INTRODUCTION

This course introduces you to the influence that consumer behaviour has on marketing
activities. You will apply theoretical concepts to marketing strategies and decision
making. Topics include consumer and marketing segments, environmental influences,
individual determinants, decision processes, and information research and evaluation.
Consumer Behaviour is an advanced marketing course designed to provide you with indepth knowledge of the fundamentals of consumer behavior, with emphasis on the
consumer in the marketplace, consumers as individuals, consumers as decision makers,
and consumers as influenced by culture and subculture. A critical examination of
consumer behavior theories and research will be undertaken. Further emphasis will be
placed on understanding the application of consumer behavior concepts in a competitive,
dynamic, and global business environment.

OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

Explain and apply the key terms, definitions, and concepts used in the study of
consumer behaviour.

Demonstrate how as a marketer you can use your knowledge of consumer

behaviour concepts to develop better marketing programs and strategies to
influence those behaviours.

Critically evaluate the effectiveness of various advertisement and promotions and

their attempts to influence the behaviours of individuals.

Analyze the trends in consumer behaviour, and apply them to the marketing of an
actual product or service.

1. To understand the fundamentals of consumer behavior, with emphasis on the

consumer in the marketplace, consumers as individuals, consumers as decision
makers, and consumers as influenced by culture and subcultures.
2. To develop your understanding of the consumer as an individual with emphasis on
various psychological theories of motivation, learning, personality, and
perception. To understand, discuss, and apply these theories to advertising design.
3. To expand your understanding of market segmentation strategy, focusing on
sociological segmentation variables including social class; cultural, sub-cultural,
and cross cultural influences, changing values and demographics; and traditional
vs. modern family influences.
4. To understand the application of consumer behavior concepts in a competitive,
dynamic, and global business environment.
5. To understand how consumer behavior highlights concerns about ethics and social
responsibility in the marketplace.
6. To continue the development of analytical and communication skills.
7. To further develop your ability to perform thorough research, compile information
in a meaningful way, and present information effectively in both a written and
oral fashion.
8. To further develop your group interaction skills and the ability to perform
effectively in a group context.

LECTURE ONE; MARKETING OVERVIEW/ REVISION

1.1

Introduction

Welcome to our first lecture of the consumer behaviour course. This lecture will recap on
some key marketing concepts you learn earlier in Principles of Marketing Course. These
concepts are critical to our understanding and appreciating of consumer behaviour as a

field of study. We shall remind ourselves some key definitions, and then revisit the
subject of customer relationship Marketing.
1.2

Specific Objectives.

At the end of the lecture you should be able:

1) to Define the term Marketing
2) to define other key marketing concepts.
3) Describe elements of the marketing mix
4) Explain the concept of Customer Relationship Marketing

1.3

1.4

Lecture Outline

Definition of Marketing

Core Marketing Concepts

The Marketing Mix

Customer Relationship Marketing

Marketing Overview

Definition of Marketing
The Chartered Institute of Marketing of the United Kingdom defines marketing as, The
management process which identifies, anticipates, and supplies customer needs
efficiently and profitably.
Kibera (1996) defines marketing as the performance of business and non-business
activities which attempt to satisfy a target individual or group needs and wants for mutual
benefit or benefits.

Kotler (2006), the American marketing guru provides the definition of marketing as A
social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want through creating and exchanging products and value with others.
Kotler and Armstrong (2008) define marketing as The process by which companies
create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture
value from customers in return.

Core Marketing Concepts

1.

Needs The basic concept underlying marketing is that of human needs. Needs
comprise of those things that human beings feel they cannot do without e.g. food,
clothing, shelter, safety, education etc.

2.

Wants Are forms of human needs that improve on their well being but which
they can do without. Wants are the form of human needs taken as they are shaped
by culture and individual personality for example urbanites want Television sets.

3.

Demand Demand is the quantity of a commodity that consumers are willing and
able to buy at a given price over a given time period other factors held constant.
When a want is backed by buying power it becomes demand.

4.

Product Is anything that can be offered to satisfy needs or wants. It can be

tangible or intangible.

5.

Market A constituency of potential customers sharing particular needs or wants

and who might be willing and able to engage in exchange to satisfy that
need or want.
A market also refers to where buyers and sellers meet to transact.

6.

Marketing offer Is a combination of products or service presented to the

market to satisfy a need or a want.

7.

Value and Satisfaction Value is the ability of a commodity to satisfy human

wants. It also referred to as quality or utility. Customers look for value in a

product before paying for it.

The ability of a product to meet customer

expectations results in customer satisfaction.

8.

Exchange Is the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering

something in return.

9.

Transaction An exchange of values between two or more parties, where either

party gains.

10.

Marketing Management Is the art and science of choosing target markets and
building relationships with them.

THE MARKETING MIX

The marketing mix is a combination of controllable, tactical marketing tools that a firm
blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The marketing mixes
consist of everything the firm can do to influence the demand for its product.
The many possibilities can be collected into four groups of variables also known as the
four Ps of marketing mix i.e. product, price, place and promotion.
The conventional 4 Ps of marketing have since been expanded to 7 Ps as :
Marketing Mix
Product

Description
The goods and services on offer and their quality, feature, and

Price

design.
That which consumers are willing to pay to get a unit of the

Place

product or services
The distribution methodology of the products or service to the

Promotion

market place or target market

The selling activity used to motivate the customers and entice

People

them to buy more of the product

People are the human beings who drive product or service

Process

delivery
The framework that is followed in the marketing and delivery of
products and services
5

Physical evidence

The tangible elements of services, ideas or any other intangible

products put on offer

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MARKETING (CRM)

CRM is defined as the overall process of building and maintaining profitable ties between
organizations and customers by delivering superior customer values and satisfaction.
Overtime, relationship marketing has grown and replaced transactional marketing as
summarized in the table below.
Transactional marketing

Relationship marketing

(One way communication)

(Two way communication)

Focus on a single sale

Focus on customer retention

Product features oriented

Orientation on product benefits

Short time scale

Long timescale

Little customer service

High customer service

Limited customer commitment

High customer commitment

Moderate customer contact

High customer contact

Quality

Quality is the concern of all

is

the

concern

of

production
CRM therefore involves attracting, retaining and growing customers.
Basic Tenets of CRM
To effectively manage customer relationship, marketers normally employ the following
three approaches:
1.

Customer Value and Satisfaction

Customer perceived value is the customers evaluation of the difference between

the benefits and costs of a marketing offer relative to those of the competing
offers. Whereas the customer may not be accurate in judging the cost and values,
they would always want to maximize their benefits at minimum cost.
Customer satisfaction refers to a products perceived performance as compared to
the buyers expectation. If the products performance falls short of expectation the
customer is dissatisfied and vice versa.

Smart companies aim at delighting

customers by exceeding their expectation.

Satisfied customers produce several benefits to the company including
(a)

They are less price sensitive.

(b)

They spread a favourably word of mouth to others about the company

(c)

They remain loyal for a longer time.

(d)

They buy a wider range of products

(e)

They cost less to service as they are familiar with the product and business
design

(f)

2.

They exhibit strong Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)

Customer loyalty and retention

For successful CRM marketers must work to create customer loyalty. A loyal customer is
one who buys the companys brand and no other. E.g a customer goes to the store to buy
Kimbo{ not cooking fat} if Kimbo is not in the store he tries the next store rather than
settling for another brand. Marketers must strive to grow the customer through the loyalty
ladder from prospect, to customer, to client to a supporter, and finally to an advocate as
shown below

Hence for companies to retain their customers for a longer period, they must aim
high in satisfying their needs and wants.

3.

Growing share of customers

Marketers are pre-occupied by the want to increase their share of customers i.e.
the share they get of the customers purchasing in their product categories.
To increase share of customers,
(a)

Firms can offer greater variety to current customers

(b)

Train employees to cross sell - Cross selling means getting more business
from current customers of one product by selling them additional offering
e.g. offering a customer who comes to buy a suit, a shirt, tie, a belt and
shoes.

1.5

Activities

Distinguish between Marketing and Selling

Do Marketers create needs or do needs pre-exist marketers? discuss

1.6

Summary
In this lecture you have learnt:

1. Marketing is the management process which identifies, anticipates, and supplies

customer needs efficiently and profitably.
2. How to define key marketing concepts like, needs, wants, market, marketing offer.
3. Traditional marketing mix had it 4ps, which was later extended to 7ps
4. Customer relationship marketing involves, attracting , retaining and growing the
share of customers.

4.1

Suggestions for Further Readings.

1) Kotler P. and Armstrong G.,(2008), Principles of Marketing, 12 th Edition, Prentice

Hall.
2) Kotler, P & Keller, K.L., (2006), Marketing Management. 12 th ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall
3) Etzel, M.J., Walker, B.J. and Stanton, W.J., (2007), Marketing, 14TH edn. McGrawHill, Irwin.

LECTRE TWO: CUSTOMER DRIVEN MARKETING STRATEGY

2.1

Introduction

In the last class, we revisited some definitions of key marketing concepts. This class shall
also be a revision class as we recap on the process of market segmentation, targeting and
positioning.
2.2

Specific Objectives

1) Define the terms Market Segmentation Market Targeting and Product Positioning
2) Describe the bases of segmenting Markets
3) Explain market targeting strategies
4) Describe bases for positioning a product.
9

2.3

Lecture Outline

Introduction

Market Segmentation

Bases for Segmentation

Importance of Segmentation

Requirements for effective segmentation

Market Targeting

Market Targeting Strategies

Differentiation and Positioning

2.4 CUSTOMER DRIVEN MARKETING STRATEGY

INTRODUCTION
Prior to the adoption of market segmentation business was by way of mass marketing i.e.
offering the same product and marketing mix to all consumers. The essence of this
strategy was summed up by the entrepreneur Henry Ford, the manufacturer of the Model
T automobile to the public in any colour they wanted as long as it was black. Mass
or undifferentiated marketing strategy would be logical if all consumers were alike by
having the same needs, wants, desires, background, education and experiences.
The primary advantage of mass marketing is that it costs less: only one advertising
campaign is needed, one marketing strategy is developed and one standardized product is
offered as is the case with agricultural companies and the very basic manufactured goods.
Companies today recognize the fact that they cannot appeal to all buyers in the market
place in the same way. Thus firms have moved away from mass marketing to target
marketing i.e. identifying market segments, selecting one of them and developing
products and marketing programs tailored to them. The major steps toward designing a
market driven marketing strategy include:
10

A. Market Segmentation
B. Market Targeting
C. Market Positioning

MARKET SEGMENTATION
Market segmentation is a process of dividing a market into distinct subsets of consumers
with common needs, characteristics or behaviour and selecting one or more segments to
target with a distinct market mix. A market segment is therefore a group of customers
who respond in a similar way to a given set of marketing effort.
The market segmentation strategy allows producers to avoid head on completion in the
market place by differentiating their offerings not only on the basis of price but also
styling, packaging, promotional appeal, distribution methods and superior service. The
costs of consumer segmentation research, shorter production runs and differentiated
promotional campaigns are more than offset by increased sales.
Market segmentation is the first step in a three phrase marketing strategy. After
segmenting the market into homogeneous clusters, the marketer selects one or more
segments to target by deciding a specific marketing mix i.e. a specific product, price,
channel and or promotional appeal for each distinct segment.
The third step is market positioning of the product so that its perceived by the consumers
in each target segment as satisfying their needs better other competitive offerings.

