CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

• Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services for the satisfaction of their wants.

• there are various factors influencing the purchases of consumer such as social, cultural, personal and psychological, economic, environment, and other factors.

Cultural Factor:

1. Culture:Basically, culture is the part of every society

and is the important cause of person wants and behavior. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies from country to country therefore marketers have to be very careful in analyzing the culture of different groups, regions or even countries.

2.SubcultureEach culture contains different subcultures such

as religions, nationalities, geographic regions, racial groups etc. Marketers can use these groups by segmenting the market into various small portions. For example marketers can design products according to the needs of a particular geographic group.

3.Social Class Every society possesses some form of social class

which is important to the marketers because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is similar. In this way marketing activities could be tailored according to different social classes. Here we should note that social class is not only determined by income but there are various other factors as well such as: wealth, education, occupation etc.

• Upper class• Middle class• Lower class

Social Factors:

1.Reference GroupsReference groups have potential in forming a

person attitude or behavior. The impact of reference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the product is visible such as dress, shoes, car etc then the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference groups also include opinion leader

Membership or contractual groups:They are those groups to which the person belongs,

and interacts. These groups have a direct influence on their member’s behavior.

Primary or normative groups:They refer to groups of friends, family members,

neighbors, co-workers etc whom we see most often.

Secondary groups:They include religious groups, professional groups

etc

Asprational groups:These are groups to which a person would like

to join as memberDissociative or avoidance groups:These groups whose value an individual rejects

and the individual does not want to be associated with.

Formal groups:These groups have a known list of members.

Vary often recorded somewhere. An example might be a professional association, or a club

Informal groups:These are less structured, and are typically based on

friendship. An example would be an individual’s circle of friends.

Automatic groups:These are those groups, to which one belongs by virtue of

age, gender, culture or education. It’s also called as category groups

Indirect groups:The costumers are not in direct contact with the

influencersComparative groups:The members of this group are those with whom you

compare yourself

Disclaiment groups:Here the consumer is a member and has face to

face interaction with group members whose values, attitudes, and behavior are disapproved by him. You belong to some groups, but not conform to the norms and standards of those groups.

Contractual groups:The groups with which we are in regular

contacts like college friends, office colleagues

2.FamilyBuyer behavior is strongly influenced by the

member of a family. Therefore marketers are trying to find the roles and influence of the husband, wife and children. If the buying decision of a particular product is influenced by wife then the marketers will try to target the women in their advertisement. Here we should note that buying roles change with change in consumer lifestyles.

Family of orientation:This is the family in which a person takes birth.

The influences of parents and individual’s upbringings have a strong effect on the buying habits

Family of procreation:This is family formed by an individual with his

or her spouse and children. Normally after marriage an individual’s purchasing habits and priorities change under the influence of spouse. As the marriage gets older, the people usually settle in certain roles.

Influence of children on buying decision:First born children generate more economic impact

than higher-order babies. Children also have a role in applying pressure to their parents to make particular purchasing decisions

3.Roles and StatusEach person possesses different roles and status in the

society depending upon the groups, clubs, family, organization etc. to which he belongs. For example a woman is working in an organization as finance manager. Now she is playing two roles, one of finance manager and other of mother. Therefore her buying decisions will be influenced by her role and status.

Internal or Psychological Factors

1.Motivation:• A need becomes a motive when it is aroused to a

sufficient level of intensity. A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing to drive the person to act there can be of type of needs

• Biogenic needs:• They arise from physiological states of tension such as

thirst hunger.• Psychogenic needs:• They arise from physiological states of tension such as

needs for recognition esteem.

MASLOW’S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY Physiological Needs:The needs that taken as the starting as the starting point in

motivation are called basic or physiological needs. Safety Needs:These needs are also important for most of the people,

everybody wants job security, protection against dangers, safety of property, etc.

Social needsMan is a social being. He is therefore interested in

conversation, sociability, exchange of feelings, companionship, recognition, belongingness, etc.

Esteem and status needsThese needs embrace such things as self

confidence, independence, achievement, competence, knowledge, initiative and success

Self fulfillment needsThese are the needs of the highest order, they

are generally found in persons whose first four needs have already been fulfilled. They are concerned with archiving what a person considers to be his mission in life.

2.PerceptionSelecting, organizing and interpreting information in a

way to produce a meaningful experience of the world is called perception. There are three different perceptual processes which are selective attention, selective distortion and selective retention.

3.Learning: It is defining as the changes in the behavior of an

individual arising from the past practice or previous experience. The buying behavior is critically affected by their learning experience. The learning process occurs through the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues responses and reinforcement.

4.Beliefs and AttitudesCustomer possesses specific belief and attitude

towards various products. Since such beliefs and attitudes make up brand image and affect consumer buying behavior therefore marketers are interested in them. Marketers can change the beliefs and attitudes of customers by launching special campaigns in this regard.

5.Goals: The basic consequences, needs or values that a

consumer wants to achieve are called end goals

6.Risk and uncertainty: In the case of the inexperienced buyer, there is a

greater risk attached to making the purchase. Inexperienced buyers have, by definition, less knowledge of the product category they are planning to buy into.

7.Heuristic:In order to reduce risk, and to simplify the decision-

making process, consumers will usually have a set of heuristics

• Search Heuristic• Evaluation Heuristic• Choice Heuristic

8.Personality:Personality refers to a dynamic concept that

describes the growth and Development of an individual’s whole psychological system, which looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts

Psychoanalytic theory:Marketers use many themes in advertising

based on psychoanalytic understanding of personality such as fantasy, wish fulfillment, aggression, and escape from life’s pressures.

Social-cultural theory:It Believe that social and cultural variables are

more important than biological drives in the development of individual personality

Trait theory: Trait theorists construct personality tests and

ask respondents to record their responses to many items. Respondents are required to mark ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with certain statements such as ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ certain situations or kinds of people.

9.Self-concept : Most marketers consider self-concept as most

relevant as it focuses on how the self-image or self-concept of individuals influences their purchase behavior.

Personal factors:The personal factors of an individual such as

occupation, income, life –style, etc. are important determents of an individual buying decision. The income level determines the expenditure of a person. Life style reflects the manner in which a person lives and spends time and money

1.Age and life cycle stage• Bachelor stage: young, single people not living at

home• Newly married couples: young, no children.• Full nest 1: youngest child below 6th age• Full nest 2: youngest child, age 6th or more• Full nest 3: older married couples with

dependent children.• Empty nest1: older married couples on children

living with them, head in labor force• Empty nest2: older married no children living at

home.

2.OccupationThe occupation of a person has significant impact on

his buying behavior. For example a marketing manager of an organization will try to purchase business suits, whereas a low level worker in the same organization will purchase rugged work clothes

3.Economic Situation:Consumer economic situation has great influence on

his buying behavior. If the income and savings of a customer is high then he will purchase more expensive products. On the other hand, a person with low income and savings will purchase inexpensive products

4.Life Style: Lifestyle of customers is another import factor

affecting the consumer buying behavior. Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed by the things in his/her surroundings.

5.Personality:Personality changes from person to person, time to

time and place to place. Therefore it can greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. Actually, Personality is not what one wears; rather it is the totality of behavior of a man in different circumstances