CHAPTER TWO

CONSUMERS AS
INDIVIDUALS
 INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
PERSONALITY, SELF-CONCEPT, VALUES, AND LIFESTYLE

I. PERSONALITY:
A set of internal psychological components that
determine the way the individual behaves towards a
stimuli in his environment as well as towards his/her
situations
 An individual’s personality is the particular pattern of
organization that makes one individual unique and
different from all others
 An individual's personality is composed of definite pre-
dispositional attributes called traits. It is described by
traits such as
Personality... Cont’d
 self-confidence,
 dominance,
 sociability,
 Autonomy,
 defensiveness,
 Flexibility, and
 aggressiveness.
Consumers’ personality affects their attitudes
 Each person has his /her unique personality, and the unique
characteristic that affects his/her purchasing behavior
 Based on personality, marketers could analyze consumer behavior
for certain product or brand selection
 One of the relatively modern concept in marketing is that certain
products suit specific types of personality, and
Personality... Cont’d

 Marketers try to match with the product

with its personality types
For e.g. A car can be matched with these
personality types: superior and distinct,
stylish, family oriented, Practical and
economic, and popular
Through all these personality types related
target market can be approached
II. SELF-CONCEPT:
 One of the basic concept in the study of personality is self concept
 It is the image that the individual visualizes himself and believes
others see him in that way.
The four basic dimensions of self-concept
a) Actual self: reflects how an individual actually is at present
moment. A consumer’s actual self-concept can include social
status, age, gender, occupation, and so on. For example, I am a
marketing consultant
b) Ideal self: is a consumer's perception of who he would like to be.
As consumers, many people are in constant pursuit of bettering
themselves, whether it’s through education, income, health, or
occupation.
c) Private self: is one that is not intentionally revealed to others e.g.
being friendly, creative, loving, or adventures
d) Public self: is revealed to others.
 The public (or social) self-concept is how a consumer wants to be
seen by others — how he/she wants to fit into society
II. SELF-CONCEPT… Cont’d
Studying how identity affects purchasing behavior
• Consumers define their sense of self partially from the products
and services they consume
• They attempt to support their self-concepts by using those
products that communicate particular personal characteristics
to themselves and those around them
 For e.g., self-concept is the basis for why a consumer wears
certain fashions, purchases particular products, and drives
specific cars
 Products and brands are an important part of how an
individual defines her/his self
II. SELF-CONCEPT… Cont’d

 products and brands help a consumer stay in line with the

self-concept he/she has developed
 A consumer will buy products that he/she feels reflect
his/her established image
 Therefore, a person’s self-concepts and life style
determines his\her identity
 It’s important to realize that self-concepts are a part of a
person’s identity,
 They’re fairly stable and difficult to change especially as
the individual gets older
 The only way for a self-concept to be changed is through
a new life experience or drastic life change.
III. VALUES:
Assessing the value of the chosen product or service
 After a consumer evaluates and selects the best alternative,
he/she is ready to purchase. However, the consumer isn’t
done flowing through the process just yet.
 Now the consumer determines whether she/he feels that
buying a product / service that has value
 Buying value is the perception of the worth the customer is
getting by purchasing company's product.
 Buying value isn’t just about price; it’s also about service,
quality, and experience
 The two factors that come into play when determining buying
value is the quality and the customer service the consumer
receives
III. VALUES…Cont’d
 Two questions receive the most attention during this Phase “Who
will I buy from?” and “When will I buy?”
Who will I buy from?
Terms of the sale
 The consumer will evaluate not only the purchase price, but the
terms of the sale.
 For instance, if payments are involved, he has to determine whether
he can afford those payments.
 He also has to decide whether he agrees with the length of those
payments.
 Terms of the sale include delivery and warranties as well.
Past experience from the seller
 If the consumer has purchased from you before, he will evaluate the
service you provided in the past
III. VALUES…Cont’d
 However, if the consumer wasn’t happy with
the past service, it’s easier for him to continue
searching for someone else to buy from
Return policy
 A return policy should be clear to the
consumer.
 A concise and clear return policy gives a
consumer a sense of security.
 It can make him feel that what he’s buying is
guaranteed to be what you have represented it
to be.
III. VALUES…CONT’D

When will I buy?

This includes issues related to
Store atmosphere
 The atmosphere includes the design of your building,
interior space, layout of aisles, texture of carpet and walls,
scents, colours, and the shapes and sounds experienced by
the consumer.
Save the customer time
If the customer is feeling time pressure, he needs to save time.
 You can help with this by being clear upfront with your terms of sale and
return policy.
 Saving your customer time can increase the chances of him purchasing
your product or service
III. VALUES…Cont’d

Specials or sales on products / services

 Sales promotions and specials are effective when

trying to keep existing consumers or gain new

consumers.
 Having a sale/ a special can often increase sales

more than any other type of marketing

Attention to customer service
 Experience can be created by providing incredible

customer service and competitive prices and,

 by making the shopping process easier with
consistency in service.
IV) Lifestyle:
• Lifestyle is a pattern of living as expressed in consumers’ activities,
interests, and opinions
• Lifestyle varies from individual to individual
• People coming from the same subculture, social class, and having the
same occupation may have different lifestyles
• A consumer’s Lifestyle is the result of a consumers’ motivations,
education, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs and opinions, personality,
income level, marital status, culture, social class, and buying power.
 A lifestyle typically also reflects on an individual's attitude, values, or
worldview
 It profiles a person’s whole pattern of acting and interacting in the
world.
 Lifestyle also has a major impact on daily activities
 e.g. a carrier woman has different roles in routine life, how she blends
these roles expresses her lifestyle
IV) Lifestyle…Cont’d

