Module 1 - Introduction to Co,nsumer Behavi,our

,_ Learning Objecti,es

• Discuss the Concept of Consumer Behaviour

• Explain tile Natur,e and Scope of Consumer Behaviour

• List the Factors Influencing the Consumer's Buying Behaviour

• Enumerate the Evolurtion of Consumer Behaviour as a Field of Study

fJ Learning Outcomes

• Understand the Concept of Consumer Behaviour

• Analyse the Nature and Scope of Consumer Behaviour

• Recognise the Factors Influencing the Consumer's Buying Behaviour

• Interpret the Evolution of Consumer Hehaviour as a Field of Study

Before understanding consumer behaviour the term consumer needs a clear understanding. Consumer means a
person who consumes the product or who procures the goods or services for his own use. Researches shows that
basically there are five different types of consumers in the market say Loyal Customers, Impulse Shoppers, Bargain
Hunters, Wandering Consumers and Need-Based Customers. All of us are consumers in this market wortd. We either
buy things for ourselves or for our family members on a daily basis. Those could be industrial goods or consumer
goods. Consumer goods are further classified as consumable goods, specialty goods and durable goods. Any
purchase of these goods largely depends upon one's perception towards the product, values and beliefs, social class,
age, culture and other factors both internal and external to the consumer.

The marketer therefore should try to explore the basic needs, wants and desires of different consumers and having
understood the different behaviour's of consumers 1n depth, the marketer can formulate their plans and policies
accordingly.
1.1.1 Meaning, Definition

Consumer behaviour is the area of study of consumers behaviour during the search for, purchase, utilise, and dispose of goods/products or services, that
consumer expects will satisfy their wants and desires The essence of marketing is to explore the wants and desires that are not satisfied and in turn deliver
the products and services that satisfy these wants and desires. Consumer behaviour elucidates on decisions taken by consumers while spending their money
and time indeed. The study of consumer behaviour explains what goods and services consumers procure, the reason for the procurement, when consumer
procures the product, where the consumer buys it, how frequently they purchase them, etc. Consumer behaviour is also called as end-user behaviour, buyer
behaviour and consumer buying behaviour.

Consumer behaviour evolved in the 1940's and 50's as a discrete sub-discipline of marketing_ It has developed into an inter-disciplinary social science that
combines various elements from other disciplines like anthropology, psychology, sociology, marketing and economics. Thereby understanding consumer
behaviour has become significant for marketing and public relations decisions. According to American Marketing Association, consumer behaviour can be
defined as '1he dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour, and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects
of their lives. "

According to Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk, 'Consumer behaviour can be defined as the behaviour that consumers display in searching for,
purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs'. According to Solomon, "Consumer behaviour is
the study of the process involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and
desires".

The above definitions clearly state that consumer behaviour is a process that is not only about buying of goods but it is a process that is created much before
the actual procurement of the goods. Thereby understanding the various perceptions, instinct for purchase is the key secret to get to the customers and ensure
a purchase Is done. A consumer behaviour analysis should tell the organisation:

• What is the factor that instigate the consumer to choose a particular product when there are so many options available in the market?

• In-depth study on the behaviour of a consumer during and after his purchase of a product

• What are the other external factors that influence a consumer say social medias, family, etc?

• What are the various strategies that could be adapted for marketing their products and services?

Therefore, many factors influence the consumers during and after their consumption of a product or services For example, a South Korean MNC like Hyundai
Motor Company, commonly known as Hyundai Motors, which has its headquarters in Seoul and one of the largest automobile producers in the world. The
organisation brings in more and more innovation and creativity in their manufacturing so as to keep themselves ahead of their competrtors in the market and
also to meet out the future demands

Hyundai has reinvented the buying model in the automobile industry by ensuring that information such as price is made known to the consumers through their
websites and shopper assurance The shopper assurance program given by Hyundai is customer centric and provides with a money-back guarantee, which is
something unprecedented in the automobile history. Consumers can also buy through true car and cars.com to make sure the consumers pay the right price
for the product Hence, Hyundai tries to research and understand very closely its consumer's behaviour before launching their product in any market by
consIdenng vanous factors likes one's preferences, likes, dislikes, culture, class, etc.

1.1.2 Nature and Scope

1.1.2.1 Nature of Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is a concept that holds in many stages from instigating a consumer to buy and getting 11done. As different consumers react variedly to the
market and becomes a significant concept for every organisation to analyse its consumers. Nature is nothing but the study of character of consumers in the
market.

a. Complex Nature: As there are billions and billions of people as consumers for any consumer goods and each one of them differ from the other in
their wants and desires making the study of consumer behaviour more complex in nature. It is a very complex task for the marketers to explore the
wants and desires of each consumer making it difficult to understand each consumer's behaviour in the market.

b. Systematic Process: Process involves in a series of measures or steps that are taken in order to buy a particular product. Consumer behaviour is
purely a systematic process that holds in it a sequence of steps that is involved in the process of buying decisions of the consumers. The process of
buying decision includes the identification of need for the product, searching for information's related to the product, evaluating the alternatives
available, purchasing the product and post purchase evaluation by the marketer to understand the satisfaction level of the consumer.

c. Continues to Change: Behaviour of a consumer keeps changing with the factors like age, social class, education, income level, family members,
etc, therefore, consumer behaviour is a changing notion and does not remain stagnant Say for instance, a consumer might want to buy a bike but
because of his number of members in the family he changes his desire to a car. Another instance, as a kid one may be keen on purchase of toys
and sweets during their childhood days but as they grow up, the interest keeps changing and they lose their interest for toys
d. Reflects Societal Status: The behaviour of a consumer is not only predisposed by the consumer's status, but it also reveals the societal status.
Based on what goods the consumer owns reflects his status. One who owns a luxury car like BMW, Audi and Jaguar is considered to be high in
status. A luxury product gives a sense of pride to the consumer who owns it.

e. Differs across Geographical Regions: Behaviour of a consumer differs from region to region, states, countries, rural or urban, whether it is a
trad1t1onal society or a modern society, all these determines a consumer's behaviour. Say for instance, a rural consumer 1s intended to spend less
as most of them are self-dependent for their consumer goods and are basically conservative in nature On the other hand, an urban consumer
spends more on his consumer goods and also items that are intended to show the luxury status_

f. Changes from Product to Product: One product might be attractive for a consumer group but might not be for another group of consumers.
People tend to spend more for their branded products whereas bargain with the farmers in the market and spend less. A consumer may have
more interest and purchases more number of one product and purchases fewer or even no quantity of the other product.

g. Crucial for Marketers: Marketer should have an in-depth understanding of their target audiences likes and dislikes. Appropriate aclions could be
taken only based on the understanding from the research Thereby behaviour of consumer should be analysed well by the marketer to fill in the
gaps in the market by developing the products and services.

h. Improves Standard of Living: The level of spending by the consumers directly influences his standard of living. Higher the spending nature of a
consumer, higher is his standard of living While a consumer spends more on purchase of different product/services, his standard of living gets
improved. On the other hand, if a person spends less, then his standard of living is considered to be low.

