Prepared By Mathew Lawrence

A CUSTOMER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT VISITOR ON OUR PREMISES, HE IS NOT DEPENDENT ON US, WE ARE DEPENDENT ON HIM. HE IS NOT AN INTERRUPTION ON OUR WORK, HE IS THE PURPOSE OF IT.

HE IS NOT AN OUTSIDER IN OUR BUSINESSHE IS A PART OF IT.

WE ARE NOT DOING HIM A FAVOUR BY SERVINGHIM,HE IS DOING US A FAVOUR BY GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. -Mahatma Gandhi

Introduction to the concept Definition of Consumer Behavior Factors influencing CB Types of Consumer Behavior Application of CB with Marketing prospect Individual aspects of CB Motivation Involvement Personality Perception Learning Attitude

Consumer is the cause & purpose of all production and marketing activities. Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. CB determines a firms profitability. Further profitability is established into loyal customer. Companies that develop a fuller understanding of consumers will be better able to develop marketing strategies to meet their needs.

Consumer behavior is the process whereby individuals decide what, when, where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services.- Walters and Paul In another words, consumer behaviour can be define as the behaviour of individuals or groups in regards to acquiring, using and disposing of products, services, ideas or experiences. CB blends elements from psychology, social anthropology and economics.
Psychology: study of behavior and mental possess. Social anthropology: study of people in relation to their culture.

Economics: study of peoples consumption of goods and service.

Research has shown that consumer behaviour is difficult to predict, even for experts in the field.

Social factors- family, roles and status, ref. groups Economic factors- size of family, disposable Income propensity to consume, consumer credit. Cultural factors- values, Beliefs, arts Personal factors- age, occ., life style, personality Physiological factors- basic needs

Friendly/co-operative buyer Timid/reserved/shy buyer Silent buyer Undecided buyer Price or quality conscious buyer Argumentative buyer Suspicious buyer

Impatient buyer Bargain buyer Impulsive buyer Over-cautious buyer Slow-thinking buyer Rude/ill-mannered buyer Clever/intelligent buyer

From the marketing point of view, understanding consumer behaviour is crucial to successful delivery of firms offering in the market place.

Market-Opportunity Analysis: this involves examining trends and conditions in the marketplace to identify consumers needs and wants that are not being fully satisfied.
Target Market Selection: this has to do with identifying distinct groupings of consumers who have unique wants and needs and the selection of segment that matches the firms strength and offer better opportunities. Marketing- Mix Determination: this involves developing and implementing a strategy for delivering an effective combination of want-satisfying features to consumers within target market. Marketing strategy: understanding of consumer behaviour is needed in strategic marketing activities. This is because marketing strategies and tactics are based on explicit or implicit beliefs about consumer behaviour.

Consumer behaviour can be define as the behaviour of INDIVIDUALS or groups in regards to acquiring, using and disposing of products, services, ideas.
Personality

Perception

Involvement

Learning

Motivation

Attitude

Motivation: Motivation is the driving force among individual consumers that impel them to action. Definition: Motivation may be defined as psychological forces that determine the direction of persons behaviour, a persons level of effort, and a persons level of persistence in the face of obstacles. In another words, motivation is the process that account for an individual intensity, direction, and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal. A motive is a construct representing an unobservable inner force that stimulates and compels a behavioral response and provides specific direction to that response.

Maslows Motive Hierarchy

Self Actualization
Esteem Belongingness Safety Physiological

Education, Vacation, etc. Furniture, Liquor, Hobbies, Cars, Mobiles, etc. Personal grooming, entertainment, Clothing, etc. Insurance, Retirement investment, seat belts, sunscreen lotion, etc. Wheat, Rice, Water, Medicines, etc.

Involvement: Involvement is a reflection of strong motivation in the form of high perceived personal relevance of a product or service in a particular context. In other words, involvement consists of differences in the intensity of interest with which consumers approach their dealings with the marketplace. Involvement can vary in individuals depending on different situations Involvement is related to some form of arousal. Involvement can be of 3 types

Routinised response behaviour: In routinised response, we buy things as a routine. These are products of daily use which keep buying almost every now and then. Low Involvement Decision: These are decision in which some involvement is necessary .These are higher value products and involve certain amount of risk. These products are not bought everyday but after a few years or considerable period of time. High Involvement Decision Making: These decisions are very important as these products are of very high value and involve a lot of risk and are bought once in a life time or few times in a life time.

