Consumer Behaviour

Module-I

Consumer behaviour refers to the behaviour that consumers display in searching for,
purchasing, using ,evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect
will satisfy their needs
It is the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available
resources like time, money and effort on consumption related items.

Consumer decision making process

This is an important process which has a vital role in the study of consumer behaviour.
the objective of the study of consumer buying process is to know how a consumer makes
his decision regarding buying or not buying any commodity. The buying process is the
process of decision making leading to a purchase function

Stages of buying process

The buying process is composed of a number of stages and is influenced by one’s

psychological framework comprising of the individual’s personality, motivations,
perception and attitudes while purchasing certain commodities ,the buyer or consumer
takes his buying decision immediately without much consideration these are items of
daily use. For some other commodities, mainly luxury or durable items, the consumer
thinks much before taking a decision to purchase it. generally the buyer passes through
five distinct stages in taking a decision for purchasing a particular commodity. These
stages are: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives ,purchase
decision and post purchase behaviour

Need recognition

Information search

Evaluation of alternatives

Purchase decision
 Post purchase decision

1.Need Recognition
A buying process starts with need recognition . A need can be activated through internal
or external stimuli. The marketer has to identify the circumstances that generates a
particular need.

2.Information search

The second stage in the buying process is information search. In this stage , customer
will try to search for more information .various sources of information :personal
sources(family, friends, neighbours etc)commercial sources(advertisements, salesmen,
dealers etc)public sources(consumer-rating organisation, mass media etc).

3.Evaluation of alternatives
The next step in the buying decision process after information search is detailed analysis
of the various alternatives. Buyers evaluate various alternatives available in the market
on the basis of certain attributes. The attributes of interest to buyers vary by product for
eg in case of tyres ,the attributes normally required are safety, tread life, right quality
&price. The marketer must try to find out which attributes the consumer gives
importance.

Purchase decision
After evaluation of the alternatives, the next step is taking decision as to buy or not to buy
. This is the most important stage in buying decision process.

Post -purchase behaviour

Post-purchase behaviour refers to the behaviour of a consumer after his commitment to a
product has been made. It originates out of consumer experience regarding the product .
In this stage consumers experience either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. when
consumer’s expectations are matched by perceived performance, then there is occurrence
of satisfaction . But when experience and performance fall short of expectation,
dissatisfaction occurs.

BUYING MOTIVES
A buying motive is an influence or consideration which provides an impulse to buy. a
buying motive induces a buyer to buy a product. A motive is a strong feeling, urge,
instinct, or desire that makes the buyer to react in the form of a decision to buy.

Types of buying motives

Emotional - affection pride, imitation ,comfort ,etc

Rational motives-safety, economy, utility, etc

Patronage -exclusiveness, convenience of location, reliability etc

Physiological motives- hunger ,thirst, shelter, safety etc

Psychogenic motives-achievement, status, self esteem, self respect
Factors influencing consumer behaviour

There are numerous factors that influence consumer behaviour, they can be broadly
categorised as external &internal variables. internal variables are those factors that are
present within the consumers. Internal variables consist of personal &psychological
factors such as motivation, perception, learning beliefs ,attitudes, age& stage in the
lifecycle, occupation &economic circumstances, personality& self concept etc
External variables are present outside the customer and it influences his behaviour.
This includes culture, social factors, reference groups, family, role& status etc

Social factors

As the fundamental social unit, the family’s influence on consumer behaviour is very
important. different members of the family influences the purchase behaviour of a buyer.
Family being a primary group is vital because it links the individual with a wider society
and it is through this the individual learns the roles

Reference group also influences the buying behaviour. A reference group is a group that
serves as a point of comparison or reference for an individual in the formation of either
general or specific values, attitudes or behaviour

Cultural factors

Culture is a complex of symbols& artifacts created by a society and handed down from
generation to generation as determinants and regulators of the human behaviour .culture
contains habits, skills , art &values of a given group of people at a particular place &
time.
Human perception and behaviour is predominantly influenced by the
particular culture in which people live. cultural influences emanate from the culture at
large, from various sub cultures& from social class . To a large extend, culture dictates
the way people are expected to behave and it guides& influences personal &group
interactions. It is important for marketers to remember that what is an accepted custom or
belief in one country, can have diametrically opposite or Have no value in another
country

Sub culture is also another important factor that influences buying behaviour. Within
the culture there are segments that share distinguishing meanings ,values &Patterns of
behaviour that differ from those of overall culture for eg Marathi culture, Gujarati
culture etc

Psychological factors

There are various psychological and personal factors that influence the individuals
buying behaviour . These factors are the foundation of all behaviour. Learning from the
previous experiences ,beliefs &attitudes are the other psychological factors that influence
the consumer behaviour. In the context of consumer behaviour learning means changing
ones behaviour on the basis of past experience. The learning theory is the result of four
influences-drives, cues, responses& reinforcement.
 Beliefs and attitudes also influence the purchase behaviour of an individual.

Personal factors

Personal factors along with other factors influences buying behaviour of an individual.
The most important personal factor is the consumer personality. Along with personality
the personal factors that affect the perception of a consumer are occupation, economic
status, age and family life cycle etc .

