Consumer: The Basics

UNIT 2 PROFILE OF THE

CONSUMER
Structure
2.1 Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Types of Consumer
2.4 Consumer Satisfaction
2.5 Consumer Buying Behaviour
2.6 Classification of Buying Motives
2.7 Characteristics of Consumer Buying
2.8 Consumer Problems
2.9 Let Us Sum Up
2.10 Some Useful Books and References
2.11 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

2.1 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, the learner shall be able to:
l know what constitutes Consumer Profile;
l discuss the types of consumers;
l discuss the importance of consumer satisfaction;
l explain the characteristics of consumer buying; and
l discuss the consumer problems.

2.2 INTRODUCTION
In the earlier unit you have read the meaning of Consumer, who is not a
consumer and the Historical perspective of Consumer movement. I am sure
that you will agree now that we all are consumers. A Consumer profile is
a way of describing a consumer categorically so that they can be grouped
for different purposes. Each one of us in a given social system is a consumer
irrespective of age, gender, educational level, socio-economic status, cultural
and geographical level etc. Consumers all over the world are same as per
as their basic needs and desires are concerned, but the cultural and socio-
economic differences distinguish India from the rest of the world. We have
certain traditions, beliefs and Ideologies which we follow every day and they
are reflected in our profile too.

2.3 TYPES OF CONSUMER

We have vast disparities in income, property, illiteracy, population, faiths and
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beliefs, cultures, geography, age, gender etc and they all get reflected in
our consumer profile. Manufacturers and merchants keep this profile of Indian Profile of the Consumer
Consumers in mind when they design and deliver a product or service.
The profile of a consumer depends on the above criteria’s but broadly we
can divide them into the following 4 categories.
1) Age- Newborn, Children, teenagers, adults and senior Citizens.
2) Gender-male, female and others
3) Social and cultural status  illiterate and literate, employed and
unemployed, skilled and unskilled, rural and urban, Technology savy and
others etc.
4) Economic Status (rich, upper middle class, middle class, poor and below
poverty line).
In addition to the above categories dear learners you should keep in mind
the rich cultural diversity of India which affects the consumer profile. We
all know that the Indian Consumer Community is very heterogeneous in
composition, following different religious, speaking different languages and
adhering closely to their varied traditions. This impacts the consumption
patterns also.
Check Your Progress 1
1) What is a Consumer Profile?
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Thus consumers can also be identified by different categories, such as:
l Preference
l Lifestyle
l Stage of life
l Attribute
l Trait
Thinking about consumers in terms of the way they are represented by
categorical tiers can be useful. The first tier includes the most common
categories for describing consumers, such as demographics, socio-economic
status, and product usage. The second tier extends the concepts of the first
tier and includes psychographics, generation, geography, geo-demographics,
and benefits sought. Basic definitions of these concepts are provided below:
Demographic: Attributes which are related to age, city or region of residence,
gender, race and ethnicity, and composition of household.
Socioeconomic: Attributes which are related to household income, educational
attainment, occupation, neighbourhood, and association memberships.
Brand affinity/Product usage: Attributes associated with product engagement
on the basis of their behaviour.
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Consumer: The Basics Psychographics: Attributes which are related to lifestyles, life stage,
personality, attitudes, opinion, and even voting behaviour.
Generation: Attributes which are related to a specific identifiable generation
cohort group.
Geography: Attributes which are related to the geographical area in which
consumers reside and work.
Geodemographics: Attributeswhich combine geography and demographics
which may cluster into identifiable groups.
Benefits Sought: Attributes related to the benefits that consumers seek
when they shop for products and services. In view of the emerging global
markets and concerns for good governance coupled with rising expectations
of the people for better services, quality goods, availability of choice and
value for money, there is universal emphasis for protection and promotion
of consumers rights and interests. It is well recognised, world over, that
protection of Consumers rights and interests not only promotes the interests
of business but also of the state as well.
But, Income disparities and high levels of poverty militate against the emergence
of strong consumer organisation, high rates of population growth create
persistent shortages of goods and services, and illiteracy leads to ignorance
and builds resistance against change. Until recently the consumer remained
a forgotten element in the circle of investment, production, sale and conception,
and was generally taken for granted as one who has anyhow to buy. Today
with global change the consumer is more focused in what he wants, when
he wants, what quality and quantity he wants. This awareness has changed
the perspective of the market as well as the government. There is also
emerging shift in the social and economic priorities of the people. Earlier,
the emphasis was on improving the material standards of living, but now
the consumers are also becoming sensitive to social and environmental needs.
In Lakshmi Engg. Works v. PSG Industrial Institute, 1995 AIR 1428, 1995
SCC (3)583 the Hon’ble Court referred to the definition of consumer under
the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and its amendment Act,1993 and said
that whether the purpose for which a person has bought goods is a commercial
purpose or not is a question of fact and will be decided in each case based
on its facts and circumstances. The Court dismissed the appeal without cost.
By the advent of technology the Indian consumer has become more aware
of his rights, about the products, about their benefits and substitutes available.
This has impacted the price of the goods and their quality and design. Now
we find that daily utilities life soaps, milk, cereals etc are also available in
different packaging and different catchy designs along with varieties in quality
and price.
Consumer’s Importance has grown over the time. The ethical and aware
consumers are dominating the market and we get lots of options now even
for the day to day utility items. In earlier days we had limited products
and limited quality standards but the now market gives the consumers lots
of choices and many a time this results in excessive buying and over spending.
The availability of easy banking and credit cards make the situation positive
for the merchants and producers many a times. So, marketing strategies affect
the consumer profilein a big way today.
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 Profile of the Consumer

Source: Annual Report 2015-16, Department of Consumer Affairs, GOI.

Today we see an overall increase in the consumption pattern in all sections

of the society specially in the middle class and lower middle income groups
so the focus of the industries and market has also shifted to attract these
customers by giving easy loan options, add ons, offers etc.
The Indian rural market has been growing at 4-5% adding more than 1
million new consumers every year. Now the focus of the manufacturers is
to provide standard quality at the best available price and give certain
motivational schemes to the consumers especially after de-monetisation.
Availability of different lifestyle spending options is increasing for Indian
consumers day by day which induces higher spends on “status acquisition”.
Traditionally, Indian consumer was cautious about debts. In recent past, this
attitude has changed radically and now credit is no more a feared entity
with the usage of plastic money.
Indian consumer buying behaviour to a large extent has a western influence.
Foreign brands have gained wide consumer acceptance in India and they
are much more open for experimentation due to their easily availability. Now
the goods and services are available at a click on a button in mobile so
marketing has become easy and comfortable. Cosmetics, malls, eateries,
designer wear, watches, hi-tech products, children utilities and toys, organic
goods, home made goods are a few instances which reflect these changes.
The social acceptability of a product also depends upon the initiatives taken
by companies towards achieving its goals towards Corporate Social
Responsibility. Thus a Consumer profile is a way of describing a consumer
categorically so that they can be grouped for marketing and advertising 23
Consumer: The Basics purposes. By target advertising to a specific market segment, companies and
marketers can find more success in selling a particular product and increase
profits. Market segments are often represented by consumer profiles.

The four types of consumers in ecology are:

l Herbivores,

l Carnivores,

l Omnivores, and

l Decomposers

Herbivores Consumer: Herbivores consumers are consumers who only eat

vegetables, plants, grass, or some type of vegetation like a horse or a cow.

Carnivores Consumer: A carnivore consumer is a consumer who eats meat,

or something that consumes other consumers for example lion or a tiger.
The carnivores consumers can also be sub divided further i.e. Carnivores
Tertiary or large carnivores and Quarterly Carnivores or apex carnivores.

The large carnivores capture smaller carnivores and eat them like snake,
owl etc. Apex Carnivores prey on larger carnivores and feed on them for
example hawk, raccoon etc.

Omnivores Consumers: Omnivores consumers are animals who are a

combination of the first two, in that they consume a mixed diet of vegetation
and meat. Examples of omnivores consumers would be bears, humans, and
birds.

Decomposers Consumers: The Decomposers Consumers consume the

remains of dead plants or animals like fungi or bacteria. Each one of these
consumers occupies its own unique niche in the grand circle of life.

In business terms also there are different types of consumers of goods and
services that are offered for sale by companies and manufacturers. So it
is important to understand different types of consumers and reach out to
them. A product manufacturing company needs to understand the type of
consumers it is targeting with its goods because it is essential to be confident
that a market exists for the products they intend to introduce into the market.
Knowing the types of consumers for goods is also important because it
enables the company to appropriately present the product to the potential
purchaser, thus increasing sales and profitability.

The different types, classes or categories of consumers of goods and services

in business terms are discussed in details below:
Seasonal Consumers
Many consumers purchase and consume the products on a seasonal basis.
They shop at certain times when the need arises. Cash flow for a business
selling seasonal products can be very difficult. Long periods of the year
may be without sales, so it is vital to quickly and effectively target seasonal
consumers.

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Examples of products that rely on seasonal consumers: Profile of the Consumer

l Raincoats, boots and Umbrellas during the rainy season.

l Cold or icy drinks during the hot seasons.
l Decorative items and things needed during festivals and celebrations.
l Seeds and fertilisers during harvesting seasons.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Give examples of a seasonal consumer?
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Personal Consumers
These types of consumers are individual consumers who purchase goods
for the sole purpose of personal, family or household use.
Examples:
l Going to the supermarket /shops and buying utilities or doing online
purchases.
l Purchasing a new model of car for your personal use.
l Purchasing clothes for personal use from a shop/mall or online.
l Purchasing a mobile / I-phone or tab for being connected to the world
around. (Big and small). Small includes family and friends and big
includes anyone and everyone who is connected.
We all know that today even the basic phones have cameras and internet
facility. It t is hard to imagine about an individual who would not be eager
to take photos and share them with their personal contacts and friends. We
often see people taking selfie on roads, markets etc and sharing it on social
media. Today the private space is reduced to a larger extent as now we
find children posting their home works, ladies posting their dishes and asking
what to make and sharing recepies etc, people asking on social media when
to do, what to do and how to do. So everything is in public domain now.
This has both positive and negative effects. The manufacturers get all the
consumer profiles at a click of a button easily and fit in their products and
services accordingly. They are constantly looking for ideas for upgrades and
add-ons to enhance the appeal of their goods to individuals.
Organisational Consumer
Organisational consumers purchase products and services for organisations,
governments or businesses. These consumers often buy in bulk and may
place long-term recurring orders. For this reason, an organisational consumer
is generally highly prized and sought after. Products and services sold to
organisational consumers are often required to meet very strict standards
and quality. They may need to be adapted to meet the specific requirements
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Consumer: The Basics of the buyer, and specific prices are negotiated. Manufacturers and service
providers who target organisational consumers are expected to be flexible
in their approach in negotiating a sale, but rigid in maintaining quality. Goods
may be offered for resale at a profit to the organisational purchaser or an
organisation may buy raw materials that are aimed at producing other goods
which will later be offered for sale to other consumers.
For example:
l Stationeries, furniture’s like cabinet, chairs and tables differ from place
to place .Office supplies and hospital or lab supplies are different.
l The demand from the educational institutions also differs from that of
the para military forces.
l The demand from civil societies are different from that of a company.
Impulse Consumers
Impulse buyers are consumers who make unplanned buying decisions. They
actually do not intend to buy the product when they reach the store/shop
etc. They make swift buying decisions and immediately purchase when they
connect with the product and its features. There is often some kind of
emotional appeal to buy that product or special liking for that products
packaging, cover design etc which tempts the prospective consumer and
attracts him to buy it. As for impulse consumers purchases are not initially
in their plans, so product placement is very important. Manufacturers who
target impulse buyers need their goods to be featured prominently in a store
or shop.
For example:
l Chocolates, toys and candies near the check-out/payment counter.
l Cookies, juices and chips at eye level on the shelf.
l Bright, eye-catching Toys, stationeries, character dresses, animated story
books with big prints and children utility items where children can spot
them and pick them up.
Service providers can also target impulse buyers, often by offering significant
discounts or immediate service.
Need Based Consumers
Need based consumers are those types of consumers who buy goods and
services when they need them and not any other time. Many of the products
in a hardware store, for instance, are sold to need based consumers.
A need for a certain product will necessitate buying it because it is needed
immediately for a certain purpose. The challenge for marketers is to create
a sense of ‘need’ to promote the sale of products and services.
Examples:
l House essentials.
l Children and other family members utilities.
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l Heaters or air-conditioning Profile of the Consumer

l Life insurance/Medial Insurance/House Insurance and car insurance sales

increases if we are convinced we need to be sure our families are taken
care.
Discount Driven Consumers
Discount driven consumers are the type of consumers who purchase goods
and services primarily for the discounts on offer. They may not engage in
any buying activity until they hear or see large discounts being offered on
products they like. Discount driven buyers are price sensitive and would
rather wait to purchase products when they come with discounts as opposed
to when they are sold for full price. Coupons and stock-clearance sales
are popular with this type of consumer. An increasing number of manufacturers,
retailers and service providers offer discounts during the entire period to
attract its customers. Customers compare the prices online and book things
many a times seeing lucrative offers even when they do not need them for
a particular period.
Habitual Consumer
Habitual consumers are those consumers who feel compelled to use certain
brands or types of goods. Marketers work hard to create brand loyalty
among this type of consumer. It may be as simple as always choosing the
same brand of deodorant, the same brand of soda, or shopping in the same
store for groceries or clothes.
Powder milk and milk supplements and toys for children and branded Clothes
for men are classic examples of products that target habitual consumers.
If they do not get the same brand then the parents will keep trying till they
get the same toy or milk supplement which the child uses. Many a times
the flavour of the milk supplement also cannot be changed as the child may
not like to have the changed flavour. Advertising often encourages a personal
association with a specific product to appeal to habitual consumers.
The open consumer
These types of customers are open to new ideas and changes. If they are
connected with the new product they do not mind trying it. So they benefit
new companies, new launches etc. They are innovative and appreciate new
trends and updates. They believe in creativity, novelty and up gradation in
all spheres of life.

2.4 CONSUMER SATISFACTION

Consumer satisfaction is a marketing term which measures how products
or services supplied by a company meet or surpass a customer’s expectation.
Customer satisfaction is important because it provides marketers and business
owners with a metric that they can use to manage and improve their business.
Customer Satisfaction is a very important tool in the hands of business houses
and this directly shows their credibility and market value.
If the customer is satisfied with a product or service he recommends it to
others, he repurchases it, he speaks for the product and has a sense of
belongingness to it, he attracts likeminded customers to buy it, he also 27
Consumer: The Basics popularises and advocated the service or goods in his family, neighbourhood
and surrounding. In today’s world consumers share all their experiences on
social media and affect the brand value and recognition of a product, service
or company. If the after care services are not good then people give negative
reviews which affects the sale and brand value of that product. If the product
is good and meets quality standards then the people give good reviews and
accordingly the product gains popularity and sale also increases.
Quality perception also matters a lot in today’s world of competition; this
includes performance, features, service, warranty, price, reputation etc. If
these are not positive then the customers leave and talk negatively about
the product and service. They also leave if they get a better price somewhere
else. If the service is good or if the consumer gets treatment that meets
his/her expectations then the company’s brand image/goodwill is high otherwise
if the customer gets bad services or when the customer gets treatment which
less than his/her expectation then the good will of the company gets negatively
impacted. There are also cases where the customer satisfaction is excellent
i.e. when a customer gets a little more than what he/she expected, good
service becomes excellent service. So companies which provide excellent
customer services are at the top of all and other companies compete with
them. Dear Learners, this is a continuous process as the top companies
have too much of expectations and desires to be met and they strive to
be the best on all the frontiers. This shows the importance of consumer
in the society.
It is said that a ‘totally satisfied customer’ contributes 2.6 times more revenue
than a ‘somewhat satisfied customer’. Furthermore, a ‘totally satisfied
customer’ contributes 14 times more revenue than a ‘somewhat dissatisfied
customer’. Satisfaction plays a significant role in how much revenue a
customer generates for a business. Successful businesses man understands
the importance of customer lifetime value (CLV). If he increases the CLV,
the returns also increase proportionately.
Customer satisfaction also reduces negative publicity and an unhappy customer
tells between 9-15 people about their experience. In fact, 13% of unhappy
customers tell over 20 people about their experience. This ratio also increases
if the post is on social media.
Customer satisfaction is directly linked to revenue and repeat purchases and
it is easy to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Customers
also act as brand ambassadors for the goods and services and popularise
the products more effectively as users also bring in new customers with them.
Good companies retain their customers by following these strategies:
l Use blogs to educate customers
l Use email to send special promotions
l Use customer satisfaction surveys to listen
l Delight customers by offering personalised experiences
Customer satisfaction plays an important role within a business. It not only
acts as a leading indicator to measure customer loyalty, identify unhappy
customers, reduce conflicts and increase revenue but it is also a key point
of differentiation that helps companies to attract new customers in competitive
28 business environments.
Check Your Progress 3 Profile of the Consumer

1) What do you understand by consumer satisfaction?

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2.5 CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

The consumer market consists of all those individuals and households who
acquire goods and services for personal use. Consumer behaviour is a
process in which a consumer goes through to make decisions regarding the
purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. It is important to study
the consumer behaviour to understand the need of the consumers of different
class, groups, age, educational background, language, region, culture, mental
state etc.
In reality a consumer does not buys a product for home but he buys benefits.
Benefits and features are too different concepts. Features are important only
in knowing how they benefit the customer. The feature is meaningless if it
does not benefit the customer.
Consumer decision-making varies with the type of buying decision. There
are great differences between buying a toothbrush, a badminton racket, a
personal computer, and a new car. Complex and expensive purchases are
likely to involve more buyer deliberation and more participants. Involvement
is the perceived importance or personal relevance of an object or event.
It is about the degree to which the consumer feels attached to the product
or brand, and the loyalty felt towards it. Involvement has both cognitive
and affective elements: it plays on both the brain and the emotions. For
example, a car owner might say, ‘I love my old Ambassador [affect] because
it never lets me down [cognition]. There can be 3 levels of involvement:
i) Low level of involvement occurs if attributes are irrelevant to consequences
ii) Medium level of involvement occurs if the attributes only link to function
iii) High product involvement occurs if the consumer feels that product
attributes are strongly-linked to end goals or values. Although it is the
behaviour of the decision-maker that determines the level of involvement
of a decision, there are 3 common factors, which increase the likelihood
of high involvement. These are:
l The cost of purchase relative to income.
l The amount of time for which the purchase will be owned
l The extent to which the purchase reflects the self-image
l High-involvement purchases are those products, which figure greatly
in the consumer’s lifestyle. In other words, they involve decisions
which is important to get right, preferably first time. Typically, the
products with which the consumer is highly involved will also be
the ones which the consumer knows most about, and about which
he or she has strong opinions.
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Consumer: The Basics For example, a technology-savvy IT professional might have very strong
views on which PC would give the best performance. Discrepant information
(a salesperson’s attempt to persuade him to try another brand, for example)
is discounted and disparaged, and may even lower the esteem of the source
of the information (the IT professional will think the salesperson is misleading
him, or is trying to unload an inferior brand of computer).
l On the other hand, a computer novice is less likely to have formed
a close involvement with a product and hence is more likely to be
prepared to listen to what the salesperson has to say. This means that
high-involvement consumers are hard to persuade; they are not to be
easily swayed by advertising or even by persuasive sales pitches.
l High involvement always has a strong affective component, and this does
not necessarily mean a high cost commitment. People also go for cheap
products. So involvement does not always equate to price. A high-
involvement good is not necessarily a high-priced one, nor is a low-
involvement good necessarily a cheap one. A good looking toy made
in local market can have a higher attribute for a child then a dull toy
of high brand.
Complex Buying Behaviour
Consumers go through complex buying behaviour when they are highly
involved in a purchase and aware of significant differences among brands.
Consumers are highly involved when the product is expensive, bought
infrequently, risky and highly self-expressive. Typically the consumer does
not know much about the product category and has much to learn. This
buyer will pass through a learning process characterised by first developing
beliefs about the product, then attitudes, and then making a thoughtful
purchase choice. The marketer of a high-involvement product must understand
the information-gathering and evaluation behaviour of high-involvement
consumers.
l The marketers needs to develop strategies that assist the buyer in
learning about the attributes of the product class, their relative importance,
and the high standing of the company’s brand on the more important
attributes. The marketers needs to differentiate the brand’s features, use
mainly print media and long copy to describe the brand’s benefits, and
motivate store sales personnel and the buyer’s acquaintances to influence
the final brand choice.
Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behaviour
Sometimes the consumer is highly, involved in a purchase but sees little
difference in the brands. The high involvement is again based on the fact
that the purchase is expensive, infrequent, and risky. In this case, the buyer
will shop around to learn what is, available but will buy fairly quickly because
brand differences are not pronounced. The buyer may respond primarily to
a good price or to purchase convenience. After the purchase, the consumer
might experience dissonance that stems from noticing certain disquieting
features of the product or hearing favourable things about other brands. The
consumer will be alert to information that might justify his or her decision.
The consumer will first act, then acquire new beliefs and end up with a
set of attitudes. Here marketing communications should aim to supply beliefs
and evaluations that help the consumer feel good about his or her brand
30 choice.
Habitual Buying Behaviour Profile of the Consumer

Many products are bought under conditions of low consumer involvement

and the absence of significant brand differences. Consider the purchase of
salt. Consumers have little involvement in this product category. They go
to the store and reach for the brand. If they keep reaching for the same
brand, it is out of habit, not strong brand loyalty.There is good evidence
that consumers have low involvement with most low-cost, frequently purchased
products. Consumer behaviour in these cases does not pass through the
normal belief/attitude/behaviour sequence. Consumers do not search extensively
for information about the brands, evaluate their characteristics, and make
a weighty decision on which brand to buy.
Instead, they are passive recipients of information as they watch television
or see print ads. Ad repetition creates brand familiarity rather than brand
conviction. Consumers do not form a strong attitude towards a brand but
select it because it is familiar. After purchase, they may not even evaluate
the choice because they are not highly involved with the product. So the
buying process is brand beliefs formed by passive learning, followed by
purchase behaviour, which may be followed by evaluation.
Marketers of low-involvement products with few brand differences find it
effective to use price and sales promotions to stimulate product trial, since
buyers are not highly committed to any brand.
Variety-Seeking Buying Behaviour
Some buying situations are characterised by low consumer involvement but
significant brand differences. Here consumers are often observed to do a
lot of brand switching. An example occurs in purchasing cookies. The
consumer has some beliefs, chooses a brand of cookies without much
evaluation, and evaluates it during consumption. But next time, the consumer
may reach for another brand out of boredom or a wish for a different taste.
Brand switching occurs for the sake of variety rather than dissatisfaction.
Common Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour
Consumer behaviour can be broadly classified as the decisions and actions
that influence the purchasing behaviour of a consumer. What drives consumers
to choose a particular product with respect to others is a question which
is often analysed and studied by marketers. Most of the selection process
involved in purchasing is based on emotions and reasoning.
The study of consumer behaviour not only helps to understand the past but
even predict the future. The below underlined factors pertaining to the
tendencies, attitude and priorities of people must be given due importance
to have a fairly good understanding of the purchasing patterns of consumers.
1) Marketing Campaigns
Advertisement plays a greater role in influencing the purchasing decisions
made by consumers. They are even known to bring about a great shift
in market shares of competitive industries by influencing the purchasing
decisions of consumers. The Marketing campaigns done on regular basis
can influence the consumer purchasing decision to such an extent that
they may opt for one brand over another or indulge in indulgent or 31
Consumer: The Basics frivolous shopping. Marketing campaigns if undertaken at regular intervals
even help to remind consumers to shop for not so exciting products
such as health products or insurance policies.
2) Economic Conditions
Consumer spending decisions are known to be greatly influenced by
the economic situation prevailing in the market. This holds true especially
for purchases made of vehicles, houses and other household appliances.
A positive economic environment is known to make consumers more
confident and willing to indulge in purchases irrespective of their personal
financial liabilities.
3) Personal Preferences
At the personal level, consumer behaviour is influenced by various
factors such as of likes, dislikes, priorities, morals and values. In certain
dynamic industries such as fashion, food and personal care, the personal
view and opinion of the consumer pertaining to style and fun can become
the dominant influencing factor. Though advertisement can help in
influencing these factors to some extent, the personal consumer likes
and dislikes exert greater influence on the end purchase made by a
consumer.
4) Group Influence
Group influence is also seen to affect the decisions made by a consumer.
The primary influential group consisting of family members, classmates,
immediate relatives and the secondary influential group consisting of
neighbours and acquaintances are seen to have greater influence on the
purchasing decisions of a consumer. Say for instance, the mass liking
for fast food over home cooked food or the craze for the SUV’s against
small utility vehicle are glaring examples of the same.
In Bunga Daniel Babu vs. Sri Vasudeva Constructions 23rd July, 2016
SCC Online NCDRC/111 the Hon’ble Supreme Court said that the
matter is remitted to the state Commission to re-adjudicate the matter
treating the appellant as a consumer.
5) Purchasing Power
Purchasing power of a consumer plays an important role in influencing
the consumer behaviour. The consumers generally analyse their purchasing
capacity before making a decision to buy and products or services.
The product may be excellent, but if it fails to meet the buyers purchasing
ability, it will have high impact on it its sales. Segmenting consumers
based on their buying capacity would help in determining eligible consumers
to achieve better results.
Check Your Progress 4
1) Discuss the common factors influencing consumer behaviour.
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 Profile of the Consumer
2.6 CLASSIFICATION OF BUYING MOTIVES
Buying motive is the urge or motive to satisfy a desire or need that makes
people buy goods or services. Behind every purchase there is a buying
motive. It refers to the thoughts, feelings, emotions and instincts, which arouse
in the buyers a desire to buy an article. A buyer does not buy because
s/he has been persuaded by the salesman, but s/he buys because he has
to buy.
There are different kinds of consumers. So, their wants and needs are also
different. They buy goods or services to satisfy their needs. The causes and
factors which stimulate consumer to buy certain goods or services is called
buying motives. In fact, the motivating factor to direct consumer behaviour
is buying motives.
Identifying buying motive of consumer is a difficult task for business
entrepreneurs. There are various factors to induce consumers to buy and
product. Profit, fear, dignity, pride, fashion, entertainment, love health, facility,
curiosity, habit, security, utility etc. lead persons to buy products. Among
them profit, fear and pride are the three major motivating factors. Such
motives may be different from person to person. However, all the factors
are important.
Different scholars have classified buying motives of consumers differently.
We can classify the buying motives in the following way:
1) Emotional Buying Motive
Emotional buying motive depends on the emotion, feeling and attitude of
the consumers. This type of motive is purely a psychological aspect of a
person. This type of buying motive may vary from person to person. The
motive to buy could be influenced by various factors such as Fear, Love
and affection, Curiosity, Fashion and Possession.
2) Rational Buying Motive
All consumers do not buy goods or services with emotional motive. They
become thoughtful, consider carefully their needs, priority, financial capacity
etc. study and analyse the necessity, utility, price etc. of the goods or services.
Then they make the final decision to buy or not. The consumers become
logical, rational, apt and knowledgeable. Such quality of the customers can
be seen in their buying decision. The customers buy goods or services
considering cheapness, health and security, utility, comfortable etc.
3) Prestige Motive
Prestige motive is related with the want of consumers for promotion of his
or her self-image and protection of their ego. Under this, vanity and pride
are motives of consumers. Many people only buy branded items as they
have to follow the new trends in those brands only. They are attached to
the brands and feel comfortable in using them.
4) Patronage Motive
Patronage motive describes why certain customers buy specific brand goods,
but not other brands and always buy necessary goods only from particular
shop. So, under this motive include brand loyalty and store loyalty. In this
way consumer buy goods or services due to emotional motive, rational
motive, prestige motive and patronage motive. 33
Consumer: The Basics 5) Socio-psychological motive
It is a type of buying motive where a person buys a product due to prestige
or status in the society. For example few people buy luxury cars, branded
shoes and accessories to show off their status in the society.
The modern concept of marketing considers the customer as the king and
the satisfaction and delight of customer is the ‘mission of a business. It is
the customer who shapes the production and marketing policies of for them.
A marketer should understand this fact if he has to rise in his business.
He must have sufficient knowledge about the customers to whom he is going
to sell. He must try to understand the nature of customers, their buying
motives if he has to win permanent customers.
A buying motive induces a buyer to buy a product. It is an influence or
consideration which provides an impulse to buy. There is a buying motive
for every purchase. It may not be the same with every buyer. One buyer
may purchases a product to satisfy his one need and another may purchase
a product to satisfy an altogether different need. Therefore, it is necessary
for a marketer to identify the buying motives of different kinds of customers.
For this he must study the psychology of the group of customers and design
his marketing strategies.
Types of Buying Motives:
There are three considerations which make a person purchase a product:
l He has a desire which needs to be satisfied;
l He has an urge which attracts him to purchase; and
l He has a reasoning or justification for that purchase.
Broadly speaking, individuals are motivated to buy by internal and external
forces which are as under:
l Internal motives often originate in the minds of people and are both
typical and psychological in nature. They are broadly classified into two
rationales which are based on logical reasoning or thinking and moral,
which are based on personal feelings.
l External motives are outside oneself. Since a consumer is the product
of the environment, his buying motives are influenced by the external
factors. Factors like income, occupation, religion, culture, family and
social environment act as motivators.

Source: Annual Report 2015-16, Department of Consumer Affairs, GOI.

34
Types of Consumer Buying Behaviour Profile of the Consumer

Types of consumer buying behaviour are determined by:

l Level of Involvement in purchase decision. Importance and intensity of
interest in a product in a particular situation.
l Buyer’s level of involvement determines why he/she is motivated to seek
information about a certain products and brands but virtually ignores
others.
High involvement purchases Honda Motorbike, high priced goods, products
visible to others, and the higher the risk the higher the involvement. Types
of risk:
l Personal risk
l Social risk
l Economic risk
The four type of consumer buying behaviour are:
l Routine Response / Programmed Behaviour - Buying low involvement
frequently purchased low cost items need very little search and decision
effort so they are purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft
drinks, snack foods, milk etc.
l Limited Decision Making-Buying product occasionally. When we need
to obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category,
then perhaps we require a moderate amount of time for information
gathering. Examples for this are Clothes. We know product class for
this but are uncertain about the brand.
l Extensive Decision Making / Complex high involvement, unfamiliar,
expensive and / or infrequently bought products. High degree of economic /
performance / psychological risk. Examples include cars, homes,
computers, education. We tend to spend a lot of time seeking information
and deciding about it.
Check Your Progress 5
1) Discuss the different types of motives of consumers towards purchase
of goods.
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2) Distinguish between internal and external motives.
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2.7 CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSUMER

BUYING
We know that understanding, analysing and keeping track of consumer
behaviour is very critical for a marketing department to retain their position
successfully in the market place. But in addition to it there are various factors 35
Consumer: The Basics too that influence consumer behaviour apart from the five listed above in
Para 2.4. They are as follows:
Psychological Factors: The Psychological Factors affect the buying pattern
to the larger extend. We have seen that people tend to buy things which
they have already purchased earlier. When we go to shop/store we tend
to pickup things which we usually pick. Many a times we repeat are monthly
purchases every time. We also have soft corners and likings for particular
brands and we often buy new varieties also of those brands.
Social Factors: Social Factors also affect our buying behaviours. We often
purchase through references of our near and dear once. We buy things
according to our social strata in the society. Many people see and follow
others while buying things. Our cultural and social background also reflects
in our buying pattern. Normally we copy our parents and follow similar trends
of buying.
Economic Factors: Economic condition of a consumer plays a very important
role in deciding whether to buy or not. Every consumer makes his budget
for buying things and shops accordingly. We have seen that a particular strata
of society purchases more or less same brands. These days brand also
project to this group which is larger in number and often gives promotional
offer and schemes to different strata of society. The companies are well
aware of the needs of the customers according to their economic conditions
and they keep products and services according to the cliental to which they
are catering to. We have seen how economies can affect the buying behaviour
at the time of demonitisation.
Environmental Factors: The new trend of displaying everything organic
in the stores and shops is a clear indication of the impact of environmental
friendly things in the society. These days, going green is a necessity and
we all know that we have to conserve and protect our environment for the
future generation to grow and flourish. So, environmental factors need to
be focused upon while making purchases. This is also applicable when we
buy electronic products as disposing of e-waste and e-waste management
is a big issue.
Cultural Factors: Cultural Factors also determine our consumption needs
and desires. We have different cultures in different parts of India and we
follow our cultural beliefs and faiths strictly. During the time of festivals the
consumer behaviour is much guided by the cultural values in all parts of
India.
Technological Factors: Technological Factors also play a very important
role in determining the consumer behaviour. Today every commodity is easily
available to the consumers at a click of a button. The consumer can see
the reviews of goods and services on mobile and compare its price. At
one go you can compare the benefits and quality of a product with its price.
The social media plays a very important role in publicising new product.

2.8 CONSUMER PROBLEMS

Consumer faces lots of problems before and after purchase. We have
discussed them in details in Block 2, Unit 5. Some of the consumer problems
are given as under:
l Lots of brands are available in the market today for same kind of
36 products. So, it is difficult for the consumer to make a decision/choice.
l Lack of education is also a barrier in deciding what to buy and from Profile of the Consumer
where. Even in case of literate people it is hard to decide about buying
a product by seeing different logos and standards mentioned on the
goods and services without any explanation of them.
l Sometimes, E-purchase of the product leads to problem as there is a
delay in delivery and the quality of the product is uncertainty.
l Sometimes in internet sales there is an element of fraud or
misrepresentation which results in consumer suffering.
l At times, consumer is reluctant to believe the claims made by the
advertising companies about health products and services and it is very
difficult for a consumer to check its authenticity.
l At times, the house hold goods are repaired for improvements but lack
of training and proper communication leads to further problems. So
whatever the company says the consumer believes it and later on there
is conflict of interest.
l Many a times a consumer is not able to communicate his needs and
desires to the seller which results in dissatisfaction and conflict of
interest.
l Generation gap between the seller and the buyer also leads to consumer
interest conflicts.
l Lack of knowledge about the product and services and lack of
communication skills also leads to consumer dissatisfaction.
l Many a times the price of the same product varies from place to place.
This happens especially in online purchases. So the consumer feels
cheated at the end.
l There is duplicate and parallel market force for the products and
services. So sometimes it is difficult to make out whether the product
is genuine and original or not.

Source: Annual Report 2015-16, Department of Consumer Affairs, GOI. 37

Consumer: The Basics l Deficiency in services also leads to consumer dissatisfaction.
l Delay in delivery of the product in online sales also creates frustration
to the customers.
l Misbranding is a serious problem which the consumer faces in today’s
shopping world.
l Authenticity of information about the product and services is also a big
issue.
l Negligence by few doctors also leads to consumer’s interest conflict.
l Unethical practice followed by few builders is also a consumer problem.
l Negligence and lack of apathy on the part of government service
providers is also a consumer problem.
Check Your Progress 6
1) List out key problems faced by the consumers.
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2.9 LET US SUM UP

Dear Learners, in this unit you have understood what constitutes consumer
profile. We have also discussed the types of consumers on the basis of
their preferences, age differences, ecology, business terms, etc. We also
know the importance of consumer satisfaction for the brand and goodwill
of the product and companies. We have also discussed in this unit why
does a consumer buys a particular product or service and the characteristics
of consumer buying. In the end, we have discussed consumer problems in
brief. Hope you had a good time reading this unit, best wishes.

2.10 SOME USEFUL BOOKS AND REFERENCES

1) Thomas J. Reynolds, Jerry C. Olson, Taylor & Francis, Understanding
Consumer decision making.
2) H.K. Sawhney, Indian Consumer Behaviour, Education & Protection,
Phoenix Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
3) S.S. Gulshan, Consumer Protection and Satisfaction, Wiley Eastern
Limited New Age International Limited.

2.11 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) A consumer profile is a way of describing a consumer categorically so
that they can be grouped for different purposes. Each one of us is a
38
 consumer irrespective of age, gender, educational level, socio-economic Profile of the Consumer
status, cultural and geographical level, etc.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Example of a seasonal consumer is a person who purchases colours
for Holi festival.
Check Your Progress 3
1) Consumer satisfaction is a marketing term which measures how products
or services supplied by a company meets or surpass consumer’s
expectation.
Check Your Progress 4
1) Please refer Section 2.5
Check Your Progress 5
1) Please refer Section 2.6
2) Please refer Section 2.6
Check Your Progress 6
1) Please refer Section 2.8

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