many older nations, social class is something into which one is born and bloodlines often mean more than income or education in such societies.

• In newer nations such as the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand it is not indicated by a singlefactor such as income.– but measured as a combination of occupation, source

of income, education, wealth, and other variables

• Marketers are interested in social class because people within a given class tend to exhibit similar behavior, including buying behavior.

Social Class

Cultural Factors

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• Social classes show distinct preferences in suchareas as food, travel & leisure activity.

• Some marketers focus on only one social class. – Four Seasons restaurant in upper Manhattan targets upper-

class patrons

– Joe’s Coffee Shop in lower Manhattan serves lower-classes

• Social classes differ in media preferences with upper-class consumers preferring magazines and books and lower-class consumers preferring television.

• Language differences between social classes means advertisers must compose copy & dialogue carefully.

Social Class

Cultural Factors

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• Consumer behavior is also influenced by social factors, including the consumers’ groups, family, social roles, and status.

• Individual attitudes & behavior are influenced by many small groups. – those which have direct influence and to which a

person belongs are called membership groups

• They include primary groups, such as family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers—specifically, those with whom there is regular but informal interaction.

Groups and Online Social Networks

Social Factors

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• Secondary groups are more formal and have less regular interaction; they include religious groups, professional associations, and trade unions. – secondary groups may be membership groups

• The importance of group influence varies across products and brands. – it tends to be strongest when the product is visible to

others whom the buyer respects

• Reference groups serve as direct (face-to-face) or indirect points of comparison or reference in forming a person’s attitudes or behavior.


Social Factors

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• People can also be influenced by aspirational groups to which they do not belong but would like to.– as when a young basketball player hopes to someday

emulate a basketball star and play professionally

• Groups commonly have opinion leaders, people who, because of special skills, knowledge, personality, or other characteristics, exert influences over others. – a person may be an opinion leader in one product area

and a follower in another

• A business should identify opinion leaders in their community and invite them to important events.


Social Factors

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• NOP, a marketing research firm, has developed a profile of opinion leaders, which it calls influencers.– people are about four times as likely to contact an

influencer as they are an average person

• They also found that baby boomers are seeking information on restaurants and vacations from influentials at an increasingly higher rate.

• Companies try to influence scores of customers by influencing opinion leaders.


Social Factors

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• The family remains the most important consumer buying organization in American society and has been researched extensively. – family members have strong influence on buyer behavior

• Marketers are interested in the roles and influence of the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of different products and services. – buying roles change with evolving consumer lifestyles

• Women now make or influence up to 80% of car-buying decisions and men account for about 40%of food-shopping dollars.

Family

Social Factors

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• Children all over the world are having an influence on where the family dines when they go out to eat.– the US food industry spends $14 billion advertising to

children

• A study by Mintel found that before age 12, eating habits are influenced primarily by parents, but after twelve there is a shift to peer influence.

Family - Children

Social Factors

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• A role consists of activities a person is expected to perform according to the persons around him/her. – son or daughter, wife or husband, manager or worker

• A person’s role at time of purchase significantly affects his/her behavior. – a person purchasing a banquet for his church men’s club

may be more price conscious than usual if he believes church activities call for frugality

• Our roles are also influenced by our surroundings.– people dining at an elegant restaurant behave differently

than when they dine at a fast-food restaurant

Roles and Status

Social Factors

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• People have expectations about roles that employees in different establishments should play. – failure to meet these expectations creates dissatisfaction

• Each role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it by society, and people often choose products that show their status in society. – role & status are not constant social variables

• Marketing & sales professionals have made serious judgmental errors relative to the role & status of prospective customers.

Roles and Status

Social Factors

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• Recently, a new type of social interaction has exploded onto the scene: online social networking.– people socialize or exchange information & opinions

• Social networking media range from blogs to web sites, such as myspace.com and youtube.com, to entire virtual worlds, such as Second Life.

