Marketing Management, 16th Edition

The Model of Consumer Behavior

Research on consumer behavior explores how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants.2 To create customer value, marketers must fully understand both the theory and the reality of consumer behavior.

The starting point for understanding consumer behavior is the model shown in Figure 3.1. The tactics shaping the offering and the context of the market in which the offering will be sold are filtered through the cultural, social, and personal lenses of target customers, as well as being influenced by consumer motivation, perception, emotions, and memory. This, in turn, influences the consumer buying process—a journey ...