processes a consumer uses to make a purchase decisions, as well as to use and dispose of purchased goods or services; also includes factors that influence purchase decisions and product use
consumer behavior
a five-step process used by consumers when buying goods or services
consumer decision-making process
result of an imbalance when buying goods or services
need recognition
recognition of an unfulfilled need and a product that will satisfy it
want
any unit of input affecting one or more of the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing
stimulus
the process of recalling past information stored in the memory
internal information search
the process of seeking information in the outside environment
external information search
a product information source that is not associated with advertising or promotion
nonmarketing-controlled information source
a product information source that originates with marketers promoting the product
marketing-controlled information source
a group of brands resulting from an information search from which a buyer can choose
evoked set (consideration set)
inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions
cognitive dissonance
the amount of time and effort a buyer invests in the search, evaluation, and decision processes of consumer behavior
involvement
the type of decision making exhibited by consumers buying frequently purchased, low-cost goods and services, requires little search and decision time
routine response behavior
the type of decision making that requires a moderate amount of time for gathering information and deliberating about an unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category
limited decision making
the most complex type of consumer decision making, used when buying an unfamiliar, expensive product or an infrequently bought item; requires use of several criteria for evaluating options and much time for seeking information
extensive decision making
the practice of examining merchandise in a physical retail location without purchasing it, and then shopping online for a better deal on the same
showrooming
the set of values, norms, attitudes, and other meaningful symbols that shape human behavior and the artifacts, or products, of that behavior as they are transmitted from one generation to the next
culture
the enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to another mode of conduct
value
a homogeneous group of people who share elements of the overall culture as well as unique elements of their own group
subculture
a group of people in a society who are considered nearly equal in status or community esteem, who regularly socialize among themselves both formally and informally, and who share behavioral norms
social class
all of the formal and informal groups in society that influence an individual’s purchasing behavior
reference group
a reference group with which people interact regularly in an informal, face-to-face manner, such as family, friends, and coworkers
primary membership group
a reference group with which people associate less consistently and more formally than a primary membership group, such as a club, professional group, or religious group
secondary membership group
a group that someone would like to join
aspirational reference group
a value or attitude deemed acceptable by a group
norm
a group with which an individual does not want to associate
nonaspirational reference group
an individual who influences the opinions of others
opinion leader
how cultural values and norms are passed down to children
socialization process
a way of organizing and grouping the consistencies of an individual’s reactions to situations
personality
how consumers perceive themselves in terms of attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and self-evaluations
self-concept
the way an individual would like to be perceived
ideal self-image
the way an individual actually perceives himself or herself
real self-image
the process by which people select, organize, and interpret stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture
perception
the process whereby a consumer notices certain stimuli and ignores others
selective exposure
a process whereby a consumer changes or distorts information that conflicts with his or her feelings or beliefs
selective distortion
a process whereby a consumer remembers only that information that supports his or her personal beliefs
selective retention
a driving force that causes a person to take action to satisfy specific needs
motive
a method of classifying human needs and motivations into five categories in ascending order of importance: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization
maslow’s hierarchy of needs
a process that creates changes in behavior, immediate or expected, through experience and pratice
learning
a form of learning that occurs when one response is extended to a second stimulus similar to the first
stimulus generalization
a learned ability to differentiate among similar products
stimulus discrimination
an organized pattern of knowledge that an individual holds as true about his or her world
belief
a learned tendency to respond consistently toward a given object
attitude
goods, such as portable tools and office equipment, that are less expensive and shorter-lived than major equipment
accessory equipment
the marketing of goods and services to individuals and organizations for purposes other than personal consumption
business marketing (industrial marketing)
expense items that do not become part of a final product
business services
the use of the Internet to facilitate the exchange of goods, services, and information between organizations
business-to-business electronic commerce (B-to-B or B2B e-commerce)
an electronic trading floor that provides companies with integrated links to their customers and suppliers
business-to-business online exchange
all those people in an organization who become involved in the purchase decision
buying center
either finished items ready for assembly or products that need very little processing before becoming part of some other product
component parts
the demand for business products
derived demand
the elimination of intermediaries such as wholesalers or distributers from a marketing channel
disintermediation
the demand for two or more items used together in a final product
joint demand
a network of interlocking corporate affiliates
keiretsu
