Consumer Behaviour-008-043

Introduction to Consumer Behaviour 1
Block - 1 Notes
Unit 1: Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Structure:
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Meaning and Definition of Consumer Behavior
1.3 Scope of Consumer Behavior
1.4 Consumer Research Paradigms and Process
1.5 Consumer Demographics
1.6 Consumer Life Styles
1.7 Bases of Consumer Segmentation
1.8 Consumer Profiles
1.9 Llife Style Marketing
1.10 Environmental factors and Individual factors affecting Consumers
1.11 Current trends in Consumer Behaviour
1.12 Summary
1.13 Check Your Progress
1.14 Questions and Exercises
1.15 Key Terms
1.16 Check Your Progress: Answers
1.17 Case Study
1.18 Further Readings
1.19 Bibliography
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to understand:

 Nature of Consumer Behavior
 Need to study Consumer Behaviour
 Scope of Consumer Behavior
 Factors Influencing of Consumer Behaviour
 Applications of Consumer Behaviour Knowledge
 Consumer Demographics
 Consumer Life Styles
 Bases of Consumer Segmentation
 Llife Style Marketing
 Environmental factors affecting Consumers
 Individual factors affecting Consumers
Amity Directorate of Distance and Online Education

2 Consumer Behaviour
Notes 1.1 Introduction

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the
processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences,
or ideas to satisfy needs of the consumer and society. It blends elements from psychology,
sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer
decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of
individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to
understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups
such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.
Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how and where people do or do not
buy a product. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour
analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing
through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or Consumer. A greater
importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management,
personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be
categorized into social choice and welfare functions.
Consumer behaviour is a comparatively new field of study. It is the attempt to
understand and predict human actions in the buying role. It has assumed growing
importance under market-oriented or customer-oriented marketing planning and management.
Consumers’ market for many products and the growth of consumerism and consumer
legislation since 1960 have created special interest in Consumer behaviour and the
formulation of marketing mixes to respond favourably Consumer behaviour in the market
place.
Consumer behaviour includes the acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining and
using economic goods and services including sequence of decision processes that
precede and determine these acts. Actual purchase is only a part of the decision process.
In Consumer behaviour we consider not only why, how and what people buy but other
factors such as where, how often and under what conditions the purchase is made. An
understanding of Consumer behaviour is essential in marketing planning and programmes.

Who is a Consumer? Notes

The consumer is the one who pays to consume the goods and services produced.
Consumers play a vital role in the economic system of a nation. In the absence of their
effective demand, the producers would lack a key motivation to produce, which is to sell
to consumers.
Meaning of Consumer
Consumer is an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not
for manufacture or resale. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether
or not to purchase an item at the store and someone who can be influenced by marketing
and advertisements.
Definition of Consumer
According to Consumer Protection Act, 1986, “Consumer means any person who
buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and
partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any user of such
goods other than the person who buys such goods for consideration paid or promised
or partly paid or partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment when such
use is made with the approval of such person, but does not include a person who obtains
such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose”.
According to Oxford Dictionary, “Consumer is a person who purchases goods and
services for personal use”.
1.2 Meaning and Definition of Consumer Behavior

Meaning of Consumer Behaviour
Consumer behaviour refers to the psychological, social and physical behaviour of
potential consumers as they become aware of, evaluate, purchase, consume and tell
others about the products or services.
Definitions of Consumer Behaviour
According to Professor Walter C.G and Professor Paul G.W., “Consumer behaviour
is the process whereby individuals decide whether, what, when, where, how and from whom
to purchase goods and services. It is all the psychological, social and physical behaviour
Notes of potential customers as they become aware of, evaluate, purchase, consume and tell
others about the products or services.”
According to Professors Leon G Schiffman and Leslie L Kanuk, “Consumer
behaviour is study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resource-
time, money, effort- on consumption-related items. It includes the study of WHAT they
buy, WHY they buy it, WHEN they buy it, HOW often they buy it, and how often they
USE it.”
Consumer Behaviour - A managerial & Customer Perspective
The marketing plan of any company depends on why and how consumers react to
the various elements of marketing mix. The buyers in the market differ significantly on
buying habits. So, the marketer should be careful in recognizing to which segment of the
market, the company should focus on. The buyer differs in their buying style because
of various dimensions i.e., age, income level, educational level, geographic locations,
personality, life styles, status etc.
The marketer should be very careful in recognizing the segment because failing to
which the cost and market research would go in vain. The market research is mainly done
in order to understand the buyers “needs” and “want” and also the type of products the
consumers are looking for. The research is done because the company will introduce these
products which are being expected by the consumer, and also so that the needs of the
customer is being made. Apart from the product being introducing, the advertising and
media should be taken very seriously to get an expected results.
1. Managerial Perspective
The managerial perspective of consumer behaviour tends to be micro and cognitive
in nature. The micro term is used because it is only being counteracted on the individual
consumer i.e. lifestyle, attitudes, perception etc. The external factor such as reference
groups, family, social class, culture are being taken in consideration in order to see the
impact on individual consumers. The cognitive term is used to show the thought processes
of individual consumers which are related to the decision-making process of the consumer.
So from the marketing point of view, it is necessary to satisfy the needs and wants of
the consumers by offering them products and services and also to seek information on
consumer thought processes and characteristic features.
The risks associated with the managerial perspective are as follows:
a) The cognitive nature of the consumer might not be the same always. The
information search of a consumer is a continuous process and therefore the
needs and wants of the consumers might change. The process should be net
be strict as for as consumers are concerned.
b) The environmental factors also influence the consumer’s decision making. The
concentration should be given only to the individual consumer’s. Hence, meeting
the needs and wants of the consumers is a huge task as far as the company
is concerned.
c) The purchase behaviour of the consumer should also be taken in consideration.
This can be overlooked by the marketer for the post purchase behaviour of the
consumer. It will help the marketer in understanding the product being preferred
by a customer.
2. Consumer Perspective
Consumers view an individual product as part of a larger constellation that reflects

their lifestyles. Buying branded Cloths, a Two-wheeler, Mobile Phone, Watches, Notes
Cosmetics, Jewelers etc reflects the lifestyles and desire of an individual consumer. These
products are related in the consumer’s mind. Marketers try to understand this and they
tend to bring this lifestyle differences in their products promotions. Marketers are not
creating any lifestyle, individuals have their own lifestyle and marketers are just trying to
relate their products to the lifestyle of the individuals:
i) The main task of a manager of a company is to see what are customer’s needs
and wants. The company should offer whatever the consumer needs and wants.
Its objectives on the other hand consumers are always on the search of
information before being end up in purchasing the product.
ii) Another point where the company should give stress on brand or product.
Consumers always seek information search for a product before purchasing any
product. Though consumer seek information search of product but in reality the
consumer might or might not end up in purchasing the product.
iii) The competitor of the same product of a different company is a big threat. For
the consumer he has a lot of choices available, from which he can select a
product with the same qualitative in nature and also the cost factor.
Nature of Consumer Behaviour
The individual, the product category and the present scenario is involved in consumer
behaviour. The field of consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or
organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use and dispose of products,
services, experience or ideas to satisfy the needs of the consumer and society. The nature
of consumer behaviour consists of the following concepts:
1. Personal Concept: Before buying any product, the individual usually takes time
to evaluate the product. The choice may be different from person to person.
So, the process of market segmentation came into existence. This is done
mainly to give some benefits to those customers of particular segment.
2. Product Concept: The choice for a particular product also differs from person
to person. There could be shift in the change of product category from the
existing product category. The time needs to be spent in order to make a
purchase of a product category.
3. Consumption Situation: The purchasing and the consumption depend on the
situation for a particular product. The consumption of a product may also reflect
to the status of individual.
4. Marketing Concept: The marketing of a product also depends on individual
psychology, social psychology, sociology, cultural or social anthropology,
economic, geographical, linguistics, politics and philosophy.
Need to study Consumer Behaviour
The study of consumer behavior plays an importance role to the marketers which
need to study in how individuals, groups and organizations select, buy, use and dispose
of goods, services, idea or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. To survive in
the market, a firm has to be constantly innovating and understand the latest consumer
needs and tastes. The need to study consumer behaviour can be summarized as follows:
i) The study of consumer behaviour for any product is of vital importance to
marketers in shaping the fortunes of their organizations.
ii) It is significant for regulating consumption of goods and thereby maintaining

Notes economic stability.

iii) It is useful in developing ways for the more efficient utilization of resources of
marketing.
iv) Today consumers give more importance on environment friendly products. They
are concerned about health, hygiene and fitness.
v) The growth of consumer protection movement has created an urgent need to
understand how consumers make their consumption and buying decision.
vi) Consumers tastes and preferences are ever changing. Study of consumer
behaviour gives information regarding colour, design, size etc. which consumers
want.
vii) For effective market segmentation and target marketing, it is essential to have
an understanding of consumers and their behaviour.
Nature of New Consumers

The nature of new consumers can be summarized as follows:
1. Development in the value systems than earlier.
2. Value of money is emphasized strongly
3. Technophobia is less in new customers than the older ones.
4. Brand loyal is not emphasized more.
5. Level of response and awareness is more.
6. Increased in the product acquisition and acceptance of new products and
services.
7. More price conscious.
8. More environmental concern.
9. More conscious about the societal aspects.
1.3 Scope of Consumer Behavior

