Perceptual Factors that Affect Consumer Decision Making - Essay Example

Discuss and critically analyze the perceptual factors that affect consumer decision making in 2010 Contents Contents 1 Introduction 2 Growth in the Sales of Electronic Books 3 Product Branding and Consumer Perceptions 3 Semiotics and Consumer Perception 5 Perceptions and Changes in Consumer Decision Making Process 7 Consumer Behavior Attitude Theories and the Buying Process 8 Socialization Theories and Consumer Buying Decision Making Process 9 Means End Chain and Goal Directed Behavior of Consumers 10 Perception Theories 10 Conclusion 11 References 11 Bosman, Julie. E-Readers Catch Younger Eyes and Go in Backpacks. February 4, 2011. April 2, 2011< http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/books/05ebooks.html?_r=1&ref=consumerbehavior>. 12 Chen, Daniel and Huigang Liang. Shaping Consumer Perception to Motivate Online Shopping: A Prospect Theory Perspective. December 9, 2006. April 4, 2011< http://sighci.org/Research/ICIS2006/SIGHCI_2006_Proceedings_paper_9.pdf>. 12 Beneke, Justin. Consumer perceptions of private label brands within the retail grocery sector of South Africa. African Journal of Business Management. 4.2. pp. 203-220.February, 2010. April 2, 2011< http://www.academicjournals.org/ajbm/pdf/pdf2010/Feb/Beneke.pdf> 12 ConsumerReports.org. Chevrolet, Ford, and Subaru jump in brand perception Toyota is tops, according to new Consumer Reports survey. 2010. April 2,2011< http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/news/2010/01/2010-car-brand-perceptions-survey/overview/brand-perceptions-ov.htm>. 12 Introduction The different companies spread along a global scale are endeavoring to tap newer markets and gain large number of customers through the marketing of products and services on the online sphere. In fact, the development of the internet environment has helped in governing the purchase decisions of the consumers to a large extent. The development of marketing activities online has helped the consumers to gain access to a larger number of options for products and services from large number of companies. Moreover the customer also can conduct feasible product and service searches based on price and quality parameters through the online environment which gives them a better edge in taking effective marketing decisions. The online marketing of goods and services conducted through the creation of attractive websites excites both the sight and sound stimulus of the consumers and compels them to go for the product. Websites are designed by the companies through the incorporation of multimedia textures like strong visual imagery and textual patterns along with superb sound effects. These factors help the companies in stealing the minds of the consumers easily and in compelling them to make the needed purchase. However considerable amount of research has confirmed that consumers tend to conduct purchases more effectively in a physical sphere than depending on the online environment. Thus companies tend to selectively represent some specific products in the online sphere while representing a plethora of different varieties in the retail outlets. (Chen & Quin, 122-123). Growth in the Sales of Electronic Books An article published in the New York Times by Julie Bosman during 4th February, 2011 reflects the growth of sales of books in the online market during 2010. This also reflects the change in tastes of consumers which has again shifted to the literary end as a means of entertainment. The consumers reflect a shift of entertainment interest from viewing televisions to reading books. Surveys conducted shows that books which have mainly countered an increase in the digital sphere mainly belong to the category of children fictions. However certain publishers like Harper Collins also reported that books belonging to the adult fiction category also have sold like hot cakes. This rise in the online sales of the fiction books mainly started during the period of holidays where in the previous days the consumers were mainly stuck in the television front. The availability of large number of titles in the electronic books segment spread along different categories like romance, mystery and other thriller based literatures has helped the consumers to choose between different options before making purchases. Further the consumer perceptions of making the needed purchases are also governed by the factor of word-to-mouth communication which enhances the consumer’s interests in making secured purchases. Children caught by the visual tangle in the websites desired to buy the fictional books in order to possess them. However the parents relied more on word-to-mouth communication before deciding on to go for purchases of the digital titles. (Bosman; Chen and Liang, 61). Product Branding and Consumer Perceptions Justin Beneke in an article published in the African Journal of Business Management during February 2010 shows that the growth of private label brands in the food sector of emerging economies like South Africa has rendered an effect on changing the perception levels of the consumers. The consumers based in South Africa reflected a high amount of interest in the private label brands of the grocery food sector owing to the availability of better quality at reduced price levels. The grocery food sector in South Africa endeavours to capture a larger market base through the introduction of more number of private labels which helps them compete against the products of the other manufacturers. Study made along the South African retail grocery market shows that consumers were mainly attracted to the private label products owing to the following parameters. Firstly the products being easily accessible to them spread along large number of retail outlets caught their attraction. Secondly the customers perceived that these products rendered enhanced quality than other manufactured products in the market. Thirdly the customers’ perception was