Consumer Behaviour

 Behaviour- Physical actions of consumers that

can be directly observed and measured by
others
◦ Also called overt behavior
◦ Critical for marketing strategy

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Three Elements for Consumer Analysis

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Consumer Environment
 Everything external to consumers that
influences what they think, feel, and do
 Includes:
◦ Social stimuli
◦ Physical stimuli
 Important to marketing strategy because it is
the medium in which stimuli are placed to
influence consumers

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The consumer decision process helps you understand the
steps people go through when they are deciding whether
and what to buy. Many different factors can influence the
outcomes of purchasing decisions.

Some of these factors are specific to the buying situation:

what exactly you are buying and for what occasion. Other
factors are specific to each person: an individual’s
background, preferences, personality, motivations, and
economic status. Because no two people are exactly
alike, it is difficult to predict how the tangled web of
influencing factors will ultimately shape a final purchasing
decision

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Demographics are an important set of factors that marketers should not
overlook when trying to understand and respond to consumers. Demographics
include variables such as age, gender, income level, educational attainment,
and marital status. Each of these can have a strong influence on consumer
behavior.

Historically, marketers have made much of generational differences—focusing

on the best ways of reaching different cohorts such as Baby Boomers,
Generation Xers, Millennials, and so on. Many of the distinctions between
these groups are related to the groups’ ages and related needs at any given
point.

For example, as Baby Boomers head into their retirement years, marketers
target them with messages about prescription drugs and other health care
products, insurance, home and financial security—all issues of growing
concern for people as they age.

Generational differences can also be factors in they ways people use media
and where they go for information to inform their consumer choices. A 2013
study found that Millennial moms (birth years 1981–1997) were online
“followers” of 22.5 brands, on average, while Generation X moms (birth years
1965–1980) followed just 13.7 brands online. Understanding differences like
these can be essential to developing the right marketing mix whenever age is
an identifying factor in market segmentation.
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Gender is also a defining characteristic for many consumers, as is the
marketing that targets them. You have only to watch TV ads during an NFL
game and the TV ads during the women-oriented talk show The View to see
how the different needs and wants of men and women are translated into
marketing messages and imagery.

DeBeers Limited, which has commanded an 80 percent share of the market

for diamonds used in engagement rings, employs a consumer demographic
profile in the development of its promotional programs. Their primary target
market for engagement rings is single women and single men between the
ages of 18 and 24. The company combined this profile with some additional
lifestyle-related factors to develop a successful promotional program.

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Life Stage
Linked to demographics is the concept of life stage: consumer behaviour is tied
to the significant life events and circumstances people are experiencing at any
given moment. Moving out of your parents’ home, going to college, getting
married, buying a house, starting a family, sending children to college, retiring:
all of these are life events that shape consumer attitudes, behaviours, and
decisions.

American consumers experience life-stage marketing when offers relevant to

their life events appear in their in-boxes, mailboxes, and even in the checkout
line. Producers and sellers of baby products like Procter & Gamble, Johnson &
Johnson, and Target send a barrage of product samples, coupons, and other
promotions to expecting and new parents. Families of young children are
invited to sign them up for LEGO’s free quarterly magazine and become part
of the Toys-R-Us Rewards program for frequent shoppers. Financial services
companies target new college students and their parents with credit card offers
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and banking plans. 10
Lifestyle
One of the newer and increasingly important set of factors that’s being used to
understand consumer behaviour is lifestyle. In this context, “lifestyle” refers to
the potential customer’s pattern or being or living in the world combined with
his or her psychographics (a set of attitudes, opinions, aspirations, and
interests). The variables determining lifestyle are wide-ranging:

Activities and interests (e.g., hunter; fitness enthusiast; fashionista; foodie;

lawyer; musician; pet lover; farmer; traveller; reader; homebody; crafter, etc.)
Opinions about oneself and the world (e.g., politically conservative; feminist;
activist; entrepreneur; independent thinker; do-gooder; early adopter;
technophobe; populist; explorer, etc.)

