.jpg "Models of Consumer Behavior") |
| Models of Consumer Behavior |
Characteristics
Affecting Consumer Behaviour
Consumer purchases are influenced strongly
by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics, For the most
part, marketers cannot control such factors, but they must take them into
account. We illustrate these characteristics for the ease of a hypothetical
customer, Anna Flores. Anna is a married graduate who works as a brand manager
in a leading consumer-packaged-goods company. She wants to buy a camera to take
on holiday. Many characteristics in her background will affect the way she
evaluates cameras and chooses a brand.
Cultural Factors
Cultural factors exert the broadest and
deepest influence on consumer behavior. The marketer needs to understand the
role played by the buyer's culture, subculture, and social class.
• Culture
Culture is the most basic cause of a
person's wants and behavior. Human behavior is largely learned. Growing up in
a society, a child learns basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviors from
the family and other important institutions. Like most people, in her
childhood, Anna observed and learned values about achievement and success,
activity and involvement, efficiency and practicality, progress, material
comfort, individualism, freedom, humanitarianism, youthfulness, and] fitness and
health. Sometimes we take these values for granted, but they are not cultural
universals
A trade delegation trying to market in Taiwan found this out the hard way. Seeking more foreign trade, they arrived in Taiwan bearing gifts of green baseball caps. It turned out that the trip was scheduled a month before the Taiwan elections, and that green was the color of the political opposition party. Worse yet, the visitors learned after the fact Chat according to Taiwan culture, a man wears green to signify that his wife has been unfaithful. The head of the community delegation later noted: T don't know whatever happened to those green hats, but the trip gave us an understanding of the extreme differences in our cultures.'4 Marketers are always trying to spot cultural shifts in order to imagine new products that might be wanted. For example, the cultural shift towards greater concern about health and fitness has created a huge industry for exercise equipment and clothing, lower-calorie and more natural foods, and health and fitness services. This allowed Snapple to change the face of the US soft-drinks market with its 'new age' iced teas and fruit-flavored drinks. The shift towards informality has resulted in more demand for casual clothing, simpler home furnishings, and lighter entertainment. And the increased desire for leisure time has resulted in more demand for convenience products and services, such as microwave ovens, fast food, and direct lines financial services such as First Direct and Direct Line. Concern for the environment is influencing consumer behavior both through legislation and through demand for less wasteful goods
Subculture Each culture contains smaller
subcultures or groups of people with shared value systems based on common life
experiences and situations. Subcultures include nationalities, religions,
racial groups, and geographic regions. Many subcultures make up important market
segments and marketers often design products and marketing programs tailored
to their needs," The huge US market of 260 million people have Hispanic
(approaching 40 million) and black (over 30 million) subcultures that are
bigger than most national markets. In all developed economies the greying
population is growing rapidly. Marketers often have a poor understanding of
these over-55s who will be a huge market force in the next millennium.7 Like
all other
|
% OF POPULATION |
OCCUPATION OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD |
SOCIAL STATUS |
CLASS NAME |
|
3 |
Higher managerial, administrative, or
professional |
Upper middle |
A |
|
14 |
Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional |
Middle |
B |
|
27 |
Supervisors or clerical, junior
managerial, administrative or professional |
Lower middle |
C |
|
25 |
Skilled manual workers |
Skilled working |
G 2 |
|
19 |
Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers |
working |
D |
|
12 |
State pensioners or widows, casual or
lower-grade workers of subsistence |
Those at the lowest level |
E |
people, Anna Florcs' buying behavior will
be influenced by her subculture identification. It will affect her food
preferences, clothing choices, recreational activities, and career goals.
Subcultures attach different meanings to picture taking and this could affect
both Anna's interest in cameras and the brand she buys.
•
Social Class
Almost every society has some form of
social class structure. Social classes are society's relatively permanent and
ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors.
