Lecture Unit 9: Pre-purchase, purchase and post-ppurchase proces (1/3)

Question 1

What is the pre-purchase process?

Answer 1

• Problem or need recognition
  (C recognizes what the problem or need is, and subsequently what product would be able to meet this need
• Information search: here the C searches for internal or external information
• Evaluation of alternatives: here the C evaluates all products available on a scale of particular attributes

Question 2

What does the “need recognition process center about”?

Answer 2

centers on the degree of discrepancy between the actual state and desired state

Question 3

Why should marketers focus on the need recognition proces in consumers?

Answer 3

• Understanding need recognition may identify a segment with unsatisfied desires
• Unsatisfied needs help identify new business and product opportunities for the future
• Analyzing need recognition can reveal existing barriers

Question 4

How can companies activate need recognitiion?

Answer 4

• Change consumers’ desired state with new products or innovations
• Influence how consumers perceive their current state
• Remind consumers of a need

Question 5

How companies activiate need recognition: What is generic and selective need recognition?

Answer 5

Generic need recognition occurs when companies seek to grow the size of the total market for a product category

Selective need recognition is the result of stimulating the need for a specific brand within a category

Question 6

Why is need or problem recognition one of the first crucial steps in the process?

Answer 6

• If a consumer does not perceive a problem or need,
• he generally will not move forward with considering a product purchase

Question 7

How can a need be triggered?

Answer 7

• Need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli
• Internal stimuli refers to a personal perception experienced by the consumer, such as hunger or thirst

Question 8

What is meant with information seach?

Answer 8

the motivated acquisition of knowledge stored in memory or acquisition of information from the environment

• either internal or external search

Question 9

What is internal or external search? (Information seearch)

Answer 9

Internal search
- involves scanning and retrieving decision-relevant knowledge stored in memory

External search
- involves collecting information from the environment: Ads, magazines, Internet, friends and family members.

Question 10

What are the determinants of internal search?

Answer 10

• Existing knowledge
• Confidence in existing knowledge
• Satisfaction with prior purchases
• Ability to retrieve stored knowledge

Question 11

When do we call external search pre-purchase search ?

Answer 11

when motivated by an upcoming purchase decision

Question 12

What is ongoing search?

Answer 12

• When information acquisition takes place on a relatively regular basis
• regardless of sporadic purchase needs, it is known as ongoing search

Question 13

When can external search occur?

Answer 13

External search can occur:

• To make better consumption choices
• To create a knowledge base for future decisions
• Simply for enjoymen

Question 14

What is the external search set?

Answer 14

= are Choice alternatives that consumers gather information about during pre-purchase search

Question 15

On what does the extend of the external search set of a consumer depend upon?

Answer 15

• Depending on the consumer’s experience and
• the importance of the decision, a considerable amount of effort may be invested into identifying search set members
• Consumers must also decide what they wish to learn about each of the set members

Question 16

What are the different informational sources available?

Answer 16

Personal:
- In-store: Sales personnel, other shoppers
- Out of store: Family, friends, coworkers, experts,

Impersonal:
- In Store: product labels, store signage, point of purchase materials (display, advertising circulars)
- Out of store: magazines, webstives, television and radio shows

Question 17

What is the more preffered informational source for consumers?

Answer 17

are more likely to rely upon the opinions of other individuals than information sources with vested interests in their decisions

Question 18

What are opinion leaders or influentials?

Answer 18

Other consumers respected for their expertise in a particular product category are referred to as opinion leaders or influentials

Question 19

How much do consumers search:
What is the cost vs. benefit perspective?

Answer 19

• People search for decision-relevant information
• when perceived benefits of the new information are greater than perceived costs of acquiring the information(time/effort spent searching)

Question 20

How much do consumers search.
What is meant with the perceived rissk onf consumers search?

Answer 20

= represents consumers’ uncertainty about the potential positive and negative consequences of the purchase decision

• making better decision is the primary benefit, this depends on the perceived risk

Question 21

How can companies benefit from understanding the information search?

Answer 21

• Adjusting the breadth of a product line based on consumers’ willingness to search
• Monitoring consumers’ price comparison activities to gauge their price sensitivity
• Focus promotions on sources that consumers search most, including individuals that provide information
• Monitor search activities to identify new ways to reach and gain customers

Question 22

What happens during the information search?

Answer 22

• option available to the consumer are identified or further clarified

Question 23

What is the pre-purchase evaluation?

Answer 23

• The evaluation of choice alternatives
• Intertwined with the search proces

Question 24

What is the considerations set?

Answer 24

alternatives considered during decision making (also known as the evoked set)

Question 25

How can companies get into a consumers consideration set?

Answer 25

- **Ask to be in the set** - **Offer incentives** - **Modify product offering**

Question 26

**Forming the consideration set:** How does the **construction of the consideration set** from **memory** work? / What is the **retrieval set**?

Answer 26

**Retrieval set:** consideration **set that depends** on **recall of alternatives from memory** - Not **all** alternatives **retrieved** from **memory will be considered** - Consumers **limit** their **consideration to those alternatives** toward which they are **favorably** predisposed

Question 27

**Forming the consideration set:** How does the **construction of the consideration set** work **without prior knowledg**e?

Answer 27

- Consumers **may talk to others** or **consider all brands** in the store - **External** factors have **greater oportunity to affect consideration sets** with **less knowledgeable** consumers than **when search is from memory** - **Recognition** of **brands or products** at the **point of sale i**s **important** to get into consumers´ **consideration sets**

Question 28

**How do consumers** decide on **how to evaluate choice alternatives?** what are the **two experiences?**

Answer 28

= rely on **preexisting product** evaluations stored in **memory** - **Direct** experience: **prior purchase or consumption experience** with a product - **Indirect** experience: **experience or impressions gained second-hand** -->Construct **new evaluations** based on **information acquired through internal or external** search

Question 29

**Constructing new evaluations** What is the **categorization process?**

Answer 29

= the **evaluation** of a **choice alternative** based on the **evaluation of the category** to which it is assigned

Question 30

**Characteristics of the categorization process?**

Answer 30

- Categories may be **general** (drinks) or **specific (colas)** - **Evaluation of a category** can be **transferred** to a **new** product assigned to that category - **Brand extensions** allow firms to **use categorization to their advantage**

Question 31

What is the **piecemeal process**?

Answer 31

= **constructing an evaluation** of a **choice alternative** by considering its **advantages** and **disadvantages** along important product dimensions

Question 32

What are the steps in the **piecemeal process?**

Answer 32

- **Determine** the particular **criteria or product dimensions** to be **used in the evaluation** - **Evaluate** each **considered alternative based** on the **identified criteria** - **Cutoff**: **restriction or requirement** for **acceptable performance** - **Signals**: product **attributes** used to **infer other product attributes** (e.g., using high price to infer higher quality)