8 4 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDINGBUYERBEHAVIOR
socialrisk(productsimportantto the peer group),or psychological risk(thewrongdeci-
sionmightcause theconsumersomeconcernandanxiety). Inmaking thesedecisions,it
isworthLhetimeanci energiestoconsidersolutionalternativescarefuJly.A complexproces~
ofdecisionmakingisthereforemorelikelyfor high-involvementpurchases.Low-involvement
decisionsaremorestraightforward, requirelittlerisk,arerepetitive,and oftenlead t o ahabit:
theyarenotveryimportanttotheconsumer.sFinancial, social,and psychologicalrisksare
notnearlyas great.Insuchcases,itmaynot beworththe consumer'stime andeffortto
searchforinformationaboutbrands ortoconsider a widerange of alternatives.Alow-
involvementpurchasethereforegenerally entailsa limitedprocess of decisionmaki ng.'The
purchaseofa newcomputer isanexampleofhighinvolvement, whilethe purchaseofa
hamburgerisa low-involvement decision.
Whena consumer hasboughta similarproduct manytimesinthepast, thedecision
makingislikelytobesimple,regardlessofwhether it is a high-orlow-involvementdeci-
sion. Supposea consumerinitiaJlyboughta productafter muchcareandinvolvement, was
satisfied,andcontinuedtobuytheproduct.The customer'scarefulco nsiderationoftheprod-
uctandsati:factionhas producedbrandlo yalty,whichistheresultofinvolvement withthe
productdecision.
Oncea customerisbrand-loyal,a simpledecision-makingprocessisallthat is required
forsubsequentpurchases.Theconsumernowbuystheproductthroughhabit,which means
makinga decisionwithouttheuseofadditionalinformation ortheevaluationofalterna-
tivechoice~.MarketOfferings Another relevant setofsituational influencesonconsumerprob-
lemsolvingistheavailable marketofferings.Themoreextensivetheproductandbrand
choicesavailabletotheconsumer, themore complexthepurchasedecisionprocessislikely
tobe.
Forexample,ifyoualreadyhavepurchasedorareconsi deringpurchasingaDVD,youknowtherearemanybrandsto choosefrom-Sony, Samsung,Panasonic,Mitsubishi,
Toshiba,andSanyo, tonameseveral.Each manufacturersell s severalmodelsthatdiffer
intermsofsomeof thefollowingfeatures-singleormultiple eventselection,'-emote
cODtrol(wiredorwireless), slowmotion,stop action,variable-speedscan,trackingcon-
trol,andsoon. Whatcriteriaareimportantto you? Ispurchasing aDVDaneasydeci-sion?Ifa consumer has a needthatcanbemetby onlyoneproductorone outletinthe
relevantmarket, thedecisionisrelativelysimple.Eitherpurchasetheproduct or letthe
needgounmet.
Thisisnotideal fromthecu stomer's perspective,but it canoc cur.For example,sup-
poseyouarea studentona campusina smalltownmanymilesfro m another marketplace.
Yourcampus andtownhasonlyonebookstore.You needa textbookforclass;onlyone
specificbook willdoandonlyoneoutlet has thebook forsale. Thelimitationonalterna-
tivemarketofferings canclearlyinfluence yourpurchasebehavior.
As yousawintheDVDexample,whentheextentofmarketofferingsincreases, the
complexityoftheproblem-solvingprocessand theconsumers' needforinformationalso
increases.A widerselec tionofmarketofferings is betterfromthecusto mer's pointofview,
becauseit allows themtotailor t heirpurchasestotheir specific needs.However,it may
confuseandfrustratetheconsumerso that less-than-optimal ch oicesaremad~.DemographicInfluences An importantse t of factorsthatshoul d not beoverlooked
inattemptingtounderstandandrespond to consumersis demographics.Such variablesas
age, sex,income, education,maritalstatus,andmobilitycanall havesig nificantinfluence
onconsumerbehavior. Onestudyshowed thatageandeducationhavestrongrelationships