With a strong empirical and market segmentation approach, this book focuses on how the Internet has changed the way people obtain information about potential purchases, giving readers the most up-to-date material on how technology is changing their lives as consumers. The Thirty-two mini-cases help readers learn by applying the theory, drawing on current business news to demonstrate specific consumer behavior concepts.

This edition now includes thirty-two Active Learning mini-cases. A clear consumer decision making model is set out in each chapter to facilitate learning–presented in the first chapter, this model serves as a structural framework for the concepts–the building blocks–examined in the following chapters. The book's final chapter ties all of these concepts together so readers see the interrelationships and relevance of individual concepts to consumer decision-making.

For those studying consumer behavior and/or marketing.

PART 1.     Introduction 

1.   Introduction: Diversity in the Marketplace

2.   Consumer Research

3.   Market Segmentation

PART 2.     The Consumer as an Individual

4.   Consumer Motivations

5.   Personality and Consumer Behavior

6.   Consumer Perception

7.   Consumer Learning

8.   Consumer AttitudeFormation and Change

9.   Communication and Consumer Behavior

PART 3.     Consumers in Their Social and Cultural Settings

10. Reference Groups and Family Influences

11. Social Class and Consumer Behavior

12. The Influence of Culture on Consumer Behavior

13. Subcultures and Consumer Behavior

14. Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: An International Perspective

PART 4.     The Consumer’s Decision Making Process

15. Consumer Influence and the Diffusion of Innovations

16. Consumer Decision Making