3dYERBEHAVICqA!"PROBLEMSOLVING 8 "j
TheplacementofC..lstomers'storiesfrontandcenterprovesthatLheiT
opinionsandexperiencearevaL-led,andtheyrespondindroves."We
havetrainedthemtobeliev.~thatweare::;eriou£aboutrespondingto
theirfeedbackandimprovingourproducts,"notesRandyhoward.
thecompany'sdirectorofquality.
Sources:JoanneGordon,"ShrinkRap,"Fortune,February7.2000,pp.
110-111:RonaldB.Liebier, "Storytelling:ANewWayt oGetClosetotheCus-
tomer,"Fortune,February3,1997,pp. 102 -105;KendraDarko,"ZoomingIn
OnWhat'sImportant."AmericanDemographics,August1999,pp.46-47.
PostpurchaseBehavior
Allthebehaviordeterminantsandthestepsof thebuyingprocessuptothispointareoper-
ativebefore orduringthetimea purchaseismade.However,a consumer' s feelingsand
evaluations afterthesalearealsosignificanttoa marketer.beccusetheycaninfluencerepeat
salesandalsoinfluencewhatthecustomertellsothersabouttheprodl'ctorbra:ld.
Keepingthecustomerhappyiswhatmarketi ngisallabout.Neveri:hele"s,con"Ur:lers
typicallyexperiencesomepostpurchaseanxiety afterallbutthemost routineandinexpens:.ve
purchases. Thisanxietyreflectsaphenomenoncalledcognitivedissonance.Accordingto
thistheory,peoplestriveforconsistencyamongtheir cognitions(knowledge,attitudes,beliefs,
values). Whenthereareinconsistencies,dissonanceexists, whichpeoplewilltrytoelimi-
nate.Insomecases, theconsumermakesthedecisiontobuya particularbrandalreadyaware
ofdissonantelements.Inothe"instance",dissonanceisarousedbydisturbinginformation
thatisreceivedafterthepurchase.^4 -~"hemarketer maytakespecificstepstoreducepost-
purchasedissonan ce.Advertisingthatstressesthemanypositiveattribt:tesorconfirmsthe
popularii.yoftheproductcanbehelpful.Providingpersonalizedreinforcementhasproven
effectivewithbig-ticketitemssuchasautomobiles andmajorappliances.SalespeopleiI'.
theseareas maysendcardsormayevenmakepersonalcallsinordertoreassurecustomers
abouttheirpurchase.
MARKETING CAPSULE
1.Buyerbehaviortakes placeinanexchangesettingand
addresseslWOquestions:
a.Howdopotentialbuyer:.;goaboutmakingpurchase
decisions?
b. Whatfactorsinfluencetheirdecisionprocessandin
whatway?
1.Buyerbehaviorisa problem-solvingprocessandentaiL
thefollowingdecisions:
a. Needidentification
1.Determinedbythediscrepancybetweenwhatw~
haveandwhatwewant
- Determinedbytherelativeimportanceofthe
problem
b. Information search and processingis a five-step
sequence:
- Exposure
2.Attention
3.Reception
- Retention
- Retrievalandapplication
c. IdentificationandevaluationofalLernatives
d. Product/service/outlet selection
e. Thepurchasedecision
f. Postpurchasebehavior
