Notesale: Turn your study into money

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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Introduction:
Though similar, consumers are unique in themselves; they have needs and wants which are
varied and diverse from one another; and they have different consumption patterns and
consumption behaviour
...
For a firm to survive, compete and grow, it is essential that the
marketer identifies these needs and wants, and provides product offerings more effectively
and efficiently than other competitors
...
Herein, lies
the essence of Consumer Behaviour, an interdisciplinary subject, that emerged as a separate
field of study in the 1960s
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- this interaction takes
place between three elements viz
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”
The ‘consumer’ includes both personal consumers and business/industrial/organizational
consumers
...
The
study includes within its purview, the interplay between cognition, affect and behaviour that
goes on within a consumer during the consumption process: selecting, using and disposing
off goods and services
...
In our
case, stimuli would be product or service offering; it could be a brand or even anything to do
with the 4Ps
...
It includes the favourable or unfavourable feelings and
corresponding emotions towards a stimulus (eg
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These vary in direction, intensity and persistence
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In our case, this could be the purchase activity: to buy or
not a buy (again specific to a product or service offering, a brand or even related to any of
the 4 Ps)
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OTHER DEFINITIONS:
“The behaviour that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and
disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs
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" - Loudon and Bitta
“The study of consumers as they exchange something of value for a product or service that
satisfies their needs
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” -Engel,
Blackwell, Miniard
“The dynamic interaction of effect and cognition, behaviour and the environment by which
human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives
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2 NATURE AND SCOPE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:
Nature of Consumer Behaviour:
i
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The
individual determinants pertain to an individual’s internal self and include psychological
components like personal motivation and involvement, perception, learning and memory,
attitudes, self-concept and personality, and, decision making
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ii
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iii
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It has borrowed heavily from psychology (the study of the
individual: individual determinants in buying behaviour), sociology (the study of groups:
group dynamics in buying behaviour), social psychology (the study of how an individual
operates in group/groups and its effects on buying behaviour), anthropology (the influence
of society on the individual: cultural and cross-cultural issues in buying behaviour), and
economics (income and purchasing power)
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Consumer behaviour is dynamic and interacting in nature
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There is a continuous interplay or interaction between the three

components themselves and with the environment
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v
...

vi
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It is descriptive as it
explains consumer decision making and behaviour in the context of individual determinants
and environmental influences
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It makes use of
qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques for research and analysis, with the
objective is to understand and predict consumption behaviour
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It is a science as well as an art
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Scope of Consumer Behaviour:
The study of consumer behaviour deals with understanding consumption patterns and
behaviour
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- ‘Where’ they buy it: place
- ‘How often they buy’ it: time interval
- ‘How often they use’ it: frequency of use
The scope of consumer behaviour includes not only the actual buyer but also the various
roles played by him/ different individuals
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#Actual purchase (Behaviour): this includes the visible physical activity of buying of goods
and/or service
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#Individual determinants and environmental influences: The environmental factors affect
the decision process indirectly, through way of affecting individual determinants
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There are five buying roles, viz
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The initiator is the person who identifies that there exists a
need or want; the influencer is the one who influences the purchase decision, the actual
purchase activity and/or the use of the product or service; the decider is the one who
decides whether to buy, what to buy, when to buy, from where to buy, and how to buy; the
buyer is the one who makes the actual purchase; and, the user is the person (s) who use the
product or service
...
A
person may assume one or more of these roles
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Consumer behaviour focuses specifically on the Buyer and often User
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#Buyers and Sellers: They are the key elements in consumer behaviour
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They enter into an exchange process with the
seller, which leaves both the parties (buyer and seller) better off than before
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