Marketing Aptitude Study Material – Consumer Behaviour

Marketing Aptitude Study MaterialComputer AwarenessBanking Awareness

Consumer

A consumer is an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale. A consumer may be a person or group of people such as a household who are the final users of products or services.

Classification of Consumers

Consumers are mainly classified into two groups

1. Individual Consumer
2. Commercial Consumer

Individual consumer buys the products and services for his own and his family or friends whereas commercial consumer buys products or services for manufacturing or reselling.

Nature of Indian Consumers

• Tendency of bargaining.
• More focus on price than its quality.
• Lack of awareness in the consumer for brand or trademark.
• Attraction for changed consumption structures like car. scooter, coloured television, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.

Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is a complex, dynamic, multidimensional process and all marketing decisions are based on the assumption about consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups or organisation and the process they use to select, secure and dispose of products, services, experiences as well as ideas to satisfy needs and we find the overall impact of these processes on the consumer as well as on society.

Elements of Consumer

• Want of consumer
• Attitude of consumer
• Decision-making in purchase process
• Finding out the problems relating to purchase

Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour

The factors influencing consumer behaviour are as follows.

Cultural

• Traditions
• Nationalities
• Religions
• Racial groups

Social

• Reference groups
• Family
• Social class
• Caste

Personal

• Age
• Life style
• Personality
• Life cycle stage
• Occupation
• Self concept
• Economic circumstances

Psychological

• Motivation
• Perception
• Attitude
• Learning
• Beliefs

Some Terms Related to Consumer Behaviour

1. Negative Demand When consumers dislike a product and may even pay to avoid it, it is called negative demand.
2. Impulse Buying A situation in which consumer pruchases are unplanned, is called impulse buying.
3. Buyer Resistance It means buyers hesitation in buying the product. Buyer resistance can be overcome by cordial relation between buyer and seller, good negotiation, persuasive communication and good after sales service.
4. Reference Group It means a group of satisfied customers.
5. Target Group It means a group of people likely to buy the identified product.

Various Stages in Consumer Decision-Making

Generally, a buyer passes through five distinct stages, while taking a decision for purchasing a particular commodity.

• Need Recognition A consumer determines an order of preference for statisfying his needs. Determination of such order of preference is the first stage of buying process. A marketer tries to convey the uses of his products to the consumers through his advertisement programes.
• Information Search Determination of preference order sets the needs of a consumer in an order and the consumer starts to fulfil his needs one by one. He determined the need to be satisfied first of all. Then he tries to identify different alternatives to study his need.
• Evaluation of Alternatives The purpose of this step is to evaluate the merits and demerits of all the available alternatives. It helps the consumer in choosing the best possible alternative. After selecting the best alternative, the consumer proceeds to buy it.
• Purchase Decision After the evaluation of all the alternatives, the consumers now decide on what they will purchase and where? These include the cost of product compared to how much money
  the consumer can afford to spend, the opinions of family or friends and the sales and services of the marketer.
• Post Purchase Evaluation At this stage, the attempts are made to understand the extent to which the buyers feel themselves satisfied with their purchases. Such information is very useful for the marketer.

Buying Motives

There are different kinds of customers. So, their wants and needs are also different. They buy products or services to satisfy their needs. The causes and factors which stimulate consumer to buy certain goods or services, are called buying motives.

Types of Buying Motives

Buying motives are basically of two types

1. Product Buying Motives
2. Patronage Buying Motives

1. Product Buying Motives

These refer to those influences or factors which motivate a buyer to choose a particular product. They include the physical or psychological attraction of product, i.e., design, shape, size, colour, package, etc.

Product buying motives can be divided into two types

1. Emotional Product Buying Motives When a buyer decides to purchase a product without thinking logically and carefully, this is called emotional product buying motives.These include
   • Pride
   • Comfort
   • Hunger and thirst
   • Individuality
   • Affection
   • Pleasure
   • Habit
2. Rational Product Buying Motives When a buyer decides to purchase a product after thinking logically and carefully, this is called rational product buying motives. These include
   • Safety or security
   • Utility or versatility
   • Suitability
   • Saving in cost
   • Durability
   • Convenience

2. Patronage Buying Motives

These refer to those considerations or reasons which motivate a buyer to purchase the product from a particular shop.