The British scale with six social classes is widely used, although all big
countries have their own system
social class is not determined by a single
factor, such as income, but is measured as a combination of occupation, income,
education, wealth, and other variables. Not only do class systems differ in
various parts of the world: the relative sizes of the classes vary with the
relative prosperity of countries. The 'diamond'-shaped classification (few
people at the top and bottom with most in the middle) in Table 6.1 is typical
of developed countries, although the Japanese and Scandinavian scales are
flatter. In less developed countries, such as in Latin America and Africa, the
structure is 'pyramid-shaped with a concentration of poor people at the base.
As countries develop, their class structure moves towards the diamond shape,
although there is evidence that the gap between the richest and poorest in English-speaking countries is now widening.
Some class
systems have a greater influence on buying behavior than others. In most
western countries 'lower' classes may exhibit upward mobility, showing buying
behavior similar to that of the 'upper' classes. But in other cultures, where
a caste system gives people a distinctive role, buying behavior is more firmly
linked to social class. The upper classes in almost all societies are often more
similar to each other than they are to the rest of their own society. When
selecting products and services, including food, clothing, household items, and personal care products, they make choices that are less culture-bound than those
of the lower classes. Generally, the lower social classes are more
culture-bound, although young people of all classes are less so.N Anna Plores'
social class may affect her camera-buying decision.
If she
comes from a higher social class background, her family probably owned an
expensive camera and she might have dabbled in photography.
Social Factors
A
consumer's behavior is also influenced by social factors, such as the consumer's
small groups, family, and social roles and status. Because these social factors
can strongly affect consumer responses, companies must consider dimensions when designing their marketing strategies.
• Groups
Groups
influence a person's behavior. Groups that have a direct influence and to
which a person belongs are called membership groups. Some are primary groups
with whom there is regular but informal interaction - such as family, friends,
neighbors, and fellow workers. Some are secondary groups, which are more formal
and have less regular interaction. These include organizations like religious
groups, professional associations, and trade unions. Reference groups are groups
that serve as direct (face-to-face) or indirect points of comparison or reference
in forming a person's attitudes or behavior. Reference groups to which they do
not belong often influence people. For example, an aspirational group is one to
which the individual wishes to belong, as when a teenage football player hopes
to play someday for Manchester United. He identifies with them, although there
is no face-to-face contact between him and the team. Marketers try to identify
the reference groups of their target markets. Reference groups influence a
person in at least three ways. They expose the person to new behaviors and
lifestyles. They influence the person's attitudes and self-concept because he
or she wants to 'fit in'. They also create pressures to conform that may affect
the person's product and brand choices The importance of group influence varies
across products and brands, but it tends to be strongest for conspicuous
purchases.9 A product or brand can be conspicuous for one of two reasons.
First, it may be noticeable because the buyer is one of few people who own
it-luxuries, such as a vintage Wurlitzer jukebox or a Rolex, are more
conspicuous than necessities because fewer people own the luxuries. Second, a
product such as Carlsberg ICE beer or Perrier can be conspicuous because the buyer
consumes it in public where others can see it. Figure 6.3 shows how group
influence might affect product and brand choices for four types of products
-public luxuries, private luxuries, public necessities, and private necessities.
A person considering the purchase of a public luxury, such as a yacht, will
generally be influenced strongly by others. Many people will notice the yacht because
few people own one. If interested, they will notice the brand because the boat
is used in public. Thus both the product and the brand will be conspicuous and
the opinions of others can strongly influence decisions about whether to own a
boat and what brand to buy. On the other extreme, group influences do not much
affect decisions about private necessities because other people will notice
neither the product nor the brand.
• Family
Family
members can strongly influence buyer behavior. We can distinguish between two
families in the buyer's life. The buyer's parents make up the family of
orientation. Parents provide a person with an orientation toward religion,
politics, and economies, and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love.
