CB

K.
Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

A.J INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
Part B: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Introduction: Consumer behaviour as marketing discipline - meaning and scope of
consumer behaviour decision process approach; Psychology and consumer behaviour.
Nature of Buyer behaviour process: Buyer behaviour models, Consumer decision
processes. Nature and characteristics of Indian consumer buying process.
Consumer behaviour and social influences, Forms of social influences culture,
subculture, social class, reference groups, family, sales persons influence, influence of
advertising and other situational influences.
Consumer motivation: Major components of consumer motivation, consumer perception,
key factors in perception. Nature of consumer learning, major factors in learning.
Consumer attitudes: Concept, components of attitude, relation of consumer attitude to
consumer behaviour.
K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Chapter - 5
Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk
R.C Agarwal
Agarwal & Kumar (Consumer Behaviour, Indian Perspective)
Suja R. Nair (Consumer Behavior & Marketing Research)

Introduction:
The behavior that consumers display in searching for,
purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and
services that they expect will satisfy their needs.
Consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions
to spend their available resources on consumption related items.

As a part of the organization, have you ever

wondered about:
* Who are the consumers of your products and services?
* Why do these consumers buy your brand and not that of
the competitors?
* How do your consumers perceive your product fulfils
their needs?
* After having bought your product do they feel satisfied
or dissatisfied?
* And how are these feelings reflected in their behavior
as consumers?
Definitions:
Walters & Paul
CB is the process whereby individuals decide what, when,
where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services
Webster
Buyer behavior is all psychological, social and physical
behavior of potential customers as they become aware of,
evaluate, purchase, consume and tell other people about products
and services.

Personal Consumer:
The individual who buys goods and services for his or her own
use, for household use, for the use of a family member, or for a
friend.
Organizational Consumer:
A business, government agency, or other institution (profit or
nonprofit) that buys the goods, services, and/or equipment
necessary for the organization to function.

Development of Marketing Concept:

Production Concept
Product Concept
Selling Concept
Marketing Concept

Characteristics of consumer behaviour:

- Is the process by which individuals decide whether, what, when,
from whom, where and how much to buy.
- Comprises both mental and physical activities of a consumer.
- Consumer is not always conscious of his/her wants until some
stimulus like advertising, recall is undertaken.
- Covers both visible and invisible activities of a buyer.
- Is very complex & dynamic.
- It is an integral part of human behaviour.
- It involves both psychological and social process.

Importance of the study of consumer behaviour:

A sound understanding of consumer behaviour is essential for the
long run success of any marketing program.
- Production policies
- Price policies
- Distribution policies
- Sales promotion policies
- Consumer preferences are changing and becoming highly
diversified.
- Rapid introduction of new products.
- Customers dislike using identical products & prefer
differentiated products.
- Products that are difficult to sell may be sold if proper study of
consumer behavior is made.
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Development of Consumer behavior as a field of

Study:
* Psychology:
Is the study of the individual . It includes the study of
motivation, perception attitudes personality & learning patterns.
All of these factors are integral to an understanding of consumer
behavior.
* Sociology:
Is the study of groups. The influence of group membership
family structure and social class on consumer behavior are all
relevant to the study of consumer behavior in the market place.
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* Social Psychology: (how persons are influenced by

groups)
Is the study of how individuals are influenced their personal
consumption behavior by those whose opinions they respect ,
their peers, their reference groups their families and opinion
leaders.
* Cultural Anthropology:
The influence of the culture and society on the individual.
* Economics:
Is the study of how consumers spend their funds, how they will
evaluate alternatives & how they make decisions to maximize
satisfaction.
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Psychology of Consumers:
- Knowledge: On the basis of knowledge, the psychology of
customers develop. For giving knowledge of the product to the
customers, promotion plays an important role.
- Attitude: Attitude is a state of mind or feeling. Attitudes are
very important in explaining buying behaviour.
- Intention: Intention means desires to do something.
- Motive/Urge: It is the integral state which directs the behaviour
of a person.

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Scope of Consumer Behavior:

To define the scope of a subject it is important to set parameters
or a framework within which it shall be studied. Figure 1.1
presents one such framework for studying consumer behavior.
This framework is made up of three main sections-the decision
process as represented by the inner-most circle, the individual
determinants on the middle Circle and the external environment
which is represented by the outer circle.
The study of all these three sections constitutes the scope of
consumer behavior.

14

15
Family Role structure and buying behavior/ buying

roles
Buying Roles:
A big task before the marketer is to identify the target buyers of
the particular new product.
Basically, buying motives are of two kinds:
* Product motives
* Patronage motives
The person/s involved can play either these roles.
Initiator- A person who first suggests the idea of buying the
product or service
Influencer- A person whose view or advices influence the
decision
Decider- A person who decides on any component of a buying
decision, whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy & where to
buy.
Buyer The person who makes the actual purchase
User- A person who consumes
uses the product or service
A.J INSTITUTE or
OF MANAGEMENT
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Consumer / Buyer Decision-Making Process:

The purchase decision process is the stages a buyer passes
through in making choices about which products and services to
buy.
Need
NeedRecognition
Recognition
- Problem recognition,
- Information search,
Cultural,
Information
Cultural,Social,
Social,
InformationSearch
Search
- Alternative evaluation,
Individual
Individualand
and
Evaluation
Evaluationof
of
Psychological
Psychological
- Purchase decision, and
Alternatives
Factors
Alternatives
Factors
- Post-purchase behavior.
affect all steps
affect all steps
Purchase
Purchase
Post
Postpurchase
purchase
Behavior
Behavior
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- Problem Recognition:
Marketing helps consumers recognize an imbalance between
present status and preferred state. It results of an imbalance
between actual and desired states. Perceiving a difference
between a person's ideal and actual situations big enough to
trigger a decision.
- Information search:
The information search stage clarifies the options open to the
consumer.
* Internal Search- Process of recalling past information stored in
the memory.
* External Search- Process of seeking information in the outside
environment. (When past experience is insufficient, Risk of
wrong decision is high etc)
(Personal Sources, Public Sources, Marketer Dominated Sources)
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Information Search * Personal Sources- Friends, neighbors

* Commercial sources- Advertising, salespersons, dealers
packaging displays
* Public sources- Mass media, consumer rating organizations
* Experiential sources Handling, examining, using the product
Through gathering information ,the consumer learns about
competing brands & their features. The individual will come to
know a subset of these brands. Some brands will meet the initial
buying criteria. As he gathers more information only a few will
remain as choice set, which might be acceptable.

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* In Information Processing Process ( Exposure, Attention,

Comprehension, Acceptance & Retention)
- Alternative evaluation: (Assessing Value)
Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the functional and
psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing
organization needs to understand what benefits consumers are
seeking and therefore which attributes are most important in
terms of making a decision. A consumer's evaluative criteria
represent both objective attributes & subjective factors.
- Purchase decision: (Buying Value)
* From whom to buy (Terms of sale, Past experience buying
from the seller, Return policy etc)
* When to buy ( Time pressure, Store Atmosphere etc)
* Do not buy
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- Post-purchase behavior:
After buying a product, the consumer compares it with
expectations and is either satisfied or dissatisfied. Many firms
work to produce positive post purchase communications among
consumers and contribute to relationship building between sellers
and buyers. Cognitive Dissonance has to be avoided. Firms often
use ads or follow-up calls from salespeople in this post purchase
stage to try to convince buyers that they made the right decision.