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BASES FOR SEGMENTATION:

The first step in developing a market segmentation strategy is selecting the most
appropriate base on which to segment the market. The main strategies used in segmenting
consumer markets are Geographic, Demographic, Psychological, psychographic
(Lifestyle) characteristics, sociocultural variables, use related characteristics, use
situation factors, benefits sought, forms of hybrid segmentation and economic factors.
(a)

Geographic Segmentation

Geographic segmentation means dividing the market into different geographical locations
or units such as nations, states, regions, cities or estates. The theory behind this strategy is
that people who live in a given area share some similar needs and wants that differ from
those living in other areas.
Many companies in Kenya segment the country into five regions, Nairobi, Mountain, Rift
Valley, Nyanza and Coastal.
Companies do localize their products, advertising, promotion and sales efforts to fit the
needs of individual regions e.g. Daily Nation Newspapers has the Nairobi, Western and
Coast editions. Marketing research shows divergent consumer purchasing patterns among
the urban, suburban and rural areas.
Geographic segmentation is a useful strategy for most marketers. It is relatively easy to
find geographically based differences for many products. The geographic segmentations
are easily reachable through the local media including newspapers, TV and radio and
regional editions of magazines.

(b)

Demographic Segmentation

12

Demography refers to the vital and measurable statistics of a population. Demographic

characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, income, occupation,

family size,

family life cycle, religion, race, generation, education and nationality are mostly used as
the basis for market segmentation.
Using these variables, the market could be segmented as follows: Based on age (children,
youth, and adults), based on income (high income, middle income, low income), and
based on gender (for men, women).
Most cosmetic products are specially designed, promoted and advertised to reinforce the
feminine image e.g. Nivea.
(c)

Behavioural Segmentation
Divides buyers into groups based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses or response
to a product. The segments that emerge include:
(i)

Occasion segmentation Divides the market into groups according to

occasions when buyers get the idea to buy, actually buy or use the
purchased item e.g. coffee for cold season.

(ii)

Benefit Segmentation Divides the market into groups according to the

benefits that consumers seek from the product e.g. for a laundry detergent
like Omo, Sunlight, Jik, etc. customer are segmented on the basis of
benefits sought e.g. The product gives benefits like cleaning, fabric
softening, strengthening and fresh smell.

(iii)

Loyalty Status A market can be segmented by consumer loyalty.

Consumers can be loyal to brands (Nike), stores (Nakumatt, Wal-mart,
Bata) and companies (Toyota, Ford). Buyers can be divided according to
loyalty as; completely loyal, somewhat loyal or not loyal. A company can
target the less loyal customers and turn them to loyal customers.
13

(d)

Psychographic
Segments the market based on the social class, lifestyle and personality.

Social class

Lower lower; upper-lower; working class, middle class,

upper-middle, lower upper; upper-upper.

b) Lifestyle

Straights, swingers, longhairs.

c) Personality

Compulsive,

authoritarian,

ambitious,

high-achievers,

gregarious.
Importance of Segmentation
(a) Its an acknowledgement that people are different and special
(b) It helps marketers define customer needs more precisely
(c) Helps marketers in developing market mixes and products to meet need
(d) Helps in the allocation of resources because segments differ in sizes
(e) Provides better evaluation of marketing performance in segments

Requirements for Effective Segmentation

1.

Measurable The size, purchasing power and profiles of segments can be

measured.

2.

Accessible The market segment can be reached and served. E.g if your target
market is school going students, the best time to advertise is in the evenings.

3.

Substantial The market segments should be large and profitable enough to

serve e.g Toyota targets the African market with economical cars, because the
larger populations are medium income earners.

4.

Differentiable The segments are conceptually distinguishable and respond

differently to different market mix elements and programs e.g. people in rural
areas are price sensitive and averse to highly price urbanites are less price
sensitive.
14

5.

Actionable Effective programs can be designed for attracting and serving the
segments.

MARKET TARGETING
A target market is a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the
company decides to serve e.g. wholesalers who stock cooking oil products could be a
target market for a cooking oil manufacturer like Bidco.
Market Targeting Strategies
After analyzing the various segments, the company must then decide on the method to
use in approaching the market. The strategies for selecting a target market include:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

Undifferentiated marketing
Differentiated marketing
Concentrated marketing
Micromarketing

(i)

Undifferentiated Marketing (Mass Marketing)

This is a situation in which a firm decides to ignore the various market segments and go
for the whole market with one type of product using one form of marketing mix e.g. mass
advertising of Equity Bank, mass distribution of Jogoo maize flour, mass promotional
campaigns of Coca-Cola.
The main advantage of this strategy is that it is a cost saving approach

15

The main undoing of this strategy includes:

Makes a firm unimaginative

Makes a firm vulnerable to competition

(ii)

Differentiated Marketing (Segmented Marketing)

Using this strategy, a firm decides to target several market segments and designs
separated offers or market mix for each e.g. Toyota has differentiated markets as follows:
(i)

Toyota Prado/Lexus For consumers who care about size, strength, safety and not
price.

(ii)

Toyota Corolla For consumers who care about fuel consumption and are price
sensitive.

The main advantage of this strategy is that may yield financial success with economies of
scale in production and marketing.
The main disadvantage of this strategy is that it is very costly strategy. The high cost
originates from; Product design cost, promotion costs for different markets, inventory
cost for various markets, research cost amongst others.
(iii)

Concentrated Marketing (Niche Marketing)

This is a strategy where a firm selects a market niche and concentrates on it. It involves
offering one product to one specific group.
Is especially appealing when company resources are limited. Instead of going after small
share of large markets, the firm goes after a large share of one or a few segments or

16

niches e.g. KCB has branches all over the country, I & M Bank, has branches only in
cities i.e. Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa. I & M is applying niche marketing.

(iv)

Micromarketing (One to One Marketing)

Micromarketing is the practice of tailoring products and marketing programmes to suit

the tastes of specific individuals and locations. It is broadly divided into local marketing
and individual marketing.
Local marketing is tailoring brands and promotions to the needs and wants of local
customer groups i.e. cities, neighborhoods or specific stores
Individual marketing is the tailoring of products and marketing programs to the needs and
preferences of individual, customers also called one to one marketing.

DIFFERENTIATION AND POSITIONING

Product positioning means the way the product is defined by consumers on important
attributes i.e. the place the product occupies in the mind of the consumers relative to
competitors products. One positioning expert once commented that products are created
in the factory, but brands are created in the mind
Toyota 110 is positioned as an economical car, Volvo positions on safety and Mercedes is
a luxurious car, Hummer positioned on a very high performance with a price tag to
match.
Examples of positioning slogans:
(a) Safaricom: The better option
17

(b) Nakumatt: You need it weve got it

(c) Nation newspaper: The Truth
(d) Mash : We lead the leaders
(e) Kenya Airways: The pride of Africa
(f) Lexus: The passionate pursuit of excellence
(g) Mercedes: In a perfect world, everyone would drive a Mercedes
The Nature of Positioning

Positioning assumes that consumers compare products along important features.

To simplify the buying process, consumers organize companies, products and
services into categories and position them in their minds

Positioning must clearly indicate these features lest it fails. The marketer must
position the market offer so that it gives them the greatest possible advantage

Marketers must come up with excellent positioning maps. A positioning map is an

effort of the marketer to show consumer perception of their brands versus
competing products on important dimensions.

Positioning must be built around a differentiation gimmick

Marketing mix is used to facilitate positioning.

Poor Positioning May Lead to:

1. Undesirable positioning: head on with stronger competition
2. Undesirable position: Position without demand from customers
3. Fuzzy positioning: Nobody knows what the distinctive feature really is.
4. No positioning: Nobody has heard of the positioning
Bases for Positioning a Product
1. Benefits
2. Price and quality combination
3. Uses and application
18

4. Product user position

5. Product class position
6. Positioning against Competitor (comparative)
7. Origin positioning
Choosing a Differentiation and Positioning Strategy
Positioning task takes four steps:
(1)

Identifying a set of possible competitive advantages

(2)

Choosing the right competitive advantages

(3)

Selecting an overall positioning strategy

(4)

Developing a Position Statement

(1)

Identifying Possible Competitive Advantage

-

A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by

offering consumers greater value, either through lower prices or by
providing more benefits that justify higher prices.

A companys marketing offer must be differentiated from those of

competitors along the lines of product attributes, services quality,
channels, people or physical evidence.

The company must constantly compare the customer satisfaction of its

products, prices, channels and promotion with those of chosen
competitors.

(2)

Choosing the Right Competitive Advantage

Sometimes a company realizes that it has several advantages compared to
competitors. It then has to choose how many differences to promote and which
ones.

19

 HOW MANY DIFFERENCES TO PROMOTE Often companies choose

one unique feature and insist that they are number one in that area. But a
company can also promote a number of differences.
WHICH DIFFERENCES TO PROMOTE Not all differences are worth
promoting. A difference is worth establishing to the extent that it satisfies
the following criteria: Important, Distinctive, Superior, Communicable,
pre-emptive (robust), affordable and profitable.

(3)

Selecting an overall positioning strategy

The full positioning of a brand is called value positioning. Value positioning
tells the customer everything about the benefits they will get from a brand.
There are four approaches to value positioning i.e. More for more(pay more
get more value), more for same, the same for less, less for much less and more
for less.

(4)

Developing a Position Statement

-

A positioning statement summarizes company or brand positioning.

A good positioning statement should follow this form:

To (target segment and need) our (customers), our (brand) is (concept) the
best in the market (point of difference).
e.g to all trendy men, Sir Henrys Suits offers the latest designer suits,
specially tailored to fit the modern fashion and a look of elegance. Non
compares with us in mens wear.
Sir Henrys, the best a man can get.

20

Challenges of Positioning
(a) Over positioning
(b) Under positioning
(c) Confused positioning
(d) Doubtful positioning: Buyers cannot believe
Tools to Facilitate Positioning

1. Advertising
2. Pricing
3. Personnel
4. Product features
5. Branding
6. Slogan
7. Service environment
2.5

Activities
Describe the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning strategy that your organization
adopts with respect to its products. In other words, identify the target segments, as
well as how the organization wants its product(s) to be viewed by the targeted
segments.
Note: If your organization produces many goods and/or services, you may want to
pick a particular one and provide more depth on that particular one, rather than being
very general about the entire organization.

2.6

Summary

Marketing Segmentation refers to divided the target market into smaller sub- markets
[segments], each that has similar response to your offering.
21

Four main bases used in segmenting markets include the Geographical, Demographic,
Behavioral, and Psychographic.
The process of determining how many and which particular segments to serve is
known as Market targeting. It comes after market segmentation
Four commonly used market targeting strategies are; Undifferentiated Marketing,
Differentiated Marketing, Focus/Niche Marketing & Micro marketing.
Product positioning refers to the place the product takes in the mind of the target
customer, on certain attributes relative to competing products.
2.7

Suggestions for Further Readings

1. Kotler P. and Armstrong G.,(2008), Principles of Marketing, 12 th Edition, Prentice

Hall.
2. Kotler, P & Keller, K.L., (2006), Marketing Management. 12th ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall
3. Etzel, M.J., Walker, B.J. and Stanton, W.J., (2007), Marketing, 14TH edn. McGrawHill, Irwin.

