Consumer Behavior | UNIT - 4 | M 104 | Rajasthan Technical University

1. Consumer Buying Behaviour

2. What is a ‘Consumer Behaviour’?
• Consumer behaviour can be defined as the decision making
process and physical activity involved in:
• Acquiring
• Evaluating
• Using
• Disposing of goods and services
• The process of consumer behaviour starts much before the actual
purchase of goods and services

3. Reasons for studying Consumer Behaviour
• There are two perspectives of studying consumer behaviour:
• Micro Perspective – understanding the consumer to help the
organization to achieve its objectives
• Macro Perspective: consumers collectively influence economic
and social conditions in the society. Consumers strongly influence
what products will be produced and what raw materials etc will be
required

4. What Consumer Behaviour tries to find out?
 The study of Consumer Behaviour tries to address the following
questions:
 What consumers think of about a company’s products vis a vis its
competitors?
 How can the product be improved in their opinion?
 How the consumers use the product?
 What is their attitude towards the product and its promotion?
 What is the role of the customer in his family?

5. Applications of Consumer Behaviour
• The knowledge of Consumer Behaviour is applied in the following
manner:
 Consumer behaviour knowledge is applied in marketing management
 Consumer behaviour knowledge is applied in non profit organization and
Govt. agencies
 The knowledge of consumer behaviour is applied for improving the
performance of the organizations
 It helps in the marketing of those good which are in scarcity
 Consumers learn about their own behaviour when investigated

6. What are the various types of consumer
Behaviour Decisions?
• The consumers take the following four types of Decisions while
purchasing a product:
 Routine response Behaviour
 Limited Decision Making
 Extensive Decision Making
 Impulsive buying

7. Routine Response Behaviour
• When you go to the grocery store and are trying to grab a
loaf of bread, odds are you’ll either buy the variety you’re
familiar with or the one that is carrying the lightest price tag.
• In these situations, products are essentially purchased
without any significant thought.
• E.g. – Bread, milk, flour, matchsticks etc

8. Limited Decision Making
 If you’re in the market for some new clothes or a new
collapsible chair that you can bring camping, you might do a
little bit of research on brands
 but odds are that you will go with what’s in your budget and
what looks good or seems the most practical.
 E.g. , stationery products

9. Extensive Decision Making
• Imagine you’re a first-time homebuyer looking to settle into
your first home with your new spouse. You’ve never bought
a house before, but obviously you understand how big of an
investment and how expansive a decision such a purchase is.
• Such a decision comes with evident economic risks. But how
are you going to feel, personally, about the purchase? How
are your peers going to look at you?
• Extensive decision making requires the most research. E.g.
purchase of cars, homes etc

10. Impulse Buying
• Consumers who buy something impulsively wake up that
day without knowing they’re going to spend money on a
particular item.
• But all of a sudden, they are inspired for whatever reason
and make the purchase.
• Impulsive buying requires no conscious planning. E.g.
books, food items etc

11. Every Consumer is Different
• It’s important to remember, however, that those four types
of behavior are not universal
• what might be a routine response purchase for one person
can morph into an extensive-decision-making purchase for
another person.
• On the other hand, buying a new car might be an impulsive-
buying decision for a celebrity who has seemingly all of the
money in the world at his disposal. However, for the regular
consumer, buying a car is a once-in-a-decade decision

12. Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour
Cultural Factors
Social Factors
Personal Factors
Psychological Factors

13. Cultural Factors
• The following two factors form the ‘cultural factors’
 Culture – values, beliefs, preferences and tastes handed down
from one generation to another. E.g. vegetarianism
 Sub Culture – culture within the culture e.g. Indian culture can be
divided into the North Indian as and South Indian subcultures.

14. Social Factors
 Social Group: family, friendship group, school groups, work group
at the organization etc.
 Norms: group establishes norms of behaviour, values and
attitudes. Members who aspire to be a part of a group may take up
the norms of the group.
 Status: status if the relative position of any individual member in
the group
 Roles: roles define behaviour that members of a group expect of
individuals who hold specific positions in the group

15. Personal Factors
• Personal factors that influence consumer’s behaviour include:
 Gender influences
 Age Influences
 Availability of choice
 Level of education
 Level of income

16. Psychological Factors
 Perceptions – Stimulus as well as individual factors
 Attitude – positive or negative towards a product. If the attitude is
positive, the consumer will re-purchase the product.
 Learning – reinforced usage of a product

17. Circumstances matter a lot
• Circumstances can also have a major influence on consumer buying
behavior.
• If a consumer has had a car for 10 years that still runs, he or she may
begin thinking about whether to replace that car despite the fact that it
still works.
• Such a looming purchase would likely be categorized as an extensive-
decision-making purchase.
• But if that person’s car got damaged all of a sudden and the need for a
new car presented itself overnight, the consumer might not be able to do
his or her due diligence.
• These changing circumstances could result in a limited-decision-making
purchase

