Consumer

Behaviour

Rajneesh Krishna
Dean
FLAME School of Communication
Pune

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Detailed Contents

Preface iii
Acknowledgements vii
Features of the Book viii
Brief Contents x
List of Exhibits xv

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1. Understanding Consumer Study of Consumer Behaviour 13

Behaviour 3 Sociology of consumption 15
Psychology of consumption 16
Introduction 3
Addressing consumers 17
Definition of Consumer Behaviour 4
Applications of Consumer Behaviour 17
Scope of Consumer Behaviour 5
Marketing of products and brands 17
History of Consumer Behaviour as a
Social marketing 21
Discipline 7
Policy formulation 22
Consumer Behaviour as a Multi-disciplinary
Consumer protection 24
Science 10
Consumer Behaviour in Indian
Sociology and the discipline of consumer
Perspective 25
behaviour 10
Global perspective 26
Anthropology and the discipline of consumer
Perspective of imported theories 26
behaviour 11
Cultural perspective 27
Psychology and the discipline of consumer
behaviour 12 Case Study: The Case of Tractor Owners 29

PART II: SOCIOLOGY OF CONSUMPTION 31

2. Social Groups 33 Society as a group 36

Impact of social group on behaviour 36
Introduction 33
Group, identity, and consumption 40
Definition of Social Group 34

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 xii DETAILED CONTENTS

Multiplicity of group membership and 4. Social Class 122

consumption 43
Introduction 122
Types of Groups 45
Class from the Marxian Perspective 123
Primary versus secondary group 45
Class from the Weberian Perspective 124
Reference versus occupied group 47
Social Class: Definition and Nature 126
Impact of Reference Group on
Class Influence on Consumption 127
Consumption 51
Class, economic resources, and consumption 130
Reference group and different types of appeals 55
Class, social resources, and consumption 132
Effectiveness of a reference group 57
Class, psyche, and consumption 137
Propositions for the use of reference group
Impact of class on consumption behaviour 139
appeal 57
Class Structure and Marketing 143
Reference group behaviour in modern society 60
Upper class 144
Case Study: The Case of Andhra Cotton Middle class 144
Farmers 64 Lower class 147
Class Mobility and Consumption 148
3. Primary Groups: Communities, Measurement of Class 151
Neighbourhood, and Family 66 Subjective measures 151
Reputational measures 152
Introduction 66
Objective measures 152
Impact of Communities, Neighbourhoods,
Class and Consumption in India 154
and Family on Consumption 68
Class, lifestyle, and consumption in urban
Social Communities 69
India 155
Village community 70
Social class, modernity, and product usage 159
Rural personality dimensions, social system, and
Class and consumption in rural India 160
consumption behaviour 75
Influence of caste on class and consumption 161
Urban Neighbourhood 80
Virtual Communities 83 Case Study: The Case of Tea Class 166
Family 85
Functions of the family 88 5. Culture 171
Types of Family 101 Introduction 171
Changes in the joint family 102 Concept of Culture 172
Joint family in present Indian society 104 Structure of Culture 176
Urban Families 108 Elements of culture 176
Structure of Indian urban families 108 Culture and Consumption 188
Functional characteristics of the Indian urban Cultural Values 193
family 110 Dimensional approach to cultural values 194
Family life cycle in India 113 Qualitative approach 203
Case Study 1: Tractor Consumption in a Village Culture of India 212
Community 118 Structure of Indian culture 213
Nature of Indian culture: marketing
Case Study 2: Purchase Process in a Joint
implications 215
Family 120

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 DETAILED CONTENTS xiii

Core values of Indian culture 217 Occupational status and income 244
List of Indian core value dimensions 221 Demographic Variables at Macro
Level 244
6. Demography of India 231 Demography of India 245
Introduction 231 Stage one 246
Definition of Demography 232 Stage two 247
Demographic Variables at Micro Level 233 Stage three 248
Age 234 Population Structure of India 250
Gender 241 Sex composition 250
Marital status 243 Age composition 255

PART III: PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSUMPTION 263

7. Need, Motivation, and Emotion 265 Theories of Learning 315

Conditioning theories 315
Introduction 265
Cognitive theories 340
Motivation: Definition and Nature 266
Theories of social learning 347
Theories of the Process of Motivation 270
Memory 356
Instinct theory of motivation 270
Definition and types of memory 356
Drive reduction theory of motivation 270
Structure of memory—storage and retrieval 359
Incentive theory of motivation 272
Forgetting 364
Arousal theory of motivation 275
Memory, consumption, and brand 365
Opponent-process theory of motivation 275
Theories on the Types of Motivation 278 9. Sensation and Perception 371
Maslow’s theory of motivation—hierarchy of
Introduction 371
needs 278
Sensation 372
Murray’s theory of motivation 285
Absolute threshold 373
Theories of Motivation—Some Marketing
Differential threshold 375
Insights 290
Subliminal perception 379
Emotions 291
Perception 381
Definition and characteristics of emotion 294
Concept of perception 383
Functions of emotion 296
Perceptual selection 385
Mechanism of emotion 297
Perceptual organization 394
Types of emotions 300
Perceptual interpretation 399
Emotions and marketing 302
Case Study: Case of Motorcycle
Case Study: A Storm in a Teacup 307
Perception 408

8. Learning and Memory 311 10. Attitude 412

Introduction 311 Introduction 412
Definition and Nature of Learning 313 Definition of Attitude 414

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 xiv DETAILED CONTENTS

Characteristics of Attitude 415 Concept of Personality 466

Role of Attitude in Effective Marketing 418 Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory of
Models of Attitude 420 Personality 471
Tri-component model of attitude 420 Structure of personality 471
Multi-attribute model of attitude 429 Personality dynamics 473
Formation and Change of Attitude 441 Psychosexual development of personality 475
Cognitive dissonance theory 442 Analytical Psychology of Carl Jung 479
Self-perception theory 444 Gordon Allport’s Trait Theory 484
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) 444 Self-concept and consumption preferences 490
Persuasion and Attitude 451 Concept of Personality in Marketing 492
Case Study: Building a Successful Online Segmentation and personality traits 493
Business: Overcoming Attitudinal Brand personality and personality traits 495
Barriers 459 Case Study: Sports Shoes: Fitting
Personality 504
11. Personality 465
Introduction 465

PART IV: ADDRESSING CONSUMERS 509

12. Consumer Research 511 13. Consumer Decision-making 546

Introduction 511 Introduction 546
Characteristics of Consumer Research 512 Understanding Consumer Decision-
Stages of Research 515 making 547
Types of Consumer Research 515 Opinion leadership 548
Basic versus applied consumer research 515 Effect of Innovation 552
Exploratory, descriptive, and experimental Concept of diffusion 552
consumer research 517 Different stages in the adoption process 552
Qualitative versus quantitative research 519 Diffusion of innovation 554
Qualitative Research Methodology 520 Product characteristics that influence diffusion 558
Tools of data collection 521 Model of Consumer Decision-making 559
Quantitative Research Methodology 535
Case Study: Decision-making Process for a
Tools for data collection 536
Cold Balm 563
Different types of quantitative research 537
Case Study: Gaming in the Indian
Context 544

Index 567

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CHAPTER ONE

Understanding Consumer
Behaviour

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• de¿ne consumer behaviour as a discipline and establish its boundaries by
explaining its scope
• discuss the evolution of consumer behaviour as a discipline
• explain the multi-disciplinary nature of consumer behaviour by exploring its
linkages with different social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and
anthropology
• analyse how different modules in the discipline of consumer behaviour are
academically linked with these social sciences
• understand the application of consumer behaviour in marketing of products
and brands, social marketing, policy formulation, and consumer protection
• explain why consumer behaviour in the Indian context is important

INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we will introduce the concept of consumer behaviour and all its consequences.
We will also establish the importance of understanding consumer behaviour from the
perspective of marketing management. It is important to note that understanding consumer
behaviour is not only important for a successful marketing effort, but also for understanding
changing attitudes, behaviour patterns, and social practices. Consumer behaviour is a subset
of social behaviour and understanding the consumer helps in policy formulation.
Therefore, in order to get an in-depth understanding of how and why a consumer
behaves in a way in which he does, academicians draw from different disciplines including
sociology, psychology, anthropology, and economics. On the basis of theories and constructs
drawn from these different disciplines, a unique perspective that helps us understand the
behaviour of the consumer has been developed.