22

LECTURE THREE: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

3.1

Introduction

In our last lesson we looked at the segmentation, targeting and positioning process. This
class shall now introduce consumer behaviour by defining consumer behaviour,
discussing the types of consumer entities and analysing some models of consumer
behaviour.
3.2

Specific Objectives

At the end of the lecture you should be able:

1. Define the term Consumer behaviour
2. Identify two types of consumer entities
3. Explain why we need to study consumer behaviour
4. Discuss the stimulus-response model of consumer behaviour
3.3

Lecture Outline

Definition of Consumer behaviour

Types of Consumer Entities

Why Study Consumer Behaviour

Models of Consumer behaviour

3.4 Consumer Behaviour

DEFINITION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer behaviour studies how individuals, Groups and Organizations, Select,
Buy, Use and Dispose of Goods, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their

23

needs and wants. It refers to the behaviour that customers exhibit in: Searching
for, Purchasing Using Evaluating and Disposing of products.
TYPES OF CONSUMER ENTITIES
The term consumer is often used to describe two different types of consumer entities,
i.e.
(i)

The personal consumer and

(ii)

The organizational consumer

The personal consumer

The personal Consumer is an individual who buys products or services for personal use
and not for manufacture or resale . He buys goods and or services for personal use for the
use of the household or as a gift for a friend. i.e he buys goods and services for people
referred to as end users or ultimate consumers.

The organizational consumer

An organization that may be profit or nonprofit businesses, government agencies (local,
state or national) and institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons) that buy products,
equipment and or services in order to run their institutions. All these buy products,
equipment and services in order to run their operations.

Despite the existence of these two categories of consumers, the end-use consumption is
perhaps the post pervasive of all types of consumer behavior, for it involves individual, of
every age and background, in the role of either buyer or user or both.

24

WHY STUDY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR?

Reasons why people study consumer behavior are diverse.

The field of consumer

behavior holds great interest for us as:

(i)

Consumers,

As marketers and

As schools of human behavior.

As consumers:

We benefit from insights into our own consumption related decisions:

What we buy

Why we buy

How we buy and the

Promotional influences that persuade us to buy.

The study of consumer behavior enables us to become better, i.e. wiser

consumers.

(ii)

As marketers and future marketers:

It is important for us to recognize why and how consumers make their

consumption decisions for a number of reasons:
(a)

So as to make better strategic decisions,

(b)

If marketers understand consumer behavior, they are able to

predict how consumers are likely to react to various informational
and environmental cues and are able to shape their marketing
strategies accordingly.

(c)

Marketers who understand consumer behavior have greater

competitive advantage in the market place.

(d)

Customers are the reason for any business existence since without
them, a business cannot exist. Meeting the needs of the customers
25

more effectively than competitors do is the key to continued

profitable existence for any business.
(e)

It is important that each customer who deals with an organization

is left with a feeling of satisfaction. This may lead to increased
sales or willingness to pay higher prices thus higher profits.

(f)

Anyone who buys takes a risk. Everyone likes to get value for
money. It is important that marketers help reduce the risk for
consumers so that they are more likely to become regular
customers.

(iii)

(g)

Loyal customers will support the organization in hard times.

(h)

Customer loyalty is a source of companys goodwill.

As scholars of human behavior, we are concerned with understanding consumer

behavior with:

Gaining insights into why individuals act in certain consumption-related

ways and

With learning what internal and external influences impel them to act as
they do.

MODELS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

7Os Framework for Consumer Research
This model is useful in gathering market intelligence or in conduction a research about a
market. It seeks answers to the following questions.
Who constitutes the Market?

- Occupants

What does the Market Buy?

- Objects

Why does the Market Buy?

- Objectives

26

 Who Participates in the Buying?

- Organization

How does the Market Buy?

- Operations

When does the Market Buy?

- Occasions

Where does the Market Buy ?

- Outlets

Black Box Model/ Stimulus- Response Model

ENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORS

BUYER'S BLACK BOX

Marketing

Environmental

Buyer

Decision

Stimuli

Stimuli

Characteristics

Process

BUYER'S
RESPONSE

Problem
recognition
Product

Economic

Price

Technical

Place

Political

Promotion

Cultural

Attitudes
Motivation
Perceptions
Personality
Lifestyle

Information

Product

choice

search

Brand

choice

Alternative

Dealer

choice

evaluation

Purchase timing

Purchase

Purchase

decision

amount

Post-purchase
behaviour
The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, and
decision process and consumer responses.

27

It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli (between people) or intrapersonal

stimuli (within people). The black box model is related to the black box theory of
behaviorism, where the focus is not set on the processes inside a consumer, but the
relation between the stimuli and the response of the consumer.
The marketing stimuli are planned and processed by the companies, whereas the
environmental stimuli are given by social factors, based on the economical, political and
cultural circumstances of a society. Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the
buyers consciousness. The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the
decision process, which determines the buyers response. The buyers characteristics and
decision making process leads to certain purchase decision.
The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational
decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem.
However, in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a determined problem
by the consumer.
3.5 Activities
Using real life examples, discuss how the following factors can stimulate purchase
decisions.
1. Marketing Mix
2. PEST forces
3. Buyer Characteristics
4. Buyer Readiness stage
3.6

Summary

In this lesson we have:

Defined consumer behavior

Identified two types of consumer entities;- personal and organizational

28

Stated reasons why we study consumer behavior:- as Consumers, Marketers and

as Scholars

Discussed two models of consumer behaviour; 70s Framework and Black box
Model

3.7 Suggestions for Further Readings

1. Eric A. Linda P. and George Z. (2002), Consumer Behaviour. New York: McGrawHill Irwin.
2. James F. E. Roger D.B and Paul W.M. (1990), Consumer Behaviour, U.S.A: The
Dryden Press

LECTRUE FOUR: THE BUYING DECISION

4.1

Introduction

People do not just make a purchase, but rather go through a series of steps before
they make the actual process. This lesson will look at various buying
situations, the buying roles, stages in consumer buying decisions and the types
of buying behaviors.
4.2

Specific Objectives
At the end of the lecture you should be able:

1. Explain three types of buying situations

2. Explain consumer buying roles
3. Describe the consumer buying decision process
29

4. Discuss consumer buying behaviours

4.3

4.4

Lecture Outline

Buying Situations

Consumer Buying Roles

Consumer Buying Decision Process

Consumer Buying Behavior

The Buying Decision

INTRODUCTION
To be successful, marketers have to develop an understanding of how consumers actually
make their buying decisions. Specifically marketers have to identify the following;
The Buying Situations
Who makes the buying decisions
Steps in the buying decision
Types of buying decisions behaviour
THE BUYING SITUATION
There are 3 types of buying situations:

30

a) Extensive problem solving situation (EPS)

b) Limited problem solving situation (LPS)
c) Automatic response.
a) Extensive problem solving situation
It refers to the purchase of expensive items e.g. expensive stereo, clothing, automobiles;
in these cases one needs to make the right choice.
In buying such items, careful reasoning and information is necessary. All the stages of
consumer decision-making process have to be followed.
To buy products, consumers look for information from internal and external sources.
External information is preferred where:

One has little or no previous experience to draw from;

Previous choices have resulted in dissatisfaction;

A long time has expired since the product was purchased last;

Benefits offered by current product differ from earlier product;

The consumer has little or no confidence in himself/herself;

Future purchases are based on inertia.

b) Limited problem solving situation
This is purchase of products that have one or a few uses e.g. bread, detergents. These
items are bought often. For these items, information sought is very little. They are not
bought necessarily by planning. Future purchases of such items are based on habit.
c) Automatic response
Once a consumer has bought for the time future purchases will be dictated by habit (for
limited problem solving product) and inertia (for extensive problem solving products).

CONSUMER BUYING ROLES- {who makes the buying decisions}

31

Marketers should identify the buying roles for their products. Where purchase decisions
are made by a group rather than an individual these roles become apparent. However note
that these roles keep changing from one purchase decision to the next. Five roles have
been distinguished.
The following are the various roles in the consumer buying process:
1.

The Initiator This is the person who first suggest or thinks of the idea of a
particular product or service.

2.

The Influencer This is the person in the active buying process whose views or
advice influence the buying decision.

3.

The Decider This is the person who finally makes the final buying decisions, or
any part of it. This includes the decisions on whether to buy, when to buy, how to
buy and from whom to buy.

4.

The buyer This is the person who finally makes the actual buying. He carries
out the actual and physical purchase of the object.

5.

The User This is the person who uses the purchased product. In marketing there
is a great need to differentiate between the customer and consumer of the product.

6.

The Gatekeepers The person who may make it more difficult to make the
decisions or prevents the decision from being made.

A marketer must know these roles in order to ably develop a systematic way of
evaluating and negotiating a purchase especially for organizational markets.

THE CONSUMER/ BUYER DECISION PROCESS :{ Steps in the buying decision}

This is how consumers make buying decisions. A consumer goes through a series of
rational steps in the buying decision process. The process consists of five distinct stages
32

that include need recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives,

purchase decision and post purchase behaviour.
1.

Need Recognition
At this decision stage, the buyer recognizes a problem or need. The buyer senses a
difference between his actual state and some desired state.
A need can be triggered by internal stimuli when one of the persons normal needs
e.g. hunger, thirst, desire etc. rises to a level high enough to become a drive. The
need may also be triggered by external stimuli like an advert, a discussion with a
friend or a sales person talking of the product.

The marketer at this stage should carry out market research to understand
consumer needs, what triggers the needs, how they led a consumer to a particular
product and looks for ways of satisfying them.
2.

Information Search
This is the stage in which the consumer is aroused to search for more information.
An aroused consumer may or may not search for more information.

The

consumer may move from a state of active information search to a state of

heightened attention where the consumer actively seeks information. The
following are the sources of information that a consumer can turn to:
Personal sources (Buyer sources)
This may be from the family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, etc. These
sources may be used when:
-

Performance risks are high

The buyer is particularly interested in avoiding mistakes and hence

actively seeks negative or unfavourable information if it is available.

(ii)

Commercial sources.
33

These include all information sources controlled by the seller. They include:
-

Advertising and

Personal selling

They are used when:-

(iii)

The perceived task is too low

Higher cost of using alternative sources is not justified.

Public sources:
E.g.

(iv)

Mass media and

Consumer organizations

Experiential sources:
E.g.

Handling

Examining and

Using the product.

The relative influence of these sources varies with the product and the buyer. The
consumer receives the most information from the commercial source which is
controlled by the marketer. However, the most effective information source is the
personal one. While the commercial source informs the buyer, the personal source
legitimizes and or evaluates the product for the buyer.
Companies have realized that people who ask others (word of mouth sources) end
in buying. It is convincing and a more cost effective strategy.
The amount of information sought depends on:

3.

