Page 11 - DMGT506_CONSUMER_BEHAVIOUR

Consumer Behaviour

Notes their actions and responses to different promotional messages and products and the way
their experiences and personality characteristics influence product choices.
2. Sociology is the study of groups. When individuals form groups, their actions are
sometimes quite different from the actions of those very individuals when they are
operating alone. The influences of group memberships, family and social class on consumer
behaviour are important for the study of consumer behaviour.
3. Social psychology is a combination of sociology and psychology and studies how an
individual operates in a group. It also studies how those whose opinions they respect such
as peers, reference groups, their families and opinion leaders influence individuals in
their consumption behaviour.

4. Cultural anthropology is the study of human beings in society. It explores the development
of core beliefs, values and customs that individuals inherit from their parents and
grandparents, which influence their purchase and consumption behaviour. It also studies
subcultures and helps compare consumers of different nationalities and cultures.

5. Economics: An important aspect of the study of economics is the study of how consumers
spend their funds, how they evaluate alternatives and how they make decisions to get
maximum satisfaction from their purchases.

Despite the fact that consumer behaviour, as a field of study, is relatively of recent origin, it has
grown enormously and has become a full-blown discipline of its own and is used in the study of
most programmes of marketing study.
Marketing concept was accepted and adopted by a large number of companies in the developed
countries, particularly the United States and this provided an impetus to the study of consumer
behaviour. Companies had to engage in extensive marketing research to identify unsatisfied
consumer needs. In this process, marketers learned that consumers were highly complex as
individuals had very different psychological and social needs, quite apart from their survival
needs. They also discovered that needs and priorities of different consumer segments differed
significantly. They realised that to design products and develop suitable marketing strategies
that would satisfy consumer needs, they had to first study consumers and the consumption
related behaviour in depth. In this manner, market segmentation and marketing concept paved
the way for the application of consumer behaviour principles to marketing strategy.

Task Observe how your parents spend their money on purchases? Do you observe any
pattern? What does it show about their behaviour?

1.5 Strategic Applications of Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour principles are applied in many areas of marketing as discussed below:

1. Analysing market opportunity: Consumer behaviour study helps in identifying the
unfulfilled needs and wants of consumers. This requires examining the trends and conditions
operating in the marketplace, consumers’ lifestyles, income levels and emerging influences.
This may reveal unsatisfied needs and wants. The trend towards increasing number of
dual income households and greater emphasis on convenience and leisure have led to
emerging needs for household gadgets such as washing machine, mixer grinder, vacuum
cleaner and childcare centres etc. Mosquito repellents have been marketed in response to
a genuine and unfulfilled consumer need.
2. Selecting target market: A review of market opportunities often helps in identifying
distinct consumer segments with very distinct and unique wants and needs. Identifying

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