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Consumer Behaviour

Understanding Consumer
Behaviour
Consumer Behaviour is the study of how
individuals make decisions to spend their
available resources(time,money,effort) on
consumption related items.
What they buy? How they use and dispose
the products?
When they buy?
Why they buy?
Where they buy,How often?
Factors influencing consumer
behavior
Cultural factors
Social factors
Personal factors
Psychological factors
Cultural factors
Individual buying pattern is affected by his culture
Subculture has more specific identification
Culture affects buying behaviour
Eggless cakes for Jains ,Alcohol free products
offered to Gulf countries.
Purchase of gold on Padwa – Indian culture
Marathi Ads are aired to cater to the vast majority
of people in the state
French –particular about their language
Social factors
 Family ,friends, formal social groups,
colleagues, consumer action groups influence
the consumer buying behavior significantly.
 Family : Family of orientation –one’s parents
and siblings
 Family of Procreation-spouse and children
 Newly wed couples buy honeymoon packages
 Husbands have started taking keen interest in
housekeeping , cooking due to rising proportion
of working women
Social factors
 groups
 They have Reference a direct /indirect influence
on a person’s behavior
 Primary reference groups
 1.Membership Group: Members of Swadeshi
/Gandhigiri club
 2.Aspirational group-whom one aspires to
join !
 3.Disclaimant group- Being a member
dislikes the values
 4.Avoidance /dissociative group- not a
member and dislikes their attitudes &
behaviour
Social factors
Secondary reference groups
Opinion leaders –special skills
,knowledge , personality
Identify media read /tuned to by
opinion leaders
E.g: kitchenware –Housewife is the
best opinion leader
Personal Factors
Age
Easy to digest and eat –old age
Low fat low calorie –health conscious adults
Sweet meat –young adolescents
Stage in lifecycle
Divorce, remarriage , widowhood …life
circumstances have an effect on consumer
behavior.
Personal factors
 Occupation and financial status
 Blue collared worker –Lunch box, work clothes,
work shoes. White collared executives –
laptop,travel,adventure
 Personality , self concept, Lifestyle affect buying
behavior e.g. Choice of apparel ,Real estate,
home appliances, automobiles
 Personality –psychological characteristics that
give enduring & consistent responses to the
environment
Psychological Factors
Motivation : Why one buys and when?
Perception : interpret information to create
meaningful picture of the world.
Understanding Customer’s perception
would help marketers creating a proper
image around the brand (Positioning)
Beliefs and attitudes
Learning – test rides , free samples are aimed
at changing attitudes towards the product
Buying Roles
 Initiator – gives the idea of purchasing the
product
 Influencer- advices and influences the
purchase decision
 Decider – a person who decides – where
,when , how to buy a product
 Buyer – actually purchases the product
 User – final beneficiary who uses the product
 Maintainer- repairs /services the product
 Disposer – a person who disposes the
product
Buying Behaviour
Extensive problem solving buying behavior
 Expensive and infrequently purchased products
 Consumers collect a lot of data
 High involvement product
 Marketers must differentiate their brand to stay
ahead of competition
 Marketers must help customers know the
brand
 E.G : Washing machine, music system,
automobiles
Buying behaviour
Routine buying behavior.

Routine purchases
Low involvement products – Salt
In case the customer reaches for the same
brand, it is due to habit and not brand
loyalty necessarily
Buying behaviour
Variety Seeking behavior
Need for variety is felt by the consumer
Brand switching for variety than
satisfaction reasons
E.g: Cookies
Buying behavior
Impulse buying behavior
On the spot decision
Instantaneous purchase
Marketers lure customers through free gifts
,discounts.
In store displays-danglers, banners, cut
outs…Point of purchase communication
Sensory Branding
Buying decision Process
Problem /need recognition

Information search

Evaluation of alternatives

Purchase decision

Post purchase behavior


Stage 1: Problem/need
recognition
A person recognizes a need or a problem
Internal stimuli – Hunger
External stimuli-Ads
Marketers need to identify stimuli that
trigger needs
Stage 2: Information Search
 Two levels of arousal
1. Heightened attention : more receptive to
information about the product
2. Active information search – calls up
friends ,visit stores.
 Sources of Consumer Information
 Personal sources- family ,friends
,neighbours
 Commercial sources- dealers, sales
persons. Ads, displays
 Experiential sources- handling the
product ,free samples /test rides.
 Public sources – media, Testing labs.
Stage 2:Information search
Awareness set –total set of brands
Contender set – applies criteria like budget,
preferences.
Choice set – strong contenders form which
he /she will purchase
Stage 3:Evaluation of
alternatives
Consumers seek bundle of benefits
E.g : while buying a camera – picture ,focus
,size and speed
Customers develop brand beliefs on every
attribute of the brand. Customers believe
that Olympus camera has better focus
,pocket friendly (Denim pockets)
These set of beliefs enable consumers to
develop ‘Brand image ‘
Stage 4:Purchase decision
Factors affecting purchase decision
Attitude of others-Purchase intention
adjustment
Unanticipated situational factors –
health , job , death of spouse.
Perceived risk – money ,self confidence ,
Attribute uncertainty
Decisions – Brand –vendor- quantity-
timing-payment
Post Purchase behavior
 Concept of satisfaction /delight
 Cognitive dissonance – when he does not get all
the benefits he was looking for or competitor’s brand
offers his sought benefits
 Reinforce: ‘ yeh hi hain right choice baby’
 Educate the consumer for proper usage – Washing
machines for making lassi in Punjab
 Disposal – no harm to the environment-Kodak , HP
empty cartridges, Samsung –damaged mobile
handsets
Industrial markets
Professionally and technically qualified buyers
0 or 1 level channel
Performance ,reliability , durability
Packaging is more protective than being promotional
Impulse buying is rare
Multiple buying influences
Negotiations/tenders and bidding
Buying situations
Straight rebuy–regular and routine
purchases like consumables , tools, spares.
Modified rebuy –specifications of
products to be purchased change, need to
look out for new suppliers along with the
existing suppliers .
New task buying-completely new
products
Process of Buying
Segmentation : Industrial
Markets
Demographic –
o Industry – which industry should we
focus on?
o Company size – what size companies
should we focus on?
o Location – what geographical areas
should we focus on?
Segmenting Industrial
markets
b. Operating variables – Technology – what
customer technology should we focus
on?
o Usage status – Should we focus on
heavy, medium, light users or nonusers?
o Customer capabilities – Should we focus
on customers needing many or few
services?
Segmenting Industrial
Markets
c. Purchasing approaches –
Highly centralized or decentralized purchasing
organization
o Engineering dominated, financially dominated.
o Strong relationships or go after most desirable
companies. Leasing, service contracts, system
purchase, sealed bidding –
o Companies seeking qualities, service, price –
purchasing criteria
Segmenting Industrial
markets
d. Situational factors –
o Urgency – needing quick & sudden
delivery or service.
o Specific application – certain application
or all application.
o Size of order – large or small orders
Segmenting Industrial
markets
e. Personal characteristics –
o Buyer sellers similarity – companies
whose people & values are similar to ours.
o Attitude towards risk – risk taking or risk
avoiding companies.
o Loyalty – companies that show high
loyalty to their suppliers.

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