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Post purchase Behavior After purchasing the consumer

experience some level of satisfaction & dissatisfaction.
a) Post purchase satisfaction- is the function of the closeness
between the buyers expectation & the products perceived
performance. If performance fall short of expectation the
customer is disappointed. If it meets the expectation the
consumer is satisfied, if it exceed expectation the consumer is
delighted which makes a difference in whether the customer
purchase products again & talks favorably or unfavorably about
the product.
b) Post purchase Actions If the consumer is satisfied, he will
exhibit a higher probability of purchasing the product again. Post
purchase communications have shown a fewer product returns &
order cancellations. They can get customer suggestions for
improvement & list the location of available services. They can
send customers magazine containing new applications
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Schiff man & Kanuks Model of Consumer Decision Making

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Activity:
Recall the last time you purchased toilet soap, a book for your leisure
reading and a dinner at a restaurant. Try and spell out the various physical and
mental activities which you indulged in at each stage of the decision process,
starting from problem recognition. (For instance, the problem recognition in
case of toilet soap occurred when you had to go on an official tour and needed
necessary toiletries to carry along. So you write "need to go on tour in front on
problem recognition and under the heading toilet soap, in the matrix given
below.) Similarly you would fill in all the details.

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Types of Consumer Buying Decisions:/ Types of

Decision Making
Routine
Limited
Routine
Limited
Response
Response Decision
Decision
Behavior
Behavior Making
Making
Less
Involvement
Extensive
Extensive
Decision
Decision
Making
Making
More
Involvement
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- Routine Response Behavior / Habitual Buying Behavior:

* Little involvement in selection process
* Frequently purchased low cost goods
* May stick with one brand
* Quick decision
- Limited Decision Making / Dissonance reducing buying
behavior:
* Low levels of involvement
* Evaluation of a few alternative brands
- Extensive Decision Making / Complex buying behavior:
* High levels of involvement
* High cost goods
* Evaluation of many brands
* May experience cognitive dissonance
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Habitual Buying behaviorMany products are bought under conditions of low involvement
& the absence of significant brand differences.
Eg- Salt. Consumers have little involvement, If they buy the
same brand it is out of habit not strong brand loyalty.
Marketers of such product find it effective to use price & sales
promotion to stimulate product trial. TV Advertising is more
effective. Marketers use techniques to convert a low
involvement product into one of higher involvement.
* First- Link the Product to some involving issue(Toothpastecavities)
* Second- Link the product to some involving personal situation
(Advertising coffee brand in the morning)
* Third Add an important feature (Fortifying plain drink with
vitamins)
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Dissonance Reducing Buyer Behavior Sometimes the

consumer is highly involved in a purchase but sees little
difference in brands. Here the buying behavior is more complex
as compared to routine buying behavior because the consumer is
confronted with an unfamiliar brand in a familiar product class.
E.g. A housewife is thing of buying a new pressure cooker and
may be shown the United Pressure Cooker by the retailer. The
housewife will ask questions, watch advertisements and gather
more information to learn more about the United Pressure
Cooker.
This buying behavior is described as limited problem solving
because the buyers are in a situation where they are fully aware
of the product class but not familiar with all the brands and their
features.
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Extensive Problem solving:

This buying is referred to as a complex buying behavior because
the consumer is in an unfamiliar product class and is not clear
about what criteria to consider for buying.
E.g. A person may become interested in purchasing a music
system, for the first time. He has heard of the various brand
names as BPL, Videocon, Sony, Panasonic, Philips etc, but lacks
clear brand concepts. He does not know what product attributes
or features to consider while choosing a good music system. So
he is in a extensive problem solving situation.
Variety Seeking Buying behavior:
In this type, the customer shows low involvement because the
product is not expensive and purchased frequently. The customer
has some belief, choose a brand without must evaluation and
evaluates it during consumption.
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Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour:

- Psychological Factors:
- Economic Factors:
- Sociological Factors:
- Personal Factors:

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Psychological Factors:
Psychological studies indicate that all human activities including
consumer behaviour are directed towards satisfying certain needs.
- Motivation:
Motivation is an internal urge to do something.
Physiological needs ( Food, Clothing, Shelter etc)
Safety needs ( Economic safety, Security etc)
Social needs ( Affection, Love, Affiliation etc)
Esteem needs ( Prestige, Self-esteem, Status etc)
Self Actualization needs ( Self realization etc)
- Learning:
Learning is the change in an individuals behaviour & perception.
Learning is the act of reasoning, thinking, information processing
about a particular product. It results from previous experience.
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Learning Process involves:

* Drive: Drive may be defined as any strong internal stimulus
that impels action. A drive (need) motivates a person for action
in order to satisfy his need.
* Cue: Cues determine when the buyer will respond. We have
cues, for e.g. a product, advertisement & such other stimuli
relevant to the situation & existing in our environment.
* Response: Response is the answer to a given drive or cue. The
individual has to choose some specific response in order to fulfill
the drive or cue which was acting as a strong stimulus.
- Image:
Image means feeling or impression of a person about a particular
product. *Self Image is the picture, a person has about himself in
his mind. *Product Image is the image of buyers about a
particular product. *Brand Image
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- Perception:
Perception is defined as a complex process by which people
select, organize & interpret into a meaningful & coherent picture.
The marketer must know how a customer perceives a product as
a whole, features, price etc & formulate plans.
(Selective Attention, Selective Distortion, Selective Retention)
- Attitudes & Beliefs:
Attitude is a state of mind or feeling. Attitudes are the emotional
predispositions to respond +vly or vly to an object. E.g. If a
consumer is brand loyal then it is very difficult to change his
attitude & belief towards that brand. E.g. Advertisements &
Sales promotional activities.

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Economic Factors:
Economic considerations are very powerful & influenceable as far
as the behaviour is considered. The human being want to maximize
his satisfaction by his limited resources. Economic model is based
on the assumption that the price of the product affects its demand.
- Personal Income:
Income is the most powerful economic factor to influence consumer
behaviour because it gives him purchasing power.
Disposable Income= Gross Income Pre-emptive demand
Discretionary Income= Disposable Income Amount spent on basic
needs.

