Consumer Behaviour

Definition

Consumer behaviour is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology, and economics. It tries to understand the buyer decision processes/buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioural variables to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

The study of consumers helps businesses and organisations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as how:

• The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives (e.g. brands, products);
• The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g. culture, family, signs, media);
• The behaviour of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions;
• Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing outcome;
• How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and
• How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to reach the consumer more effectively.
• Behaviour occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group (e.g. friend’s influence of what kinds of clothes a person wears) or an organisation (people on the job make decisions as to which products the firm should use).
• Consumer behaviour involves the use and disposal of products as well as the study of how they are bought. Product use is often of great interest to the marketer, because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased consumption. Since many environmental problems result from product disposal (e.g. motor oil being sent into sewage systems to save the recycling fee, or garbage piling up at landfills) this is also an area of interest.
• Consumer behaviour involves services and ideas as well as tangible products.
• The impact of consumer behaviour on society is also of relevance. For example, aggressive marketing of high fat foods, or aggressive marketing of easy credit, may have serious repercussions for the national health and economy.