1. Introduction to Consumer Behaviour
1.1 Consumer behaviour
Definition
Consumer behaviour is the process with which individuals and groups choose,
purchase, use and dispose of products, services and experiences in order to
satisfy their needs and wants.
A Role Theory approach of consumers
Consumers are actors on the market following a script, with texts, props and
costumes. They are engaged in a continuous process of consuming of which
purchase and exchange are only a very small part. They are playing different
roles like purchaser, user and influencer. A consumer may purchase, use and/or
dispose of a product, but these functions may be performed by different people.
In addition, consumers may be thought of as role players who need different
products to help them play their various parts.
A symbolic interactionism approach
Consumers give meaning to their life, they create and express their identity and
they classify and judge other consumer. Consumers do this by the products they
buy and where they buy them, by the products they use and how they use them
and even by the products they do not use.
The field of consumer behaviour
The field of consumer behaviour is interdisciplinary. It is composed of researchers
from many different fields who share an interest in how people interact with the
marketplace. These disciplines can be categorized by the degree to which their
focus is micro (the individual consumer) or macro (the consumer as a member of
groups or of the larger society). Consumer studies are applied social sciences
with a focus on strategic market policy.
Scientific perspectives in consumer behaviour
There are different perspectives in consumer behaviour:
Positivist science, which currently dominates the field, emphasizes the
objectivity of science and the consumer as a rational decision-maker
o Reality is objective, tangible: there is only one single reality
o Goal of science is explaining for prediction
o Knowledge is time-free and context-independent
o Events have real causes
o Researcher and subject are separated
Interpretivist (non-positive) science stresses the subjective meaning of the
consumer’s individual experience and the idea that any behaviour is subject
to multiple interpretations rather than one single explanation
o Reality is socially constructed: there are multiple realities
o Goal of science is explaining for understanding
o Knowledge is time-dependent and context-dependent
o Events are interdependent
o Researcher and subject are interacting
,Social sciences do not find out the truth but they expose the lies. Then, they can
approximate the truth. So, approximating the truth by the process of eliminating
the untruth.
Questions about consumers
When do consumers decide that they need something?
How do consumers get information on products?
Is the purchase pleasurable or is it stressful?
What does the purchase (product/place) tell us about the consumer?
Is the product satisfactory? Why is it or why not?
When and how is the product disposed of?
Understanding consumer behaviour
Understanding consumer behaviour facilitates stimulating demand for a product,
it facilitates designing new products and it facilitates our understanding of the
consumer society. Besides, understanding consumer behaviour is indispensable
for the development and understanding of consumer policy.
1.2 The significance of consumption
Marketing and popular culture
Advertising influences:
o Popular music (jingles and songs)
o Stereotyping: the way we view people, men, women and ourselves
Product policy influences:
o Fashion, hypes and stereotypes
o Americanisation of European culture, Westernisation of non-Western
cultures and Creolisation in Western cultures (adoption of exotic elements)
Product and brand use influences:
o Self-image
o Socio-economic development and urban landscape
Significance to the consumer
Person-product relations: what the consumer experiences
o Confirmation of self-image and self-concept
o Feelings of nostalgia: link with the past self
o Interdependency or dependency: part of daily routine
o Love and care for products
Person-consumption relations
o Consuming is an experience, integration in a group or society,
classification of groups and a game
o This also applies to virtual consumption, such as social media, second life
and OMG
1.3 Consumption activities
There are four distinct types of consumption activities:
Consuming as experience
Consuming as integration
Consuming as classification
Consuming as play
2
, 1.4 Marketing
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is an important aspect of consumer behaviour. Consumers
can be segmented along many dimensions, including product usage,
demographics (the objective aspects of a population, such as age and sex) and
psychographics (psychological and life-style characteristics). Emerging
developments, such as the new emphasis on relationship marketing (building
bonds with consumers) and database marketing (tracking buying habits), mean
that marketers are much more attuned to the wants and needs of different
consumer groups.
Manipulating consumers?
It is often said that marketers create artificial needs. Although this criticism is
over-simplified, it is true that marketers must accept their share of the
responsibility for how society develops and what is considered necessary to have
and what is acceptable, nice and fun to do within society. Despite what some
people think, advertising cannot make you buy something you do not need. But
apparently it can make you need something.
Consumer policy
There is public concern for the welfare of consumers. Is consumer protection
against corporate malpractice a government task or personal responsibility?
There are 10 principles in consumer protection. These are nice in principles, but
not always clear in practice. For example, ‘know what you are eating’: Belgium
chocolate may be Belgium but may be not and Australian homemade is neither
Australian nor homemade.
3
1.1 Consumer behaviour
Definition
Consumer behaviour is the process with which individuals and groups choose,
purchase, use and dispose of products, services and experiences in order to
satisfy their needs and wants.
A Role Theory approach of consumers
Consumers are actors on the market following a script, with texts, props and
costumes. They are engaged in a continuous process of consuming of which
purchase and exchange are only a very small part. They are playing different
roles like purchaser, user and influencer. A consumer may purchase, use and/or
dispose of a product, but these functions may be performed by different people.
In addition, consumers may be thought of as role players who need different
products to help them play their various parts.
A symbolic interactionism approach
Consumers give meaning to their life, they create and express their identity and
they classify and judge other consumer. Consumers do this by the products they
buy and where they buy them, by the products they use and how they use them
and even by the products they do not use.
The field of consumer behaviour
The field of consumer behaviour is interdisciplinary. It is composed of researchers
from many different fields who share an interest in how people interact with the
marketplace. These disciplines can be categorized by the degree to which their
focus is micro (the individual consumer) or macro (the consumer as a member of
groups or of the larger society). Consumer studies are applied social sciences
with a focus on strategic market policy.
Scientific perspectives in consumer behaviour
There are different perspectives in consumer behaviour:
Positivist science, which currently dominates the field, emphasizes the
objectivity of science and the consumer as a rational decision-maker
o Reality is objective, tangible: there is only one single reality
o Goal of science is explaining for prediction
o Knowledge is time-free and context-independent
o Events have real causes
o Researcher and subject are separated
Interpretivist (non-positive) science stresses the subjective meaning of the
consumer’s individual experience and the idea that any behaviour is subject
to multiple interpretations rather than one single explanation
o Reality is socially constructed: there are multiple realities
o Goal of science is explaining for understanding
o Knowledge is time-dependent and context-dependent
o Events are interdependent
o Researcher and subject are interacting
,Social sciences do not find out the truth but they expose the lies. Then, they can
approximate the truth. So, approximating the truth by the process of eliminating
the untruth.
Questions about consumers
When do consumers decide that they need something?
How do consumers get information on products?
Is the purchase pleasurable or is it stressful?
What does the purchase (product/place) tell us about the consumer?
Is the product satisfactory? Why is it or why not?
When and how is the product disposed of?
Understanding consumer behaviour
Understanding consumer behaviour facilitates stimulating demand for a product,
it facilitates designing new products and it facilitates our understanding of the
consumer society. Besides, understanding consumer behaviour is indispensable
for the development and understanding of consumer policy.
1.2 The significance of consumption
Marketing and popular culture
Advertising influences:
o Popular music (jingles and songs)
o Stereotyping: the way we view people, men, women and ourselves
Product policy influences:
o Fashion, hypes and stereotypes
o Americanisation of European culture, Westernisation of non-Western
cultures and Creolisation in Western cultures (adoption of exotic elements)
Product and brand use influences:
o Self-image
o Socio-economic development and urban landscape
Significance to the consumer
Person-product relations: what the consumer experiences
o Confirmation of self-image and self-concept
o Feelings of nostalgia: link with the past self
o Interdependency or dependency: part of daily routine
o Love and care for products
Person-consumption relations
o Consuming is an experience, integration in a group or society,
classification of groups and a game
o This also applies to virtual consumption, such as social media, second life
and OMG
1.3 Consumption activities
There are four distinct types of consumption activities:
Consuming as experience
Consuming as integration
Consuming as classification
Consuming as play
2
, 1.4 Marketing
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is an important aspect of consumer behaviour. Consumers
can be segmented along many dimensions, including product usage,
demographics (the objective aspects of a population, such as age and sex) and
psychographics (psychological and life-style characteristics). Emerging
developments, such as the new emphasis on relationship marketing (building
bonds with consumers) and database marketing (tracking buying habits), mean
that marketers are much more attuned to the wants and needs of different
consumer groups.
Manipulating consumers?
It is often said that marketers create artificial needs. Although this criticism is
over-simplified, it is true that marketers must accept their share of the
responsibility for how society develops and what is considered necessary to have
and what is acceptable, nice and fun to do within society. Despite what some
people think, advertising cannot make you buy something you do not need. But
apparently it can make you need something.
Consumer policy
There is public concern for the welfare of consumers. Is consumer protection
against corporate malpractice a government task or personal responsibility?
There are 10 principles in consumer protection. These are nice in principles, but
not always clear in practice. For example, ‘know what you are eating’: Belgium
chocolate may be Belgium but may be not and Australian homemade is neither
Australian nor homemade.
3
