Consumer Behaviour

Contents

1. Nature, Scope and Importance of consumer behaviour.

2. Consumer Involvement

1. Nature Scope and Importance of Consumer behaviour. :

Consumer behaviour is defined as “The dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour and the
environment b which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of lives”. IT means that the buying
habits of the consumer are greatly affected by their thought process and their feelings experienced.
Human beings are greatly influenced in their buying actions by various factors like opinion of others,
marketing stimuli like product, advertising, packaging and product appearance.

Importance of Consumer behaviour:

• Ever increasing intensifying competition.

• More aggressive competitors emerging with greater frequency.
• Changes basis of competition.
• Geographic sources of competition are becoming wider.
• Niche attacks are becoming frequent.
• Pace of innovation is rapid.
• Price competition becoming more aggressive
• Product differentiation is declining.

As a principal, the marketing concept involves understanding the needs of the consumers and
translating these needs into products or services to satisfy these needs. The basic objective in marketing
is to achieve the goal of profit making through customer satisfaction. To do this, an organization should
understand the consumer and be as close to them as possible.

Consumer behaviour is Dynamic:

The feelings, thinking, perceptions and actions of the customer and the society at large keep changing
frequently. For example number of working women is on rise and this has changed the concept of
shopping. The dynamic nature of the consumer behaviour offers challenges to marketers and the task of
creating marketing strategies becomes complex, and exciting. Strategies that work today may not work
tomorrow. Strategies adopted in one market ma not work in another. The product life cycle are
becoming shorter and create additional pressures on marketers to bring innovative products and
concepts. The concept ‘value’ changes from time to time. Mahindra and mahindra had to come out with
‘Scorpio’ within launch of ‘Bolero’.

Consumer behaviour involves interactions:

Consumer behaviour involves interactions among peoples thinking, feelings, and actions and the
environment. This forces marketers to understand three things:

• What products and services mean to customers.

• What influences shopping, purchase, and consumption.

• What consumers nee to do to purchase and consume products and services.

Consumer behaviour involves exchange:

Consumer behaviour involves exchanges between human beings. People give up something of value to
others and receive something in return. Much of consumer behaviour involves people giving up money
to obtain product and services, that is, exchanges consumers and sellers. The role of marketing in
society is to help create exchange by formulating and implementing marketing strategies.

2. Consumer Involvement:

Involvement: A consumer is said to have a high involvement in purchase, when he considers the
product be important and strongly identifies with it.

Conditions for involvement:

A consumer is likely to be more involved with a product when:

• The consumer’s self image is tied to the product e.g. aggressive youth craving for power identify
themselves with the Enfield Bullet. Khadi is preferred by politicians and budding politicians. Similarly, we
find politician preferring a multi-utility vehicle like Scorpio or Tata Safari.

• Product has a symbolic meaning tied to consumer values e.g. ownership of a BMW car, a cross pen,
Rolex watches have s symbolic value of the affluent class.

• Product is expensive .e.g. Jewellery, real estate etc.

• It has some important functional value e.g. fuel efficiency of a vehicle, cricket gear for a cricketer.

• Product has an emotional appeal e.g. buying of a gift article, buying of articles for religious purpose.

• Product is continually of interest to the consumer .e.g. fashion-conscious customer has continuous
appeal in clothing and apparel.

• Product entails significant risk e.g. buying a technology complex product, buying a house.

• Product is identified with the norms of the group. E.g. School children buying ‘Pokemans’ articles.

Type of Involvement:

Situational Involvement:

It is one that occurs only in specific situations and is temporary. For e.g. a person buying suit for
marriage. Formal dressing for the marriage is a necessary and hence a person not very fashion-
conscious about clothes gets involved temporary for his marriage in a piece of suit.

Enduring Involvement: It indicates an ongoing interest in the product category.