How Relevant Is The Rational Model of Consumer Decision-making to Marketers Today - Essay Example

? How relevant is the rational model of consumer decision-making to marketers today? BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE How relevant is the rational model of consumer decision-making to marketers today? Introduction The rational consumer decision-making model is a fairly simplistic series of steps by which the consumer evolves in their process of consumption. It reflects a rather predictable type of buyer that maintains five distinct steps that determine, ultimately, their intention to make a repurchase. The most respected rational model is provided by Kotler and Keller (2012) identifying consumer recognition of needs, followed by an information search, with a subsequent evaluation of different alternatives, finally a purchase decision is made with emphasis on post-purchase response and evaluation. This model, however, is not very relevant to marketers in the current industry environment as there are many distinct factors involved with consumer decision-making which include cultural values, social expectations and psychological factors that cannot be excluded from the equation attempting to rationalise human behaviour. Explaining lack of relevancy of the model The rational decision-making model would tend to assume that consumer characteristics are universal, meaning that buyers of products and services generally share the same set of homogenous cognitive thinking traits by which decision-making is a practical and sensible process. For instance, a consumer opens a refrigerator, witnesses a lack of a favourite beverage and then sets about exploring options to fulfil this need. The vast volumes of marketing literature that have conducted studies on consumption behaviour would tend to strongly refute this notion. In most East Asian countries, cultures are collectivist in which group opinion and group membership are substantial social values. Shukla (2010) reports that Asian consumers have recurring tendency to consume products that can enhance their social position or gain some sort of psychological fulfilment when important reference groups applaud their product decision-making, a phenomenon known as conspicuous consumption. The energy drink, Red Bull, for instance, may be more socially acceptable in a group that is familiar with the brand name and trust in its quality over that of a lesser-known juice brand. To choose another beverage brand and then present it to the collectivist reference group could lead to social chastisement or some other dimension of criticism that would influence future repurchases. In this type of social scenario, based on collectivist values, there would be no evaluation of alternatives since the consumer has considerable experience with negative emotions stemming from the reference group opinions and would not want to repeat this social situation again. This would certainly have implications for both Red Bull and for the lesser-known beverage brand. Schiffman and Kanuk (2010) also recognise that cultural values have influence on consumption behaviour and even maintain a persuasion about which brands a consumer is most dedicated to. These researchers indicate that the volume of purchases a consumer maintains toward a favourite brand is influenced by how it assists in expressing social affiliation and status. Husik and Cicic (2009) call this status consumption, which is attempting to gain psychological satisfaction by exposing others in the social environment to the choice of product or service consumed. To further lend support for the influence of the cultural or social environment by suggesting an even more complicated and dynamic set of psychological characteristics that influence purchase decision-making behaviour. According to the research, people have an inherent desire to make comparisons to themselves and others in the social environment and generally want to believe they are better than everyone else (Durayappah 2010). When witnessing members of society in less-privileged life situations, it can even enhance the individual’s self-esteem if they feel more advantaged (Durayappah 2010). Therefore, when the consumer would be evaluating alternatives along the rational decision-making model, they are instead evaluating elements of their social environment and social status which could, potentially, lead to a faster decision-making process which altogether bypasses an elongated evaluation of alternatives stage. Thus far, there is no evidence that the majority of consumers go through a logical and rather methodical process of buying behaviour. Instead, the influence of externalised factors appears to have the most significant influence on decision-making behaviour. The danger in attempting to predict or logically sequence consumption behaviour is that the dynamics of psychological factors and attitudes are too unstructured in order to be predicted or analysed quantitatively. Therefore, much of analysis in trying to understand certain emotions or individualised beliefs must be subjective, making inferences based on observed social cues. This is also linked to the idea of the social reference group influence on purchasing behaviour, which is further supported by Rise, Sheeran and Hukkelberg (2010) who suggest that it is not only close acquaintances that persuade consumers, but other figures that are either aspirational or provide some form of psychological fulfilment for specific characteristics that are relevant to the consumer. This leads into the influence of celebrity endorsement which is not recognised by the rational model of decision-making. Durayappah (2010) made very bold statements about the consumer tendency to make comparisons to others in the social environment as a means of boosting their self-esteem. Celebrity endorsers are often aspirational, maintaining lifestyle or