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 4 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

We will try to understand this perspective that is particularly important in India because
of the complex nature of the Indian society and culture.

DEFINITION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Before trying to define consumer behaviour, we should understand the difference between
the concepts of ‘consumer’ and ‘customer’. ‘Consumer’ is a more broad-based term,
whereas ‘customer’ denotes a kind of permanency in the usage of the product. We use the
word ‘customer’ if the consumption is spread over a period of time. For instance, a regular
shopper at Food Bazaar for the past one year can be referred to as a customer of that shop.
Sometimes the words consumer and customer are also used to denote the differences
between the purchaser and the final user of the product. From this perspective, the person
who purchases the product from the shop is defined as the customer and the person who
uses the product is the consumer. For example, a housewife purchases a fairness cream from
a shop for her daughter. The mother in this case is only a customer, but the consumer is her
daughter. On the other hand, if the housewife had purchased the fairness cream for herself
then she is the customer as well as the consumer. In this case, customer and consumer are
one and the same person.
After clearly understanding the distinction between the two concepts, we can define the
discipline of consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour is a discipline that encompasses all
processes involved in acquiring, using, and disposing of products, services, and ideas. As a
discipline, it is also concerned with the results of such acquisitions, uses, and disposals.
If we analyse this definition, the first words that stand out are ‘products, services, and
ideas’. This means that as a discipline, consumer behaviour is not only concerned with
consumption of products and goods, but also services. Not only does the consumption of soap
or car fall within the ambit of consumer behaviour, but also the consumption of health and
hospitality services. Similarly, the discipline of consumer behaviour also concerns itself with
the consumption of ideas, namely the processes by which people acquire and adopt new ideas.
For example, concepts of consumer behaviour can be applied to understand why people
prefer to purchase small cars (that are a product) in India, as well as to understand why the
small family norm (which is an idea), is adopted more by upper- and middle-class families
than by lower-class families. The first case, that is, purchase of a small car, is an example
of consumption of a product, whereas adoption of the small family norm is an example
of the consumption of an idea. Therefore, consumer behaviour is involved, not only
when purchase happens, but also when purchase does not happen. In this way, consumer
behaviour is concerned with acquisition, use, and disposal that may occur with or without
purchase.
It is also interesting to note that consumer behaviour is not only concerned with the
processes in which financial transactions are involved, but also processes in which there
are no financial transactions. Various governmental and non-governmental organizations
are involved in campaigning on different social issues—ranging from safe drinking

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 5

water and AIDS awareness, to environment-friendly practices and adult education. In

these cases, no financial transaction is taking place. However, there is adoption of new
behaviour or practices, or a change in attitude that can also be defined as consumption.
In other words, consumption happens not only when money changes hands, but also
when people change their old values, practices, attitudes, and beliefs for social good.
What is common in these two instances is that they share the same two parties. One of the
parties in the transaction comes out with a product, service, or an idea, and communicates
it to the other party (i.e., consumers or customers) who adopt it. This adoption accrues into
profit for the first party, which is called marketing, or results in social good, which is known
as social marketing.
Consumer behaviour is also concerned with both the processes and the results of
consumption. It deals with the processes by which a product or a service or an idea is adopted.
Such processes can be psychological in nature, such as learning or motivation, or social in
nature, such as consumer socialization, or even socio-economical such as value–price trade-off.
An example of a social process affecting consumer behaviour could be the low demand
for vacuum cleaners because of the widespread availability of maidservants. In a social
situation, where day-to-day cleaning is done by the maidservant, a housewife would rarely
purchase an expensive product like vacuum cleaner. This leads to an understanding of how
a social situation acts as a barrier to the acceptance of a product or a brand. On the other
hand, consumer behaviour is also interested in understanding the process by which some
other classes of consumers accept this product. Was it the value–price trade-off ? If yes,
what was the value–price trade-off that persuaded them to purchase such a product?
To gain a perspective on consumer behaviour, it is essential to understand all these processes.
Along with this, it attempts to understand the results of such behaviour. These results vary in
nature from psychological and social to financial. The psychological results of consumption
could be satisfaction or dissatisfaction, pleasant or unpleasant memories, positive or negative
perceptions, etc. Examples of social consequences are development of consumer culture,
association of consumption with identity, and formation of status symbols.
Lastly and most importantly, consumer behaviour is used for analysing consumption.
For example, in the case of vacuum cleaner, the purchase could result in satisfaction when
the prime consideration is health and hygiene. However, in some middle-class households,
where the prime concern is value for money, the vacuum cleaner purchased might result
in some kind of dissatisfaction. In some cases, housewives find it inconvenient to use the
product daily and some even find it inadequate to battle the dust in India. Analysing the
results of such consumption and understanding the reasons for the same is a very important
aspect of consumer behaviour.

SCOPE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

We have defined and explained the discipline of consumer behaviour, which is concerned
with the processes and results of acquisition, usage, and disposal. If we are able to detail

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6 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

these processes and their results, we would be able to understand the scope of consumer
behaviour as a discipline.
The processes involved during consumption are basically decision-making processes,
as shown in Fig. 1.1. In a society, the consuming units include individuals, families, and
organizations that start the consumption process. They decide whether to acquire, use,
or dispose any goods, services, and ideas. The decision processes involved during the
acquisition also revolve around questions, such as what to acquire, when to acquire, from
where to acquire, whether to acquire only the idea of gathering information or purchase
the actual product.
Similar decision processes are involved during the use and disposal of products, ideas, and
services. Answering these questions helps consumers select the most suitable and appropriate
product or service or idea that also obtains them the optimum value–price trade-off. The
scope of consumer behaviour also involves studying the reasons and analysing why consumers
purchase certain products from certain shops and at a particular time of the year. Whatever
consumption decisions are taken, they create results at two levels—micro and macro. Micro
level is the level of the consuming unit, that is, individual, family or organization. These
results may be satisfaction, happy or sad experiences, perceptions, learnings, memories,
and attitudes. However, the impact of consumption is not limited to the consuming unit;

Individuals, families, and organizations

Units of consumption

Whether, why, when, how, what, from where,

how much, with what frequency
Process To acquire, use, and dispose
of
consumption
Which
Products, services, and ideas

In the consumption roles of

Initiator(s), information gatherers, influencers,
decision-makers, purchasers, users, disposers

MACRO MICRO
Result
Consumption culture, societalculture, Satisfaction or dissatisfaction,
of
social structure experiences, perceptions, learning,
consumption
memories, and attitudes

Figure 1.1 Scope of consumer behaviour

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 7

rather, it also has a macro effect. The macro effect of consumption is visible in terms of
consumption trends. Trends of consumption are typically products of society’s past culture
that affect its emerging culture. Exhibit 1.1 elucidates how the results of consumption affect
consumer behaviour.

Exhibit 1.1 Telecom Industry and Change in Consumption Pattern

The increase in the consumption of mobile telephony Bharti Airtel has launched such a service called
services and value-added services (VAS) has changed Behtar Zindagi in Rajasthan. It provides subscribers
the Indian society at the macro as well micro level. with relevant and important information on weather
Consumption of mobile telephony has led to changes conditions, market rates and health, education, and
in not only the urban community, but also in the ¿nance.
traditional rural community. Information on weather conditions, such as if the
For example, the methods of cultivation have monsoon is expected to be erratic that year, helps the
undergone a stark change in rural India due to the farmers time the sowing. Information on market rates
consumption of mobile telephony and VAS. A farmer helps the farmers decide the market in which to sell
has to make multiple decisions during the period of their product. Other examples of similar consumption
cultivation, such as which crops to cultivate, what trends are Nokia Life Tools, a text message-based
fertilizers, micro-nutrients, pesticides, and other agro- agro-information service and IFFCO Kisan Sanchar.
chemicals to use, when to irrigate the crop, and where Another interesting example is mKrishi from TCS
to sell the product for the best price. Traditionally, these Innovation Labs that is being tested in four villages
decisions were taken with the help of information from in Maharashtra. This service runs on camera mobile
peers and some accessible retailers. phones. Farmers seeking advice upload photographs
Today, the use of mobile telephony has provided an of their crops through mobile phones to the control
alternative source of information that is changing the room. The photographs are forwarded to agro-experts
way farmers cultivate and live. This is a macro trend and their advice is communicated to the farmers. Expert
as now there are 21.89 crore rural versus 18.84 crore advice is available on all relevant agricultural issues.
urban mobile subscriptions (Juxtconsult 2011). Various The increased use of mobile telephony and VAS
mobile service providers have started marketing VAS is leading to major macro level changes in the way
speci¿cally for farmers. farmers live and earn.

