Consumer Behavior Full Notes

MA (Psychology) 1 semester
Unit 1
INTRODUCTION AND CONCEPT
Objectives
• Introduction and concept:-Introduction market strategy and consumer behaviour

• Market Analysis
• Culture
Meaning of consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or

organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services,
experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the
consumer and society. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology
and economics. It attempts to understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both
individually and in groups.
It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural

variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the
consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.
"Consumer behaviour can be defined as the decision-making process and physical activity
involved in acquiring, evaluating, using and disposing of goods and services." This definition
clearly brings out that it is not just the buying of goods/services that receives attention in
consumer behaviour but, the process starts much before the goods have been acquired or
bought.
A process of buying starts in the minds of the consumer, which leads to the finding of
alternatives between products that can be acquired with their relative advantages and
disadvantages. This leads to internal and external research. Then follows a process of
decision-making for purchase and using the goods, and then the post purchase behaviour
which is also very important, because it gives a clue to the marketers whether his product has
been a success or not.
To understand the likes and dislikes of the consumer, extensive consumer research studies are
being conducted. These researches try to find out:
• What the consumer thinks of the company's products and those of its competitors?
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• Flow can the product be improved in their opinion?

• How the customers use the product?
• What is the customer's attitude towards the product and its advertising?
• What is the role of the customer in his family?
Marketing Strategy and Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is a complex, dynamic

multidimensional process, and all marketing decisions are based on assumptions about
Consumer behaviour. Marketing strategy is the game plan which the firms must adhere to, in
order to outdo the competitor or the plans to achieve the desired objective. In formulating the
marketing strategy, to sell the product effectively, cost-benefit analysis must be undertaken.
There can be many benefits of a product, for example, for owning a motor bike one can be
looking for ease of transportation, status, pleasure, comfort and feeling of ownership.
The cost is the amount of money paid for the bike, the cost of maintenance, gasoline, parking,
risk of injury in case of an accident, pollution and frustration such as traffic jams. The
difference between [Ids total benefit and total cost constitutes the customer value. The idea is
to provide superior customer value and this requires the formulation of a mark ding strategy.
The entire process consists of market analysis, which leads to target market selection and
then to the formulation of strategy by juggling the product, price, promotion and distribution,
so that a total product (a set of entire characteristics) is offered.
The total product creates an image in the mind of the consumer, who undergoes a decision
process which leads to the outcome in terms of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, which reflects
on the sales and image of the product or brand.
1. Marketing Strategy and consumer Behaviour Marketing Analysis

a. Consumer
b. Company
c. Competition
d. Condition
2. Marketing Segmentation
a. Identify product related needs

b. Group customers with similar need sets
c. describe each group
d. Service
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3. Marketing Strategy
a. Product
b. Price
c. Distribution
d. Communication
e. Service
4. Consumer Decision Process
a. Problem recognition
b. Information search—internal-external
c. Alternative evaluation
d. Purchase
e. Use
f. Evaluation
5. Outcomes
a. Customer satisfaction
b. Sales
c. Product/Brand image
MARKET ANALYSIS
Market analysis requires an understanding of the 4-Cs which are consumer, conditions,
competitor and the company. A study is undertaken to provide superior customer value,
which is the main objective of the company. For providing better customer value we should
learn the needs of the consumer, the offering of the company, vis-a-vis its competitors and
the environment which is economic, physical, technological, etc.
A consumer is anyone who engages himself in physical activities, of evaluating, acquiring,

using or disposing of goods and services. A customer is out who actually purchases a product
or service from a particular organization or a shop. A customer is always defined in terms of
a specific product or company. However, the term consumer 1st broader term which
emphasizes not only the actual buyer or customer, but also its users i.e. consumers.
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Sometimes a product is purchased by the head of the family and used by the whole family,
i.e. a refrigerator or a car. There are some consumer behaviour roles which are played by
different members of the family.
Role Description
Initiator The person who determines that some need or want is to be met (e.g. a
daughter indicating the need for a colour TV).
Influence The person or persons who intentionally or unintentionally influence the
decision to buy or endorse the view of the initiator
Buyer The person who actually makes a purchase.
User The person or persons who actually use or consume the product.
The Consumer to understand the consumer: researches are made. Sometimes motivational
research becomes handy to bring out hidden attitudes, uncover emotions and feelings. Many
firms send questionnaires to customers to ask about their satisfaction, future needs and ideas
for a new product. On the basis of the answers received changes in the marketing mix is made
and advertising is also streamlined. The External Analysis (Company) The external analysis
may be done by the feedbacks from the industry analyst and by marketing researches. The
internal analysis is made by the firms, financial conditions, the quantum of the sales, force
and other factors within the company.
The study of these factors leads to a better understanding of the consumer and his needs.
1. Geography 7. Incentive level

2. Population 8. Linguistic diversity
3. Urban-Rural 9. Religion
4. Sex 10. Dress, food
5. Age factor 11. Habits and fashion
6. Literacy level
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Marketing strategy
Marketing strategy is defined by David Aakeras a process that can allow an organization to
concentrate its resources on the optimal opportunities with the goals of increasing sales and
achieving a sustainablecompetitive advantage.Marketing strategy includes all basic and long-
term activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial
situation of a company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of marketoriented
strategies and therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives.
Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning ofmarketing plansdesigned to fill

market needs and reachmarketingobjectives.Plans and objectives are generally tested for
measurable results. Commonly, marketing strategies are developed as multi-year plans, with
a tactical plan detailing specific actions to be accomplished in the current year. Time horizons
covered by themarketing planvary by company, by industry, and by nation, however, time
horizons are becoming shorter as the speed of change in the environment increases.Marketing
strategies are dynamic and interactive. They are partially planned and partially unplanned.
Seestrategy dynamics. Marketing strategy needs to take a long term view, and tools such
ascustomer lifetime valuemodels can be very powerful in helping to simulate the effects of
strategy on acquisition, revenue per customer andchurn rate.
Marketing strategy involves careful and precise scanning of the internal and external
environments.Internal environmental factors include themarketing mixandmarketing mix
modeling, plus performance analysis and strategic constraints.External environmental factors
include customer analysis,competitor analysis,target marketanalysis, as well as evaluation of
any elements of the technological, economic, cultural or political/legal environment likely to
impact success. A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line
with a company's overarchingmission statement.
Once a thorough environmental scan is complete, astrategic plancan be constructed to

identify business alternatives, establish challenging goals, determine the optimal marketing
mix to attain these goals, and detail implementation. A final step in developing a marketing
strategy is to create a plan to monitor progress and a set of contingencies if problems arise in
the implementation of the plan.
Marketing Mix Modelingis often used to help determine the optimal marketing budget and
how to allocate across the marketing mix to achieve these strategic goals. Moreover, such
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models can help allocate spend across a portfolio of brands and manage brands to create
value.
Market Research and analysis
Definition: The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market,
about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and
potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending
habits, location and needs of your business's target market, the industry as a whole, and the
particular competitors you faceAccurate and thorough information is the foundation of all
successful business ventures because it provides a wealth of information about prospective
and existing customers, the competition, and the industry in general. It allows business
owners to determine the feasibility of a business before committing substantial resources to
the venture.
Market research provides relevant data to help solve marketing challenges that a business will
most likely face--an integral part of the business planning process. In fact, strategies such as
market segmentation (identifying specific groups within a market) and product differentiation
(creating an identity for a product or service that separates it from those of the competitors)
are impossible to develop without market research.
Market research involves two types of data:
• Primary information.This is research you compile yourself or hire someone to

gather for you.
• Secondary information.This type of research is already compiled and organized for
you. Examples of secondary information include reports and studies by government
agencies, trade associations or other businesses within your industry. Most of the
research you gather will most likely be secondary.
When conducting primary research, you can gather two basic types of information:
exploratory or specific. Exploratory research is open-ended, helps you define a specific
problem, and usually involves detailed, unstructured interviews in which lengthy answers are
solicited from a small group of respondents. Specific research, on the other hand, is precise in
scope and is used to solve a problem that exploratory research has identified. Interviews are
structured and formal in approach. Of the two, specific research is the more expensive.
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When conducting primary research using your own resources, first decide how you'll
question your targeted group: by direct mail, telephone, or personal interviews.
If you choose a direct-mail questionnaire, the following guidelines will increase your
response rate:
• Questions that are short and to the point

• A questionnaire that is addressed to specific individuals and is of interest to the
respondent
• A questionnaire of not more than two pages
• A professionally-prepared cover letter that adequately explains why you're doing this
questionnaire
• A postage-paid, self-addressed envelope to return the questionnaire in. Postage-paid
envelopes are available from the post office
• An incentive, such as "10 percent off your next purchase," to complete the
questionnaire
Even following these guidelines, mail response is typically low. A return rate of 3 percent is
typical; 5 percent is considered very good. Phone surveys are generally the most
costeffective. Here are some telephone survey guidelines:
• Have a script and memorize it--don't read it.

