MKTG6007 · Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Behaviour Foundations
Consumer behaviour is the totality of decisions a decision-making unit makes about acquiring, using and disposing of an offering over time — far wider than the moment of purchase. This foundations chapter builds the spine the whole unit rests on: the four clauses of that definition, the MAO framework (Motivation, Ability, Opportunity) that decides how hard a consumer processes any decision, the six-step decision process, and the high- vs low-effort involvement continuum. In MKTG6007 there is no exam, so the test is never “can you name MAO?” but “can you read a real consumer and say which switch is off and why?” Master this chapter and attitudes, decisions, post-purchase and social influence all become the same logic with new labels.
What this chapter covers
- 011.1 What consumer behaviour really is — the four clauses
- 02Consumption = acquire + use + dispose, by a decision-making unit, over time
- 031.2 Why CB sits on a psychological core
- 04The MAO framework — Motivation, Ability, Opportunity (a logical AND)
- 05The six-step consumer decision process — and the loop back to memory
- 06High- vs low-effort decisions & the involvement continuum
Worked example: diagnose with MAO — why a behaviour change failed
- +1Apply MAO as an AND, not an average. The consumer has high Motivation and high Ability (can afford it) — so check the third switch separately, never as a total.
- +1Find the binding constraint. The missing switch is Opportunity: no reusable cup on hand at the moment of purchase (no access, no time to plan). MAO's binding constraint is the lowest switch.
- +1Locate it in the decision process. The failure sits between Step 4 (purchase intention) and Step 5 (purchase) — the intention-to-action gap, where situational factors override intent.
- +1Prescribe the right lever. Fix the off switch: give them opportunity (a cup that travels with them, a reminder, in-store availability) — not more motivation, which is already high.
Key terms
- Consumer behaviour
- The totality of decisions a decision-making unit makes about acquiring, using and disposing of an offering over time. Buying is only the start — acquisition, usage and disposition are all CB, and the “unit” can be several people playing different roles.
- MAO framework
- Motivation, Ability and Opportunity — the three switches that set how deeply a consumer processes a decision. It is a logical AND: high motivation and ability still produce nothing if opportunity is missing, so the binding constraint is the lowest switch.
- Need
- An internal state of tension created by a gap between an actual (current) state and a desired (ideal) state. The bigger and more relevant the gap, the stronger the motivation to close it — this reappears as problem recognition and as (dis)satisfaction.
- Consumer decision process
- The six steps of a high-effort choice: problem/need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, purchase, and post-purchase evaluation — which feeds back into memory, making it a loop rather than a line.
- Involvement continuum
- Decisions are not high- or low-effort in two boxes but sit on a continuum set by MAO and involvement (how personally relevant and risky the choice feels). The same person agonises over a laptop and grabs a chocolate bar on reflex.
Consumer Behaviour Foundations FAQ
Is consumer behaviour just about buying?
No — that is the most common misread. CB is the totality of decisions about acquiring, using and disposing of an offering over time. Cutting takeaway coffee, for example, involves the buying trigger (acquisition), the ritual it is wrapped in (usage) and the cups and waste (disposition). Analysing all three phases, not just purchase, is what the assessments reward.
What does MAO actually predict?
It predicts how hard a consumer will process a decision — high MAO produces deep, central-route processing; any one switch low produces fast, shallow, peripheral processing. The classic error is treating MAO as a score to total up. It is a logical AND: a consumer with sky-high motivation and ability but no opportunity does nothing, so you diagnose each switch separately and fix the lowest.
Why does the same person deliberate over one purchase and grab another on reflex?
Because decisions sit on an involvement continuum, not in two fixed boxes. A car or laptop is high-MAO / high-involvement (slow, full six steps, many attributes weighed); a snack is low-MAO / low-involvement (fast, often skipping straight from recognition to purchase, run by habit and brand familiarity). A shopper can make roughly 60 low-effort choices in 30 minutes — there is no cognitive budget to deliberate over each one.
How do I use this chapter in the CCBC or group report?
Set the involvement level first — it decides which levers can work. A low-effort habit is run by cues, repetition and affect, so you change it by re-engineering the context, not by reasoning; a high-effort behaviour responds to information. Then use MAO as your diagnostic: which switch is off — motivation, ability or opportunity? In a group report, map the decision-making roles too: the person who feels the problem may not be the one who pays.
Exam move
Treat MAO as the cleanest diagnostic in the unit and run it on your CCBC behaviour first: is the consumer not motivated (raise relevance / perceived risk), not able (lower cost / simplify / educate), or without opportunity (give them time, info, access)? Check each switch separately — the binding constraint is the lowest one. Then place the behaviour on the involvement continuum before proposing any solution: low-effort habits change through cues and context, high-effort behaviours through information. Use the six-step process as a map to locate where in the journey the problem lives, and watch the gap between Step 4 (intention) and Step 5 (purchase) — that is where most behaviour-change plans quietly fail.