HISTORY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AS A DISCIPLINE

Today, the discipline of consumer behaviour is one of the most important components
of the marketing discipline. With a few exceptions, most of the universities and institutes
awarding a professional degree in marketing management have made the course a core
elective. Although no systematic research has been carried out in this area as yet, during
the course of teaching this subject in different institutes as faculty or visiting faculty, the
author has observed that it is one of the most popular subjects among marketing students.
In a similar way, different aspects of consumer behaviour have also become hot topics
of research. Most research articles that one reads in refered journals are either directly

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8 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

related with the domain of consumer behaviour or try to interrelate marketing variables
with behavioural variables. The popularity of consumer behaviour as a discipline is not just
an Indian but a global phenomenon.
In an article, Walters (1979) points out that consumer behaviour has emerged as the
glamour subject of marketing. He also points out that systematic research in consumer
behaviour had been neglected for a long time. Till 1960, there was no significant amount
of consumer research. However, by 1965, consumer research projects in academia as well
as in industry were in full flow. It was in 1965 when a course in consumer behaviour was
defined and different marketing disciplines started offering the course. Prof. Jagdish Sheth,
in his presidential address to Advances in Consumer Research, also fixed the same year as
the time when the field of consumer behaviour got defined (Sheth 1985).
Although consumer behaviour as a field of study was introduced quite late in the history
of marketing, it is notable that the interest among consumers is not a recent phenomenon.
It is as old as the discipline of marketing and economics. According to Walters (1979), it was
apparent in the writings of Adam Smith who said that in an economic system, the interest
of the producer should be attended to only to the extent that is necessary for promoting
consumers’ concern. However, this concern for the consumer did not translate into the
development of the discipline of consumer behaviour.
There were two reasons for this. First, the social sciences (from where the discipline of
consumer behaviour derives the basic understanding of consumers as individuals) were not
sufficiently developed at that point of time and second, the concern with early consumers
was at the gross level. This means that they were analysed only in terms of units who were
making certain rational demands in a perfect market.
Marketing as a discipline started to separate from the discipline of economics with the
maturing of the industrial economy and the beginning of mass production. The process
started approximately in the first decade of the 20th century. The early scholars of the
marketing discipline followed the tradition of economics and treated consumers only at a
gross level, that is, as creators of demand in the marketplace.
According to Walters (1979), Paul Nystrom was the first person to break away from the
tradition of economics in his book Economic Principles of Consumption in 1929. Though the
book still had an economics orientation, for the first time it introduced consumers’ needs,
motivations, and habits, along with customs and knowledge as factors that influenced
consumers’ choices in the marketplace. Managers of that time also realized that the task of
marketers should be to focus on the needs and desires of the consumers and use advertising
and sales to persuade them to purchase goods. However, these authors were part of the
early school of thought and not the general trend.
The first systematic approach to understanding marketing philosophy and defining
the consumers at the core of it, was in E. Jerome McCarthy’s book Basic Marketing.
Published in 1960, it led to a knowledge revolution. To quote Walters (1979), the
consumer movement in marketing was in full swing by 1965 and there was a profusion
of research in the field.

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 9

The first model of consumer behaviour that appeared was that of Nicosia (1966). Within
a short time span Howard and Sheth (1969) introduced a more comprehensive model
(explained in Chapter 13 of this book). At the same time, consumer behaviour textbooks
were introduced. The first consumer behaviour textbook was authored by Engel, Kollat,
and Blackwell (1968) followed by the one written by Walters and Paul (1970).
Since then, there has been exponential increase in the number of textbooks and research-
based perspective-building books, as well as in the number of research projects, leading
to the establishment of consumer behaviour as a scholastic field of study. Let us look at
Exhibit 1.2 to understand the different concepts of consumer behaviour.

Exhibit 1.2 Understanding Consumer Behaviour Concepts

J. Sinha is a faculty at one of the best-known has a better balance due to its larger wheel
management institutes in India. His son passed his base, better suspension system, and anti-skid
Class 12 exam with Àying colours and has joined brakes.
an engineering college in the same city. The college On the basis of these argument, he tries to establish
is situated on the outskirts of the city. He travels by that a motorcycle has better value–price trade-off.
the city bus that takes him around 2.5 hours for the In the next stage, they work towards establishing
complete journey. He feels the need for a motorcycle. the value–price trade-off for different brands of
Sinha thinks the need is justi¿ed, but one that can be motorcycles. The information was gathered by the son.
better ful¿lled by purchasing a scooter, as it is safer. On the basis of the information gathered, they decided
Therefore, the family agrees with the need for a two- on a brand of motorcycle. The whole family went to the
wheeler. They agree with the reason for the purchase, dealer to purchase the motorcycle.
that is, cutting down on the travel time. There is also In this entire process, Sinha’s son was the
agreement on purchasing the product immediately. initiator, information-gatherer, inÀuencer, and the
However, there is a disagreement on the usage primary user of the motorcycle. Sinha was the
pattern. Sinha feels that if a scooter is purchased, then purchaser and the secondary user of the product. If
he would also be able to use it for short distances. In it is disposed of before the son gets a job, Sinha will
addition, a scooter is a cheaper alternative and better be the main decision-maker. If it is disposed of after
value for money. His son is completely opposed to his son has got a job, then he will be the primary
purchasing a scooter. His opposition stems from his decision-maker on the disposal of the product. Here,
conviction that a scooter does not suit his personality. the unit of consumption is the family.
He feels he would look good on a motorcycle. However. Micro impact of the consumption is the satisfaction
he tries to convince his father on different grounds. that the son shows with the performance of the product.
1. A motorcycle gives a better mileage. Its Initially, both the parents felt pangs of anxiety due
maintenance cost is also lower than that of to their perception that motorcycle was a dangerous
a scooter. Therefore in the longer run, it is vehicle. But after some time, they realize that their
cheaper than a scooter. A motorcycle will also anxieties were unfounded and it was indeed a better-
last longer compared to a scooter. balanced vehicle. Sinha even recommended to one of
2. According to him, a motorcycle is safer as his doctoral students that he buy a motorcycle instead
compared to a scooter. This is because it of a scooter.

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 10 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

This type of positive feedback has resulted in a macro impact where scooter as a category
has started shrinking. Motorcycles run largely on 4-stroke engines enabling better fuel
utilization and causing lesser environmental damage.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AS A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY SCIENCE

Consumer behaviour is a complex and a multidimensional process. Due to the complexity
of consumer behaviour, it becomes very difficult to predict specific instances on the basis of
any given model. To understand consumer behaviour for a given brand in a given context,
often a specially-formulated consumer research is conducted. Even then, prediction of
consumer behaviour is often risky and imprecise. However, it is easier to grasp the model
of consumer behaviour that elucidates the process of consumption and the factors that
affect consumption on a general level. This model can be utilized to develop a perspective.
The process of consumption starts with the generation of a need that gets converted into
a want and a demand. A need evolves into a want when it is associated with a particular
product. If the consumer has the financial capacity to purchase the product, then want is
transformed into demand. For example, thirst is a need. When thirst is associated with a
product called soft drink, then it evolves into a want for the soft drink. If the consumer has the
financial ability to purchase a bottle of soft drink, then it becomes a demand for the soft drink.
Needs could be triggered by the lack of homeostasis in the body of the consumer or
by some elements in the external environment. For example, a person may not be thirsty,
but an outdoor ad may suddenly trigger a need for a bottle of water. Emergence of a
need starts the whole process of consumption in which the consumer starts debating about
whether, what, why, when, how, from where, how much, and at what frequency.
The preceding discussion clearly indicates that consumer behaviour is a discipline that has
borrowed extensively from other social sciences. In an attempt to understand the process of
consumption holistically, it relies on significant contributions from sociology, anthropology,
and psychology. In the following section, we will explain the symbiotic relationship between
consumer behaviour and each of these three social sciences.

