Q1.

Ans. Selecting the right segmentation variable is critical. For example, small car producers
might segment the market on the basis of income, but they probably would not segment it on
the basis of political beliefs or religion because they do not normally influence consumers
automobile needs. Segmentation variables must also be measurable to segment the market
accurately. For example, segmenting the market on the basis of intelligence would be difficult
because this characteristic cannot be measured accurately. Marketers can use one or more
variables to segment the market.
Different variables are used to segment consumer markets. They are discussed in following subsections.
Geographic segmentation
Geographic location of consumers is usually the starting point of all market segmentation
strategy. The location of consumers helps the company plan its marketing offer. These
geographic units may be nations, states, regions, areas of certain climatic conditions, urban and
rural divide. The assumption is that consumers in a particular geographic area have similar
preferences and consumption behaviour, different from those living in other areas. For example,
people in West Bengal have different food habits and dress code than people in South India.
Exporters often segment the market as Western countries, African countries and CIS countries,
etc.
Demographic segmentation
Demographic characteristics are commonly used to segment the market. Characteristics such
as age and lifecycle stage, sex, education, income, marital status, family size and social class,
etc. may be used singly, or in a combination, to segment a market. For example, marketers of
women shaving products segment the market on the basis of gender. Toy manufacturers such
as Funskool and Mattel toys segment the market on the basis of age of children. Auto
manufacturers segment the market by considering income as an important variable. Producers
of refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, etc. take income and family size as
important variables in segmenting the market. Ready-to-wear garment producers often segment
the market on the basis of social class. Examples are Chirag Din, Arrow, Van Heusen, Louis
Philippe, Levi and others.
Social class refers to the division of society into distinct strata based on the status of members
of one stratum in comparison with those of other strata. In consumer behaviour and marketing
research, status is defined using one or more of the following demographic variables family
income, occupational status and educational level. Some general categorisations of the social
class are lower, middle and upper class. For example, an engineer and a clerk are considered
members of different social classes. An income group includes members with different incomes.
Within a social class, there could be different income groups.
Psychographic segmentation
When the segmentation is based on personality or lifestyle characteristics, it is called
psychographic segmentation. The inner psychological characteristics of a person that ascertain
and indicate how a person responds to his or her environment constitute his/her personality. For
example, there are people who are ambitious, confident, aggressive, impulsive, modern,
conservative, gregarious, loners, extrovert or introvert, etc.
1. Lifestyle
It is an indicator of how people live and spend their time and money. What people do in their
spare time is often a good indicator of their lifestyle.
Consumers in different countries and cultures may have characteristic lifestyles. For example,
Indian women are more home-focused, less likely to visit restaurants, more price-sensitive,
spend time preparing meals at home and are fond of moviesValues and Lifestyles (VALS)

