Consumer Behaviour is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It is a subcategory of marketing that blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Models of Consumer Behaviour

One of the best known of the explanatory 'lain the interactions involved is that of Howard and Sheth. This contains a deal of common sense, although, as is often the case with such models, the rather obscure terminology makes it appear more confusing than it really is. The 'inputs' (stimuli) that the consumer receives from his or her environment are:

significative - the 'real' (physical) aspects of the product or service (which the co make use of)
symbolic - the ideas or images attached by the supplier (for example by advertising)
social - the ideas or images attached to the product or service by 'society' (for example, by reference groups)

The 'outputs' are what happens, the consumer's actions, as observable results of the input stimuli.

Between the inputs and outputs are the 'constructs', the processes which the consumer goes through to decide upon his or her actions. Howard and Sheth group these into two areas:

perceptual - those concerned with obtaining and handling information about the product or service
learning - the processes of learning that lead to the decision itself

The Engel-Kollatt-Blackwell model, as a further example, follows a more mechanistic approach.

In the domain of evolutionary economics, consumers are seen as active agents following rules of behaviour, fairly easy to follow and implement because they require only a limited amount of information and capability of elaboration. For instance, a consumer, being aware of a certain need and believing a certain good category satisfies it, might fix a maximum price he/she can afford and search for the best good available under such a constraint.

A more detailed description of rules of behaviour, dependent also on consumer's income and social group, is available at http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/essays/consumers.htm. More in general, consumer behaviour models and datasets are available at http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/consumerbehaviour.htm.

Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this course should be able to:

Analyse consumer decision-making processes in various purchase situations;
Describe and use market segmentation bases in analysing consumer markets;
Describe the influence of culture, ethnic diversity, social class and changing demographics on the behaviour of consumers;
Explain the role of family and personal influences on the consumer decision-making process;
Apply psychological principles related to the internal influences to consumer purchase behaviour;
Describe and be able to apply consumer behaviour principles to retailing;
Use consumer behaviour principles to explain the impact of situational influences on purchase behaviour; and
Analyse consumer purchase situations and make recommendations for the development of marketing strategies.

You are encouraged to develop a keen interest in the nature of consumer decision making and its importance to marketers. You should also gain an appreciation for the importance of the consumer and for how the organization develops a marketing program which will satisfy the many objectives that the consumer brings to the purchase decision. This is a very applied area of marketing and you should look for examples of how consumer behaviour principles are applied in businesses and other organizations which you encounter and with which you deal.

Finally, this module places considerable emphasis on written communication skills. Clarity of communication (from overall organization to grammar and spelling) will be taken into consideration in the grading of written assignments.

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Consumer Behaviour

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Introduction (pdf)
Key Concepts in Consumer Behaviour (pdf)
What does the theory say? (pdf)
Help I need an Expert’s Opinion (pdf)
Consumer Behaviour Theory-Smeary (pdf)
Consumer Behaviour - How Bad is this Replication Thing? (pdf)

Factors Affecting Buying Behaviour

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Readings

Buying Decision Process

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Readings

Expanding the Decision Process Model (pdf)

Buying Behaviour across International Borders

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Culture and Cross-cultural Variations in Consumer Behaviour

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Market Segmentation and Marketing Environment

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Target Market
Segmentation
Marketing Plans
Major Steps in Target Marketing (click on image)

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Knowing your Customers - What are Market Segments?

They are likely to buy wine rather than beer
They will go to clubs
They are likely to go to health clubs or the gym
They will spend money on hair and clothes
They will buy make-up from expensive shops

Organisational Buying Behaviour

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Perception and Information Processing

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Learning and Memory

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Personality

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Personality

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Personality Psychology is a branch of psychology which studies personality and individual different processes - that which makes us into a person. One emphasis is on trying to create a coherent picture of a person and all his or her major psychological processes. Another emphasis views it as the study of individual differences. These two views work together in practice. Personality psychologists are interested in broad view of the individual. This often leads to an interest in the most salient individual differences among people.

Personality Theories

Motivation and Emotion

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Motivation and Need Recognition (pdf)

Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality and disposition, and motivation. The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French word émouvoir. This is based on the Latin emovere, where e- (variant of ex-) means 'out' and movere means 'move'.[1] The related term "motivation" is also derived from movere.

No definitive taxonomy of emotions exists, though numerous taxonomies have been proposed. Some categorizations include:

'Cognitive' versus 'non-cognitive' emotions
Instinctual emotions (from the amygdala), versus cognitive emotions (from the prefrontal cortex).
Basic versus complex: where base emotions lead to more complex ones.
Categorization based on duration: Some emotions occur over a period of seconds (e.g. surprise), whereas others can last years (e.g. love).

A related distinction is between the emotion and the results of the emotion, principally behaviors and emotional expressions. People often behave in certain ways as a direct result of their emotional state, such as crying, fighting or fleeing. If one can have the emotion without the corresponding behavior, then we may consider the behavior not to be essential to the emotion. Neuroscientific research suggests there is a "magic quarter second" during which it's possible to catch a thought before it becomes an emotional reaction. In that instant, one can catch a feeling before allowing it to take hold.[2]

The James-Lange theory posits that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. The functionalist approach to emotions (e.g. Nico Frijda and Freitas-Magalhaes) holds that emotions have evolved for a particular function, such as to keep the subject safe.

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Attitudes

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Dynamic Test of Attitudes (pdf)
More on Attitudes (pdf)
Attitudes in Consumer Behaviour Theory (pdf)

Lifestyles, Values and Culture

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In sociology, a lifestyle is the way a person (or a group) lives. This includes patterns of social relations, consumption, entertainment, and dress. A lifestyle typically also reflects an individual's attitudes, values or worldview.

Having a specific "lifestyle" implies a conscious or unconscious choice between one set of behaviours and some other sets of behaviours.

In business, lifestyles provide a means of targeting consumers as advertisers and marketers endeavor to match consumer aspirations with products.

The word "lifestyle" apparently first appeared in 1939. Alvin Toffler predicted an explosion of lifestyles ("subcults") as diversity increases in post-industrial societies. Pre-modern societies did not require a term approaching sub-culture or lifestyle, as different ways of living were expressed as entirely different cultures, religions, ethnicities or by an oppressed minority racial group. As such the minority culture was always seen as alien or other. Lifestyles, by comparison, are accepted or partially accepted differences within the majority culture or group. This tolerance of differentiation within a majority culture seems to be associated with modernity and capitalism.

Within anarchism, lifestylism is a belief that by changing one's own personal lifestyle, and by retreating from class struggle, an anarchist society can be formed.

One who is in the "lifestyle" is someone who engages in what is more commonly called swinging. Also called the "alternative lifestyle", people in the lifestyle most commonly are part of a couple; often a married couple. They meet other like-minded couples or occasionally singles to engage in sexual acts. People in the lifestyle meet on various different websites, as well as in private and public clubs.

Discovering World Cultures: The Middle East

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Groups, Families and Households

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Groups, Families and Households

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Legal and Ethical Issues

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Legal and Ethical Issues

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Recommended Text

Consumer Behaviour: Implications for Marketing Strategy

Cathy Neal, Queensland University of Technology
Pascale Quester, Adelaide University
Del Hawkins, University of Oregon

ISBN: 0074713493
Copyright year: 2005

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Consumer Behaviour
Karen Webb

Check the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.