• Marketers are working to harness the power of these new social networks to promote their products and build closer customer relationships. – they hope to interact with consumers and become a part

of their conversations and lives

Online Social Networks

Social Factors

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• Buyer decisions are influenced by characteristics such as age & life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, personality, and self-concept.– the types of goods & services people buy change during

their lifetimes

• Preferences for leisure activities, travel destinations, food, and entertainment are often age related, factors are often overlooked by marketers. – probably due to age differences between those determining

marketing strategies & those purchasing the products and services

Age and Life-Cycle Stage

Personal Factors

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• Successful marketing to various age segments may require specialized and targeted strategies and will likely require segmented target publications and database marketing.

• It may also require a marketing staff and ad agency with people of varying ages & cultural backgrounds.

• Buying behavior is also shaped by the family life-cycle stages, and marketers often define their target markets in life-cycle terms and develop appropriate products and marketing plans.

Age and Life-Cycle Stage

Personal Factors

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– construction workers often buy their lunches from industrial catering trucks that come out to the job site

– business executives purchase meals from a full-service restaurant

– clerical employees may bring their lunch or purchase lunch from a nearby quick-service restaurant

Occupation

Personal Factors

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• A person’s occupation affects the goods & services bought.

• Marketers try to identify occupational groups that have an above-average interest in their products.



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• A person’s economic situation greatly affects product choice & decision to purchase a particular product.

• Consumers cut back on restaurant meals, entertainment, and vacations during recessions.– restaurants may need to add lower-priced menu items

that will still appeal to their target markets

• Marketers need to watch trends in personal income, savings, and interest rates. – if economic indicators point to a recession, they can

redesign, reposition, and reprice their products

Economic Situation

Personal Factors

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• Periods of economic prosperity create opportunities. – consumers buy more expensive wines and imported beers,

menus can upgrade, air travel & leisure spending increase

• Managers sometimes react too slowly to changing economic conditions. It pays to remain continuously aware of the macroenvironment facing customers.

• Companies must take advantage of opportunities in an upturn & take defensive steps in a downturn.

• Publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the business section of the local press, and regional economic reports help to keep managers informed.

Economic Situation

Personal Factors

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• People from the same subculture, social class, and occupation may have quite different lifestyles. – a person’s pattern of living as expressed in activities,

interests & opinions

Lifestyle

Personal Factors

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Table 6-1LifestyleDimensions.



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• Marketers search for relationships between their products and people who are achievement oriented.– a chef may target his restaurants more clearly at the

achiever lifestyle

• A study of tourists who purchase all-inclusive travel packages versus those who make travel arrangements independently showed varied lifestyle characteristics. – inclusive purchasers were “more socially interactive,

solicitous, and take their vacations mainly to relax.”

– independent travelers were more self-confident and often sought solitude

Lifestyle

Personal Factors

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• One of the most popular classifications based on psychographic measurements is SRI International’s Values and Lifestyles VALS 2 framework. – VALS 2 classifies all U.S. adults into eight groups based

on psychological attributes

• The segmentation system is based on responses to a questionnaire featuring five demographics and forty-two attitudinal questions, as well as questions about use of online services and Web sites.

Lifestyle - VALS

Personal Factors

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• Prizm, developed by Jonathan Robbin, is a geodemographic system that allows researchers to know the mix or density of lifestyle groups in eachof the nation’s 36,000 zip code areas.

• A criticisms of geodemographic systems is they assume everyone is like their neighbors. – while certain neighborhoods may contain more of a

certain profile of person, not everyone in the neighborhood is the same

Lifestyle - Prizm

Personal Factors

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• Jock Bickert developed a classification called Cohorts, built from a wealth of actual self-reported household-level data.– rather than inferred or geographic-level data used in

other segmentation systems

• The Cohorts are identified by twenty-seven highly cohesive groups of households, and results in a classification that is unique to the household.

• Marketing Highlight 6–1 on page 160 provides an example of a successful application of Cohorts.

Lifestyle - Cohorts

Personal Factors

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• Personality means distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to the environment.

• A person’s personality influences buying behavior and can be useful in analyzing consumer behaviorfor some product or brand choices

• Marketers use a concept related to personality: a person’s self-concept (also called self-image). – each of us has a complex mental self-picture, and our

behavior tends to be consistent with that self-image

Personality and Self-Concept

Personal Factors

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– most are not strong enough to motivate a person to act

– need becomes motive when aroused to sufficient intensity

– creating a tension state causes the person to act to release the tension

Motivation

Psychological Factors

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• Buying choices are also influenced by four major psychological factors…– motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs & attitudes

• A person has many needs at any given time.

