Consumer Behaviour: An Introduction

 Definition:

“Consumer behaviour is the actions and decision processes of people who purchase goods and services for personal consumption” (Engel).

• Consumer behaviour is the study of the process of selecting, buying, and using goods and services by individual customers, groups or organizations to satisfy their needs and wants. The subject area includes the actions and motives of the consumers in the marketplace. 

Factors influencing consumer behaviour

• Marketing factors: They are product design, price, promotion, positioning, packaging, and distribution.
•  Income level.
• Psychological factors: They are motives, perceptions and attitudes of customers towards the product.
• Situational factors: They are physical and social surroundings at the time of purchase, and time factors.
•  Social factors: They are social status, reference groups and family.
• Cultural factors: They are religion, social class—caste and sub-castes.

Customers versus Consumers

‘Customer’ is a person who purchases products or services. The ‘consumer’ is a person who engages in the activities of purchasing, such as searching, selecting, using and disposing of products, and services. The consumer is an end user of the products or services, whereas the consumer cant resell the product.

Organizational Buyer versus Individual Buyer

The obvious difference between industrial or institutional markets and consumer markets is that instead of purchases being made for individual consumption industrial markets are made for business use.

There are several factors that differentiate consumer markets and their buying behaviour from the organizational markets and their buying behaviour.