1.1.2.2 Scope of Consumer Behaviour

When we try to understand the scope of consumer behaviour we need to refer to all that which outlines as a part of consumer behaviour. The scope of
consumer behaviour not only includes the buyer himself and his procurement of goods but also the different roles played by diverse persons and the influence
they exercise on the final purchase decision of the consumer. Consumer behaviour has a wide scope in terms of its applicalions in the market world. It
deliberately tells us the way how a consumer behaves as they procure, use and dispose the products. Now let's discuss on the scope of consumer behaviour.

a. Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Management: Any successful business owes the credit to the marketing team for the role played by them
and they can succeed only when there 1s an in-depth and deep-rooted understanding of the consumer's behaviour m the market. Implementation of
a marketing programme is based on the consumer as he/she is considered to be the most important constituent of any policy or plan formulated by
the organisation.

b. Consumer Behaviour and Non-Profit and Social Marketing: Consumer behaviour has its wide scope in social as well as non-profit marketing.
This kind of marketing is done by government agencies, non-governmental organisations, religious embodiments, etc. The consumer behaviour
understanding of a non-profit and social organisalion has totally a different picture than a FMCG goods producing organisation. Today even the
social ideas need to be taken to the consumers by understanding the target audience, as done by any FMCG producer.

c. Consumer Behaviour and Government Resolutions: In recent times, consumer behaviour understanding is also important in various
governmental decisions taken. Many government bodies also standardise their business with the true aim of protecting the interests of the
consumers. Few programmes taken by the government during this COVID 19 sets out to be an example Government programmes also support by
explaining the certain activities positively (Stay Home, Stay Safe) and some others negatively_

d. Consumer Behaviour and Demarketing: Few initiatives taken by the government agencies, NGO's and other organisations that are aimed to
lessen the utilisation of a goods or service are known as demarketing_For instance, save water is a campaign by the government to reduce the
wastage of water. Save forest is another campaign to eradicate the flood and save people and other resources getting destroyed due to flood.
Consumers are also advised to stay away from the products that have a harmful effect on their health by way of advertisements like smoking is
injurious to health, etc., this is called demarketing_

e. Consumer Behaviour and Consumer Education: Social Media plays a very important role in educating the today's consumers. Earlier,
consumers walk in as an impulse consumer gets the knowledge about the product and makes a purchase then and there but today consumers with
the knowledge gained through various media makes a pre-planned purchase in a better manner.
1.1.3 Factors Influencing the Consumer's Buying Behaviour

There are various factors that directly or indirectly persuade the consumers in their buying behavioural pattern There are four factors that influence the
consumers buying behaviour. These factors of consumer buying behaviour are classified into internal factors and external factors.

Fig 1.1.1: Factors Influencing the Consumer's Buying Behaviour

Facto.rs influencing Consumer Buying Behavior

1.1.3.1 Internal Factors

Internal factors are those factors which arise out of the internal modalities of the consumers It is further classified into:

a) Psychological factors

b) Personal factors

a. Psychological Factors: An individual's reaclion to a marketing message will depend on their perceptions and altitudes towards a particular product or
services. The various factors are discussed m detail.

Fig 1.1.2: Psychological Factors
Motivation: Motivation 1s the driving energy that dnves people to act in a certain way. A need or a desire acts as a
cause when it attains the stage of intensity then it drives a consumer to act in the direction of purchasing a
product. This need could either be a physiological need (innate, primary) e.g., food, water, air, etc, or a
psychological need those which are learned from our parents, social environment and interactions with the
other fellow human beings say self-esteem, recognition, power, achievement, etc, and becomes a reason for a
consumer to perform in a particular way

Perception: It is a way how one perceives things based on his own likes and dislikes This does not depend only
upon the physical stimuli rather it includes the retort received from the surroundings and one's own thought
process.

Learning: Leaming sprouts upon one's stimuli, drives, cues and reinforcements leading to acquiring of skills,
knowledge and gaining experiences. In the end, learning leads to a change in one's own behaviour. It arrays from
simple and often impulsive responses to a marketing stimulus such as colour of a product, package, and so on.
Not all learning is consciously sought after Though much learning is intended, a huge deal of learning is
accidental/incidental, gained by accident or with no effort

Beliefs and Attitude: Belief depends upon a consumer's faith, trust and opinion on a person, brand, organisation
or a product. This belief resulls by way of actions and learning's in the buyer's behaviour. On the other hand,
attitude is a way of reaction towards a particular thing or a person which helps the buyer to make a decision about
a product or service
b. Personal Factors: A consumer's interests and opinions can be influenced by demographical factors such as age, gender, culture, etc. For example,
while purchasing a bike, 40-year-old would like to purchase a bike which gives a longer mileage whereas a 20-year-old teenager would look at the
looks and the speed rather than the mileage.

Fig 1.1.3: Personal Factors Age and Stages in Life Cycle: As one grows up the needs, wants and desires for oneself changes with stages in
a life cycle and age Say for instance, as a teenager one might like to wear a tee and Jean whereas when the
person becomes a middle aged, he would prefer a formal dressing. The needs and wants changes here for the
same product as one grows up in his stages of life cycle.

Occupation and Economic Situation: Purchasing power of an individual solely depends upon his occupation
and the economic situation he/she is in. The selection of a product also differs upon one's economic position;
say a Marketing Executive might prefer buying a bike whereas the Chief HR of Verizon would prefer an SUV or
XUV

Personality: Personality includes the inner psychological characteristics that both decide and reproduce what
we think and act The importance in this definition is on inner characteristics-those particular qualities, feature,
traits, and mannerisms that differentiate one person from another person. The deep-rooted characteristics that
we call personality persuade an individual while making the product choices: They influence the way consumers
react to marketer's promotional works, and when, where, and how they consume the products or services.
Therefore, the marketer has a biggest role in identification of specific personality charactenslics related with the
consumer behaviour.

Lifestyle: As a marketer the understanding should be to bnng out a product that best frts into customers' lifestyle
Lifestyle is a certain way in which a consumer lives his livelihood and portrays the way in which a person relates
with his/her surroundings.

1.1.3.2 External Factors

Cultural factors and Social factors are termed to be as external factors or the forces that affect a consumer's buying behaviour

a. Cultural Factors: Culture includes a set of beliefs, values, traditions, language, and rules held in general by a community, or a group of people
This is a key element in consumers buying behaviour For example, a child imbibes a defined set of values from the family, friends and religious
bodies Even sub cultures and social classes persuade the consumers as they share similar interests, behaviour's and beliefs

b. Social Factors: Family, friends, reference groups, roles and status influence consumers in a bigger way

Fig 1.1.4: Social Factors Reference Groups: Reference group consists of individuals or a group of individuals who influence
our beliefs, values, opinions, attitudes or behaviour's. They t>ecome a role model and inspire
others. Many a lime marketer have to view these reference group as they influence and provide a
feedback to the consumers for making a purchase decision.

Family and Friends: Family and friends largely affect the buyer behaviour There are two types of
families, they are Family of orientation (family in which one is born) and Family of Procreation
(family after marriage ie, spouse's family) Both the families indeed play a major role in the
consumer behaviour.

Roles and Status: Consumers buying behaviour varies with the roles and status one holds in.
Status is a social position within in a particular class or group, while role is that part our society
wants us to play with the given status. A role is a set of values, behaviour's and personal
characteristics that is connected to a status of a person. For example, a gentleman might hold the
status of father within his family. For the reason that he is a father, he is expected to perform a
responsible role for his children that in most society require him to look after, raise, educate, and
nurture them. All the above factors in one way or the other influence the buying behaviour of the
consumers.
1.1.4 Evolution of Consumer Behaviour as a Field of Study

The consumer behaviour discipline finds its line in the marketing concept and has been basically inter disciplinary in nature_Studies related to management
have determined that 111s the youngest of sciences and oldest 1n terms of arts. Consumer behaviour as a sub discipline in marketing management is m its
infant stage of evolving As a subject it materialised as a distinct field of study in the 1960's. Primarily the focus lay in the marketer's effort to study the basis of
consumer behaviour, the reason was if they could find behind consumption behaviour pattern of the consumers, they would be able to predict what consumer
wants and they can influence them_So, the importance was given to predict the consumer behaviour, this approach was known as positivism. Steadily, the
focal point of the study changed, the marketers wanted to explore the customer better and that was known as interpretivism.

History of consumer behaviour seems to be very much entangled with the history of marketing_Over the years, marketing has modified its dependence on
other disciplines and its focus of understanding the concepts_Let's discuss on the historical evolution of consumer behaviour in detail as follows·

1.1.4.1 Classical Thought

The classical thought school of marketing depended on the soCJal sciences such as sociology, anthropology and mainly on economics_This school was more
influenced by the concept of microeconomics, economic geography and economic anthropology out of which many theories were developed to understand the
consumer behaviour Materialisation of the marketing thought in the early 190D's is expressively acknowledged by Bartels in 1962 The classical thought
schools of marketing consist of,

• Commodity School: Focussed on the matter or the object of transaction Le_, goods_

• Functional School: Focussed on the actions and conduct of market transactions like distributing goods, grading them, ranging them from low price
to high price, etc.

• Institutional School: Focussed on the agents who were involved in the market transaction say middlemen Le_, the wholesalers and the retailers_

The classical thought school of marketing thought used case studies, market surveys, and census data as methods to understand the consumer behaviour

1.1.4.2 Managerial School of Thought

Emergence of the managerial school of marketing thought happened after the second world war in the early 50's_Understanding the individual customers and
controlling the market behaviour turned to be the focal point of study in the managerial schools of marketing thought while social sciences disciplines continued
to takeover marketing thinking and descriptive market behaviour. The concepts of 4 P's, product differentiation, marketing mix and target market identification
with segmentation evolved during this period This managerial thought school changed its focus from demand theory to the theory of firm by understanding the
necessity of product differentiation and monopolistic competilion Finally, it also borrowed concepts on social stratification and household structures greatly
from the sociology d1sC1pline_

1.1.4.3 Behavioural School of Thought

Finally, marketing kept its eye on individual customers but started to borrow further from the behavioural sciences. This resulted in what is called as the
behavioural school of marketing thought. Marketing has begun to change its interest away from the individual customers and focus on the markets by
connecting to the various branches of psychology_For example, customer expectations were understood by economic psychology, the other non-attributable
value associated with the products and services was analysed using clinical psychology, to study the power and conflict among organisation the usage of
organisational psychology was emphasised and so on

Therefore, the behavioural schools of marketing encouraged a related change m exploring the psychology of the consumers rather than understanding them
Just logically. Consumer behaviour study began to borrow both ideas aml techniques from clinical psychology, social psychology and organisational psychology
which has brought out numerous theories of buying behaviour.

1.1.5 It's Relationship with Marketing

According to the marketing concept, the marketer should be able to explore the wants, needs and desires of the segment targeted and fill the gap by providing
the products and services more effectively and efficiently than its competitors. It is basically a customer cantered idea, which intends to understand the
customer needs and wants, providing them with the right product and service, and arriving at a satisfaction level both to the consumer and the organisation. It
works with the concept ·make what you can sell' rather than ·sell what you make' An in-depth and deep-rooted understanding of the consumer behaviour aids
to bring out appropriate marketing strategies for any organisation keeping in view the consumer and his environment

As discussed earlier in the evolution of consumer behaviour, marketers tried to understand the psychological behaviours of the consumers in the market This
created a wave shift in the study of consumer behaviour This ended in a great knowledge on how to go m for market segmentation, creation of brand loyal
customers, focus on opinion leaders or reference groups rather than attending to the aggregate market behaviour Thus, consumer behaviour is closely
associated in the field of marketing and its applications.
 Fig 1.1.5: Consumer Behaviour Relationships with Marketing Explore Market Opportunity: Marketers have to constantly keep exploring the
opportunities available in the market by understanding the income level, lifestyle of the
consumer, factors influencing them and so on. In the growing rate of more working
women, the opponunity for the electrical products like washing machine, oven, grinder,
and mtxer too have grown. Today people are becoming more health conscious that
Philips has come out with air fryer to fry foods products without oil to attract more
consumers.

Selection of Target Market: One cannot sell his product to the aggregate market but
has to choose the target person who 1s gorng to buy their products. The study of
consumer behaviour will make the marketer understand that target market, how they will
behave, what is their need, how to make them buy the product/service. Having identified
their target group will make the organisation to be more focused on these people rather
than focusing on the entire market.

Marketing Mix Decisions: As the marketer goes into explore the market opportunities
available for the organisation and fills in the gap by understanding the wants and desires
of the consumer, the marketer determines the right mix that will fill in the gap Marketing
mix involves in it the decisions on 4 P's.

Product: The marketer has to fill rn the gap by producing a quality product that satisfies the consumer needs and wants. Product has to have
many attributes attached to it say for example, a cosmetic generally has four attributes attached to it, product, branding, packaging and
communication Consumer behaviour study helps the marketer to decide on the attributes that has to be attached to the main product. Say when
Maggi failed in the market, Yippee started gainrng its place in the market by bringing its advertisement "Its better know· and also added
vegetables to save the time of the buyer and making it a healthy food This is an attribute which is added to the Yippee noodles

Price: What amount or prrce to be fixed for the product? Is the introductory price of the product is going to be skimming price or a penetrating
prrce? If the product is penetrating price or low-price strategy, will it attract the consumers? If low, will it be attracting to the upper class? For
example, Maggi noodles came up with Rs.5 packets, to attract the lower income group people and the advertisement also revealed that it is a
product with low prrce Therefore, pricrng decision 1s very crucial as ii decides the w1thstand1ng power of a product in the market.

• Place: Aller the product has been produced the next decision is about the place of distribution. Say how the organisation is reaching the
consumers, either through the wholesaler, retailer or through a direct outlet. With regard to the place of distribution, a company like Apple has its
own direct Apple store to sell its product making it a luxury class product

Promotion: Today, promotion is much as important as producing a product. The marketer has to put rn more efforts to understand the target
segment and the ways to attract their buying behaviour Mass media and Social media are the two biggest sources of promotion for the consumer
goods whereas negligible amount of advertising is done for industrial products.

Use in Social and Non-Profit Marketing: The study of consumer behaviour is also important for non-profit organisation and government organisation too.
Government wrngs like the Income Tax department educates the tax payers not to avord the payment of taxes and on the trme l1m1ts for paying the taxes.
Health department in rural localities tries to understand the necessities of the local people and makes arrangements based on the information gathered so as
to make people use the facilities provided by the government in a fruitful way.

1.1.6 Conclusion

Consumer behaviour refers to the concept of studying the buying behaviour pattern of the consumer. A firm generally needs to analyse the buying behaviour
beforehand so as succeed in the market. There are numerous factors that influence the consumer buying behaviour in the market. The study of consumer
behaviour takes its stand from varrous disc1pl1nes like sociology, anthropology, economics and psychology_In today's market understanding the psychology
of the consumer is more vital than being Just logical.

Summary

• A consumer is one who consumes the products or services produced by an organisation.

• The process of buying initiates from the minds of the consumers.

• Consumer behaviour studies the various stages involved 1n a consumer buying a product or a service.

• Perception is the process in which a person accepts, selects, arranges and interprets the information into a data that is understandable.

• Culture refers to the set of values and beliefs of a homogenous set of people.

• Marketing decisions are taken only by exploring the wants and desires of the consumers in-depth
@Activity

Describe the factors that influence the buying decision making process for a mobile/smartphone_ Fit your description around the factors given in influencing the
consumer buying behaviour.
Internal Factors

External Factors
1.2 Unit
 -·- Learning Objectives

• Explain tile Meaning and Defiinition of Consumer Behaviour Audirt

• Discuss the Influence of Personality in the Behaviour

• Diff,erentiate Internal and External Influences

• Illustrate SWOT Analysis

{tfijff Learning Outcomes

• Understand he Meaning and Definition of Consumer Behaviour Audit

• Analyse the Influence of Personality in ttm Behaviour

• Tabulate Internal and External Influences

• Enumerate SWOT Analysis

At the spirit and heart of marketing, lies what is referred to as a consumer behaviour audit or consumer need analysis. Consumer audit is the epitome of the
marketing concept of an organisation. Psychologists and researchers in the field of consumer behaviour consent that all the human beings in this have the
same needs. However, these needs and wants get deciphered differently into diverse wants and needs, consequentially resulting in varied motives. With
consumers being diverse and distinctive to each other, it is imperative that the marketers/organisation comprehends the consumer behaviour every now and
then through consumer behaviour audit, and provide them with the relevant products and services.

1.2.1 Meaning, Definition

In a consumer behaviour audit, the marketer's objective is to explore, discover and understand the behaviour of the consumers in the market, to spot out the
short run actions that can amplify the profitability status of the organisation and also to analyse the long run actions that are significant for further consideration
and analysis. Both these short run actions and long run objectives advise the marketer the interrelationships between various variables. The consumer
behaviour audit is a basic elemental part of the marketing planning process and procedure. Audit is not only done at the beginning but is also conducted at a
series of definite points at the various stages of implementation of the particular planning process. A consumer behaviour audit is a detailed review as to how
an organisation is perceived in the minds of the customers; an understanding of each consumer's needs and wants.

