Table of Contents
Introduction
Consumer behaviour is the actions and decision-making processes of people who buy goods and services for personal consumption” – according to Engel, Blackwell and Mansard,
Consumer buying behaviour refers to the study of customers and their behaviour in purchasing a product that suits their needs. It is a study of consumer actions that drive them to buy and use certain products.
Studying consumer buying behaviour is more important for marketers because they can understand consumer expectations. It helps to understand what drives a consumer to buy a product. It is vital to assess what kind of products consumers like to launch. Marketers can understand consumers’ likes and dislikes and shape their marketing efforts based on the results.
Importance Of Consumer Behavior
Understanding consumer behaviour is essential for a company to be successful with its current products and new product launches. Every consumer has a different mindset and attitude towards buying a particular product. If a company doesn’t understand a consumer’s reaction to a product, there’s a chance the product will fail.
Consumer behaviour is also changing due to fashion, technology, trends, lifestyle, disposable income and other similar factors. Therefore, a marketer needs to understand the changing factors to align marketing efforts accordingly.
1. Consumer Differentiation:
In marketing, consumer differentiation is distinguishing one consumer from various other consumers. It helps create a target group of consumers with the same or similar behavior.
Even if you have a target demographic in your company, there can still be discrepancies among customers. It is because each consumer group remains different, and their needs and desires differ from those of other groups. When a marketer knows the distinction of each consumer group, they can design various marketing programs.
2. Consumer Loyalty:
“Consumer behaviour is of paramount importance for marketers in business studies, as the main goal is to attract and retain customers,” says Professor Theodore Levitt (Kumar, 2004).
It behaviour is crucial for attracting new customers; it is also essential for retaining existing customers. For example, if a customer is satisfied with a particular product, they will purchase again. Therefore, the product must be marketed to convince customers to buy the product again and again.
3. Design A Relevant Marketing Program:
Understanding consumer behaviour allows you to create effective marketing campaigns. Each campaign can target a specific group of consumers based on their behaviour.
For example, if you’re targeting the children’s market, you might need to look for places like TV commercials, school shows, and blogs that cater to new moms. In addition, you need to adopt different messaging approaches for other consumer groups.
4. Predicting Market Trend:
Consumer behaviour analysis will be the first to show a change in market trends. For example, the recent customer trend remains towards healthy and environmentally friendly food. Many brands, including McDonald’s, have observed its changing market trend. Based on consumer behaviour, McDonald’s brought healthy food options.
5. Competition:
One of the most important motives to study consumer behaviour is to find answers to some of the questions:
6. Innovate With New Products:
We all know some big names like New Coke, Crystal Pepsi, Colgate Kitchen Entrees, Earring Magic Ken Doll and also, Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls Cereal.