• Confirm the name of the respondent at the beginning of the conversation.
• Avoid pauses because respondent interest can quickly drop.
• Ask if a follow-up call is possible in case you require additional information.
In addition to being cost-effective, speed is another advantage of telephone interviews. A rate

of five or six interviews per hour is typical, but experienced interviewers may be able to
conduct more. Phone interviews also can cover a wide geographic range relatively
inexpensively. Phone costs can be reduced by taking advantage of less expensive rates during
certain hours.
One of the most effective forms of marketing research is the personal interview. They can be
either of these types:
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• A group survey.Used mostly by big business, group interviews or focus groups are
useful brainstorming tools for getting information on product ideas, buying
preferences, and purchasing decisions among certain populations.
• The in-depth interview.These one-on-one interviews are either focused or
nondirective. Focused interviews are based on questions selected ahead of time, while
nondirective interviews encourage respondents to address certain topics with minimal
questioning.
Secondary research uses outside information assembled by government agencies, industry

and trade associations, labor unions, media sources, chambers of commerce, and so on. It's
usually published in pamphlets, newsletters, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers.
Secondary sources include the following:
• Public sources.These are usually free, often offer a lot of good information, and
include government departments, business departments of public libraries, and so on.
• Commercial sources.These are valuable, but usually involve cost factors such as
subscription and association fees. Commercial sources include research and trade
associations, such as Dun & Bradstreet and Robert Morris & Associates, banks and
other financial institutions, and publicly traded corporations.
• Educational institutions.These are frequently overlooked as valuable information
sources even though more research is conducted in colleges, universities, and
technical institutes than virtually any sector of the business community.
The Importance of a Market Analysis
The importance of a good market analysis in your area cannot be over emphasized, and
whether you’re a large corporation or a small firm, understanding your market will help
identify many different factors that can have an impact on your business or clients.
Economy Overview.A good market analysis will have an economy overview, which is very
helpful in understanding where your current market is and where it is going. My analysis
focuses on five-year trends, which can tell me if a specific industry is growing or not. This
can be important in identifying industries in your business development that you can
capitalize on. It is also helpful in establishing parallels in which one industry may suffer but,
because of the paralleled verticals, you can focus your candidates in another direction.
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Shift Share Analysis.Shift share analysis, or regional competitiveness, isolates growth

(projected to occur over the next 10 years) that can be attributed to regional causes rather than
simply to national economic or industry trends. In my case, this is especially important in
Hawaii due to our specific region. Local knowledge should be employed to discover why
these industries in your market analysis are outperforming national trends and thus reveal the
region’s competitive advantages. A very good report will give you these specific details in
presentation-ready graphs, bars, tables, and maps.
Strategic Advantage.Providing your company or a client with a detailed report gives a

strategic advantage with information and demographic analyses that can be used to analyze
the regional economy and workforce. In my case, having a tool like the market analysis
provides that advantage. Knowing the impact of businesses entering, leaving, growing, or
shrinking in a region can be valuable not only to your success but that of your clients. I
recommend taking a look at a sample of these reports so you can gauge how it will be helpful
in your particular situation. The ability to understand current and future trends in a regional
economy is more important than ever to both add value to your knowledge as a recruiter or
consultant as well as to provide leverage in your area of business development.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF INDIAN CONSUMER
The Competition In the analysis of the market, a study of the strengths and weaknesses of the
competitors, their strategies, their anticipated moves and their reaction to the company’s
moves and plans is to be made. The company after getting this information reacts accordingly
and changes its marketing mix and the offering is made in a manner which can out do the
competitor. 'This is a very difficult process and it is easier said than done. To have correct
information about the competitors and to anticipate their further moves is the job of the
researcher.
The Conditions
The auditions under which the firms are operating have also to be seriously considered. The
factors to be studied are the economy, the physical environment, the government regulations,
the technological developments, etc. 'These effect the consumer needs, i.e. the deterioration
of the environment and its pollution may lead to the use and innovation of safer products.
People are health conscious and are concerned with their safety. Hence, in this case, safer
products have a better chance with the consumer. In case of recession the flow of money is
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restricted greatly. This leads to the formulation of different marketing strategies. Market
Segmentation The market divided into segments which are a portion of a larger market whose
needs are similar and, they are homogenous in themselves. Such segments are identified with
similar needs.
Need Set By need set, it is meant that there are products which satisfy more than one need.
An automobile can fill the transportation needs, Status need, fun needs or time saving needs.
So the company tries to identify the need sets which its product can fulfill. Then we try to
identify the groups who have similar needs. i.e., some people need economical cars, others
may go or luxury cars. Demographic mid Psychographic Characteristics These groups are
identified and they are described in terms of their demographic and Psychographic
characteristics. The company finds out how and when the product is purchased and
consumed. Target Segment After all the above preliminary work is done, the target customer
group known as the target segment is chosen, keeping in mind how the company can provide
superior customer value at a profit.
The segment which can best be served with the company's capabilities at a profit is chosen. It
has to be kept in mind that different target segments require different it marketing strategies
and, with the change in the environmental conditions the market mix has to be adjusted
accordingly.
Consumer Decision Process
The decision-making process consists of a series of steps which the consumer undergoes.
First of all, the decision is made to solve a problem of any kind. This may be the problem of
creating a cool atmosphere in your home. For this, information search is carried out, too find
how the cool atmosphere can be provided, e.g. by an air-conditioner or, by a water-cooler.
This leads to the evaluation of alternatives and a cost benefit analysis is made to decide which
product and brand image will be suitable, and can take care of the problem suitably and
adequately. Thereafter the purchase is made and the product is used by the consumer. The
constant use of the product leads to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the consumer, which
leads to repeat purchases, or to the rejection of die product.
The marketing, strategy is successful if consumers can see a need which a company's product
can solve and, offers the best solution to the problem. For a successful strategy the marketer
must lay emphasis on the product/brand image in the consumer’s mind. Position the product
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according to the customers, likes and dislikes. The brand which matches the desired image of
a target market sells well. Sales are important and sales are likely to occur if the initial
consumer analysis was correct and matches the consumer decision process. Satisfaction of
the consumer, after the sales have been affected, is important for repeat purchase. It is more
profitable to retain existing customers, rather than looking for new ones. The figure below
gives an idea of the above discussion
STAGES IN CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
An individual who purchases products and services from the market for his/her own personal
consumption is called as consumer.
To understand the complete process of consumer decision making, let us first go through the
following example:
Tim went to a nearby retail store to buy a laptop for himself. The store manager showed him
all the latest models and after few rounds of negotiations, Tim immediately selected one for
himself.
In the above example Tim is the consumer and the laptop is the product which Tim wanted to
purchase for his end-use.
Why do you think Tim went to the nearby store to purchase a new laptop ?
The answer is very simple. Tim needed a laptop. In other words it was actually Tim’s need to
buy a laptop which took him to the store.
The Need to buy a laptop can be due to any of the following reasons:
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▪ His old laptop was giving him problems.

▪ He wanted a new laptop to check his personal mails at home.
▪ He wanted to gift a new laptop to his wife.
▪ He needed a new laptop to start his own business.
The store manager showed Tim all the samples available with him and explained him the
features and specifications of each model. This is called information. Tim before buying the
laptop checked few other options as well. The information can come from various other
sources such as newspaper, websites, magazines, advertisements, billboards etc.
This explains the consumer buying decision process.
A consumer goes through several stages before purchasing a product or service.
NEED
↓
INFORMATION GATHERING/SEARCH
↓
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES
↓
PURCHASE OF PRODUCT/SERVICE
↓
POST PURCHASE EVALUATION ?
1. Step 1 - Need is the most important factor which leads to buying of products and
services. Need infact is the catalyst which triggers the buying decision of individuals.
An individual who buys cold drink or a bottle of mineral water identifies his/her need
as thirst. However in such cases steps such as information search and evaluation of
alternatives are generally missing. These two steps are important when an individual
purchases expensive products/services such as laptop, cars, mobile phones and so on.
2. Step 2 - When an individual recognizes his need for a particular product/service he

tries to gather as much information as he can.
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An individual can acquire information through any of the following sources:
▪ Personal Sources - He might discuss his need with his friends, family
members, co workers and other acquaintances.
▪ Commercial sources - Advertisements, sales people (in Tim’s case it was the
store manager), Packaging of a particular product in many cases prompt
individuals to buy the same, Displays (Props, Mannequins etc)
▪ Public sources - Newspaper, Radio, Magazine
▪ Experiential sources - Individual’s own experience, prior handling of a
particular product (Tim would definitely purchase a Dell laptop again if he had
already used one)
3. Step 3 - The next step is to evaluate the various alternatives available in the market.
An individual after gathering relevant information tries to choose the best option
available as per his need, taste and pocket.
4. Step 4 - After going through all the above stages, customer finally purchases the
product.
5. Step 5 - The purchase of the product is followed by post purchase evaluation. Post
purchase evaluation refers to a customer’s analysis whether the product was useful to
him or not, whether the product fulfilled his need or not?
MEANING OF CULTURE
Sometimes an individual is described as ―a highly cultured person‖, meaning thereby that the
person in question has certain features such as his speech, manner, and taste for literature, music
or painting which distinguish him from others. Culture, in this sense, refers to certain personal
characteristics of a individual. However, this is not the sense in which the word culture is used
and understood in social sciences.
Sometimes culture is used in popular discourse to refer to a celebration or an evening of