Social class

Social class is a division or a ranking within the society based on education ,occupation
&type of residential hood. The typical social class structure is : upper-class, lower upper
class, upper middle class, middle class ,upper lower class ,lower lower class etc.

LEVELS OF CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

All consumer decision making situations does not require the same degree of
information research so on the basis of efforts ranging from very high to very low we can
distinguish three specific levels of consumer decision making :extensive problem solving,
limited problem solving and routinized response behaviour

Extensive Problem Solving[ EPS]

This refers to the high level of purchase involvement . At this level, the consumer needs
a great deal of information to establish a set of criteria on which to judge specific brands
and a correspondingly large amount of information concerning each of the brands to be
considered

Limited problem solving [LPS]

At this level of problem solving ,consumers already have established the basic criteria for
evaluating the product category and the various brands in the category. however they
have not fully established preferences concerning a select group of brands they must
gather additional brand information to discriminate among the various brands.

Routinized response behaviour RRB]

This is also referred to as habitual decision making. At this level , consumers have
experience with the product category and a well established set of criteria with which to
evaluate the brands they are considering. In some situations, they may search for a small
amount of additional information ;in others they simply review what they already know.

Consumer needs &motivation

Consumer motivation is based primarily on the notions of consumer needs &wants .Need
is the most basic human requirement .the process of motivation begins when a need
arises. Needs are classified in different ways -innate needs &acquired needs. Innate
needs(primary needs)are those needs that are physiological in nature. These are bodily
needs like need for food , water, air, clothing etc on the other hand acquired needs
(secondary needs)are the needs that are not present in the human being by birth rather he
learns from the environment &acquires them over a period of time Thus ,they are also
called as acquired needs. These includes need for self esteem, prestige, status, sense of
belongingness ,affection etc needs are also classified as:

Physiological needs

Safety & health needs

Need for love& companionship

Social image needs

Need to possess

Need for achievement

Need for uniqueness

Motivation

The word motivation is derived from the Latin word ‘‘movere’’ meaning to move. It is a
psychological concept that mobilises bodily energy and directs it in a selective fashion
towards goals usually located in the external environment. It is an inner urge that impels
an individual to act or not to act in a certain manner.

Role of motives
The main role of motives in consumer behaviour is to arouse &direct the behaviour of
consumers. Motives have several important functions for guiding behaviour such as :

Defining basic striving

Identifying goal objects

Influencing choice criteria

Influencing consumer’s perception &learning process

Consumer personality

Personality is one of the internal characteristics of consumer that is commonly used by

marketers. Personality is one of the unique characteristics of consumer that is commonly
used by the marketers. Personality is the unique individual inner psychological
characteristics that are consistent based on which they react to environment.
Personality composes of qualities, manners, values , looks and habits
of a person. This is of importance for marketers as consumers reacts to advertisements,
sales promotions of marketers based on his personality. consumer purchases a product/
brand ,which he perceives that matches his personality. Thus personality is an important
aspect that should be taken into consideration while developing marketing campaigns

Three theories of personality are prominent in the study of consumer

behaviour and they are:

Psychoanalytic theory

Neo-Freudian theory

Trait theory

Freud’s psycho analytic theory provides the foundation for the study of
motivational research ,which operates on the premise that human drives are largely
unconscious in nature and serve to motivate many consumer actions. Neo Freudian
theory tends to emphasise the fundamental role of social relationships in the formation
and development of personality . Trait theory says that individuals possess innate
psychological traits (innovativeness, novelty seeking ,need for cognition, materialism
etc) to a greater or lesser degree, and that these traits can be measured by specially
designed scales.

SELF CONCEPT

The concept of self refers to the attitude people hold about their own self. The overall
self attitude can be broadly classified into four categories.(1) The actual self image -this
refers to how the consumers feel about himself (2) the ideal self image-this refers to how
the consumer would like to view himself(3)social self image, this is related to how the
consumer thinks others view him (4)ideal social image-this refers to how the consumer
wants others to view him.

ATTITUDE

Attitude is ‘‘learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable and

unfavourable manner with respect to a given stimuli’’

Attitude formation

Since attitude is learned and not acquired unconsciously, people pick up attitude
depending on the basis of their need along with the environment they are living in. there
are different sources that influence attitude namely-

information

Exposure

Group membership

Environment

Want satisfaction

The cognitive component of attitude is largely built up from information

acquired from mass media, friends and other people with whom there is
‘‘communication’’.
Another source of influence is group membership . By group we mean the
people with whom the consumer interacts. This interaction can be voluntary or
involuntary. People tend to belong to groups whose behaviour attracts them, but they
may not accept and hence absorb, all the characteristics of that group.
Environmental influences play an important role in attitude formation. If
people work for prolonged time in a certain atmosphere or study in certain school or
college which adheres to certain beliefs ,the group members show tendencies to alien
themselves with those beliefs even if they have started from a different platform.
Consumer’s want satisfaction also influences attitude formation.

Change in attitude

Attitude change can be defined as finding that at a given time a significantly higher or
lower proportion of the population holds certain attitude than at an earlier time

Strategies adopted by marketers to bring attitudinal change

Change consumer’s basic motivational function

Associate the product with an admired group or event

Attitudinal change can be brought about by resolving conflicting attitude

Strategy of altering attitude of the product or brand

Attitudinal change can be brought about by value addition to the known attributes.