Sociology and the Discipline of Consumer Behaviour

Sociology can be defined as the study of social systems. Social systems are the manifestations
of the interactions between different individuals that get institutionalized into different types
of groups. These groups can range from small primary groups such as family, friendship
group, and neighbourhood group, to large secondary groups such as socio-economic class
and society. These groups have evident and not-so-evident goals, values, and norms of
behaviour that are confirmed by members of the groups.
All of these groups prescribe certain forms of behaviour for its members and prohibit
some other forms of behaviour. The behavioural prescriptions and taboos of society tend
to be encyclopedic in nature and therefore necessarily include consumption behaviour.
For example, societal behavioural prescriptions and taboos clearly state the eligible age for

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 11

marriage, the acceptable ways in which one can get married (instances of social behaviour),
and at the same time, prescribe what should be worn by the bride and groom, what kind
of goods should be gifted, how the marriage reception should be organized (instances of
consumer behaviour). Therefore, the same values, norms, and other forms of prescription
and taboo influence social as well as consumer behaviour.
As individuals grow, they internalize the socially acceptable consumption behaviour and
their consumption is guided by their internalized preferences. If they do not adopt the
socially acceptable mode of consumption, they indulge in proscribed behaviour. Therefore,
it can be said that social groups impact on the consumption behaviour in two ways. First,
they create internal preferences through the process of internalization and second, they
impose sanctions on deviant consumption behaviour.
These set of factors that influence consumer behaviour are called sociology of consumption.
Some authors choose to term them as external factors, since social factors are a part of the
external premises and form a part of the social environment. However, the author of this
book prefers to name it differently because, in his opinion, the term external emphasizes
more on aspects outside an individual, but in actuality, social factors in this case work in
combination with the individual to become influential.
Under sociology of consumption, some of the micro factors influencing consumer
behaviour are social group, community, neighbourhood, village community, family, socio-
economic class, and culture. The impact of all these aspects, specially culture, is very
important for brand managers to understand consumption.
The successful launch of McDonalds in India is an example of a culturally-nuanced
marketing strategy. At the heart of the McDonald launch was the question of most Indians’
negative attitude towards foreign food brands. The basic reason for this distrust was the
distaste for non-vegetarian food items. The brand wanted to position itself as Indian and
a ‘promoter of family values’. Keeping these values in mind, the brand created some
specific items especially for the Indian market such as the McAloo Tikki Burger and Veg
Pizza McPuff. Even the spices and sauces used in the burgers were tailored for the Indian
palate. These indianized products worked so well that they have also been introduced in
some Middle Eastern markets that are largely habituated by Indians. Figure 1.2 is another
example showing the usage of sociological factors while promotion.
The study of the impact of culture on consumption is informed not only by the
sociological perspective but also by the anthropological perspective.

Anthropology and the discipline of consumer behaviour

Anthropology is the study of man in his cultural setting. Culture is the central theme
in the discipline of anthropology, especially social anthropology. It studies both aspects
of culture—material culture as well as non-material culture. It not only studies man as
enveloped by his cultural setting but also as a contributor to the culture. Anthropology
studies both the material and the non-material aspects of culture and in doing so, it tries to
understand man holistically.

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12 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Tata Housing announced its entry into the Ahmedabad real estate market during the festival of Sankranti or Uttarayan.
Uttarayan is celebrated everywhere in India in different forms. In Gujarat it is celebrated on a grand scale with kite
Àying. The state tourism department organizes a kite festival. During this time of the year, the Vibrant Gujarat summit
is also organized to attract investors.
This ad captures the attention of the target group by using a strong socio-religious symbol. In the process, it also
captures the attribute of ‘grandness’ associated with the festival and makes it the brand property.

Figure 1.2 Sociological aspects in promotion

Anthropology defines culture as a way of life. Products and brands used by a community
are an important aspect of its material culture. Therefore, anthropological perspective
becomes very important in understanding the impact of culture on consumer behaviour.
Chapter 5 on Culture, a part of the sociology of consumption module, employs an
eclectic mix of sociological and anthropological perspectives to explain the impact of
culture on consumer behaviour. The anthropological perspective is also evident in the
description of the neighbourhood community and village community and its impact on
consumption.

Psychology and the Discipline of Consumer Behaviour

Psychology can be defined as the science of behaviour and cognitive processes. A
cognitive process is the process by which people acquire, represent, memorize, retrieve,
and use information. Therefore, psychology is concerned with all forms of behaviour, its
organization into different forms of personality and attitudes, and the cognitive processes
behind it. It is evident that all forms of consumption are specific types of behaviour and
hence, the theories developed in the generalized context of psychology can be easily applied
to understand consumer behaviour.
The discipline of consumer behaviour is replete with such applications that have led
to the formulation of some very successful marketing strategies. Freud’s psychoanalytical

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 13

theory of personality is the most important example of such an application. His concepts
of id, ego, superego, and conscious and unconscious mind are widely used to understand
consumers. Another example is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that is also used and applied
to understand consumers.
Similarly, we use different theories of learning and memory to understand the impact
of marketing communication on consumers. Such theories are utilized in media planning.
The various rules that guide product promotion are also guided by the theories of learning
and perception. In short, the whole arena of brands and their structure is informed by the
psychological theories of perceptions and personality.
In this book, the third module consists of the psychology of consumption where
the theories and concepts of psychology are applied to understand different aspects of
behaviour. With the help of these concepts, we try to explain different aspects of individual
behaviour in a socio-cultural context. We explain, in different chapters, the consumer need
and motivation, his perceptions, learning, memory, and attitude formation. The last chapter
of this module deals with personality, where different psychological theories of personality
are utilized to integrate all the aspects of behaviour in personality (refer to Fig. 1.3 that
shows an example of how brands create their personality on the basis of understanding of
consumer psychology).

STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

In the foregoing section, we discussed the multi-disciplinary nature of consumer behaviour.
In this section, we will explain the chapter scheme in the book in this light. The whole
process of consumption is affected by different factors. These factors can be grouped into
three categories:
Psychological factors These are the factors that are present in the psyche of the
consumer. They can also be understood as constituents of the internal environment
that affect consumption behaviour. Psychological factors that have a significant effect
on consumption behaviour are need, motivation, learning, perception, attitude, and
personality.
Social factors Social factors that affect consumption behaviour are social groups
to which the consumer belongs and the reference group to which he aspires to belong.
Further, it includes the family, class, and culture, which he is a part of. These factors can be
understood as the elements of the external socio-cultural environment.
Factors of market structure The elements of market structure are the size of the
market, number of consumers, number of different segments of consumers, and the
regulatory structure of the market. These factors affect the availability of the products and
goods and the aspects a consumer looks into before making a decision about consumption.
The impact of these factors on consumption is studied in disciplines such as Marketing and
Supply Chain Management.

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14 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Jockey is perhaps one of the most famous innerwear brands in the world. The brand is synonymous with the functional
bene¿t of quality and comfort. However, over a period of time, other brands have caught up and started providing
similar bene¿ts. Therefore, the need of the hour for Jockey was to associate new set of bene¿ts with its product,
keeping the original ones to create a new brand personality.
This was done by extending the meaning of jockeying. The dictionary meaning of jockeying is trying all possible
ways to achieve a goal. Professional horse riders are also known as jockeys and an important aspect of horse riding
is fun. The ad reinterprets the meaning of jockeying and associates the fun aspect of jockeying with the brand and in
the process was successful in creating a new brand personality for its product.

