Buyer Behaviour and Consumer Decision Making
Buyer behaviour studies how consumers and organisational buyers gather, interpret and act on purchase information. The exam tests influences, the decision process, buying roles and differences between consumer and business markets.
Core concepts
- Decision process: need recognition → information search → evaluation of alternatives → purchase → post-purchase evaluation.
- Influences: cultural, social (family, reference groups), personal (age, occupation, income, lifestyle) and psychological (motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, attitudes).
- Maslow's hierarchy explains how safety, social and esteem needs shape appeals.
- Buying roles: initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and user; one person may hold several.
- Business buying: derived demand, fewer but larger buyers, professional purchasing, multiple influencers, reciprocity and leasing.
- Post-purchase dissonance: reassure buyers after sale to build repeat business.
Worked example
A family buys a washing machine. The teenager notices the old machine leaking (initiator), a neighbour recommends a brand (influencer), parents set the budget and choose (decider and buyer), and everyone uses it. The salesperson who addresses the mother's budget concern, the father's service-network question and the teenager's features interest is addressing the buying centre, not a single customer.
Traps
Do not assume the user is the buyer; do not stop at purchase - post-purchase satisfaction drives repeat sales. Avoid listing Maslow levels without linking them to a sales appeal. Do not treat industrial buyers as purely emotional or purely rational.