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- Family Income:
Family Income in the Indian context is also an important factor or
determinant of consumer behaviour. Relationship between the
family size/requirements & the family income determines the
buying the behaviour of family members.
- Income Expectations of consumers:
If the income expectations of a consumer are weak, there will be
tendency to spend less & save more in the present.
- Consumer Liquid Assets:
- Consumer Credit:
Another factor is the consumer credit which influences the
buying behaviour of the consumer. (Easy credit will result in
increased standard of living in the society)
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Sociological Factors:
- Family:
Family is a primary group exercises considerable influence on
the consumer behaviour. The family influences the individual
attitudes, evaluating criteria etc. It also influence decision
making process involved in the purchase of goods & services.
- Social Class & Caste:
It is identified as relatively permanent & homogeneous group of
people having certain identifiable characteristics, values, interests
etc. The marketer has to study the behavioral patterns of these
classes so as to formulate his marketing strategy & promotional
communications.
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- Culture:
Culture Refers to peoples learned beliefs, values, attitudes,
morals, customs, habits etc that are shared by a society &
transmitted from generation to generation within that society.
(family, schools, colleges, temples, customs, traditions, etc)
- Sub culture:
Many sub cultures make up important segments & marketers
often design product & marketing programmes tailored to their
needs. (Racial group, geographical region etc.)
- Reference Group:
Reference groups are the social, economic or professional groups
which a consumer uses to evaluate his/her opinions & beliefs.
Reference group influence is seen in brand preferences & brand
choices. Reference groups expose an individual to new
behaviour & life style.
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* Membership Group
* Primary Group- (interacts as family friends, neighbours, coworkers. These groups are informal.)
* Secondary Group- (tend to be formal & have less continuous
interaction. Religious, trade union, professional groups)
* Aspirational Group
- Opinion Leaders:
Opinion leadership is the process by which one person informally
influences the actions or attitudes of others who may be opinion
seekers or merely opinion recipients. Individuals tend to be
opinion leaders for specific goods or services due to their
considerable knowledge & interest in that particular product.

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- Role & Status:

A Role consist of activities that a person is expected to perform
according to the persons around him.
Marketers are aware of a status symbol potential of products &
brands. E.g. Raymond's, Surf Excel etc.

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Personal Factors:
- Age & Life Cycle stage:
People buy different goods & services over their lifetime.
Consumption is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle.
- Occupation:
A persons buying behavioural patterns also influenced by his
occupation.
- Economic Determinants:
(PI, Family Income, Income Expenditures, Liquid Assets etc)
- Lifestyle:
Lifestyle show a persons way of being & acting in the world.
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Marketing strategy and Consumer behavior:

41
Chapter 6
Nature of Buyer Behavior Process

42
Models of Consumer Behaviour:

A model is an abstract conception of the real world situation.
* It helps to provide a frame of reference for solving marketing
problems.
* To provide a useful aid in marketing predictions.
* To play an explanatory role in relationships & reactions.

43
Economic Model:
Under economics, it is assumed that man is a rational human
being, who will evaluate all the alternatives in terms of cost and
value received and select that product/service which gives him/her
maximum satisfaction (utility).
Economic model is based on certain predictions of buying
behavior.
* Price effect lesser the price of the product, more will be the
quantity purchased
* Lesser the price of the substitute product, lesser will be the
quantity of the original product bought (substitution effect)
* More the purchasing power, more will be the quantity purchased
(Income effect)
Behavioral scientists argue that the economic model is incomplete.
44
Learning Model:
Classical psychologists have been interested in the formation and
satisfaction of needs and tastes. They argued that living beings
were influenced by both innate needs such as the primary needs
of hunger, thirst, shelter and so on and learned needs like fear &
guilt. A drive (internal stimulus) which when directed towards a
drive reducing object becomes a motive.

45
Psychoanalytic Model:
This model is based on the psychologists who were concerned
with personality. They were of the view that human needs and
motives operated at the conscious as well as sub conscious levels.
This theory was developed by Sigmund Freud. According to
him human behavior (personality) is the outcome of
* Id The source of all psychic energy which drives us as
action
* Super-ego The internal representation of what is approved
by the society
* Ego The conscious direction id impulses to find
gratification in a socially accepted manner.
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The Sociological Model:

According to this model, the individual buyer is a part of the
institution called society. Since he is living in a society, he gets
influenced by it and in turn also influences it in its path of
development. He is playing many roles as a part of various
formal and informal associations or organizations i.e. as a family
member, as an employee of a firm, as a member of a professional
forum and as an active member of an informal cultural
organization. Such interactions leave some impressions on him
and may play a role in influencing his buying behavior.

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48
The Black Box Model of Buyer Behaviour identifies the process in which
consumers will undertake when deciding whether to purchase a product or
service.
The first part of this model shows how consumers will begin by identifying the
marketing stimuli which would be Product, Place, Price and Promotion. Other
stimuli that the consumer may take into account during this process are PEST
factors.
This information is then put into the Buyers Black Box, which is where the
consumers personal characteristics will be taken into account in order for them
to begin the Buyer Decision Process.
The characteristics that can have an effect on the behaviour of the buyer are:
Cultural - Such as specific cultures and religions
Social - Such as family and reference groups
Personal Including age & lifecycle stage, economic circumstances and lifestyle
Psychological Beliefs, perception, attitudes and motivation
From the information that has been processed in the buyer's black box, they will
then be able to provide a response as to which specific product/brand they wish
to purchase and assess other factors such as pricing and if the timing for the
purchase is right.
49
Nicosia Model:
Nicosia Model makes a attempt to show the inter-relationship
between the firms marketing communications, attitudes of the
consumer, the consumers decision process & the feedback of the
consumers response to the firm.

50
Field I: The Consumers Attitude- Based on the Firms

Message:
Field I has two sub fields- the firms attribute (sub field 1) & the
consumers attributes (sub field 2). An advertising message,
product attributes, from the firm reaches to consumers attributes
& then becomes an input for field 2.
Field II: Search & Evaluation:
It is the area of search & evaluation of the advertised product &
the other alternatives, if the attitude is favourable the consumer
searches for the product & evaluates it in terms of other
alternatives.
Field III: Act of Purchase:
It represents the act of purchase. It involves the possible
transformation of the motivation into the act of buying.
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Field IV: Feedback:

Feedback from the purchase experience- one to the firm in form
of sales data &, the other to the consumer in the form of
experience (satisfaction/dissatisfaction).
Retention of the experience by the consumer as an influencing
factor in future purchases.

52
Howard Sheth Model:

Howard Sheth Model is one of the most objectively constructed
contemporary models of consumer behaviour. The model
distinguishes among 3 levels of learning
* Extensive Problem Solving:
It takes place when the consumers knowledge & beliefs about
brands are very limited or non-existent, & he/she does not have
specific brand preference. Here the consumer actively seeks
information concerning a number of alternative brands.
* Limited Problem Solving:
It takes place when the consumers knowledge & beliefs about
the brands are only partially established, & he/she is not fully
able to assess brand differences in order to arrive at preference.
Some comparative brand information is sought, although the
decision criteria are likely to be fairly well defined.
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* Routinized Response Behaviour:

It Occurs when the consumers knowledge & beliefs about the
brand & its alternatives are well established & the consumer is
predisposed to the purchase of one particular brand.

