Consumer Behaviour That Drives Them to Make Purchase Decisions - Essay Example

Introduction Understanding consumer behaviour is one of the most important considerations for a business when developing a marketing plan. This paper examines consumer behaviour that drives them to make purchase decisions. Five advertisements displaying different products from different companies are used to illustrate consumer purchasing behaviour. Differences between high- and low-involvement buying Before engaging in an advertisement campaign, it is vital for marketers to gauge the impact of their brands on consumers. One way of achieving this end is to categorize the brands as either high- or low-involvement products. There are several factors that differentiate products in the two categories. To start with, high-involvement products are highly priced while low involvement products are priced modestly in a particular product group (Saxena 2009, p. 148). Within the entertainment industry for instance, coloured TV is a high-involvement product but pocket transistors are not. Secondly, high-involvement products have complex features and hence require consumers to spend more time in familiarizing and internalizing them. It is for this reason that computers, cars, coloured televisions, DVD Players, motorcycles, refrigerators and washing machines come with product manuals describing their features. Unlike these products, low involvement products do not have complex features and consumers perceive them as being easy to use. Toilet soaps and sweets, for instance, do not require product manuals (Dahlen, Lange & Smith 2010, p. 295). Also, there is a large different between alternative products within this category. For instance, there is a large different between British and Chinese phones (Saxena 2009, p. 148). Alternative products within the low involvement product category are similar. Saxena (2009, p. 149) notes that consumer brand loyalty is low for low involvement products due to the perceived lack of difference between products. Thus, consumers frequently switch between brands. As Saxena (2009, p. 149) explains, consumers perceive high-involvement products to be highly risky and thus spend more time arriving at purchasing decisions. Products in the low-involvement category are low-risk purchase items. Good examples of low-risk items include razors, crisps, newspapers and hand cream. Lastly, high-involvement products reflect the self-concept of a consumer. Every individual has a self-image and strives to protect it. As such, consumers purchase products that reflect their self-concept. A consumer’s choice of restaurants, houses, cars, clothes, perfumes and jewellery reflect his or her self-concept. On the contrary, low involvement products do not reflect a buyer’s self-concept and they are more personal to them. The following adverts reflect these differences Mercedes-Benz advert The Mercedes car in this advert is highly priced, has complex features, has high perceived risks and often, reflect self concept of a consumer. Dell computer advert The Dell laptop computer in this advert is highly priced, has high perceived risks and has complex features Advert on holiday homes in Devon and Cornwall Attending for a holiday in any particular holiday home is expensive and reflects self-concept of a consumer. Cinema advert The free ticket to cinema hall given after purchasing any of the four products is inexpensive and has low perceived risks Olive Oil Advert Olive oil is a low-priced product there is no big difference between alternatives, has no complex features and it is easy for consumers to switch from this brand to alternatives. Therefore, Mercedes-Benz, Dell computer and taking a holiday in Devon or Cornwall are classified in the high-involvement product category while acquiring a free ticket to a cinema hall and olive oil are low-involvement products. Market segments targeted by the advertisements Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing the target market population into subsets based on different needs and wants of consumers, as well as their differences in the application of products and services (Lee & Johnson 2012, p. 92). The purpose of this strategy is to enable a marketer to develop a marketing mix that matches the needs of consumers more in the target market. There are four main segmentation methods that a marketer can choose from. They are demographic segmentation, geographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioural segmentation. Geographic segmentation involves dividing the target market into various subsets using geographical criteria. For instance, the broad market can be divided into countries, regions, states, neighbourhoods, cities or zip codes (Lee & Johnson 2012, p. 92). Demographic segmentation involves dividing the selected market into subsets of consumers based on variables such as age, income, gender, religion, education, family size, occupation and nationality. Psychographic segmentation involves the use of psychology and geography to understand consumers better. In this method, consumers are grouped based on their personality, lifestyle, social class and values. Consumers in the same demographic group may not exhibit similar psychographic profiles. In behavioural segmentation, the selected market is divided into subsets according to consumers’ knowledge of, use of, attitude towards or response to a product. This segmentation method is based on the behaviours of consumers (Lee & Johnson 2012, p. 92). After the segmentation process is completed, a marketer can engage in advertising business products. The advertisements are written in a language that is easily understood by the targeted segments and are then placed in the media for consumers to see and read them (Mathur, 2005, p. 82). Each of the advertisements presented earlier targets a particular market segment. The M-Class Mercedes-Benz is a highly costly but luxurious and prestigious product. The producer of this product targets niche, consumers with high income, those who value status, big spenders and consumers that are loyal to the Mercedes-Benz brand. The group of consumers with these characteristics constitute the market segment targeted by the Mercedes-Benz advertisement. Secondly, as indicated in the Dell laptop advert, this product performs well and provides a good opportunity for students to learn. This advertisement is targeted at students and other individuals who wish to satisfy the need for learning and also enjoy the enhanced performance of the laptop. The advertisement on holiday homes in Devon and Cornwall targets young single professionals, working class families, affluent families and affluent retired individuals. On the other hand, the advertisement on availability of a free ticket to a cinema may be targeted at two different market segments depending on the kind of movies that will be aired in the cinema. It may be targeted at young people who are interested in watching adventure, action and comedy or it may be targeted at adults and parents seeking for an in-expensive and quality entertainment. Finally, the literature on the Olive oil advertisement says “Everything is better with olive oil. Even you.” This implies that the advert is targeting consumers seeking health benefits. Use your understanding of perceptual processes to explain why your advertisements should be effective The reason why these advertisements should be effective Psychological factors partly determine an individual’s general behaviour and thus, they influence the behaviour of consumers. One of the psychological factors that influence consumer behaviour is perception. According to Pride and Ferrell (2010, p. 154) perception refers to the “process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning.” Information inputs are the sensations that people receive through touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. The perception process involves three steps namely; exposure, organization or attention and interpretation or comprehension. Exposure takes place when an individual’s senses are stimulated by a marketing campaign such as an advertisement. Individuals usually receive much information at once and hence, they select some inputs and ignore others (Pride & Ferrell 2010, p. 154). The organization process involves selective, voluntary or involuntary processing of information inputs that reaches an individual’s awareness (Pride & Ferrell, 2010, p. 154). Finally, the interpretation or comprehension step involves decoding of retained marketing information. The retained information may be accurately comprehended, it may not be comprehended or it may be miscomprehended. Individuals may also selectively comprehend parts of the information retained. For any advertisement message to be effective to a particular individual, it must be accepted and retained. This is only possible after these perception processes are complete (Pride & Ferrell 2010, p. 155). Giving consideration to this, the advertisements presented earlier should be effective in drawing consumers’ acceptance and retention. The Mercedes-Benz advertisement is effective in attracting the targeted consumer segment. The logo of the Mercedes-Benz model is well displayed in the advert, implying that this will attract loyal customers. The product in the advert is presented as a luxurious and prestigious product. This helps to attract the attention of status-motivated consumers. In the Dell laptop computer advert, a small boy called James is displayed lying close to the product. A message given that James did research in the Internet and helped to save insects and thus, he is displayed as a hero. This message displays the usefulness of the product to students and hence, helps to attract their attention to it. The advert on holiday homes available displays a man, a woman and two kids (that is a family) who seem to be enjoying watching geographical scenes. Beautiful houses are also displayed in the advert. These features are supported with a phrase stating “invest in your new lifestyle today.” The combination of features in this advert increases the need for the targeted consumers to scrutinize other details in the advert such as venue and cost or contact parks directors using the displayed number. The advert on free cinema ticket displays a clearly legible phrase stating “Free Cinema Ticket.” This message is likely to attract quick attention and retention of most viewers, especially due to the presence of the word ‘free’ in the phrase. Finally, the Olive oil advert displays a woman who seems to be healthy. Various healthy foods are also displayed in the ad, placed in different plates. These features are supported with a phrase stating that “Everything is better with olive oil. Even you”. The features are likely to attract the attention of viewers who value healthy eating habits. Generally, the five advertisements are effective for their intended purposes. Hierarchy of needs theory The hierarchy of needs theory was proposed in 1943 by Abraham Maslow. It describes the source of buyers’ motivation to purchase specific products (Management Study Guide, 2012). This theory is based on the assumption that human needs can be grouped into five categories and then placed in a hierarchy based on the urgency of each category of needs. The first category identified by Maslow constitutes the psychological needs. These include the basic needs such as water, air, food, shelter and clothing. Generally, this category constitutes the requirements for human survival. The second category is made of safety needs (Management Study Guide, 2012). These needs include physical, emotional and environmental safety and protection. Examples of such needs are financial security, health security, family security, protection from animals and job security. The third category includes social needs such as the need for care, love, affection, friendship and belongingness. The fourth group comprises of esteem needs. These needs are grouped into internal and external esteem needs. Internal esteem needs include confidence, respect, competence, freedom and achievement. External esteem needs include status, recognition, attention and admiration (Management Study Guide 2012). The final group comprises of self-actualization needs. These are the needs that enable an individual to realize his or her full potential. This category constitutes the needs that are driven by the desire to become the most one can be, to acquire the most that one can or to accomplish everything that one can. Maslow placed these needs in a hierarchy, as indicated in the figure below. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Source: Management Study Guide (2012) Maslow grouped these needs further into two categories; low-order needs and high-order needs. Low-order needs are the psychological and safety needs while high-order needs are the social, self-esteem and self-actualization needs. According to Maslow, human motivation emanates from unsatisfied needs. Human beings start by satisfying the needs in the lowest level. Once a particular need is satisfied, this drives a higher level need to emerge (Bose 2010, p. 222). Therefore, consumers satisfy low-order needs before high-order needs. In applying this theory, consumers of the products displayed in the advertisements presented earlier in this paper are believed to be motivated by the needs to satisfy specific needs. For instance, a Mercedes-Benz is an expensive product and a high-order level need. Consumers with the ability to purchase this product are motivated by the need for self-actualization. On the other hand, olive oil is a food product and an important need. Consumers are motivated to purchase this product by the need to satisfy the psychological need of food. Thus, this is a low-order need. A consumer is likely going to purchase olive oil before considering purchasing a Mercedes-Benz (Bose, 2010, p. 222). Therefore, producers of these two products understand that one of the sources of motivation to for their customers to purchase their products is the need to satisfy specific needs. In response, they use language and present these products in a way that convinces the consumers that their needs will be satisfied. References Bose, C 2010, Modern marketing, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi Dahlen, M, Lange F & Smith T 2010, Marketing communications: A brand narrative approach, John Wiley & Sons, London. Lee, M & Johnson, C 2012 Principles of advertising: A global perspective, 2nd edn, Routledge New York. Management Study Guide 2012 “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory”, viewed 23 January 2013 < http://www.managementstudyguide.com/maslows-hierarchy-needs-theory.htm> Mathur, U C 2005, Advertising Management Text and Cases, New Age International, New Delhi. Pride, W M & Ferrell, O C 2010, Foundations of marketing, Cengage Learning, New York. Saxena, R 2009, Marketing management 4E. 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