Introduction
A consumer is a person or group who intend to order, or purchased goods, products or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs. Consumer is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. Consumers are the end users in the sales distribution chain. Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behavior consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behavior.
The study of consumer behavior formally investigates individual qualities such as demographics, personality lifestyles and behavioral variables such as usage rates, usage occasion, loyalty, brand advocacy and willingness to provide referrals, in an attempt to understand people's wants and consumption patterns. Consumer behavior also investigates on the influences on the consumer, from social groups such as family, friends sports and reference groups, to society in general.
Research has shown that consumer behavior is difficult to predict, even for experts in the however, new research methods, such as ethnography, consumer neuroscience and machine learning are shedding new light on how consumes make decisions. In addition, customer relationship management data bases have become an asset for the analysis of customer behavior. The extensive data produced by these databases enables detailed examination of behavioral factors that contribute customer re-purchase intentions, consumer retention, loyalty and other behavioral intentions such as the willingness to provide positive referrals, become brand advocates or engage in customer citizenship activities. Databases also assist in market segmentation, especially behavioral segmentation such as developing loyalty segments, which can be used to develop tightly targeted, customized marketing strategies on one-to-one basis.
Definition And Explanation
Consumer behavior entails all activities associated with purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer's emotional, mental and behavioral responses that precede or follow these activities. The term, consumer can refer to individual consumers as well as organizational consumers, and more especially an end user. Consumer behavior is concerned with :
(a) Purchase Activities
(b) Use Or Consumption Activities
(c) Disposal Activities
Consumer responses may be : -
1) Emotional Response: Refers to emotions such as feelings or moods.
2) Mental Response: Refers to the consumer's thought processes.
3) Behavioral Responses: Refers to the consumer's observable responses in relation to the purchase and disposal of goods or services.
Consumer behavior can be defined as " the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behavior and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives. Consumer behavior is an applied social science. Consumer behavior analysis is the use of behavior principles, usually gained experimentally, to interpret human economic consumption. A discipline, consumer behavior stands at the intersection of economic psychology and marketing science.
Types Of Consumer Behavior
A consumer's buying decision depends on the type of products that they need to buy. Based on observations, it is clear that purchases that are more complex and expensive involve higher deliberation and many more participants. Consumer buying behavior is determined by the level of involvement that a consumer shows towards a purchase decision. The amount of risk involved in a purchase also determines the buying behavior. Higher priced goods tend to high higher risk, thereby seeking higher involvement in buying decisions. There are main four types of consumer buying behavior. They are given below.
1) Complex Buying Behavior
Complex buying behavior is encountered particularly when consumers are buying an expensive product. In this transaction consumers are highly involved in the purchase decision. Consumers will research thoroughly before committing to invest. In complex buying behavior, the buyer will pass through a learning process. He will first develop beliefs about the product, then attitudes and then making a thoughtful purchase choice. For complex buying behavior customers, marketers should have a deep understanding of the products. It is expected that they help the consumer to understand about their product. It is important to create advertising message in a way that influences the buyer's beliefs and attitudes.
2) Dissonance - Reducing Buying Behavior
In Dissonance reducing buying behavior consumer involvement is very high. This might be due to high price and infrequent purchase. In addition, there is low availability of choices with less significance differences among brands. In this type, a consumer buys a product that is easily available . Consumers will be forced to buy goods that do not have too many choices and therefore consumers will be left with limited decision making. Based on the products available, time limitation, budget limitation, consumers buy certain products without a lot of research. Marketers should run after sales service camps that deliver focused messaging. These campaigns should aim to support consumers and convince them to continue with their choice of their brand. These marketing campaigns should focus on building repeat purchases and referrals by offering discounts and incentives.
3) Habitual Buying Behavior
Habitual buying behavior is depicted when a consumer has low investment in a purchase decision. In this case the consumer is perceiving only a few significant differences between brands. When consumers are buying products that they use for their daily routine, they do not put a lot of thought. They either buy their favorite brand or the one that they use regularly or the one available in the store or the one that costs the least. Habitual buying behavior is influenced by radio, television and print media. Moreover, consumers are buying based on the brand familiarity. Hence marketers must use repetitive advertisement to build brand familiarity. Further to initiate product trial, marketers should use tactics like price drop promotions and sales promotions. Marketers should attract consumers using visual symbols and imagery in their advertising. Consumers can easily remember visual advertisements and can associate with a brand.
4) Variety Seeking Buying Behavior
In variety seeking consumer behavior, consumer involvement is low. There are significant differences between brands, hence consumers often do a lot of brand switching. The cost of switching product is low, and hence consumers might want to try out new products just out of curiosity. Consumers here, generally buy different products not because of dissatisfaction but mainly with an usage to seek variety. Brands have to adopt different strategies for such type of consumer behavior. The market leader will persuade habitual behavior by influencing the shelf space. The shelf will display a large number of related but different product version. Marketers avoid out of stock conditions, sponsor frequent advertising, offer lower prices, discounts, deals, coupons and free samples to attract consumers.
Importance Of Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior is the study of consumers and the processes they use to choose, consume and dispose of products and services, including consumer's emotional, mental and behavioral responses. Consumer behavior incorporates ideas from several sciences including psychology, biology, chemistry and economics. Studying consumer behavior is important because it helps marketers understand what influences consumers buying decisions. Below are the some importance of consumers behavior is given:
1) Decision Regarding Channel Of Distribution
Consumer prefers different channel of purchase which is influenced by many factors.
2) Decision Regarding Sales Promotion
Consumer behavior enables the marketers to know what motive prompt consumer to take a purchase and the same are used in all marketing strategy.
3) New Technology Product
Rapid introduction of a new product with technological advancement has made the job of studying consumer behavior more imperative.
4) Highly Diversified Consumer Preferences
Availability of more choice now has diversified consumer preference. Therefore study of consumer behavior is crucial and challenging task for marketers.
5) Manufacturing Policies
The study of consumer behavior affect the manufacturing policies of the organization. Consumer behavior helps an organization to plan and develop its products according to consumer need and preference.
6) Price Policies
Consumer behavior helps the marketers to set the price in the market. Consumer prefers optimal solution combine with production policies.
7) Forecasting Of Products Demand & Supply
In market , products demand and supply depends upon the consumers choices and needs. Hence it is necessary to study the consumers buying behavior.
Conclusion
Consumer behavior covers a broad variety of consumers based on diversity in age, culture, taste, preference, educational level, income level, etc. Consumer behavior can be defined as the decision process and physical activity engaged in evaluating, acquiring, using and disposing of goods and services. Understanding consumer behavior helps in identifying whom to target, how to target, when to reach them and what message is to be given to them to reach the target audience to buy the product.
The study of consumer behavior helps in understanding how individuals make decision to spend their available resources like time, money and effort while purchasing goods and services. It is a subject that explains the basic questions that a normal consumer faces - what to buy, why to buy, when to buy, where to buy from, how often to buy and how they use it.
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