BRM INTERIM REPORT

DISPOSITION BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Rajdeep Chakraborty Prashant Sharma

Vikash Kumar

Abhinav Sharma

Shray Chopra

Nancy Singh
 OBJECTIVES
The topic of our project is “Understanding Disposition behavior of consumer”. We basically
want to study and understand the factors which influence the disposition behavior of
consumers as disposition decision often influences later acquisition decisions .

The objectives are:

1. To study the correlation between consumer disposition behavior and emotional

attachment of consumer with product.
2. To study the decision behavior of consumer on disposition of product and opportunities
for marketers.
3. To study how situational influences affect disposition decision of consumer.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Disposition decision often influences later acquisition decisions. Thus, someone who buy a new wrist
watch or pen because old one stopped working may decide that the old did not last enough and may
eliminate this brand from failure consideration. By understanding why consumers dispose of older
brands, particularly when a problem has occurred, marketers may be able to improve their offerings for
future.

INTRODUCTION

Disposition
Disposition is the throwing away of meaningless or used up items without giving the action much
thought.

Research shows that disposition is actually much richer and more detailed process .We tend to think of
possessions as physical things, but they can be defined much more broadly as anything that reflects an
extension of the shelf.
Consumers often have logical and reasonable motives behind disposition actions. For example, people
may choose to donate something without getting a tax deduction, or they may pass an item along out of
desire to help someone as well as desire not let the product go waste. Situational or product related
factors can also effect disposition option. For example, when consumers have limited storage space,
they may be, more likely to dispose of a possession by throwing it away, giving it away, or abandoning it.
Consumers disposition of a possession of high value are likely to sell it or give it to someone special
rather than throw it away. In general frequency of different disposition behaviors varies by product
category.

Disposition can involve more than one individual, as when consumers give old clothes to someone, sell a
car, or participate in a neighborhood clean up, or it consist of activities of a collective or social nature.

Disposition and emotional attachment

We most often think of disposition in terms of physical detachment, the process by which the item is
physically transferred to another person or location. However Emotional attachment is more detailed,
lengthy, and sometimes painful process. Often consumers remain emotionally attached to possession
long after they have become physically detached. For example, it takes a person year to come to grip
with selling a valued house or car. Giving up a baby or pet for adoption is an example of difficult
emotional detachment that sometimes results in grief and mourning. Even when an item can be traded
in for a discount on a new replacement, emotional attachment enhances the value consumers perceive
on a new replacement, emotional attachment enhances the value consumers perceive in the old item,
complicating the disposition and purchase decision.

Market implication
Marketer need to understand disposition for several reason:-

1. Disposition decision often influences later acquisition decisions. Thus, someone who buy a new
refrigerator because old one stopped working may decide that the old did not last enough and
may eliminate this brand from failure consideration. By understanding why consumers dispose
of older brands, particularly when a problem has occurred, marketers may be able to improve
their offerings for future.
2. Marketers have become interested in the way that consumers trade, sell, or give away items for
secondhand purchases through used-merchandise retail outlets and website, flea markets,
garage sales, and classified ads in newspaper and online. Flea markets are popular, not only
because they are a different way of disposing of and acquiring products but also because of the
hedonistic experience they provide. Consumers enjoy searching and bargaining items for items,
the festive atmosphere-almost like medieval fair-and social opportunities.
3. Product disposition behavior can sometimes have a major impact on society in general, for
example, if product life can be extended by getting consumers to trade or resell items, waste
and resources depletion could be reduced.
4. By examining brand disposition patterns, marketers can gain important insights, for example,
region of the country accounted most strongly for difference in consumption patterns, followed
by cultural status.

LITERATURE REVIEW
1. EXTENDING PRODUCT LIFE: TECHNOLOGY ISN'T THE ONLY ISSUE
Margaret DeBell (student), University of Maryland Rachel Dardis, University of
Maryland.

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors influencing purchase and

disposition behavior of consumers. Since, we are concerned with disposition, so
we will concentrate on that aspect only. In this study durable goods are
categorized in two categories
a. Those appliances which are disposed due to the mechanical or
performance obsolescence, like washing machine.
b. Those appliances which are disposed due to the fashion or technological
obsolescence, like refrigerator.

