Consumer And Organisational Behaviour I SS1 Marketing Lesson Note

MEANING OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use and dispose of products, services, experiences or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer.

The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as how:

1. The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason and select between different alternatives (e.g. brands, products and retailers);

2. The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g. culture, family, signs, media);

3. The behaviour of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;

4. Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing outcomes;

5. How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level of importance a interest that they entail for the consumer and
6. How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.

Consumer behaviour holds great importance in the marketing field because it is said that in the modern philosophy of marketing C, CUSTOMER is treated as the KING.

FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

1. Cultural Factors: Culture is defined as the patterns of behaviour and social relations that characterize a society and separate it from others. Culture conveys values, ideals and attitudes that help individuals communicate with each other and evaluate situations. Cultural factors comprise a set of values and ideologies of a particular community or group of individuals.

It is the culture of an individual that decides the way he/she behaves. In simpler words, culture is nothing but the values of an individual. What an individual learns from his/her parents and relatives as a child becomes his/her culture.

2. Social Factors: A consumer’s behaviour is also influenced by social factors such as (a) Groups (b) Family (c) Roles and status.

(a) Groups: Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals. A person’s behaviour is influenced by many small groups. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. 

Some of the primary groups are family, friends, neighbours and coworkers. Some of the secondary groups, which are more formal and have less regular interaction, include organizations like religious groups, professional associations and trade unions.

(b) Family: Family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour. The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles and influence of the husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services.

3. Personal Factors: Consumer behaviour deals with why and why not an individual purchases particular products and quins services.

Personal factors play an important role in affecting consumers’ buying behaviour.

4. Psychological Factors: Includes:

(a) Motivation: Motive (drive), a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need.

(b) Perception: The process by which people select, organize and interpret old information to form.

(c) Learning: Changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience.

(d) Beliefs and Attitudes: Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds faith about something.

Attitude is a person’s consistently favourable or unfavourable evaluations, feelings and tendencies towards an object or idea.