Introduction to Consumer

Behaviour

Sanjeev Varshney
What is Consumer Behavior?

The study of individuals,

groups, or organizations
and the processes they use
to select, secure, use, and
dispose of products,
services, experiences, or
ideas to satisfy needs and
the impacts that these
processes have on the
consumer and society.
Why study consumer behavior?
• Consumer behavior theory provides the manager with
the proper questions to ask
• Marketing practice designed to influence consumer
behavior influences the firm, the individual, and society
• All marketing decisions and regulations are based on
assumptions about consumer behavior

Stimulus
Marketer Consumer

Feedback/Input
 Marketing Strategy & Consumer
Behavior
What is the Core for Marketing
Strategy ?
• Creating Customer Value:
The difference between all the
benefits derived from a total
product and all the costs of
acquiring those benefits.
Process of Marketing Planning &
Consumer Behavior
Overall Model Of Consumer
Behavior
 Behavioiur Change: Poll
• Do you expect behaviour of consumers change post COVID
• Yes
• No
• Whose behaviour do you expect will change more post COVID?
• Teenagers
• Youngsters
• Middle age
• Old age
• How do you expect it to change ?
• Cautious
• Spending will go down
• It will be back to normal very soon
• It will become more mindful
Three Broad areas of CB and its
Interaction with Marketing
 To Understand Consumer
Behaviour We need to do
Consumer Research

Most Companies in India and Abroad

have a Consumer Insight Department
Exercise
• Financial inclusion is a problem in India. Design a
consumer behaviour study to study the obstacles in
the growth.
• How will you establish the merchandise mix in a
Louis Phillipe store of an area ?
Evolution of Consumer Behaviour
Research
• Motivation Research- In-depth interview
• Behavioural Science Research – quantitative
research methods
• Interpretive Research (Postmodern perspective)-
Ethnographic research
• Data based research – predictive modeling
Quantitative Research Methods
• Secondary Data –
• Data collected through modern retail outlets bills
• Warranty cards and Past customer transactions
• Letters from customers
• Sales Reports
• Panel Data, Bill Data
• Primary Data-
• Observation
• Direct questioning
• Experimentation
• Projective techniques
Consumer Research
• Quantitative Research
• Looking for generalizations/segmentation
• Description of target market
• Want to identify how many people do this ?
• Qualitative Research
• Want to identify why people do this
• How people do this ?
• While launching new product
• Mixed Research
• Start with qualitative research
• Test the ideas from qual through quantitative research
 Designing Consumer Research
• Define the problem
• Identify the business problem
• Identify the marketing problem
• Identify the consumer research problem
• Clearly lay down research question
• Carry out some literature review (please check if the research is credible and
admissible as valid proof)
• Develop research propositions/hypothesis
• Establish the data sources and data collection method
• Establish the unit of analysis, method of analysis and please check does it give
you answers you are looking for.
• Please remember just because you have got higher mean values does not
mean they are significant
• Carry out discussion and try to establish why your results are externally valid
and establish the clear logic. Please give limitations and implications for
marketers.
Project
• Form your groups of 6-8 people and inform your
class CR by Monday evening (12.00 night)
• From the list of live projects choose which one you
want to work and submit your bids for the same in
the form of 3 page slides covering , objective,
research question, method and likely
output/deliverables
• Submit this by Friday (15th July) evening – 12.00
night