consumer behaviour & marketing action cm2072 [elective] | ibcom ba year II - term III (2020-2021) [by gycc]
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR & MARKETING ACTION
(summary + reading notes) [by gycc]
book; CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, BUYING,
HAVING AND BEING by Solomon, M. R. (2016)
[+ multiple articles of various authors]
WEEK ONE | INTRODUCTION
Chapter One - Buying, Having and Being: An Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
Learning Objectives
❖ Consumer Behaviour is a process
❖ Marketers have to understand the wants and needs of different consumer segments
❖ Our choices as consumers relate in powerful ways to the rest of our lives
❖ Our motivations to consumer are complex and varied
❖ Technology and culture create a new “always-on” consumer
❖ Many types of specialists study consumer behaviour
❖ There are differing perspectives regarding how and what we should understand about
consumer behaviour
Consumer Behaviour: people in the marketplace
For some purposes, marketers find it useful to categorise consumers in terms of age, gender, income,
or occupation. These are descriptive characters of a population, or demographics. In addition,
knowledge of consumer characteristics plays an extremely important role in many marketing
applications, such as when a manufacturer defines the market for a product, or an ad agency decides
on the appropriate techniques to employ.
The conversations we have with others transmit a lot of product information, as well as suggestions to
use or avoid particular brands. The growth of the Web has created thousands of online consumption
communities, where members share opinions & recommendations about products. However, there is
also pressure on each group member to buy things that will meet with the group’s approval.
Everyday, consumers come into contact with information about many competing brands. Some don’t
capture any attention at all, whereas others are just a turnoff because they don’t relate to ‘looks’,
people, or ideas with which she identifies. The use of market segmentation strategies indicates an
organisation targeting its product or service only to specific groups of consumers rather than to
everybody. Brands often have clearly defined images, or ‘personalities’ that advertising, packaging
and other marketing elements help to shape. People often purchase a product because they like its
image or because they feel its ‘personality’ somehow corresponds to their own. When a product or
service satisfies our specific needs or desires, we might reward it with many years of brand loyalty
→ a bond between product and consumer that is difficult for competitors to break.
The appearance, taste, texture, or smell of the item influences our evaluations of products. For
instance, we may be swayed by the shape and colour of a package, as well as by more subtle factors,
e.g. the symbolism in a brand name, in an ad, or even in the choice of a cover model for a magazine.
What is Consumer Behaviour (CB)? → the study of the processes involved when individuals/groups
select, purchase, use, or dispose products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
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, consumer behaviour & marketing action cm2072 [elective] | ibcom ba year II - term III (2020-2021) [by gycc]
In its early stages of development, researchers referred to the field as buyer behaviour, which
reflected the emphasis at that time on the interaction between consumers and producers at the time of
purchase. However, most marketers now recognise that CB is in fact an ongoing process:
● The exchange → a transaction in which two or more organisations or people give and
receive something of value; an integral part of marketing
○ Although exchange theory remains important, the expanded view emphasises the
entire consumption process, which includes the issues that influence the consumer
before, during and after a purchase
● The consumer → a person who identifies a need or desire, makes a purchase, and then
disposes the product during the three stages of the consumption process
○ Sometimes, the purchaser and user of a product might not be the same person, e.g. a
parent picking out clothes for a child
○ Another person may act as an influencer when he/she recommends products
● Consumers may take the form of organisations or groups
○ One or several may select products that many will use, e.g. when a purchasing agent
orders a company’s office supplies
○ In other organisational situations, a large group of people may make purchase
decisions: e.g. company accountants, designers, engineers, etc
Consumers’ Impact on Marketing Strategy
It’s crucial for marketing professionals to learn about CB as they can satisfy consumer needs only to
the extent that they understand the people or organisations that will use the products or services.
As our society is evolving from a mass culture to a diverse one in which there are unlimited choices,
it’s important to identify distinct market segments and to develop specialised messages for those
groups. Companies often define market segments when they identify their most faithful customers of
heavy users. As a rule of thumb, marketers use the 80/20 rule: 20% of users account for 80% of sales.