Stanford Research Institute (SRI) developed a popular approach to psychographic

segmentation called Values and Lifestyles (VALS). This approach segmented consumers
according to their values and lifestyles in the USA. Figure 2.1 depicts the VALS framework.
According to the present classification scheme, VALS has two dimensions. The first dimension,
primary motivations, determines the type of goals that individuals will pursue and refers to the
pattern of attitudes and activities that help individuals reinforce, sustain or modify their social
self image. This is a fundamental human need. The second dimension, resources, refers to the
physical, psychological, demographic and socio-economic factors that have an impact on the
ability of consumers to make choices and to be satisfied with their choices. Particularly,
resources include factors such as self-confidence, interpersonal skills, inventiveness,
intelligence, eagerness to buy, income, status and education, etc.
SRI has identified three basic motivations:
Ideals (principles) Individuals are guided in their choices by their beliefs and principles and
not by feelings, desires and events.
Achievement Individuals are heavily influenced by actions, approval and opinions of
others.
Self-expression (action) Individuals desire physical and social activity, variety and risk
taking.
Innovators (formerly actualisers) This segment is smaller in size as compared to the other
seven, but may be the most attractive market because of the high incomes of the individuals
who are at the leading edge of change. They are among the established or getting-established
leaders in business or government, yet they seek challenges. Image is important to them as an
expression of their taste, independence and character. These people are successful,
sophisticated, active and have high self-esteem. They are interested in growth and
development; they explore and express themselves in different ways. They have social and
intellectual interests and are open to social change. They are guided sometimes by ideals and
desires and are fond of reading. They prefer premium products to show their success to others.
Thinkers (formerly fulfilled) Thinkers are motivated by ideals and exhibit behaviour
according to the views of how the world is or should be. They are mature in their outlook,
satisfied, comfortable, well-educated, reflective people who value order, knowledge and
responsibility. They like their home and family, are satisfied with their careers, and enjoy their
leisure activities at home. They are open-minded about new ideas and accept social change. As
consumers, they are conservative and practical. They purchase products for their durability,
functionality and value.
Believers Like thinkers, believers are also motivated by ideals; their basic approach to
decision-making is rational. Their moral code of conduct is deeply rooted in their psyche and is
inflexible. They are conservative, conventional and have deep beliefs based on tradition, family,
religion and community. Their routines are established and largely influenced by home, family,
religion and social organisation. Their behaviour as consumers is predictable and conservative.
Their education, income and energy is modest, but enough to meet their needs.
Achievers They are motivated by the desire for achievement and make choices based on a
desire to enhance their position or to facilitate their move to another groups membership that
they aspire. They have goal-oriented lifestyles and a deep commitment to career and family.
They are more resourceful and active. Achievers are inclined to seek recognition and selfidentity through achievement at work and in their personal lives. They have high economic and
social status and patronise prestige products and services as well as time-saving devices that
exhibit success to their peers. They value consensus, predictability and stability over risk and
intimacy.
Q2.
Ans. Defence Mechanisms

Failure to achieve a goal often gives rise to a feeling of frustration. Probably, there is nobody
who has not experienced frustration that comes from the inability to achieve some goal.
Individuals react differently to frustration. Some are adaptive and find a way to circumvent the
barrier, while some others choose a substitute goal if the modified efforts fail. Still others may
take it as a personal failure and become a victim of anxiety. Some more common forms of
individual reaction to frustration can be of the following type:
Aggression As a result of experiencing frustration, some individuals exhibit aggressive
behaviour in an attempt to keep their self-esteem intact. Frustrated consumers write letters to
editors or take the help of consumer forums.
Rationalisation Another defensive approach adopted by individuals is to redefine a
frustrating situation by coming up with explanations as to why they could not attain their goals. A
person who rationalises is not really telling lies because the individual is not consciously aware
of the cognitive distortion as a result of experiencing frustration. The individual convinces
herself/himself that the goal is not really worth the effort. For example, a person who cannot
give up smoking convinces himself that he is smoking less by moving to low-tar cigarettes.
Regression In reaction to frustration, people sometimes exhibit immature or childlike
behaviour. For example, throwing the merchandise or fighting with the shopkeeper rather than
settling the matter amicably.
Withdrawal People often resolve their frustration by withdrawing from the situation. For
example, a person who feels difficulty in driving a car may stop doing so and may decide that it
is cheaper and convenient to use a three-wheeler auto or a taxi.
Projection Sometimes, an individual redefines a frustrating situation by blaming other
persons or objects as the reason for her/his failures. It is common to see auto drivers blaming
the other person after an accident. After failing in an examination, students often blame the
prevailing conditions in the institution.
Autism The thinking, which is almost completely dominated by needs and emotions
(daydreaming) without relating to reality, is called autism. This is a way to achieve imaginary
fulfilment of ones needs. For example, some consumers may daydream that by using a certain
product, they would become attractive.
Identification Sometimes, subconsciously, people identify with other persons or situations
to resolve their feelings of frustration. From the marketers point of view this is an important
defence mechanism that consumers use. We often see commercials and ads using slice-of-life
format in which an individual experiences a frustrating situation and then overcomes the
problem by using the advertised product or service. If the consumer identifies with the frustrating
situation, it is likely that she/he would adopt the suggested solution and purchase the advertised
product or service.
Repression Some people resolve frustration by forcing the need out of their conscious
mind. The suppressed needs sometimes emerge in an indirect manner. For example, a couple
not having children may have many pets to fulfil their need. The socially acceptable form of
repressed behaviour is termed as sublimation.
Q3.
Ans. Trait Theory
The Trait Theory states that human personality is composed of a set of traits that describe
general response patterns.. Its orientation, unlike previously discussed theories, is quantitative
or empirical. It centres on gauging of personality in terms of psychological characteristics, called
traits. JP Guilford describes a trait as any distinguishing and relatively enduring way in which
one individual differs from another. The concept is that traits are general and relatively stable

