MSC IN MARKETING: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

MSC in Marketing: Consumer Behavior

MSC in Marketing: Consumer Behavior

Introduction

In our everyday lives, we are faced with problems in which decisions need to be made to solve them. Generally, we tackle decision-making based on internal influences such as past experiences, or external influences such as marketing promotions or family pressures and so on. In fact, there are millions of decisions we are and are going to make in our entire lives. Organizations and companies know this all too well, which explains why they want to know how they could include themselves as one of our choices when we make our decisions.

Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups or organizations and the activities they undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs, and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. It is a subcategory of marketing that blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies the characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's needs and wants. It also seeks to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

In the fast changing society today, having a roadmap of how consumers make purchase decisions is a much more reliable then having a vague set of directions. The Consumer Decision Process (CDP) model is therefore derived to guide marketers and managers on using the appropriate product mix, communication and sales strategies in an endeavor to understand the minds of modern consumers and their buying behaviors.

Task1

Need Recognition Search for Information Pre-Purchase Evaluation of Alternatives Purchase Consumption Post-Consumption Evaluation DivestmentNeed Recognition·Need recognition is the difference between what a person perceives to be the ideal versus the actual state.

When consumers encounter needs, they usually seek to fulfill them or seek solutions to their problems· Only by analyzing consumers needs and problems could companies develop appropriate products, services, and marketing programs that would appeal to the market greatly.

Maslow's Hierarchy of NeedsEach of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that we must satisfy each need beginning with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied will we be concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.

Level 1: Biological and physiological needs like air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep and so on.

Level 2: Safety needs like protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.

Level 3: Belongingness and love needs such as from work group, family, and peers.

Level 4: Esteem needs refer to self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.

Level 5: Self-actualization needs are the needs to realize personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak ...