SANGAM UNIVERSITY, BHILWARA

ASSIGNMENT – II
Session 2021-2022
Course: MBA Branch: Management Semester: IV
Subject Name: Consumer Behavior Subject Code: MB1402A Common with: N/A
MM: 7.5 Date of Submission: 21/05/2022 Faculty Name: Akshat Sharma

1. How Perception can influence consumer buying behavior? Explain.

2. Describe the theory of Motivation. Draw diagram.

3. Explain Group influences on buying behavior.

4. Describe five dimensions of Situational influence.

5. Explain the consumer buying process.

Instruction to Students:

1) It is an individual assignment.
2) Student needs to submit your scanned copy of the handwritten assignment to my Email
akshat.sharma@sangamuniversity.ac.in

Signature Faculty Signature Programme Coordinator

Q1. How Perception can influence consumer buying behavior?
Explain.
Ans. Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase, and consumption of goods
and services for the satisfaction of their wants. 
Perception

Customer perception is a process where a customer collects information about a

particular product and interprets the information to make a meaningful image of it.
There are three different perceptual processes, as follows:

Selective attention– is the process of filtering out information based on how relevant
it is to you, and through which marketers try to attract the customer's attention.

Selective retention– where people forget information that contradicts their belief,
even if it’s quite relevant to them. Here, marketers try to retain information that
supports consumers’ beliefs.

Selective distortion– the misinterpretation of the intended message. Customers tend

to interpret the information in a way that will support what they already believe, but
not necessarily what the product provides.
Q2. Describe the theory of Motivation. Draw diagram.
Ans. Motivation is a state of mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which drives
a person to work in a certain way to achieve desired goals. Motivation is a force that
pushes people to work with a high level of commitment and focus, even if things are
going against them. Motivation translates into a certain kind of human behavior.  In
short, motivation is the driving force behind human actions.
Theory of Motivation
Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy
Based on the notion of a universal hierarchy of human needs Dr. Abraham Maslow, a
clinical psychologist formulated a widely accepted theory of human motivation. This
identifies five basic levels of human need which rank in order of importance from
lower level needs to higher-level needs.
This theory signifies the importance of satisfying the lower-level needs before higher-
level needs arise. According to this theory, dissatisfaction motivates the consumer.
Following are the levels of human needs −

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

Physiological Needs − Food, clothing, air, and shelter are the first level needs. They
are known as the necessities or primary needs.
Safety or Security Needs − Once the first level needs are satisfied, consumers move to
the next level. Physical safety, security, stability, and protection are the security
needs.

Social Needs − After the safety needs are satisfied, consumers expect friendship,
belonging, and attachment. They need to maintain themselves in society and try to be
accepted.

Esteem Needs − Then comes esteem needs such as self-esteem, status, and prestige.
Individuals here in this stage want to rise above the general level as compared to
others to achieve mental satisfaction.

Self-Actualization − This is the highest stage of the hierarchy. People here, try to excel
in their field and improve their level of achievement. They are known as self-
actualizes.
Q3. Explain Group influences on buying behavior.
Ans. Each consumer in society is a member of different groups depending on their
culture, various subcultures, or even social class can influence their consumer
purchase. A group can be formed when two or more individuals share a set of norms
and beliefs. A group becomes a reference group when an individual recognizes the
group and takes on many of the values, attitudes, or personal standards of group
members and uses them as the base of his/her day-to-day behavior reference group is
defined as having significant relevance to an ‘individual’s evaluations, aspirations or
behavior influencing the consumer. The nature of reference group influence can take
three forms, this is because some groups and individuals can influence greater than
others and affect a range of consumption.
Groups have power due to their ability to influence individuals to become members.
The group’s ability to influence the behavior of various individuals that are members
or non-members of the group is called social power and can have several types. These
social powers can influence consumer behavior in buying certain products and brands.
The research found that reference groups are very important for marketers. This is
because they can influence and inform members to purchase specific products and
brands. It can provide the members with factors to compare their values, with the
values and behavior of the group. This can therefore influence the members to adopt
the group’s values and attitudes.
Q4. Describe five dimensions of Situational influence.
Ans. Situational influences are temporary conditions that affect how buyers behave
—whether they buy your product, buy additional products, or buy nothing at all from
you. They include things like physical factors, social factors, time factors, the reason
for the buyer’s purchase, and the buyer’s mood. You have undoubtedly been affected
by all these factors at one time or another. Because businesses very much want to try
to control these factors.
Five dimensions of Situational Influence
1. Physical Surroundings
2. Social Surroundings
3. Temporal Perspectives
4. Task Definition
5. The Antecedent States

1. Physical Surroundings
• Store Location
• Interior Décor
• Music
• Smell / Aroma
• Temperature (Air conditioning or Heating)
• Choice provided (By product category or Across)
a) Atmospherics is the sum of all the physical features of a retail environment.
Atmospherics influences consumer judgments of the quality of the store and the
store’s image. The atmosphere is referred to as services cape when describing a
service business such as a hospital, bank, or restaurant.
b) Colors, Certain colors, and color characteristics create feelings of excitement and
arousal which are related to attention. Brighter colors are more arousing than dull
ones. Warm colors such as red and yellow are more arousing than cool colors such as
blue and gray.
c) Aromas, there is increasing evidence that odors can affect consumer shopping.
Several aroma studies have found that a scented environment produced a greater
intent to revisit the store, higher purchase intentions for some items, and a reduced
sense of time spent shopping; A pleasantly scented environment enhanced brand
recall and evaluations, particularly for unfamiliar brands.
d) Music influences consumers’ moods, and in turn, influences a variety of
consumption behaviors. Firms exist to develop music programs to meet the unique
needs of specific retailers. An emerging trend is having music more in the foreground
so it becomes part of the shopping experience and drives store image.
e) Crowding, most consumers find feelings of crowding to be unpleasant resulting in
less time in the store and less buying, faster decisions, and less use of information.
Crowding can lead to less satisfactory purchases, unpleasant shopping, and a reduced
likelihood of returning to the store. Marketers need to design outlets to reduce
crowding perceptions.