Figure 1.3 Use of psychological aspects

These three types of factors are not independent of each other as shown in Fig. 1.4.
The psyche of the consumer is at the centre of this structure. As we have earlier explained,
his psyche consists of his motives, learning, memories, perceptions, attitudes, and his
personality type. However, these elements of his psyche are not instinctual. What we
mean by this statement is that consumers are not born with the elements of psyche. What
consumers are born with are certain intellectual and linguistic abilities with the help of
which he internalizes the values, beliefs, and norms prevalent in society, in the process of
being brought up.
There are numerous values, beliefs, and norms in every society. From these, an individual
internalizes a unique set of values that is different from the internalized set of all other
individuals. On the basis of this internalization and their genetic structure, people develop
their unique personalities. Therefore, the process of being brought up and the consequent

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 15

Social groups

Psychological factors

Needs Personality
Family

Market structure Attitudes

Learning
Perceptions

Class Culture

Social factors

Figure 1.4 Factors of consumer behaviour

internalization provide a link between the internal and the external environment of an
individual’s consumption. The internal environment helps understand the psychology of
consumption and the analysis of the external environment helps explain the sociology of
consumption.
Based on this perspective, one can conclude that, there are three aspects that are
imperative for a marketer to understand consumer behaviour, namely (i) sociology of
consumption, (ii) psychology of consumption, and (iii) addressing consumers. Each
of these aspects comprise of various micro factors. Let us understand them briefly
here.

Sociology of Consumption
Sociology of consumption comprises the following micro factors.
Social groups
All social groups prescribe behaviour patterns for their members based on the group
norms, values, and beliefs. These also have a major influence on the consumption pattern
of their members. Studying the norms and beliefs of such groups can aid marketers to infer
consumer behaviour pattern of members of these groups.

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16 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Family
Primary groups such as family, neighbourhood, and community play an indispensable
role in influencing product and brand consumption pattern of any individual. The
basic structure of the personality is formed in the family that also determines an
individual’s preferences including his preferences for products and brands. Family
also affects consumption pattern as it is the basic unit of income generation and
consumption.
Class
Class is also an important influence for consumption because the level of consumption
and the brands people consume depend on their class position. Usually, each class has a
distinctive culture that affects the style of consumption.
Culture
Culture can be defined as the way of life of a group of people. The culture of a group
consists of values, norms, beliefs, and symbols. It imposes constraints on the behaviour of
its members, including their consumption behaviour. Recognizing the group from which a
member belongs to might help the seller close the deal successfully.

Psychology of Consumption
Psychology of consumption comprises the following micro factors.
Motivation
As explained earlier, the process of consumption starts with the emergence of need and
motivation. Therefore, understanding the kind of campaigns that motivate people to
consume a brand being marketed is important.
Learning
One of the basic aims of marketing is to teach and modify behaviour patterns, especially
those behaviour patterns that relate to product and brand consumption. Understanding
different theories on learnings and their related concepts can help one understand how
consumers learn to consume different brands and products.
Perceptions
Adoption of a particular product is dependent on the consumer’s perceptions about it.
Getting an insight into the principles of perception and how they are applied to make
brand communication more effective for particular set of audience can be relevant to a
marketer.
Memory
In the process of decision-making, consumers search for cues from their memory based on
their experiences. The positive feedback from their memory storage is one of the important
sources of favourable decisions.

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 17

Attitude
One of the aims of a marketing campaign is to change the consumer’s attitude if he has
negative attitude towards the brand or to keep his attitude from changing if he has positive
attitude towards the brand. Therefore, a marketing executive being aware of attitude
formation models and their characteristics could work in favour of them.
Personality
Personality reflects an individuals’ uniqueness and the choices he makes for the products
and brands he chooses. Studying this can give an idea to the marketers about how to
influence the consumption pattern of different personality types together and separately.

Addressing Consumers
The module of addressing consumers comprises the following micro factors.
Consumer decision models
Over a period of years, numerous models have been derived to understand the process of
decision-making that consumers follow. These models explain consumer decision processes
from different perspectives. Understanding them might enable marketers to predict the
consumer pattern of different individuals.
Researching consumers
Consumer research is a form that concentrates on understanding the preferences, attitudes,
and behaviours of consumers in a market-based economy, and it aims to understand the
effects and comparative success of marketing campaigns.

APPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

From the discussion in different sections of this chapter, it is obvious that understanding
consumer behaviour is necessary for marketing success. Understanding consumer behaviour
is also crucial for success in other domains of management and marketing. These domains
where consumer behaviour can be applied are (i) marketing of products and brands,
(ii) social marketing, (iii) policy formulation, and (iv) consumer protection.

Marketing of Products and Brands

Understanding consumer needs, motives, attitudes, and their interrelationship with socio-
cultural elements is at the core of marketing and branding. This section explains how the
core of a marketing plan and branding is based on consumer insight that in turn is based
on the understanding of consumer behaviour.
Consumer behaviour and marketing
The business of selling to the masses started with industrialization that made mass
production possible. The first product to be mass produced was the Ford Model T. The

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18 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

perspective that emerged from the experience of mass selling this car was called sales
approach. The focus of sales approach is production-centric and the perspective that
informs the whole approach is to offer a product of reasonably good quality at a reasonable
price.
Sales approach assumes that if such an offer is made in the market and if the product
is made widely available, the product will sell well in the market. Therefore, the focus
is to create production efficiency and a wide distribution network. In the beginning,
this approach was indeed successful as the marketplace was not crowded with various
products and brands. However, gradually, competitors emerged and now consumers
have more and more products to choose from in the market. Due to this, the focus has
shifted from production to consumers as the competition has made consumers more
powerful.
With this shift in the marketplace, the focus of intellectual discipline has also shifted
from engineering and sales to marketing management. In the marketing paradigm,
consumers and their needs are central. This is also evident from the following
definition of the term marketing: ‘Marketing can be defined as the process by which
individuals and organizations acquire what they need and want. According to this
perspective, success in the marketplace comes because of understanding the needs
and wants of the target consumers and formulating an offering to address those needs
and wants.’
Therefore, the starting point in the marketing approach is the needs and wants of
consumers and not the product or offering. Therefore, understanding targeted consumers is
the basis of marketing. On the basis of consumer understanding, marketers gain an insight
into an unfulfilled need or a partially-satisfied need. Marketers prepare product offerings to
meet the unsatisfied needs of consumers. Marketers’ offerings consist of four dimensions,
namely product, promotion, place, and price. These four dimensions are popularly known
as the four Ps of marketing.
Product includes branding. Product or service is that aspect of the offering that changes
hands at the time of transaction between the marketer and the consumer.
Promotion includes all the communications that the marketer uses to get his product
known to the consumers. Communication here includes different activities—advertising,
public relations, outdoor advertising, sales and promotion, visual merchandising, etc.
Place is the distribution aspect, or where the product would be available to the consumer.
Price is the cost of the product to the consumer. Price also determines the customer’s
value of the product. Customer value of a product can be defined as the difference
between the total benefit that a customer derives and the total cost that he incurs. Larger
the amount of customer value of a given product, more the chances of the product being
purchased.
In every case of marketing, the starting point is the recognition of a consumer’s needs. It
is apparent that marketers would not be able to recognize consumer needs unless they have
knowledge of consumer behaviour.

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 19

In the next stage, the market is segmented and the marketer takes a decision on the
relevant segment(s) of consumers to target. He describes his target group geographically,
demographically, psychologically, and sociologically. This understanding serves as a spring-
board for the formulation of pricing and promotion policies. Once again, the discipline of
consumer behaviour plays a crucial role in segmentation and targeting based on the mar-
keter’s knowledge about the consumer.
Formulation of marketing strategy is also dependent on the understanding of the
behaviour in the target group. Marketing strategy is the optimum mix of the four Ps of
marketing. Figure 1.5 is an example of the optimum usage of the four Ps by a marketer.

Advertising is a part of promotion strategy but it has to seamlessly gel with the other three elements of marketing
strategy, namely product, price, and place. This ad is an excellent example of such an effort. In this case the product
is Badam milk shake that is targeted at children. Milk has calcium that is essential for bone health and children
require it in abundance. However, some children do not like the taste of milk. Not only is badam or almond believed
to enhance brain function and memory, it is also tasty. Therefore, badam milk or milk Àavoured with almond nuts, has
the quality of strengthening both the body and mind.
This quality is conveyed in the ad by showing a Tiger that symbolises strength and agility. Therefore, the promotion
strategy communicates brand value effectively and with precision. The brand value is further strengthened by verbal
and visual depiction. The ad uses a phrase ‘Tiger Zor ’ that means the strength of the tiger. The visual depicts a child
sliding on a cascade of milk with a tiger in tow. It incorporates the ‘fun’ element and counters the ‘boring white milk’
perception among a section of children. This also helps in attracting children’s attention.
Its competitive pricing `22 for a 150 ml bottle and big banners on the roads and on various websites (place)
facilitates in the promotion of the product. Therefore, understanding consumer behaviour and its utilization in the
brand and the communication has made the communication very strong and ef¿cient.

