The term consumer behaviour, individual buyer behaviour, end user behaviour and

consumer buying behaviour all stands for the same.

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups and Organisation

select buy, use and dispose of goods and services, ideas or experiences to satisfy
their needs and wants.

Consumer behaviour may be defined as the decision process and physical activity
individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of goods and
services.

According to Belch and Belch "consumer behaviour is the process and activities
people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating and
disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and desires".
NATURE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: 
Systematic process : Consumer behaviour is a systematic
process relating to buying decisions of the customers. The
buying process consists of the following steps : 
Need identification to buy the product 
Information search relating to the product 
Listining and evaluating the alternative 
Purchase decision 
Post purchase evaluation by the marketer
 

 Influenced by various factors : Consumer behaviour is influenced by a number of factors the factors that
influence consumers include marketing, personal, psychological, situational, social and cultural etc. 

 Different for different customers   : All consumers do not behave in the same manner. Different consumers
behave differently. The different in consumer behaviour is due to individual factors such as nature of the
consumer's lifestyle, culture etc. 

 Different for different products  : Consumer behaviour is different for different products there are some
consumers who may buy more quantity of certain items and very low quantity of some other items. 

 Vary across regions  : The consumer behaviour vary across States, regions and countries. For instance, the
behaviour of urban consumers is different from that of rural consumers.  normally rural consumers are
conservative (traditional) in their buying behaviour.
 

 Vital for marketers  : Marketers need to have a good knowledge of consumer behaviour they need to study
the various factors that influence consumer behaviour of the target customers. The knowledge of consumer
behaviour enables marketers to take appropriate marketing decisions. 

 Reflect status  : Consumer buying behaviour is not only influenced by status of a consumer coma but it also
reflect it. Those consumers who owned luxury cars, watches and other items are considered by others as
persons of higher status. 

 Result in spread effect  : Consumer behaviour as a spread effect. The buying behaviour of one person may
influence the buying behaviour of another person. For instance, a customer may always prefer to buy
premium brands of clothing, watches and other items etc. This may influence some of his friends,
neighbours and colleagues. This is one of the reasons why marketers use celebrities like Shahrukh Khan,
sachin to endorse their brands.
 Undergoes a change : The consumer behaviour undergoes a change over a period of time depending upon
changes in age , education and income level etc, for example, kids may prefer colourful dresses but as they
grow up as teenagers and young adults, they may prefer trendy clothes. 

 Information search : Search for information is a common consumer behaviour. Consumers cannot purchase
goods and services if they are unaware that a good or service exists. When a consumer decides to buy a
certain item, his decision must be based on the information he has gethered about what products our
services are available to fulfill his needs. There might be a product available that would be better suited to
the consumers needs, but if he is an aware of product, he will not buy it. 

 Brand loyalty : Brand loyalty is another characteristic of consumer behaviour. Brand loyalty is the tendency
of a consumer to buy product products or services from a certain company that one likes or equates with
having high quality goods and services 

 
SCOPE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: 

1) Consumer behaviour and marketing management : Effective business managers

realise the importance of marketing to the success of their firm. A sound
understanding of consumer behaviour is essential to the long run success of any
marketing program. The essence of the Marketing concept is captured in three
interrelated  orientations consumers needs and wants, company integrated strategy. 

2) Consumer behaviour and non profit and social marketing : In today's world even
the non-profit organisations like government agencies, religious sects, universities
and charitable institutions have to market their services for ideas to the "target group
of consumers or institution." Also they make their contribution towards eradication
of the problems of the society. Thus a clear understanding of the consumer
behaviour and decision making process will assist these efforts.
3) Consumer behaviour and government decision making : In recent years
the relevance of consumer behaviour principles to government decision
making. Two major areas of activities have been affected: 

i) Government services: It is increasingly and that government provision of

public services can benefit significantly from an understanding of the
consumers, or users, of these services.

ii) consumer protection: Many Agencies at all levels of government are

involved with regulating business practices for the purpose of protecting
consumers welfare.
 4) Consumer behaviour and demarketing: It has become increasingly clear that
consumers are entering an era of scarcity in terms of some natural gas and
water. These scarcities have led to promotions stressing conservation rather
than consumption. In other circumstances, consumers have been encouraged to
decrease or stop their use of particular goods believed to have harmful
effectsThe term "demarketing" refers to all such efforts to encourage consumers
to reduce their consumption of a particular product or services.

