Consumer Market and Buying Behavior

Introduction: There is enormous variability in the buying patterns of the consumers.

Some buy a product or service after a lot of consultation and some in a solitude. By
studying the buying patterns it becomes possible to study the market segmentation. There
can be differential offerings which can be produced and developed to match various
segments of the market. There can be certain questions that can be asked to analyze the
buyers of the product. This can be an important criteria.

The Buyer: The buyer conducts the transaction. He is involved in the decision making
process for buying a certain product or service. There are relevant marketing mixes to
match them.
Initiator: The person who starts considering the process of purchase, it is in general the
brief idea to buy that product e.g. a teenager for a new bike, husband for a new business
suit or a wife for a new refrigerator.
Influencer: This means to influence others or involve others in the decision making
process e.g. it can be family members and the retailers involved in acting as influencers
for the purchase of a bike.
Payer: The payer is the person with the financial authority to buy the product, he has a
large influence in the purchase as he is the who is finally going to pay for the purchase of
the product or service.
Decider: As per the dynamics of the decision making process the ultimate decision for
purchasing the product or service lies with the decision maker weather or not the initiator,
influencer, payer has a certain opinion; sometimes it is assuming multiple roles for e.g.
the decision of the bike can be taking him to be an influencer, and the decider.
User: He is the actual person or the consumer; he may be an initiator, influencer, decider
etc.

Points to know in the Decision Making Process:

 One person may assume a multiple role in decision making process.

 These roles differ according to product type being bought (i.e. a kitchen appliance
will have more say of the wife in the household).
 If the roles change in the household so do the purchasing activities e.g. children
play a major role now a days in the decision making process.
 High involvement products have more people involved in the decision making
process
 Companies should/are strategic enough to know the dynamics/ behavior of the
family groups or business groups.
The Buying Process:

Problem Recognition: The decision making process begins with the recognition of the
fact that a problem exists.
 The problem may be functional like a slow computer or a small house.
 The recognition of the problem may take place over a time e.g. the problem for a
need of bigger house may be realized over a period of time.
 There can be a routine depletion like petrol of a car.
 Unpredictable problems like breakdown of a car.
 Emotional or psychological needs like status of an individual or group.

There is a degree after which they intend to resolve this problem:

 Magnitude of the discrepancy of the problem i.e. the product you have should tell
weather there is a lot of difference in the product which is new and you want that.
 Relative importance of the problem is important i.e. is it important in your life?
 Other reasons may postpone the purchase like the person do not know driving and
has to buy a car.

Information Search: This means finding the main product and all the alternatives and
choosing the best alternative that suits him or her.

 The customer first conducts the internal search (search with in the information in
the memory)
 External search is conducted if the internal search is insufficient i.e.
advertisements, retailers etc.
 A third party can provide him information like advertising agency.
 Experiences, trials or the demonstration can be a source.
 The best set of brands to study and know
 An information search can generate information but it can be rival the customer
finally goes to.

Evaluation of alternatives and Purchase:

 Screening of the brands based on choice criteria

 High involvement product incurs high expenditure risk, internal and external
communication, awareness and consultation unlike low involvement products.
Purchase and Post Purchase Evaluation and Decision:

Once the customer has chosen to buy the product he gets to know the place of purchase,
mode of purchase, mode of payment, installment of the product, other terms and
conditions and reassurances which also are a vital part before buying a product.

Choice criteria: The main factors to have a choice criteria are many for evaluating a
product and to decide to buy a particular product or not. There can be the reasons like
technical criteria, economic criteria, social criteria, personal criteria, element of risk
involved, emotional criteria, other factors like knowledge implications and competition
set improvements.

The Buying situation:

Extended Problem Solving:

 It is high degree of information and close examination of features that other
product does not have.
 Involvement determines the buy since it is about self esteem it becomes highly
involved material for a decision.
Limited Problem solving:
 This is when the customer has a previous experience of the product and
information search mainly through memory or external sources.

Habitual Problem Solving:

 It is when they buy the product with no evaluation of alternatives as there is a
repurchase and an attitude built by looking at an advertisement.

Personal influences:
These factors are like individualistic factors, exploratory factors, qualitative factors,
motivational factors.

Perception: It is the sensory image that a person makes for a certain product and service.
Selective attention:
Customer removes the not required information
Other factors like colors, size, and position affect attention.
Selective Distortion: Consumer process the information for the information, attitudes,
views and reacting differently to understand the same situation.
Selective Retention: Only a selection of massages are retained in the memory i.e. only
positive messages are remembered also cause of advertising and word of mouth.
Perception depends on the customer, stimulus and the situation:

 It is the final perception by people interpreted differently, the quality of

communicated message.
 This process is driven by brand image, satisfaction, evaluation of brands,
marketing communication, and sales people.

Learning: It is the long time memory processing of the information remembered for a
longer duration for decision making process.
Classical conditioning: There is a relationship between the stimuli and the response and
the comparative difference between the conditioned i.e. the presentation that makes a
response or unconditioned response i.e. the presentation doesn’t change the stimuli. It
makes sure that both evoke the same response.
Operant Conditioning: It is when there is a positive reinforcement by repeat purchase of
the product by trying a sales promotion of the product like free samples, coupons, price-
offs.
Cognitive Learning: It involves development of beliefs and attitudes by communicating
about a product and service to the community or the intended target audience.
Modeling / Vicarious Learning: It is a learning that involves learning without direct
experience. It involves modeling and coping others on observation for anticipating them
on certain rewards e.g. dressing in same way like others and purchasing from the same
brand.
Reasoning: It is learning when the customers have to make their own perceptions beliefs
and attitudes about the product through reasoning efforts.

Motivation: Motivation is prompting, persuading, and boosting someone to perform an

action to buy a certain product or service.

Maslow’s Theory of motivation: There are different motivations in the human beings to
buy the product or to make the purchase.

Psychological Needs
Safety Needs
Belongingness and Love
Self Esteem and Status
Self Actualization
Beliefs and Attitudes:
Beliefs: Thoughts about a brand or product for choice criteria. It is a perception.
Attitude: It is the overall favorable or unfavorable evaluation of the product and should
match those of customer’s beliefs and attitudes.

Personality: It is a personal feature like introvert-extrovert, sociable- loner and

competitive-cooperative.
Brand personality is the personality of a brand i.e. efficiency and productivity.

Lifestyle: It is about a person’s activities, interests and opinions, education, income. It

explains the purchasing behaviors.

Life cycle: It consists of the disposable income also purchase requirement may vary
according to life cycle stages. The pattern of buying varies according to life cycle stages.

Social influences: There are various social influences which are the same as the
following:

Culture: It is which culture a person belongs to and what is the buying pattern of
different products.

Social Class: It is the influence made by different classes of the society in buying, likely
the social class can be differed on the basis of income, preferences, consumption.

Reference Groups: It is the groups in the individuals life which influence him and have
him different understandings of the products he can buy the primary reference group is
family at home and secondary reference groups can be schoolmates, colleagues. Openoin
leader is the person who is the most influential in the group and to whom everybody goes
for guidance and opinion.