Consumer Behaviour

Consumer Behaviour Course Module

Contents
Course Syllabus ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Course schedule .................................................................................................................................. 4
Part 1: an over view of customer behaviour .......................................................................................... 5
1.1 Concepts and scope of customer behaviour .......................................................................... 5
1.1.1. Consumption ................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2. Customer versus Consumer ............................................................................................ 5
1.1.3. Consumer Behaviour: Definitions ................................................................................... 6
1.1.4. Reason for studying consumer behaviour ...................................................................... 8
1.1.5. Multidisciplinary nature of consumer behaviour ........................................................... 9
1.1.6. Consumer behaviour and marketing strategy .............................................................. 10
1.2. Characteristics, theories and model of buying behavior ........................................................... 12
1.2.1. Economic Model ................................................................................................................. 12
1.2.2. Psychological Model ........................................................................................................... 13
1.2.3. Pavlovian Learning Model ................................................................................................... 13
1.2.4. Sociological Model .............................................................................................................. 13
1.2.5. Input, Process and Output Model ....................................................................................... 14
1.2.6. Howarth Sheth Model ................................................................................................... 15
1.2.7. Engel-Blackwell-Kollat Model ....................................................................................... 16
1.2.8. Model of Family Decision-making ................................................................................. 18
1.2.9. Nicosia Model ............................................................................................................... 19
1.2.10. A Model of Industrial Buyer Behaviour ......................................................................... 20
1.2.11. A simplified model of Consumer Behaviour ................................................................. 22
1.3. Classification of consumer goods and managerial implication............................................. 24
1.3.1. Classification of Consumer Goods ...................................................................................... 24
1.3.2. Types Consumer Goods and Marketing Consideration .......................................................... 27
Part 2: Individual Factors that affects customer behaviour ................................................................. 28
2.1. Age and life cycle stages ........................................................................................................... 28
A. Age Factor ................................................................................................................................. 28
B. Age cohorts: ‘my generation’.................................................................................................... 28
C. Perceived age: you’re only as old as you feel. .......................................................................... 29
2.2. Gender ....................................................................................................................................... 30

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Reflection exercise ........................................................................................................................ 30

Marketing application of gender factor ........................................................................................ 31
2.3.Occupation .................................................................................................................................. 31
2.4.Economic Circumstances ............................................................................................................ 31
Marketing application of income level ......................................................................................... 32
Part III: Psychological factors ................................................................................................................ 32
3.1. Customers’ motivation............................................................................................................... 32
3.1.1. Customer motivation .......................................................................................................... 33
3.2. Customer involvement............................................................................................................... 36
3.2.1. Different types of involvement ........................................................................................... 36
3.2.2. Levels of Involvements ........................................................................................................ 36
3.2.4. Marketing Application of involvement ............................................................................... 37
3.3. Customers learning and memory............................................................................................... 38
3.3.1. The Concept of Consumer Learning .................................................................................... 38
3.3.2. Learning theories ................................................................................................................ 39
3.3.3. Learning, memory, and positioning .................................................................................... 40
3.3.4. Memory............................................................................................................................... 41
3.3.5. Marketing Applications of Learning Principles ................................................................... 42
3.5. Attitudes and attitude change ................................................................................................... 43
3.5.1. Definition of Attitude .......................................................................................................... 43
3.5.2. Attitude functions ............................................................................................................... 44
3.5.3. ABC model of attitude......................................................................................................... 45
3.5.4. Attitude Hierarchies ............................................................................................................ 45
3.5.5. Multi-attribute attitude models.......................................................................................... 46
3.5.6. Changing consumers’ attitudes........................................................................................... 47
3.6. Perception .................................................................................................................................. 48
3.6.1. The Nature and Meaning of Perception ................................................................................. 48
3.6.2. Sensory Systems.................................................................................................................. 48
Colour Associations Marketing applications ................................................................................. 49
3.6.3. Exposure.............................................................................................................................. 49
3.6.4. Attention ............................................................................................................................. 50
How do marketers get our attention? .......................................................................................... 51
3.6.5. Selection.............................................................................................................................. 51
3.6.5. From sensation to perception............................................................................................. 52

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3.6.6. Interpretation: deciding what things mean. ...................................................................... 52

3.6.7. Perception and Marketing Strategies ................................................................................. 53
3.7. Life Style ..................................................................................................................................... 54
3.7.1. Nature of Life style .............................................................................................................. 54
3.7.2. Marketing application of Life Style ..................................................................................... 54
Reference: ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.8. Personality ............................................................................................................................ 55
3.8.1. Meaning of Personality ................................................................................................. 55
3.8.2. The nature of personality.............................................................................................. 56
Personality Reflects Individual Differences................................................................................... 56
Personality Is Consistent and Enduring......................................................................................... 56
Personality Can Change ................................................................................................................ 57
3.8.4. Theories of Personality ................................................................................................. 57
Freudian theory (Id, Superego and Ego) ....................................................................................... 57
Freudian Theory and ‘Product Personality’ .................................................................................. 58
Neo-Freudian theory ..................................................................................................................... 58
Trait theory ................................................................................................................................... 59
Personality and Understanding Consumer Diversity ........................................................................ 60
Consumer innovativeness and related personality traits ............................................................. 60
Consumer Innovativeness ............................................................................................................. 60
Dogmatism .................................................................................................................................... 60
3.9. Self-concept .......................................................................................................................... 63
3.9.1. The Meaning of Self -Concept ....................................................................................... 63
3.9.2. Types of Self-concept .................................................................................................... 64
3.9.3. Self-concept and Marketing Strategy ................................................................................. 64
Part IV: External Factors........................................................................................................................ 65
4.1. Cultural influences ................................................................................................................ 65
4.1.1. The Concept of culture.................................................................................................. 65
4.1.2. Characteristics of Culture .............................................................................................. 65
4.1.3. Elements of culture ....................................................................................................... 66
4.1.4. The Functions of Culture ............................................................................................... 67
4.1.5. Culture and consumption behaviour ............................................................................ 67
4.2. Subcultures ........................................................................................................................... 68
4.2.1. The Concept of Subculture............................................................................................ 69

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4.2.2. Subculture Categories ................................................................................................... 69

4.2.3. Subcultures and Marketing strategy ............................................................................. 70
4.3. Social class ............................................................................................................................ 71
Learning objectives: ...................................................................................................................... 71
4.3.1. Definition of Social Class ..................................................................................................... 71
4.3.2. Characteristics of social class .................................................................................................. 72
4.3.3. Social Classes........................................................................................................................... 72
The Social Classes and Marketing Strategy ....................................................................................... 73
4.4. Social group influence .......................................................................................................... 74
4.4.1. Definition of social groups ................................................................................................ 75
4.4.2. Types of referent groups................................................................................................... 75
4.4.3. Effects of referent groups on consumer behaviour .......................................................... 76
4.4.4. Factors Affecting the Influence of Reference Groups ....................................................... 77
4.4.5. Opinion Leaders ................................................................................................................ 78
4.4.6. Characteristics of Opinion Leaders ................................................................................... 78
4.4.7. Marketing Strategy and Opinion Leadership .......................................................................... 80
4.5. Family life cycle and family influence ................................................................................. 80
4.5.1. Nature of Family................................................................................................................ 81
4.5.2. Family types ...................................................................................................................... 81
4.5.3. Importance of family to Marketers ................................................................................... 82
4.5.4. Family buying roles and decision making ............................................................................... 83
Buying roles in family .................................................................................................................... 84
Family decision making ................................................................................................................. 84
Family Life Cycle and Buying Roles ................................................................................................... 85
4.5.4. Marketing strategy for family decision-making ................................................................ 87
Part V: Purchase and Post Purchase Behaviour ................................................................................... 87
5.1. The consumers’ decision making process .................................................................................. 87
5.1.1. Consumer decision making ..................................................................................................... 88
5.1.2. Types of consumer decision making ................................................................................... 88
5.1.3. Consumer decision making process ........................................................................................ 89
5.1.4. Stages in Consumer Decision Making Process: ................................................................... 89
5.2. Problem recognition ............................................................................................................. 89
Marketing strategy and problem recognition............................................................................... 90
5.3. Information Search ............................................................................................................... 91

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5.3.1. Sources of information.................................................................................................. 91

5.3.2. Types of Information Search ......................................................................................... 92
5.4. Evaluation of alternatives ..................................................................................................... 93
5.4.1. Generation of choice alternatives................................................................................. 93
Identification of Evaluative Criteria: Attributes and Benefits: ...................................................... 93
5.4.2. Application of Decision Rules to make a final choice amongst alternatives: ............... 93
Outlet selection ............................................................................................................................. 94
5.5. Purchase ................................................................................................................................ 95
5.6. Post purchase behaviour ...................................................................................................... 95
Role of a Marketer in Post-purchase behaviour ........................................................................... 97

Course schedule
Week Focus of Discussion Homework
Assignment
1 Orientation via Syllabus. Introduction. Chapter 1.1 Concept and scope of Part 1,Ch.1
customer behaviour
2 Part1 Chapters1. 2. Characteristics, theories and models of Buying Behaviour Ch.1.2,
3 Part1 Chapters1.3.Classification of consumer goods and managerial implication Ch.1.3.
4 Part2, Chapter 2.1. Age, sex, and life cycle Ch.2.1 and 2.2
Chapter 2.2. Occupation
5 Chapter 2.3. Economic circumstances , Test 1 Ch.2.3
6 Part3 Chapter 3.1. Customers’ motivation Ch. 3.1 and 3.2.
Part3 Chapter 3.2. Consumer involvement
7 Chapter 3.3. Customers learning and memory Ch.3.3 and 3.4
Chapter 3.4. Attitudes and attitude change
8 Chapter . 3.5. Perception Ch. 3.5 and 3.6
Chapter 3.6. life style
9 Chapter 3.7. Personality and Ch.3.7 and 3.8
Chapter 3.8. self-concept, Test 2
10 Part 4, Chapters 4.1. Cultural influences Ch. 4.1 and 4.2
4.2. Subcultures
11 4.3. Social class Ch.4.3,4.4
4.4. Social group influence
12 Chapters 4.5. Family life cycle and family influence. Ch.4.5, 5.1
Chapter 5.1. The consumers’ decision making process
13 Chapter 5.2. Search and selection Ch. 5.2, 5.3
Chapter 5.3. Purchasing behaviour
14 Chapter 5.4. Post purchase behaviour Ch.5.5

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Part 1: An overview of customer behaviour

1.1 Concepts and scope of customer behaviour
The ultimate market that businesses cater for and care about is the consumer or customers of
their products or services. Consumer is the reason why business exists. They can survive,
grow and prosper if they have adequate market with purchasing power. Therefore, without
customer and ultimate consumer no company can survive or thrive. That is why the main
purpose of a company is to satisfy customer’s needs and wants.

Consumers can be individuals, family, or organisations. In this course we will be duelling

more on individual consumers. Look at yourself, family members, and fiends; individual
consumers are unique in themselves; they have needs and want which are varied and diverse
from one another; and they have different consumption patterns and consumption behaviour.
Your job as a marketer is identifying and understanding these needs and wants, and designing
a marketing strategy to meet them more effectively and efficiently than other competitors.
The marketer helps satisfy these needs and wants through product and service offerings.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this session the participants will be able to:

 Describe the nature of consumption and consumer behaviour

 Differentiate consumers, customers, clients, and beneficiaries
 Identify reason for studying consumer behaviour
 Understand the multidisciplinary nature of consumer behaviour
 Relate consumer behaviour to marketing strategy

1.1.1. Consumption
Consumption of goods and services, the behaviours the consumers exhibit, factors
influencing this process are what you are going to learn from this course. Consumption is not
the act of using a product or services. It is a process. Consumption process is related to
different types of individuals, purchaser, shopper or customer and is generally used
synonymously to indicate one who actively engaged in buying. The consumption process
involves three interrelated activities of decisions: determine personal or groups wants, seek
out and purchase products and employ products to derive benefits. In this process the
marketing mix, individual psychological, group, social, and cultural factors also influence the
consumption process and its outcomes.

1.1.2. Customer versus Consumer

The two terms are often considered as synonymous and used interchangeably, but they have
some differences. Consumer is the more general term and consumer may not be the customer.

Customer
The term “customer” is typically used to refer to one who regularly purchase from a
particular store or company. The “consumer” more generally refers to anyone engaging in
any of the activities (evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of goods and services) used in

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the definition of consumer behaviour (Schiefman, et al.,2012). Therefore, a “customer” is

defined in terms of specific firm while consumer is not. Customers are value maximisers
within the bounds of search costs, limited knowledge, mobility and income.

The most commonly thought of consumer situation where the consumer is buyer and
customer is that of an individual making a purchase with little or no influence of others. A
consumer or buyer in such a case is one who determines personal wants, buys products and
uses those products. The traditional viewpoint defines consumers strictly in terms of
economic goods and services or one who consumes goods.

A customer is also called client, buyer, shopper or purchaser, usually used to refer to a
current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organisation, called the
supplier, seller, or vendor. In such cases the customer may be a mere purchaser, and may not
even be an ultimate user. For example in the case of family, even if one of them is purchaser;
he/ she are may be not the only user or user of that product or service at all.

The word customer is derived from ‘custom,’ meaning ‘habit’; a customer is someone who
frequented buy from a particular shop, who made it a habit to purchase goods or services
rather than elsewhere and with whom the shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep
his or her “custom,” meaning expected purchases in the future. The slogans “the customer is
king” or “the customer is god” or “the customer is always right” indicate the importance of
customers to businesses - although the last expression is sometimes used ironically.

Consumer
Any individual who purchases goods and services from the market for his/her end-use is
called a consumer. In simpler words a consumer is one who consumes goods and services
available in the market. In other words, consumer is an ultimate user of a product or service.
The term consumer is often used to describe two different kinds of consuming entities
personal consumer and organisational consumer. Ultimate consumers are those individuals
who purchases for the purpose of individual or household consumption. Organisational
consumers are those who buy products and service for organizational use or further
processing and resale. The “consumer” more generally refers to anyone engaging in any of
the activities used in our definition of consumer behaviour. Therefore, a customer is defined
in terms of specific firm while consumer is not.

1.1.3. Consumer Behaviour: Definitions

Consumption process whether it refers individual, group, or organization as a consumption
unit is a process that involves people. Every human being is unique and behaves in his own
way. Therefore; it is not easy to predict the human behaviour. Human being differs in their
taste, needs, wants and preferences. But one constant thing is that we are all consumers.

Reflect on yourself and close associates as consumers:

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To understand this, you just reflect on yourself and your family members and friends. Do
you have the same taste, needs, wants, and preferences?

Consumer Behaviour is a vast and complex subject that studies consumers and the
consumption process. If every human being is unique then understanding consumers
behaviour and “knowing consumers’’ is not that simple. It is almost impossible to predict
with one hundred per cent accuracy, how consumer(s) will behave in a given situation. This
makes the marketers’ job challenging but very important to every businesses’ success.
Marketers have to exert efforts to understand consumers. For this, they are interested in
watching people shopping, flirting, parading, playing, entertaining, as they are keenly
interested in the wide variety of behaviours they display. The efforts of all marketers are to
influence the behaviour of consumers in a desired manner. The success or failure in this
pursuit determines the difference between success and failure of marketing efforts or even the
business itself.

Consumer behaviour explains the reasons and logic that underlie purchasing decisions and
consumption patterns; it explains the processes through which buyers make decisions.

Consumer Behaviour may be defined as the interplay of forces that takes place during a
consumption process, within a consumer's self and his environment (Schiffman, 2012).

The following are some more definitions of consumer behaviour provided in major text
books of consumer behaviour.

1. “The behaviour that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and
disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs.”- Schiffman and
Kanuk

2. “…..the decision process and physical activity engaged in when evaluating, acquiring,
using or disposing of goods and services." - Loudon and Bitta

3. “The study of consumers as they exchange something of value for a product or service that
satisfies their needs”- Wells and Prensky

4. “Those actions directly involved in obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and
services including the decision processes that precede and follow these actions”. -Engel,
Blackwell, Miniard

5. “The dynamic interaction of effect and cognition, behaviour and the environment by which
human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives” - American Marketing Association

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 (Solomon,et. al., 2016 ).

The above definitions, reveals that the study includes within its purview, the interplay
between cognition, affect and behaviour that goes on within a consumer during the
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consumption process: selecting, using and disposing of goods and services, and the effects
this process have on the consumer himself and the society.

1.1.4. Reason for studying consumer behaviour

Influencing customers is the ultimate aim of marketing mix. Without understanding
customers, no business can succeed. The success of marketing strategy is measured by the
consumers’ preference of the company’s products, sales volume, their satisfaction, repeated
purchase, and their loyalty among others.

The study of consumer behaviour deals with basic questions related to buying such as: what
we buy, why we buy and how we buy. Consumer decisions are affected by their behaviour.
Therefore, consumer behaviour is said to be an applied discipline. It involves understanding
consumer for the purpose of helping a firm or organization to achieve its objectives. All the
Managers in different departments are keen to understand the consumer. Consumers strongly
influence what will be the product, what resources will be used and it affects our standard of
living.

The study of consumer behaviour makes us aware of the subtle influences that persuade us to
use the product or services of our choices we do.

The most obvious application of consumer behaviour is for deriving marketing strategy.
Marketing strategy is the game plan which the firms must adhere to, in order to outdo the
competitor or the plans to achieve the desired objective. Marketing starts with the needs of
the customer and ends with his satisfaction. When everything revolves round the customer
then the study of consumer behaviour becomes a necessity. It starts with buying of goods.
Goods can be bought individually, or in groups.

Consumer behaviour knowledge is applied in Marketing Management. A sound

understanding of the consumer behaviour is essential to the long-term success of any
marketing programme. It is the corner stone of marketing concept which stress on consumer
wants and needs, target market selection, integrated marketing and profits through the
satisfaction of the consumers.

Consumer behaviour is also important in non-profit and social organizations. Such

organizations are government agencies, religious organizations, universities and charitable
organizations. These organizations also have customers, clients, or beneficiaries. They have
start with understanding their beneficiaries’ needs and wants. They should design and deliver
their products, utilities, and services and ensure that the beneficiaries are satisfied with them.

The study helps the marketer in: a) Analyzing the environment: identifying opportunities and
fighting threats b) Segmenting, targeting and positioning c) Designing the marketing-mix d)
Designing the marketing strategy e) Governmental and Non-profit Organization and Social
Marketing.

Therefore, marketing students have to study consumer behaviour, learn how to do consumer
research to identify consumer needs and wants, opportunities and threats; segment the
consumer in to homogeneous groups, select the most relevant segment as its target market,

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develop products that meets the segment’s requirement, determine the distribution, pricing,
and promotion mix to position the distinct attributes of the product, create awareness and
image, and succeed in outcompeting others. Without consumer behaviour knowledge you
cannot become a very good, competent and successful marketer.

1.1.5. Multidisciplinary nature of consumer behaviour

Consumer behaviour a subject or field of study lies in marketing. It is a relatively new field of
study in the mid- to late 1960s. Its body of knowledge and practice is borrowed from other
fields of behavioural sciences. Therefore, consumer behaviour is simply a subset of larger
field of human behaviour and an extended field of marketing.

Consumer behaviour as a very new field and, as it grows; it is being influenced by many
different perspectives. Indeed, it is hard to think of a field that is more interdisciplinary. The
study of consumer behaviour draws on many different disciplines, from psychology and
economics to anthropology, sociology and marketing. Understanding why people make the
decisions they do forms part of a complex ongoing investigation.

As an interdisciplinary area of study, the subject borrows heavily from psychology,

sociology; social psychology; anthropology and, economics.

Psychology: is a field that studies the individuals, human thinking and behaviour. Customers’
behaviour borrowed heavily from psychology. This includes the study of the individual as
well as the individual determinants in buying behavior, viz., consumer perception, learning
and memory, attitude, self-concept and personality, motivation and involvement, attitudes
and attitudinal change and, decision making.

Social psychology: is a field that studies individuals’ behaviour as members of social groups.
What we have borrowed from social psychology includes the study of how an individual
operates in group/groups and its effects on buying behavior versus, reference groups and
social class influences.

Sociology: is a field that studies social institutions and group relationship. Its application in
consumer behaviour includes the study of groups as well as the group dynamics in buying
behavior, viz., family influences, lifestyles and values, and social group influences.

Anthropology: is a field that studies society’s values, beliefs, and practices within and across
culture. Anthropology contributed in the influence of society on the individual viz., cultural
and cross-cultural issues in buying behavior, national and regional cultures etc.

Economics: consumer behaviour has borrowed heavily from both microeconomics and
macroeconomics. Microeconomics is a field that study the allocation of family or individual
resources. Macroeconomics is a field that studies the market, the national resource allocation,
the national business cycle, and the consumers’ relationship with the market. This is the study
of income and purchasing power, and its impact on consumer behavior. The underlying
premise is that consumers make rational choices while making purchase decisions. While
resources are limited and needs and wants are many, consumers collect information, and
evaluate the various alternatives to finally make a rational decision

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1.1.6. Consumer behaviour and marketing strategy

Without knowledge of consumer behaviour, an exercise of marketing strategy is like building
a house without foundation. The key assumption underlying the marketing concept is that to
be successful a company must determine the needs and wants of specific target markets and
deliver the desired satisfactions better than the competition. The marketing concept according
to Schiffman, et al. (2012:5) is based on the assumption that “to be successful a company
must determine the needs and wants of specific target markets and deliver the desired
satisfactions better than the competition.” They have to analyze the market, segment, target,
and position;

Consumer Research
The knowledge of consumer behavior can be applied to help identify opportunities and fight
threats. The opportunities could be in terms of newer customers, newer markets, unfulfilled
needs and wants (through a study of consumer individual determinants and other
environmental influences). The threats could be fought by developing and implementing
appropriate marketing strategies to best fit the environment.

The marketing strategies need to be dynamic and constantly evolving keeping in view the
uncertainty in the environment. Environmental uncertainty is a function of complexity and
dynamism. Complexity is defined in terms of the number, strength and interrelatedness of the
various factors in the environment that a firm has to deal with. Dynamism relates to how
quickly the changes take place in the environment.

Segmentation, targeting and positioning:

The study of consumer behavior may be applied to segment the market, select the target
market and position the product or service offering. Market segmentation is the process of
dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics. Market
targeting is selecting one or more of the segments identified for the company to pursue.
Identifying the target segment, understanding their needs, providing the right product and
service offering and communicating about the offering; all of these help a marketer succeed
in the long term and ensure his survival and success in a changing environment.

a) Segment the market: The marketer needs to identify distinct customer groups with needs
and wants, classify them on basis of descriptive characteristics and behavioural dimensions.
The descriptive characteristics may take forms of age, gender, income, occupation, education,
family size, family life cycle, gender, lifestyle, personality, religion, generation, geography,
nationality, and social class. The behavioural dimensions take forms of benefits, uses, use
occasion, usage rates, and loyalty status.

b) Select target market: The marketer then selects one or more markets to enter. The
segment(s) that should be targeted should be viable; there should be a fit between the market
attractiveness and the company’s objectives and resources. The marketer would be able to
assess the viability of a segment on the basis of the following criteria, viz., measurability,
substantial-ability, accessibility, differentiability, and action-ability. Based on the consumer
research results and segments; chooses the segment that the company better serves than its
competitors. The selected segment is the target segment that the company chose to serve.

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c) Position the product offering in the mind of the customers: The marketers should be able to
communicate the distinct and/or unique product characteristics. Positioning is developing a
distinct image for the product or service in the mind of the consumer, an image that will
differentiate the offering from competing ones and squarely communicate to consumers that
the particular product or service will fulfil their needs better than competing brands

d) Designing the Marketing Strategy:

The marketers develop a marketing strategy to succeed in meeting the target markets
requirement. Strategies are formulated to provide superior customer value. In formulating
market strategies, the 4 Ps are directed at the target market.

The study of consumer behavior is applied to design the 4 Ps.

a) Product: both tangible products and intangible services. The issues to address consist of
name (brand), size, shape, features, labelling, packaging, accessories and supplementary
products, terms of sale and services, after sales etc.

b) Price: the pricing of the product offering. The major components include, form of
payment, terms and conditions of payment, discounts, price sensitivity, differential prices and
customer reaction, imagery (price increase and customer reaction, price decrease and
customer reaction).

c) Place and Distribution: the marketing channel, and comprises decisions regarding choice
of channel (direct or indirect), location, accessibility and availability of product offering,
wholesaling, retailing, logistics etc.

d) Promotion: the marketing communication, and the major issues comprising decisions on
communication/promotion mix, the message and media strategy (the content, appeal and
context), the advertising, sales promotion, public relations and sales efforts designed to build
awareness of and demand for the product or service. Promotion is the means of changing the
attitudes of the consumer.