5) Consumer behaviour and consumer education: Consumer also stands to benefit

directly from orderly investigations of their own behaviour. This can occur on
an individual basis or as part of more formal educational programs.
IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR:

1) production policies: The study of consumer behaviour effects production policies of enterprise. Consumer
behaviour discovers the habits, tastes and preferences of consumers and such discovery enables and
enterprise to plan and develop its products according to these specifications. It is necessary for an
enterprise to be in continuous touch with the changes in consumer behaviour so that necessary changes in
products may be made.

2) Price policies: The buyer behaviour is equally important in having price policies. The buyers of some
products purchase only because particular articles are cheaper than the competitive articles available in the
market.

3) Decision regarding channels of distribution: The goods, which are sold and solely on the basis of low price
mast and economical distribution channels. In case of those articles, which week T.V. sets, refrigerators etc.
Must have different channels of distribution. Thus, decisions regarding channels of distribution are taken
on the basis of consumer behaviour.
4) Decision regarding sales promotion: Study of consumer behaviour is also vital in making
decisions regarding sales promotion. It enables the producer to know what motive prompt
consumer to make purchase and the same are utilised in promotional campaigns to
awaken desire to purchase.

5) Exploiting marketing opportunities: Study of consumer behaviour helps the marketers to

 understand the consumers needs, aspirations, expectations, problems etc. This
knowledge will be useful to the marketers in exploiting marketing opportunities and
meeting the challenges of the market.

6) Consumer do not always act or react predictably: The consumers of the past used to react
to price levels as if price and quality had positive relation. Today, week value for money,
lesser price but with superior features. The consumers response indicates that the shift
had occurred.
 

7) Highly diversified consumer preferences: This shift has occurred due to availability of
more choice now. Thus study of consumer behaviour is important to understand the
changes.

8) Rapid introduction of new products: Rapid introduction of new product with

technological advancement has made the job of studying consumer behaviour more
imperative. For example, the information Technologies are changing very fast in
personal computer industry.

9) Implementing the "Marketing concept": This calls for studying the consumer behaviour,
all customers need have to be given priority. Thus identification of target market before
production becomes essential to deliver the desired customer satisfaction and delight.
APPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: 

1) Analysing market opportunity: Consumer behaviour study help in identifying

the unfulfilled needs and wants of consumers. This requires examining the
friends and conditions operating in the Marketplace, consumers lifestyle,
income levels and energy influences. This may reveal unsatisfied needs and
wants. Mosquito repellents have been marketed in response to a genuine and
unfulfilled consumer need.

2) Selecting target market: Review of market opportunities often helps in

identifying district consumer segments with very distinct and unique wants
and needs. Identifying these groups, behave and how they make purchase
decisions enable the marketer to design and market products or services
particularly suited to their wants and needs.
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. Where too, consumer behaviour study is
very helpful in finding answers too many preplexing questions. The
factors of marketing mix decisions are:

i) product ii) price iii) promotion iv) distribution

 

4) Use in social and non profits marketing: Consumer behaviour studies

are useful to design marketing strategies by social, governmental and
not for profit organisations to make their programmes more effective
such as family planning, awareness about AIDS.
 Consumer involvement is the state of mind that motivates a consumer to make a purchase, or the
importance a consumer places on a product or service. There are different levels
of involvement a consumer can have in the decision-making process and different factors that influence
that involvement

 Consumer involvement is defined as a state of mind that motivates consumers to identify with
product/service offerings, their consumption patterns and consumption behavior. Involvement creates
within consumers an urge to look for and think about the product/service category and the varying options
before making decisions on brand preferences and the final act of purchase.

 It is the amount of physical and mental effort that a consumer puts into a purchase decision. It creates
within a person a level of relevance or personal importance to the product/service offering and this leads to
an urge within the former to collect and interpret information for present/future decision making and use.

 Involvement affects the consumer decision process and the sub processes of information search,
information processing, and information transmission.
Nature of Consumer Involvement:

1. It is an inner urge that creates within an individual an interest/desire to hold certain product/service offerings
in greater relevance/importance.

