Dynamics of
Consumer Behaviour
Lecture 1
Dr. Soma Sengupta
Associate Professor (Commerce)
Kamala Nehru College
(University of Delhi)
Dynamics of Consumer Behaviour
Topics Covered
• Meaning of consumer behaviour
• A model of consumer behaviour
• Major factors influencing buyer behavior
Personal and interpersonal determinants of consumer behavior
• Basics of consumer decision-making and the buying process
• Consumer buying behavior: theories and models
Meaning of
Consumer Behaviour
Meaning of Consumer Behaviour
“The term Consumer Behaviour refers to the behaviour
that consumer display in searching for, purchasing,
using, evaluating, and disposing of products and
services that they expect will satisfy their needs.”
– Schiffman and Kanuk
The field of consumer behaviour studies how
individuals, groups, and organisations select, buy,
use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or
experiences to satisfy their needs and desires.
Nature of Consumer Behaviour (1/3)
Motivated behaviour –
Consumer behaviours is a means to an end
Consumer wishes satisfaction of the needs and wants
Sometimes revealed and sometimes hidden reasons to buy
Marketers need to identify the motives
Process –
Phases –
• Pre-purchase phase
• Purchase phase
• Post-purchase phase
Marketer tries to understand the requirement and behaviour of consumer
during these phases and accordingly design the strategies to satisfy them
Nature of Consumer Behaviour (2/3)
Multi-dimensional –
Marketer tries to understand the consumer behaviour while they are involved
in different activities related to buying a product
Activities involved are –
• Exposure to a stimuli
• Searching for products
• Evaluating alternatives
• Taking decision to buy
• Making payment
• Storing and using the product
• Disposing the package and leftovers
Internal and external environment –
Internal factors affecting consumer behaviour
External factors affecting consumer behaviour
Nature of Consumer Behaviour (3/3)
Timing and complexity –
More complex decision is more time will be spent on it
High involvement products involves more pre-purchase activities
Multiple roles played by consumers –
Initiator
Influencer
Decider
Purchaser
User
Disposer
Varying –
Differs from person to person; and time to time
Importance of Studying Consumer Behaviour
Satisfy target customer’s needs and wants
Changes in environment
Tastes and preferences
Product differentiation
Innovation and technology
Changes in marketing concept
Planning of marketing strategies
Studying consumers provides clues for developing new
products, product features, prices, channels, messages,
and other marketing-mix elements.
Stages of the
Buying Decision Process
Stages of the Consumer Buying Decision Process
1. Problem Recognition
2. Information Search
3. Evaluation of the Alternatives
4. Purchase Decision
5. Post-purchase Behaviour
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Problem Recognition
The buying process starts when the buyer recognises a
problem or need.
The need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli.
Internal stimulus – hunger
External stimulus – a person passes a bakery, sees
pastries which stimulates hunger.
Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a
particular need.
They can then develop marketing strategies that trigger
consumer interest.
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Information Search
Information sources
Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbours, colleagues,
acquaintances.
Commercial sources: Advertising, salespersons, dealers,
packaging, displays.
Public sources: Mass media, consumer-rating organisation.
Experiential sources: Handling, examining, using the product.
Relative amount and influence of sources – vary with the
product category and the buyer’s characteristics.
Use of Information - The consumer learns about competing
brands and their features.
Company must strategies to get its brand into the prospect’s
awareness set, consideration set, and choice set involved in the
consumer decision making process.
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Evaluation of the Alternatives
How does the consumer process competitive brand
information and make a final value judgement?
The cognitively oriented decision evaluation processes
see the consumer as forming judgements largely on a
conscious and rational basis.
The marketer should understand that:
The consumer is trying to satisfy a need.
He is looking for certain benefits from the product solution.
He sees each product as a bundle of attributes with
varying abilities for delivering the benefits sought.
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Purchase Decision (1/2)
The consumer forms preferences among the brands in the
choice set.
The consumer may also form an intention to buy the most
preferred brand.
Factors that intervene between the purchase intention and
the purchase decision are –
Attitudes of others: A buyer’s preference for a brand will
increase if someone he or she respects favours the same
brand strongly.
Unanticipated situational factors: If a person looses his
job, some other purchase might become urgent then buying
a car.
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Purchase Decision (2/2)
A consumer’s decision to modify, postpone, or avoid a
purchase decision is heavily influenced by perceived risk.
In executing a purchase intention, the consumer may make up to
five purchase sub-decisions:
Brand decision,
Vendor decision,
Quantity decision,
Timing decision, and
Payment-method decision.
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Post-purchase Behaviour (1/2)
The marketer’s job does not end when the product is bought.
He must monitor the post-purchase buyer behaviour which
may be as follows:
1. Post-purchase satisfaction: The buyer’s satisfaction is a
function of the closeness between the buyer’s expectations
and the product’s perceived performance.
If,
Performance < Expectations = Disappointed Customer
Performance = Expectations = Satisfied Customer
Performance > Expectations = Delighted Customer
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Post-purchase Behaviour (2/2)
2. Post-purchase Actions: If the consumer is satisfied, he or
she will exhibit a higher probability of purchasing the product
again.
3. Dissatisfied consumer may abandon or return the product,
seek information that confirms its high value, take public
action, file a case, bad-mouth.
4. Postpurchase communications, like, sending letter to new
owners congratulating them on selecting the product, solicit
customer suggestions, have shown to result in fewer product
returns.
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A Model of
Consumer Behaviour
The Stimulus-Response Model
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The Stimulus-Response Model
Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the buyer’s
consciousness.
The buyer’s characteristics and decision process lead to
certain purchase decisions.
The marketer’s task is to understand what happens in the
buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli
and the buyer’s purchase decisions. i.e., -
How the buyer's characteristics influence buying behaviour?
How does the buyer make purchasing decisions?
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References:
1. Kotler, Philip, and Kevin Lane Keller, Marketing Management, 14th ed. (New
Delhi: Pearson Education Inc., 2012).
2. Schiffman, Leon G., Leslie Lazar Kanuk, and S. Ramesh Kumar, Consumer
Behavior, 10th ed. (New Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. and Dorling Kindersley
(India) Pvt. Ltd., 2013).
3. Schiffman, Leon G., and Leslie Lazar Kanuk, Consumer Behavior, 5th ed.
(New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., 1996).
Email: dr.somasengupta@gmail.com