entertainment, as when one speaks of a ‗cultural show‘. In this sense, culture is identified with
aesthetics or the fine arts such as dance, music or drama. This is also different from the technical
meaning of the word culture.
Culture is used in a special sense in anthropology and sociology. It refers to the sum of human
beings‘ life ways, their behaviour, beliefs, feelings, thought; it connotes everything that is
acquired by them as social beings.
Culture has been defined in number of ways. There is no consensus among sociologists and
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anthropologists regarding the definition of culture. One of the most comprehensive definitions of
the term culture was provided by the British anthropologist Edward Tylor. He defined culture as
‖ that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society‖.
There are some writers who add to this definitions some of the important‖ other capabilities and
habits‖ such as language and the techniques for making and using tools. Culture consists of all
learned, normative behaviour patterns – that is all shared ways or patterns of thinking and feeling
as well as doing.Some of the thinkers include in culture only the nonmaterial parts. For instance,
Sutherland and Wood word say, ―If culture exists only where there is communication then
the content of culture can be ideas or symbol patterns. Culture is then an immaterial phenomenon
only, a matter of thoughts and meanings and habits and not of visible and touchable material
things or objects‖.
The ―material elements that are made and used in accordance with socially inherited
tradition‖ should be called culture objects. Others include in culture all the major social
components that bind men together in society. For instance, the British anthropologist
Malinowski included ‗inherited, artifacts, implements and consumer goods‘ and ‗social
structure‘ within his definition of culture.
It is, Cooley, Argell and Car say, ―The entire accumulation of artificial objects, conditions,
tools, techniques, ideas, symbols and behaviour patterns peculiar to a group of people,
possessing a certain consistency of its own, and capable of transmission from one generation to
another.‖
Some of the other important definitions of culture are as follows. ―Culture is the expression of
our nature in our modes of living and our thinking. Intercourse in our literature, in religion, in
recreation and enjoyment, says Maclver.
According to E.A. Hoebel, ―Culture is the sum total of integrated learned behaviour patterns
which are characteristics of the members of a society and which are therefore not the result of
biological inheritance.‖
―Culture is the complex whole that consists of everything we think and do and have as
members of society‖, says Bierstedt.
―Culture is the total content of the physio-social, bio-social and psycho-social universe man has
produced and the socially created mechanisms through which these social product operate‖,
according to Anderson and Parker.
Mlinowlski defines culture‖ as the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves
his ends.‖
According to H.T. Mazumadar, ―Culture is the sum total of human achievements, material as
well as non-material, capable of transmission, sociologically, i.e., by tradition and
communication, vertically as well as horizontally‖.
Combining several of these definitions, we may define culture as the sum-total of human
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achievements or the total heritage of man which can be transmitted to men by communication
and tradition. It is a way of life of the people in a certain geographical area. Life style and social
pattern of a society being the direct consequence of the accumulated heritage of ages past
distinguish and differentiate one community from another.
Culture therefore, is moral, intellectual and spiritual discipline for advancement, in accordance
with the norms and values based on accumulated heritage. It is imbibing and making our own,
the life style and social pattern of the group one belongs to. Culture is a system of learned
behaviour shared by and transmitted among the members of the group.
Culture is a collective heritage learned by individuals and passed from one generation to another.
The individual receives culture as part of social heritage and in turn, may reshape the culture and
introduce changes which then become part of the heritage of succeeding generations.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Learned Behaviour: Not all behaviour is learned, but most of it is learned; combing one‘s
hair, standing in line, telling jokes, criticizing the President and going to the movie, all
constitute behaviours which had to be learned.
Sometimes the terms conscious learning and unconscious learning are used to distinguish the
learning. For example, the ways in which a small child learns to handle a tyrannical father or a
rejecting mother often affect the ways in which that child, ten or fifteen years later, handles his
relationships with other people. Some behaviour is obvious. People can be seen going to football
games, eating with forks, or driving automobiles. Such behaviour is called ―overt‖ behaviour.
Other behaviour is less visible. Such activities as planning tomorrow‘s work (or) feeling hatred
for an enemy, are behaviours too. This sort of behaviour, which is not openly visible to other
people, is called Covert behaviour. Both may be, of course, learned.
2. Culture is Abstract: Culture exists in the minds or habits of the members of society. Culture
is the shared ways of doing and thinking. There are degrees of visibility of cultural behaviour,
ranging from the regularized activities of persons to their internal reasons for so doing. In other
words, we cannot see culture as such we can only see human behaviour. This behaviour occurs
in regular, patterned fashion and it is called culture.
3. Culture is a Pattern of Learned Behaviour: The definition of culture indicated that the
learned behaviour of people is patterned. Each person‘s behaviour often depends upon some
particular behaviour of someone else. The point is that, as a general rule, behaviours are
somewhat integrated or organized with related behaviours of other persons.
4. Culture is the Products of Behaviour: Culture learnings are the products of behaviour. As the
person behaves, there occur changes in him. He acquires the ability to swim, to feel hatred
toward someone, or to sympathize with someone. They have grown out of his previous
behaviours.
In both ways, then, human behaviour is the result of behaviour. The experience of other people
are impressed on one as he grows up, and also many of his traits and abilities have grown out of
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his own past behaviours.
5. Culture includes Attitudes, Values Knowledge: There is widespread error in the thinking of
many people who tend to regard the ideas, attitudes, and notions which they have as ―their
own‖. It is easy to overestimate the uniqueness of one‘s own attitudes and ideas. When there is
agreement with other people it is largely unnoticed, but when there is a disagreement or
difference one is usually conscious of it. Your differences however, may also be cultural. For
example, suppose you are a Catholic and the other person a Protestant.
6. Culture also includes Material Objects: Man‘s behaviour results in creating objects. Men
were behaving when they made these things. To make these objects required numerous and
various skills which human beings gradually built up through the ages. Man has invented
something else and so on. Occasionally one encounters the view that man does not really
―make‖ steel or a battleship. All these things first existed in a ―state nature‖.
Man merely modified their form, changed them from a state in which they were to the state in
which he now uses them. The chair was first a tree which man surely did not make. But the chair
is more than trees and the jet airplane is more than iron ore and so forth.
7. Culture is shared by the Members of Society: The patterns of learned behaviour and the
results of behaviour are possessed not by one or a few person, but usually by a large proportion.
Thus, many millions of persons share such behaviour patterns as Christianity, the use of
automobiles, or the English language.
Persons may share some part of a culture unequally. For example, as Americans do the Christian
religion. To some persons Christianity is the all-important, predominating idea in life. To others
it is less preoccupying/important, and to still others it is of marginal significance only.
Sometimes the people share different aspects of culture. For example, among the Christians,
there are – Catholic and Protestant, liberal or conservation, as clergymen or as laymen. The point
to our discussion is not that culture or any part of it is shred identically, but that it is shared by
the members of society to a sufficient extent.
8. Culture is Super-organic: Culture is sometimes called super organic. It implies that