54
Howard Sheth Model postulate 4 sets of concepts that he said as

constructs or variables.
- Input:
The input variables consists of 3 distinct types of information
sources in the consumers environment. Physical brand
characteristics (significance Stimuli) & verbal or visual product
characteristics (symbolic stimuli) are furnished by the marketer
in the form of product or brand information. The 3rd type of
stimulus is provided by the consumers social environment
(family, reference group, social class).
- Perceptual & Learning Construct: (Hypothetical construct)
Variables under perceptual construct are ( Attention, Stimulus
Ambiguity, Perceptual bias, Overt Search)
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Perceptual Construct:
The consumer receive the stimuli & interprets it. The 2 factors
that may influence his interpretation are stimulus ambiguity &
perceptual bias. Stimulus ambiguity occurs when the person is
not sure of meaning of the stimulus that he has received & how it
may influence his response. Perceptual bias occurs when he
distorts the information he receives to fit his established needs or
experiences.

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Learning Construct:
The 2nd set of hypothetical construct is more complex.
(Motives, Confidence, Attitudes, Choice criteria, Intention, Brand
comprehension, Satisfaction)
Most closely related to the buyers intention is his attitude toward
the product or brand. Attitudes affect & are affected by a number
of other variables as well as being quite complex of their own.
The manner in which the consumer interprets the stimuli leads
him to the stage of brand comprehension. Inputs are processed
by the perceptual variables, decision about the inputs is then
made by the Learning variables or the decisions result in output,
including purchase.

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- Output:
(Attention, Brand comprehension, Attitudes, Intension, Purchase)
After using the product, if the consumer is satisfied with it, it will
reinforce his positive attitude & will increase his brand
comprehension. If the consumer is dissatisfied with product, it
will lead to negative attitude, low attention to product stimuli,
poor brand comprehension & negative intention to purchase.
- Exogenous Variables:
The exogenous variables vary 1 consumer to another & include
importance of purchase, personality variables, social class,
culture, time pressure & financial status are inputs to the internal
state. These exogenous variables can & do affect the buying
process at all internal stages.
(The value of HS model is that it represents a heroic attempt to
identify & organize the major variables influencing CB.)
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Engel-Blackwell-Miniard model of buying behavior:

59
Input
Information processing
Decision process
Need
recognition
Exposure
internal
search
Stimuli
Search
Attention
Beliefs
comprehension
Acceptance
Memory
Alternative
evaluation
Envt
influences
Attitude
Intention
Retention
Purchase
Individual
differences
External
search
Outcome
Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction

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Information Input:
Information from marketing and non marketing sources are fed
into the information processing section of the model. The model
also suggests additional information to be collected as a part of
an external information search especially when not enough
information is available from memory or when post-purchase
dissonance occurs.

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Information Processing:
Before information can be used in the rest of the model, the
consumer will first be exposed to the information processing.
That is the consumer must get exposed to the information, attend
to it, comprehend or understand it, accept it and finally retain it in
memory. Any selective attention or exposure mechanism (which
may occur in post purchase dissonance) would operate at this
stage.
The EBM model is very flexible and more coherent than the
Howard Seth Model of consumer behavior. It also includes
human processes like memory, information processing and
considers both the positive and negative purchase outcomes.
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Assignment Topic- I
* Role of Consumer Behavior in Strategic Planning
* Factors contributing Consumer Behavior as a marketing
discipline
* Bettman Information Processing Model
* Webster and Wind model of Organizational Buying Behavior
* The Engel-Kollat-Blackwell model of Consumer behavior
* The Seth Model of Industrial buying

63
Chapter 7
Consumer Behavior & Social Influence

64
Forms of Social Influences:

Culture:
Culture is an important determinant of human behavior in the
society. It has been defined as a way of life. Culture constitutes
a set of learned values, customs, arts, knowledge, belief, morals,
skills and habits that are shared by people in a given society and
are transmitted from generation to generation.
Culture is a set of learned beliefs values, attitudes, habits and
forms of behavior that are shared by a society and are from
generation to generation.
- Bennett and Kassajian
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Features & Characteristics of Culture:

* The culture is inculcated into an individual and passed on from
generation to generation.
* The customer lives in a society having certain characteristics
though the customer has to learn everything from his experience
but culture provides certain patterns of behavior to be adopted.
* Cultural values keep on changing through the passage of
time.
* Culture meets different types of an individual in society and if
its elements do not conform to the individual, they extinguish
* The cultural values are shared by the society as a whole.
In India, we have our own-shared beliefs, values, customs that
distinguishes from the rest of the world.
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* Culture is perspective:
Culture involves certain ideal standards or patterns of behavior so
that the members of the society have a common understanding of
the right and proper way to think, feel and act in any given
situation.
* Culture are similar but different:
Most culture exhibit certain similarities i.e. Cooking, dancing,
language etc even then cultures are not similar.
* Culture is Dynamic:
Changes occur due to Technology, Resources availability,
Changing Values, etc. Also known as TRENDS.
( Ex: Fashion, Automobiles, Foods, Entertainments, Lifestyles )

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Diversity By Indian Railways
Indian Village By Amul

Emerging Culture
Rituals & Tradition
68

69
Sub Culture:
Subcultures can be said to be sets of learned beliefs, values, attitudes, habits
and forms of behavior that are shared by subsets of a society and are
transmitted from generation to generation within each subset.
A sub culture is a group of society that is homogenous in relation to certain
customs and ways of behaving.
A sub culture is a culture within a culture.
All its member worship the same god, eat the same food, follow the same
tradition.
Sub Culture is defined as a distinct cultural group that exists as an identifiable
segment within a larger, more complex society. (Robin M Williams)

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Sub cultural Categories

Sub cultural category
Nationality
Religion
Geographic Region
Race
Age
Gender
Occupation
Social class
Examples
Indian, Italian
Christian, Hindu, Muslim
Northern, Southern, East, West
Black, White
Elderly, Teenage, Middelage
Male, Female
Lawyer, Teacher, Carpenter
Lower, Middle, Upper

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* Regional and Religious Influences on Consumer Behavior

The three major aspects of culture that have important effects on
consumer behavior are regional, ethnic, and religious differences.
Consumption patterns may differ in various regions of India and
the world, and marketing strategy can sometimes be tailored
specifically to these regions.
The members of religious groups are at times likely to make
purchase decision that are influenced by their religious identity.
Religious beliefs and values can influence consumer.
Many marketers are now becoming multicultural in their
marketing activities by trying to appeal to a variety of cultures at
the same time.