The consumer behaviour audit takes into consideration both the internal and external influences for marketing planning, as well as for review of the plan itself.
Consumer behaviour audit is a complete description and information to discover and identify any adverse market positions and also to provide with an insight
report about the various factors that contribute to such adverse and undesirable positions in the market None of the organisation follows a standard procedure
to understand the consumer behaviour through their audit but it generally includes:

• Purchases made by the consumers during the last one year and those purchases which are being planned for the next 1-5 years.

• Analysing the performance of the organisation over the past years.

• Product and service gaps to be compared with the organisations products and services offered.

• Identification of the opportunities and threats for the organisation

• Analysing the hurdles that are stopping the buyer's purchase.

There are a number of tools that can be used in the process of consumer behaviour audit for example, SWOT Analysis for the internal and external
environment, PEST and Porter's Five Force analysis to determine and analyse the external environmental forces. In several ways, the consumer behaviour
audit elucidates the opportunities and threats and allows the marketers to make modifications in the marketing plan whenever necessary. Consumer behaviour
audit can be better understood by the three following concepts

a. Internal Marketing Environment: Internal marketing environment is audited every now and then now to get the answers for the following
questions:

o How is the marketing team organised?

o How effective and efficient is the marketing team?

o How does the marketing team interface with other organisations as well as the internal functions?

o Is the organisation having an effective customer relationship management?

b. External Marketing Environment: The external analysis may be done by an organisation through the feedbacks received from the industry
analysts as well as the market researchers. The study of the below factors leads to a better understanding of the consumer behaviour and their
needs:

o What is the personality and nature of the customer?

o What customer values the most and how an organisation is providing that value?

o Is the political and legal landscape changing affects the organisation?

o What is the demographic profile of the consumers?

o What is the cultural nature of the environment?

o What is the kind of competition for the target market?

1.2.2 Influence of Personality in the Behaviour

Personality is the compilation of all potential ways in which a person reacts and commune with other people. It includes in it the person's outline of internal and
external assessable traits and the interface between person and situation. Schiffman and Kanuk (1997:114) provide a more comprehensive definition of
personality by defining it as, 'Those inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect how a person responds to his or her environment" Inner
psychological characteristics are definite qualities, attitudes, mannerism that differentiates one person from other. The behaviour of consumers gets influenced
by many factors both internal as well as external. Personality is the intrinsic factor that persuades an individual's choice of product and brand.

Generally speaking, personality is conceptualised by outside appearance of an individual which persuades other persons. Personality is an integrated
arrangement which includes both the aspects of an individual, the one which are innate as well as those that are learned while one grows. Both of these are
interdependent and thus cannot be separated People generally prefer the products that suit their personality. Hence, marketers must associate a product or
brand with different personality traits to develop an effective marketing strategy for a type of personality Personality of a person may change gradually from
time to time due to learning, personal experiences or major life events. The influence of personality in the behaviour can be stated as follows:

• Generalised Self Confidence: A person with high self-confidence are the first adopters of change and try new brands in the market and on the
other hand low confidence persons deny to try new products.

• Self-Consciousness: Self-conscious persons are very cautious about the image as to how they are portrayed in front of others

• Self-Monitoring: Self-monitoring refers to how persons keep monitoring the situation and adjust themselves to varying situations.

• Self Esteem: High self-esteem persons have a positive attitude than compared to a person with low self-esteem

• Introvert-Extrovert: Extrovert are people who are in a group whereas introverts are those who keep themselves out of a group Knowledge on
both of these people's behaviour is very significant for the marketer.
1.2.2.1 Characteristics of Personality

• Personality is more of an intrinsic tactor.

• It gets imitated in th,e outline of r,esponse from persons/consumers.

• It is a cluster of mannerisms, attributes and factors which are e)'.clusive and unique to every human being.

• It is related with the psychological and intemal factors related to an individual

• Many traits of a person make his/Iler personality

• Personality is a highly integrated striucture which gets formed due to the effort of all factors

• P,ersonality is expressed in the form of overt behaviour.

1.2.2.2 Approaches to Personality

Many approaches have been tailored by researchers to understand the personality of an individual. They are

a. Psychographic Approach: It takes a different pathway for understanding traits of each personality than other approaches by analysing the
propensity or the trend in which a consumer expresses his personality. Most of the approaches use personality traits to understand the reasons
behind consumer behaviours.

b. Typology Approach: This approach takes an in-depth study on the group of people with similar and alike personality types and focus on each of
them individually.

c. Psychoanalytic Approach: This is also called as study of Freudian Psychology that determines the personality factors based on the events,
process, system and situation analysis. Psychographic approach tends to make people comprehend the aspects that have moulded their
personality type.

1.2.3 Internal and External Influences

1.2.3.1 Internal Intluences

Business organisation needs to understand their users to manufacture products, services and also bring in marketing campaigns that attract their large
audience. To understand the consumer, a marketer has to understand the inner characteristics that influence the consumer in their buying behaviour. This i
further divided into psychological influences and personal influences.

a. Psychological Influences: Understanding the psychology of the consumer is predominant for a marketer. II is not simple to explore the psycholom
of a consumer. Consumer Psychology is an area of study to analyse the opinions, beliefs, feelings, attitudes and perceptions developed by
variou forms of information received by the consumer. An individual's buying preferences are influenced by four main psychological factors.

Fig 1.2.1: Psychological Influences on Consumer Motivation: According to Stephen Robbins, "Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of
Behaviour effort toward organisational goals, conditioned by the effort and ability to satisfy some individual

7'MIPNfi:Fi&HIIHlll+i♦
need". Motivation refers to the process of inspiring the individual for carrying out their assigned work
and resulting in the achieving of goals and desires. This is a psychological influence that originates

I r l from the desires and wants of the consumer or an individual. It is a force that compels person into

EW@i+ EHHI& fifHi:19 action. It starts with aim-oriented behaviour. Motivation could be either a positive motivation
(positive, cheerful) or a negative (fear, afraid) motivation.
EH@+
Perception: Perception refers to the process by which a person selects, organises and interprets the stimuli that the senses receive from the surrounding
environment into a meaningful and logical depiction of the world. It can best be said as "how we perceive the environment around us". When two persons are
exposed to same situation there might be a difference in the way how each person, understand, selects, organises and interprets this situation. Each individual
has his owns needs, preferences, values and expectations in their satisfaction level based on which the level of differences also occurs. Therefore, it is
important that the marketers understand the key idea of perception and all its related concepts that conclude the buyer behaviour. According to Stephen P
Robbins, "Perception" may be defined as, "A process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their
environment."

Learning: Learning means or refers to the process by which a consumer acquires the knowledge and experience of what to purchase and consume. As a
consumer experience, observe things, interacts with people around out of which acquires a new knowledge that affects the behaviour of the consumer is
termed as consumer learning. It is one of the fundamental psychological processes and a never-ending process It is a behavioural transformation in the
consumer behaviour process. Not all knowledge is deliberately acquired. Though much of the learning is intentionally acquired during the process of searching
for information related to the product, still a great amount of learning is incidental which is received without any search or an effort.

Attitude: Attitude refers to the emotion and actions of an individual towards any object or situation. An attitude is a learned way to act in a consistently
favourable or unfavourable way towards a specified object 1.e. behaviour 1s of two types either 1t could be a positive behaviour or a negative behaviour. Here,
the object specified could be a product, service, packaging, advertisement, price, brand or the retailer, etc. According to Ben, "Attitudes are likes and dislikes".
Attitudes are gained from the direct observation and experience with the products. Experiences play a predominant role in describing the attitude of an
individual. Whenever a customer enters a store, he or she is asked their likes and dislikes about that product, service or even about the retailer who sells the
products, the customer is therefore asked to communicate their altitudes. By understanding consumers' attitudes, marketers strive to find whether the new
product will be accepted by the targeted consumers or not.

b. Personal Influences: Personal factors like age, gender, lifestyle, family type, economic conditions, occupation has a great influence on the buying
pattern of a consumer. Self-image or the thought about oneself is another important factor that affects the consumer buying behaviour.

