Features and importance of Consumer Behaviour
Features of Consumer Behaviour:
1) Consumer behaviour and marketing management: Successful business managers are aware of the value of marketing to the success of their company. Any marketing campaign must have a thorough grasp of customer behaviour to be successful in the long term. In actuality, many marketing managers see it as a cornerstone of the marketing idea and a key component of their philosophical approach. Three interconnected orientations—consumer requirements and desires, firm integrated strategy, and marketing concept—capture its core.
2) Consumer behaviour, non-profit organizations, and social marketing: In the modern world, even non-profit organizations like governmental organisations, religious groups, academic institutions, and charitable organisations must market their products and services to the “target group of consumers or institution.” Other times, these organisations are compelled to make a public plea for support of certain causes or ideologies. Additionally, they contribute to the elimination of the societal issues. Therefore, a thorough comprehension of customer behaviour and the decision-making process will support these efforts.
3) Consumer behaviour and governmental decision-making: In recent years, there has been an increase in the applicability of consumer behaviour concepts to governmental decision-making. There have been effects in two main activity areas:
i) Government services: An knowledge of the customers, or users, of these services, is becoming more important for government supply of public services.
ii) Consumer protection: Numerous government agencies at all levels are active in regulating company operations in order to ensure the welfare of customers.
4) Consumer behaviour and demarketing: It is becoming more and more obvious that consumers are approaching a time of scarcity for certain resources, such as water and natural gas. Due of this scarcity, advertisements now emphasise conservation over consumption. In other cases, customers have been urged to cut down on or cease using certain products that are thought to have negative consequences. programmes aimed to lowering gambling, drug addiction, and other forms of conception are examples. Governmental bodies, nonprofit organisations, and other private organisations have all carried out these measures. All such initiatives to persuade customers to consume less of a certain product or service are referred to as “demarketing.”
5) Consumer behaviour and education: Consumers may also directly gain from doing thorough research into their own behaviour. Individually or as a component of larger formal educational programmes, this might take place. For instance, consumers may be more motivated to make efforts to save money if they realise that a significant amount of the billions of dollars spent on food items each year is used for impulsive purchases rather than spending according to a preplanned shopping list. In general, consumers have the chance to learn more about how they effect their own behaviour since they are marketers who may affect consumers’ purchases.
Importance of consumer behaviour
1) Production policy: Consumer behaviour research has an impact on an organization’s production practices. The habits, tastes, and preferences of customers are discovered via consumer behavior, and this discovery helps a business to design and build its goods in accordance with these requirements. An organisation must constantly monitor changes in customer behaviour in order to make the appropriate improvements to its goods.
2) Price policies: Having price policies is equally dependent on consumer behaviour. Some items are exclusively purchased by consumers because they are less expensive than similar products that are already on the market.
3) Choice of distribution channels: Products are offered only via channels with affordable prices and practical distribution. These products, such as televisions, refrigerators, and other appliances, must have a variety of distribution channels. As a result, choices on distribution channels are made based on customer behaviour.
4) Making judgements on sales promotion also requires careful consideration of customer behaviour. It helps the producer to understand the driving factors behind customer purchases, and they are then used in promotional activities to encourage interest in making a purchase.
5) Making the most of marketing opportunities: Understanding consumer behaviour helps marketers better grasp the wants, requirements, challenges, and ambitions of their target market. The marketers will be able to take advantage of marketing chances and overcome market obstacles with the help of this information.
6) Consumer behaviour is not always predictable: In the past, consumers would respond to price ranges as if there were a positive correlation between price and quality. Today’s value for money offers better features at a lower price. The consumer’s reaction shows that the transition had taken place.
7) Widely varied customer preferences: This change has taken place as a result of the increased availability of options. Thus, it is crucial to analyze customer behaviour in order to comprehend changes.
8) Rapidly evolving goods: As technology has advanced, rapidly evolving products have increased the need of understanding customer behaviour. For instance, the personal computer market is undergoing rapid change due to information technologies.
9) Putting the “marketing notion” into practice: This requires researching consumer behavior and prioritizing all clients. Therefore, identifying the target market before manufacturing becomes crucial to achieving the optimum level of customer joy.
Applications of consumer behaviour:
1) Market opportunity analysis: Research on consumer behavior assists in determining consumers’ unmet requirements and desires. This calls for an analysis of the market’s competitors and circumstances, consumer lifestyle, income levels, and energy factors. This might indicate unmet needs and desires. A legitimate and unmet consumer demand has led to the marketing of mosquito repellents.
2) Choosing a target market: Analyzing market potential often aids in pinpointing district client niches with extremely distinct and particular demands and desires. Knowing these groups, how they act, and how they make judgements about purchases helps marketers create and promote goods and services that are especially tailored to their requirements and preferences. For instance, please sleep indicated that many current and future shampoo users preferred a low-cost package having adequate amount for one or two washers rather than buying shampoo fax price at rate 60 or more. This discovery led LED firms to launch the shampoo sachet, which quickly became popular.
3) Marketing mix decisions: After identifying unmet requirements and desires, the marketer must choose the ideal combination of product, pricing, distribution, and promotion. Additionally, research on customer behaviour is quite useful in figuring out the solutions to a lot of difficult topics. Product, pricing, promotion, and distribution are the elements that influence marketing mix choices.
4) Use in social and non-profit marketing: Studies of consumer behavior are helpful in developing marketing strategies for social, governmental, and non-profit organizations to increase the effectiveness of their programmes, such as family planning and AIDS awareness.