―culture‖ is somehow superior to ―nature‖. The word super-organic is useful when it implies that
what may be quite a different phenomenon from a cultural point of view.
For example, a tree means different things to the botanist who studies it, the old woman who
uses it for shade in the late summer afternoon, the farmer who picks its fruit, the motorist who
collides with it and the young lovers who carve their initials in its trunk. The same physical
objects and physical characteristics, in other words, may constitute a variety of quite different
cultural objects and cultural characteristics.
9. Culture is Pervasive: Culture is pervasive it touches every aspect of life. The pervasiveness of
culture is manifest in two ways. First, culture provides an unquestioned context within which
individual action and response take place. Not only emotional action but relational actions are
governed by cultural norms. Second, culture pervades social activities and institutions.
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According to Ruth Benedict, ―A culture, like an individual is a more or less consistent pattern of
thought and action. With each culture there come into being characteristic purposes not
necessarily shared by other types of society. In obedience to these purposes, each person further
consolidates its experience and in proportion to the urgency of these drives the heterogeneous
items of behaviour; take more and more congruous shape‖.
10. Culture is a way of Life: Culture means simply the ―way of life‖ of a people or their
―design for living.‖ Kluckhohn and Kelly define it in his sense,‖ A culture is a historically
derived system of explicit and implicit designs for living, which tends to be shared by all or
specially designed members of a group.‖
Explicit culture refers to similarities in word and action which can be directly observed. For
example, the adolescent cultural behaviour can be generalized from regularities in dress,
mannerism and conversation. Implicit culture exists in abstract forms which are not quite
obvious.
11. Culture is a human Product: Culture is not a force, operating by itself and independent of the
human actors. There is an unconscious tendency to defy culture, to endow it with life and treat it
as a thing. Culture is a creation of society in interaction and depends for its existence upon the
continuance of society. In a strict sense, therefore, culture does not ‗do‘ anything on its own. It
does not cause the individual to act in a particular way, nor does it ‗make‘ the normal individual
into a maladjusted one. Culture, in short, is a human product; it is not independently endowed
with life.
12. Culture is Idealistic: Culture embodies the ideas and norms of a group. It is sum-total of the
ideal patterns and norms of behaviour of a group. Culture consists of the intellectual, artistic
and social ideals and institutions which the members of the society profess and to which they
strive to confirm.
13. Culture is transmitted among members of Society: The cultural ways are learned by persons
from persons. Many of them are ―handed down‖ by one‘s elders, by parents, teachers,
and others [of a somewhat older generation]. Other cultural behaviours are ―handed up‖ to
elders. Some of the transmission of culture is among contemporaries.
For example, the styles of dress, political views, and the use of recent labour saving devices. One
does not acquire a behaviour pattern spontaneously. He learns it. That means that someone
teaches him and he learns. Much of the learning process both for the teacher and the learner is
quite unconscious, unintentional, or accidental.
14. Culture is Continually Changing: There is one fundamental and inescapable attribute
(special quality) of culture, the fact of unending change. Some societies at sometimes change
slowly, and hence in comparison to other societies seem not to be changing at all. But they are
changing, even though not obviously so.
15. Culture is Variable: Culture varies from society to society, group to group. Hence, we say
culture of India or England. Further culture varies from group to group within the same society.
There are subcultures within a culture. Cluster of patterns which are both related to general
culture of the society and yet distinguishable from it are called subcultures.
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16. Culture is an integrated system: Culture possesses an order and system. Its various parts are
integrated with each other and any new element which is introduced is also integrated.
17. Language is the Chief Vehicle of Culture: Man lives not only in the present but also in the
past and future. He is able to do this because he possesses language which transmits to him what
was learned in the past and enables him to transmit the accumulated wisdom to the next
generation. A specialised language pattern serves as a common bond to the members of a
particular group or subculture. Although culture is transmitted in a variety of ways, language is
one of the most important vehicles for perpetuating cultural patterns.
To conclude culture is everything which is socially learned and shared by the members of a
society. It is culture that, in the wide focus of the world, distinguishes individual from individual,
group from group and society.
FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
Among all groups of people we find widely shared beliefs, norms, values and preferences. Since
culture seems to be universal human phenomenon, it occurs naturally to wonder whether culture
corresponds to any universal human needs. This curiosity raises the question of the functions of
culture. Social scientists have discussed various functions of culture. Culture has certain
functions for both individual and society.
Following are some of the important functions of culture:
1. Culture Defines Situations: Each culture has many subtle cues which define each situation. It
reveals whether one should prepare to fight, run, laugh or make love. For example, suppose
someone approaches you with right hand outstretched at waist level. What does this mean? That
he wishes to shake hands in friendly greeting is perfectly obvious – obvious, that is to anyone
familiar with our culture.
But in another place or time the outstretched hand might mean hostility or warning. One does not
know what to do in a situation until he has defined the situation. Each society has its insults and
fighting words. The cues (hints) which define situations appear in infinite variety. A person who
moves from one society into another will spend many years misreading the cues. For example,
laughing at the wrong places.
2. Culture defines Attitudes, Values and Goals: Each person learns in his culture what is good,
true, and beautiful. Attitudes, values and goals are defined by the culture. While the individual
normally learns them as unconsciously as he learns the language. Attitude are tendencies to feel
and act in certain ways. Values are measures of goodness or desirability, for example, we value
private property, (representative) Government and many other things and experience.
Goals are those attainments which our values define as worthy, (e.g.) winning the race, gaining
the affections of a particular girl, or becoming president of the firm. By approving certain goals
and ridiculing others, the culture channels individual ambitions. In these ways culture determines
the goals of life.
3. Culture defines Myths, Legends, and the Supernatural: Myths and legends are important part
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of every culture. They may inspire, reinforce effort and sacrifice and bring comfort in
bereavement. Whether they are true is sociologically unimportant. Ghosts are real to people
who believe in them and who act upon this belief. We cannot understand the behaviour of any
group without knowing something of the myths, legends, and supernatural beliefs they hold.
Myths and legends are powerful forces in a group‘s behaviour.
Culture also provides the individual with a ready-made view of the universe. The nature of
divine power and the important moral issues are defined by the culture. The individual does
not have to select, but is trained in a Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or some other religious
tradition. This tradition gives answers for the major (things imponderable) of life, and fortuities
the individual to meet life‘s crises.
4. Culture provides Behaviour Patterns: The individual need not go through painful trial and
error learning to know what foods can be eaten (without poisoning himself), or how to live
among people without fear. He finds a ready-made set of patterns awaiting him which he needs
only to learn and follow. The culture maps out the path to matrimony. The individual does not
have to wonder how one secures a mate; he knows the procedure defined by his culture.
If men use culture to advance their purposes, it seems clear also that a culture imposes limits on
human and activities. The need for order calls forth another function of culture that of so
directing behaviour that disorderly behaviour is restricted and orderly behaviour is promoted. A
society without rules or norms to define right and wrong behaviour would be very much like a
heavily travelled street without traffic signs or any understood rules for meeting and passing
vehicles. Chaos would be the result in either case.
Social order cannot rest on the assumption that men will spontaneously behave in ways
conducive to social harmony.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
The relationship between society, culture and personality is stressed by Ralph Linton: ―A
society is organised group of individuals. A culture is an organised group of learned responses.
The individual is living organism capable of independent thought, feeling and action, but with
his independence limited and all his resources profoundly modified by contact with the society
and culture in which he develops.
A society cannot exist apart from culture. A Society is always made of persons and their
groupings. People carry and transmit culture, but they are not culture. No culture can exists
except as it is embodied in a society of man; no society can operate without, cultural directives.
Like matter and energy, like mind and body, they are interdependent and interacting yet express
different aspects of the human situation.
One must always keep in mind the interdependence and the reciprocal relationship between
culture and society. Each is distinguishable concept in which the patterning and organisation of
the whole is more important than any of the component parts.
CROSS CULTURE ANALYSIS:
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As a result of rapid advancement and all-round development, we find ourselves exposed to
people from various cultures. There has been a great deal of opening up, and the society has been
impacted on all fronts, be it social, economic, cultural or technological. The cultural fabric has
undergone a transformation and we see changes in our values and beliefs, customs and traditions,
etc. As consumers also, we have been exposed to other cultures. We have inculcated/adopted
values and beliefs, perspectives and orientations that are much different to
What existed earlier? The past decade particularly, has seen changes with respect to what we eat,
what we wear and how we behave. All this has impacted our buying patterns and consumption
behavior. There have been changes in demand with respect to our food and diet, clothing and
lifestyles, etc.
It is important for a marketer to give consideration to three major issues;
• How do consumers in one culture get exposed to good/services being used by people of
other cultures?
• How should a marketer design/adapt his 4Ps so as to be accepted by people influenced
by newer cultures (if he is serving in the home market only);
• How should a marketer design/adapt his 4Ps so as to accept by people of other cultures
(in foreign markets);
Generally speaking, as consumers we are exposed to foreign cultures either i. Through ones‘
own initiatives; or ii. Through the marketer‘s efforts.
Ultimately both these means of exposure lead to cultural transfer and amalgamation.
• People get exposed and gradually influenced to newer cultures when they travel abroad
for leisure; or live abroad while on foreign assignments; or work with people of foreign
cultures while in their native country. They also get exposed through media, i.e. through
books and magazines, movies and films, drama and theater, etc.
• Consumers also get influenced through marketer‘s efforts, who foresee potential and
expand their markets by launching their products and services into newer geographical
segments (often across national borders). They go in for promotional measures that lead
to awareness and develop consumer interest for trial and adoption of newer products and
services.
• The marketer needs to go in for a study of the socio-cultural fabric of the respective
country where he intends to enter and serve. He needs to have an understanding of the
consumption pattern and the consumption behavior across people from different
cultures. He needs to assess the needs and wants as well as priorities and orientations of
the people that he desires to serve.
• Schiff man defines cross cultural consumer analysis as ―the effort to determine to
what extent the consumers of two or more nations are similar or different.‖ The marketer
must understand how consumers in targeted countries are similar and dissimilar from
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each other. It is important for a marketer to have this understanding as it helps him
assess the social and cultural similarities and dissimilarities so that he can design
appropriate marketing programs and strategies for such segment.
GLOBALIZATION VS. CROSS-CULTURALIZATION
In an article discussing the importance of understanding cross-cultural marketing issues Robert

Guang Tian, Ph. D, makes an important point: that our first step in crosscultural marketing is to
recognize that no one culture is superior to any other. He says very elegantly,
―It is important for the marketers know that there is no room for ethnocentrism in the 21st
Century marketing practice.‖
For many Western, and especially North American companies, that is in an important lesson to
learn.
―Globalization is an inevitable process in the 21st Century, and so is the cross-culturalization. On

the one hand, the world is becoming more homogeneous, and distinctions between national
markets are not only fading but, for some products, will disappear altogether. This means that
marketing is now a world-encompassing discipline.
However, on the other hand, the differences among nations, regions, and ethnic groups in terms
of cultural factors are far from distinguishing but become more obvious.‖
Respecting the differences
Marketers will want to know how to translate an understanding of cultural differences into
effective cross-cultural marketing strategies – turning them into a direct plan of action. How will
the deliverables differ from country to country? How must a web site‘s design differ? How does
the ―digital divide‖ affect a marketing roll-out plan from country to country?
Two theories about cultural differences often referenced are those drawn from the models of
Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall. These theories are nearly three decades old, but their
categories for considering differences are still valid. They discuss cultural differences within the
framework of ―Uncertainty Avoidance,‖ Individualism vs. Collectivism and ―lowcontext‖ vs.
―high-context‖ communication.
Several researchers have demonstrated how cultures with low ―uncertainty avoidance‖ are
more open to innovations like the Internet as a new medium of communication; that is, they tend
to be early adopters with a high diffusion rate. In a research paper, Marc Hermeking from the
Institute für Interkulturelle Kommunikation Ludwig-Maximilians-Universtaet Muenchen,
describes the cultural differences of media consumption and internet usage, as well as cultural
preferences for web site design considerations.
Two interesting conclusions from this paper‘s theories, which might provide some ―take
away‖ ideas for marketers, include:
• Cultures are not converging. The prediction of a convergence of culturally different markets
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into a ―one-world‖ culture that would facilitate standardization of global marketing activities
has turned out to be an illusion. ―Too many non-cultural hard factors and cultural soft factors
still exist or arise as constraints on international marketing that have to be dealt with
continuously, utilizing various strategies of adaptation or localization,‖ Hermeking says.
• People prefer local brands. Keep in mind that for many products, and what becomes
increasingly more apparent on the internet, there is a ―not-invented-here-syndrome‖ or
―country-of-origin‖ effect. Typically, this means products or services from the home country
garner a more positive image than those from foreign countries. As a result, many smart
marketers localize their products, and web sites, as much as possible and advertise them as if
they were local brands.
DEFINITION
So, then, what would we say is the definition of cross-cultural marketing?
Cross-cultural marketing is international marketing on a personal level. It means considering

