CONSUMER BEHAVIOR MBA-II

Chapter No.01.

Q.No. Define Consumer, Consumer Behavior, and how consumer are act on
Market place?

1. Consumer: A person who identifies a need or desire, makes a purchase, and

then disposes of the product is called consumer. Consumer may be involved in
this sequence of events.
1. Purchaser / User / Influencer
Consumers may take the form of organizations or groups.

2. Definition Consumer Behavior:

It is the study of the process involved when individual or group, select, purchase,
use or dispose of product, services, ideas, or experience to satisfy need or desire
is called consumer behavior.
Whoever Services and ideas are intangible we can not dispose it.

3. Consumer is actors on Market Place Stage:

• Role Theory: Identifies consumers as actors on the marketplace stage.
(Bargaining) Consumer realize on these two points when go to purchase a
product or services.

a) Consumption: (Need, Wand, Brand, Availability, Packaging) Consumption

behavior is a continuous process its not end, when some thing dispose off
then the consumer behavior end, but company behavior not end at that
time. In consumption some time we think some shortage of product will
come so we start buying more and more, in consumption we see how
much we need, we see the price, availability, there are some stages in the
consumption process:
i. Identify the need: here we identify our need, like if we feel
thrust or we need some thing, we want to get those things.
ii. Purchases: If we identify our need then we go to purchase it.
iii. Dispose: when we use thing it dispose off, dispose is not to
thrown some thing but to use some thing to satisfy need. Properly
dispose is the end of usage. Mean usage of some thing is dispose.
b) Evaluation: in evaluation Packaging, ingredients, price, etc are coming.
i. Parents: Some one Purchase some thing for else. Like parents
purchase some thing for their children,
ii. Friends: purchase gift for friends
iii. Organization: Board of Director decide what to purchase for
organization (office equipment, stationary etc)
iv. Groups: Specific group like Politian, majority want to drink coke or
minority want to drink Pepsi, so favour will go to majority, majority
influence minority.

Q. No. Explain of Consumer Behavior Process?

Exchange: A transaction in which two or more organizations give and receive
something of value
There are Some Issues That Arise During Stages in the Consumption Process:

Q. No. How Consumer Impact on Marketing Strategy?

Strategy is short term plan of action. The need can only be satisfied if Marketers
understand people or Organization who will use product or services they are trying
to sell & they do better then their competitor, When Company make strategy they
look to consumer.
Example: Sony Company MP3 Plato,

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 “No where Alien, so every body is Alien”

By the Following Way Consumer Impact the Marketing Strategy:

1. Market Segmentation: Identifies groups of consumers who are similar to
one another in one or more ways and then devises marketing strategies
that appeal to one or more groups Finely-tuned marketing segmentation
strategies allow marketers to reach only those consumers likely to be
interested in buying their products.

2. Demographics: Statistics that measure observable aspects of a population

we divide Demographically by the following ways:

Ex.: Age, Gender, Family Structure, Social Class and Income, Race and
Ethnicity, Lifestyle, and Geography

3. Relationship Marketing: Building Bonds with Consumers

a. Relationship marketing: The strategic perspective that stresses

the long-term, human side of buyer-seller interactions

b. Database marketing: Tracking consumers’ buying habits very

closely, and then crafting products and messages tailored precisely
to people’s wants and needs based on this information

Q. No. How Marketing’s Impact Consumers?

Marketing Impact Consumer by the following ways:

1. Marketing and Culture:

i. Popular Culture: Companies often create product icons to develop

an identity for their products. Many made-up creatures and
personalities, such as Mr. Clean, the Michelin tire man and the
Pillsbury Doughboy, are widely recognized figures in popular culture.
Popular Culture included Music, movies, sports, books, celebrities,
and other forms of entertainment consumed by the mass market.

ii. Marketers play a significant role in our view of the world and
how we live in it.

