Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Postpurchase Behavior

After the purchase, the consumer might experience dissonance from noticing certain disquieting features or hearing favorable things about other brands and will be alert to information that supports his or her decision. Marketing communications should supply beliefs and evaluations that reinforce the consumer’s choice and help her or him feel good about the brand. The marketer’s job doesn’t end with the purchase. Marketers must monitor postpurchase satisfaction, postpurchase actions, and postpurchase product uses and disposal.

Satisfaction is a function of the closeness between consumer expectations and the product’s perceived performance.63 If performance falls short of expectations, the consumer is disappointed; if it ...