This is a summary for the exam of marketing communication (part B), which is a specialization in the master persuasive communication. It has all the articles you need to read and the chapters of the Belch & Belch book.
Marketing Communication Exam
Week 4
Belch & Belch chapter 4
Consumer behavior can be defined as the process and activities people engage in when
searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services
to satisfy their needs and desires.
● Purchase decisions are the result of a long, detailed process that may include an
extensive information search, brand comparisons evaluations
● Other purchase decisions are more incidental and may result from little more than
seeing a product prominently displayed at a discount price at a story
The stages in the Consumer Decision-Making Process:
1. Problem recognition:
○ Occurs when the consumer perceives a need and becomes motivated to solve
the problem
○ A discrepancy exists between what the consumer wants the situation to be like
and what the situation is really like
Sources of problem recognition:
● Out of stock: when consumers use their existing supply of a product and must
replenish their stock.
● Dissatisfaction: created by the consumer’s dissatisfaction with the current state of
affairs and / or the product or service being used
● New needs / wants: changes in consumers’ lives often result in new needs and wants.
Some products or services are not essential, but are nonetheless desired
● Related products / purchases: needing a product for you product, think of needing a
new charger for your Iphone
● Marketer induced: marketers’ actions that encourage consumers not to be content
with their current state of situation.
● New product: when innovative products are introduced and brought to the attention
of consumers.
The relevant internal psychological process is ‘motivation’
● The factor that compel a consumer to take a particular action
, ● The hierarchy of needs → one of the most popular
approaches to understanding consumer
motivations is based on this classic theory. The 5
needs are:
1. Physiological: the basic level of primary
needs for things required to sustain life, such
as food, cloths
2. Safety: need for security and safety from
physical harm
3. Social love / belonging: the desire to have
satisfying relationship with others and feel a sense of love, affection and
acceptance
4. Esteem: the need to feel a sense of accomplishment and gain recognition,
status and respect from others
5. Self-actualization: the need for self-fulfillment and a desire to realize one’s
own potential
● Psychoanalytic theory → Consumers’ motivation for purchasing are often very
complex and unclear to the casual observer and to consumers themselves.
○ Marketing motivation researchers use a variety of methodologies to gain
insight into the underlying causes of consumer behavior.
○ Psychoanalytic theory has been criticized as being too vague, unresponsive to
the external environment, and too reliant on the early development of the
individual. It also uses a small sample for drawing conclusions.
2. Search for information
○ Once consumers perceive a problem or need that can be satisfied by the
purchase of a product or service, they begin to search for information needed
to make a purchase decision.
○ Internal search: an attempt to scan information stored in memory of recall
past experiences and / or knowledge regarding various purchase alternatives
○ External search: internet sources, such as organic and sponsored information
available, personal sources, marketer-controlled sources, public sources and
personal experience.
The relevant internal psychological process is ‘perception’
● Knowledge of how consumers acquire and use information from external sources
is important to marketers in formulating communication strategies → (1) how
consumers sense external information, (2) how they select and attend to various
sources of information and (3) how this information is interpreted and given
meaning
● Individual process: depends on internal factors and characteristics of a stimulus (size,
color and intensity)
, ● Sensation: the immediate, direct response of the senses to a stimulus such as an ad,
package, brand name
● Perception may be viewed as a filtering process in which internal and external factors
influence what is received and how it is processes and interpreted
Selective perception occurs as consumers choose whether or not to make themselves
available to information
● Selective attention occurs when the consumer chooses to focus attention on certain
stimuli while excluding others
● Advertisers often use the creative aspects of their ads to gain consumers’ attention
● Consumers may engage in selective comprehension, interpreting information on the
basis of their own attitudes, beliefs, motives and experiences
○ Mnemonics, such as symbols, rhymes, associations and images that assist in
the learning and memory are helpful → telephone numbers for companies
that are easy to remember
● Subliminal perception: refers to the ability to perceive a stimulus that is below the
level of conscious awareness
○ It is possible to perceive things without being consciously aware of them
3. Alternative Evaluation
○ The consumers compares the various brands or products and services he or she
has identified as being capable of solving the consumption problem and
satisfying the needs or motives that initiated the decision process
○ The various brands identified as purchase options to be considered during the
alternative evaluation process are referred to as to consumer’s evoked set
■ The evoked set is generally only a subset of all the brands of which the
consumer is aware
■ The consumers reduces the number of brands to be reviewed during
the alternative evaluation stage to a manageable level
■ The exact size of the evoked set varies from one consumer to another
and depends on factors as the importance of purchase and the amount
of time and energy
○ Once consumers have identified an evoked set and have a list of alternative,
the must evaluate the various brands
○ The dimensions or attributes of a product or service that are used to
compare to alternatives → evaluative criteria and consequences
○ Functional consequences: are concrete outcomes of product or service usage
that are tangible and directly experienced by consumers
○ Psychosocial consequences are abstract outcomes that are more intangible,
subjective and personal, such as how a product makes you feel
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