Patronage buying motives can also be divided into two types

• Emotional Patronage Buying Motives
• Rational Patronage Buying Motives

Importance of Consumer Behaviour

The importance often study of consumer behaviour may be explained as under

• Production Policies: Consumer behaviour discovers the habits, tastes and preferences of consumers and such discovery enables an enterprise to plan and develop its products according to these specifications. It is necessary for an enterprise to be in continuous touch with the changes in consumer behaviour so that necessary changes in products may be made.
• Price Policies: A businessman must study the behaviour of his consumers very well before fixing the price of his product because the consumer behaviour affects price policies of the enterprise to a great extent.
• Distribution Policies: It is necessary for the manufactures to assure regular and continuous supply of products in the market. Therefore, all the efforts should be made to distribute the products through channels of distribution most suited to the consumers so that availability of these products at right time and right place may be assured.
• Sales Promotion Policies: The study of consumer behaviour helps the enterprise in knowing the buying motives of consumers. The decisions of the form, color, packaging and leabelling, etc of the products are directly affected by the motives for which the consumer buy the products.

Six Questions Related to Consumer Behaviour

1. Who is the consumer?
2. What does the consumer want to buy?
3. When does the consumer want to buy?
4. Where does the consumer want to buy?
5. How does the consumer want to buy?
6. Why does the consumer want to buy?

Tit-Bits

• Needs differ from wants because wants are socialized manifestation of underlying needs.
• Self-actualisation need is most likely to be associated with consumer’s purchase of goods which appeal to their inner sense of peace of mind.
• Organisational consumer of the bank is a firm, a corporate body, an industry or trust or school.
• The social factor of the bank customer includes social class and caste class.
• Customer’s relationship with the bank is influenced by attitude of sales persons.

Check Your Skills

1. Which of the following statements best describes the concept of involvement in the context of buyer behaviour?

1. The length of time involved in the buying process
2. The potential impact of a product in an individual’s self-identity
3. The number of people involved in the decision-making unit
4. The complexity-of an order
5. All of the above

2. A prospect means [SBI Clerk 2012, 08]

1. any customer who walks into the bank
2. an employee of the bank
3. a customer who is likely to be interested in bank’s product or service
4. a depositor of the bank
5. a borrower of the bank

3. Needs differ from wants because

1. wants are socialized manifestation of underlying needs
2. needs and historical wants are about the future
3. needs and wants are exactly the same
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

4. Buying decisions generally follow a pattern of overlapping stages. Which of the following best describes the typical stages of the buying process?

1. Need recognition > Information search > Evaluation > Decision > Post purchase evaluation
2. Need recognition > Evaluation > Information search > Decision > Post purchase evaluation
3. Information search > Need recognition > Evaluation > Decision > Post purchase evaluation
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

5. Target group means [SBI Clerk 2012, 11, 09]

1. all employees
2. short-listed group
3. all the marketing staff
4. sales representatives
5. group of people likely to buy the identified product

6. Which of the following is the type of consumer?

1. Active personal consumer
2. Personal consumer
3. Risk taker
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

7. Which of the following is not associated with a role in a buying decision-making unit?

1. Supplier
2. Gatekeeper
3. Decision-maker
4. Buyer
5. None of these

8. Which of the following is buying motives?

1. Rest and recreation
2. Sociability and striving
3. Pride
4. All of the above .
5. None of the above

9. Which is psychological buying motives?

1. Sleeping
2. Hunger
3. Thirst
4. Rest and recreation
5. All of these

10. In lndia,who plays a vital role in buying decision?

1. Man with their friends
2. Man with their boss
3. Staff
4. Woman
5. None of the above

11. Which of the following is the feature of buying behaviour of Indian consumer?

1. Changing consumption pattern
2. Trademark consciousness
3. Bargaining
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

