The Psychology of Marketing - Essay Example

?The Psychology of Marketing “A sense of linkage to the concrete and observable world external to ourselves permits us to obtain a sense of stabilityand continuity in an otherwise less stable existence” (Schultz, Kleine, and Kernan, 1989, 359-366). This study revolves round these famous words mentioned by Kleine S. Schultz and J. Kernan. It means that human beings have developed a bond with few tangible things or developed certain tangible valued possession in the external world that is something outside of itself, which provides them a sense of stability, and satisfaction. This might not have been possible without the existence of those valuable possessions. This approach depicts a unique psychology of the consumers, which would be discussed in details in this essay. This trait or characteristics which the consumers portray can be evaluated within the domain of the consumer behaviour. The psychology of consumers cannot be understood without referring to the personal values. Though consumer researchers have largely ignored the importance of value in consumer behaviour, but consumer value has shown signs of being a challenging area in consumer research. Personal values have significant implications for the consumer researchers. The term value means different things in different disciplines. In anthropology value signifies the social elements which drives out or provokes reaction from an individual. In case of sociology, value means to focus on the customs or ideologies. It is a concept which groups together to form a mode of behaviour in the society. Psychology examines value from the perspective of personal motives and attitudes. Values are accountable for the assortment and protection of the goals which human beings struggle to achieve and at the same time regulate the manner and the method in which the struggle takes place (Vinson, Scott, and Lamont, 2002, p. 44-45). Possession reveals the characteristics of the possessor. So if possession is measured in terms of material values, then a relationship can be drawn between personal values and possession. The link between these two aspects is materialism. Materialism is actually the value which symbolizes the perspective of an individual regarding the position possession should have in his/her life. It has been discussed that the individual holding solid material values put possession and also acquisition of such as a centre of their lives. Value possessions are means to achieve happiness and acts as an indicator of success for the possessor. Thus it can be said that materialism is closed tied to value possession and its usage in an individual’s life (Richins, 1994, p. 522). In this context the difference between personality and value can also be studied. Value has an evaluative component which lacks personality and it relates to our belief that we should do. Personality on the other hand involves those things that we naturally do, without pretending what we are doing. Personality traits of an individual do not conflict with each other, but values do (Parks, and Guay 2009, p. 677).The perception, values, attitudes, self-concept affects the consumption pattern of an individual. It reflects the type of products or services the consumer is willing to use or required. The consumption pattern is also largely affected by personality traits of an individual such as aggressiveness, compulsivity, etc. Apart from this self-identity, or self concept also affects consumption. The elements of value such as ethics, materialism, influence the buying behaviour or consumer behaviour largely (Ruvio, and Shoham, 2011, p. 1089-1091). There are three psychological terms that needs to be discussed in this context are the self-image, self-identity and self concept. It becomes important to discuss these concepts which evaluating the significance of personal values and possessions. Self image denotes the total subjective insight of oneself, which includes the impression of the individuals’ personality and capabilities. It has been also said that self-image is the mental picture of a person’s physical appearance, feelings, desires, or experiences, while self-concept is a collection of feelings, beliefs or sense of ‘me’ or ‘I’. The word concept is referred to as the process of conceiving. Similarly self-identity is identifying oneself. Self identity involves a series of interrelated steps. The first step includes relationship between the fixed nature of a person and the changing characteristics. The second step is selecting the different aspects out of the first step. The third step involves prioritizing the aspects selected in the second step. Finally the step four is producing the results by evaluating all the three steps (Bailey, 2003, p. 383-384). After discussing the significance of value and elements which add value to a consumer’s decision making, we would be shifting our focus to goal setting, and striving to achieve those goals. Before getting into an in-depth analysis, let us first understand what relationship does values and goals share in an individual’s life. The attitude of an individual towards life and the society is based on certain values. So the values reflect the way one presents oneself in front of others. Goals play significant role in the purposive manners of the consumers, but researchers have recently started studying the motivational factors for achieving those goals. Most of the consumer behaviour is directed towards the goals. This can be seen in case of marketing the durables, non-durables, person, or an idea. Even those customers who belong to organizations set specific goals before any activity. All the goals share certain specific outcomes which the consumption of the product or usage of the service would produce. The decision-maker identifies and sets a desired outcome in his/her mind before going for a product or service. This can be the goal of the consumer. Goal can be also regarded as mental image, an end result or desired value which the customer wants to derive from the product or the service. In this context we can discuss the importance of goal in the consumption pattern of the consumers. Various stages of consumer behaviour and decision-making are involved from the point of developing a goal concept and taking several actions for implementing those for goal achievement. In this case two activities are vital, such as setting goals and striving to achieve goal. Setting goals involves deciding upon what goals to be set and why does the individual