communication with buyers in particular, and it has received a great deal of study.
ing how a person processes information is not an easy task. Often observation has served
as the basis. Yet there are many theories as to
the process takes place. One widely
accepted theory proposes a five step sequence.2
1. Exposure. Information processing starts
the exposure of consumers to some
so urce of stimulation such as watching television , going to the supermarket, or
receiving direct mail advertisements at home. In order to start the process,
must attract consumers to the stimulus or put it squarely in the path of
ple in
target
2. Attention. Exposure alone does little unless peopie pay attention to the stimulus .
aJ1Y moment, people are bombarded by all sorts of stimuli, but they have a
ited capacity to process this input. They must devote mental resources to stimuli
in order to process them; in other words, they must pay attention.
can
increase the likelihood of attention by providing inforrrational cues that are
evant to the buyer.
3. Perception . Perception involves classifying the incoming signals into meaningful categories, forming
and assigning names or images to them. Perception
is the assignment of meaning to stimuli received through the senses. (More will
be said about perception later.)
4. Retention.
of information for later reference, or retention, is the fourth
step of the information-processing sequence. Actually, the role of retention or
ory in the sequence is twofold. First, memory holds information while it is being
processed throJghout the sequence. Second, memory stores information
future,
long-term use. Heavy repetition and
a message to music are two things
marketers do to
retention.
5. Retrieval and Application. The process by which information
recovered from
memory storehouse
called retrieval . Application is putting that information
INTEGRATED MARKETING
•
KIDS ARE HOOKED ONLINE
These days, practically even the tiniest of tykes is
pled with the fact that 19% of these kids have a credit card
And it's no wonder. There are computers in elementary
in
or her own name and 9% have access to a parent's card
schools, computer games, and, of course, there is educational
to shop online, adds up to a huge customer base for Internet
software.
marketers.
Kids spend a lot of time online, not just at school, but also
Snowball.com is a portal that claims to serve both Gen Y
at home, for social interaction and entertainment. According
and Gen X youth. It includes ChickClick.com for young
to market researcher Teen Research Unlimited, 62% of
women,
for young men, Power Students.com for
teenagers say they log on at home for 4.2 hours a
while
high school and college students,
InsideGuide.com for
46% spend 2.3 hours a week using a computer outside the
college students. The portal has inked deals with major
home. Teens say they spend most of their online time doing
keters,including Sony, Toyota, and Pillsbury. The site also
research (72%), sending and reading email (63%), playing
has received a lot of interest from the entertainment world.
games (28%), and checking out things to buy or making
chases (23%).
'
Sources: Jennifer Gilbert, "New Teen Obsession," Advertising
Internet consultancy Cyber Dialogue Data reveals the
Age,
14,2000, p. 8; "School Daze," American Demo-
ber of teenagers going online at least once a month grew by
graphics, August 1999, p. 80; Krestina Filiciano, "Just Kidding,"
nearly 270% between 1998 and 1999. That frequency,
Adweek,
1,2000, p. 58.
BUYER BEHAVIOR AS PROBLEM SOLVING
79
into
ri ght context. If the buyer can retrieve relevant information about a
uct, brand, or store, he or she will apply it to solve a problem or meet a need.
Variations in how each step is carried out in
information-processing sequence also occur.
Especially influ ential is
degree of elaboration. Elaborate processing, also called cen-
tral processing, involves active manipulation of information. A person engaged in elaborate processing pays close attention to a message and thinks about it; he or she develops
thoughts in support of or counter to the information received . In contrast, nonelaborate, or peripherial, processing involves passive manipulation of information.3 It is demonstrated by most airline passengers while a flight attendant reads preflight safety procedures. This
degree of elaboration closely parallels the low-involvement, high-involvement theory, and
the same logic applies.
Identification and Evaluation of Alternatives
After information is secured and processed, alternative products, services, and outlets are
identified as viable options . The consumer evaluates these alternatives, and, if fin ancially
and psychologically able, makes a choice. The criteria used in evaluation varies from con-
sumer to consumer just as the needs and information sources vary. One consumer may con-
sider price most important while another puts more weight upon quality or convenience.
The search for alternatives and
methods used in
search are influenced by such
factors as: (1) time and money costs; (2) how much information the consumer already 'las;
(3) the amount of the perceived risk if a wrong selection is made; and (4)
consumer's
toward particular choices as influenced by the attitude of the individual toward
choice behavior. That is, there are individuals who find
selection process to be difficult
and disturbi ng. For these people there is a tendency to keep
number of alternatives to
a minimum, even if they haven't gone through an extensive information search to fi nd that
their alternatives appear to be the very best. On the other hand, there are individuals who
feel it necessary to collect a long list of alternatives. This tendency can appreciably slow
down
decision-making function.
The selection of an alternative in many cases will require additional evaluation. For exam-
ple, a consumer may select a favorite brand and go to a convenient outlet to make a pur-
chase. Upon arrival at the dealer,
consumer finds that
desired brand is out-of-stock.
At this point, additional evaluation is needed to decide whether to wait until the product
comes in, accept a substitute, or go to another outlet. The selection and evaluation phases
of consumer problem solving are closely related and often run sequentially, with outlet selection infl uencing product evaluation, or product selection influencing outlet evaluation .
The Purchase Decision
After much searching and eval uating, or perhaps very little, consumers at some point
to decide whether they are going to buy. Anything marketers can do to simplify purchas-
ing will be attractive to buyers. In their advertising marketers could suggest the best size
for a particular use, or the right wine to drink with a particular food . Sometimes several
decision situations can be combined and marketed as one package. For example, travel agel1ts
often package travel tours.
To do a better marketing job at this stage of
buying process, a seller needs to know
answers to many questions about consumers' shopping behavior. For instance, how much
effort is
consumer willing to spend in shopping for the product? What factors infl uence
when
consumer will actually purchase? Are there any conditions that would prohibit
or delay purchase? Providing basic product, price, and location information through labels,
80