Figure 1.5 Usage of four Ps in promotion

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20 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Socio-cultural environment

Consumer psyche—motives, Consumer understanding

perception, attitude,
personality, and learnings

Social groups, family,

class culture
Product design Price level Promotion Distribution

Product offering
and branding

Feedback that impacts on

consumer psyche and
group culture
Consumption experience

Figure 1.6 Centrality of consumer understanding in marketing

During the strategy formulation, marketers decide about the product and the brand, its
price, and the places where it will be made available and how the whole offering is going to
be communicated to the consumer. Therefore, marketing strategy can be defined as deciding
about the most profitable mix of product, price, promotion, and place (distribution) that
could be made available to the consumers.
The optimum mix of these four dimensions in the marketing efforts depends on the
extent of the knowledge that the marketer has about the consumer.
In short, it will not be wrong if we say that consumer behaviour is the starting point
of marketing strategy formulation and marketing operations. The centrality of consumer
behaviour in marketing is summarized in Fig. 1.6.
Consumer behaviour and branding
Brand can be defined as a name or a symbol that is intended to identify, differentiate,
and describe a product or a service to distinguish it from its competitors. A brand
therefore states the origin of the product or the service, states what it is, and tells how
it is different from the competing brands. Branding protects both the consumer and the
marketer from unfair competition. In due course, every brand develops an image and a
personality.

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 21

Exhibit 1.3 Creating the Right Brand Equity

During a project that involved designing a brand consumer if the container was cylindrical, square, or
personality for a dry cell, the client asked a very rectangular.
interesting question, ‘What do the different colours Yet another example is when one of the tea brands
signify in a consumer’s mind?’ From a brand asked what kind of a perception is created when a
perspective, this is a very important question. traditional cup is used in the commercial vis-a-vis a
The brand wanted to create a perception that it steel cup or a translucent cup.
is a high-tech brand that is long-lasting. Now These are some of the examples of how consumer
the question was: which colour should the brand understanding is used to create the relevant and right
use that would support this perception of high perceptions in the minds of the consumers and hence
tech with long-lasting energy in the minds of the the right brand equity.
consumers? (If you want to know the answers to these
Similarly another client wanted to know the type interesting questions, read Chapter 9 on Sensation
of perception that will be created in the minds of the and Perception.)

Development of a brand personality and image is dependent on the product category in

which the brand operates and the interaction between the brand communication and the
consumers’ response to it. Brand equity is the complete set of assets and liabilities of a brand
that adds to or subtracts from the value of the brand. What is important to understand is
that brand equity belongs to the realm of perception rather than reality. In other words,
branding or development of brand equity is dependent not only on the marketer, but also
on how the consumers react to the communication and subsequently forms perceptions
about the brand. Hence, understanding of consumer behaviour is crucial for the formation
of brand equity.
Exhibit 1.3 gives an idea about how marketers work to create the right brand equity for
their products.
Assets or liabilities on which brand equity is based can be grouped as (i) name
awareness, (ii) awareness of other proprietary brand assets—trademarks, patents, etc.,
(iii) perceived quality, (iv) brand associations in addition to perceived quality, and (v)
brand loyalty.
Each of these aspects of brand equity is important and leads to important consequences
such as customer retention, customer satisfaction, positioning of the product offering, and
product life-cycle extension. Hence, evolving the right and relevant brand equity is crucial
for brand success and development of such equity is dependent on the correct and precise
understanding of consumer behaviour.

Social Marketing
Increasingly, the perspective of social marketing is being used for social and
developmental marketing. Social marketing is an application of the marketing

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22 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

perspective to sell social change and development. Here, social practices, values,
attitudes, and behaviour patterns are marketed instead of a product. Like marketing,
social marketing also starts with consumer understanding. Social marketing is not a
social change movement. Rather, it markets a more beneficial behaviour by applying
the strategies of segmentation, targeting, and positioning, with the hope that old
behaviour will be replaced.
In a social marketing project, the first aim of the marketer is to identify and understand
the reasons for a change in the behaviour pattern. On the basis of this, he prepares
an alternative behaviour pattern that could be marketed to the target group through
communication, promotion, and distribution. From the preceding description, it is clear
that even in social marketing, the ability to understand consumer behaviour is central. In
reality, the ability to understand consumer behaviour is more crucial for success in social
marketing than in marketing. This is because people hold social values, beliefs, and attitudes
more strongly than values, beliefs, and attitudes regarding a product. Therefore, to replace
such behaviour, a more forceful campaign is needed. For this, the marketer has to develop
an exceptionally deep and penetrative insight into consumer perceptions and thinking.
Figure 1.7 gives an example of social marketing.

Policy Formulation
In all modern industrial societies, it is the duty of the government to form policies,
guidelines, and laws to protect consumers. In India, examples of such laws are the
Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission Act, 1969 and the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986. It is disconcerting to note that in India these laws are based on the
policy makers’ assumptions about what kind of products, brands, communications, and
quality standards are good for Indian consumers. There has been no attempt to prove and
validate these assumptions on the basis of research in the area of consumer behaviour.
This has resulted in the media over-representing the opinions of the common man.
The point of view of the lower socio-economic classes remains unstated, unconsidered,
and unrepresented in the formulation of policies related to consumption. Ideally, before
the formulation of any policy, there should be a systematic and scientific research-based
study of all the stakeholders (i.e., of people who are going to consume the policy and ideas
inherent in the policy), especially of those who belong to the lower socio-economic category.
This study should diagnose all the obstacles to the policy as also all the factors that would
increase the acceptance of the policy. In fact, formulation of such a study and derivation
of policy implications require a thorough understanding of consumer behaviour.
A representative consumer survey, before the policy is formulated, can be used to
remove the biases. This trend is visible in more mature democracies where knowledge
and research in the area of consumer behaviour is taken into account before policy
formulation.
Rapid technological and the resultant cultural changes have made utilization of consumer
behaviour knowledge and research for policy formulation very important. The rapidity

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 23

This social marketing ad campaign was launched on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 1987.
Smoking may cause fatal diseases, but smokers ¿nd it dif¿cult to kick the habit because of two reasons. First, it
is addictive and second, there is low awareness of the harmful effects of smoking. Smokers require an emotional
shock even to contemplate quitting. This activity was planned keeping these two consumer insights in mind.
This campaign had anti-smoking promoters dress as cigarettes and stand near common smoking areas
such as of¿ces, restaurants, railway stations, and bus stops holding a satirical message. The message said
that cigarettes had become ‘jobless’ because more people were giving up smoking. The message portrayed
‘Cigarette’ looking for a new job.
The promoters handed people a ‘resume’ that enumerated the ‘killing talent’ of cigarettes. The resume of jobless
cigarettes was also placed in many job portals to reach out to netizens. Throughout the day, radio jockeys also
mentioned the ad to further spread awareness.

Figure 1.7 Social marketing

of change requires constant upgradation in policies and regulatory laws. Upgradation

of regulatory laws requires tracking of technological and consequent cultural changes
(sometimes still nascent and not quite apparent), through consumer research. This helps
in making regulatory policies anticipative and reactive in nature. Anticipative regulatory
policies also help in quickly controlling the negative consequences of the market trend
under consideration.
One of the negative consequences of advancement in communication technology is the
rapid spread of socially harmful practices. For example, two different products, camera
and phone, were merged into one product, that is, mobile camera phones. One can shoot
a photograph and immediately e-mail it to one’s friends. This was the product proposition.
However, what was not anticipated was the use of this product to download pornographic
games, movie clips, and also to shoot unsuspecting women and distribute such photographs
through mobile phones.

