Imp questions for consumer behavior

Factors that influence consumer behavior

o Cultural
o Social
o Personal
o Psychological

Characteristics of industrial buyers

o Few buyers
o Large buyers
o Geographically concentrated buyers
o Derived buying
o Inelastic demand
o Fluctuating demand
o Professional buying
o Multiple sales call
o Direct buying

Factors that influence industrial buying

o Environmental factors
o Organizational factors
o Interpersonal factors
o Individual factors

Market segmentation
It is the process of dividing a potential market into distinct subsets of
consumers and selecting one or more segments as a target market to
be reached with a distinct marketing mix.

Variables of market segmentation

o Demographic
o Geographic
o Psychographic
o Benefits sought
o Behavior/ usage

Social psychology and its impact on marketing

o Heuristics low involvement decision rules
o Attitude components
o Generating beliefs through advertising
o Positioning through creating beliefs

Measurement of attitude components

o Beliefs
o Feelings
o Behavioral intention

Decision making process

o Problem recognition
o Information search
o Evaluation of alternatives
o Purchase decision
o Post purchase behavior

Adoption decision process

It is the behavior of consumers when they purchase new
products or services

Speed of diffusion

Adoption process
o Awareness
o Interest
o Evaluation
o Trial
o Decision
o Confirmation

Adopters category
o Innovators
First to adopt & display that they likely to want to be
ahead
To be the first to own new products, well before the
average consumer.
They are often not taken seriously by their peers.
They often buy products that do not make it through
the early stages of the Product Life Cycle (PLC).
o Early adopters
Are also quick to buy new products and services,
So are key opinion leaders (KOLs) with their
neighbors and friends as they tend to be amongst
the first to get hold of items or services
o Early Majority

Look to the innovators and early majority to see if a

new product or idea works and begins to stand the
test of time.
They stand back and watch the experiences of
others.
Then there is a surge of mass purchases.

o Late Majority
Tends to purchase the product later than the average
person.
They are slower to catch on to the popularity of new
products, services, ideas, or solutions.
There is still mass consumption, but it begins to end.
o Laggards
These tend to very late to take on board new
products and include those that never actually adopt
at all.
Here there is little to be made from these consumers.

Type
o
o
o
o

of buying behavior
Complex buying behaviour
Dissonance reducing buying behaviour
Habitual buying behaviour
Variety seeking buying behaviour

Definition of consumerism
The social movement seeking to augment the rights and power of
buyers in relation to the sellers Philip Kotler
Marketing concept of consumerism
It is the social and economic order that is based on the systematic
creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods or services in
even greater amounts.
In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing
emphasis on consumption.

Consumerism in India
o India is a developing country
o Not all Indians consumers are well educated
o Consumers are often exploited and mislead
o Liberalization and competition

o Survival of the fittest.

Situational factors that aided unethical marketing

o Vastness of the country
o Illiteracy, backwardness, ignorance
o Imbalance in income distribution
o Lack of education and ignorance
o Indian consumers get carried away by clever advertising

Reasons behind rise of consumerism in India

o Hoarding and black marketing due to imbalance in demand
and supply of goods and services
o Low literacy levels
o Lack of awareness due to illiteracy
o Lack of effective competition
o Consumerism is still in infancy
o Poor state of public sector monopolies
o Legal framework is time consuming and tiring
o Improper weights and measures
o Absence of quality control and safety measures

Remedies
o Active participation from business, government and
consumers
o Efficiency of production and quality of production
o Government through strict rules and legislation, prevent
exploitation of consumers
o Consumers should be aware of their rights and exert their
powers.
o Societal marketing concept to broaden

Changes in the attitude of Indian consumers

o Major transformation in the last few years
o Wants to lead a life of luxury
o Lives for the present and does not want to save for the
future
o Open to consumption and better lifestyle
o Increase in income due to rapid industrialization, Growth of
service sector and better employment opportunities.