72
* Geographic or regional influence on Consumer behavior:

There are many regional difference in Consumer behavior. Each
state and religion has got its own traditional style of dressing,
wearing ornaments, food preferences etc.
In North India, wheat and wheat products are consumed more,
where as in the South rice and rice products are the staple food.
Certain communities do not accept non vegetarian food, while
among the other communities, non vegetarian food in popular
with slight differences For the Muslims, eating port is a taboo,
while Christians find this a delicious food.
Fashion tastes & Preferences also have an regional identity

73
* Age Influence on Consumer behavior:

Among the four major age groups, Teens, who need to establish
an identity, are the consumers of tomorrow and have an
increasing influence on family decisions.
Generation Y Born between 1977 and 1994 (i.e. the children of
baby boomers) also called echo boomers and millennium
generation.
3 Sub segments of Gen Y are
Gen Y Adults (Age 19-28)
Gen Y Teens (Age 13-18)
Gen Y Kids or Tweens (Age 8-12)
Generation X Born between 1965 and 1979; post baby boomer
segment (also referred to as Xers or busters).
Generation X consists of smart and cynical consumers who can
easily see through obvious marketing attempts.
Generation
Y Market
Tweens
Generation Baby Boomer

Market
X Market
K. Deepak Rao, Assistant
Professor,
Twixters
Older
Customers
74
Baby boomers refers to the age segment of the population that

was born between 1946 and 1964. Baby boomers are in the
broad age category that extends from about 40 to 60. They
represent approximately 45% of the adult population.
Baby boomers grew up in a very dynamic and fast-changing
world, and this has affected their values for individualism and
freedom.
Marketers have found baby boomers a particularly desirable
target audience because
- They are the single largest distinctive age category
- They make important consumer purchase decisions
- They contain a small sub segment of trendsetting consumers
called as yuppies, who have influence on the consumer tastes of
other age segment of the society.
Seniors are generally older consumers. Consist of subcultures,
including the 50-plus market and the elderly consumers
market.
75
* Gender Influence on Consumer behavior:

Gender as a Subculture- Societies assign certain traits & roles to
males & others to females.
For e.g. - Aggressiveness, competitiveness, independence & self
confidence were considered to be traditional Masculine
characteristics or traits.
Neatness gentleness tactfulness & talkativeness were considered
to be feminine traits.
Consumer products & gender Roles
It is quite common to find products either exclusively or strongly
associated with the members of one gender. E.g. - cigars, pants
ties & work clothing were historically male products.
Bracelets, hair spray, hair driers perfumes were generally
feminine products.
For most of these products the gender link has diminished or
disappeared
76
The working WomanMarketers & consumer researchers have been increasingly

interested in the working woman ,especially the married. They
recognize that working wives are a large & growing market
segment whose need differ from women who do not work
outside. It is the size of the working woman market that makes
it so attractive.
Segmenting the working women- Stay-at-home housewives
- Plan-to-work housewives
- Just-a-job working women
- Career-oriented working women

77
Social Class:
The division of members of a society into a hierarchy of distinct
status classes, so that members of each class have either higher or
lower status than members of other classes.
Social Class and Social Status:
Status is frequently conceptualized as the relative rankings of
members of each social class in terms of specific status.
- Wealth (amount of economic asset)
- Power (the degree of personal choice or influence over others )
- Prestige (the degree of recognition received from others)

78
Influence of Social Class:

The Social class or society plays a major role in influencing the
buying behavior or consumption pattern of an individual. Based
on the social class structure to which he belongs, there are
various factors which will influence his purchase decision. So,
marketing decision makers have to understand how social class
influences the consumer behavior of the target market.

79
Characteristic Features of Social Class:

* Social class is Hierarchical:
Social class categories are usually ranked in hierarchy ranging
from low to high status. Members of a specific social class
perceive members of other social class as having either more or
less status as compared to them.
Social class is decided by income, occupation, education and
place of residence. Broadly speaking in India, we have got at
least three social classes upper class, middle class and lower
class.
* Social classes are homogeneous:
The people within the society have similar values, attitudes,
prestige, interests and behavioral pattern.
80
* Social class restrict behavior:

Interaction between the members of two classes is limited
because most of the members of one class do not find a
comfortable to mix with members of other class.
* Social class is continuous rather than concrete:
Individuals are able to move into a higher social class or drop
into a lower class. This mobility either up or down can take
place either with more industrialization or degree of urbanization.
* Social classes are multi dimensional:

Social class is not measured by a single variable but is measured
as a weighted function of ones occupation, income, wealth,
education, status, prestige, etc.
81
Social class & Market Segmentation:

In many instances consumer researchers have been able to relate
product usage to social class membership. Thus marketers can
effectively tailor products or services, channels of distribution &
promotional messages to the needs & the interests of a specific
social strata.
Social class & behavioral factors:
The classification of societies membership into a small number of
social class & differing values attitudes & behavior between
social classes.

82
Social class lifestyles segmentation:

Lifestyle is a pattern of living which influences and is reflected
by consumption behavior.
- Upper upper class: they are aristocrats by birth and are rich
- Lower upper class: this class is newly rich class, they are
executive elite and have highest income.
- Upper middle class: class consist of successful professionals,
business owners and their goal is social advancement.
- Middle class: it is the biggest class which consist of average
men/women.
- Working class: this is a poor but honest class and like to live in
family
- Upper lower class: this class is working poor but is above
poverty line they have no steady employment but earn their
livelihood.
- Lower lower class: this class is below poverty line
83

84
Consumer behavior Applications of different social

class to selected variables:
* Clothing & fashion:
Members of specific social class differ in terms of what they
consider fashionable.
* Home Decoration:
* Pursuit of Leisure:
Social class membership is also closely related to the choice of
recreational & leisure time activities.
* Saving, spending & credit:
Upper class consumers are more future oriented & confident of
financial accumulations. They are more willing to invests in realestate, stocks etc. In comparison lower class consumers are
concerned with present or immediate gratification. When they
save they are interested in safety & security.
85
* Social Class Communication:

Social class groups differ in terms of their media habits & in how
they transmit & receive communications.
Differences in social class is reflected in the choice of the words
used to describe things, people and events.
* Media Exposure:
* Retail Shopping:
* Price of the product:
Prices of the product is one variable that influences the consumer
behavior most.

86
Reference Group:
A reference group is any person or group that serves as a point of
comparison (or reference) for an individual in the formation of
either general or specific values attitudes or behavior.
It is used as a the valuable perspective for understanding the
impact of other people on an individual consumption, beliefs,
attitudes and behavior.

87
Types of Reference Group:

* Normative reference group:
Reference Group that influence general or broadly defined values or
behavior of a person are called as normative reference group.
E.g.- a Childs normative reference group is the immediate family,
which is likely to play an important role in molding the Childs
general consumer values & behavior. E.g.. Schools and educational
institute inculcates disciplinary values.
* Comparative reference groups:
Reference group that serve as benchmarks for specific attitudes or
behavior e.g.- neighboring family whose lifestyle appears to be
admirable & worthy of imitation. (who has a grand and well
maintained garden, Number of cars, who takes family for world tour
etc)
88
* Indirect reference groups:

This consist of those individuals or groups with whom a person
does not have direct face to face contact such as movie stars,
sports heroes political leaders or TV personalities.
Types of reference group in terms of membership
* Contactual group:
In which a person hold membership or has regular face to face
contact & whose values attitudes & standards he approves. It has
a positive influence on an individuals attitude or behavior.
* Aspirational group:
This is a group which a person does not hold membership but
aspires to be a member. It has a positive influence on behavior.
89
* Disclaimant group:
Person hold membership & has face to face contact but
disapproves of the groups values attitudes & behavior. Hence it
has a negative impact on the behavior of the person. Here his
behavior will be the opposite or reverse to the norms of the
particular reference group.
* Avoidance group:
In this a person does not hold membership, does not have face to
face contact & disapproves of the groups attitudes & behavior.
Here the person will tend to avoid the group and will adopt
values, attitudes and behavior which will be in opposition to that
of the group.

