Consumer Behaviour

Prof Sameer Kulkarni

Consumer Mind: A Black Box

Stimulus

Buy

Company
Controlled
Product
Price
Advertising
Promotion
Display
Distribution
Social
Word of
Mouth
Reference
Group

Consumer
Mind
(Black Box)

Response

No Buy

Customer Decision Making

Process
Drivers of Change

Technology
Development/
New
Generations

Awarene
ss

Values

Differ Pleasure
vs.
Instant Pleasure

CUSTOMER

Social
Structure

Individualism vs.
Collectivism

Personali
ty

Assertive
Exhibitionist
Self Concept
Life-Style
Aspirations

How they Buy ?

High involvement products:
High price
Complex features
Significant differences between
alternatives
High perceived risk
Reflect self concept of buyer
E.g. Selection of a Car

How they Buy ?

Low involvement products
Alternatives within the same product
class are similar
Does not reflect buyers self concept
Frequent brand switching behaviour
E.g. buying a bathing bar (Toilet
Soap)

Purchase decision in low

involvement products

Theory of evoked set

(Howard & sheths theory)

Its not product but the

Situation

Routinized response
Limited problem solving
Extensive problem solving

Types of Buying Behavior

High Involvement

Low Involvement

Significant
Differences
Between Brands

Complex Buying
Behaviour

Variety Seeking
Buying
Behaviour

Few Differences
Between Brands

Dissonance Reducing
Buying
Behaviour

Habitual Buying
Behaviour

Motivational reasons
Sheths consumer motives
Five dimensions of motivation
concerning products/services benefits
Functional utility or function performed
Aesthetic/emotional appearance or
attractiveness
Social status or esteem value
Situational unexpected benefit
Curiosity interest aroused

Purchase decision in high

involvement products

Routinized response
(straight re buy)
Customer is aware of his /her choice
Decision is based on personal experience
Spends little /no time in choosing an
alternative
Perceives low risks

Limited problem solving

(modified re buy)
Launch of a new product which leads
in a change in the customers
decision criteria.
Buying leads to trial purchase
Brand extension helps in removing
obstacles
Perceives moderate risk

Extensive problem solving

(new task)

Requires extensive learning

Awareness about alternatives is zero
Has no decision criteria
Unable to evaluate different brands
Relocating to a new & unknown
environment

Rational behind behaviour

Psychological Factors
Motivation
Learning
Perception

Motivation
(Sigmund Freud)

Influence on Buyer
Behaviour

Values motivates in buying

Functional value
Conditional value
Social value
Emotional value
Knowledge value
(according to Sheth , Newman &
Gross)

Learning Theory
Human behaviour is learnt
One learns @ the pain of punishment
Or @ the lure of rewards
Directing human behaviour is done by developing
stimuli and cues which bring to fore the latent
need
Attractive advertisement , shelf display, packaging,
how to use instructions ,store layout ,availability &
sales persons are examples of cues developed by
a marketer.

Basis of Differences
Gender differences
hunter=men,
nurse=women
Intelligence differences
caste,
class,
education, etc.
Personality differences
job specializations

 Plato stated more than 2000 years ago:

No two persons are born exactly alike;
but each differs from the other in
natural endowments, one being suited
for one occupation and the other for
another.

Cognitive dissonance theory

Leon Festinger-1957 ,wrote the theory
of cognitive dissonance
Psychological discomfort caused by
inconsistency among a persons
beliefs , attitudes / actions e.g.
smoking
Varies in intensity based on
importance of issue & degree of
inconsistency

Lifestyles
(Indian Perspective)

Buyer lifestyle

Survivors: Price conscious , not very knowledgeable , depressed.

Sustainers: Strugglers , swayed by brand guarantee , impulse
buyers.
Belongers: Conventional conservative , nostalgic ,
unexperimental.
Emulators : Ambitious , upwardly mobile , status conscious , buy
to impress others.
Achievers : Leaders , work in hi tech top line products.
I-am-me: Young , Self engrossed , impulsive.
Experimental : Pursue a rich inner life , High sense of social resp.
Integrate : Fully matured psychologically , combination of best
elements