• Theories by Maslow & by Herzberg have different meanings for consumer analysis and marketing.



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• Abraham Maslow sought to explain why people are driven by particular needs at particular times.– his answer is that human needs are arranged in a

hierarchy, from most pressing to least pressing

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order of importance:– physiological, safety, social, esteem & self-actualization

• A person tries to satisfy the most important need first. When that is satisfied, it will stop being a motivator.

• As each important need is satisfied, the next most important need will come into play.

Motivation - Maslow’s Theory


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– sellers should do their best to avoid dissatisfiers, things that will not sell a product and might easily unsell it

– manufacturers should identify major satisfiers/motivators of purchase in the market and then supply them

Motivation - Herzberg’s Theory


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• Frederick Herzberg developed a two-factor theory that distinguishes dissatisfiers (factors that cause dissatisfaction) and satisfiers (causing satisfaction). – absence of dissatisfiers is not enough

– satisfiers must be actively present to motivate a purchase

• The theory has two implications.



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• A motivated person is ready to act, how a person acts is influenced by his/her perception of the situation.– two people with the same motivation may act quite

differently based on how they perceive conditions.

• All of us experience a stimulus by the flow of information through our five senses.– each of us receives, organizes, and interprets this

sensory information in an individual way

• Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world.

Perception


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• People are exposed tremendous amounts of stimuli– an average person may be exposed to over 1,500 ads a day

• Because a person cannot possibly attend to all of these, most stimuli is screened out.– a process called selective attention

Selective Attention


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– people are more likely to notice stimuli that relate to a current need, or stimuli that they anticipate

– people are more likely to notice stimuli whose deviations are large in relation to the normal size of the stimuli

• The real challenge is explaining which stimuli people will notice…



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Selective Distortion


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• Selective distortion is the tendency to twist information into personal meanings & interpret itin a way that will fit our preconceptions.– even notice stimuli do not always come across in the way

the senders intended– marketers can’t do much about selective distortion



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• People forget much of what they learn but tend to retain information that supports their attitudes and beliefs.

• Selective retention explains why marketers use drama and repetition in sending messages to their target market.– we are likely to remember good points mentioned about

competing products

Selective Retention


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• Learning describes changes in an individual’s behavior arising from experience. – when consumers experience a product, they learn about it

• Theorists say learning occurs through the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues, responses, and reinforcement.

• Hotels should help guests to learn about the quality of their facilities and services. – luxury hotels give tours to first-time guests and inform

them of the services offered

– repeat guests should be updated on the hotel’s servicesby employees and by letters and literature

Learning


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• Through acting and learning, people acquire beliefs and attitudes which influence their buying behavior. – a belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about

something

• Marketers are interested in the beliefs that people have about specific products and services.

• Beliefs may be based on real knowledge, opinion, or faith, and may or may not carry an emotional charge.

• People act on beliefs.– if unfounded consumer beliefs deter purchases, marketers

will want to launch a campaign to change them

Beliefs and Attitudes


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– a particular hamburger chain served ground kangaroo meat

– a particular hotel served as Mafia headquarters.

– a particular airline has poor maintenance.

– a particular country has unhealthy food-handling standards

Unfounded beliefs


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• Unfounded consumer beliefs can severely affect the revenue and even the life of hospitality & travel companies:



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• Attitude describes relatively consistent evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or an idea. – attitudes put people into a frame of mind for liking or

disliking things and moving toward or away from them

• People have attitudes about almost everything…– religion, politics, clothes, music, and food

• Understanding attitudes and beliefs is the first step toward changing or reinforcing them.– attitudes are very difficult to change

• A person’s attitudes fit into a pattern & changing one attitude may require many difficult adjustments.

Attitudes


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• Attitudes developed as children often influence purchases, as adults may retain negative attitudes toward certain vegetables, people & possibly, places.