12. The personal consumer of a bank is

1. Mr Shyam
2. a firm
3. a corporate body
4. a person who is a servant of bank
5. None of the above

13. The target group for tractor loans is [SBI Clerk 2012]

1. cold storage plant
2. farmers with large land holding
3. farm labourers
4. agriculture colleges
5. vegetable vendors

14. Which of the following is the nature of consumer behaviour?

1. It is psychological activity
2. It is a physical activity
3. It is buying process decision
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

15. The target group for home loans is [SBI Clerk 2009]

1. individuals
2. salaried persons
3. businessmen
4. professionals
5. All of these

16. Organisational consumer of the bank is

1. a firm
2. a corporate body
3. an industry or trust or school
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

17. The target group for a car loan is [SBI Clerk 2012]

1. all high income individuals
2. all car dealers
3. all students
4. all PPL persons
5. bliral persons

18. Customer’s relationship with the bank is influenced by [SBI Clerk 2009]

1. customers attitudes
2. attitudes of bank staff
3. interest rates of the bank
4. attitude of sales persons
5. All of the above

19. The social factor of the bank customer includes

1. social class and caste class
2. motivation
3. beliefs
4. attitude
5. All of the above

20. Reference group includes

1. market sector
2. satisfied customer
3. producer
4. research and development’s techniques
5. All of the above

21. A situation in which consumer purchases are unplanned is called [SBI Clerk 2012]

1. latent demand
2. impulse buying
3. irregular demand
4. unwhole some laying
5. None of these

22. Which is the type of family as per purchase decision-maker?

1. Wife-dominated family
2. Husband-dominated family
3. Syncretic family
4. Autonomic family
5. All of the above

23. Which of the following is the esteem needs?

1. Water
2. Protection
3. Food
4. Recognition
5. None of these

24. A consumer’s buying behaviour is influenced which of the following factors?

1. Cultural factor
2. Social factor
3. Personal factor
4. Psychological factor
5. All of these

25. Social factors affecting the consumer’s buying behaviour includes

1. reference groups
2. family
3. social class
4. caste
5. All of these

26. The cultural factors of consumer behaviour consist of

1. traditions
2. Nationalities
3. religions
4. Racial groups
5. All of these

27. The personal factors of consumer behaviour include

1. age
2. life style
3. personality
4. occupation
5. All of these

28. Which one of the following best describes the term ‘negative demand’? [SBI Clerk 2012]

1. Consumers begin to buy a product less frequently
2. Consumers do not at all buy a product
3. Consumers are unaware cruninterested in a product
4. Consumer purchases vary on a seasonal basis
5. Consumers dislike a product and may even pay to avoid it

29. The psychological factors of consumer behaviour include perception

1. attitude
2. learning
3. beliefs
4. All of these

30. Which of the following is the safety needs?

1. Protection
2. Food
3. Water
4. helter
5. None of these

31. Buyer resistance means [SBI Clerk 2012, 09; PNB Clerk 2010]

1. buyer’s dislike for the product
2. fight between buyer and the seller
3. buyer’s hesitation in buying the product
4. exchange of products
5. buyer retracting the sale

32. Which of the following is/are stage/stages in consumer buying process?

1. Problem recognition
2. Information search
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase and post purchase decision
5. All of the above

33. In which of the following way a customer uses or disposes of products?

1. By getting rid of it temporarily
2. By getting rid of it permanently
3. By keeping it
4. By storing it
5. All of the above

34. In the simple response model of consumer behaviour, die entities involved in it is/are

1. stimulus
2. organism
3. response
4. All of these
5. None of these

35. In the model of buying behaviour the marketing stimuli include

1. product
2. price
3. place
4. promotion
5. All of these

36. Consumer analysis deals with

1. knowledge level of sales person
2. knowledge level of employees
3. nature of the buying decision
4. corporate objective
5. Both’1′ and‘2’ .

37. Buyer resistance can be overcome by [SBI Clerk 2012; PNB PO 2010]

1. cordial relation between buyer and seller
2. good negotiation
3. persuasive communication
4. good after sales service
5. All of the above

Answer Key