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Retail Business Environment

Notes what, when and how. In addition, such studies endeavour to learn about customer response to
sales promotion devices. The results of these studies are useful in the solution of an array of
marketing problems.
These studies are gaining importance in marketing research. It is safe to predict that interest in
them will increase greatly in the next decade. This paper summarizes the writer's experience
with such studies in grocery stores. However, the principles and techniques discussed here are
also applicable to other types of retail stores.

The "why" of customer behaviour is a separate and very difficult subject; it is not treated here. A
knowledge of customer behaviour must precede any consideration of the reasons for the
behaviour.
Four components seem to be fundamental to almost all the learning situations, motivation,
cues, response and reinforcement.

1. Motivation: Motivation is the driving force that impels individuals to action and is the
result of unfulfilled need(s). If an individual has strong motivation to learn something,
there is increased likelihood that learning will take place.
2. Cues: Cues are relatively weak stimuli, not strong enough to arouse consumers but have
the potential of providing direction to motivated activity. For example, an ad about a
computer course is a cue that suggests a way to satisfy the motive of learning computer
application. Consumers are exposed to various cues almost every day such as advertising,
displays, packaging and prices, etc. These cues serve to help consumers satisfy their needs
by purchasing certain brands.

3. Response: The way an individual reacts to a cue or stimulus is the response and could be
physical or mental in nature, leading to learning. For example, a computer marketer
keeps on providing cues to a student through promotional activities and may not be
successful in eliciting the final purchase behaviour for a variety of reasons, though the
student is motivated to buy. It is also possible that the student forms a favourable image
about a particular model, has enough resources and buys the computer.
4. Reinforcement: Most scholars agree that reinforcement of a specific response increases the
likelihood for the response to reoccur. Reinforcement can be anything that both increases
the strength of response and tends to induce repetitions of the behaviour that preceded the
reinforcement.

Notes Since reinforced behaviour increases the likelihood of repetition, consumers often
learn to develop behaviours appropriate to respond to their needs.

Behavioural Learning Theories

Behavioural learning theories are sometimes also referred to as connectionist or stimulus –
response theories. Behaviourist psychologists believe in observing changes in an individual’s
responses that result due to exposure to specific external, environmental stimuli. Behavioural
theories are based on Stimulus-response (S–R) orientation and the belief is that learning occurs
through the connection between the stimulus and a response. When an individual responds in a
predictable manner to a known stimulus, the person is said to have “learned.” Two important
behavioural theories, classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning) and
instrumental conditioning (also called operant conditioning) are of great relevance to marketing.

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