Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having,

and Being
Twelfth Edition

Chapter 9
Decision Making

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Learning Objectives (1 of 3)
9.1 The three categories of consumer decision-making are
cognitive, habitual, and affective.
9.2 A cognitive purchase decision is the outcome of a series
of stages that results in the selection of one product over
competing options.
9.3 The way information about a product choice is framed
can prime a decision even when the consumer is
unaware of this influence.
9.4 We often fall back on well-learned “rules-of-thumb” to
make decisions.

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Learning Objectives (2 of 3)
9.5 Marketers often need to understand consumers’ behavior
rather than a consumer’s behavior.
9.6 The decision-making process differs when people
choose what to buy on behalf of an organization rather
than for personal use.
9.7 Members of a family unit play different roles and have
different amounts of influence when the family makes
purchase decisions.

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Learning Objective 9.1
The three categories of consumer decision-making are
cognitive, habitual, and affective.

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Figure 9.1 Three Types of Decision-
Making
Figure 9.2 Stages in Consumer Decision Making

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Problem?
• Consumer hyperchoice
• Constructive processing
• Mental budget

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Self-Regulation
• Implementation intentions
• Counteractive construal
• Feedback loop
• Morning Morality Effect
• Executive control center

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For Reflection (1 of 6)
• Provide an example when the feedback loop was used on
you.

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Learning Objective 9.2
A cognitive purchase decision is the outcome of a series of
stages that results in the selection of one product over
competing options.

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Steps in the Decision-Making Process
• Problem recognition
• Information search
• Evaluation of alternatives
• Product choice

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Consumer Decision Making
Figure 9.2 Stages in Consumer Decision Making

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Stage 1: Problem Recognition
• Occurs when consumer sees difference between current
state and ideal state
– Need recognition: Actual state declines
– Opportunity recognition: Ideal state moves upward

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Stage 2: Information Search
The process by which we survey the environment for
appropriate data to make a reasonable decision.
• Prepurchase or ongoing search
• Internal or external search
• Online search and cybermediaries

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Figure 9.3 Problem Recognition
Figure 9.3 Problem Recognition: Shifts in Actual or Ideal States Does

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Figure 9.4 Amount of Information
Search and Product Knowledge
Figure 9.4 The Relationship Between Amount of Information Search and Product Knowledge

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Step 3: Alternatives
• Evoked Set
– Consideration Set
– Inert Set
– Inept Set
• Unknown Brands

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For Reflection (2 of 6)
• Is it a problem that consumers have too many choices?
Would it be better to have less choices? How does it affect
consumer decision-making?

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Learning Objective 9.3
The way information about a product choice is framed can
prime a decision even when the consumer is unaware of this
influence.

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Product Choice
Step 4: Product choice
• Feature creep
Step 5: Postpurchase evaluation
• Neuromarketing

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Online Decision Making
• Cybermediary
• Intelligent agents
• Search engines
• Search engine
optimization
• Long tail

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Strategic Implementation of Product
Categories
• Position a product
• Identify competitors
• Create an exemplar product
• Locate products in a store

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Figure 9.5 Levels of Categorization

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Evaluative Criteria
Table 9.1 Hypothetical Alternatives for a TV Set

Brand Ratings Blank Blank Blank Blank

Attribute Importance Ranking Prime Wave Precision Kamashita
Size of screen 1 Excellent Excellent Excellent
Stereo broadcast 2 Poor Excellent Good
capability
Brand reputation 3 Excellent Excellent Poor
Onscreen 4 Excellent Poor Poor
programming
Cable-ready 5 Good Good Good
capability
Sleep timer 6 Excellent Poor Good

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Compensatory Rule
• Simple additive rule leads to the option with the largest
number of positive attributes
• Weighted additive rule allows consumer to take in to
account the relative importance by weighting.

