Chapter 4
Services
Consumer
Behavior
Figure 4.1:
Consumer Decision Process Model
• Consumer decision process: the three-step process consumers use to make
purchase decisions; includes the prepurchase stage, the consumption stage, and the
postpurchase evaluation stage
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Prepurchase Stage:
The Stimulus
Commercial Cues
Promotional efforts that
motivate consumers
Social Cues
Peers or significant others
that motivate consumers
Stimulus
The thought, action, or motivation
that incites a person to consider
a purchase
Physical Cues
Thirst, hunger, or another
biological cue that
motivates consumers
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Prepurchase Stage:
Problem Awareness
Shortage (a need)
The need for a product or service due to the consumer’s
not having that particular product or service
Unfulfilled Desire (a want)
The need for a product or service due to a customer’s
dissatisfaction with a current product or service
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Prepurchase Stage:
Information Search
• Awareness set: the set of alternatives of which a
consumer is aware
• Evoked set: alternatives that the consumer
actually remembers at the time of decision
making
• Consideration set: of the brands in the evoked
set, those considered unfit (e.g., too expensive,
too far away, etc.) are eliminated right away; the
remaining alternatives are termed the
consideration set
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Prepurchase Stage:
Information Search
Internal Search
External Search
• A passive approach
to gathering
information in which
the consumer’s own
memory is the main
source of information
about a product
• A proactive approach
to gathering
information in which
the consumer
collects new
information from
sources outside the
consumer’s own
experience
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Figure 4.2: Multi-Attribute Choice Model for
Evaluating Alternative Universities
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Prepurchase Stage:
Evaluation of Alternatives
• Nonsystematic evaluation: choosing among
alternatives in a random fashion or by a “gut-level-feeling”
approach
• Systematic evaluation: choosing among alternatives by
using a set of formalized steps to arrive at a decision
– Linear compensatory approach: a systematic model that
proposes that the consumer creates a global score for each brand
by multiplying the rating of the brand on each attribute by the
importance attached and adding the scores together
– Lexicographic approach: a systematic model that proposes that
the consumer make a decision by examining each attribute,
starting with the most important, to rule out alternatives
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Consumption Stage: Choice
Consumption process
1. Buying the product
• Store vs. nonstore choice
2. Using the product
3. Disposing of the product
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Postpurchase Stage:
Postpurchase Evaluation
• Cognitive dissonance: doubt in the consumer’s
mind regarding the correctness of the purchase
decision
– Strategies to minimize the consumer’s cognitive
dissonance include:
• After-sale contact with the customer
• Providing a reassuring letter in the packing of the product
• Providing warranties and guarantees
• Reinforcing the consumer’s decision through the firm’s
advertising
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
Perceived Risk
• Consumers tend to perceive a higher level
of risk during the prepurchase decision
stage
– Actions are associated with higher levels of
consequences and uncertainty
• Consequences—the degree of importance and/or
danger of the outcomes derived from any consumer
decision
• Uncertainty—the subjective possibility of the
occurrence of these outcomes
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
Perceived Risk
• Five types of perceived risk
1. Financial risk: the possibility of a monetary loss if the purchase
goes wrong or fails to operate correctly
2. Performance risk: the possibility that the item or service
purchased will not perform the task for which it was purchased
3. Physical risk: the possibility that if something does go wrong,
injury could be inflicted on the purchaser
4. Social risk: the possibility of a loss in personal social status
associated with a particular purchase
5. Psychological risk: the possibility that a purchase will affect an
individual’s self-esteem
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
Perceived Risk
• Reasons for perceptions of increased risk
– Risk and standardization (heterogeneity)
– Co-producer risk (inseparability)
– Risk and Information
• Search attributes: product attributes that can be determined
prior to purchase
• Experience attributes: product attributes that can be
evaluated only during and after the production process
• Credence attributes: product attributes that cannot be
evaluated confidently even immediately after receipt of the
good or the service
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
Perceived Risk
• Service consumers are more brand loyal
– Reduces the perceived risk associated with a purchase
– Limited number of choices are available
– Switching costs (costs that can accrue when changing one
service provider to another) are higher
• Typical switching costs include:
– Search costs
– Transaction costs
– Learning costs
– Loyal consumer discounts
– Customer habit (Established behavior pattern)
– Emotional costs
– Cognitive costs
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
The Importance of Personal Sources of Information
•
•
•
•
Mass advertising is less effective
Word-of-mouth references rule
Target opinion leaders
Nonpersonal sources may not be available
– Professional restrictions
– Small firms may lack the resources or
knowledge to advertise effectively
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
Fewer Alternatives to Consider
• Service providers may tends to offer only
one brand
• A small number of outlets providing the
same service
• Lack of prepurchase information
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Prepurchase Stage Considerations:
Self-Service as a Viable Alternative
• Many service providers must consider the
customer’s own self-provision as a viable
competitor in the marketplace
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Figure 4.4: The Consumer Decision Process: Special
Considerations Pertaining to the Prepurchase Stage
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Consumption Stage Considerations
• Consumption sequence differs
– Goods: Production-Acquisition-Use-Disposal
– Services: Production-Acquisition-Use
• Stages are entangled and disposal is irrelevant
• Evaluation occurs during and after
consumptions
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Figure 4.5: The Consumer Decision Process: Special
Considerations Pertaining to the Consumption Stage
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Postpurchase Considerations
• Postpurchase models
1. The expectancy disconfirmation theory
• Proposes that consumers evaluate services by comparing
expectations with perceptions
2. The perceived control perspective
• Consumers evaluate services by the amount of control they
have over the perceived situation
3. The script perspective
• Argues that rules, mostly determined by social and cultural
variables, exist to facilitate interactions in daily repetitive
events, including a variety of service experiences
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Postpurchase Models:
The Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory
• The simplest and most powerful model
• Customer satisfaction is achieved through
the effective management of customer
perceptions and expectations
Customer satisfaction = Perceptions >
Expectations
• Customer perceptions define reality
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Postpurchase Models:
The Perceived-Control Perspective
• The basic premise is that during the service experience,
the higher the level of control over the situation perceived
by consumers, the higher their satisfaction with the
service will be
• Consumers give up cash and control in exchange for
benefits
• The concept of control consists of two types of control:
1. Behavioral control
2. Cognitive control
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Postpurchase Models:
The Script Perspective
• “All the world’s a stage and all the people
players”
• Satisfaction is a function of script
congruence
– Script congruence: occurs when the actual
scripts performed by consumers and staff are
consistent with the expected scripts
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.