Scope of Consume behaviour refer to the study of market potential available in
particular Area of the country, based on the customer taste, habits and standard of living
of the people living there. Consumer behaviour has been studied by numerous scientists
including: psychologists, sociologists, social psychologist and anthropologists.
1. Psychology
Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. Its immediate goal
is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and
researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society.
In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and can
be classified as a social scientist, behavioral scientist or cognitive scientist. Psychologists
attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while
also exploring the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie certain
functions and behaviors. Psychologists explore such concepts as perception, cognition,
attention, emotion, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior,
and interpersonal relationships. Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal
and correlation relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition or in opposition,
to employing empirical and deductive methods, some especially clinical and counseling
psychologists at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques.
Psychology incorporates research from the social sciences, natural sciences and

humanities, such as philosophy. Notes

While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment
of mental health problems, it is also applied to understanding and solving problems in
many different spheres of human activity. Although the majority of psychologists are
involved in some kind of therapeutic role, many do scientific research on a wide range
of topics related to mental processes and behavior or teach such knowledge in academic
settings; and some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, and in other
areas such as human development and aging, sports, health, the media, law, and
forensics.
2. Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science a term with which it is
sometimes synonymous which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical
analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social activity. For many
sociologists the goal is to conduct research which may be applied directly to social policy
and welfare, whilst others produce purely academic theory closer to that of philosophy.
Subject matter ranges from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro
level of systems and the social structure.
Sociology is both topically and methodologically a very broad discipline. Its traditional
focuses have included social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion,
secularization, law, and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are sculpted by social
structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to further
subjects, such as health, medical, military and penal institutions, the Internet, and even
the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge.
The range of social scientific methods has also broadly expanded. Social researchers
draw upon a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The linguistic and cultural
turns of the mid-twentieth century led to increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic, and
philosophic approaches to the analysis of society. Conversely, recent decades have seen
the rise of new analytically, mathematically and computationally rigorous techniques, such
as agent-based modeling and social network analysis. Sociology should not be confused
with various general social studies courses which bear little relation to sociological theory
or social science research methodology.
3. Social Psychology
Social Psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this
definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors include all of the psychological variables that are measurable in
a human being. The statement that others may be imagined or implied suggests that we
are prone to social influence even when no other people are present, such as when
watching television, or following internalized cultural norms.
Social psychology is an interdisciplinary domain that bridges the gap between
psychology and sociology. During the years immediately following World War II, there was
frequent collaboration between psychologists and sociologists. However, the two
disciplines have become increasingly specialized and isolated from each other in recent
years, with sociologists focusing on "macro variables" to a much greater extent.
4. Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural
sciences, and the social sciences. The social and cultural sub-field has been heavily

Notes influenced by structuralism and post-modern theories, as well as a shift toward the analysis
of modern societies an arena more typically in the remit of sociologists. During the 1970s
and 1990s there was an epistemological shift away from the positivist traditions that had
largely informed the discipline. During this shift, enduring questions about the nature and
production of knowledge came to occupy a central place in cultural and social
anthropology. In contrast, archaeology and biological anthropology remained largely
positivist. Due to this difference in epistemology, anthropology as a discipline has lacked
cohesion over the last several decades.
Anthropology is traditionally divided into four sub-fields, each with its own further
branches: biological or physical anthropology, social anthropology or cultural anthropology,
archaeology and anthropological linguistics. These fields frequently overlap, but tend to
use different methodologies and techniques. Biological anthropology, or physical
anthropology, focuses on the study of human population using an evolutionary framework.
Biological anthropologists have theorized about how the globe has become populated with
humans e.g. the "Out of Africa" and "multi-regional evolution" debate, as well as tried to
explain geographical human variation and race. Many biological anthropologists studying
modern human populations identify their field as human ecology, itself linked to
sociobiology. Human ecology uses evolutionary theory to understand phenomena among
contemporary human populations. Another large sector of biological anthropology is
primatologist, where anthropologists focus on understanding other primate populations.
In terms of methodology, primatologists borrow heavily from field biology and ecology in
their research.
Cultural anthropology is also called socio-cultural anthropology or social anthropology.
It is the study of culture, and is based mainly on ethnography. Ethnography can refer
to both a methodology and a product of research, namely a monograph or book.
Ethnography is a grounded, inductive method that heavily relies on participant-observation.
Ethnology involves the systematic comparison of different cultures. The process of
participant-observation can be especially helpful to understanding a culture from an epic
point of view, which would otherwise be unattainable by simply reading from a book. In
some European countries, all cultural anthropology is known as ethnology.
Determinants or factors Influencing of Consumer Behaviour
Consumer behavior is the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services
for the satisfaction of their wants. There are various factors that influence a consumer
to buy and consume a product.
Consumer behaviour is influenced by the following factors:
1. Cultural Factors 2. Social Factors
3. Personal Factors 4. Psychological Factors
1. Cultural Factors
Consumer behavior is deeply influenced by cultural factors such as: buyer culture,
subculture and social class.
i) Culture
Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts
of the universe and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in
the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture is the part of every

society and is the important cause of person wants and behavior. The influence of culture Notes
on buying behavior varies from country to country therefore marketers have to be very
careful in analyzing the culture of different groups, regions or even countries.
The set of basic values perceptions, wants and behaviours are learned by a member
of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the most basic cause
of a person’s wants and behaviour. Every group or society has a culture, and cultural
influences on buying behaviour may vary greatly from country to country.
ii) Sub Culture
A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences
and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people with shared
value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture includes
nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture make up
important market segments and marketers often design products.
iii) Social Class
Every society possesses some form of social class which is important to the
marketers because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is similar. In
this way marketing activities could be tailored according to different social classes.
Almost every society has some form of social structure; social classes are society’s
relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests
and behaviour.
2. Social Factors
Social factors also impact the buying behavior of consumers. The important social
factors are: reference groups, family, role and status.
i) Reference Groups
Reference groups have potential in forming a person attitude or behavior. The impact
of reference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the product is visible
such as dress, shoes, car etc. then the influence of reference groups will be high.
Reference groups also include opinion leader a person who influences other because of
his special skill, knowledge or other characteristics.
ii) Family
Family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour. The family is the most
important consumer buying organization society and it has been researched extensively.
Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the husband, wife and children on
the purchase of different products and services.
iii) Roles and Status
A person belongs to many groups, family, clubs, and organizations. The person’s
position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. For example: M
& “X” plays the role of father, in his family he plays the role of husband, in his company,
he plays the role of manager, etc. A Role consists of the activities people are expected
to perform according to the persons around them.
3. Personal Factors
Personal factors can also affect the consumer behavior. Some of the important
personal factors that influence the buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic situation,
occupation, age, personality and self concept.
Notes i) Age and life-cycle

Age and life-cycle have potential impact on the consumer buying behavior. It is
obvious that the consumers change the purchase of goods and services with the passage
of time. Family life-cycle consists of different stages such young singles, married couples,
unmarried couples etc which help marketers to develop appropriate products for each
stage.
ii) Occupation
A person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought. Blue collar workers
tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-collar workers buy more business
suits. A Co. can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group.
Thus, computer software companies will design different products for brand managers,
accountants, engineers, lawyers, and doctors.
iii) Economic situation
Consumer economic situation has great influence on his buying behavior. If the
income and savings of a customer is high then he will purchase more expensive products.
On the other hand, a person with low income and savings will purchase inexpensive
products.
iv) Life Style
Lifestyle of customers is another import factor affecting the consumer buying
behavior. Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed by the
things in his/her surroundings. It is determined by customer interests, opinions, activities
etc and shapes his whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world.
v) Personality and Self concept
Personality changes from person to person, time to time and place to place. Therefore
it can greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. Actually, Personality is not what
one wears; rather it is the totality of behavior of a man in different circumstances. It has
different characteristics such as dominance, aggressiveness, self-confidence etc which
can be useful to determine the consumer behavior for particular product or service.
4. Psychological Factors
Psychology is the study of the intrinsic qualities of individuals such as motivation,

perception, personality and learning patterns and attitudes. A person’s buying choices
are influenced by five major psychological factors- motivation, perception, learning, beliefs
and attitudes.
i) Motivation
Motivation is the driving force within an individual generated by a state of tension
caused by unfulfilled needs and wants. Motivation is a process of willingness to expand
energy to achieve a goal or a reward. It is an urge inside a human being to achieve
something.
ii) Perception
Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and
interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. Perception differs
from individual to individual. It is the way a person sees the world around him. It is a
personal phenomenon. Perception is that process, which involves seeing, receiving,
selecting, organizing, interpreting and gives meaning to the things around him. It is
basically a mental process, and fundamentally a cognitive on thinking process.
iii) Learning Notes