The choice these marketing mix elements depends on consumer needs and target segments.
Therefore; there exists interrelatedness between the Consumer, the Environment and the
Marketing strategy.

a) Consumer: The consumer has his needs and wants as well as product preferences; Thus,
there exists an interplay of Cognition (knowledge about products and alternatives), Affect
(feelings of favourableness and unfavourableness) and Behavior (action: buy or not to buy).

b) Environment: This refers to forces in the environment, which make the environment
complex and dynamic.

c) Marketing strategies: This implies setting up of goals and then achieving them through the
design of an appropriate marketing mix.

The Marketing Strategy should be designed to influence consumers (Cognition, Affect and
Behavior) and be influenced by them. It should be flexible and ever evolving with changes in

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the customer needs and wants; as well as, changes in the environment in which it operates.
The knowledge of consumer behavior can be applied to develop a “best fit” between
consumer needs and wants, the environment in which the firm operates; and, the firms’ goals
and objectives.

Review Questions

a) Describe the distinction between customer and consumer?

b) Discuss consumption as a process?
c) Elaborate consumer behaviour and why is it worthy studying?
d) Understanding consumer behaviour is good business. What does it mean to you?
e) Discuss the relationship between consumer behaviour and marketing strategy

1.2. Characteristics, theories and model of buying behavior

There are many factors which influence the decision-making of consumers. There are various
consumers’ models which help us in the understanding of consumer behaviour.

Learning objectives:

After reading this part the students will be able to:

 Identify and differentiate the models of consumer behaviour

 Recognise the factors that influence consumer decision making
 Use them in analysing consumers behaviour and designing marketing strategy

1.2.1. Economic Model

Early research regarded man as entirely rational and self-interested, making decisions based
upon the ability to maximise utility whilst expending the minimum effort. In this model,
consumers follow the principle of maximum utility based on the law of diminishing marginal
utility. The consumer wants to spend the minimum amount for maximising his gains.
Economic man model is based on:

 Price effect: Lesser the price of the product more will be the quantity purchased.
 Substitution effect: Lesser the price of the substitute product, lesser will be the
utility of the original product bought.
 Income effect: When more income is earned, or more money is available, more
will be the quantity purchased.

This model assumes the homogeneity of the market, similarity of buyer behaviour and
concentrates only on the product or price. It ignores all the other aspects such as perception,
motivation, learning, attitudes, personality and socio-cultural factors. It is important to have a
multi-disciplinary approach, as human beings are complex entities and are influenced by
external and internal factors. Thus, price is not the only factor influencing decision-making
and the economic model has shortcomings.

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1.2.2. Psychological Model

Psychologists have been investigating the causes which lead to purchases and decision-
making. This has been answered by A.H. Maslow in his hierarchy of needs. The behaviour of
an individual at a particular time is determined by his strongest need at that time. This also
shows that needs have a priority. First they satisfy the basic needs and then go on for
secondary needs.

The purchasing process and behaviour is governed by motivational forces. Motivation

stimulates people into action. Motivation starts with the need. It is a driving force and also a
mental phenomenon. Need arises when one is deprived of something. A tension is created in
the mind of the individual which leads him to a goal directed behaviour which satisfies the
need. Once a need is satisfied, a new need arises and the process is continuous.

1.2.3. Pavlovian Learning Model

This model is a classical behaviourist model named after the Russian Physiologist Ivan
Pavlov. He experimented on a dog and observed how it responded on the call of a bell and
presenting it with a piece of meat. The responses were measured by the amount of saliva
secreted by the dog. Learning is defined as the changes in behaviour which occur by practice
and, based on previous experience. This is important to marketers as well. The learning
process consists of the following factors:

(a) Drive: This is a strong internal stimulus which impels action. Because of the drive, a
person is stimulated to action to fulfil his desires. Drives Can be innate (in-born)
which stem from physiological needs, such as hunger, thirst, pain, cold, sex, etc.
Learned drives such as striving for status or social approval.
(b) Causes are weak stimuli that determine when the buyer will respond. Triggering
Cues: these activate the decision process for any purchase. (b) Non-triggering Cues:
These influence the decision process but do not activate it. These are of two kinds:
(1). Product cues are external stimuli received from the product directly, e.g., colour
of package, weight, style, price, etc. 2. Informational cues are external stimuli which
provide information about the product, like advertisement, sales promotion, talking to
other people, suggestions of sales personnel, etc. Response is what the buyer does,
i.e., buy or does not buy.
(c) Reinforcement Thus, when a person has a need to buy, say clothing, and passes by a
showroom and is attracted by the display of clothing, their colour and style, which
acts as a stimulus, and he makes a purchase. He uses it, and if he likes it, enforcement
takes place and he is happy and satisfied with the purchase. He recommends it to his
friends as well, and visits the same shop again. Learning part thus is an important part
of buyer behaviour and the marketer tries to create a good image of the product in the
mind of the consumer for repeat purchases through learning.

1.2.4. Sociological Model

This is concerned with the society. A consumer is a part of the society and may be a
member of many groups in a society. His buying behaviour is influenced by these groups.

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Primary groups of family and friends have shown a lot of influence on his buying. A
consumer may be a member of a political party where his dress norms are different. As a
member of an elite organisation, his dress requirements may be different, thus he has
something that confirm to his lifestyle in different groups.

1.2.5. Input, Process and Output Model

This is a simple model of consumer behaviour, in which the input for the customer is the
firm’s marketing effort (the product, price, promotion and place) and the social
environment. The social environment consists of the family, reference groups, culture,
social class, etc. which influences the decision-making process. Both these factors
together constitute the input in the mind of the consumer. Need recognition when one is
aware of a want, tension is created and one chooses a product to satisfy his needs. There
is also a possibility that a person may be aware of a product before its need is recognised.
This is indicated by the arrows going both ways from the need to the product and vice

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versa.

Figure 1: Buyer’s Black Box Model

The above figure shows three stages in terms of stimuli buyer’s black box and buyer’s
response. The consumer gets the input from the marketing effort of the firm (4 Ps) and the
other stimuli. This input is processed in the mind (Black Box), which constitutes the
characteristics of the buyer and the process of decision-making. Once the buyer has decided
to buy then, he responds in terms of his choice of product, brand, dealer, timing and amount.
The post-purchase behaviour of being satisfied or dissatisfied is also important, and is shown
in the decision-making process.

1.2.6. Howarth Sheth Model

This model is slightly complicated and shows that consumer behaviour is complex process
and concepts of learning, perception and attitudes influence consumer behaviour. This model
of decision-making is applicable to individuals. It has four sets of variables which are: (i)
Input (ii) Perceptual and learning constructs (iii) Outputs (iv) Exogenous or external
variables.

Input: Some inputs are necessary for the customer for making decisions: These inputs are
provided by three types of stimuli as shown in Fig. 2 below (a) Significative stimuli: These
are physical tangible characteristics of the product. These are price, quality, distinctiveness,
services rendered and availability of the product. These are essential for making decisions.
(b) Symbolic stimuli: These are the same as significative characteristics, but they include the
perception of the individual, i.e., price is high or low. Quality is up to the mark or below
average. How is it different from the other products, what services can the product render
and, what is the position of after sales service and how quickly or easily is the product
available and, from where? (c) Social stimuli: This is the stimulus provided by family,
friends, social groups, and social class. This is important, as one lives in society and for the
approval and appreciation of the society, buying habits have to be governed

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Figure 2:Howarth Sheth Model

Perceptual and learning constructs: These constructs are psychological variables, e.g.,
motives, attitudes, perception which influence the consumer decision process. The consumer
receives the stimuli and interprets it. Two factors that influence his interpretation are
stimulus-ambiguity and perpetual bias. Stimulus ambiguity occurs when the consumer cannot
interpret or fully understand the meaning of the stimuli he has received, and does not know
how to respond. Perceptual bias occurs when an individual distorts the information according
to his needs and experiences.

These two factors influence the individual for the comprehensions and rating of the brand. If
the brand is rated high, he develops confidence in it and finally purchases it. Output By
output we mean the purchase decision. After purchase there is satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Satisfaction leads to positive attitude and increases brand comprehension. With
dissatisfaction, a negative attitude is developed. The feedback shown by the dotted line and
the solid lines shows the flow of information.

Exogenous or external variables: These are not shown in the model, and do not directly
influence the decision process. They influence the consumer indirectly and vary from one
consumer to another. These are the individual’s own personality traits, social class,
importance of purchase and financial status. All the four factors discussed above are
dependent on each other and influence the decision-making process. The model though
complicated, deals with the purchase behaviour in an exhaustive manner.

1.2.7. Engel-Blackwell-Kollat Model

This model consists of four components: (i) Information processing, (ii) Central control unit,
(iii) Decision process, and (iv) Environmental influences.

Information processing: A shown in the diagram the information processing consists of

exposure, attention, comprehension and retention of the marketing and non-marketing
stimuli. For successful sales, the consumer must be properly and repeatedly exposed to the

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 Consumer Behaviour

message. His attention should be drawn, such that he understands what is to be conveyed and
retains it in his mind.

Central control unit: The stimuli processes and interprets the information received by an
individual. This is done by the help of four psychological factors. (a) Stores information and
past experience about the product, which serves as a standard for comparing other products
and brands. (b) Evaluative criteria which could be different for different individuals. (c)
Attitudes or the state of mind which changes from time to time, and helps in choosing the
product. (d) The personality of the consumer which guides him to make a choice suiting his
personality.

Decision process: This consists basically of problem recognition, internal and external search,
evaluation and the purchase. The decision outcome or the satisfaction and dissatisfaction are
also an important factor which influences further decisions.

Figure 3: Engel-Blackwell-Kollat model of buyer behaviour

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 Consumer Behaviour

The decision process may involve extensive problem solving, limited problem solving or
routinized response behaviour. This depends on the type and value of the product to be
purchased.

Environmental influences: The environmental influences are also shown in a separate box
and consist of income, social class, family influences, social class and physical influences and
other considerations. All these factors may favour or disfavour the purchase decisions.

1.2.8. Model of Family Decision-making

In a family decision-making model, it is important to understand how the family members
interact with each other in the context of their consumer decision-making. There are different
consumption roles played by various members of the family. These roles are as follows: (i)
Influencers The members who influence the purchase of the product by providing
information to the family members, the son in a family may inform the members of a new
fast food joint. He can influence the family members to visit the joint for food and
entertainment.

(ii) Gate keepers: These members control the flow of information for a product or brand that
they favour and influence the family to buy the product of their choice. They provide the
information favourable to themselves and, withhold information about other product which
they do not favour.

(iii) Deciders: These are the people who have the power or, money and authority to buy. They
play a major role in deciding which product to buy.

(iv) Buyers: Buyers are the people who actually buy. A mother buying ration for the house
etc., for e.g.; a father buying crayons for his children.

(v) Preparers: Those who prepare the product in the form it are actually consumed. For e.g.;
a mouther preparing food by adding ingredients to the raw vegetable, frying an egg for
consumption, sewing clothes for the family, etc.

(vi)User: The person who actually uses or consumes the product. The product can be
consumed individually or jointly by all members of the family. For e.g.; use of car by the
family members, use of refrigerator, TV, etc.

The roles that the family members play are different from product to product. Some products
do not involve the influence of family members—vegetables bought by the housewife. She
can play many roles of a decider, preparer as well as the user. In limited problem solving or
extensive problem solving there is usually a joint decision by family members. The diagram
shows the predisposition of various family members, which when influenced by other factors
leads to joint or individual decisions. These factors are shown in the diagram__ below.

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 Consumer Behaviour

Figure 4: Model of family decision making

1.2.9. Nicosia Model

This model explains the consumer behaviour on the basis of four fields shown in the
diagram__ below. The output of field one becomes the input of field two, and so on.

Field one consists of subfields one and two. Subfield one is the firm’s attributes and the
attributes of the product. The subfield two is the predisposition of the consumer and his own
characteristics and attributes, which are affected by his exposure to various information and
message, and is responsible for the building of attitude of the consumer.

Field two is the pre-action field, where the consumer goes on for research and evaluation and
gets motivated to buy the product. It highlights the means and end relationship. Field three is
the act of purchase or the decision-making to buy the product. The customer buys the product
and uses it. Field four highlights the post-purchase behaviour and the use of the product, its
storage and consumption.

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 Consumer Behaviour

Figure 5: Nicosia model

The feedback from field four is fed into the firms attributes or field one, and the feedback
from the experience is responsible for changing the pre-disposition of the consumer and later
his attitude towards the product. Nicosia Model is a comprehensive model of dealing with all
aspects of building attitudes, purchase and use of product including the post-purchase
behaviour of the consumer.

1.2.10. A Model of Industrial Buyer Behaviour

The purchases made in an industrial organisation involve many more people of different
backgrounds and it is more complex. There are three main features in this model:

1. There are different individuals involved who have a different psychological make up.

2. Conditions leading to joint decision-making by these individuals.

3. Differences of opinion on purchases or conflicts that have to be resolved to reach a

decision. These are shown in Fig. 6 below as (1), (2) and (3).

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 Consumer Behaviour

Figure 6: Model of industrial buyer behaviour

The persons involved in the decision-making are from quality control, manufacturing,
finance, research and development and other possible areas. These may be named as purchase
agents, engineers, and users, as referred to in the model. These constitute a purchasing
committee. They have: (1a) Different backgrounds (1b) Different information sources (1c)
Undertake active search (1d) They have perceptual distortion (1e) Satisfaction with past
purchase.

With these characteristics, they develop certain expectations from the product to be bought.
The obvious ones are product quality, delivery time, quantity of supply, after sales service
and price. These are known as explicit objectives. There are other objectives as well, which
are the reputation of the supplier, credit terms, location of the supplier, and relationship with
the supplier, technical competence and even the personality, skill and lifestyle of the
salesman. These are known as implicit objectives.

Different individuals in the purchasing committee give emphasis on different aspects of the
product. Engineers look for quality and standardisation of the product. Users think of timely
delivery, proper installation and after sales service. Finance people look for maximum price
advantage. Thus, there are conflicting interests and view that have to be resolved. If
autonomous decisions are made, these issues do not surface. There are conditions leading to
autonomous or joint decisions.

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 Consumer Behaviour

(2a) Product specific factors: are perceived risk, type of purchase, and time pressure.

 Perceived risk: With higher risks joint decisions are favoured.

 Type of purchase: Items involving heavy investments are made jointly, routine and
less costly decisions can be made independently.
 Time pressure: If goods are urgently required, individual decisions are favoured.

(2b) Company specific factors: company size and orientation

 Size of the organisation: Larger the size of the organisation, the more the emphasis
laid on joint decision.
 Organisation orientation: In a manufacturing organisation, the purchases are
dominated by production personnel and in a technology oriented organisation, the
decisions are based on engineers.

(3) The conflict that arises for buying decision has to be resolved. The resolution can be done
by: (a) Problem solving (b) Persuasion (c) Bargaining (d) Politicking.

(4) The fourth aspect is the influence of situational factors which must be considered. These
are economic conditions such as inflation, recession or boom, price contracts, rationing
foreign trade, strikes or lock outs. Organisational change such as a merger, acquisition change
of key personnel, etc. Sometimes these factors outweigh the realistic criteria of decision-
making. This model explains how purchase decisions are made in an industrial organisation.
All the models discussed in this part of the module give us an idea of the buying behaviour in
diverse situations. An understanding of these models gives the marketers clues to formulate
his strategies according to the target audience, e.g., an individual, a family or an industry, etc.

1.2.11. A simplified model of Consumer Behaviour

Just to sum up the nature and scope of consumer behaviour considering a simplified model of
consumer behaviour may help you in integrating the consumption process and factors
affecting it. Consumers are unique individuals with their own individual differences,
preferences and wants. The consumption process that involves decision making about what to
buy, when, where, etc to buy is affected by internal psychological factors of a person
(demography, motivation, perception, learning, personality, attitude and life style of a
person); external socio-cultural factors (culture, sub-culture, social class, group, and family),
and the marketing mix elements.

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 Consumer Behaviour

Figure 7: a simplified model of consumer behaviour

The model shows that though individual consumer is a person with his own individual
characters that affects his preferences and choices, he is member of a group, society, family,
etc. that influences his consumption decisions.

In this consumption process, the firms marketing efforts has influence on the internal/
psychological factors and external/ social factors and is influenced by them. Consumers
search for information, one of the sources of product information is promotion or
advertisement. The marketers have to understand consumers’ environmental and internal
factors, and use it as an input in crafting their marketing mix. The marketing created after
consumer research, segmentation, and positioning are meant to influence the consumers
purchase decision. Therefore, marketers need to understand each one of these factors and
their implication for marketing, and use them in their marketing practices.

Managerial Implications
Marketers must search, collect and get by themselves information about their consumers’
behaviour or have access to data concerning consumers, buying habits and which kinds of
media they favour, in order to develop convincing communication programs. By deeply
analysing different consumer behaviour models marketers can understand that consumer
behaviour concepts influence the development of marketing communication strategies. By
using these models they can assess the information needed to identify and select target
markets. These models also help different marketing strategies like positioning and market
segmentation.

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Consumer is the king in the market. All marketing decisions are based on the assumptions
about consumer behaviour. In order to create value for consumers and profits for
organizations, marketers need to understand why consumers behave in certain ways to a
variety of products and services offered. The consumer behaviour refers to those actions and
related activities of persons involved specifically in buying and using economic goods and
services. An understanding of the consumer behaviour will help us in understanding different
market segments and evolve strategies to effect penetration with these markets

Discussion Questions

a) What have you learned from economic, psychological, and sociological model of
consumer behaviour? Discuss about their limitations and marketing implications.
b) Discuss the similarities and differences of Individual, family, and organizational
consumers models and their implication for you as a marketer.

1.3. Classification of consumer goods and managerial implication

1.3.1. Classification of Consumer Goods
A consumer product is any tangible product meant for sale that is used by a consumer or
household for non-business purposes. To determine whether an item is a consumer product or
not requires an accurate finding on a case by case basis. This will vary from one jurisdiction
to another.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this part of the course the students will be able to

 Identify different ways of classifying consumer goods

 Recognize the marketing implication of this classification

The United States Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), enacted in 1972 by Congress, has
an extensive definition of consumer product: "any article, or component part thereof,
produced or distributed (i) for sale to a consumer for use in or around a permanent or
temporary household or residence, a school, in recreation, or otherwise, or (ii) for the
personal use, consumption or enjoyment of a consumer in or around a permanent or
temporary household or residence, a school,in recreation, or otherwise; but such term does
not include any article which is not customarily produced or distributed for sale to, or use or
consumption by, or enjoyment of, a consumer". It then goes on to list eight additional specific
exclusions and some further miscellaneous details. Examples of consumer products are DVD
players, TVs, smart phones, shoes, designer clothing, children's toys, and handbags,
cosmetics etc.

Researchers in marketing have expended a great deal of effort in attempts to classify products
into various categories so that specific marketing strategies could be developed for each
category. Marketing academics have termed this approach the "commodity" school of
thought in marketing (Sheth et al. 1988). From the early work of Copeland (1923), who
generally has been credited with introducing the idea of categorizing goods as either

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 Consumer Behaviour

shopping, speciality or convenience goods, to more recent efforts of Murpliy and Enis (1986)
for products and Lovelock (1983) for services, marketers have been using the classification of
products as a means of formulating marketing strategies.

Consumer goods are broadly classified as consumer products, shopping products, convenient
products, speciality products, unsought products, business products, and consumer
durables.The classification is buyer oriented, generalizable across all users (consumer-
industrial), sectors (profit-non-profit), and product types (goods, services, and ideas), and
recognizes the central role of the benefit/cost bundle. The value of this classification lies in its
integration of marketing mix decisions for strategy formulation and the founding of this
strategy upon consistent notions of buyer behavior with respect to different types of products.
The classification should aid both the manager in formulating marketing strategy.

a. Shopping products
Goods that consumers will want to be able to compare and contrast with others goods before
they decide to purchase are shopping products. Since little planning or effort goes into buying
goods, marketers need to establish a high level of brand awareness and recognition. Since
shopping goods are highly researched by buyers, a retailer’s ability to differentiate
themselves becomes important. With shopping goods, retailers try to provide strong
promotions to swing the buyer. They also expect strong support from manufacturers.

b. Convenience products
A convenience good is one that requires a minimum amount of effort on the part of the
consumer. Widespread distribution is the primary marketing strategy of convenience
products. The product must be available in every possible outlet and must be easily accessible
in these outlets. Vending machines typically distribute convenience goods. These products
are usually of low unit value, are highly standardized, and are often nationally advertised.
Yet, the key is to induce resellers, i.e. wholesalers and retailers, to carry the product. If the
product is not available when, where, and in a form desirable by the consumer, the
convenience product will fail. From the consumer's viewpoint, little time, planning, or effort
go into buying convenience goods. Consequently, marketers must establish a high level of
brand awareness and recognition.

c. Specialty Products
In the case of the convenience good, the pattern is that the most accessible brand will be
purchased. In the case of a specialty good, the pattern is that only a specific brand will be
purchased. For example, if the customer utilizes an outlet as it is most accessible, it would be
considered, for that customer at least, a convenience store. If consumers shop at a store even
if they have to go considerably out of their way to get there, it would be considered a
specialty store that sells specialty goods. From the point of view of consumers, specialty
goods are so unique that they will go anywhere to seek out and purchase them. Almost
without exception, price is not a principle factor affecting the sales of specialty goods.
Although these products may be custom-made or one of a kind, it is also possible that the
marketer has been very successful in differentiating the product in the mind of the consumer.
Examples of specialty goods include designer clothes, high-end cars, exotic perfumes,

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 Consumer Behaviour

famous paintings, fancy foods, hi-fi components, sporting equipment, photographic

equipment, men's suits etc.

d. Unsought Products
Unsought Goods are goods that the consumer does not know about or does not normally
think of buying. Purchasing of unsought goods may arise due to danger or the fear of the
danger. The classic examples of known but unsought goods are funeral services,
encyclopaedias, fire extinguishers etc. In some cases, even airplanes and helicopters can be
cited as examples of unsought goods. The purchases of these goods may not be immediate
and can be deferred. Hence, unsought goods require advertising and personal selling support
and extensive marketing in other areas as well. In the past, new products such as frozen food
items were unsought—why buy frozen when you can buy fresh?—until they were advertised
innovatively and broadly. Once the consumer is well-educated about the product, the good
goes on to become a sought good.

e. Business Products
Business products are sold to other businesses, as opposed to convenience, shopping, and
specialty products, which are sold to consumers. Business products are marketed differently
than convenience, shopping and specialty products, due to their different nature as well as the
different nature of the prospective buyers. A useful way to divide business products is into
farm products and manufactured products, as they are marketed differently. There are
different types of manufactured products such as semi-manufactured products, parts, raw
materials and machinery. Business products can be as different as crude oil, wood,
machinery, photocopiers, and paper.

f. Consumer durables
Consumer durables involve any type of products purchased by consumers that are
manufactured for long-term use. As opposed to many goods that are intended for
consumption in the short term, consumer durables are intended to endure regular usage for
several years or longer before replacement of the consumer product are required. Just about
every household will contain at least a few items of this nature. One of the most common of
all consumer durables would be the furniture found in the home. This would include items
such as sofas, chairs, tables, bed frames, and storage pieces such as chests of drawers and
bookshelf units. While once thought to be limited to only items made of sturdy metal or
wood, any type of furniture today that is intended for use over the period of at least a few
years can rightly be classified as durable. Another common example of durables in the
possession of most households is appliances. These items may include microwave ovens,
refrigerators, toasters, air conditioners, washing machines and gas or electric water heaters.
These are intended for use on a continuing basis, and often are sold with some type of
warranty or service contract that helps to ensure the appliance will continue working for a
substantial period of time.

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1.3.2. Types Consumer Goods and Marketing Consideration

Besides knowing consumer behaviour; understanding classification of consumer goods is
very important in crafting the marketing mix and effectively marketing them. Table__
provides a marketing consideration for each type of consumer goods.

One purpose of any product classification scheme is to guide managerial decision making. A
comprehensive and consistent marketing strategy should be based upon product
characteristics as perceived by buyers. The product classification suggested here provides a
managerial road map for strategy development: buyers' perceptions, marketers' objectives and
basic strategy, and specific strategies for each element of the marketing mix. Table 1 below
outlines the discussion of each of these managerial implications.

Table 1: Types of consumer products

As seen in the table above, the buyers’ perception of a product differ by consumers products
classification. A buyer views a given product as a "bundle of satisfactions" to be obtained in
return for certain priceconsiderations-classified as effort and risk. Thus, for convenience
products, the buyer perceives the product as being worth only low effort and is subject to
only low risk, so his/her behavior evolves into largely habitual impulse-driven (for industrial
buyers-automatic reorder). For preference or shopping products, the buyer perceives low
effort but medium risk, so the behavior becomes "routine" or "straight rebuy" with brand
loyalty for industrial products. Shopping products are perceived to be worthy of moderate to
high levels of effort and risk. The resulting behavior is thus "limited problem solving" for
consumers or an industrial "modified rebuy." Finally, specialty products are high in both
effort and risk, so the behavior is "extensive problem solving" or an industrial "new task."

Discussion questions

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 Consumer Behaviour

 From your own experience as consumer, how do your relate this classification of
consumer goods to your own consumption and buying habits?
 Do the above classification of commodity helps in relating products to consumers
buying habits? Do these marketing considerations hold in Ethiopian context?

Part 2: Individual Factors that affects customer behaviour

The personal factors of a consumer may affect the buying decisions. The primary individual
factors that describe an individual and help us understand consumer behaviour are
demographic characteristics of age, sex, life cycle stage, occupation, education and income.
Under this part we will discuss them in relation to their marketing application.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this part you will be able to:

 List and describe the personal factors that affect the buying behaviour of consumer
 Segment customers based on personal factors of consumers
 Use it for marketing strategy design and positioning

2.1. Age and life cycle stages

A. Age Factor: age is one of the primary demographic factors that influences the behaviour of
a person and used to describe the needs and behaviours of people in that age group.
Especially on the consumption side of a person, the age factor greatly influences the buying
behaviour. For instance, teenagers may prefer trendy clothes, whereas, office- executives may
prefer sober and formal clothing. The young people may want to follow fashion and new
styles; while the older people can be conservative and prefer to stick to their oldies.

Furthermore; as we grow older, our needs and preferences change, often in common with
others who are close to our own age. For this reason, a consumer’s age exerts a significant
influence on his or her identity. All things being equal, we are more likely than not to have
things in common with others of our own age (age cohort).

B. Age cohorts: ‘my generation’.

An age cohort consists of people of similar ages who have undergone similar experiences.
Although there is no universally accepted way to divide people into age cohorts, each of us
seems to have our own idea of what we mean when we refer to ‘my generation’. Often the
needs, wants, styles, and preference of an age cohort is similar. Therefore, one of the
demographic factors for segmenting consumers is their age cohort.

Marketers often target products and services to one or more specific age cohorts. They
recognize that the same offering will probably not appeal to people of different ages, nor will
the language and images they use to reach them. In some cases separate campaigns are
developed to attract consumers of different ages.

Important age cohorts include teenagers, 18–29–year-olds, baby boomers and the elderly.

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Teenagers are making a transition from childhood to adulthood, and their self-concepts tend
to be unstable. They are receptive to products that help them to be accepted and enable them
to assert their independence. Because many teenagers receive allowances, and/or earn pocket
money but have few financial obligations, they are a particularly important segment for many
non-essential or expressive products, ranging from chewing gum to hair gel, to clothing
fashions and music. Because of changes in family structure, many teenagers are taking more
responsibility for their families’ day-to-day shopping and routine purchase decisions.

The youngsters/ ‘Gen-Xers’, consumers aged 18–29, are a difficult group for marketers to
‘get a clear picture of’. This is an age through which a person starts a career and makes
money, and starts spending on things they prefer. They will be a powerful force in the years
to come, whose tastes and priorities will be felt in fashion, popular culture, politics and
marketing. Marketers target them as university students and in their early career by producing
and funnelling the products they desire.

The adults/ baby boomers are the most powerful age segment because of their size and
economic clout. These are adults who are in the midcareer and established in their income
and life. As this group has aged, its interests have changed and marketing priorities have
changed as well. The needs and desires of baby boomers have a strong influence on demands
for housing, childcare, cars, clothing and so on. Only a small proportion of boomers fit into
an affluent, materialistic category.

The older age cohort is the final age cohorts of elderly people. As the population ages, the
needs of elderly consumers will also become increasingly influential. Many marketers
traditionally ignored the elderly because of the stereotype that they are inactive and spend too
little. This stereotype is no longer accurate. Most of the elderly are healthy, vigorous and
interested in new products and experiences – and they have the income to purchase them.
Marketing appeals to this age cohort should focus on consumers’ self-concepts and perceived
ages, which tend to be more youthful than their chronological ages. Marketers should
emphasize the concrete benefits of products, since this group tends to be sceptical of vague,
image-related promotions. Personalized service is of particular importance to this segment.

C. Perceived age: you’re only as old as you feel.

The marketers should not focus on chronological age cohorts of consumers as the sole age
factor. Besides the chronological age and age cohort of a person there is a perceived age (an
age that a person feels he is). That is why they say you are only as old as you feel. That is
some adults want to remain younger, they delay their marriage, wear, act, and behave like
younger people. The same holds true for some elderly people, they want to delay their aging
by adapting healthy life style and remaining active. Therefore, the ‘grey’ market does not
consist of a uniform segment of vigorous, happy, ready-to- spend consumers – nor is it a
group of senile, economically marginalized, immobile people. In fact, research confirms the
popular wisdom that age is more a state of mind than of body. A person’s mental outlook and
activity level has a lot more to do with his or her longevity and quality of life than does
chronological age, or the actual number of years lived. In addition to these psychological

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dimensions of age, there are also cultural influences on what constitutes ageing, and
perceptions of what are ‘elderly’ across different European markets (Pol, 1991).

Therefore, a better yardstick to categorize the elderly is perceived age, or how old a person
feels. Perceived age can be measured on several dimensions, including ‘feel-age’ (how old a
person feels) and ‘look-age’ (how old a person looks) (Schiffman, 2012). The older
consumers get, the younger they feel relative to actual age. For this reason, many marketers
emphasize product benefits rather than age appropriateness in marketing campaigns, since
many consumers will not relate to products targeted to their chronological age.

Marketing application of age as a factor

Marketers need to study age as a demographic factor. They should assess the consumption
patterns, preferences, wants, and needs of different age cohorts. They should assess their
changes in consumption behaviour as they move from one age group to another. They should
segment their consumers based on age as one of the factors and target different age groups in
a way that meets their expectation. Marketers should adapt their marketing mix to each target
market’s characteristics.

2.2. Gender
Besides their age cohorts, consumers’ consumption also needs to be understood from their
sexes. The consumer behaviour varies across gender. For instance, girls may prefer certain
feminine colours such as pink, purple, peach, whereas, boys may go for blue, black, brown,
and so on. Sexual identity is a very important component of a consumer’s self-concept.

Just think about yourself and your friends from the opposite sex. Do your preference for
colour and types of garments and footwear differ across gender or the same?

Reflection exercise
Sex is biological but gender roles and preferences are partly shaped by culture. As Ethiopian
our gender stereotype is also shaped by Ethiopian culture. People often conform to their
culture’s expectations about how those of their gender should act, dress, speak and so on. It is
not always clear to what extent sex differences are innate rather than culturally shaped – but
they’re certainly evident in many consumption decisions! (Swarna, 2012).

A society’s assumptions about the proper roles of men and women are communicated in
terms of the ideal behaviours that are stressed for each sex (in advertising, among other
places). It is likely, for instance, that many women eat smaller quantities because they have
been ‘trained’ to be more delicate and dainty.

A person’s sex-role identity is a major component of self-definition. Conceptions about

masculinity and femininity, largely shaped by society, guide the acquisition of ‘sex-typed’
products and services.

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Marketing application of gender factor

As marketers you need to understand the gender role in the society. You should also
understand the age cohorts within a specific gender. Some consumer products company like
personal care products, deodorants, perfumes, etc. produce for each gender category.
Therefore, you can segment based on gender and age cohorts within each gender and produce
for each target market.

Furthermore, advertising and other media play an important role in socializing consumers to
be male and female. While traditional women’s roles have often been perpetuated in
advertising depictions, this situation is changing somewhat.

2.3. Occupation
Occupation and educational achievements are the other demographic factor that influences
consumers’ behaviour. Education: is a very important shaping factor of a person’s
development, his cognition, occupation, and income generating capacity. It can also be source
of prestige and respect in a society.

Highly educated persons may spend on books, personal care products, and so on. But a
person with low or no education may spend less on personal grooming products, general
reading books, and so on.

Education, occupation and income tend to be closely correlated in almost a cause-and effect
relationship. High-level occupations that produce high incomes usually require advanced
educational training. Individuals with little education rarely qualify for high-level jobs.
Insights on Internet usage preferences tend to support the close relationship among income,
occupation and education (Solomon, et al., 2016). Research reveals that consumers with
lower incomes, lower education and blue-collar occupations tend to spend more time online
at home than those with higher incomes, higher education and white-collar occupations. One
possible reason for this difference is that those in blue-collar jobs often do not have access to
the Internet during the course of the working day (Schiffman, et al., 2012).

2.4. Economic Circumstances

The other personal factor which is most important determinant of consumption behaviour of a
person is his income level. In real terms of the persons consumption capacity is his disposable
income. Normally, higher the income level, higher is the level of spending and vice versa.
But this may not be always the case in developing countries, especially in the rural areas.

A basic assumption of economic psychology is that consumer demand for goods and services
depends on ability to buy and willingness to buy. Discretionary income is the money
available to a household over and above that required for a comfortable standard of living.
Money can also have a variety of complex psychological meanings: it can be equated with
success or failure, social acceptability, security, love or freedom (Schiffman, et al., 2012)

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Marketing application of income level

Income has long been an important variable for distinguishing between market segments.
Marketers commonly segment markets on the basis of income because they feel that it is a
strong indicator of the ability (or inability) to pay for a product or a specific model of the
product. For instance, PC or cell phone producers may produce high end expensive products
for homes with high or modest family incomes. However, low-priced PCs also proved to be
quite popular with higher-income families who wanted additional computers for younger
family members. Therefore, marketers need to understand the wants and preferences of
different income groups before they determine their marketing mix for each target market.

Furthermore, income is often combined with other demographic variables to define target
markets more accurately. To illustrate, high income has been combined with age to identify
the important affluent elderly segment. It also has been combined with both age and
occupational status to produce the so-called yuppie/ classic segment, a sought-after sub-group
of the baby boomer market (Tintin, 2013; Schiffman, et al., 2012)

Questions:

1. In most of the researches, we do often ask respondents about their demographic

characteristics? Why do you think, we do that?
2. More specifically in marketing context, from what you have learned how do you
relate the demographic data of consumers in relation to your marketing efforts?

Part III: Psychological factors

In a society, different consumers exhibit different consumer behaviour because they are
unique and have unique sets of needs. This part of the module presents the individual’s
psychological factors or internal factors that influence his/her consumption behaviour.

3.1. Customers’ motivation

Every individual consumer consumes a product or service to meet his/ her needs and wants.
That is, there is a motive and motivating factor that pushes an individual to make a specific
consumption decision.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this chapter of the study the students will be able to:

 Describe customers’ motivation

 Identify factors that causes customers motivation
 Describe different motivation theory to explain consumer motivation
 Identify and segment consumers based on their motives
 Differentiate customer motivation and involvement
 Use consumer motivation and involvement in the development of consumer behaviour

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3.1.1. Customer motivation

Motivation is an inner feeling that stimulates the action that is to be taken by an individual. It
provides a specific direction or, results in a response. To understand motivation is to
understand why consumers do what they do. A motive is why an individual does a thing. A
person can be motivated to buy a product for convenience, for style, for prestige, for self-
pride, or for being at par with others.

Consumer needs
Motivation refers to the processes that cause people to behave as they do. From a
psychological perspective motivation occurs when a need is aroused that the consumer
wishes to satisfy. Once a need has been activated, a state of tension exists that drives the
consumer to attempt to reduce or eliminate the need. These needs are activated by drives,
motives, or motivating factors. A motive is why an individual does a thing

Classifying Needs
Consumer needs can be biological or psychological needs.

Physiological needs: As the name suggests, these needs arise out of our physiology and are
also called as primary or biological or biogenic needs; eg. Need for food, water, sleep, air,
shelter etc. We are born with such needs and these are innate in nature. In order to survive,
these needs must be fulfilled. As human beings are all similar, thus, we are also similar in so
far as these needs are concerned. You need to consume some basic products to sustain your
body. But consumers’ preference of what to consume a product there are psychological needs
that influences his/her choice.

Psychological needs: These needs arise out of our sociology and psychology and as such they
are also called secondary or psychogenic needs; eg. Need for affiliation, power, recognition,
esteem and status, etc. During the period of socialization, we acquire such needs; and human
beings differ amongst each other in so far as these needs are concerned. We acquire
psychogenic needs as we become members of a specific culture. These include the need for
status, power, affiliation, and so on. Psychogenic needs reflect the priorities of a culture, and
their effect on behaviour will vary in different environments

This need may be classified in different ways base different need theories. Broadly they can
be utilitarian (a desire to achieve some functional or practical benefit, as when a person eats
green vegetables for nutritional reasons) or it may be hedonic (an experiential need, involving
emotional responses or fantasies, as when you are passing buy a Rummy Burger during lunch
and see the big poster of burger on the window that influenced you at that moment and point
to decided and eat burger without an preplanning), or it can be to satisfy once ego, or even
social needs. That is, a person can be motivated to buy a product for convenience, for style,
for prestige, for self-pride, or for being at par with others.

The satisfaction of utilitarian needs implies that consumers will emphasize the objective,
tangible attributes of products, such as fuel economy in a car; the amount of fat, calories, and
protein in a cheeseburger; and the durability of a pair of blue jeans. . Hedonic needs are
subjective and experiential. Here, consumers might rely on a product to meet their needs for

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excitement, self-confidence, fantasy, and so on. Of course, consumers can be motivated to

purchase a product because it provides both types of benefits.

Need Theory of Motivation

According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory there are five needs of a human
being. These needs are:

Physiological needs: Food, water, sleep, clothing, shelter and sex.Products in this category
include foods, health foods, medicines, drinks, house garments,etc.

Safety needs: Seeking physical safety and security. Safety of person, safety of belongings,
security of job, etc. Products are locks, guns, insurance policies, burglar alarms, retirement
investments, etc.

Social needs: The need to be approved in a society—To love and be loved, friendship, love
appreciation and group acceptance.Products are general grooming, entertainment, clothing,
cosmetics, jewellery, fashion garments.

Esteem needs: Desire for status, for superiority, self-respect and prestige.Products are
furniture, clothing, liquor, hobbies, and fancy cars.

Self-actualisation needs: The desire for self-fulfilment, the desire to become all that one is
capable of becoming.Products are educational, art, sports, vacations, garments,
foods.Maslow’s hierarchy is a good guide to general behaviour.

McGuire’s Psychological motives: Three type of needs

The other types of consumer needs classification which is relevant to consumer behaviour is:

Need for affiliation (to be in the company of other people): this need is relevant to products
and services that are ‘consumed’ in groups and alleviate loneliness, such as team sports, bars
and shopping centres.

Need for power (to control one’s environment): many products and services allow consumers
to feel that they have mastery over their surroundings, ranging from cars with ‘soaped up’
engines and loud sound systems that impose the driver’s musical tastes on others, to luxury
resorts that promise to respond to every whim of their pampered guests.

● Need for uniqueness (to assert one’s individual identity): products can satisfy this need by
pledging to accentuate a consumer’s distinctive qualities. For example, Cachet perfume
claims to be ‘as individual as you are’.

Satisfying these needs is the goal of consumer. The distinction between the biological and
psychological needs is, however, a matter of degree. The desired end-state is the consumer’s
goal. Marketers try to create products and services that will provide the desired benefits and
permit the consumer to reduce this tension.

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Motivational strengths and direction

Whether the need is utilitarian or hedonic, a discrepancy exists between the consumer’s
present state and some ideal state. This gulf creates a state of tension. The magnitude of this
tension determines the urgency the consumer feels to reduce the tension.

Motives have direction as well as strength. They are goal oriented in that they drive us to
satisfy a specific need. Most goals can be reached by a number of routes, and the objective of
a company is to convince consumers that the alternative it offers provides the best chance to
attain the goal. The degree to which a person is willing to expend energy to reach one goal as
opposed to another reflects his or her underlying motivation to attain that goal.

Positive and negative motivation

Motivation can be positive or negative in direction. A goal has valence, which means that it
can be positive or negative. A positively valued goal is one towards which consumers direct
their behaviour; they are motivated to approach the goal and will seek out products that will
help them to reach it. However, not all behaviour is motivated by the desire to approach a
goal.Consumers may instead be motivated to avoid a negative outcome.

Because a purchase decision can involve more than one source of motivation, consumers
often find themselves in situations where different motives, both positive and
negative,conflict with one another. Because marketers are attempting to satisfy consumers’
needs, they can also be helpful by providing possible solutions to these dilemmas. Three
general types of conflicts can occur: approach–approach; approach–avoidance and
avoidance–avoidance.

Motivation and marketing strategies

Consumers do not buy products. They buy motive satisfaction or problem solutions. A person
does not buy a sofa set but he buys comfort. A person does not buy cosmetics but he buys
hope for looking good. Marketers therefore try to find the motives for buying, and build their
products and marketing mixes around these motives. A person may buy a product for a
number of motives. One of them could be rewarded for oneself or to self-indulge in them or
for a gift.

Multiple motives are involved in consumption. Therefore, a marketer tries to find out:

(a) The motive for buying,

(b) How to formulate a strategy to fulfil these motives, and
(c) How to reduce conflict between motives.

This can be found out by asking questions from the respondent. Some motives are disclosed
by the respondents; others are not divulged or are hidden.

Discussion Questions:
1. What is the difference between needs and wants? How can you identify the needs and
wants of consumers and use it for marketing?
2. How do you meet multiple and conflicting needs of consumers through your marketing
mix?

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3.2. Customer involvement

Besides motivation the marketers need to understand consumers’ involvement with
products.Consumer’s motivation to attain a goal increases their desire to expend the effort
necessary to acquire the products or services they believe will be instrumental in satisfying
that goal. However, not everyone is motivated to the same extent – one person might be
convinced they can’t live without the latest Apple iPhone, while another is perfectly happy
with their three year-old TECHNO or Huawei or any other Chinese cheaper brand.
Involvement can help us understand why different consumers may approach the same choice
situation from very different perspectives.

Involvement is defined as ‘a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on their

inherent needs, values, and interests’ (Judith, 1985; Schiffman et al., 2012). The object can be
a product (or a brand), an advertisement, or a purchase situation. Consumers can find
involvement in all these objects.

That is, because involvement is a motivational construct, different antecedents can trigger it.
These factors can be something about the person, something about the object, or something
about the situation, which can combine to determine the consumer’s motivation to process
product-related information at a given point in time. When consumers are intent on doing
what they can to satisfy a need, they will be motivated to pay attention and process any
information felt to be relevant to achieving their goals. (Solomon, et al., 2016)

3.2.1. Different types of involvement

There are actually several broad types of involvement related to the product, the message, or
the perceiver (Solomon, et al., 2016)

Product involvement is related to a consumer’s level of interest in a particular product. Many

sales promotions are designed to increase this type of involvement.

Message–response involvement (also known as advertising involvement), refers to the

consumer’s interest in processing marketing communications.

Purchase situation involvement refers to differences that may occur when buying the same
object for different contexts. Here the person may perceive a great deal of social risk or none
at all. For example, when you want to impress someone you may try to buy a brand or a
product with a certain image that you think reflects good taste.

Ego involvement (sometimes described as enduring involvement) refers to the importance of

a product to a consumer’s self-concept. This concept implies a high level of social risk: the
prospect of the product not performing its desired function may result in embarrassment or
damage to the consumer’s self-concept.

3.2.2. Levels of Involvements

Involvement is defined as a psychological state that motivates people to be more aware
and careful about persons/objects/situations. It also indicates a level of personal importance

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that the person attaches to such persons/objects/situations. Thus, there are (a) high and low-
involvement consumers; (b) high and low-involvement purchases

Involvement can therefore be viewed as the motivation to process information (Andrew,

1979; Solomon, et al., 2016). To the degree that there is a perceived linkage between a
consumers’s needs, goals or values and product knowledge, the consumer will be motivated
to pay attention to product information. When relevant knowledge is activated in memory, a
motivational state is created that drives behaviour (e.g. shopping). As felt involvement with a
product increases, the consumer devotes more attention to ads related to the product, exerts
more cognitive effort to understand these ads, and focuses more attention on the product-
related information in them (Richard, et al., 1988).

3.2.3. Types of levels of Involvement:

Involvement levels can be of 3 types:

(i) Routinized response behaviour or least involvement. In routinized response, we buy things
as a routine. These are products of daily use which keep buying almost every now and then.
Products such as soaps, tooth paste, blades, bread-butter creams, these are of low values and
involve no risk. Consumers can try various brands and can keep changing brands according
to their likes and dislikes.

(ii) Low involvement decision making: 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. These
can be white goods, like refrigerators, T.V., Sofa Sets, Computers, Steel Cupboards
sometimes designer clothes and suits.

(iii) 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 a few
times in a life time. These can be expensive jewellery, like a solitaire, a house, an expensive
car. While choosing these items, the attributes of the product are taken into consideration. For
instance in a car we look for speed, economy, comfort, style, space, maintenance etc.

3.2.4. Marketing Application of involvement

The measurement of involvement is important for many marketing applications. Like you do
consumer research to understand needs, as a marketer you need measure consumers
involvement with your products or services then segment, target, and market it based on
involvement too.

There one plausible option is segmenting by involvement levels. For example, a yogurt
manufacturer might find that even though its product is low in sign value for one group of
consumers, it might be highly related to the self-concept of another market segment, such as
health food enthusiasts or avid dieters. The company could adapt its strategy to account for
the motivation of different segments to process information about the product.

A marketer can boost consumers’ motivations to process relevant information by using one or
more of the following techniques:

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● Appeal to the consumers’ hedonic needs. For example, ads using sensory appeals
generate higher levels of attention.
● Use novel stimuli, such as unusual cinematography, sudden silences, or unexpected
movements in commercials. When a British firm called Egg Banking introduced a credit
card to the French market in 2002, its advertising agency created unusual commercials to
make people question their assumptions. One ad stated ‘Cats always land on their paws’,
and then two researchers in white lab coats dropped a kitten off a rooftop –never to see it
again (animal rights activists were not amused).
● Use prominent stimuli, such as loud music and fast action, to capture attention in
commercials. In print formats, larger ads increase attention. Also, viewers look longer at
coloured pictures as opposed to black and white.
● Include celebrity endorsers to generate higher interest in commercials.
● Build a bond with consumers by maintaining an ongoing relationship with them. The
routes to cultivating brand loyalty.
● The internet has provided companies with new possibilities for creating loyalty bonds
with customers. (Solomon, et al., 2016).
Discussion Questions:
1. Elaborate factors affecting consumers’ involvement in Ethiopian context?
2. What do you do to understand consumers’ level of indolent and how do you use it in your
marketing strategy?

3.3. Customers learning and memory

Customers learning and memory is very central concept in consumer behaviour that
marketers need to understand to create product awareness, promote and position their
products, assess the advertising effects, shape customers attitude, perception, etc.

Learning objectives:

At end of this chapter you will be able to:

 Describe what consumer learning is

 Identify how consumers learn
 Differentiate the different types of memory
 Relate the learning theories and their principles to consumer behaviour
 Apply principles of learning to marketing of products and services.

3.3.1. The Concept of Consumer Learning

Learning: is a process through which a person acquires knowledge, skills, and attitudes. One
of the most important thing that we all learn is about what we consume and how to of
consumption process. In its consumer behaviour sense learning refers to changes in
individual behaviour that are caused by information and experience (Solomon,).Consumer
learning may be intentional, where learning is an outcome of a careful search for information;
learning can also be incidental, where learning occurs as a matter of chance, by accident or
without much effort. An individual can learn about products from the marketing information,
from sales people, from other people, and from their past consumption experiences. They

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acquire information before purchase, use it to evaluate and choose the one they prefer. Once
purchased they form their own opinion whether the product has mate their expectations and
will repeat the purchase or not, etc. For example, when a customer buys a new brand of
perfume, and is satisfied by its use, then he/she is more likely to buy the same brand the next
time. Through learning, people acquire beliefs and attitudes, which in turn influence the
buying behaviour.

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 can apply to future related behaviour (Kahn, 2006). Several points in this definition are
worth noting.

First, consumer learning is a process; that is, it continually evolves and changes as a result of
newly acquired knowledge (which may be gained from reading, discussions, observation or
thinking) or from actual experience. Both newly acquired knowledge and personal experience
serve as feedback to the individual and provide the basis for future behaviour in similar
situations.

The role of experience in learning does not mean that all learning is deliberately sought.
Though much learning is intentional (i.e. it is acquired as the result of a careful search for
information), a great deal of learning is also incidental, acquired by accident or without much
effort. For example, some advertisements may induce learning (e.g. of brand names), even
though the consumer’s attention is elsewhere (on a magazine article rather than the
advertisement on the facing page). Other advertisements are sought out and carefully read by
consumers contemplating a major purchase decision.

Therefore, the term learning encompasses the total range of learning, from simple, almost
reflexive responses to the learning of abstract concepts and complex problem-solving. Most
learning theorists recognise the existence of different types of learning and explain the
differences through the use of distinctive models of learning (Schiffman, et al., 2012).

3.3.2. Learning theories

Learning theories you have learned in introduction to psychology are very important in
understanding consumers learning. Here, a brief description of behavioural and cognitive
learning theories is discussed in relation to their application to consumer behaviour.

Behavioural learning theories assume that learning occurs as a result of responses to external
events. They posit two categories of behavioural learning through classical conditioning and
operant conditioning. Classical conditioning theory is based on Pavlov’s experiment with
dog.

Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus that naturally elicits a response (an
unconditioned stimulus) is paired with another stimulus that does not initially elicit this
response. Over time, the second stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) comes to elicit the
response as well. This response can also extend to other, similar, stimuli in a process known
as stimulus generalization. This process is the basis for such marketing strategies as licensing

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and family branding, in which a consumer’s positive associations with a product are
transferred to other contexts.

Operant or instrumental conditioning occurs as the person learns to perform behaviours that
produce positive outcomes and avoid those that result in negative outcomes. It is based on
B.F. Skinner’s experiment on rats and pigeons. For example, if you are introducing a new
product to the market, you may promote it through different means including free samples. A
person who got free sample can evaluate the product experience and if satisfied by start using
the product, if not he will not try it again even for free. Therefore, satisfaction is a result of
positive experience and reinforces the person to use the product through repeat purchase.

While classical conditioning involves the pairing of two stimuli, instrumental learning occurs
when reinforcement is delivered following a response to a stimulus. Reinforcement is
positive if a reward is delivered following a response. It is negative if a negative outcome is
avoided by not performing a response. Punishment occurs when a response is followed by
unpleasant events. Extinction of the behaviour will occur if reinforcement is no longer
received.

Cognitive learning occurs as the result of mental processes. Theorists of this approach believe
that learning takes place as a result of a person’s conscious and deliberate information
processing and storage activity, often in response to problem solving. Thus, learning is a
function of mental processing. One of the main proponents of this theory is Edward Tolman,
who experimented on rats. In terms of consumer learning, any kind of extensive problem
solving, on the part of the consumer, is cognitive and would be included under this approach.
This would include gathering, processing and interpreting information; storing it in memory;
and final retrieval when required. For example, observational learning takes place when the
consumer performs behaviour as a result of seeing someone else performing it and being
rewarded for it.

3.3.3. Learning, memory, and positioning

From the above what you need to recognise, making consumers learn is partly marketers
responsibility. At the heart of promotion, advertisement, and marketing communication in
general is consumer learning.

Consumer learning: Marketers’ role.

All organisations are interested in highlighting the features of their products and services.
They make the consumer aware to know about these features, so that their behaviour can be
influenced. It is through learning that the attitudes, beliefs, values, feelings are influenced.
Consumers get information about products, they process and evaluate information and judge
the product. Based on the information they form attitude negative or positive about and
develop their own perception. This does not mean that consumers learn everything about
consumption behaviour from the marketers only. We learn a lot from our culture, social class,
family influences, and all these also reflect on our lifestyle. Learning can be described as any
change in the content or organisation of long-term memory. It is a result of information
processing. Learning is the key to consumer behaviour. We learn through and from our

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culture, subculture, social class, family friends, and utilise our personal experience,
advertising and mass media.

Positioning
Positioning is the highest stage of consumer learning that marketers attempt to achieve
through their marketing communication. Marketers try to position their brands in the minds
of the consumer. It relates to the memory of brand in relation to competing products. By this,
the marketer tries to enhance the image of his brand which suits the consumer, promotes the
image of the products and the stores as well. Product position evolves over time, as the
marketer gets to know more about the preference of the consumers.

Consumers usually have an “ideal brand” concept and, they want to be as close to the ideal
brand as possible. The marketer also tries to offer a product by positioning and repositioning
the product which comes as close as possible to the consumer’s ideal brand. This can be done
by finding out the critical dimensions which are preferred. For example if you are a marketer
of new entrant diary producer in the market, your initial effort is creating brand awareness
and positioning your products to a preferred dairy products in your target market through
advertisement and sales promotion. Once established, you have to continue getting feedback
adjust your product mix and reposition your products through promotion at relevant interval.
Therefore; marketing communication is key to consumers learning and product
positioning.Marketing communication (advertisements, publicity, personal selling, sales force
etc.) as well as interpersonal communication have a big role to play in consumer learning.
The marketer educates the consumer about the product/service category, attributes, benefits,
features, price etc.The consumer also learns about the brand from the dealer or even from the
packaging/labelling. Interpersonal communication with family, friends, peers (word-of-
mouth), opinion leaders etc. also impacts consumer learning.

3.3.4. Memory
Memory refers to the storage of learned information. The way information is encoded when it
is perceived determines how it will be stored in memory. The memory systems known as
sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory each play a role in retaining and
processing information from the outside world.

Nevertheless, the information is not stored in isolation; it is incorporated into knowledge

structures, where it is associated with other related data. The location of product information
in associative networks and the level of abstraction at which it is coded help to determine
when and how this information will be activated at a later time. Some factors that influence
the likelihood of retrieval include the level of familiarity with an item, its salience (or
prominence) in memory and whether the information was presented in pictorial or written
form.

Products also play a role as memory markers: they are used by consumers to retrieve
memories about past experiences (autobiographical memories) and are often valued for
repurchase of similar products. The marketers’ efforts of providing product related

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information and repeated advertisement is to create awareness, refresh customers’ memory

and recall.

3.3.5. Marketing Applications of Learning Principles

Understanding how consumers learn is very important to marketers. After all, many strategic
decisions are based on the assumption that consumers are continually accumulating
information about products and that people can be ‘taught’ to prefer some alternatives over
others.

Behavioural learning applications

Many marketing strategies focus on the establishment of associations between stimuli and
responses. Behavioural learning principles apply to many consumer phenomena, ranging
from the creation of a distinctive brand image to the perceived linkage between a product and
an underlying need.

Furthermore, repetition is needed to ensure that the consumer is actually exposed to (and
processes) the ad at least three times. Marketers attempting to condition an association must
ensure that the consumers they have targeted will be exposed to the stimulus a sufficient
number of times.

Advertisements often pair a product with a positive stimulus to create a desirable association.
Various aspects of a marketing message, such as music, humour or imagery, can affect
conditioning.

The process of stimulus generalization is often central to branding and packaging decisions
that attempt to capitalize on consumers’ positive associations with an existing brand or
company name.

An emphasis on communicating a product’s distinctive attributes vis-à-vis its competitors is

an important aspect of positioning, in which consumers learn to differentiate a brand from its
competitors.

Principles of instrumental conditioning are at work when a consumer is rewarded or punished

for a purchase decision. Business people shape behaviour by gradually reinforcing consumers
for taking appropriate actions.

Marketers have many ways of reinforcing consumers, ranging from a simple thank you after
a purchase to substantial rebates and follow-up phone calls.

A popular technique known as frequency marketing reinforces regular purchasers by giving

them prizes with values that increase along with the amount purchased. This operant learning
strategy was pioneered by the airline industry, which introduced ‘frequent-flyer’ programmes
in the early 1980s to reward loyal customers.

Review Questions

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1. How have you learned about your consumption behaviour and different products that
you consume? Where have you got products information? How?
2. How do you think consumers you know learn about grocery and durable products?
3. Discuss the difference of formal and informal learning in consumer behaviour?
4. What do you think are your responsibilities to influence consumer learning and
memory as a marketer?

3.5. Attitudes and attitude change

A human being forms attitude about any object in the environment. These attitudes are so
important in that our actions or behaviours are often guided by them. This is much more
evident in our consumption behaviours.

Learning objectives:

After completing this chapter the students will be able to:

 Describe what an attitude is

 Identify the functions and elements of attitudes
 Understand how attitudes are formed and can be changed
 Appreciate the importance of marketing in attitude formation and change
 Apply what they have learned in developing positive attitude about their products

3.5.1. Definition of Attitude

Attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in a constant favourable or unfavourable
manner, in respect to a given object. The object about which we form attitude can be a
flower, colour, a person, cloth, news, etc. When a person sees a product he can evaluate and
judge it as good or bad. If his assessment is good, he develops a positive attitude, which has
an effect on his intention to buy or behaviour. This makes the study of consumer attitudes
highly important for a marketer. Marketers try to bombard consumer with information.
Though there intention is to generate positive responses, it may have a positive or negative
effect.

In a consumer behaviour context, as defined above an attitude is a learned predisposition to

behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way with respect to a given object ().
Each part of this definition describes an important property of an attitude and is criticalto
understanding the role of attitudes in consumer behaviour.

The attitude ‘object’: such as product, product category, brand, service, possessions, product
use, causes or issues, people, advertisement, Internet site, price, medium or retailer.

Attitudes are learned predispositions. There is general agreement that attitudes are learned
through cognition or experience. This means that attitudes relevant to purchase behaviour are
formed as a result of direct experience with the product, word-of-mouth information acquired
from others, or exposure to mass-media advertising, the Internet and various forms of direct
marketing (e.g. a retailer’s catalogue). It is important to remember that although attitudes may
result from behaviour, they are not synonymous with behaviour.

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Instead, they reflect either a favourable or an unfavourable evaluation of the attitude object.
As learned predispositions, attitudes have a motivational quality, that is, they might propel a
consumer towards a particular behaviour or repel the consumer away from a particular
behaviour.

Attitudes have consistency. That is that they are relatively consistent with the behaviour they
reflect. However, despite their consistency, attitudes are not necessarily permanent; they do
change. That is an attitude we have about a specific object is formed based on our
information and experience about that object. A product that we have once judged as low
quality can improve its quality and become worthy reconsidering. Hence, based the
improvement in that product and evidences of the new future, the consumer my change
his/her attitude. It is up to the marketers to convince the consumers and win them back.

Furthermore, attitudes occur within a situation. It occurs within and is affected by the
situation. By situation, we mean events or circumstances that, at a particular time, influence
the relationship between an attitude and behaviour. A specific situation can cause consumers
to behave in ways seemingly inconsistent with their attitudes. A situation can be a special
occasion of purchase, the purpose for which the consumer buys, or his own psychological and
emotional state.

3.5.2. Attitude functions

By developing an attitude about an object or product a person wants to achieve a certain
objective. In a consumption context too, our attitude towards products or services is meant to
achieve certain useful purposes important to us.

The following are attitude functions as identified by Katz:

Utilitarian function: The utilitarian function is related to the basic principles of reward and
punishment. We develop some of our attitudes towards products simply on the basis of
whether these products provide pleasure or pain. If a person likes the taste of a cheeseburger,
that person will develop a positive attitude towards cheeseburgers. Ads that stress straight
forward product benefits (e.g. you should drink Diet Coke ‘just for the taste of it’) appeal to
the utilitarian function. Furthermore, if you want to buy a car for millage and fuel efficiency,
the type of car you may consider can be Vitz or Maruti based on how many kilometres you
can drive with one litre.

Value-expressive function: Attitudes that perform a value-expressive function express the

consumer’s central values or self-concept. A person forms a product attitude not because of
its objective benefits, but because of what the product says about them as a person (e.g. ‘what
sort of person drive VITZ? or what type of people use Life fitness ’). Value-expressive
attitudes are highly relevant to lifestyle analyses, where consumers cultivate a cluster of
activities, interests and opinions to express a particular social identity.

Ego-defensive function: Attitudes that are formed to protect the person, from either external
threats or internal feelings, perform an ego-defensive function. An example of this function is
deodorant campaigns that stress the dire, embarrassing consequences of underarm odour.

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Knowledge function:Some attitudes are formed as the result of a need for order, structure or
meaning. This need is often present when a person is in an ambiguous situation or is
confronted with a new product (e.g. ‘Bayer wants you to know about pain relievers’).

An attitude can serve more than one function, but in many cases a particular one will be
dominant. By identifying the dominant function a product serves for consumers (i.e. what
benefits it provides), marketers can emphasise these benefits in their communications and
packaging. Ads relevant to the function prompt more favourable thoughts about what is being
marketed and can result in a heightened preference for both the ad and the product.

3.5.3. ABC model of attitude

According to the ABC model, attitudes consist of three major components: a cognitive
component, an affective component and a conative component:

An attitude provides a series of cues to marketers. They predict future purchases, redesign
marketing effort and make attitude more favourable. Attitudes also indicate knowledge,
feelings and intended action for the given stimulus.

The Cognitive Component

The first part of the tri-component attitude model consists of a person’s cognitions, that is, the
knowledge and perceptions that are acquired by a combination of direct experience with the
attitude object and related information from various sources. This knowledge and resulting
perceptions commonly take the form of beliefs; that is, the consumer believes that the attitude
object possesses various attributes and that specific behaviour will lead to specific outcomes.

The Affective Component

A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand constitute the affective
component of an attitude. These emotions and feelings are frequently treated by consumer
researchers as primarily evaluative in nature; that is, they capture an individual’s direct or
global assessment of the attitude object (the extent to which the individual rates the attitude
object as ‘favourable’ or ‘unfavourable’, ‘good’ or ‘bad’). It is feelings- likes or dislikes that
a person develops about the product or service.

The Conative Component

Conation or behaviour, the final component of the tri-component attitude model, is concerned
with the likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake a specific action or behave
in a particular way with regard to the attitude object. According to some interpretations, the
conative component may include the actual behaviour itself.

In marketing and consumer research, the conative component is frequently treated as an

expression of the consumer’s intention to buy.

3.5.4. Attitude Hierarchies

While all three components of an attitude are important, their relative importance will vary
depending upon a consumer’s level of motivation with regard to the attitude object. Attitude
researchers have developed the concept of a hierarchy of effects to explain the relative impact

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of the three components. Each hierarchy specifies that a fixed sequence of steps occurs en
route to an attitude. Three different hierarchies are summarised

 Think→Feel→Do: attitude based on cognition information processing.

 Do→Feel→Think: low involvement hierarchy. Attitude based on behavioural
learning process.
 Feel→Do→Think The experiential hierarchy. Attitude based on experiential learning
process.

Attitude researchers traditionally assumed that attitudes were learned in a predetermined

sequence, consisting first of the formation of beliefs (cognitions) regarding an attitude object,
followed by an evaluation of that object (affect) and then some action (behaviour).
Nevertheless, depending on the consumer’s level of involvement and the circumstances,
though, attitudes can result from other hierarchies of effects.

A key to attitude formation is the function the attitude plays for the consumer (e.g. is it
utilitarian or ego-defensive?). One organising principle of attitude formation is the
importance of consistency among attitudinal components – that is, some parts of an attitude
may be altered to conform to others. Such theoretical approaches to attitudes as cognitive
dissonance theory, balance theory and congruity theory stress the vital role of consistency.

3.5.5. Multi-attribute attitude models

The complexity of attitudes is underscored by multi-attribute attitude models, in which sets of
beliefs and evaluations are identified and combined to predict an overall attitude.

Factors such as subjective norms and the specificity of attitude scales have been integrated
into attitude measures to improve predictability.

 Persuasion refers to an attempt to change consumers’ attitudes.

 Two important characteristics that characterise a message source are its attractiveness
and credibility. Although celebrities are often used with the purpose of enhancing
thesecharacteristics, their credibility is not always as strong as marketers hope.
 Some elements of a message that help to determine its effectiveness in terms of
attitudechange are whether an emotional or a rational appeal is employed and whether
the messageincludes fear, humour or sexual references.
 The relative influence of the source versus the message depends on the receiver’s
level of involvement with the communication. The elaboration likelihood model
specifies that a less involved consumer will more likely be swayed by source effects,
whereas a more involved consumer will be more likely to attend to and process
components of the actual message.

Multi-attribute attitude models (i.e. attitude towards object, attitude towards behaviour, the
theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour models) have received much
attention from consumer researchers. As a group, these models examine consumer beliefs
about specific product attributes (e.g. product or brand features or benefits). Recently, there
has been an effort to better accommodate consumers’ goals as expressed by their ‘trying to

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consume’ (i.e. a goal the consumer is trying or planning to accomplish). The theory of trying
is designed to account for the many cases in which the action or outcome is not certain. The
attitude towards the ad model examines the influence of advertisements on the consumer’s
attitudes towards the brand.

3.5.6. Changing consumers’ attitudes

How consumer attitudes are formed and how they are changed are two closely related issues
of considerable concern to marketing practitioners. When it comes to attitude formation, it is
useful to remember that attitudes are learned and that different learning theories provide
unique insights as to how attitudes initially may be formed. Attitude formation is facilitated
by direct personal experience and influenced by the ideas and experiences of friends and
family members and exposure to mass media. In addition, it is likely that an individual’s
personality plays a major role in attitude formation.

These same factors also have an impact on attitude change; that is, attitude changes are
learned, and they are influenced by personal experiences and the information gained from
various personal and impersonal sources. The consumer’s own personality affects both the
acceptance and the speed with which attitudes are likely to be altered.

Strategies of attitude change can be classified into six distinct categories:

1. Changing the basic motivational function,

2. Associating the attitude object with a special group, event or cause,
3. Relating the attitude object to conflicting attitudes,
4. Altering components of the multi-attribute model,
5. Changing beliefs about competitors’ brands, and
6. The elaboration likelihood model.

Each of these strategies provides the marketer with alternative ways of changing consumers’
existing attitudes. Most discussions of attitude formation and attitude change stress the
traditional view that consumers develop attitudes before they act. However, this may not
always, or even usually, be true. Both cognitive dissonance theory and attribution theory
provide alternative explanations of attitude formation and change that suggest that behaviour
might precede attitudes. Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that the conflicting thoughts,
or dissonant information, following a purchase decision might propel consumers to change
their attitudes to make them consonant with their actions. Attribution theory focuses on how
people assign causality to events and how they form or alter attitudes as an outcome of
assessing their own behaviour or the behaviour of other people or things.

Discussion Questions:

 Who is in charge of consumers’ attitude- the consumer or the marketer?

 What is your role as a marketer in consumers’ attitude formation or change?
 Discuss the hierarchies of attitude elements and their marketing implications.

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3.6. Perception
Perception is another psychological factor of an individual that affects consumption
behaviour.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this part the participant will be able to:

 Describe the nature and process of perception,

 Identify the factors that affect how customers form perception
 Use them in marketing communication strategy design and implementation

3.6.1. The Nature and Meaning of Perception

Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organises and interprets
stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. It can be described as ‘how we
see the world around us’. Two individuals may be exposed to the same stimuli under the
same apparent conditions, but how each person recognises, selects, organises and interprets
these stimuli is a highly individual process based on each person’s own needs, values and
expectations. According to Schiffman, et al. (2012) the term ‘perception’ can be defined as
the ability to derive meaning. It is derived from the word ‘perceive’, it refers to the ability of
giving meaning to whatever is sensed by our sense organs.

Perception is the most important psychological factor that affects human behaviour. It is a
process consisting of several sub-processes. These are stimulus, registration, interpretation,
feedback and reaction.

3.6.2. Sensory Systems

Sensory system is made up of our five senses. Our five sense organs: eye, tongue, nose, ear,
and skin are information windows through which we receive environmental stimulus. The
data that we receive from our sensory systems determine how we respond to products. These
sensations we experience are context effects that subtly influence how we think about
products we encounter. Reflect on your own sensory systems

Vision
Vision is a sense of seeing things and objectives and major sense of getting environmental

Take a brief look at some of the processes involved in the business applications of sensory stimuli. How do
you use your senses to form perception about different products? What do you think is the role of marketing
stimulus in forming your perception.

data. The other senses supplement what we see.

Marketers rely heavily on visual elements in advertising, store design and packaging. They
communicate meanings on the visual channel through a product’s colour, size and styling.
Colours may even influence our emotions more directly. Because colours elicit such strong
emotional reactions, the choice of a colour palette is obviously a key issue in package design.
These decisions help to ‘colour’ our expectations of what’s inside the package.

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Colour Associations Marketing applications

Colour Association Marketing application
Yellow Optimistic and youthful Used to grab window shoppers’ attention
Red Energy Often seen in clearance sales
Blue Trust and security Banks
Green Wealth Used to create relaxation in stores
Orange Aggressive Call to action: subscribe, buy or sell
Black Powerful and sleek Luxury products
Purple Soothing Beauty or anti-ageing products

Smell
Smelling different products odour through our nose is another sense for checking and
choosing different personal care, food, etc. products. Odours can stir emotions or create a
calming feeling. They can invoke memories or relieve stress. For example an odour of
personal care products like aftershaves, deodorant, perfume, etc. arouse emotions like they
make you happy, feel relaxed and comfortable. Aromas of coffee and food items may arouse
your childhood memory of coffee ceremony or cultural foods at your home or country.
Marketers use odours to arouse such emotions and needs of consumers.

Sound
Our ear is the second most important sensory organ for hearing information about any object
or thing. Music and other sounds affect people’s feelings and behaviours. Most of marketing
adds contain sounds and product attribute related information. Some marketers who come up
with brand names pay attention to sound symbolism – the process by which the way a word
sounds influences our assumptions about what it describes and attributes such as size. That is
marketers need to pay attention to words and sounds they use in their audio-visual messages
like TV or radio ads.

Touch
Tactile cues have symbolic meaning. People associate the textures of fabrics and other
products with underlying product qualities. The perceived richness or quality of the material
in clothing, bedding or upholstery is linked to its ‘feel’, whether it is rough or smooth, soft or
stiff. A smooth fabric such as silk is equated with luxury, while denim is considered practical
and durable.

Taste
We use our tongue to assess the quality of food and drinks. Our taste receptors contribute to
our experience of many products. Sensory analysis is used to account for the human
perception of sensory product qualities.

3.6.3. Exposure
When a stimulus comes under the range of sensory preceptors’, nerve exposure occurs. Most
of the stimuli to which an individual is exposed to, is self-selected, e.g., switching channels
on TV, skipping pages of magazines, avoiding information that one is not interested in. We
deliberately seek and avoid information of our interest. It is done to achieve the goals we

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aspire for. It is challenge for the marketer to hold the interest of the consumer on his
commercials and exposures.

3.6.4. Attention
Attention is the degree to which consumers focus on stimuli within their range of exposure.
Even if we are exposed to stimulus through our five senses, the extent or degree of attention
we give to it affects our perception.

Attention occurs this occurs when the sensory receptor nerves are activated by the stimuli
and, the brain registers sensations for processing. The market offers a variety of goods. It may
take us long to go through all of them. Therefore, we selectively choose and attend to
products and messages.

One may not attend to warnings on cigarette packets or, may see the model more than the
clothes. The same individual may devote different levels of attention to the same stimulus in
different situations. Attention is determined by three factors—stimulus, the individual and the
situation. These together or individually play an important role in attracting the individual.

The meaning of a stimulus is interpreted by the individual, who is influenced by their unique
biases, needs and experiences. These three stages of exposure (or sensation), attention, and
interpretation make up the process of perception.

Although we live in an ‘information society’, we can have too much of a good thing.
Consumers are often in a state of sensory overload, where they are exposed to far more
information than they can process. In our society, much of this bombardment comes from
commercial sources, and the competition for our attention is steadily increasing.

Multitasking and attention

Besides information overload, doing more than one thing at a time or multitasking is another
factor that destructs people’s attention. Getting the attention of young people in particular is a
challenge. In this ICT era more than half of teens report that they engage in multitasking,
where they process information from more than one medium at a time as they attend to their
cell phones, TVs, instant messages, and so on – and that’s just during the time when they are
doing homework.

For better or worse, technology seems to be rewiring our brains to try to pay attention to more
stimuli. Today we consume three times of information each day as people did in 1960. We
constantly shift attention: computer users at work change windows or check email or other
programs nearly dozens of times an hour. Computer users visit an average of over a dozen
websites a day.

Reflect on the effects of multitasking

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What impact does all this multitasking have on consumers’ ability to absorb, retain and
understand information?

How do marketers get our attention?

Marketers constantly search for ways to break through the clutter and grab people’s attention.
Some tactics are straightforward, as when manufacturers try to get their brands shelved at eye
level in a store and toward the centre of a display because they know that is where shoppers
are most likely to look.

In the online world, advertisers keep innovating to get visitors to watch their messages. One
of the most popular today is rich media the use of animated .gif files or video clips to grab
viewers’ attention. Other rich media are online versions of familiar TV commercials that sit
frozen on the website until you click them. Teaser ads, much like those you see on TV that
give you a taste of the story but make you return later for the rest, also turn up on websites.

3.6.5. Selection
Because the brain’s capacity to process information is limited, consumers are very selective
about what they pay attention to. The process of perceptual selection means that people
attend to only a small portion of the stimuli to which they are exposed.

Personal selection factors

Experience, which is the result of acquiring and processing stimulation over time, is one
factor that determines how much exposure to a particular stimulus a person
accepts.Consumers are more likely to be aware of stimuli that relate to their current needs, a
behaviour known as perceptual vigilance. A consumer who rarely notices car ads will become
very much aware of them when she or he is in the market for a new car. A newspaper ad for a
fast-food restaurant that would otherwise go unnoticed becomes significant when one sneaks
a glance at the paper in the middle of a five o’clock class. And, individual variations in
perceptual processing may account for some differences.

The flip side of perceptual vigilance is perceptual defence. This means that people see what
they want to see – and don’t see what they don’t want to see. If a stimulus is threatening to us
in some way, we may not process it – or we may distort its meaning so that it’s more
acceptable. For example, a heavy smoker may block out images of cancer-scarred lungs
because these vivid reminders hit a bit too close to home.

Still another factor is adaptation, the degree to which consumers continue to notice a stimulus
over time. The process of adaptation occurs when consumers no longer pay attention to a
stimulus because it is so familiar. A consumer can ‘habituate’ and require increasingly
stronger ‘doses’ of a stimulus to notice it.

Stimulus selection factors

In addition to the receiver’s mind-set, characteristics of the stimulus itself play an important
role in determining what we notice and what we ignore. Marketers need to understand these

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factors so they can create messages and packages that will have a better chance to cut through
the clutter.

In general, we are more likely to notice stimuli that differ from others around them
(remember Weber’s Law). A message creates contrast in several ways: size, colour, position
and novelty.

3.6.5. From sensation to perception

Sensation refers to the immediate response of our sensory receptors (e.g. eyes, ears, nose,
mouth, fingers) to such basic stimuli as light, colour and sound. Perception is the process by
which these stimuli are selected, organised and interpreted. We process raw data (sensation);
however, the study of perception focuses on what we add to or takes away from these
sensations as we assign meaning to them.

Sensation is the ability of our five sense organs to sense a stimulus. It is an auto reflex
mechanism (direct and immediate) of our sense organs, i.e. eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin
towards a stimulus in the environment. This stimulus could be anything, a person, object,
situation or thing. In terms of marketing, it could be a product, a brand name, an
advertisement or even a store. Thus sensation is the reaction or response of a sense organ or a
sensory receptor towards a stimulus.

Perception is much broader in scope. It is complex process by which a person organizes facts
around the stimuli and gives meaning to it.

While perception starts with sensation, it ends up when meaning is given to the stimuli,
through cognitive processes. While sensation picks up bits and pieces as stimuli, the
cognitive processes involved in perception can add to/delete/modify the diverse sensations
and information.

We have varying cognitive capacities and capabilities; our backgrounds are diverse and
psychological processes (needs, motivation, learning, attitudes, values, etc.) and sociological
factors (culture, sub-culture, social class, etc.) different. So while sensation is an objective
process, perception is highly subjective.

3.6.6. Interpretation: deciding what things mean.

Interpretation refers to the meanings we assign to sensory stimuli. Just as people differ
interms of the stimuli that they perceive, the meanings we assign to these stimuli vary as
well.Many of these meanings depend upon our socialisation within a society: Even sensory
perceptionis culturally specific.

Stimulus organisation
People do not perceive a single stimulus in isolation. Our brains tend to relate incoming
sensations to imagery of other events or sensations already in our memory based on some
fundamental organisational principles. A number of perceptual principles describe how
stimuli are perceived and organised.

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3.6.7. Perception and Marketing Strategies

Marketing strategy consists of direction the 4 Ps on the target market. When we talk of
perception and marketing strategy, we direct the 4 Ps for proper exposure, attention,
interpretation and action. Thus, the product, its brand name, style, packaging and other
features should all be such that a proper image or meaning is perceived by the individual.

Price decides the value of goods. A high or a low price may be perceived in different ways.
Some may think of a high price as a good quality product from a big company or a
prestigious product and brand. Others may think of a high price as a gimmick, whereas, the
other lower priced products compare well with the brand in question. Similarly, a low price
may be interpreted as a low quality product or, as an opportunity given by the company to
make its product popular.

Promotion: the advertisement, sales promotion, etc.; elements of promotion are the major
means that marketers use in shaping consumers perception. The selection of the media is
important and it should be correlated with the audience one is trying to reach. We can have
different media for rural and urban areas. We may also have different media for younger
people, as compared to elder people. Media for men, women, high income, or low income
groups may also be different. The advertisements must capture attention and convey
meaning. The consumers take an interest in the ads when they are in need of the product, not
otherwise. Various strategies of capturing the attention of the consumers can be used, i.e., by
giving big ads or the ads of celebrities who can capture the attention. Sometimes, garment
sellers put an attractive woman, different shades of colours can make the product popular and
the sale may increase. A lot of advertisements give importance to sex appeal, e.g., showing an
attractive woman with the product in the hand or in use. Branded jewellery advertised with
the help of beautiful film actresses or models captures the attention of the audience.

Distribution: the choice of channel also affects perceptions. Retail shops are well decorated.
Interior designing and arrangements of product displays, point of purchase displays, visible
shelves, lighted with proper background attracts the customer. The ambience and the
atmosphere of the shop with proper music, air-conditioning and shining floors and walls, all
attract the customers and can increase the traffic in the store, and consequently, register
greater sales.

A successful advertisement must accomplish 4 basic tasks:

 Exposure: It must be exposed to reach the consumer.

 Attention: Should be able to attract the customer and make him interested in the
product.
 Interpretation: The meaning attached should be consistent with the projected meaning.
 Memory: Must be stored in the memory so that retrieval is possible

Discussion questions:

 What are the personal and other factors that affect perception of people?
 Are the consumers in Ethiopia multitasked?
 What do you do as a marketer to create a positive perception of your products?

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3.7. Life Style

Learning objectives:

At the end of this chapter you will be able to:

 Describe what life style is

 Analyze and segment the consumers’ in terms of life style
 Use life style segmentation for the development of marketing mix.

3.7.1. Nature of Life style

It is defined simply as how one lives, and spends money. It is determined by our past
experiences, innate characteristics and current situations. The products we consume are
related to our lifestyle. Lifestyle marketing established a relationship between the products
offered in the market and targeted lifestyle groups. Lifestyles segmentation is based on
activities and interest and opinions of groups. These are psychographic segmentations, and
lifestyles are derived from psychographics. Lifestyle is a unified pattern of behaviour that
determines consumption and, is also in turn determined by it.

Demographic and psychographic lifestyles are complimentary and work best together.
Demographic variables help marketers “locate” the target market, and psychographics
provides more insight into the segment by taking into their activities interests and opinions.

 Activities: Activities can be described as how one spends his time.

 Interests: Interests are a person’s priorities and preferences.
 Opinions: It is how one feels about a wide variety of events.

3.7.2. Marketing application of Life Style

A lifestyle marketing perspective recognizes that people are increasingly conscious about the
fact that we all sort ourselves and each other into groups on the basis of the things we/they
like to do, how we/they like to spend our/their leisure time and how we/they choose to spend
disposable income. These choices in turn create opportunities for market segmentation
strategies that recognize the potency of a consumer’s chosen lifestyle in determining both the
types of products purchased and the specific brands more likely to appeal to a designated
lifestyle segment.

Consumers often choose products, services and activities over others because they are
associated with a certain lifestyle. For this reason, lifestyle marketing strategies attempt to
position a product by fitting it into an existing pattern of consumption.

Because a goal of lifestyle marketing is to provide consumers with opportunities to pursue

their chosen ways to enjoy their lives and express their social identities, a key aspect of this
strategy is to focus on product usage in desirable social settings. Marketers also measure
lifestyles, which are patterns of behaviour (or activities, interests, and opinions). These
lifestyles can provide some additional insight into consumers’ consumption patterns. Finally,
some marketing researchers use psychographic techniques that involve all of these factors to
predict consumer behaviour. One of the most well-known psychographic tools is the Values

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and Lifestyle Survey (VALS). The newer VALS2 identifies eight segments of consumers
who are similar in their resources and self-orientations.

Discussion questions

 From your own observation of people you know can you categories people in terms of
their life style?
 Is there a relationship between the life style of people you know and their
consumption behaviour?
 What do you do to apply life style in the marketing strategy design in Ethiopian
context?

3.8. Personality
Personality is another personal factor that affects a person’s behaviour. Here we will be
focussing on personality in relation to consumption behaviour.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this part the participants will be able to:

 Describe the nature and meaning of personality

 Use theories of personality to analyse personality of consumers
 Understand the relationship between personality and consumption behaviour of a
consumer

3.8.1. Meaning of Personality

Personality may be defined as those inner psychological characteristics that determine and
reflect how a person responds to his or her environment. These inner characteristics are those
specific qualities and attributes traits, factors, mannerisms that distinguish one person from
another.

Personality reflects individual differences. Therefore, we can categorise them into groups on
the basis of few traits, e.g., low sociability/high sociability, dull/bright, practical vs.
imaginative etc. Personality is consistent and enduring and is only one of the factors that
affect consumer behaviour. Personality can change due to major life events.

In consumer behaviour personality influences the individual’s product choices and brand
choices. It also responds to a firm’s promotional efforts and, when and how they consume
particular products or, services. By associating personality characteristics with consumer
behaviour, a marketer can formulate marketing strategies in an effective manner.

The study of personality has been approached by theorists in a variety of ways. Some have
emphasised the dual influence of heredity and early childhood experiences on personality
development; others have stressed broader social and environmental influences and the fact
that personalities develop continuously over time. Some theorists prefer to view personality
as a unified whole; others focus on specific traits. The wide variation in viewpoints makes it
difficult to arrive at a single definition. However, personality can be defined as those inner

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psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect how a person responds to his or
her environment (Schiffman,2012).

The emphasis in this definition is on inner characteristics – those specific qualities, attributes,
traits, factors and mannerisms that distinguish one individual from other individuals. The
deeply ingrained characteristics that we call personality are likely to influence the
individual’s product choices: they affect the way consumers respond to marketers’
promotional efforts, and when, where and how they consume particular products or services.

Therefore, the identification of specific personality characteristics associated with consumer

behaviour has proved to be highly useful in the development of a firm’s market segmentation
strategies.

3.8.2. The nature of personality

In the study of personality, three distinct properties are of central importance:

1. Personality reflects individual differences;

2. Personality is consistent and enduring; and
3. Personality can change.

Personality Reflects Individual Differences

Because the inner characteristics that constitute an individual’s personality are a unique
combination of factors, no two individuals are exactly alike. Nevertheless, many individuals
may be similar in terms of a single personality characteristic but not in terms of others. For
instance, some people can be described as ‘high’ risk takers (e.g. willing to accept the risk of
doing something new or different, such as skydiving or mountain climbing), whereas others
can be described as ‘low’ in taking risks (e.g. afraid to buy a recently introduced product).

Personality is a useful concept because it enables us to categorise consumers into different

groups on the basis of one or even several traits. If each person were different in terms of all
personality traits, it would be impossible to group consumers into segments, and there would
be little reason for marketers to develop products and promotional campaigns targeted to
particular segments.

Personality Is Consistent and Enduring

An individual’s personality tends to be both consistent and enduring. Indeed, the mother who
comments that her child ‘has been impulsive from the day he was born’ is supporting the
contention that personality has both consistency and endurance. Both qualities are essential if
marketers are to explain or predict consumer behaviour in terms of personality.

Although marketers cannot change consumers’ personalities to conform to their products, if

they know which personality characteristics influence specific consumer responses they can
attempt to appeal to the relevant traits inherent in their target group of consumers.

Even though consumers’ personalities may be consistent, their consumption behaviour often
varies considerably because of the various psychological, sociocultural, environmental and
situational factors that affect behaviour. For instance, although an individual’s personality

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maybe relatively stable, specific needs or motives, attitudes, reactions to group pressures, and
even responses to newly available brands may cause a change in the person’s behaviour.
Personality is only one of a combination of factors that influence how a consumer behaves.

Personality Can Change

Under certain circumstances if not totally, some aspects of personalities may change. For
instance, an individual’s personality may be altered by major life events, such as the birth of a
child, the death of a loved one, a divorce or a significant career promotion. An individual’s
personality changes not only in response to abrupt events but also as part of a gradual
maturing process – ‘She’s growing up, she is much calmer,’ says an aunt after not seeing her
niece for five years.

There is also evidence that personality stereotypes may change over time. The reason for this
shift is that women have been moving into occupations that have traditionally been
dominated by men and, therefore, are being increasingly associated with masculine
personality attributes.

3.8.4. Theories of Personality

This section briefly reviews three major theories of personality:

1. Freudian theory.

2. Neo-Freudian theory, and

3. Trait theory.

These theories have been chosen for discussion from among many theories of personality
because each has played a prominent role in the study of the relationship between consumer
behaviour and personality.

Freudian theory (Id, Superego and Ego)

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theoryof personality is a cornerstone of modern psychology.
This theory was built on the premise that unconscious needs or drives, especially sexual and
other biological drives, are at the heart of human motivation and personality. Freud
constructed his theory on the basis of patients’ recollections of early childhood experiences,
analysis of their dreams and the specific nature of their mental and physical adjustment
problems.

Based on his analyses, Freud proposed that the human personality consists of three
interacting systems: the id, the superego and the ego. The id is conceptualised as a
‘warehouse’ of primitive and impulsive drives – basic physiological needs such as thirst,
hunger and sex – for which the individual seeks immediate satisfaction without concern for
the specific means of satisfaction.

In contrast to the id, the superego is conceptualised as the individual’s internal expression of
society’s moral and ethical codes of conduct. The superego’s role is to see that the individual
satisfies needs in a socially acceptable fashion. Thus, the superego is a kind of brake that
restrains or inhibits the impulsive forces of the id.
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Finally, the ego is the individual’s conscious control. It functions as an internal monitor that
attempts to balance the impulsive demands of the id and the sociocultural constraints of the
superego.

In addition to specifying a structure for personality, Freud emphasised that an

individual’spersonality is formed as he or she passes through a number of distinct stages of
infant and childhood development. These are the oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital stages.
Freud labelled four of these stages of development to conform to the area of the body on
which he believed the child’s sexual instincts are focused at the time.

According to Freudian theory, an adult’s personality is determined by how well he or she

deals with the crises that are experienced while passing through each of these stages
(particularly the first three). For instance, if a child’s oral needs are not adequately satisfied at
the first stage of development, the person may become fixated at this stage and as an adult
display a personality that includes such traits as dependence and excessive oral activity (e.g.
gum chewing and smoking). When an individual is fixated at the anal stage, the adult
personality may display other traits, such as an excessive need for neatness.

Freudian Theory and ‘Product Personality’

Researchers who apply Freud’s psychoanalytic theory to the study of consumer personality
believe that human drives are largely unconscious and that consumers are primarily unaware
of their true reasons for buying what they buy. These researchers tend to see consumer
purchases and/or consumption situations as a reflection and an extension of the consumer’s
own personality.

In other words, they consider the consumer’s appearance and possessions – grooming,
clothing, jewellery and so forth – as reflections of the individual’s personality. The findings
of the research on personality linkage with snack perception revealed that for example potato
chips (crisps) are associated with being ambitious, successful, a high achiever and impatient
with less than the best, whereas popcorn seems to be related to a personality that takes
charge, pitches in often, is modest and self-confident but not a show-off.

Neo-Freudian theory
Several of Freud’s colleagues disagreed with his contention that personality is primarily
instinctual and sexual in nature. Instead, these neo-Freudians believed that social
relationships arefundamental to the formation and development of personality. For instance,
Alfred Adler viewed human beings as seeking to attain various rational goals, which he
called style of life. He also placed much emphasis on the individual’s efforts to overcome
feelings of inferiority (i.e. by striving for superiority). Harry Stack Sullivan, another Neo-
Freudian, stressed that people continuously attempt to establish significant and rewarding
relationships with others. He was particularly concerned with the individual’s efforts to
reduce tensions, such as anxiety.

Like Sullivan, Karen Horney was also interested in anxiety. She focused on the impact of
child–parent relationships and the individual’s desire to conquer feelings of anxiety. Horney

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proposed that individuals be classified into three personality groups: compliant, aggressive
and detached (CAD).

1. Compliant individuals are those who move towards others (they desire to be loved, wanted
and appreciated).

2. Aggressive individuals are those who move against others (they desire to excel and win
admiration).

3. Detached individuals are those who move away from others (they desire independence,
self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and individualism or freedom from obligations).

A personality test based on Horney’s CAD theory has been developed and tested within the
context of consumer behaviour. The initial CAD research uncovered a number of tentative
relationships between college students’ scores and their product and brand usage patterns.
More recent research has found that children who scored high in self-reliance – who preferred
to do things independently of others (i.e. detached personalities) – were less likely to be
brand loyal and were more likely to try different brands.

Many marketers use some of these Neo-Freudian theories intuitively. For example, marketers
who position their products or services as providing an opportunity to belong or to be
appreciated by others in a group or social setting would seem to be guided by Horney’s
characterisation of the compliant individual.

Trait theory
Trait theory constitutes a major departure from the qualitative measures that typify the
Freudian and Neo-Freudian movements (e.g. personal observation, self-reported experiences,
dream analysis, projective techniques).

The orientation of trait theory is primarily quantitative or empirical; it focuses on the

measurement of personality in terms of specific psychological characteristics, called traits. A
trait isdefined as ‘any distinguishing, relatively enduring way in which one individual differs
from another’. Trait theorists are concerned with the construction of personality tests (or
inventories) that enable them to pinpoint individual differences in terms of specific traits.

Selected single-trait personality tests (which measure just one trait, such as self-confidence)
are often developed specifically for use in consumer behaviour studies. These tailor-made
personality tests measure such traits as consumer innovativeness (how receptive a person is
to new experiences), consumer materialism (the degree of the consumer’s attachment to
‘worldly possessions’) and consumer ethnocentrism (the consumer’s likelihood to accept or
reject foreign made products).

Trait researchers have found that it is generally more realistic to expect personality to be
linked to how consumers make their choices and to the purchase or consumption of a broad
product category rather than a specific brand. For example, there is more likely to be a
relationship between a personality trait and whether or not an individual owns a convertible
sports car than between a personality trait and the brand of convertible sports car purchased.

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Personality and Understanding Consumer Diversity

Marketers are interested in understanding how personality influences consumption behaviour
because such knowledge enables them to understand consumers better and to segment and
target those consumers who are likely to respond positively to their product or service
communications.

Several specific personality traits that provide insights about consumer behaviour are
examined next.

Consumer innovativeness and related personality traits

Marketing practitioners try to learn all they can about consumer innovators – those who are
likely to be the first to try new products, services or practices – for the market response of
such innovators is often a critical indication of the eventual success or failure of a new
product or service.

Personality traits that have been useful in differentiating between consumer innovators and
non-innovators include consumer innovativeness, dogmatism, social character, need for
uniqueness, optimum stimulation level, sensation seeking, and variety or novelty seeking. (
examines non-personality characteristics that distinguish between consumer innovators and
non-innovators.)

Consumer Innovativeness
Consumer researchers have endeavoured to develop measurement instruments to gauge the
level of consumer innovativeness, because such personality trait measures provide important
insights into the nature and boundaries of a consumer’s willingness to innovate. Over the
years, the trait of consumer innovativeness has been linked to the need for stimulation,
novelty seeking and the need for uniqueness – three other traits that will be discussed later in
this chapter.

There are two alternative scales for measuring consumer innovativeness, the first measuring
general innovativeness and the second measuring domain-specific (i.e. product-specific)
innovativeness.

There is a positive relationship between innovative use of the Internet and buying online.
Internet shoppers tend to see themselves as being able to control their own future, using the
Internet to seek out information, enjoying change and not being afraid of uncertainty.

Dogmatism
Consumer responses to distinctively unfamiliar products or product features (i.e. level of
dogmatism – a personality-linked behaviour) are of keen interest to many marketers,
especially marketers of technologically rich products. Dogmatism is a personality trait that
measures the degree of rigidity (versus openness) that individuals display towards the
unfamiliar and towards information that is contrary to their own established beliefs. A person
who is highly dogmatic approaches the unfamiliar defensively and with considerable
discomfort and uncertainty. At the other end of the spectrum, a person who is low in
dogmatism will readily consider unfamiliar or opposing beliefs.

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Consumers who are low in dogmatism (open-minded) are more likely to prefer innovative
products to established or traditional alternatives. In contrast, highly dogmatic (closed-
minded) consumers are more likely to choose established, rather than innovative, product
alternatives.

Highly dogmatic consumers tend to be more receptive to advertisements for new products or
services that contain an appeal from an authoritative figure. To this end, marketers have used
celebrities and experts in their new-product advertising to make it easier for potentially
reluctant consumers (non-innovators) to accept the innovation. In contrast, low-dogmatic
consumers (who are frequently high in innovativeness) seem to be more receptive to
messages that stress factual differences, product benefits and other forms of product-usage
information.

Social Character
The personality trait known as social character has its origins in sociological research, which
focuses on the identification and classification of individuals into distinct sociocultural types.
As used in consumer psychology, social character is a personality trait that ranges on a
continuum from inner-directedness to other-directedness. Inner-directed consumers tend to
rely on their own inner values or standards in evaluating new products and are likely to be
consumer innovators.

Conversely, other-directed consumers tend to look to others for direction on what is right or
wrong; thus, they are less likely to be consumer innovators.

Inner- and other-directed consumers are attracted to different types of promotional messages.
Inner-directed people seem to prefer advertisements that stress product features and personal
benefits (enabling them to use their own values and standards in evaluating
products),whereas other-directed people prefer advertisements that feature an approving
social environment or social acceptance (in keeping with their tendency to look to others for
direction). Thus, other-directed individuals may be more easily influenced because of their
natural inclination to go beyond the content of an advertisement and think in terms of likely
social approval of a potential purchase.

Need for Uniqueness

We all know people who seek to be unique. For these people conformity to others’
expectations or standards, either in appearance or in their possessions, is something to be
avoided. Moreover, we would expect that it is easier to express or act uniquely if one does
not have to pay a price in the form of others’ criticism. Supporting this perspective, a recent
study of consumers’ need for uniqueness (NFU) explored the circumstances under which
high NFU individuals do (and do not) make unconventional (i.e. unique) choices. The
research revealed that when consumers are asked to explain their choices, but are not
concerned about being criticised by others, they are more receptive to making unique choices.
Seeing the importance of NFU, other consumer researchers have developed an inventory to
measure the trait within the context of consumer behaviour.

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Optimum Stimulation Level

Some people seem to prefer a simple, uncluttered and calm existence, whereas others prefer
an environment crammed with novel, complex and unusual experiences. Consumer research
has examined how such variations in individual needs for stimulation may be related to
consumer behaviour. Research has found that high optimum stimulation levels ( OSLs) are
linked with greater willingness to take risks, to try new products, to be innovative, to seek
purchase related information and to accept new retail facilities than low OSLs. One recent
study investigating students’ willingness to select mass customisation of fashion items (e.g. a
pair of jeans that are especially measured, cut and sewn so they offer a better fit or
appearance), found that OSL predicted two factors – students’ openness to experimentation
with appearance (e.g. ‘I try on some of the newest clothes each season to see how I look in
the styles’) and enhancement of individuality (e.g. ‘I try to buy clothes that are very
unusual’).

OSL scores also seem to reflect a person’s desired level of lifestyle stimulation. For instance,
consumers whose actual lifestyles are equivalent to their OSL scores appear to be quite
satisfied, whereas those whose lifestyles are under stimulated (their OSL scores are greater
than the lifestyle they are currently living) are likely to be bored. Those whose lifestyles are
overstimulated (their OSLs are lower than current reality) are likely to seek rest or relief. This
suggests that the relationship between consumers’ lifestyles and their OSLs is likely to
influence their choices ofbrand personalityeffects.

Specifically, if marketers determine that the potential customers in a particular country

possess a positive image of products made in the country in which their products originate,
the marketers may be able to create a marketing mix strategy that follows options in the
Positive column. In contrast, if marketers assess that the potential customers in a particular
country possess a negative image of products made in the country in which their products
originate, the marketers might be wise to elect a marketing mix strategy that follows options
in the Negative.

Earlier in the discussion of Freudian theory, we introduced the notion of product personality.
Consumers also subscribe to the notion of brand personality; that is, they attribute various
descriptive personality-like traits or characteristics to different brands in a wide variety of
product categories. For instance, with some help from frequent advertising, consumers tend
to see Volvo as representing safety, Nike as the athlete in all of us, and BMW as performance
driven. In a similar fashion, the brand personality for Levi’s 501 jeans is ‘dependable and
rugged’, ‘real and authentic’ and ‘American and Western’.

