Download Marketing Strategies Based on Information Search Patterns

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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PART IV: CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS
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CHAPTER
15
INFORMATION
SEARCH
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Consumer Behavior In The News…
Broadband Rocks!
 Marketers love broadband. So do consumers.
 It provides a richer and more flexible online
information experience.
 Can you predict how fast it will grow in the next
five years?
Source: “Turbulent New World,” Business Week, March 7, 2005, p. 89.
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Consumer Behavior In The News…
Broadband Rocks!
 Can you predict how fast it will grow in the next
five years?
 Roughly 100%!
 2005: Households with broadband – 42M
 2010: Households with broadband – 83M
 Expect continued growth in online as a source of
information!
Source: “Turbulent New World,” Business Week, March 7, 2005, p. 89.
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Nature of Information Search
Consumers continually recognize problems and opportunities,
so internal and external searches for information to solve these
problems are ongoing processes.
Internal Search
Search of long-term memory to
determine if a satisfactory
solution is known.
External Search
If a resolution is not reached
through internal search, then
the search process is
focused on relevant external
information.
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Types of Information Sought
Consumer decisions require information about:
 Appropriate evaluative criteria
 The existence of various alternatives
 Performance of each alternative on each evaluative
criterion
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Types of Information Sought
Information Search
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Types of Information Sought
Evaluative Criteria
One potential objective of both internal and external search is
the determination of appropriate evaluative criteria.
Government agencies and consumer organizations want
consumers to use sound evaluative criteria.
Marketers wanted consumer to use evaluative criteria that
match their brand’s strengths.
Both marketers and government agencies provide
information designed to influence the evaluative criteria used.
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Types of Information Sought
Appropriate Alternatives
The Awareness set is composed of three subcategories of
considerable importance to marketers:
1. The evoked set or consideration set contains brands or
products one will evaluate.
2. The inept set consists of brands found to be completely
unworthy of further consideration.
3. The inert set contains brands for which the consumer is
aware of but basically indifferent toward.
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Types of Information Sought
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Types of Information Sought
Awareness Versus Evoked Sets for Various Products
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Types of Information Sought
Alternative Characteristics
To choose among the brands in the evoked set, the
consumer compares them on the relevant evaluative
criteria.
This process requires the consumer to gather information
about each brand on each pertinent evaluative criterion.
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Sources of Information
Five primary sources of information available to consumers:
 Memory of past searches, personal experiences, and lowinvolvement learning
 Personal sources, such as friends, family, and others.
 Independent sources, such as magazines, consumer
groups, and government agencies
 Marketing sources, such as sales personnel, websites,
and advertising
 Experiential sources, such as inspection or product trial
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Sources of Information
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Sources of Information
Information Search on the Internet
Region of the World
Estimated Number of Internet Users by 2007
Central/South
America
Asia Pacific
Western Europe
North America
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Estimated Number of Users
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Sources of Information
Demographics of U.S.
Adult Internet Users
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Sources of Information
Top 10 Activities of Adult Internet Users
E-Mail
91%
Use search engine to find information
84
Search for a map or driving directions
84
Do an Internet search to answer a specific question
80
Research a product/service before buying it
78
Check the weather
78
Look for informtion on a habbyor interest
77
Get travel information
73
Get news
72
Buy a Product
67
Number represents percent who have ever engaged in the activity
Source: Internet Activities (Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, May 18, 2005.
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Sources of Information
The Nature of Search Using Online Search Engines
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Sources of Information
Information Search on the Internet
The Internet influences search.
Provides increased speed and
efficiency to vast information.
More efficient search and
better decisions can result.
However, information overload
can also occur.
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Sources of Information
Information Search on the Internet
There are numerous shopping services on the Internet
that can:
search out the lowest prices for specific items
search out online retailers of specific merchandise
suggest specific brands based on your prior
purchases and pre-specified criteria
These services use bots or shopping bots, which are
software “robots” that do the shopping/searching for
users.
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Sources of Information
Information Search on the Internet
Marketing Strategy and Information Search on the Internet
The online environment is continually evolving.
As the online population
increasingly mirrors the general
population…
segmentation and target
marketing are increasingly critical
to online success.
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Sources of Information
Information Search on the Internet
Three major strategic issues marketers face regarding the
Internet’s role in information search and decision making:
1. How can they drive their information to consumers?
2. How can they drive consumers to their information?
3. How (if at all) can online selling be utilized or
integrated with existing channels (Chapter 17)?
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Sources of Information
Driving Information to Consumers
 Banner ads
 Permission-based e-mail
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Sources of Information
Driving Consumers to a Firm’s Information
Offline Media such as print and TV.
Behavioral targeting involves tracking consumer click
patterns on a website and using that information to decide on
banner ad placement.
Search engine optimization
(SEO) - techniques to ensure
that a company's web pages
are accessible to search
engines and improving the
chances they are found.
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Sources of Information
Driving Consumers to a Firm’s Information
Website design is also critical. Ongoing and repeat traffic
requires relevant and frequently updated content.
Consumers need ongoing
incentives to return such as:
•product-related news features
•user-related discussion forums
•updates on new products
Firms use various incentive
techniques to encourage repeat traffic
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Applications in Consumer Behavior
The eBay ad shows
how firms use
traditional mass media
advertising to drive
website traffic.
These materials have been reproduced with the permission of eBay Inc.
COPYRIGHT ©EBAY INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Amount of External Information Search
Marketers are particularly interested in external search, as
this provides them with direct access to consumers.