Consumer learning is defined as a change in behaviour occurring on account of part
or previous experience. Learning evolves continuously and changes as a result of newly
acquired knowledge. Consumers learn from their past experience and the future behaviour
results by such learning. The learning does not resulted deliberately. Most the learning
arrives either by intentionally or by incidental. The learning process can also be derived
accidentally.
iv) Beliefs
A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. Beliefs are
centered on Knowledge, opinion or faith. This might or might not carry an emotional
change. The manufactures are very interested in them. Beliefs carried by the customers
about their products and services.
v) Attitudes
An attitude is a person’s enduring favourable or unfavourable evaluations, emotional
feelings, and action tendencies toward some object everything, starting from religion,
politics, clothes, music etc. Attitudes results either in the liking or disliking of a product
which ends up either moving toward or away from the product.
Applications of Consumer Behaviour Knowledge
The market should definitely keep in mind the factors influencing the behaviour the
factors which the marketer should keep in mind are age income, geographical location,
lifestyle, educational qualification of a consumer. These factors differ for each and any
consumer. So, while making any strategies, if the marketers keep in mind the above
mentioned. The organization might end up in meeting of the requirements of consumers.
And from the organizational or industrial point of view, the behaviour might be different.
So, the market should also focus on the delivery date, time, maintaining same quality
etc. If this is done systematically and correctly, the marketer might be successful i.e.
implementing its goals and objectives.
The below mentioned factors are very important in the way of understanding consumer
behaviour which will take marketer in taking decisions:
a) Information search helps the marketer in meeting unmet needs and wants
and develop products or services accordingly: The consumer differs in their
buying habits. So, the marketer goes for consumer behaviour research/study
which helps in meeting the needs and wants of the customer and also after
such products of services which can be useful in meeting the unmet needs and
wants.
b) Consumer’s decision-making process is being offered by personal and
market traits: The consumer varies from one another because of the factors
such as age, personality traits, gender, sex, caste, reference groups etc. These
are the factors which decide the social class status for a consumer. The market
traits forces which affect consumer behaviour decision making process are
climate, topography, economic environment, government policy, information
technology etc. The study of consumer behaviour would result in understanding
the affecting the decision-making of the consumer.
c) Market segmentation with unfulfilled wants: The study of consumer behaviour
help marketers in knowing the needs of unmet needs and wants and therefore
the marketer try to develop goods which can fulfill their needs. Thus, the

Notes marketer can trace cut which market segment to concentrate so that the needs
and wants of the customer can be fulfilled.
d) Designing strategies through market segmentation which will help the
marketer to develop and repositioning of their existing products: Marketing
target with a definite through marketing mix. The marketer offers products and
services which can be made to fulfill the needs and wants of the customer.
e) New idea search of the marketer will help in designing marketing
strategies: The marketer should always focus on the current trends, consumer
needs and demographic factors. Developing good marketing strategies will
definitely give positive results. The consumer always wants for information
search which made the customer more aware of the products and services.
Consumer behaviour principles are applied in many areas of marketing as discussed
below:
1. Analysing market opportunity: Consumer behaviour study helps in identifying
the unfulfilled needs and wants of consumers. This requires examining the trends
and conditions operating in the marketplace, consumers' lifestyles, income
levels and emerging influences. This may reveal unsatisfied needs and wants.
the trend towards increasing number of dual income households and greater
emphasis on convenience and leisure have led to emerging needs for household
gadgets such as washing machine, mixer grinder, vacuum cleaner and childcare
centres etc. Mosquito repellents have been marketed in response to a genuine
and unfulfilled consumer need.
2. Selecting target market: A review of market opportunities often helps in
identifying distinct consumer segments with very distinct and unique wants and
need. Identifying these groups, learning how they behave and how they make
purchase decisions enables the marketer to design and market products or
services particularly suited to their wants and needs. For example, consumer
studies revealed that many existing and potential shampoo users did not want
to buy shampoo packs priced at $ 10 or more and would rather prefer a low
priced sachet containing enough quantity for one or two washes. The finding
led companies to introduce the shampoo sachet which became a good seller.
3. Marketing-mix decisions: Once unsatisfied needs and wants are identified,
the marketer has to determine the right mix of product, price, distribution and
promotion. Here too, consumer behaviour study is very helpful in finding answers
too many perplexing questions.
4. Use in Social and Non-profits Marketing: Consumer behaviour studies are
useful to design marketing strategies by social, governmental a not-for-profit
organisations to make their programmes such as family planning, awareness
about AIDS, crime against women, safe driving, environmental concerns and
other more effective. UNICEF (greeting cards), Red Cross and CRY etc. make
use of consumer behaviour understanding to sell their services and products
and also try to motivate people to support these institutions.
1.4 Consumer Research Paradigms and Process
Consumer Research Paradigms

Research signifies the practice of gathering new or existing information to enhance
one’s knowledge. Consumer Research is a form of applied sociology that is concerned
with understanding the behaviours of consumers in a market based economy.
Usually what we notice is that, consumers generally hesitate to reveal the basic Notes
reason behind purchasing a particular product. Here, researchers use two different types
of research methodologies to study consumer behaviours.
1. Quantitative Research 2. Qualitative Research
According to the traditional business paradigms, researchers thought that consumers
are logical and they act rationally to take calculative decisions and maximize their benefits.
They thought consumers purchase the most beneficial product at the lowest possible cost.
Researchers have recently realized that, consumers are not always rational and are
not always aware of the decisions they make.
In 1939, a Viennese Psychologist Ernest Dichter used Freudian Psychoanalytic
techniques to uncover the hidden motives of consumers. It is a dynamic theory of
personality of human beings that arrives from unconscious drives and wishes.
By late 1950's most consumer researchers adopted Ernest Dichter's technique,
which was called "Motivational Research" essentially a qualitative approach.
1. Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is the application of quantitative research techniques while
carrying out the research process. This method is used to predict the consumer behaviour
and is descriptive in nature. It consists of experiments, survey techniques and observation.
It typically involves the construction of questionnaires and scales. Respondents are asked
to complete the survey. Marketers use the obtained information to understand the needs
of individuals in the marketplace and to create strategies and marketing plans.
To analyse data and draw conclusions, both descriptive and inferential statistical
techniques can be used. It may include hypotheses or random sampling techniques to
enable inference from the sample to the population.

Notes 2. Qualitative Research

Qualitative research involves an in-depth understanding of consumer behaviour and
the reasons that govern that behaviour. Qualitative research largely relies on the reasons
behind various aspects of behaviour.
The methods include techniques such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, metaphor
analysis and projective techniques. In this method, the sample sizes are small, so it can’t
be generalized to the larger population. This method investigates the why and how of
decision-making, as compared to what, where and when of quantitative research.
As quantitative research depends exclusively on the analysis of numerical or
quantifiable data, qualitative research comes in many mediums, including text, sound, still
images and moving images.
In this method, responses are verbal and not in numbers and the respondent is asked
to rate the answer in his own words. This approach allows the researcher to discover the
consumption motives, attitudes, opinions, perceptions, preferences, experiences, actions,
etc. of the consumers.
By combining both the research methodologies, the marketers can design more
effective marketing strategies to discover and predict consumer reactions based on
historical data of promotional campaigns.
Consumer Research Process
Consumer research plays a very important aspect, especially when a company

decides to launch a new product into the market. Companies conduct market research
to better understand the consumers, their needs and their satisfaction level.
After conducting various surveys and focus groups, companies analyse the consumer
data and then make recommendations based on the results.
Developing Research Objectives
The first step in the consumer research process is developing the research objectives
which involves defining the purposes and objectives to ensure an appropriate design. A
statement of objective helps to define the type and level of information needed.
Collect Secondary Data
There are two distinct sources of secondary data internal and external. Always seek
internal sources first. Most go straight to Google without considering the fact that data
might exist within the organization itself. This can sometimes be in the ‘heads’ of the
personnel.
External Sources
External sources are numerous. Consumer Generated Media (CGM), especially, has
grown in importance as a data source. The key is to avoid spending too much time following
‘blind alleys’. This is where the time and cost can escalate sharply.
1. Directories
2. Country information
3. Published marketing research reports
4. News sources
5. CGM (Newsgroups, blogs, groups)
6. Internet, a single search engines and multiple search engines

Primary Research Notes

Primary research is basically the original research. Here you yourself collect the
information through various tools available. In primary research, you don’t tend to depend
on any third parties. You may conduct interviews or surveys, observe or even directly go
to the object for collecting information.
Quantitative Research
A quantitative research study is comprised of research design, the data collection
methods, instruments to be used and the sample design.
Following are the three basic designs or approaches used for quantitative design
1. Observational Research: In this method of observational research, the people
or customers are observed effectively when they purchase a particular product.
It helps the researcher to gain in-depth understanding of the relationship between
the people and products by observing them while purchasing and using the
product.
2. Experimentation: Experimentation is a type of research where only certain
variables are manipulated while others are kept constant in order to encourage
the change in the constant variable
3. Surveys: A survey is a method of research in which an interviewer interacts
with respondents to obtain facts, opinions and attitudes.
Following are the various survey methods which are generally used:
1. Personal interview survey
2. Telephone survey
3. Mail surveys
4. Online surveys
5. Quantitative research data collection instruments
Data Collection Instruments for Quantitative Research Data
Questionnaire and Attitude Scale: For quantitative research the primary data
collection instrument is a questionnaire and the most frequent one is attitude scale which
is used to capture evaluative data.
Following are the important methods of data collection in the qualitative design
techniques which are used in the initial stages of research.
1. In-Depth Interview: Depth interview is conducted in length and in a non-
structured manner where the interviewer is highly trained and minimizes his own
participation in the discussion once the general subject is discussed.
2. Focus Group: Focus group involves many respondents who interact with the
analyst in a group discussion and focuses on a particular product.
1.5 Consumer Demographics

Consumer demographics are categories of consumer populations that are relevant
to a business' purposes, such as marketing and product design. The term also refers to
the study of such categories in a business context.Consumers can be categorized
according to an almost endless number of variables. Some of the most common Consumer
demographics for business purposes include age, gender, geographical location, education
level, marital status, household income, occupation and hobbies.
Notes Demographics are one of the key elements of Consumer segmentation.