2. Social Surroundings
Social surroundings are the other individuals present in a particular situation. Social
influence is a significant force. Individuals tend to comply with group expectations,
particularly when the behavior is visible. Shopping is highly visible activity. The use of
many publicly consumed brands is subject to social influences.
• Examples of Social Surroundings
• Types of customers in the store.
• Queues and crowding.
• Whether the consumer is likely to be known by others/recognized.
• Whether high profile people/celebrities are shopping at that store.
• Whether the product will be consumed privately or in the presence of others.
Embarrassment is a negative emotion influenced both by the product and the
situation. Certain products are more embarrassing than others, and embarrassment is
driven by the presence of others. For extremely sensitive products, strategies include
home delivery options.

3. Temporal Perspectives
Temporal perspectives deal with the effect of time on consumer behavior. Limited
purchase time, often limits search. Internet shopping is growing rapidly as a result of
time pressures felt by consumers. Examples of Temporal Influences
• Whether the product is seasonal.
• Whether the product is urgently required
• Time available for shopping limited/excess
• How long the previous product lasted or was expected to last

4. Task Definition
Task definition is the reason; the consumption activity is occurring. The major
distinction between purchases is for the self-versus gifts. Consumers give gifts for
many reasons like social expectations, and ritualized situations, to elicit return favors.
Examples of Task Influences
• Is the product utilitarian or used as a status symbol?
• Is it a gift or for oneself?
• Must the product be long-lasting/tough? Or decorative?
• Is the product intended for several uses

5. the Antecedent States

Antecedent states are features of the person that are not lasting characteristics.
Examples of Antecedent states
• Moods – Feeling sad, buying sweets, or seeing a funny movie. Feeling rejected
triggers, buying games’ software. Moods tend to be less intense than emotions
and may operate without the individual’s awareness. Although moods may
affect all aspects of a person’s behavior, they generally do not completely
interrupt ongoing behavior as an emotion might. Consumers actively manage
their mood states, often seeking situations, activities, or objects that will
alleviate negative moods or enhance positive ones.
• Momentary Conditions – Can’t eat ice cream because teeth hurt. Can’t buy a
book because the credit card was left at home. Buy more groceries because
hungry before shopping. As with moods, individuals attempt to manage their
momentary conditions, often through the purchase or consumption of products
and services. Thus, a great deal of marketing activity is directed toward
momentary conditions.
• Ritual Situations -A ritual situation can be described as a set of interrelated
behaviors that occur in a structured format, which have symbolic meaning, and
that occur in response to socially defined occasions. It is important to marketers
as they define consumption, e.g. anniversaries, and seasonal gifts. Traditions
and rituals are being continued and developed, e.g. Valentine’s Day, Friendship
day, etc.
Q5. Explain the consumer buying process.
Ans. The consumer buying process consists of sequential steps the consumer follows
to arrive at the final buying decisions. Mostly, consumers follow a typical buying
process. Marketers must know how consumers reach the final decision to buy the
product. According to Philip Kotler, the manager can learn about the stages in the
buying process through four methods. Each method gives hints regarding the steps in
the consumer buying process.

According to Philip Kotler, the typical buying process involves five stages the
consumer passes through described as under:

Step one: Recognition of needs and wants

You can't make a purchase decision unless you know what you want or need. A need
is an essential product or characteristic of a product that you must obtain. For
example, you need water to survive. A want, on the other hand, is some product or
product characteristic that you desire but is not essential. For example, while you may
want to quench your thirst with soda, you don't need it - water will suffice.

Needs often arise because of problems, such as breaking the cell phone you use for
business. Wants may arise as part of your need for a product, or because you have
been influenced to want a product because of some outside influence, such as
advertising or observing someone enjoying it. For example, you may need a new cell
phone, but after watching countless colleagues use their smartphones, you want to
upgrade to a smartphone.
Step two: Information search

After you determine your needs and wants, you will start to search and gather
information about potential product choices that may meet them. Sources of
information may come from print, radio, television, and Internet advertising. You may
also do independent product research on the Internet, looking at product review sites
and consumer reviews on retail sites, such as Amazon. Finally, you may seek the
opinions of friends, family, and colleagues.

Step three: Evaluation of choices

If you performed your research correctly, you should have some options from which
to choose. You use your needs and wants as criteria in evaluating and comparing each
product against each other. You may find trade-offs, such as higher prices for products
that include more of your wants. In the end, you will rank your choices and pick the
product that best matches your needs and wants to be based on the budget available
to you for the purchase.

Step four: Purchase

At this point, you will purchase the product. Your purchasing decision may be
influenced by how you can purchase and receive the product. For example, you may
purchase a product through a particular store because the product can be financed, is
available immediately, or can be delivered quickly.

Step five: Post-purchase evaluation

After you have made your purchase and have had some time with the product, you
will evaluate your decision. This evaluation may be conscious or unconscious. Your
evaluation will play a large role in your loyalty to the product and the company that
produced it.