cultural differences when planning marketing campaigns and media; realizing the need for a
balance between localization and globalization; and most importantly, implementing strategies
that respect differences while seeking to unify brand messages.
RELEVANCE OF CULTURE FOR A MARKETER:
A study of culture, sub-culture and cross culture holds great relevance for a marketer.
A study of culture is inclusive of language, customs and traditions, norms and laws, religion, art
and music, etc. It also includes the interests of people, their lifestyles and orientations, and their
attitudes towards general and specific issues. An understanding of culture helps the marketer in
designing a strategy that would address and appeal to people of a particular culture. It would help
him to design his 4Ps in an efficient and effective manner.
The relevance of a study of culture and cross culture is discussed as follows The culture of a
society has a bearing on buying patterns and consumption behavior. The kinds of products and
services and/or brands that consumers‘ buy and use, are all based on their cultures and sub-
cultures. Through a study of culture, the marketer would get to know about the viability of target
segment, and also about how quickly the product/service offering would be diffused and adopted
by people.
Marketers must also be conscious of newly developed and embraced values, customs and
traditions, so as to be able to take advantage of the situation.
Subcultures are relevant units of analysis for market research. A sub-cultural analysis helps a
marketer identify distinct segments that are ―natural‖, sizable and easy to cater to.
Every component of culture should be carefully studied and a marketing program designed
accordingly; Product names or brands should not have double meanings; they should not be
insensitive in any manner; they should be distinct, easy to remember, recall and pronounce.
While deciding on positioning and communication, marketer must be sensitive to culture, and
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particularly, cross-culture; the colors, language and symbols, should all be kept in mind.
The analysis of the culture, sub-culture and cross-culture helps profile consumers into segments
that a marketer could take advantage off through formulation of an appropriate
marketing strategy. The marketer could choose from two options, viz., either decide on a
standardized global strategy or go in for a localized customized strategy.
MNC‘s who desire to enter foreign markets should carefully study and understand the cultures of
such countries; they need to go through an elaborate process of acculturation so that they can
understand the inhabitants of such cultures and their needs.
It is crucial that a marketer has a proper understanding of the social and cultural similarities and
dissimilarities across cultures so that he can design appropriate marketing programs and
strategies for such segment(s).
The marketer must make sure that the product or service offering appeals to the needs and wants
of people from foreign cultures. He must make sure that he keeps in mind local customs and
traditions while formulating the strategy.
Marketers must make sure that they employ local (foreign) people for sales and marketing in
foreign cultures. They should avoid sending their own people as the latter would take time to be
acculturated.
Especially with reference to international marketing, marketers must make sure that they modify
their product and service offerings so as to meet local cultures, and gain easy and quick
acceptance in the foreign country; design a communication /promotion programme where the
message content, language etc. is consistent with those of the segment; adjust the prices and
payment terms and conditions to meet local expense and consumption patterns; adapt their
distribution policies, including retailing to adjust with what the target segment in foreign cultures
is used to.
Marketers must give due consideration to three major issues
i) How do consumers in one culture get exposed to good/services being used by people
of other cultures?
ii) How should a marketer design/adapt his 4Ps so as to be accepted by people
influenced by newer cultures (if he is serving in the home market only);
iii) How should a marketer design/adapt his 4Ps so as to accepted by people of other
cultures (in foreign markets).
When customers across two or more countries are similar, the marketer can afford to have a
similar marketing program; in case they are different, he would have to adapt his 4Ps and design
a separate individualized marketing strategy for the foreign country.
UNIT-2
MOTIVATION
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Motivation is the driving force that causes the flux from desire to will in life. For example,
hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire to eat. Motivation has been shown to have roots in
physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social areas. Motivation may be rooted in a basic
impulse to optimize well-being, minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure. It can also
originate from specific physical needs such as eating, sleeping or resting, and sex. Motivation
is an inner drive to behave or act in a certain manner. These inner conditions such as wishes,
desires and goals, activate to move in a particular direction in behavior.
NEEDS
Needs are the essence of the marketing concept. Marketers do not create needs but can make
consumers aware of needs. A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy
life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative
outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food and
water, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a
societal level, needs are sometimes controversial, such as the need for a nationalized health care
system. Understanding needs and wants is an issue in the fields of politics, social science, and
philosophy.
TYPES OF NEEDS Innate Needs: Physiological (or biogenic) needs that are considered primary
needs or motives.
Acquired Needs: Learned in response to our culture or environment. Are generally psychological
and considered secondary needs
GOALS
A goal or objective is a projected state of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to
achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. It
is the sought-after results of motivated behavior.
Types of goals: Generic goals: are general categories of goals that consumers see as a way to
fulfill their needs.
Product-specific goals: Are specifically branded products or services that consumers select as
their goals
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MOTIVATION:
Positive motivation is a response which includes enjoyment and optimism about the tasks that
you are involved in. Positive motivation induces people to do work in the best possible manner
and to improve their performance. Under this better facilities and rewards are provided for their
better performance. Such rewards and facilities may be financial and nonfinancial.
Negative motivation aims at controlling the negative efforts of the work and seeks to create a
sense of fear for the worker, which he has to suffer for lack of good performance. It is based on
the concept that if a worker fails in achieving the desired results, he should be punished. Negative
motivation involves undertaking tasks because there will be undesirable outcomes,
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e.g. Failing a subject, if tasks are not completed. Almost all students will experience positive and
negative motivation, as well as loss of motivation, at different times during their life at
University. Both positive and negative motivation aim at inspiring the will of the people to work
but they differ in their approaches. Whereas one approaches the people to work in the
best possible manner providing better monetary and non-monetary incentives, the other tries to
induce the man by cutting their wages and other facilities and amenities on the belief that man
works out of fear.
Rational versus Emotional Motives Rationality implies that consumers select goals based on
totally objective criteria such as size, weight, price, or miles per gallon. A conscious, logical
reason for a purchase. A motive that can be defended by reasoning or logical argument
Emotional motives imply the selection of goals according to personal or subjective criteria. A
feeling experienced by a customer through association with a product.
The Dynamic Nature of Motivation 1. Needs are never fully satisfied 2. New needs emerge as
old needs are satisfied 3. People who achieve their goals set new and higher goals for themselves
Model of the Motivation Process The motivational process is the steps that you take to get
motivated. It is a process, that when followed produces incredible results. It is amazing what you
can do if you are properly motivated, and getting properly motivated is a matter of following the
motivational process. Like any other process it takes a little work and foresight and planning on
your part. However, the return on your investment of time is significant, and it is important when
needing extra motivation that you apply the motivational process.
In the initiation a person starts feeling lacknesses. There is an arousal of need so urgent, that the
bearer has to venture in search to satisfy it. This leads to creation of tension, which urges the
person to forget everything else and cater to the aroused need first. This tension also creates
drives and attitudes regarding the type of satisfaction that is desired. This leads a person to
venture into the search of information. This ultimately leads to evaluation of alternatives where
the best alternative is chosen. After choosing the alternative, an action is taken. Because of the
performance of the activity satisfaction is achieved which than relieves the tension in the
individual.
Arousal of Motives
• The arousal of any particular set of needs at a specific moment in time may be caused by
internal stimuli found in the individual‘s physiological condition, by emotional or
cognitive processes or by stimuli in outside environment. • Physiological arousal •
Emotional arousal • Cognitive arousal • Environmental arousal
1. Physiological Arousal - Bodily needs at any one specific moment in time are based on the
individual physiological condition at the moment. Example, A drop in blood sugar level or
stomach contractions will trigger awareness of a hunger need. Example, A decrease in body
temperature will induce shivering, which makes individual aware of the need for warmth this
type of thing, they arouse related needs that cause uncomfortable tensions until they are
satisfied. Example, Medicine, low fat and diet.
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2. Emotional Arousal - Sometime daydreaming results in the arousal (autistic thinking) or
stimulation of latent needs. People who are board or who are frustrated in trying to achieve
their goals or often engage in daydreaming, in which they imagine themselves in all sorts of
desirable situations. Example, A young woman who may spend her free time in internet single
chat room.
3. Cognitive arousal - Sometime random thoughts can lead to a cognitive awareness of needs.
An advertisement that provides reminders of home might trigger instant yearning to speak with
ones parents.
4. Environment arousal - The set of needs an individual experiences at particular time are often
activated by specific cues in the environment. Without these cues the needs might remain
dormant. Example, The 8‘o clock news, the sight or smell of bakery goods, fast food
commercials on television, all these may arouse the need for food Example, New cell phone
model display in the store window.
PHILOSOPHIES CONCERNED WITH AROUSAL OF MOTIVES
Behaviorist School • Behavior is response to stimulus • Elements of conscious thoughts are to be

ignored • Consumer does not act, but reacts Cognitive School • Behavior is directed at goal
achievement • Needs and past experiences are reasoned, categorized, and transformed into
attitudes and beliefs
The Selection of Goals The goals selected by an individual depend on their: • Personal
experiences • Physical capacity • Prevailing cultural norms and values • Goal‘s accessibility in
the physical and social environment
Motivation theories and marketing strategy: Abraham Maslow‘s ―Need Hierarchy Theory‖
One of the most widely mentioned theories of motivation is the hierarchy of needs theory put
forth by psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow saw human needs in the form of a hierarchy,
ascending from the lowest to the highest, and he concluded that when one set of needs is
satisfied, this kind of need ceases to be a motivator.
As per his theory this needs are:
(i) Physiological needs: These are important needs for sustaining the human life. Food, water,
warmth, shelter, sleep, medicine and education are the basic physiological needs which fall in
the primary list of need satisfaction. Maslow was of an opinion that until these needs were
satisfied to a degree to maintain life, no other motivating factors can work.
(ii) Security or Safety needs: These are the needs to be free of physical danger and of the fear of
losing a job, property, food or shelter. It also includes protection against any emotional harm.
(iii) Social needs: Since people are social beings, they need to belong and be accepted by
others. People try to satisfy their need for affection, acceptance and friendship.
(iv) Esteem needs: According to Maslow, once people begin to satisfy their need to belong,
they tend to want to be held in esteem both by themselves and by others. This kind of need
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produces such satisfaction as power, prestige status and self-confidence. It includes both internal
esteem factors like self-respect, autonomy and achievements and external esteem factors such as
states, recognition and attention.
(v) Need for self-actualization: Maslow regards this as the highest need in his hierarchy. It is the
drive to become what one is capable of becoming, it includes growth, achieving one‘s potential
and self-fulfillment. It is to maximize one‘s potential and to accomplish something.
As each of these needs are substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. From the
standpoint of motivation, the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified, a
substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So if you want to motivate someone, you need
to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is on and focus on satisfying those needs or
needs above that level. Maslow‘s need theory has received wide recognition, particularly among
practicing managers. This can be attributed to the theory‘s intuitive logic and ease of
understanding. However, research does not validate these theory. Maslow provided no empirical
evidence and other several studies that sought to validate the theory found no support for it.
Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs in marketing (application) To help with training of Maslow's theory
look for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs motivators in advertising. This is a great basis for Maslow
and motivation training exercises –
1. Biological and Physiological needs - wife/child-abuse help-lines, social security benefits,