Personality: "Personality is the dynamic organisation of interlocking behaviour systems, that each of
us possesses, as he grows from a biological new-born to a biological adult in an environment of
Fig 1.2.2: Personal Influences of Consumer Behaviour other individuals and cultural products' as defined by Camerson. Personality is a unique combination
of traits and qualities which distinguish the individual from others and it could be either acquired or a

-,,.
Personal Influences o Consumer Behaviour
learned behaviour

48Bi·l:i-fo& Self-Image: Ideas, thoughts and emotions held by an individual about oneself are called as self
image or self-concept Self-concept is an internal influence that is necessary for a marketer to get
into a deeper understanding as individuals tend to buy products that help in enhancing their self-
image.

Lifestyle: Lifestyle is a concept that is easy to understand but very hard to define Lifestyle is the
way or a pattern in which people make their living, spend their lime and money as well. It is an
element which can be used to fragment consumers based on their feelings, attitudes, interests,
beliefs and opinions.
1.2.3.2 External Influences

Those influences the human behaviour from the outside environment is called as the external influences These factors are extrinsic in character and have m
control and are often termed as non-controllable factors by the marketers. This is also called as the Socio-Cultural influence on the consumer behaviour. Socic
- Cultural influences are gained out of the interactions with the social environment and cultural factors by the consumers. It has thus become an importan
factor for a marketer to understand the various influencing social cultural factors.

Culture: Culture is the learning, knowledge, experiences, beliefs, perceptions, roles, attitudes,
Fig 1.2.3: External Influences of Consumer Behaviour religion that a person gains out of his social interactions with the members of a society This cultural
effect is carried down from one generation to the other generation in a society_Social factors and
Socio Cultural /External lnFluences
the personal factors affect the culture of a consumer. Say, the family religion or culture may
influence the kind/type of dress a particular consumer should purchase. An organisation should
Cullur• Sub Cultu,. structure a marketing policy based on the cultural values of the people to whom the product is being
launched. Consumer behaviour is definitely impacted by the following cultural influences such as
values, symbols, rituals and thought process.

Sub Culture: A sub culture is a small subset of a larger cultural set that consist only those people
Group Family who have a similar traits and characters. Age, sex, class, nationality, geographic location, religion,
race is some of the factors that create this sub culture different from the large culture. According to
Summers and Gardiner, "Subculture is a homogeneous group of people who share elements of the
overall culture as well as unique elements of their own group"_Subcultures also impact the
consumer behaviour through the following ways say unique traditions and behaviours - there exists
an exclusive tradition with most of the sub culture and that is likely to impact the consumer
behaviour. Consumer's affiliation towards their religion also affects the consumer behaviour.
Geographical definition as to whether the consumer is from urban or rural defines the consumer
behaviour in terms of their food patterns, lifestyle and so on.

Social Class: Social class means to the division of the society into different classes based on the status to which the members belong It is a type of social
division in which the members are divided based on money, status and power. Individuals are not just influenced by their economic level but also by the social
class to which they belong to or wish to be associated with. The difference in social class is manifested with the difference in the behaviour of the consumer.

Cross Culture: During 1930's, the term cross culture appeared in the social sciences, as a result of Mr. George Peter Murdock's cross-cultural survey_This
means a cultural interactivity_Cross culture is the process or system of managing distinctions between diverse cultures. A cross cultural consumer analysis is
an effort to bring out to what extent the consumers of two or more countries are distinct or identical.

Group: A group refers to individuals who are associated to each other's as they share a common identity, shared interest or due to some mutual interaction
within them. Groups are of different types say formal and informal groups, primary and secondary groups, member and reference groups, interest and
friendship groups and so on. Since an individual wish to be associated with a particular group, he/she might tend to behave in the way the others in the group
behave. This might have an influence on the consumer behaviour.

Family: A family is a group of people or individuals, who are affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or because of co-residence. It happens either out of marital
bonds, legal adoption or through a blood relation. Consumer behaviour is greatly influenced by the role behaviour a person plays in family of orientation and in
family of procreation.

Reference Groups: Reference group consists of groups or individuals who have a greater influence on his/her perception and behaviour. The individual need
not be a member of that particular group Work groups, friendship groups, shopping groups, aspirational groups are some of the reference groups. These
reference groups influence on the products to be purchased; they serve as a point of comparison for others, helps to understand the lifestyle and sets as a role
model for others.
1.2.4 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a tactical planning method which is used by an individual or a business organisation to analyse the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats, and so ii is a technique for measuring these four aspects of any organisation related to one's business. This technique is used to bring out both
the internal and external factors that act favourably or unfavourably in achieving the business goals and objectives Strengths and weaknesses are the internal
factors whilst opportunities and threats are the external factors.

Fig 1.2.4: SWOT Analysis

Strengths
1. What is that you are well versed in?
2. What do you do better than anyone else?
3. What values drives your business?

Weaknesses
1. Things for Improvement
2. What others see as a weakness?

Opportunities
1. What is that you have to exploit than others?
2. How to move the strengths as opportunities?

Threats
1. What is that harm you?
2. What is the com etitor doin a ainst ou?

Strengths: Uniqueness of an individual or an organisation that provides an edge over others. Strengths are things that an individual or an organisation does
extremely well, or in a means that differentiates one from their competitors. Strengths are an essential part of any organisation. Identify and evaluate the USP
(Unique Selling Proposition) of an organisation.

Weaknesses: Characteristics of an individual or an organisation that is comparatively lower than of its competitors. Weaknesses, similar to strengths, are
inbuilt features of one's organisation, so focus on the resources, structure, and procedures. Improvisation is to be thought of and things to be avoided have to
be taken care of.

Opportunities: Factors in the environment that can be exploited by an individual or an organisation. Opportunities are chances for something optimistic to take
place This usually arises from circumstances outside an organisation, and necessitates an eye to what might occur in the future This could be because of the
developments in the outside market.

Threats: Factors in the environment that might create problems for an individual or an organisation Threats consist of things that can negatively influence
one's business from the environment outside, such as changes in the market, problems in supply chain, etc. It's important to foresee the threats and to take
action. Think about the problems an organisation faces while marketing their products or services. Developing technology is an ever-present risk or threat, as
well as a chance or an opportunity for any organisation. Having an eye over the competitors and decisions if there is a need for change in the organisation to
meet the challenge are the biggest threats.

The extent to which an internal environment of the organisation equals with the external environment is articulated by the idea of strategic fit. The evaluation is
integrated in any organisation or marketing plan worth its salt because it provides significant information required to develop a strategic plan for expansion and
growth in its business. This important exercise can also be useful for an individual. Whether one is looking for a new job in his career or trying to scale up in the
corporate ladder, a personal SWOT analysis can facilitate one to achieve their goals. It's an innovative and creative method of assessing oneself.
1.2.5 Definition and Meaning of Consumer Needs and Motivation

Motivation is that force which drives an individual into action, this force created is because of the unfilled needs in the consumer. All actions and deeds are
goal-orientated. Goals are the end results of a consumer's stimulated behaviour which is the consequences of consumers thought process. Goals can either
be a generic goal or a specific goal. A generic goal or a broad goal is a common category of goal that might fulfil a certain want and need on the other hand a
specific goal is an exclusively labelled product that the consumer sees as a means to fulfil a need.

1.2.5.1 Consumer Needs

Every individual has an unfilled need. Needs are the basic utilitarian necessities of a human being_These needs could be primary or a secondary need. Needs
keep arising for a consumer every now and then, as one satisfies his primary needs, the urge for satisfying a higher order or the secondary needs props up.
The fulfilment of the need depends upon the consumer's cultural and social environment of the society to which he/she belongs to Need is concealed in the
personality of a consumer. The tendency of people to gratify such needs can be considered as the primary step in the process of marketing activities.

