Consumer Behaviour Essay

Consumers figure out many obtaining decisions every day, and the buying decision is the focal point of the grocery storeers effort. just about large companies research consumer buying decisions in great detail to answer questions about what consumers buy, where they buy, how and how much they buy, when they buy, and why they buy. Marketers can study actual consumer purchases to find out what they buy, where, and how much. But learning about the whys of consumer buying fashion is not so easythe answers ar often locked deep within the consumers mind.Often, consumers themselves dont know exactly what influences their purchases. The human mind doesnt work in a linear way, says unmatchable marketing expert. The idea that the mind is a computer with storage compartments where carrys or logos or recognisable packages are stored in clearly marked folders that can be accessed by cleverly written ads or commercials simply doesnt exist. Instead, the mind is a whirling, swirling, jumbled mass of neurons bouncing around, colliding and continuously creating new concepts and thoughts and relationships internal every single somebodys brain all all over the world.The central question for marketers is as follows How do consumers respond to various marketing efforts the company might use? The starting point is the stimulus-response hold still forative of purchaser behavior shown in presage 5.1. This figure shows that marketing and other stimuli enter the consumers dark box and produce certain responses. Marketers must figure out what is in the emptors dimmed box.Marketing stimuli consist of the four Ps product, toll, place, and promotion. Other stimuli include major forces and events in the purchasers environment economic, technological, political, and cultural. All these inputs enter the buyers black box, where they are turned into a dress circle of buyer responses the buyers brand and company relationship behavior and what he or she buys, when, where, and ho w often.Marketers hope to understand how the stimuli are changed into responses inside the consumers black box, which has two parts. First, the buyers characteristics influence how he or she perceives and reacts to the stimuli. Second, the buyers decision process itself fixs his or her behavior. We look first at buyer characteristics as they affect buyer behavior and then discuss the buyer decision process.Many levels of factors affect our buying behaviorfrom broad cultural and social influences to motivations, beliefs, and attitudes lying deep within us. For example, why did you buy that specific cell phone? Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social, someoneal, and psychological characteristics, as shown in Figure 5.2. For the most part, marketers cannot control such factors, but they must take them into account.Cultural FactorsCultural factors exert a broad and deep influence on consumer behavior. Marketers need to understand the role played by the buyers c ulture, subculture, and social class.CultureCulture is the most fundamental cause of a persons wants and behavior. Human behavior is largely learned. Growing up in a society, a child learns basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors from his or her family and other important institutions. A child in the United States normally learns or is undecided to the following values achievement and success, individualism, freedom, hard work, activity and involvement, efficiency and practicality, material comfort, youthfulness, and fitness and health. Every chemical group or society has a culture, and cultural influences on buying behavior may vary greatly from country to country. A failure to adjust to these differences can result in ineffective marketing or embarrassing mistakes.SubcultureEach culture contains diminisheder subcultures, or groups of people with shared value systems based on common life experiences and situations. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial gr oups, and geographic regions. Many subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design products and marketing programs tailored to their needs. Examples of four such important subculture groups include Latino American, African American, Asiatic American, and mature consumers.Hispanic American ConsumersThe nations tight 50 million Hispanic consumers have an annual buying big businessman of more than $950 billion, a figure that will grow to an estimated $1.4 meg by 2013. Hispanic consumer spending has grown at more than twice the rate of general-market spending over the past four years.Although Hispanic consumers share many characteristics and behaviors with the mainstream buying pubic, there are as well as different differences. They tend to be deeply family oriented and make shopping a family affair children have a big say in what brands they buy.Perhaps more important, Hispanic consumers, particularly first-generation immigrants, are very brand loyal, a nd they favor brands and sellers who show special interest in them.African American ConsumersWith an annual buying power of $913 billion, estimated to pop off $1.2 trillion by 2013, the nations 42 million African American consumers as well attract much marketing attention. The U.S. black population is growing in affluence and sophistication. Although more price conscious than other segments, blacks are also strongly motivated by quality and selection. Brands are important. So is shopping. Black consumers seem to enjoy shopping more than other groups, even for something as mundane as groceries. In recent years, many companies have developed special products, appeals, and marketing programs for African American consumers.For example, P&Gs roots run deep in this market. P&G has long been the leader in African American advertising, spending nearly twice as much as the second-place spender. It has a long history of using black spokespeople in its ads, beginning in 1969 with entertaine r Bill Cosby endorsing Crest. Today, youll see Angela Bassett promoting the benefits of Olay embody lotion for black skin, Derek Jeter discussing the virtues of Gillette razors and deodorant, and Queen Latifah in commercials promoting a Cover Girl line for women of color. In gain to traditional product marketing efforts, P&G also supports a broader My Black Is Beautiful movement. Asiatic American ConsumersAsian Americans are the most affluent U.S. demographic segment. They now number nearly 15 million and wield more than $500 billion in annual spending power, expected to reach $750 billion in 2013. They are the second fastest-growing population sub segment after Hispanic Americans. And deal Hispanic Americans, they are a diverse group. Chinese Americans constitute the largest group, followed by Filipinos, Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Korean Americans, and Japanese Americans. Asian consumers may be the most tech-savvy segment more than 90 percent of Asian Americans go online regular ly and are most comfortable with Internet technologies such as online banking.As a group, Asian consumers shop frequently and are the most brand conscious of all the ethnic groups. They can be fiercely brand loyal. As a result, many firms are now targeting the Asian American market, companies same State Farm, McDonalds, Verizon, Toyota, and Wal-Mart. For example, among its many other Asian American targeting efforts, McDonalds has built a special blade site for this segment (www.myinspirasian.com), offered in both English and Asian languages. The fun and involving, community-oriented site highlights how McDonalds is operative with and serving the Asian American community.Mature ConsumersAs the U.S. population ages, mature consumers are becoming a very attractive market. By 2015, when all the baby boomers will be 50-plus, people ages 50 to 75 will account for 40 percent of adult consumers. By 2030, adults ages 65 and older will represent nearly 20 percent of the population. And th ese mature consumer segments boast the most expendable cash.The 50-plus consumer segment now accounts for nearly 50 percent of all consumer spending, more than any current or previous generation. They have 2.5 clock the discretionary buying power of those ages 18 to 34. As one marketing executive puts it, they have assets, not allowances. Despite some financial setbacks resulting from the recent economic crisis, mature consumers remain an attractive market for companies in all industries, from pharmaceuticals, furniture, groceries, beauty products, and clothing to consumer electronics, travel and entertainment, and financial services.Social FactorsA consumers behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the consumers small groups, family, and social roles and status.Social classcomparatively permanent and ordered divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors.GroupTwo or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals .Groups and Social NetworksMany small groups influence a persons behavior. Groups that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. In contrast, reference groups serve as direct (face-to-face) or indirect points of semblance or reference in forming a persons attitudes or behavior. People often are influenced by reference groups to which they do not belong. For example, an aspirational group is one to which the individual wishes to belong, as when a unseasoned basketball player hopes to someday emulate basketball star LeBron James and play in the subject fieldBasketball Association (NBA)Marketers try to identify the reference groups of their target markets. Reference groups expose a person to new behaviors and lifestyles, influence the persons attitudes and selfconcept, and create pressures to conform that may affect the persons product and brand choices. The importance of group influence varies across products and brands. It tends to be stro ngest when the product is visible to others whom the buyer respects.