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24 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

What was remarkable was the rapidity and comprehensiveness of the spread, and the
knee-jerk reactions from the authorities. Proper research and consumer understanding of
the product category could have anticipated the socially negative use of camera mobile
phones. Accordingly, a regulatory policy could have been formulated.
These examples show how the knowledge of consumer behaviour can be utilized to
formulate policies that are contemporary, relevant, and congruent with changing consumer
needs, values, mores, and practices.

Consumer Protection
In addition to the government, there are various non-government organizations (NGOs)
that are also actively working in the field of consumer rights. These NGOs are generally of
the following two types.
NGOs that keep a watch on marketing and advertisement agencies
In India, examples of NGOs that act as watchdogs are Consumer Education and Research
Centre (CERC), Consumer Forum, Consumer Action Group, etc. These organizations
keep a watch on whether products, brands, and different marketing tools are in accordance
with societal morals, values, and laws. In case of any violation, they fight with marketing
and advertisement agencies legally.
For these NGOs, though the knowledge of consumer behaviour may not be essential,
it will definitely add to their understanding of what kind of marketing communications or
tools are harmful for consumers. Therefore, they would be able to build a more effective
and efficient initiative against socially harmful marketing.
NGOs that utilize advocacy tools to mobilize consumers against socially harmful
consumption
Examples of advocacy-based NGOs are Consumer Education and Empowerment and
Confederation of Indian Consumer Organizations. There are various other NGOs that
advocate against the use of alcohol and tobacco. These NGOs try to convince consumers
against any consumption that they consider as either individually or socially harmful.
They use advocacy tools to not only convince the consumers but also authorities for the
formulation of laws. For these NGOs, it is essential to understand the consumer needs,
values, and motives to formulate effective advocacy programmes to convince consumers
against socially harmful consumption.
For example, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid movement
with the objective of ‘staying sober and helping other alcoholics to achieve sobriety’. The
movement was founded by Bill Wilson and Bob Smith in the US. The movement is an
epitome of success, based on an accurate understanding of the behaviour of alcoholics
who want to leave the debilitating habit behind and ‘consume the idea of sobriety’. It is
a known fact that most alcoholics who want to leave the habit find it very difficult and
often relapse into alcoholism. They need the support of the family and community at this

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 25

difficult stage. However, due to the negative consequences, they usually do not receive any
support and sympathy.
Further, alcoholics do not want their condition to be known and would like to remain
anonymous. Based on this understanding, Alcoholics Anonymous was launched. AA
local offices in different cities arrange meetings that are open only to alcoholics who
want to stop drinking. In these meetings, they share their experiences and describe
the obstacles that they have encountered in their attempt to stop drinking. They also
share solutions through which they have been able to overcome the obstacles. AA
assures anonymity to all those who attend its meetings. In this way, AA has been able
to develop a service based on the understanding of the behaviour of its target group
of consumers.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

Consumer behaviour is a complex phenomenon. The complexity of consumer behaviour
is due to the large number of factors that affect it. These factors can be broadly categorized
into three groups, namely social, psychological, and economic. Traditionally, consumer
behaviour as a discipline concentrated only on social and psychological factors. Apart
from the concept being complex, there are different levels on which these concepts can be
understood.
For example, the most important factor in consumer decision-making is culture,
which actually envelops all the other variables of consumer behaviour. Culture can be
understood in the global, national, and regional perspectives. Consumer behaviour can
also be understood from these different cultural perspectives. This book explains consumer
behaviour from a given cultural perspective, that is, from the perspective of the Indian
culture.
However, this is not the only perspective from which human behaviour can be
understood. There are different perspectives that can be utilized to understand consumer
behaviour. These different perspectives become important due to the following two
factors:
• The Industrial Revolution was a western phenomenon. Therefore, modern industries
and consequently, modern industrial culture developed in the West and from there
it slowly diffused to other areas of the globe. In the process of diffusion, the modern
industrial culture got blended with the indigenous cultures. Therefore, the modern
industrial culture of the West is different from the modern industrial culture of non-
western countries (which is blended).
• The modern disciplines of sociology and psychology emerged and developed in the
West. Therefore, these disciplines contain elements of the western industrial culture and
are able to explain the western phenomenon more effectively.
Due to these issues, the question has always been whether theories and concepts from
these essentially western social sciences can effectively explain consumer behaviour in

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26 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

non-western societies. Academicians answer this question in three different ways and
accordingly, three perspectives of studying consumer behaviour have emerged.

Global Perspective
Academicians who subscribe to this perspective believe that western theories and concepts
are not limited by their western origin. These concepts have a global application and so can
be utilized to understand consumer behaviour everywhere. This perspective further believes
that blended culture does not make much of a difference, especially for consumption
behaviour.
Consumption of modern mass-produced products and brands is influenced by the
elements of modern industrial culture. According to this perspective, people purchase and
consume products and brands because of the product features and benefits that are largely
understood on the basis of modern industrial culture. Therefore, this perspective believes that
consumer behaviour is influenced by those aspects of culture that are global in nature. Therefore,
the cultural factors that determine the consumption of modern products and brands are global
in nature and the consumer behaviour should be uniform throughout all the cultures.
This point of view is subscribed to by multinational players. There is pressure on these
companies to evolve global standardized processes and structures for manufacturing and
marketing. Global perspective helps them evolve such processes and structures.
Global perspective is more suitable for product categories that are the latest available
and at the cutting edge of technology. These products lack a predefined culture linkage.
Therefore, these types of products lack culture-based meaning for a consumer. Examples of
such products could be a fax machine and a photocopying machine. However, if the latest
and high-tech product is replaced or perceived as an alternative to the existing product
category, it develops cultural linkages. To understand these products, we will have to take
the help of the cultural perspective. Some examples of such products are computers, i-pods,
and digital cameras.

Perspective of Imported Theories

The perspective of imported theories believes that the basic human values and needs are
common across cultures, but behaviour patterns vary from one culture to another. Therefore,
this perspective believes that theories and concepts can be imported from Western culture
to interpret the behaviour patterns in non-western cultures. This transportation of theories
from the West to the non-Western world may or may not be accompanied by modifications
and adaptations.
The perspective of imported theories, to some extent, is also based on the evolutionary
perspective. It believes that the western and non-western societies are on the same
evolutionary continuum of industrialization. Therefore, after some time, the non-western
world will become like what the West is today. The sociological and psychological theories
of the West are not only applicable to non-western cultures, but also in some way show the
future state of these cultures!

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 27

Cultural Perspective
This perspective believes that consumer behaviour is strongly influenced by cultural factors.
Culture affects not only values and beliefs, but also consumer behaviour patterns. Therefore,
the motivation to consume a particular product or brand is driven not only by the features
of the products, but also on how meaningful those features are. These meanings are
dependent on the culture as a whole. Consumption, like every other behaviour, is influenced
by some aspects of culture and not by other aspects. Culture is a complex systematic whole
where every element is interrelated with other elements. Therefore, a good understanding
of consumer behaviour is impossible unless and until it is seen in the cultural context.
This book discusses two of the above-mentioned perspectives. The module on sociology
of consumption is based on the perspective of cultural meaning, whereas the module on
the psychology of consumption is based on the perspective of imported theories. In the
sociology of consumption, the focus is on Indian culture and how different aspects of
Indian culture help in deriving meaning from products. We have utilized different elements
of Indian culture and social structure to understand the different contours of consumer
behaviour. Some of these elements are Indian joint family system, village communities,
caste structure, etc.
In the module on the psychology of consumption, the concepts are based on imported
theories assuming that the basic mechanism of psychological perception is similar across
cultures. The basic elements of consumer psychological structures, such as memory and
personality are also universal. Therefore, like many other psychologists, we have imported
western theories and concepts to interpret and understand the Indian psychological reality.
Indian examples and case studies are used to understand the Indian reality. The chapter
starts with the explanation of the concepts and theories and then utilizes these theories to
explain, understand, and resolve Indian problems.
Before concluding this chapter, we must take note of the fact that the suitability of these
perspectives may vary with the product category.

