DETERMINANTS OR

INFLUENCES ON
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer Perception
Motivation
Learning
Individual influences/Determinants of
Consumer Behaviour

These refers to the individual personal

attributes and internal processes or
characteristics influencing buyer choices and
decision making such as perception,
motivation, learning, attitudes and
personality.
Consumer perception
 Consumer perception
•How consumers pay attention to information,
receive and interprets the information influences
how purchasing decisions are made.

•Information perceive wrongly will cause an

unfavorable consumer response and decision and
vice versa
 Consumer Perception

• Perception is therefore the process by

which consumers use their senses to take in
information, organize and interpret in order
to give meaning to their environment.
•Two people can receive the same
information yet perceive it differently.

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 Consumer Perception

•Consumer perception is therefore the

process by which an individual consumer
selects, organizes and interprets
environmental information into a
meaningful and coherent picture of world.
•How each individual interprets information
has a direct relationship with how we make
purchasing and consumption decisions.
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Elements of perception
• Before perception takes place there are some practical
mental activities that must take place before.
• these must be in place for any meaning perception can
occur
• Sensation- this is the response or reaction of sensory
organs to stimuli.
• Stimulus- any unit of input or sensory information to
the senses. Eg noise, names, packages etc
• Sensory receptors- this are the receptors within the
five sense organs within the body. These are; nose,
eye, tongue, skin, ear and their sensory functions are
hearing, smell, sight, touch and taste.
Elements of perception
•Absolute threshold- this is the least or minimum
level at which an individual can experience
sensation.
•Sensory adaptation- the situation of getting
used to or accommodated to a particular
stimuli.
•Just noticeable difference (j.n.d)- the minimal
difference that can be detected between two
similar stimuli
•Subliminal perception- perception below
consciousness.
Perceptual process

Exposure-random or deliberate

Attention- low/high
involvement

receipt of stimuli- low/high

involvement

interpretation and meaning-

low/high involvement

action
Exposure

•P eople receive physical stimuli from the environment

and internal one from experiences, expectations,
predisposition etc
• This occurs when a stimulus comes within the range of
receptor nerves
• This require that the stimulus be placed within the
environment of the person
• Most stimulus we are exposed to are selected.
• People seek information towards achievement of goals
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Attention

•Everyday we are bombarded with a lot of

environmental stimuli

•This occurs when a stimulus activates one or

more sensory receptor and is captured for
processing
 Interpretation
• A meaning is then assign to in the brain and this can be influenced by a lot
of factors such as knowledge, beliefs, expectation etc

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Perceptual Principles
familiarity

proximity

similarity

perceptual
sets

continuity
and closure
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Factors influencing the nature perception

Stimulus factors

Personal
factors
situational
factors
Business and Marketing Application of
Perception
•Perception affect the consumer decision process
•It affect communication, packaging, price, channel
and service quality
•It influences attitudes and influences on the
consumer
•Branding of products and services

•Perception can create negative stereotypes about

your product or service.
Business/Marketing Applications of
perception
Product positioning
Consumers image and enduring perception of products
and services is very important in marketing strategy.
The core of effective positioning is a unique position that
occupies the minds of consumer
A good positioning strategy complements the firms
definition of competition.
It is essence of marketing mix
A good positioning strategy must be consistent with
consumer needs and at the same time against
competition
•Perceptual mapping- this is where the marketer
finds out how his products service appears in the
minds of consumers in relation to competitors.

•Positioning of services- services needs to be

positioned in such a way that a specific benefit
will be linked with brand name because services
are intangible
 Perceived quality /price
•How consumers perceive price whether low,
medium or high affects purchasing intentions
•Consumers also use intrinsic and extrinsic
characteristics to assess quality of products and
services. They value products in relation to the
benefits and sacrifice both monetary and non
monetary such as time.
•They also perceive high priced products to be of
high quality.
 others
•J.n.d (just noticeable difference) in product
differentiation
•Perceived risk
•Manufacturers image
•Retail shops image
•Communication
 LEARNING

Learning is any relatively permanent

change brought about through experience
or interaction with the environment.
learning can be low involvement or high
involvement.
Low involvement the consumer has little or
no motivation to learn the material.
A high involvement learning is where the
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 Definition of learning

Learning is applying past and current experiences to future

behviours.

Consumer learning is the process by which consumers acquire

purchase and consumption knowledge as experiences with
products and services that they apply to future behavior.

