Stages in Consumption Process

CHAPTER 1

AN INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER SUMMARY

As students will soon see, the field of consumer behavior covers a lot of ground. The formal definition used in the text is “the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.”

Consumers can be seen as actors on the marketplace stage. As in a play, each consumer has lines, props, and costumes that are necessary to put in a good performance. The roles that consumers perform are among the most important elements to be studied in consumer behavior. Consumer is also an economic process where exchanges take place. These exchanges involve many players. The decisions made by the consumer and these other players are critical to the exchange being carried out successfully to the benefit of all concerned parties.

Market segmentation is an important aspect of consumer behavior. Consumers can be segmented along many dimensions, including demographics (the objective aspects of a population, such as age and sex), and psychographics (psychological and lifestyle characteristics). One of the important reasons for segmenting markets is to be able to build lasting relationships (relationship marketing) with the customers. Marketers are currently implementing many practices that seek to aid in forming a lasting bond with the often fickle consumer.

For better or for worse, we all live in a world that is significantly influenced by the actions of marketers. Much of what we learn is filtered by marketers. Therefore, consumer behavior is affected by the actions of marketers. Culture and domestic and global consumption practices will be examined in this chapter with an eye toward the role of the marketer.

The field of consumer behavior and its application is not without its critics. Ethical practices toward the consumer are often difficult to achieve. “Do marketers manipulate...