Consumer Market research may be

Behaviour & defined as: - an

organized effort to
Research gather information about
the market and the
customers.
Relationship between Marketing
Research and Consumer Research
 Approaches to Consumer
Behaviour Research:

there are two approaches

towards consumer
behaviour research. These
are (
a) Traditional approach
(b)Current approach
I. Traditional II. Current approach:
approach ‘Dialectical’:

This is further This is further divided into

divided into two four approaches
approaches ● materialism
● Positivist and ● Change
● Interpretivist. ● Totality
● Contradiction
 ii) Interpretivist approach:
i) Positivist
This approach is also referred to
approach:
as “post-modernism or
This approach also referred
experientialist.” Gradually there
to as “modernism”, is the
was a shift in the approach
earliest approach to
studying consumer
towards the study of consumer

behaviour and treats the behaviour and the positivist

study as an applied science; approach gave way to a new
the paradigm lays emphasis approach that came to be called
on science as a means of post-modernism.
 a) Materialism: This approach implies that
consumer behaviour is shaped by the ‘material
II. Current approach:
environment’ e.g. money, possessions etc.
‘Dialectical’:
b) Change: Consumer behaviour is ‘dynamic’ in
The term ‘dialectics’ nature; it is always in a process of continuous
considers all forms of motion, transformation and change.
human behaviour; thus the c) Totality: Consumption behaviour is
current approach to the ‘interconnected’ with other forms of human

study of consumer behaviour, like personal self and the surrounding

environment.
behaviour research is
d) Contradiction: Views changes in consumer
broader in scope. This is
behaviour as arising from their internal
further divided into four contradictions, like moods, emotions etc. The
approaches,Materialism, approach studies the consumer as a complex total
Change, Totality and whole and views consumer purchase as well as
 1) The Decision-Making
Research Perspectives
Perspective
on Consumer
According to the decision making
Behaviour:
perspective, the buying process is a
sequential in nature, with the consumer
There are three broad perceiving that there exists a problem
and then moving across a series of
research perspectives in
logical and rational steps to solve the
consumer behaviour. problem; stages being problem
recognition, information search,
evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision, and post purchase behaviour.
2) The Experiential 3) The Behavioural
Perspective:
Influence Perspective:
The experiential
This perspective holds
perspective believes that
not all buying may be that forces in the
rational and logical; in environment stimulate a
some cases, buying results consumer to make
from a consumers’ desire purchases without
for fun and fantasy,
developing beliefs and
hedonic pleasures,
attitudes about the
emotions and moods.
product.
Research Paradigms a) Quantitative Research
in Consumer
in Consumer Behaviour:
Behaviour:(Models )
The research paradigm
(i) research techniques that
in the study of are used to gather
consumer behaviour quantitative data over large
focuses on two samples randomly(ii)
approaches viz.,
statistical tools and
Quantitative research,
used by the positivists techniques, inclusive of
and, Qualitative survey techniques,
research: used by the observation and experiments.
interpretivists.
 (c) Combining the
(b) Qualitative Research
in Consumer Behaviour: two approaches:
This approach makes application of Now a day, the two
qualitative research techniques to the
study of Consumer Behaviour. It approaches are
comprises(i) research techniques that
are used to gather qualitative data used in combination
over small samples randomly.(ii) non-
statistical tools and techniques, to study consumer
inclusive of depth interviews, focus
group, projective techniques and even behaviour.
observation. The type of study is
subjective and non- empirical in nature.
Purposes of Market Research to Understand
Consumers
● Help companies make better business decisions and gain advantages over
the competition
● Help marketing managers or executives make numerous strategic and
tactical decisions in the process of identifying and satisfying customer
needs
● Remove some of the uncertainty by providing relevant information about
the marketing variables, environment, and consumers.
● Provide insights that help guide the creation of a business plan, launch a
new product or service, optimize existing products and services, and guide
expansion into new markets
● Determine which portion of the population will be
most likely to purchase a product or service, based
on variables such as age, gender, location, and
income level
● Reveal characteristics of a target market
● Understand how consumers talk about the products
in the market
● Identify which consumer needs are important and
whether the needs are being met by current
products
 Concepts of Consumer
Expectation and
Satisfaction.

A customer expects essential benefits.

A customer expects performance and
not blank promises.
A customer expects competency.
Services and Products

A customer wants consistency, which is the

capacity to perform the promised services,
reliably and accurately.

A customer wants tangibility or the form of

physical facilities, equipment, workforce and
other materials.

A customer wants reaction – the reaction to an

inquiry or to a call.
 Working towards
Enhancing Customer
Satisfaction.

Attempt continuously to provide

additional customer value in every
transaction.

Try to provide surprise benefits.

Constantly express the expectations

that the customer has around your
product.

Treat the customer exclusively.

Look for expectations and

performance gaps in order to
identify opportunities to delight.
Customer
Expectation and
Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction may

be defined as the product’s
performance according to
buyer’s expectations.
 1. Poor quality

Consumer
2. Pricing
Dissatisfaction
Customer dissatisfaction
3. Product Specifications
occurs when your product
or service fails to meet
4. Usability
the expectations of your
customers. 5. Poor Customer Service

Causes of Customer
Dissatisfaction 6. Hidden Product Information
Effects of Customer Dissatisfaction
on Businesses

1. BAD REVIEWS 2. POOR LEAD 3. LOSS OF

GENERATION AND CUSTOMERS
CONVERSION
 Relevance of marketing
information system
1. Anticipation of Consumer Demand

2. Complexity of Marketing

3. Significance of Economic Indicators

4. Significance of Competition

5. Development of Science and

Technology

6. Consumerism

7. Marketing Planning

8. Information Explosion