Understanding Buyer Behavior

Read this chapter. The terms "customer" and "consumer" are often mistakenly used interchangeably. The distinction is blurry because different organizations, academics, and governments have varying definitions for both of them. One easy way of distinguishing between the two is to think of the consumer as a potential customer to a firm and the customer as someone that already consumes the goods a specific firm produces. For example, if you regularly purchase shoes from Footlocker, you are a Footlocker customer. But if your friend does not shop at Footlocker, then Footlocker considers him a consumer: a potential customer. Firms often target consumers and existing customers differently.

Learning Objectives

Having read this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Understand the behavior of the individual consumers in the market place.
  • Examine the many factors that influence consumer behavior.
  • Recognize the various principles of psychology, sociology, and social psychology that are (If value in explaining consumer behavior).
  • Examine the relationship of consumer behavior to marketing management decisions-particularly, target market selection and the design of the marketing mix.
  • Understand how organizational market behavior differs from consumer market behavior.
  • Examine how organizations make purchase decisions.

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