The Role of Perception in Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example

?Critically Analyse the Role of Perception in Consumer Behaviour Table of Contents Introduction 3 Perceptual Process 3 Sensory Stimuli 5 Exposure 7 Attention 8 Interpretation 9 Sensory System 9 How Do Marketers Get Attention 10 Recommendations 11 Conclusion 11 References 12 16 Introduction The conception of ‘consumer behaviour’ refers to those activities which are directly related with the purchase, consumption along with disposition of diverse products and/or services in a given industrial context (Gonclaves, 2008). It is often defined as a multidimensional procedure of consumer decision making which involves various elements raging from socio-economic attributes to psychological factors such as customer perceptions (Bukenya & et. al., 2007). Notably, customer perceptions are regarded to be the most influential element to drive the ultimate purchase decisions of a customer. This particular aspect can further be observed as a multidimensional concept which in itself is quite challenging to be defined and identified in the real life context being influenced by various other attributes such as cultural beliefs, social diversity and lifestyle needs (Desmond, 2003). The paper intends to discuss regarding the role of perception in consumer behaviour with particular focus on the UK based brands. Moreover, this paper also discusses regarding the exposure, attention, interpretation and sensation of consumers while making purchasing decisions towards different products and services. Perceptual Process In its simple meaning, perception can be associated with gathering of information through our senses i.e. through seeing, hearing and tasting among others. In other words, perception can be related with a process by which humans become familiar and aware of a particular event and interprets a stimulus. It can further be argued that not all the human beings are alike in all contexts. There are some dissimilarities persisting in the perceptions of humans that further distinguish an individual from another. Contextually, an individual’s perceptions regarding products and/or services can differ within a group in terms of features, prices, qualities and brand names among others. It has often been observed that among these large groups of individuals, different opinions can persist about a particular product and/or service which are offered by the marketers (Ziethaml, 1988). It has been further observed in this context that an individual frequently desires to obtain information regarding products and/or services through their five senses, i.e. smell, taste, touch or texture, sound and sight (Solomon, 2012). As these attributes are believed to be the fundamental aspects of defining customer perceptions, modern day marketers often tend to utilise these senses in order to identify the expectations of the potential customers and channelize their buying behaviour towards the determined goals (Arnould & et. al., 2005). It is in this context that contemporary organisations always attempt to ensure proper evaluation of consumers’ perceptions in order to effectively facilitate their target markets with appropriate offerings and deliver the products and/or services which are fit for the potential customers’ expectations (Creusen & Schoormans, 2005; Vigneron & Johnson, 1999). To be illustrated, Tesco PLC and British Airways are often characterised as two of the leading brands that have always considered and implemented various buying behaviour theories and concepts to recognise customers’ perceptions accurately, while introducing new products and services in its target markets. In terms of influencing consumer buying behaviour, British Airways implements unique promotional strategies which directly impacts upon attracting the potential consumers to adopt the company’s services in an efficient manner (Tesco PLC, 2013; British Airways, 2010). Sensory Stimuli According to Krishna (2011) “sensory marketing is an application of the understanding of sensation and perception to the field of marketing — to consumer perception, cognition, emotion, learning, preference, choice, or evaluation” (Theofanides & Kerasidou, 2012). To put it in other words, sensory marketing is considered as the marketing activity that involves the consumer’s minds and marks their perception, decision and behaviour. In this context, it is often argued to be quite challenging to make an accurate judgement relating to what is going on within the mind of a consumer which is also referred as consumer perceptions. Consumers are often exposed to two kinds of sensory stimuli. These stimuli can be categorised into two different sub-heads namely, corporate generated marketing stimuli such as promotion mix, and product stimuli that are discretely controlled by the companies. Another form of stimuli may include in terms of ‘non-corporate generated stimuli’ which are uncontrollable for the marketing companies (Theofanides & Kerasidou, 2012). Sensory Receptor According to Solomon (2012), sensation is considered as an instant response regarding human sensory receptors to primary stimuli. Solomon (2012) further explains that sensory receptors can be eyes, nose, mouth, ears and fingers whereas basic stimuli can be referred to light, odour, colour, sound and texture. Theoretically, perception is often regarded as a procedure