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Personality and Self Concept
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What Is Personality

 “The inner psychological characteristics that

both determine and reflect how a person
responds to his or her environment”
 “The relatively stable organisation of a person’s
motivational disposition arising from the
interaction between biological drives and the
social and physical environment” (Eysenck et
al., 1975)
 Function of innate drives, learned motives and
experiences
 Personality reflects individual differences
 Theories of Personality
 Psychoanalytic Theory
(Freud’s Theory)
◦ Personality is the result of
the polarizing forces of the
id and superego and the
intervening and balancing
mechanism of the ego
◦ Consumer researchers
using Freud’s personality
theory see consumer
purchases as a reflection
and extension of the
consumer’s own personality
Neo-Freudian Personality Theory or
Type Theory
 We seek goals to overcome
feelings of inferiority
 We continually attempt to
establish relationships with others
to reduce tensions
 Karen Horney was interested in
child-parent relationships and
desires to conquer feelings of
anxiety. Proposed three
personality groups/types
◦ Compliant move toward
others, they desire to
be loved, wanted, and
appreciated
◦ Aggressive move
against others
–Detached move away from others
Trait Theory
 Trait theory explains personality in
terms of traits which are an
individual’s characteristic ways of
responding to the social and
physical environment

 Trait - any distinguishing, relatively

enduring way in which one
individual differs from another

 Personality is linked to how

consumers make their choices or
to consumption of a broad product
category - not a specific brand
Important Personality Traits
 Innovativeness - The degree to which consumers are
receptive to new products, new services, or new practices
 Dogmatism - A personality trait that reflects the degree of
rigidity a person displays toward the unfamiliar and toward
information that is contrary to his or her own established
beliefs
 Social character - Ranges on a continuum for inner-
directedness to other-directedness
 Inner-directedness
◦ rely on own values when evaluating products
◦ Innovators
 Other-directedness
◦ look to others
◦ less likely to be innovators
Important Personality Traits
 Need for Uniqueness - Consumers who avoid
appearing to conform to expectations or standards
of others
• Optimum Stimulation Level - A personality trait
that measures the level or amount of novelty or
complexity that individuals seek in their personal
experiences
- High OSL consumers tend to accept risky and novel
products more readily than low OSL consumers

 Variety-novelty seeking - Measures a

consumer’s degree of variety seeking (e.g.,
exploratory purchase behavior; use
innovativeness)
Self-concept
The self-concept is the sum total of a person’s
beliefs (i.e., cognitions) about their own
personal attributes.
- The non-evaluative picture people have of
themselves
Examples –
“I’m Scottish”
“I am five feet 11 inches tall.”
“My favorite research topic is history”
Self-concept
 Sometimes evaluations of these beliefs (i.e., self-
esteem) is considered part of the self-concept
 Self esteem - The evaluative judgments we make
of the various components of our self-concepts.
Examples –
- “I’m pretty smart/dumb at regression analysis.”
- I’m satisfied/dissatisfied that my research is
having an impact!”
Forms of Self
The Looking-Glass Self: The process of imagining
the reactions of others toward us

Self concept is multi-dimensional

 Actual self - How one sees him/herself
 Ideal self - How one would like to see him/herself
 Social self - How one feels others see him/herself
 Ideal social self - How one would like others to
see him/herself
 Extended self - External objects that consumers
consider a part of themselves
 Self-Concept Applications in Consumer
Behaviour
 Product can Shape the Self: You are What you Consume:
consumers use an individual’s consumption behaviors to
help them make judgments about that person’s social
identity.
- Symbolic self-completion theory: People who have an
incomplete self-definition tend to complete this identity by
acquiring and displaying symbols associated with it
- Self-image congruence theory: Brand user imagery
interacts with self images; this can in turn affect brand
preference, brand attitudes, brand satisfaction (Sirgy et
al.,1997; Jamal and Al Mari 2006)
 Effects of self-image congruence are likely to be stronger for
conspicuous products and/or publicly consumed products
(Onkvisit and Shaw 1987)
 CONSUMPTION AND SELF CONCEPT
 Consumption of products and services contributes to the definition of self.
 Consumers exhibit attachment to products to the extent that it is used by the
person to maintain his or her self concept.
 Group influences: Culture

 Consumer Culture
 Popular culture - The culture of the
masses in a nation, with norms, rituals,
and values that have a mass appeal.
 Enculturation - The process of
learning one’s own culture
 Acculturation - The process of
learning a new culture.
What is a Culture then?

- Large number of definitions exist

- A shared system of
 meanings,
 beliefs,
 values
 behaviours
through which experience is
interpreted and carried out
 Culture Is ..

 Relative
 Learned
 Collective
 Changesover time
 Complex responsive process
 Subcultures

 Subgroups with distinctive characteristics (e.g.,

grouping based on geographical regions,
religion, ethnicity).

 Self-selecting subgroup where a shared

commitment to a particular product class,
brand or consumption activity is important
(Schouten and McAlexander, 1995).
Subcultures 2
 Subcultures can exist due to any reason they revolve
around a product, activity or interest.