• It is easier for a company to create products that are compatible with existing attitudes than to change the attitudes toward their products.– hospitality & travel companies are particularly subject to

consumer attitudes resulting from childhood experiences

• Once negative attitudes are developed, they are hard to change, though there are times when the high costof trying to change attitudes may pay off.

Attitudes


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• The buyer decision process consists of five stages:– need recognition, information search, evaluation of

alternatives, purchase decision, postpurchase behavior

• This model emphasizes that the buying processstarts long before and continues long after theactual purchase. – encouraging the marketer to focus on the entire buying

process rather than just the purchase decision

Introduction

The Buyer Decision Process

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Figure 6-3 Buyer Decision Process.



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• The model appears to imply that consumers pass through all 5 stages with every purchase they make. – in routine purchases, consumers skip or reverse some of

these stages

• A customer in a bar purchasing a glass of beer may go right to the purchase decision, skipping information search and evaluation. – this is referred to as an automatic response loop

Automatic Response Loop


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• The dream of every marketer is to have customers develop an automatic response to purchase their products.– this does not typically happen

• This model shows considerations that arise when a consumer faces a new, complex purchase situation.

Another Model


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Figure 6-4 Steps between evaluation of alternatives and a purchase decision.



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• The buying process starts when the buyer recognizes a problem or need. – the buyer senses a difference between his/her actual state

and a desired state

• The need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli.– from previous experience, the person has learned how to

cope with this need and is motivated toward objects that will satisfy it

• Marketers must determine the factors and situations that trigger consumer problem recognition.

Need Recognition


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• Marketers should research to find out what kinds of needs or problems led consumers to purchase an item, what brought the needs about, and how theyled to this particular product choice.

• Gathering such information, marketers can identify stimuli that most often trigger interest in the product.– and develop marketing programs involving these stimuli,

showing how their product is a solution to a problem

• Marketers must understand the needs of their customers & how the needs are translated into wants.

Need Recognition


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– if consumer drive is strong & a satisfying product nearat hand, the consumer is likely to buy it at that moment

– if not, the consumer may simply store the need in memory and search for relevant information

Information Search


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• An aroused consumer may or may not search for more information.

• How much searching a consumer does depends on…– strength of the drive– amount of initial information– ease of obtaining more information– value placed on additional information

– satisfaction one gets from searching.



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• Consumers obtain information from many sources:– personal & commercial sources, advertising, salespeople,

dealers, packaging, displays, public sources & the Internet

• For hospitality & travel products, personal & public sources of information are more important than ads. – because customers do not know what they are going to

receive until they have received it

• People often ask others for recommendations, so companies have a strong interest in building such word-of-mouth sources. – satisfied customers are repeat buyers, and walking, talking

billboards for your business

Information Search


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– seeking information from respected personal sources (family, friends, peers)

– relying on a firm with a good reputation, guarantees & warranties

– visiting facilities or trying aspects of the service before purchasing, examining tangible cues or other physical evidence

– asking knowledgeable employees about competing services

– using the Internet to compare service offerings

Information Search


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• Since a customer cannot try out an intangible product before purchase, these sources of information as ways can reduce the risk of purchasing a service:



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• A company must design its marketing mix to make prospects aware of and knowledgeable about the features and benefits of its products or brands. – a company must also gather information about competitors

and plan a differentiated appeal

• Marketers should carefully identify consumers’ information sources & the importance of each one.

• There is no simple & single evaluation process used by all consumers or even by one consumer in all buying situations. – there are several evaluation processes

Information Search


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• Certain basic concepts help explain consumer evaluation processes.

• First - we assume each consumer sees a product as a bundle of product attributes. – consumers vary as to which they consider relevant

– most attention is paid to those connected with their needs

• Second - a consumer attaches different degrees of importance to each attribute. – each consumer attaches importance to each attribute

according to his/her unique needs and wants

Evaluation of Alternatives


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• Third - a consumer likely to develops a set of beliefs about where each brand stands on each attribute, known as the brand image. – the effects of selective perception, distortion & retention

• Fourth - a consumer is assumed to have a utility function for each attribute. – how the consumer expects total product satisfaction to

vary with different levels of different attributes

• Fifth - a consumer arrives at attitudes toward the different brands through some evaluation procedure– one or more, depending on consumer & buying decision

Evaluation of Alternatives


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• In the evaluation stage, the consumer ranks brandsin the choice set and forms purchase intentions.

