2. 0 CONTENTS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND PERCEPTION 2. 1 WHAT IS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR? It is necessary to understand consumer behaviour; this is based on the activities leading to the acquisition and use of goods or services, including decision-making processes that determine a purchase. In this process the consumer performs actions such as search, purchase, use and evaluation of products expected to be used to meet their needs (Solomon Michael, 2007).
The activities, processes and social relations to which reference has been made include various actions of the consumer: knowledge of a need, when you make a comparison between stores, the simple reasoning of information that are available in regard to the benefits and risks of the desired product, or seek advice from a friend about a new product. The purchase of a product includes experiences such as mental and physical stimulation, social changes, the more status and power. (Kollat David). Consumer behaviour is based in a social environment, its meaning that consumers should be considered in light of its relations with others.
In the process of purchase, consumers are seeking information about products, available alternatives and then choosing the most suitable option that meets their needs. Consumer behaviour is used to sell easy and more goods, as can be determined by consumers previous to purchase, therefore the needs and desires of consumers are the main focus of the company. There are two types of consumers, who buy products or services by themselves, family or friends, and are formal organizations that buy goods or services for use in organizational functions such as production or resale. 2. IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR The most important reason companies studying consumer behaviour is because of the central role it plays in consumer’s lives, much of the time people are thinking in the market by buying or related activities (Virgil, 2010). Besides, it is important to understand consumers in order to help the company or organisation achieve its objectives. Advertising managers, product designers and many others who work in profitable companies want consumers to know in order to perform their tasks more efficiently. The study of consumer behaviour in some cases is complex because of the ultitude of variables involved and their tendency to interact with every employee’s reciprocal influence, to deal with the complexity of models have been designed into consumer behaviour. The models serve to organize our ideas on consumer identifying relevant variables, to discover its fundamental characteristics and to specify the variables are interrelated. It is very important to understand the lifestyle of the consumer. The lifestyle is seen as the way a person lives, what products to buy, when to buy, how often repurchase and how it’s used.
Also how the individual sees themself, their emotions, perceptions and desires as a result of factors that directly affect their decisions. 2. 3 CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Consumers collectively influence the socioeconomic conditions of an entire society. Market systems are based on free will, the public has a profound influence on what we produce and use the resources for it. Hence the important influence that consumer behaviour has on the quality and standard of living.
The basic factors that influence the lifestyle of consumers are of two types: external as demographics, culture, income and social class, reference groups and family, and among the internal factors include personality, emotions, motivation, perceptions and learning (Punjaisri, 2008 ). Marketing stimuli product, price, place and distribution and other forces of economic environment, technological, political, cultural produce certain responses in the consumer as the product choice, brand alternative, choice of provider, timing of buy and purchase amount. 2. . 1 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES These are some of the factors of the external environment: demographic, culture, income and social class, social group, and family. DEMOGRAPHIC: Influencing lifestyle particularly in relation to income, age, geographical location. It is important to analyse each group to determine their specific behaviour and thus guide strategies to stimulate product sales (Afizah Hashim, 2009 ). CULTURE: It represents the knowledge, beliefs, values, art, morals, laws, customs and habits acquired by people as members of a society (Hawkins, 2006).
Culture influences the thought processes and behaviour of the individual, culture is acquired, lives there. Due to the change of technology over time and interaction with other customs, culture has caused to undertake changes, so the individual has had to change their behaviour to adapt to new cultures. Within a culture there are subcultures, which consist of groups that coexist within a culture, taking habits, customs, etc. , of the host culture, while providing the habits and customs of their own culture. For example, in the U. S. ubcultures such as Hispanics, Asians and blacks are very clear identified. INCOME AND SOCIAL CLASS: Social classes are relatively permanent and homogeneous divisions in a society in which individuals share lifestyles and similar behaviours. The social status is not determined exclusively by income, other factors are also important, such as education, profession, place of residence, social group, friends and forms of entertainment, among others. SOCIAL GROUP: social group can be viewed as a set of people who have a sense of empathy resulting from a mode of interaction between them.
These groups serve a wide range of functions, one of them is the influence that the group may have on the group, i. e. , the group helps orient and convince values and the individual’s behaviour. FAMILY: Is characterized by numerous and strong personal interactions of its members. Their influence on purchase decisions represented in area of great interest in the field of consumer behaviour, in some cases, decisions are taken by an individual with light influence from other family members. 2. 3. 2 INTERNAL INFLUENCES
Consumer behaviour and human behaviour are in general fields of study which are almost identical, as the consumer of economic goods are almost all activities that involve humans. The systematic study of consumer behaviour has been interdisciplinary since its beginning. PERSONALITY, SELF CONCEPT: offer consumers a central aspect. This provides a structure to arrange a consistent pattern of behaviour. PERCEPTION: Are those activities through which an individual acquires and gives meaning to stimuli. The stimulus appears within the field of sensory receptors and generates an action.
Marketing needs to support these stimuli for the individual to purchase a product. MOTIVATION: It refers to the behaviour prompted by needs and directed toward achieving a goal. Motivation is a behaviour or attitude of the consumer to buy goods or service. This attitude covers and directs behaviour toward a specific purpose. Abraham Maslow (Tracy L. Tuten, 1998) developed a model of hierarchy of needs ranging from basic to advanced, noting that a human being should meet their basic desires to satisfy their needs. The scale considers the needs: ?Physiological ?Security Membership ?Esteem ?Self-concept To study the needs that affect consumer behaviour is essential to finding a definition of need which is generally accepted. Adequate definition of need could be the difference or discrepancy between the actual and desired necessity. This experience can be biological or social perception. When you think of the needs as a central concept in consumer behaviour, it is also useful to think in the preferences. Consumers may prefer to satisfy a need to another; therefore, both the preferences and consumer needs were major factors to be considered.
LEARNING: The learning occurs through the memory. Thus, to consider as a learned behaviour, it must be that by issuing a stimulus will always get the same reaction, and then we can say that there is learning. For marketing it is important to deliver stimuli to alter memory and induce individuals towards learning, so this purpose is seeking always to be encouraged reacting similar. Consumers purchase products remembering product’s name, characteristics, and learning criteria for judging the products, places to buy, skills related to problem solving, patterns of taste and behaviour.
All such material is learned that is stored in memory, has a significant influence on how consumers react to every situation. 3. 0 PERCEPTION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR It is relative for this research to understand that isolated stimuli generated experiences refers to sensation. The sensation is also defined in terms of the response of sensory organs in front of a stimulus and perception includes the interpretation of sensations, giving them meaning and organization. The organization, interpretation analysis and integration of stimuli, the activity involves not only our sense organs but also in our brain.
In another hand Gestalt psychology (SHARPS, 2006) with consumer psychology related, without being closely related perceptually very similar, the Gestalt you want to see and recognize objects in its entirety and consumer psychology is intended that all stimuli generate a response. If we conceive in this way we realize, that the two are interested in both the perception and visualization of how different points of view regardless of the end of each perceptual psychology study is similar.
Gestalt theory (Rubenfeld, 2009) demonstrates that people perceive objects as “a particularly well organized form and not as separate parts. Individuals cannot see messy small pieces to see how the changing world perceived large regions of well defined shapes and patterns. The form is more than just the union of the fragments assumed as the principle of synergy in the General Systems Theory, which postulates that the “whole” is greater than the sum of its parts and that no party alone explain the behaviour of “all” or system.
The internal perception is the internalization of phenomena but are not discernible and that is how the external perception arises that is observable and verifiable, it requires both. More striking is the insight because it contains some drastic phenomena like suffering at the moment to be seen, on the other hand is perceived only partially, when it comes to more than one object including memory. Max Wertheimer (1923), Kurt Koffka (1935) and Wolfgang Kohler (1947) psychologists are more associated with Gestalt theory.
Their investigations are based on three areas: law group, the “goodness” of the Law of Prdgnanz, figures and the relationship between figure and ground. Despite certain limitations in theory, their approaches are still relevant in explaining the perception of forms. Also the consumers psychology and Gestalt look and compare perspectives of both the object and the subject, and so make a diagnosis of the study to then turn it into a marketing idea, where it proposed a massive ttack by people of suggestive advertisements established throughout the city, this is as well used to reach people through advertising guidelines which limit the field of people’s view focuses on the environment. From this could be as a definition, that the base of things is the perceptual illimitable against objects, or an object contains another object which people perceive as a fund where the material has subliminal and this is where we handle a consumer motivation in people, which is caused by an advocate to satisfy their physical and emotional needs 3. ATTENTION AND THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION. Launching a product should be aware that its success dependent on its acceptance that capture consumers’ attention. SELECTIVE PERCEPTION: people throw away large blocks of advertising messages. The process of discerning messages, called selective perception starts at the beginning of the campaign. To avoid this, a notice must be sufficiently intrusive to jump the barrier of boredom. INTRUSIVENESS: There seems to be a hook of care, and unless the message can bring the consumer to that hook, no information will be received.
Consumers should see the message as meaning. STORE AND ATTENTION: Except for the ads at the point of purchase advertising messages must first be stored in the memory of consumers and then be called. The advertising strategy developed by the company should focus the new information and attitudes that already exist and so can influence perceptions and purchase intentions. Psychic values that influence care, psychological research has demonstrated the importance of the motives and expectations of the individual. Image advertising has attracted researchers who are trying to determine the impact this has.
Image advertising is done through celebrities or persons well known to consumers. Another issue that is linked with the topic is subliminal perception of the appearance; some people argue that the subliminal messages surrounded in advertising certain impact on consumer preference towards certain products (Bryan, 1984). By contrast, other writers found that subliminal exposure of a brand of chocolate did not alter the consumption patterns of the subjects (George, 1985). REFERENCES Afizah Hashim, J. S. (2009 , December 31). Does Consumers’ Demographic Profile Influence.
Canadian Social Science , p. 19. Bryan, K. W. (1984). Subliminal Seduction:. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc. George, S. G. (1985, december 22). Effect of Subliminal Stimuli on Consumer Behavior: Negative Evidence. . Perceptual and Motor Skills, , pp. 847-54. Hawkins, N. Q. (2006). consumer behaviour implications for marketing strategy. North Ryde: McGraw-Hill. Kollat David, B. R. (n. d. ). Current Problems in Consumer Behavior Research. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) , pp. 327-32. Punjaisri, K. (2008 , December 1). Implications for Strengthening.
Journal of Relationship Marketing , p. 407. Rubenfeld, F. (2009, September 1). Field Theory and Transcendent Experiences. Gestalt Review , p. 296. SHARPS, M. J. (2006, November 1). Gestalt/Feature-Intensive. Journal of Psychology , p. 579. Solomon Michael, D. S. (2007). Consumer Behaviour. Australia: Pearson Australia Group. Tracy L. Tuten, R. A. (1998, September 1). Understanding Consumer Satisfaction. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality , pp. 553-564. Virgil, N. (2010, April 2). THE TOURIST CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR. Metalurgia International , pp. 60-3.