capital goods such as large or expensive machines, mainframe computers, blast furnaces, generators, airplanes, and buildings
major equipment (installations)
a situation in which the purchaser wants some change in the original good or service
modified rebuy
phenomenon in which a small increase or decrease in consumer demand can produce a much larger change in demand for the facilities and equipment needed to make the consumer product
multiplier effect (accelerator principle)
a situation requiring the purchase of a product for the first time
new buy
a detailed numbering system developed by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to classify North American business establishments by their main production processes
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
individuals and organizations that buy business goods and incorporate them into the products they produce for eventual sale to other producers or to consumers
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
products used directly in manufacturing other products
processed materials
unprocessed extractive or agricultural products, such as mineral ore, lumber, wheat, corn, fruits, vegetables, and fish
raw materials
a practice whereby business purchasers choose to buy from their own customers
reciprocity
the reintroduction of an intermediary between producers and users
reintermediation
a firm’s belief that an ongoing relationship with another firm is so important that the relationship warrants maximum efforts at maintaining it indefinitely
relationship commitment
a measure of a Web site’s effectiveness; calculated by multiplying the frequency of visits by the duration of a visit by the number of pages viewed during each visit (site reach)
stickiness
a situation in which the purchaser reorders the same goods or services without looking for new information or investigating other suppliers
straight rebuy
a cooperative agreement between business firms
strategic alliance (strategic partnership)
consumable items that do not become part of the final product
supplies
the condition that exists when one party has confidence in an exchange partner’s reliability and integrity
trust
a principle holding that 20 percent of all customers generate 80 percent of the demand
80/20 principle
the process of grouping customers into market segments according to the benefits they seek from the product
benefit segmentation
a situation that occurs when sales of a new product cut into sales of a firm’s existing products
cannibalization
a strategy used to select one segment of a market for targeting marketing efforts
concentrated targeting strategy
segmenting markets by age, gender, income, ethnic background, and family life cycle
demographic segmentation
a series of stages determined by a combination of age, marital status, and the presence or absence of children
family life cycle (FLC)
segmenting potential customers into neighborhood lifestyle categories
geodemographic segmentation
segmenting markets by region of a country or the world, market size, market density, or climate
geographic segmentation
people or organizations with needs or wants and the ability and willingness to buy
market
a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs
market segment
the process of dividing a market into meaningful, relatively similar, and identifiable segments or groups
market segmentation
a strategy that chooses two or more well-defined market segments and develops a distinct marketing mix for each
multisegment targeting strategy
one segment of a market
niche
business customers who consider numerous suppliers (both familiar and unfamiliar), solicit bids, and study all proposals carefully before selecting one
optimizers
a means of displaying or graphing, in two or more dimensions, the location of products, brands, or groups of products in customers’ minds
perceptual mapping
the place a product, brand, or group of products occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing offerings
position
developing a specific marketing mix to influence potential customers’ overall perception of a brand, product line, or organization in general
positioning
a positioning strategy that some firms use to distinguish their products from those of competitors
product differentiation
segmenting markets on the basis of personality, motives, lifestyles, and geodemographics
psychographic segmentation
changing consumers’ perceptions of a brand in relation to competing brands
repositioning
business customers who place an order with the first familiar supplier to satisfy product and delivery requirements
satisficers
characteristics of individuals, groups, or organizations
segmentation bases (variables)
a group of people or organizations for which an organization designs, implements, and maintains a marketing mix intended to meet the needs of that group, resulting in mutually satisfying exchanges
target market
a marketing approach that views the market as one big market with no individual segments and thus uses a single marketing mix
undifferentiated targeting strategy
dividing a market by the amount of product bought or consumed
usage-rate segmentation
a scanner-based research program that tracks the purchases of 3,000 households through store scanners in each research market
BehaviorScan
a specially designed phone room used to conduct telephone interviewing
central-location telephone (CLT) facility
an interview question that asks the respondent to make a selection from a limited list of responses
closed-ended question
an intelligence system that helps managers assess their competition and vendors in order to become more efficient and effective competitors
competitive intelligence (CI)
an interviewing method in which the interviewer reads questions from a computer screen and enters the respondent’s data directly into the computer
computer-assisted personal interviewing
an interviewing method in which a mall interviewer intercepts and directs willing respondents to nearby computers where each respondent reads questions off a computer screen and directly keys his or her answers into a computer
computer-assisted self-interviewing
media that consumers generate and share among themselves
consumer-generated media (CGM)
a method of analyzing data that lets the analyst look at the responses to one question in relation to the responses to one or more other questions
cross-tabulation
the creation of a large computerized file of customers’ and potential customers’ profiles and purchase patterns
