Dr.

Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari, Gujarat

UNIT - I

Syllabus

 Nature and scope of consumer behaviour

 Consumer Decision Making: four views - Economic man, Cognitive man, Emotional man,
Passive man
 Consumer Decision process
 Factors influencing consumer decision making process
 Comprehensive models of consumer decision making:
- Nicosia Model,
- Howard-Sheth model,
- Engel-Kollat-Blackwell model
- Sheth’s Family decision making model
***************************************************************************************

MEANING & DEFINITION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

 Consumer is a person who evaluates, uses and disposes a good/service to satisfy a need.
 Customer is the person who actually purchases the product.
 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.
 According to Engel, Blackwell, and Mansard, ‘Consumer behaviour is the actions and
decision processes of people who purchase goods and services for personal consumption’.

NATURE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

1. Influenced by various factors:

 The various factors that influence the consumer behaviour are;
a) Marketing factors such as product design, price, promotion, packaging, positioning and
distribution.
b) Personal factors such as age, gender, education and income level.
c) Psychological factors such as buying motives, perception, beliefs and attitudes towards
the product.
d) Situational factors such as physical surroundings at the time of purchase, social
surroundings and time factor.
e) Social factors such as social status, reference groups and family.
f) Cultural factors, such as religion, social class - caste and sub -castes.

2. Undergoes a constant change:

 Consumer behaviour is not static. It undergoes a change over a period of time depending
on the nature of products.
1
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari, Gujarat

 Example - Kids prefer colourful and fancy footwear, but as they grow up as teenagers and
young adults, they prefer trendy footwear, and as middleaged and senior citizens they
prefer more sober footwear.
 The change in buying behaviour may take place due to many other factors such as increase
in income level, education level and marketing factors.

3. Varies from consumer to consumer:

 All consumers do not behave in the same manner. Different consumers behave differently.
 The differences in consumer behaviour are due to individual factors such as the nature of
the consumers, lifestyle and culture.
 Example - Some consumers are technoholics. They go on a shopping and spend more than
what they have. They borrow money from friends, relatives, banks, and sometimes even
adopt unethical means to spend on shopping of advance technologies.
 But there are other consumers who, despite having surplus money, do not go even for the
regular purchases and avoid use and purchase of advance technologies.

4. Varies from region to region and country to county:

 The consumer behaviour changes across states, regions and countries.
 Example - The behaviour of the urban consumers is different from that of the rural
consumers. Many times rural consumers are conservative in their buying behaviours. The
rich rural consumers may think twice to spend on luxuries even if they have sufficient
funds, whereas the urban consumers may even take bank loans to buy luxury items such as
cars and household appliances.
 The consumer behaviour may also change across the states, regions and countries. It may
differ depending on the upbringing, lifestyles and level of development.

5. 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 regarding following factors:
a. Product design/model d. Packaging
b. Pricing of the product e. Positioning
c. Promotion of the product f. Place of distribution

6. Leads to purchase decision:

 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. The purchase decision leads to higher demand, and the sales of the marketers
increase.
 Therefore, marketers need to influence consumer behaviour to increase their purchases.

7. Varies from product to product:

 Consumer behaviour is different for different products. There are some consumers who
may buy more quantity of certain items and very low or no quantity of other items.
 Example - teenagers may spend heavily on products such as cell phones and branded
2

wears for snob appeal, but may not spend on general and academic reading. A middle-
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari Mob - 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

aged person may spend less on clothing, but may invest money in savings, insurance
schemes, pension schemes, and so on.

8. Improves standard of living:

 The buying behaviour of the consumers may lead to higher standard of living.
 The more a person buys the goods and services, the higher is the standard of living. But if a
person spends less on goods and services, despite having a good income, they do not
upgrade their standard of living.

9. Reflects status:
 The consumer behaviour is not only influenced by the status of a consumer, but it also
reflects it. The consumers who own luxury cars, watches and other items are considered
belonging to a higher status.
 The luxury items also give a sense of pride to the owners.

SCOPE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

1) Consumer behaviour and marketing management:

 Effective business managers realise the importance of marketing to the success of their
firm.
 A good understanding of consumer behaviour is necessary to the long run success of any
marketing program.
 It is an important orientation of philosophy of many marketing managers.
 The essence of the Marketing concept is about understanding Consumer needs and wants
and satisfying it better than competitors.

2) Consumer behaviour and Non-profit and social marketing:

 In today's world even the non-profit organisations like government agencies, religious
organisations, universities and charitable institutions have to market their services for
ideas to the target group of consumers or institution.
 These groups are required to appeal to the general public for support of certain causes or
ideas.
 They also make their contribution towards removal of the social problems of the society.
 Thus a clear understanding of the consumer behaviour and decision making process is
necessary for such activities.

3) Consumer behaviour and government decision making:

 Consumer behaviour principles have influenced government services also;
i) Government services: Many governmental services can be improved after
understanding consumer behaviour principles.
ii) Consumer protection: Many Agencies at all levels of government are involved with
controlling business practices for protecting consumer welfare.
3
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

4) Consumer behaviour and de-marketing:

 Consumers are now entering an era of scarcity in terms of some natural gas and water.
Because of the scarcity, it is important to promote conservation of these resources and
stop or reduce consumption. This is known as demarketing.
 The term "de-marketing" refers to all such efforts to encourage consumers to reduce their
consumption of a particular product or services.
 Consumers have been encouraged to decrease or stop their use of particular goods that
have harmful effects. Example - Marketing programs designed to reduce drug abuse,
gambling etc.
 These actions have been undertaken by government agencies, non-profit organisations,
and other private groups.

5) Consumer behaviour and Consumer education:

 Consumer also benefit directly from investigations of their own behaviour. This can occur
on an individual basis or as part of educational programs. For example, when consumers
learn that a large proportion of the billions spend annually on grocery products is used for
impulse purchases and not spend according to pre-planned shopping list, consumers may
be more willing to plan effort to save money.

IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

1) Production policies: The study of consumer behaviour affects the production policies of the
Company. Consumer behaviour discovers the habits, tastes, and preferences of consumers
and such discovery enables the Company to plan and develop its products according to these
specifications. It is necessary for an enterprise to be in continuous touch with the changes in
consumer behaviour so that necessary changes in products may be made.

2) Price policies: Buyer behaviour is important in having price policies. The buyers of some
products purchase only because particular goods are cheaper than the competitor’s goods
available in the market.

3) The decision regarding channels of distribution: The goods, which are sold and solely on the
basis of low price mast and economical distribution channels. In the case of those articles,
which week T.V. sets, refrigerators, etc. Must have different channels of distribution. Thus,
decisions regarding channels of distribution are taken on the basis of consumer behaviour.

4) A decision regarding sales promotion: Study of consumer behaviour is also vital in making
decisions regarding sales promotion. It enables the producer to know what motive prompt
consumers to make purchases and the same are utilized in promotional campaigns to awaken
a desire to purchase.

5) Exploiting marketing opportunities: Study of consumer behaviour helps the marketers to

understand the consumer’s needs, aspirations, expectations, problems, etc. This knowledge
will be useful to marketers in exploiting marketing opportunities and meeting the challenges
of the market.
4
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

6) Consumers do not always act or react predictably: The consumers of the past used to react
to price levels as if price and quality had positive relations. Today, week value for money,
lesser price but with superior features. The consumer’s response indicates that the shift had
occurred.

7) Highly diversified consumer preferences: This shift has occurred due to the availability of
more choice now. Thus the study of consumer behaviour is important to understand the
changes.

8) Rapid introduction of new products: Rapid introduction of new products with technological
advancement has made the job of studying consumer behaviour more imperative. For
example, information technologies are changing very fast in the personal computer industry.

9) Implementing the “Marketing concept: This calls for studying consumer behaviour, all
customers need have to be given priority. Thus identification of target market before
production becomes essential to deliver the desired customer satisfaction and delight.

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING – 4 VIEWS

Meaning of Consumer decision making

 A decision is the selection of an action from among two or more alternatives.
 Consumer Decision Making refers to the process under which consumers go through in
deciding what to purchase, including problem recognition, information searching,
evaluation of alternatives, making the decision and post-purchase evaluation.
 Different models of consumer decision making / consumer behaviour can be understood
from four different angles. They are 4 different views about consumer behaviour. They
are;

1. Economical View / Model:

 Traditionally, economics is considered as the mother discipline of marketing.
 Economists believe that consumers derive some utility (a feeling of satisfaction) from
consuming a particular product. Hence, all consumers try to maximise the utility from
consuming the product/service.
 Hence, if consumers are given a certain amount of purchasing power, and a set of needs
and tastes, he/she will allocate the expenditure over different products at given prices
rationally in order to maximise utility.
 Economists also state that the utility from the consumption of a certain product
diminishes (reduces) as the quantity of the product consumed increases (Principle of
Diminishing Marginal Utility).
 According to this model it is also possible to make a number of predictions about the
consumer behaviour in terms of the price-effect, income effect and substitution-effect.
Criticism:
 The Consumer may not be- (a) aware of the various product alternatives or (b) in a
5

position to evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages related to the various product
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

alternatives in order to rank them accordingly. Thus it will not be possible for the
consumer to make the rational or perfect decision.
 It has been criticised that the economic view is too idealistic and simplistic.
 It is being argued that consumers may not decide on the basis of maximum utility concept.
Sometimes, consumers may not select the best alternative. They may go for another good
alternative too.
2. Passive View / Model:
 According to Passive model of consumer behaviour, Consumers behave according to the
promotional efforts made by the marketers.
 According to passive view, consumers are perceived to be impulsive who take irrational
purchase decisions and are influenced by the promotional offers of the marketers.
Criticism:
 it fails to take a pragmatic view of the consumers. It is argued that in a buying situation,
the consumer will be involved in a decision making process where he collects information
on the product, evaluates all the alternative brands and then makes a selection based on
the brand which provides him maximum satisfaction. Sometimes the consumer’s purchase
decision is also based on emotions or moods. So it is wrong to assume that the consumer
will be passive while taking purchase decisions.

3. Cognitive View / Model:

 As a consumer, man is usually involved in thinking and problem solving.
 He is constantly involved in an active search for goods and services which will not only
satisfy his needs but enrich his life also.
 As per the cognitive view consumers are involved in an information seeking and
processing method.
 They try to gather all the necessary information from various sources, such as a trusted
friend, or an expert and so on. Once he feels that he has sufficient information, so as to
make a ‘satisfactory choice decision’, he will stop to gather more information and will
ultimately decide on his purchase intention.
 This model of man as a thinker, views consumer as an information processor. And all the
focus is on the processes by which consumers collect and evaluate information about the
products/services.
 Example - The advertisement on Panasonic TV can work as a cognitive appeal to
customers who are looking for information for purchasing premium quality television. The
ad provides information on the technology benefits in terms of V-Real Technology,
Advanced Smart Sound Speaker System and HDAVI control offered by the Panasonic
brand of TV Series.
 Thus according to the cognitive model of consumer, the above mentioned ad will make
the consumer think on the benefits of Panasonic TV. The consumer will finally take the
purchase decision based on his satisfaction of the information received.

4. Impulsive or Emotional View:

 Consumers can be emotional or impulsive while taking purchase decisions. For such
emotional buying, the consumer may not undergo the usual process of carefully
searching, evaluating and then deciding on the brand to purchase. Instead, he is more
6
Page

likely to purchase the product (brand) based on a an impulse.

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

 Such consumer decisions are said to be ’emotionally driven’.

 For emotional or impulse purchases, it is the mood and feelings of the consumer which
will decide on the emotional purchase decision.
 Emotional decisions could be rational to some extent also. That is, the consumer may take
an emotional decision to purchase a product but he will be rational while deciding or
choosing one brand over another.
 This type of behaviour is displayed while making purchases of apparel, gifts, selecting
holiday destinations or toys (for children).
 In all the above situations, the final decision may be made on the basis of emotion.
 Advertisers are promoting their products or services in a way to appeal to the emotions of
the particular target market.
 Such emotional appeals can be seen in the advertisements of Johnson and Johnson baby
products, Huggies diaper, Wipro Baby Soft, Fisher Price toys etc.
 Related to consumers emotions and feeling is the ‘mood’ of the person.
 Mood may be defined as a feeling state or state of the mind. The basic difference between
an emotion and a mood is that the emotion is a response to a particular environment,
while mood is an unfocused, pre-existing state-already present, when the consumer gets
motivated or experiences a positive feeling about an advertisement or brand or a product.
 Moods play an important role in consumer decision making. Very often it is the mood of
the consumer which influences his decisions related to when to shop, where to shop, in
whose company to shop etc.
 It has been observed that even within the shopping environment, the interior decor, the
attitude of the sales persons, the type of services provided etc. could affect the mood and
influence the consumer’s decision on how long to shop and on how often to go to that
shop.
 Therefore, nowadays retailers and dealers are creating a positive store image. This can
have a positive influence on the consumer’s mood and decision to purchase.

PROCESS OF CONSUMER DECISION MAKING (5-STAGE

MODEL)

Consumers go through the following five steps while buying any product:

Stage-1 Stage-2 Stage-3 Stage-4 Stage-5

Need Information Evaluating Purchase Post-Purchase
Recognition Search Alternatives Decision Behaviour

(1) NEED RECOGNITION

 Buying process begins when a person begins to feel that a certain need or desire has
arisen. The need may be activated by internal or external factors. This is known as stimuli.
 Stimuli can be external or internal. Eg. Advertisements, sweet aroma (sweet smell) of cake
outside the bakery etc. are examples of external stimuli. Thirst, hunger etc are internal
stimuli.
7

 Marketers (Companies) are more concerned about the external stimuli of a person since
Page

they can influence the external stimuli and not the internal stimuli.
Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

 The speed with which a person will move to fulfil the want depends upon the intensity of
the want. The buyer will postpone the less important need.

(2) INFORMATION SEARCH

 The need that has arisen can be satisfied when the desired product is not only known but
also easily available. But when it is not clear what type of brand can offer best satisfaction,
the person will have to search to obtain the product.
 Consumers will search for information from two major types of sources – internal and
external.
 Internal source means that consumers will collect information from his/her
own experience as the consumer might have purchased similar product in
past. This will help them in collecting information about the product.
 External sources of information can be of following types;
(a) Personal sources - family, friends, neighbours etc.
(b) Commercial sources - advertising, sales persons, dealers, package etc.
(c) Public sources - mass media (like TV, radio, newspapers), consumer rating organisations
(d) Experiential sources - personally using the product (like test-driving in case of
automobiles)
 Generally speaking, the consumer receives the most information about a product from the
commercial sources. But the most effective information comes from personal sources.
Each of the above information sources performs different function in influencing the
consumer’s buying decision.
 Marketers provide the necessary information through their salesmen, advertisements,
dealers, packaging, sales promotion etc. Mass media like newspapers, radio and television
also provide information.

(3) EVALUATING ALTERNATIVES

 Once the information is collected, the consumer will be able to evaluate the different
alternatives that offer to him, evaluate the most suitable to his needs and choose the one
he think it’s best for him.
 The consumer will evaluate features on two aspects. The objective characteristics (such as
the features and functionality of the product) but also subjective (perception
and perceived value of the brand by the consumer or its reputation).
 Each consumer does not give the same importance to each feature for his buying decision.
Mr. XYZ may prefer a product for the reputation of the brand X rather than a little more
powerful but less known product.
 The consumer will then use the information previously collected and his perception or
image of a brand to establish a set of evaluation criteria, desirable or wanted features,
classify the different products available and evaluate which alternative has the most
chance to satisfy him.
 This process will lead to “evoked set”. “The evoked set” (“consideration set”) is the set of
brands or products with a probability of being purchased by the consumer (because he has
a good image of it or the information collected is positive).
 “Inept set” is the set of brands or products that have no chance of being purchased by the
consumer (because he has a negative perception or has had a negative buying experience
with the product in the past). While “inert set” is the set of brands or products for which
the consumer has no specific opinion.
8
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

(4) PURCHASE DECISION

 While the consumer is evaluating the alternatives, she / he will develop some likes and
dislikes about the alternative brands. This attitude towards the brand influences intention
to buy. Thus the potential buyer moves towards final selection. In addition to all other
factors, situational factors like dealer terms, falling prices of the product etc. also are
considered before making the final purchase decision.
 Purchase intention may not be converted into purchase decision sometimes due to the
following two factors;
1. attitude of others
2. situational factors (not anticipated earlier)
For example, a person may have an intention to buy SONY TV, but the attitude of his co-
workers may be negative towards that brand and hence the person may decide not to buy
that brand. A person may not buy the costly brand if suddenly he loses his job (situational
factor). He may go for a cheaper brand in that case.

(5) POST PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR

 After purchasing the product the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction. After purchasing a product, a consumer may find a fault in the product. The
behaviour after a product purchase is called Post purchase behaviour.
 Often, after a product purchase the buyer undergoes post purchase dissonance means the
buyer regrets his /her purchase. This dissonance can be due to: -

the

 The actions taken by dissatisfied customers are;

 Some consumers will no longer want that product, Some other may not worry about it and
they would not do anything about it and Some may even say the fault as increased value of
the product. E.g. an upside down page in the first edition of a famous author’s book might
make the book become a collection item worth many a price.
 Dissatisfied consumer respond differently. They may stop buying that faulty product again
or they may return the product or they may complaint.
 Now based on the satisfaction or dissatisfaction the consumer will re-buy the product or
discontinue the product.
 Consumers take any of following actions as their post-purchase behaviour;

Rent it
Get rid of it
Temporarily Lent it

Give it away
Trade it
Product Get rid of it Sell it
permanently Throw it

Keep it Convert it to serve original purpose

Convert it to serve new purpose
9

Store it
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

PROCESS

A. CULTURAL FACTORS:
(1) Culture:
Cultural factors have an influence on buyer behaviour. Culture is a set of learned beliefs, values,
attitudes, morals, customs, habit, and forms of behaviour that are shared by the society. Culture
affects the decision making. For example: dressing habits, food habits are dependent on culture.

(2) Sub-Culture
Each culture consists of smaller sub-cultures that provide more specific identification and
socialization for its members. There are four types of sub-cultures.
 Nationality group such as Indian, Chinese, Italian etc.
 Religious groups such as Christians, Hindus, Muslims etc.
 Racial groups such as Blacks, Whites etc.
Geographical groups such as North Indian, South Indian etc.

(3) Social Class

Social classes are divisions of the society which are hierarchically ordered and whose members
share similar values, interests and behaviour. Mainly there are three social classes: Upper, Middle
and Lower classes. The behaviour and habits of buying is different for each of these classes. They
differ in their reading habits, clothing habits etc. Upper class consumers want products and brands
that show their social status. Middle class consumers shop carefully, read advertisements and
compares prices before they buy.