Samaritans, roadside recovery.
2. Safety needs - home security products (alarms, etc), house a contents insurance, life
assurance, schools.
3. Belongingness and Love needs - Dating and match-making services, chat-lines, clubs and
membership societies, Mc Donald‘s, 'family' themes like the old style Oxo stock cube ads.
4. Esteem needs - cosmetics, fast cars, home improvements, furniture, fashion clothes, drinks,
lifestyle products and services.
5. Self-Actualization needs - Open University, and that's about it; little else in mainstream
media because only 2% of population are self-actualizers, so they don't constitute a very big
part of the mainstream market.
INVOLVEMENT
It refers to a heightened state of awareness that motivates consumers to seek out, attend to, and
think about product information prior to purchase with high involvement, attention is increased
and more importance is attached to the stimulus object. Memory is enhanced. Highly involved
consumers tend to place greater importance on information sources. They are heavy users of
newspapers and advertising.
Effects of Consumer Involvement
1. Information search
2. High involvement? Greater information search (more shopping around)

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3. Information processing
4. Depth of comprehension
5. High involvement? Deeper comprehension
6. Extent of cognitive elaboration
7. High involvement? More thinking
8. Extent of external arousal
9. High involvement? Greater emotional arousal
10. Information transmission
11. High involvement? More frequent information transmission (talking about products) to
others
Causes of Consumer Involvement Personal factors Product‘s image and needs it serves are
congruent with a consumer‘s self-mage, values and needs?
PERCEPTION AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
INTRODUCTION
Perception is process through which short run changes are made in behavior in response to inputs
from work environment. The process itself consists of two major actions –
i) Attention to incoming stimuli

ii) Translation of such stimuli into a message that leads to a meaningful behavioral
response.
Perception is form of behavior and, therefore, influenced by at least the following factors
i) Characteristics of the object or source of incoming stimuli (such as a supervisor

issuing work request);
ii) The situation or conditions under which the stimuli occur (such as timing of a
message)
iii) Characteristics of the perceiving person.
The last category is extremely important in determining the way incoming stimuli will be
interpreted and subsequent response. An individual’s motives, previous learning and
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personality will influence perception. Managers must take such consideration into account in
predicting the way their actions and order will be perceived by others.
FIVE STAGES IN PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
Stage I: Observation Phase – It depicts the environmental stimuli being observed by the five
senses of the perceived.
Stage II: Selection of the Stimuli: This is governed both by factors external to the perceived,
such as the characteristics of the stimulus, and internal to the individual, such as the personality
disposition and motivations of the perceiver.
Stage III: Organizing Stage – In this stage, the perceiver is influenced by figure and ground,
grouping, and several perceptual errors such as stereotyping halo effects, projection and
perceptual defense.
Stage IV: Interpretation Stage: This stage is governed by the perceiver’s assumptions of people
and events and attributions about causes of behavior and feelings.
Stage V: Behavior Response: In this stage the response of the perceiver takes on both covert and
overt characteristics. Covert response will be reflected in the attitudes, motives, and feelings of
the perceiver and overt responses will be reflected in the actions of the individual.
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION
Several factors influence how we process the perceptual inputs and transform them into outputs.
There are three broad categories: Characteristics of Perceiver, Characteristics of Target, and
Characteristics of Situation.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PERCEIVER
1. Needs and Motives Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a
strong influence on their perception. For examples, two groups of subjects – One group who is
deprived of food for about 24 hours and the other group which had food enough were shown
the blurred pictures and asked to explain the contents.
The first group perceived the blurred image as food far more frequently than the other group.
People needs and motives thus play a big part in the perceptual process.
2. Self - Concept It refers how a person perceives himself/herself which in turn influence his or
her perception of the world around them. If a person perceives himself as incompetent, then he
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perceives the world as threatening. On the other hand, if he feels himself as confident and
capable, he will perceive everything around as friendly.
3. Attitudes The preferences and liking affects ones perception. A lecturer, who likes bigger
class, feels comfortable in a lecture session which has more than hundred students. Another
lecturer, who likes small class with a lot of questions, may not be so comfortable in such big
classes.
4. Interests Individual’s focus of attention is also influenced by the interests of people. A plastic
surgeon will more likely to notice an imperfect nose than a plumber. Because of our individual
interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a situation, can differ from what other
person perceives.
5. Past experiences Individuals past experiences also influence in molding ones perception. For
example if one has had problem responding to examination questions in the past, he or she will
tend to perceive even simple, straightforward examination question as tricky. Likewise, if a
person was betrayed by a couple of friends, he or she would never venture to cultivate new
friendship in future.
6. Psychological or Emotional State If an individual is depressed, he or she is likely to perceive

the same situation differently from the other person who is at the extreme level of excitement or
happiness. If a person has been scared of seeing a snake in the garden, she is likely to perceive a
rope under the bed as a snake. Thus, the emotional and psychological states of an individual
also influence the perceptual process and the different types of interpretation of the situation.
7. Expectation Expectations can also distort the perceptual process. If a person expects police
officers to be more authoritative and dictatorial, he or she may perceive them as if they are
rough and tough regardless of the Police Officers actual traits.
8. New Experience If a person experiences something new, that is more likely to grab attention
than the objects or events that has been experienced before. For example, a person is more
likely to notice the operations along an assembly line if this is first time that person has
seen an assembly line. In 1970’s women police officers are highly visible because traditionally
Police Officers positions were predominantly held by males.
9. Personality Characteristics There is a strong relationship between personality factors and

