Consumer Behaviour and Marketing - Article Example

Consumer behaviour is influenced by several factors like situational, psychological or social influences. Difference in culture, behaviour, needs anddesires pose new challenges and also provide new oppurtunities for the marketers. The nature of the market is continually evolving and the customer needs and wants keep changing. Globalization has influenced the consumer behaviour and their purchase decisions. While some believe that the world’s needs and desires are becoming homogenized there are others like Kotler who contend that markets and consumer needs are diverse (Mooij, 2000). Differences in the socio-economic background also influence consumer behaviour. Consumer by nature would prefer anything cheaper than what they are used to and hence if the locally produced goods are cheaper than the global products, they would opt for the local goods. The young adults are susceptible to family influence; they rely to a large extent on the family recommendations and suggestion. This is the process of consumer socialization. The family influence is very high in relation to the purchase of a product and even for the purchase of a specific brand. The family influences have effect on consumer skills, knowledge, attitude, preferences and behaviour (Bravo, Fraj & Martinez, 2006). This means that the young would follow the same consumption patterns as their parents and hence the consumer behaviour would remain the same. Therefore, for the marketer, understanding the type of the family, the type of the product and the characteristics of the influence would help form a pattern. The marketer would also have to understand the perception of the parents’ degree of expertise on the product. This pattern could help the marketer understand and apply the right marketing strategy. Cultural values and religion also are among key influences that impact consumer behaviour. Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture can be correlated to the differences in product usage and buying motives across Europe. Cultural values remain stable and with converging incomes, they become more manifest. When people possess sufficiently of what they want, then the cultural values influence the purchase behaviour and decisions of the consumer. The values of national culture are important in understanding consumer behaviour. When incomes converge, needs are not homogenized as they continue to be influenced by the values and the national cultures and this is important for marketers. With higher incomes, people have more freedom to express themselves and they would do this through their own specific value patterns. McDonalds wanted to standardize their menu items in all countries but according to cultural differences and difference in local tastes, they have to adapt to local environment (Vignali, 2001). Religion is a key element of culture and this influences behaviour which in turn affects the purchasing decisions (Essoo & Dibb, 2004). The religion’s influence on food habits and clothing are very prominent. For instance, Jews are more innovative in their shopping habits and less brand and store loyal compared to non-Jews. Religious affiliation affects consumers’ information processing abilities, their motives for engaging in leisure activities and the price factor. Highly religious individuals are more conservative and traditional, more insightful and mature. Therefore, such consumers do not attach much importance to brand names. The catholic consumer is demanding and more thoughtful than the Hindu or the Muslim consumer. A Hindu believes in self-control, calmness and detachment and hence there is minimum effort in requesting for quality service and low prices. Levi’s found that Islamic countries do not like their women tight-fitting clothes and in the Far East Asian market there is a demand for shorter inside leg measurements while the Japanese prefer tighter jeans (SD, 2005). Religion is thus an important construct in consumer behaviour. Religious affiliation can predict consumer behaviour and hence an understanding of religious affiliation can be applied in developing marketing strategies. Changes in consumer preferences for brands are more frequent than changes in general skills and attitudes. The physical environment is an important determinant in consumer perception and behaviour. The physical environment should attract attention. The place where a product or service is brought or consumed is very important according to Kotler (Hightower, Brady and Baker, 2002). The atmosphere of the store is more influential than the product purchased and the atmosphere can hence influence the consumer behaviour. Store interiors can create special feelings that have a signaling effect on the purchase. In a service environment even the emotional state of the consumer has to be taken into account because this would help the service provider to design a suitable service environment (Clarke & Schmidt, 1995). Disposable income influences the consumer behaviour and hence the marketer would have to undertake customer segmentation to reach the products to the right customer at the right place. Since consumer behaviour is not homogenous, the marketers have to apply a mix of standardization and localization approach. Globalization has not made the consumer needs and desires homogenous. Market segmentation helps to focus on the target customers but now market segmentation is no more based on age and demographics. In the apparel and the food sector, localized approach has to be taken to suit the tastes, the needs and the cultural and religious factors. Market segmentation helps the marketers to standardize their marketing programs to each homogeneous segment of countries or consumers (Souiden, 2003). However, they differentiate the strategies among different segments. Market segmentation itself suggests that consumer differ in their