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Consumer behavior looks at the many reasons why people buy things and later dispose of them. Consumers
go through distinct buying phases when they purchases products: (1) realizing the need or want something,
(2) searching for information about the item, (3) evaluating different products, (4) choosing a product and
purchasing it, (5) using and evaluating the product after the purchase, and (6) disposing of the product. A
consumer’s level of involvement is how interested he or she is in buying and consuming a product. Low-
involvement products are usually inexpensive and pose a low risk to the buyer if she makes a mistake by
purchasing them. High-involvement products carry a high risk to the buyer if they fail, are complex, or have
high price tags. Limited-involvement products fall somewhere in between.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- What is consumer behavior? Why do companies study it?
- What stages do people go through in the buying process?
- How do low-involvement products differ from high-involvement products in terms of the risks their buyers
face? Name some products in each category that you’ve recently purchased.
3.2 Situational Factors That Affect People’s Buying Behavior
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Describe the situational factors that affect what consumers buy and when.
- Explain what marketing professionals can do to make situational factors work to their advantage.
Situational influences are temporary conditions that affect how buyers behave—whether they
actually buy your product, buy additional products, or buy nothing at all from you. They include
things like physical factors, social factors, time factors, the reason for the buyer’s purchase, and the