Marketing Psychology and Consumer Behaviour
How many times in a day do you make a decision to use/consume/buy a particular product?
Have you wondered, why you spent endless time on just searching products on Amazon & Flipkart?
How much time do you spent on searching for relatable content on Netflix, Prime, Hotstar?
For a Matter of Fact, how do you decide what apps to download from Play Store or Apple Store?
Consumer Behaviour is the study of how individual customers, groups or organizations select, buy, use, and dispose ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It refers to the actions of the consumers in the marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions.
Consumer Behavior explains how people decide to spend their money, time, and effort on goods that marketers offer for sale and describes which products and brands consumers select and why, when and where they purchase them.
Consumer Buyer Behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers-individuals and households that buy goods and services for personal consumption. All of these final consumers combine to make up the Consumer Market.
By the above definitions, whether intentionally or unintentionally, as Consumers we all are encapsulated in the continuous process of Decision Making, right from our mobile apps, clothing, food, entertainment to all other purchases and consumptions we make in our daily life.
Let’s understand this with an example of a mobile, it fulfills our basic need of communication, or to reach out to people, but the urge to buy nothing less than an iPhone, is our desire. We don’t just buy an iPhone, but we buy the pride, of owning a trendy tech device, a sense of being the part of the Elite’s, standing out from your league.
This sense of superficial self-fulfilling prophecy, which starts right from our childhood. Have you not made your folks run to the nearest sports store, to get your favourite MRF bat? How did it become your favourite? Well its quite a No Brainer, isn’t it, you saw Sachin Tendulkar hitting great boundaries with his MRF Bat and winning the game and securing the team’s position in the tournament. Well you need to win a match for your boys too, in the next Gully Cricket tournament, Right!!
Well this is the Consumer Behaviour, we Men are not only Logical Beings, but we are also the Social, as well as Emotional Beings or Emotional Fools as the next gender would call out, until you turn the mirror on their Table laden with the Exotic Chemicals, that makes them feel confident.
Consumers have now become the center for almost each and every Industry, Marketers strive to get as near as possible to the Customer Lifestyle, what they do/consume, why do they do/consume that, what would they prefer to do /consume in near future.
What are the Parameters that Influence Consumers Buying Behaviour?
- Marketing factors such as product design, price, promotion, packaging, positioning and distribution.
- Personal factors such as age, gender, education and income level.
- Psychological factors such as buying motives, perception of the product and attitudes towards the product.
- Situational factors such as physical surroundings at the time of purchase, social surroundings and time factor.
- Social factors such as social status, reference groups and family.
- Cultural factors, such as religion, social class—caste and sub-castes.
Consumers expectations are constantly evolving and Each Individual has different wants and desires.
As with the advancement in technology, the overall production and marketing efficiency of brands has increased two-fold, coupled with the Consumer Lifestyle and Preferences, which has evolved tremendously. Next is the establishment of this web communities, which has connected consumers across the world, yet we see various trends across different regions and different countries. For example, the rich rural consumers may think twice to spend on luxuries despite having sufficient funds, whereas the urban consumers may even take bank loans to buy luxury items such as cars and household appliances.
Information on Consumer Behaviour is important to the Marketers
Marketers need to have a good knowledge of the Consumer Behaviour. They need to study the various factors that influence the Consumer Behaviour of their target customers.
The knowledge of Consumer Behaviour enables them to take appropriate marketing decisions in respect of the following factors:
- Product design/model
- Pricing of the product
- Promotion of the product
- Packaging
- Positioning
- Place of distribution
A positive Consumer Behaviour leads to a purchase decision. A consumer may take the decision of buying a product on the basis of different buying motives.
So, keep this Insight in your mind, when you are scrolling through your Amazon, and your Virtual cart, which does not have enough room to satisfy your Desires!!
Marketing Psychology and Consumer Behaviour
Murtaza Choolawala
Geologist, Marketer
Hi, I am Murtaza, an enthusiastic researcher. Always curious to learn new things and to connect with people. Tech and Marketing are my obsession, and Research and Analysis are my Passion.
Marketing Psych 