Whether the consumers is buying the product for the first time;

Cost of the product;

Durability;

How often the product is biught;

Importance of the product; and

Image of the product.

Evaluation of Alternatives
34

At this stage, the consumer uses the available information to evaluate alternative
brands in the choice set. It indicates how a consumer chooses from among the
alternative brands.
Consumers sometimes make careful calculations and logical thinking of the
product benefits and features (complex buying behaviour). At other times,
consumers do little or no evaluation; instead they buy on impulse and rely on
intuition. Some other times consumers make buying decisions on their own,
sometimes they turn to friends, consumer guides or salespeople.
The marketer needs to understand about the alternative evaluation i.e. how a
consumer processes information to arrive at brand choice. Consumers never apply
a simple and single evaluation process in all the buying situations. Several
evaluation processes are put in play dependent on the buying situation. Marketers
should study buyers to find out how they actually evaluate brand alternatives.
The information obtained helps the consumer to clarify and evaluate the alternatives
under consideration.
The consumer will look at:(i)

Various product attributes, e.g. type, shape, appearance, texture, aging, cost,
colour, effectiveness, taste/flavour, comfort, fit, style, safety, quality, etc.

(ii)

Important weights attached to the attributes.

(iii)

The brand image or brand beliefs should also be considered.

(iv)

How the consumer expects product satisfaction to vary with different levels of
each attribute.

(v)

The consumer will arrive at attitudes towards the brand alternative through some
brand evaluation procedure. These differ among consumers.

Each buyer must arrive at a decision as to what attributes are important and the
evaluation criteria that must be used to compare different alternatives. consumers
evaluate products based on a number of criteria namely and also on the basis of their
Beliefs, attitudes and intentions.
35

Evaluative criteria

Beliefs

Attitudes

Intentions

Evaluation criteria
These are dimensions used by consumers to compare or evaluate products or brands e.g.
for a car it is the:

Cost;

Economy;

Service availability etc.

ii) Beliefs
These are the degree to which the consumers believe that the product has certain
characteristics e.g. safety, quality etc.
iii) Attitudes
These are the degree of liking or disliking for a product which in turn determines whether
the customer will buy it or not.
iv) Intentions

36

These measure the probability of buying the product. A marketer should assist consumers
to acquire information that will help them to make the purchase decision.
4.

Purchase Decisions
At this stage, the buyer makes a decision of which brand to buy. At the evaluation
stage, the consumer ranks the brands and forms purchase intentions. Their
purchase decision will be to buy the most preferred brand. Two factors may
influence the buyers decision at this stage:
(a)

Others attitude over the product: the influence of someone

important to the consumer or the views of friends, mates and or
relatives.

(b)

Unexpected situational changes: Where the consumer form a

purchase intention based on such factors as expected income, price
and product benefits which change prior to the purchase.

Unexpected event may change a buyers purchase intention e.g. positive growth, a drop
of product price by a competitor or expression of after purchase dissonance (discomfort)
of the product by a friend. Hence preferences or purchase intentions do not always result
into the actual purchase choice.
5.

Post-purchase Behaviour
At this stage, the consumers take further action after purchasing the product based
on their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
If the product falls short of expectations, the consumer is dissatisfied.(cognitive
dissonance). A dissatisfied consumer may: Take legal action
Seek Redress from the company
Keep quiet
Talk to others badly about the company
If it meets expectations, the consumer is satisfied. A satisfied consumer will:37

 Speak well of a companys product

Buy the product again
Buy other products from the company
Talk to others about the companys products

If it exceeds expectations, the consumer is delighted.

The larger the gap between expectations and performance the greater consumer
dissatisfaction.
Marketers must at all times strive to satisfy the consumer in order to retain the
existing customers and get new customers. One must promise only what their
products or services can deliver and satisfy the buyers.
Cognitive Dissonance
Is a buyer discomfort caused by post purchase conflict that all major purchases or
complex buying situations result into. After purchase consumers are satisfied with the
benefits of the chosen brand and are glad to avoid the drawbacks of the brands not
bought. Every purchase involves a compromise. Consumers feel uneasy on the
drawbacks of the chosen brands and about losing the benefits of the brands not chosen.
Hence they feel at least some post purchase dissonance with every purchase.
Marketers have a duty to reduce this cognitive dissonance by:

Writing congratulatory letters to the customers for the wise choice they made in
purchasing that particular brand;

Having trade-in arrangements;

Visiting the consumers to see how they are getting on with the product;

Guarantees and warranties;

Providing after sales service.

38

TYPES OF CONSUMER BUYING-DECISION BEHAVIOUR

There are four types of consumer buying decision behaviour namely:
a) Complex buying behaviour
b) Dissonance reducing buying behaviour.
c) Habitual buying behaviour
d) Variety seeking buying behaviour
High Involvement
Significant

Low Involvement

difference Complex buying behaviour

Variety

seeking

between brands
behaviour
Few difference between Dissonance reducing buying Habitual
brands

behaviour

buying
buying

behaviour

a. Complex Buying Behaviour

This is a buying behaviour characterized by high consumer involvement in a purchase
and significant perceived differences among brands.
The consumer involvement is high when the product is expensive, risky, purchased
infrequently and it is highly self expressive. Hence the consumer has a lot to learn about
the product e.g. buying a computer, car etc. The buyer first develops beliefs about the
product, then attitudes, and then makes a thoughtful purchase choice.
Marketers of high involvement products must help buyers learn about the product
benefits and features. They can do this by availing a catalogue or describing the brands
benefits using print media.
b. Dissonance Reducing Buying Behaviour
This is a buying behaviour that occurs when consumers are highly involved with an
expensive infrequent or risky purchase, but sees little difference among brands e.g.
buying a music system, a carpet etc.

39

A consumer buying a music system may face a high involvement decision because the
system is expensive and self-expressive yet buyers may think all the music systems in a
given price range are the same. After purchase a consumer might experience postpurchase dissonance (discomfort). The marketers must provide after sales services and
reassure the consumers that all is well.
c. Habitual Buying Behaviour
It is a consumer buying behaviour characterized by low consumer involvement and a few
significant perceived brand differences.
Consumers have little involvement in this product category, for example bread. They
simply go to a shop and pick a loaf of bread. If they keep buying the same brand, it is out
of habit rather than strong brand loyalty. Consumers appear to have low involvement
with low priced products.
Because buyers are not committed to any brands, marketers of low-involvement products
will use price and sales promotions to create brand familiarity. Television ads are more
effective in such promotions.
d. Variety-Seeking Buying Behaviour
This is a consumer buying behaviour characterized by low consumer involvement but
significant perceived brand differences. A consumer may buy Kasuku brand of cooking
fat, without much evaluation then evaluate the brand during consumption. Next time the
consumer may buy Tily, yet another time Kimbo or Cowbouy. Brand switching occurs
for the sake of variety rather than because of dissatisfaction.
For such products, the marketing strategy may differ for the market leader and for
followers.

The market leader will try to encourage habitual buying behaviour by

dominating shelf space, running frequent reminder adverts e.g. Kimbo, Kasuku.
Challenging firms will encourage variety seeking by offering lower prices, special deals,
and free samples e.g. Mpishi Poa.
40

4.5

Activities

Discuss Impulse buying behavior and explain how marketers can use this behavior
to his advantage.
4.6 Summary
In this lecture we have looked at:
Buying Situations
Consumer Buying Roles
Consumer Buying Decision Process
Consumer Buying Behavior

4.7 Suggestions for Further Readings

Leon Schiffman, Leslie Kanuk, and Mallika Das. Consumer Behaviour.

Canadian

(1st)

edition.

Type: Textbook. ISBN: 0131463047

41

Pearson

Education,

2006.

LECTURE FIVE: FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

5.1

Introduction

In our last class we discussed the types of behaviours exhibited by consumers as they
attempt to make their purchase decisions. This class shall focus on the factors that affect
these behaviours. We shall discuss this factors under four major classifications i.e
Cultural factors, Social Factors, Personal Factors and Psychological factors.
5.2

Specific Objectives

At the end of the lecture you should be able:

1. To Describe the cultural factors influencing consumer behaviour
2. To Explain the social factors influencing buyer behaviour
3. To Discuss the Personal factors influencing buyer behaviour
4. To Discuss the psychological factors influencing buyer behaviour.
5.3

Lecture Outline

Factors influencing buyer behaviour

42

Cultural Factors

Social Factors

Personal Factors

Psychological Factors

5.4

Factors Influencing Buyer Behaviour

These are also known as the characteristics affecting consumer buying behaviour. The
character of a consumer will largely be affected and or influenced by the following
factors:
1.

Cultural factors: (Culture, Sub Culture and Social Class)

2.

Social factors: (Reference Groups, family and roles and Status)

3.

Personal factors: (Age and Life Cycle Stage, Occupation, Economic Situation,
Lifestyle, Personality and Self Concept).

4.

Psychological factors: (Motivation, Attitudes, Perception, Learning and Beliefs)

Factors influencing buyer behavior:

Culture
1.

Cultural factors

Sub-Culture
Social Class
Reference group

43

2.

Direct influence
- Membership groups
Primary
Secondary
Indirect influence

Social factors

of orientation
Family

of procreation

Opinion leaders
Roles and statuses
Age and stage in the life cycle
Occupation
3.

Personal factors

Economic circumstances
Lifestyle
Personality and self concept
Motive
Perception

4.

Psychological
Factors

Learning

Beliefs and attitude

Personality
1.

Cultural Factors (Characteristics)

The marketer must understand the role played by the buyers culture, subculture
and social class.
(a)

Culture Culture is a societys personality. It is the sum total of learned

beliefs, values and customs that serve to direct and regulate the consumer
44

behaviour of members of a particular society. It affects a persons wants

and behaviour. Beliefs and values are guides for consumer behaviour.
Customs are usual and accepted ways of behaving.
The impact of culture on society is so natural and so ingrained that its
influence on behaviour is rarely noted. Yet culture offers order, direction
and guidance to society members in all phases of human problem solving
Growing up in a society a child learns the basic values, perceptions, wants
and behaviours from the family and other important cultural institutions
e.g. different cultures assign different meanings to colour.

White is

usually associated with purity and cleanliness in Western communities.

However it can signify death in Asian countries.
Also according to Taiwan culture, a man puts on green cloths to signify his
wife has been unfaithful.
(b)

Subculture Subculture is a distinct cultural group that exists as an

identifiable segment within a larger, more complex society. It includes
nationalities, religions, racial groups, age subcultures, gender subcultures
and geographic regions. Many subcultures make up important market
segments and marketers often design products tailored to their needs e.g.
the Black Americans in the United States are strongly motivated by quality
and selection. They place more importance on brand names and are more
brand loyal.
Sub cultural analysis enables the marketer to focus on sizeable and natural
market segments. The marketer must determine whether the beliefs, values
and customs shared by the members of a specific subgroup make them
desirable candidates for special marketing attention. Subcultures are hence
relevant units of analysis for market research.