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Affect Referral Rule
• “Overall” impression

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Noncompensatory Decision Rules
• Lexicographic rule: consumers select the brand that is the
best on the most important attribute
• Elimination-by-aspects rule: must have a specific feature to
be chosen
• Conjunctive rule: eliminates products with any bad features
• Disjunctive rule: accepts products that excel in one area

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For Reflection (3 of 6)
• Think of some of the common country of origin effects
(e.g., watches, wine). Which ones affect your consumer
choices? What could brands from other countries do to
compete such effects?

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Learning Objective 9.4
We often rely on rules-of-thumb to make routine decisions.

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Biases in Decision-Making Process
• Mental accounting: framing a problem in terms of
gains/losses influences our decisions
• Sunk-cost fallacy: We are reluctant to waste something we
have paid for
• Loss aversion: We emphasize losses more than gains
• Prospect theory: risk differs when we face gains versus
losses

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Heuristics
• We often use a “rule of thumb” to simplify our decisions
– Covariation
– Country of Origin
– Familiar Brand Names
– Higher Prices

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For Reflection (4 of 6)
• When have you made a high involvement decision on the
basis of affect?
• Were you in a maximizing mode or satisficing mode?

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Learning Objective 9.5
Marketers often need to understand consumers’ behavior
rather than a consumer’s behavior.

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Roles In Collective Decision Making
• Initiator
• Gatekeeper
• Influencer
• Buyer
• User

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Learning Objective 9.6
The decision-making process differs when people choose
what to buy on behalf of an organization rather than for
personal use.

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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.

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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

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What Influences Organizational Buyers?
The buyclass theory of purchasing divides organizational
buying decisions into 3 types:
• Level of information required
• Seriousness of decision
• Familiarity with purchase

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Buying Decisions
Buyclass theory: organizational buying decisions divided into
three types, ranging from most to least complex.
Table 9.3 Types of Organizational Buying Decisions

Buying Situation Extent of Effort Risk Buyer’s Involvement

Straight rebuy Habitual Low Automatic reorder
decision-making
Modified rebuy Limited problem Low to moderate One or a few
solving
New task Extensive problem High Many
solving

Source: Adapted from Patrick J. Robinson, Charles W. Faris, and Yoram Wind, Industrial
Buying and Creative Marketing (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1967).

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B2B e-commerce
• Prediction market
• Crowdsourcing
• Wisdom of crowds

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For Reflection (5 of 6)
• Assume that you are a sales representative for a large
company that markets laptop computers.
• List all the people that may be involved in making the
decision to purchase from you.
• Try to match all the people to their possible decision roles
as outlined on the previous slide.

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Learning Objective 9.7
Members of a family unit play different roles and have
different amounts of influence when the family makes
purchase decisions.

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Household Decisions
• Consensual Purchase Decisions
• Accommodative Purchase Decisions

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Resolving Decision Conflicts in Families
• Interpersonal need
• Product involvement and
utility
• Responsibility
• Power

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Who Makes Key Decisions in the Family?
• Autonomic decision: one family member chooses
– Solitary
– Unilateral
• 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
– Syncretic purchases may be equal,
or may have input from both people
but with one person as primary
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For Reflection (6 of 6)
• What exposure have you had to family decisions made in
your own family? Can you see the patterns discussed in
the chapter in those decisions? Give an example.

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For Review (1 of 3)
1. The three categories of consumer decision-making are
cognitive, habitual, and affective.
2. A cognitive purchase decision is the outcome of a series
of stages that results in the selection of one product over
competing options.

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For Review (2 of 3)
3. The way information about a product choice is framed
can prime a decision even when the consumer is
unaware of this influence.
4. We often fall back on well-learned “rules-of-thumb” to
make decisions.
5. Marketers often need to understand consumers’ behavior
rather than a consumer’s behavior.

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For Review (3 of 3)
6. The decision-making process differs when people choose
what to but on behalf of an organization rather than for
personal use.
7. Members of a family unit play different roles and have
different amounts of influence when the family makes
purchase decisions.

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Copyright

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