90
Factors that affect reference group influence:

* Information & experience:
* Credibility, Attractiveness & power of the reference groups:
* Conspicuousness of the productA visually conspicuous product is one that will stand out & be
noticed(luxury item)It may be highly interesting or easily
described to others. Products that are less conspicuous (soaps)
are less likely to be purchased with a reference group in mind
(necessity V/s Luxury).

91
Reference Groups and Consumer Conformity:

Marketers are particularly interested in the ability of reference
group to change consumer attitude & behaviors . To be capable of
such influence a reference group must
* Inform or make the individual aware of a specific product or
brand.
* Provide the individual with opportunity to compare his own
thinking with the attitudes & behavior of the group.
* Influence the individual to adopt attitudes & behavior that are
consistent with the norms of the group.
* Legitimize an individuals decision to experience/use the same
product as the group.
Three major types of reference group appeals commonly used for
promotional purpose are celebrity appeals, expert appeals and
common man appeals.
92
Benefits of reference group appeal:

* Increased brand awareness:
Reference group appeal provides the advertiser with the
opportunity to gain & retain the attention of prospective
consumers with greater ease & effectiveness than is possible with
many other types of promotional campaigns.
* Reduced perceived risk:
The use of one or more reference group serves to reduce the
consumers perceived risk in purchasing the product.

93
Family:
Family is defined as two or more persons related by blood,
marriage or adoption who reside together.
In India three types of family dominate
* The married ( husband and wife)
* The nuclear (husband, wife and at least one children)
* The extended family(nuclear family with at least one grand
parent.
The family may play a more important role in determining
consumer behavior and motivation than any other social unit.
Firstly, the family has traditionally been the major source of
values, tastes, attitudes and aspirations.
Secondly, family relationships influence the purchase of goods
and services needed by the family unit.
94
Four basic functions provided by the family are:

* Economic well being:
* Emotional support (training camp for them)
* Suitable family lifestyles
(upbringing, experience, and jointly determined goals of the
spouse determine the importance placed on reading, frequency of
watching TV, quality foods habits)
* Family members Association with young children.
(children socialization a child learns consumption skills or
behavior from the behavior of their parents

95
Economic well being

How the family divides its responsibilities for the provision of
economic well being has changed considerably. No longer are
the traditional roles of husband as economic provider & wife as a
homemaker & child rarer still valid.
The majority of wives are employed & their husbands share
household responsibilities.
The economic role of children also has changed. Today despite
the fact that many teenage children work, they rarely assist the
family financially. Instead they are expected to complete their
formal education & prepare themselves to be financially
independent.
Emotional support- The family attempts to assist its members in
coping with personal or social problems.
96
Suitable family Lifestyle:

Family Lifestyle commitments, including the allocation of time,
greatly influence consumption patterns.
E.g. The increase in the number of married women working
outside the home has reduced the time they have available for
household chores, and has created a market for convenience
products and fast-food restaurants.
Family members socialization:
The process consists of imparting to children the basic values &
modes of behavior consistent with the culture. These generally
include moral & religious principles, interpersonal skills dress &
grooming standards, appropriate manners & speech & the
selection of suitable educational & occupational career goals.
Consumer socialization:
Process by which the children acquire the skills knowledge &
attitudes necessary to K.function
as consumers.
Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,
97
Role of family as decision making unit:

A family is a cohesive unit and total functions of the family is are
performed by the members of the family. family related roles are
changing constantly in a highly dynamic society
Family decision making
Marketers recognize the attitude & behavior of the major
decision maker, most likely to be the primary user of the product.
Dynamics of husband wife decision making
(Husband dominated family, Wife Dominated family, Husband
Wife Equality Family)
Family roles
The marketers must be particularly sensitive to how shifting
family roles may affect the composition of their target markets.
Key family consumption roles
Influencer, Gate keepers, Deciders, Purchaser, Preparers, Users,
Maintainers, Disposers.
98
Decisions by children:
* Children young children attempt to influence family
decisions as soon as they possess the basic communication skills.
It is evident that children not only attempt to influence their
parents to make purchases of their interests but also with regard
to product of remote interests
* Older children are more exposed to TV and tend to recall ads
seen on TV
Joint Decision Making:
* When the level of perceived risk is high
* When the buying decision is important to the family
* When there are few or no time pressures
* More likely for Certain demographic groups ( Joint decisions
are less likely among upper and lower socio-economic groups,
Joint decisions are common among younger families, likely if
there are no children in
the family)
99
Eight Roles in the Family Buying/ Decision-Making

Process
ROLE
Influencers
DESCRIPTION
Family member(s) who provide information to other members about a
product or service
Gatekeepers
Family member(s) who control the flow of information about a product

or service into the family
Deciders
Family member(s) with the power to determine unilaterally or jointly

whether to shop for, purchase, use, consume, or dispose of a specific
product or service
Buyers
Family member(s) who make the actual purchase of a particular product

or service
Preparers
Family member(s) who transform the product into a form suitable for
consumption by other family members
Users
Family member(s) who use or consume a particular product or service
Maintainers
Family member(s) who service or repair the product so that it will

provide continued satisfaction.
Disposers
Family member(s) who initiate or carry out the disposal or

discontinuation of a particular product or service
100
Effect of variables on family decisions:

* Culture
* Social class
* Reference group
* Stages in FLC
* Mobility
* Geographic location
101
Family Life Cycle:

Just as individuals and products go through life cycle, families
also have life cycles. Most people go through several phases in
their lives. The term family life cycle refers to the series of life
stages through which individuals proceed over time.
A family may begin as a married couple and move through a
series of stages in which young children are born, grow older and
move out, the couple grows old. Each life cycle stage differs
from, the previous in terms of family structure, financial position,
consumption patterns and product needs and preferences.

102

103

104
An Extended Family life Cycle

Middle-Aged
Divorced without
Children
Young
Divorced without
Children
Young
Single*
Young
Married
without
Children*
Middle-Aged
Married without
Children
Young
Married
with
Children*
Young
Divorced
with
Children*
MiddleAged
Married
with
Children*
MiddleAged
Married
without
Dependent
Children*
MiddleAged
Divorced
with
Children
MiddleAged
Divorced
without
Children
Older
Married*
Older
Unmarried*
Usual Flow
Recycled Flow
* Traditional Family Flow
Influence of Sales Person on Consumer behavior:

A salesperson can have a strong influence on consumers during
shopping. Industrial firms considered the salesperson's function
five times more important than advertising.
An effective door-to-door salesperson succeeds not because of a
knowledge of persuasion techniques, but because of something
in the dynamics of the face-to-face interaction.
It is also found that the salesperson's effectiveness in sales
interactions affects the consumer purchase decision.
It is believed that the salespersons effectiveness is influenced by
both selling behavior and salespersons resources.