2. Involvement possesses certain properties:

a) It has a level of strength and intensity that determines the degree of involvement that a consumer possesses.
This could be high or low. A highly involved consumer would actively search for information and collect
facts, compare the various brands against each other on the basis of the information, assess differences and
similarities between the various alternatives and finally make a choice. In other words, they collect, process
and integrate information very intensely, and finally arrive at a decision regarding the brand choice. On the
other hand, a consumer low on involvement would not make so much of effort in collecting and processing
information about varying alternative brands and taking a decision.

b) The length of time that the consumer remains in this heightened state determines the level of persistence. It
could be short term and situational interest in the product/service category; or it could be long term and
enduring.

c) It is directed towards any or all of the elements of the marketing mix. A person may show involvement
towards the product (its features/attributes and benefits), the price, the store or the dealer or even the
promotional effort (advertisement/sales promotion etc).
3. A mechanism underlies the very process of
involvement. As a process, involvement is
impacted by certain “antecedents” that get
restrained by “moderating factors,” and finally
affect its degree of intensity and level of
persistence.
Antecedent factors: There are certain factors that precede and lead to involvement; these are referred to as
‘antecedents’; Antecedents to consumer involvement include the following:

a) The person himself and the individual determinants like motives/needs; learning/experiences; interests;
attitudes; personality; lifestyle/social class/interests/values; etc, have a bearing upon consumer
involvement. Products which relate to self image and personality lead to high involvements. Similar are
products that have a bearing on social class and lifestyle.

b) The object, stimuli or the product/service offering also affects involvement. Involvement would also be
impacted by features, benefits and associated value of various brand offerings; brand image and equity; and
very importantly the associated risk levels. Products which possess high levels of risk increase the level of
consumer involvement.

c) The situation: The occasion/situation/reason of purchase also have a bearing on the level of consumer
involvement; for example, while gifting to a person special to oneself, we are careful about the product or
the brand.

Further, social pressure Social visibility also impacts the level of involvement; the level of consumer
involvement increases in case of social
Moderating factors: The factors that can restrain the impact of
antecedents so as to impact the level of involvement include

a) the opportunity available to the person to collect and collate facts and
information;

b) his cognitive ability to process information and draw conclusions;

c) time available in hand.

d) The antecedents, moderators and the properties of involvement finally

converge to a response in terms of information search, information
processing, information transmission, the purchase decision and post
purchase behavior
Consumer involvement affects the ways in which consumers seek,
process, and transmit information, make purchase decisions and make
post purchase evaluation.

a) Information search: Highly involved consumers or consumers

involved with a product category would actively search for
information about the product category and the various alternatives, in
contrast to consumers who are low on involvement. While the former,
would be active seekers of information, the latter would be passive
recipients. Active seekers would look out to various sources of
information and would put in deliberate efforts towards information
gathering.
b) Information processing: The information processing
activity would vary across high involvement consumers viz
a viz low involvement customers. Highly involved
consumers would process product information with greater
depth; they would make conclusions about brand
preferences based on arguments and counterarguments;
they would tend to get emotional charged either favorably
because of likeability of the brand or unfavorably because
of dislikeability of the brand. They would also evaluate
more alternatives.
c) Information transmission: Highly involved
consumers talk about the product/service category
and the various brands available with great ease
and level of interest, as compared to consumers
who are low on involvement in the product
category. Information transmission takes place via
word-of-mouth, positive when the brand seems
favorable, and negative, when it seems unfavorable.
d) The purchase decision: The purchase decision, i.e. to buy or not to
buy, or to buy brand X over Y, is complex for a high involvement
consumer than for one on low involvement

e) Post purchase behavior: Consumers who are high on involvement

make postpurchase evaluations about product usage more critically
than those on low involvement. It is noteworthy that high
involvement consumers are more difficult to please and satisfy; and
the marketers need to put in a lot of effort to satisfy them. This is
because they not only have a bearing on their future purchase, but
also on purchase of others who are opinion seekers.
TYPES OF CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT:

Depending on whether the involvement is short term or long term, consumer

involvement could be of two types, viz., situational and enduring.