1.2.5.2 Motivation

Motivation answers the question 'why' about the behaviour of humans. For example, why do they prefer KFC's chicken? Why McDonalds? Why Amazon than
Flipkart? Why L'oreal than Lakme? Etc. The answer to these questions needs a clear observation as no one is sure why a consumer behaves in a particular
way A consumer is said to be highly motivated when he or she is made active and their behaviour is focussed towards the attainment of the desired goal.
These motivations are of different types:

• Pos1t1ve Vs Negative Molivat1on

• Rational Vs Emotional Motivation

• Primary Vs Secondary Motivation

• Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Motivation

All marketing activities are focussed on getting the consumer motivated in a way desired by the marketer. Motivation has to create a positive motivation and
should make the consumer buy the products or services for which the marketing campaigns has to follow strategies for motivating the consumers. Some of the
strategies that could be undertaken to motivate the consumer are:

• Focus on offers in the products

• Use the strategy of game play- play and win

• Introducing reward points for every purchases

a. Primary Needs or Non- Social Needs: Primary needs are the innate needs for a consumer. The fulfilment of these needs is not connected with
others. The basic needs for safety, physical wellbeing is related to oneself that affect the way one uses a particular products and services. Those
needs which we are born with and is primarily physiological need that helps to make our daily living are called as primary needs. For example, air,
food, shelter, water, etc., are the basic things for our life

b. Secondary Needs or Social Needs: Secondary needs are those needs that are acquired after the birth and are developed as one grows older.
Those needs which are to fill our psychological needs are called the secondary or acquired needs. For exampl,e, prestige, power, affection, love,
esteem, fem and acceptance. These needs are those which unite and bond with others and are directed by the external surroundings. These needs
can thus be fulfilled by mere existence, survival or behaviour of others. For any specified need, there are many diverse appropriate goals attached
to it The particular goal chosen depends on the individual's personal experiences and his physical capability, existing cultural customs, norms and
values. Needs and goals are mutually dependent and vary in response to one's physical situation, environment and interface with other people.

Failure to attain a goal quite often ends up with frustration. Individuals respond to this frustration either by altering it with a substitute goal or
removing the obstacles that stops in achieving tllis goal. Therefore, it is very important for marketers to realise Illa! goal of the consumer and
essential elements that contributes to fulfil the goals of the buyer through understanding the consumers' motives. Motives cannot easily be
understood from the consumer behaviour. People with div,erse needs may look for fulfilment through s,election of the similar goals; people wi h the
similar goals may look for fulfilment through diverse goals.
1.2.5.3 Influence of Motivation on Consumer Behaviour

It is strongly accepted and believed that consumer behaviour is directed by consumer motives. This stimulation of interest keeps the consumers both mentally
and physically engaged Thus, it is very important to understand and analyse the influence of motivation on consumer behaviour. They are as follows:

a. Defining Fundamental Necessities/Strivings: Motives enables a consumer to recognise, interpret and understand the basic necessities like
affiliation, safety, achievement, etc. These necessities will decide how the consumer will react and behave in a multiple variety of situations and
activities

b. Identifying Goal Objects: People think that products and services as a way to fulfil their needs and desires. Most of the times, consumer consider
few products as their end goal and often forget that those products are just a means of fulfilling their motives and desires. These goals assigned are
very important for the marketers as they can influence the thought process of the consumer through these goals.

c. Influencing Choice Criteria: Motives persuade the ways in which the consumers will devise the criteria of assessing any product or service. For
example, if the motive behind is to buy a laptop with comfort and easy to carry, then the consumer will assess all the available options on this
particular parameter before reaching a final decision.

d. Directing other Influences: Motives also influence other variable of psychology such as the perception, personality, attitudes, learning, etc, they
impact the way people process the information with regard to the products or services which they wanted to purchase. Therefore, motives also
influence the way how the information is processed.

1.2.6 Conclusion

Therefore, ii could be understood that consumer behaviour audit is an in-depth assessment and evaluation of how a business organisation is viewed by its
consumers. Auditing the consumer behaviour is a biggest task for the organisation but still ii holds a significant place in analysing the consumer's needs and
wants. Consumer needs and wants depend on what kind of a personality a person is. Personality influences the behaviour of a consumer and this influence
could be either internal influence or an external influence SWOT analysis is a type of analysis which understands the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of both an individual and an organisation. All of us have unfulfilled needs and wants which are derived as motives by the marketers to sell their products
and service through motivation.

I _f Summary

• Consumer behaviour audit is the process of reviewing the consumer periodically to understand, analyse the changing behaviour of the consumers
towards a particular product or services.

• Personality is the inner psychological characteristics of a person that tells how an individual reacts to a particular environment.

• Internal factors like motivation, personality, perception, attitude and external factors such as culture, subculture, cross culture, group, family and
reference group influences the consumer buying behaviour.

• Culture is the system of knowledge and experience shared mutually by a large group of people.

• Consumers needs are of two types ie., primary needs and secondary needs.

• Social needs recognise that most people want to belong to a particular group.

@Activity

To do a personal SWOT analysis by dividing a paper into four quadrants (strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities- each to be represented in each
quadrant).
@ff) Activity Answer Key

Fig 1.2.5: Personal SWOT

To fill in ,each area, try answering the following questions:

Strengths Cdon't be reserved/modest):

• How do your education, skills, talents certifications, and oonnections set you apart from your peers?

• What would your boss m coworkers say are your strengths?

• What values or ethics do you hav,e t1hat your peers often lack?

• What achievements are you most proud of?

Weaknesses (be truthful and honest):

• Where are your ,education, training, or skills lacking?

• What would your boss m co-workers say are your weaknesses?

• What am your negative work habits and personality traits?

• What do you avoid because you lack confidence?

1.3 UNIT
C.Behavoiur 1,3
 •• ,. Learning Objectives

• Discuss the Relevance of Market Research with Consumer Behaviour

• Explain the Research Paradigms in Consumer Behaviour

• Analyse the Concept of Consumer Research Process

• Identify Consumer Research Methods and Research Questions

Learning Outcomes

• Understand he Relevance of Market Research with Consumer Behaviour

• Enumerate the Research Paradigms in Consumer Behaviour

• Recognise t1he Concept of Consumer Research Process

• Illustrate Consumer R,esearch Methods and Research Questions

Market research is the process and practice of determining the feasibility of a new product or service through conducting a research activity directly or indirectly
with the potential consumers Market research helps the organisation to understand, explore the target audience by gelling their feedbacks and also their
opinions about the product The purpose of market research is to understand the behaviour of the consumer and at the market connected with a particular
product or service to determine how the consumer will receive 11 Therefore, there is great amount of relevance between market research and consumer
behaviour No business organisat1on can evade itself from conducting a market research

1.3.1 Relevance of Market Research with Consumer Behaviour

Each consumer is exclusive and different in himself/herself and desires, needs and wants differ from person to person; thus, consumers are diverse and
heterogeneous in nature. However, consumers who think alike also exist; these consumers are considered to be homogeneous within that particular group of
like-minded people and heterogeneous outside the group, these are termed as segment. Marketers try to identify these consumer segments and focus one or
few of these segments, and thus fulfil the requirements of the marketing idea; first, marketers discover and explore the customer needs and wants; and then,
deliver product and service so as to persuade and satisfy the customers more efficiently and effectively In order to recognise and foresee the consumption
patterns and behaviours in case of segment, market research becomes indispensable. More broadly, market research helps an organisation with appropriate,
dependable, and existing information about their consumers.

In the field of marketing, consumer research is generally done to collect and evaluate the data with regard to, consumer preferences for both actual as well as
the probable goods/services and also the surrounding environment. There are two environments that surround an organisation and are grouped as the "micro
environment" and the "macro-environment" The micro-environment comprises that are internal and close to the organisation say, suppliers, internal
operalions, etc., on the other hand macro-environment are those which affect an organisation md1rectly viz., the social factors, the cultural factors, political
factors, etc., This is where the SWOT analysis helps an organisation to analyse the internal and external factors that affect an organisation. Consumer
research plays a predominant role in serving various purposes, which comprises the tallowing:

• Helps in identifying the possible target segment by finding out which segment of the population will be procuring a product or service, based on
various elements such as income, education, age, gender, location, and status group.