perception. For example, secure people tend to perceive others as warm supportive than those,
30
who are colder and more indifferent. Similarly, self-accepting persons perceive others as lining
and accepting them. Those who are not self-accepting tend to distrust others. Insecure,
thoughtless or non-self-accepting persons are less likely to perceive themselves and those
around them accurately. In all probabilities, they are likely to distort, misinterpret or in other
ways defensively perceive the situation.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TARGET
The ways things are organized around us are greatly influencing the perceptual process. Some of
the typical characteristics include bright color, noise; novel objects, bigger unusual size, moving
objects, status, appearance, contrast, intensity, repetition etc. catch people attention. For
example, an unusual noise raised by a person, a strong beam of light suddenly flashed, a very
handsome, attractive person among a group of clumsy people, a red light against the black
background, an unusually obese person amidst a group of slim people etc.
* Organization of Target – People tend to organize the various parts of elements in the
environment as a meaningful whole. Such organizing activity is a cognitive process and those
are based on Gestalt Principles. The following are the four Gestalt Principles – Figure and
Ground, Proximity, Similarity, Closure, Continuation.
* Figure and Ground What a person observes is dependent on how a central figure is being
separated from its background. This implies that the perceived object or person or event stands
out distinct from its background and occupies the cognitive space of the individual. In a dance
programme, the spectators’ tend to perceive the dance performance against the back ground
music, backdrop setup etc. The perceiver thus tends to organize only the information which
stands out in the environment which seems to be significant to the individual.
* Proximity People tend to perceive things, which are nearer to each other, as together as group
rather than separately. If four or five members are standing together, we tend to assume that
they are belonging to same group rather than as separately. As a result of physical proximity,
we often put together objects or events or people as one group even though they are unrelated.
Employees in a particular section are seen as group.
* Similarity Persons, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped
together. This organizing mechanism helps us to deal with information in an efficiently way
rather than getting bogged down and confused with too many details. For examples, if we
happen to see a group of foreign nationals at an International seminar, Indians are grouped as
one group, British as another, Americans as yet another based on the similarity of nationalities.
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* Closure In many situation, the information what we intend to get may be in bits and pieces
and not fully complete in all respects. However, we tend to fill up the gaps in the missing parts
and making it as meaningful whole. Such mental process of filling up the missing element is
called as closure. For example, while giving promotions to the staff members, the managers will
try to get full information to make an effective decision, in absence of getting complete
information, managers try to make meaningful assumptions and based on that suitable decision
will be made.
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UNIT-3
CONSUMER BUYING DECISION PROCESS
Consumers can purchase different products and this difference because that different buying
decisions buying process consists of several steps in presented. Consumers to purchase some
goods don’t need to pass during all stages of the buying decision. However, some purchases are
so important that the consumer is forced to do all these steps carefully and meticulously.
Far too often, retailers think that consumer buying is randomized. That certain products appeal to
certain customers and that a purchase either happens or it doesn’t. They approach
product and service marketing in the same way, based on trial and error. What if there were a
distinctive set of steps that most consumers went through before deciding whether to make a
purchase or not? What if there was a scientific method for determining what goes into the buying
process that could make marketing to a target audience more than a shot in the dark?
The good news? It does exist. The actual purchase is just one step. In fact, there are six stages to
the consumer buying process, and as a marketer, you can market to them effectively.
1. Problem Recognition
Put simply, before a purchase can ever take place, the customer must have a reason to believe
that what they want, where they want to be or how they perceive themselves or a situation is
different from where they actually are. The desire is different from the reality – this presents a
problem for the customer. However, for the marketer, this creates an opportunity. By taking the
time to “create a problem” for the customer, whether they recognize that it exists already or not,
you’re starting the buying process. To do this, start with content marketing. Share facts and
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testimonials of what your product or service can provide. Ask questions to pull the potential
customer into the buying process. Doing this helps a potential customer realize that they have a
need that should be solved.
2. Information Search
Once a problem is recognized, the customer search process begins. They know there is an issue
and they’re looking for a solution. If it’s a new makeup foundation, they look for foundation; if
it’s a new refrigerator with all the newest technology thrown in, they start looking at refrigerators
– it’s fairly straight forward.
As a marketer, the best way to market to this need is to establish your brand or the brand of your
clients as an industry leader or expert in a specific field. Methods to consider include becoming a
google trusted store or by advertising partnerships and sponsors prominently on all web
materials and collaterals.
Becoming a Google Trusted Store, like CJ Pony Parts – a leading dealer of Ford Mustang parts –
allows you to increase search rankings and to provide a sense of customer security by displaying
your status on your website.
Increasing your credibility markets to the information search process by keeps you in front of the
customer and ahead of the competition.
3. Evaluation of Alternatives
Just because you stand out among the competition doesn’t mean a customer will absolutely
purchase your product or service. In fact, now more than ever, customers want to be sure they’ve
done thorough research prior to making a purchase. Because of this, even though they may be
sure of what they want, they’ll still want to compare other options to ensure their decision is the
right one.
Marketing to this couldn’t be easier. Keep them on your site for the evaluation of alternatives
stage. Leading insurance provider Goieca allows customers to compare rates with other
insurance providers all under their own website – even if the competition can offer a cheaper
price. This not only simplifies the process, it establishes a trusting customer relationship,
especially during the evaluation of alternatives stage.
4. Purchase Decision
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Somewhat surprisingly, the purchase decision falls near the middle of the six stages of the
consumer buying process. At this point, the customer has explored multiple options, they
understand pricing and payment options and they are deciding whether to move forward with the
purchase or not. That’s right, at this point they could still decide to walk away.
This means it’s time to step up the game in the marketing process by providing a sense of
security while reminding customers of why they wanted to make the purchase in the first time.
At this stage, giving as much information relating to the need that was created in step one along
with why your brand, is the best provider to fulfill this need is essential.
If a customer walks away from the purchase, this is the time to bring them back. Retargeting or
simple email reminders that speak to the need for the product in question can enforce the
purchase decision, even if the opportunity seems lost. Step four is by far the most important one
in the consumer buying process. This is where profits are either made or lost.
5. Purchase
A need has been created, research has been completed and the customer has decided to make a
purchase. All the stages that lead to a conversion have been finished. However, this doesn’t
mean it’s a sure thing. A consumer could still be lost. Marketing is just as important during this
stage as during the previous.
Marketing to this stage is straightforward: keep it simple. Test your brand’s purchase process
online. Is it complicated? Are there too many steps? Is the load time too slow? Can a purchase be
completed just as simply on a mobile device as on a desktop computer? Ask these critical
questions and make adjustments. If the purchase process is too difficult, customers, and therefore
revenue, can be easily lost.
6. Post-Purchase Evaluation
Just because a purchase has been made, the process has not ended. In fact, revenues and
customer loyalty can be easily lost. After a purchase is made, it’s inevitable that the customer
must decide whether they are satisfied with the decision that was made or not. They evaluate.
If a customer feels as though an incorrect decision was made, a return could take place. This can
be mitigated by identifying the source of dissonance, and offering an exchange that is simple and
straightforward. However, even if the customer is satisfied with his or her decision to make the
purchase, whether a future purchase is made from your brand is still in question. Because of this,
35
sending follow-up surveys and emails that thank the customer for making a purchase are critical.
Take the time to understand the six stages of the consumer buying process. Doing this ensures
that your marketing strategy addresses each stage and leads to higher conversions and long-term
customer loyalty.
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UNIT-4
ATTITUDES
Attitudes can be defined as an individual’s feelings about or inclinations towards other persons,
objects, events, or activities. Attitudes encompass such affective feelings as likes and dislikes,
and satisfactions and dissatisfactions. Our needs, past experiences, self-concept, and personality
shape the beliefs, feelings, and opinion we hold towards the perceived world. Once we have
formed our likes and dislikes, we generally cling on to them and find it difficult to change our
attitudes, unless we make a conscious and determined effort to do so. An interesting
phenomenon is that our values shape our attitudes. Traditionally, behavioral scientists have
divided attitudes into two major groups: i) Those that are cognitive (for example, beliefs or
expectations about cause-effect relationships between events) ii) Those that are evaluative (for
example, liking or disliking for event).
An example of a cognitive attitude would be an employee’s belief that superior job performance
would be rewarded by praise from a superior. An example of an evaluative attitude would be the
degree to which he or she would like or value such praise.
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDES
There are three components of attitudes such as Cognitive (Thinking), Affective (Feeling) and
Conative (Behavioral).
i) Cognitive Component:
Cognitive component deals with thinking, evaluation, comparison, rational, logical issues with
respect to the targeted object. This will facilitate to form a strong belief or further
strengthen the belief system towards various objects. By observing and analyzing the various
features of Sony lap top computer, you may form a very good opinion stating that Sony laptop is
best among others. Such an evaluation is based on the cognitive component of attitudes.
ii) Affective Component:
Affective component deals with feelings or emotional issues of the targeted objects. I do not like
Ramesh as he had hunted down a rare species of deer’s in the forest. As deer’s are harmless
creatures, I love them very much. The disliking of Ramesh is due to emotional aspects or
personal feelings towards the targeted object.
iii) Behavioral Components:
This refers to intention to behave in a certain way towards someone or something. As I do not
like rock music, I am not interested to attend the concert. The action of not attending is due to a
part of disliking of rock music concert. All these three components collectively act together for
the formation of attitudes.
SOURCES OF ATTITUDES
37
Attitudes are formed through various sources. We acquire or learn from parents, teachers, peer
group members.
i) Family Members:
Parents or siblings influence strongly to form favorable or unfavorable attitudes towards various
objects. The child rearing practices, the types of reinforcement received from parents or siblings
will help mould certain attitudes such as strong preference towards color, religious faith, choices
of food habits etc which would be stable and long lasting over a period of time.
ii) Reference Group: People tend to form a strong attitude based on the influence of powerful
personalities whom they admire a lot. For example, celebrities, charismatic political or religious
leaders significantly influence either to strengthen the existing attitudes or form new attitudes.
Marketing managers rely on celebrity figures to endorse the products to subtly influence their
admirers to buy the products.
iii) Peer Group influence:
Friends or colleagues at work place will have a strong influence on the formation of certain
attitudes or belief system due to pressure to conforming to their norms, standards, values etc.
People need people. The acceptance or reassurance of group members will strongly reinforce the
chosen attitudes and behavior.
iv) Socialization and Learning process:

The way in which people are brought up in family, the do’s and don’ts laid down by the parents,
educational and educational institutions, the rules and regulations of work place, the types of
rituals, cultures, norms of society etc will strongly influence the formation of attitudes.
TYPES OF JOB RELATED ATTITUDES
There are three types of job-related attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement, and
organizational commitment.
i) Job Satisfaction:
The term job satisfaction refers to an individual’s general attitudes towards their job. The likes or
dislikes differ from individual to individual with respect to job contextual factors or job content
factors. Some people give much importance to job contextual factors like salary, security,
supervision, supportive colleagues, company This watermark does not appear in the registered
version - http://www.clicktoconvert.com policy, working conditions, perquisites, promotions,
equitable rewards etc. Whereas others may show much interest in job content factors such as
advancement, challenging assignments, career progress, appreciation and recognition, work
itself.
Research results revealed that the job satisfaction had a tremendous impact on improving
productivity, enhancing quality requirements, reduced absenteeism rate and employee turnover.
The employees expressed their dissatisfaction through so many ways such as leaving the
organization, raising their voice to demand to improve the working conditions, be patient by
38
passively waiting for the conditions to improve and neglecting everything in work.
A person with a positive attitude is likely to have more job satisfaction, while a person with
negative attitude is likely to have job dissatisfaction towards his or her job. Job satisfaction is
one of the major determinants of an employee’s organizational citizenship behavior. Satisfied
employee would seem more likely to take positively about the organization, help others and go
beyond the normal expectation in their job. Moreover, satisfied employees normally are more
prone to go beyond the call of duty because they were to reciprocate their positive experiences.
The following are some of the major determinants of job satisfaction – mentally challenging
work, equitable rewards, supportive working conditions, supportive fellow employees,
personality-job fit, company policies and programs.
ii) Job Involvement:
This refers to the extent to which a person identifies psychologically with her or his job. The
person feels that the job is more meaningful and it utilizes one’s talent and skills to the fullest
extent. There is a perfect harmony between the types of skills a person possesses and the work
content. The individual experiences as if the whole work is being carried out by him having full
control over everything related to the work. Due to this perception, performance level will be
increasing significantly and enhance the overall self-worth. Employees with a
high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they
do in their job.
Job involvement measures the degree to which a person identifies psychologically with her or his
job and considers her or his perceived performance level important to her or his selfworth.
Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the
kind of work they do in their job. There is high level of relationship between job involvement
and fewer absences and lower resignation rates of an individual.
iii) Organizational Commitment:
It is refers to the extent to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its
goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. The person shows much of
association and loyalty to their organization. Organizational commitment has gained a great deal
of interest in recent years because of the changing nature of the workplace. People, who feel a
perfect congruence between his values, beliefs, attitudes, and the organizational policies,
practices, programs and its overall work culture, are likely to have more commitment than those
who have incongruence. In order to elicit a high level of commitment from the employees, a due
care must be taken at every stages right from the recruitment to retirement. Administering
suitable screening tests such as aptitude tests, personality tests, interest’s tests etc will help
significantly placing a right person to do a right type of job.
With fewer workers, managers want workers who identify with the organization’s purpose and
will work hard to achieve its goals.
Organizational commitment can also be enhanced through organizational communication