Targeting specific groups of Consumers enables more efficient allocation of marketing
resources and increases the opportunities for cross- and up-selling. The practice also
makes more personalized interaction possible, improving Consumer service and fostering
Consumer loyalty and retention. More appropriately targeted marketing efforts are typically
more relevant to the Consumer’s needs and, as a result, more welcome.
From another perspective, a business might study Consumer demographics to
understand the makeup of something. That approach is used in creating demographic
profiles of individual Consumers as well as groups.
A customer profile is a thorough description of the typical customer or type of
customer in a market. Demographic characteristics, including personal descriptive traits
commonly included in a customer profile.
1. Age Range: A starting point for a customer profile is often an age range. While
customers of various ages may buy your products or services, it is very helpful
in marketing to know the primary ages of your most common customers. Trendy,
specialty fashion retail shops often target a younger female audience, for
instance. In this case, an age range like 21 to 34 is often used to depict the
likely consumer. Some companies carry this trait a step further and identify
the average or median age of their customers.
2. Gender and Marital Status: Two other key demographic traits that help you
profile your typical customer are gender and marital status. Specialty hair salon
Sports Clips clearly targets a male audience with its ads, which state "Haircuts
for Men," and the slogan is "It's good to be a Guy!" This emphasis lets men
know that the business and experience is customized to suit their needs and
interests. Some companies target couples or men and women in relationships
as opposed to a specific gender.
3. Race and Ethnic Origin: Race and ethnicity are common, but not universally
used, demographic traits in customer profiles. Sports Clips targets men, but
not necessarily a particular race or ethnicity, in its target marketing. Some
ethnic-oriented specialty supermarkets target customers with specific ethnic
origins. A Hispanic grocer would naturally target a customer of Hispanic ethnicity
who has a desire for certain types of foods and products familiar to his native
culture.
4. Education and Income Background: Several closely related traits fit into the
educational and income description in a customer profile. Education, income
and occupation are often distinct attributes in the customer profile. The general
idea with these qualities is to identify how educated your customer is, where
he works and how much he makes. High-end providers often have to target
upper-income consumers that can afford and want their goods. Low-cost
providers usually target a lower-to-middle-class income earner with messages
of low price, affordability or great value.
Consumer Demographic Data related to US Market
It is well understood that product preferences vary across different groups of
consumers. These preferences relate directly to consumer demographic characteristics,
such as household type, income, age, and ethnicity. For this reason, it is not only the
amount of demand that truly matters to a local economy. The mix of consumers also
has a major impact on a local economy, and therefore must be thoroughly examined in
all trade area analyses. Unfortunately, far too much information often is included in these
studies. An enormous amount of data is readily available from a variety of private and
public sources, leaving the reader with tables and tables of demographic information Notes
overload.
1. Population and household’s data allow you to quantify the current market size
and extrapolate future growth. Population is defined as all persons living in a
geographic area. Households consist of one or more persons who live together
in the same housing unit regardless of their relationship to each other (this
includes all occupied housing units Households can be categorized by size,
composition, or their stage in the family life cycle. Typically, demand is
generated by the individual or the household as a group. So, the entire family
influences a household purchase, such as a computer or TV. Individual
purchases, on the other hand, are personal to the consumer. Anticipated
household or population growth may indicate future opportunities for a retailer.
An analysis of household and/or overall population growth provides the “big
picture” of potential retail demand in a community. However, further analysis
is necessary to identify retail preferences within a community.
2. Household income data is a good indicator of residents’ spending power.
Household income positively correlates with retail expenditures in many product
categories. When evaluating a market, retailers look at the median or average
household income in a trade area and will seek a minimum number of
households within a certain income range before establishing a business or
setting prices. Another common practice is to analyze the distribution of
household incomes. Discount stores may avoid extremely high or low-income
areas. Some specialty fashion stores target incomes above $100,000. A few
store categories, such as auto parts, are more commonly found in areas with
lower household incomes. See the following box for more details on household
income. Remember, though, that using income as the sole measure of a
market’s buying preferences can be deceptive. You need to consider all
categories of demographic data when analyzing a market.
3. Highly affluent households with annual incomes above $100,000 comprise one
of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, increasing by more than
2 percent each year since 2000. They are strong consumers, as well as
physically active and civic-minded. Gearing a retail mix toward this segment
may require a focus in luxury goods and services. High-end department and
technology stores, as well as cultural amenities like museums and concert
halls, are frequented by the most affluent households within a population. Middle-
income households with annual incomes between $20,000 and $50,000, are
much more mindful of their expenses than highly affluent families. These
households tend to be more frugal and selective in their buying behavior,
shopping at discount outlets for groceries and other goods rather than high-end
stores. Big box stores are particularly popular for middle and low-income
households. Low-income households with annual incomes below $20,000 are
in a different situation than affluent and middle-income households. Families at
this income level are living in poverty and thus spend very little on goods and
services across the board.
4. Age is an important factor to consider because personal expenditures change
as individuals grow older. We’ve already noted that purchases change
throughout a family’s life cycle, and that holds true for individuals, as well. One
important stage of life, and a category that’s growing as baby boomers age,
is the 65 and older group. Realizing and catering to the needs of an aging
population can be beneficial to any retailer. Consumer spending on drug stores
and assisted care services flourish in areas with a large elderly population.
Notes Accordingly, drug stores often do well in communities with a larger number of
people over the age of 65. In general, though, older populations tend to spend
less on the majority of goods and services. Studies indicate that nightlife and
entertainment spending (restaurants, bars, and theaters) by people over 65 is
roughly half that spent by those under 65. Older adults also spend considerably
less on apparel than other age groups. On the other end of the spectrum, toy
stores, day care centers and stores with baby care items do well in areas with
many children and infants. Clothing stores and fast food establishments also
thrive in areas with a high adolescent population. Some entertainment and
recreational venues, such as movie theatres and golf courses, serve a broad
section of the population. Others, such as water parks or arcades, target certain
age groups.
5. Education levels also figure into the socio-economic status of an area. Because
income increases with advancing educational attainment, many retailers focus
on income level rather than education. There are some exceptions to this,
though. Bookstores are often cited by developers as a business whose success
is directly correlated with the number of college educated individuals in the trade
area. Similarly, computer and software stores are often located in areas with
high levels of education. In general, areas with high levels of educational
attainment tend to prefer “the finer things.” That is, they may have a preference
for shopping at smaller, non-chain specialty retail stores located in their
downtowns. They also tend to visit cultural establishments like museums and
theaters at a frequency over three times greater than those without a college
degree. On the other hand, less-educated populations generally have lower
incomes and thus tend to prefer shopping at discount retail outlets and chain
stores. This group also spends more money on car maintenance and tobacco
products than those with a college degree.
6. Occupational concentrations of white and blue-collar workers are used as
another gauge of a market’s taste preferences. Specialty apparel stores thrive
in middle to upper income areas and those with above-average white-collar
employment levels. Second-hand clothing stores and used car dealerships are
successful in areas with a higher concentration of blue-collar workers. Office
supply stores and large music and video stores are especially sensitive to the
occupational profile. These retailers target growth areas with a majority of white-
collar workers.
7. Ethnicity is another factor retailers consider when choosing merchandise to
carry. Data show that ethnicity affects spending habits as much as other
demographic characteristics, such as income and age. Tastes in goods and
services vary between ethnic groups, and local retailers are wise to cater to
the different needs of ethnic groups in their trade area. Ethnicity influences
retailers’ product mix, including the lines of clothing they carry, and their
advertising. Retailers that use segmentation based on race and ethnic groups
must make sure their efforts effectively measure the true preferences and
behaviors of the community.
8. Housing ownership and rate of housing turnover is an important factor for
numerous retailers to consider. Home ownership directly correlates with
expenditures for home furnishings and home equipment. Furniture, appliances,
hardware, paint/wallpaper, floor covering, garden centers and other home
improvement products all prosper in active housing markets.

1.6 Consumer Life Styles Notes

Lifestyle refers to a way of living of individuals, families (households) and societies,
which they manifest in coping with their physical, psychological, social and economic
environments on a day-to-day basis.
Characteristics of Lifestyle
Feldman and Theilbar describe lifestyle by the following characteristics:
1. Lifestyle is a group phenomenon.
2. Lifestyle pervades various aspects of life.
3. Lifestyle implies a central life interest.
4. Lifestyles vary according to sociologically relevant variables.
5. The rate of social change in a society has a great deal to do with variations in
lifestyles.
Influences on Lifestyle
Cultural and societal variables establish the outer boundaries of lifestyle specific to
our culture. The interaction of group and individual expectations and values creates a
systematic pattern of behaviour. This is the lifestyle pattern that determines purchase
decisions. When goods and services available in the market are in tune with lifestyle
patterns and values, consumer market reactions are favourable. And purchases that
reinforce these patterns further illuminate these lifestyles.
Approaches to study lifestyle
The study of lifestyle is interdisciplinary. It draws on a variety of disciplines such

as anthropology, psychology, sociology and economics. Marketing uses this eclectic
approach for segmenting, targeting and positioning which forms the core of marketing
strategy. Because lifestyle refers to the way in which people live and spend money,
consumers psychographic profiles are derived by measuring different aspects of consumer
behaviour such as:
1. Products and services consumed.
2. Activities, interests and opinions.
3. Value systems.
4. Personality traits and self-conception.
5. Attitude towards various product classes.
Consumer Lifestyle in United Kingdom

1. Get a quick, clear and comprehensive understanding of consumer trends,
attitudes and behaviour in United Kingdom with relevant data conveniently laid
out in a single, easy-to-read document.
2. Immediately gain hard-to-discern insights from local analysts into the factors
that influence daily decision-making processes of United Kingdom consumers
as they shop for and buy needed products and services.
3. Save research time and effort by quickly identifying unique (or in some cases
similar) consumer attributes and characteristics that explain the demand for
specific products and services in United Kingdom.