Disposal decision is the one in which a consumer replaces the old good with a
new one. Products like washing machines are operated mechanically more
than refrigerators, so they are the ones likely to get performance failure.
On the other hand refrigerators, stoves are kept in kitchen, so people dispose
them if they do not match with the style of the kitchen.
When the consumer first purchases a good, the
marginal benefits are high and marginal costs, ie, cost of maintenance and
repair are low. But over the time, marginal costs increase and marginal
benefits decrease. This is also one of the reasons of disposition.
Also, we found out the method of disposition of
goods in this study. The products like washing machines which are disposed
due to their mechanical failure are generally disposed as trash. On the other
hand, refrigerators are disposed to some other owner and they are used.
2. THE CONSUMPTION AND DISPOSITION BEHAVIOR OF VOLUNTARY SIMPLIFIERS
Paul W. Ballantine and Sam Creery Department of Management, University of
Canterbury, New Zealand Colgate-Palmolive Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.

The focus of this paper is to explore the disposition activities of voluntary

simplifiers. Voluntary simplicity can be defined as singleness of purpose, sincerity,
honesty within as well as avoidance of exterior clutter, of many possessions
irrelevant to the chief purpose of life. There are three types of voluntary
simplifiers:
a. Downshifters: Those who dispose some of the consumer goods while
retaining majority of them.
b. Strong Simplifiers: Those who give up their highly paid jobs in order to live
on less income.
c. Holistic simplifiers: These types of people change their entire lifestyle in
order to fit the voluntary lifestyle. These individuals dispose all materialistic
and luxury goods.
This literature tells us about three aspects of disposition:
a. Meaning of disposition.
b. Goals of disposition.
c. Means of disposition.

In the early stages of voluntary simplicity, disposition is majorly done of luxury

and materialistic goods as a part of general decluttering effort. Disposal of
meaningful goods such as books is very less. Products which are having bad
effect on environment are also disposed frequently. Products having good
quality last longer, so voluntary simplifiers prefer these products, which reduces
their disposition. Products which can be used second hand also reduce the
disposition behavior of the consumers.

3. WHAT ABOUT DISPOSITION?

Jacob Jacoby, Carol.K.Berning and Thomas.F.Dietvorst.

This is one of the most significant and comprehensive literature available on

consumer disposition behavior. This study classifies consumer disposition behavior
into 3 categories:
a. Keeping the product.
b. Permanently disposing it.
c. Temporarily disposing the product.

It also throws light on the concept that why people acquire new products when the
old products are working satisfactorily. This is because:
a. It had the features which the old ones had not.
 b. It didn’t fit in the changing environment.
c. It no longer corresponded to the one’s preferences.

This study also provides the reasons for disposition:

 Psychological characteristics of the decision maker: Personality, attitude,
emotions, learning, creativity, social class, peer pressure, social conscience
etc.
 Factors intrinsic to the product: Condition, age, style, value, color, reliability,
adaptability, durability, initial cost, replacement cost etc.
 Situational factors extrinsic to the product:
Finances, storage space, urgency, fashion changes, economics, legal
considerations, circumstances of acquisitions.

4. LIFE STATUS CHANGES AND CHANGES IN CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND

SATISFACTION
Alan r. andreasen (784 – 794)
It tells about the changes in the life status of people due to changes in the
lifestyles and due to stress resulting in changes in changes in the disposition
behavior which may be positive or negative. Positive in the sense that people
respond to changes in their lifestyle by going for more disposition thus resulting
in purchase of more products to enhance their lifestyle and vice-versa.

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Quantity of life status change can cause individuals to change their lifestyles,
which leads, in turn, to changes in disposition patterns. This formulation prompts
two hypotheses:

Ho (B1): The greater the quantity of life status

change, the greater the change in lifestyle.

Ho (B2): The greater the change in lifestyle, the

greater the change in disposition patterns.

These hypotheses take into account the impact of each status change on the
individual or household.
 STRESS EFFECTS

Stress factors can have a positive or negative impact on consumer disposition

behavior. Stress should be reflected in consumers' dissatisfaction with their
product and service purchases, which could signal a readiness to change
preferences in the future. Thus it is hypothesized that:

Ho (C2): The higher the level of stress, the lower the overall satisfaction with
product and service purchases.

Theory suggests that the effects of stress could be repressive for some
consumers, motivating for others, and could require the intervention of third
parties for still others.

5. NATURALISTIC INQUIRY INTO BUYER AND SELLER BEHAVIOR AT A SWAP MEET

RUSSELL W. BELK,JOHN F. SHERRY, JR.,MELANIE WALLENDORF

 Naturalistic Inquiry is the interpretation of data collected in site. It begins with the
selection of an interactional site at which the phenomena of interest to the inquirers are
known to occur.

 The site of interest for a naturalistic inquiry can be a consumption venue for in which
purchase, consumption, and disposition of material possessions could be observed and
discussed with a varied sample of participants.

