Unit 3

Culture

Culture is a very important aspect to understand the behavior of a consumer. It signifies the set of values
of a particular community.
An individual decides to behave in a certain manner because of his culture. He gets all these values from
his parents and family. Every individual has different sets of values as compared to others, what they see
from their childhood when they start practicing those habits, they become their culture.
Culture does vary from individual to individual, region to region, and country to country, so the marketer
needs to pay a lot of attention in analyzing the culture of various regions and groups. Throughout the
process, the consumer is under influence of his culture as his friends, family, society, and his prestige
influence him.
For a marketer, it is very crucial to take all these things into consideration while analyzing or observing a
consumer’s behavior as they play a vital role in his behavior, perception and expectations.
For example, if we observe the taste and preferences, people in southern India prefers rice to roti
whereas north Indian people prefer roti than rice.

Social Classes

The social groups or membership groups to which an individual belongs are the social classes that
influence him. In the social classes, we usually find people with similar values, lifestyle and behavior.
Now a marketer or a researcher needs to pay attention here because generally the buying behavior of
people in a particular social class to some extent is similar, though the level of influence may be low or
high, he can tailor his marketing activities according to different social classes. Social perception is a
very important attribute that influences the buying behavior of an individual.
Example − A person from a low-income group may focus on price while making the purchase while a
person from a higher income group may consider the quality and uniqueness of the product.
Sometimes an individual also is influenced by a social group to which he does not belong, but wishes to
get connected with others. For example, in a college a student is in no need to buy a smart phone but
purchases it to be part of that group and be accepted by them.
Marketers need to understand these situations well and plan their strategies accordingly for such social
benefits. Individuals play various roles in the consumer buying process −
 Initiator − Initiator is usually the person who comes up with an idea and suggests the purchase.
 Influencer − He is the individual who actually pushes for the purchase. He highlights the
benefits of the product. This individual can be from the family or friend or outside the group too.
 Decision Maker − He is generally the person who takes the final decision or the final call after
analyzing all the pros and cons of the product. He may not necessarily be the final buyer as may
also take the decision on behalf of the consumer.
For example, a father might decide on buying a laptop for his son or a brother might decide on
the best career option for his sister.
 Buyer − Buyer is generally the end user or the final consumer who uses the product.
Family

As we, all know family plays a very important role in making a purchase. The family is responsible for
shaping up the personality of an individual. Our attitude, perception and values are inculcated through
our family.
An individual tends to have similar buying habits and similar taste and preference and consumption
patterns as he gets to see within the family. Perception and family values have strong influence on the
buying behavior of an individual which they tend to keep constant.

Social Status

A social status of an individual usually comprises of an individual’s attitude, class and prestige. It
depends on the way he carries himself socially or the position at which he is in his work or family or
even in his group of friends. The social status of an individual influences his consumption pattern.
Example − A CEO may want to have a celebration and give a party to his colleagues, friends and
family, so for his social status he may want to book a five star hotel, something like Taj or Oberoi
instead of any other normal hotel.
A purchase decision takes place because of the above-mentioned factors. A consumer is influenced by
his culture, environment, family, social status and groups. Companies need to understand these factors
and develop strategies and market themselves accordingly to meet the needs of the consumers and
increase sales.
Opinion leaders are individuals to whom an opinion seeker turns for advice or product related
information while making purchase decisions. Opinion leadership can be a result of passive exchange of
information in a group discussion or of information being actively exchanged. The major features of
opinion leadership are credibility, exchange of information as well as advice related to one core-category
and two-way flow of information.

Opinion leaders are generally knowledgeable about one core category and some related categories. There
are some special types of opinion leaders who differ in their area of knowledge and influence over the
opinion seeker – generalized opinion leaders (knowledgeable about multiple product categories), market
mavens (knowledgeable about general market trends), surrogate buyers (experts hired to make product-
related recommendations and even purchase on behalf of the consumer), and purchase pals (strong and
weak tie people who accompany and assist an individual in shopping).
There are four methods to identify an opinion leader – self-designating method, sociometric method, key
informant method, and objective method. Word-of-mouth is an interpersonal communication channel
through which people share information. Word-of-mouth, if positive, can lead to huge gains for the
marketer, and if negative, can ruin the brand image. Marketers use word-of-mouth in their favor by
creating a buzz around a product to catch the attention of the target segment and influence sales.
 Unit 4

Determinants of Consumer Behaviour

Motivation and Involvement
In a society, different consumers exhibit different consumer behaviour because they are unique and have
unique sets of needs. Motivation is that internal force that activates some needs and provides direction of
behaviour towards fulfilment of these needs.
While talking of motivation, we cannot afford to forget the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which tells us
about the primary and secondary needs. First the biological needs of hunger, thirst, shelter are satisfied
then the safety needs and then the psychological desires of being accepted in society, seeking status,
esteem, etc. aresatisfied. People adopt different methods to fulfil their needs. The need of transport can be
metby car, rail, bus or aeroplane. People choose different modes of transport because of their level of
involvement in different activities.
Involvement refers to the personal relevance or importance of a product or a service, that a consumer
perceives in a given situation. Depending on the value and personal interest, a consumer can have a high
or low involvement. For a professional tennis player, the choice of a tennis racket is made with great care.
He sees the weight, size, grip and tension of the strings, etc. The racket is his most important professional
tool. Similarly, a professional photographer has to buy a camera with the right specifications and
attributes. For another person, a tennis racket may only be a means of entertainment or in the case of a
camera, the recording of family and other events by a camera which is convenient and handy.
Attitudes
These are learned predispositions towards people, objects and events. Attitudes are responsible for our
responses and are not inborn but are learnt from people around us.
Our attitudes influence our purchase decisions and consumer behaviour. A person having a carefree
attitude will buy an object without much involvement. People who want to play safe and avoid risk
talking, will go for a safe investment. People who want convenience and are short of domestic help, will
have a positive attitudes towards canned and frozen foods.
Personality and Self-concept
It is the sum total of our mental, physical and moral qualities and characteristics that are present in us and
that make us what we are. Consumers try to buy the products that match their personality. People wanting
to look manly will buy products with a macho appeal, which would enhance their image and personality.
People who give emphasis on comfort and care, will purchase comfort products and so on. If one wants to
emulate a film star his choice will be different from others.
Learning and Memory
Every day we are exposed to a wide range of information, but retain only a small portion of it. We tend to
remember the information that we are interested in or, that is important to us. In a family different
members of the family are interested in different types of information which they individually retain.
Mothers retain information regarding household items. Father retains information regarding his interest in
cars, motor cycles and other objects. Children are interested in objects of their interest like amusement
parks, joy rides, Barbie dolls, etc.
Our motives, attitudes, personality filters the information. Keeping only relevant information in our minds
and, keeping the others out. This is known as selective retention. We retain in our memory only selective
information that is of interest to us.
Information Processing
All consumers analyse and process the information they receive. These are activities that a consumer
engages in, while gathering, assimilating and evaluating information. Consumersassimilate and evaluate
selective information and this reflects on their motives, attitudes andpersonality and self-concept. Same
information can be evaluated in a different manner by different individuals. The most common example is
a glass half filled with a liquid. It can be interpreted as “half empty” or half full. The first is a pessimistic
view and the other is an optimistic view of processing the information.