A customer is

The term customer refers to the purchaser of a product or

service whereas the term consumer refers to the end user of a
product or service.
EVOLUTION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AS A FIELD OF
STUDY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH MARKETING

The discipline finds its roots in the

“marketing concept” and has been
essentially interdisciplinary in nature.
As a subject it emerged as a separate
field of study in the 1960s.
Initially the focus lay in the marketers’ attempts to
study the causes of consumer behavior; the assumption
was that if they could identify the reasons behind
consumption behavior, they would be able to predict it;
and if they could predict consumer behavior, they
could influence it. So the emphasis was to predict
consumer behavior; the approach came to be known as
‘positivism’.
Gradually, the focus of the study changed; the
marketers wanted to understand the customer better,
and this approach came to be known as ‘interpretivism’.
Introduction
We consume many things in our daily use and
also buy the things according to our needs
tastes,Preferencesand buying power. The goods
can be industrial ,consumable shopping or
specialty goods.
Consumer behavior may be defined as
decision making process involved in acquiring,
consuming and disposing of goods and services
 Meaning
An orderly process whereby
 An individual interact with his environment
For the purpose of making market decisions
Relating to products & services
Expressed in the form of buying patterns
Who influences the buying decision
Who makes the buying decision
Who makes the actual purchase
Who ultimately uses the product
 Elements Of Consumer behavior

Obtaining product and services

Consuming product and services
Disposing product and Services
Definition
Consumer 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
& services.
•“The behavior that consumers display in searching for, purchasing,
using, evalauting and disposing of products and services that they
expect will satisfy their needs.” Schiffman and Kanuk

•“The decision process and physical activity engaged in when

evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of goods and services."
Loudon and Bitta

• “ The study of consumers as they exchange something of value for a

product or service that satisfies their needs” Wells and Prensky

•“Those actions directly involved in obtaining, consuming and

disposing of products and services including the decision processes
that precede and follow these actions”. Engel, Blackwell, Miniard

•“The dynamic interaction of effect and cognition, behavior and the

environment by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of
their lives” American Marketing Association
 Disciplines

 “Consumer Behavior is the study of the process involved

when individuals or groups select, purchase, dispose of
products or services to satisfy needs and desires”

It’s a combination of five disciplines

 Psychology
 Sociology
 Anthropology
 Economics
 Marketing Management
 Consumer Behavior’s Interdisciplinary Roots
• Psychology: This includes the study of the individual as well as the individual
determinants in buying behavior, viz., consumer perception, learning and
memory, attitude, self-concept and personality, motivation and involvement,
attitudes and attitudinal change and, decision making.
• Sociology: This includes the study of groups as well as the group dynamics in
buying behavior, viz., family influences, lifestyles and values, and social group
influences.
• Anthropology: This is the influence of society on the individual viz., cultural
and cross-cultural issues in buying behavior, national and regional cultures etc.
• Economics: This is the study of income and purchasing power, and its impact on
consumer behavior. The underlying premise is that consumers make rational
choices while making purchase decisions. While resources are limited and needs
and wants many, consumers collect information, and evaluate the various
alternatives to finally make a rational decision.
• Marketing: The management process through which goods and services move
from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements
called the 4 P's of marketing.
Reasons for studying Consumer Behavior
1)Consumers do not always act or react as the theory
would suggest
2)Consumer preferences are changing and becoming highly
diversified
3)Consumer research has vividly pointed out that
consumers dislike using identical products and prefer
differentiated products to reflect their special needs,
personalities,& life styles
4)Meeting of special needs of customers requires market
segmentation
5)Rapid introduction of new products with
technological advancement has made the job
of studying consumer behavior more
imperative
6)Consumer behavior can be used to sell
products that might not sell easily
7)Implementing the Marketing concept calls for
studying the consumer behavior
Process of Consumer Behaviour
 Types of Consumer Buying Decisions

Routine Limited Extensive

Response Decision Decision
Behavior Making Making

Less More
Involvement Involvement
 Routine Response Behavior
 Little involvement in selection process

 Frequently purchased low cost goods

 May stick with one brand
 Buy first/evaluate later
 Quick decision
 Limited Decision Making
Low levels of involvement

Low to moderate cost goods

Evaluation of a few alternative brands

Short to moderate time to decide

 Extensive Decision Making
 High levels of involvement

 High cost goods

 Evaluation of many brands

 Long time to decide

 May experience cognitive dissonance

 Factors Influencing
Consumer Behavior-Lawson’s model
Cultural
Social
Personal Psycho-
•Reference • Age and Logical
• Culture groups life-cycle
• Occupation •Motivation
• Economic • Perception Buyer
•Sub-culture • Family
situation • Learning
• Lifestyle •Beliefs and
• Social • Roles • Personality attitudes
class and and
status self-concept
 Culture
Most basic cause of a person's wants and behavior.

Values
Perceptions
Subculture Social Class
• Groups of people with shared • People within a social class
value systems based on tend to exhibit similar buying
common life experiences. behavior.
• North Indian Consumers • Occupation
• African American Consumers • Income
• Asian American Consumers • Education
• Mature Consumers • Wealth
 Roles and Status
Family
Social Factors •Husband, wife, kids
•Influencer, buyer, user
Groups
•Membership
•Reference
Social
 Interests
Opinions Activities
Lifestyle Identification
Personality & Self-Concept Economic Situation
Age and Family Life Cycle
Occupation
Stage
Personal Influences
Personal
 Psychological

Motivation

Psychological
Beliefs and Factors Perception
Attitudes

Learning
 Need Recognition
Marketing helps
Internal Stimuli
consumers recognize
an imbalance between and
present status and External Stimuli
preferred state
Preferred State

Present Status
Stimulus
Any unit of input affecting one or
more of the five senses:
sight
smell
taste
touch
hearing
Want
Recognition of an
unfulfilled need and
a product
(or attribute or feature)
that will satisfy it.
Recognition of Unfulfilled Wants
When a current product isn’t performing properly

When the consumer is running

out of an product

When another product seems superior to the one

currently used
Models of consumer behavior
Traditional models:

Economic Model

Learning Model

Psychoanalytic Model

Sociological Model
 Economic model
 Law of principal of maximum utility
 Law of equimarginal utility enables a consumer to
secure the maximum utility from limited purchasing
power
 Price effect
 Substitution effect
 Income effect
 Learning model
 The response of satisfaction reinforces the relationship

 Learns to associate connection between stimulus and

response which becomes habit

 Understanding the response of consumer at the market

place
 Psychoanalytical model
Personality of consumers and their
responses

Consumer behavior is directed by a complete

set of deep seated motives
 Sociological model

As his role, status, interaction,

influence, group relation, lifestyle,
income, occupation, place of
residence, social class etc.
2. Buyer Decision Process Lawson’s model

Purchase
Decision
Evaluation Post-purchase
of Alternatives Behavior
Informatio
n
Search
Need
Recognition
3. The Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) model.
First developed in 1968.
A key feature of the EKB model is the differences
between high and low involvement as part of the
buying process.
High involvement is present in the high risk
purchase
Low involvement is present in the low risk purchase.
 The Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) model
Consumers are seen as active agents following rules
of behavior, fairly easy to follow and implement
because they require only a limited amount of
information and capability of elaboration
 For instance, a consumer, being aware of a certain
need and believing a certain good category satisfies
it, might fix a maximum price he/she can afford and
search for the best good available under such a
constraint.
Example
Garment sector
Social class
Family
Lifestyle
Personality
Beliefs
attitudes
Thank You