also governed by the pricing techniques of the private label products as compared to other manufactured ones. However the private labels products sold in the market were not packaged in a heavy manner. Thus the parameter of better packages failed to render significant impact on changing the consumer perceptions in the South African economy. (Beneke, 213). Another example of changing perceptions of the consumers depending on enhancement of brand parameters can be viewed from an article published in Consumer Reports. The automobile manufacturers like Chevrolet and Ford reflected a huge rise in the sales of vehicles during 2010 owing to the impact of changes in the perception parameter of the consumers. The vehicle manufacturers showed that the perception levels of the consumers had increased by around a 30 point mark in the 2010 period in regards to 2009. Perception scores of the consumers reflected that the consumers perceived the different brands based on several parameters which can be underlined as follows. The consumers rated the different brands depending on parameters of superior quality, higher safety standards, performance parameters of the vehicles depending on mileages, the large amount of product innovations tied with the brand and the social deliverables of the product in promoting a greener environment. The estimates made along the different perception levels of the consumers helped the Japanese Brand Toyota gain the first place. Other Brands like Ford and Honda were found to follow the Toyota brand in the second and third place respectively. Brands like Suzuki and Mitsubishi were found to occupy the inferior positions in the perception score levels. Thus the level of consumers’ perceptions of the above brands is found not only depending on the quality parameter of the vehicles but rather depended on a holistic understanding of the several other features of the vehicle like safety standards, level of innovation and others stated above. Hence automobile manufacturers in order to gain the advantage of consumer perceptions were required to fully satisfy the different aspects. (ConsumerReports.org). Semiotics and Consumer Perception The pattern of semiotics practiced in the advertising and media industry in today’s commercial world is observed to render a huge impact on changing the perception of the consumers. In fact the different consumer goods companies are taking the help of the advertisers to create imagery and sign patterns in order to attract the minds of the final consumer. To this extent, G.D. DharmaKeerthi Sri Ranjan in an article published in the Journal of American Science in 2010 stated that the sphere of consumerism is not only restricted to the physical world. Rather the digital and the internet industry is not making rapid foray to help the marketers gain new markets and consumers to gain access to sophisticated forms of marketing activities. Thus the different consumer goods and service industries aiming to conduct sell to a large number of consumers online are making extensive use of brand imagery and other symbolic and figurative patterns. This helps in smartly conveying to the ultimate consumer the right message the product or service company is aiming to state and thereby helps in positive selling. Similarly the advertisers are also found to make use of different colors or combination of such in order to create changes in consumer psyche to augment the sales of the brand. (Ranjan, 6, 9; Langrehr). In another article, written by Marc Bartholomew in Buffalo Law Review during 2010 the use of semiotics in impacting the consumer perception is viewed as an instrument in the hands of advertisers which also has a negative face. The article focuses that advertisers through the use of different symbols and figurative statements tend to largely govern the minds of the consumers and in changing their perception patterns. In fact, the advertising community tends to affect the identity factor of the consumer through the use of special imagery focusing on the cultural paradigm of the consumer. The different brands through the use of social and cultural themes tend to attract the minds of the consumers in an extensive manner wherein he consumers begin associating them with the product or service rendered. Use of logos and symbols used in advertising can also be made to reflect on a particular social paradigm to easily market the goods and services. This helps the consumer companies to focus on a niche or target market for gaining sales of their products. Thus use of semiotics also helps in building a separate cultural identity among certain focused groups of people in the total mass market. (Bartholomew, 931-934,936-945). Perceptions and Changes in Consumer Decision Making Process In an article written by Musdiana Mohamad Salleh, Siti Meriam Ali, Etty Harniza Harun, Muna Abdul Jalil and Mohd Rizaimy Shaharudin in the Journal of Canadian Social Science during 2010 it is reflected that how the perception patterns of the consumers affected the purchasing behavior of them while buying food materials of organic nature. Studies made in this context shows that consumers tend to extensively go for food products of organic nature owing to certain parameters. Consumers perceive these food products as healthy and safer alternatives to other food products available in the market. Further the consumers also perceive these products as being safer to the natural environment. Thus consumers depending on the above perceptions tend to increasingly go for the organic products for their food consumption. The perception patterns of the consumers in regards to purchasing organic products for consumption can also be related to the level of social and environmental awareness. Consumers pertaining to different geographies and demographic paradigms were observed to render increased importance to conserving the health and environmental situations for which they took resort to organic products. From the theoretical point of view the