(c)

Social Class is a continuum or a range of social positions on which each

member of the society may be placed. It is the division of members of a
45

society into a hierarchy of distinct status classes, so that members of each

class have relatively the same status and members of all other classes have
either more or less status. Social classes are societys relatively permanent
and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests and
behaviours e.g. of social class: upper class, middle class, lower class.
Social class is determined by many factors like income, occupation,
education, wealth and other variables. Marketers are interested in social
class because people within a given social class tend to exhibit similar
buying behaviour.

Social classes show distinct product and brand

preferences in areas like clothing, home furnishings, automobiles etc.

2.

Social Factors
The buyers behaviour may also be influenced by social factors, such as groups,
the family, social roles and status.
(a)

Reference Groups A group is a combination of two or more people who

have come together or interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals.
A group member is influenced by the other members as one strives to
belong. Marketers try to identify the reference groups of their target
markets. Reference groups expose a person to new behaviours, lifestyles
and create pressure to conform e.g. a group of young people can be
attracted to the football game and would wish to put on branded products
just like the football player whom they wish to imitate.

(b)

Family
Marketers are interested in the roles and influence of the husband, wife,
children and house help on the purchase of different products and service.
In most families, the wife is the main buyer of food, household products
and clothes. The husband is the main buyer f hardware, car or even a

46

home. However changes in the market trend have seen women take up the
reverse roles.
Children and house helps are the main consumers of T.V. adverts and may
from time to time influence the family buying decisions.

(c)

Roles and Status

A role consist of the activities a person is expected to perform according to
the people around them e.g. Mary is a daughter to her parents, she plays
the role of a daughter, in her family, she plays the role of a wife, in her
company she plays the role of the brand manager. Each of her roles
influences her buying behaviour.

3.

Personal factors
These are common individual characteristics that can influence ones behaviour or
decisions.

They include the buyers age and life cycle stage, occupation,

economic situation, lifestyle, personality and self concept.

(a)

Age and Lifecycle Stage

Marketers often define their target markets in terms of the life-cycle stage
and develop appropriate products and marketing plans for each stage.
Traditionally family life-cycle include:

Stage
Bachelor stage:

Buying/behaviour pattern
- Few financial burden

Young, single people

- Fashion opinion leaders

- Recreation orientated
They Buy: Basic kitchen equipment, basic furniture, cars,
vacations.
47

Newly married couples

Better off financially than they will be in the near future.

Young, no children

Highest purchase rates and highest average purchase of

durables.
They Buy: Cars, fridges, stoves, furniture, vacations.

Full nest I

Home purchasing at peak.

Oldest child under six

Interested in new product, likes advertised products.

Buys: TV, baby food, toys.

Full nest II

Financial position better less influenced by advertising.

Youngest child over six.

Buy: Many foods, Music lessons.

Full nest III

Home ownership at peak, not interested in new products.

Older married couples with

dependent children.
Empty nest I

Home ownership at peak, not interested in new products.

Older married couples

No children living with them
Empty nest II

Drastic cut in income. Keep home.

Older married

Buy: Medical appliances, medical care products that aid

Head of household retired

in sleep, health and digestion.

Solitary survivor, in labour Income still good but likely to sell house.
force.
Solitary survivor.

Medical needs

Retired.

Drastic cut in incomes.

affection and security.

48

Special need for attention,

(b)

Economic Situation

Product choice is greatly affected by ones economic circumstances. Peoples economic

circumstances consist of:
o Their spendable incomes (level, stability and time pattern)
o Savings
o Assets
o Debts
o Borrowing power and
o Attitude toward spending verses savings, among others

Economic situation of an individual affect his/her buying ability. A high

income earner has more income to spend and a low income earner has
little income to spend. Marketers of income sensitive goods watch trends
in personal income, savings and interest rates.

During economic

recession, marketers must re-price reposition or even redesign their

products.

(c)

Lifestyle
Lifestyle is a persons pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities,
interest and opinions. Marketers classify people based on how they spend
their money and time as follows:
(ii)

Status oriented buyers Base their purchases on the actions and

opinions of others.

(iii)

Action oriented buyers Are driven by their desire for acting, risk
taking and variety.

(iv)

Principle oriented buyers Consumers who buy based on their

views of the world.

Based on lifestyle, consumers can also be classified as:

49

(i)

Actualisers People with so many resources that they can indulge

in any of the orientations above.

(ii)

Achievers People with middle income and just enough resources.

They strive to be actualisers and are often status oriented.

(iii)

Strivers People with little resources and are principle oriented.

(iv)

Strugglers People with too few or no resources. They are often

not included in any consumer orientation.

(v)

Other life style classifications such as

a. Those interested in change
b. Followers
c. Traditionalists
d. Contented
e. Under achievers, etc.

Lifestyle study is used by marketers to design appropriate adverts for each class
of consumers.
(e)

Personality and Self-concept

Personality is the distinguishing psychological characteristic that leads to
relatively consisted and lasting responses to ones own environment.
Personality can be described as self-confident, dominant, social, defensive,
adaptable and aggressive.
Personality is useful in analyzing consumer behaviour for certain products
e.g. coffee marketers have discovered that heavy coffee drinkers are
highly sociable.

4.

Psychological Factors
A persons buying choices are further influenced by motivation,
perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes.
50

(a)

Motivation
A motive (drive) is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person
to seek satisfaction.
Many marketers develop adverts bearing in mind their products ability to
quench the buyers motive e.g. the Pepsi slogan dear for more,
The Sprite advert obey your thirst, Nakumatt slogan You need it weve
got it, Toyota Pickup advert, Shujaa wa Kazi etc.

Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) forwarded the theory of motivation. Maslow concluded
that the needs that people are motivated to satisfy fall into a well defined hierarchy.

Self Act.

Esteem Needs
Belongingnes
s
Safety needs

Physiological Needs
Physiological needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy and they include the need for food
and shelter. Management ensures this is done by paying employees good wages.
Safety needs include assuring employees of security of tenure. Managers see to the
safety needs by paying employees well to avoid employee turnover.
Belongingness requires that employees be able to recognize with certain groups and that
such groups should equally recognize the employee. Management takes care of this level

51

of needs by grouping employees into departments e.g. Production, Sales and Accounts
amongst others.
Esteem needs are those that are realized when the employee is allowed to be responsible
for an activity or a group of people. Management ensures this level of need is met by
giving employees an opportunity of leading the group e.g. becoming the Production
Manager, Sales Manger etc.
Self Actualization needs are at the top of the hierarchy. Employees attain self
actualization when they are allowed to reach their highest potential i.e. when they are
doing the very best they can do under given circumstance. The motivating factor at this
level of needs is recognition. Employees will appreciate rewards such as employee of the
year, Sales man of the year, C.E.O of the year amongst others.
Maslow theory of motivation was based on three assumptions about human nature;
i.

Human beings have needs that are never completely satisfied

ii.

Human action is aimed at fulfilling the needs that are unsatisfied at a given point in
time.

iii.

Human needs fit into a predictable hierarchy, ranging from basic, lower levels needs
to higher needs at the top.
Maslows work dramatized to managers that workers have needs beyond the basic
requirement of earning money to put food on the table. This concept conflicted with the
scientific management approach that emphasized the importance of pay.
(b)

Perception
Perception refers to the process of receiving, organizing, and assigning meaning to
information or stimuli detected by the five senses from the environment to help to
make a choice. It is a way consumers interpret or give meaning to the environment
surrounding them. It involves seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling.

Consumers will perceive a certain market offering only after they have perceived sensory
stimuli. Eg
52

Seeing plays a role in purchasing such items as; jewelry and fashion clothes
Hearing plays a role in purchasing musical equipment and electronic equipments.
Feeling plays a role in purchasing clothes/materials and even fruits.
Tasting plays a role in purchasing sweets, food stuffs.
Smelling plays a role in purchasing deodorants, perfumes, flowers.

There are certain factors that play a role in perception. They include

Perception being selective whereby individuals are exposed to a lot of information

whereby they select only a relatively small percentage of it. (Perceptual defense)
Perception being subjective when individuals see and hear what they are
interested in because of what they are, what they believe, what their values are

etc.
Perception being based upon individuals past experience where by the experience
has built up a relatively stable cognitive organization within the individual that
determines the meaning of a particular perception.

There are certain Perceptual defense mechanisms that consumers tend to have against
undesirable stimuli from the environment. They include:
Selective exposure
Occurs when people selectively choose to expose themselves only to certain stimuli. Eg
turning of the television when commercials come on, quickly paging through a magazine
and missing adverts.
Selective attention
Occurs when the individual doesnt pay full attention to the stimuli picked up by the
senses. It makes or causes a consumer not to comprehend the content of the marketing
message.
Selective interpretation
Occurs when the stimuli are perceived but the message itself is not interpreted as it was
intended to be. Consumers can interpret the marketing message incorrectly by distorting
the meaning or by misunderstanding it.
Selective recall

53

Refers to the individual ability to remember only certain stimuli, and to forget others
which may be important.
A marketing department may find different ways to deal with the above defense
mechanisms.
1. Selective attention and recall
Large stimuli can be offered to the market e.g. One page advertisements in

newspapers, higher frequency i.e. repetition in TV and radio

Use both color and movements when advertising which attracts attention.
In supermarkets objects can be placed near the center of the visual fields.

2. Selective Interpretation
Marketers should pre test their message so as to achieve correct interpretation of

the message
Marketers should determine how cultural differences influence the use of colors,
symbols and numbers so as to correctly pass the message appropriately to certain

cultures, races etc.

Marketers should not set unrealistic expectations.

3. Selective retention
For effective retention marketers should incorporate visibility of their products

through demonstrations
Repetition of the message is important to reinforce the message
Marketers should make use of the consumers ability to learn.

(c)

Learning
Learning describes changes in an individuals behaviour arising from
experience. Most human behaviour is learned. Learning occurs through
the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues, responses and reinforcement e.g. if a
consumer buys a Nokia phone, if his experience with the phone is
rewarding he will in future reinforce this behaviour by buying it again.
But if it is not rewarding he will not reinforce the need for that product.

(d)

Beliefs

54

A belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something e.g.

Kenyans have an attitude that Nissan cars are not durable on Kenyan roads
and are highly in favour of Toyota cars. These beliefs may be based on
real knowledge, opinion or faith.
Marketers must understand the beliefs that people formulate about a
specific product because the belief make up product and brand images.
If some beliefs are wrong and prevent purchase, a marketer launches a
campaign to correct them e.g. the Jik advert on detergents that bleach and
tear your garments, the Nissan X-trail advert that depicts Nissan on rough
roads.
(e)

Attitudes
Attitude is a persons consistently favourable or unfavourable evaluation,
feelings and tendencies toward an object or idea e.g. people have the
attitude that Japanese electronics are quality products while Chinese
electronics are poor quality products.
A marketer must understand peoples attitudes and try to change them to
their benefit.

5.5 Activities
Discuss the effect of Motivation on consumer behaviour.
5.6

Suggestions for further Readings.

1) Kotler P. and Armstrong G.,(2008), Principles of Marketing, 12 th Edition, Prentice

Hall.
2) Kotler, P & Keller, K.L., (2006), Marketing Management. 12 th ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall
3) Etzel, M.J., Walker, B.J. and Stanton, W.J., (2007), Marketing, 14TH edn. McGrawHill, Irwin.