Even if the buyer no longer interacts very much with his or her parents, the
latter can still significantly influence the buyer's behavior. In countries
where parents continue to live with their children, their influence can be
crucial. The family of procreation - the buyer's spouse and children - has a
more direct influence on everyday buying behavior. This family is the most
important consumer buying organization in society and it has been researched
extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of
the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of a large variety of products
and services. Husband-wife involvement varies widely by product category and by
stage in the buying process. Buying roles change with evolving consumer
lifestyles. Almost everywhere in the world, the wife is traditionally the main
purchasing agent for the family, especially in the areas of food, household
products, and clothing. But with over 60 percent or more women holding jobs
outside the home in developed countries and the willingness of some husbands to
do more of the family's purchasing, all this is changing. For example, in the
United States, women now buy about 45 percent of all cars and men account for about 40 percent of expenditure on food shopping.1 " Such roles vary
widely among different countries and social classes. As always, marketers must
research specific patterns in their target markets.
In the case of expensive products and services, husbands and wives more often make joint decisions. Anna Flores' husband may play an influencer role in her camera-buying decision. He may have an opinion about her buying a camera and about the kind of camera to buy. At the same time, she will be the primary decider, purchaser, and user.
CONSUMERS' BUYING ROLES.
Group
members can influence purchases in many ways. For example, men normally choose
their own newspaper and women choose their own tights. For other products,
however, the decision-making unit is more complicated with people playing one
or more roles: t Initiator. The person who first suggests or thinks of the idea
of buying a particular product or service. This could be a parent of friends
who would like to see a visual record of Anna's holiday.
• Influencer.
A person
whose view or advice influences the buying decision, perhaps a friend who is a
camera enthusiast or a salesperson.
• Decider.
The person who ultimately makes a buying decision
or any part of it - whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy.
• Buyer.
The person
who makes an actual purchase. Once the buying decision is made, someone else
could make the purchase for the decider.
• User.
The person
who consumes or uses a product or service. Once bought, other members of her
family could use Anna's camera.
Roles and Status
A person
belongs to many groups - family, clubs, and organizations. The person's position in
each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. With her parents,
Anna Flores plays the role of daughter; in her family, she plays the role of wife;
in her company, she plays the role of brand manager, A role consisting of the
activities that people are expected to perform according to the persons around
them. Each of Anne's roles will influence some of her buying behavior. Each
role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it by society.
People often choose products that show their position in society. For example,
the role of the brand manager has more status in our society than the role of the daughter. As a brand manager, Anna will buy the kind of clothing that reflects
her role and status.
|
OLDER |
MIDDLE-AGED |
|
|
Older married Older
unmarried |
Single Married
without children Married with children Young children Adolescent children
Married without dependent children Divorced without children Divorced with
children Young children Adolescent children Divorced without dependent
children |
Single Married
without children Married with children Infant children Young children
Adolescent children Divorced with children |
Personal Factors
A buyer's decisions are also influenced by
personal characteristics such as the buyer's age and life-cycle stage,
occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept.
Age and
Life-Cycle Stage
People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age-related. Buying is also shaped by the family life cycle - the stages through which families might pass as they mature over time. Table 6.2 lists the stages of the family life cycle. Marketers often define their target markets in terms of the life-cycle stage and develop appropriate products and marketing plans for each stage. Psychological life-cycle stages have also been identified.12 Adults experience certain passages or transformations as they go through life. Thus Anna Florcs may move from being a satisfied brand manager and wife to being an unsatisfied person searching for a new way to fulfill herself. In fact, such a change may have stimulated her strong interest in photography. The main stimuli to people taking photographs are holidays, ceremonies marking the progression through the life cycle (weddings, graduations, and so on), and having children to take photographs of. Marketers must pay attention to the changing buying interests that might be associated with these adult passages.
• Occupation
A person's occupation affects the goods
and services bought. Blue-collar workers tend to buy more work clothes, whereas
white-collar workers buy more suits and ties. Marketers try to identify the
occupational groups that have an above-average interest in their products and
services. A company can even specialize in making products needed by a given
occupational group. Thus computer software companies will design different
products for brand managers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and doctors.