Such personality-like images of brands reflect consumers’ visions of the inner core of many
strong brands of consumer products. As these examples reveal, a brand’s personality can
either be functional (‘provides safety’) or symbolic (‘the athlete in all of us’). There is
common sense and research evidence to conclude that any brand personality, as long as it is
strong and favourable, will strengthen a brand. However, it is not clear, for example, how
many consumers would be willing to pay a 10 to 15 per cent premium for a brand-name
diamond.

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One of the fast-food chains that many western ordinary consumers may patronise with some
frequency, McDonald’s, can exemplify companies that have built distinctive brand
personalities for themselves. The McDonald’s brand personality, through Ronald McDonald
and other cartoon characters, has always been associated with fun. Marketers have even
provided an instant personality or heritage for a new product by employing a symbolic or
fictional historical branding strategy.

Discussion questions

1. Describe the meaning and nature of personality?

2. Differentiate the themes of theories of personality?
3. Identify the influence of personality on consumption behaviour?

3.9. Self-concept
An individual’s belief about himself affects his behaviours including consumption
behaviours. It is one of the personal factors that affect consumption.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this part, the participants will be able to:

 Describe what self-concept is

 Understand how self-concept affects a person’s behaviour
 Use self-concept as one of the basis for designing marketing strategies

3.9.1. The Meaning of Self -Concept

The self-concept refers to the beliefs a person holds about his or her attributes, and how he or
she evaluates these qualities. While one’s overall self-concept may be positive, there are
certainly parts of the self that are evaluated more positively than others. Attributes of

Self-concept can be described along such dimensions as their content (for example, facial
attractiveness vs. mental aptitude), positivity or negativity (i.e. self-esteem), intensity,
stability over time and accuracy (that is, the degree to which one’s self-assessment
corresponds to reality) (Solomon, et al.,2016).

Self-esteem
Self-esteem is the regard that one has for himself. According to Solomon et al. (2016) self-
esteem refers to the positivity of a person’s self-concept. People with low self-esteem do not
expect that they will perform very well, and they will try to avoid embarrassment, failure or
rejection. People with high self-esteem expect to be successful, will take more risks and are
more willing to be the centre of attention. Self-esteem is often related to acceptance by
others. Therefore, a person’s self-concept is shaped by the regard that one has for himself and
acceptance by others around him.

The way we think about our bodies (and the way our culture tells us we should think) is a key
component of self-esteem.A person’s conception of his or her bodyalso provides feedback to

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self-image. A culture communicates specific ideals ofbeauty, and consumers go to great

lengths to attain these.

Self-esteem advertising attempts to change product attitudes by stimulating positive feelings

about the self. One strategy is to challenge the consumer’s self-esteem and then show a
linkage to a product that will provide a remedy. Sometimes compliments are derived by
comparing the person to others.

3.9.2. Types of Self-concept

Self-concept can be described simply as how one perceives himself and his behaviour in the
market place. It is the attitude one holds towards himself. What one thinks of him-self? The
self-concept is not very realistic because an unconscious component is always present. It can
be divided into six types, as given below:

a) Actual self: How a person actually perceives himself.

b) Ideal self: How a person would like to perceive himself.
c) Social self: How a person thinks others perceive him.
d) Ideal social self: How a person would like others to perceive him.
e) Expected self: An image of self somewhere in between the actual and ideal self.
f) Situational self: A person’s self-image in a specific situation.

3.9.3. Self-concept and Marketing Strategy

Self-concept is a social phenomenon. It is an attitude to the self. Consequently, the way we
dress, the products we use, the services we require, depend on how we want to perceive
ourselves. There is a relationship between the self-image of a person and the product one
wants to buy. Products act as symbols for consumers. People like to use the products which
match their personality. These include clothing, leisure products, and personal care products.

Marketers want an idea of the self-concept and the image of the brand. This can be done on a
differential scale of 1 to 7 of several items. First the consumers are asked to rate their self-
concept on the differential scale. Then they are asked to rate product brands on the same
scales. The responses that watch with the brands are expected to be preferred by consumers.
After matching the self-concept with the brand image, the individual tries to find products for
his satisfaction. If he is satisfied, his self-concept gets reinforced.

The interaction between the product and self-concept can be situation specific. In some
situations, the self-concept can be enhanced or reinforced to a lesser or higher degree.
Marketers use these tools as a guide to product and brand choices.

Marketers also need to understand the cultural conception of appearance, gender stereotypes
and expectations. These expectations determine the types of products a person buys.
Therefore, marketers can use self-concept knowledge to segment the market, produce and
market products in a way that meets these expectations.

Discussion questions

 Think about your own self-concept and write down, how it affects your consumption?

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 What do you think is an Ethiopian society’s expectation of the two genders external
appearance and ideals? How do you think these societal expectations affects
consumers behaviour?
 As a marketer how do use the concept of self-concept in marketing products in
Ethiopian context.

Part IV: External Factors

4.1. Cultural influences

Culture is the major external factor that shapes people’s behaviour. This part of the course
provides the basics of culture and its influences on consumer behaviour.

Learning objectives:
At the end of this part the students will be able to:
 Describe the nature of culture
 Distinguish basic characteristics of culture
 List the functions of culture
 Identify the importance of culture in marketing

4.1.1. The Concept of culture

Culture is the distinct way of life of a group of people and their complete design for living
(khan, 2006). Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law,
morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of
society. Culture is very detrimental in that it influences the pattern of living, of consumption,
of decision-making by individuals. It has certain characteristics and is transmitted from one
generation to another.

It is a comprehensive concept and includes all those things that influence individual in his
thinking and behaviour, e.g., People in the western world have a different culture than those
in the east or Africa. Their behaviour, living style and decision making is different from those
in the eastern countries.

4.1.2. Characteristics of Culture

Cultures are organised as open systems of interrelated elements. What this means is that
culture is not static. It is continually evolving, synthesising old ideas with new ones. A
cultural system can be said to consist of three interrelated functional areas or inter-dependent
systems

(i) Ideological system—mental system consisting of ideas, beliefs, values and ways of
reasoning (good or bad).
(ii) Technological system consists of skills, techniques to produce.
(iii) Organisational system (family and social class) coordinates behaviour.

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• Culture is learned: It begins early in life and is learned through generations. Unlike innate
biological characteristics (e.g. sex, skin or hair colour), culture is learned. At an early age, we
begin to acquire from our social environment a set of beliefs, values and customs that make
up our culture.

• Culture is socially shared by human beings living in societies.To be considered a cultural

characteristic, a particular belief, value or practice must be shared by a significant portion of
the society.In addition to the family, two other institutions traditionally share much of the
responsibility for the transfer of selected aspects of culture: educational institutions and
houses of worship. Currently mass Medias are also one of the means of transmitting and
sharing culture.

• Culture as similar yet different. Athletics, sports language music rituals are observed by all
but are different.

• Culture is dynamic. Culture keeps changing slowly over time; and is not static. Changes
take place due to rapid technologies. In case of emergency, war, or natural calamities,
marketers and managers must understand the existing culture as well as the changing culture
and culture of the country where the goods are to be marketed. Major companies have
adapted themselves to international culture and are accepted globally. To fulfil its gratifying
role of the society it should continuously evolve while some aspects of it are persistent: You
get satisfaction yet change is difficult.

• Culture forms a boundary within which an individual thinks and acts. When one thinks and
acts beyond these boundaries, he is adopting a cross-cultural behaviour and there are cross-
cultural influences as well.

The nature of cultural influence is such that we are seldom aware of them. One feels,
behaves, and thinks like the other members of the same culture. It is all pervasive and is
present everywhere. Culture is a very broad concept and pervades like the air in the
atmosphere. Culture can be divided into two distinct components.

4.1.3. Elements of culture

A society’s culture includes its values, ethics and the material objects produced by its people.
It is the accumulation of shared meanings and traditions among members of a society.

A culture can be described in terms of ecology (the way people adapt to their habitat), its
social structure and its ideology (including people’s moral and aesthetic principles). This part
of the module describes some aspects of culture and focuses on how cultural meanings are
created and transmitted across members of a society.

Members of a culture share a system of beliefs and practices, including values. The process
of learning the values of one’s culture is called enculturation. Each culture can bedescribed
by a set of core values. Values can be identified by several methods, though it is often
difficult to apply these results directly to marketing campaigns due to their generality.

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Myths are stories containing symbolic elements that express the shared ideals of a culture.
Many myths involve some binary opposition, where values are defined in terms of what they
are and what they are not (e.g. nature vs technology). Modern myths are transmitted through
advertising, films and other media.

A ritual is a set of multiple, symbolic behaviours which occur in a fixed sequence and tend to
be repeated periodically. Rituals are related to many consumption activities which occur in
popular culture. These include holiday observances, gift-giving and grooming.

A rite of passage is a special kind of ritual which involves the transition from one role to
another. These passages typically entail the need to acquire products and services, called
ritual artefacts, to facilitate the transition. Modern rites of passage include graduations,
initiation ceremonies, weddings and funerals

4.1.4. The Functions of Culture

We have already seen that culture influences the behaviour of individuals. It provides a
framework within which individuals and households build their pattern of living or exhibit
their lifestyles.

Norms are the boundaries that culture sets on the behaviour. There are rules that encourage or
prohibit certain behaviour in specific situations. Norms are derived from cultural values,
which are widely told beliefs that specify what is desirable and what is not. When these rules
are violated, it results in sanctions or penalties which are either disapproved of by the society,
and in extreme cases the individual violating the norms are banished or ostracised from the
society. Most individuals obey norms because it is natural to obey them. Culture outlines
many business norms, family norms, behaviour norms, etc. How we greet people? How close
one should stand to others while conducting business? The dress we wear and any other
patterns of behaviour.

4.1.5. Culture and consumption behaviour

Culture is a concept which is very crucial to the understanding of consumer behaviour, may
be thought of as the collective memory of a society (Solomon et al., ). Culture is the
accumulation of shared meanings, rituals, norms and traditions among the members of an
organisation or society. It is what defines ahuman community, its individuals, its social
organisations, as well as its economic and political systems. It includes both abstract ideas,
such as values and ethics, and the material objects and services, such as cars, clothing, food,
art and sports that are produced or valued by a group of people. Thus, individual consumers
and groups of consumers are but part of culture and culture is the overall system within which
other systems are organised.

The effects of culture on consumer behaviour are so powerful and far-reaching that this
importance is sometimes difficult to grasp or appreciate. We are surrounded by a lot of
practices, from seemingly insignificant behaviours such as passing an exotic honeymoon in
special location. What is important is that these practices have meaning for us, that we know
how to interpret them.

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Culture is basically this interpretation system which we use to understand all those daily or
extraordinary signifying practices around us. Culture as a concept is like a fish immersed in
water – we do not always appreciate this power until we encounter a different environment,
where suddenly many of the assumptions we had taken for granted about the clothes we wear,
the food we eat, the way we address others and so on no longer seem to apply.

The effect of encountering cross-cultural differences can be so great that the term ‘culture
shock’ is not an exaggeration. This might be changing, however, since with increased
globalisation, we encounter other cultures all the times, in the real or the virtual world. And
this in turn might make us more reflexive about who we are and what we represent ourselves.
We also learn to ‘design’ our culture through consumption choices.

Consumption choices cannot be understood without considering the cultural context in which
they are made: culture is the ‘prism’ through which people view products and try to make
sense of their own and other people’s consumer behaviour.A consumer’s culture determines
the overall priorities he or she attaches to different activities and products. It also determines
the success or failure of specific products and services. A product that provides benefits
consistent with those desired by members of a culture at any point in time has a much better
chance of attaining acceptance in the marketplace.

The relationship between consumer behaviour and culture is a two-way street. On the one
hand, products and services that resonate with the priorities of a culture at any given time
have a much better chance of being accepted by consumers. On the other hand, the study of
new products and innovations in product design successfully produced by a culture at any
point in time provides a window on the dominant cultural ideals of that period.

Therefore, marketers need to understand the culture of the society, develop products that
meet cultural needs and goes with the culture, design marketing mix elements with due
understanding and appeal to the cultural values, beliefs, norms and rituals.

Discussion questions:

 What do you think are the effects of culture on your consumption behaviour?
 Identify Ethiopian cultural values, beliefs, norms, and rituals and relate it to
consumption behaviour.
 As a marketer what do you do to understand and use culture for marketing your
company’s products?

4.2. Subcultures
Besides culture the concept of subculture is also very important in understanding variations
among groups in a society and their consumption behaviour.

Learning objectives:
At the end of this part of the module you will be able to:
 Identify the different subcultures in the country and societies

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 Segment the subculture groups with similar characteristics

 Adapt marketing strategies that fits cultural differences among sub-cultural groups.

4.2.1. The Concept of Subculture

Within a culture there exist more homogeneous subgroups. This specifically true in a nation
state where is ethnic and religious diversities. These groups have their own values, customs,
and traditions and other ways of behaviour that are peculiar to a particular group within a
culture.

4.2.2. Subculture Categories

A number of important subcultural categories exist in a society or nation state based on:
nationality, religion, geographic location, age and sex

When we are talking of nationality as a base of subculture, we must understand the term
ethnic as well Ethnic identification is based on what a person is, when he or she is born and is
largely unchangeable. Members of ethnic groups in general descend from same forebears.
They tend to reside in the same locale. Tend to marry within their own group. Share a
common sense of peoplehood. The ethnic group can be divided on the basis of race,
nationality and religion.

In a country like Ethiopia that is religious wise diverse or where all the religions coexist
among every ethnic group, it is natural to find a substantial variety of religious subcultures.
Therefore, besides ethnic subgroup analysis, looking into differences in rituals, ceremonies,
values, etc within the same ethnic group and similarities because of religion across different
ethnic groups can be assessed to identify subcultures.

Sex or gender is also considered as one factor for subculture analysis. Because sex roles have
an important cultural component, it is quite fitting to examine gender as a subcultural
category.Within every society, it is quite common to find products that are either exclusively
or strongly associated with the members of one sex.

Furthermore, in a country like Ethiopia that is large and with a wide range of climatic and
geographic conditions besides ethnicity and religions, geography based subculture can be
very common. Given the size and physical diversity, it is only natural that most Ethiopians
have a sense of regional identification and use this identification as a way of describing
others. Their consumption behaviours do differ among such types of subcultural groups.

Finally, the subculture exists among the same society because of generational gaps or age
subgroups.If you clearly reflect on the difference between your generation and that of your
parents, it is not difficult to understand why each major age sub-grouping of a population
might be thought of as a separate subculture. After all, don’t you listen to different music
from your parents and grandparents, dress differently, read different magazines and enjoy
different television shows? Clearly, important shifts occur in an individual’s demand for
specific types of products and services as he or she goes from being a dependent child to a
retired senior citizen.

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Nevertheless, beware of the overlaps among these segments.All consumers are

simultaneously members of more than one subcultural segment (e.g. a consumer may be a
young, an Ethiopian ethnic Oromo, Muslim student from east Hararrgie currently living in
Addis Ababa). For this reason, marketers should strive to understand how multiple
subcultural memberships interact to influence target consumers’ relevant consumption
behaviour.

4.2.3. Subcultures and Marketing strategy

Subcultural analysis enables the marketing manager to focus on sizeable and natural market
segments. When carrying out such analyses, the marketer must determine whether the beliefs,
values and customs shared by members of a specific subgroup make them desirable
candidates for special marketing attention. Subcultures, therefore, are relevant units of
analysis for market research. And these subcultures are dynamic.

When it comes to consumer behaviour, the ancestral pride is manifested most strongly in the
consumption of ethnic foods, in travel to the ‘homeland’ and in the purchase of numerous
cultural artefacts (ethnic clothing, art, music, foreign language newspapers). Interest in these
goods and services has expanded rapidly as younger consumers attempt to understand better
and associate more closely with their ethnic roots.

The members of all these religious groups at times are likely to make purchase decisions that
are influenced by their religious identity. Commonly, consumer behaviour is directly affected
by religion in terms of products that are symbolically and ritualistically associated with the
celebration of various religious holidays. For example, for some religious subcultures,
Christmas is indisputably the major gift-purchasing season of the year.

Subcultural analysis enables marketers to segment their markets to meet the specific needs,
motivations, perceptions and attitudes shared by members of a specific subcultural group. A
subculture is a distinct cultural group that exists as an identifiable segment within a larger,
more complex society. Its members possess beliefs, values and customs that set them apart
from other members of the same society; at the same time, they hold to the dominant beliefs
of the overall society. Major subcultural categories include nationality, religion, geographic
location, age and sex. Each of these can be broken down into smaller segments that can be
reached through special copy appeals and selective media choices. In some cases (such as the
elderly consumer), product characteristics can be tailored to the specialised needs of the
market segment. Because all consumers simultaneously are members of several subcultural
groups, the marketer must determine for the product category how specific subcultural
memberships interact to influence the consumer’s purchase decisions.

Discussion questions

 Is there a cultural difference between yours and your parents’ subculture? Is there a
generational difference observable to you?
 Think about differences among Ethiopian societies you know and identify
subcultures.
 Is there a difference in consumption behaviours among these subcultural groups?

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 How do you much your marketing strategies to fit these subcultures?

4.3. Social class

Social stratification, the division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct social
classes, exists in all societies and cultures.

A social class refers to a social position that an individual occupies in a society. People
belonging to a social class have many characteristics, such as education, occupation,
ownership of property and source of income. For instance, people in India have many social
classes and these divide the society into a hierarchy of classes, varying from the high class to
low. The members within each group have almost the same status, income, buying
characteristics. Social class influences the decision-making of groups and individuals.

We are aware of our social class to a certain extent, which gives us an idea of our status.
Social class is a reality of life. It reflects on the marketing behaviour of consumers. The
products we buy, the style we prefer the stores we visit and want to buy from.

Learning objectives:
At the end of this part of the module you will be able to:

 Describe the concept and characteristics of social class

 Identify social classes within a society
 Segment a society based on social class
 Use the concept of social class in crafting marketing strategy.

4.3.1. Definition of Social Class

Social class is usually defined by the amount of status that members of a specific class
possess in relation to members of other classes. A social class is a hierarchical division of a
society into relatively distinct and homogeneous groups with respect to attitudes, values,
lifestyles, etc. It is a relatively permanent and homogeneous division or strata in a society,
which differs in their wealth, education, possession, values, beliefs, attitudes, friendship and
manner of speaking. Status difference also reflects on prestige, power and privilege.

The concept of social class involves families rather than individuals. Members of the same
family enjoy the same status, as they belong to the same social class and share the same
house, share a common income and have similar values. These characteristics affect their
relationship with others. Social class results from large groups in a population sharing
approximately the same life styles, which are stratified according to their social status and
prestige.

All countries and societies have variations in social standing—many countries, including
China, tried to have a classless society but not with great success. Social stratification is thus
a reality of life.

By unique behaviour we mean that each social class has its own pattern of purchase,
education, occupation, recreation, etc. This is important to marketers, in order to understand
the needs of the consumer, and accordingly to frame a marketing strategy. There are much

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behaviour that are common between social classes, and all social classes behave in a similar
manner without much difference. This is shared behaviour. Excluded behaviour is one which
the social classes do not indulge in. They try to avoid that behaviour, as it is against their
standards and norms. These could be eating behaviour, i.e., the choice of the eating place.
Buying behaviour: The places one avoids going to, like discount stores, etc. for the upper
class.

4.3.2. Characteristics of social class

The social classes are bound by certain tacit restrictions which include or exclude certain
individuals, places or objects. These are tacit rules they follow by themselves. They restrict
behaviour as they share similar educational background, occupation lifestyle etc.

All social classes have a hierarchy or stratification in terms of income, prestige and status that
distinguishes them from the others.

The individual only belongs to one class and behaves and acts accordingly. However, the
movement from one class to another is possible and goes on with time. We have a new rich
class which has moved upward with the time.

4.3.3. Social Classes

Class structures range from two-class to nine-class systems. A frequently used classification
system consists of six classes: upper-upper, lower-upper, upper-middle, lower-middle, upper-
lower and lower-lower classes (Schiffman, et al., 2012). Profiles of these classes indicate that
the socio-economic differences among classes are reflected in differences in attitudes, in
leisure activities and in consumption habits. This is why segmentation by social class is of
special interest to marketers.

The buying behaviour of individuals and groups are strongly influenced by the social class to
which they belong, or aspire to belong. Social class is also linked to demographic and geo-
graphic data. These classes are found living in clusters and have relatively homogeneous geo-
demographic segments in terms of housing, urbanisation and other, viz. class difference in
status is symbolic for food, housing, clothing, purchases, lifestyle.

In a social class, people try to make the same kind of purchases as are expected by their
peers. Marketers try to target their products on class-based market segments.

Upper- Upper Class

This is the most wealthy, aristocratic class having a lot of property. This is a small-sized
segment and has to be targeted for novelty, expensive, and luxury goods by the marketers.
This class has access to property, prestige and power. They have a lot of discretionary income
and can buy the right product and services, and socialise with the right people. They are an
attractive market segment for leisure goods, designer clothes, foreign travel and special
services.

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Lower Upper Class

They are lower in status than the upper- upper class and try to imitate their lifestyle. They are
known by their conspicuous consumption and are also a smaller target market for luxury
goods. They try to acquire the habits and lifestyle of the upper- upper class. The products
used by the upper class trickle down to this class and is known as the trickledown effect. The
upper class becomes a reference groups and the members of the lower upper class strive to
achieve a higher status in the society. The marketers knowing this formulate a strategy for
this group or class of people.

Upper Middle Class

This class has achieved success in life and consists of managers, professionals, lawyers,
professors. They are also owners of medium-sized business. They therefore take membership
of clubs and have a broad range of cultural interests. They are hardworking and want to reach
higher in society. Their aspirational group is the upper class.

Lower Middle Class

The common man represents this group. Some are highly paid workers and small business
owners and may not have a very high education.

This class aspires for respectability. They wish to have well maintained houses in good
neighbourhoods. Marketers sell products, to this group, which have respectability and social
acceptance in the society.

Upper Lower Class

They live for the present. They and the lower -lower class constitute the major percentage of
population. Their buying habits are influenced by their cultures and sub-cultures. Their social
activities influence the purchase of product.

Lower- Lower Class

They live in utter poverty. Their main concerns are how to fulfil their basic physiological
needs. They need shelter, clothing, and food and go for economical purchases. Their first
priority is the price and they cannot afford any unnecessary expenditure.

The Social Classes and Marketing Strategy

We have said social classes affect consumers’ behaviour. Marketers are interested in
supplying the right products to the right customer (target segment) at the right price at the
right time and with the right promotion. For this, first the target segment is selected and this
can be done on the basis of social class, which is a better prediction of a consumer’s lifestyle
than income. Reasons for shopping and purchases also differ among the social classes. The
upper classes shop for pleasure, and tend to visit stores which are exclusive and sophisticated.
The situations of stores are also important. They visit boutiques and are particular where they
go shopping. The upper and middle classes indulge in greater information search and get
information through the TV, magazines, newspapers, and from groups and individuals of
their social status.

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The lower classes are involved in buying less costly products and have much less
information. They are more concerned with social relationship and respond to products and
promotion of a different nature.

Marketers thus find that a combination of social class and income are superior for product
classes that are visible. These products require moderate expenditure and are symbols of
social status like TV sets, cars, clothing, etc.

In designing a market strategy using social stratification, a process is followed in which data
is collected as the targeted social strata, the marketer relates the status of the group to the
product, positions the product according to social status, and develops a proper marketing
mix.

While relating a product to the status of the group or individual, one has to understand that
the product or brand consumed varies according to income, which may restrict the purchase
of expensive items like cars. Education influences the consumption of fine arts, of imported
goods and varies with social class. This provides a motivation for purchase. Some products
are used for symbols of prosperity, and to project their social class. Products are offered for
different use situations, i.e., parties, marriages gifts, daily use, etc.

The next step is to gather data on the lifestyles of people and how they want to become
upwardly mobile by aspiring to have a desired lifestyle. To promote the product to their life-
style, proper media must be chosen and used effectively. The shopping habits of buyers and
their patterns of buying are also to be studied carefully.

In the third step, the product is positioned. It is positioned according to different income
groups and a social class, e.g., Maruti-800 is an economy car; Mercedes is a luxury car;
Esteem is more spacious and expensive.

Consumable products can also be positioned as a health drink —diet Pepsi, economical drink
(opop), alcohol free drinks, etc. The products can be positioned according to the needs of the
social classes.

The final step is to find out and offer a proper marketing mix to the social class. This consists
of product, price, promotion and distribution, which have many alternatives and have to be
juggled to suit the target market. The after sales service is also very important and must be
given due emphasis to satisfy the customer, and ensure repeat sales.

Discussion questions

 Discuss the concept of social class and its characteristics.

 How many social classes do we have here in Ethiopia?
 How do you relate your marketing strategy to the social classes in Ethiopia?

4.4. Social group influence

The groups that we associate with or the groups that we meet and interact with influence our
behaviour to a certain extent.