• Better decisions can be made by an organisation through research and can develop an edge over its competitors.

• Consumer Research in the process of exploring the consumer needs and wants supports the marketers to take strategically planned decisions

• Research provides the organisation with information related to changing needs of the consumers, environmental changes, etc. This helps the
organisation to take necessary steps whenever uncertainty occurs, for instance during the launch of new goods and services, expansion into the
existing market with a new product line and so on.
To sum up, market research is indispensable for devising a suitable marketing strategy_Starting with understanding who's the target market, segmenting them
and positioning the marketing plan of an organisation creates an ideal mix of the 4 P's in marketing End of all it is to arrive at customer satisfaction with
maximum efficiency and effectiveness in our ultimate goal attainment This Is acquired only through an effort understanding what is bought, why the product is
bought, when the consumer buys, how much he spends in a week/month for the product, how often the consumer buys and where the consumer prefers to
buy the product. This is where relevance of market research with consumer behaviour comes into contact lo understand and predict the nature of how a
consumer behaves.

With the market economy becoming more and more aggressive and competitive, having adequate knowledge about the likes and dislikes of our customers has
become essential for any organisation to succeed. Consumer research is a better way to know the factors that affect the business and also to increase
consumer satisfaction.

1.3.2 Approaches to Consumer Behaviour Research

Broadly speaking there are five approaches to consumer behaviour research.

Fig 1.3.1: Five Approaches to Consumer Behaviour Research

The first effort to understand the consumer behaviour were found on the conjectures or the inferences typically made in traditional economics, that the primary
motivation of consumers in this world of scant resources are to fulfil their unlimited wants and needs through limited resources Thus, the consumer tends to
behave as an economic man in taking rational decisions to fulfil his wants. For example, a consumer goes to a store and finds the same product with different
prices, all other variables in the product being equal, will definitely choose the product that is lower in terms of price. The 'economic men' approach believes
that behaviour of a consumer is motivated by the economic benefits one receives out of the buying a product.

Cognitive approach focuses on how the consumer uses the information and processes ii. This approach strongly believes that the environment surrounding the
consumer and the experiences provides consumers with plenty of information and knowledge about product and services to be processed and the end result is
the behaviour of consumer in certain ways. The information processing typically represents purchasing decisions of a consumer as a five step process which
takes place mosUy as a subliminal process. Beginning with the analysing and recognition of a need, followed by exploring the information as to how to fulfil the
need then by evaluating the alternatives available, following which the purchase decision is made and then, at last, consumers undertake an evaluation of the
post purchase decision.

For example, at present individuals are receiving more information related to COVID 19 and this information is acting as a stimulus to behave and react in
certain manners especially in reducing the levels of spending by the consumers. On the other hand, the term behaviourist approach is linked with the external
force that creates an impact on the consumer behaviour. Lantos (2010) relates this behaviouristic approach to the research experiment of Ivan Pavlov, a
Russian scientist who involved experiments with the external forces through which a few behavioural patterns were created.

Then the, Psychodynamic approach ''includes all theories in psychology that see human funcl!oning based upon the interaction of drivers and forces within the
person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality" (McLeod, 2007, online). Within the confine limits and boundaries of
consumer behaviour, psychodynamic approach is related to behaviouristic approach to a certain level, however, the first one i.e., the behaviouristic approach
has a greater scope compare to the psychodynamic approach.

The humanistic approaches highlight the concept of 'self', and puts an individual consumer as the focus point of an analysis The economic approach, cognitive
approach, behaviourist approach and the psychodynamic approaches considers generic rules to make assumptions, without considering that each consumer
are unique and distinctive individuals who may react in a different way to the same stimulus as the experience are personal and is subjective The emotional
value which a consumer holds creates the demand for particular goods and services These approaches have come from diverse standpoint but still, give
value to an organisation for understanding and predicting the way consumers behave and react
1.3.3 Research Paradigms in Consumer Behaviour

Research implies the practice of collecting new or existing information to improve and enhance one's knowledge. Consumer research is a type of applied
sociology that determines the consumer behaviour in a market-based economy. The research model/paradigm in consumer behaviour study focuses on two
approaches They are,

• Quantitative Research

• Qualitative Research

In the "Conven/Jonal Research Models", rt was always thought by the researchers that consumers logically decrde on their purchase and thus act rationally by
taking calculative decision in order to gain maximum benefits. Second, they assumed the consumers to be an economic man who would benefit out of the low
cost products but the recent researches prove that individuals are not rational every time and make their purchase without any drive force

1.3.3.1 Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is the process of applying the quantitative research methods and techniques while doing the research process_ This quantitative
research rs used to forecast and explore the consumer behaviour and is descnptive and inferential rn nature_It includes experiments, survey techniques, and
observation as a means of carrying out the research work. It collects data and information from existing and possible consumers using sampling techniques
through carrying out online surveys, online polls, questionnaires, etc., the end outcome of which can be represented in the form of numerical values to
calculate and predict the buying behaviour for a product or service. It is a data-oriented research. There are two methods to carry out quantitative research.
They are:

• Primary Quantitative Research Method

• Secondary Quantitative Research Method

Fig 1.3.2: Characteristics of Quantitative Research Structured Tools: Quantitative research uses structured tools such as
surveys, polls, or questionnaires for gathering in-depth information from the
respondents.

Sample Size: Large sample can be targeted using a quantitative method.

Close-ended Questions: Based on the need and objective of the

research a closed-ended question is used which can be quantified and
thus are measurable.

Generalisation of Results: Since a large data is collected as a sample,

the results can be generalised for the entire population.

1.3.3.2 Qualitative Research

Qualitative research provides us with a non-quantifiable data and an in-depth understanding of how a consumer behaves with the reasons for such kind of
behaviours depicted by the consumer Qualitative research uses focus group analysis, in-depth interviews, metaphor analysis and projective techniques for a
small group of samples that cannot be generalised for a large set of population Why and how a consumer decides are answered through a qualitative
research and what, where and when are brought out through a quantitative research It is conducted to understand the consumer preferences, perception,
attitude, actrons, motrves, beliefs, values and thus rs verbal with no numbers added to it It rs applied in the disciplines of social sciences like psychology,
sociology, socio-psychology and anthropology to have an rn-depth probing into the problems to derive at conclusions rn the consumer research

al Characteristics of Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research methods usually collect data based on observation, where the respondents are undergoing a problem. These are real
time data collected from various geographical locations.

Qualitative researchers normally collect various forms of data through observation, interviews, and documents, rather than just through a
single data source.

Qualitative research is used to solve the complex problems.

1.3.4 Consumer Research Process

1.3.4.1 Consumer Research Perspective

Consumer research is an element of the big source market research in which inclination, stimulus and research of the consumer buying behaviour takes place
There are three broad ways of understanding the consumer research process.

Fig 1.3.3: Ways of Understanding Consumer Research Process
Decision-Making Perspective: If there exist a sequential order in the buying process of
consumers, then it is a decision-making perspective. The consumer thinks rationally
and solves the problem logically including the series of steps from the problem
recognition, search for information, evaluating the alternative solutions, making a
purchase decision and post purchase evalualion_

Experiential Perspective: The experiential perspective considers that consumers may

buy a product and service to satisfy his want for fun, emotional satisfaction and dream
fulfilment All the purchases do not always happen for a logical reason but to satisfying
their inner feelings as weIL

Behavioural - Influence Perspective: The behavioural influence believes that

environmental forces influence a consumer to purchase a product or service without
having any values added to it

1.3.4.2 Consumer Research Process

Consumer research was developed as an element of the marketing research Consumers become dissatisfied if there is a large gap between what the
consumer expects and how the product performs_This put forwards that the manufacturer should create and build the product claims that faithfully signify the
producl's performance hence the buyers are left satisfied_The method used to study this gap is called as consumer research_Consumer satisfaction is a key
factor for an orgarnsalion as there exist two groups of consumers, 1.e_, new consumers and retained consumers_