Personality can be described as the psychological characteristics that both determines and reflect how a person responds to his or her environment. How Personality is help full in marketing: Because no two people are exactly the same, marketers can look for certain similar personality traits in different consumers. These consumers can then be grouped together based on this identified personality. Product Personality includes: manly, adventurous, sporting, stylish, mature, etc. Colour can influence our emotions, our actions and how we respond to various people, things and ideas. Brand personality means assigning human personality traits/characteristics to a brand so as to achieve differentiation. These characteristics signify brand behaviour through individuals representing the brand.

Nature/characteristics of Personality. Personality reflects individual differences: Because the inner characteristics that constitutes an individuals personality are a unique combination of factors, no two individuals are exactly alike Example: Hero Honda- Splender and Hero Honda- Karizma Personality is consistent and enduring: Personality is a set of response tendencies that are consistent and endure over time. Consistency means that the characteristics contributing to an individual's personality ten to carry over to a variety of situations. Examples: Raymonds, Maruti 800. Personality is subject to change: Personality is, however, subject to change over time, in response to situations and events in life and, also, as part of a gradual maturing process. Examples: Godrej shaving creams, Mc Donalds.

Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organize and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. It can be described as how we see the world around us. In general, perception is gathering information through our senses, which are seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling and sensing.

Elements of Perception: Sensation: Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to stimuli. Examples of stimuli (i.e. sensory inputs) include products, packaging, brand names, advertisement.

Absolute Threshold: The lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation is called threshold. The point at which a person can detect and differentiate between something and nothing is that persons absolute threshold for that stimulus. Example : 200gms to 150gms, change in quality.

Elements of Perception: Subliminal Perception: Stimuli that are too weak or too brief to be consciously seen or heard may nevertheless be strong enough to be perceived by one or more receptor cells. This stimuli is beneath the threshold.

Learning can be viewed as a relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience. From a marketing perspective, however, consumer learning can be thought of as the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply to future related behavior. Consumer learning is a process; that is, it continually evolves and changes as a result of newly acquired knowledge. Both newly acquired knowledge and personal experience serve as feedback to the individual and provide the basis for future behavior in similar situations.

Elements of Learning:

Motivation: Motivation is based on needs and goals. Motivation acts as a spur to learning. The degree of relevance, or involvement, determines the consumers level of motivation to search for knowledge or information about a product or service. Cues: In the marketplace, price, styling, packaging, advertising, and store displays all serve as cues to help consumers fulfil their needs in product-specific ways. Cues serve to direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations. Marketers must be careful to provide cues that do not upset those expectations. Response: How individuals react to a drive or cue-how they behave constitutes their response. Reinforcement: Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a specific response will occur in the future as the result of particular cues or stimuli

Consumer attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object. Thus, an attitude is the way we think, feel, and act toward some aspect of our environment.
Attitude occurs within and are affected by situations. By situations it means events or circumstances that at a particular point in time, influence the relationship between an attitude and behavior.

By keeping in touch with changing consumer attitudes, marketers are better able to appeal to consumers through their marketing messages and appeals.

Product/Service Situations D Cold Total Hyuandi Cars LIC Insurance Running Nose Buying a new car Life Insurance Family wedding

Attitude Ive got an important meeting in 2hrs. I would like to buy a new car for my family. Now that I am father I want to make sure that my family is provided for My cousin is getting married and I want to be there.

Spice Jet

Identify the reason and the birth or changes on any product with respect to the behavioral change among consumers?
Latest Improvements:
Neuro marketing: The neuro marketing concept was developed by psychologists at Harvard University in 1990. The technology is based on a model whereby the major thinking part of human activity (over 90%), including emotion, takes place in the subconscious area that is below the levels of controlled awareness. For this reason, the perception technologists of the market are very tempted to learn the techniques of effective manipulation of the subconscious brain activity.