CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR

AN INTRODUCTION
• It is the study of the process involved when
individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or
dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences
to satisfy needs and desires.

• The needs and desire we satisfy range from hunger

and thirst to love, status and even spiritual
fulfilment.

• CONSUMER-is a person who identifies a need or

desire, makes a purchase and then disposes of the
product during the three stages of the consumption
process.
 PREMISE OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
• People often buy products not for what they do but for what
they mean.
• This principle does not imply that the products basic function is
unimportant but rather that the roles products play in our lives
extend well beyond the task they perform. The deeper meaning
of a product may help it to stand out from other similar goods
and services.
• Types of relationships a person may have with a product:
1. Self-concept attachment- The product helps to establish
user’s identity
2. Nostalgic attachment-The product serves as a link with a
past self
3. Interdependence-The product is a part of the user’s daily
routine
4. Love-The product elicits emotional bonds of warmth,
passion, or other strong emotions.
APPLICATION

• Knowledge of consumer characteristics

play an important role in marketing
application, such as when manufacturer
defines the market for a product or an
advertising agency decides upon the
appropriate techniques to employ
when it targets a certain group of
consumers.
INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY
PSYCHOLOGY- is the study of the human mind and the mental factors that affect behaviour.
Which are needs, personality traits, perception, learned experiences, and attitudes.

SOCIOLOGY- is the study of the development, structure, functioning and problems of

human society. The most prominent social groups are family, peers and social class.

ANTHROPOLOGY-compares human societies’ culture and development. Ex: cultural values

and subcultures.

COMMUNICATION-is the process of imparting or exchanging information personally or

through media channels and using persuasive strategies.
 CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT:
1986
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

The Consumer Protection Bill, 1986 seeks to provide for better protection of the interests of consumers and for the purpose, to
make provision for the establishment of Consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumer disputes and for
matter connected therewith.
2. It seeks, inter alia, to promote and protect the rights of consumers such as-

(a) the right to be protected against marketing of goods which are hazardous to life and property;
(b) the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods to protect the consumer
against unfair trade practices;
(c) the right to be assured, wherever possible, access to an authority of goods at competitive prices;
(d) the right to be heard and to be assured that consumers interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums;
(e) the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers; and
(f) right to consumer education.
 3. These objects are sought to be promoted and
protected by the Consumer Protection Council to be
established at the Central and State level.
4. To provide speedy and simple redressal to
consumer disputes, a quasi-judicial machinery is
sought to be setup at the district, State and Central
levels. These quasi-judicial bodies will observe the
principles of natural justice and have been
empowered to give relief of a specific nature and to
award, wherever appropriate, compensation to
consumers. Penalties for noncompliance of the
orders given by the quasi-judicial bodies have also
been provided.
5. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
THE CONSUMER
PROTECTION BILL:
2019

• https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-consu
mer-protection-bill-2019
 MODEL: INPUT, PROCESS AND
OUTPUT
 Input Stage (External influences)
Influences the consumers recognition of a product need, through 2 sources of information:
1)the firms Marketing efforts (4 p’s) – Product, Promotion, Price, Place (Channels of Distribution).
2)the external socio-cultural influence –family, friends, social class, culture, informal sources, other
non-commercial sources, etc.
Both the factors impact buying decision.

 Process Stage (Consumer Decision Making)

1) This stage focuses on how consumers make decisions.
2)Need recognition, pre-purchase search and evaluation of alternatives influenced by psychological
factors – motivation, learning, perception, personality and attitude.

 Output Stage (Post-decision behaviour)

• Relates to 2 activities:
1) Purchase behaviour – Trial, repeat purchase
2) Post purchase evaluation – satisfaction, dissatisfaction, return, after sales influence these decisions
Figure: Model of
Consumer
Decision-Making
(Schiffman,
Hansen and
Kanuk, 2000)
•Levels of Consumer Decision Making

The following are the types of decision-making methods which can

be used to analyse consumer behaviour −

Extensive Problem Solving

•In extensive decision making, the consumers have no established
or set criteria for evaluating a product in a particular category.
•Here the consumers have not narrowed the number of brands
from which they would like to consider and so their decision-
making efforts can be classified as extensive problem solving.
•In this particular set of problem-solving phase, the consumer
needs a lot of information to set a criteria on the basis of specific
brands could be judged.
 Levels of Consumer
Decision Making

 Limited Problem Solving

• In limited problem solving, the consumers have
already set the basic criteria or standard for
evaluating the products.
• However, they have not fully set the established
preferences and they search for additional
information to discriminate among other products
or brands.
 Levels of Consumer
Decision Making

 Routinized Response Behaviour

• Here, in routinized response behaviour, consumers have
experience with the product and they have set the criteria for
which they tend to evaluate the brands they are considering.
• In some situations, they may want to collect a small amount of
additional information, while in others they may simply review
what they are aware about.
• In extensive problem solving, consumer seeks for more
information to make a choice, in limited problem solving
consumers have the basic idea or the criteria set for evaluation,
whereas in routinized response behavior consumers need only
little additional information.