Most purchases involves limited external search
immediately prior to purchase.
However, this does not mean a bad judgment on part
of consumers since they are balancing the costs and
benefits of search.
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Amount of External Information Search
Various measures of external information search:
1. Number of stores visited
2. Number of alternatives considered
3. Number of personal sources used, and
4. Overall or combination measures
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
 Market Characteristics
 Product Characteristics
 Consumer Characteristics
 Situation Characteristics
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Factor Affecting External Search: Part I
Influencing Factor
I. Market characteristics
A. Number of alternatives
B. Price range
C. Store concentration
D. Information availability
1. Advertising
2. Point-of-purchase
3. Sales personnel
4. Packaging
5. Experienced consumers
6. Independent sources
II. Product characteristics
A. Price
B. Differentiation
C. Positive products
Increase in Factor Causes
Search to:
Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Factor Affecting External Search: Part II
Influencing Factor
Increase in Factor Causes
Search to:
III. Consumer characteristics
A. Learning and experience
B. Shopping orientation
C. Social status
D. Age and household life cycle
E. Product involvement
F. Perceived risk
Decrease
Mixed
Increase
Mixed
Increase
Increase
IV. Situation characteristics
A. Time availability
B. Purchase for self
C. Pleasant surroundings
D. Social surroundings
E. Physical/mental energy
Increase
Decrease
Increase
Mixed
Increase
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Market Characteristics
Market characteristics include the number of alternatives,
price range, store distribution, and information availability.
Consumer perceptions of the market characteristics,
not the actual characteristics, influence shopping
behavior.
The greater the number of alternatives available to
resolve a problem, the more external search there is
likely to be.
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Product Characteristics
Product differentiation is associated with greater external search.
And, positive products tend to
engender greater search than
negative products.
Shopping for a physician can be be
unpleasant, and thus, seen as a
negative product
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Consumer Characteristics
A variety of consumer characteristics affect perceptions of
search costs and benefits.
Confidence in one’s knowledge of existing solutions is
an important determinant.
However, consumers often do not know what they think
they know!
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Consumer Characteristics
There are a variety of types of knowledge where a low level
of calibration frequently occurs to the detriment of
consumers and firms, including
 Memory of Facts
 Memory of Events
 Belief Polarization
 Belief Validity
 Personal Forecasts
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Consumer Characteristics
Consumer Perception of Risk associated with unsatisfactory
product performance increases information search.
 Perceived risk is high for products whose failure to perform
as expected would result in a high
•
•
•
•
•
Social cost
Financial cost
Time cost
Effort cost
Physical cost
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Costs vs. Benefits of External Search
Situation Characteristics
Situational variables can have a major impact on search
behavior including the following:
 Temporal perspective
 Task definition
 Antecedent state
 Physical surroundings
 Social surroundings
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Marketing Strategies Base on
Information Search Patterns
Sound marketing strategies take into account the nature of
information search prior to purchase.
Two dimensions of search are particularly appropriate:
1. The type of decision influences the level of search,
and
2. The nature of the evoked set influences the
direction of the search
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Six marketing strategies based on search patterns:
1. Maintenance Strategy
2. Disrupt Strategy
3. Capture Strategy
4. Intercept Strategy
5. Preference Strategy
6. Acceptance Strategy
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Maintenance Strategy
If the brand is purchased habitually by the target market,
the marketer’s strategy is to maintain that behavior
This requires consistent attention to product quality,
distribution, and a reinforcement advertising strategy.
Del Monte has large repeat
purchaser segments for their
canned vegetables which
they successfully maintain
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Disrupt Strategy
If the brand is not part of the evoked set and the target
market engages in nominal decision making, the marketer’s
first task is to disrupt the existing decision pattern.
Soy products are a
good example of how
disrupt strategies have
been used to induce
trial adoption.
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Disrupt Strategy
Long-Run
Major brand improvement
along with attentionattracting advertising
could shift consumer to
more extensive decision
making.
Short-Run
Attention-attracting
advertising aimed
specifically at breaking
habitual decision making
can be successful.
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Disrupt Strategy
Tactics include:
Free samples, coupons, rebates, and tie-in sales.
Striking package designs and point-of-purchase displays.
Comparative advertising.
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Capture Strategy
Limited decision making generally involves a few brands
evaluated on only a few criteria.
Brand is in evoked set.
Search occurs mainly at the point-of-purchase or in
readily available media.
Objective is to capture as large a share as practical.
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Capture Strategy
The marketer will want to supply information, often on price
and availability, on their website, in local media through
cooperative advertising, and at the point-of-purchase
through displays and adequate shelf space.
Implementing a capture
strategy also requires
emphasis on maintaining
consistent product quality
and adequate distribution
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Intercept Strategy
If limited decision making and brand is not part of evoked
set, objective will be to intercept the consumer during
search.
Emphasis will be on local media, point-of-purchase
displays, shelf space, package design, etc.
Coupons can also be effective.
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Preference Strategy
Extended decision making with the brand in the evoked set
requires a preference strategy.
A simple capture strategy not likely adequate.
Instead, marketer needs to structure information so
brand becomes preferred by target market.
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Marketing Strategies Based on
Information Search Patterns
Acceptance Strategy
Similar to preference strategy, but complicated by fact that
target market is not seeking information about the brand.
Beyond preference strategy, marketer must attract
consumer attention or motivate brand learning.
Incentives to try product, long-term advertising to
enhance low-involvement learning and use of the
Internet are useful for gaining acceptance.
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