1. Situational involvement: This is a state of arousal directed towards attaching

relevance to a person/object/situation for a short term. As an affective state, it
creates a level of involvement when a person thinks about a particular
person/object/situation.

2. Enduring involvement: When the level of involvement towards the

product/service category extends over a period of time across situations, it is
referred to as enduring involvement. The person shows a high-level of interest
in the product category and spends time collecting and processing information
and integrating it within his memory.
 Enduring involvement with a product category often
gives birth to an opinion leader. An opinion leader is a
person who holds interest in a particular product/service
category, and becomes a specialist; he makes efforts to
gather all information about the category, the brand
offering etc.; he talks about and spreads the information
and the knowledge that he possesses. When a person
wants to make a purchase, he seeks the advice and
guidance of such an opinion leader who helps him make a
decision. Opinion leaders are product specific.
STAGES OF THE CONSUMER DECISION MAKING
PROCESS
It’s important to note that the consumer decision making
process has many different names, including but not
limited to the buyer journey, buying cycle, buyer funnel,
and consumer purchase decision process.
Need recognition (awareness): The first and most
important stage of the buying process, because every sale
begins when a customer becomes aware that they have a
need for a product or service.
 Search for information (research): During this stage, customers want to
find out their options.
 Evaluation of alternatives (consideration): This is the stage when a
customer is comparing options to make the best choice.
 Purchasing decision (conversion): During this stage, buying behavior
turns into action – it’s time for the consumer to buy!
 Post-purchase evaluation (re-purchase): After making a purchase,
consumers consider whether it was worth it, whether they will
recommend the product/service/brand to others, whether they would
buy again, and what feedback they would give.
1. Need recognition (awareness)
 The need recognition stage of the consumer decision making process
starts when a consumer realizes a need. Needs come about because of
two reasons:
 Internal stimuli, normally a physiological or emotional needs, such as
hunger, thirst, sickness, sleepiness, sadness, jealousy, etc.
 External stimuli, like an advertisement, the smell of yummy food, etc.
 Even if the core cause is vanity or convenience, at the most basic level,
almost all purchases are driven by real or perceived physiological or
emotional needs.
2. Search for information (research)
 The amount of information a customer needs to search for depends on
how much he already knows about the solutions available, as well as the
complexity of choices.
 The amount of searching necessary is entirely dependent on the situation,
and it can vary widely.
 So how do customers search for information? By using internal
information (their previous knowledge of a product or brand) as well as
external information (information about a product or brand from friends
or family, reviews, endorsements, press reviews, etc.).
3. Evaluation of alternatives (consideration)
 Now that the consumer has done research, it’s time to evaluate their choices and
see if there are any promising alternatives. During this phase, shoppers are aware
of your brand and have been brought to your site to consider whether to purchase
from you or a competitor.
 Consumers make purchase decisions based on which available options best
match their needs, and to minimize the risk of investing poorly, they will make
sure there are no better options for them.

Their evaluation is influenced by two major characteristics:

a. Objective: Features, functionality, price, ease of use

b. Subjective: Feelings about a brand (based on previous experience or input from

past customers)
4. Purchasing decision (conversion)
Alright, now it’s money time. This is the stage
when customers are ready to buy, have decided
where and what they want to buy, and are ready
to pull out their credit cards. The purchasing
experience is key – it’s imperative to make it as
easy as possible.
5. Post-purchase evaluation (re-purchase)
 In this stage of the consumer purchase decision process,
consumers reflect on their recent purchase. They think about
how they feel about it, if it was a good investment, and most
importantly, if they will return to the brand for future purchases
and recommend the brand to friends and family.
 In this stage, you need to have a post-purchase strategy to
increase the likelihood that customers will engage with your
brand again in the future. Return customers account for 1/3 of a
store’s total income on average
MARKETING IMPLICATIONS OF
CONSUMERS DECISIONS
There is a wide variety of available marketing
research strategies, including:
Online surveys
Proctored testing
Diary studies
Focus groups
Online Surveys in Marketing
 Online surveys are the easiest and cheapest way to get customer data quickly. To
properly create a survey, you must focus on one major task at a time. You won’t get
clear data if you aren’t focused on an online survey, and your questions need to be easy
to read and should be able to be answered simply.

