Developments in Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example

Consumer behavior Blog Why did I choose that product on the shelf? Well, with the approach of black Friday, I decided to discuss a little about our behavior as consumers. I was at the mall the other day, and as I kept picking item after item off the shelf, I began to wonder about our consumption behavior. I looked at my trolley and began wondering why did I pick that item and leave another of its kind but with a different brand? I looked around and wondered, why did choose this mall? In order to understand my choices, I looked into consumer behavior. The process involved in satisfaction of desires through buying of certain items and disposing of others, best describes consumer behavior. In a perfect market structure, several things affect a buyer’s preference. Study of what buyers prefer is a field known as marketing psychology. According to this type of psychology, a buyer’s preference may be dependent on personal, social or psychological reasons (Dholakia, 2012). Production companies and businesses use two major research methods in order to determine the demand of a product from consumers. The two methods include secondary research and primary research. Secondary research is dependent on already existing information to predict the market demand for a given product or service. Primary research on the other hand depends on the producer’s personal research using questionnaires, surveys etc (Belch, 2004). In the subsequent blogs, we are going to see how psychological, personal and social factors affect a consumer’s behavior. References BELCH, G. E.; BELCH, M. A. 2004.Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. New York: McGraw Hill. HAMANSU, S. M. (online) 2008. Consumer behaviour.available at http://knol.google.com/k/consumer-behaviour retrieved on 24/11/2014. WELLS, V., & FOXALL, G. R. (2012).Handbook of developments in consumer behaviour. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing DHOLAKIA, R. R. (2012). Technology and consumption understanding consumer choices and behaviors. New York, Springer Blog 2: Psychological effect on consumer behavior In the previous blog, I introduced the concept of consumer behavior and the factors that affect a consumer’s preference to certain goods as opposed to others (Blog 1). In this part, I will be looking at the psychological effect on consumer preference. Before a consumer opts for a certain preference, there has to be a psychological intention attached to the item (Poiesz, 1993). The consumer internalizes on the value of the item towards satisfying their desire and decides what best suits them. An example of the latter is a consumer that likes to look elegant and classy; she is likely to buy the latest limited edition channel, Versace or Louis Vuitton products as opposed to upcoming designers. The consumer has the psychological perception that wearing a well-established designer satisfies her desire. The psychological effect on consumer behavior is largely dependent on perception. Most companies looking to sell their products realize that psychological perception is the key to capturing a large consumer base. Advertisement in the mainstream media focus on convincing the consumer that buying a certain item makes them better than buying another item from the competition. Celebrities and supermodels that are idolized in our societies are used to advertise hair products, body colognes and other products (Lin et. Al. 2003). The mentality that using a certain product makes us better than using other products raises preference for select items. An effective psychological perception is built on what we see, what we hear, and what we like (Poiesz, 1993). References LIN, M.Y.; CHANG, L. H. 2003.Determinant of habitual behaviour for national and leading brands in chain.Journal of product and brand management, pp. 94- 107 POIESZ, T. B. C. 1993. “The changing context of consumer psychology,” Journal of Economic Psychology, 14, 495-506. SCHIFFMAN, L.G.; KANUK, L. L. 1997.Consumer behaviour(6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Blog 3: Personal effect on consumer behavior As previously seen, consumer behavior has a big impact on production and marketing techniques (Blog 2). Most of the marketing techniques appeal to a person’s psychology. There are those traits, however, that are unique to a consumer’s preference. The personality of a person determines the preference of that person in consumption. Personality is dependent on the demographic location of a person, sex, age and race (Solomon, 2006). An African American has preference for certain items that a white American does not, in the same way a male middle aged man has preference for certain items that a middle aged lady hates. How a person is brought up and certain experiences that person undergoes define the person’s preferences. Culture plays a major role in shaping a person’s personal preference, which in turn affects their consumer behavior. An example of the latter is the consumption preferences of a vegetarian. The experiences and culture that make one become a vegetarian shape the consumer preferences of that person to food and products not made from animals (Sokolowski, 2011). Personal preference of a consumer has an