want to pursue them. Striving to achieve the goal involves the utilization of various concepts of value, perceptions and motivation. The conscious goals of an individual arise out of three ways, firstly, by being enforced upon by people, secondly, simply by having a desire to do so, and thirdly, through external stimulus such as through external motivation, advertisements, etc or through internal stimulus, such as usage situation, socio-cultural environment, etc. The process of goal setting is important in case of new product development for generating a certain degree of innovation and newness. The marketer wants to launch a new product in the market in such a way so that the customers cannot relate them to any existing product. This would retain the newness of the product concept, but it can be interpreted in a negative way too. The customers might confront the problem of deciding whether the potential of the product would satisfy the needs or not. Goal striving is applicable to brand loyalty. While a customer strives to achieve the goal of deriving the desired satisfaction from a particular product, he/she first choose the brand towards which he/she is loyal because that individual is confident that the goal can be achieved through this product only (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 1999, 19-21). Goals can affect the choice and decisions of the consumers nonconsciously. The term unconscious psychology of the consumers signifies the consumption behaviour of the consumers that is driven by the procedure that takes place beyond the conscious awareness of the consumers. In other words, the consumers are occupied in consumption related to motivation, emotion, decision-making and cognition without even recognizing the function that the unconscious processes play in shaping those (Chartrand, and Fitzsimons, 2010, p. 1). Goals are the desired endings that when gets activated ones affect the behaviour of an individual. Based on the cognitive perspective it can be said that the goals are the mental representation of the attitudes and traits of the person. For example the goal for saving money would further trigger the activities for such goal. However, the other theories state that the positive valence is the major part for the representation of such goals and it also assists in the motivational process essential for the goal directed actions. So consumers must have a positive attitude towards the goal which one has planned to achieve as a driving force. The activation of such a positive attitude occurs in various ways, such as through conscious decision of pursuing activities towards the goals. Goals can even be activated through the situational cues and can be pursued until and unless the real choices are capable of satisfying the consumer. So it can be said that it is important to have mental consciousness for achieving goals. The marketers support the notion of conscious goal setting though the concept of unconscious goals is prevalent (Chartrand, Huber, Shiv, and Tanner, 2008, p. 190-191). After evaluating the significance of value and its different elements, and how value might lead to formation of goals, we would be discussing the aspects of attachment or bond that consumers share with these tangible propositions, which give them a sense of stability. These valued possessions are the brands towards which the consumers are loyal. So the next part would be analysis on the bond between the consumers and the brands, brand attachment and the role it plays, brand relationships and brand value. Brand attachment is similar to a construct which describes the effectiveness of the relationship between brand and the consumers. The researchers also suggest that consumers can also develop attachments with the market entities which include products and brands. The brand attitude strength can also have separate behavioural implications. Brand attachment predicts the attitude or intent of the consumers to behave in a certain manner that might consume certain amount of resources of the consumers. In comparison to brand attitude, brand attachment acts as a superior judge of the consumer behaviour (Rafi, et. al., 2011, p. 295). The negative and the positive attitude of the individual with respect to the brand are portrayed through the firmness and the confidence with which the consumer considers the brand. This also reveals the level of attachment of the consumer with the brand. The attachment of the consumers with a brand develops when that individual realises the value of being associated with the brand. This is known as brand value or brand equity of a brand. Brand value is the goodwill that the brand has earned from its consumers by providing them satisfaction. Value that is attached to a brand is related to its capability of generating profit for the company and for consumer it is related to offering maximum utility and satisfaction. It is difficult as well as interesting to understand the psychology of a consumer, but for a marketer it is extremely important to understand the reasons behind the bond or relationship that develops between a brand and the consumers because consumers develop a sense of stability within them when they see their goals achieved. The goals are nothing but the end results that they expect from their valued brand. When this goal is achieved a feeling of satisfaction develops an attitude of loyalty within them for the brand. In consumer research there are two steps associated with goal achievement that is setting goals and striving to achieve that goal. Setting the goal is obviously framing a desired output in mind and striving to achieve the goal requires referring to the brand which the consumers have much faith on. However, sometimes consumers also try something new to achieve their goal, but the fear of uncertain results always remains. This can also be described as an attachment that they develop with the products. The brand value is the goodwill that the brand earns by providing satisfaction to its customers. It can be concluded that brands have form an integral part of everyone’s lives, so without obtaining it would indeed provide a sense of instability. References Bagozzi R. P., and Dholakia, U., 1999. Goal Setting and Goal Striving in Consumer Behaviour. Psychology & Marketing. Journal of Marketing [e-journal] 63, Available through: American Marketing Association [Accessed 16 October 2012]. Bailey, J. A., 2003. Self Image, Self-Concept, and Self-Identity Revisited. 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