process, team briefing, supportive leadership etc. A good fit between the personality and the job,
39
an internal locus of control, positive realistic expectations, opportunities for career advancement
etc are the good predictors of organizational commitment.
A well designed formal mentoring program has also been shown to increase organizational
commitment. Promotional opportunity, providing employees with more information,
supervisor’s support etc are likely to improve organizational commitment.
ATTITUDES AND CONSISTENCY
People always seek harmony in their life. They desire to maintain consistency between attitudes
and behavior or consistency among their various attitudes. Even in case of divergent opinion or
happen to work in a place where the work demands are not aligned with the basic values, people
will show interest to change either the nature of assignment or leave the organization or change
their basic values in such a way to ensure consistency in their life style. This means that
individuals seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and to align their attitudes and behavior so that
they appear rational and consistent. Where there is an inconsistency, forces are initiated to return
the individual to a state of equilibrium where attitudes and behavior are again consistent. This
can be done by altering either the attitudes or the behavior, or by developing a rationalization for
the discrepancy.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY
Cognitive dissonance refers to any incompatibility between their behavior and attitudes or
incompatibility among a various attitudes. In general, people always prefer a consistency or
equilibrium in their life. Festinger argued that any form of incompatibility will lead to a state of
discomfort in the minds of people and people will try to attempt to reduce the dissonance and
seek a stable state where there is a minimum level of dissonance.
It is very difficult process to avoid dissonance completely. But one can minimize the occurrences
of such dissonance by carefully choosing the choices or changing the attitudes suitably. One of
the most interesting examples of this cognitive dissonance is as followsMr. Ramesh, who has
been brought up with high moral values and cultivated to do right things and uphold strong
human values, has joined a pharmaceutical firm as sales representative promoting and selling
drugs meant for expectant mothers. Based on this understanding and knowledge of
pharmaceutical field, he noticed that a particular drug is likely to have more side effects and it is
harmful to the expectant mother. His boss is forcing him to push the product more aggressively
among the doctors and hospitals. Due to this, he is undergoing a high level of cognitive
dissonance due to discrepancy between his attitudes (belief that the drug is harmful to the
expectant mother) and behavior (promoting and selling the drug). What will he do? Clearly,
Ramesh is experiencing a high degree of cognitive dissonance. Because of the importance of the
elements in this example, one cannot expect Ramesh to ignore the inconsistency. There are
several paths that he can follow to deal with her dilemma.
i) He can change his behavior (stop promoting and selling drug) and quitting the job.
ii) He can reduce dissonance by concluding that the dissonance behavior is not so
important after all (I have to make a living, and in my role as a sales representative, I
have to promote the drug and make my organization to make profit).
40
iii) He can change her attitude (There is nothing wrong in this drug, and giving
rationalization that all drugs have some amount of side effects).
The degree of influence that individuals believe they have over the elements has an impact on
how they will react to the dissonance. If they perceive the dissonance to be uncontrollable
results, they are less likely to be receptive to attitudes change.
Rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance. High
dissonance, when accompanied by high rewards, tends to reduce the tension inherent in the
dissonance. This occurrence is perhaps personified in the expression “Everyone has their price”.
The regard acts to reduce dissonance by increasing the consistency side of the individual’s
balance sheet.
SELF-PERCEPTION THEORY:
Attitudes are used to make sense out of an action that has already occurred. When asked about an
attitude towards some object, individuals recall their behavior relevant to that object and then
infer their attitude from the past behavior. So if an employee were asked about his
feelings about being travel agent, he might think I have had this same job as travel agent ten
years ago, so I must like it. Self-perception theory therefore argues that attitudes are used, after
the fact, to make sense of the action that has already occurred rather than as devise that precede
and guide action.
CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Understanding your consumer decision making process is extremely valuable for all businesses.
There are 5 important steps that a consumer makes before they decide upon purchasing a product
or using a service. What goes on in their head? Understanding these processes will help with
developing marketing strategies targeted to the consumer.
* PROBLEM RECOGNITION
Okay, so why do people want to buy things? It’s because there is a problem, and they are looking
for the solution to their problem. This is where the marketer can do several things to make their
product or service more enticing to the consumer. If the problem is inactive, your job as a
marketer is to make that problem active. Want an example of great marketing? Just look at how
Steve Jobs came along with the iPhone. No one needed it, but he made sure that the iPhone was
something that everyone needed to have. Think of this simple equation here:
Problem = Desired State – Current State
* INFORMATION SEARCH
This part of the consumer’s decision making process is where they are looking for more
information. They search for this either internally or externally. What’s the difference between
the two? Internal search is what someone already knows, such as pre-existing knowledge of the
product or from the consumer’s memory. An external search is as simple as the consumer going
on Google to look for a product review or perhaps even video demonstrations on YouTube.
41
* EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES
What other options does the consumer have available to them? Some things they will consider
are effectiveness and cost. When you’re buying a new car, don’t you look into other choices you
have between other brands? The consumer can make their choice based on attributes or attitudes.
For example: “Oh wow, this new Ford has so many great features! Hmm…but if I get this
BMW, it will make me look rich and important to all my friends.”
* PURCHASE AND OUTLET SELECTION
At this fourth step, this is where the purchase finally happens. However, where will the
consumer be buying your product or ordering your services? Will they go online or visit a
physical retailer?
* POST PURCHASE EVALUATION
This final step is somewhere a lot of marketers just completely forget about. Are you following
up with the customer after their purchase? It’s important to build a healthy long lasting
relationship with your customers. This is why you can’t leave this last step out! What are you
doing right now to find out if your customers are satisfied with their buying experience?
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MA (Psychology) 1 semester

INTRODUCTION AND CONCEPT

• Introduction and concept:-Introduction market strategy and consumer behaviour

Meaning of consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or

It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural

• Flow can the product be improved in their opinion?

Marketing Strategy and Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is a complex, dynamic

1. Marketing Strategy and consumer Behaviour Marketing Analysis

a. Identify product related needs

A consumer is anyone who engages himself in physical activities, of evaluating, acquiring,

1. Geography 7. Incentive level

Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning ofmarketing plansdesigned to fill

Once a thorough environmental scan is complete, astrategic plancan be constructed to

Market Research and analysis

Market research involves two types of data:

• Primary information.This is research you compile yourself or hire someone to

• Questions that are short and to the point

• Have a script and memorize it--don't read it.

In addition to being cost-effective, speed is another advantage of telephone interviews. A rate

Secondary research uses outside information assembled by government agencies, industry

The Importance of a Market Analysis

Shift Share Analysis.Shift share analysis, or regional competitiveness, isolates growth

Strategic Advantage.Providing your company or a client with a detailed report gives a

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF INDIAN CONSUMER

Consumer Decision Process

STAGES IN CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

▪ His old laptop was giving him problems.

This explains the consumer buying decision process.

A consumer goes through several stages before purchasing a product or service.

2. Step 2 - When an individual recognizes his need for a particular product/service he

available as per his need, taste and pocket.

Sometimes culture is used in popular discourse to refer to a celebration or an evening of

8. Culture is Super-organic: Culture is sometimes called super organic. It implies that

Following are some of the important functions of culture:

CULTURE AND SOCIETY

CROSS CULTURE ANALYSIS:

It is important for a marketer to give consideration to three major issues;

GLOBALIZATION VS. CROSS-CULTURALIZATION

In an article discussing the importance of understanding cross-cultural marketing issues Robert

―Globalization is an inevitable process in the 21st Century, and so is the cross-culturalization. On

Respecting the differences

So, then, what would we say is the definition of cross-cultural marketing?

Cross-cultural marketing is international marketing on a personal level. It means considering

RELEVANCE OF CULTURE FOR A MARKETER:

Marketers must give due consideration to three major issues

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MOTIVATION:

PHILOSOPHIES CONCERNED WITH AROUSAL OF MOTIVES

Behaviorist School • Behavior is response to stimulus • Elements of conscious thoughts are to be

As per his theory this needs are:

1. Biological and Physiological needs - wife/child-abuse help-lines, social security benefits,

2. High involvement? Greater information search (more shopping around)

5. High involvement? Deeper comprehension

6. Extent of cognitive elaboration

7. High involvement? More thinking

8. Extent of external arousal

9. High involvement? Greater emotional arousal

10. Information transmission

PERCEPTION AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

i) Attention to incoming stimuli

i) Characteristics of the object or source of incoming stimuli (such as a supervisor

FIVE STAGES IN PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION

6. Psychological or Emotional State If an individual is depressed, he or she is likely to perceive