55

LECTRUE SIX: THE BUYING DECISION PROCESS FOR A NEW PRODUCT

6.1

Introduction

In this lesson, we shall look at the mental processes consumers go through in their
endeavour to make decisions about new products in the Market. We shall then classify
people on the basis of the time that elapses before they make a decision of trying a new
product.
6.2

Specific Objectives

At the end of the lecture you should be able:

1) To describe the consumer adoption process.
2) To explain the adopter categories.
3) To discuss the influence of product characteristics on adoption rate.
56

6.3

Lecture Outline

Introduction

Consumer adoption Process

Stages in the adoption process

Adoption rate of a new product

Influence of Product characteristics on adoption rate

6.4

Buying Decision for a new Product

6.4.1 Introduction
A new product is a good or service or idea that is perceived by some potential customers
as new.
New products take some time before they are finally adopted for use by the consumers.
The process through which a new idea or product is received and consequently accepted
by consumers is referred to as the consumer adoption process.
Consumer Adoption Process
This is the mental process through which an individual passes from first hearing about an
innovation to final acceptance of the product. It is how a buyer approaches the purchase
of a new product, a good, a service or an idea that is perceived by some potential
consumers as new.
The product may have been around for a while. However, the interest is in how
consumers learn about it for the first time and make decisions on whether to adopt it or
not. Adoption is the decision by an individual to become a regular user of the product.
Stages in the Adoption Process:
Consumers go through five stages in the process of adopting a new product:
(i)

Awareness The consumer gets to know of the new product, but lacks
information about it.

(ii)

Interest The consumer seeks information about the new product.

57

(iii)

Evaluation On receiving additional information on the product, the

potential consumer make a consideration as to whether trying out
the new product makes sense.

(iv)

Trial The consumer makes a trial of the new product on a small scale. This
is to help in estimation of the products value.

(v)

Adoption On receiving full satisfaction after the trial, the consumer decides
to make full use and adoption of the new product.

Adoption Rate of a New Product

According to Rogers theory of innovation, people differ greatly in their readiness to try
new products. There are five groups of people based on their adoption rate.
(i)

Innovators Are venturesome. Try new ideas as soon as they get to

know of it irrespective of the risk. Are eager, daring, more
cosmopolite in social relationships and communicate with other
innovators. (2.5%).

(ii)

Early adopters Are guided by respect. They are opinion leaders in their
communities and adopt new ideas early but carefully. Are role
models for people to check with before adopting a new idea,
product or service. (13.5%).

(iii)

Early majority Are deliberate, rarely leaders but they adopt new ideas before
the average person and time. Deliberate for sometime before
adopting a new idea. (34%).

(iv)

The late majority Are skeptical individuals. They adopt an innovation only
after a majority of people have tried it. Adoption is due to
economical necessity and a reaction to peer pressure. The
adoption is approached cautiously. (34%)

(v)

Laggards Are traditions bound. They are suspicious of changes and adopt
an innovation only when it has become something of a tradition itself.
(16%). Rogers classified these grioupings as shown below:

58

34%
Early
Majority

3%
Innovators

X-20

34%
Late
Majority

14%
Early
Adopters

16%
Laggards

X-0

X+0

In general, innovators and early adopters are relatively younger, better educated, and
higher income than late adopters and non adopters. Marketers with new innovations
should research the characteristics of innovators and early adopters and should direct
marketing efforts towards them.
The Influence of Product Characteristics on Adoption Rate
The characteristics of a new product affect its adoption rate. While some new products
catch on almost immediately or overnight, others take a long time to gain acceptance. The
five product characteristics are significant in influencing an innovations adoption rates
are:
a) Relative Advantages: Is the degree to which an innovation appears superior to
the existing products or services. The greater the perceived
relative advantage in picture, quality and ease of operation
the sooner the adoption.
b) Compatibility: Is the degree to which an innovation fits the values and
59

experiences of potential consumers.

c) Complexity: Is the degree to which an innovation is difficult to understand or
use.
d) Divisibility: Is the degree to which an innovation may be tried on a limited basis.
Deer innovations have a slow adoption rate.
e) Communication: Is the degree to which the results of using an innovation may
be observed or experienced to others. An innovation that leads
itself to demonstration and description will be adopted faster
by the consumers.
Other characteristics are like initial and on-going cases, risks and uncertainty and social
approval. A new product marketer must research on all the factors when developing the
new product, idea or service and its marketing program.

Non adopter Categories

A classification of the non-adopter categories would include:
a. The unaware group: Those consumers who are not aware of the new product
b. Symbolic rejectors: Who, though aware of the product, have decided against
buying it.
c. Symbolic adopters: Who know the product will be useful for them but have
not tried it.
d. Trial adopters: Who have tried the product and also rejected the same.
e. Trial rejectors
6.5 Activities
Reflect in your own life as to how you came to adopt or reject some recently new
products/brands. Describe your experience stating which adopter category you fall into.

60

LECTURE SEVEN: DIFFUSION PROCESS AND CONSUMERISM

Introduction
Consumers always find a new innovation-idea or product or even new service attractive.
However, for the firm which is trying its hand at the new innovation, there is always a
question hanging around How fast will the diffusion of the innovation take place? This
is to say that any innovation has got an element of risk involved. The firm will introduce
a new concept or a new product after an intensive research is carried out. The process of
diffusion of an innovation is very critical to a firm.

1. Diffusion
Diffusion is a macro process concerned with the spread of a new product an innovation
from its source to the consuming public.
Adoption is a micro process that focuses on the stages through which an individual
consumer passes when deciding to accept or reject a new product.
Diffusion of innovations is the process by which acceptance of an innovation (new
products or new service or new idea) is spread by communication (mass media, sales
people, informal conversation) to members of the target market over a period of time.
2. The Diffusion Process
The diffusion process the spreading of an innovations acceptance and use through a
population. Diffusion is the process by which the acceptance of an innovation (a new
product, a new service, new idea or new practice) is spread by communication (mass

61

media, salespeople, or informal conversations) to members of a social system (a target

market) over a period of time.
The four basic elements of the diffusion process are the: Innovation, Channels of
Communication, Social System and Time
1. The Innovation:
Various approaches which have been taken to define a new product or a new service
include:
a. Firm-oriented definitions: A firm oriented approach treats the newness of a product
from the perspective of the company producing or marketing it. When the product is
new to the firm it is considered to be new.
b. Product oriented definitions: Product-oriented approach focuses on the features
inherent in the product itself and on the effects these features are likely to have on
consumers established usage patterns.
Three types of product innovations could be:
i.

Continuous Innovation having the least disruptive influence on

established patterns involving the introduction of a modified product,
rather than a totally new product. E.g., latest version of Microsoft Office;

ii.

Dynamically Continuous Innovation which may involve the creation of

a new product or the modification of an existing product e.g., disposable
diapers, CD players;

iii.

Discontinuous Innovations requiring consumers to adopt new behavior

patterns e.g., TV, fax machines, Internet

c. Market oriented definitions: Judges the newness of a product in terms of how much
exposure consumers have to the new product. The definitions could be:

62

i.

A product id considered new if it has been purchased by a relatively small

(fixed) percentage of the potential market.

ii.

A product is considered new if it has been in the market for a relatively

short specified) period of time.

d. Consumer oriented definitions: A new product is any product that a potential

consumer judges to be new.
2. The Channels of Communication
How quickly an innovation spreads through a market depends to a great extent on
communications between the marketer and consumers, as well as communication among
consumers i.e., word-of-mouth communication.
Thus the communication is of two types of communication:
a. Communication between marketers and consumers
b. Communication among consumers i.e., word of mouth.

Consumer information sources fall into four categories:

Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

Commercial

sources:

sales

people,

advertising,

sales

promotion

techniques.

Public sources: Mass media, consumer rating organisations

Experimental sources: Demonstration, handling samples.

Depending on the innovation or new product, and the prospective customers, the firms try
to adopt a cost effective way of communicating with them.
3. The Social System:
The diffusion of a new product usually takes place in a social setting frequently referred
to as a social system. In our case, the terms market segment and target segment may be
63

more relevant than the term social system used in diffusion research. A social system is a
physical, social, or cultural environment to which people belong and within which they
function. For example, for new hybrid seed rice, the social system might consist of all
farmers in a number of local villages. The key point to remember is that a social systems
orientation is the climate in which marketers must operate to gain acceptance for their
new products. For example, in recent years, the World has experienced a decline in the
demand for red meat. The growing interest in health and fitness throughout the nation has
created a climate in which red meat is considered too high in fat and calorie content. At
the same time, the consumption of chicken and fish has increased, because these foods
satisfy the prevailing nutritional values of a great number of consumers.

4. Time:
Time pervades the study of diffusion in three distinct but interrelated ways:
a. The Amount of Purchase Time:
Purchase time refers to the amount of time that elapses between consumers
initial awareness of a new product or service and the point at which they
purchase or reject it. For instance, when the concept of Home Land super
market was introduced by Asha Chavan in Pune, apart from offering a variety
of quality products, also give an unconditional guarantee of replacement or
refund, home delivery of all, even single item telephonic orders at no extra
cost. And beyond business, Homeland also offers free services like phone,
electricity, credit card and cell phone bill payments.

64

b. The Identification of Adopter Categories:

The concept of adopter categories involves a classification scheme that
indicates where a consumer stands in relation to other consumers in terms of
time. Five adopter categories are frequently used viz., innovators, early
adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
CONSUMERISM
Is an organized consumer movement of citizens and Govt. Agencies to improve on
the rights of buyers in relation to the product and service sellers. The first
consumer movement took place in the early 1900s fueled by the rising prices of
commodities and upon Sinclairs writing on the conditions in the beef industry
and scandals in the drug industry.
The second consumer movement was in the mid 1930s sparked off by factors in the
consumer prices during the great depression and yet another drug scandal.
The third consumer movement began in the 1960s when consumers had
become better educate, more learned, products becoming more and more
complex and potentially hazardous and the people were unhappy with
business institutions.
TRADITONAL SELLERS RIGHTS

Introduce any product in any size and style in the market provided it is not
hazardous to health and safety or if it is, to include prior warnings and
controls as in cigarettes in Kenya.

Charge any price for the product or service provided no discrimination exists
among similar kinds of buyers.

Spend any amount of finances to promote a product or service provided it is

not defined as unfair practice or competition.

65

Use any product or service message provided it is not misleading or dishonest

in context or execution.

Use any buying incentive programs provided they are not unfair or
misleading.

TRADITONAL CONSUMERS RIGHTS

Not to buy a product or service offered for sale.

Expect the product or service to be safe.

Expect the product or service to perform as claimed by the sellers.

In comparison it is believed that the balance of the pointers lies on the sellers side.
While the buyers refuse to buy they have very little information, education
and protection to make wise decisions when facing the complicated sellers.
Consumerism calls for such rights to:

Be well informed about the important aspects of products or services.

Be protected against questionable products or services and marketing

practices.

Influence product or service and marketing practices in ways that improve

the whole quality of life.