 The buying behavior also get changed in

relation to her lifestyle.
 She would like to buy items which are more
convenient and takes less time in selecting.
 Studying the target group lifestyle is very
important as it emphasizes product
development and advertising.
Consumer motivation and Involvement
 Motivation is the persistent need that stirs up and energizes long-term
goals within a consumer
 The first step in consumer purchasing process is the need recognition or
motivation, where consumer realizes that s/he has a need for something
 It reflects an inner state of arousal that directs the consumer to engage in
goal related behaviors, effortful information processing, and detailed
decision making
e.g. If the consumer likes the jacket in a shop then he would look at product
attributes as well relate with the information or style they have in their
mind
 When motivation is high, consumers are willing to do things which are
closely related to their goals.
e.g. if one has an aim to buy clothes which can be fashionable as well as
give confidence to wear at work place and when such a style comes in front
of her then she immediately go for it.
Consumer motivation and Involvement…Cont’d
 Consumers are motivated when they feel processed
information or things are personally relevant
 Health product/ladies cosmetics are best examples of product
to get broad view on motivation with respect to personally
relevant products
 When thinking about what motivates your customer, consider
the five main motivators that consumers experience and react
to
Basic needs: they’re the things that everybody needs to survive;
examples are food, shelter, and water
 If your customer is motivated by a basic need, price will be a
major factor in the purchase
Convenience: As a motivator, convenience is all about saving
time, effort, and money
Consumer motivation and Involvement…Cont’d
Security/safety This powerful motivator is about peace of mind: It’s
triggered by fear of the unknown and the uncontrollable things in life
 Everyone’s looking to feel safe and secure. This motivator is what

drives consumers to purchase insurance

Self-image/ego Although no one likes to admit it, everyone has an
ego. People love to look good, feel good, and be envied by others
 This motivator is strongly driven by emotions, and purchase

decisions triggered by this motivator aren’t logical decisions —

they’re based on emotion
 For example, you may purchase a car that you know will gain the

attention of other drivers,

Fun: is about leisure, relaxation, and enjoyment,
 This motivator pushes someone to buy the pool table, the big-
screen television
 These purchases contain no real practical purpose, but they’re
a source of guaranteed fun and enjoyment
Consumer Attitude
• Attitude can be defined as a persons overall evaluation of a
product/service
• It encompasses the consumer’s knowledge of that product,
his/her liking or disliking of it, and the strength of his/her
feelings regarding it
• The attitude of a consumer refers to what that consumers’
feels / believes about a product / service.
 Attitudes develop over the time through a learning process

affected by family & peer group influences, information &

experience, and personality
 Family Influences- The family has important influence on the

purchase decisions.
 Peer group influences – under particular circumstances peer

groups have much more influences on attitude and purchasing

than advertisement.
 Group norm influences consumers attitudes towards a product
Information and experience: Consumers past experiences influences
their brand attitudes, according to learning theory, such experiences
condition the future behavior
 Personality – A consumer’s personality traits represent how he
responds to things around him.
 It isn’t uncommon for consumers to be influenced by the personality
traits of those closest to them.
 For example, suppose that a consumer has surrounded himself with
people who stay on top of technology. They purchase /buy a product
related to new technology and so because of the consumer’s association
with this group, He also purchases the newest product when they’re
introduced
 In a marketing concept, attitudes are the enduring feelings, evaluation,
and tendency of consumers toward your product, service, or company,
and
 Attitudes are predispositions toward specific brands, products, or
companies that cause consumer to respond favorably or unfavorably
toward them
Components of attitude
• Attitude is a cluster of feelings, beliefs, and
behavioral tendencies that are directed toward a
specific product, person, idea, object, or group.
 By understanding the components of attitude,
you can gain a better understanding of the
consumer.
The three components of attitude are
Beliefs: what a consumer thinks about a product,
Feelings: how a consumer feels about a product,
Intentions: how a consumer is likely to act as a
result of those beliefs and feelings.
Attitudes can change in response to the
following:
 The introduction of new or improved products

 The addition of new consumer experiences

 The marketing efforts of your competition

 The performance of the product after purchase

Attitudes that are relative to purchase behaviour

are often formed as a result of
 Direct experience with the product

 Word-of-mouth marketing

 Exposure to media advertising, the Internet,

and direct marketing efforts

How attitude affects purchase decisions
• Market research and behavioral science studies
have shown that consumers’ attitudes toward a
product influence their overall evaluation of
whether to purchase that product
 It also influences whether they relate positively or
negatively toward that product
 Attitudes tell you how well you’re meeting the
needs of your consumer and show you how the
consumer perceives your logo, products, or
marketing messages
 Because attitudes are difficult to define, measure,
and observe, you may need to do some research to
fully understand the attitudes of your consumers
Perceiving a customer’s internal assessment
• it’s useful to understand and measure the influence of product-
purchase attitudes in terms that relate to the way a product
functions in supporting the attitude that it causes
The four primary functions are adjustment, value, ego, and,
knowledge
Adjustment function
The adjustment function gives a product the ability to help a consumer
achieve desired goal or avoid an undesired goal
 An example of the adjustment function would be a consumer
who finds a fantastic pizza shop; he repeatedly orders pizza
from this restaurant in order to avoid the risk / dissatisfaction
of another pizza shop.
 How can this function work in your favor as a business owner?
If you were the owner of another pizza shop, you could offer a
money-back guarantee if the consumer wasn’t satisfied
Knowledge function
 The knowledge function gives a product the
ability to provide meaning to the consumer’s
beliefs and experiences
 In other words, it recognizes that people are
driven by the need to gain information to
organize and understand their environments
 Marketers often use the knowledge function by
applying “need-to-know” strategies in their
advertisements and marketing materials