Proctored Testing in Marketing

 In this case, proctored testing isn’t the same as the testing done by schools. Instead, it
focuses on having a researcher present while the customer is testing out a feature or
product. For example, if you want to know how your online application is functioning,
you should watch customers shopping on their phones.
 What is most important in this scenario is the ability to get customer feedback in real-
time. Encourage your participants to think aloud while they are working through
whatever task you choose to give them.
Diary Studies in Marketing
 While much more time-consuming and intricate than either
surveys or proctored testing, diary studies can be invaluable to a
marketer.. Typically a week is a reasonable request for
participant time; more than that will increase your risk of drop-
off significantly.
Focus Groups in Marketing
 Focus groups used to be a major part of any marketing research;
however, they are extremely ineffective and shouldn’t be used
often. There have been numerous tests on the effectiveness of
focus groups.
WHAT IS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS?
 Before diving into the deep end of consumer behaviour analysis, it is important to
understand its meaning. Consumer behaviour analysis is the study of how people
make purchase decisions with regard to a product, service or organisation. Studying
consumer behaviour would allow you to answer several questions, such as:
 How consumers feel about alternatives to their preferred brands;
 How consumers choose between the alternatives;
 How consumers behave while shopping;
 How consumer behaviour is swayed by their surrounding environment;
 How marketing campaigns can be improved to more effectively influence customer
behaviour.
 In order to understand this concept better, let’s take a look at
the factors that affect consumer behaviour:
 Psychological: This is considered to be the most important
factor that affects consumer behaviour. Traits like perception,
motivation, personality, beliefs and attitude are important to
decide why a consumer would buy a product.
 Personal: These are characteristics that are applicable to
individuals and may not relate to other people in a group.
These factors can include age, occupation, financial situation
and lifestyle.
 Social: Social characteristics play an important role in
consumer behaviour, and it can include family,
communities and social interaction. These factors are
difficult to assess while preparing marketing plans.
 Geographical: The location of consumers also play a role
in how they purchase products. For example, a person
living in warmer weather would be less likely to
purchase winter clothing compared to someone living in
temperate climates.
ANALYSING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
 Analysing consumer behaviour can be a difficult task at times, but it can
get easier if you answer the following questions:
 Who purchases your products and services? You should first carry out a
market research to understand who your target audience is.
 Who makes the decision to purchase your products and services? You
should ascertain who is actually making the decisions to purchase your
products or services.
 Who influences the decision to purchase the products? Children are a
great example of influencers. Parents may buy a particular toy or game,
but the influencer behind these purchases are usually the children.
 How is the purchase decision made? 
 Why does the consumer buy a product?  For example, parents can
purchase toys as gifts for their children, and an organisation can purchase
furniture for its office to make it more modern and comfortable.
 Why does a consumer prefer one brand over another? There are many
reasons that can influence a consumer to prefer one brand over another.
These factors can include quality, quantity, cost and branding of the
product.
 Where do customers purchase the product? In today’s time, consumers
can purchase products either online or from shops..
 When do consumers buy a product? There are several occasions in which a
consumer might want to purchase a product or service. For example, parents
may purchase a toy for their child’s birthday, and an organisation can purchase
new furniture when it relocates to new premises.
 What is the consumer’s opinion about the product? Do the consumers view the
product as expensive, value for money or cheap? What do they think of the
product’s quality? The perception of a product plays a big role in generating
positive world-of-mouth reviews.
 What is the role of consumers’ lifestyle in their buying behaviour? People who
are fond of adventure would buy hiking shoes or travelling backpacks. On the
other hand, people who enjoy reading would buy books or electronic devices
for reading.
BENEFITS OF STUDYING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
 Consumer behaviour has significant bearing on decisions related to public
relations and marketing; and studying it provides you with vital information
regarding the thought process of consumers. It can also help you understand
several factors:
 Attitudes: Consumer attitudes often affect their beliefs regarding specific
products. Understanding customer attitudes using consumer behaviour models
helps marketers tune their campaigns to strike a chord with the consumers,
resulting in a greater market reach.
 Cultures: Constantly evolving cultures impact the designing of marketing
campaigns. Studying consumer psychology can help you understand cultural
nuances and determine the target market for your product.
Perceptions: Studying consumer perceptions
about your brand might help you uncover
negative opinions, which you can then work on
to improve your offering.
Lifestyle: Comprehending consumer lifestyles
would allow you to tune your products to meet
their specific requirements
THREE ELEMENTS FOR CONSUMER ANALYSIS

Consumer Affect and Cognition

Consumer affect and cognition refer to two types of mental response

consumers have to stimuli and events in their environment.