• Economic Circumstances
A person's economic situation will affect
product choice. Anna Flores can consider buying an expensive Olympus autofocus
superzoom camera if she has enough disposable income, savings, or borrowing
power. Marketers of income-sensitive goods closely watch trends in personal
income, savings, and interest rates. If economic indicators point to a
recession, marketers can take steps to redesign, reposition and reprice their
products.
|
DEMOGRAPHICS |
OPINIONS |
INTERESTS |
ACTIVITIES |
|
Age Education Income Occupation Family size Dwelling
Geography City size Stage in the life cycle |
Themselves Social issues Politics Business Economics
Education Products Future Culture |
Family Home Job Community Recreation Fashion Food
Media Achievements |
Work Hobbies Social events Vacation Entertainment
Club membership Community Shopping Sports |
• Lifestyle
People coming from the same subculture, social
class and occupation may have quite different lifestyles. Lifestyle is a
person's pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and
opinions. Lifestyle captures something more than the person's social class or
personality. It profiles a person's whole pattern of acting and interacting in
the world. The technique of measuring lifestyles is known as psychographies. It
involves measuring the primary dimensions The first three are known as the AlO
dimensions (activities, interests, opinions). Several research firms have
developed lifestyle classifications. The most widely used is the SRI Values and
Lifestyles (VALS) typology. The original VALS typology classifies consumers
into nine lifestyle groups according to whether they were inner-directed (for
example, 'experiential'); outer-directed ('achievers', 'belongers'); or need-driven ('survivors'). Using this VALS classification, a bank found that the
businessmen they were targeting consisted mainly of 'achievers' who were
strongly competitive individualists.13 The bank designed highly successful ads
showing men taking part in solo sports such as sailing, jogging, and water
skiing.11 Everyday-Life Research by SINUS GmbH, a German company, identifies
'social milieus' covering France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. This study
describes the structure of society with five social classes and value
orientations:
•
Basic orientation: traditional - to preserve.
•
Basic orientation: materialist - to fia
• Changing values: hedonism - Co indulge,
• Changing values: pos(materialism - to
be,
• Changing values: postmodernism - to
have, to be, and to indulge.
It distinguishes two types of values:
traditional values, which emphasize hard work, thrift, religion, honesty, £ good manners, and obedience; and material values concerned with possession and a need
for security. From these, SINUS developed a typology of social milieus (see
Table 6.4): groups of people who share a common set of values and beliefs about
work, private relationships, leisure activities, and aesthetics, and a common
perception of future plans, wishes, and dreams. The size and exact nature of
these milieus vary between the countries studied, but there are broad
international comparisons. Knowing the social milieu of a person can provide
information about his or her everyday life, such as work likes and dislikes,
which helps in product development and advertising. The study finds that the
upmarket segments share a similar structure in all four countries; and it
identifies trend-setting milieus in each country, containing heavy consumers
with comparable attitudinal and sociodemographic characteristics. Important
values shared by all these consumers include tolerance, open-mindedness, an
outward-looking approach; career and success, education and culture, a high
standard of living, hedonistic luxury consumption, individualism, and Europe.
The Anticipating Change in Europe (ACE) study, by the RISC research agency of
Paris, investigated social changes in 12 European countries, die the United States, Canada, and Japan, The objective
was to try to understand how social changes influence market trends. RISC
describes people using sociodemographic characteristics, social rural
profile, activities (sports, leisure, culture), behavior towards the media
(press, radio, television), political inclinations, and mood. Using these
dimensions, RISC developed six Euro types:
The traditionalist (18 percent of the European population) is influenced by the culture, socioeconomic history, and unique situation of his or her country, with a profile reflecting deep-rooted attitudes specific to that country. Consequently, this is the most minor homogeneous group across countries. 2. The homebody (14 percent) is driven by a strong attachment to his or her roots and childhood environment. Less preoccupied with economic security than the traditionalist, the homebody needs to feel in touch with the social environment. The homebody seeks warm relationships and has difficulty coping with violence in society, 3. The rationalist (23 percent) has the ability to cope with unforeseeable and complex situations, and a readiness to take risks rind start new endeavors. Personal fulfillment is more about self-expression than financial reward. The rationalist believes science and technology will help resolve the challenges facing humanity. 