Explaining the Meaning of Buyer or Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example

?The essence of marketing is to offer products and services that are needed by the consumers but this process demands investigation of a certain targeted market place especially buyer behaviour which puts the buyers at the forefront of decision making process towards purchasing a certain good or service (Lancaster & Reynolds, 1999). Against this backdrop, this paper has been designed to critically evaluate the concepts which facilitate understanding of the buyer behaviour in practical situations. There are many factors that shape the behaviour of the buyers towards a certain market offering. In order to understand these factors, it is imperative to begin by explaining the meaning of buyer or consumer behaviour. The main body of the paper will evaluate the role played by different factors in light of neuroscience. “Consumer behaviour comprises the behaviour patterns of decision units (individuals as well as families) which precede, determine and follow on the decision making process for the acquisition of need satisfying products, ideas and services,” (Strydom, 2004, p.2). On the other hand, McCarty & Perreault (1996) posit to the effect that the needs of the consumers, their motives, perceptions, attitudes, learning abilities and their personality have a bearing on their consumption patterns and buyer behaviour towards certain market offerings. Of notable concern is the fact that the consumers do not live in isolation from others and their buying behaviour is also impacted by factors such as culture and other social factors obtaining in their respective social environments. Aspects such as cultural and reference groups, family and the social class system impact on the buying behaviour of different people and these should be taken into consideration by the marketers. The study of buyer behaviour mainly draws from psychology with additional inputs mainly from sociology as well as Economics (Lancaster &Reynolds, 1999). Sociologically, the behaviour of people is shaped by factors such as friendship, love, status as well as self esteem among other factors while psychological factors are mainly concerned with attitude and perception developed by people towards something. There are several reasons why an individual may buy a particular product but the major one is to satisfy different needs as postulated by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (McCarthy & Perreault, 1996). Before making a decision to buy a certain product, a need must first arise and this need has to be satisfied. This in turn compels the individual to make a decision towards purchasing a product that can satisfy the need. According to Lancaster &Reynolds (1999), the buying behaviour of an individual is determined by factors such as perception, needs, motives as well as attitudes which are either directly or indirectly influenced by the individual’s ability to learn. A person first acquires buying and consumption knowledge about a particular product and this stage is mainly referred to as cognition. This process can be attributed to the cognitive theory which posits to the effect that that a considerable amount of learning takes place here due to the fact that the customer comes into contact with a certain product and develops a keen interest in it. Before making a decision to purchase that particular product, the customer first learns about the product to gain more knowledge and insight about it. According to this theory of consumer behaviour, the customer is viewed as a problem solver who first seeks knowledge in order to solve a problem through information gathering. Mental processing is involved where the mind is manipulated in order to arrive at the desired goal. The power of reasoning is central in this process and it can be noted that as human beings we subconsciously learn about something through coming into contact with it. For instance, the buyers can learn about a product like toothpaste particularly Colgate through coming into contact with it since there are different brands. Knowledge about a product is created during the early stage where the customer comes into contact with the product. It is also important for the marketers to take into consideration the fact that perception comes into play when a person first comes into contact with a new product. Thus, the concept of perception is very crucial with regards to influencing people to derive meaning from the world around them through the use of their senses such as smell, taste, sight, feeling as well as hearing (Lamb et al, 2008). Consumers often respond to advertisements as a result of their perceptions towards a product. This is where learning first takes place as people seek to develop more knowledge about a certain market offering. The mental reasoning capacity of the individual plays a pivotal role in motivating him or her to try the product since he would be seeking to derive satisfaction from the market offering. Understanding consumer behaviour can be conceptualised as a learning process. Learning in this case helps individuals to shape their value systems which also shape the person’s concept of self (Lamb et al, 2008). The behaviour of the buyer is mainly influenced by the factors such as social, emotional and functional value they are likely to derive from a product. The buyers can learn these values and the marketers should be aware of the factors that shape these values. If the customers are aware of the values they are likely to derive from purchasing a particular product, they will create loyalty towards that offering in the long run. The development of the behaviour of the consumers towards something is a learned process that goes through different stages. A good example of understanding consumer behaviour as a learning process can be drawn from the adoption process model. According to Lancaster &Reynolds (1999), this model is made up of five stages that play a pivotal role in influencing the customer until he or she reaches the final adoption process. These stages include the following: awareness, interest/information, evaluation, trial and adoption. When awareness of the product is created, the consumer learns about it and develops a keen interest in obtaining more information about it. The consumer evaluates the product at a later stage and this helps him to make informed decisions with regards to trying it. Once tried and satisfied, then the customer adopts the product. When a product is first introduced into the market, the consumer tries to obtain as much information about this offering as possible and the quality of information obtained shapes his or her behaviour towards it. Such a product will be evaluated against other products that exist in the market hence the need for the marketers to provide as much information as possible about that particular product. It can be seen that this model is often used by reputable companies like Colgate or Coca Cola which try to provide as much information about their products as possible. This has significantly helped the customers to adopt their products after realizing that they will derive certain benefits that can fulfil their needs. The attitude of the consumers towards a product is often formed as a result of the experience they generate from using it. McCarthy & Perreault (1990, p. 66) define an attitude as “a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way towards market related objects or situations.” People learn a certain attitude and this shapes their value system towards something. This in turn shapes the behaviour of people towards a particular product which can influence them to buy a certain market offering. People have developed a positive attitude towards the prestigious iPhone that is offered by Apple after learning unique, positive attributes that can be derived from this gadget. Some people prefer this type of phone as a result of the status that is attached to it. People who belong to a high class in society often prefer to buy expensive brands so as to be in a position to fulfil their self esteem. People develop certain behaviour towards a certain product after realising its attributes as well as the satisfaction they are likely to get from that product. Issues related to culture are very important with regards to shaping the behaviour of the customers towards certain products. People belong to different cultures and these in turn shape their behaviour towards something. Basically, culture is defined as a set of values, norms and attitudes that shape human behaviour (Lamb, 2008). In certain cultures, certain products are prohibited and the marketers should take cognisant of all these factors. For instance, certain types of food are prohibited in the Moslem religion. The behaviour of people belonging to this religion is shaped by its dictates. Therefore, the marketers should take into consideration this important aspect since it has a bearing on the targeted buyers’ behaviour towards certain market offerings. It can also be seen that people’s personal values are constantly changing and these shape their behaviour towards a particular product. Companies that are concerned about their survival often take individual values into consideration since these shape their behaviour. The other aspects that shape consumer behaviour are related to the marketing mix. According to Wang et al (2004), customer value is supposed to be used as a strategic tool that is meant to influence the behaviour of the buyers towards something. The pricing strategy used by a particular company has a bearing on the behaviour of the customers towards a market offering. Therefore, favourable prices ought to be charged since they are meant to attract as well as to retain the customers to the company. The favourable prices also help to positively shape the behaviour of the buyers towards a product. On the other hand, product position can also influence the behaviour of the customers towards that offering. If a product is correctly positioned in the minds of the customers as well as the market, the buyers are likely to have a positive behaviour towards it. Product promotion can also help to influence the behaviour of the buyers towards it. The customers ought to get all the information they may need about a particular product in order for them to develop positive behaviour towards it. This can help the company to attract as well as to retain the customers. Understanding buyer behaviour is a process that requires a holistic approach since there are many factors involved. Over and above, it can be noted that consumer behaviors is a very important element that should be considered by the marketers in their bid to satisfy the various needs of the targeted buyers of different products. Knowing the behaviour of the consumers is essential since this can help the marketers to make products that are desired by the customers. There are various factors that influence the behaviour of the buyers of certain products. It has been observed that factors such as needs, motives, perception as well as attitude are either directly or indirectly influenced by a person’s ability to learn. Knowledge about a particular project is acquired through learning and this in turn shapes the behaviour of the people towards some products. It is very important for marketers to know the behaviour of the buyers in order for them to be in a position to retain them for the long term benefit of the company. A company that is comprised of loyal customers is in a position to operate viably in the long run since it would have a consistent customer base. References Cant, MC 2000, Marketing Management, 4th Edition Juta and Co Ltd, CT. Kotler, P 1999, Kotler on Marketing: How to create, win and dominate Markets, Free Press, London. Lamb, CW, 2008. Marketing. Oxford University Press, CT. Lancaster, G & Reynolds, P 1999, Introduction to Marketing: A step by step Guide to all the tools of Marketing, Kogan Page, London. McCarthy, JE & Perreault, WD 1990, Basic Marketing, International student Edition, 10th Edition, Irwin, Boston. McCarthy, JE & Perreault, WD 1996, Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach, 12th Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, NY. Strydom, J 2004, Marketing, 3rd Edition, Juta & Co Ltd, CT. Wang, Y, Hing PL, Chi, R & Yang, Y 2004. An integrated framework Managing Service Quality. Volume 14 · Number 2/3 · 2004 · 169-182 Read More