Aside from heavy usage of a product, there are many other dimensions to divide up a market, such as
many demographic variables: (=statistics that measure observable aspects of a population)
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, consumer behaviour & marketing action cm2072 [elective] | ibcom ba year II - term III (2020-2021) [by gycc]
● Age - consumers of different age groups have different needs and wants; although people who
belong to the same group differ in many other ways, they do tend to share a set of values and
common cultural experiences that they carry throughout life
○ E.g. Red Bull targeting its energy drink to its core audience of young people
● Gender - gender distinctions start at an early age and many products, from fragrances to
footwear, target either men or women
○ E.g. diapers in pink versions for girls and blue for boys
● Family structure - a person’s family and marital status can also has a huge effect on
consumers’ spending priorities
○ E.g. family with young children are big purchases of health foods and fruit juices
● Social class & Income - people who belong to the same social class are approx. equal in
terms of income and social standing in the community as they work in roughly similar
occupations, and they tend to have similar tastes in music, clothing, leisure activities, and art
● Race & Ethnicity - as society becomes increasingly multicultural, new opportunities develop
to deliver specialised products to racial/ethnic groups and to introduce others these offerings
○ E.g. the fruit combinations in McDonald’s smoothies are based on preferences the
company’s researchers discovered in ethnic communities
● Geography - many national marketers tailor their offerings to appeal to consumers who live
in different parts of the country; some southerners (USA) are fond of a ‘good old’ boy’
● Lifestyles - consumers have different lifestyles, even if they share other demographic
characteristics e.g. gender or age; the way we feel about ourselves, the things we value, the
things we like to do in our spare time - all of these factors help to determine which products
will push our buttons or even those that make us feel better
Segmenting by Behaviour: Relationships and ‘Big Data’
Marketers carefully define customer segments and listen to people in their markets as never before. A
key to success is building relationships between brands and customers for a lifetime, which marketers
describe as the philosophy of relationship marketing → interacting with customers on a regular
basis and giving customers solid reasons to maintain a bond with the company over time.
Through database marketing, specific consumers’ buying habits are closely tracked, which allows
marketers to craft products and messages tailored precisely to people’s wants and needs based on this
information. For instance, Walmart stores massive amounts of information on the 100 million people
who visit its stores each week, and the company uses these data to fine-tune its offerings. We might
not be aware of it, but we all generate massive amounts of information that holds tremendous value
for marketers. The many sources include: comments you and your friends make to your favourite sns,
credit card transactions we authorise, and even GPS signals in our smartphones let organisations know
where most of us are pretty much anytime day or night. The collection and analysis of this incredible
amount of information and datasets is called Big Data. This data explosion will profoundly change
the way we think about CB. Companies, non-profits and even governments now have the ability to
make precise predictions about what products we buy, what candidates we vote for, and what levers
they need to push to make this even more likely to happen.
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, consumer behaviour & marketing action cm2072 [elective] | ibcom ba year II - term III (2020-2021) [by gycc]
Marketing’s Impact on Consumers
Marketers filter much of what we learn about the world, whether through the affluence they depict in
glamorous magazines, or the roles actors play in commercials. Moreover, ads show us how we should
act and even how to evaluate others based on the products they (don’t) buy. In many ways we are at
the mercy of markets, as we rely on them to sell us products that are safe and that perform as
promised, to tell us the truth and to price and distribute these products fairly.
Popular culture → the music, movies, books, and other forms of entertainment that the mass market
produces and consumes; both a product and inspiration for marketers as it affects our lives in many
far-reaching ways, ranging from how we acknowledge cultural events, e.g. marriage, to how we view
social issues, e.g. climate change, gambling, and addictions.
Thus, marketers play a significant role in our view of the world and how we live in it. This cultural
impact is hard to overlook, but many people do not seem to realise how much marketers influence
their preferences for movie and musical heroes. For example, consider the product icons that
companies use to create an identity for their products. Although these figures never really existed,
many of us feel as if we ‘know’ them, and they certainly are effective ‘spokescharacters’.
All the World’s a Stage
The sociological perspective of role theory takes the view that much of CB resembles actions in a
play. Because people act out many different roles, they sometimes alter their consumption decisions
depending on the particular ‘play’ they are in at the time. That’s why it’s important for marketers to
provide us ‘actors’ with the props we need to play all of our varied roles, such as ‘geek’ or ‘hipster’.
One trademark of contemporary marketing strategies is that many organisations try very hard to build
relationships with customers. However, the nature of these relationships with brands can vary and
evolve over time. Here are some types of relationships a person might have with a product:
● Self-concept attachment → the product helps to establish the user’s identity
● Nostalgic attachment → the product serves as a link with a past self
● Interdependence → the product is a part of the users’ daily routine
● Love → the product elicits emotional bonds of warmth, passion or strong emotion
What does it mean to consume?
Every year, Americans buy about 1.5 billion of Peeps - the most tasteless marshmallow chicks that
also have no nutritional value. However, people actually don’t eat them, but rather use them in
decorations, dioramas, online slideshows and sculptures. This illustrates one of the fundamental
premises of the modern field of CB: people often buy products not for what they do, but for what
they mean. This principle doesn’t imply that a product’s basic function is unimportant, but rather that
the roles products play in our lives extend well beyond the tasks they perform. Moreover, we often
choose the brand that has an image (or personality) consistent with our underlying needs. People
would choose between competing brands because of their brand images → meanings that have been
carefully crafted with the help of slickly produced commercials, and many millions of dollars.
Moreover, our allegiances to sneakers, musicians, and even soft drinks help us define our place in
modern society, and these choices also help each of us to form bonds with others who share similar
preferences. In some cases, we decide to try a product because we want to learn more about the
experience and in some way grow personally. In other cases, our choice of a product links more to our
broader identity as a member of a larger entity such as an ethnic group or a country.
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