B. SOCIAL FACTORS:

(1) Reference Groups

 They are the social, economic or professional groups that have a direct or indirect
influence on the person’s attitudes or behaviours. Consumers accept information provided
by their reference groups regarding quality, performance, style etc.
 These groups influence the person’s attitude, lifestyle and behaviour.

(2) Family
It is the most influential group on any person’s attitudes. Personal values, attitudes and buying
habits have been shaped by family influences. The member of family play different role such as
influencer, decider, purchaser and user in the buying process of any product. A person’s behaviour
is also influenced by his/her spouse (husband /wife) and children.
Example: Husband dominant : Life insurance, automobiles, television
Wife dominant : Washing machine, carpets, kitchen-ware
(3) Roles And Status
Roles and status also influences the process of making buying decision. Roles are activities of the
person in a group. A woman plays the role of wife, mother, and sister in a family. She plays the
role of an employee in an organization. She might also play the role of a secretary in an
association. Each role carries a status. People will choose product that will communicate their
status to the society.
10
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

C. PERSONAL FACTORS:
(1) Life Cycle
People buy different goods and services during their life time. The life cycle of a person begins
with child birth, shifts to dependant childhood, adolescence, teenage, adults, middle aged, old and
then ends with death. Under each stage people’s buying behaviour is different. Under the first
three stages, decisions are not made by the consumer. They are totally dependent on others. In
the remaining stages, buyers not only make their decisions but also influence other’s buying
decision.
(2) Occupation
A person’s behaviour depends upon his occupation. A company’s Managing Director will prefer
expensive suits, air travel etc. A worker would prefer economic dresses, rail or road travel etc. The
occupation of a person decides his ability to buy.

(3) Economic Circumstances

Occupation gives rise to the economic circumstances. A person may in his life desire to buy so
many things. All his need do not become wants. This is because of his purchasing power. People’s
economic circumstances means their income, saving, assets, borrowing power and attitude
towards spending and saving.
(4) Life Style
Life style may be defined as the way of living of a person. It is indicated through the person’s
activities, interest and opinions. A person may reside in a costly bungalow. He may have costly
furniture. He shall buy his clothing’s only from Raymond’s. He may stay only in a five-star hotel.
His hobby may be playing Billiards. With the above activities we can understand the life style of a
person. Hence a consumer will choose his products and brands according to his life style.

(5) Personality
Personality is defined as the person’s psychological traits (characteristics) that lead to relatively
consistent and enduring responses to his/her environment. Personality can be seen in terms of
such qualities as self-confidence, dominance, autonomy, sociability, defensive etc. A person will
decide his purchase according to his/her personality.

D. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS:

(1) Motivation
Motivation is the drive to act, to move, to obtain a goal or an objective. A human being is
motivated by needs. When these needs are backed by purchasing power it becomes a want and
demand. Buyer behaviour is hence influenced by the level of his or her motivation.

(2) Perception
A motivated person acts according to his/her perception of the situation. To perceive is to see, to
hear, to touch, to taste, to smell and to sense something or event or relation and to organize,
interpret and find meaning according to the experience. Our senses perceive the colour, shape,
smell, taste etc. and act accordingly. Our buying behaviour is influenced by our perception.

(3) Learning
Learning describes changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience. Learning refers to
11

changes in behaviour brought about by practice or experience. Consumer’s buying is highly

affected by his past learning.
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

(4) Belief
A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. These beliefs may be based
on knowledge, opinion or faith. They may or may not carry emotional change. Consumer’s buying
is definitely affected by his or her belief regarding the product / brand.

(5) Attitude
An attitude describes a person’s favourable or unfavourable evaluations, emotional feelings, and
action tendencies toward some object or idea. Attitudes lead people to behave in a consistent
way towards similar objects. For example, once a consumer has developed a brand loyalty, it is
hard to change his attitudes and beliefs towards that brand.

COMPREHENSIVE MODELS OF CONSUMER DECISION

MAKING:

1. NICOSIA MODEL
 Nicosia Model of Consumer Behaviour was developed in 1966, by Professor Francesco M.
Nicosia, an expert in consumer motivation and behaviour.
 This model focuses on the relationship between the firm and its potential consumers.
 The model suggests that messages from the firm (advertisements) first influences the
predisposition of the consumer towards the product or service.
 Based on the situation, the consumer will have a certain attitude towards the
product. This may result in a search for the product or an evaluation of the product
attributes by the consumer.
 If the above step satisfies the consumer, it may result in a positive decision to buy the
product otherwise the reverse may occur.
 Looking to the model we find that the firm and the consumer are connected with each
other. The firm tries to influence the consumer and the consumer is influencing the firm by
his decision.

The Nicosia model of Consumer Behaviour is divided into four major fields:
1. Field 1: The firm’s attributes and the consumer’s attributes.
The first field is divided into two sub-fields. The first sub-field deals with the firm’s marketing
environment and communication efforts that affect consumer attitudes, the competitive
environment, and characteristics of target market. The second sub-field specifies the
consumer characteristics e.g., experience, personality, and how he perceives the promotional
idea toward the product. In this stage the consumer forms his attitude toward the firm’s
product based on how he interprets the message.
2. Field 2: Search and evaluation. The consumer will start to search for other firm’s brand and
evaluate the brand in comparison with alternate brands. In this case the firm motivates the
consumer to purchase its brands.
3. Field 3: The act of the purchase. The result of motivation will arise by convincing the
12

consumer to purchase the firm products from a specific retailer.

Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

4. Field 4: Feedback of sales results. This model analyses the feedback of both the firm and the
consumer after purchasing the product. The firm will benefit from its sales as a feedback, and
the consumer will use his experience for future decisions related to the firm’s products.

ADVANTAGES
 The model describes many steps which lie between attitude formation and actual
behaviour of the consumer. Such details help us to understand the problems that
researchers have when they find that attitudes do not always predict behaviour.
 The model is strong in showing change in consumer attributes due to the experience of
considering, choosing, purchasing, and using a product.
 There is intra-person feedback, i.e., consumers think of themselves and respond to their
thoughts and acts.

LIMITATIONS
 The model does not present problems when used to make predictions. The linkages shown
in the diagram indicate flows rather than causation.
 The model is not very clear in describing how and when the consumers’ or firms’ attributes
function.
 The Nicosia model of consumer behaviour does not provide detail explanation of the
internal factors which may affect the personality of the consumer,
 It does not give information about how the consumer develops his attitude towards the
product. For example, the consumer may find the firm’s message very interesting, but he
cannot buy the firm’s brand because it contains something which is against his beliefs.
13
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

2. HOWARD-SHETH MODEL
INTRODUCTION
 Howard Sheth Model of consumer behaviour was introduced by John Howard and Jagadish
Sheth in Year 1969.
 It is the first model on consumer behaviour developed by utilizing the learning theory in a
systematic manner.
 This model evaluates how the integrated efforts of social, psychological and marketing
forces influences the preferences and buying behaviour of consumer into a logical
sequence of information processing.
 It shows how a consumer responds to the buying decisions over a period of time.
 The model tells how in case of incomplete information and reducing processing capability,
a consumer responds to the choice of products.
 This concept on consumer behaviour was published in book “The theory of Consumer
Behaviour”.

HOWARD SHETH MODEL LEVEL OF DECISION-MAKING

According to this model, following are three types of consumer decision making;

1. Extended Problem Solving:

 Extended problem solving is a purchase decision process in which customers spend more
time and effort to analyse alternatives.
 Customers engage in extended problem solving when the purchase decision involves a lot
of risk and uncertainty.
 There are many types of risks. Financial risks arise when customers purchase an expensive
product. Physical risks are important when customers feel a product may affect their
health or safety. Social risks arise when customers believe a product will affect how others
view them.
 Consumers engage in extended problem solving when they are making a buying decision to
satisfy an important need or when they have little knowledge about the product or service.
 Due to high risk and uncertainty in these situations, customers consult with friends, family
members, or experts. They may visit several retailers before making a purchase decision.

2. Limited Problem Solving:

 Limited problem solving is a purchase decision process involving a moderate amount of
effort and time.
 Customers engage in this type of buying process when they have had some past
experience with the product or service and their risk is moderate.
 In these situations, customers depend more on personal knowledge and less on external
information.
 They usually choose a retailer they have shopped at before and select goods/services they
have bought in the past.
 One common type of limited problem solving is impulse buying. Impulse buying is a buying
decision made by customers on the spot after seeing the merchandise.
14
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

3. Habitual / Routinised Decision-Making:

 Habitual decision making is a purchase decision process involving little or no conscious
effort.
 Today’s customers have less time available with them. One way they solve time pressures
is by simplifying their decision-making process.
 Habitual decision-making process is used when decisions are not very important to
customers and involve familiar products they have bought in the past.
 Brand loyalty and store loyalty are examples of habitual decision making.
 Customers are attracted to stores carrying popular brands. Store loyalty means that
customers like and habitually visit the same store to purchase products.

VARIABLES / ELEMENTS OF HOWARD SHETH MODEL

A. Input Variables
Input variables are information regarding the features of product like its quality, price,
uniqueness, service and availability. It can be further classified into three categories as: –
 Significant Stimuli: It is about physical attributes and features of a product. It comprises of
price of product, its quality, its uniqueness, type of service and accessibility in market.
 Symbolic Stimuli: It means the visual features of product that are shown by sales people.
Promotional messages and publicity done by seller develops a psychological impact on
consumer’s perception about features of product.
 Social Stimuli: Social stimuli include the social environment of consumers which provide
information about market and influence his/her buying decision. It consists of family,
reference groups and social class of buyer in general.

B. Hypothetical Constructs
15

It includes all psychological variables that influence the buyer’s behaviour while making purchase
decisions. It can be further categorized into 2 categories: –
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

i. Perceptual constructs: It describes the way in which buyer procure, process and perceive
information from input variables. It is a vital component as it influences the selection of
brand and finally the purchase by consumer. It includes: –
 Sensitivity to information-Buyer’s sensitivity and understanding level towards the
message received by him.
 Perceptual bias-Partialness of a buyer towards a specific brand on grounds of each
brand’s individual perception.
 Information search-Buyer for taking proper decisions looks out for attaining more
information.

ii. Learning Constructs: Following are the learning constructs for the buyer;
 Motive - Motive refers to the ultimate purpose for buying the product.
 Choice criteria - Buyer chooses a product or brand based on certain criteria.
 Brand Comprehension - Buyer’s present state of information regarding the brand
 Attitude-Attitude is the likes/dislikes of buyer to purchase the brand.
 Confidence- Confidence is the result of trust that buyer have in a particular brand.
 Intention- It is final selection of a specific brand
 Satisfaction – It is the result of buyer using the product and getting what he/she
expected.

C. Output Variables
It is the outcome/result of decision making process of buyer that can be seen through his
observable response towards input variables.
 Attention - Attention is the buyer’s state of alertness for understanding the information
 Brand Comprehension – It is buyer’s awareness towards the brand and its products.
 Attitude - It is the buyer interest, likes and dislikes towards the brand or products.
 Intention - Buyer intention is the main objective for buying a particular product.
 Purchase Behaviour - buyer finally buys the product

D. Exogenous Variables
They are the external environmental forces that are not directly involved in decision making
process of buyer but have a great impact on his buying decisions. These variables are listed below:
 Purchase Importance-It is the degree of importance and value of purchase as perceived by
buyer which influences his/her preference for brand.
 Personality Variables-These are the personal traits of buyer that influence his decisions
while buying a product such as ego, anxiety, self-esteem, authoritarian and dominance.
 Culture-Culture refers to values, ideas and beliefs of buyer that make up his/her motive of
purchase.
 Social class-It is the social group of individual comprising of his family, friend and reference
groups that affects the decisions for choosing a particular brand.
 Organization-Power, authority and status of individual are defined by their interaction
with various social groups. These formal and informal communications of buyer influence
his hypothetical constructs.
 Time Pressure-It refers to time period when product of a preferred brand is not available in
market and buyer is under high pressure to look for various alternatives available and take
16

a timely decision.
 Financial Status-It refers to inability of an individual for purchasing a product which
Page

restricts him/her from buying it

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

3. ENGEL-KOLLAT-BLACKWELL MODEL
INTRODUCTION
The Engel Kollat Blackwell Model of Consumer Behaviour was created to describe the increasing,
fast-growing body of knowledge regarding consumer behaviour. This model has gone through
many revisions over the years.

EKB Model
The Engel Kollat Blackwell Model of Consumer Behaviour consists of four stages;

1. Information Input Stage: At this stage the consumer gets information from marketing and
non-marketing sources, which influence the problem recognition stage of the decision-
making process. If the consumer still does not arrive to a specific decision, the search for
external information will be activated in order to arrive to a choice or in some cases if the
17

consumer experience dissonance because the selected alternative is less satisfactory than
expected.
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

2. Information Processing Stage: This stage consists of the consumer’s exposure, attention,
perception, acceptance, and retention of incoming information. The consumer must first
be exposed to the message, allocate space for this information, interpret the stimuli, and
retain the message by transferring the input to long-term memory.

3. Decision Process Stage: The central focus of the model is on five basic decision-process
stages: Problem recognition, search for alternatives, alternate evaluation (during which
beliefs may lead to the formation of attitudes, which in turn may result in a purchase
intention) purchase, and outcomes. But it is not necessary for every consumer to go
through all these stages; it depends on whether it is an extended or a routine problem-
solving behaviour.

4. Variables Influencing the Decision Process: This stage consists of individual and
environmental influences that affect all five stages of the decision process. Individual
characteristics include motives, values, lifestyle, and personality; the social influences are
culture, reference groups, and family. Situational influences, such as a consumer’s financial
condition, also influence the decision process.

Insight of Model:
 It can be seen that many of the elements of the model are similar to Howard Sheth model
of consumer behaviour, but the presentation and relationship between the variables
differs to some extent.
 The Engel Kollat Blackwell Model of Consumer Behaviour includes values, lifestyle,
personality and culture as factors that influence consumer’s decision making. The model
did not show what factors shape these items, and why different types of personality can
produce different decision-making? How will we apply these values to cope with different
personalities?

4. SHETH’S FAMILY DECISION MAKING MODEL

 In a family decision-making model, it is important to understand how the family members
interact with each other while making decision to buy.
 There are different consumption roles played by various members of the family. These
roles are as follows:

(i) Influencers:
 Influencers are the family members who influence the purchase of the product by
providing information to the family members.
 Example - The son in a family may inform the members of a new fast food outlet. He can
influence the family members to visit the outlet for food and entertainment.

(ii) Gate keepers:

 These members control the flow of information for a product or brand that they favour
and influence the family to buy the product of their choice.
18

 They provide the information favourable to themselves and, withhold (hide) information
Page

about other product which they do not favour.

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 MARKETING MANAGEMENT, S.Y. BBA (SEM 3), New Syllabus 2019-20, VNSGU-SURAT

(iii) Deciders:
 These are the people who have the power or, money and authority to buy.
 They play a major role in deciding which product to buy.

(iv) Buyers:
 Buyers are the people who actually buy.
 Example - A mother buying ration for the house etc.

(v) Preparers
 These are the people who prepare the product in the form it is actually consumed.
 Example - Mother preparing food by adding ingredients to the raw vegetable.

(vi) User
 The person who actually uses or consumes the product is called User.
 The product can be consumed individually or jointly by all members of the family.
 Example - Use of car by the family, use of refrigerator, TV, etc.
 The roles that the family members play are different from product to product. Some
products do not involve the influence of family members

 The diagram shows the predisposition of various family members, which when influenced
by other factors leads to joint or individual decisions.
 These factors are shown in the diagram and consist of social class, lifestyle, role
orientation, family life-cycle stage, perceived risk, product importance and time pressure.
19
Page

Dr. ZAKIR PATEL, PROF. NARAN LALA COLLEGE OF COMM & MNGT, NAVSARI
MOB: 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

UNIT - 2

Syllabus
 Element of learning process,
 Types of Learning Process: Classical Conditioning Theory, Operant / Instrumental,
Conditioning Theory, Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Consumer Memory
**********************************************************************************

MEANING & DEFINITION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

 Learning is defined as a change in the behaviour that occurs as a result of experience of self
or others.
 According to Schiffman “consumer learning can be thought of as the process by which
individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply
to future related behaviour”.
 Consumer learning is defined as a process by which people gather and interpret information
about products and services and use this information/knowledge in buying patterns and
consumption behaviour.
 Consumer learning may be intentional, where learning is an outcome of a careful search for
information.
 Consumer learning can also be incidental, where learning occurs as a matter of chance, by
accident or without much effort.

ELEMENTS OF LEARNING PROCESS

 Learning is the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge and experience that they
apply to future related behaviour.
 Several points in this definition are worth noting.
a) First, learning is a process; that is, it keeps changing as a result of newly acquired
knowledge or from experience.
b) Both newly acquired knowledge and personal experience serve as feedback to the
individual and provide the basis for future behavior in similar situations.
 All learning is not deliberate (i.e. acquired through one’s own action). Many times learning is
achieved through accident or without much effort.
 In general, following are the basic elements of learning;

MOTIVATION
 In order to learn anything, motivation is the driving force for it. Without motivation, a person
1

will not try to learn anything.

Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

 Unfulfilled needs lead to motivation and this result into the process of learning. It is important
to know that level of motivation of a person to search for knowledge or information depends
on two factors
a) The degree of relevance
b) involvement, with the goal
 When a consumer faces a need/want situation, there occurs an urge within him to act towards
fulfilment of the need/want. So he is motivated to search for information, either internally
from his memory or externally through commercial, non-commercial and public sources or
through experience of self and others.
Example: When people watch advertisement of discount offers before Diwali festival, they
are motivated to watch these advertisements as they are interested in buying products during
the festival.
 The marketer can play an important role by
o identifying or helping the consumer identify the sub-conscious and hidden motives;
o triggering off motives and desires;
In both these ways, the consumer would be motivated to search for information, in so
far as that product/service would help satisfy the need/want.
 Hence it can be said that Learning is stimulated by motives.
 Motives drive human behaviour. It encourages learning in individuals.

CUES
 If motives serve to stimulate learning, cues are the stimuli that give direction to the motives.
 In the marketplace, price, styling, packaging, advertising, store displays etc. are cues that help
consumers to fulfil their needs.
 Cues can direct the drives of the consumers when they are consistent with their expectations.
 Hence, we can say that Motives drive learning and Cues give direction to motives.
Example: All 4Ps could act as cues and give direction to motives; eg. the packaging of the
product (colorful design; easy to carry; reusable containers), price (discounts, sales), place
(store display, store layout, window dressing) and promotion (advertisement).