106
Several researchers investigated the Influence of a salesperson on

consumer behavior.
A study analyzed the characteristics of the sales interaction as a
process having three stages:
Orientation phase, Evaluation phase, and Consumption phase.
* In the orientation phase, the salesperson learns about the
consumer's interests and the consumer learns about the products
and services of the store.
* In the evaluation phase, the consumer examines the alternative
products and services.
* In the consumption phase, the consumer decides whether to buy
or not. The influence of the salesperson was found the strongest in
the evaluation phase because the salesperson could suggest the
order and the number of product alternatives to be evaluated and
use prepared presentations to guide the consumer's attention
107
* Salesperson has a strong influence on the consumer purchase

decision is that the salesperson generally has more product
knowledge and more experience of sales interaction than do
consumers.
* The salesperson's power as expert power, a source of selling
influence based on superior knowledge, while the consumer has
referent power, a source of influence based on a consumer's
identification with the salesperson.
* The referent power is stronger when the consumer likes the
salesperson. The more the consumer likes the salesperson, the
more the consumer accepts the salespersons
recommendations.
* Results indicated that elderly consumers viewed an older
salesperson more positively than a younger salesperson because
of the similarity in age
108
Advertising & Consumer behavior:

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal communication
through the mass media about a product or idea by an identified
sponsor.
The role of advertising in determining consumer behavior has been
under the microscope for several years. Advertising is a strong
persuasive force as well as a tool for competition.
Advertisers advertise primarily to develop consumer value in their
brands.
Objectives of an Advertising program:
* To increase support
* To stimulate sales amongst present, former and future consumers
* To retain loyalty
* To project an image
* To communicate with consumers.
109
Impact of celebrities in advertising on consumer

behavior:
Celebrity advertising has become a significant tool for creating
awareness of the product. The marketers utilize celebrities for
improving the effectiveness of their advertising.
* The use of celebrities in advertisements brings faster awareness in
first stage. This is because of the high recognition a celebrity has.
* It stimulates interest very quickly as it is endorsed by celebrity.
(Easy awareness, High recall, Believability will be high)
* Makes evaluation easy as consumers would like to make a trial.
If the celebrities do not have positive image consumers may not go
through this stage. The adoption may be for longer period of time.
During post adoption stage, the use of celebrity reinforces the
confidence of consumers, which is known as Reinforcement
advertising.
110
In todays world, where competing ads try to gain attention of

viewers/readers, the formula of celebrity advertising will click
and these ads will have a definite edge over other ads.
IF the celebrities do not have a distinct and specific relationship
it tends to product (The Vampire Effect) i.e. they seek the
lifeblood of the product as the audience remembers the celebrity
not the product.
Promotional role played by Celebrities:
* Testimonials
* Endorsements
* Actor
* Spokesperson

111
Situational influence on Consumer behavior:

Situational influences are temporary conditions that affect how
buyers behavewhether they actually buy your product, buy
additional products, or buy nothing at all from you. They include
things like physical factors, social factors, time factors, the
reason for the buyers purchase, and the buyers mood.
The impact of situational factors on consumer purchasing
behaviour has been examined in the past research extensively.
There are studies that explored the impact of particular types of
situational influences, including store atmospherics, music,
colors, scent, store crowding, and merchandising.

112
Consumer Motivation
Agarwal, Kumar

113
Motivation:
Motivation is the drive, which propels a person towards
achieving his goals. OR A driving force within individuals that
impels them to action. Motivation thus deals with how
behaviour gets started, is energized, is sustained, is directed & is
stopped. The difficulty in studying motivation arises because our
challenge is to understand the why of human behaviour.

114
Concept/Model of Motivation Process:
Learning
Learning
Needs
Needs
wants,
wants,
and
and
desires
desires
Tension
Tension
Drive
Drive
Behavior
Behavior
Goal
Goaloror
need
need
fulfillfulfillment
ment
Cognitive
Cognitive
processes
processes
Tension
Tension
reduction
reduction
115
Needs- Every individual has needs. Some are innate & others are
acquired.
* Innate needs are physiological (biogenic) ,they include the
needs for food, water shelter, clothing. They are needed to sustain
life hence they are considered as primary needs.
* Acquired needs are needs that we learn in response to our
culture or environment. They are need for esteem, prestige,
affection & power. They are psychological they are considered as
secondary needs.
Eg- house- having a house is a primary need but the location,
large house are all secondary needs .
Drive- is a deficiency with direction. They are action oriented
and provides emerging thrust towards goal accomplishments.
Goals- are the end points of motivation behavior. Goals may be
generic or specific.
116
The goals selected by an individual depend on their:

* Personal experiences
* Physical capacity
* Social and cultural norms and values
* Personal norms and values
* Physical and or intellectual capacity
* Accessibility of goal
* Self image

117
Characteristics of Consumer Motivation/ Dynamic

Nature of Motivation:
- Consumers are driven by tension reduction:
The basic theory is that a non equilibrium state creates a feeling
of tension. When tension gets too high, we experience levels of
psychological discomfort & energy is around to reduce this
tension.
- Consumers are motivated to achieve goals:
As driven by tension reduction, the consumers are motivated to
achieve goals. (Strength of Expectancy)
- Needs are never fully satisfied:
Most human needs are never fully or permanently satisfied.
118
- Consumers are motivated by both internal & external forces:

- Success & Failure influence goals:
If once individuals have successfully achieved a particular goal,
they now set new & higher goal for themselves, i.e. they raise
their levels of aspirations. On the contrary if they are not able to
reach their goals they will lower their level of aspiration.
(Advertisements should not promise more than the product will
deliver.)
- Consumer motives are both overt & hidden:
One cannot observe a persons motives, but can only observe his
behaviour, they must try to infer the exact motives that caused it.
- New needs emerge as old needs are satisfied:
119
- Needs & Goals are constantly changing:

Needs & Goals are constantly growing & changing in response to
an individuals physical condition environment, interactions with
others & experience.
- Consumers develop substitute goals:
If individual cannot attain specific goal to satisfy certain need,
then his behaviour may be to go for a substitute goal. Although
the substitute goal may not be a satisfactory as primary goal, it
may be sufficient to dispel uncomfortable tension.
- Consumer Motivation reflect Individual differences:
It is a fact that consumers differ from each other in what they
buy, where they buy & how they buy. If we are to understand
buying behaviour, we need to understand why these differences
occur.
120
Arousal of Motives & Motivations:

Arousal concept concerns what energizes consumer. It activates
energy to do something to satisfy the needs. Most of the specific
needs of the individual are dormant much of the time. They need
triggering and energize consumers.
The arousal of any particular set of needs at a specific point in
time may be caused by internal stimuli found in the individuals
physiological conditions, emotional and cognitive processes or
by external stimuli.

121
Physiological Arousal- Individuals may be aroused by his/her

bodys physiological needs at that specific period of time. Most
of the physiological needs are involuntary and make the person
undergo uncomfortable tensions, until the individual tries to
satisfy the needs. Certain advertisement of the product such as:
ice creams, chocolates cool drinks causes arousal of
physiological needs.
Emotional Arousal- Sometimes thinking or daydreaming results
in the arousal of hidden needs. People who are bored or
frustrated in attempts to achieve their goals often engage in
daydreaming in which they imagine themselves all sorts of
desirable situations.

