Consumer Behavior Analysis - Research Paper Example

______________ Grade _______________ d: 2008-12-16 Consumer Behavior Analysis Analysing consumer behavior by applying various methods and applications help marketers to understand the differences in consumer motives and goals across individuals and situations. Marketers and researchers long ago discovered that consumer behavior can be perceived as ‘problem-solving behavior’ for it is difficult to assess those goals toward which consumers strive and the processes through which they seek to attain these goals. To analyse consumer attitudes towards a particular product, it is essential to focus mainly on the goals that consumer perceives. A marketer detect these goals while analysing hierarchies in which consumers’ values drive the desired psychosocial consequences of product consumption, and the latter, in turn, influence product preferences. In general, researchers have yet to make a connection between the macro and micro approaches to consumer goals. Other approaches that highlight situational influences on consumer goals include the social, cultural, physical, and timely contexts of consumption (Ratneshwar et al: 10). Methods to Analyse Consumer Behavior Different methods through which consumer behavior can be analysed are by studying consumer economic, passive, emotional and cognitive behavior. An economic perspective according to Becker (1965) helps us to make the best usage of time as he suggests that time is as valuable as money. Consumer makes decisions while equating in his mind the value of time with the opportunity cost, the wage rate, and assumes that the value of time is a constant and is not influenced by any characteristic of the outcomes as long as the best alternative use of time is unaffected (Holbrook: 30). Economic perspective serves as an indicator to analyse consumers with respect to several alternate solutions or products, among which they prefer to choose one that economically suites them, while satisfying their area of interests. Becker’s context-free approach supports the economic view under which a consumer makes decisions and terms it as prospect theory. According to this theory what matters to consumer to take a decision are the utilities and values that exist in the back of his mind? While these utilities acts as a function of gains and losses relative to a particular reference point, it is this point that indicates the extent and represent consumer’s buying power. To examine this method an experiment was conducted where consumers were given an option to save few minutes of travel time on a train by paying an additional $2 for a service. Prospect theory mentioned it as an opportunity for consumers where they were significantly more likely to pay $2 to save 15 minutes off one hour (Holbrook: 30). Irrational perspective works as an opposing indicator to economic view and suggests that consumers have spontaneous attitude that purports their self-centered interests while they can easily be influenced by marketing tools. These according to theorists like Bakhtin are those consumers that go with medieval carnivals and cultural characteristics while highlighting modernism. Such consumers prefer a ‘high culture’ world of modernist art and design. Theorist like Bataille has supported the notion that irrational consumers have sophisticated reflections and they contradict what capitalist production is based upon i.e., on an economy of waste. Such consumer possess a modernised or liberal taste of experiencing modern life, the multiplicity of modern identity and, the stimulating sensory complexity of the metropolitan environment (Holbrook: 124). Economic rationality includes the rationality of economic exchange that exists between consumers, both acting in accordance with their own self-interest and their mutual advantage, so many consider this attitude non natural, neutral, or self-evident truth that proposes and promotes itself. Clarke relates such behavior as the result of the rise of civil society (Clarke: 33). Such customers are reactive to the nature and uphold some kind of materialism that is, a consumer characteristic that leans toward the celebrative contemplation of one’s own possessions viewed collectively as an indicant of one’s own prestige or as an index of one’s own social position. Obviously such consumers concern about esteem presents their inner view of self-esteem, in which case this ‘view’ often resembles some form of self contentment that is concerned with impressing others favorably. Consumer behavior based on the grounds of such esteem defining behavior includes modernisation or lifestyle-defining patterns of consumption that mutually reinforce combinations of products owned and experiences enjoyed or ‘taste cultures’. This includes an example of a sophisticated female who uses a particular perfume (luxury) in the context of impressing her neighbors, therefore her sole satisfaction lies in the notion that she keeps on using this product often while visiting her neighborhood. Emotional perspective: Consumer buying power on the grounds of his emotional attachment or his particular sense of feeling regarding goods and services is an effective tool to be taken into effect by the marketing team. Marketing communications suggest that emotion can motivate buying interest, guide choices, arouse buying intentions, and influence future buying decisions. Buying upholds a strong bond between consumer’s emotional attachment and the product; this involves strong likes and dislikes, anxieties, and aspirations. OShaughnessy suggests that the emotional view helps the consumer in decision making, therefore this way it is impossible to identify situations where deliberated decisions do not have an emotional dimension (OShaughnessy: 4). Emotion acts as a significant tool in determining consumer behavior as when combines with trust equals loyalty, which is essential for an effective marketing strategy. Consumer trust means something where he may accept the higher price, the delay in service, and so on because he trusts the brand or supplier will make amends in the longer term. On the contrary, whenever consumer trust in a brand is undervalues or undetermined, there is a corresponding loss in market power, as customers have less faith to meet up their expectations. Emotion influences the consumer in buying decision making, thereby he weights his emotions against the choices he make and this points to the need of marketers to keep track of consumer’s emotional significance to