Affect refers to their feelings about stimuli and events, such as their
beliefs about a particular product.

Affective responses can be favorable or unfavorable and vary in intensity.

For instance, affect includes relatively intense emotions such as love or
anger, less strong feeling states such as satisfaction or frustration,
moods such as boredom or relaxation and milder overall attitudes
 Cognition refers to the mental structures and processes
involved in thinking understanding and interpreting stimuli
and events. It includes the knowledge meaning and beliefs
that consumers have developed from their experiences and
have stored in their memories. It also includes the
processes associated with paying attention to
understanding stimuli and events, remembering past event,
forming evaluation and making purchasing decisions and
choices.

 
Consumer Behavior

Although many competing theories and ideas about consumer affect and
cognition have been proposed, no single theory completely describes the
workings of the consumer’s mind.

However, carefully studying and thinking about the information to questions

about affect and cognition such as the following:

1.      How do consumers interpret information about marketing stimuli such as

products, stores and advertising?

2.      How do consumers choose from among alternative products classes,

product and brands?

3.      How do consumers form evaluations of products and brands?

4.      How does memory affect consumer decision making?

5.      How do affect and cognition influence behavior and environments?

6.      How do behavior and environments influence affect and cognition?

7.      How do consumers interpret the benefits of marketing offerings?

8.      Why consumers are more interested or involved in some products or

brands than others?

9.      How do marketing strategies influence consumers’ affective and

cognitive responses?

10.  How do affective and cognitive responses influence each other?

 Behavior is critical for marketing strategy because it is only through
behavior that sales can be made and profit can be earned. Although
many marketing strategies are designed to influence consumers affect
and cognition these strategies must ultimately result in overt consumer
behavior for them to have value for the company.

Consumer Environment
 The consumer environment refers to everything external to consumers
that influence what they think, feel and do. It includes social stimuli,
such as the actions of others in cultures, subcultures, social classes,
reference groups and families that influence consumers. It also includes
other physical stimuli, such as stores, products, advertisement and signs
that can change consumers thought feeling and actions.
 The consumer environment is important to marketing
strategy because it is the medium in which stimuli are
placed to influence consumers. For example, marketers run
commercials during shows that their target markets watch
in order to inform, persuade and remind them to buy
certain products and brands.
 Marketers can send free samples, coupons, catalogs and
advertisement by mail to get them in the proximity of
consumers. Web sites become part of a consumer’s
environment if they are contacted
 1.      How do behavior approaches differ from affective
and cognitive approaches to studying consumer behavior?
 2.      What is classical conditioning and how it used by
marketers to influence consumer behavior?
 3.      What is operant conditioning and how it is used by
marketers to influence consumer behavior?
 4.      What is vicarious learning and how is it used by
marketers to influence consumer behavior?
 5.      What consumer behaviors are of interest to marketing
management?
6.      How much control does marketing have over consumer
behavior?

7.      How do and affect and cognition and environments affect

behavior?

8.      How does behavior influence affect ,cognition and

environment?