characteristics of personality that influence behavioural tendencies. The concept can be

summed up in three assumptions:
1. Behavioural tendencies in individuals are relatively stable.
2. A limited number of traits are common to most individuals. They differ only in the degree to
which they have these tendencies.
3. These traits and their relative degree when identified and measured, are useful in
characterising individual personalities.
Trait theorists construct personality inventories (personality tests) and ask respondents to
record their responses to many items. Respondents are asked to agree or disagree with certain
statements as they please or express their likes or dislikes for certain situations or kinds of
people. The responses are then statistically analysed and reduced to a few personality
dimensions.
Trait Theory and Consumer Behaviour
Harold H Kassarjian and Mary Jane Sheffet reviewed more than 300 studies on personality and
concluded that the results are equivocal. Few studies seem to show a definite relationship
between consumers personality and behaviour, other studies are indicative of no relationship.
Majority of studies indicate that if at all there is any relationship between personality and
behaviour, it is too weak to have any practical value to marketers. Despite this, experts still
argue that consumers personality is an important factor influencing their buying behaviour.
Certain types of personality traits may be more related to consumer behaviour than others, such
as Optimal Stimulation Level (OSL), Need for Cognition (NFC), dogmatism, susceptibility to
influence and self-monitoring behaviour.
Optimal Stimulation Level (OSL) Some activities have more potential to provide
individuals with some sort of physiological arousal. There are individuals who prefer a calm,
simple and uncluttered life, while some others prefer novel, complex and exciting existence. The
degree of novelty or complexity that individuals search in their personal experiences is referred
to as optimum stimulation level. Research in this area indicates that high OSL consumers are
more willing to take risks, be innovative, try new products and actively seek purchase-related
information as compared to low OSL consumers
Need for Cognition (NC) Researchers John T Cacioppo and Richard E Petty focused on the
need for cognition personality trait. Need for cognition refers to the degree of an individuals
desire to think and enjoy getting engaged in information processing. Such individuals tend to
seek information that requires thinking or adopt the central route to persuasion i.e., provoke
considered thought about the product. For instance, a consumer high in NC and looking at an
ad for Apple computer is more likely to study and concentrate on the information contained in
the ad. On the other hand, a consumer low in NC would be more inclined to look at the beautiful
picture of iMac, ignoring the detailed information about the computer model.
Dogmatism Consumers are also likely to vary in terms of how open-minded or closedminded they are. Dogmatism is a personality trait that indicates the degree of an individuals
rigidity in accepting anything that is contrary to her/his own established beliefs. Apparently, the
person is resistant to change and new ideas.
One would expect highly dogmatic consumers to be relatively resistant to new products,
promotions or advertising. However, they may tend to be yielding to celebrities and experts who
present authoritative appeals. On the other hand, consumers low in dogmatism are more likely
to accept new and innovative products to established alternatives and be more receptive to ad
messages that focus on product attributes and benefits.
Susceptibility to influence Consumers differ in terms of their proneness to persuasion
attempts by others, especially when these attempts happen to be interpersonal or face-to-face.
William O Bearden, Richard G Netemeyer and Jesse H Teel have reported that some