The right to be informed includes the right to know the true interest on a loan (truth
in lending), the true cost per unit of a brand (unit pricing), the nutritional
value of food (nutritional labeling), product ingredients (content labeling),
product freshness (open dating) and the true benefits of a product (truth in
advertising).

66

Consumer protection rights proposals include strengthening consumer rights in case

of business fraud, requiring greater product safety, ensuring information
privacy and providing more pointers to the Govt. Agencies.

Quality of life proposal rights include:

Controlling the ingredients that go into certain products and packaging.

Reducing the level of advertising noise.

Putting consumer representatives on the organization boards to protect

consumer interests.

Not only do consumers have the right but responsibility to protect themselves
instead of leaving the function to someone else. Those who get bad or poor
deals have remedies available as in contacting the concerned firm, the Govt.
The local agencies and or the small claims court.

LECTURE EIGHT CONSUMER LEARNING

67

Learning can be defined as the act of acquiring new or modifying and reinforcing,
existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values or preferences and it may involve
synthesizing different types of information.
Therefore any facet of a persons behavior is dependent on past learning situations.
According to marketers, learning is the process by which individuals acquire the
buying and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future
related behavior.
ELEMENTS OF LEARNING
Stimulus- this is anything that is used to stimulate interest. It can be; physical things,
for example; the product size, brand and so on.
It can also be intangible things such as; services, quality of the product and
satisfaction.
After interest has been perceived, the learner must be motivated to seek the object
before learning occurs. The stronger the motivation the quicker the customer
learns. Motivation can take any form as long as it encourages the person to
want to know more about the product thus learning takes place.
Response- this is any action, reaction or state of mind resulting from a particular
stimulus. Marketers may not always stimulate the buyer to buy, but they can create a
favorable image of their product in the in the consumers mind. By creating a positive
image in the mind of the consumer, he/she will be interested to learn more about the
product in future.
Response of customers to a stimulus depends more on the marketers reinforcement,
which is the third element.
Reinforcement- this is the likelihood that a particular response will occur in the
future as the result of a particular stimuli.

68

Reinforcement can also be referred to as reward, the satisfaction resulting from a

successful behavior that triggers human memory of how the satisfaction was
obtained.
Reinforcement is the thing that causes the individual to relate the response to the
stimuli correctly, resulting in repetitive behavior that establishes future
behavior.
There are two important aspects of reinforcement;
Repetition this is where the same action is repeated. In that it is performed several
times over and over again. For example when a marketer tends to advertise the same
thing over and over again, the target audience tends to have that product stick to their
mind and the information they learn from the product.
Participation- this is where one plays an active role in any activity generally resulting in
the acquisition of more knowledge about that activity. In marketing we see marketers
organizing certain activities in which they involve the consumers to participate in. for
example; the safaricom road shows, in which they hold contests and the customers win
merchandize. In the process of these activities the customers get to learn more about
safaricom products and services.
THEORIES OF LEARNING
Classical conditioning
This involves paring of two stimuli. Most reminder advertising falls under this
category of classical conditioning where the marketer pairs a product with
some benefit of using it. For example, if you buy a certain product you get
quality and after sales services.
Marketers also use rewards to try and persuade customers to buy. This is part of
classical conditioning too.
Habitual buying is also a form of classical conditioned response. Customers can be
conditioned to favor products, brands, stores, prices and services. This can be
69

done through giving something extra while one buys that product or in a
particular store.
Classical conditioning is also used by marketers when they pair their brand with
likeable celebrities.
Instrumental conditioning
It occurs as an individual learns to perform behaviors that produce positive outcomes and
to avoid those that yield negative outcomes.
Response is made deliberately to achieve a goal, it may be complex and a reward is
usually received following a certain desired behavior. For example; if you visit a certain
hotel one gets a free bottle of a soft drink after consuming a meal.
Over the time customers come to associate with products that earn them a reward or
make them feel good or satisfy some need.

Marketers use;
Products with consistent quality so that the use of the product to meet a customer need
are reinforced.
Giving large discounts
Rewarding frequent buyers and so on.
Cognitive theory
This states that; a considerable amount of learning takes place as a result of the customer
thinking and problem solving.
Types of cognitive learning;
Iconic rote learning-involves learning the association between two or more concepts in
the absence of conditioning. For example one may understand that when they have a
stomach ache from something that they ate and it was acidic, they need to take something
that is a base to heal the stomach ache. So they will look for some medicine that contains
base.
Vicarious learning or modeling-this involves observing the outcomes of the behaviours
of others and then adjusting our own accordingly. For example; one may observe that a
70

friend had a certain need and they purchased a certain product to satisfy that need, after
which a certain outcome resulted either negative or positive. From that one may learn that
whenever they are faced with search a need they need that or this type of product and
they can use it in a particular to obtain better satisfaction than their friend.
Reasoning-individuals engage in creative thinking to restructure and recombine existing
information as well as new information to form new associations and concepts.
For example; a customer who is face with a market problem is able to think logically and
arrive at a solution. The reward may come by solving the problem or from the satisfaction
that results from solving the problem.

LECTRUE NINE CONSUMER BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES

Beliefs
This is what we think or believe about the things that make up our world that we live in.
for example we may believe shell oil is a major manufacturer of oil and petrol. Thus our
attitude towards shell would comprise of additional beliefs, our feelings about the
company and our behavioural response tendencies towards it.
Types of beliefs
Informational beliefs
These are beliefs that are associated with product attributes e.g. the number of calories in
a product.
Evaluative beliefs
These are beliefs associated with a product benefits. E.g. a customer may have a belief
towards a product benefits like if its a fruit it has nutritional value.
Customers attitude
An attitude describes a persons relatively consistent evaluations, feelings and tendencies
towards an object or an idea.
Attitude in marketing terms can thus be defined as a learned predisposition to behave in a
consistently favourable or unfavourable way towards market related objects.

71

For a marketer, an attitude is the way we think, feel and act towards some aspect of
commercial environment such as retail stores, television program me or a product.
Nature of customers attitude.
Attitude are learned: attitudes relevant to buying behavior are formed as a result of direct
experience with a product, information acquired from others and the exposure to mass
media.
Attitude tends to be consistent: an important property of an attitude is that its relatively
consistent with the behavior that it reflects. E.g. when a consumer likes a film x, we
expect them to buy it.
The ABC model of attitude.
According to ABC model of attitudes, the individuals attitude has three component:

Affect (feelings)
Behaviour( actions)
Cognition(beliefs)

initiator

Component

Component manifestation

Affective

Emotions or feelings about

Stimuli:

specific attributes or overall Overall

products,
situations,
retail

attitude

stores,

advertisement

object
orientation
Behavioural(conative) Behavioural intentions with
towards object
respect to specific attributes
Cognitive

or overall object
Beliefs
about

specific

attributes or overall object.

Depending on the nature of the product one of these three components will be the
dominant influence in creating an attitude towards a product.

The cognitive component

These consists of a customers beliefs about an object and their knowledge about the
object. cognition is more critical for important products such as computer systems which
72

require us to process objectives or technical information before we can come to a

decision.
For most attitudes objects, we have a number of beliefs. Example; we may believe that
coke is popular with younger people, contains caffeine, is competitively priced and is
made by a large company, this total configuration of beliefs about the brand of soft drink
represents the cognitive component of attitude towards coke.
The affective component
Affective component involves our feelings and emotions towards an object. This maybe
as a result of several evaluation of the products performance on each several attributes.
Affect is usually most important for products that use to say something about ourselves.
E.g. perfumes. Product like other objects we react to, are evaluated in the context of a
specific situation. A customers affective reaction to a product may change as situation
changes. E.g. a particular product has caffeine in it, caffeine will keep you awake. These
beliefs may cause a positive affective response when the customer wants to stay awake
and a negative response when they want to drink something late in the evening that will
not keep them awake later.

The behavioural component

These represent the outcome of the cognitive and affective components. That is to buy or
not to buy. What a customer does about knowledge of and feelings towards a product is
very important to a company.
The behavioural component is manifested in both intentions to buy or the actual buying.
Behaviour often determines attitudes for commonly bought items such as chewing gun,
where we often form an attitude based on how the product tastes or performs.
THE FUNCTION OF ATTITUDES
The major functions that attitudes perform can be grouped according to their motivational
basis as follows:

The utilitarian function

This refers to the idea that people express feelings to maximize the rewards and minimize
the punishment they receive from others

73

In utilitarian sense attitudes guides behaviour to gain positive rein forcers and avoid
punishers.
In marketing point of view we develop positive attitude towards those product that
satisfied us and we form negative attitudes towards those that fail to satisfy us. Our
attitudes become guide to behaviour that will satisfy our needs.

The ego-defensive function.

The function of this is to protect people from the basic truth about themselves or from the
harsh realities of the external world.
Most people want to protect their self image from feelings of doubt, for instance
advertisement for cosmetics and personal hygiene product increase both relevance to the
customers and the likelihood of favourable attitudes by offering assurance to the
customer about their self concept.

The value-expressive function

These refers to how people express their central values to others .this function allows the
customer to positively demonstrate their basic values.
By marketers knowing their target customers attitudes they can anticipate their values,
lifestyle and outlooks more skilfully and reflect those characteristic in their
advertisement. E.g. a customer can express strong feeling about health by riding a
bicycle, eating health foods and giving up on smoking.

The knowledge function

Attitude may also serve as standard that help people to understand their environment and
so give order and meaning to it. E.g. a customer may develop certain attitudes toward
salespeople in brightly coloured jackets; whenever they come into contact with such
salesperson they interpret their encounter according to their established attitudes.
ATTITUDE FORMATION
Various ways that people form attitudes:

Classical condition

Customers will often buy new product that are associated with a favourably brand name.
74

Their favourable attitude towards the brand name originally a neutral stimulus may be the
result of repeated satisfaction with other product produced by the same company
Brand name is the unconditioned stimulus that through repetition and positive
reinforcement results in a favourable attitude.

Instrumental conditioning

This is where attitude follows the buying and consumption of a product. A customer may
buy a brand name product without having a prior attitude towards it because its the only
available product in the shop, if they find the brand they bought satisfactory they are
likely to develop a favourable attitudes towards it. If it fails to satisfy their needs they are
likely to form unfavourable attitude towards it.

Cognitive learning theory

In situation where the customer seek information about a product In order to solve a
problem or satisfy a need, they are likely to form attitude either negative or positive about
a product on the basis of information search and their own knowledge and beliefs. The
more information customer have a product or service the more likely they are to form
attitudes about it.

Experience

An important way in which attitudes are formed towards products and services is through
the direct experience of trying and evaluating them. E.g. in casewhere customers are
given free sample. They have direct experience with it and they can form an attitude
depending on the satisfaction they get.

External authorities

The extent to which customers believe one authority over another depends on the feeling
of trust and respect that they have for the authority.
E.g. a kid will acquire attitude that they admire from their parent because they trust their
parents more.

Marketing communications.

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Attitudes are influenced most strongly when the brand has something unique to offer and
its unique benefits are focus of the advertisements. The source of the message is always
very important because customer respond differently to the same message delivered by
different sources.
Influencing attitude is easier when the target audience thinks the source is highly
credible.
ATTITUDE CHANGE
STRATEGIES TO CHANGE ATTITUDES

Classical conditioning

Stimulus the audience likes such as music is consistently paired with the brand name.
over time some of the positive affect associated with the music will transfer to the brand.

