Consumer Behaviour and Household Observation - Essay Example

Table of Contents Introduction.Page The Household ObservedPage Viewing Listening pattern of Member 1Page 2 Viewing Listening pattern of Member 2Page 3 Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 3.Page 4 Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 4.Page 5 Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 5.Page 6 ConclusionPage 7 References.Page 9 Introduction According to Bagozzi, Gurhan-Canli and Priester (2002, p. 1), "Consumer behaviour consists of the psychological and social processes people undergo in the acquisition, use and disposal of products, services, ideas. and practices" Hence consumer behavior is a very interesting and interactive subject as it enables to learn not only through books but also through face-to-face situations. To complete this coursework I got the opportunity to learn the TV viewing and radio listening patterns of a household by speaking to its members on their choices of TV and radio channels. The Household Observed The family visited consists of five members. They are Mr. and Mrs. A, Ms. B, Miss C and Little D. Mr. A is a 63 years old retired man. He spends most of his time at home. His wife, Mrs. A, is a 55 years old lady. She has been a housewife throughout her life. She also remains confined to her home most of the times. She visits the nearby market twice a week to buy groceries and vegetables. Their elder daughter, Ms B is a 34-year-old widow and lives with them. She works as a middle level manager in a big company. Miss C, 24, is the younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. She works part time while attending her MBA Classes. She spends all the money that she earns on her education and personal grooming like, clothing, perfumes, beauty parlor etc. She is very fashion conscious and spends most of the time outside home. Little D is the daughter of Ms. B. She is a 7 year old child who attends school from morning nine o' clock to noon. After that she spends her time at home watching TV. In the evening she devotes a couple of hours in doing homework and playing out with friends. The family does not appear to be very affluent as there is only one major working member (Ms B) when compared to the basic expenses of food for five people, medicines for two old people and education of a child. All the members of this family have their own choices as far as TV viewing and radio listening is concerned. Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 1 (Mr. A) Mr. A is not very choosy as far as TV channels are concerned. He watches any program that the other family members are watching and often sleeps in the middle of it. However one habit that he still maintains from his early days is listening to the news channel on the radio in the morning. He says, "Just like breakfast I never miss the morning bulletins". Listening to a particular radio channel has become such a habit that he finds his day incomplete without tuning the channel. When the entire house is bustling with activity in the morning, he is the one who is most relaxed, listening to the radio. His liking for that particular radio channel can be linked to the theory of lifestyle. On asking why he listens to that news channel of the radio he said it has become a habit since childhood days when TV had not become an integral part of our lives. Since his childhood he has heard from his elders that the radio bulletins are very credible. So his choice of radio news channel can be linked to the theory of attitude as well. It has rightly been observed by Hawkins, Best and Coney (1992, p. 372) that " Source credibility influences attitudes. It appears to be composed of two basic dimensions: trustworthiness and expertise. Influencing attitudes is much easier when the source of the message is viewed as highly credible by the target market". Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 2 (Mrs. A) Mrs. A is highly interested in watching TV. Says Mrs. A that " I literally have a fight everyday with my grand- daughter (Little D) and the sole reason of our conflict is the TV". Mrs. A loves watching channels that run daily soaps and cookery shows. On asked why she likes those channels she says she can identify with the characters of the soaps. She likes channels dedicated to cookery because she has always been interested in cooking and she still cooks for the entire family. Since she is a lover of great food but cannot spend too much on eating out, she tries to add variety to her family's palette by watching the cookery shows. She says she especially loves cookery shows in which ingredients that are readily available and cheap are used. In this way she can also maintain the budget of her kitchen without spending too much money. Therefore her choice of channel can be related to the theory of social class. According to Hawkins, Best and Coney (1992, p. 101), "a social class system can be defined as: A hierarchical division of a society into relatively distinct and homogeneous groups with respect to attitudes, values and lifestyles." They point out that (1992, p. 101) " individuals with different social standings tend to have different needs and consumption patterns." Because of the habit of listening radio news channel of Mr. A in the mornings not only Mrs. A but the entire household has got accustomed to having that particular radio channel as a background sound to all their activities in the mornings. So here listening of the radio news channel in the morning for the entire household except Mr. A can be linked to the theory of perception. Hawkins, Best and Coney (1992, p. 250) state that " Perception begins with exposure: this occurs when a stimulus comes within range of one of our primary sensory receptors. We are exposed to only a small fraction of the available stimuli" Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 3 (Little D) Though there is a difference of nearly 50 years in the ages of Little D and Mrs. A, their object of interest (TV) is one. It was evident from the discussion with the family members that most of the times, Little D influences the decision of which channel to watch. This is possible because at her age it is easier to make a fuss and show her discontentment. Thus Hawkins, Best and Coney have rightly observed (1992, p. 172) that "Younger children (age 6-14) are also influential. They buy their own food or influence the brands purchased (49 percent)". Little D said she loves watching cartoon channels very much. Since Mr. and Mrs. A are at home with Little D all the time they end up watching cartoon channels whole day. On asking why she loves cartoon channels she said, " I get to see all my favorite characters about whom I can discuss with my friends in school. Otherwise what will I do when my friends are discussing about them. Besides I also get to know about the chocolates and biscuits that are available in the market." It is visible from her views that the reference group to which she belongs have strong influence on her TV viewing pattern. The theory of reference group is further evident in her case when she hardly shows any interest in the radio channels, as she never hears any of her friends discussing about it. Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 4 (Ms. B) Ms. B does not like watching TV. She prefers to catch up with her child's schoolwork or helping her mother in the kitchen or chatting with her father after returning from office, in this way she says, " I am able to make up for the time I have spent away from my family members." She only listens to radio. She has inherited the love for radio as a medium of entertainment from her father. In the morning she has no choice but to listen to the news channel due to her father. But this does not imply that she is attentive to the news channel on radio as there are certain "Situational Factors" because " individuals in a hurry are less likely to attend to available stimuli than are those with extra time" (Hawkins, Best & Coney 1992, p. 229) While traveling to and back from office she loves to listen to the music channel of the radio as she says "its very soothing to begin and end your day with music. After slogging for hours music makes me feel calm and relaxed." Hence in Ms B's case her choice of spending time with her daughter and parents in comparison to watching any channel on TV and listening to music channel on radio because she "feels" good can be related to the theory of emotion. Whereas her lack of attention in spite of exposure to the news channel on radio is linked with the theory of perception. Viewing / Listening pattern of Member 5 (Miss C) Just like her sister Miss C too gets very little time to watch any channel on TV. She says, " Though I love pictures, it's not possible for me to watch picture channels everyday but whenever I watch TV it has to be the picture channels." She likes fashion channels as well but prefers channels showing latest pictures. She says " this way I get to know the current fashion trends so that I can be with the times as far as my costumes are concerned". The Motivation theory can directly be linked with Miss C's choice of channels relating to fashion. By watching channels related to fashion she is hoping to project herself as a well dressed up female, always moving with the times. "Consumers do not buy products instead they buy motive satisfaction or problem solutions" (Hawkins, Best & Coney, 1992, p. 303). Whereas her choice of movie channels showing latest movies can be indirectly linked with the Motivation theory. " Need for Self-Expression: This motive is externally oriented and deals with the need to express one's identity to others. We feel the need to let others know by our actions (which include the purchse and display of goods) that we are and what we are. The purchase of many products, particularly clothing and automobiles, allows consumers to express an identity to others since these products have symbolic or expressive meanings." (Hawkins, Best & Coney, 1992, p. 300) Therefore the choice of channels showing latest movies for Miss C depicts much more than the desire to watch movies. Conclusion Throughout this report it can be observed that since all the family members are at different stages of their life; their choice of channels are totally different. None of the members share a common choice of TV or radio channel. Two members of the family (Ms. B and Miss C) live outside the home throughout the day. Amongst the members who are at home for a good amount of time, Little D, a child of 7 influences the decision of which channel to watch. This case can be a good example for the marketers as it has been revealed that children cannot be ignored today, as they are the major decision makers in their families. Therefore all the contemporary marketing strategies should be designed keeping in mind the ever-increasing involvement of children in choice of products, services, ideas and practices. So though they are small in age they form a big part of the decision-making target market. The marketers will be making the biggest mistakes by neglecting them. One other thing that came into light is that sometimes consumers use certain products, services, ideas or practices unconsciously like in the case of Mr. A's radio listening habit. Though other family members are not very interested in it; unconsciously, they have become the regular consumers of that radio channel. Today consumers have lack of time. This is evident in the case of Ms B who is unable to watch the most popular medium, TV, due to the time constraints. So, marketers must be aware that "the importance of time in understanding the behavior of consumers cannot be underestimated" (Szmigin, 2003, p. 102). Time has become one of the " Barriers to Consumption" (Szmigin, 2003, p. 117). Therefore it can be concluded that day-by-day it is becoming more complex and tougher for the marketers to study the behavior of the consumers. They will now have to keep in mind minor issues and minute details to better serve the consumers and in return earn greater profits in their business. So to conclude in the words of Weitz, Castleberry and Tanner (1992, p. 66) " The more salespeople know about their customers, the more effective they will be in helping to satisfy those customers' needs". Word Count 2104 ' References ' a) BAGOZZI, RICHARD P., GURHAN-CANLI, ZEYNEP, PRIESTER, JOSEPH R. 2002. The social psychology of consumer behavior. Buckingham:Open University Press. b) HAWKINS, DEL I., BEST, ROGER J., CONEY, KENNETH A., 1992. Consumer behavior: implications for marketing strategy. 5th ed. Illinois:Irwin. c) SZMIGIN, ISABELLE. 2003. Understanding the consumer. New Delhi:Response Books d) WEITZ, BARTON A., CASTLEBERRY, STEPHEN B., TANNER,JR. JOHN.F., 1992 . Selling:building partnerships. Illinois:Irwin Read More