18. What are ‘Consumer Buying Habits’?
Important to marketers
• Consumer buying habits are important for marketers to
understand, the reasons are:
 Understanding consumers better
 More sales
 Greater market share
 Revenue maximization
 Profit maximization

19. What are ‘Consumer Buying Habits’?

20. Complex Buying Behaviour
• Complex buying behavior is encountered particularly when
consumers are buying an expensive product.
• In this infrequent transaction, consumers are highly
involved in the purchase decision.
• Consumers will research thoroughly before committing to
invest.
• E.g buying a house or a car

21. Dissonance Reducing Buying Behaviour
 In dissonance-reducing buying behavior consumer involvement is
very high.
 This might be due to high price and infrequent purchase. In
addition, there is a low availability of choices with less
significance differences among brands.
 In this type, a consumer buys a product that is easily available.
 For example, a consumer who is looking for a new collapsible
table that can be taken for a camping, quickly decides on the
product based on few brands available.

22. Habitual Buying Behaviour
• Habitual Buying Behavior is depicted when a consumer has
low involvement in a purchase decision.
• In this case the consumer is perceiving only a few significant
differences between brands.
• When consumers are buying products that they use for their
daily routine, they do not put a lot of thought.
• They either buy their favorite brand or the one that they use
regularly – or the one available in the store or the one that
costs the least.

23. Variety Seeking Buying Behaviour
• In variety seeking consumer behavior, consumer involvement is
low. There are significant differences between brands.
• Here consumers often do a lot of brand switching. The cost of
switching products is low, and hence consumers might want to
try out new products just out of curiosity or boredom.
• Consumers here, generally buy different products not because
of dissatisfaction but mainly with an urge to seek variety
• E.g. purchase of deodorants

24. Online Purchasing Habits
• With Online Purchasing growing in popularity, the
following observations stand valid for the
marketers:
 It is a multi-device, omni-channel world now.
 Customers shop around much more than before
 Consumers expect personalized experiences.

25. Online Purchasing Habits
 Word of mouth is still powerful. [social media]
 Consumers take their privacy seriously.
 Customers want easy checkout and payment
options.
 Sustainability is becoming important to online
shoppers.

26. What is a ‘Consumer Decision Making
Process’?
• Simple model of decision making [AIDA]
 Attention
 Interest
 Desire
 Action

27. Steps involved in consumer decision making
process
• The following steps are involved in consumer decision
making process
1. Problem Recognition
2. Information search
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase Decision
5. Post purchase behaviour

28. Problem Recognition
• Identity the need to purchase
• It can be a product
• It can be a service
• Need identification is the first step in purchase process

29. Information Search
• Search can be done through
 Online resources
 Newspapers
 Catalogs
 Magazines
 Consulting people

30. Evaluation of Alternatives
• Alternatives can be evaluated on the basis of:
 Price
 Features
 Performance
 Durability
 Guarantee / Warrantee

31. Purchase decision
• Purchase payments can be done in the following manner:
 Online payment
 Physical payment in the shop
 Cash on delivery
 Cheque / DD

32. Post Purchase Behaviour
• Post Purchase behaviour can be categorized as:
 Satisfaction
 Dissatisfaction
• Dissonance: Post-purchase dissonance occurs when the product is
not up to one’s expectations and does not match with the need.
This arouses anxiety and dissatisfaction with the product.

33. What is ‘Buying Motives?’
• Product buying motives refer to influences and reasons that
prompt a buyer to choose a particular product in preference
to other products.
• Product motives refer to all of the characteristics of a
product that make it preferable to another.
• Some common product buying motives include color, size,
design, or price

34. Categorization of Buying Motives
 Product buying motive can be classified into two categories:
 Emotional Buying motives: these are the buying motives having
emotional reasons
 Rational Buying motives: these are the buying motives carrying
rational reasons

35. Emotional Buying Motives
 Pride or prestige
 Emulation or imitation
 Affection
 Comfort or desire for comfort
 The desire for individuality
 The desire for recreation or pleasure
 Habit

36. Rational Buying Motives
 Safety or security
 Economy
 Low price
 Suitability
 Utility or versatility
 Durability
 Convenience

37. Patronage Buying Motives
 Patronage buying motives are the reasons that a customer
chooses a particular retailer or service provider over another.
 Patronage motives are the considerations or reasons why a
buyer would choose to patronize a certain retailer instead of
another one when buying a product or service.
 Patronage buying motives can be – emotional patronage
buying motives & Rational Patronage buying motives

38. Emotional Patronage Buying Motives
• Emotional patronage buying motives include:
 The appearance of the shop/location
 Display of goods
 Recommendation of others
 Imitation
 Prestige
 Habit

39. Rational Patronage Buying Motives
• Rational patronage buying motives include:
• Convenience
• Low price
• Services offered
• Efficiency of staff
• Wide choice
• Customer service
• Reputation of brand

40. Framework of Consumer Behaviour

41. Simple Model of Consumer Decision Making

42. Nicosia Model of Consumer Decision Making

43. Howard Sheth Model of
Consumer Decision Making