Consumer Behavior and Marketing - Essay Example

? Consumer behavior and marketing College: Introduction Marketing is a vital component of every business in the world. Business needs every edge they can get in order to achieve their goals of making revenues. The objective of every marketer is to make sales. In the words of Harrison & Reilly (2011, p. 21), marketing is the core of any company because it is the channel through which the generation of revenues for the company is made possible. Thus stated, it becomes extremely important for different companies and market strategists to come up with marketing plans and marketing policies that are geared towards this revenue generation. The only plausible way to do this is to ensure that the targeted customers are responding positively to the products or services of these companies. Marketing is one of the best ways to make sure that these customers have a connection to the companies’ products or services that is desirable. However, with the increased customer awareness and insight into brands all over the world, the marketing strategies of the companies have had to undergo a tremendous metamorphosis as a way of trying to predict the consumer behaviour and their influence on the businesses. According to Bian & Moutinho (2011, p. 200), customers have a great impact on the way a particular business behaves in the aspect of branding, usage, perception and even quality. The way the customer behaves towards a certain product is influenced by a number of different diverse factors. Some of these factors could be attributed to attitude of the customers towards a certain product of a certain company, fashion, culture among many others (Danaher & Rossiter, 2011, p.12). It is the responsibility of the companies to ensure that they come up with products that are in alignment with these different factors. In so doing, they must first identify which factor affects which type of the targeted customer and in the process come up with products that are considered appealing to this specific group of target customers. In other words, marketing is a strategy that puts the interests of the customer at heart. Companies are bound to fail if they come up with products without taking a survey of the market to identify the different needs of different customers. Different strategies of marketing are applied with respect to different fields. For instance, the kind of strategy that could be applicable to social marketing may not be fully applicable to another field such as manufacturing among others. However, no matter which field the marketing takes place, the main point of focus is on the customer. In every business, the customer is the king. The customer is the main reason why people engage themselves in business activities (Geigenmuller & Outland, 2012, p. 430). This paper will indulge in the discussion of how the different forms of consumer behaviour influences the way companies conduct their marketing. It will illuminate upon the response of these companies in the marketing aspect with respect to changes in consumer behaviour. What happens to the marketing strategies laid down by different companies if the consumer behavior is varied? Since there are many diverse aspects of consumer behavior and attributes to name but a few such as fashion, culture, perceptions, attitudes, motivation and even group influence. Though these attributes sometimes intertwine, for the purposes of a clear investigation into this topic of influence of consumer behavior on marketing, this paper will narrow the attributes down to culture as a consumer attribute. Definition of terms For an in-depth and profound analysis of this topic, a number of terms that will be applied extensively in this paper will be defined here. These terms are the consumer behavior as well as the culture concept of consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is a term used by different marketers and marketing strategists to describe extensively the way different consumers respond with respect to a number of factors. Consumer behavior has also been defined by Harrison & Reilly (2011, p.24), as the study of the different processes that are involved when individuals or groups of people select, purchase even dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs as well as desires. Consumers respond in very different methods in reflex to the factors that they get exposed to. The way consumers behave often influences the way the marketers and strategists behave too. The culture concept in marketing is something that the marketing strategists cannot afford to ignore. Culture, by definition is the different beliefs and practices that different communities and societies in the world have that have been passed down through generations. Culture and consumer behavior As defined in the preceding paragraphs, culture, forming beliefs as well as practices of different societies in the world is one of the very vital attributes that different marketers have to fully acknowledge. Before this connection of culture and the impact it has in the marketing field is done, it is instrumental to give a breakdown of culture in this section. Different areas and different communities have differentiated practices that are very unique to that specific community. A certain aspect of practice done in a certain community may not be applicable or may not affect another community. Different communities may revere a particular product and have a loathing for another product. This acceptance or rejection of certain practices has been passed down through many generations and have become fully acknowledged as the beliefs that these communities can be identified with. Culture is a very wide concept in that it can also be inclusive of abstract ideas such as values, norms and ethics as well as quantifiable material objects such as cars and even clothing. Culture forms a shared meaning of the rituals, norms, and traditions that members of a society or organization have. The effects of culture on consumer behavior are very profound. However, sometimes it becomes extremely difficult for one to fully identify, relate and even appreciate this effect fully. Culture shock however, after one is subjected to a change in cultural aspects such as a rapid change or transfer to a different communal setting often occurs and makes us realize the importance and relevance of the culture change. In other words as stipulated by Ehret & Haase (2012, p. 450), culture outlines what people in a certain community can do or cannot do within their community set-up. McColl & Moore (2011, p. 100) agree with Ehret & Haase (2012, p. 450) in this stipulation. However, McColl & Moore (2011, p.100) and Herstein & Zvilling (2011, p. 194 ) also note that what a certain people in a certain community perceive as the accepted norms or practices, or even beliefs may not necessarily be accepted or even applied to another community. What a certain community, say community A does and believes in may totally be different from what another community, say B does or believes in. what brings this deviation is also very wide. Demographic factors as well as environmental and even economic factors are the renowned factors that make sure that this gap exists. Culture exists in different forms. There is the collectivist cultures whereby people are forced to subordinate their personal goals to those of a certain stable in-group. The goals of this group become primary and the goals of the person in focus become secondary. The individual will struggle to ensure that he or she does not let the other people down even if this implies having him or her sacrifice his or her objectives to match those of the group or society. The other form of culture is the iindividualist culture where, as the name suggests, a certain level of importance will become attached to the personal goals of the individual and the goals of the group are given a secondary level of importance. This often happens when the goals of the group are considered too costly to the individual. Solomon, Bamossy, Askeggad and Hogg (2010) state that a rational individual will definitely prefer to ensure that his or her goals are accomplished at the minimum possible costs. Demystifying culture Culture is never static. The concept of a cultural system is very dynamic, responding to changes as they occur with time (Mathur, Moschis & Lee, 1999, p. 165; Mathur, & Moschis, 1999, p. 182). However, it is also important to note that more often than not, the old cultural ways are merged with new and conventional ones to create a hybrid system. If culture was to be rigid, the members of the society within which this culture a certain cultural system has a number of functional areas that define how this culture influences the way people present in a certain community setting behave. These functional areas are discussed in the following paragraphs. The first functional area of a cultural system would be that of ecology. Ecology is a word that is used to describe the way in which a particular system adapts to a certain habitat in which it finds itself in. Ecology is shaped by the technology that a certain culture uses to obtain as well as distribute the resources at its disposal. The other form of functional system would be the ssocial structure. Ssocial structure refers to the way different people in a certain society maintain a life that would be termed as being orderly in social terms. This concept flows to encompass both the domestic as well as political groups that are dominant in this culture. Social order must be fully achieved for a community to achieve a certain aspect of harmony. In this harmony, people find cohesion of behaviour. They do their things in a certain manner that is wholly accepted by each and every person in this community. The third and final functional area of a cultural system that will be discussed in this paper is the ideology concept. Ideology represents the different values that are present, in a specific community. They represent the accepted norms, virtues, ideas and even practices that have been screened and have been found suitable to be adopted by a specific society. It is worth noting that these ideologies are much differentiated in different societies. Influence on marketing As seen from the definition offered earlier in this context, marketing is a very wide field. The field spans into a number of categories that are competing in nature and yet indulging at the same time. According to Dawes (1998 p. 225), marketing allows for provision of products and or services from a specific company. Marketing also serves to ensure that the products that the company has floated in the market are well in alignment with the demands of a certain market in a certain time period. According to Dibb (2007) and Carrigan & Szmigin (1998, p. 240), marketing is a term that encompasses both individual as well as organizational activities that enhance exchange relationships in a changing environment through the process of creating, distributing, promoting and pricing goods, services and/or certain ideas. Consumer behavior influences marketing greatly. The market responds automatically to how different customers behave. For instance, if the customers lose a taste in a certain product following a change in fashion for instance, then the market has to make sure that they develop exactly what the customer needs. Marketing of outdated products or marketing some products in certain markets where such products are abhorred, or even banned will not yield any results, and consequently, no revenues (Torres-Moraga, Vasquez-Parraga, &Zamora-Gonzalez, 2008, p. 318; Bloemer, Brijs, & Kasper, 2009, p.76). The effect of culture on human behavior ranges from what these people consume, how they dress, the kind of cars they drive, the kind of houses they live in, the kind of entertainment they prefer amongst other very diverse factors. The most important concept to note here is that these people follow these cultural notions, norm, preferences, tastes and practices without even having the slightest idea that they are actually following them. They do so subconsciously, controlled by factors that they cannot fathom. Typical cases To fully understand how culture has an effect on consumer behavior, it is better to have an outlook at different case settings. Even in the early years, or the ancient period per se, culture had an influence in the way people consumed certain products, adopted certain ways of living and were governed by a specific sort of norms and ideologies. A good example would be the case of the Romans in the ancient period. The Romans, being a proud people had very high standards of living that were decreed by the kind of lifestyle they led. Their foods, clothing, modes of carriage and even governance was very different from the poor nations that formed the neighbors of this great nation. Anything that was deemed cheap was not welcome among the rich of the Romans. The jewellery was made of pure gold and this led to a change of consumer behavior in preference to such rich niceties. This soon formed a way of life of these Roman citizens and they could accept nothing short of what they had come to get used to. This is one of the functional area and concept of culture as has been discussed at a previous section of