Behavioral Equation Theory

An integral part of sales theories, The Behavioral Equation theory uses a stimulus-response model (a sophisticated version of the “right set of circumstances”, and incorporating findings from behavioral research, J.A. Howard explains buying behavior in terms of the purchasing decision process, viewed as phases of the learning process.

Four essential elements of the learning process included in the stimulus response, and reinforcement, described as follows:

1. Drives are strong internal stimuli that impel the buyer’s response. There are two kinds:

A. Innate drives stem from the physiological needs, such as hunger, thirst, pain, cold, and sex.
B. Learned drives, such as striving for status or social approval, are acquired when paired with the satisfying of innate drives. They are elaborations of the innate drives, serving as a façade behind which the functioning of the innate drives is hidden. Insofar as marketing is concerned, the learned drives are dominant in economically advanced societies

2. Cues are weak stimuli that determine when the buyer will respond.

A. Triggering cues influence the decision process for any given purchase.
B. No triggering cues influence the decision process but do not activate it, any may operate at any time even though the buyer is not contemplating a purchase.

There are two kinds:
1. Product cues are external stimuli received from the product directly , for example, color of the package, weight, or price.
2. Informational cues are external stimuli that provide information of a symbolic nature about the product. Such stimuli may come from advertising,
conversations with other people (including sales personnel), and so on.

C. Specific product and information cues may also happen when price triggers the buyer’s decision.

3. Response is what the buyer does.

4. A reinforcement is any event that strengthens the buyer’s tendency to make a particular response.

Howard incorporates these four elements into an equation:
B = P * D * K* V

Where
B = response or the internal response tendency, that is, the act of Purchasing a brand or patronizing a supplier
P = predisposition or the inward response tendency, that is, force of habit
D = present drive level (amount of motivation)
K = “incentive potential,” that is, the value of the product or its potential Satisfaction to the buyer
V = intensity of all cues: triggering, product, or informational

“This is a condensed version of the explanation contained in J.A. Howard’s Marketing Management, Analysis and Planning, re. Ed. (Homewood, III.: Richard D. Irwin, 1963). We are indebted to the author for permission to include this condensation. This model was later refined further by Professor Howard, working in collaboration with jagdish N. Seth, See their “A Theory of Buyer Behavior,” in Reed Moyer (ed.), Changing Marketing Systems: proceedings of the 1967 winter Conference of the American Marketing Association. 1967. published by the American Marketing Association.

The relation among the variables is multiplicative. Thus, if any independent variable as zero value, B will also be zero and there is no response. No matter how much P there may be, for example, if the individual is unmotivated (D = 0), there is no response.

Each time there is a response- a purchase – in which satisfaction (k) is sufficient to yield a reward, predisposition (p) increases in value. In other words, when the satisfaction yields a reward, reinforcement occurs, and, technically, what is reinforced is the tendency to make a response in the future to the cue that immediately preceded the rewarded response. After reinforcement, the probability increases that the buyer will the product (or patronize the supplier) the next time the cue appears- in other words, the buyer has learned.

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