Consumer Behavior

Consumer  Behavior 

Defn/ introd

Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers -individuals & households who buy goods and services for personal consumption.

Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products.

Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of the ultimate consumer.

 Concept

why consumers make the purchases that they make?

what factors influence consumer purchases?

the changing factors in our society.  

Importance :Importance It is important for the marketers to understand the buyer behaviour due to the following reasons. The study of consumer behaviour for any product is of vital importance to marketers in shaping the fortunes of their organisations . It is significant for regulating consumption of goods and thereby maintaining economic stability. It is useful in developing ways for the more efficient utilisation of resources of marketing. It also helps in solving marketing management problems in more effective manner. Today consumers give more importance on environment friendly products. They are concerned about health, hygiene and fitness. They prefer natural products. Hence detailed study on upcoming groups of consumers is essential for any firm.

Why

Buyers reactions to a firms marketing strategy has a great impact on the firms success.

The marketing concept stresses that a firm should create a Marketing Mix (MM) that satisfies (gives utility to) customers, therefore need to analyze the what, where, when and how consumers buy.

Why

The behavior of individuals is affected by many factors and their influence varies depending on these factors.

 There is a clear difference in the behavior of individuals and this is because different people are coming from different countries, regions, races, laws, customs, cultures and other factors.

Personal Factors • Age and life-cycle stage • RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Royal Bank has identified five life-stage segments: • Youth—younger than 18 years • Getting started—18-35 years • Builders—35-50 years • Accumulators—50-60 years • Preservers—over 60 years

Examples

Nutrament Debunked...

Nutrament, a product marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb originally was targeted at consumers that needed to receive additional energy from their drinks after exercise etc., a fitness drink. It was therefore targeted at consumers whose needs were for either love and Belonging or esteem. The product was not selling well, and was almost terminated. Upon extensive research it was determined that the product did sell well in inner-city convenience stores. It was determined that the consumers for the product were actually drug addicts who couldn't not digest a regular meal. They would purchase Nutrament as a substitute for a meal. Their motivation to purchase was completely different to the motivation that B-MS had originally thought. These consumers were at the Physiological level of the hierarchy. BM-S therefore had to redesign its MM to better meet the needs of this target market.

Motives often operate at a subconscious level therefore are difficult to measure.

Types of Consumer Buying Behavior

Routine Response/Programmed Behavior--

buying low involvement frequently purchased low cost items;

need very little search and decision effort; purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack foods, milk etc.

Limited Decision Making--

buying product occasionally.

When you need to obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category, perhaps.

Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering.

Examples include Clothes--know product class but not the brand.

Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or infrequently bought products. High degree of economic/performance/psychological risk.

Examples include cars, homes, computers, education. Spend alot of time seeking information and deciding.

Information from the companies MM; friends and relatives, store personnel etc. Go through all six stages of the buying process.

Impulse buying, no conscious planning.