database marketing
an interactive, flexible, computerized information system that enables managers to obtain and manipulate information as they are making decisions
decision support system (DSS)
the study of human behavior in its natural context; involves observation of behavior and physical setting
ethnographic research
a type of survey that involves interviewing businesspeople at their offices concerning industrial products or services
executive interview
a method of gathering primary data in which the researcher alters one or more variables while observing the effects of those alterations on another variable
experiment
a firm that specializes in interviewing respondents on a subcontracted basis
field service firm
seven to ten people who participate in a group discussion led by a moderator
focus group
a scanner-based sales-tracking service for the consumer packaged-goods industry
InfoScan
a survey research method that involves interviewing people in the common areas of shopping malls
mall intercept interview
a broad-based problem that uses marketing research in order for managers to take proper actions
management decision problem
everyday information about developments in the marketing environment that managers use to prepare and adjust marketing plans
marketing information
the process of planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision
marketing research
a company that acquires, catalogs, reformats, segments, and resells reports already published by marketing research firms
marketing research aggregator
the specific information needed to solve a marketing research problem; the objective should be to provide insightful decision-making information
marketing research objective
determining what information is needed and how that information can be obtained efficiently and effectively
marketing research problem
researchers posing as customers who gather observational data about a store
mystery shoppers
a research method that relies on four types of observation: people watching people, people watching an activity, machines watching people, and machines watching an activity
observation research
an interview question that encourages an answer phrased in the respondent’s own words
open-ended question`
information that is collected for the first time; used for solving the particular problem under investigation
primary data
specifies which research questions must be answered, how and when the data will be gathered, and how the data will be analyzed
research design
a closed-ended question designed to measure the intensity of a respondent’s answer
scaled-response question
a system for gathering information from a single group of respondents by continuously monitoring the advertising, promotion, and pricing they are exposed to and the things they buy
scanner-based research
data previously collected for any purpose other than the one at hand
secondary data
the most popular technique for gathering primary data, in which a researcher interacts with people to obtain facts, opinions, and attitudes
survey research
a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller’s products and differentiates them from competitors’ products
brand
the value of company and brand names
brand equity
consistent preference for one brand over all others
brand loyalty
the elements of a brand that cannot be spoken
brand mark
that part of a brand that can be spoken, including letters, words, and numbers
brand name
a product used to manufacture other goods or services, to facilitate an organization’s operations, or to resell to other customers
business product (industrial product)
a brand manufactured by a third party for an exclusive retailer, without evidence of that retailer’s affiliation
captive brand
placing two or more brand names on a product or its package
co-branding
a product bought to satisfy an individual’s personal wants
consumer product
a relatively inexpensive item that merits little shopping effort
convenience product
a written guarantee
express warranty
marketing several different products under the same brand name
family branding
a brand that obtains at least a third of its earnings from outside its home country, is recognizable outside its home base of customers, and has publicly available marketing and financial data
global brand
an unwritten guarantee that the good or service is fit for the purpose for which it was sold
implied warranty
using different brand names for different products
individual branding
a type of package labeling designed to help consumers make proper product selections and lower their cognitive dissonance after the purchase
informational labeling
the brand name of a manufacturer
manufacturer’s brand
a type of package labeling that focuses on a promotional theme or logo, and consumer information is secondary
persuasive labeling
the practice of modifying products so those that have already been sold become obsolete before they actually need replacement
planned obsolescence
a brand name owned by a wholesaler or a retailer
private brand
everything, both favorable and unfavorable, that a person receives in an exchange
product
a specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering among an organization’s products
product item
a group of closely related product items
product line
the number of product items in a product line
product line depth
adding additional products to an existing product line in order to compete more broadly in the industry
product line extension
all products that an organization sells
product mix
the number of product lines an organization offers
product mix width
changing one or more of a product’s characteristics
product modification
a trademark for a service
service mark
a product that requires comparison shopping because it is usually more expensive than a convenience product and is found in fewer stores
shopping product
a particular item for which consumers search extensively and are very reluctant to accept substitutes
specialty product
the exclusive right to use a brand or part of a brand
trademark
a series of thick and thin vertical lines (bar codes), readable by computerized optical scanners, that represent numbers used to track products
universal product codes (UPCs)
a product unknown to the potential buyer or a known product that the buyer does not actively seek
unsought product
a confirmation of the quality or performance of a good or service
warranty