psychographic factors concerning health and environment turned out to be the main reasons instigating the consumers to purchase organic food materials. (Salleh, Ali, Harun, Jalil & Shaharudin, 121,124-125; Salleh; Font and Gil, 1-3). Consumer Behavior Attitude Theories and the Buying Process The behavior of the consumers in the process of making decisions related to purchase is governed by certain specific attitudes. The modern theories of consumer behavior are being increasingly related to the attitude model where the factor of attitude is considered one of the useful determinants of the consumer decision making process. Different consumers possess different sets of attitudes towards purchasing a product or rendering visit to a particular store for conducting relevant purchases. Hence the attitude of the consumers to a product or service or to a specific store can be viewed as correlatively related to the consumer’s decision in making the needed purchase. Further studies conducted on the realm of consumer behavior shows that attitudes of consumers towards purchasing industrial products are governed by large number of factors pertaining to one’s environment and organization which differ from consumer products. Herein thus an inference is made that the attitudes of the consumers triggering the owning and disowning of the products gain strength owing to the varied impacts of the different external environmental factors. In industrial level marketing the attitudes of the buyer’s in purchasing the products from a certain supplier is determined on the level of experiences gained by the industrial marketer while purchasing products from different suppliers. The industrial marketer shapes his attitude concerning the parameters of quality, price and delivery timings of the different suppliers while making a purchase decision. (Wind, 58-60; Cooper and Argyris, 61). In a similar manner the attitudes of the consumers in purchasing products coming from foreign countries are determined by certain groups of factors. Certain attitudes like stressing on the ethnic factors by a customer tend to impart a negative attitude in owning foreign products. Such group of consumer feels that purchase of foreign products would render stress on the national economy. Again another attitude for disowning foreign products is observed as the envious relationship which between two nations. However increased number of visits to foreign nations often leads to making the purchaser feel interested in buying of foreign products. Still if the domestic country is potentially strong enough to produce substitutes for the foreign products then it again causes a change in the attitude of the buyers from buying foreign products. (Nijssen, Douglas and Bressers). Socialization Theories and Consumer Buying Decision Making Process The different socialization theories which govern the buying process of the consumers can be viewed along three different aspects. Firstly the attitude of the people while making purchases is governed by past experiences which act as cognitive elements in the purchase decisions. Secondly the consumer’s buying decisions are also governed by the pattern of communication developed among the social units like families and friends which tend to have an impact on the buying decisions of the consumer. Thirdly the learning patterns of the different consumers is also enhanced thorough the exposure to digital and advertisement media which also governs the purchase decisions. (O’Guinn and Faber; Bao, 13-14). Means End Chain and Goal Directed Behavior of Consumers The Means End Chain concept in consumer behavior refers to the level of learning developed by the consumers through previous consumption of goods and services. This knowledge of consumption gained by the consumers acts as a repository for helping the person in making future purchases of the same or allied products. Again the knowledge gained from previous experiences of consumption of the product or service also operates in motivating the consumers to make needed purchases. (Grunert, Sorensen, Johansen, and Nielsen; Jensen, 5-6). Perception Theories The theories pertaining to perception are generally built on two main paradigms. The first set of theories is built on the primitive attributes of the human race and serves as innate elements of one’s nature. However the second set of factors is developed owing to the practical interference of the person with the world at large. The second set of perception theories is rendered more importance then the preconceived ones. It is because the person develops the instincts in a gradual manner while operating in the external environment. Still the innate knowledge of a person helps one in easily identifying or perceiving an external object through the system of ingrained knowledge. The person then develops a better understanding of the features and attributes of the same through extensive usages in the latter period. (Andrew.cmu, n.d.; Gibson, 61). Conclusion The perception pattern of the consumers while deciding to purchase a certain product or service is governed by a large group of external factors which constitute the person’s external environment. In fact the buying patterns of the consumers in the current world are governed by sophisticated set of factors like media and internet marketing which render increased impact on the buying psychology of the consumers. Similarly the customers also select different brands depending on relevant parameters like quality, safety, price, and better availability in the market among other manufacturer’s products. The social and cognitive aspects of one’s life contribute greatly in making the customer have different perception levels. References Chen, Shiyun and Zhifeng Qin. A Study of Risk-Perceptions of Consumers Based on Online Shopping Environment. (No Date). April 2, 2011< http://it.swufe.edu.cn/UploadFile/other/xsjl/sixwuhan/Paper/EB361.pdf>. Bosman, Julie. 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