Consumer Behaviour: Meaning/Definition and Nature of Consumer Behaviour
The study of consumer behavior is important for marketers in order to understand what causes consumers to make purchasing decisions. By understanding consumer motivation, marketers can determine which products are needed in the marketplace and how best to present those products to consumers.
Role theory is the perspective that consumers play various roles in the marketplace, which vary depending on the consumption situation. For example, a mother might play the role of an influencer in a child’s purchase process, but the role of disposer for products consumed by the family. This theory has implications for marketing because it means that businesses need to target their messages to consumers depending on what role they are playing at any given time.
Nature of Consumer Behavior:
1. Influenced by Various Factors:
The various factors that influence the consumer behaviour are as follows:
a. Marketing factors such as product design, price, promotion, packaging, positioning and distribution.
b. Personal factors such as age, gender, education and income level.
c. Psychological factors such as buying motives, perception of the product and attitudes towards the product.
d. Situational factors such as physical surroundings at the time of purchase, social surroundings and time factor.
e. Social factors such as social status, reference groups and family.
f. Cultural factors, such as religion, social class—caste and sub-castes.
2. Undergoes a Constant Change:
Consumer behaviour is not static. It undergoes a change over a period of time depending on the nature of products. For example, kids prefer colourful and fancy footwear, but as they grow up as teenagers and young adults, they prefer trendy footwear, and as middle-aged and senior citizens they prefer more sober footwear. The change in buying behaviour may take place due to several other factors such as increase in income level, education level and marketing factors.
3. Varies from Consumer to Consumer:
Not all consumers behave the same way – in fact, different consumers can exhibit very different behaviors. These differences can be attributed to individual factors such as the consumer’s nature, lifestyle, and culture. For example, some consumers may take out loans from friends, relatives, or banks in order to afford to purchase cutting-edge technology, while others may forego even regular purchases and avoid using and purchasing advanced technologies altogether.
4. Varies from Region to Region and Country to Country:
The consumer behaviour varies widely depending on where people live. A lot of rural consumers are quite conservative when it comes to spending. Even if they have the money, they might think twice about buying luxury items. On the other hand, urban consumers might be more likely to take out loans to buy things like cars and appliances.
Consumer behaviour can also differ depending on factors like upbringing, lifestyle and level of development. So it’s important to keep all of these things in mind when trying to understand why people make the choices they do.
5. Information on Consumer Behavior is Important to the Marketers:
As a marketer, it’s important to have a firm understanding of consumer behavior. This means studying the various factors that influence the buying habits of your target customers. By doing so, you’ll be able to market your products or services more effectively to them, increasing the chances that they’ll make a purchase.
The knowledge of Consumer Behaviour Enables them to Take Appropriate Marketing Decisions in Respect of the Following Factors:
1. Product design and model
2. Pricing of the product
3. Promotion of the product
4. Packaging
5. Positioning of the product in the market
6. Place of distribution
6. Leads to Purchase Decision:
A consumer’s decision to purchase a product is based on their buying motives, which are a combination of their personal values, attitudes, and beliefs. If marketers can influence these motives, they will be able to increase demand and sales.
7. Varies from Product to Product:
Consumer behavior is not always the same. People may spend more money on some items and very little or no money on others. For example, teenagers may spend a lot of money on items such as cell phones and designer clothes to fit in with their peers, but they may not spend any money on general or academic reading. A middle- aged person, on the other hand, may spend less on clothing but may invest money in savings, insurance schemes, pension schemes, and so on.
Why Consumer Behaviour is Important to Marketers
One of their biggest challenges for businesses is to stay relevant to their target market. We must ask questions of our customers such as:
Why do people buy and use certain products?
What do they buy, when do they buy it and how often?
What are their likes, dislikes and expectations?
Why do they decide to buy one product and not another?
Do Consumers Behave Differently Individually and in Groups?
When u study consumer behavior, we gain a better understanding of what drives consumers to make purchase decisions. This knowledge can help businesses create marketing campaigns that are more likely to be successful. After all, if we know what consumers value most, we can sell them more effectively! But keep in mind that marketing must be strategic to be effective.
However, it is not an exact science. Consumer behaviour is difficult to predict. Applying the principles learnt from consumer behaviour knowledge requires human judgment, therefore is not an objective fixed set of rules.
Marketers must have a good understanding of consumer behaviour. The best way to do this is by using market research to study a range of factors that influence their target customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) statistics are an asset for the analysis of customer behaviour.
In order to get a better understanding of how customers think, marketers should consider conducting regular surveys and interviews. Additionally, they should try to observe consumers in their natural habitats (i.e. shopping malls, restaurants, etc.) in order to get a better sense of how they interact with products and services.
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