122
Cognitive arousal- Sometimes random thoughts or personal

achievement can lead to a cognitive awareness of needs. An
advertisement that provides reminders of home/friends might
trigger instant recognition of the need to speak with someone
special.
Environmental Arousal- The sets of needs activated at a
particular time are often determined by specific cues in the
environment. Without these cues the needs would remain
dormant. Eg- 6clock news, the smell of bakery foods, fast food
commercials all these may arouse the need for food.

123
Consumer Perception:
Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting
information inputs to produce meaning.
The above definition of perception lays emphasis on certain
features:
* Perception is a mental process, whereby an individual selects
data or information from the environment, organizes it and then
draws significance or meaning from it.
* Perception is basically a cognitive or thinking process and an
individual activities; emotions, feelings etc. are based on his or
her perceptions of their surroundings or environment.
* Perception, being an intellectual and cognitive process will be
subjective in nature.
How we see the world around us
124
The process of perception has three sub stages 1. Sensation Attending to an object/event with one of five
senses. Sensation- is the immediate & direct response of the
physical sensory organs. These physical senses are continuously
exposed to internal and external stimuli and human sensation
occurs because of these. The sensation may be in the form of
reaction of eye to color or mouth to taste and so on.
2. Organization Categorizing by matching sensed stimulus
with similar object in memory. E.g. colour
3. Interpretation Attaching meaning to stimulus, making
judgments as to value and liking, e.g. bitter taste

125
Elements of Perception:
* Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory
organs to stimuli (an advertisement, a package, and a brand
name). A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses.
Human sensitivity refers to the experience of sensation.
Sensitivity to stimuli varies with the quality of an individuals
sensory receptors and the amount or intensity of the stimuli to
which he/she is exposed.
* The Absolute Threshold - The lowest level at which an
individual can experience a sensation is called the absolute
threshold. The point at which a person can detect the difference
between something and nothing is that persons absolute
threshold for the stimulus.
126
* Differential threshold The minimal difference that can be

detected between 2 stimuli is called the differential threshold or
the J.N.D ( just noticeable difference). This concept was
developed by Ernst Weber in the 19th century.
According to Weber, the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater
the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be
perceived as different.
Webers law has very good marketing applications, Marketers are
using Webers Law to determine the relevant J.N.D for various
reasons. In case of reduction made in product size, increase in
product price or reduced quality, the firm would not want the
public to notice the difference or when the firm has updated its
existing products, or lowered the price, they would want the
consumers to just notice the difference, without being wastefully
extravagant.
127
* Subliminal Perception:
Perception of very weak or rapid stimuli received below the level
of conscious awareness. Psychologists generally agree that it is
possible to perceive things without being consciously aware of
them.

128
Internal and External Factors Influencing

Perceptions:
The consumers tend to associate his or her idea of the product or
service with the brand name. It is not the firm or marketers but
the brand which becomes the consumers idea of the product or
service.
The consumer has got his or her own way of perceiving,
interpreting, and developing beliefs on the value of the brand.
That is why firms are working at developing a Brand
personality.

129
Internal Factors:
These factors are related to characteristics of the perceiver.
* Needs & Desires:
The needs and desires of people play a vital role in perception.
(Perception of a frustrated person would be entirely different
from that of a happy going person). People at different levels of
needs and desire perceive the same thing differently. Power
seekers are more likely to notice power related stimuli. Socially
oriented individuals pay attention to interpersonal stimuli.
* Experience:
Experience and knowledge have a constant bearing on
perception. Successful experiences enhance and boost the
perceptive abilities and lead to accuracy in perception of a person
whereas failure erodes self-confidence.
130
* Learning:
Learning Is an important factor in developing perceptual sets. A
perceptual set is basically what a person expects from the stimuli
on the basis of his learning and experience relative to same or
similar stimuli.
* Personality:
Personality is another internal factor that influences the
perception of an individual. Optimistic people perceive the things
in favorable terms, whereas pessimistic individual view it in
negative terms.

131
External Factors:
Also known as exogenous factors, they also influence the
perception of a person. Perception is affected by the
characteristics of perceived object, an event or a person.
* Size:
The bigger the size of the perceived stimulus, the higher is the
probability that it will be noticed. Dominance is established by
size and it overrides other things and thereby enhances perceptual
selection.
* Intensity:
High intensity increases the chances of selection. If the message
is bright, if sentences are underlined, it gets more attention than
in normal case. The greater the intensity of stimulus, the more
likely it will be noticed.
132
* Frequency:
Repeated external stimulus is more attention gaining than a single
one. Repetition increases our sensitivity and alertness to the
stimulus. Repetition is one of the most frequently used
techniques in advertising and is the most common way of
attracting the peoples attention.
* Order:
The order in which the objects or stimuli are presented is an
important factor in influencing selective attention. Sometimes,
the first piece of information received, receives the most
attention, thus making the other information less significant.
* Repetition:
A repeated message is more likely to be perceived than a single
message.
133
* Novelty & Familiarity:

The Principle states that either the familiar or the novel factor can serve as
an attention getter. New objects in a familiar setting or familiar objects in a
new setting will draw attention.
* Movement:
The movement principle says that people pay more attention to a moving
object than the stationary ones. People will be attracted more by a running
train than one standing on the platform.
* Status:
High status people can exert influence on perception of an employee than
low status people. When introduced to two people of different ranks, we
tend to remember the person holding the higher rank than the other one.
* Contrast:
Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding environment are more likely to be
selected for getting attention. A contrasting effect can be caused by color, or
any unusual factor.
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K.

Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Part B: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

As a part of the organization, have you ever

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Development of Marketing Concept:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Characteristics of consumer behaviour:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Importance of the study of consumer behaviour:

Development of Consumer behavior as a field of

* Social Psychology: (how persons are influenced by

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Scope of Consumer Behavior:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Family Role structure and buying behavior/ buying

Consumer / Buyer Decision-Making Process:

Information Search * Personal Sources- Friends, neighbors

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

* In Information Processing Process ( Exposure, Attention,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Post purchase Behavior After purchasing the consumer

Schiff man & Kanuks Model of Consumer Decision Making

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Types of Consumer Buying Decisions:/ Types of

- Routine Response Behavior / Habitual Buying Behavior:

Dissonance Reducing Buyer Behavior Sometimes the

Extensive Problem solving:

Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Learning Process involves:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

- Role & Status:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Marketing strategy and Consumer behavior:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Models of Consumer Behaviour:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

The Sociological Model:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Field I: The Consumers Attitude- Based on the Firms

Field IV: Feedback:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Howard Sheth Model:

* Routinized Response Behaviour:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Howard Sheth Model postulate 4 sets of concepts that he said as

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

Engel-Blackwell-Miniard model of buying behavior:

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,

K. Deepak Rao, Assistant Professor,