consumers possess a greater desire to enhance their image among others and show a
willingness to be influenced or guided by them. Consumers with lower social and information
processing confidence show more proneness to be influenced by ads compared to those who
have higher self-confidence.
Self-monitoring behaviour Individual consumers differ in the degree to which they look to
others for indications on how to behave. Those persons who are high self-monitors tend to look
to others for direction
and accordingly guide their own behaviour. They are more sensitive and responsive to imageoriented ads and are willing to try such products. They are less likely to be consumer
innovators. On the other hand, individuals who are low self-monitors are guided by their own
preferences or standards and are less likely to be influenced by others expectations. They pay
more attention to ad messages that focus on product features, quality and benefits.
Furthermore, they are also likely to try and pay extra for these products and are consumer
innovators.
Q4.
Ans. Factors that distort individual perception
A number of factors influence individuals that may distort their perceptions, such as physical
appearances, stereotypes, irrelevant stimuli, first impressions, jumping to conclusions and halo
effect, etc.
Physical appearances People may or may not consciously recognise that they tend to
attribute the qualities, which in their opinion are associated with certain individuals, to others
who may resemble those persons. According to Kathleen Debevec and Jerome B Kernan,
research indicates that attractive men are perceived as more successful in business than
average-looking men. Attractive models in ads and commercials prove more persuasive and
have a more positive impact on consumer attitudes and behaviour than average-looking
models.
Stereotypes People tend to form pictures in their minds of the meanings of different types
of stimuli. These stereotypes act as expectations about how specific events, people or situations
will turn out to be. For example, many people carry the picture of politicians or police mostly
being corrupt.
Irrelevant stimuli In certain situations, consumers are faced with difficult perceptual
judgements. In such circumstances, they often respond to somewhat irrelevant stimuli. For
instance, they may consider the refrigerator colour before making the final purchase decision
instead of technical considerations.
First impressions First impressions are often lasting even when the perceiver is not
exposed to sufficient relevant or predictive information. For instance, just a few years ago, the
word imported was enough for a large number of consumers to form favourable impressions
about many products such as wristwatches, shoes, clothes and many other different products.
Jumping to conclusions Some people seem to have a strong tendency to draw
conclusions even without sufficient information being examined. They seem to be impatient
about examining all the relevant evidence, which may be necessary to draw a balanced
conclusion. This is often the reason that strong arguments about a product or service are
presented first in ads.
Halo effect This refers to a tendency to evaluate one attribute or aspect of stimulus and
extend these evaluations and reactions to its other attributes or properties. This is frequently