Notes 4. Quickly grasp the dynamics and direction of United Kingdom’s retail distribution
network in order to understand how manufacturers and distributors get their
products to consumers.
Consumer Lifestyles in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates report analyses factors influencing national consumer
expenditure. Consumer lifestyles reports include coverage of population, urban development,
home ownership, household profiles, labor, income, consumer and family expenditure,
health, education, eating habits, drinking habits, shopping habits, personal grooming,
clothing, leisure habits, savings and investments, media, communication, transport and
travel and tourism. Use this report to understand the factors influencing a nation's lifestyle
choices.
The consumer profile of the United Arab Emirates is diverse, consisting of groups
ranging from high-income nationals to Western expats to less affluent foreign workers from
nearby countries. Consequently, consumer behaviours, attitudes and preferences vary
widely in the country and are often hard to pinpoint. Using detailed data and analysis,
this report identifies and describes key consumer characteristics and tendencies observed
during recent years and projected over the forecast period that paint a detailed and accurate
portrait of UAE consumers. In particular, this report analyses recent trends that have had
a significant impact on consumer markets, including the new frugality brought on by the
recent economic downturn, the increased awareness of health and wellness and
environmental issues, activities in the country's residential housing sector and the advent
of internet retailing.
1.7 Bases of Consumer Segmentation

Market segmentation depends on two levels the strategic level and the tactical level.
At a strategic level, it has a direct link with the decisions on positioning. At a tactical
level, it relates with the decision of which consumer groups are to be targeted.
a) Geographic Segmentation
Prospective customers are in local, state, regional or national marketplace segment.

If a firm is selling a product such as a farm equipment, the geographic location will remain

a major factor in segmenting the target markets because their customers are located in Notes
specific rural areas.
In case of retail stores, geographic location of the store is one of the most important
considerations. Here, urban areas are preferred.
Segmentation of customers based on geographic factors are
1. Region: Segmentation by continent / country / state / district / city.
2. Size: Segmentation on the basis of size of an urban area as per the population
size.
3. Population Density: Segmentation on the basis of population density such as
urban / sub-urban / rural etc.
b) Demographic Segmentation
Market segmentation can be done based on demographic factors such as Age. For
example, Rico watches have segmented their product portfolio according to different age
groups of people.
c) Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic Segmentation focuses on group customers according to their life-

style and purchasing psychology. Many businesses offer products based on the attitudes,
beliefs and emotions, ideas and perceptions of the target market. Psychographic
segmentation includes variables such as Activities, Interests, Opinions, Attitudes and
Values.
d) Behaviouristic Segmentation
Markets can be segmented on the basis of buyer behaviour. It is because the buying
behaviour of consumers differ based on the geographic, demographic and psychographic
factors. Marketers often find practical benefits in using buying behaviour as a separate
segmentation basis in addition to factors like geographic, demographics and psychographics.
Market Positioning means selecting a marketing mix that is most suitable for a target
market segment. The following illustration shows a product positioning map.
The position of a product is the sum of those attributes normally recognized by the
consumers its position, quality, quantity, the type of people, strengths, weaknesses,
threats, etc. "A product's position is how potential consumers see the product" and it
is expressed proportional to the position of the competitors.
Positioning is a podium for the brand. It facilitates the brand to get through the mind
of the target consumer groups. The position of a brand has to be diligently guarded,
maintained and managed.
Business managers need to be skilled, have expertise in problem recognition and
solution techniques to be the greatest help in guiding their company towards greater
success.
In problem recognition, the consumer recognizes a problem or need or want. The
buyer recognizes a difference between his or her actual state and some desired state.
The need can be generated by internal stimuli when one of the person’s normal needs
hunger, thirst, sex, etc. rises to a high level sufficient to become a drive. A need can
also be generated by external stimuli.

Notes At this stage, the marketer should evaluate the consumer’s perspective by
considering the basic questions like
1. What kinds of needs or problems or efforts arise?
2. What brought them about and
3. How it led the consumer towards the particular product.
Reasons to use Demographics in Marketing
Most people willingly assign themselves to categories. Categories are way for people
to find those most like themselves and assign certain traits and characteristics to their
own behaviour. Think of demographics as the ultimate categorization tool. Grouping
consumers based upon characteristics allows organizations to better serve the needs of
their ideal customers. In terms of marketing, it means selling a product or service to the
person most likely to buy it based on their unique needs and preferences. Smaller
organizations might believe that market research and demographics are something only
massive businesses have access to.
1. Understanding the Ideal Customer: Every business has an ideal customer
profile. A most-likely laundry list of traits and characteristics a customer would
exhibit to purchase a product. It’s why laundry soap is usually marketed to
moms and why financial services cater to baby boomers. Doing so allows to
improve and create marketing opportunities that target the customer required.
2. Lowering Marketing Costs: Marketing can be extremely expensive and
medium is one of the factors that essentially decides your marketing budget.
Instead of large, blanket marketing strategies that cast wide nets for a few fish,
you’re able to cast fishing rod and catch in limit in a smaller, more effective
pond.
3. Identifying New Opportunities: Not only do demographics help define and
find ideal customer, they can help identify gaps in marketing strategy. Any chief
marketing officer will need it to understand different consumer bases. Similarly,
your key demographic might be asking for products and features based on their
lifestyles, which would mean a no-brainer addition to a product or service line.
4. Creating Unique Selling Points: Demographics help you create a marketing
story. Instead of just throwing a product or service out there and hoping it sticks,
create and define scenarios to which customers can relate. If, thinking about
some of the products and services you use regularly, chances are to identify
times when specifically marketed to base on age, gender, geographical location,
economic status and overall lifestyle.
5. Increasing Sales: The most important function of demographics in marketing
is obviously to increase sales. By understanding consumers, any business can
increase marketing efforts to target those most likely to buy. Whether it means
changing up marketing strategy or offering current customers more products
and services, it pays to really know what consumers want.
1.8 Consumer Profiles

Consumer Profiling is a method of providing detailed information about a target market
and helping businesses to gain an in-depth insight into their customers, so they understand
their market much better.

This is done by categorising consumers into groups or ‘profiles’, based on key Notes
characteristics that each consumer in a particular group has in common. In this way, it
is possible to see which consumers are likely to share interests and consumer habits
and how they are likely to respond in future. This is key for businesses that need to make
plans for the future based on the market. Profiles are frequently built around features such
as demographics and socio-economic status, for example household income, education
and occupation. Psychographics are also taken into account. This is detail on the
consumers’ attitudes, motivations and lifestyle. More specific details on the consumer’s
use of particular products are used if the client is aiming to market a product.
A common way of separating consumers into social grade profiles for marketing
purposes is to split them into categories A, B, C1, C2, D and E. This takes into account
the occupation of the consumer.
A is people of high managerial roles, grade B is people in an intermediate managerial
role, C1 is made up of junior managerial/supervisory/clerical roles, C2 is for skilled manual
workers, D is the segment of the population who are semi or unskilled manual labourers,
while E is anybody who is entirely dependent public support.
Using consumer profiling will allow a business to know their market and make
decisions based on their typical consumer’s perspective. The result of this will be that
the service they provide, meets the needs and expectations of their target market more
effectively, making the business more likely to succeed in its goals.
Each of the client business’s current customers can be applied to a certain consumer
profile, once the profile has been constructed. Therefore consumer profiling is useful as
it will allow the business to improve their relationships with all customers, in ways
determined by the habits of each profile and plan the most profitable marketing campaign,
targeting the greatest prospects amongst the consumer profiles. Once a business knows
what profile their customers fit into, it is much easier to market, as the business can
target prospects matching their customer profiles. This will then mean the return on
investment for marketing purposes will be far greater than a marketing campaign that has
not been targeted to the appropriate consumer profiles.
Meaning: A consumer profile is a way of describing a consumer categorically so
that they can be grouped for marketing and advertising purposes.
Before even starting to market a product to potential customers, it's important to
take the time to carve out the ideal consumer profile for products.
By defining ideal customer, begin to notice patterns that may prove useful in target
advertising.
To start, consumers can be identified by many different categories, such as:
1. Preference, 2. Lifestyle, 3. Stage of life, 4. Attribute, 5. Trait
Thinking about consumers in terms of the way they are represented by categorical
tiers can be useful. The first tier includes the most common categories for describing
consumers, such as demographics, socioeconomic status and product usage. The second
tier extends the concepts of the first tier and includes psychographics, generation,
geography, geodemographic and benefits sought. Basic definitions of these concepts are
provided below:
Demographic: Attributes related to age, city or region of residence, gender, race
and ethnicity and composition of household.
Socioeconomic: Attributes related to household income, educational attainment,
occupation, neighbourhood and association memberships.
Notes Brand affinity / Product usage: Attributes associated with product engagement
on the basis of their behaviour.
Psychographics: Attributes related to lifestyles, life stage, personality, attitudes,
opinion and even voting behaviour.
Generation: Attributes related to a specific identifiable generation cohort group.
Geography: Attributes related to the geographical area in which consumers reside
and work.
Geodemographic: Attributes that combine geography and demographics which
may cluster into identifiable groups.
Benefits Sought: Attributes related to the benefits that consumers seek when they
shop for products and services.
Market research provider firms often make their consumer profiles available for
discrete market research projects that are conducted for their market research client’s
at large companies.
1.9 Llife Style Marketing

