Comportamiento del consumidor y segmentación
From need to choice
Consumer behaviour explains how needs become purchases. The decision process runs five stages: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase evaluation (where cognitive dissonance and complaints appear). Involvement and perceived brand differences define Assael's four buying types: complex (high involvement, many differences), dissonance-reducing (high involvement, few differences), habitual (low involvement, few differences) and variety-seeking (low involvement, many differences). Psychological filters shape what marketing can achieve: selective attention, selective distortion and selective retention. Motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes sit alongside social forces - culture, subculture, social class, reference groups, family roles and life-cycle stage.
Business buying differs: derived demand, fewer but larger buyers, professional purchasing, and a buying center with users, influencers, deciders, buyers and gatekeepers.
Segmentation divides a market on geographic, demographic, psychographic or behavioural bases; benefit segmentation is behavioural, often the most predictive, and the most commonly mislabelled. A usable segment must be substantial, measurable, accessible, differentiable and actionable. Targeting options are undifferentiated, differentiated, concentrated and micromarketing; positioning follows, captured in a perceptual map and expressed as a value proposition.
Traps. Demographic (age, income) is routinely confused with psychographic (lifestyle, values). A segment no medium can reach fails accessibility. Positioning lives in the buyer's mind, not in the campaign. Variety-seeking behaviour belongs to low involvement with high brand differences.
Rule of thumb. Apply the five criteria to any proposed segment; if two groups would respond identically to the same offer, they are not differentiable - merge them.
Key points
- Five-stage decision process; post-purchase matters.
- Assael: involvement × perceived differences.
- Selective attention, distortion, retention.
- Segment test: substantial, measurable, accessible, differentiable, actionable.
- Positioning is perception, not creative intent.