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Elements/principles of learning

Cues

motivation response

Reinforcement

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 Principles/elements of learning
• For learning to take place the following must present

• Cues- Cues are a weak stimuli, insufficiently strong to

arouse customers, but enough to give someone
direction to motivated activity.

• The market place is packed full of cues, such as colours

and promotions. Customers use these to help choose
between the response option in a learning situation.
E.g. if we are hungry we are guided by restaurant signs
or aromas of food coking, simply because we have
learned freshness.

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 Principles/elements of learning
• RESPONSE
• This is the mental or physical activity customers make in
reaction to stimulus situation. Appropriate responses to
particular situation are learned over time through
experience in facing that situation.
• Motivation-
• this is what spur consumers to learn. When consumers are
have a need for a product of service they are motivated to
learn. The level of motivation determines the search for
knowledge

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 PRINCIPLES AND ELEMENTS OF
LEARNING
REINFORCEMENT

Probably the most widely accepted view of reinforcement

is any thing that follows a response and increases or
decreases the tendency for the response to reoccur in a
similar situation or repeated.

Reinforcement predict the likelihood of repeated

consumer behaviour or purchase

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 Classification of Learning

•Several theories have been put forward in order to

explain different aspect of learning. It is possible
to group these theories into major categories in
order to offer some focus to the discussion. The
major division is between the connectionist
school of thought and the cognitive school of
thought.

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Learning theories
1. The connectionists also known as behavioral
learning or stimulus response learning stress
that what people learn is connection between
stimuli and responses, which can be
subdivided depending upon the type of
conditioning employed.
2. The cognitive school, on the other hand,
argues that people learn by discovering
patterns and insights as well as information
processing.

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 Learning theories

Classical
conditioning
Connectionist
theories
Operant
Learning conditioning
theories
Information
cognitive
processing
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Connectionist theories
• Theconnectionist school maintains that people learn
by developing the connections between a stimulus
and response. Hence, the association between a
stimulus and a response is the connection that is
learned.

• Thereare two fundamentally different methods of

learning connections, classical conditioning and
instructional conditional.

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Classical conditioning
• This is the type of learning by association in
which a response elicited by one object will be
elicited by the second one if the two are
paired together.
• That is when an unconditioned stimulus is
paired with conditioned stimulus it produces
the same result as unconditioned stimulus.

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Operant conditioning
• This is the form of learning in which the
consequences of behavior leads to the
probability of future occurrence
• It dwells on reinforcement- when a behavior is
positively reinforced it is likely to be repeated
but when it is negatively reinforced it is
unlikely to be repeated

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Cognitive learning/information processing

•This is learning based on mental activities

and processing and storage of information.

•Learning at the cognitive level involves

complex mental processes.

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 Cognitive learning

Sensory input

Short term memory

Rehearsal & encoding

Long term memory for retention

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 Other forms of learning
•Passive learning – through repeated
exposure
•Observational learning by observing
others

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 learning applications

• Repetition- this increases the bond between conditioned

stimulus and unconditioned stimulus and aids
remembrance. E.g repetition in advertisement

• Stimulus discrimination and generalization in branding

• Modeling in the use of celebrities

• Extinction-
extinction occurs when the reinforcement for
the learned response is withdrawn. E.g. when adverts
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stop.
 Learning Applications
•Stimulus generalization- this is when a response
to one stimulus is elicited by a similar but distinct
stimulus. E.g. brand extension
•Stimulus discrimination– the process of learning
to respond differently to similar but distinct
stimuli. E.g. distinguishing your brand
•Learning by association and rewards for
customers.
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 Learning Applications business
•Relationship marketing
•Licensing and franchising
•Branding and brand extensions
•Recognition and recall-eg evoked set

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 Motivation

• Some definitions of Motivation

•It is a concept that describes the forces acting on

individuals that initiates and directs behaviour
towards goals. It is a process that starts with a
physiological or psychological deficiency or need
that activates behaviour or a drive, aimed at a goal
or incentive.
•Mitchell: The degree to which an individual wants
and chooses to engage in certain specified
behaviours..
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 Characteristics of motivation

•Motivation is typified as an individual

phenomenon. Every person is unique and all
major theories of motivation allow for this
uniqueness to be demonstrated
•Motivation is intentional. It is assumed to be
under the worker’s control and so behaviours
are seen as choices of action

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Characteristics of motivation

•Motivation is multifaceted. The two factors of

greatest importance are: (i) what gets people
activated (arousal); and (ii) the force of an
individual to engage in desired behaviour
(direction or choice of behaviour)
•Motivational theories aim at predicting
behaviour.
•Motivation is not the behaviour itself and it is
not performance. Motivation concerns actions
and the internal and external forces which
influence a person’s choice of actions
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 Characteristics of motivation
•Motives or needs drive consumer towards
fulfillment.