needs, wants and preferences and the goal of segmentation is to focus on servicing their needs. However, segmentation cannot be done on a particular basis. Attitudes lead to changed behaviour and the marketer has to known the attitude because it would help advertise in the right market but attitude does not reveal the brand preference (Bond & Morris, 2003). According to Ratneshwar, Shocker, Cotte and Srivastava (1999) the purpose, product and person interact to shape consumer behaviour and any changes in any of these would impact consumer behaviour. People buy a product not for what they are but for the value that it an deliver. The effect of the features of a product would impact each consumer differently and hence his behaviour would be different towards the purchase of that product. Similarly, the same hat would offer different function in different weathers and hence the same person may react differently to the same product. For instance, a hat would offer more functional value in summers than in winter. Thus, interplay between the product, purpose and the person determine consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour is also influenced by the value they derive in exchange for the money spent and how the product contributes to their self-identity and well-being. It is also the fulfillment of an emotional need in the case of luxury good where they see luxury as an indulgence of their sense (Cheng, 2006). The youth look for pleasure, excitement and aesthetic beauty, and it enhances their self-respect. Thus even in the luxury market, there is difference in how the elders and the youth perceive the products. The elders would look for tangible and intangible values and their behaviour and decisions are based on the deeply held core values (Salzman, 2009). Thus, the key influences on consumer behaviour are social, psychological and situational influences. These have been put into a framework where the consumer behaviour depends upon the product, the people and the purpose. While the marketer can no more segment the customer based on the demographics, trying to fulfill the needs and wants of the customers is a challenge. Cultural and religions influences impact consumer behaviour and hence organizations would have to ensure that the right product is marketed in the suitable manner at different locations. In fact culture has been found to be the key influence in consumer behaviour. Cultural background is the reason that the youth in many countries would prefer to rely on their parents’ suggestions for making purchases. Thus social influences are very important in influencing consumer behaviour. The psychological factors and the desire for self-identity, the emotional fulfillment in purchasing a particular product influences consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour influences marketing decisions which can be found in every sector. Culture influences purchase decision in every sector whether it is the automobile, the fast moving consumer goods or even the luxury brands. An assessment of the local culture is essential which means that the companies need to adapt to local situation. As in the case of jeans, Levi’s cannot expect to standardize their product mix. Even the promotional mix would have to change according to the country and the culture in which they intend to market their products. The physical environment or the ambience has to be soothing and congenial. The marketing decision would hence have to be based on assessment of cross-cultural issues, religious factors, on the socio-economic backgrounds, the continuous changes taking place in the market, and the changes in the mind-set of the people. The nature of market is continually evolving and the marketing decisions have to be based on the ever-changing business environment. Hence, there are several variables that would have to be considered for marketing decisions to attract the target segment. References Bond, J. & Morris, L. (2003). A class of its own: latent class segmentation and its implications for qualitative segmentation research. Qualitative Market Research. 6 (2), 87-94 Bravo, R., Fraj, E., & Martinez, E. (2006). Modelling the Process of Family Influence on the Young Adult Consumer Behaviour. Journal of International Consumer Marketing. 19 (1), Cheng, C. (2006). The Impact of Brand Image on Consumer Behaviour of Luxury Goods of Fashion Industry in China. Retrieved online 9th May 2010, from http://edissertations.nottingham.ac.uk/1585/1/07MSclixss24.pdf Clarke, I., & Schmidt, R.A. (1995). Beyond the Servicescape, The Experience of Place. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 2 (3), 149-162. Essoo, N., & Dibb, S. (2004). Religious Influences on Shopping Behaviour: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Marketing Management. 20, 683-712 Hightower, R., Brady, M.K., & Baker, T.L., (2002). Investigating the role of the physical environment in hedonic service consumption: an exploratory study of sporting events. Journal of Business Research. 55, 697– 707 Mooij, M. (2000). The Future is predictable for International Marketers. International Marketing Review. 17 (2), 103-113 Ratneshwar, S., Shocker, A.D., Cotte, J., & Srivastava, R.K. (1999). P roduct, person, and purpose: putting the consumer back into theories of dynamic market behaviour. JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC MARKETING. 7, 191-208 Salzman, M. (2009). Boomers and the Future of Luxury Brands. Retrieved online 9th May 2010, from http://boomers.typepad.com/boomers/2009/01/boomers-and-the-future-of-luxury-brands.html SD. (2005). Levi’s adaptable standards. STRATEGIC DIRECTION. 21 (6), 14-15 Souiden, N. (2002). Segmenting the Arab markets on the basis of marketing stimuli. International Marketing Review. 19 (6), 611-636. Vignali, C. (2001). "McDonalds: "think global, act local" - the marketing mix". British Food Journal. 103 (2), 97-111 Read More