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Introduction To Consumer Behavior

1. The document introduces consumer behavior and discusses why it emerged as a separate discipline from marketing. It also outlines factors that contributed to growing interest in consumer behavior. 2. Consumer behavior involves how consumers select, purchase, use, and dispose of products while satisfying needs and wants. It is influenced by psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics. 3. Trends impacting consumer behavior include increased information access, focus on health and diversity, shifting gender roles, telecommuting, emphasis on leisure, safety concerns, ethics, environmentalism, and globalization. Understanding these trends helps marketers adapt to changing consumer needs and perspectives.

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Simran Sathi
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87 views28 pages

Introduction To Consumer Behavior

1. The document introduces consumer behavior and discusses why it emerged as a separate discipline from marketing. It also outlines factors that contributed to growing interest in consumer behavior. 2. Consumer behavior involves how consumers select, purchase, use, and dispose of products while satisfying needs and wants. It is influenced by psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics. 3. Trends impacting consumer behavior include increased information access, focus on health and diversity, shifting gender roles, telecommuting, emphasis on leisure, safety concerns, ethics, environmentalism, and globalization. Understanding these trends helps marketers adapt to changing consumer needs and perspectives.

Uploaded by

Simran Sathi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 1

Introduction
Introduction to
to
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Behavior
What is Consumer Behavior?

The study of how consumers

 Select
 Purchase
 Use
 Dispose of goods and services in the proce
ss of satisfying their personal and househo
ld needs and wants.
Why did consumer behavior become a
separate discipline from marketing?

 Marketers came to realize that consumers did not al


ways act or react as marketing theory suggested the
y would
 Consumers rejected mass-marketed products, prefe
rring differentiated products that reflected their own
special needs, personalities and lifestyles
 Even in industrial markets, where needs are more h
omogeneous than consumer markets, buyers exhibit
ed diversified preferences and less predictable purc
hase behavior
Other factors that contributed to the gr
owing interest in consumer behavior

 The accelerated rate of new product develop


ment
 The consumer movement
 Public policy considerations
 Environmental concerns
 The opening of national markets throughout t
he world
Consumer behavior is more than just p
urchasing

Consumer Behavior involves


 Exposure to the media

 Browsing

 Influencing others

 Being influenced by others

 Complaining about and returning products


Economics alone does not explain cons
umer behavior
 Early theories based on notion that individual
s act rationally to maximize their benefits (sati
sfaction) from purchasing
 Later research discovered that consumers ar
e just as likely to
 Purchase impulsively
 Be influenced by family, friends, advertisers and role mo
dels
 Be influenced just as strongly by mood, situation and em
otion
Consumer behavior is an Interdisciplin
ary Field

Psychology Anthropology
Consumer
Behavior
studies

Social
Psychology Economics

Other Fields
What Do Buying Decisions Involve?

Consider a decision to acquire a pet

 Decision entails determining:


 Where to learn about pets
 Where to purchase the selected pet
 How much to pay for it
 Who will take care of it
 What supplies or services are needed for it
 Where to purchase such supplies or services
 How much to pay for supplies and services
The Marketing Concept

 An operating philosophy of business in which the cons


umer is the focal point of the firm’s activities
 Embodies the view that industry is a customer-satisfyi
ng process, not a goods-producing process (the “sellin
g concept”)
 Key assumption is that, to be successful, a company
must determine the needs and wants of specific target
markets and deliver the desired satisfactions better tha
n the competition
Trends influencing consumer behavior in cont
emporary society
The Information Superhighway Concern about Safety

Focus on Health and Beauty Focus on Ethics

Shifting Roles of Sexes Diversity

Telecommuting A Global Village

Personalized Economy Ecological Consciousness

Emphasis on Leisure Changing Perception of Religion


1. Growth of the information superhighway

Positive Implications
 Marketers can be in touch with anyone, anyw

here and at any time


 Availability of information increases consumer

s’ knowledge and power in the marketplace.


Negative Implications
 Increased information about consumers raise

s serious privacy issues


 Creation of a digital divide that further stratifie

s society based on wealth, education and ag


e
2. Focus on health, fitness, and beauty

 Golden opportunities are created for marketers


of many products ranging from fat-free foods to
vitamins, as well as for services ranging from pl
astic surgery to hair implants.
3. Shifting roles of men and women

 More women in the workforce


 More women in management positions
 More women raising children alone
 Gay and lesbian families changing the traditional mo
del of the family
 A redefinition of buying decision centers withi
n the family
 A redefinition of sales and advertising strategi
es
4. Telecommuting and the office of the fut
ure
 Decline in demand for products and services
such as cars, public transportation, automobil
e insurance, car repair, child care, and baby-s
itting services
 Increased need for efficient package-delivery
services
 Rise in demand for state-of-the-art communic
ation devices
5. Emphasis on leisure

 People engage in leisure activities for differe


nt reasons
 Knowing those reasons helps marketers sel
ect appropriate promotional appeals
6. Concern About Personal Safety

 Enhanced demand for defense-related products


 Post 9/11 issues relating to travel
7. Diversity in the workplace and marketpla
ce
“Traditional” minority groups in the US include:
 Women

 African-Americans

 Asian-Americans

 Latinos
Even in “lily white” Vermont recent immigrant gr
oups have included:
 Russian Jews

 Bosnians

 Tibetans

 Vietnamese

 Congolese

 Sudanese
 A salad bowl in which these diverse groups m
aintain elements of their traditions
 Diversity offers divergent perspectives and en
hanced creativity and innovation within the w
orkplace
 Product adaptation becomes necessary to sui
t the tastes of distinct ethnic groups
 Promotional appeals must be adjusted
8. Focus on ethics
 For much of history, business ethics was con
sidered an oxymoron
 In the 1980’s, ethics became an issue with th
e discovery of numerous instances of corpora
te wrongdoing
 Ford Pinto
 Bhopal disaster
 Asbestos
 Tobacco
 Ethical codes were enacted by many compan
ies and institutions and ethics became part of
the curriculum of business schools
 It is likely that ethics in marketing will receive
greater attention from the public and from gov
ernment and private watchdog groups
9. Ecological consciousness

Studies show that:


 Consumers consider themselves “environ

mentalists”
 They have changed their habits to protect

the environment
 They are willing to pay more for products t

hat are considered environmentally safe


 An increasing flow of environmentally friendly
products
 Positive shift in public attitudes toward firms
and products that protect the environment
 As a result, the rise of green marketing
 Greater potential for deception based on fals
e claims of environmental safety of products
10. The rise of the global village

 An increasing acceptance of the free market sys


tem in many foreign countries (e.g., Eastern Eur
ope)
 Growth of major regional free-trade areas, such
as NAFTA and the EU, resulting in increased tra
de
 Expansion of American media—including adverti
sing—to other nations exposes consumers to av
ailability of American goods
 More markets opening up for American produ
cts overseas
 Marketers need to understand the cultures of
foreign countries to market their products effe
ctively
 Potential for abuse arises

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