•Wants and desires are also motives but may be

product specific.
•When there is a need people set specific goals to
achieve them.

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 A model of consumer motivation
process

Drive
Unfulfilled Deficiency Goal
towards a Behavior
needs or tension fulfillment
goal

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 Theories of motivation
•The are several theories of motivation eg
•A trio of needs theory by A group of Psychologists
mainly Henry Murray (1938), David McClelland
and John Atkinson (1978) believe that there is a
trio of basic needs. These are need for power,
affiliation and achievement.
•Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory

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Motivational Theories- Maslow’s theory

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 Maslow’s Theory

•1 . The physiological needs. These include the needs we

have for oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, calcium,
and other minerals and vitamins. They also include the
need to be active, to rest, to sleep, to get rid of wastes (
sweat, urine, and faecal matter), to avoid pain, and to
have sex.
• Maslow believed, and research supports him, that these
are in fact individual needs, and that a lack of, say,
vitamin C, will lead to a very specific hunger for things
which have in the past provided that vitamin C -- e.g.
orange juice.
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• 2. The safety and security needs. When the physiological
needs are largely taken care of, this second layer of needs
comes into play. You will become increasingly interested in
finding safe circumstances, stability, and protection. You
might develop a need for structure, for order, some limits,
need for predictability and orderliness
Looking at it negatively, you become concerned, not with
needs like hunger and thirst, but with your fears and
anxieties. In adults, this set of needs manifest themselves in
the form of our urges to have a home in a safe
neighbourhood, a little job security and a nest egg, a good
retirement plan and a bit of insurance, and so on.
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• The love and belonging needs. When physiological needs
and safety needs are, by and large, taken care of, a third
layer starts to show up. You begin to feel the need for
friends, a sweetheart, children; affectionate relationships
in general, even a sense of community.
• In our day-to-day life, we exhibit these needs in our
desires to marry, have a family, be a part of a community,
a member of a church, a brother in the fraternity, a part
of a gang or a bowling club. It is also a part of what we
look for in a career.

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 4. Esteem Needs
• Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one
and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the
respect of others, the need for status, fame, glory,
recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity,
even dominance. The higher form involves the need for
self-respect, including such feelings as confidence,
competence, achievement, mastery, independence, and
freedom.
• The negative version of these needs is low self-esteem
and inferiority complexes

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• Self-actualization

•The last level is a bit different. Maslow has used a

variety of terms to refer to this level: He has called
it growth motivation (in contrast to deficit
motivation), being needs (or B-needs), and self-
actualization.
•They involve the continuous desire to fulfill
potentials, to “be all that you can be.” They are a
matter of becoming the most complete, the
fullest, “you” -- hence the term, self-
actualization.
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 Types of motivation

• Intrinsic motivation: the self-generated factors

(responsibility, autonomy, ability, interest) that influence
people to behave in a particular way or move in a
particular direction.

• It is related to ‘psychological’ (inner) rewards. E.g.

opportunity to use one’s ability, a sense of challenge and
achievement, receiving appreciation, positive recognition
and being treated in caring and considerate manner
•.

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 Types of motivation

• Extrinsic
motivation: This refers to what was done to
or for people to motivate them. This relates to
tangible rewards such as salary and fringe benefits,
security, praise, promotion, punishment, work
environment, conditions of work etc. these are
largely determined at the organisational level, and so
may be largely outside the control of individual
managers

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 Applications of motivation
• segmentation, targeting & Positioning- Maslow's theory
can be applied for segmentation. Because consumers are
found at each level of the hierarchy with specific needs
that can be met

• Advertising- promotional appeals can be made can be

designed for people with specific needs

• Positioning- it can be used for how a prospective

customer should perceive a brand and different positions
can be used for the same product.
• Marketers can provide any of these needs for a profit and
also draw attention of consumers to needs
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 Motivating consumers

• Overcome price barrier- use price rebates, cuts and

special sales to motivate people who need your product
but cannot afford.
• Provide incentives eg premiums such buy one get one
free.
• Loyalty programs- these are rewards meant for
customers depending on how often or much they do
business with you
• Explain and enhance perceived risk
• Arouse customers interest such that they are willing to
know more about your product or try your product.
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