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Learning objectives:
At the end of this part the participants will be able to:
 Describe referent groups and their influences on their members
 Identify the effect of group influences on consumer behaviour
 Adapt marketing strategies to group influence on consumer decision-making

4.4.1. Definition of social groups

A group consists of two or more individuals who share a set of norms, values or beliefs and
have certain implicitly or explicitly defined relationship with one another, such that their
behaviour is interdependent. Groups give an opportunity to individuals to learn and socialise.
That is, we learn about consumption behaviours from for example family and other groups,
we seek information about what we want to buy from close friends and group members, etc.
Marketers use the knowledge of group influences when designing market strategy.

Reference group is a group of people whom you refer to, while making buying decisions.
They help you in buying items like clothing, etc. Reference groups influence consumer
behaviour by building aspirations for the individual and, helping him to choose the product
for a particular lifestyle. They are small groups and consist of family, close friends, work
groups, neighbours or any other group of people you associate with.

4.4.2. Types of referent groups

There are four types of reference groups. These are:

Membership and Non-membership Groups: This is a simple and self-explanatory

classification. A membership group is one to which one belongs. Non-membership group are
groups of which you are not a member but may aspire to belong to.

Formal or Informal Group: A formal group has a structure and some objectives and the roles
of the members are defined. Certain rules and regulations are followed. An informal group
has no structure. People come and go at random, e.g., a group meeting in the market place
having tea and snacks together, meeting without much purpose.

Primary or Secondary Group: This depends on the frequency of contact. Primary groups
consist of family, close friends, peers and business associates with whom one has regular
contact. Secondary groups meet infrequently and are not so closely knit. Club membership
groups and shopping groups are secondary groups.

Aspirational Groups: Aspirational groups are the groups you aspire to belong to and want to
join at some future time. These are known as anticipatory aspirational groups. We also have
symbolic aspirational groups to which a person is attached but not likely to belong to. These
are professional sports groups, or some other elite group.

Reference groups can be further classified into four categories given below, depending on the
functions they perform and, the kind and degree of influence exerted by them. These groups
lay down certain norms, roles and status that are followed by members.

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Norms are unwritten codes, or standards of conduct that are assigned to individuals within a
group. Roles are the part that the members play as initiator, influencer, gate keeper, decision
maker, the purchaser and final user.

Status is the position of authority that is designated within a group. High status relates to
more power, e.g., father and mother in a family have greater status than the other family
members. Also the chief executive has greater authority and power than the subordinates in
an organisation. Products are also bought and consumed, which relate to the status of the
individual or group. Thus, there are four categories of reference groups’ namely normative,
comparative, status and dissociative groups.

4.4.3. Effects of referent groups on consumer behaviour

These groups regulate the lives and set standards for norms and conduct. In a family,
influence is exerted by the members of the family in the purchase consumption process.

Reference groups affect consumers by imparting information and by influencing value

expressive needs of the consumers. If one wants to be a member of the group, one has to
conform to the standards of the group. Their values and attitudes have to be appreciated and
adopted, and one tends to buy and use the products which the group uses and appreciates.

More homogeneous groups or group members having similar characteristics are more
susceptible to attitude changes than the groups whose members are less homogeneous. Some
individuals have a strong sense of identification with a group because they derive strong
material or psychological benefit by being associated with that group. Sometimes, there are
pressures of buying, known as conformity pressures, and one adheres to the norms of the
group. Conformity pressures can be noticed with norms set by schools and colleges, other
membership organisation and military or police organisation and the like. These can be
exerted directly or indirectly on the members of the group.

Compliance
The members of the group have to comply only by overt or open behaviour with the norms
and standards, i.e., comply by paying certain fixed fees, being present on time, wearing the
same clothes, etc. It makes no demand on the change of attitudes, beliefs of the person
concerned.

You can only be a passive member of a service organisation, pay fees, eat food, meet people
and go away without being service minded, e.g., Lions Clubs and Rotary Clubs.

Identification
This is a deeper relationship where the individual not only complies to the standards, but also
maintains a social relationship and changes his perception to a great extent, i.e., you can join
a service organisation only for being a member or, you can change your perception and
become service minded and actually start believing in service doing and, appreciating to
achieve the service objectives of the organisation. You can become involved deeply and take
pride in identifying yourself as a Lion or a Rotarian.

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Internalising
Here you become more committed and, not only believe in service, but also try to enforce the
objects and views on others, to get more deeply involved in it. You make or force others to
follow the norms and rules of the organisation.

An example of the process can be that you are born in religious surroundings and perform
rituals enforced on you. The next stage is that you start being religious yourself and the third
stage is that you start preaching the same to others.

The influence of reference groups as consumer behaviour is felt through the influence of
social power. There are five basis of social power. These are:
Reward Power: It is the ability to give rewards in the form of money, gifts, and psychological
rewards such as recognition practice. In some cases, products like clothes, durables goods,
etc. are also offered.

Coercive Power: It is the ability to give threats or withhold rewards. It is the threatening or
coercive power to influence consumer behaviour e.g., the purchase of accepted clothing,
deodorants, mouthwash and LIC Policies, are sold by using coercive power.

Legitimate Power: It is linked to cultural or group values. The groups influence the
consumption pattern to which they belong. It is the power one has, because of his legitimate
position in an organisation i.e., a manager.

Referent Power: It is used to by a status-oriented product which identifies the feeling of

oneness with the group. The group member is urged to obtain a similar status by purchasing
the recommended items.

Expert Power: Buying behaviour is influenced by the expertise of the people in the group.
Experts are people who are experienced and technically qualified in an area.

A person may be attracted to and conform to group norms, either in order to gain praise or
recognition, or in response to coercive power.

4.4.4. Factors Affecting the Influence of Reference Groups

A reference group provides benefits to individuals and that is why people associate with
reference groups. It exerts an influence on the individual’s behaviour and the degree of
influence is determined by:

Firstly, how informed and experienced the individual is? If the individual is less in- formed,
he relies heavily on the reference group or, if he has little or no experience even then he looks
up to the groups for information and guidance.

Secondly, if the group has high credibility, greater influence can be exerted by it on the
individual’s behaviour. It can thus change the attitudes and beliefs of the consumers.
Consumers will look upon it and refer to it more for information on product quality.

A wide application of reference groups is used in advertising by marketers. They use pleasant
situations and attractive and prominent people to promote their products. The products are

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used by these people who are sought after and, have made a mark in life. They try to identify
lifestyle characteristics of a certain group and then design effective advertising strategies. The
designing of advertising is done by:

Using Celebrities: Celebrities who endorse the product to the consumer, e.g., film stars for
beauty products including soaps (Lux), etc. sports people for the use of healthy products, e.g.,
energy drinks for alcohol.

Use of Experts and Professionals: Experts in various fields are used to promote the products.
The prospective customers evaluate the products advertised by experts and are affected by
these experts and professionals. Doctors are used to promote tooth-pastes.

Use of Spokesman: For product endorsements, spokesmen for a particular product refer to the
appeal for the common man. It is propagated that somebody from the common man uses the
product and is satisfied.

4.4.5. Opinion Leaders

These are key persons in a group who influence their group and are innovators or early
buyers. The marketer focuses his strategies on key persons in the group, some are opinion
leaders, and others are opinion seekers. Thus, key persons are knowledgeable with a lot of
experience. They are also known as influencers and others are receivers. They consist of
friends, associates, neighbours, etc. In this group, persuasive communication is more fruitful,
as opinion leaders can affect and influence the behaviour of others in a group.

There are opinion leaders who mediate the transmission of information from mass media to
the general public.

The opinion leaders transmit the products relative information, which consists of:
(a) use of specific product, e.g., washing machine, vacuum cleaner, electric shaver etc.
(b) Which of several brands is the best—Whirlpool, Samsung, Techno, etc.
(c) Which is the best place to shop from, which dealer, locality, etc.

Nevertheless, opinion leaders for one specific product may not be the opinion leaders for
other products, as well. An opinion leader for infants’ foods may not be the opinion leader for
kitchen ware, etc. Opinion leaders in one area may not necessarily influence other areas.

4.4.6. Characteristics of Opinion Leaders

Opinion leaders are more knowledgeable, and have a keen level of interest.

• More involved in the product category.

• Have local friendship and social interaction.
• Can disseminate information.
• Have high credibility.
• Have more self-confidence, are more sociable and cosmopolitan, can take risks.

Opinion leaders are activated greatly to reduce distance process for the products they have
bought; may want to influence neighbours and friends. They involve themselves, to confirm

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their own judgement. They are younger, have more education, have a higher income, and
higher occupational status.

They are exposed to media. See more movies and television. Also read information
magazines and technical publication devoted to the product category. Having greater
knowledge about the product, they can disseminate more and true information about the
products and their usage. Opinion leaders are therefore a case of study to marketers and their
strategies are evaluated and formed, keeping the opinion leaders and their roles in mind.

Furthermore, the opinion leaders seek relevant information from the mass media and other
sources, and transmit the same to members of the group. There is also feedback from the
group to the opinion leaders.

Gate-keepers: They may be distinct from opinion leaders. They introduced ideas and
information, but are not able to influence the group.

Market Maven: Maven is an expert having knowledge and information over many kinds of
products. They have information about shopping places and other facts of the markets. Their
expertise is of a general market rather than of a product specific market. They enjoy browsing
and shopping and participate in marketing activities. They are well read; they read classified
newspapers mail advertising etc. Communication can be source initiated or recipient initiated
and may have one or two way influence.

Source Initiated: The marketer or the user transmits information to the user e.g., Moti told me
how good is the performance of his washing machine so I bought one.

Receiver Initiated (One way influence): The receiver makes an effort to get the information.
For example I asked the salesman which mixes he recommends.

Source Initiated (2 way influences): I showed my expensive set of jewellery to Moti and he
now plans to buy one for himself. He felt that it was a good set. This made me feel better and
offset my anxiety of having bought an expensive one.

Receiver Initiated: (2 way influences) Mohan asked me to show my collection of arms to

him. We had an interesting discussion on the subject and both learnt from the comments of
each other.

For Word of Mouth Communication to be effective the following points must be considered:

1. The product is visible and purchase behaviour is apparent.

2. The product is distinctive and can be matched with life style, taste and personal likes.
3. The product is newly introduced and the consumers have not formed any opinion about it.
4. The product is important to the reference group’s norms and belief systems. Sugar free
coca cola for diabetic patients or low cholesterol foods for older people prone to disease.
5. When consumers have doubt about the product and considered it risky and initiate a lot of
discussion and product related discussions (DamasVan) risky from the accident point of
view.

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4.4.7. Marketing Strategy and Opinion Leadership

There are different opinion leaders for different products. The marketer must determine
through research, experience or logic, the role an opinion leader plays in the existing situation
for product or service.

Consumers talk to each other about their experiences and performance of the product. If their
experiences do not meet expectations then there is cause for concern, and the marketer must
take relevant steps to redress their complaints. When the product falls short of the customer’s
expectations, dissonance occurs, which has to be reduced or removed by the marketer.

This can be reduced by utilising the knowledge of opinion leaders, which are rather difficult
to identify. Opinion leaders are gregarious and tend to belong to clubs and associations. Some
product categories have professional opinion leaders who are also very influential.

Hairstylists serve as opinion leaders for hair-care products. For healthcare products-
pharmacists are important opinion leaders. Computer professionals can give an opinion about
the purchase of personal computers. The idea is to identify the opinion leaders, and then
undertake a marketing research on them and formulate a marketing strategy.

The marketing research conducted on opinion leaders gives ideas of the likes and dislikes of
the product users and their categories. Various tests should include the product use test, the
pre-testing of the advertising copy, the media preferred for customers to respond favourably
to the firm’s marketing mix. The sampling should be done from amongst the opinion leaders.
In retailing and personnel selling various techniques can be adopted to attract customers like,
one meal extra for every three meals or, pay for two and take three or, a ‘‘fashion advisory
board’’ can be constituted in clothing stores. An automobile dealer can provide a free wash or
a free servicing or oil change to the customers and opinion leaders who send customers to
their workshop. Estate agents may offer a free stay in attractive locales for people who
promote or bring in customers for real estates.

In advertising, people of prominence and, owners can be used and their experiences and
satisfaction received can be projected through conversation and, by giving their impression to
the general public and non-owners of the product. Opinion leaders can be used effectively in
commercials to promote the product to the masses.

Discussion questions:

 List and discuss different types of reference social groups

 What effects do these groups have on your own consumption and consumers
behaviour?
 How do you relate the group influence with your marketing strategy?

4.5. Family life cycle and family influence

Family is another key social and consumption unit about whose consumption behaviour and
their influence on members consumptions the marketers need to understand. It is important
for a marketer to know the family structure and its consumption characteristics.

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Learning objectives:

At the end of this part of the course the participants will be able to:

 Describe the nature, type, and life cycle of family

 Identify the roles of family members in consumption decision making
 Segment families based on their life cycle and use the nature and life cycle concepts
in marketing strategy development and deployment.

4.5.1. Nature of Family

A family is two or more people living together who are related by blood or marriage. It is a
part of a household which consists of individuals living singly or together with others in a
residential unit (Khan,2006).

Consumer behaviour is influenced not only by consumer personalities and motivations, but
also by the relationships within families. Family is a familiar social unit that marketers need
to understand to effectively market their products.

Family is a social group. It is also an earning, consuming and decision-making unit. All
purchases are influenced by family members. Family is a closely-knit unit, and the bonds in a
family are more powerful than in other groups. A reciprocal influence operates in all family
decisions. There are three main influences which are father, mother and other family
members. Every member has his own motives, beliefs and predisposition to the decision
process.

In a family, members must satisfy their individual and shared needs by drawing on a common
and shared relatively fixed supply of sources. The individual family is a strong, most
immediate and most pervasive influence on decision-making. The husband, wife and children
influence each other and are influenced by others.

The composition, size and structure (in terms of roles and statuses) has undergone a change
across time and culture. There have been large families including grandparents, parents,
children, uncles, aunts and cousins (all staying together as a joint family); and small families
which comprise just parents with their children (nuclear family). Roles and statuses have also
changed, with both men and women taking active part in making purchase decisions, and
women playing roles which were earlier reserved for men and vice versa. Thus, the family as
a social unit has varied in composition and structure, as well as the roles played by family
members.

4.5.2. Family types

Today, there are three kinds of families: the married couple, the nuclear family and the
extended family. The married couple family comprises the husband and the wife, generally
representative of couples who have recently got married and are yet to start a family. The
nuclear family comprises husband, wife and their children. The extended family includes the
nuclear family with grandparents or uncles and aunts. Within the past thirty years the
incidence of the extended family has declined in a number of countries because of the

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geographic mobility that splits up families. Moreover, because of divorce, separation, and
births outside marriage, there has been a rapid increase in the number of single-parent
familyhouseholds consisting of one parent and at least one child.

These types of families are commonly found in different parts of Ethiopia. The nuclear
family and married couples are quite common in urban and rural areas. The extended families
exist in some Ethiopian societies like Somalis, Oromo, and other societies mainly in the rural
areas.

4.5.3. Importance of family to Marketers

The family as a social unit is of tremendous importance for a marketer. This is because of
three reasons, viz., a monetary source for dependents, an indication of values and lifestyles,
and the root for socialization.

a) Monetary source: The family may comprise a single earner or a dual earner; the rest of the
members acts as dependents; It is father and/or mother who are the bread earners, and earn
for the rest of the members (children) who act as dependents. While this role was restricted
earlier to the man in the family, there is a transition, and today even the woman in the family
is playing this role. As is seen the children and the teenagers comprise a major portion of the
market as buyers of goods and services. While they desire product and service offerings, the
money comes from the parents. Thus providing financial resources to the dependents and
looking into their economic wellbeing is a basic family function that the head of the family
plays.

b) Values and lifestyles: The parents in the family are also a source of values and lifestyles
for the family. The grandparents and the parents in the family, inculcate among the children
basic values and norms, and also tell them about suitable lifestyles. This has an impact on the
children when it comes their day to day living, on their education, career, recreational
activities, etc. With both parents earning and having occupations, and the family experiencing
a dual-income set up, a transition has been witnessed in lifestyles of children and dependents.

Children are becoming independent day by day and becoming clearer about “what” they
want; the brands they seek. People are also time-constrained and so seeking easy ways out.
This has led to the emergence of products and services that are easily available, convenient to
use and free of hassles. For example, there is the fast food industry, ready-to-eat packaged
meals etc.

c) Socialization: The concept of socialization has also been dealt with in the previous lesson.
In fact, socialization of members’ right from childhood to adulthood is the primary function
that a family plays. As discussed before, the socialization takes place at two stages, one
during childhood, as family of orientation, and two after marriage as family of procreation.
This reflects itself in the values, lifestyles and overall modes of behaviour of individuals; eg.
the kind of food to eat, dresses to wear, customs and practices to follow etc. are all a result of
the socialization process. Such socialization can be discussed at three levels: socialization at
childhood, socialization at adulthood, and intergenerational socialization.

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- Socialization at childhood: Socialization during childhood takes place when children

observe and later on replicate the behavior of the elders (grandparents, parents and older
siblings) at home. The children are taught about the values and modes of behavior, directly
through instruction and communication, and indirectly through observation of behavior by
elders at home. As they replicate behavior, they are rewarded and the behavior gets
reinforced. Thus, the family orientation has an important role to play.

Of importance to marketers is the manner in which children learn patterns of purchase and
consumption behavior. As Schiffman defines, child socialization is the process by which
children acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to function as consumers.

Similar to other socialization, such knowledge about product and service offerings, as also
brands and consumption behavior, is also learnt through observation of elders at home, be it
parents or older siblings. However as they grow up, their consumption behavior also gets
influenced by friends, as well as reference groups (both direct and indirect). The process of
socialization helps adopt shopping and buying skills of products and services, as also brands
at dealer’s outlets and stores.

- Socialization at adulthood: Socialization does not get restricted to childhood. It extends

throughout the life of an individual, as an ongoing process. As a person grows up into
adulthood, he interacts with his friend, colleague and work peers and is influenced by them.
After he gets married, he starts a household once again and his consumption pattern and
behavior is impacted by his spouse. As the newly married couple begins to settle down as a
household, they make adjustments with each other with respect to values, lifestyles and
modes of behavior. They also make adjustments and adapt themselves with respect to the
likes and dislikes of each other, including preferences for product and service offerings as
also brands.

Once they have children, they begin to impact and are also impacted by them. Thus, just like
the family of orientation, the family of procreation also has an important role to play.

- Intergenerational socialization: Values, lifestyles and behavior get transferred from one
generation to another. So do preferences for product and services as also brands. We often
see that people prefer certain brands, just because their parents preferred it over others.
Product and brand loyalty as also preferences get transferred from one generation to another.
This is referred to as intergenerational socialization.

4.5.4. Family buying roles and decision making

It is the entire family that acts together while making purchase decisions. However,
researchers tend to focus either on the decision maker who makes choices about a purchase or
the user who uses the product or service offering.

Purchase decisions in the family are joint decisions made by the members of the family, be it
husband, wife, children, or may be even members of the extended family. Thus the family is
recognized not only as the basic social unit but also as the basic decision making unit.

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Buying roles in family

The members in the family play what is known as “buying roles,” viz. the initiator,
influencer, decider, buyer, and user:

 The instigator (initiator): Person who first suggests the idea of a product/service and
initiates the purchase process.
 The influencer: Person having direct/Indirect influences, on final purchase decision.
 The decider: Person who makes the final decision.
 The purchaser (buyer): Person who actually purchases the product, pays for it, takes it
home.
 The consumer: User of goods/service

It would be worthwhile to mention here that these roles may be played by a single person or
by a few in the family. Also, these roles would vary across product and service offerings as
also the buying situation. For some products, the male member of the house acts as the
decider, while for others, the lady acts as a decider.

However, with a large number of women taking to professions, men are no longer confined to
their offices but are also taking up responsibility with household chores. With changing
times, family roles have also undergone a change; most purchase decisions are joint
decisions. Also those decisions which were earlier restricted to men, are being taken by
women and vice versa. Marketers do address this issue when they depict through their ads,
men washing clothes with Ariel or men making popcorn. This shift in buying roles need to be
well-understood by marketers as this change may ultimately affect the composition of target
markets and segments.

Family decision making

Purchase decisions between husband and wife have been categorised as husband-dominated,
wife-dominated, joint (i.e., equal or syncratic), and autonomic (i.e., solitary or unilateral).
The kind of influence in terms of nature and extent, depend upon the product and service
offering, the stage in the decision making process, and the family role structure (in terms of
culture and sub-culture; Who is more dominating?) . The influence today is also getting
impacted by changing roles in the social system, the lifestyle patterns as also occurrence of
women liberation and dual-income households.

Joint Decision Making in a Family: most purchase decisions are jointly made by the spouses
together or with their children involved. While making purchase decisions and brand choices,
the family may very often find itself in disagreement with one another. In such situations, the
family members tend to influence each other to reach a consensus that makes everyone happy
and leaves them satisfied.

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In purchase decisions involving the family, children have a major role to play these days.
They tend to influence family decision making with reference to both the purchase decision
as also the brand choice. The behavior that they exhibit is more of an Influence that
subsequently makes parents yields to their (children’s) request. Children are influential for all
kinds of products, be in ice-creams or clothes or even cars, which they watch on TV. It has
been seen that while certain products are not used by children, yet they are successful in
influencing their parents in purchase decisions relating to them. Children who are little older
are able to recall the ads and the brands; they are highly influential in helping parents’ recall
the brand at the time of purchase. Mention may also be made of latchkey kids, who are
preteen children who stay at home alone for a considerable part of the day, while their parents
are off for work. They form a lucrative segment for marketers dealing in fast food, snacks and
other eatables, be it burgers or pizzas or cold drinks. These are made available at the doorstep
through home delivery. With the new generation, so very tuned towards such offerings,
segment has good potential.

Teenagers and college going children also form a profitable segment for the marketer; this is
because they are easily influenced by friends and peers, as also members of secondary
reference groups. They have money in hand which the parents provide, and they have a
tendency to spend a lot of money. They are fashion conscious and also act as trend setters.
They impact family decision making in a major way. Children, teenagers and college goers
cannot be ignored as they are can be caught young and made brand loyal. Together they
represent a huge market.

Family Life Cycle and Buying Roles

The family life cycle has been defined as a series of stages through which most families’
progress, with varying characteristics across varies stages; these characteristics relate to
marital status, size of the family, the age profile of the family members (focusing on the age
of the oldest and/or youngest child), the employment status of the head of household, the
income level and the disposable income at hand. The amount of disposable income is usually
inferred from the stage in the family life cycle. While the tradition FLC has undergone
change and newer forms have appeared, the concept still draws attention from consumer
researchers and practitioners. It has been used by marketers to segment families on the bases
of varied criteria that have been mentioned above.

1. The bachelor stage—young and single.

2. Honeymooners or the newly married couples—young, no children.
3. Full nest 1—young, married, with child.
4. Full nest 2—older, married, with children.
5. Full nest 3–older, married, with dependent children.
6. Empty nest—older, married, with no children living with them.
7. Solitary survivor—older, single, retired people.

1. The bachelor stage: Young and single is characterised by being young who can stretch up
to 35 years of age and not married. Some singles live with their family, others live

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independently. They have an average age of about 24 and are free from worldly cares, live an
active and carefree life. They do not have financial obligations. They manage their affairs
themselves, and are fond of sports and other recreational activities.

2. Newly married couples: Young no children (empty nest). After getting married, the life
style changes slightly. They lead a joint life style. They share new experiences and
responsibilities. Start spending on furnishing and household goods. They also tend to have a
dual income and spend heavily on outings, vacations, luxury, restaurants, meals, etc.

3. Full nest 1: Young married with child. With the addition in family, purchases are
concentrated on baby foods, clothing’s, medical care, health products. A change is brought
about in the lifestyle and most activities revolve round the care of the child. Discretionary
funds are also reduced.

4. Full nest 2: Older married with children. More children lead to more expenses. Children
start going to school and there is more expenditure on books, stationery and college fees.
Toys, bicycle, insurances also become a part of the expenses, parents start spending less on
themselves.

5. Full nest 3: Older married with dependent children. Income is high at this stage. Parents
grow older. They become experienced buyers and are less interested in new product
purchases. Expenditure is high due to replacement buying luxury products.

6. Empty nest: Older married with no children living with them. Financial position stabilises
and there is no expense on children. The couple is free to enjoy their own pursuits and spend
on luxury or self-improvement items and medical care.

7. Solitary survivor: Older single retired people or retired people living alone after the death
of a partner. Life becomes lonely and income may reduce due to retirement. This again
changes the consumption pattern and living style of old people.