 The term “subculture of consumption” was first coined

by Schouten and McAlexander (1995)

 “distinct subgroup of society that self selects on the

basis of a shared commitment to a particular product
class, brand, or consumption activity”. Examples of
subcultures can be found in musical artists (Deadheads),
media such as shows or books (Star Trek), or brands
(Harley Davidson and the Harley Owners Group)”.
 Facets of Social Group Influence

 Conformity – changes in beliefs or

actions due to group pressure to
conform
 The Asch experiment (see the next slide)
 Consumers generally conform to the
group norms when making brand
choices but rejects attempts at
persuading them to make a particular
brand decision (Vekatesan, 1966)
The difference between the price we pay
for conformity and the rewards obtained
for doing so may determine whether we
conform to group expectations and to
what extent

Rewards:
Price:
 Levels of
 Loss of freedoms
acceptance
 Time commitment  Advancement within
 Financial the group
commitment etc.,  Prestige gained
More on conformity
 Positive outcomes  Negative outcomes
◦ Personal knowledge ◦ Materialism
◦ Greater certainty ◦ Conspicuous
◦ Better choices consumption
◦ Charitable, ◦ Theft
philanthropic, ◦ Drugs
humanitarian ◦ Smoking
behaviors ◦ Alcohol
◦ Values consistent ◦ Gangs
with higher social ◦ The media and
good violence
Other Facets of Social Group
Influence

 Cohesiveness – members of more

cohesive groups do not necessarily
prefer the same brand as members
of a less cohesiveness group
 Leadership - In more cohesive
groups, members tend to prefer the
same brand as their group leader
(Stafford, 1966).
 What is a Reference Group?

• Any individual or a group of

individuals that can significantly
influence your behavior
(Bearden and Etzel, 1982)
 Consumers use them for as
sources of attitudes, beliefs,
values or behaviors
 They can act as point of
comparison
 These groups can provide the
setting and can enforce standards
of behaviour
 Types of Reference Groups

ASPIRATIONAL
Reference
Groups

ASSOCIATIVE

DISSOCIATIVE

Examples??
Linking Reference Group with
Self Concept Theory
 When a brand is perceived to be consistent with an
in group, self-brand connections go up
 The negative effect of out group brand association
on self-brand connection is higher for consumers
with independent selves than for those with
interdependent selves.
 Consumers are likely to develop a stronger brand-
self connection, when there is a strong association
between a reference group and the brand and there
is a strong connection between the reference group
and consumers’ self-concept

Source: Escalas, J., and Bettman, J. R., (2005), Self-construal, reference groups
and brand meaning, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 32 (3), pp. 378-389.
Social grouping at macro level
 The tribe metaphor is used to depict the dynamics
of our societies - the way people behave collectively
and produce social forces
 Tribe - an ephemeral and unstable group of
consumers who are joined together by sharing
emotions, feelings and passions on a relatively
small scale.
 Tribes concentrate on the bonding or linking
element that keeps individuals in the group
» Brand Communities
 Interaction among people interested in same brand
 Reasons: a forum of exchange, an opportunity to
develop relations etc.,
 Good for Marketers – use as market research tool
 Problems for Marketers - Brand fanatics can hijack a
brand’s ideology, use and persona; ownership issues
Family Influences on Consumer
Behaviour
 Family Members can act as a reference group
 Nuclear family comprises two spouses and a
small number of children
 Extended family Two spouses, children
including grown up children, grandparents all
living together as one family unit
- A different environment for interaction and
interpersonal influence
- Multiple sources of influences based on
observation and interaction
- Influence of family members on consumption
behaviour is higher; family members are of
greater importance than outsiders
Family/Household Context is Important for the
Socialization Process
Young Person

Other Family
Friends
Members

Influence More Basic Influence More Expressive

Values/Behavior Attitudes/Behavior

• Moral/religious principles • Style

• Interpersonal skills • Fashion
• Dress/grooming standards • Fads
• Manners and speech • “In/Out”
• Educational motivation • Acceptable consumer
• Occupational career goals behavior
• Consumer socialization

Preadolescent Adolescent Teens Older

 Linking Family Influences with Reference Group
Influences (Childers and Rao, 1992)

Reference Public Private

group
Luxury:
Peer Strong product influence Strong product influence
Strong brand influence Weak brand influence
Familial Weak influence Strong nuclear family influence
Very Strong extended family
influence
Necessity:
Peer Weak product influence Weak product influence
Strong brand influence Weak brand influence
Familial Weak influence Strong nuclear family influence
Very Strong extended family
influence