consumer behavior chapter 11

11-1 Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Chapter 11 Organizational and Household

Decision Making

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, 9e Michael R. Solomon


Chapter Objectives

When you finish this chapter, you should understand why:

• Marketers often need to understand consumers’ behavior rather than consumer behavior, since in many cases more than one person decides what to buy.

• Companies as well as individuals make purchase decisions.


Chapter Objectives (continued)

• Our traditional notions about families are outdated.

• Many important demographic dimensions of a population relate to family and household structure.

• Members of a family unit play different roles and have different amounts of influence when the family makes purchase decisions.

• Children learn over time what and how to consume.


Organizational Decision Making

• Organizational buyers: purchase goods and services on behalf of companies for use in the process of manufacturing, distribution, or resale.

• Business-to-business (B2B) marketers: specialize in meeting needs of organizations such as corporations, government agencies, hospitals, and retailers.


Roles In Collective Decision Making

Initiator

Gatekeeper

Influencer

Buyer

User


Discussion

Assume that you are a sales representative for a large company that markets gauze bandages for use in hospitals.

• List all the people (by position, such as doctors or nurses) that may be involved in the decision making.

• Try to match all the people to their possible decision roles as outlined on the previous slide.


Compared to Consumer Decision Making, Organizational Decision Making…

• Involves many people • Requires precise, technical specifications • Is based on past experience and careful

weighing of alternatives • May require risky decisions • Involves substantial dollar volume • Places more emphasis on personal selling


What Influences Organizational Buyers?

• Internal stimuli • External stimuli • Cultural factors • Type of purchase


Table 11.1 Types of Organizational Buying Decisions

• Buyclass theory: organizational buying decisions divided into three types, ranging from most to least complex:

Buying Situation Extent of Effort Risk Buyers Involved

Straight rebuy Habitual decision making

Low Automatic reorder

Modified rebuy Limited problem solving

Low to moderate One or a few

New task Extensive problem solving

High Many


Crowd Power in Organizations

• Prediction market: groups of people with knowledge about an industry are jointly better predictors of the future than are any individuals

• Two ways to approach predictions: • Employees collectively select factors for

product success • Knowledgeable “outsiders” (industry

experts, consumers) predict success


The Modern Family

• Changes in family structure • Changes in concept of household (any

occupied housing unit)


Discussion

• In identifying and targeting newly divorced couples, do you think marketers are exploiting these couples’ situations?

• Are there instances in which you think marketers may actually be helpful to them?

• Support your answers with examples.


Family Size

• Depends on educational level, availability of birth control, and religion

• Women want smaller families • The rate of voluntary childlessness is rising,

making DINKs a valuable market segment


Sandwich Generation • Sandwich generation:

adults who care for their parents as well as their own children

• Boomerang kids: adult children who return to live with their parents • Spend less on

household items and more on entertainment


Nonhuman Family Members • Pets are treated like family members • Spending on pets has doubled in the last

decade • Pet-smart marketing strategies:

• Name-brand pet products • Designer water for dogs • Lavish kennel clubs, pet classes/clothiers • Pet accessories in cars


Family Life Cycle

• Factors that determine how couples spend money: • Whether they have children • Whether the woman works

• Family life cycle (FLC) concept combines trends in income and family composition with change in demands placed on income


Variables Affecting FLC

Age

Marital Status

Children in the Home

Ages of Children in the Home


Household Decisions

Families make two types of decisions: • Consensual purchase decision: members

agree on the desired purchase, differing only in terms of how it will be achieved

• Accommodative purchase decision: members have different preferences or priorities and they cannot agree on a purchase to satisfy the minimum expectations of all involved


Resolving Decision Conflicts in Families

• Interpersonal need • Product involvement

and utility • Responsibility • Power


Who Makes Key Decisions in the Family?

• Autonomic decision: one family member chooses a product

• Syncretic decision: involve both partners • Used for cars, vacations, homes,

appliances, furniture, home electronics, interior design, phone service

• As education increases, so does syncretic decision making

• Who plays the role of family financial officer?


Factors Affecting Decision-Making Patterns Among Couples

Sex-role stereotypes

Spousal Resources

Experience

Socioeconomic Status


Heuristics in Joint Decision Making

• Synoptic ideal: the couple takes a common view and act as joint decision makers

• Heuristics simplify decision making: • Salient, objective dimensions • Task specialization • Concessions based on intensity of each

spouse’s preferences


Children as Decision Makers

Children make up three distinct markets: • Primary market: kids spend their own money • Influence market: parents buy what their kids

tell them to buy (parental yielding) • Future market: kids “grow up” quickly and

purchase items that normally adults purchase (e.g., photographic equipment, cell phones)


Consumer Socialization

• Consumer socialization: process by which young people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes relevant to their functioning in the marketplace

• Children’s purchasing behavior is influenced by • Parents, family, and teachers • Television and toys • Culture


Figure 11.2 Five Stages of Consumer Development


Parental Styles for Socializing Children

Authoritarian

Neglecting

Indulgent


Cognitive Development

• Limited: Below age 6, children do not use storage and retrieval strategies

• Cued: Between ages 6 and 11, children use these strategies, but only when prompted

• Strategic: Children ages 11 and older spontaneously employ storage and retrieval strategies


Marketing Research and Children

• Difficulty assessing children’s preferences/influences on spending patterns because kids tend to

• Be undependable reporters of own behavior • Have poor recall • Not understand abstract questions

• Researchers do study kids for • Product testing • Advertising message comprehension


Discussion

• Do you think market research should be performed with children? Why or why not?


Figure 11.3 Sketches Used to Measure Children’s Perception of Commercials


Chapter Summary

• The purchase decisions made by many may differ from those made by individuals.

• Buying for one’s self is different than buying for one’s company.

• Our traditional notions of family are outdated.

• Family members play different roles and varying levels of influence.

• Children learn over time how to consume.

consumer behavior chapter 11

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