physical characteristics that draw the consumer toward their representations of a product or service brand. At the same time, celebrities that maintain envious traits could lessen one’s self-esteem, thus making them turn toward more vanity-inspired brands such as anti-wrinkle creams. Even if the consumer had not previously considered cosmetics purchases, demand was spontaneously created by the presence of a favourite or disfavoured celebrity endorser, driving the consumer to make an impulsive product purchase. Now, those that support the rational model of consumer decision-making might argue that this is simply the process of recognising a need that was triggered by the presence of a celebrity endorser. These same proponents of the rational model might also suggest that the next logical step in the process would be to evaluate different anti-wrinkle creams to determine which brand would have the most significant psychological or social outcomes. This, however, is not accurate according to behavioural theory. Wang and Sun (2010) says that the specific type of marketing medium by which marketers communicate has a substantial influence on purchase decision-making processes. There have been studies conducted, according to Ducoffe, that newspapers are considered more reliable and credible than television advertisements. These studies, however, were conducted in the 1960s and 1970s. If we are to assume that society still maintains these attitudes about the viability of communications mediums, then a newspaper advertisement illustrating a favourite celebrity might spark a more immediate decision about a particular product or service purchase than witnessing another similar celebrity on television promotion. A newspaper advertisement, therefore, may reduce a need for exploring alternatives and lead to a rapid decision to pick up the telephone or visit a website and make a purchase. The rational model would suggest that a need has been recognized and the consumer will, in a logical and predictable order of steps, begin evaluating different options available (perhaps taking into consideration cost factors or ingredients). According to psychological theory and sociology theory that is linked with marketing consumption behaviour, there are ample opportunities for certain steps along the rational model to be obliterated by the powerful influence of social and cultural stimuli that refutes the relevancy of this model. Berman and Evans (2009) and Dawes (2004) even broaden support for the lack of appropriateness of the rational model in today’s marketing environment, suggesting that pricing can be utilised as an effective promotional method that will influence consumers’ perceptions of product quality. There is a tendency of some consumer segments to believe that premium-priced and premium-quality products justify high quality, thus making the product appear superior (positioned) over competing products. There has been substantial growth in recent years in the premium brand market (Hameide 2011), illustrating that modern positioning strategies defy the rational model of consumer decision-making. Hence, consider a situation in which a consumer recognises a need: they have discovered a need for eggs. There is a North American brand of eggs branded as Eggland’s Best which professes itself as being a superior egg due to the production process and therefore commands a significantly higher price. This egg producer spends a considerable volume of marketing finances to promote this brand with an emphasis on this younger market, having used individuals sharing certain lifestyle characteristics to further reinforce brand quality. In this situation, a consumer that was convinced by these advertisements would instantaneously consider only Eggland’s Best as their egg product of choice. Conclusion Though the social, cultural and psychological influences that determine consumption behaviour might be illogical, they are legitimate phenomenon as supported by many different studies on the phenomenon. In many ways, the complexity of how a consumer really goes about seeking alternative products and evaluating post-purchases will be influenced by these factors. This makes the rational model irrational and no longer very relevant to the modern marketing function for today’s products and services. There is little evidence that there is predictability in modern consumption behaviours that are no longer aligned with the rational model. References Berman, B. and Evans, J. (2009). Retail management: a strategic approach, 11th edn. Prentice Hall. Dawes, J. (2004). Assessing the impact of a very successful price promotion on brand, category and competitor sales, Journal of Product and Brand Management, 13(5), pp.303-314. Durayappah, A. (2010). The 3P Model: A general theory of subjective well-being, Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(September), pp.1-36. Hameide, K.K. (2011). Fashion branding unravelled. USA: Fairchild Books. Husic, M. and Cicic, M. (2009). Luxury consumption factors, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 13(2), pp.231-245. Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L. (2012). Marketing management, 14th edn. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Rise, J., Sheeran, P. and Hukkelberg, S. (2010). The role of self-identity in the theory of planned behaviour: a meta-analysis, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(5), pp.1085-1105. Schiffman, L. and Kanuk, L. (2010). Consumer Behaviour, 10th edn. Prentice Hall International. Shukla, P. (2010). Status consumption in cross-national context: socio-psychological, brand and situational antecedents, International Marketing Review, 27(1), pp.108-128. Wang, Y. and Sun, S. (2010). Examining the role of beliefs and attitudes in online advertising: a comparison between the USA and Romania, International Marketing Review, 27(1), pp.87-106. Read More