Another point to note is that the family life cycle concept segments the families on the basis
of demographic variables, and ignores the psychographic variables (families’ interest and
opinions) of family members. Family life cycle is also related to the spare time and the
available income, education, etc. A marketer has to take these elements into consideration.

The stages at which families find themselves, affect the nature of the goods and services
required, their wants and consumption patterns, as well as the volume of consumption on
specific products.

The traditional view of the family life cycle has been criticised for failing to recognise that a
single family unit may not exist throughout the life of an individual. Families may be created
by second marriages, and these may involve children from prior marriages. The traditional
model also ignores the existence of single parent households. The modern family life cycle
which takes into account the existence of working women, is a more complex and more
useful model than the traditional model.

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4.5.4. Marketing strategy for family decision-making

From the discussions above it is realised that various purchasing tasks are performed by
various members of the family.

The products are bought for joint use of the family. Refrigerator, TV, sofa set, car, etc. The
product is to be purchased by family funds where more than one person may be contributing
to the fund. Sometimes the funds are not enough and other products may have to be sacrificed
to own an expensive product. Some family members may not be agreeable to the choice made
for the product, and may consider it as a profligate expenditure. These are the main
influences in the family decision making, which are the outlets preferred by the family
members for the purchase of the product. All the above considerations are important, and
once all this is known strategy can be formulated in a better manner.

Discussion questions

 How does the family influence the consumer socialisation of children? What role does
television advertising play in consumer socialisation?
 Discuss the family buying roles and decision making process in Ethiopian context?
 Which of the five stages of the traditional family life cycle constitute the most
lucrative segment(s) for the following products and services: (a) newspaper
subscription, (b) a cruise holiday, (c) takeaway pizza, (d) high-definition television,
(e) unit trusts and (f) a motor bikes? Explain your answers.

Part V: Purchase and Post Purchase Behaviour

5.1. The consumers’ decision making process

Up to this point we have seen personal and environmental factors that affect consumers’
behaviour. Now we will move on to discuss how consumers purchase decisions.

Marketers need to understand the dynamics of the consumer decision making process. While
the process and the internal and external factors affecting decision making would vary from
person to person and within the same person from situation to situation, the study of
consumer behavior attempts to draw certain generalizations. The major decisions taken by a
consumer relate to what he buys (products and services as also the brands), how much he
buys (quantity), where he buys (place), when he buys (time) and how he buys (payment
terms).

Learning objectives:

At the end of this part of the course you will be able to:

 Describe the consumer decision making process

 The role of marketers in each stages of consumer decision making process

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5.1.1. Consumer decision making

A decision is defined as choosing an option of the few/many available. Decision making is
the process of choosing between two or more alternatives. It is the selection of an alternative
out of the few/many choices that are available.

Decision making is: a) a goal oriented process, and b) it is a problem solving process: helps
take advantage of opportunities and fight threats.

A consumer purchase is actually a response to a problem. Consumer Decision Making refers

to making decisions regarding product and service offerings. It may be defined as a process
of gathering and processing information, evaluating it and selecting the best possible option
so as to solve a problem or make a buying choice.

Consumer Decision making refers to the following decisions:

g) What to buy: Products and Services (and the Brands?)

h) How much to buy: Quantity
i) Where to buy: Place
j) When to buy: Time
k) How to buy: Payment terms.

5.1.2. Types of consumer decision making

All purchase decisions are not similar. The effort put into each decision making is different.
While decision making is defined as the selection of an alternative to solve a problem, the
time and effort required to complete the process varies across buying situations. We may
define three kinds of problem solving spread over a continuum; these are referred to as the
levels of consumer decision making;

(i) Extensive problem solving (EPS): where you are not familiar with the product, it is
technical, high value and risky you need extensive information search. The goods are not
purchased frequently. These involve a lot of information search and greater physical activity
for finding out about the attributes of the products. These items include a house, a motor car,
jewellery or something which is valued most

(ii) Limited problem solving (LPS): The consumer is familiar of the product or service
offering; but he is unaware of the various brands.The result is that the purchase process is
more of a recurring purchase and it involves only a moderate effort on part of the consumer
to find out a number of features, attributes and aspects of the product before finally making a
decision to purchase. The purchase is for items like a TV, computer, a machine, motor cycle,
etc. In this there can be limited dissonance if the product does not perform up to expectations.

(iii) Routinized problem solving (RPS) or routinized response behavior.Here the information
search is low, the risk is low and the involvement is also low. These are products which are
bought with greater frequency like a toothpaste, shaving cream, blades, cosmetics, etc. There
is hardly any dissonance and very limited evaluation..

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5.1.3. Consumer decision making process

Consumer decision making involves a continuous flow of interactions among environmental
factors, cognitive and affective processes and behavioural actions. A consumer’s decisions
are based on knowledge, affect and behavior related to the marketing mix.

These factors are categorised as INPUT, PROCESS and OUTPUT of decision making. The
input factors are the external influences which are the 4 Ps of marketing. This socio cultural
background of family, social class culture etc. forms the input. It is what the consumer is
influenced by or what goes into his mind. This is known as input.

Next follows the process of decision making. These are need recognition; pre-purchase
search. These along with the psychological factors of motivation, perception, learning,
personality, attitude and experience form the constituents of Decision Making.

Next is the post-purchase decision behaviour that is whether the product is bought or not, and
whether it is taken for trial or purchased right away. The real test is the repeat purchases.
Repeat purchases confirm that product is liked by the consumer. Then we have the post-
purchase evaluation, whether the customer is satisfied or not.

5.1.4. Stages in Consumer Decision Making Process:

There are five stages in the consumer decision making process. These are

Each of these stages is explained as follows:

1. Problem recognition: A consumer recognises a need to buy a product.

2. Information search: Attempt is made to gain knowledge about the product.
3. Evaluation and alternatives: The products which can fulfil the needs are evaluated in
terms of plus and minus points.
4. Purchase action: The actual purchase is made from store after consideration of a
number of factors.
5. Post-purchase behaviour (followed sequentially): This is how a consumer feels after
using the product, i.e., satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

5.2. Problem recognition

Problem Recognition (Need Recognition) is identification of needs by the consumer. It is the
first stage in decision-making. Problem recognition explains:

1. Why a buyer buys.

2. Gives definite direction to subsequent purchase behaviour.
3. Helps the marketer exert his influence, so that the need is to be recognised. A virtual
circle exists between them (problem recognition and marketers stimuli).

The desire to resolve a recognised problem is therefore of relative importance. An individual

tries to resolve a problem when it is convenient for him in terms of money, involvement,
nature of the problem to be solved and the advantages in changing over to a new situation or
a new product.

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Types of consumer problems may be active or inactive. Active is one in which the consumer
is aware or will become aware of, in the normal course of events, e.g., consumer is aware of
the gas lighter but insists on safety measures. A consumer may be aware of the advantages of
flying, yet is scared to do so.

A consumer’s may not be aware of his problem or may have an inactive problem. When the
consumer is not yet aware of the gas lighter or he may not be aware of the advantages of a
cell phone. The marketer must activate the problem recognition.

Marketing strategy and problem recognition

At the beginning of this course we have seen that marketers need to do consumer research to
understand the needs, wants, preference, characteristics , etc. of consumers; segment the
market, select target market, and develop marketing strategy to better meet the customers’
needs better than its competitors. As a part of this effort marketers are concerned with the
following:

1. What problems consumers are facing.

2. Managers must know what market mix to develop to solve the problem.
3. They actually want the consumers to recognise the problem.
4. Sometime managers suppress problem recognition.

Marketers’ first job is understanding consumers’ problems. Problem is found by survey,

focus group interviews, product analysis, problem analysis or activity analysis, human factor
research, or emotion research. Activity analysis focusses on a particular activity—
maintaining a lawn, preparing dinner, lighting the fire place. Product analysis deals with the
use of product, e.g., lawn mower, microwave oven. Problem analysis takes an opposite
approach. It states the problems and asks respondents to associate a product brand or activity
with it. Human factor research attempts to determine human capabilities in area of vision,
strength, response time, fatigue. Emotions research marketers find the role of emotions in
decision-making, i.e., emotions associated with certain products or brands.

Once the problem is recognised, a marketing mix be offered to solve the problem—product
development or alteration, modifying channels of distribution, changing pricing policy,
revising advertising strategy.

By increasing the importance and magnitude of discrepancy, advertising benefits promote a

sense of excitement and personal freedom, questioning the perception of the existing state
(are you satisfied with the present offer?).

Consumers often realise a problem when it has already occurred, and they cannot do much
about it, e.g., becoming aware of insurance after the accident. They want emergency
medicines when they are seriously ill and cannot do much. Marketers too help solve such
problems after they arise. Pharmacists can make home deliveries. They should try to trigger
the problem recognition in advance of the actual problem.

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Thus, problem recognition plays an important part as the first step in decision making. The
marketers learn of the problem of the consumer, their needs and accordingly formulate a
strategy. A need is recognized in any of the following situations:

a) When a current product brand X is not performing well.

b) When the current product brand X is nearing depletion.
c) When another brand Y seems superior to the one currently owned, X.

5.3. Information Search

Information search starts the moment a need is recognised. It is a deliberate attempt to gain
appropriate knowledge about products. Knowledge of brands and their important
characteristics, and knowledge of stores from where to purchase the goods is gained.
Optimum amount of information is required for making a proper choice. Consumers gather
information, they then understand (perceive) by selecting, organising and interpreting it.

The amount of information a consumer will gather depends on the following:

i) The consumer: demographics (age, gender, education), psychographics (learning, attitudes,

involvement, personality type)

ii) Product category: differentiation and alternative brands available, risk, price, social
visibility and acceptance of the product.

iii) Situation: time available at hand, first time purchase, quantity of information required,
availability of information.

5.3.1. Sources of information

The information sources are of two types:

i) Internal sources: This includes the consumer and his self. He recalls information that is
stored in his memory (comprising information gathered and stored, as well as his
experiences, direct and indirect). Internal sources seem sufficient when it is a routine
purchase and the product is of low involvement

ii) External sources: Here the consumer seeks information from the external environment.
External sources of information include interpersonal communication (family, friends, work
peers, opinion leaders etc.) and marketing communication or commercial information
(advertisements, salespeople, company websites, magazines etc.); other public sources
(editorials, trade magazines and reports, consumer awareness programmes on TV, Internet
etc.)

External sources are resorted to in cases where past knowledge and experience is insufficient
and the product is of high involvement and the risk of making a wrong decision is high.

Marketing communication is one of the external sources of information. In influencing

consumers’ information search the marketers need to know

1. What are the types of information search, and what are their determinants?

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2. What is the appropriate information load that can be handled by customers?

3. How can marketers help facilitate the information search?
4. Which source of information is used by the customer?

Furthermore, information sources can be categorised as sources controlled by the

marketers and those sources which are outside marketers control.

The sources controlled by marketers are:

(a) Advertising: Provides about 35 per cent to 50 per cent information sought. It is the
most important sources of information.
(b) In-store promotion: e.g., display prices, danglers, brochures, technical reports,
summaries.
(c) Information on distribution support: Yellow pages.
(d) Package information: Colour, design, ingredients and mode of using.
(e) Sales personnel: Consumer durables, furniture, electronic, clothing indigenous
products.
(f) Samples and demonstrations (most important): Create a favourable impact for
marketers.

The sources outside marketer’s control are personal friends, independent consumer reports,
new articles shopping columns. Some sources are face to face, others are non-personal in
nature (advertisement and publicity, etc.).

5.3.2. Types of Information Search

Several types of information search can be identified based on the nature of the product and
the consumer’s experience and personal factors.

• Internal search: It is sufficient in case of loyalty decisions and impulsive purchases.

Internal search is also done for routine response behaviour and limited problem solving.
• External Search: It is a mediated, planned and rational pursuit of information for high
involvement purchase decision, i.e., extensive problem solving.
• Passive Search: Low involvement—use repetitive advertising use T.V., emphasize
price, promotion and in-store marketing stimuli.
• Active Information Search: Marketer must vary message content frequently. Use print
media. Emphasize advertising and emphasize marketing before customer enters store.
• Hedonic Search: In this search sensory stimuli dominate. There is ongoing information
search. Personal sources are more important symbols and imagery is most effective.
• Utilitarian Search: Product attributes are more important for purchase. There is specific
information search. Non-personal sources are more important. Product information is
more effective.
Too much information confuses the consumer, and with more information, often poor
decisions are made. Increasing package information adversely affects the ability to choose
best brands.

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5.4. Evaluation of alternatives

Much of the effort we put into a purchase decision occurs at the stage in which a choice must
be made from the available alternatives.Once the consumer has gathered information and
identified the alternatives, he compares the different alternatives available on certain criteria.
This involves: i) Generation of choice alternatives; ii) Identification of evaluative criteria:
Attributes and Benefits; iii) Application of Decision Rules.

5.4.1. Generation of choice alternatives

While generation of alternatives, a consumer moves from an evoked set towards the choice
set.

- Evoked set/Consideration set: This is the set of alternatives that he actively considers
while making a purchase decision; these exist either in his memory or feature prominently
in the environment. The consumer perceives them to be acceptable.
- Inept set: These are those alternatives from the evoked set that the consumer excludes
from further consideration, as he perceives them to be inferior and unacceptable.
-Inert set: These are those alternatives from the evoked set that the consumer excludes
from further consideration, as he is indifferent towards them and perceives them as ones
without much advantages or benefits.
- Choice set: This comprises the final set of one or two brands from which he finally
decides.

Identification of Evaluative Criteria: Attributes and Benefits:

These are objective and subjective parameters of the brand that the consumer regards as
important, and uses as standards to discriminate among the various alternatives. The
consumer evaluates the different alternatives on one or few or many of these features and
then makes a final choice. They are features that a consumer considers in choosing among
alternatives; these could be functional/utilitarian in nature (benefits, attributes, features), or
subjective/emotional/hedonic (emotions, prestige etc.). The major evaluative criteria are:

 Economic: Price, Value (Product Attributes, Brand image, Evaluation of Quality,

Price, & Features).
 Behavioural: Need/motivation, Personality, self-concept and self-image, Lifestyle etc.
 Social influences: Group influences, environmental issues etc.

5.4.2. Application of Decision Rules to make a final choice amongst alternatives:

The consumer uses certain decision rules. The decision rules help a consumer simplify the
decision process; the various evaluative criteria are structured and integrated so as to simplify
the evaluation process. There can be two kinds of Decision: Compensatory rules and Non-
compensatory rules.

1. Compensatory rules: Under compensatory rules, the various evaluative criteria are listed as
attributes. These attributes are scored and rated for the various alternative brands. A lower
rating on an attribute may be offset by a higher rating on another; i.e. a higher rating on one
attribute would compensate for a lower rating on another. Based on the final scores, the
brands are ranked; the one with the highest score, being regarded as the best. The consumer

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would then select the brand that scores the highest among the various alternatives that have
been evaluated. Compensatory rules could assume two forms: simple and weighted.

- Simple summated: The attributes are rated for each brand and the scores are totalled.

- Weighted: The attributes are first given weights relatively based on the level of importance;
thereafter, the attributes are rated and finally scored after multiplication with the weights. The
weighted scores are then totalled.

2. Non-Compensatory rules: Here, a negative evaluation of any one attribute eliminates the
brand from consideration. A lower rating on an attribute cannot be offset by a higher rating
on another; i.e. a higher rating on one attribute would not compensate for a lower rating on
another. The consumer would then select the brand that scores the highest among the various
alternatives that have been evaluated. Non-compensatory rules could assume three forms:
conjunctive, disjunctive and lexicographic.

Conjunctive rule: A minimally acceptable cut off point is established for each attribute. The
brands are evaluated, and, the brand that falls below the minimally acceptable limit on any of
the attributes is eliminated/rejected.

Disjunctive rule: a minimally acceptable cut off point is established for each attribute. The
brands are evaluated, and, the brand that falls above the cut-off point on any of the attributes
is selected.

Lexicographic rule: The various attributes are ranked in terms of perceived importance. First,
the brands are evaluated on the attribute that is considered the most important. If a brand
ranks considerably high than the others on this attribute, it is selected. In case the scores are
competitive, the process may be repeated with the attribute considered next in importance.

Sometimes the application of one rule may not be enough and another may also be applied to
reach a final decision.

Outlet selection
As the number of products and brands are increasing in the market, so are the retail outlets,
and it becomes very confusing for the customer to choose the retail stores. The selecting of a
retail store also involves almost the same process as selecting a brand. A retail outlet relates
to a service or a product which caters to the consumer. The retail trade occurs from the stores,
but it also occurs from catalogues, direct mail via print media, television and radio.

The consumer may give first preference to the store or the product or, he may give equal
importance to both. Sometimes, one prefers a store first, where he can get friendly and logical
advice to buy the product, and prefers to buy a product/brand of second priority, if he is
assured of proper service and proper guidance, rather than buying a product of his choice on
first priority and missing out on other important aspects of purchase.

The selection of retail outlet therefore, can be made considering a number of factors. These
are: outlet image, advertising, outlet location and size consumer characteristics.

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5.5. Purchase
This is the final step in a transaction. Unless the purchase is made, all efforts of layout,
atmosphere, and efforts of the salesman are a waste. Closing the sales is important. After the
consumer has evaluated the various alternatives, he selects a particular brand. Consumer
purchases may be trials/first purchases or repeat purchases.

Trials/First purchase: Trials could be elicited through market testing, or through promotional
tactics such as free samples, coupons, etc.

Repeat purchases: If the consumer is satisfied, he would buy the brand again. Repeat
purchases lead to brand loyalty.

The consumer may further have to make decisions on:

a) Where to buy from? (Place: Real/brick and mortar or virtual/online);

b) Whom to buy from? (Which store: Depends on reputation of seller, past experience, etc.)
c) When to buy? (Time: Emergency or Routine; During season, off season, sale, rebate etc.)

It is noteworthy that a purchase intention (desire to buy the most preferred brand) may not
always result in a purchase decision in favour of the brand; it could get moderated by
attitudes of others; and unexpected situational factors.

Purchase is very important as it generates revenue, and dislikes of the consumer. Purchase is
important to the marketer as the product was planned, produced, priced, promoted and
distributed after a lot of effort. If purchase does not take place, the marketer has failed in his
marketing effort. He then needs to change the marketing mix. He has to change the entire
strategy, as the ultimate aim of the marketer is to float a product which will generate revenue
and bring satisfaction to the customer. Purchase is important to the marketer for his success,
for achieving his objectives, and far formulating competitive strategies against the
competitors.

Similarly, the customer pays money and expects certain benefits and satisfaction from the
product. It marks the end of his search, end of his efforts and chooses the brand of his choice
for expected benefits.

5.6. Post purchase behaviour

Purchase is not an end of the purchasing process. The true test of our decision-making
process is whether we are happy with the choice we made after we undergo all these
decision-making stages. Post-purchase evaluationcloses the loop; it occurswhen we
experience the product or service we selected and decide whether it meets (or maybe even
exceeds) our expectations. Our overall reactions to a product after we’ve bought it – what
researchers call consumersatisfaction/dissatisfaction (CS/D)– obviously play a big role in our
future behaviour (Schiffman, et al, 2016).

Post purchase behaviour also establishes a link between the marketer and the target market
segment. It is important for the marketer to know whether his product is liked by the
consumer or not. He wants the feedback about his product so that corrective action, if

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necessary, can be taken, and the marketing mix be modified accordingly. Post-purchase
behaviour is the reaction of the consumer; it gives an idea of his likes and dislikes,
preferences and attitudes and satisfaction towards the product. It indicates whether or not the
purchase motives have been achieved.

Therefore, purchase is the means, and post purchase is the end. Post purchase behaviour
indicates whether or not repeat purchases will be made and whether the customer will
recommend the product to others or not. It indicates whether long-term profits can or cannot
be expected. All this can be found out by the post-purchase behaviour of the customers. Post
purchase is the last phase in the decision-making process (Solomon, et al., 2016).

After purchasing a product, a customer is either satisfied or dissatisfied and his satisfaction or
dissatisfaction depends on his expectation and the difference between the performances.

The post purchase outcome and reactions contains two stages; Stage I comprises Post
purchase Cognitive Dissonance, and Stage II comprises Product usage and reaction.

Stage I: Post purchase Cognitive Dissonance: This is a feeling of tension and anxiety that a
consumer experiences after the purchase of a product. The consumer begins to have a feeling
of uncertainty with respect the performance of the product and begins to doubt his purchase
decision “whether the decision was the right one?”. He begins to ask himself the following
questions:

a) Have I made the right choice?

b) Have I purchased the right brand?
c) Have I got value for money?

Cognitive dissonance generally occurs in cases where:

(i) The decision making and purchase relates to a high involvement product;
(ii) The purchase activity is irrevocable;
(iii) The consumer cannot return the product;
(iv) The various alternatives have desirable features and are all comparable;
(v) The alternatives are also unique in some way or the other.

Consumers try to reduce this dissonance by:

(i) Gaining more product information;

(ii) Discussing with other satisfied customers who have bought the same product/brand;
(iii) Going back to the dealer and asking for reassurances.

Other methods that consumers employ to reduce cognitive dissonance are by:

 -rationalizing that the choice that they have made is the right one.
 -refer to data (printed/audio visual) that supports and recommends the chosen
product/brand.
 -make others buy the same product/brand to reassure their choice.

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Expectation gives the degree of customer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the product.

However, there can be a match between the two, i.e., performance is in line with expectation.
In another position is the product which surpasses the expectancy level and per-forms much
better than expected. This is a source of satisfaction and delight to the consumer.

Dissatisfaction may as such not lead to any complaint, but the dissatisfaction of a high degree
may lead to complaint making of a complaint and, handling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction
is a logical process. A person will not complain if he sees no use of doing so or feels that the
complaint will not be entertained. Also, consumers complain if it is convenient for them to do
so. They may not go out of their way to make complaints. Complaining also requires
resources, i.e., time, money, knowledge, expertise, etc. which one may not possess. The
dissatisfaction by a consumer towards a product may lead to:

(i) Discontinuing purchase of those products or brands by which a customer is dis- satisfied.
If he had been patronising that product which has led to his dissatisfaction, he may change to
a new brand or a new product.

(ii) Negative Word of mouth He speaks negatively about the product to his friends, peers and
associates. Instead of propagating the positive aspects, he starts de- faming the product/brand
and shows his dissatisfaction openly.

(iii) Lodges a complaint to the concerned authorities. Consumer Forum is one such agency
that entertains such complaints. It may be a time-consuming process and difficult for all
dissatisfied customers to resort to.

(iv) Complaints directly to the seller and gets his claim settled or the product/brand changed
according to his liking or agrees for any such settlement.

It is the effort of every firm to produce satisfied customers. This is essential to fight
increasing competition. Some dissatisfied customers may remain repeat purchasers, as they
do not find a suitable alternative or, find that brand readily available and buy it due to force
of habit or, because of low price. These purchasers may not be brand loyal. A brand loyal or a
committed customer is attached to the brand emotionally. He believes in the firm and trusts
the brand. Brand loyalty increases if the performance of the brand is more than the expected
performance. In case of committed customers, they believe and have faith in line extension
and brand extension of the firm. Committed customers also promote the product by positive
word of mouth.

Role of a Marketer in Post-purchase behaviour

The marketer has to watch that the customer is not dissatisfied. Through dissatisfaction, a lot
of customers or clientele is lost and the marketer suffers losses. To avoid this, a marketer has
to be on the lookout for causes of dissatisfaction and maintain and build consumer
satisfaction. This can be done by regularly monitoring consumer reaction. It can be done by
interviewing the consumer or serving questionnaires and analysing and interpreting them
carefully. Besides this, a strict vigil is to be kept on the quality of the product. The quality

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should be the joint responsibility of marketing and production. If necessary, other

departments should also be involved, and an integrated marketing procedure be followed.

In case of complaints, they must be given proper attention and redressal be made as soon as
possible. All complaints must also be acknowledged to satisfy and assure the customer that
appropriate action will be taken as soon as possible. While registering complaints, due
courtesy should be shown to visiting customers and their complaints be entertained in a
proper manner.

The marketer can play an important role in reducing the dissonance that the consumer faces
and reassuring him that the choice he made was the right one.

i) The marketer can communicate with the customer about the various attributes/features and
benefits that the product has to offer in comparison with other alternatives.

ii) He can follow up with the customer and address queries and concerns if any (eg. follow up
calls).

iii) Marketers’ assurances with respect to warranties, guarantees and exchange can also
pacify the cognitive dissonance state.

iv)Company websites with FAQs (frequently asked questions); satisfied customers’

comments and blogs; and customer care information (eg. toll free numbers etc.) can also
prove to be helpful.

Discussion Questions
 Discuss the purchase and post purchase behaviour of consumers.
 What are the factors that consumer information search?
 What do you do to influence the information search, evaluation, and choice of customers?
 What are your roles in post purchase related issue of consumers?

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