Consumer behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Consumer behavior - Essay Example Amongst the internal factors which influence people in making their choice by interpreting market information are: perception, motivation, learning, attitudes, personality, age and lifestyle. Since consumers are the focus of marketers, hence consumer behavioural theories form the basis of marketing. It is important to understand what might influence a consumer to buy a certain product and what might hinder him from the same. This involves an understanding of his feeling about a product or brand and the impact laid by his personal and professional surroundings. This understanding will help in formulating the appropriate marketing theory. The identification of target consumers before offering a particular product is important. For instance, an individual from lower income stratum would not be eager to buy an expensive luxury item. In fact such people from lower economic backdrop would be little interested in buying health supplements like Kellogg’s K and rather concentrate on pr oducts essential for daily survival like fruits, vegetables and pulses. Likewise, age group, geographical location, lifestyle and social status of consumers would also be taken into account by marketers. Consumers are also driven by needs which are not satisfied. This acts as their motivation. Motives comprise energy from within oneself which directs an individual towards satisfying his need or to fulfil his objectives (Solomon, 2010). The paper will essentially highlight this aspect of consumer behaviour and show how it is related to marketing. Different models demonstrate various stages and reflect the factor of motivation along with the other aspects which act towards helping a consumer make his purchase decision. Relation between Consumer behaviour theory and Marketing – emphasis on Motivation The first stage of purchasing decision is problem recognition. At this stage a consumer identifies the difference between the current and the desired condition. When there is a gap, the need is identified and in order to meet this unmet need a motivation is generated. At this stage the marketers might help the consumer recognize the problem. The second stage is information search where the consumer begins to search their surroundings for possible clues and the available options. The means of search include personal experience and know-how, associates and friends, websites, advertisements and print media. After researching, the consumers would assess the available alternatives or options on the basis of pros and cons. To make product choice normally external factors like group culture might influence but the criteria might be summarized as heuristics or rules of thumb (brand loyalty, country of origin and personal liking are some examples). Purchase may differ from the decision taken owing to the time lapse and finally after purchase the evaluation of his satisfaction (buyer’s remorse) is important too (Blythe, 2008). This is the last stage of the buying process and this might be dealt with by warranties or after sales interaction with the consumers in order to influence future product or brand loyalty. So it is the motivation which initiates the purchasing process and the last stage in turn motivates future purchase decisions. Let us begin with a general model of consumer behaviour: (Blythe, 2008, p.7) Now, one may study consumer behaviour with respect to the seven Ps of marketing. This relation might be explained as follows: Product: the product