through which sensation is organized, selected and understood (Cohen & et. al., 2013). In this context, perceptual process is the combination of sensory stimuli and sensory receptors, which reflects exposure, attention and interpretation. Furthermore, according to Solomon (2012), interpretation can be explained as the extent to which marketers allocate sensory stimuli of the potential customers on the basis of their buying behaviour decisions to perceive their buying trends. Focusing on a similar context, Blythe (2008) also stated that perceptual process is generally considered as a social-physiological phenomenon which comprises cue selection as well as cue understanding and the combination of these cues to develop an overall impression. Blythe (2008) further explained that there are six components of perception such as stimulus, processing centre, consumer’s stable characteristics, customer’s current state, input selector and response. According to Evans & et. al. (2007), consumers always aim to be aware regarding their buying decisions with the help of their five senses or sensory system which helps them to select appropriate products and services at the right time. Similarly, Foxall & et. al. (1998) also explained that perception is the process through which stimuli are obtained, interpreted and translated into responses by the consumers while making purchasing decision. The efficiency of consumer buying decision can also be enhanced when the information processing task is flexible and transparent as explained by Schiffman & Kanuk (2007). As stated by Schiffman & Kanuk (2007), most of the consumer behaviour researchers emphasise upon the concept ‘bounded rationality’ in order to investigate how consumer perception changes while making purchasing decision. The notion of ‘memory’ within consumer decision is considered as a cognitive system that stores consumers’ past experiences and knowledge regarding the particular products and services. Contextually, consumer buying behaviour is also stimulated in order to reduce the risks which are associated with the uncertainty and the magnitude of the products. Moreover, consumers’ create an array of strategies for reducing the perceived risks. Through these strategies, potential consumers always prefer and seek for external information regarding particular products prior to making purchasing decisions (Erlenkamp, 2006). Exposure Exposure, in the context of marketing, refers that a stimulus comes within the scope of one or more of the five sources namely, hearing, smelling, touching, seeing and tasting. Exposure identifies that whether stimulus has any opportunity to be sensed by the consumers. It has been argued that exposure to advertisement or any product to consumer often influences their decision to purchase that particular commodity. It is because the consumer tends to learn and retain information when they are faced with repeated advertisements or any other stimuli for several times. On the other hand, it has also been claimed that higher and greater exposure to stimuli may negatively influence the consumer behaviour to purchase (European Parliament, 2011; Kollat & et. al., 1970). For instance, Tesco has been able to deliver a wide assortment of products and improved services to its potential customers and thus obtain greater customer satisfaction by effectively addressing their perceptions. Additionally, with the assistance of its business model, Tesco always aims to offer right products as per the needs and the demands of potential customers. Through considering these ways, the company delivers affordable and superior quality products as well as services at a faster rate which influences purchasing decisions of consumers by a large extent (Tesco PLC, 2013). Similarly, advertising campaigns of British Airways deliver direct messages to the customers, which tend to address customer perceptions and consequently, influence consumer behaviour. By influencing the customers’ perceptions through effective advertising initiatives, the company intends to develop positive attitudes among the target group towards the company’s brands, products and services and thus gain competitive advantages in the long-run. Through these promotional strategies, the company effectively captures the imagination of the consumers while making purchasing decisions regarding its products and services (British Airways, 2010). Attention In general, the term ‘attention’ can be defined as the allocation of mental processing capacity among humans. Notably, when attention is revealed, senses focus on stimulus and thereby facilitate consumers with a desire to further process the information from the stimulus. Thus, obtaining customer attention is often regarded as crucial for marketers in order to achieve a considerable response towards the stimuli. However, in order to mark the presence of stimulus, it is necessary that stimulus somehow is able to catch attention of the customers through any of the five sensory organs. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that attention comes in two forms namely, voluntary and involuntary. Contextually, voluntary attention is given by choice being steered by the will or desire of customers to pay attention. On the contrary, involuntary attention is not wilful attention paid by customers to the stimulus. However, in the marketing context, customer attentions are normally categorised as involuntary acts. This is fundamentally because customers are seldom willing to proactively involve themselves in any advertisement. However, in later stages if customers find stimulus relevant to their involuntary attention gets changed into voluntary attention (Solomon, 2012). Interpretation Another aspect of customer perception, i.e. ‘interpretation’ is often described as the process and the outcome of the meaning of a stimulus. In other words, interpretation of stimuli involves the application of learned associations between perceptual cues, signs, and meaning to the stimulus. It is important to understand that the learned associations are generally based on individual prospects, motivations and involvements. Thus, it can be firmly stated that process of interpretation generally relies on consumer knowledge structures (Solomon, 2012). It has been argued that two kinds of knowledge structures are crucial for interpretation process namely, schemas which includes organised beliefs as well as feelings that an individual hold about certain objects, or an idea. Another important knowledge structure may be termed as script which replicates the sequence of actions associated with certain objects or any idea. Sensory System Sensory system comprises of five sense organs that help marketers to design their promotional activities in order to influence consumer behaviour and lure them towards stimulus to make ultimate purchases. Thus, sensory system in a marketing context involves vision, sound, smell, taste and touch where each sensory system plays an important role. It is worth mentioning that these sensory systems are liable to determine various emotions, perceptions and ideas within the consumer that have a tendency to immensely influence their buying decisions (Zhou, 2003). How Do Marketers Get Attention In present business scenario, there are various issues with regard to the consumer buying behaviour which may affect the marketers to determine the products and the services according to the consumers’ perceptions. In terms of marketers’ perception, these issues can be considered as significant factors that influence buying behaviours by a considerable extent. These factors can be cultural, social, personal and psychological (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2008; Desmond, 2012.). Cultural Factors: Culture encompasses different values, ideas, behaviours and other useful symbols that facilitate people to communicate along with understand as well as evaluate each other. In particular nations, there are several kinds of consumer who belong from diverse cultural backgrounds. The choices and purchasing decisions of these consumers are inclusively dissimilar as compared to the native people (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2008; Desmond, 2012). Social Factors: Social grouping is one of the imperative aspects, which affects an individual’s buying behaviour. A few of these groups are referred as membership groups, aspirational groups and reference groups. It is quite essential for the marketers to recognise these entire segments of these groups while bringing in new products and services within the markets (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2008; Desmond, 2012). Recommendations From the above discussion, it has been observed that Tesco and British Airways follow unique strategies through which they influence purchasing behaviours of the potential customers in quite an efficient manner. Contextually, it has been further observed that Tesco follows its well-crafted business model to influence the purchasing decisions of its potential customers. Similarly, British Airways implements unique promotional strategies through which company is able to alter the perceptions of the consumers while making purchasing decision. Due to the changing business scenario and the continued emergence of competitors, both the organisations should follow and implement different buying behaviour theories and concepts. Additionally, owing to the uncertain business conditions, consumers can change their buying decisions at any point of time being influenced by the change in their individual perceptions. Therefore, in order to keep hold of the existing target market consumers, both the companies should follow the cognitive theory of buying behaviour with the purpose of attaining long-term profitability. Conclusion The core idea that emerges from overall discussion is that consumer buying behaviour plays an imperative role for the organisations as well as the marketers. By comprehending the role of perception in consumer behaviour, the organisations can attain sustainable competitive position. Through the theories and concepts of consumer behaviour, marketers can comprehend the attitudes, behaviours and perceptions of the consumers towards their offered brands or products. Contextually, in terms of marketing the role of consumer behaviour reflects how and in which way consumers identify a company’s products and services. References Arnould, E. J. & et. al., 2005. Consumers. McGraw-Hill. Bukenya, J. O. & et. al., 2007. 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[Online] Available at: http://202.114.155.239/jpkc_bs/%E6%B6%88%E8%B4%B9%E8%80%85%E8%A1%8C%E4%B8%BA%E5%AD%A6/file/Consumer%20Behavior/02%20Consumer%20Behavior%202.0-consumer%20perception.pdf [Accessed February 20, 2012]. Read More