Attracting a new consumer is very expensive than retaining an existing consumer One satisfied customer will bring in at least ten customers back with him
Therefore, consumer research is very crucial especially when an organisation wants to introduce a new product or service in the market Organisations take up
market research through surveys and focus group studies to have a clear-cut understanding on the consumers, their wants and needs and also the consumer
satisfaction level and then make recommendations based on the consumer data collected and analysed_There are six major steps in the process of consumer
research that includes-

1. Developing Research Objectives: The foremost step in any consumer research process is to carefully define the purpose and objectives
pertaining to that study and also to ensure a suitable research design_A carefully 1deated statement of obJective will assist the marketer m defining
the type and level of information required for the study

2. Collect Secondary Data: Secondary information is a data which has been collected and utilised by some other person for his/her research work.
This data collection compnses in it the findings that are based on the research work done by any other research instrtute, data generated in house
for previous studies, sales department information on customers, all these are called as secondary research There are two different sources of
secondary data - internal sources and external sources_

a. Internal Sources: Internal data sources are those data that are generated and created in house; ii may also include in it the various analyses of
customer files available within the organisabon_

b. External Sources: External sources are available in plenty Consumer Generated Media (CGM) like the biogs, Vlogs, groups, newsgroups, etc,
especially, has grown in significance as an external data source The key is to stay away from spending much of the time following 'blind alleys'
This is where the time and cost can go up sharply_

• Directories from Government and Non-Government Agencies

• Country infonmation from Government Agencies

• Published marketing research reports by another organisation

• News sources

• CGM (Newsgroups, Vlogs, biogs, groups)

• Internet - single search engines, and multiple search engines

 J. Designing a Primary Research Study: Primary research is basically the novel and first-lime research conducted by the researcher to collect first-
hand information through the available tools and techniques like interviews, surveys, observalion and queslionnaire.

a. Quantitative Research: Quantitative research methods are purposeful and objective, detailed, and many times, even investigational of the
research undertaken The results or outcome attained from this quantitative research method are rational, statistical, neutral and unbiased Data
are collected using a strudured method from a larger sample that signifies the entire population

b. Qualitative Research: Qualitative research methods are subjective and are in-depth study of understanding the how and why behaviour of
consumers This research can only be done for a small set of samples Focus group, in-depth interviews, case study analysis are some of the
techniques in qualitative research.

4. Collecting Primary Data: Primary data collection is the process of collecting the first-hand data through observation, survey, interviews or experiments
A small example of this is the household survey undertaken The greatest advantage of collecting a primary data is that the researcher can collect the
data that are specific to a particular study that will help them with a tailor-made data

5. Analysing the Data: Once the data is collected, the next step is to analyse the collected data using a statistical test Generally, the open-ended
queslions are coded and quantified to make rt easy to measure. Percentage, SWOT, ConJoint analysis, Cross-tabs, Regression, CorrelaUon, etc. are
used lo analyse the quantitative data. Qualitative data analyses are recorded as videos, audios, text documents and as notes. One of the most common
methods used for qualitative data analysis is text analysis where the social life of the respondent is analysed and the words, actions, etc., are decoded
accordingly

6. Preparing Report on Findings: The outcomes and the results of a research project are given as a report. Final report consists of executive summary,
body, tables, graphs, annexure, recommendations, discussion etc It is simply the summary of the information collected and analysed The findings tell
us the difference that exists in the planned research vs the executed research. Due emphasise is to be given and not much of an exaggeration
Discussion is the important part of a research report that explains each obJective of our research with our results.

Therefore, the above discussed are the various process involved in a consumer research and may vary depending on the types of research carried out by a
researcher

1.3.5 Consumer Research Methods and Research questions

1.3.5.1 Consumer Research Methods

As discussed in the research paradigm, there are two types of researches carried out one 1s the quantitative research and the other is qualitative research.
There are many methods under each of these, they are

1. Quantitative Research Methods: Quantitative research consists of two types of research methods, they are

a. Primary Quantitalive Research Method

b. Secondary Quantitative Research Method

a. Primary Quantitative Research Method: The most widely accepted and used method of conduding a market research is the primary
quantitative research method as the researcher colleds data directly than relying on a previous research data There are four types of
primary quantitative research

i Survey Research

ii. Correlational Research

iii. Causal-Comparative Research

1v. Expenmental Research

.
2. Qualitative Research Methods: This research method is intended to understand and perceive the behaviour of the target audience in-depth lo draw out
the inference quite easily There are various types of qualitative research methods like focus group analysis, in-depth interview, ethnographic research,
case study research that are usually used Some of them are discussed below

a. Focus Groups: A focus group is one of the commonly used qualitative research methods for collecting the data. 6-1O members make out a
focus group The number is l1m1ted and is focused as a group and not individuals. The obJective of any focus group is to locate the answers to
the ''why" and "how" questions and is also useful when a new product 1s launched into the market. This 1s an expensive research compared to
the other online sources available.

b. In-depth Interview: Conducting one to one or in-depth interviews is another one of the most used qualitative research methods. It is a
personal and an individual interview that is carried out with one particular respondent at a time. This is solely a conversational method which
makes the interviewer probe from one question and gets in-depth details from the respondent. The biggest advantage is that the emotions
can be personally viewed and can understand the feelings or the requirements of a consumer.

c. Ethnographic Research: This research basically tries to analyse the various culture, motivations, challenges that occur in the natural
environment. The natural settings are experienced by the consumers rather than putting them into an experimental set up It is the most in
depth observation method that last even for a few years and is therefore a lime-consuming method. This method largely depends on the know
how of the researcher as he is the one who analyses, observes and infers the data collected_

d. Case Study Research: This is a new method of qualitative research which is used in the recent years to explain an organisation or an
individual as a whole. This kind of research is mainly used in the field of education and social sciences as it is one of the simple methods that
take a deep dive in understanding and inferring the data collected.

1.3.5.2 Research Questions

A good research question is indispensable to guide the research paper, research project or a thesis. It pinpoints exactly what the researcher wants to find out
and gives the researcher a clear focus and purpose of the research. All research questions must be:

• Focused on a particular problem or issue

• Researchable by primary and/or by using a secondary source of data

• Feasible and realistic that it can be answered within the timeframe

• Relevant to the researcher's field of study

In a research paper or essay, the researcher might write a single research question to guide the researchers reading, ideas and thinking whereas in a bigger
research project, there might be multiple research questions, that are connected to the central research problem.

1.3.6 Conclusion

Consumer Behaviour research is a small portion of market research that helps the marketer understand his consumer in-depth through various research
methods like qualitative and quantitative researches. Quantitative research gives the marketer a number value attached to the research on the other hand a
qualitative research gives a subjective understanding of the research undertaken. A consumer research undergoes a series of steps in exploring the consumer
needs and wants through a number of research questions raised.
I _f Summary

• Consumer research is carried out to collect and evaluate the data with regard to consumer preferences.

• There are two types of environments surrounding an organisation viz., "micro--environmenl"and the "macro-environment"

• Consumer Behaviour research has five approaches to it which includes Economic man approach, Cognitive approach, Behaviouristic approach,
Psychodynamic approach and Humanistic approach.

• Consumer research is a vital element or a part of the big source market research.

• Quantitative research templates are purposeful, detailed, elaborate, and many times, even investigational.

• There are two types of quantitative research methods viz., primary and secondary research methods.

• Qualitative research is a research that focuses on open ended question and is obtained mainly through in-depth understanding or observation of a
consumer.

@Activity

An organisation that conducts an event collected feedback from the event attendees about the value that they see from the event By using an event survey
template, the organisation has collected actionable feedback about satisfaction levels of customers during various phases of the event such as the sales,
pre and post-event, the likelihood of recommending the organisation to their friends and colleagues, hotel preferences for the future events and other such
questions.

1. What is the type of research used here?

2. What do you see are the advantages of this feedback collection through survey technique?

@fJ) Activity Answer Key

1. This is a quantitative research technique used through survey sampling

2. There are many advantages of a survey technique in quantitative research. Some of the major advantages of why researchers use this method in
consumer research are:

• Collect reliable and accurate data

• Quick and easy way of data collection

• Wider scope of data analysis

• Eliminate bias as collected personally