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3. Consumer Behavior

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3 views

3. Consumer Behavior

Uploaded by

Shubhadip Das
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Chapter 2
Definition of Consumer Behaviour

 Consumer behaviour is the study of how individual


customers, groups or organizations select, buy, use, and
dispose ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs
and wants. It refers to the actions of the consumers in
the marketplace and the underlying motives for those
actions.
 Marketers expect that by understanding what causes the
consumers to buy particular goods and services, they
will be able to determine—which products are needed in
the marketplace, which are obsolete, and how best to
present the goods to the consumers.
 Some selected definitions of consumer behaviour
are as follows:

1. According to Engel, Blackwell, and Mansard,


‘consumer behaviour is the actions and decision
processes of people who purchase goods and services
for personal consumption’.
2. According to Louden and Bitta, ‘consumer behaviour
is the decision process and physical activity, which
individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring,
using or disposing of goods and services’.
Nature, Scope & Significance of Consumer
Behaviour

1. Influenced by various factors:


The various factors that influence the consumer behaviour are as follows:

a. Marketing factors such as product design, price, promotion, packaging, positioning and

distribution.

b. Personal factors such as age, gender, education and income level.

c. Psychological factors such as buying motives, perception of the product and attitudes

towards the product.

d. Situational factors such as physical surroundings at the time of purchase, social

surroundings and time factor.

e. Social factors such as social status, reference groups and family.

f. Cultural factors, such as religion, social class—caste and sub-castes.


2. Undergoes a constant change:

Consumer behaviour is not static. It undergoes a change over a


period of time depending on the nature of products. For
example, kids prefer colourful and fancy footwear, but as they
grow up as teenagers and young adults, they prefer trendy
footwear, and as middle-aged and senior citizens they prefer
more sober footwear. The change in buying behaviour may
take place due to several other factors such as increase in
income level, education level and marketing factors.
3. Varies from consumer to consumer:

All consumers do not behave in the same manner. Different consumers


behave differently. The differences in consumer behaviour are due to
individual factors such as the nature of the consumers, lifestyle and
culture. For example, some consumers are technoholics. They go on a
shopping and spend beyond their means. They borrow money from
friends, relatives, banks, and at times even adopt unethical means to
spend on shopping of advance technologies. But there are other
consumers who, despite having surplus money, do not go even for the
regular purchases and avoid use and purchase of advance technologies.
4. Varies from region to region and country to county:

The consumer behaviour varies across states, regions and countries. For
example, the behaviour of the urban consumers is different from that of the
rural consumers. A good number of rural consumers are conservative in
their buying behaviours. The rich rural consumers may think twice to
spend on luxuries despite having sufficient funds, whereas the urban
consumers may even take bank loans to buy luxury items such as cars and
household appliances. The consumer behaviour may also varies across the
states, regions and countries. It may differ depending on the upbringing,
lifestyles and level of development.
5. Information on consumer behaviour is important to the marketers:

The knowledge of consumer behaviour enables them to take appropriate

marketing decisions in respect of the following factors:

a. Product design/model

b. Pricing of the product

c. Promotion of the product

d. Packaging

e. Positioning

f. Place of distribution
6. Varies from product to product:

Consumer behaviour is different for different products. There are


some consumers who may buy more quantity of certain items
and very low or no quantity of other items. For example,
teenagers may spend heavily on products such as cell phones
and branded wears for snob appeal, but may not spend on
general and academic reading. A middle- aged person may
spend less on clothing, but may invest money in savings,
insurance schemes, pension schemes, and so on.
7. Improves standard of living:

The buying behaviour of the consumers may lead to higher stan­dard of


living. The more a person buys the goods and services, the higher is the
standard of living. But if a person spends less on goods and services, despite
having a good income, they deprives themselves of higher standard of
living.

8. Reflects status:

The consumer behaviour is not only influenced by the status of a consumer,


but it also reflects it. The consumers who own luxury cars, watches and
other items are considered belonging to a higher status. The luxury items
also give a sense of pride to the owners.
PERSONAL FACTORS: There are several factors personal
to the individuals that influence their buying decisions.
Some of them are:

 Age, Life Cycle Stage


 Income
 Education, Occupation
 Lifestyle

ECONOMIC FACTORS: The last but not the least is the


economic factors which have a significant influence on the
buying decision of an individual. These are:
 Personal Income
 Family Income
 Income Expectations
 Consumer Credit
 Liquid Assets of the Consumer

Psychological Factors: The human
psychology plays a crucial role in
designing the consumer’s preferences
and likes or dislikes for a particular
product and services. Some of the
important psychological factors are:
 Motivation
 Perception
 Learning
 Attitudes and Beliefs
Social Factors: The human beings live in a complex
social environment wherein they are surrounded by several
people who have different buying behaviors. Since the man
is a social animal who likes to be acceptable by all tries to
imitate the behaviors that are socially acceptable. Hence,
the social factors influence the buying behavior of an
individual to a great extent. Some of the social factors are:
Family
Reference Groups
Status

Cultural Factors: It is believed that an individual


learns the set of values, perceptions, behaviors, and
preferences at a very early stage of his childhood from the
people especially, the family and the other key institutions
which were around during his developmental stage. Thus,
the behavioral patterns are developed from the culture
where he or she is brought up. Several cultural factors are:
Culture
Subculture

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