the choice criteria that fit any organisation’s competitive position. In order to determine the true emotion potential, choices are marked into following: Technicality: Technical function tells the core function for which the product is designed but product design is not enough to arouse consumer emotions. For example a car’s main function is transportation but it may have other technical function besides the core function. Emotional attachment can be added to the product by putting some additional options or convenience-in-use functions. The higher the concern is to the customer, the greater is his buying decision or interest in the product. Marketers also have a need to analyse competition in a mature market because it is no longer on the basis of core-use function, since high performance in the core function is often taken for granted. Economics: Consumer buying is an approach that invites a particular situation in which benefits are evaluated against price paid and effort expended. The effort that is utilized in expending is the effort involved in finding and choosing the product or in using the product. Pricing is a concern wherever there is a possibility of enjoying things immediately. This does not mean that price is a common factor among even those consumers who enjoy and are willing to pay a high price for the same functional performance if it signals wealth, status, and power to all and sundry (OShaughnessy: 7). Consumers often become emotional about ‘hidden’ charges of a product they might be interested in with the ‘all-inclusive’ price having the additional advantage that it reduces the number of payment decisions, which, in turn, reduces the emotional burden of payment. Legality: Consumer fulfills legalistic criteria whenever he is guided by what others demand or want; that is, buyers take account of criteria decreed by others. Legalistic criteria evoke emotion but indirectly, for instance while buying for someone else the consumer emphasizes upon some rules, which binds him. This might be frustrating for he is unable to limit his budget on that particular product, whereas on the contrary he might be successful once he made his decision in case he remains successful in meeting the expectations of others. Integrity: Integrative functions escort the consumer to the desire for social integration and integration with ones sense of identity. This means a consumer who enters into the market under ‘integrity’ would consider his possessions as influences and what are bought would add some value to his social acceptance or self identity. Buying decision to such a consumer can be termed as social endorsement which complies by any means nonconformity which is associated with potential embarrassment that can undermine confidence. Adaption: Adaptive criteria makes the consumer think less about the risk factor while buying a product or it helps in minimising risk by reducing the anxiety of uncertainty or fear of regret. Such risks that bother a consumer includes, financial risk, physical cost, since products can be harmful or dangerous, social cost, performance risk or hassle where the consumer has a fear to return the product. Here the marketers must evaluate the product before putting it for sale. The considerations are uncertainties relating to a product, some ideas that provoke high quality and effectiveness. Curiosity: Behind every product, there is a sense of curiosity that can be satisfied by minimising complexity for the consumer. Theorist like Underhill (1999) suggests that all unplanned buying is the result of intrinsic attitude or curiosity because of which touching, hearing, smelling, or tasting something on the premises of the store is common for consumers. That is the reason why despite so much competition the internet, online shops and home shopping complements but has never been able to challenge real live stores. Cognitive Perspective: Cognition arises whenever consumers form instant attitudes about things that concern them. Therefore it is not necessary that attitudes always start with cognitive appraisal. Marketers often undermine the idea that the consumers attitude toward a particular brand product can be best viewed as a concept, consisting of a fixed cognitive sequence. There is too much dependency in between the cognitive and the affective for such a division to be considered realistic. For example marketers often take for granted the relation between cognitive age of older consumers and its relationship to consumer buying behavior (Johnson: 17). Theorists like Valleman acknowledge truth indicators among the reasons to believe if there is already a cognitive inclination that makes us susceptible to their influence. In other words, theorists want marketers to detect such indicators that must be fitted with the consumers perspective with the way he or she currently views the world. That is in order to create an effective strategy, evidence first has to be selected and interpreted, and emotion has a habit of biasing the selection of evidence and interpreting it to favor existing beliefs. It is the belief of consumer in the product that can be viewed as a long term gain of the brand if marketers take direct actions in line with their informational content about what seems to be the truth. Beliefs are responsible in triggering emotions among consumers therefore it would not be wrong to analyse that situation in which consumers seek to avoid cognitive dissonance by reconciling beliefs and feelings. It is the risk somewhere at the back of mind that when induced with cognitive dissonance share many of the same characteristics like the importance of consumer decision or a lack of familiarity with the product or brand and the price of the product, the consumer might possess (Soutar & Sweeney: 28). Works Cited Clarke B. David, The Consumer Society and the Postmodern City: Routledge: New York. 2003. Holbrook, B. Morris, Consumer Value: A Framework for Analysis and Research: Routledge: London. 1999. John OShaughnessy & Nicholas Jackson OShaughnessy, The Marketing Power of Emotion: Oxford University Press: New York. 2003. Johnson B. Edna, “Cognitive Age: Understanding Consumer Alienation in the Mature Market” In: Review of Business. 17: 3. 1996. Ratneshwar, S, Mick David Glen & Huffman Cynthia, The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals and Desires: Routledge: London. 2000. Soutar N. Geoffrey & Sweeney C. Jillian, “Are There Cognitive Dissonance Segments?” In: Australian Journal of Management. 28: 3. 2003. Read More