MKTG2112 · Consumer Behaviour
The Marketer's Grail: Customer Journeys & Influencing Purchase
If the ultimate goal of marketing is to influence behaviour, this topic is the map of where to do it. It runs the buying decision sequence (need recognition → search → evaluation → purchase → post-purchase) and the customer journey (Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy), classifies the touchpoints at each stage as paid, owned or earned, and layers in Ehrenberg's laws and the light-to-loyal ladder. It is examined as short-answer / essay, so you trace the journey, place a touchpoint correctly, and recommend an influence action at a named stage.
What this chapter covers
- 011. The 'grail': the ultimate goal of marketing is to influence behaviour and purchase
- 022. Buying decision sequence: need recognition → information search → evaluation of alternatives → purchase → post-purchase
- 033. Customer journey map: Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy
- 044. Touchpoints classified as Paid / Owned / Earned (and Physical / Digital)
- 055. Ehrenberg's laws of marketing: new customers start as light buyers; brands compete inside an evoked set
- 066. Double jeopardy: small brands have fewer buyers who are also less loyal
- 077. The light-to-loyal ladder: light buyer → repeat → habitual → advocate
- 088. CRM, loyalty programs, advocacy and the defensive role of advertising
Map the journey and place an influence point (short answer, 8 marks)
- 4 marks (description in order)Name the stages in order and apply them: Awareness (sees the brand exists) → Consideration (compares it to cooking and to rival kits) → Purchase (signs up for a trial box) → Retention (keeps the weekly subscription) → Advocacy (recommends it to friends).
- 2 marksAwareness touchpoint: a paid social ad or search ad (paid media) — the brand buys reach to enter the consideration set.
- 2 marksAdvocacy touchpoint: a referral program that turns happy subscribers into recommenders — the resulting word-of-mouth is earned media, while the referral mechanic itself sits on the brand's owned channel.
Key terms
- Customer journey
- The end-to-end path a consumer takes with a brand, usually modelled as Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy. Each stage has its own goals and touchpoints, which lets marketers target influence precisely.
- Buying decision sequence
- The classic five-step process a consumer works through: need recognition → information search → evaluation of alternatives → purchase decision → post-purchase behaviour. It underlies the customer-journey map.
- Touchpoint (paid / owned / earned)
- Any point of brand contact. Paid = bought media (ads); owned = the brand's own channels (website, app, store, email); earned = exposure the brand cannot buy (word-of-mouth, reviews, press, shares).
- Ehrenberg's laws of marketing
- Empirical regularities in how markets behave: new customers typically start as light buyers, brands compete inside consumers' evoked sets, and brand metrics scale predictably with market share rather than with unique brand 'magic'.
- Double jeopardy
- An Ehrenberg pattern: small brands are punished twice — they have fewer buyers AND those buyers are slightly less loyal than the buyers of large brands. Growth comes mainly from increasing the number of buyers (penetration).
- Advocacy
- The final journey stage, where satisfied customers actively recommend the brand, generating earned media and word-of-mouth. CRM and loyalty programs aim to move buyers from repeat purchase up to advocacy.
The Marketer's Grail: Customer Journeys & Influencing Purchase FAQ
What is the difference between the buying decision sequence and the customer journey?
They describe the same purchase from two angles. The buying decision sequence (need recognition → search → evaluation → purchase → post-purchase) is the consumer's internal process. The customer journey (Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy) is the marketer's external map of stages and touchpoints. Strong answers connect them — e.g. 'evaluation of alternatives' happens during the 'Consideration' stage.
How do I classify a touchpoint as paid, owned or earned?
Ask who controls it and who pays. Paid = the brand buys the placement (search ads, social ads, sponsorships). Owned = the brand controls the channel for free (its website, app, store, email list). Earned = third parties create it and the brand cannot buy it directly (word-of-mouth, organic reviews, press, shares). A referral program is owned, but the recommendations it triggers are earned.
What do Ehrenberg's laws mean for a marketer?
They temper the idea that loyalty is everything. Because new customers start light and double jeopardy punishes small brands, the laws imply growth comes mostly from penetration — getting more people to buy at all — and from making the brand easy to recall and buy. Advertising plays a largely defensive, availability-building role rather than converting devoted fans.
How is this topic examined?
As short-answer / essay: trace the customer journey or buying sequence for a given scenario, place and classify touchpoints (paid/owned/earned), and recommend an influence action at a named stage. You may also be asked to interpret Ehrenberg's laws or the light-to-loyal ladder. Apply, don't just list the stages.
Exam move
Memorise the two ordered spines — need recognition → search → evaluation → purchase → post-purchase, and Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention → Advocacy — and be able to slot them together. Then drill touchpoint classification: take any brand action and label it paid, owned or earned, and say which journey stage it serves. Prepare a crisp statement of Ehrenberg's laws and double jeopardy and what they imply (growth via penetration, advertising as defensive availability). In the exam, answer at a named stage with a named, classified touchpoint and a justification — that specificity is what separates full marks from a generic funnel description.