By obtaining information from potential customers, start to get a clear picture of likes,
dislikes and buying behaviours. Some examples of classification categories:
Market Research Categories
ABC1: A common grouping strategy in the market research industry is based on
the professional job role of an individual, a person designated as the head-of-household
or the main contributor of income to a family. This grouping strategy is typically referred
to as ABC1, which is shorthand for the first three socio-economic groups in the taxonomy.
The grouping is as follows:
1. A: Senior or higher managerial, administrative or professional
2. B: Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
3. C1: Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
4. C2: Skilled manual workers
5. D: Semiskilled and unskilled manual workers
6. E: Everyone entirely dependent on public support (Chronically ill, unemployed,
elderly, disabled and other reasons)
Life stage and other special groups. Examples of these are mostly categorized
according to proprietary consumer research or census-based research. Different countries
associated specific percentages with each of the life stages groups. The standard
taxonomy for life stage groups is shown below:
1. Pre-Family or No Family: People under the age of 45 who are not parents.
2. Family: People of any age with at least one child under age 16 still at home.
3. Third Age: People aged 45 through 64 with no children under age 16 still living
at home
4. Retired: People over the age of 65 with no children under the age of 16 still
living at home.
ACORN: The market research industry also uses a consumer group taxonomy known
as ACORN. The basis of ACORN categories is geodemographic segmentation. Relying
on census data primarily, the taxonomy uses residential areas to categorize consumers. Notes
Zip codes (postal codes) can be associated with specific ACORN categories. Because
people who live in neighborhoods tend to share a good number of attributes, the ACORN
method of classifying consumers may be more powerful than a more generic classification
based only on demographic, economic or socio-economic factors. The ACORN categories
and their associated components are described below:
Wealthy Achievers: Category 1
1. A: Wealthy Executives
2. B: Affluent Greys
3. C - Flourishing Families
Urban Prosperity: Category 2
1. D: Prosperous Professionals
2. E: Educated Urbanites
3. F: Aspiring Singles
Comfortably Off: Category 3
1. G: Starting Out
2. H: Secure Families
3. I - Settled Suburbia
4. J: Prudent Pensioners
Moderate Means: Category 4
1. K: Asian Communities
2. L: Post Industrial Families
3. M: Blue Collar Roots
Hard Pressed: Category 5
1. N: Struggling Families
2. O: Burdened Singles
3. P: High Rise Hardship
4. Q: Inner City Adversary
1.10 Environmental factors and Individual factors affecting Consumers

An individual has his own choice and mind-set. Consumer buying behaviour eventually
refers to the buying behaviour of an individual. An individual can get affected by the
environment in which he lives, his culture, his social class, his psychology and his
personality. Now, marketers need to understand this psychology and the mind-set of these
consumers, also, understand what all factors influence their behaviour to develop effective
marketing strategies.
A. Culture
Culture is a very important aspect to understand the behaviour of a consumer. It

signifies the set of values of a particular community.
Notes An individual decides to behave in a certain manner because of his culture. He gets
all these values from his parents and family. Every individual has different sets of values
as compared to others, what they see from their childhood when they start practicing those
habits, they become their culture.
Culture does vary from individual to individual, region to region and country to country,
so the marketer needs to pay a lot of attention in analysing the culture of various regions
and groups. Throughout the process, the consumer is under influence of his culture as
his friends, family, society and his prestige influence him.
For a marketer, it is very crucial to take all these things into consideration while
analysing or observing a consumer’s behaviour as they play a vital role in his behaviour,
perception and expectations.
For example: if we observe the taste and preferences, people in southern India prefers
rice to roti whereas north Indian people prefer roti than rice.
B. Social Classes
The social groups or membership groups to which an individual belongs are the social
classes that influence him. In the social classes, we usually find people with similar values,
lifestyle and behaviour. Now a marketer or a researcher needs to pay attention here
because generally the buying behaviour of people in a particular social class to some
extent is similar, though the level of influence may be low or high, he can tailor his
marketing activities according to different social classes. Social perception is a very
important attribute that influences the buying behaviour of an individual.
Example: A person from a low-income group may focus on price while making the
purchase while a person from a higher income group may consider the quality and
uniqueness of the product.
Sometimes an individual also is influenced by a social group to which he does not
belong, but wishes to get connected with others. For example, in a college a student
is in no need to buy a smart phone but purchases it to be part of that group and be accepted
by them.
Marketers need to understand these situations well and plan their strategies
accordingly for such social benefits. Individuals play various roles in the consumer buying
process
1. Initiator: Initiator is usually the person who comes up with an idea and suggests
the purchase.
2. Influencer: He is the individual who actually pushes for the purchase. He
highlights the benefits of the product. This individual can be from the family or
friend or outside the group too.
3. Decision Maker: He is generally the person who takes the final decision or
the final call after analysing all the pros and cons of the product. He may not
necessarily be the final buyer as may also take the decision on behalf of the
consumer.
For example, a father might decide on buying a laptop for his son or a brother
might decide on the best career option for his sister.
4. Buyer: Buyer is generally the end user or the final consumer who uses the
product.

C. Family Notes
As we, all know family plays a very important role in making a purchase. The family
is responsible for shaping up the personality of an individual. Our attitude, perception and
values are inculcated through our family.
An individual tends to have similar buying habits and similar taste and preference
and consumption patterns as he gets to see within the family. Perception and family values
have strong influence on the buying behaviour of an individual which they tend to keep
constant.
D. Social Status
A social status of an individual usually comprises of an individual’s attitude, class

and prestige. It depends on the way he carries himself socially or the position at which
he is in his work or family or even in his group of friends. The social status of an individual
influences his consumption pattern.
Example: A CEO may want to have a celebration and give a party to his colleagues,
friends and family, so for his social status he may want to book a five star hotel, something
like Taj or Oberoi instead of any other normal hotel.
A purchase decision takes place because of the above-mentioned factors. A
consumer is influenced by his culture, environment, family, social status and groups.
Companies need to understand these factors and develop strategies and market
themselves accordingly to meet the needs of the consumers and increase sales.
Relationship Marketing is very much beneficial while seeking to establish a long-
term relationship with the customers. The idea behind relationship marketing is to retain
regular or old customers. Acquiring new customers is quite difficult as compared to
retaining existing customers.
In relationship marketing, the focus is on retaining customers for longer runs. For
this purpose, the marketer pays more attention on providing orientation of the benefits
for taking those products. He tends to give quick and efficient customer service to satisfy
the consumer and to make it a point that the consumer comes back. Here, in this stage,
it fulfills all the promises or the commitments regarding the after service or anything related
to the product made to the customers. The main point here is that, the quality in which
the marketer pays the utmost attention. To retain the customers for a long run the marketer
should give the customers the desired quality with all the required features and
characteristics and of course, the marketer should be readily available for the customers
to provide effective service or products.
Factors affecting Business and Relationship Marketing
As we, all know consumer needs tend to change gradually with time. The likes,
dislikes, tastes and preferences of consumers change with time. For example, a girl who
liked a dress when she was 15 might not like the same dress when she is 25.
Marketers too need to study the market and acquaint these changing factors to
survive in the market and retain customers.
Fewer Suppliers and Customers Marketers need to alter their marketing strategies
according to various markets.
In a consumer market, there are many suppliers and consumers, so the marketer
needs to work accordingly to motivate the consumer and retain him. Whereas in a business
market, the competition is even tougher, where there are limited or fewer customers and
Notes suppliers. Here the buyers may not always be the end users as they are focused and
know about their wants and needs. In such kind of markets, it is very difficult to change
the opinions of the consumers.
Personal contact between the buyers and sellers is quite possible in a B2B market.
Here, the buyer is not always the consumer and he might come in contact with the seller
directly for his whole-sale or retail business. Whereas, in case of B2C market, the
consumers may or may not have any personal contact with the seller, since now-a-days
consumers prefer buying products online or even from a self-service store.
Possibilities for Mutual Benefit
In B2B markets, usually the buyers and sellers have personal contact so that they
have some mutual benefit which is not possible in case of B2C markets where the buyers
and sellers hardly meet or have any personal contact.
All the above-mentioned factors affect the marketing relationship of consumers and
sellers. Marketing planning is the crucial part of marketing relationship. Marketers very
carefully need to plan their marketing strategies regarding launching a new product in the
market, developing a new product, managing and deciding about the lifecycle of a product.
Marketers need to act in a consumer centric manner where they need to understand
what a consumer exactly needs. He needs to explain all the features and highlight all
the main or most beneficial ones to the consumers, he needs to decide on the price of
the products, the region or the markets or the distributors who are very important while
marketing a product. He needs to understand the sentiments of the consumers before
marketing or advertising a product.
Thus marketing strategies should always be consumer centric. The strategies should
not focus on profit but more on consumer satisfaction. As it is well said Consumer is
the king, marketers should not try to influence consumers but should themselves be
influenced by them. Thus understanding consumer behaviour and then planning strategies
accordingly can lead to a long marketing relationship with the consumers.
Reference Group
In our daily lives, we all get influenced by a variety of people while making our
purchase decisions. We, as humans do a lot to try to impress others. We make purchase
to get compliments and try that others should not think less of us.
A reference group is the group whose perspective we consider. Now our reference
could be very large or very small including few of our family members or few close friends.
Reference groups influence people a lot in their buying decisions. They set the levels of
lifestyle, purchasing patterns, etc.
Reference groups are of two types: 1. Primary Groups 2. Secondary Groups
Primary Groups: Primary reference groups are basically the set of people whom
you meet every day. They can be from your family, your close friends, your roommates,
etc.
These people from primary groups may have a direct and strong impact in your lives
and your buying decisions since they are very significant to you. Primary groups make
you comfortable and give you a feeling that they are with you when you are confused
about a purchase. These people give you very honest and clear advices as they are so
close to you, due to which you could be more confident about the purchase. Research
shows that the bond between people leads people to be effectively social and as satisfied
consumers.