9.      How can behavior theory be used by marketing managers?

10.  Does the frequency and quality of consumer behavior vary by

individuals, products and situations?
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG AFFECT, COGNITION, BEHAVIOR
AND THE ENVIRONMENT
 In this case a change in the consumer’s environment (the ad for new
detergent) led to a change in cognition (the consumer believed the new
detergent was better), which led to a change in behavior (the consumer
bought the new brand).
 In this case a change in the consumer’s environment (the free sample)
led to a change in behavior (use and purchase), which led to a change in
the consumers affect and cognition (liking the new brand).
a change in affect and cognition (dissatisfaction) led to a change in the
consumers environment (inspecting other brands), which led to a change
in behavior (purchase of a different brand).
 Consumer processes not only involve a dynamic and interactive system, but also
represent a reciprocal system. A reciprocal system is one in which any of the
elements could be either a cause or an effect of a change at any particular time.
Affect and cognition can change consumers affect, cognition and environments.
Environments can change consumer’s affect, cognition and behavior.
 There are five implications to viewing consumer processes as reciprocal system
involving affect and cognition, behavior and the environment.
 First, any comprehensive analysis of consumers must consider three elements
and the relationships among them. Descriptions of consumers in terms of only
one or two of the elements are incomplete The development of marketing
strategies should include an analysis of all three elements, their relationship and
the direction of causal change at particular times.
 Behaviors consumers must perform to achieve marketing objectives, useful analyses could
start with affect and cognition by searching think and feel about such things as the various
brands of a product. Alternatively the analysis could start with consumer’s environments
by examining changes in their world that could change their affect, cognition and
behavior. However regardless of the starting point all three elements and their
relationships should be analyzed.

 Third because this view is dynamic, it recognizes that consumers can continuously change.
Although some consumers may change little during a particular time period, others may
frequently change their affect, cognition, behavior and environments. Thus keeping
abreast of consumers involve continues research to detect changes that could influence
marketing strategies.
 Fourth although our example focused on a single consumer, consumer
analysis can be applied at several levels. It can be used to analyze not
only a single consumer, but also groups of consumers that make up a
target market a larger group of consumers made up of all the purchasers
of a product in an industry or an entire society
 Finally this framework for analyzing consumers highlights the
importance of consumer research and analysis in developing marketing
strategies. Consumer research includes many types of studies such as
test marketing, advertising pretest, sales promotion effects, analysis of
sales and market share data, pricing experiments, traffic & shopping
patterns, brand attitude & intentions and many others.
 Environmental psychology seeks to extend knowledge about the relationships
between environmental stimuli and human behavior. In consumer research the
major environmental factors examined have been concerned with the impact of
various societal aspects.

Carefully studying and thinking about the environment:

1.      In what physical environments do consumer behavior occurs?

2.      How do environments affect consumers affect, cognition and behavior?

3.      How do consumer affect, cognition and behavior affect the environment?

4.      What effect does culture have on consumers?

5.      What effect does subculture have on consumers?

6.      What effect does social class have on
consumers?
7.      What effect do reference groups have on
consumers?
8.      What effect do families have on consumers?
9.      In what ways do consumers influence each other
concerning marketing offerings?
10.  How powerful are interpersonal influences on
consumer behavior?
 A logical sequence is to first research and analyzes what consumer think, feel
and does relative to a company’s offerings and those of competitors.
 In addition an analysis of consumers’ environments is called for to see what
factors are currently influencing them and what changes are occurring. Based
on this research and analysis a marketing strategy is developed, which involves
setting objective, specifying an appropriate target market and developing a
marketing mix (product, promotion, price, place) to influence it.
 After the target market has been selected based on careful analysis of key
differences in groups of consumers, marketing strategies involve placing
stimuli in the environment that will hopefully become part of the target
markets environment and ultimately influence it members behavior.
CONSUMER RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
 Rather research should continue to investigate the effects of the strategy and
whether it could be changed to be more effective. Thus marketing strategy
should involve a continuous process of researching and analyzing consumers
and developing, implementing and continuously improving strategies.
 Marketing Strategy

From a consumer analysis point of view, a marketing strategy is a set of

stimuli placed in consumers environments designed to influence their affect,
cognition and behavior. These stimuli include such things as products, brands,
packaging, advertisements, coupons, stores, credit cards, price tags, and sales
people’s communication and in some cases, sounds (music), smells (perfume)
and other sensory cues.
. Marketing strategy is treated as the hub of the wheel because it is a
central marketing activity and is designed by marketing organizations to
influence consumers.
  Clearly marketing strategies should be designed not only to influence
consumers but also to be influenced by them. For example, if research
shows that consumers are disgusted (affect and cognition) with the
advertisements for Calvin Klein jeans.
 If research shows that consumers want to able to get information from a
company’s web page (environment) and none exist, the company may
want to create one. Thus marketing strategies should be developed,
implemented and changed based on consumer research and analysis.
 Consumers are the focal point in the development of successfulness
marketing strategies. Marketing strategies both influence and are
influenced by consumers affect and cognition, behavior and
environment.

