Consumers possess considerable discretion to make independent and autonomous choices about what they will and will not buy, from whom they will buy, as well as from whom they will not, and this purchasing power leaves most businesses that are not monopolies little choice but to adopt a consumer orientation, meaning that they must resolutely focus on understanding customers in order to more effectively fulfill their needs. Specifically, in marketing, a good understanding of customers’ lives to the maximum extent possible is crucial to ensuring that the most appropriate products and services are being marketed to the right people in the most effective way possible. Influencing consumers’ behavior, and in particular, their purchasing decisions, is at the focal point of all the effort and resources that are devoted to marketing and because of this fact, marketers will require an in-depth understanding of the principles and motivations behind consumers’ behavior if Continue reading
Consumer Behavior
Group Influence on Consumer Behavior
Each consumer in society is a member of different groups depending on their culture, various subcultures or even social class can influence their consumer purchase. A group can be formed when two or more individuals share a set of norms and beliefs. A group becomes a reference group when an individual recognizes with the group and takes on many of the values, attitudes or personal standards of group members and use it as the base of his/her day to day behavior. Reference group is defined as having significant relevance upon an ‘individual’s evaluations, aspirations or behavior influencing the consumer. The nature of reference group influence can take three forms, this is because some groups and individuals are able to influence greater than others and affect a range of consumption. Informational influence: This is when the reference group is used as a knowledgeable source in the different parts of the buyer’s Continue reading
Concept of Attitude in Consumer Behavior
An attitude describes a person’s relatively consistent evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or an idea. Attitudes put people into a frame of mind for liking or disliking things and moving toward or away from them. For example, many people who have developed the attitude that eating healthy food is important perceive vegetables as a healthy alternative to meat and chicken. As a result, the per capita consumption of vegetables has increased during recent years, leading the meat and chicken producers to try to change consumer attitudes that chicken and meat are unhealthy. Companies can benefit by researching attitudes toward their products. Understanding attitudes and beliefs is the first step toward changing or reinforcing them. Attitudes are very difficult to change. A person’s attitudes fit into a pattern, and changing one attitude may require making many difficult adjustments. It is easier for a company to create products that are Continue reading