The Cognitive and the Behavioral Approach - Case Study Example

Consumer Behavior Name of Professor: Name of Course: Code of the Course: Date of Submission: Consumer Behavior 1) How do marketer’s view consumers There is always a belief in marketing that for a marketer to be efficient in his or her work, he or she needs to get into the mind of the consumers. Ideally, the main aim of any marketer is to lure more people into making a decision to purchase a product; which explains why marketing programs are always backed by sale programs. There are two basic approaches in which marketers view the consumers; the cognitive and the behavioral approach. Cognitive Approach The cognitive approach to purchase paradigm holds that consumer’s actions are influenced by a mental activity/ decision making process. According to the cognitive theory, the consumers’ behaviors are motivated by the individual and social influences (Bray 2010, p.10). The individual influences of the purchase paradigm are influenced by motivations, values, lifestyle and personality. Motivations are elements or factors which give the consumer morale/ reason or a higher intent to make decision. Motivations have an effect of influencing the mind of a consumer to make a specific decision and not the other. An example of a motivation factor is the 4G abilities of a smart phone that makes a consumer to purchase a specific phone model. Values are elements that are upheld by an individual as being important to him or her. Such values instigate the mind of a consumer to make a specific decision. For instance, the value of giving to charity makes a consumer to purchase a specific product that is associated with charity (Bray 2010, p.10). The lifestyle which an individual, lives also acts a major element in influencing the purchase paradigm. An individual may purchase a specific product in order to maintain or live a specific lifestyle for instance purchasing a Porsche car so as to maintain a high profile lifestyle. Lastly, the personality of an individual influences his or her decision making process. The personality is responsible for the inclination or influences of making specific decisions and not others. Cognitivist theories are also influenced by social influences (Bray 2010, p.11). The social influences are elements that are associated with the social values which play a major role in the mind of the consumer; hence influencing the kind of decisions which an individual makes. One of the social influences is culture. On this aspect, it can be acknowledged that the culture plays an important role in dictating the kind of decisions that a consumer makes. This explain why organizations have to take care of cultural competencies when marketing so as to factor in the values upheld by the specific cultures, for instance excluding cow related elements e.g. beef in advertisements aimed at the Islamic communities. The reference group that is closely related to the cultural influence also plays an important role in influencing a consumers purchasing decision. Lastly, the family, which is regarded as the basic social unit also plays an important decision in the purchase paradigm. On this aspect, consumers who value the family unit will base their purchase decisions according to the ability of a product to meet the expectations of the family unit. The Behaviorist theory The behaviorist theory of marketing paradigm holds that consumers’ decisions are influenced by specific stimuli that instigate consumers to make specific decisions. According to the theory, conditioning (by stimuli) leads to the formation of specific habits (Bray 2010, p.5). According to the theory, the purchase paradigms are influenced by classical and operant conditions. According to classical conditioning, the decisions of a consumer are influenced when the marketer pairs a product being marketed with a stimulus. An example of classical conditioning is advertising a specific spice with food. The stimulus here is the food, which leads to the development of an intent to eat, which in turn makes the consumer to purchase the specific product. The other type of conditioning is operant conditioning. According to operant conditioning, consumers try working with different products until they get one which specific their needs. Operant conditioning is normally associated with the notion of being rewarded or punished for making a specific purchase decisions. The various elements which lead to operant conditioning includes a stimulus where a good stimulus influences an individual to make specific decisions, a response where a good response influences a customer to make favorable decisions against a product and lastly reinforcement where a positive reinforcement influences a customer to make decisions for a product while negative reinforcement influences customers to make decisions against a product (Bray 2010, p.5). 2. Brand purchasing is directly proportional to market penetration; the more an organization has been able to penetrate into the market, the more that the company will be able to sell its products. There are several theories that try to explain why brand purchasing is directly proportional to market penetration. The following section will analyze the brand loyalty theory. Brand loyalty is a theory that holds that organizations are able to sell more products when there exists a brand loyalty in the market. Generally, marketers try to develop brand loyalties in the market in a bid to strengthen their long tern competiveness. Brand loyalty ensures that consumers are able to realize with a specific product in lines which ensure that they are return customers; hence making repetitive purchases (Sharp & Sharp 2009, p.2). The main aim of any brand loyalty program is to enhance the financial benefits of an organization. This is a direct benefit associated with loyalty programs since they guarantee an organization of a stable and certain market which they can exploit anytime. This explains why organizations engage in such programs since they guarantee an organization of an expanded market, one which guarantees them of higher returns on investments due to increased sales. Linking up brand loyalty and market penetration, it can be acknowledged that an organization is termed as one which has penetrated the market if it enjoys substantial degrees of brand loyalty. Due to the fact that brand loyalty increases brand purchasing, it can be concluded that brand purchasing is directly proportional to market penetration. The more that an organization has managed to penetrate into the market, the higher the degree of brand loyalty and consequently, the higher the degree of brand purchasing (Sharp & Sharp 2009, p.2). 3. Volatility of consumer’s attributes beliefs Volatility of consumers’ attributes beliefs is the rate at which consumers change their attributes about a specific product. Generally, the hope of any organization is that the rate is low, hence meaning that the customers’ needs would be continually satisfied by the product. However, it becomes important to note that the world is dynamic, hence the need for an organization to evaluate its products with respect to the market demands, hence being able to capture its target market. Therefore, it is important for markets to understand the volatility of consumers attributes in order for them to fulfill their objectives in the market. Market volatility of consumers attributes has a direct effect on brand loyalty; hence influence brand purchasing as seen in the discussion above. For this reason, organizations try as much as possible to influence the volatility of the customer’s attributes and beliefs in the positive way; hence ensuring that consumers are lured into purchasing their products. This is the process by which brand loyalty is created (Riley, Ehrenberg, Castleberrry, Barwise & Barbard 1997, p.437). Ideally, an organization should strive at ensuring that it is able to align its products with the tastes and preferences in the market. This is the alignment of a company’s products with the volatility of consumer’s attributes beliefs. There is also the negative volatility of the consumer’s attributes and beliefs which leads to the reduction of market share, hence sales since a product is not able to meet the needs of the consumer’s in the market. This may be influenced by the entry of substitute products or the failure of an organization to take account of the consumer taste and preference changes in the market. References Bray, J., 2010. Consumer Behaviour Theory: Approaches and Models Consumer Behavior Theory: Approaches and Models, pp. 1- 33 Riley, F., Ehrenberg, A., Castleberrry, S., Barwise T., & Barbard, N., 1997. The Variability of Attitudinal Repeat Rates, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 14 (1), pp.437- 450 Sharp, B., & Sharp, A., 2009. Loyalty Programs and Their Impact on Repeat-Purchase Loyalty Patterns: A Replication and Extension, University of South Australia, pp.1- 18 Read More