4. The pleasurist (17 percent) emphasizes sensual and emotional experiences, preferring n on-hierarchic ally structured groups built around self-reliance and self-regulation and not around leaders or formal decision-making processes. 5. Tlie driver (15 percent) holds the attitudes, beliefs, and values that underlie the dynamics of social change. The striver believes in autonomous behavior and wants to shape his or her life and exploit mental, physical, sensual, and emotional possibilities to the full. 6. The trendsetter (13 percent) favors non-hierarchical social structures and enjoys spontaneity rather than formal procedures. Trendsetters see no need to prove their abilities. Even more individualistic than strivers, they exemplify the flexible response to a rapidly changing environment. These studies do suggest that there are European lifestyles although, as with a social class, there is greater similarity between wealthy Europeans than between poor ones. For this reason, luxury brands and their advertising are often more standardized internationally than other products.15 Lifestyle classifications need not be universal - they can vary significantly from country to country. McCann-Erickson, for example, found the following British lifestyles: Avant Guardians (interested in change): Pontificators (traditionalists, very British); Chameleons (follow the crowd); and SleefwDalken, (contented underachievers). Contrast this with Survey Research Malaysia's seven categories from their developing country: Upper Echelons (driven by status and desire to stand out in society); Not Quite There (ambition for self and family); Rebel Hangouts (want to look off mainstream); Sfeef)walkers (want to get through the day); Inconspicuous (want to blend in): Kampung Trendsetters (ambitious, city-influenced village dwellers); and Rural Traditiortalists (abide by traditional rules)."' Finally, advertising agency D'Arcy, Masius. Benton & Bowles identified five categories of Russian consumers: Kuptsi (merchants), Cossacks, Students, Business Executives, and Russian Souls, Cossacks are characterized as ambitious, independent, and status-seeking, Russian Souls as passive, fearful of choices, and hopeful, Tims, a typical Cossack might drive a BMW, smoke Dunhill cigarettes and drink Remy Martin liquor, whereas a Russian Soul would drive a Lada, smoke Marlboros and drink Smirnoff Vodka.17 The lifestyle concept, when used carefully, can help the marketer understand changing consumer values and how they affect buying behavior. Anna Flores, for example, can choose to live the role of a capable homemaker, a career woman, or a free spirit - or all three. She plays several roles, and the way she blends them expresses her lifestyle. If she ever became a professional photographer, this would change her lifestyle, in turn changing what and how she buys.
Personality and Self-Concept Each person's distinct personality influences his or her buying behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one's own environment. Personality is usually described in terms of traits such as self-confidence, dominance, sociability, autonomy, defensiveness, adaptability, and aggressiveness."' Personality can be useful in analyzing consumer behavior for a certain product or brand choices. For example, coffee makers have discovered that heavy coffee drinkers tend to be high on sociability. Thus Nescafe ads show people coming together over a cup of coffee. Many marketers use a concept related to personality - a person's self-concept (also called self-image). The basic self-concept premise is that people's possessions contribute to and reflect their identities: that is, 'we are what we have. Thus, in order to understand consumer behavior, the marketer must first understand the relationship between consumer self-concept and possessions. For example, people buy books to support their self-images: People have the mistaken notion that the thing you do with books is read them. Wrong ... People buy books for what the purchase says about them - their taste, their cultivation, their trendiness. Their aim ... is to connect themselves, or those to whom they give the books as gifts, with all the other refined owners of Edgar Allen Poe collections or sensitive owners of Virginia Woolf collections. ... [The result is that] you can sell books as consumer products, with seductive displays, flashy posters, an emphasis on the glamour of the book, and the fashionableness of the bestseller and the trendy author.'1 ' Anna Flores may see herself as outgoing, fun, and active. Therefore, she will favor a camera that projects the same qualities. In that case, the Polaroid Vision autofocus SLR could attract her. 'The fun develops instantly.'2 " Really, it is not that simple. What if Anna's actual self-concept (how she views herself) differs from her ideal self-concept (how she would like to view herself) and from her other's se//-concept (how she thinks others see her)? Which self will she try to satisfy when she buys a camera? Because this is unclear, self-concept theory has met with mixed success in predicting consumer responses to brand images.
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