seen in case of a brand or line extensions where the marketer takes advantage of a brands
reputation. For example, Dettol soap, Lux shampoo, etc.
Q5.
Ans.
Components of Learning
Four components are fundamental to most learning situations.
Motivation Motivation is the driving force that impels individuals to action and is based on
needs and goals. Motivations function as a spur to learning with needs and goals acting as
stimuli. For example, a badminton enthusiast will learn all about the sport and may seek
information about prices, quality, etc. of a badminton racquet if he/she learns that a good
racquet would help in playing a good game.
Marketers attempt to uncover consumer motives and then teach motivated consumer segments
why their products will best satisfy consumer needs.
Cues Cues are stimuli that provide direction to motivated pursuit. For example, an
advertisement for a badminton coaching camp may serve as a cue for badminton enthusiasts as
they recognise it as a way to become skilled at the game. Here the ad serves as a cue to fulfil
the need. Price, styling, packaging, store displays, etc. serve as cues to help consumers satisfy
specific needs.
Marketers must ensure that each aspect of the marketing mix supports the others, if cues are to
act as stimuli that direct consumers in the desired direction.
Response The way an individual reacts to a cue or stimulus constitutes the response and
could be physical or mental in nature, leading to learning. Learning occurs even if responses are
unconcealed. For example, an automobile manufacturer/dealer who gives consistent cues to a
consumer may not succeed in stimulating a purchase. However, if the manufacturer/dealer
creates a good image of a particular model in the consumers mind, then it is likely that the
consumer will think about the model when he/she is ready to purchase.
A need or motive may evoke several responses. There could be many cues that a consumer is
exposed to and the consumer response choice is based on previous learning, which in turn is
based on responses earlier reinforced.
Reinforcement Reinforcement increases the possibility that a specific response will repeat
in future as a result of particular cues. For example, if an executive finds that an advertised
brand of headache tablets has helped him get through the annual audit period safely, he would
be more likely to purchase the tablets in the next audit period. Here, learning took place through
reinforcement.
Q6.
Ans. The Adoption Process
The adoption of an innovation requires that an individual or a group of consumers decide on
buying a new product. The process of diffusion starts when early adopters influence their
reference group members and other acquaintances to purchase the product. Therefore, it is
reasonable to view adoption as the first step in the diffusion process.
The adoption of an innovation is likely to be a reasonably involving decision for most of those
who are among the first to buy the product and can be represented by a hierarchy-of-effects
model. Thus, the adoption process is basically a term used to describe extended decision
making by consumers when a new product, service, or idea is involved. High involvement in
product or purchase situation is likely for discontinuous innovations. For example, the decision
to buy a DVD writer or have laser eye surgery will be a high-involvement decision. Most

continuous innovations probably trigger limited decision making. In case of low-cost, low-risk
innovations, consumers involvement level is likely as below:
The process shows that:

in information search.

As a consequence of using the product, the consumer makes post purchase evaluation. In this
process of adoption, product trial is more important than in most other decisions because the
perceived risks are much higher with the use of a new product. Certain types of products or
services are difficult or even impossible, to try on a sufficient basis such as electric cars or laser
eye
surgery.
Figure
11.4
depicts
the
stages
in
the
adoption
process.

The post purchase evaluation has important implications because of the expenses involved or
the complexity of many products and the rapid changes in technology. For example, Apple
Computers introduced their Cube, which was believed to be something unique in computer
design. However, the company discontinued the model because of consumers rejection of the
product. When Apple introduced their range of iMacs, another breakthrough in computer design,
consumer response was overwhelming.
11.6.1 Barriers to adoption of innovation
Most of the above mentioned factors could cause consumers to reject an innovation. However,
S Ram and Jagdish N Sheth have mentioned three of the above mentioned as major factors
that inhibit adoption of innovation:
Value barrier refers to a products relative disadvantage compared with the substitute
products. When cellular phones were introduced, they were
too expensive for most general consumers relative to the value they could get from commonly
used telephones. More than a decade ago, BMW introduced a 650cc motorcycle in India. The
price was over Rs.5,00,000 and consumers perceived the cost as too high relative to value.

Usage barrier results when an innovation is incompatible with consumers long established
practices. For example, the dish washer could never take off in India as vessels in India often
need to be scrubbed due to the cooking practices for which the dish washer was found
unsuitable.
Risk barrier is concerned with physical, economic, functional or social risk for adopting an
innovation. If the intensity of perceived risk is high, consumers are likely to wait and watch till
such time that they are reasonably assured that there are no unusual risks associated with
product adoption.