 An approporiate consumption venue to be taken for research can be a swap meet. A

flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods
are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or
it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent.[ The flea-market vendors may
range from a family that is renting a table for the first time to sell a few unwanted
household items to a commercial operation including a large variety of new or used
merchandise, including scouts who rove the region buying items for sale from garage
sales and other flea markets, and several staff watching the stalls
  Such a research can provide researchers with a record of personal impressions and
biases, emotional and attitudinal dispositions, individual motives, and speculation and
extemporaneous theorizing, all of which is useful in retrospectively interpreting the
substantive field notes a swap meet is an effective outlet for ventilation of emotions
experienced by the use of the product.

 The analysis of naturalistically obtained data is not an inclusive, discrete phase that
follows data collection. Rather, analysis begins during initial collection of data and
continues throughout the project, consistent with the emergent design of a naturalistic
inquiry.

Some of the important conclusions drawn from analyzing behavior of buyer and seller at the
swap meet are as follows:

Freedom versus Rules. The interplay of freedom and rules is a recurrent theme at
any swap meet. Freedom is an important motivation for both buyers and sellers at
the swap meet and often transcends economic motivations.

Boundaries versus Transitions. A second emergent theme at a swap meet is the

significance of various types of boundaries. Boundaries are important in structuring
participants' understandings of (1) geographic areas, (2) types of people, and (3)
types of businesses. These three types of boundaries are interdependent in that
certain types of people and types of businesses are to be found in certain geographic
areas.

Competition versus Cooperation. Another important observation at a swap meet is

the complex interplay between competition and cooperation. While interdealer
competition was noted, competition is perhaps more applicable to buyer-seller
relationships and negotiations
 Sacred versus Profane. Another important observation at a swap meet is that of
transforming sacred resources into profane or secular resources. Sacred items are
those imbued with special meaning and therefore set apart from the everyday,
ordinary world of profane commodities. The transformation from the sacred to the
profane is exemplified by the one-time sellers' conversion of their used personal
goods into marketable wares.

6. OLDER CONSUMERS' DISPOSITION OF SPECIAL POSSESSIONS

LINDA L. PRICE, ERIC J. ARNOULD, CAROLYN FOLKMAN CURASI

 Aged consumers seek to pass on personal and familial legacies, achieve symbolic
immortality, insure a good home for special objects, and/or influence the future lives of
others.

 Older consumers are not that willing to dispose off their belongings rather, they believe
in distributions of their belongings to their relatives or children.

 Our research examines possessions described by older consumers as "special,"

cherished," "favorite," and/or "priceless".

 Owners bold these possessions dear independent of their exchange value (Holbrook
1994), and idiosyncratic meanings are central to their worth.

 Exploring disposition decisions related to cherished objects requires us to attend to their

meanings.

 Their decisions engage the perspectives of, and may be influenced by, many others,
including family, caretakers, friends, estate planners, and collectors.

 Cherished possessions are important in the well-being of the elderly.

 Loss of cherished possessions may lead to lower life satisfaction

 Possessions people have been able to hold on to, through good times and bad, increase
in meanings and value.
  Cherished possessions can represent legacies of the self.

 Cherished possessions make a life story durable. They represent vivid, emotional
linkages to other people, times, and places.

 Consumers may seek to insure that their "contributions" or "works" do not die and that
they symbolically live on in these works.

 Disposition of cherished objects may be used to engage with younger family members,
express love, and pass on personal and familial legacies.

 Cherished Irreplaceable objects hold the potential to be a perfect gift for giver and
receiver alike.

METHODOLOGY

Business Research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and
findings relevant to a specific marketing situation.
The basic methodology for the project that was adopted is mentioned as here under:

Define the problem and research objective

Develop the research plan
Collect the information
Analyze the information
Present the findings in Report
Make decisions

Since we are not having any secondary data for our study so we will first make an attempt to
conduct an exploratory research to clarify the variables and nature of our problem.

 EXPLORATORY RESEARCH: It is conducted to identify the products to which consumers

are emotionally attached and the products to which consumers are less emotionally
attached.
We surveyed 20 peoples and find two products. One to which consumers are
emotionally attached and one to which consumers are less emotionally attached.
  PEN-(To which consumers are less emotionally attached)
 WRISHT WATCH-(To which consumers are more emotionally attached)
 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH: We will study the characteristics of the population and the
problem on hand. We will conduct surveys, observation, experiments etc to carry out
this research.
 CAUSAL RESEARCH: We will study the effect of consumer disposition behavior on the
sales of the firm.