Consumer Behaviour- Culture in Cosmetic and Skin Care - Essay Example

? A basic requirement of marketing is to produce products that the consumers need and this demands an investigation of the market place particularly consumer behaviour which puts the customers at the core of decision making process surrounded by various factors that influence these purchasing objectives (Lancaster & Reynolds 1999). Against this background, this essay seeks to critically analyse the role played by cultural factors such as language, rituals, myths and conventions in affecting the purchasing behaviour of cosmetic products in the market. The essay starts by defining consumer behaviour followed by an outline of how different cultural factors affect the purchasing behaviour. The discussion will also look at how the marketing managers can leverage on these factors to positively affect the behaviour of the consumers in the market taking into account the elements of the marketing mix. Basically, “consumer behaviour comprises the behaviour patterns of decision units (individuals as well as families) which precede, determine and follow on the decision making process for the acquisition of need satisfying products, ideas and services,” (Strydom 2004). Consumer’s needs, motives, attitudes, perceptions and learning abilities and their personality determine their consumption decisions and behaviour (McCarty & Perreault 1996). However, consumers do not live in isolation and there are cultural and social influences from the external environment that affect their decisions and behaviour. These determinants include cultural group, reference groups, the family and the social class system. Thus, in this case of the cosmetic industry, in order for the marketers to formulate a successful marketing strategy consisting of product, price, promotion and distribution, they need to be familiar with the external determinants such as cultural factors that affect the behaviour of the consumers in a specific target market. Most individuals tend to be involved with other people on a daily basis, whether in the family, culture, social class, reference groups or opinion leaders. A civilisation rests on culture and culture is a powerful force that the company should understand in order to promote products and services appropriate for the market place (Lancaster & Reynolds. UK for instance is a multi cultural society given that a lot of foreign nationals migrate to that country in search for greener pastures. As a result of these diverse cultures, a lot of cultural factors such as language, rituals, myths and conventions affect the buying behaviour of consumers in the cosmetics market. In this case, special attention will be given to cosmetics such as lipstick used to paint the lips as well as cutex used to paint the nails. Language plays a pivotal role in shaping the culture of people as well as their behaviour. People communicate through language and it is associated with their cultural values. Artificial cosmetics as the ones mentioned above that are used to beautify especially ladies are very common in English speaking people. They associate these with elegance and the young are particularly more interested in using these compared to the old people. Other people who use their own mother languages are very interested in using these cosmetics. In most cases, language is used as a factor that defines social class. Indeed, social class is still the principal influence on consumer purchasing habits. English for instance is regarded as a symbol of opulence in UK and the marketers of products such as cosmetics which are usually associated with luxury must attempt to target the English speaking people. These can also have great influence on the other people who speak different languages. In many instances, rituals affect the buying behaviour of people in many ways. Rituals are beliefs that are associated with traditional beliefs held by different people from diverse cultures. In some cultures like most cultures, artificial cosmetics such as lipstick and cutex are associated with bad things such as prostitution. African people in particular associate this practice with people who indulge in prostitution. On the other hand, the people who believe in the Moslem religion associate the kind of cosmetics with something that is ungodly. It is therefore important for the marketers of cosmetics to establish the rituals held by the potential customers as these have a bearing on their purchasing behaviour of products like cosmetics. Just like rituals, myths also play a great role in affecting the purchasing behaviour of people. In some cultures, the use of artificial things for the purposes of beautification is prohibited. In some cultures, people believe in the concept of natural beauty hence the application of cosmetics is viewed in different ways. Thus in cultures where there are myths against the use of artificial cosmetics, it is very difficult for those people to purchase these products. The behaviour of the people is shaped by the perceptions they have about the product and the aspect of myths play a pivotal role in shaping these perceptions. On the other hand, conventions are traditionally held customs and norms and these play a pivotal role in shaping the buying behaviour of the people in products such as cosmetics mentioned above. The marketing manager of cosmetics mentioned above can positively influence the behaviour of people through appealing to their attitudes. Consumers form relevant attitude to buying behaviour as a result of direct experience with the product. Thus, McCarthy & Perreault (1996) define an attitude as “a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way towards market related objects or situations.” The products that are developed over a certain period of time often have unique features that are incorporated in them in order to appeal to the consumers. Over time, the consumers will tend to learn about these features and can in turn develop a positive attitude towards them. It can be noted that attitude is a learned process in direct response to what the customers have experienced or consumed from the media in form of advertisements. It is therefore important for the marketers to know the behaviour of the customers in order for them to be better positioned to implement strategies that are likely to appeal to a large number of the customers. It must also be noted that attitudes are not necessarily permanent but they can change at any given time. It is therefore very important for marketers to design their messages targeted at consumers in a fashion that will not cause them to have a negative attitude towards their brand. As noted above, attitudes are primarily influenced by the information the consumers get about a product hence there is need to safeguard the interests of the brand at all costs to avoid the emergence of negative attitude among the consumers which can have a negative impact on the performance of the brand as a result. The marketers can leverage on the elements of the marketing mix to take account of the cultural needs of different consumers in the cosmetics industry. Basically, the marketing mix is primarily concerned with the four Ps namely price, product, promotion and place which involves the distribution channels. During the contemporary period, it can be noted that customers have got changing personal values which should always be taken into consideration by marketers where they should be a step ahead as far as quality and pricing issues are concerned. They ought to take into consideration the social, emotional as well functional value of the product and its impact on the people. According to Wang et al (2004), “In the modern customer-centred era, customer value is a strategic weapon in attracting and retaining customers.” Favourable prices ought to be charged to meet the needs of all the customers. Product positioning is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes with regards to the place the product occupies in consumers’ minds and position in the market relative to the other competing products (Kotler 1999). A product that is correctly positioned can attract many clients and there are likely chances that loyalty will be created in the long run. Customers do not necessarily need to hassle in order to obtain a product but they should access it from a convenient location. Promotion can be in the form of loyalty schemes that can be put in place where frequent buyers are rewarded through discounts or are given other tokens of appreciation. These would continue returning for more purchases which gives the organisation the opportunity to retain such customers. It is also vital to give the customers all the relevant information they may require about a product at any given time. When the customers are assured that they will benefit from purchasing a product, they will continue buying it. This can be aided by continuous talking to the customer informing them about the products and services offered. Over and above, cultural factors such as language, rituals, myths and conventions play a significant role in affecting the purchasing behaviour of people with regards to the cosmetic products in the market. Marketers can influence the behaviour of the consumers in the cosmetics industry through appealing to their attitude which is a major factor that shapes the buying behaviour of the people. The marketers can also leverage on the elements of the marketing mix as discussed above to appeal to the needs of the customers. Bibliography Berry T. & Wilson D. (2001), On Target: The Book of Marketing plans. How to develop and implement a successful marketing Plan. Palo Alto Software, Inc USA. Cant M.C. (2000), Marketing Management, 4th Edition Juta and Co Ltd, SA. Cant M.C., Brink A. & Brijball S (2002). Customer behaviour. JUTA. Kotler, P. (1998). Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and control. Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Kotler P. (1999), Kotler on Marketing: How to create, win and dominate Markets, Free Press, London. Lamb C. W., (2008). Marketing. CT. Oxford University Press. Lancaster G. & Reynolds P. (1999), Introduction to Marketing: A step by step Guide to all the tools of Marketing, Kogan Page McCarthy J.E & Perreault W. D. (1996), Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach, 12th Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, USA. McCarthy J.E & Perreault W.D (1990), Basic Marketing, International student Edition, 10th Edition, Irwin, Boston Smith, P.R. (1999), Great Answers to Tough Marketing Questions, Kogan Page, UK. Strydom J. (2004), Marketing, 3rd Edition, Juta & Co Ltd, SA Solomon, M. R. (2009) Consumer Behaviour – Buying, Having, and Being, 8th edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Yonggui Wang, Hing Po Lo, Renyong Chi and Yongheng Yang. An integrated framework Managing Service Quality. Volume 14 · Number 2/3 · 2004 · 169-182 Read More