Reviewing the Key Terms
- adoption process
- The mental process through which an individual passes from first hearing about an innovation to final adoption.
- alternative evaluation
- The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer uses information to evaluate alternative brands in the choice set.
- attitude
- A person's consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea.
- belief
- A descriptive thought that a person holds about something.
- brand personality
- The specific mix of human traits that may be attributed to a particular brand.
- cognitive dissonance
- Buyer discomfort caused by postpurchase conflict.
- complex buying behavior
- Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by high
consumer involvement in a purchase and significant perceived
differences among brands.
- consumer buyer behavior
- The buying behavior of final consumers—individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption.
- consumer market
- All the individuals and households who buy or acquire goods and services for personal consumption.
- culture
- The set of basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned
by a member of society from family and other important institutions.
- dissonance-reducing buying behavior
- Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by high involvement but few perceived differences among brands.
- group
- Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals.
- habitual buying behavior
- Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by low
consumer involvement and few significant perceived brand differences.
- information search
- The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer is
aroused to search for more information; the consumer may simply have
heightened attention or may go into active information search.
- learning
- Changes in an individual's behavior arising from experience.
- lifestyle
- A person's pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions.
- motive
- A need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need.
- need recognition
- The first stage of the buyer decision process, in which the consumer recognizes a problem or need.
- new product
- A good, service, or idea that is perceived by some potential customers as new.
- opinion leader
- Person within a reference group who, because of special skills,
knowledge, personality, or other characteristics, exerts influence on
others.
- perception
- The process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.
- personality
- A person's distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead
to relatively consistent and lasting responses to his or her own
environment.
- postpurchase behavior
- The stage of the buyer decision process in which consumers take
further action after purchase, based on their satisfaction or
dissatisfaction.
- purchase decision
- The buyer's decision about which brand to purchase.
- social classes
- Relatively permanent and ordered divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors.
- subcultures
- A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations.
- variety-seeking buying behavior
- Consumer buying behavior in situations characterized by low consumer involvement but significant perceived brand differences.