Producing positive affect towards the advertisement

Positive affect towards the advertisement may increase liking of the brand through
classical condition. Through use of humor celebrities or emotional appeals increases
affect towards the advertisement

Mere exposure

This is to repeatedly expose them to stimulus, people liking for something may increase
simply because they see it over and over again.
Changing the cognitive component
Changing beliefs: this strategy involves shifting beliefs about the performance of the
brand on one or more attributes
Shifting performance: this is trying to convince customers that those attributes on which
their brands are relatively strong and are the most important.
Adding beliefs: marketers can also try to add new beliefs to the customers belief
structure.
Changing the ideal: marketers can change attitudes by changing the perception of the
ideal brand or situation.

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LECTURE TEN PERSONALITY AND SELF CONCEPT

THE NATURE OF PERSONALITY
Needs and motives provide the basis for behavior while personality attempts to categorise
behaviors systematically
some theorists who have examined personality emphasise the dual influence of heredity
and early childhood experiences on personality developm others again 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,
while others focus on specific traits. The wide variety of views on personality makes it
difficult to arrive at a single definition. Perhaps
the most simple definition would be those inner psychological characteristics that both
determine and reflect how a person responds to their environment.
The emphasis in this definition is on the persons inner characteristics-those specific
qualities, attributes, traits and mannerisms that distinguish one individual from another.
These deeply ingrained characteristics that we call personality are likely to influence the
individuals product and store choices as well as the way they respond to the marketers
promotional efforts. Therefore the identification of specific personality characteristics
associated with customer behaviour is useful in the development of an organisations
market segmentation strategies
Personality Reflects Individual Differences
The inner characteristics that make up an individuals personality area unique
combination of factors, hence no two individuals are exactly alike." However, many
individuals tend

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to be similar in terms of a single personality characteristic. For example people be

described as being sociable while others some can be described as low in sociability .The
value of personality lies in the fact that marketers can categorise people in different
groups based on one or a few traits. People are not totally different all respects. if they
were totally different
in all respects, it would not have been possible to group or segment them into
similar groups. If that were the case there would have been no reason to develop
products aimed specific group or to standardise a promotional campaign.
10.4 PERSONALITY THEORIES
There are a number of theories on personality, but those discussed below have been
selected because of the prominent role they have played in the study of customer
behaviour and personality and the relationship that exists between them
Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
This theory provides the foundation for the study of motivational research, which
operates on the premise that human drives are largely unconscious in nature and serve to
motivate many customer actions. As result, the emphasis in motivational research studies
has been discovering the underlying motivations for certain specific customer behaviour.
The motivational researcher tends to focus on what the customer buys, treating these as
an extension of the customer's own personality. In other words, what we wear and the
image we display often reflect our personality. This view of product personality suggests
that using a particular product (e.g. expensive jewellery) enhances ourself-confidence.
Neo-Freudian Theory
This is an extension of Freudian theory, as its name implies. It tends to emphasise the
fundamental role of social relationships in the formation and development of personality,
e.g. the desire to overcome feelings of inferiority (i.e. strive for superiority) and to
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conquer feelings of anxiety. Although neo-Freudian theories of personality have not

received wide attention, it is likely that marketers have employed some of these theories
intuitively For example; marketers who position their products as being unique or for
non-conformists seem to be guided by the neo-Freudian theorys characterisation of a
detached individual. i.e. a person seeking independence and individuality
Trait Theory
This theory focuses on the measurement of personality in terms of specific individual
psychological characteristics called traits. A trait is any distinguishing, relatively enduring
way in which one individual differs from another. The theory states that individuals
innate psychological traits (eg, self-confidence, possess aggression, responsibility
curiosity etc.) lesser that to a greater or degree. and these traits can be measured by
specially designed scales. Trait theorists are concerned with the construction of
personality that pinpoint individual tastes differences in terms of specific traits For
example, individuals distinguish many other people as being reserved or outgoing. In this
way they intuitively evaluate and label them in terms of traits.
Gestalt Theory
In marketing, the Gestalt theory is generally used the basis for evaluating
as customer personality. In this theory, personality is viewed as the result of the
interaction between the person and the total environment the two must be considered
together as a patterned event. The basic idea is that the whole person is greater than the
sum of their and personality cannot be determined by parts, a consideration of separate
characteristics. Personality is much product of the environment as it is of the individuals
mind. Experiments prove that individuals respond to stimuli in relation to their
environment
It is consistent with Gestalt theory that attitudes, perception, aspirations, self-concepts,
satisfaction, frustration, motivation, etc. are all necessary to explain and understand
human personality and therefore a customers behaviour. Customers try to stabilise their
psychological field by providing meaning to their surroundings
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THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONALITY ON LIFESTYLE

We said earlier that a persons personality determines to a large extent how customers
relate to their environment. This means that a persons mode of living or lifestyle is an
expression of their personality including their interests, opinions, needs and social
activities, as well as demographic characteristics such as age, gender and income.
A persons lifestyle relates to how they spend time and money and the emphasis and
importance they give to certain aspects of life. Lifestyle trends are constantly evolving.
THE VALUE OF PERSONALITY TO MARKETERS
Although little research has yet been done date theory and practice, knowledge of
personality and product image is indispensable for marketers because customers tend to
buy products that will reflect enhance or even defend their personalities In this way they
attach a certain symbolic meaning to some products resulting in what is referred to as the
product image
Knowledge of personality is also valuable in designing appropriate advertisements that
will appeal to groups with similar personalities For example, when creating an
advertising campaign, marketers should note that highly dogmatic customers who
approach the unfamiliar defensively and with considerable discomfort and uncertainty
may be more willing to accept new products if the products are presented in an
authoritative manner (eg by an admired celebrity Inner-directed people (who use their
own values and standards in evaluating

products) prefer advertisements that stress

product features and personal benefits, while other-directed people (who tend to look to
others to give direction to their actions) preferadvertisements that feature a social
environment of social acceptance. So other-directed customers are 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.The identification of
personality variables that appear to be linked logically to product usage is likely to
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improve marketers' ability to segment markets and enable them to design specific
products that will appeal to certain personality
SELF AND SELF-CONCEPT
Customers all have an image of themselves, known as their self-concept which refers to
the attitude a person holds toward him or herself self-concept can be regarded as the
totality of the toughs and feelings of an individual about himself or herself. similarly as
an individual has an attitude toward a motor vehicle or politics, the self is also a subject
of evaluation an overall self-attitude is frequently positive, but not always there are
certainly parts of the self that are evaluated more positively than others. For example, a
man may feel better about himself as a company director than as a ladies man'
The self-concept is a very complex structure compared to other attitudes. It is composed
of many attributes. some of which are given greater emphasis in determining overall selfattitude Attributes of self-concept can be described in terms of their content (eg facial
attractiveness versus mental aptitude, a positive or negative attitude to self (ie selfesteem), intensity, stability over time and accuracy (ie, the degree to which ones selfassessment corresponds to reality)
customers' self-assessments can be quite distorted, especially with regard to their physical
appearance
one self or Multiple selves?
Historically individual customers have been thought to have a single self-and to be
interested in products and services that satisfy that single self. As more research is
conducted in the field of customer behaviour, it has become apparent that it is more
accurate to think of the customer in terms of a multiple self or multiple selves. The
change in thinking relects the understanding that a single customer is likely to act quite
differently in different situations or when he is with different people. For example a
person will behave differently at a rave club at church fete, at work or with parents.

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The Make-up of the self-image

Despite the varying social roles that individuals play out, we all have an image of
ourselves as a certain kind of person with certain traits, habits, possession relationships
and ways of behaving Each individuals self-image is unique just as with our personalities,
as result of background and experience we develop our self-image through interactions
with other people. initially our parents then other individuals or groups with whom we
relate over the years.
These can be friends, peer groups, colleagues at work and others. Products and brands
have symbolic value for us, and we evaluate them on the basis of their consistency (ie.
congruence) with our personal picture or image of ourselves. Some products seem to
match our self-image others seem totally alien. It is generally held that customers try to
preserve or enhance their self
image, and avoid products that do not. A variety of self-image constructs have been
identified in the customer behaviour literature. Customers have a number of enduring
images of themselves, and these images or perceptions of self are very closely associated
with personality.
In different contexts (ie in different situations and/or with respect to different products,
customers might select a different self-image to guide their attitudes or behaviour. For
instance with some everyday household products customers might be guided by their
actual self-image, whereas for some socially enhancing or socially conspicuous products,
they might be guided by their social
self-image when it comes to a so-called fantasy product they might be guided by either
their ideal self-image or ideal social self-image. This is how a person actually perceives
him or herself
Actual self
This is how a person would like to perceive him or herself
Ideal self:
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This is how a person thinks others perceive him or her

Social self:
This is how would like others to perceive him or her
a person
Ideal social self:
This is an image of self between the actual and ideal self
Situational self
This is a persons self-image in a specific situation

Extended self:
This is a person's self-concept that includes the impact of personal
possessions on self-image
Possible selves:
This is what a person would like to become, could become or is afraid
of becoming
The Extended Self
The relationship between customers self-images and their possessions (ie the objects they
call their own) is an exciting topic for customer research specifically customers
possessions can be seen to confirm or extend their self-images, eg acquiring a new sporty
vehicle might serve to expand or enrich someones image or sense of self. The individual
might see themselves as being more trendy, more attractive and more successful, because
they have added the vehicle to their inventory of self-enhancing possessions. Similarly, if
the pen or pocket knife someone has inherited from their grandfather is stolen or lost,
they feel diminished.
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Altering the Self

customers constantly try to change themselves. To do this, they use a variety of producs
such as clothing grooming aids and a range of accessories (eg. cosmetics, jewelley) to
modify their appearance and so alter their self-image. In using self-altering products
customers are tying to express their individualism or uniqueness by creating a new self,
maintaining the existing self or preventing the loss of self or extending the self
(modifying or changing the self To this end, customers often use self-altering products or
services to conform to or take on the appearance of a particular type of person such as a
stockbroker, lawyer
or teacher.
Altering ones self particularly ones appearance or body parts. can be done by cosmetics
hair restyling or colouring switching from glasses to contact lenses (or the reverse or
undergoing cosmetic surgery. By using these options, it is possible to create a new or
improved person some people also use image consultants to achieve an appropriate and
mutually agreed-upon self-image. Image consultants provide clients with advice on such
personal attributes as clothing, colour presentation, appearance, posture speaking and
media skills.

Edward, J. and William J. (1963): Fundamentals of Marketing; New York, Mc Graw-Hill,

Inc.
Eric A. Linda P. and George Z. (2002), Consumer Behaviour. New York: McGraw-Hill
Irwin.
James F. E. Roger D.B and Paul W.M. (1990), Consumer Behaviour,U.S.A: The Dryden
Press

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Leon Schiffman, Leslie Kanuk, and Mallika Das. Consumer Behaviour. Canadian
(1st)

edition.

Pearson

Type: Textbook. ISBN: 0131463047

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Education,

2006.