1. What are some effective ways to segment markets?

2. How can products be effectively positioned?

3. What are the relationships between product strategies and consumers?

4. What are the relationships between promotion strategies and consumers?

5. What are the relationships between channels of distribution and

consumers?
6. What are the relationships between pricing strategies and
consumers?

7. What consumer variables affect the success of a marketing

strategy?

8. How can a firm develop brand loyal consumers?

9. What is the role of consumer role satisfaction in developing

successful market offerings?

10. How does non store consumer behavior differ from that in
stores?
LEVELS OF CONSUMER ANALYSIS
 As noted, consumer research and analysis can be conducted at several
different levels. The wheel of consumer analysis is a flexible tool that can aid
in understanding different societies, industries, market segments or individual
consumers. It can be used fruitfully by both marketing strategist and public
policy officials to understand the dynamics that shape each of these levels.
 Societies
 Changes in what a society believe and how its members behave can be
analyzed with the wheel of Consumer Analysis. For example, a recent change
in our society involves greater concern with health and fitness. How did this
change occur? such as health foods, exercise equipment and sports apparel,
developed and promoted proper eating habits and regular exercise, consumers
were increasingly exposed to the concept and effects of an active lifestyle.’
 Of course, not everyone in society has changed his or her
lifestyle and some who did reverted to less healthful habits.
 However the brief discussion here shows changes in the
environment (medical research reports), cognition and
affect (beliefs about how to live longer and healthier),
behavior (eating healthful foods and exercising) and
marketing strategies (development and promotion of health
food, exercise equipment and apparel products) that
interacted to create this change in society in general.
Industries
 The Wheel of consumer Analysis can be used to analyze the relationships of a
company and its competitors with consumers in specific industries. A change
in consumer beliefs and behavior concerning calorie intake influenced a
marketing strategy to introduce and spread the change in consumer beliefs and
behaviors. The success of the product influenced competitors to also offer
light beers, further changing demand for this product category.
 However another change in this industry is the concern with responsible
drinking, which decreases demand alcohol products in general. This change
has led to the development and marketing of nonalcoholic beers and for many
consumers, abstinence from any alcoholic beverages
 At the end industry level, changes in consumer cognition, affect
and behavior can threaten existing products and can also offer
opportunities to develop products more consistent with new
values and behaviors can threaten existing products and can
also offer opportunities to develop products more consistent
with new values and behaviors.
 Successful marketing strategies depend on analyzing consumer
product relationships not only for the company’s products, but
also for those of competitors and creating an advantage over
competitive offerings.
Market Segments
 The Wheel of Consumer Analysis can be used to analyze groups of
consumers who have some similarly in cognition, affect, behavior and
environment. Successful firms in an industry usually divide the total
market into segments and try to appeal most strongly to one or more of
them.  For example, the emphasis on health encouraged many
consumers to become involved in sports.
 Thus by understanding the wants and preferences (cognition and affect)
of urban youths (target market) for a good looking, moderately priced,
long wearing shoe, promoted regular guys who play basketball
(behavior) on outdoors courts (environment), Reebok developed a
successful marketing strategy.
Individual Consumers
 Finally, the Wheel of Consumer Analysis can be used to analyze consumption history,
a single purchase, or some aspect of a purchase for a specific consumer. we need to
consider her affect, behavior, cognition and environment.

 Cognitive and affective factors, such as Barbara concerns for her family’s safety, her
information processing and decision making to buy a gun and her feelings of greater
safety, are useful but they alone could not explain what Barbara did and environmental
factors that influenced these thought and actions. Her overt behavior, such as visiting
her uncle, trying the gun and purchasing the gun and equipment, is also helpful but is
incomplete for capturing the meaning of the behavior and context it, which these
actions occurred.
Environmental factors such as the news reports on
crimes, the proximity of the crimes to her
neighborhood, the information from her uncle, the
look and feel of the gun, the feedback from the
environment from her shots hitting the target, and the
time lapses and place changes between the events
described, are necessary for understanding the case
but are quite sterile when discussed independently of
Barbara’s cognitive, affective and behavioral events.