AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGERIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

As a field of research and study, the principles of management is

development by management scholars through borrowing and applying
basic concepts, theories, and methodologies from economics,
sociology, anthropology, politic science, statistics, philosophy, and so
on. Accordingly, different approaches and perspectives have been
formatted towards the principles of management, such as economics
perspective on principles of management, sociology perspective on
principles of management, or anthropological perspective on principles
of management. This section is proposed to focus on anthropological
perspective on principles of management by presenting and discussing
the relationships between principles of management and anthropology,
as well as the implications of anthropology in management. The main
objectives of this section are:

1. Learning what are principles of management and what is

anthropology,
2. Understanding the relationships between principles of management
and anthropology,
3. Comprehending the implications of anthropology in management
practice.
1 What is marketing management
Introduction
In today's world of marketing, everywhere you go you are being marketed to in one form or another.
Marketing is with you each second of your walking life. From morning to night you are exposed to
thousands of marketing messages everyday. Marketing is something that affects you even though you
may not necessarily be conscious of it.
.
Definition
and Meaning
of
Marketing
According to American Marketing Association (1948) - "Marketing is the performance of business
activities directed toward, and incident to, the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer
or
user."
AMA (1960) - "Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and
services from
producer
to
consumer
or
user."
The above definitions are based on the economic approach of marketing. Marketing embraces all
the business activities involved in getting goods and services , from the hands of producers into the
hands of final consumers. The business steps through which goods progress on their way to final
consumers
is
the
concern
of
marketing.

Consumer's
Approach
of
Marketing
According to Star et al. (1977) - "Marketing is that process through which a business enterprise,
institution, or organisation 1. selects target customers or constituents, 2. assesses the needs or wants
of such target customers, and 3. manages its resources to satisfy those customer needs or wants."
The above definition is based on the consumer's approach of marketing. According to this approach
marketing consists of four general activities:1.
Identifying and selecting the type of customer, understanding their needs and desires;
2.

Designing product or services that suits the customers' desires;

3.

Persuading customers to buy at the firm's offerings; and

4.

Storing, moving, and displaying goods after they leave the production site.

Societal
Approach
of
Marketing
According to Mazur (1947) - "Marketing is the delivery of a standard of living to society."
This definition is based on the societal approach of marketing. According to Cunningham and
Cunningham (1981) societal marketing performs three essential functions:1.
Knowing and understanding the consumer's changing needs and wants;
2.

Efficiently and effectively managing the supply and demand of products and services; and

3.

Efficient provision of distribution and payment processing systems.

Managerial or Systems Approach

According to Eldridge (1970) - "Marketing is the combination of activities designed to produce profit
through ascertaining, creating, stimulating, and satisfying the needs and/or wants of a selected
segment of the market."
The above definition is based on the managerial or systems approach of marketing. According to this
approach the emphasis is on how the individual organisation processes marketing and develops the
strategic dimensions of marketing activities.
A Broader Approach of Marketing
According to Kotler (2000) - "A societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they
need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with
others."
According to AMA (2004) - "Marketing is an organisational function and set of processes for creating,
communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing relationships in a way that
benefits both the organisation and the stakeholder."

What is consumer behaviour

Though similar, consumers are unique in themselves; they have needs and wants which are varied and
diverse from one another; and they have different consumption patterns and consumption behavior. The
marketer helps satisfy these needs and wants through product and service offerings. For a firm to
survive, compete and grow, it is essential that the marketer identifies these needs and wants, and
provides product offerings more effectively and efficiently than other competitors. A comprehensive yet
meticulous knowledge of consumers and their consumption behavior is essential for a firm to succeed.
Herein, lies the essence of Consumer Behavior, an interdisciplinary subject, that emerged as a separate
field of study in the 1960s.
Consumer Behavior may be defined as the interplay of forces that takes place during a consumption
process, within a consumers self and his environment.

this interaction takes place between three elements viz. knowledge, affect and behavior;

it continues through pre-purchase activity to the post purchase experience;

it includes the stages of evaluating, acquiring, using and disposing of goods and services.

The consumer includes both personal consumers and business/industrial/organizational consumers.

Consumer behavior explains the reasons and logic that underlie purchasing decisions and consumption
patterns; it explains the processes through which buyers make decisions. The study includes within its
purview, the interplay between cognition, affect and behavior that goes on within a consumer during the
consumption process: selecting, using and disposing off goods and services.
i.

The subject deals with issues related to cognition, affect and behavior in consumption behaviors,
against the backdrop of individual and environmental determinants. The individual determinants
pertain to an individuals internal self and include psychological components like personal
motivation and involvement, perception, learning and memory, attitudes, self-concept and
personality, and, decision making. The environmental determinants pertain to external
influences surrounding an individual and include sociological, anthropological and economic
components like the family, social groups, reference groups, social class, culture, sub-culture,
cross-culture, and national and regional influences.

ii.

