Page 195 - Marketing Management

172 PART 3 CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS

Postpurchase Behavior

After the purchase, the consumer might experience dissonance from noticing certain disquieting
features or hearing favorable things about other brands and will be alert to information that
supports his or her decision. Marketing communications should supply beliefs and evaluations
that reinforce the consumer’s choice and help him or her feel good about the brand. The marketer’s
job therefore doesn’t end with the purchase. Marketers must monitor postpurchase satisfaction,
postpurchase actions, and postpurchase product uses and disposal.

POSTPURCHASE SATISFACTION Satisfaction is a function of the closeness between
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expectations and the product’s perceived performance. If performance falls short of expectations,
the consumer is disappointed; if it meets expectations, the consumer is satisfied; if it exceeds
expectations, the consumer is delighted. These feelings make a difference in whether the customer
buys the product again and talks favorably or unfavorably about it to others.
The larger the gap between expectations and performance, the greater the dissatisfaction. Here
the consumer’s coping style comes into play. Some consumers magnify the gap when the product
isn’t perfect and are highly dissatisfied; others minimize it and are less dissatisfied. 69
POSTPURCHASE ACTIONS A satisfied consumer is more likely to purchase the product
again and will also tend to say good things about the brand to others. Dissatisfied consumers may
abandon or return the product. They may seek information that confirms its high value. They may
take public action by complaining to the company, going to a lawyer, or complaining to other
groups (such as business, private, or government agencies). Private actions include deciding to stop
buying the product (exit option) or warning friends (voice option). 70
Chapter 5 described CRM programs designed to build long-term brand loyalty. Postpurchase
communications to buyers have been shown to result in fewer product returns and order cancella-
tions. Computer companies, for example, can send a letter to new owners congratulating them on
having selected a fine computer. They can place ads showing satisfied brand owners. They can
solicit customer suggestions for improvements and list the location of available services. They can
write intelligible instruction booklets. They can send owners a magazine containing articles
describing new computer applications. In addition, they can provide good channels for speedy
redress of customer grievances.
POSTPURCHASE USES AND DISPOSAL Marketers should also monitor how buyers use
and dispose of the product ( Figure 6.7). A key driver of sales frequency is product
consumption rate—the more quickly buyers consume a product, the sooner they may be back in
the market to repurchase it.
Consumers may fail to replace some products soon enough because they overestimate product
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life. One strategy to speed replacement is to tie the act of replacing the product to a certain holi-
day, event, or time of year.

|Fig. 6.7| Give it
away To be
How Customers Use Get rid of it Rent it (re)sold
temporarily
or Dispose of
Products Lend it Trade it To be
Get rid of it used
Product
Source: Jacob Jacoby, et al., “What about permanently
Disposition?” Journal of Marketing (July 1977), Use it to serve Sell it Direct to
p. 23. Reprinted with permission from the Journal of original purpose consumer
Marketing, published by the American Marketing
Association.
Convert it to serve Throw it Through
Keep it a new purpose away middleman

Store it To
middleman