SUMMARY

Consumers are at the core of marketing, because all the a discipline it is also concerned with the results of such
efforts of marketers are directed towards them. To succeed acquisition, use, and disposal.
in the marketing efforts, understanding the consumers The discipline of consumer behaviour is concerned
and what drives them in general, and their consumption with the process of acquisition of products and the process
behaviour in particular becomes critically important. The of decision-making that underlies such an acquisition
discipline of consumer behaviour explains different factors process. In addition, consumer behaviour is also concerned
that lie beneath the behaviour of the consumers. To be with the usage and disposal of products, services, and
exact, consumer behaviour can be de¿ned as a discipline ideas. Consumer behaviour emerged as a subject in 1965
that encompasses all processes involved in acquiring, and since then it has become the glamour subject in the
using, and disposing of products, services, and ideas. As discipline of marketing. It has become a glamour subject

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 28 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

because it provides an understanding of why some sociology of consumption, psychology of consumption,

brands, their marketing efforts and their sales promotions, and knowledge of addressing the consumers.
have succeeded while others have failed. In the sociology of consumption, we gained knowledge
In an effort to understand the behaviour of consumers of how social factors such as social and reference groups,
and the impact of such behaviour on the four Ps of community, family, social class, and culture impact
marketing, the discipline of consumer behaviour seeks consumer behaviour. In psychology of consumption, we
knowledge from the realms of sociology, anthropology, examined the impact of psychological factors such
and psychology. As a discipline, the roots of consumer as need, motivation, learning, memory, attitude, and
behaviour are to be found not in one social science, but personality on consumption behaviour. The knowledge of
in multiple social sciences. Its multi-disciplinary nature consumer behaviour is de¿nitely useful in marketing, but
provides consumer behaviour a modular structure. It can it is also useful in social marketing, policy formulation, and
be thought of as consisting of three modules, namely consumer protection.

KEY TERMS

Consumer A broad-based term that denotes the end- Consumption roles Different roles that consumers play
user of a product. during the process of consumption, such as information
Customer The purchaser of a product. If the same searcher, decision-maker, purchaser, user, and disposer.
person is using the product, then he is the customer Sociology The systematic study of human interactions
as well as the consumer. If he is buying the product and all the institutions and organizations that are the
for somebody else, then the customer and consumer products of such interactions.
are different. Psychology The study of all forms of human and animal
Consumer behaviour A discipline that encompasses all mental processes and behaviour.
processes involved in acquiring, using, and disposing Sociology of consumption The study of all the socio-
of products, services, and ideas. As a discipline it is cultural factors and processes that impact consumption
also concerned with the results of such acquisition, behaviour and the socio-cultural products that result
use, and disposal. from such consumption.
Unit of consumption May consist of one or more Psychology of consumption The study of all the
individuals who go through the process of consumption mental and behavioural processes and factors that
jointly. impact consumption behaviour and the psyche
and behaviour that result from such consumption.

EXERCISES

Concept Review Questions 3. Write a short note on the relationship between

sociology, psychology, and consumer behaviour.
1. De¿ne the term consumer. How is a consumer different
from a customer? Give suitable examples of customers
and consumers. Critical Thinking Questions
2. De¿ne consumer behaviour. What is the scope of
1. ‘Marketing without consumer understanding is sales’.
consumer behaviour? How is the understanding of
Do you agree? Why?
consumer behaviour important for marketers?

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 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 29

2. Study the different marketing communications laun- Project Assignments

ched by Asian Paints. From the study, prepare a short
note on the consumer understanding on which these 1. Meet and interview any four advertising managers that
communications are based. you know. On the basis of your discussion with them,
3. Do you think that psychology has contributed more prepare a report on the role that the understanding
to the development of the discipline of consumer of consumer behaviour plays in the creation of an
behaviour than sociology? Why? advertisement.
4. In the light of the globalization of the Indian economy 2. On the basis of secondary research, collect tag lines
and market, do you think that the global perspective of any 10 favourite brands. Analyse how these taglines
in understanding the consumer is more suitable than try to connect with the targeted consumers.
the perspective of cultural meaning? Justify your 3. Interview a sociologist and a psychologist and discuss
answer. the subject matter of their respective disciplines.
Prepare a report on how these disciplines are relevant
to understanding consumer behaviour.

REFERENCES

Engel, James F., David T. Kollat, and Roger Blackwell (1968), Sheth, Jagdish N. (1985), ‘Broadening the Horizons of
Consumer Behavior, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. ACR and Consumer Behaviour’, Advances in Consumer
Howard, John H. and Jagdish N. Sheth (1969), The Theory Research, vol. 12, issue 1, pp. 1–2.
of Buyer Behavior, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Walters, C. Glenn (1979), ‘Consumer Behavior: An Appraisal’,
Juxtconsult (2011), http://indiatechonline.com/juxtconsult- Academy of Marketing Science Journal, vol. 7, issue 4, Fall.
india-mobile-phones-study-2011-545.php, accessed on Walters, C. Glenn. and Gordon Paul (1970), Consumer
13 September 2012. Behavior: An Integrated Framework, Homewood, Irwin.
Nicosia, Franscesco M. (1966), ‘Consumer Decision
Process’, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

CASE STUDY
The Case of Tractor Owners
A. Ghosh, General Manager (Marketing, Northern of Punjab and Terai region (especially surrounding
Region), N&M Tractors Pvt. Ltd, is going through Rudrapur) in Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). He
last year’s sales figures. He has to prepare a marketing finds out that these areas are dominated by large-
strategy plan for this year. Though he has reasons to size tractors, namely tractors that have more than
be satisfied with N&M’s performance last year, he is 48 HP. He knows that there are historical reasons for
not perfectly happy with it. There are some areas of this trend. Till recently, N&M was in the market for
concern. These weaknesses may cost the company the small tractor (>25 HP) and middle-size (25 to 50
dearly in the coming year, especially in the light of HP) segments only. The upper end of the market was
the planned entry of various multinational tractor dominated by a competing brand called Farm Track.
manufacturing companies into India. However, N&M has recently introduced tractors in
On the basis of sale figures, he can see that his brand the upper end of the market, that is, in more than 50
is not doing well in two sub-regions, namely Doab area HP segment. It seems that sales of the new tractor

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 30 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

brand has been picking up in the market in all the • Even a small farmer in these areas wants to purchase
regions other than these two. Moreover, these areas a large tractor, although he may not functionally
are dominated by Jat Sikh farmers and have a large need it. Large tractors were traditionally owned
proportion of NRIs. and utilized by big farmers called zamindars, as they
Ghosh was not very sure of the reasons; so he had a huge area of land to till in a short period of
commissioned an exploratory qualitative consumer time. Slowly, the large sized tractors got associated
research in the two concerned areas. The research with zamindars. This association gave the feeling of
agency has come out with very interesting findings becoming a part of the big farmer group.
through some focus group discussions (FGD). The • It was found that in the large tractor segment
following is a summary of these findings: Farm Track is the most preferred brand, but in
• Tractor ownership in these two areas has become the medium and small tractor segments N&M
synonymous with being a good farmer. It brings is still the preferred brand. The reasons as put
recognition to the farmers. In a culture that forward by the farmers are:
places emphasis on success and on conspicuous – ‘N&M is the king of farms but Farm Track is
consumption as an indicator of success, the king of roads.’
ownership of tractors, preferably large tractors, – ‘You know that quite often I overtake Marutis
becomes necessary for the farmers. Some of with my tractor.’
the comments made by the farmers in the FGD Ghosh is looking for some answers before he can
were: move on to the formulation of a marketing strategy.
– ‘Tractor ownership is necessary; who will give On the basis of the understanding gained by reading
his daughter to a farmer not earning enough the case, answer the following questions.
money to maintain a tractor?’
Questions
– ‘What a car is to you people (indicating
1. The small farmers do not have the resources to
moderator) a tractor is to farmers.’
maintain the large-size tractors. From where do they
– ‘If you do not own a tractor, you will have
find the resources to go for costly, fuel-consuming
to either rent or borrow a tractor from your
tractors that require more maintenance?
neighbour. One gets a tractor only when it
2. Even when they are purchasing a large-size
is available by which time the prime time for
tractor, why do they not purchase N&M tractors?
sowing or harvesting may be over. Therefore,
3. How should N&M market its large-size tractors so
one ends up losing profit.’
that they become a success in these two markets?

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