Secondary Groups: Secondary reference groups are usually formal and they speak Notes
less frequently. They might be professionals,colleagues, seniors at work acquaintance at
club, etc.
In secondary reference groups the power to influence people is quite less as
compared to primary reference groups as people in these groups are not that comfortable
in sharing their thoughts or views on the purchase.
Aspirational Group: Aspirational group is the one to which a person may want to
become part of. They currently are not part of that group but wish to become and get
with that group. For doing the same, they try to dress, talk, act and even think the way
the members of that group do.
For example: people who like Madhuri Dixit wish to become like her and meet her
and so start purchasing and using all those products that she endorses.
Dissociative Group: The people in these groups are totally opposite to the people
in the aspirational group. Here people deny of becoming or getting connected to a particular
group. They just hate being related to that group.
For example, if people don’t like a particular community, they would never like being
connected to them. So they would try all the possible ways to avoid the way in which
they dress, think or act.
Thus marketers need to understand the likes and dislikes of the consumers and also
the groups to which they belong. Marketers should recognize the extent to which a
reference group influences the consumer and he should also understand out of all the
groups which group influences him the most.
Family: Family of a consumer plays an important role in the decision making
process. The parents, siblings, relatives all have their own views about a particular
purchase.
Following are the roles in the family decision making process:
1. Influencers: Influencers are the ones who give ideas or information about the
product or service to the consumer.
2. Gate Keepers: Gatekeepers are the family members who usually panel the
information. They can be our parents or siblings too who can in any form provide
us the information about the product.
3. Decision Makers: Family or our parents who usually have the power to take
decisions on our behalf are the decision makers. After the complete the research
they may decide to purchase the particular or dispose it.
4. Buyers: Buyer is the one who actually makes the purchase of the product.
5. End Users: The person who finally uses the product or consumes the service
is the ultimate consumer also called as End user as per the context.
A consumer gets influenced by his family members as well as friends. Since
childhood the culture which he follows or the rituals which he observes and the moral values
and the religious principles he usually receives them from his family. However, the individual
learns fashion, attitude or style from his friends. All these attributes or traits together
influence the buyer’s decision making.
1.11 Current trends in Consumer Behaviour

The main motive of modern marketing is customer satisfaction that is building a
relationship with Marketing Information System customer and is achieved through an
Notes integrated, corporate wide set of marketing activities. This technique understands the
needs and desires of the customer and product is designed accordingly.
The marketer if able to understand the current trends will help the organization to
grew. If the marketer makes a forecast of trends to be introduced in the future, the
organization can offer products to satisfy the needs and wants of the customer. This will
give the organization to grow at a much faster rate.
For example, we can take an example of the modern banking industry. The
transaction period has become fast and of a short duration. The customer can do
transaction anywhere where ever there is a branch of that particular bank. The customer
satisfaction is guaranteed by this kind of banking process. Every customer can access
their account information through internet, mobile, phone-banking. The customer can have
any detail of his account easily and conveniently. We can take the example of ICICI bank,
HDFC bank and Citibank. Though the main objective, of the organization not only to meet
the needs and wants of the customer but also to create a brand image among the
customer. Whenever the customer thinks of a particular bank, the customer will have a
brand image of the bank.
To understand the trends better, we can fall back on the following three categories:
a) Customer demographic trends
b) Technological trends
c) Trends in public policy
a) Customer demographic trends
The demographic factors such as age, sex, marital status, income, education and
occupation etc. are very important factors in determine the needs and wants of their
customer. The needs and wants of the customer change the advent of the changes in
any one of the factor of the demographic trends.
The marketers will definitely try to offer such products which can suit the changing
consumer behaviour. The recent trends are:
i) Double income households with the women group opting to work. Thus, the
introduction of women in work place has changed the total lifestyle of the
household.
ii) In the present both boys and girls are given same importance, the educational
level for the both has increased. So, the present day youth preferably preferred
to postpone marriage and decides to lead a single life till they were well settled.
iii) As the economy progressed, the middle class people has also grown over the
period of time. There is a need for more goods for this class. So, in India, as
the middle class people are more, so the marketer tries to offer such products
which can be affordable by these group of people.
iv) With the development in the economy, the migration of people from village to
cities, from cities to metros has rapidly increased. This has resulted in cultural
and ethnic diversity. There is better scope of job opportunities in the cities than
the villages. Also people shifting from rural to urban areas. Because of the influx
of more and more people from villages to cities, the city is forced to expand
beyond the geographical areas.
b) Technological Trends
With the advent of Information technology, the customer much more habituated of
information search of any products. The access to any products has become easy and

much more convenient. The modern world customers are very knowledgeable. In the Notes
present world, every day a new product is being introduced. So, everyday a new product
is introduced and everyday a new product becomes an obsolete product. So, the people
generally want to go with recent trends. They by no means want to be called as backwards.
So, efforts are being made to improvise every then and there to go with the trend.
c) Trends in public policy
The organizations now-a-days also try to offer such products which can reflect ethics,
cultural and social harmony. The organization became smart to introduce such products
which are generally accepted by all masses. The main purpose is to fulfill the needs of
the society as a whole. The private section organization has resulted in growing the
economic position of a country by introducing new products and services which are
accepted by all and also affordable by all and also of long-lasting in nature. The LPG
(Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) has made the economy much more
effective and result oriented. The customers will always be in a position to gain because
of the competition. And because of competition the organization are introducing the same
product with more futures with an affordable price. The main objective of any organization
is to offer better product and services at lower prices.
1.12 Summary
Consumer is an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not
for manufacture or resale. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether
or not to purchase an item at the store and someone who can be influenced by marketing
and advertisements.
Consumer behaviour is the process whereby individuals decide whether, what, when,
where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services. It is all the psychological,
social and physical behaviour of potential customers as they become aware of, evaluate,
purchase, consume and tell others about the products or services.
Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts
of the universe and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in
the course of generations through individual and group striving.
A group of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences
and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group of people with shared
value system based on common life experiences and situations. Sub culture includes
nationalities, religions, racial group and geographic regions. Many sub culture make up
important market segments and marketers often design products.
Motivation is the driving force within an individual generated by a state of tension
caused by unfulfilled needs and wants. Motivation is a process of willingness to expand
energy to achieve a goal or a reward. It is an urge inside a human being to achieve
something.
1.13 Check Your Progress

I. Fill in the Blanks
1. Consumes are influenced by environment includes, family, culture _________.
2. Markers take all their decisions on the basis of _______________.
3. The consumer behavior includes ____________.
Notes 4. The activities of information search consumes _______, money and _________.
5. The strong skill required to study the consumer behaviour is quantitative skill,
comparative skill and _______________.
II. True or False

1. The study of consumer behaviour provides basic knowledge to make successful
business decisions.
2. Consumer behavior is a simple process.
3. Consumer behavior is the study of consumers.
4. The price, communication, distribution, and services will provide the customers
with superior value.
5. The difference between all the benefits enjoyed and all the cost and risk is
customer value.
III. Multiple Choice Questions

1. Consumer behavior is the study of
[a] Consumers
[b] Competitors
[c] Government
[d] Customers
2. The consumer behavior includes
[a] Psychology
[b] Sociology
[c] Economics
[d] All the above
3. Markers take all their decisions on the basis of
[a] Market strategy
[b] Consumer behaviour
[c] Government rules
[d] None of these
4. Consumer behavior is a
[a] Simple process
[b] Complex process
[c] Continuous process
[d] Serious process
5. Consumer behaviour is a study of
[a] Individuals
[b] Groups
[c] Orgnisations
[d] All the above
6. Consumer behaviour has its impact on
[a] Customers
[b] Parents and children

[c] Consumer and society Notes

[d] None of these
7. Consume behaviour involves the use and disposal of
[a] Prouducts
[b] Goods
[c] Services
[d] All the above
8. Product use is often of great interest to the
[a] Marketers
[b] Manufacturers
[c] Competitors
[d] Customers
9. Consumer behaviour involves
[a] How to position a product
[b] How to encourage the increased consumption
[c] Both a and b
[d] None of these
10. The environmental problem is due to
[a] Product disposal
[b] Pollution
[c] Launching of product
[d] All the above
1.14 Questions and Exercises
I. Short Answer Questions

1. Who is a consumer?
2. Give the meaning of consumer behaviour.
3. Define the term consumer behaviour.
4. What is consumer demographics?
5. What is consumer life styles?
6. What do you mean by consumer segmentation?
7. What is Llife Style Marketing?
II. Extended Answer Questions

1. Give an introduction to consumer behaviour.
2. Discuss nature of consumer behaviour.
3. Explain need to study consumer behaviour.
4. Explain the scope of consumer behaviour.
5. Discuss the consumer research paradigms and process.
6. Explain the consumer demographics.
7. Discuss the consumer life styles.