Post-purchase Behaviour
Many businesses have begun focusing on customer relationship and loyalty programmes to
increase customer satisfaction, commitment and retention.
Consumers engage in a constant process of evaluating products they buy as they integrate the
products into their daily consumption A consumer generally experiences satisfaction when the
performance level meets or exceeds the minimum performance expectations. Similarly, when
the performance level far exceeds the desired performance level, consumers will not only be
satisfied but also will most likely be delighted. Such an outcome tends to reduce the consumers
decision-making efforts on future purchase occasions of the same product or service to
accomplish need satisfaction. Thus, rewarding purchase experience encourages consumers to
repeat the same behaviour in future. A delighted consumer is likely to be committed and
enthusiastic about a particular brand and unlikely to be influenced by competitors actions. A
delighted consumer is also inclined to spread favourable word-of-mouth.
In case of certain purchases, consumers experience post-purchase dissonance. This occurs as
a result of consumers doubting their wisdom of purchase. Also, because making a relatively
longer commitment to a selected alternative requires one to forgo the alternative not purchased.
The post purchase dissonance is also a result of the difference between the actual performance
of the product and the consumers expected performance. After purchase, most products are
used by consumers, even when they experience dissonance. Other purchases may be followed
by non-use because consumers return or keep the product without using it.
In case of nominal-decisions and most cases of limited-decisions, consumers are unlikely to
experience post-purchase dissonance because in such decisions consumers do not consider
attractive attributes in a brand not selected. Generally, high-involvement purchases include one
or more of the factors that cause post-purchase dissonance.
Caselet: Tata Nano - consumers' post-purchase behaviour
Tata Nano, promised to be a Rs.1 lakh car, is the world's cheapest car and India's first
indigenous contribution to the global automobile industry. The moment it was unveiled to the
world, it got sufficient attention and respect from people from all walks of life. However, criticism
was inevitable as many car makers were sceptical and maintained that they could not make a
Rs.1 lakh car unless they sacrificed something.
To what extent has the Tata promise of presenting the people's car lived up to the demands and
expectations of consumers?
Outcome of Tata Nano - common man's post purchase perceptions
The car had many instant takers primarily because of its price (non-luxury models) that is
affordable by middle-class consumers. The Tata brand name that symbolises trust for people
added to the decision to purchase. Research reveals the following contributing factors to the
post purchase satisfaction of people who purchased Nano soon after it was launched:
no with car performing equally well on
flat and elevated surfaces. Customers did not mind the little amount of rumbling as they
believed this could be mended and could be an issue with any other car.

-class customers found the Nano experience as value addition to their lifestyle.
-class customers also deemed the price to be within their budget.
Contrary to the above optimistic experience research reveals that there were elements that
created post purchase dissonance such as:
se of making the car available at Rs.1 lakh was not lived up to. Even the basic
model costs more than Rs.1 lakh.
people's car. By spending an extra Rs.50,000-60,000, one could afford a mainstream car; so
why buy a budget car.
-city driving and not for long distance driving as
safety was an issue. The hollow front-end could in case of any collision impact the driver and
the co-passenger.

Consumers attempts to reducing their post purchase dissonance

Many customers, despite agreeing with many of the downsides of the car, tried to condense
their dissonance by believing that any automobile may encounter minor issues despite the tests
it undergoes. Nano being assembled using 5,000 components from 200 suppliers, there was
always the possibility of a problem popping up. They hoped that the company would rectify
these issues in the subsequent lot of cars.
The Road Ahead
Even though much buzz was created about Nano being the cheapest car and the people's car,
customers' perceptions were mixed. Majority of the purchases that followed the launch of the
car did not come from the targeted scooter migrators'. Therefore, the very purpose or objective
of conceptualising the car was defeated. While the car is relatively low-priced, the price aspect
is the prime cause for the dissonance. Had the company made it clear in the initial stage itself
that the car's factory price (as opposed to on-road price) would be less than Rs.1 lakh, it would
have fulfilled its creation purpose. It is this gap that possibly resulted in an unintended cognitive
dissonance. Additionally, in some way, a car is seen as a status symbol in India; hence a cheap
car proposition could have also added to the cognitive dissonance.
In order to deal with some of the post purchase dissatisfaction, Tata started a comprehensive
customer service initiative - Tata Motors Service Edge - in March 2010. This initiative was
provided through 800 centres and included 24X7 on-road assistance, fast repairing services,
etc. By starting this initiative, the company wanted to establish deeper customer connect and
realise superior levels of customer satisfaction and reduce some customers' dissonance levels
by offering them a round-the-clock backing. Satisfaction, repeat purchase and customer
loyalty
While many satisfied customers switch brands, satisfied customers are more likely to become
repeat purchases of a brand than customers who are dissatisfied. Repeat purchasers may
continue to patronise the same brand (due to satisfaction resulting from experience with the
brand and as this would not require new information search) without developing any kind of
emotional attachment to it (at any point when better alternatives are found, consumers may
switch). Even some dissatisfied customers may continue to repeatedly purchase the brand
because of non-availability of another satisfactory alternative or because they believe that the
expected benefits of renewed search are not worth the expected costs. They are, though, quite
vulnerable to competitor's actions and tend to engage in negative word-of-mouth
communications.

