Marketing deals
with maintaining profitable customer relationships.
Hence all marketing strategies are designed keeping in
mind what the consumers wants, when do they want and how do they want. Study of
consumer behaviour helps marketer in understanding different needs and wants
and acts as an important basis for segmentation.
Consumer buyer behaviour is defined as the behaviour that
consumers display in searching, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of
products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs.
The study of consumer behaviour is very important for
planning marketing strategy. Not all consumers have same approach towards
buying. We have already discussed about different types and levels of needs.
These differences results in different buying approaches.
There can be number of different ways to analyse and
study different consumer behaviour. Broadly classified, it can be categorized
as
- Individual buying behaviour—individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption and
- Business buying behaviour – Firms that buy for the purpose of reproduction.
Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour
Consumers buying perspective is affected by variety of
factors. As individuals, they have different income, tastes, preferences,
needs, situations, cultures and beliefs. Thus, it is imperative for marketers
to study and identify factors that constitute and influence buying behaviour as
they offer product and services to these individuals. These factors are:
- Cultural factors
- Social factors
- Personal factors
- Psychological factors
Cultural Factors
Culture
It is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behaviour.
Culture is the set of basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviour from
family and other important institutions. These are the norms and values carried
forward by generations and are distinctive from one entity to the other.
Culture is an outcome learned norms and beliefs, but it
is affected by a person’s exposure with outside world. In today’s world
internet and mobile communication has made culture very dynamic and
fraternised. It is dynamic because it is highly influenced by others and
fraternise because it is hobnob and accommodating. For example - adaptation of fast
food culture in India.
Subcultures
These are groups of people with shared value systems
based on common life experiences and situations. Some of the important bases of
subcultures are different religions and locations. In a country like India,
where there are number of religions, many products, especially those linked
with religious rituals and festivals are targeted at these subcultures. For
example, sale during holy month of Ramadan, special offers during Diwali and so
on. Geographic regions also give rise to distinctive subcultures. Thus,
Bengali, Gujarati, and Punjabi people (to name a few) form apparent subcultures
in India. Several products are offered to cater to the needs of individual
subcultures. Rural-urban differences are also immense in India.
Like India, there are several such diverse pre-dominant
religious subcultures around the world.
Social Classes
These are society’s relatively permanent and ordered
divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviours. Social
class is determined by combination of occupation, income, education, wealth,
and other variables.
Social Factors
Groups and Social Networks
A person’s behaviour is influenced by many small groups.
These groups may be formal or informal.
Membership groups have a direct influence and to which a person
belongs. For example, a student is a member of a college, a class and a club or
association that he or she joins.
Aspirational groups are groups to which an
individual wishes to belong. These are sought for associations. Marketers
closely observe these longings and create products and services that can help
them achieve those memberships. Many coaching classes use aspirations of
students who desire to join IIT or IIMs.
Reference groups are groups that form a comparison or reference in
forming attitudes or behaviour. These are the strong source of influence in
buying behaviour. Opinion leaders are people within a reference group who,
because of special skills, knowledge, personality, or other characteristics,
exert social influence on others. Internet and social networking sites are
online spaces where people socialize or exchange information and
opinions.
Family
It is the most important consumer buying organization in
society. In a family, buying roles change with evolving consumer lifestyles. In
India, the wife traditionally has been the main purchasing influence for the
family in the areas of food, household products, and clothing. But with more
and more women holding jobs outside the home and the willingness of husbands to
do more of the family’s purchasing, all this is changing. These changing trends
are even more extreme in the West. Children may also have a strong influence on
family’s buying decisions.
Roles and Status
A role consists of the activities people are expected to
perform. Each role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it
by society.
Personal Factors
Age and Life-Cycle Stage
People change the goods and services they buy over their
lifetimes. Marketers are increasingly catering to a growing number of
alternative, nontraditional stages such as unmarried couples, singles marrying
later in life, childless couples, same-sex couples, single parents, extended
parents (those with young adult children returning home), and others.
RBC (Royal Bank) has identified five life-stage
segments.
- The youth segment includes customers younger than 18.
- Getting started consists of customers aged 18 to 35 who are going through first experiences.
- Builders, customers aged 35 to 50, are in their peak earning years.
- Accumulators, aged 50 to 60, worry about saving for retirement and investing wisely.
- Preservers, customers over 60, want to maximize their retirement income to maintain a desired lifestyle.
Occupation
A person’s occupation affects the goods and services
bought. Students buy more of casuals whereas working professionals have more of
formals.
Economic Situation
A person’s economic situation will affect product choice.
Consumer low on resources will buy more basic product. As resources increase,
consumers look for value addition and more frills.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in
his or her psychographics. Lifestyles are determined by AIO statement. AIO
dimensions are activities (work, hobbies, shopping, sports, social events),
interests (food, fashion, family, recreation), and opinions (about themselves,
social issues, business, products).
Personality and Self-Concept
Personality refers to the unique psychological
characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to
one’s own environment. One of noted theory of personality proposed by Sigmund
Freud, says that individuals have three distinctive forces determining
personality; Id, superego and ego.
The basic self-concept premise is that people’s
possessions contribute to and reflect their identities; that is, “we are what
we have.”
Psychological Factors
Psychological Factors
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