Glossary: Chapter 4



	Glossary Chapter 4: Consumer Buying Behaviour Jump to a chapter's terms: 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 \| 7 \| 8 \| 9 \| 10 \| 11 \| 12 \| 13 \| 14 \| 15 \| 16 \| 17 \| 18 \| 19 \| 20 \| 21 \| 22 \| 23 \| 24 Attitude An individual's enduring evaluation, feelings and behavioural tendencies towards an object or activity. p. 125 Attitude scale A series of adjectives, phrases or sentences about an object used by a subject to indicate his or her feelings towards the object. p. 126 Buying behaviour The decision process and actions of people involved in buying and using products. p. 107 Cognitive dissonance Doubts that occur as the buyer questions whether he or she made the right decision in purchasing the product. p. 114 Consumer buying behaviour The buying behaviour of ultimate consumers-those who purchase products for personal or household use. p. 107 Consumer buying decision process A five stage process that includes problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation. p. 109 Culture All the things around us that are made by human beings: tangible items, such as food, furniture, buildings, clothing and tools; and intangible concepts, such as education, the legal system, healthcare and religion; plus values and behaviours. p. 129 Demographic factors Individual characteristics such as age, sex, race, ethnic origin, income, family life cycle and occupation. p. 115 Evoked set The group of products that a buyer views as possible alternatives after conducting an information search. p. 112 Extensive decision-making Behaviour that occurs when a purchase involves unfamiliar, expensive, high risk or infrequently bought products for which the buyer spends much time seeking information and comparing brands before deciding on the purchase. p. 108 External search One that focuses on information not available from the consumer's memoryDF. p. 111 Focus group A semi-structured discussion involving six to 12 people, led by a moderator. p. 121 Impulse buying Behaviour that involves no conscious planning but results from a powerful, persistent urge to buy something immediately. p. 108 In-depth interview The collection of data from an individual by an interview. p. 121 Information inputs The sensations received through sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch. p. 119 Internal search One in which the buyer searches his or her memory for information about products. p. 111 Involvement The level of interest, emotion and activity which the consumer is prepared to expend on a particular purchase. p. 112 Knowledge Familiarity with the product and expertise-the ability to apply the product. p. 124 Learning Changes in a person's behaviour caused by information and experience. p. 123 Level of involvement The level of interest, emotional commitment and time spent searching for a product in a particular situation. p. 116 Limited decision-making Behaviour that occurs when buying products purchased only occasionally, for which a moderate amount of information gathering and deliberation is needed. p. 108 Motive An internal, energy giving force that directs a person's activities towards satisfying a need or achieving a goal. p. 121 Opinion leader The member of a reference group who provides information about a specific sphere of interest to reference group participants seeking information. p. 128 Patronage motives Those motives that influence where a person purchases products on a regular basis. p. 121 Perception The process of selecting, organising and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning. p. 119 Personal influencing factors Factors unique to a particular individual. p. 115 Personality All the internal traits and behaviours that make a person unique. p. 126 Projective techniques Tests in which subjects are asked to perform specific tasks for particular reasons, while actually being evaluated for other purposes. p. 122 Psychological factors Factors that influence consumer behaviour, including perception, motives, learning, attitudes and personality. p. 119 Reference group A group with which an individual identifies so much that he or she takes on many of the values, attitudes or behaviour of group members. p. 128 Role A set of actions and activities that a person in a particular position is supposed to perform, based on the expectations of both the individual and surrounding people. p. 127 Routine response behaviour Behaviour that occurs when buying frequently purchased, low cost, low risk items that need little search and decision effort. p. 108 Salience The level of importance a buyer assigns to each criterion for comparing products. p. 112 Selective distortion The changing or twisting of currently received information. p. 120 Selective exposure The selection of inputs that people expose to their awareness. p. 119 Selective retention The process of remembering information inputs that support personal feelings and beliefs and of forgetting those that do not. p. 120 Self-concept A person's perception of himself or herself; self-image. p. 121 Situational factors External circumstances or conditions that exist when a consumer is making a purchase decision. p. 115 Social class An open group of individuals who have similar social rank. p. 128 Social factors The forces other people exert on buying behaviour. p. 127 Sub-cultures Sub-divisions of culture according to geographic regions or human characteristics, such as age or ethnic background. p. 131