The subject can be studied at micro or macro levels depending upon whether it is analyzed at
the individual level or at the group level.

iii.

The subject is interdisciplinary. It has borrowed heavily from psychology (the study of the
individual: individual determinants in buying behavior), sociology (the study of groups: group
dynamics in buying behavior), social psychology (the study of how an individual operates in
group/groups and its effects on buying behavior), anthropology (the influence of society on the
individual: cultural and cross-cultural issues in buying behavior), and economics (income and
purchasing power).

iv.

Consumer behavior is dynamic and interacting in nature. The three components of cognition,
affect and behavior of individuals alone or in groups keeps on changing; so does the
environment. There is a continuous interplay or interaction between the three components
themselves and with the environment. This impacts consumption pattern and behavior and it
keeps on evolving and it is highly dynamic.

v.

Consumer behavior involves the process of exchange between the buyer and the seller, mutually
beneficial for both.

vi.

As a field of study it is descriptive and also analytical/ interpretive. It is descriptive as it explains

consumer decision making and behavior in the context of individual determinants and
environmental influences. It is analytical/ interpretive, as against a backdrop of theories
borrowed from psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology and economics, the study
analyzes consumption behavior of individuals alone and in groups. It makes use of qualitative
and quantitative tools and techniques for research and analysis, with the objective is to
understand and predict consumption behavior.

vii.

It is a science as well as an art. It uses both, theories borrowed from social sciences to
understand consumption behavior, and quantitative and qualitative tools and techniques to
predict consumer behavior.

viii.

The study of consumer behavior deals with understanding consumption patterns and behavior. It
includes within its ambit the answers to the following:

ix.

What

the

Why
When

do

consumers
they

they

buy

buy
it: time:

day,

buy: goods
it: need
week,

month,

and

services

and
year,

occasions

want
etc.

Where
How

often

they
they

buy
buy

it: place
it: time

interval

- How often they use it: frequency of use

x.

The scope of consumer behavior includes not

various roles played by him/ different individuals.

only

the

actual

buyer

but

also

the

For ex : The lady of a house who is a housewife and spends her day at home doing household chores
watches TV in her free time. That is her only source of entertainment. The TV at home is giving
problem. She desires a new TV set, and says that she wants an LCD plasma TV. Now the roles played
are:
1. Initiator: the housewife (mother)
2. Influencer: a friend / neighbour
3. Decider: the husband or the son
4. Buyer: the husband or the son
5. User: the family
Consumer behavior focuses specifically on the Buyer and often User.
But also analyzes impact of other roles.
Role of cb on mm
An interdisciplinary area of study, the subject borrows heavily from psychology, sociology; social
psychology; anthropology and, economics.

1. psychology: This includes the study of the individual as well as the individual determinants in
buying behavior, viz., consumer perception, learning and memory, attitude, self-concept and
personality, motivation and involvement, attitudes and attitudinal change and, decision making.

2. sociology: This includes the study of groups as well as the group dynamics in buying behavior, viz.,
family influences, lifestyles and values, and social group influences.

3. social psychology: This includes the study of how an individual operates in group/groups and its
effects on buying behavior viz, reference groups and social class influences.

4. anthropology: This is the influence of society on the individual viz., cultural and cross-cultural
issues in buying behavior, national and regional cultures etc.

5. economics: This is the study of income and purchasing power, and its impact on consumer behavior.
The underlying premise is that consumers make rational choices while making purchase decisions. While
resourcse are limited and needs and wants many, consumers collect information, and evaluate the
various alternatives to finally make a rational decision.

Consumer behaviors control the type of marketing strategy that organizations such as small
businesses employ, so they conduct studies to determine which strategies are likely to prove most
effective. Small businesses need to know the members of their target audience, what they want,
where they are located and how they'll react to product promotions. They gather this information via
surveys and studying data regarding the past behavior of consumers. Data is obtained from a variety
of sources such as marketing databases, sales history and the Internet.

People often define themselves, at least in part, by the products they consume.
Possessions become an extension of the individual an extended self and thus
project who the person is to others (Mittal 2006). Indeed, many acts of
consumption are tribal and role-supporting, even when they do not define the
self (Ryan et al. 2006). Consumer decision-making is therefore not isolated from
all other human behaviour. People try to behave in ways that enable them to
enjoy their lives, to relate to their friends and families, and to contribute to
society at large. In almost all cases this behaviour is likely to involve
consumption of products and services produced other people: this is the province
of consumer behaviour. Now let us examine what is anthropology.

What is anthropology?