effect on production because people in similar demographic and cultural settings tend to lean towards the same products. Companies and businesses undertake research projects that aid them in knowing the best places to sell specific products (Ramesh, 2009). In this case, the businesses and companies use already existing research to support the findings of their primary researches. References SOLOMON, M. R. (2006). Consumer behaviour: a European perspective. Harlow, England, Financial Times Press/Prentice Hall. RAMESH KUMAR, S. (2009). Consumer behaviour and branding concepts, readings and cases : the Indian context. Chennai, Pearson Power. SOKOLOWSKI, O. (2011). Influences and Attitudes within Consumer Behaviour Process.München, GRIN Verlag Blog 4: Social effect on consumer preference In this case, the consumer behavior is not usually personal rather someone else affects the preferences of the consumer. In a social setting, what other people perceive to be better influences our choices in preference. In urban culture, wearing baggy jeans and sneakers is seen as being fashion forward. Having a clique that is into urban culture will influence you to wear as everyone else in your clique does so as not to be the outsider. In our society today, social perception influences many preferences towards certain things as opposed to others (Belch, 2004). The social company that a person keeps also influences their preference and behavior as a consumer. At times, the social company that one keeps is an indicator of a certain social class. Each social class has a certain consumption preference as opposed to other social classes below or above it. Adhering to the requirements of a certain social class ascertains that one acquires a specific taste to certain things (Hamansu, 2008). In a societal setting, a marriage proposal is not perfect without a diamond on the engagement ring. The mode of engagement is not that important, but since the social norm stipulates that the perfect proposal has to be characterized by a diamond, the preference for diamond set engagement ring rises. The social effect of consumer behavior is dependent on the social norm of the society as opposed to individualistic preference. In the social setting, we prefer a certain item to another because our social counterparts expect it. The human primal nature stipulates that being an outsider is not comfortable, so we tend to go along with things that other people think are ‘cool’ in order to remain insiders in a certain social standing (Belch, 2004). References Allenby, Greg M. and Peter J. Lenk (1994), “Modelling household purchase behaviour with logistic normal regression,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, 89 (428),pp. 1218-1231. BELCH, G. E.; BELCH, M. A. 2004.Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. New York: McGraw Hill. HAMANSU, S. M. (online) 2008. Consumer behaviour.available at http://knol.google.com/k/consumer-behaviour retrieved on 24/11/2014. Blog 5: Poor consumer habits In accordance to the main thesis of this discussion, my final post is n the darker side of consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is dependent on psychology, personal gratification and social influence as discussed in the previous posts (Blog 2,3,4). Some consumers end up gaining bad habits from the preferences they acquire and sometimes these behaviors harm the consumer. Some of these poor habits include addictive consumption and compulsive consumption. Compulsive consumption means buying of items for short time gratification without prior plans to consume. Compulsive consumers end up suffering low self-esteem when they cannot afford to be compulsive. In a market situation, compulsive consumers end up buying goods they do not need and goods that do not offer consumer satisfaction (Wells et. Al, 2012) . Addictive consumption means consuming an item without self-control and without the ability to stop. In addictive consumption, the consumer has no ability to stop consuming an item at will. The most common form of addictive consumption is gambling. In an addictive consumption situation, the consumer has to undergo behavioral therapy treatment in order o desist from indulging in their addictions (Vunich, 2003). Most business models assume consumers are rational when carrying out their purchases, but in this case, the consumers involved do not rationalize since their urge for consumption is uncontrollable (Dholakia, 2012). In conclusion, it is possible that any of the factors discussed in these blogs influence every rational consumer or in some cases, all factors affect a consumer in different situations. Irrational consumers with poor consumption habits should seek behavioral therapy. References WELLS, V., & FOXALL, G. R. (2012).Handbook of developments in consumer behaviour. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing DHOLAKIA, R. R. (2012). Technology and consumption understanding consumer choices and behaviors. New York, Springer VUCHINICH, R. E., & HEATHER, N. (2003).Choice, behavioral economics, and addiction. Amsterdam, Pergamo SCHIFFMAN, L. G.; KANUK, L. L. 2000.Consumer behavior (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. NOEL, H. (2009). Consumer behaviour. 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