Repeat buyers may be buying the brand due to habit, because it may have the lowest price or is
conveniently available at locations where they shop. Repeat purchase is desirable but it does
not mean that customers are brand loyal.
Brand loyal customers seem to believe that the brand reflects and reinforces some aspect of
consumer's self-image. Such identification is more common with symbolic products such as
automobiles. Superior performance of a brand that delights the customer may also lead to brand
loyalty.
The term churn refers to turnover in a marketer's customer base. If a firm has a customer base
of 100 and 25 of them leave each year and 25 new ones become customers, then the chum
rate is said to be 25 percent. Many marketers are concerned about minimising the churn rate as
obtaining new customers proves more expensive than retaining the old ones; besides new
customers are generally not as profitable as the long-term customers. A firm can consider
several objectives for a market segment before developing a marketing strategy:

d switching among marginal customers.

Each objective requires a different strategy and, accordingly, a distinct marketing mix. For
example, to accomplish the first, last and the last but one objective, the marketer will need to
design strategies that are likely to convince potential customers that the offered brand will
provide superior value than another brand. The advertising will focus on communicating the
superior brand benefits; sales promotion will offer free trials, or coupons etc. The remaining
three objectives require ensuring satisfaction among current consumers by delivering their
expected value.
Relationship marketing focuses on developing an ongoing and profitable relationship with a
company's customers. There are five important elements of relationship marketing:
lationship according to the needs of the individual customer.

Internal marketing to employees so that they will perform well for customers.
The core concept of relationship marketing is based on understanding consumers and their
needs at the individual consumer level and the marketer's objectives are to encourage more
usage of the brand/product, repeat purchases and brand loyalty. Most programmes undertaken
by marketers in this direction seem to be focused on encouraging repeat purchases. For
example, the objectives behind frequent-flier offers by several airlines seem to encourage
repeat purchases. Marketers call them customer loyalty programmes but most such offers,
seemingly, encourage repeat purchase rather than build loyalty.
14.3.2 Product disposal
In its simplest form and at the most basic level, disposal is just throwing away the used-up or
meaningless items by consumers without any thought. Disposal of the product or its container
may occur before, during, or after product use. This occurs on a regular basis for most
consumers except in cases where the product is completely consumed such as an ice-cream
cone. Disposal action by consumers is increasingly becoming important for governments and

marketers because of major environmental concerns that involve growing dioxins, lead and
mercury. In India, many state governments have banned the use of certain types of plastic
bags.
Huge loads of product packages are disposed of every day in the form of containers. These
containers are thrown away as garbage, used in some way by consumers, or recycled. There is
growing concern about using minimum amount of resources in creating packages for economic
reasons. It is also a matter of social responsibility. Many consumers consider the recyclable
nature of the product container to be an important product attribute. Marketers are responding to
consumers' concern with recyclable packaging. For example, Canon, Epson and some others
boldly mention on the package that it is made from recycled material.
There are various alternatives for disposing of a product or package. However, we live in a
throwaway society and, by far, the most widely used and perhaps the most convenient method
from consumers' point of view seems to be "throw it away." This creates problems for the
environment and also results in a great deal of unfortunate waste. In fact, most vacant plots