• Generally, the consumer buys the most preferred brand, but two factors can come between the purchase intention and the purchase decision.

Purchase Decision


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Figure 6-4 Steps between evaluation of alternatives and a purchase decision.



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• Attitudes of others - the more intense another’s attitude & the closer that person is to the decision maker, the more influence the other person will have – nowhere better identified than in the case of children

– children do not hide their desires and parents and grandparents are affected intensely

• Unexpected situations - a consumer forms purchase intention based on expected factors like income, price, and expected benefits from the product. – when the consumer is about to act, unexpected situations

may arise to change the purchase intention

Purchase Decision


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• While a customer is in the purchase act, employees must do everything to ensure a good experience. – and the postpurchase evaluation will be favorable

• Following a purchase, the consumer will engage in postpurchase actions of interest to the marketer. – a marketer’s job doesn’t end when the customer buys

• Postpurchase satisfaction or dissatisfaction lies inthe relationship between consumer expectations and perceived product performance.– the larger the gap between expectations & performance,

the greater the consumer’s dissatisfaction

Postpurchase Behavior


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• Almost all major purchases result in cognitive dissonance, a discomfort from postpurchase conflict. – consumers feel uneasy about acquiring drawbacks of

chosen brands & losing benefits of rejected brands

• Consumers often take steps to reduce dissonance.– dissatisfied consumers may return the product and ask

for a refund or exchange– they may initiate a lawsuit or complain to an organization

or group that can help them get satisfaction

• Buyers may also simply stop purchasing the product and discourage purchases by family and friends. – in each of these cases, the seller loses



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• Understanding the consumer’s needs and buying process is the foundation of successful marketing.

• By understanding how buyers proceed through the buyer decision process, marketers can acquiremany clues as to how to better meet buyer needs.

• By understanding the participants in the buying process and major influences on buying behavior, marketers can develop a more effective marketing program.



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• Aspirational group. A group to which a person wishes to belong.

• Attitude. A person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable cognitive evaluations, emotional feelings, and action tendencies toward someobject or idea.

• Belief. A descriptive thought that a person holds about something.

• Brand image. The set of beliefs consumers hold about a particular brand.

KEY TERMS

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• Cognitive dissonance. Buyer discomfort caused by postpurchase conflict.

• Culture. The set of basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions.

• Family life cycle. The stages through which families might pass as they mature.

• Group. Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals.

KEY TERMS

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• Learning. Changes in a person’s behavior arising from experience.

• Lifestyle. A person’s pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions.

• Membership groups. Groups that have a direct influence on a person’s behavior and to which a person belongs.

• Motive (or drive). Need that is sufficiently pressing to direct a person to seek satisfaction of that need.

KEY TERMS

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• Opinion leaders. People within a reference group who, because of special skills, knowledge, personality, or other characteristics, exert influence on others.

• Personality. A person’s distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to his or her environment.

• Reference groups. Groups that have a direct (face-to-face) or indirect influence on a person’s attitude or behavior.

KEY TERMS

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• Role. The activities that a person is expected to perform according to the persons around him or her.

• Self-concept. Self-image, the complex mental pictures people have of themselves.

• Social classes. Relatively permanent and order divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors.

• Subculture. A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations.

KEY TERMS

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• Choose a hospitality or travel organization. You are in charge of designing a consumer advertisement for that organization. – how would you determine the message of the

advertisement?

• Ask several people about how they would choose a hotel in a city they have never visited, a restaurantfor a special occasion, or a place to vacation.– what did you learn about the buyer decision

processfrom these discussions?

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES

Try One !

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Support for this exercise can be found on the Web site for Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, www.prenhall.com/kotler

INTERNET EXERCISES

Try This !

• Go to the VALS (Values & Lifestyles Program) and Cohorts sites. Is this lifestyle information more help in explaining consumer behavior than demographics?– explain why or why not

• Take the VALS survey:• http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/presurvey.shtml • Do you think the survey accurately described you?

– why or why not?

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Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior

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Transcript of Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior