WHY STUDY CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR?
A number of reasons6 make the stu4 of consumer behavior relevant effective marketing management. These are as follows:
1.Consumers do not always act or react as the theory would suggest. F example,. consumer of the past reacted to price levels as if price and quail had positive relation. Today, consumers seek value for. money, less price h with superior features. This has led Videocon to go for Bazooka which positioned above the economy class but below premium class. The consume response indicates that the shift has occurred.
2. Consumer preferences are changing and becoming’ highly diversified. The shift has occurred with availability of more choice compared to pre-1991 era. For example, PCL broke the price barrier ir September 1996 with all-time low- PC-Pentium prices. Customer was tempted to purchase the product and shift their brand preferences from HP-HCL, Apple, Compaq, IBM, etc.
3. Consumer research has vividly pointed out that consumers dislike using identical products. and prefer differentiated products to \reflect their special needs, personalities, and life-styles. Thus, when Onida 2 was introduced, it referred that the television was for the elite class. Maggie introduced Sour and Chilly sauce with emphasis ‘its’ different’.
4. Meeting of special needs of customers requires market segmentation. The LIC provides its insurance cover to suit the needs of different types of customers — Jeevan Suraksha (Financial security and post-retirement benefits),Asha Deep II (Medical coverJeevan Shree (to retain key iidividuals in oranisations), Jeevan Surabhi’ (money back with rising insurance cover), Jeevcin Mitra (double benefit endowment plan), Money Back.
I
5. Rapid introduction of nave products with technological advance me,it has made the job of studying consumer behavior more imperative. For example, the information technologies are changing very fast so far as personal computer industry is concerned. lere, the PC-486 has been declared as dead and even PC-Pentium got two molle aggradations PC-Pentium Pro and MMX within a period of one year from May 1996.
6. Consumer behaviour can be used to sell products that might not sell easily because some other product has been satisfying the customer, even if the new product saves life-much quicker than the old product. For example, Havel’s India has given advertisement using fear of fire as instinct to promote their wires and cables, MCBs, and ELCBS. The advertisement shows fire- caught building just three days back, and the related news items.
7. Implementing the marketing Concept’ calls for studying the consumer behaviour. The shift in the age from selling age to marketing age meant that customer’s needs be given priority aver the hard-sell tactics. It was realised that consumer would not buy anything sol4. The consumer would buy only those products which satisfied his needs and wants. Thus, identification of target market before production became essential to deliver the desired customer satisfaction and delight.
8. Study of consumer behavior has shown fallacies more apparently than ever before:
(i) Consumers are loyal to products or organizations. Consumers re not inherently disloyal and they become so only if utterly neglected or conditioned to do so. Loyalty is not dead. If market becomes flooded with more and more products, customer expects their favoured product organistion should produce them and deliver the same. Thus, companies who place major aphasias on attracting new customers and place minor emphasis on retaining existing customer should not be surprised to see that the customer has left their fold.
(ii) Customers do not patronize the best available product. They patroness the best available offer. Thus, if Mercedes Benz and Maruti Esteem ire the two models that are under customer choice set, then the the firm which n promise better payment terms and features would win the customer.
(iii) Marketer cannot sell the product to the customer against his will The marketing-mix (product, price, place, promotion) cannot create internal desire of the prospect to buy a personal computer. The customer has feel the need and then marketers can provide various satisfiers. A good marketer, therefore, studies the drives and needs of customer and then tries best satisfy them.