this paper. Another typical example would be the Jewish way of life. As is common knowledge, the Jews do not take pork, considering this kind of meat to be unholy. As much as this may seem farfetched among other communities like the Christians, this has in one way or the other been inculcated into the Jewish way of life. A consumer attitude like this that is so ingrained in the a society like this forms a norm that would be extremely hard to break. Among the Muslims, the doctrines and ideologies forming the Sharia laws that they apply widely prevents these Muslims from exacting the concept of asking for interest from the transactions that they carry out with their banks. According to them, the concept of lending cash with interest is considered illegal. The above typical cases just serve to illuminate more into the concept of consumer behaviour. And this consumer behavior widely influences the way marketing is conducted. For instance, no sane marketer would try to market pork or pig related products in a society dominated largely by persons of the Jewish community. Since it is against the customs of the Jewish community to eat pork, there is a high chance that the market for pork there would be scanty. An alternative to pork meat would be more ideal to persons of this community. The same case would be apply for a conventional banking trying to sell its products to persons of the Muslim community. No Muslim who is wholly indoctrinated to the Sharia law would allow himself or herself to pay interest on amounts borrowed from the bank. As such, the market for such products would be very scanty. Benefits of culture in influencing consumer behavior in marketing It may seem as if culture has a negative impact on consumer behavior or rather it limits the options available. However, this is not entirely so. Culture, as one of the attributes of influencing consumer behavior has some benefits to a marketer if well identified and implemented. The benefits presented to a market following the influence of culture on consumer behavior are as outlined in the following discourse. According to McGillicuddy (2008, p.328), the marketers are provided with comprehensive information concerning the beliefs and norms of the people. They then have the liberty to use this information to ensure that the kind of products that they deliver to the different markets affected by different cultures is well suited to this the people living there. If the marketers identify what the people in a certain community or society value, they would be capable in the delivery of the products or services as well as ideas to these people without fail. For instance, the type of product that would found appealing amongst the youth in a certain society would definitely not be so appealing to the elderly members of the same society. it is the onus of the marketers to identify these distinctions and know the best way to approach the different groups so that they can give them the products that are appealing to them. Culture also gives clear signals to the marketers. Were it not for this cultural aspect, many marketers would have no idea about the kind of products that they are supposed to deliver to a certain group or community of people. In the same respect, these marketers need to keep themselves abreast with the changing trends in cultural activities. Since culture is dynamic, the changes are definitely bound to occur as people embrace civilization. For instance, the cars and other forms of automobiles that were sold say in the 19th century have been outdated as people have been forced by their culture to adopt new forms of vehicles. This has led to a shift of marketing from the old automobiles to the new cars that we find on the roads. The same case applies to other very varied products, such as foodstuffs and eating trends, fashion, shelter among other things. Linkage between culture and other attributes At the introductory part of this paper, it has been established that there are a number of attributes that largely influence consumer behavior. A sample of such attributes has been given, some as fashion, motivation among others. On an advanced level, you find that these attributes have an interlocking poise. Consumer behavior may be influenced by more than one of these attributes. In this aspect, culture incorporates the other attributes as named above in a very harmonious form. For instance, as the people in a certain society develop, so does the culture of this society. Cultural change is common. Culture links with other attributes in a number of platforms. For instance, since culture forms the way of life of different people, it has to be flexible enough to accommodate the new trends as well as changes that these people in these communities have. People dump the old niceties in preferences to emerging trends or incorporate these trends with the oldies that have been prevalent in the cultural systems of the society for a long time. new cars, new clothes, all engrossed in the attribute of fashion force the culture to adopt these changes as people start acquiring new tastes (McColl & Moore, 2011; Ross & Harradine, 2011, p. 312). Conclusion From the above discussion, a clear linkage between culture and consumer behavior has been established. And consumer behavior has been observed to have a tremendous effect on the way marketers behave or think. This implication is that unless the marketers adopt and align their strategies towards the culture inclination of a specific community, it might prove to be extremely difficult for them to fulfill their objectives of revenue generation. Though there are other numerous attributes that marketers should take into consideration when formulating a specific marketing plan, the attribute of culture ranks among one of the most important and most valuable attributes that no marketer can afford to ignore. From what has been discussed, it has been found that the major reason that makes culture a formidable attribute is that it is very instrumental in influencing the consumer behavior. And consumer behavior is the major concern of the marketers since without the consumers it becomes pretty difficult to understand what the consumers need. And if one cannot understand what the consumers need, chances are high that it would be very hard for these marketers to deliver the products or services that are required by these consumers. Therefore, it can be concluded without fear of contradiction that the culture attribute is among the most vital ones that influence consumer behavior and consequently, the marketing strategies of different marketers. 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