RESPONSE
 Response means how shall individuals react to a cue. That means, response means the way
individuals behave when they come across cues
 A response is not tied to a need in a one-to-one fashion.
 A need or motive may generate variety of responses.
 The response of a consumer depends heavily on previous learning. Previous learning depends
on how related responses were reinforced previously.

REINFORCEMENT
 Reinforcement increases the chance that a specific response will occur in the future as the
result of particular cues or stimuli.
 If a consumer is rewarded, that consumer has learnt to associate the purchase with a pleasant
feeling and is likely to repeat the learnt behaviour and become a loyal customer.
 An action always has a reaction; based on the reaction, the behavior gets reinforced. In other
words, if the action (behavior) is followed by a reaction that is positive or pleasant or
rewarding, the action (behavior) gets positively reinforced; the likelihood of repetition of that
2

action (behavior) increases.

Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

 If the action (behavior) is followed by a reaction that is negative or unpleasant or

unrewarding, the action (behavior) gets negatively reinforced; and the likelihood of repetition
of that action (behavior) decreases.

EXAMPLE: Basic elements of Learning

ELEMENT OF EXAMPLE 1 EXAMPLE 2

LEARNING
An MBA student requires a A man is shopping in a mall
business suit for his interview and feels hungry

MOTIVATION Requirement of a business suit for Hunger need triggered off.

Relevance of interview.
need and goal
A need that
motivates action
CUES Discounts/Sales; Or, Smell of cakes and pastries; Or,
- A stimulus or Good deals; Or, Good, well-lit confectionary
symbol to drive Good designs. store with good display of
action goodies to eat; Or,
- It directs a drive when they Billboards and banners
are match consumer publicizing brand etc.
expectations

RESPONSE The student sees a discount in a The man goes and buys the
store and goes and buys from the pastry.
- Action to satisfy need. shop;
- The reaction or Or,
behaviour relative to a He is unable to find a colour of his
drive or a cue choice but he likes the
brand/dealer and so decides to
come back after a week when the
fresh stock arrives and he can get
the colour of his choice.

REINFORCEMENT If he buys the suit and finds it He likes the pastry and asks for
- The feedback comfortable and long lasting, he more.
a consumer would buy the same brand or buy He does not find it good and
receives. from the same shop again. eats
- The reward or In case he doesn’t he would something else somewhere.
action. change
his brand.
3
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

BEHAVIORAL LEARNING THEORIES

 There are two approaches to the study of learning - the behavioural theories of learning, and
the cognitive theories of learning.
 Behavioral theories of learning: According to this approach, learning within an individual
takes place in response to events/happenings/stimlui in a person’s external environment. The
main researchers of this approach were: - Ivan Pavlov, who conducted the famous
experiments on the dog; His theory came to be known as the Theory of Classical
Conditioning.
 Frederic Skinner, who conducted his experiments with rats and pigeons; His theory came to
be known as the Theory of Operant Conditioning or Instrumental Conditioning.
 Example - A new detergent + starch combination gel is launched by Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
It is specially developed for cotton clothes, and the major benefit of the product is that it does
not only clean them but also applies starch on them, making them clean and crisp after
application.
Classical Conditioning: A person who is loyal to HUL and buys many of their brands as he
finds them to be of quality, would also buy this new product (stimulus generalization).
Operant Conditioning: HUL decides to give free samples in small 25 gm pouches, with
products like Lux, Pepsodent etc. The person who buy a Lux or a Pepsodent, would get a
sachet of this new product free; he would try it and if he finds it satisfying, he would desire
buying a larger quantity pack to be used regularly (positive reinforcement).

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY

Introduction:
 According to early classical conditioning theorists, all organisms are passive learners. This
means they can be taught certain behaviours through repetition (i.e. conditioning)
 Ivan Pavlov was the first to describe conditioning and showed how learning occurs. For
Pavlov, conditioned learning results when a stimulus is paired with another. Stimulus brings
out a known response and it produces the same response when used alone.
 He used dogs to demonstrate his theories. The dogs were hungry and highly motivated to eat.
Pavlov sounded a bell and then immediately applied a meat paste to the dogs’ tongues, which
caused them to salivate. After a sufficient number of repetitions of the bell sound, followed
almost immediately by the food, the bell alone caused the dogs to salivate.
 Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) is learning
through association. It was discovered by Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. In simple terms,
two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or animal.
 Example - In a consumer behaviour context, an unconditioned stimulus might be a well-
known brand symbol. A previously acquired consumer perception of a brand is the
unconditioned response. Conditioned stimuli might consist of new products under an existing
brand name. The conditioned response would be consumers trying these products because of
the belief that they embody the same attributes with which the brand name is associated.
4
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

Process of Classical Conditioning

If you pair a neutral stimulus (NS) with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that already triggers an
unconditioned response (UR) that neutral stimulus will become a conditioned stimulus (CS),
triggering a conditioned response (CR) similar to the original unconditioned response.
There are three stages of classical conditioning. At each stage the stimuli and responses are given
special scientific terms:

Stage 1: BEFORE CONDITIONING:

 In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces an unconditioned response (UCR)
in an organism.
 In basic terms, this means that a stimulus in the environment has produced a behavior /
response which is unlearned (i.e., unconditioned) and therefore it is a natural response which
has not been taught. In this respect, no new behaviour has been learned yet.
 Example - a perfume (UCS) could create a response of happiness or desire (UCR).
 This stage also involves another stimulus which has no effect on a person and is called the
neutral stimulus (NS). The NS could be a person, object, place, etc.
 In classical conditioning, the neutral stimulus does not produce a response until it is paired
with the unconditioned stimulus.

Stage 2: DURING CONDITIONING:

 During this stage, a stimulus which produces no response (i.e., neutral) is associated with the
unconditioned stimulus & it now becomes known as the conditioned stimulus (CS).
 Example - a perfume (UCS) might be associated with a specific person (CS).
 For classical conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus should occur before the
unconditioned stimulus, or during the same time. Thus, the conditioned stimulus acts as a
type of signal or cue for the unconditioned stimulus.
 UCS must be associated with the CS many times for learning to take place. But, in some
cases, learning can occur even if UCS association with CS is not repeated (i.e. strengthened
or reinforced – for example - being sick after drinking too much alcohol).

Stage 3: AFTER CONDITIONING:

 Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned stimulus
(UCS) to create a new conditioned response (CR).
 Example 1 - a person (CS) who has been associated with nice perfume (UCS) is now found
attractive (CR).
 Example 2 – a Chocolate (CS) which was eaten before a person was sick with a virus (UCS)
now produces a response of nausea (CR).

Principles of Classical Conditioning Theory

1. Neutral Stimulus
A neutral stimulus (NS) is a stimulus that initially does not evoke a response until it is paired
with the unconditioned stimulus. For example, in Pavlov’s experiment the bell was the
neutral stimulus, and only produced a response when it was paired with food.
2. Unconditioned Stimulus
5

The unconditioned stimulus causes a natural and automatic unconditioned response. In

Page

Pavlov's study the unconditioned stimulus was food.

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

3. Unconditioned Response
An unconditioned response is an unlearned response that occurs automatically when the
unconditioned stimulus is presented. Pavlov showed the existence of the unconditioned
response by presenting a dog with a bowl of food and the measuring its salivary secretions
4. Conditioned Stimulus
The conditioned stimulus (CS) triggers the same response like an unconditioned stimulus.
Simply put, a conditioned stimulus makes an organism react to something because it is
associated with something else. For example, Pavlov’s dog learned to salivate at the sound of
a bell.
5. Conditioned Response
The conditioned response (CR) is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. In
Ivan Pavlov's experiments, the dog's salivation was the conditioned response to the sound of a
bell.
6. Acquisition
In the initial period of learning, acquisition occurs when an organism learns to connect a
neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.
7. Extinction
In psychology, extinction refers to gradual weakening of a conditioned response by breaking
the association between the conditioned and the unconditioned stimuli.
For example, when the bell was repeatedly rung and no food presented Pavlov’s dog
gradually stopped salivating at the sound of the bell.
8. Spontaneous Recovery
Spontaneous Recovery refers to the return of a conditioned response (in a weaker form) after
a period of time following extinction. For example, when Pavlov waited a few days after
extinguishing the conditioned response, and then rang the bell once more, the dog salivated
again.
9. Generalisation
In psychology, generalisation is the tendency to respond in the same way to stimuli that are
similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus. For example, in Pavlov's experiment, if a
dog is conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell, it may later salivate to a higher pitched
bell.
10. Discrimination
In classical conditioning, discrimination is a process through which individuals learn to
differentiate among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each one.
For example, eventually Pavlov’s dog learns the difference between the sound of the 2 bells
and no longer salivates at the sound of the non-food bell

Marketing Applications of Classical Conditioning

1. Repetition
Repetition increases the strength of association between a conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned
stimulus. Repetition slows the process of forgetting. It is difficult to decide the amount of repetitions.
Too much repetition is also a problem. To avoid this problem, marketers use the following strategies;
 Cosmetic Variations - Some marketers change background of advertisement, use different nt
celebrities while repeating the same advertising theme. Lux soap has used 'Filmy Sitaron ka
Saundarya Sabun' theme for almost 60 years. It continuously changed the celebrities and
made use of famous and successful film-stars.
 Substantive Variation - These are the changes in advertising content across different version
6

of an advertisement. L'Oreal used different models for different variety of products with
Page

different themes.
Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

 Another theory under principle of repetition is three-hit theory. According to this, just three
exposures to an advertisement are needed. One to introduce the product, second to show
relevance and ensure recall and third to remind them its benefits. Some others think 11 to 12
repetitions are required for three hit exposure.

2. Stimulus Generalization
According to Classical conditioning theory, learning depends not only on repetitions but also on the
ability of consumers to generalize. Hence, me-too or counterfeit type of products become successful
in market. Consumers confuse them with the original product as it shows the copied product in way
they have learned to see a brand.
 In product line extensions, the marketers add related products on already established brand.
For example, Dove introduced its shampoo after Dove soap was well established in the
market.
 In product form extensions, marketers introduce different forms of well establish product.
Like Surf introduced liquid detergent with the same packaging as the known Surf powder.
 Marketers also offer product category extensions and generally target new market segment.
 Family Branding is also a practice where company markets whole line of company products
under same brand name. Godrej continues to add variety of products with the same brand
name.
 Licensing also works under principle of stimulus generalization. The name of designers,
manufacturers, celebrities, corporations and cartoon characters are attached for a fee to
variety of products.

3. Stimulus Discrimination
The consumer's ability to discriminate among similar stimuli is the basis for positioning strategy.
 Positioning is key to stimulus discrimination and it is the key to competitive advantage.
Product Differentiation is creating a benefit to distinguish a product or brand from that of
competitor.

Following figure illustrates Classical Conditioning theory;

7
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

OPERANT / INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING THEORY AND LEARNING

Introduction:

 Behavioural Psychologist B.F. Skinner introduced the concept of Operant conditioning

theory. Therefore, the Operant Conditioning is also known as Skinnerian Conditioning and
Instrumental Conditioning.
 Instrumental/Operant Conditioning focuses on forming associations. But these associations
are established between behaviour and behavioural consequences (result of behaviour).
 The theory stressed on the role of punishment or reinforcements for increasing or decreasing
the probability of the same behaviour to be repeated in the future. But there is one condition
that the consequences(result) must immediately follow a behavioural pattern.

Key Components of Operant Conditioning:

Reinforcement:
 Reinforcements strengthen or increase the intensity of behaviour. This can be Positive and
Negative.
 Positive Reinforcement: When a favourable event or an outcome is associated with behaviour
in the form of a reward or praise, it is called as positive reinforcement. For example, a boss
may provide bonus (reward as a favourable outcome) because of outstanding achievements at
work.
Negative Reinforcement: This involves removal of an unfavourable or an unpleasant event
after a behavioural outcome. In this case, the intensity of a response is strengthened by
removing the unpleasant experiences.

Punishment:
 The objective of punishment is to decrease the intensity of a behavioural outcome, which may
be negative or positive.
 Positive Punishment: This involves application of punishment by presenting an unfavourable
event or outcome in response to a behaviour. Example - Spanking for an unacceptable
behaviour is an example of positive punishment.
 Negative Punishment: It is associated with the removal of a favourable event or an outcome
in response to a behaviour which needs to be weakened. Example -Holding the promotion of
an employee for not performing as per the expectations of the management.

Reinforcement Schedules:
 New behaviour can be learned and old behaviour can be changed with the help of
reinforcement schedule.
 Reinforcement schedule must focus on time and frequency of reinforcement.

Marketing Applications of Instrumental Conditioning

1. Customer satisfaction
 When each time the customer has an experience with the product or company, there has been
positive reinforcement, the customers will be satisfied. In such cases the possibility of
customer retention increases.
 This is the reason the companies are paying at lot of attention to customer relationship
management.
8

 Satisfied customers will give better response and will also influence others.
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

2. Reinforcement Schedules
 Marketers schedule the reinforcement. They may change the pattern of scheduling.
 There can be total (or continuous) reinforcement, systemic (fixed ratio) reinforcement, or a
random (variable ratio) reinforcement schedule.
 Marketers will often use random reinforcement as a bonus for the customer and fixed
reinforcement as loyalty points or rewards.

3. Shaping
 Shaping occurs by having the reinforcement done before the behaviour occurs.
 In this situation, the consumer can be given the offer of a reward before they actually make
their decision and purchase a product.
 Many car companies keep a lucky draw for those who test drive their vehicle.

4. Massed Vs Distributed Learning

 Should the learning and the exposure to the stimuli happen in a relatively short period of time
or not? Media planners are often faced with this decision for their advertising campaign.
 Many companies plan spill-over ad campaign to generate a distributed learning.

9
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

Introduction:
 Cognitive dissonance was first investigated by Leon Festinger.
 Meaning - Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation that involves conflicting attitudes,
beliefs or behaviours. This produces a feeling of mental discomfort leading to a change in one
of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviours to reduce the discomfort and restore balance.
 Example - When people smoke (behaviour) and they know that smoking causes cancer
(cognition), they are in a state of cognitive dissonance.
 Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold
all our attitudes and behaviour in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance). This is
known as the principle of cognitive consistency.
 When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviours ( resulting into dissonance),
something must change to remove the dissonance.

What causes cognitive dissonance?

1. Forced Compliance Behavior,
2. Decision Making,
3. Effort.

1. Forced Compliance Behaviour

 When someone is forced to do something they really don't want to do, dissonance is created
between their cognition (I did not want to do this) and their behaviour (I did it).
 Forced compliance occurs when an individual performs an action that is not consistent with
his or her beliefs. The behaviour can't be changed, since it was already done in the past, so
dissonance will need to be reduced by re-evaluating their attitude regarding what they have
done.
 Experiment – Festinger performed this laboratory experiment. They used 71 students as
participants to perform a series of dull tasks (such as turning pegs in a peg board for an hour).
They were then paid either $1 or $20 to tell the waiting participant (confederate) that the tasks
were really interesting.
 Results - When the participants were asked to evaluate the experiment, the participants who
were paid only $1 rated the tedious task as more fun and enjoyable than the participants who
were paid $20 to lie.
 Conclusion - Being paid only $1 is not sufficient incentive for lying and so those who were
paid $1 experienced dissonance. They could only overcome that dissonance by coming to
believe that the tasks really were interesting and enjoyable. Being paid $20 provides a reason
for turning pegs, and there is therefore no dissonance.

2. Decision Making
 Life is filled with decisions, and decisions (as a general rule) arouse dissonance.
 For example, suppose you had to decide whether to accept a job in an absolutely beautiful
area of the country, or turn down the job so you could be near your friends and family. Either
way, you would experience dissonance. If you took the job you would miss your loved ones;
if you turned the job down, you would not have beautiful streams, mountains, and valleys.
10

 People have many ways to reduce dissonance. One thing they can do is to change the
Page

behaviour. A common way to reduce dissonance is to increase the attractiveness of the

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

chosen alternative and to decrease the attractiveness of the rejected alternative. This is
referred to as "spreading apart the alternatives."

3. Effort
 We value most highly those goals or items which required more efforts to achieve.
 This may be because dissonance would be caused if we spent a great effort to achieve
something and then evaluated it negatively.
 We find it easier to persuade ourselves that what we have achieved is worthwhile and
evaluating highly something whose achievement has cost us very high. This method of
reducing dissonance is known as 'effort justification.'
 If we put effort into a task which we have chosen to carry out, and the task turns out badly,
we experience dissonance. To reduce this dissonance, we are motivated to try to think that the
task turned out well.

How is cognitive dissonance resolved?

 Dissonance can be reduced in one of three ways: a) changing the existing beliefs, b) adding
new beliefs, through new information or c) reducing the importance of the beliefs.
i. Change one or more of the attitudes, behavior, beliefs, etc. – This is very difficult for
the people because they have already well-learnt behavioural responses. Example –
Giving up smoking (changing the behaviour) is not easy for people because they have
been enjoying it since a long time.
ii. Acquire new information - For example, thinking smoking causes lung cancer will
cause dissonance if a person smokes. However, new information such as “research has
not proved definitely that smoking causes lung cancer” may reduce the dissonance.
iii. Reduce the importance of the cognitions (i.e., beliefs, attitudes) - A person could
convince himself that it is better to "live for today" than to "save for tomorrow." In
other words, he could tell himself that a short life filled with smoking and sensual
pleasures is better than a long life without such joys. In this way, he would be
decreasing the importance of the dissonant cognition (smoking is bad for one's health).

Marketing Examples of Cognitive dissonance theory

1. Self-image example
A company is going to release a new four-wheel vehicle. The company creates a marketing
campaign that seeks to reinforce a person's self-image of themselves as adventurous. The
campaign showcases the vehicle as the kind of product an adventurous person would own.

2. Athletic sneakers example

A shoe company's athletic sneakers cost slightly more than competitors' products on the
market. This is because the company creates its sneakers using better materials and provides
more color options. Consumers consider both price and quality when purchasing sneakers,
so the shoe company creates a marketing campaign that emphasizes the quality differences to
resolve any internal conflicts about high prices
11
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

CONSUMER MEMORY

Definition & Meaning:

“Consumer memory refers to the processes that allow us to record and later retrieve experiences
and information related to products, services, and consumption experiences.”
 According to Baddeley, “Memory is “an active mental system that receives, stores, organises,
alters and recovers information”
 Consumers have prior learning experiences, which are accumulated in their minds. The total
accumulation of past experiences are known as memory
 Without understanding how memory works it will not be possible to understand how
consumers reason, make decisions and solve problems, since most consumer decisions are
dependent on memory”

Consumer Memory System:

 Sensory memory: It stores after images which are lost quickly through decay unless
capturing sufficient attention and further processing
 Short-term memory: It is the memory which can be recalled immediately and, is
activated and in use. It can also be referred to as the working memory, which one can work
with and refer to, whenever required. Short-term memory can give continued repetition of
a piece of information that can be used for problem solving. When elaborate activities are
considered, they ride five involvements in the memory. Elaborate activities make use of
previously stored experiences, values attitudes, beliefs and feelings, to interpret and
evaluate information and add new elements to memory.
 Long-term memory: It is a permanent storage in the minds of the consumer. It is active
and can store a variety of information consisting of concepts, decisions, rules, processes,
affective states, etc. This is important to the marketer because an image of a brand and the
concepts that a consumer had heard about a brand, are made up of various elements and
the consumer can have a lot of meanings attached to the brand, when the particular brand
is mentioned.
The various factors that come to a consumer’s mind when he thinks of Coca Cola or Bata Shoes are
shown in the figure.

12
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

Methods of Coding in Long term memory

1) Semantic encoding – an object is not directly represented in memory but rather in terms of its
meaning for the individual (eg. Nike shoes = cushioned, Swoosh, lightweight)
2) Scripts – represent series of actions based on previous events which influence future actions
when a similar situation occurs (enter store, go straight ahead to fruit and vegetables, turn left to
milk)
3) Visual encoding – using mental images to store information often leads to strong long term
memory for material (eg Calvin Klein)
4) Encoding specificity: memory performance is best when elements of the encoding and retrieval
environments are similar. If the context of an advertisement can be created at point of sale it can
aid recognition and recall of product/brand information

Implications of Consumer Memory on Marketing:

 Meanings can be associated to various brands and products when one thinks of them. These
can be recalled both by short-term or long-term memory.
 Marketers try to position their brands in the minds of the consumer. It relates to the memory
of brand in relation to competing products. By this, the marketer tries to improve the image of
his brand which suits the consumer, promotes the image of the products and the stores as
13

well.
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954

 Product position evolves over time, as the marketer gets to know more about the preference
of the consumers. Consumers usually have an “ideal brand” concept and, they want to be as
close to the ideal brand as possible.
 The marketer also tries to offer a product by positioning and repositioning the product which
comes as close as possible to the consumer’s ideal brand.
 This can be done by finding out the critical dimensions which are preferred. In case of a soft
drink, the dimension could be: If the ideal brand as perceived by the consumer is (X) that is
(5,2) on the graph. The marketer tries to make a product as close to the ideal brand as
possible.

Similarly, if a car has to have the dimensions as shown in the figure –

 The different consumers refer different combination and have their ideal brand in their minds.
The marketer has to find the ideal brand required to cater to the customer’s satisfaction.
 Consumer memory has a direct influence on advertising. The role of advertiser is to fix the
image of the brand and its features, advantages in the minds of the customer. The advertiser
need to understand consumer memory structures in order to do media planning, advertising
message planning, repetition of advertisements over time etc. All these decisions are directly
connected with consumer memory.
 Brand image is another important area companies need to build in the memory structure of
the consumer.

*********************************************************************************
14
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari
Mob - 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat

UNIT 3

CONSUMER ATTITUDE MODELS

(20%)

INTRODUCTION
 Attitude is considered to be the most important factor that determines buying behaviour.
 Therefore, marketers pay close attention to consumers’ attitudes. It is very important for a
marketer to know the important aspects of consumer attitude.
 Hence, the marketer has to understand how attitude is organised in the consumer.

DEFINITION & MEANING

According to Robbins, “Attitudes are evaluative statements – either favourable or unfavorable –
concerning objects people or events. They reflect how one feels about something”.
 Attitudes are evaluative statements – that means people have favourable or unfavourable
feeling towards persons, objects or events. This evaluation of people towards persons, objects
or events is known as attitude.
 In other words attitude shows how a person feels about something for e.g. if a Professor says
“I like teaching”, he is expressing attitude about his work.

FEATURES / NATURE / CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTITUDE

Following are some important features/characteristics of attitude:

 Attitudes refer to feelings & beliefs of individuals or groups of individuals:
It exists within an individual and that is why it is considered as evaluative statement or
predispositions of an individual. Attitude is a psychological process and therefore it affects
the feeling and belief of an individual or group.
 The feelings & beliefs are directed towards other people, objects or ideas:
The feelings and beliefs are always about other individual, object or situation based on the
earlier experience of a person.
 Attitudes results in behavioural action:
Behavioural outcome or response is based on the attitude of an individual. An individual’s
attitude will determine the action. If the attitude is positive, we can predict that the
behavioural action will be positive.
 Attitudes can fall anywhere between very favourable to very unfavourable:
A person’s attitude might be favourable or unfavourable towards any person, object, event or
situation. A person may have an attitude which will be in between very favourable to very
unfavourable.
 Attitudes last longer:
Attitude lasts for a long time. Once it is formed it is difficult to change. Hence when a person
likes or dislikes certain person or event or object, he will continue to like to dislike for a very
1

long period of time. This long lasting nature of attitude is based on the sources from which it
Page

is formed. For example, if our parents have taught us

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat

 All people hold attitudes:

Every person in the world hold attitude and their attitude will differ from other. Within all
levels of an organisation, people hold attitude. It has nothing to do with the status or
intelligence they possess. Whether, it is chairman or peon, irrespective of their status holds
attitude. It is obvious that their attitudes will differ but all of them hold attitudes.

FUNCTIONS OF ATTITUDE

Following are the functions of attitude at work;

Adjustment function:
 This function is also known as utilitarian or instrumental function of attitude.
 An attitude may be developed because it helps a person to obtain rewards or avoid
punishments. Hence a person may adjust his attitude in order to get rewards or avoid
punishment.
 Example: A worker finds that when he expressed a negative attitude towards his boss, his co-
workers pay attention to and sympathize with him, but when he express a positive attitude, he
is ignored. This means that the negative attitude is instrumental (helping) in obtaining
rewards (acceptance from co-workers) and avoiding punishment (rejection or avoidance form
co-workers).
 In another example, a loan executive may develop favourable attitude towards salaried
people, to whom he can easily sell, and a negative attitude towards self-employed people,
who he finds are always difficult to sell. He associates success and profit with salaried people
and failure and difficulty with self-employed. Hence, he develops attitude according to the
reward he gets.

Ego Defence Function:

 People often form and maintain certain attitude to protect their own ego / self-image.
 Example: A superior may feel threatened by the advancement of subordinates in the
organisation. The superior may develop prejudices against the subordinates in the
organisation. They may develop an attitude that such newcomers are less qualified. Hence the
superior may not treat subordinates well. Such an ego defensive attitude is formed and used to
cope with a feeling of guilt or threat.
 Unless this feeling is removed, this kind of attitude will remain unchanged.

Value Expressive Function:

 Our attitude shows our value system. And our value expressive attitudes are closely related to
our self-concept.
 Example: One whose central value is freedom, the individual may express very positive
attitude towards decentralization of authority in the organisation, flexible work schedules, and
relaxation of dress standards.
 The other example of value expressive function is that if the central value is pragmatic
(forward looking); the individual may express positive attitudes towards the practical people.

Knowledge Function:
 Attitude is often substituted for knowledge. In the absence of knowledge, we use our attitude
to organize and make sense out of the perceived object or person.
 Example: People who are not familiar with nuclear energy may develop an attitude that it is
dangerous and should not be used as an energy source.
Manager should know about these attitude functions because knowledge of such function can
2

provide valuable information.

Page

- First, it helps us to understand and predict how a certain person is likely to behave.
Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat
- Second, it can help manager to change the attitude of other person.

FACTORS AFFECTING FORMATION OF ATTITUDE OR

FORMATION OF ATTITUDE:-
Following are the factors that are responsible for formation of attitude in a person. These factors are;

1. Direct experience with the object:-

 Attitudes are formed on the basis of a person’s direct experience with object or
individual. Negative or positive response or experience with that object or individual
forms attitude.
 For example, how do you know that you like organizational behaviour subject or
dislike computer application subject? The attitude of liking or disliking these subjects
is formed on the basis of our past experience with these subjects.

2. Classical conditioning & attitudes:-

 One of the basic processes that results into attitude formation can be explained on the
basis of learning principles.
 Generally people develop associations between various objects & the emotional
reactions that follow. Positive or negative associations can develop through classical
conditioning.
 For example, we may come to hold a positive attitude towards a particular perfume
because a favourite model uses it.

3. Operant conditioning & attitude acquisition:-

 Operant conditioning is also a learning process. According to this, behaviour (attitude)
is a function of its consequences (results).
 Behaviour is likely to be repeated if the consequences (results) are favourable.
Behaviour is not likely to be repeated if the consequences are unfavorable. Hence, we
3

can say that people learn positively from positive experience and negatively from
Page

negative experience. This helps in forming their attitude.

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat

4. Vicarious learning:-
 It is a type of learning in which a person learns something through the observation of
others.
 This type of learning occurs when a person has no experience about the person, object
or event for which attitude is being formed.
 This happens normally when a child learns something from his/her parent. For
example, if parents believe that blind children cannot do anything in life, then children
will form a similar attitude. The child has formed this attitude without meeting blind
people. They have learnt this from their parents.

5. Family & Peer groups:-

 A person may learn attitude through parents. Attitudes towards religion, opposite sex,
tolerance or prejudice, education, occupations & many other areas are the result of our
accepting or rejecting the attitudes of our family members.
 Similarly attitudes are acquired from peer groups (co-workers) in organizations where
people work.

6. Neighbourhood:-
 Our attitude is also formed because of our neighbourhood. We meet people in society
and this result into formation of our attitude.
 People affect the way we think. Neighborhood is a place where people share culture
and form religious grouping and such source like neighborhood will results in attitude
formation.

7. Economic status & Occupation:-

 Our economic & occupational positions also contribute to attitude formation.
 Our socio-economic background influences our present & future attitudes. They
determine our attitudes towards union and management and our belief that certain
laws are 'good' or 'bad'.
 For example the person from high economic status (business man) forms positive
attitude for privatization because he perceives it as growth opportunity for business
and country, whereas, low economic status (workers) will form negative attitude for
privatization because they believe that privatization will result into unemployment.

8. Mass communications:-
 All varieties of mass communications-television, radio, newspaper & magazines feed
their audiences large quantities of information.
 The presentation of news or information is such that it forms the attitude of audience.
 Mass communication provide detailed information on various subject which lead to
formation of new attitude or concrete the existing one on different subject.

*********************************************************************************
4
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat

TRI-COMPONENT ATTITUDE MODEL

Introduction
 Tri-component model is a theory used to explain or describe what attitudes are, how they are
formed and the circumstances under which they may change.
 There are three components in Tri-component model theory. Three components of an attitude
are Cognition, Affect & Behaviour.

 COGNITIVE component of an attitude:

It is the opinion or belief part of an attitude. These are the thoughts and beliefs people have
about an object. For example, you might like a singer because he or she has a melodic voice
and catchy lyrics.
Example:
 The belief that there is life on Mars planet
 The belief that spiders can harm you.
 AFFECTIVE component of an attitude:
It is emotional or feeling part of an attitude. This consists of the emotional reactions people
have to objects, persons, events, group, issue etc.
Examples:
 I hate politics (negative feeling)
 I love gardening (positive feeling)
 I am not interested in cricket (neutral feeling)
For example, if you have a favourite singer and you hear their voice on the radio, you might
have feelings of happiness or excitement. The attitude object has affected your emotions.

 BEVHAVIOURAL component of an attitude:

It refers to a person’s behaviour towards someone or something. It consists of actions or
behaviour which can be observed. And these actions are the result of attitude. For example, if
you hear a new song of your favourite singer, you might start searching for the album and buy
it. You will spend some time listening to it. Hence, your attitude towards the singer has made
you to behave in this way.
Examples:
 Mr. X runs to keep himself fit
5
Page

 Mr Y keep listening Bollywood music during his leisure time

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat
Example of a Car Consumer

Influence of Tri-component Model on Marketing

 Marketers try to influence the buying of consumers (Behaviour). Marketers often use jingles,
music, celebrities etc. (Affective and Cognitive dimension) in order to influence the
consumers to buy the product.
 Example – Fevicol advertisements often make use of humour appeal to sell the product. This
affects the feelings consumer attach with the brand. This ultimately influences the consumer
to show positive buying behaviour with the brand.

Advantages:
1. It is simple to understand the concept of attitude. It has only 3 components meant to explain
the parts of attitude.
2. It is easy to predict the behaviour of the person if the other 2 components are known in
advance.
3. Most of the times all the three components work in tandem in order to form a person’s
attitude and behaviour.

Limitations:
1. Attitude does not always lead to behaviour as it is understood through this model.
2. Behaviour may not be consistent with the affect and cognitive part as described in the model
*********************************************************************************
6
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat

MULTIATTRIBUTE MODELS OF ATTITUDE

 The Multi Attribute Model breaks down the consumer’s overall attitude and behaviour into
smaller components.
 These components could be perceived benefits, functions, product features, etc., and are
collectively known as Product Attributes.
 Hence, it can be said that according to the Multi Attribute Model, a consumer’s attitude
towards a product is a function of the consumer’s perception of the product features, and their
belief of the key attributes.
The 3 types of Multi Attribute Models are as follows:

1) The Attitude-towards-Object Multi Attribute Model

 The Attitude-towards-Object Multi Attribute Model states that a consumer’s attitude towards
a product is a function of the presence or absence of certain attributes, and the corresponding
evaluation of those attributes.
 The overall attitude of a consumer towards a product is represented by the following formula:

A jk = ∑ B ijk * I ik
i = attribute
j = product
k = consumer
I = importance of attribute ‘i’ for consumer ‘k’
B = belief of consumer ‘k’ regarding the extent to which product ‘j’ possesses attribute ‘i’
A = overall attitude score of product ‘j’ for consumer ‘i’
 For example, suppose a student has to make a decision of which college he should join. The
student starts listing all possible attributes that can affect his decision and how important each
of these attributes is. The list of attributes are as follows:

 The student then lists out the possible colleges he is considering for admission and then
assigns a score to each attribute on how well each college possesses the attributes or
functionalities he’s considering.
 The scores assigned to each college for each attribute are as follows:
7
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat

Based on the formula stated above, an overall Attitude Score for each college can be calculated. The
overall Attitude Score for IIT is as follows:
IIT = (6*8) + (7*9) + (4*2) + (3*2) + (1*1) + (2*1) + (5*7) = 163
Similarly, the overall Attitude Scores for IIIT = 142, NIT = 153, and REC = 131
Hence, it can be concluded that the best college based on the Attitude Scores of the student would be
IIT.

2) The Attitude-towards-Behaviour Multi Attribute Model

 The Attitude-towards-Behaviour Multi Attribute Model focuses more on the consumer’s

behaviour towards the product rather than the feeling or affect towards the attribute.
 The basic idea is that a consumer might have a positive attitude towards various attributes
that a product houses but have a negative attitude towards subscribing to the product.
A=∑Bi*Ei
A = attitude of a consumer towards a product
B = strength of belief that the action ‘i’ would lead to an outcome
E = consumer evaluation of an action ‘i’
 For example, suppose an individual wants to buy a smartphone for regular use. There are
hundreds of options available in today’s market. The individual comes across Apple iPhone
11 which costs around $849. Upon going through all the available features, the individual
concludes that the iPhone is one of the best phones available in the market with great features
and quality support. This indicates that the individual formed an overall positive attitude
towards the product and had a high Attitude Score for the Apple iPhone 11.
 The individual however chooses to not buy the phone because he felt that the cost of the
phone was too high and it did not make sense to spend so much on a smartphone and chose to
go for an Android Smartphone which costs less. It can be seen in this situation that the
individual had an overall positive attitude towards the product but his negative attitude
towards paying for an expensive smartphone affected the final outcome.

3) The Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Multi Attribute Model

 The Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Multi Attribute Model attempts to include the impact of

instances of behaviour and other subjective norms that have the ability to influence a
consumer’s decision-making skills.
 This model takes into consideration that a consumer’s behaviour is based on their intention to
act. The Subjective Norms are measured by assessing the attitude of consumers and other
8

referents such as friends, family, co-workers, etc. These Subjective Norms take into
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 Consumer Behaviour, TY BBA (Sem 6), VNSGU, Surat
consideration the beliefs of specific referents on whether the action should be performed or
not and the motivation of the consumers to comply with the beliefs of these referents.
The following image illustrated the Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Multi Attribute Model:

EXAMPLE:

Suppose there is a graduate student who wishes to write the GMAT exam to get admitted into a good
university for his MBA. Theory-of-Reasoned-Action Multi Attribute Model that covers each block
from the above diagram for this situation would be as follows:
 Behaviour: Study hard for the GMAT exam.
 Intention: He wishes to get into a good university so he wants to ensure that his preparation
is well enough to get a good score.
 Intention Impacted By:
o Consumer’s Attitude towards Behaviour: The student has a positive attitude
towards studying hard to get a good score.
o Subjective Norms: The student’s parents approve of his decision to go abroad for
higher education.
 Consumer’s Attitude Impacted By:
o The Belief that Behaviour Leads to Specific Outcomes: The student believes that if
he prepares well for the exam, he will get a good score.
o Evaluation of the Outcomes: A good GMAT score will help him get admission into
a good university.
 Subjective Norms Impacted By:
o Beliefs of Specific Referents: The student’s parents obviously want him to do well in
life and hence, want him to study hard and get admission to a good university.
o Motivation to Comply with Specific Referents: The student wants to fulfil the
wishes of his parents.
*********************************************************************************
9
Page

Dr. Zakir Patel, Prof, Naran Lala College of Commerce & Management, Navsari – Mob: 9586075954
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Chapter 3 Consumer Attitude Model

Definition and Meaning of Consumer Attitude:

An individual with a positive attitude towards a product/service offering is

more likely to make a purchase; this makes the study of consumer attitudes highly
important for a marketer. An attitude may be defined as a feeling of favorableness
or favorableness that an individual has towards an object (be it a person, thing or
situation). In terms of consumer behavior, consumer attitudes may be defined as an
inner feeling of favorableness or favorableness towards a product or service offering
and the 4Ps. As Schiffman has defined, “Attitudes are an expression of inner feelings
that reflect whether a person is favorably or unfavorably predisposed to some
"object" (e.g., a brand, a service, or a retail establishment),” and “Attitude formation,
in turn, is the process by which individuals form feelings or opinions toward other
people, products, ideas, activities, and other objects in their environment”. It is
noteworthy that attitudes cannot be directly observed, the reason being that they are
impacted by psychographics like motivation, perception, and learning. Attitudes can
only be inferred from what people say or what they do and how they behave.

Nature of Attitude:

1. Attitudes are directed towards an object (product/service offering, price, store,

dealer, promotion, advertisement etc.) about which a consumer has feelings and
beliefs.

2. Attitudes have a direction; they could be positive or negative. A consumer could

possess feelings of like/dislike, favorableness and unfavorableness towards a
product or service as well as the mix. They vary in degrees and intensity, and can fall
anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable.

3. Attitudes are consistent in nature, particularly with respect to the third component,
i.e. behavior. Consumers are consistent with respect to their behavior. However,
they are not entirely permanent and may change if the cognitive or the component
is changed. This implies that if the consumer witnesses new experience or is exposed
to new information about product/service offering and the mix (cognition), and)
feelings are changed from dislike to like (affect), attitudes towards the offering and
the mix can undergo change. In other words, while attitudes are stable and do not
change frequently, they can be changed if something is done to change them.

4. Attitudes are a learned predisposition. Attitudes are learned; they are formed as a
result of i) self-experiences with the product/service offering and the mix; ii)
interaction with other people, be it family, friends, peers and colleagues; iii)
Prof. Viral Vora
ROFEL BBA – BCA College, Vapi
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

information obtained from the marketer through promotion particularly

advertisements as well as dealers and salespeople. Attitude formation as a process is
impacted by needs and motivation, perception as well as learning.

5. Attitudes cannot be observed directly. While attitudes are comprised of three

components, behavior is just one of them. It is only this component that can be
seen; the cognitive and affect components cannot be seen. Thus it is said that
attitudes cannot be seen; they can only be inferred from the manner in which an
individual behaves. Thus, we can infer that a person who buys Colgate Total
toothpaste and disregards Pepsodent has a positive attitude towards Colgate.

6. While attitudes can be inferred from our behavior, it is not synonymous to behavior.
It has two other components, and reflects a learned predisposition to act favorable
or unfavorably towards a product and service offering and the mix.

7. Attitudes are situation specific; they occur within a situation. Sometimes depending
upon the situation, a consumer may exhibit a behavior that may be inconsistent
with his/her attitude. He may prefer to buy Pepsodent over Colgate because the
former is on a sales promotion and gets him a free toothbrush.

Models of Attitude:

To understand the relationships between attitudes and consumer behaviour, psychologists

have tried to develop models that capture the underlying dimensions of attitude. To serve
this purpose, the focus has been on specifying the composition of an attitude to better
explain or predict behaviour. The following section describes some important attitude
models like tri-component attitude model, the multi-attribute models, the trying to
consume model, and the attitude-toward-the-ad model. All the above-mentioned models
present different perspectives on the number of component parts of an attitude and how
these parts are arranged or interrelated.

1. Tri-component Attitude Model

According to the tri-component attitude model, attitude consists of three major

components, viz., a cognitive component, an affective component, and a conative
component.

Prof. Viral Vora

ROFEL BBA – BCA College, Vapi
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

a) The cognitive component: The cognitive component consists of a person’s cognitions,

i.e., knowledge and perceptions (about an object). This knowledge and resulting
perceptions commonly take the form of beliefs, images, and long-term memories. A
utility function representing the weighted product of attributes and criteria would be
used to develop the final ranking and thus choice. This model represents the process
used by individuals with a strong Thinking Cognitive Style.

b) The affective component: The affective component of an attitude comprises of the

consumers emotions or feelings (toward an object). These emotions or feelings are
frequently treated by consumer researchers as primarily evaluative in nature; i.e., they
capture an individual’s direct or global assessment of the attitude-object, which might
be positive, negative, or mixed reaction consisting of our feelings about an object.
Buying of any product or service would be accomplished on the basis of how each
product/service makes the decision maker feel. The product that evokes the greatest
positive (pleasurable) affective response would thus be ranked first. The affective
response may be derived through association (i.e., category attributes) or directly
attributed to the interaction between the product or service and the decision maker.
It is believed that the manner in which the product/service affirms or disaffirms the
self-concept of the decision maker has a strong impact to the decision maker’s affect
response to the candidate. This model represents the process used by individuals with
a strong Feeling Cognitive Style. Ordering of the three job candidates would be
accomplished on the basis of how each candidate makes the decision maker feel. The
candidate that evokes the greatest positive (pleasurable) affective response would
thus be ranked first. The affective response may be derived through association (i.e.,
category attributes) or directly attributed to the interaction between the candidate
and the decision maker. It is believed that the manner in which the candidate affirms
or disaffirms the self-concept of the decision maker has a strong impact to the
decision maker’s affect response to the candidate.

c) The conative component: The conative component is concerned with the likelihood or
tendency of certain behaviour with regard to the attitude object. It would also mean
the predisposition or tendency to act in a certain manner toward an object.

2. Multi Attribute Attitude Models

Multi Attribute attitude models portray consumers’ attitudes with regard to an attitude
“object” as a function of consumer’s perceptions and assessment of the key attributes or
beliefs held with regard to the particular attitude “object”. The three models, which are very
popular, are: the attitude-toward-object model, the attitude-toward-behaviour model, and
the theory of- reasoned-action model.

Prof. Viral Vora

ROFEL BBA – BCA College, Vapi
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

a) Attitude toward object model: The attitude-toward object model is suitable for
measuring attitudes towards a product or service category or specific brands. This
model says that the consumer’s attitude toward a product or specific brands of a
product is a function of the presence or absence and evaluation of certain product-
specific beliefs or attributes. In other words, consumers generally have favourable
attitudes toward those brands that they believe have an adequate level of attributes
that they evaluate as positive, and they have unfavourable attitudes towards those
brands they feel do not have an adequate level of desired attributes or have too many
negative or undesired attributes. For instance, you may like BMW cars.

For example, let us take the example of Complan as a health drink. A lady
wants her children to grow faster, taller and healthier. She would have a positive
attitude towards Complan, if it contains vitamins and minerals, and she gives value
(importance) to such vitamins and minerals. Thus, consumers would tend to have
favorable attitudes toward such offerings and/or brands that they have sufficient
amount of attributes that are deemed important and evaluated as positive. On
the other hand, they would have unfavorable attitudes towards offerings and/or
brands which do not have the desired attributes or have many negative attributes.

b) Attitude toward behaviour model: This model is the individual’s attitude toward the
object itself. The crux of the attitude-towards-behaviour model is that it seems to
correspond somewhat more closely to actual behaviour than does the attitude-
toward-object model. So taking on from liking a BMW, we may say you are not ready
to buy/drive one because you believe that you are too young/old to do so.

For example, let us take the example of a Philips Home Theatre. A consumer
is aware that a Philips Home Theatre would have a bigger screen, and better audio
visual effects. He would also be aware of the high price, and may decide against the
act of purchase. Either he would not have the money or he may not think it wise to
spend so much of money for a TV. Thus, while he has positive feelings and a
favorable attitude towards the product offering, he does not have a positive feeling
to indulge in the act of purchase. Consumers could tend to have favorable
attitudes towards the product/service offering, but a negative attitude towards
the act of purchase (behavior).

c) Theory of reasoned-action-model: This model represents a comprehensive

integration of attitude components into a structure that is designed to lead to both
better explanations and better predictions of behaviour. Similar to the basic tri-
component attitude model, the theory-of-reasoned-action model incorporates a
cognitive component, an affective component, and a conative component; however
these are arranged in a pattern different from that of the tri-component model.

Prof. Viral Vora

ROFEL BBA – BCA College, Vapi
TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

PROF. [Link] INSITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

AMROLI, SURAT

COURSE: B.B.A
YEAR: [Link] (SEM –VI)
SUBJECT: Consumer Buying Behaviour
Faculty: Dr. Sudhadhara Samal
UNIT 3: CONSUMER ATTITUDES MODELS (20%)
3.1 What are attitudes?
3.2 Attitude formation,
3.3 Tri-component attitude model,
3.4 Multi-attribute model

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

3.1 What Are Attitudes?

 Meaning of Attitude:
The simple meaning of attitude refers to feelings & beliefs of an individual or as
group of individual. The Feelings and beliefs are directed towards other people,
objects, action or ideas. Attitude tends to resulting behavior or action. All people
irrespective of their status or intelligence hold attitude.

Of considerable importance in understanding the role of attitudes in consumer behavior is an

appreciation of the structure and composition of an attitude. Four broad categories of
attitude models have received attention: the tri-component attitude model, multi-attribute
attitude models, trying-to-consume attitude model, and attitude-toward-the-ad model.

 The Attitude “Object”

1. Object refers to such things as: product, product category, brand, service, possessions, product
use, causes or issues, people advertisement price, Internet site, price, medium, or retailer. a)
Attitude “can be conceptualized as a summary evaluation of an object.”
b) In conducting attitude research, we tend to be object specific..

 Attitudes Are a Learned Predisposition

1. Attitudes are learned. a) They are formed as a result of direct experience with the product,
information acquired from others, and exposure to mass media, the Internet, and various forms of
direct marketing.
b) Although attitudes may result in behaviors, they are, however, not synonymous with behavior.

2. As learned predispositions, attitudes have a motivational quality.

 Attitudes Have Consistency

1. Attitudes are relatively consistent with the behavior they reflect.
a) Attitudes are not necessarily permanent; they do change.
b) We should consider situational influences on consumer attitudes and behavior.

 Attitudes Occur Within a Situation

1. Consumer attitudes occur within, and are affected by, the situation.

a) By “situation,” we mean events or circumstances that, at a particular time, influence the

relationship between an attitude and a behavior.
b) A specific situation can cause consumers to behave in ways seemingly inconsistent with their
attitudes.

2. Consumers can have a variety of attitudes toward a particular object, each tied to a specific
situation or application. a) This can cause consumers to behave in ways seemingly inconsistent
with their attitudes.

3. It is important when measuring attitudes that we consider the situation in which the behavior
takes place, or the relationship between attitudes and behavior could be misinterpreted.

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

 Definition of Attitude:
1. “Attitude is understood as the beliefs, feelings and action or tendencies of an
individual or group of individual towards objects, ideas and people". -
Ashwathappa
2. "Attitude is a pre-disposition to respond in a Positive or negative way to
someone or something in one's environment.”- Sehernerhoorn
3. “Attitude is a mental state or readiness, organised through experience, exerting
attitude directive or dynamic influence upon the individuals’ response to all objects
and situation with which it is related.”- Allport

 Functions of Attitudes

The following are the functions of attitudes

 Adjustment Function − Attitudes helps people to adjust to different situations and
circumstances.
 Ego Defensive Function − Attitudes are formed to protect the ego. We all are
bothered about our self-esteem and image, so the product boosting our ego is the
target of such a kind of attitude.
 Value Expression Function − Attitudes usually represent the values the individual
possess. We gain values, through our upbringing and training. Our value system
encourages or discourages us to buy certain products. For example, our value system
allows or disallows us to purchase products such as cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc.
 Knowledge Function − Individuals’ continuously seeks knowledge and information.
When an individual gets information about a particular product, he creates and
modifies his attitude towards that product.

3.2 Attitude Formation:

There are so many factors which help for the formation of Attitude. They are as follow:
1. Direct Experience
2. Classical Conditioning Theory
3. Operant Conditioning Theory
4. Vicarious Learning
5. Family and Peers Group
a) Family
b) Peers group/ Work group
c) Reference group

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

6. Mass Communication
7. Neighbourhoods
8. Economic Status and Occupation
1. Direct Experience: Attitude can be developed with the personally rewarding
or punishing experience with an object. If there is a rewarding experience then
he/ she build positive attitude and if he/ she has negative experience with an
object then build negative attitude.
For example, Employees form attitude about jobs on their previous experiences
within the same or different organisation. New Employee sees that every
employees of the organization has been promoted within six month of joining
date, new employee also believe that he will also being promoted in six month
only.

2. Classical Conditioning Theory: It is based on repetitive principle. One of the

basic processes underlying attitude formation can be explained on the basis of
learning principles. People develop associations between various objects and
the emotional reactions that accompany them.
With repetitive learning and people develop associations between various
objects and the emotional reactions that accompany them. This concept mainly
used in the advertising. Broadcaster telecast same advertisement in many times
during one television program or cricket match.
One research has been done by "Evan Pavlov" which helps us to understand
this classical conditioning factor. He takes three objects for his research dog,
meat and bell. And put bell as conditional stimuli. First he throws the piece of
meat against dog, and dog start salivates by seeing piece of meat. "Dog- meat-
salivates.”
Now he adds conditional stimuli "bell", every time when he wants to throws
meat he rang bell. Means now bell rang first than meat is given to the dog.
What happen now dog start salivates after only rang the bell. "Dog-bell first-
meat second-salivate.” He repeats it so many times, now dog start salivate only
by hearing voice of bell, also without seeing piece of meat. "Dog- bell-
salivates without offering meat". With this research he proves that with
repetitive learning individual build certain association with particular object
and individual behave same with same kinds of condition.
Another good example: you see a traffic controller on the traffic booth; he
salutes his superior or commissioner when his car passed away from booth. He
did this every time whenever he sees the car of commissioner. With repetitive
learning, now he salutes the car although there is no commissioner in the car.
In this example a car is a conditional stimulus. Traffic controller builds certain
association with repetitive learning.

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

3. Operant Conditioning Theory: It is based on instrumental learning. Another

learning process, operant conditioning, also underlies attitude acquisition.
Attitudes that are reinforced, either verbally or non-verbally, tend to be
maintained.
"You do something, to achieve something", so that your efforts are
instrumental.
Ex. Employees are doing job to obtain money for buying food. So here job is
instrument.
Ex. Coin box-if you want to talk, then you must have to insert coins in coin
box. So, that coin is instrument.

4. Vicarious Learning: Attitude is form by observing behavior of other. Children

develop attitude with observing his/her parents. Television and other mass
media also affect to build attitude. It is through vicarious learning processes
that children pick up the prejudices of their parents.
Ex. Children whose parents say that "blind people are incompetent" may adopt
such attitudes themselves, even if they have never met a blind person.

5. Family and Peers Group:

a) Family: If parents have positive attitude towards object then children have also
build positive attitude towards this particular object. Attitude also depends on
size of the family. There are two types of family according to size like joint
family and extended family.
Ex. If Parents likes BJP, then children also like BJP.

b) Peers Group/Work Group: It Involve classmate, colleagues and people

working at the same level. People lives most of the time with them. So that it
effects on individuals' attitude. If groups have positive attitude towards
particular object then member also develop positive attitude.

c) Reference Group: It is a group in which person likes to belong. If reference

group is positive then individual build positive attitude to join this group.

6. Mass Communication: It includes mass media like television and radio,

which telecast large scale of information about object to the population or
audience. It build positive or negative attitude by provide such kinds of
information. Many customers attracts towards particular product by seeing
advertisement on the television. Many company gives information related to
guarantee, warrantee, after sales services, product features, competitive
features and quality on television to attract customer. Repetitive telecast of
advertisement affects human minds which was useful for creating favourable
attitude.

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

7. Neighbourhoods: The neighbourhood we live in has a certain structure in term of its

having cultural facilities, religious grouping, and possibly ethnic differences.
Neighbours’ value, culture, cast, likes & dislikes also effect on individuals’ attitude.

8. Economic Status and Occupation: Individuals' economic and occupational position also
contributes to attitude formation. They determine individuals' attitudes towards unions
and management. It also affects individuals' belief that certain laws are "good" .or "bad".
Individuals' socio-economic background influences our present and future attitudes
towards him.
Ex: Employee of 'TATA" have positive attitude than "XYZ" company.

3.3 Models of Attitude:

The following are the models of attitude:

1. Tri-component Model − According to tri-component model, attitude consists of

the following three components/ parts: a cognitive component, an affective
component, and a conative component. The cognitive component captures a
consumer’s knowledge and perceptions (i.e., beliefs) about products and services. The
affective component focuses on a consumer’s emotions or feelings with respect to a
particular product or service. Evaluative in nature, the affective component
determines an individual’s overall assessment of the attitude object in terms of some
kind of favourableness rating. The conative component is concerned with the
likelihood that a consumer will act in a specific fashion with respect to the attitude
object. In marketing and consumer behavior, the conative component is frequently
treated as an expression of the consumer’s intention to buy.

 Cognitive Component − The first component is cognitive component. It

consists of an individual’s knowledge or perception towards few products or
services through personal experience or related information from various
sources. This knowledge, usually results in beliefs, which a consumer has,
and specific behavior.

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

In other words, Cognitions are knowledge and perceptions that are acquired
by a combination of direct experience with the attitude object and related
information from various sources.
a) This previous knowledge and perceptions commonly take the form of
beliefs
b) The consumer believes that the attitude object possesses various attributes
and that specific behavior will lead to specific outcomes.
 Affective Component − The second part is the affective component. This
consists of a person’s feelings, sentiments, and emotions for a particular
brand or product. They treat them as the primary criteria for the purpose of
evaluation. The state of mind also plays a major role, like the sadness,
happiness, anger, or stress, which also affects the attitude of a consumer.
In other words,
1. The affective component of an attitude consists of the consumer’s
emotions or feelings. a) Researchers frequently treat these emotions and
feelings as evaluative in nature.
2. Affect-laden experiences manifest themselves as emotionally charged states
(such as happiness or sadness). a) These states may enhance positive or
negative experiences for the consumer.
b) Later recollections of such experiences may impact what comes to mind
and how the individual acts.

3. Recent research suggests that “positive and negative forms of affect operate
differently and that their direct and indirect effects on attitudes are influenced
by brand familiarity.”
4. In addition to using direct or global evaluative measure of an attitude
object, consumer researchers can also use a battery of affective response
scales to construct a picture of consumers’ overall feelings about a product,
service, or ad. .
 Conative (Behaviour) Component − The last component is conative
component, which consists of a person’s intention or likelihood towards a
particular product. It usually means the actual behavior of the person or his
intention.

In other words,
1. Conation, the final component of the tri-component attitude model, is
concerned with the likelihood or tendency that an individual will undertake a
specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude object.
a) The conative component may include the actual behavior itself.

2. In marketing and consumer research, the conative component is frequently

treated as an expression of the consumer’s intention to buy. a) Intention-to-

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

buy scales are used to assess the likelihood of a consumer purchasing a

product or behaving in a certain way.

2. Multi-attribute Model:
The multi-attribute attitude model state that a consumer's attitude towards an attitude object
(product/service offering, brand, elements of the marketing mix) is a function of a
consumer's perception and belief of the key attributes as well as his assessment of the
key attributes.

The Multi Attribute Model breaks down the consumer's overall attitude and behavior
into smaller components. These components could be perceived benefits, functions, product
features, etc., and are collectively known as Product Attributes.

Multi-attribute attitude models (i.e., attitude-toward-object, attitude-toward-behavior, and the

theory-of-reasoned-action models) have received much attention from consumer researchers.
As a group, these models examine consumer beliefs about specific-product attributes (e.g.,
product or brand features or benefits).

1. Multi-attribute attitude models portray consumers’ attitudes with regard to an attitude

object as a function of consumers’ perception and assessment of the key attributes or beliefs
held with regard to the particular attitude object.

2. There are many variations of the attitude model, three to consider are: attitude-toward-
object model, attitude-toward-behavior model, and the theory-of-reasoned-action model.

3. The attitude-toward-object model is especially suited for measuring attitudes toward a

product category or specific brands.

4. According to the attitude-toward-object model, the consumer’s attitude toward a product

or specific brands of a product is a function of the presence (or absence) and evaluation of
certain product-specific beliefs and/or attributes.

5. Consumers generally have a favourable attitude toward those brands they believe have an
adequate level of attributes that they evaluate as positive, and they have unfavourable
attitudes toward those brands they feel do not have an adequate level of desired attributes or
have too many negative or undesired attributes.

PROF. V. B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

AMROLI, SURAT

COURSE: B.B.A
YEAR: [Link] (SEM –VI)
SUBJECT: ConsumerBehaviour
Faculty: Dr. Sudhadhara Samal

UNIT 4: Social class and culture (20%)

 Meaning of social stratification and social class, Nature of Social class Influences,
Social class Characteristics, Social Influence on Consumer behaviour.
 Culture (Definitions and Meanings) – Traditional and Changing Indian Values, Sub
Culture, Cross Cultural Marketing Analysis.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 1

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

4.1 Meaning of Social Stratification and Social Class

 Meaning of social stratification

Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based
on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation,
social status, or derived power (social and political). As such, stratification is the relative
social position of persons within a social group, category, geography region, or social unit.

In modern Western societies, social stratification is typically defined in terms of three social
classes: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class; in turn, each class can be
subdivided into the upper-stratum, the middle-stratum, and the lower stratum. Moreover, a
social stratum can be formed upon the bases of kinship, clan, tribe, or caste, or all four.

The categorization of people by social stratum occurs most clearly in complex state-
based, polycentric, or feudal societies, the latter being based upon socio-economic relations
among classes of nobility and classes of peasants. Historically, whether or not hunter-
gatherer, tribal, and band societies can be defined as socially stratified, or if social
stratification otherwise began with agriculture and large-scale means of social exchange,
remains a debated matter in the social sciences. Determining the structures of social
stratification arises from inequalities of status among persons; therefore, the degree of social
inequality determines a person's social stratum. Generally, the greater the social
complexity of a society, the more social stratification exists, by way of social differentiation.

 Meaning of social class

A social class is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centred on models
of social stratification which occur in a class society, in which people are grouped into a set
of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes.
Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation,
income, and belonging to a particular subculture or social network.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 2

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

4.2 Nature of Social Class Influences

1. Class is an economic group:

Although a social class is mostly determined on the basis of the location of the production
and distribution of social wealth, they are not mere economic groups or divisions. It also
includes both the subjective and objective criteria such as, class consciousness, class
solidarity and wealth, property, income, education and occupation. Marx considered class on
the economic basis.

2. Class is also a status group:

Class is also related to status dimension. The consideration of the class as a status group is
applied to a society which has many strata. Status groups are composed of persons having the
same life style and receiving about the same social honour from others. Therefore, the status
consciousness separates the individuals both physically and psychologically.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 3

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

3. An achieved pattern:
Status is achieved in a class system and not ascribed. As such, birth is not the basis of
acquisition of one‟s status and one‟s status is not fixed throughout his life. One may improve
his status if he acquires capability and talent necessary for that. On the other hand, one may
also lose his status, if he fails to maintain his ability and talent.

4. The class system is ubiquitous:

As a universal phenomenon class system is prevalent in all the modern and complex social
systems. However, small, simple and primitive societies are mostly free from such a pattern
of stratification.

5. Feeling of class-consciousness:
Feeling of class consciousness is experienced among the members of a particular class at
three levels. First, the members feel a sense of equality within their own class. Secondly, the
feeling of inferiority inheres in the minds of those who occupy the lower status in the socio-
economic hierarchy. Thirdly, the members of a class experience the feeling of superiority in
relation to those who are placed in the lower range in the hierarchy. Such feelings cause class
consciousness and finally result in strengthen the basis of class.

6. Prestige dimension:
Wealth, income, education and occupation are some of the basic determinants of class. As it
is an open system, anyone who satisfies the basic criteria can become its member. Therefore
persons belonging to a particular class develop status consciousness and this is reflected
through the status symbols of different class groups. The status symbols of the upper classes
are considered prestigious, whereas the status symbols of the middle classes are considered
less prestigious.

7. Relatively stable group:

A class is characterised by an element of stability, unlike a crowd or mob of course, social
mobility is possible due to the openness of the system, nevertheless it cannot be interpreted as
transitory. Under certain extraordinary situations the class is subject to rapid transformation.
Such circumstances include crises in the social, economic and political spheres, revolutions,
movements, wars etc.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 4

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

8. Open to social mobility:

An open system of stratification is characterised by vertical mobility pattern in which upward
and downward movements of individuals in the social hierarchy are possible. This is not to
say that there is no resistance at all, but the resistance is mild and not as severe as found in
the caste system.

9. Varieties of life styles:

A particular social class is marked off from the other classes by its „life styles‟ which
comprises the mode of living such as, the dress pattern, the type of house and the social
environment, where the members live, the leisure time activities, the mode of consumption,
the pattern of relationship between the spouses and their off-springs, the exposure to media,
the circle of friendship, the mode of conveyance and communication, ways of behaving etc.
All these make differences between different classes and exhibit the class- values and caste
preferences.

4.3 Social class characteristics

Social class is the segment of a society arrived at by a hierarchical classification of

individuals and families with a distinct status. The members of each class have relatively the
same status. The status denotes the aggregate effect of the members of a class. Analysis of the
characteristics of the social class will help the marketer to understand its consumption
pattern. The important characteristics of the social class are explained below:

1. The members of each class have relatively the same status

A social class is defined by the amount of status, which the members of that class have in
comparison with members of other social classes. The members in a particular social class
have relatively the same status. An individual or family achieves social class by acquisition
of skills, education, wealth and recognition. The status of the member reflects the aggregate
effect of influence and recognition conferred on them by the society. This in turn is either
more or less than the status of other classes.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 5

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

2. Persons within a given class tend to behave alike

Social classes are homogeneous divisions of the society. Each social class shows similar life-
styles, values, status, prestige and interests. So, the behavior pattern of the members becomes
similar. There are also shared attitudes and behavioural pattern among members. So, the
behavioural pattern differs among social classes. For example, a person belonging to middle
class prefers economically priced cars. But upper income group will prefer highly priced cars.
Thus, social classes exhibit varying buying pattern in purchase of products that meets the life-
style, status and prestige of their members.

3. Social class is hierarchical

Social class is determined by a hierarchical classification of individuals and families with a
distinct status. Families can climb the social ladder by achievement of members. When each
generation within a family tends to do better, there is an upward mobility in the social ladder.
When young adults have less disposable income than their successful parents, they may slide
down in the class hierarchy. The hierarchical aspect of social class is important to marketers.
Consumers may prefer to purchase products favored by their own or higher social class (e.g.
imported luxury automobiles). Consumers may avoid certain products because they perceive
the products to be lower class products.

4. Social class is measured by a combination of variables

Researchers use a combination of variables to measure social class. A number
of socioeconomic factors are combined to form one over all members of social class standing.
They better reflect the complexity of social class than a single variable. For example, to know
the consumer perceptions of mail and phone order shopping, the socioeconomic status was
studied by using a composite of income occupational status and education. It reveals that
higher the socioeconomic status, the more positive are the consumers ratings of mail and
phone order buying, relative to in-store shopping.

5. Social class is mobile

Social class membership is not hard and fixed. Individuals can move either up or down in
social class standing. The availability of free education and opportunities for self-
development prompts success in business and in life. Successful persons move up to the

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 6

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

higher class. Today, many young men and women start their own business to have higher
social status. Higher social classes become reference groups for ambitious men and women of
lower social status. Signs of upward mobility are found in India. For instance, plastic surgery
was once affordable only for movie stars and other wealthy people. Today, consumers of all
economic strata undergo cosmetic surgery.

6. Social class and status differentiation

Researchers measure social class in terms of social status. They define each social class by
the amount of status of the members of that class. It is also known as “Social stratification“.
Social stratification has resulted in differentiated roles. For example, a person with higher
status owns a car. A middle class status person owns a two-wheeler. A person with lower
status owns a bicycle. This is the symbolic identification of role and status based on social
classification.

4.4 Social Influence on consumer Behaviour

Consumer behavior is influenced by many different factors. A marketer should try to

understand the factors that influence consumer behavior. Here are 5 major factors that
influence consumer behavior

1. Psychological Factors
Human psychology is a major determinant of consumer behavior. These factors are difficult
to measure but are powerful enough to influence a buying decision.
Some of the important psychological factors are:

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 7

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

i. Motivation
When a person is motivated enough, it influences the buying behaviour of the person. A
person has many needs such as the social needs, basic needs, security needs, esteem needs
and self-actualization needs. Out of all these needs, the basic needs and security needs take a
position above all other needs. Hence basic needs and security needs have the power to
motivate a consumer to buy products and services.

ii. Perception
Consumer perception is a major factor that influences consumer behavior. Customer
perception is a process where a customer collects information about a product and interprets
the information to make a meaningful image about a particular product.

When a customer sees advertisements, promotions, customer reviews social media feedback,
etc. relating to a product, they develop an impression about the product. Hence consumer
perception becomes a great influence on the buying decision of consumers.

iii. Learning
When a person buys a product, he/she gets to learn something more about the product.
Learning comes over a period of time through experience. A consumer‟s learning depends on
skills and knowledge. While a skill can be gained through practice, knowledge can be
acquired only through experience.

Learning can be either conditional or cognitive. In conditional learning the consumer is

exposed to a situation repeatedly, thereby making a consumer to develop a response towards

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 8

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

it. Whereas in cognitive learning, the consumer will apply his knowledge and skills to find
satisfaction and a solution from the product that he buys.

iv. Attitudes and Beliefs

Consumers have certain attitude and beliefs which influence the buying decisions of a
consumer. Based on this attitude, the consumer behaves in a particular way towards a
product. This attitude plays a significant role in defining the brand image of a product. Hence,
the marketers try hard to understand the attitude of a consumer to design their marketing
campaigns.
2. Social Factors
Humans are social beings and they live around many people who influence their buying
behavior. Human try to imitate other humans and also wish to be socially accepted in the
society. Hence their buying behavior is influenced by other people around them. These
factors are considered as social factors. Some of the social factors are:

i. Family
Family plays a significant role in shaping the buying behavior of a person. A person develops
preferences from his childhood by watching family buy products and continues to buy the
same products even when they grow up.

ii. Reference Groups

Reference group is a group of people with whom a person associates himself. Generally, all
the people in the reference group have common buying behavior and influence each other.

iii. Roles and status

A person is influenced by the role that he holds in the society. If a person is in a high
position, his buying behavior will be influenced largely by his status. A person who is a Chief
Executive Officer in a company will buy according to his status while a staff or an employee
of the same company will have different buying pattern.

3. Cultural factors
A group of people are associated with a set of values and ideologies that belong to a
particular community. When a person comes from a particular community, his/her behavior is

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 9

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

highly influenced by the culture relating to that particular community. Some of the cultural
factors are:

i. Culture
Cultural Factors have strong influence on consumer buyer behavior. Cultural Factors include
the basic values, needs, wants, preferences, perceptions, and behaviours that are observed and
learned by a consumer from their near family members and other important people around
them.

ii. Subculture
Within a cultural group, there exists many subcultures. These subcultural groups share the
same set of beliefs and values. Subcultures can consist of people from different religion,
caste, geographies and nationalities. These subcultures by itself form a customer segment.

iii. Social Class

Each and every society across the globe has form of social class. The social class is not just
determined by the income, but also other factors such as the occupation, family background,
education and residence location. Social class is important to predict the consumer behavior.

4. Personal Factors
Factors that are personal to the consumers influence their buying behavior. These personal
factors differ from person to person, thereby producing different perceptions and consumer
behavior.
Some of the personal factors are:

i. Age
Age is a major factor that influences buying behavior. The buying choices of youth differ
from that of middle-aged people. Elderly people have a totally different buying behavior.
Teenagers will be more interested in buying colourful clothes and beauty products. Middle-
aged are focused on house, property and vehicle for the family.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 10

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

ii. Income
Income has the ability to influence the buying behavior of a person. Higher income gives
higher purchasing power to consumers. When a consumer has higher disposable income, it
gives more opportunity for the consumer to spend on luxurious products. Whereas low-
income or middle-income group consumers spend most of their income on basic needs such
as groceries and clothes.

iii. Occupation
Occupation of a consumer influences the buying behavior. A person tends to buy things that
are appropriate to this/her profession. For example, a doctor would buy clothes according to
this profession while a professor will have different buying pattern.
iv. Lifestyle
Lifestyle is an attitude, and a way in which an individual stay in the society. The buying
behaviour is highly influenced by the lifestyle of a consumer. For example when a consumer
leads a healthy lifestyle, then the products he buys will relate to healthy alternatives to junk
food.

5. Economic Factors
The consumer buying habits and decisions greatly depend on the economic situation of a
country or a market. When a nation is prosperous, the economy is strong, which leads to the
greater money supply in the market and higher purchasing power for consumers. When
consumers experience a positive economic environment, they are more confident to spend on
buying products.
Whereas, a weak economy reflects a struggling market that is impacted by unemployment
and lower purchasing power.
Economic factors bear a significant influence on the buying decision of a consumer. Some of
the important economic factors are:

i. Personal Income
When a person has a higher disposable income, the purchasing power increases
simultaneously. Disposable income refers to the money that is left after spending towards the
basic needs of a person.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 11

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

When there is an increase in disposable income, it leads to higher expenditure on various

items. But when the disposable income reduces, parallelly the spending on multiple items
also reduced.

ii. Family Income

Family income is the total income from all the members of a family. When more people are
earning in the family, there is more income available for shopping basic needs and luxuries.
Higher family income influences the people in the family to buy more. When there is a
surplus income available for the family, the tendency is to buy more luxury items which
otherwise a person might not have been able to buy.

iii. Consumer Credit

When a consumer is offered easy credit to purchase goods, it promotes higher spending.
Sellers are making it easy for the consumers to avail credit in the form of credit cards, easy
installments, bank loans, hire purchase, and many such other credit options. When there is
higher credit available to consumers, the purchase of comfort and luxury items increases.

iv. Liquid Assets

Consumers who have liquid assets tend to spend more on comfort and luxuries. Liquid assets
are those assets, which can be converted into cash very easily. Cash in hand, bank savings
and securities are some examples of liquid assets. When a consumer has higher liquid assets,
it gives him more confidence to buy luxury goods.

v. Savings
A consumer is highly influenced by the amount of savings he/she wishes to set aside from his
income. If a consumer decided to save more, then his expenditure on buying reduces.
Whereas if a consumer is interested in saving more, then most of his income will go towards
buying products.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 12

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

4.5 Culture

4.5.1 Meaning of culture

Culture is the sum of learned beliefs, values, and customs that regulate the behaviour of
members of a particular society. Through our culture, we are taught how to adjust to the
environmental, biological, psychological, and historical parts of our environment. Beliefs and
values are guides of behaviour, and customs are acceptable ways of behaving. A belief is an
opinion that reflects a person‟s particular knowledge and assessment of (“I believe that …”).
Values are general statements that guide behaviour and influence beliefs and attitudes
(“Honesty is the best policy”). A value system helps people choose between alternatives in
everyday life. Customs are overt modes of behaviour that constitute culturally approved ways
of behaving in specific situations. Customs vary among countries, regions, and even families.

4.5.2 Definition of Culture

Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a
population those are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called "the
way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language,
religion, rituals, and art.

Edward B Tylor: culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society.

4.6 Traditional and Changing Indian Values

What are the traditional Indian values?

India is known for the moral ethos of its people. Indian beliefs have been associated
with compassion and respect for nature and its creations since ages. The religious beliefs of
Jain, Vedic and Buddhist traditions in India established the principles of ecological harmony
centuries ago.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 13

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

What are traditional culture values?

Cultural values are the core principles and ideals upon which an entire community exists.
This is made up of several parts: customs, which are traditions and rituals; values, which are
beliefs; and culture, which is all of a group's guiding values.

What are the changes in Indian culture?

Things are changing. Girls are also getting opportunities for their better education and
lifestyle, same as the boys. Old traditions and wooden customs are changing. These changes
are the seeds for the better society where girls and women have the same right as the boys
and men have.

Why are traditional values important?

Traditions represent a critical piece of our culture. They help form the structure and
foundation of our families and our [Link] reinforces values such as freedom, faith,
integrity, a good education, personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and the value of
being selfless.

 CHANGING VALUES
We all know that Change is the law of nature. This law is governing almost everything in this
universe and so as the Indian Culture. Over Centuries Indian Culture has influenced by a lot
of changes and many of them has incorporated in this culture remaining the other features
intact. These Changes are more or less like two faces of a coin. Some changes are beneficial
for our society and culture, and some others are dangerous. In other words these changes
have both Positive and Negative aspects.

Changes In Indian Culture that are Positive for Indian Society

A few Centuries ago “Sati pratha” was abolished and “widow remarriage” was approved.
These Changes were the major achievements of Indian Society. These changes have removed
the traditions and methodologies which was a curse to all the women and humanity. These
Changes were the major revolution in the Indian Society. From that time, changes have
influenced a lot to the Indian Society. Now days, there are many visible changes in our
society. Some of them are:-

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 14

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

 Today peoples of our country are moving to other parts of the world for higher
education and learning better technology. Now a girl of our country is no more
restricted to home, and a woman to a housewife. Things are changing. Girls are also
getting opportunities for their better education and lifestyle, same as the boys. Old
traditions and wooden customs are changing. These changes are the seeds for the
better society where girls and women have the same right as the boys and men have.
These changes are empowering our girls and women.

 In case of marriage the changes are visible. Now a days younger generation chooses
their life partner themselves. Traditionally their parents used to find a marriage
partner for them. Today if their parents choose a life partner for them then they allow
their young ones to spend time with their life partner to understand each other and
then perform the marriage ceremony. By doing this they gave their children a better
chance to have a better future. So now a days young generation have freedom of
choice in contrast with the old culture of Indian society where parents were solely
responsible for choosing life partner for their children.

A major change that can be sensed in Indian Culture is the change in Indian Cinema. We all
know that cinema is the mirror of our society. It clearly reflects the culture and
methodologies of our society. Few decades ago Indian cinema was only meant for
entertainment. At that time films were of conservative type. But today film makers are
moving to the various social issues and giving the Indian cinema a touch of perfection. Films
displaying the critical and major issues like terrorism and bogus CBI has already produced.
These films teach a lesson to society regarding these issues and its consequences. Also the
films promoting art and music have produced over a few years. Such types of films also
encourage new talents and provide new opportunities.

Negative Aspects of Changes In Indian Culture

As stated earlier that “every coin has two face”. So if there are some positives, negatives also
lie within. The changes in Indian Culture are also giving some negative consequences. Some
of them are discussed below:-
With growing technology competition in the market is also rising. People are spending their
lots of time in office and at workplace. Consequently they have not much time to spend with

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 15

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

their family especially with their children. So now days parents have a less time to care for
their children in contrast with the old age, where an immense care was given to a child by his
family members. So the present generation of children are very much unaware of our Indian
Culture. No one is there to make them understand about this. At present this is not a major
issue but in future it will be of great concern. No one of us will ever want that our future
generation will remain unaware from our Indian Culture.

4.7 SUB-CULTURE:

4.7.1 MEANING OF SUB-CULTURE:

While culture is defined as the “personality of a society”, (inclusive of language, customs and
traditions, norms and laws, religion, art and music, etc), it is not entirely homogenous in
nature. Not all people within a social system share the same language, religion, customs and
traditions. Every society is composed of smaller sub-units, homogenous within, and
heterogeneous outside, all of which when put together make a complex society. Such sub-
units or sub-groups are known as sub-cultures; people within sub-cultures possess distinctive
sets of values, beliefs, customs and traditions etc. The members of a subculture possess such
values and beliefs, as also customs and traditions that set them apart from people belonging to
other sub-cultures.

For example, while we are all Indians, and our culture is Indian (with a common national
language, Hindi, and common festivals like Diwali), North Indians are different from South
Indians. While North Indians, celebrate Lohri, as a harvest festival in January, the South
Indians celebrate Pongal as their harvest festival at the same time. In other words, people
within smaller units share the same language, religion, customs and traditions; and, this
would be different in smaller or larger magnitude to people in other sub-units.

A single culture can be broken up into various consumer subcultures. A subculture can be
defined as a culture that is not dominant in its society. As consumers from various
subcultures, we are different to each other. We have varying values and beliefs, customs and
traditions, etc. These get reflected in our perspectives and orientations that influence our

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 16

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

purchase patterns and consumption behaviour. That is why a study of sub-culture becomes
important for a marketer.

4.7.2 TYPES OF SUB-CULTURE:

Based on the varying criteria, there can be different types of sub-cultures. The important
subcultural categories are nationality, geographical location, religion, race and caste, gender
and age. From a marketing perspective, these could also be discussed as market segments,
which need to be studied and assessed carefully before deciding on a product/service offering
and formulating a marketing mix for a particular segment(s).

 Nationality: Sub-cultures could be based on nationality. While we are all Asians, we

are distinct with respect to culture, and are different in terms of language, customs and
traditions etc. Thus, we are classified as Indians, Burmese, Nepalese, and Pakistani
etc.

 Geographical location: Within a country, we could be different across geography,

climatic conditions, regions and terrains, and density of population. This is more so in
cases where the country is large and borders spread across a huge population
occupying a vast territory. People tend to develop regional affinity and identification,
and this gets reflected in the food they eat, clothes they wear, interests they pursue,
etc. They constitute as distinct sub-cultures and people across such sub-cultures are
different to each other. For example, we can be classified as North Indians and South
Indians. As consumers, our needs are different and would translate into various wants,
for example, i) differences in food habits, and demand for poori-sabji, paratha, idli-
vada etc.; or ii) differences in clothing, and demand for cottons, woolens and silk.

 Religion: People also exhibit differences when it comes to the religions that they
belong to. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis etc. are all different from one
another and have different values and beliefs, customs and traditions etc. As
consumers, they make purchase choices and purchase decisions that are influenced by
the dictates of their religious leaders, scriptures, and holy books. In fact, many
products/services are symbolically and ritualistically associated with religion. For

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 17

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

example, as per Islam, non-vegetarian food must be “Halal”, and this itself comprises
a huge segment that marketers across national boundaries are catering to.

 Race and caste: Culture and its components also vary across race and caste. Jats,
Jaats, Rajputs, Pathans and Yadavs are all different from one another. Such racial sub-
cultures also impact buying behavior and consumption patterns.

 Gender: Because gender roles have an impact on acts of behavior, gender constitutes
an important cultural sub-group. Males and females across all cultures are assigned
different traits and characteristics that make them masculine and feminine. They also
perform different roles in society and are two distinct sub-groups. It is true that gender
roles have got blurred, and both men and women are performing such roles that they
did not perform earlier. Product usage is common to both man and woman; for
example, a man shown as using a LG washing machine or making Act II popcorn.
Similarly products like shavers and razors exclusive to usage by men, are also being
used by women (Gillette thus introduced a razor for women). All this has brought
about a big socio-economic change and led to cultural transformation. The values
espoused by the generation of today is much different to the one espoused by the
previous generation.

The pace of change has been further accelerated with households no longer being
single income households, but turned to dual-income households. The role of women
is no longer restricted to bearing children and managing the home. Women have
started working outside, and are contributing to household income. This has impacted
consumer needs and wants as also the priorities. The impact is evinced on
consumption behavior, where the „decider‟ role is no longer confined to a single
person, i.e. the man of the family. Today buying decisions are jointly taken by
husband and wife.

 Age: Infants, kids, teenagers and adolescents, adults and the aged, may all be looked
up as distinct sub-groups. They have different values and beliefs, and all this impacts
upon their priorities in life. Daily lifestyles, activities and interests, fashion and
accessories, food and diet, etc. receive varying priorities across the various sub-

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 18

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

groups. For example, an aged person would prioritize health and go in for nutritious
home food as opposed to young man who would prioritize work and go in for fast
food. Today we see a rising trend amongst kids, adolescents and the young towards
junk food, and they constitute a lucrative segment for restaurants providing fast food.

4.8 Cross Culture Marketing Analysis

Cross-cultural marketing is the strategic process of marketing among consumers whose
culture is different from that of the marketer's own culture. Examples of the fundamental
cultural aspects to be considered include: social norms, values, language, education, religion,
economic systems, business etiquette, laws, and style of living. Typically, cross-cultural
marketing takes advantage of the ethnic groups' different cultural norms to communicate to
and persuade that audience.

 Objectives of Cross cultural marketing

The marketer should determine his international marketing objectives while entering the
cross cultural marketing. Various options are available to an international marketer. The firm
can act as a domestic exporter, or a foreign importer. It may also solicit another firm to sell
abroad.

Better opportunities available in the foreign market and the over capacity of the firm
operating only in the domestic market motivate the firm to go abroad. The firm will work out
the following objectives:

1. To determine how consumers in two or more societies are similar and devise suitable
strategy.
[Link] formulate marketing strategy if cultural beliefs, values and customs of a specific country
are different.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 19

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

 Area of Research for Cross Cultural Analysis

In cross cultural analysis, the firm has to do research in the following areas:

1. Language;
2. Differences in market segmentation;
3. Differences in criteria for evaluating products and services;
4. Differences in consumption pattern of consumers and perceived benefits of products
and services.
5. Differences in economic and cultural, social condition and family structure.

1. Language Differences
Language is the most important aspect of culture. Understanding a country‟s mother tongue
will be of immense help to the marketer to know the impact of culture on consumer behavior.
The marketer should study the nuances of cultural variances and respond in such a way which
a consumer easily understands.

2. Differences in market segmentation opportunities

The company‟s product may be superior in terms of quality, cost service, technology clout
and brand equity in the domestic market. But this will benefit the company only when it
suitably segments the market with the help of overseas research.
For example, in India, readymade garments are manufactured at lower cost. This gives
competitive advantage in the global market. Research is undertaken in foreign market to
study the potentiality for exporting ready-made garments from India. Proper market
segmentation is essential for developing the products.

3. Differences in the criteria for evaluating products and services

India has tremendous opportunities in the field of textile and ready-made garments. This is
due to availability of cheap labour and quality natural fabrics at reduced prices. Consumers
are very particular about quality assurance while buying products. So, the exporting company
should understand the “Perceived quality” in the consumer market.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 20

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

Variances do occur in consumer perception. Only research can reveal the differences in
criteria for evaluating product and services; this aspect cannot be ignored by the marketer for
cross cultural marketing.

4. Differences in consumption pattern and perceived benefits of products and services

Leather and leather products are an important item of export being exported by India. India
has a competitive advantage in leather products. The livestock population in India is the
largest in the world. So, best quality raw hides and skins are available for manufacturing
leather products.
Availability of cheap skilled manpower is an added advantage for leather units operating in
the country. South Korea and Taiwan were compelled to go slow on production due to
escalating costs in production. So, India has gained a competitive advantage against its
competitors in leather products.

Products like footwear, belts, bags and wallets are considered as an inseparable part of
everyday life for all of us. So, the demand for leather products is ever increasing all over the
world. Global customers have perceived values and added benefits from buying Indian
leather products. Marketing research can identify suitable strategies for improving the
position in marketing leather products.

5. Differences in the economic and cultural social conditions and family structure
Consumption pattern is not uniform among all countries. Differences occur due to
subcultures centered on consumer preferences. Food habits, clothing styles etc., are part of
the belief structure and cultural taboos. Professor [Link] Warner of the University of
Chicago has divided the United States society into six groups:

i. Upper class;
ii. Lower upper;
iii. Upper middle;
iv. Lower middle;
v. Upper lower and
vi. Lower-lower.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 21

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

1. Upper-Class: Constitutes only a small percentage of population. It consists of prominent

families with wealth inherited through two or more generations.
2. Lower-upper: Accounts for only two percent of the population. These families are
wealthy. The first generation parents in lower-upper class give prominence to the education
of their children.
3. Upper-middle: Includes about ten percent of the population. These families earn income
from a variety of sources and consist mainly of professionals like successful business
managers, lawyers, doctors, etc. They have a very strong desire for professional success and
recognition in the upper middle class. They give importance to clothing, home decor etc., as
signs of social recognition.
4. Lower-middle: About one-third of the families in the society belong to lower level
supervisors, non-managerial white collar workers, owners of small business, clerks, etc. They
desire respectability, living in respectable neighbourhoods, and send their wards to colleges.
They avoid lower class living.
5. Upper-lower: The upper-lower class is perhaps the largest one in the society. It constitutes
about 40% of the population. The families in the upper-lower class are similar to those of
lower middle class. Their main form of income is not salary but wages. This class is
popularly known as working class and includes skilled, semi-skilled and manual laborers,
construction, workers etc. This class does not spend its income striving for middle class
respectability.
6. Lower-lower: About 15% of the population belongs to lower-lower class. The income of
the members in the lower-lower class is the lowest. They are often unemployed. Even those
who are employed are unskilled and usually uneducated as day laborers. The above social
classes have relevance to United States and they are based on occupation, source of income,
house type and neighbourhood.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 22

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

AMROLI, SURAT

COURSE: B.B.A
YEAR: [Link] (SEM –VI)
SUBJECT: Consumer Buying Behaviour
Faculty: Dr. Sudhadhara Samal

UNIT 4: Social class and culture (20%)

• Meaning of social stratification and social class, Nature of Social class Influences,
Social class Characteristics, Social Influence on Consumer behaviour.
• Culture (Definitions and Meanings) – Traditional and Changing Indian Values, Sub
Culture, Cross Cultural Marketing analysis.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 1

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

4.1 Meaning of Social Stratification and Social Class

• Meaning of social stratification

Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based
on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation,
social status, or derived power (social and political). As such, stratification is the relative social
position of persons within a social group, category, geography region, or social unit.

In modern Western societies, social stratification is typically defined in terms of three social
classes: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class; in turn, each class can be
subdivided into the upper-stratum, the middle-stratum, and the lower stratum. Moreover, a
social stratum can be formed upon the bases of kinship, clan, tribe, or caste, or all four.

The categorization of people by social stratum occurs most clearly in complex state-
based, polycentric, or feudal societies, the latter being based upon socio-economic relations
among classes of nobility and classes of peasants. Historically, whether or not hunter-
gatherer, tribal, and band societies can be defined as socially stratified, or if social stratification
otherwise began with agriculture and large-scale means of social exchange, remains a debated
matter in the social sciences. Determining the structures of social stratification arises from
inequalities of status among persons, therefore, the degree of social inequality determines a
person's social stratum. Generally, the greater the social complexity of a society, the more
social stratification exists, by way of social differentiation.

• Meaning of social class

A social class is a set of concepts in the social sciences and political theory centered on models
of social stratification which occur in a class society, in which people are grouped into a set
of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes.
Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation,
income, and belonging to a particular subculture or social network.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 2

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

4.2 Nature of Social Class Influences

1. Class is an economic group:

Although a social class is mostly determined on the basis of the location of the production and
distribution of social wealth, they are not mere economic groups or divisions. It also includes
both the subjective and objective criteria such as, class consciousness, class solidarity and
wealth, property, income, education and occupation. Marx considered class on the economic
basis.

2. Class is also a status group:

Class is also related to status dimension. The consideration of the class as a status group is
applied to a society which has many strata. Status groups are composed of persons having the
same life style and receiving about the same social honour from others. Therefore, the status
consciousness separates the individuals both physically and psychologically.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 3

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

3. An achieved pattern:
Status is achieved in a class system and not ascribed. As such, birth is not the basis of
acquisition of one’s status and one’s status is not fixed throughout his life. One may improve
his status if he acquires capability and talent necessary for that. On the other hand, one may
also lose his status, if he fails to maintain his ability and talent.

4. The class system is ubiquitous:

As a universal phenomenon class system is prevalent in all the modern and complex social
systems. However, small, simple and primitive societies are mostly free from such a pattern of
stratification.

5. Feeling of class-consciousness:
Feeling of class consciousness is experienced among the members of a particular class at three
levels. First, the members feel a sense of equality within their own class. Secondly, the feeling
of inferiority inheres in the minds of those who occupy the lower status in the socio-economic
hierarchy. Thirdly, the members of a class experience the feeling of superiority in relation to
those who are placed in the lower range in the hierarchy. Such feelings cause class
consciousness and finally result in strengthen the basis of class.

6. Prestige dimension:
Wealth, income, education and occupation are some of the basic determinants of class. As it is
an open system, anyone who satisfies the basic criteria can become its member. Therefore
persons belonging to a particular class develop status consciousness and this is reflected
through the status symbols of different class groups. The status symbols of the upper classes
are considered prestigious, whereas the status symbols of the middle classes are considered less
prestigious.

7. Relatively stable group:

A class is characterised by an element of stability, unlike a crowd or mob of course, social
mobility is possible due to the openness of the system, nevertheless it cannot be interpreted as
transitory. Under certain extraordinary situations the class is subject to rapid transformation.
Such circumstances include crises in the social, economic and political spheres, revolutions,
movements, wars etc.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 4

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

8. Open to social mobility:

An open system of stratification is characterised by vertical mobility pattern in which upward
and downward movements of individuals in the social hierarchy are possible. This is not to say
that there is no resistance at all, but the resistance is mild and not so severe as found in the caste
system.

9. Varieties of life styles:

A particular social class is marked off from the other classes by its ‘life styles’ which comprises
the mode of living such as, the dress pattern, the type of house and the social environment,
where the members live, the leisure time activities, the mode of consumption, the pattern of
relationship between the spouses and their off-springs, the exposure to media, the circle of
friendship, the mode of conveyance and communication, ways of behaving etc. All these make
differences between different classes and exhibit the class- values and caste preferences.

4.3 Social class characteristics

Social class is the segment of a society arrived at by a hierarchical classification of

individuals and families with a distinct status. The members of each class have relatively the
same status. The status denotes the aggregate effect of the members of a class. Analysis of the
characteristics of the social class will help the marketer to understand its consumption pattern.
The important characteristics of the social class are explained below:

1. The members of each class have relatively the same status

A social class is defined by the amount of status, which the members of that class have in
comparison with members of other social classes. The members in a particular social class have
relatively the same status. An individual or family achieves social class by acquisition of skills,
education, wealth and recognition. The status of the member reflects the aggregate effect of
influence and recognition conferred on them by the society. This in turn is either more or less
than the status of other classes.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 5

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

2. Persons within a given class tend to behave alike

Social classes are homogeneous divisions of the society. Each social class shows similar life-
styles, values, status, prestige and interests. So, the behavior pattern of the members become
similar. There are also shared attitudes and behavioral pattern among members. So, the
behavioral pattern differs among social classes. For example, a person belonging to middle
class prefers economically priced cars. But upper income group will prefer highly priced cars.
Thus, social classes exhibit varying buying pattern in purchase of products that meets the life-
style, status and prestige of their members.

3. Social class is hierarchical

Social class is determined by a hierarchical classification of individuals and families with a
distinct status. Families can climb the social ladder by achievement of members. When each
generation within a family tends to do better, there is an upward mobility in the social ladder.
When young adults have less disposable income than their successful parents, they may slide
down in the class hierarchy. The hierarchical aspect of social class is important to marketers.
Consumers may prefer to purchase products favored by their own or higher social class (e.g.
imported luxury automobiles). Consumers may avoid certain products because they perceive
the products to be lower class products.

4. Social class is measured by a combination of variables

Researchers use a combination of variables to measure social class. A number
of socioeconomic factors are combined to form one over all members of social class standing.
They better reflect the complexity of social class than a single variable. For example, to know
the consumer perceptions of mail and phone order shopping, the socioeconomic status was
studied by using a composite of income occupational status and education. It reveals that higher
the socioeconomic status, the more positive are the consumers ratings of mail and phone order
buying, relative to in-store shopping.

5. Social class is mobile

Social class membership is not hard and fixed. Individuals can move either up or down in social
class standing. The availability of free education and opportunities for self development
prompts success in business and in life. Successful persons move up to the higher class. Today,
many young men and women start their own business to have higher social status. Higher social

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 6

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

classes become reference groups for ambitious men and women of lower social status. Signs
of upward mobility are found in India. For instance, plastic surgery was once affordable only
for movie stars and other wealthy people. Today, consumers of all economic strata undergo
cosmetic surgery.

6. Social class and status differentiation

Researchers measure social class in terms of social status. They define each social class by the
amount of status of the members of that class. It is also known as “Social stratification“. Social
stratification has resulted in differentiated roles. For example, a person with higher status owns
a car. A middle class status person owns a two-wheeler. A person with lower status owns a
bicycle. This is the symbolic identification of role and status based on social classification.

4.4 Social Influence on consumer Behaviour

Consumer behavior is influenced by many different factors. A marketer should try to

understand the factors that influence consumer behavior. Here are 5 major factors that
influence consumer behavior

1. Psychological Factors
Human psychology is a major determinant of consumer behavior. These factors are difficult to
measure but are powerful enough to influence a buying decision.
Some of the important psychological factors are:

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 7

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

i. Motivation
When a person is motivated enough, it influences the buying behaviour of the person. A person
has many needs such as the social needs, basic needs, security needs, esteem needs and self-
actualization needs. Out of all these needs, the basic needs and security needs take a position
above all other needs. Hence basic needs and security needs have the power to motivate a
consumer to buy products and services.

ii. Perception
Consumer perception is a major factor that influences consumer behavior. Customer
perception is a process where a customer collects information about a product and interprets
the information to make a meaningful image about a particular product.

When a customer sees advertisements, promotions, customer reviews, social media feedback,
etc. relating to a product, they develop an impression about the product. Hence consumer
perception becomes a great influence on the buying decision of consumers.

iii. Learning
When a person buys a product, he/she gets to learn something more about the product. Learning
comes over a period of time through experience. A consumer’s learning depends on skills and
knowledge. While a skill can be gained through practice, knowledge can be acquired only
through experience.

Learning can be either conditional or cognitive. In conditional learning the consumer is

exposed to a situation repeatedly, thereby making a consumer to develop a response towards
it. Whereas in cognitive learning, the consumer will apply his knowledge and skills to find
satisfaction and a solution from the product that he buys.

iv. Attitudes and Beliefs

Consumers have certain attitude and beliefs which influence the buying decisions of a
consumer. Based on this attitude, the consumer behaves in a particular way towards a product.
This attitude plays a significant role in defining the brand image of a product. Hence, the
marketers try hard to understand the attitude of a consumer to design their marketing
campaigns.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 8

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

2. Social Factors
Humans are social beings and they live around many people who influence their buying
behavior. Human try to imitate other humans and also wish to be socially accepted in the
society. Hence their buying behavior is influenced by other people around them. These factors
are considered as social factors. Some of the social factors are:

i. Family
Family plays a significant role in shaping the buying behavior of a person. A person develops
preferences from his childhood by watching family buy products and continues to buy the same
products even when they grow up.

ii. Reference Groups

Reference group is a group of people with whom a person associates himself. Generally, all
the people in the reference group have common buying behavior and influence each other.

iii. Roles and status

A person is influenced by the role that he holds in the society. If a person is in a high position,
his buying behavior will be influenced largely by his status. A person who is a Chief Executive
Officer in a company will buy according to his status while a staff or an employee of the same
company will have different buying pattern.

3. Cultural factors
A group of people are associated with a set of values and ideologies that belong to a particular
community. When a person comes from a particular community, his/her behavior is highly
influenced by the culture relating to that particular community. Some of the cultural factors
are:

i. Culture
Cultural Factors have strong influence on consumer buyer behavior. Cultural Factors include
the basic values, needs, wants, preferences, perceptions, and behaviors that are observed and
learned by a consumer from their near family members and other important people around
them.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 9

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

ii. Subculture
Within a cultural group, there exists many subcultures. These subcultural groups share the same
set of beliefs and values. Subcultures can consist of people from different religion, caste,
geographies and nationalities. These subcultures by itself form a customer segment.

iii. Social Class

Each and every society across the globe has form of social class. The social class is not just
determined by the income, but also other factors such as the occupation, family background,
education and residence location. Social class is important to predict the consumer behavior.

4. Personal Factors
Factors that are personal to the consumers influence their buying behavior. These personal
factors differ from person to person, thereby producing different perceptions and consumer
behavior.
Some of the personal factors are:

i. Age
Age is a major factor that influences buying behavior. The buying choices of youth differ from
that of middle-aged people. Elderly people have a totally different buying behavior. Teenagers
will be more interested in buying colorful clothes and beauty products. Middle-aged are
focused on house, property and vehicle for the family.

ii. Income
Income has the ability to influence the buying behavior of a person. Higher income gives higher
purchasing power to consumers. When a consumer has higher disposable income, it gives more
opportunity for the consumer to spend on luxurious products. Whereas low-income or middle-
income group consumers spend most of their income on basic needs such as groceries and
clothes.

iii. Occupation
Occupation of a consumer influences the buying behavior. A person tends to buy things that
are appropriate to this/her profession. For example, a doctor would buy clothes according to
this profession while a professor will have different buying pattern.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 10

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

iv. Lifestyle
Lifestyle is an attitude, and a way in which an individual stay in the society. The buying
behavior is highly influenced by the lifestyle of a consumer. For example when a consumer
leads a healthy lifestyle, then the products he buys will relate to healthy alternatives to junk
food.

5. Economic Factors
The consumer buying habits and decisions greatly depend on the economic situation of a
country or a market. When a nation is prosperous, the economy is strong, which leads to the
greater money supply in the market and higher purchasing power for consumers. When
consumers experience a positive economic environment, they are more confident to spend on
buying products.
Whereas, a weak economy reflects a struggling market that is impacted by unemployment and
lower purchasing power.
Economic factors bear a significant influence on the buying decision of a consumer. Some of
the important economic factors are:

i. Personal Income
When a person has a higher disposable income, the purchasing power increases simultaneously.
Disposable income refers to the money that is left after spending towards the basic needs of a
person.
When there is an increase in disposable income, it leads to higher expenditure on various items.
But when the disposable income reduces, parallelly the spending on multiple items also
reduced.

ii. Family Income

Family income is the total income from all the members of a family. When more people are
earning in the family, there is more income available for shopping basic needs and luxuries.
Higher family income influences the people in the family to buy more. When there is a surplus
income available for the family, the tendency is to buy more luxury items which otherwise a
person might not have been able to buy.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 11

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

iii. Consumer Credit

When a consumer is offered easy credit to purchase goods, it promotes higher spending. Sellers
are making it easy for the consumers to avail credit in the form of credit cards, easy
installments, bank loans, hire purchase, and many such other credit options. When there is
higher credit available to consumers, the purchase of comfort and luxury items increases.

iv. Liquid Assets

Consumers who have liquid assets tend to spend more on comfort and luxuries. Liquid assets
are those assets, which can be converted into cash very easily. Cash in hand, bank savings and
securities are some examples of liquid assets. When a consumer has higher liquid assets, it
gives him more confidence to buy luxury goods.

v. Savings
A consumer is highly influenced by the amount of savings he/she wishes to set aside from his
income. If a consumer decided to save more, then his expenditure on buying reduces. Whereas
if a consumer is interested in saving more, then most of his income will go towards buying
products.

4.5 Culture

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 12

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

Sources:
4.1 [Link]
4.1 [Link]
4.2 [Link]
4.3 [Link]
4.4 [Link]

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMNT 13

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

PROF. [Link] INSITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,

AMROLI, SURAT

COURSE: B.B.A
YEAR: [Link] (SEM –VI)
SUBJECT: Consumer Buying Behaviour
Faculty: Dr. Sudhadhara Samal

UNIT 5: Diffusion of Innovation

• Diffusion of innovations:
o The diffusion process,
o The adoption process,
o A profile of the consumer innovator.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 1

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

5.1 Diffusion of Innovations Theory

➢ What Is the Diffusion of Innovations Theory?

The diffusion of innovations theory is a hypothesis outlining how new technological and other
advancements spread throughout societies and cultures, from introduction to widespread
adoption. The diffusion of innovations theory seeks to explain how and why new ideas and
practices are adopted, with timelines potentially spread out over long periods.

The way in which innovations are communicated to different parts of society and the subjective
opinions associated with the innovations are important factors in how quickly diffusion—or
spreading—occurs. Important to understand when developing market share, this theory is
frequently referred to in the marketing of new products.

➢ Understanding the Diffusion of Innovations Theory

The theory was developed by E.M. Rogers, a communication theorist at the University of New
Mexico, in 1962. Integrating previous sociological theories of behavioral change, it explains
the passage of an idea through stages of adoption by different actors. The main people in the
diffusion of innovations theory are:

• Innovators: People who are open to risks and the first to try new ideas.
• Early adopters: People who are interested in trying new technologies and establishing
their utility in society.
• Early majority: Those who pave the way for use of an innovation within mainstream
society and are part of the general population.
• Late majority: Another part of the general population—the set of people who follow
the early majority into adopting the innovation as part of their daily life.
• Laggards: People who lag the general population in adopting innovative products and
new ideas. This is primarily because they are risk-averse and set in their ways of doing
things. Eventually, the sweep of an innovation through mainstream society makes it
impossible for them to conduct their daily life (and work) without it. As a result, they
are forced to begin using it.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 2

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

Factors that affect the rate of innovation diffusion include the mix of rural to urban within a
society's population, the society's level of education, and the extent of industrialization and
development. Different societies are likely to have different adoption rates—the rate at which
members of a society accept a new innovation.

Adoption rates for different types of innovation vary. For example, a society may have adopted
the internet faster than it adopted the automobile due to cost, accessibility, and familiarity with
technological change.

5.2 The Diffusion Process

The diffusion of innovation is the process by which new products are adopted (or not) by their
intended audiences. It allows designers and marketers to examine why it is that some inferior
products are successful when some superior products are not.

Rogers’ draws on Ryan and Gross’s work to deliver a 5 stage process for the diffusion of
innovation.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 3

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

1. Knowledge
The first step in the diffusion of innovation is knowledge. This is the point at which the would-
be adopter is first exposed to the innovation itself. They do not have enough information to
make a decision to purchase on and have not yet been sufficiently inspired to find out more.

At this stage marketers will be looking to increase awareness of the product and provide enough
education that the prospective adopter moves to the second stage.

2. Persuasion
Persuasion is the point at which the prospective adopter is open to the idea of purchase. They
are actively seeking information which will inform their eventual decision.

This is the point at which marketers will be seeking to convey the benefits of the product in
detail. There will be a conscious effort to sell the product to someone at this stage of the
diffusion of innovation.

3. Decision
Eventually the would-be adopter must make a decision. They will weigh up the pros and cons
of adoption and either accept the innovation or reject it.

It is worth noting that this is the most opaque (S. Non-transparent) part of the process. Rogers
cites this as the most difficult phase on which to acquire intelligence. This is, at least in part,
due to the fact that people do not make rational decisions in many instances. They make a
decision based on their underlying perceptions and feelings and following the decision they
attempt to rationalize that decision. Thus, obtaining an understanding of the decision making
process is challenging – the reasons given following a decision are not likely to be
representative of the actual reasons that a decision was made.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 4

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

4. Implementation
Once a decision to adopt a product has been made the product will, in most cases, be used by
the purchaser. This stage is when the adopter makes a decision as to whether or not the product
is actually useful to them. They may also seek out further information to either support the use
of the product or to better understand the product in context. This phase is interesting because
it suggests that designers and marketers alike need to consider the ownership process in detail.

5. Confirmation
This is the point at which the user evaluates their decision and decides whether they will keep
using the product or abandon use of the product. This phase can only be ended by abandonment
of a product otherwise it is continual. (For example, you may buy a new car today – you are
highly likely to keep using the car for a number of years – eventually, however, you will
probably sell the car and buy a new one).

This phase will normally involve a personal examination of the product and also a social one
(the user will seek confirmation from their peers, colleagues, friends, etc.)

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 5

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

5.3 The Adoption Process:

Everett Rogers developed the innovation adoption model which is evolved from the work on
the diffusion of innovation in 1962. This model represents the stages a consumer passes through
in adopting a new product or services. According to experts, Rogers's model is appropriate
involving marketing of new products and adoption of most commercial services or practices in
developing countries. Like other models it says potential adopters must be moved through a
series of steps before taking actions. The following five stages are defined by Rogers.
(a) Awareness
(b) Interest
(c) Evaluation
(d) Trial
(f) Adoption

a. Awareness
This is the primary stage of Innovation Adoption Model. In the awareness stage of the model,
the consumer becomes aware of a brand or a product mostly through advertisements.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 6

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

b. Interest
This is the second phase of the Innovation-Adoption Model. This is a stage in which the
information about the brand or a product multiplies in the market and triggers the interest of
the potential buyers of the product to gain more knowledge and information about the product.
c. Evaluation
Evaluation is the third stage of the Innovation-Adoption Model that supplements the necessary
information regarding the product to the consumers. In this stage, the consumers evaluate and
try to gain a deeper understanding of the product that stimulated interest in them.
d. Trial
In this stage, the customers try the product before making the final choice to purchase the
product.
e. Adoption
Adoption is the final stage of the Innovation-Evaluation Model. In this stage, the customer
accepts the product, makes a purchase decision and finally purchases the product.
In the Innovation-Evaluation Model, the Awareness happens at the Cognitive Stage,
developing an interest and evaluation phases fall under the conviction phase, and the trial of
the product and the actual adoption fall in the Behavioral phase.

After achieving the level of awareness: it is necessary to develop interest. Thus is followed by
an evaluation stage in which it was thought that, word of mouth or interpersonal
communication not only can influence the buying decision, but can also help him moving the
prospect from the stage of interest to that of evaluation.
Finally, the trial occurs and adoption decision is precipitated. Just like when the challenge
facing company introducing new products is to create awareness and interest among consumers
and then get them to evaluate the, product favorably. The best way to evaluate a new product
is through actual use so that performance can be judged.
Marketers often encourage trial by using demonstration or sampling programmes or allowing
consumers to use a product with minimum commitment. After trial, consumers either adopt the
product or rejected.

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 7

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

5.4 The Profile of a Consumer Innovator

Not all people are receptive to innovative offerings. People vary in degree with respect to their
receptivity towards new product/service offerings. This has been dealt with in the section
above, where we have also discussed the categories of innovators. The marketer needs to have
an understanding on what constitutes an “innovator”, and what differentiates him from late
adopters or non-innovators, so that he can design his marketing mix, and more specifically the
promotion mix accordingly. The traits/qualities/ characteristics that differentiate an innovator
from a non-innovator, indicate that separate media and message strategy need to be formulated
for the two of them. For innovators, the marketer should focus on the print media with
informative and rational appeal. On the other hand, for the late adopters and the rest of them,
the marketer should focus on the audio-visual media with social and emotional appeals.

As mentioned above, innovators are those consumers’ who are the first to go and purchase a
new product or service offering; they comprise 2.5 percent of the target market(s) adopters,
and they purchase the new product and service offering not because they possess a need, but
because they desire new ideas and concepts, and seek product and service innovations. They
have the interest and inclination to buy the “new”; and also have the purchasing power and the
access to do so. They possess the following traits/qualities/ characteristics:

a) Innovators are not “generic”; they are “specific” to a product and service type. Consumers
who are innovators of one product are more likely to be innovators of other new product/service
offerings in the same general product category. Hence, they possess interest in the product
category; those who innovate within a specific product category will innovate again within the
same product category.
Innovators are desirous of new products/services in a particular category, and so they seek
formal information from marketers, and informal information from their
peers/friends/colleagues. Because of their interest in the product/service category, their search
for information is active and ongoing, followed by deliberation, evaluation and assimilation of
information.

b) Consumer innovators are generally younger than late adopters or non-innovators; they have
more formal education, occupational status, and higher income and purchasing power. While

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 8

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

education facilitates greater awareness, income facilitates a risk bearing ability (as they feel
that they can afford to make a mistake).

c) After a while, innovators tend to become opinion leaders. Innovators possess a level of
interest in the product/service category; they gather information on an ongoing basis, they are
the first to purchase the innovative offering, and are a powerful source of information for other
consumers. Other consumers like early majority and early adopters and early majority look up
to innovators for advice and guidance about the new products/services. The advice given by
innovators acts as a major influence, and impacts acceptance/rejection of the innovative
offering. The marketer should keep in mind that his offering leads to satisfaction for the
innovator; if the innovator is satisfied with the innovation, the product would generate a
favorable response from him as an opinion leader, and lead to quicker acceptance by the public.

d) Innovators also possess certain personality traits.

- They are low on dogmatism, and as such open and willing to try out new products/services
and/or brands. They are receptive towards the “new” and “unfamiliar.” Non-innovators, on the
other hand are closed, and approach the “new” with considerable anxiety and discomfort.
- They are high on the need for cognition. They are verbalizers.
- They are inner-directed, and decide to take risk with the “new”, relying on their attitudes,
perception, values etc. They take independent decisions rather than relying on others, and are
self governed. Non-innovators, are other-directed or socially-directed, whose
decisions/judgments depend on others; they wait and watch and they decide to go for the “new”.
- While on one hand, innovators tend to inner-directed, they are socially more accepted and
more 9 involved than non-innovators. They are accepted by others as “experts”, and thus
assume roles as opinion leaders. - They are also variety novelty seekers. They are always eager
to try out new offerings.
- Innovators happen to be high on optimum stimulation levels. They are willing to seek
adventure, seek novelty and they enjoy unusual experiences. As a corollary, they enjoy taking
risks.
- Innovators are risk takers, and are ever willing to take risks. This is because they are low risk
perceivers. Perceived risk is a measure of uncertainty or fear that a consumer feels with respect
to the consequences of a purchase and or usage of a new product. Consumer innovators score
low on perceived risk, and they experience little or no fear in trying out the “new”. This is

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 9

TYBBA (SEM-VI) CBB DR. SUDHADHARA SAMAL

primarily because they are well informed, and possess enough purchasing power. So the
likelihood to try new product/service offerings and/or brands is high.
- Innovators also display the quality of venturesomeness, which implies the their willingness
to accept the risk of purchasing new product/service offerings.
- They also exhibit the need for novelty and uniqueness. They want to be the first to try out the
“unique”, and also possess it. Thus, they go out and purchase the innovative offering.

e) Innovators also possess certain purchase, usage and consumption characteristics, which
differentiate them from non-innovators.
- Innovators are low on brand loyalty; in fact they are switchers. This is quite natural, for if
they were brand loyal, they would not have been variety novelty seekers, or venturesome, and
would not have been ever willing to try out new products/service offerings.
- They are deal hunters; they are always on the look out for good deals, and like to take
advantage of promotional offers, like free samples, discounts or small trial packs.
- They are heavy users of the product/service category. If a person has an inclination for
electronic products, and is the first to go and buy a mobile or the I-pod, it is more than likely
that he would also be the first to go and buy the I-pad. This implies that they act as innovators
for all products in that particular category.
- As innovators possess special interest in a product category, and want to keep themselves
aware and abreast with the latest, special-interest magazines and journals have a big role to
play in educating them. Marketers need to provide information in such magazines as innovators
prefer the print media over the audio visual. They gather and process information via central
route to persuasion.

Sources:
5.1 [Link]
5.2[Link]
for-adoption-of-products
5.4
[Link]

PROF. V.B. SHAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 10