Notes 8. Explain the bases of consumer segmentation.

9. Write short note on consumer profiles.
10. Explain the Llife Style Marketing.
11. Explain the environmental factors and Individual factors affecting consumers.
12. Explain current trends in consumer behaviour.
1.15 Key Terms

 Consumer: Consumer is a person who purchases goods and services for
personal use”.
 Consumer behaviour: It refers to the psychological, social and physical
behaviour of potential consumers as they become aware of, evaluate, purchase,
consume and tell others about the products or services.
 Perception: is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes
and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.
Perception differs from individual to individual. It is the way a person sees the
world around him. It is a personal phenomenon.
 Consumer learning: is defined as a change in behaviour occurring on account
of part or previous experience. Learning evolves continuously and changes as
a result of newly acquired knowledge. Consumers learn from their past
experience and the future behaviour results by such learning.
 Lifestyle: refers to a way of living of individuals, families (households) and
societies, which they manifest in coping with their physical, psychological,
social and economic environments on a day-to-day basis.
1.16 Check Your Progress: Answers

I. Fill in the Blanks
1. Media
2. Consumer behaviour
3. Sociology
4. Time, energy
5. Analytical skill
II. True or False

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
III. Multiple Choice Questions

1. (a) Consumers
2. (d) All the above
3. (b) Consumer behaviour
4. (b) Complex process

5. (d) All the above Notes

6. (c) Consumer and society
7. (a) Prouducts
8. (a) Marketers
9. (c) Both a and b
10. (a) Product disposal
1.17 Case Study

Today, Coca-Cola took the top position among the Top 10 Global Brands 2008 for
the eighth year in a row, since it was created in 1886 by John Pemberton, a pharmacist
in Atlanta, United States. In 2003, Coca-Cola became the world’s largest manufacturer,
marketer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. Now Coca-
Cola sells more than 400 brands in 200 countries (Coca-Cola, 2008) and had the highest
market share amongst other carbonate drinks in the world by more than 70% of its income
outside the United States.
For many years that Coca-Cola is known as the world leader in carbonated soft drink
especially in Europe and South America. But in some Asia markets including Thailand,
Coca-Cola still trail its biggest rival, PepsiCo.
Regarding to the loss of business situation in Thailand, although Coca-Cola is a global
brand available in most countries in the world, sharing strategic principles, positioning and
marketing including carrying the same brand name or logo. The company is also
recognised by the importance of adaptation/localisation in overseas by responding to each
target market’s need and want, focusing more on the market; economy, culture and region.
Moreover, Coca-Cola tries to approach the target consumers by decentralising the
operation and marketing, trusting more on the ideas and decisions made by individual
local company not from its Atlanta head quarter. These are the ways to reach every target
consumer in the world as the mantra of CEO and Chairman of the company, Doug Daft
in 2000 said: “To be within an arm’s search of desire....Always, everywhere Coca-Cola”
and “We need to make our advertising as relevant as possible to local markets”
With mixing these two components, Coca-Cola is still found to lose connection with
Thai consumers, according to Sasie Vadhanapanich, a chief ideation officer of a marketing
research company in Thailand acknowledged Thai’s perception for Coca-Cola that the
brand stands for ‘youthful spirit’, ‘cool’ and ‘hip’. But for many years ago, the company
had not excited the market or consumers anymore whether through new product
innovations or impactful breakthrough campaigns. Although many attempts were provided
to reconnect with young consumer, the impact was so short-lived.
This problem of Coca-Cola in Thailand can be explained in term of the conflict between
being global brand and localization. Though Coca-Cola said it has applied adaptation/
localisation strategy but their advertising campaigns in Thailand before 2007 still were
global advertisings, the company still adapt one global advertising with promote
amusements, cool and hip of teenager with Coca-Cola in the term of global brand.
This situation is considered as wrong principle and impossible in practice because
global advertising can be effective to consumer in global market not to Thailaind or other
market where consumers’ values and cultures are different from the values and cultures
in the advertising campaign, also the consumer’s culture of local country is different from
the global brand’s country of origin because it is less affluent world of mercerization and
globalism but more becoming creolized (Belk and Ger, 1996 ).
Notes Until 2007, Coca-Cola decided to launch a new advertising campaign named ‘Coke
for everyone’ in Thailand that was totally different and more successful than in the past,
because this advertising is expressed Coca-Cola’s good understanding of Thai hoods
through telling simple stories of Thai, using Coca-Cola bottle/can as a person to present
their differences since physical body, roles in society, attitudes, values, cultures through
the most important aspect, their ‘identities’ in term of self, family, society and nation.
Question: 1. How consumer behaviour has successfully been used to promote Coca-
Cola brand in Thailand while the market share of company has declined? Examine.
1.18 Further Readings

1. Assel Henry (2006), Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Action, Thompson
Press
2. Seth & Mittal (2003), Consumer Behaviour: A Managerial Perspective,
Thompson Press
3. Schiffman and Kanuk (2009), Consumer Behaviour, Prentice Hall of India
4. Consumer Behavior in Indian Perspective – Suja Nair, Himalaya Publications
5. Consumer Behavior- Satish K. Batra & S H H Kazmi, Excel BOOKS.
6. CRM – Alok Kumar, Chhabi Sinha, 7/e, Biztantra.
7. Customer Relationship Management - Peru Ahamed & Sagadevan, Vikas
Publishing.
8. Consumer Behavior – Kumar Rajeev, Himalaya Publisher.
1.19 Bibliography
1. Engel, James F., Kollat, David T. and Blackwell, Rodger D. (1968) Consumer
Behavior, 1st ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1968
2. Lynn R. Kahle, Angeline G. Close (2011). Consumer Behavior Knowledge for
Effective Sports and Event Marketing. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-
87358-1.
3. Elizabeth A. Minton, Lynn R. Khale (2014). Belief Systems, Religion, and
Behavioral Economics. New York: Business Expert Press LLC. ISBN 978-1-
60649-704-3.
4. J. Scott Armstrong (1991). "Prediction of Consumer Behavior by Experts and
Novices". Journal of Consumer Research (Journal of Consumer Research Inc.)
18: 251–256. doi:10.1086/209257.
5. Deaton, Angus; Muellbauer, John, Economics and consumer behavior,
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-521-22850-
6
6. Howard, J., Sheth, J.N. (1968), Theory of Buyer Behavior, J. Wiley & Sons,
New York, NY.
7. Kardes, Frank R.; Cronley, Maria L.; Cline, Thomas W., Consumer Behavior,
Mason, OH : South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2011. ISBN 978-0-538-74540-
6
8. Laermer, Richard; Simmons, Mark, Punk Marketing, New York : Harper Collins,
2007. ISBN 978-0-06-115110-1 (Review of the book by Marilyn Scrizzi, in Journal
of Consumer Marketing 24(7), 2007)
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Introduction to Consumer Behaviour 1

Unit 1: Introduction to Consumer Behaviour

After studying this unit, you should be able to understand:

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Notes 1.1 Introduction

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Who is a Consumer? Notes

1.2 Meaning and Definition of Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behaviour - A managerial & Customer Perspective

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Nature of Consumer Behaviour

Need to study Consumer Behaviour

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Notes economic stability.

Nature of New Consumers

1.3 Scope of Consumer Behavior

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humanities, such as philosophy. Notes

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Determinants or factors Influencing of Consumer Behaviour

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Notes i) Age and life-cycle

Psychology is the study of the intrinsic qualities of individuals such as motivation,

iii) Learning Notes

Applications of Consumer Behaviour Knowledge

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1.4 Consumer Research Paradigms and Process

Consumer Research Paradigms

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Notes 2. Qualitative Research

Consumer Research Process

Consumer research plays a very important aspect, especially when a company

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Primary Research Notes

1.5 Consumer Demographics

Notes Demographics are one of the key elements of Consumer segmentation.

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1.6 Consumer Life Styles Notes

Approaches to study lifestyle

The study of lifestyle is interdisciplinary. It draws on a variety of disciplines such

Consumer Lifestyle in United Kingdom

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1.7 Bases of Consumer Segmentation

Prospective customers are in local, state, regional or national marketplace segment.

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Psychographic Segmentation focuses on group customers according to their life-

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Reasons to use Demographics in Marketing

1.8 Consumer Profiles

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1.9 Llife Style Marketing

Comfortably Off: Category 3

1.10 Environmental factors and Individual factors affecting Consumers

Culture is a very important aspect to understand the behaviour of a consumer. It

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A social status of an individual usually comprises of an individual’s attitude, class

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1.11 Current trends in Consumer Behaviour