2. The Meaning of Consumption (cont.) Consumption includes

intangible experiences, ideas and services in addition to tangible
objects. People often buy products not for what they do, but for what
they mean.

i. Types of relationships a person may have with a product:

1. Self-concept attachment

2. Nostalgic attachment

3. Interdependence

4. Love

3. Virtual Consumption:

i. The Digital Revolution is one of the most significant influences on

consumer behavior.

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 ii. Electronic marketing increases convenience by breaking down the
barriers of time and location.

iii. U-commerce: The use of ubiquitous networks that will slowly but
surely become part of us (i.e., wearable computers, customized
advertisements beamed to cell phones, etc.)

iv. Cyberspace has created a revolution in C2C (consumer-to-

consumer) activity.

Q.No. Needs and Wants: Do Marketers Manipulate Consumers?

1. Consumer space
2. Do marketers create artificial needs?

a. Need: A basic biological motive

b. Want: One way that society has taught us that need can be satisfied

3. Are advertising and marketing necessary? Economics of information

perspective: Advertising is an important source of consumer information.

4. Do marketers promise miracles? Advertisers simply don’t know enough

to manipulate people.

Q.No. Explain The Dark Side of Consumer Behavior?

1. Consumer Terrorism: An example: Susceptibility of the nation’s food

supply to bioterrorism

2. Addictive Consumption: Consumer addiction: A physiological and/or

psychological dependency on products or services

3. Compulsive Consumption: Repetitive shopping as an antidote to tension,

anxiety, depression, or boredom

4. Consumed Consumers: People who are used or exploited, willingly or not,

for commercial gain in the marketplace

5. Illegal Activities:

a. Consumer Theft: Shrinkage: The industry term for inventory

and cash losses from shoplifting and employee theft

b. Ant consumption: Events in which products and services are

deliberately defaced or mutilated

Q.No. Explain the Consumer Behavior As a Field of Study?

1. Consumer behavior only recently a formal field of study

2. Interdisciplinary influences on the study of consumer behavior

a. Consumer behavior studied by researchers from diverse backgrounds

b. Consumer phenomena can be studied in different ways and on different
levels
1. The Pyramid of Consumer Behavior

2. Positivist vs. Interpretivist Approaches to CB

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 3. The Wheel of Consumer Behavior

Chapter No.2

Q.No. Explain perception & Sensation, Define Perception process?

A. Perception is the process by which physical sensations are selected, organised

and interpreted.
The process can be broken down into two distinct phases.

Sensation: The immediate response of our sensory receptors: (eyes, ears, nose,
mouth & skin) to basic stimuli such as light, colour, sound, odours and textures.

The study of Perception: Focuses on what we add to raw sensation to give them
meaning
An Overview of the Perception Process:

SENSORY SENSORY
STIMULI RECTOPTORS

.Sights ------------ Eyes

.Sounds ----------- Ears
.Smells ----------- Nose
.Taste ------------ Mouth
.Texture ---------- Skin

Sensory Systems
• External stimuli, or sensory inputs, can be received on a number of different
channels
• Input picked up by our five senses are the raw data that begin the perceptual
process

Impact of different stimuli in marketing

• Vision
• Smell
• Sound
• Touch
• Taste .
The unique sensory quality of a product can play an important role in helping it to
stand out from the competition, especially if the brand creates a unique
association with the sense or senses

Q.No. Define Information Processing?

• Exposure - an initial stage of perception during which some sensations come
within range of the consumer’s sensory receptor
• Attention - the assignment of processing activity to selected stimuli
• Interpretation - the process where meanings are assigned to stimuli
• Memory –
• The process of acquiring information and storing it over time so that it will be
available when needed
• In most cases marketers use the first three stages to measure advertising
effectiveness
Sensory Thresholds
• Psychophysics
• Absolute Threshold
• Differential Threshold
• The Just-Noticeable-Difference Threshold (JND) & Weber’s Law
Subliminal Perception

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 • Subliminal perception Occurs when the stimulus is below the level of the
consumer awareness
• Subliminal techniques: Embeds: tiny figures that are inserted into
magazine: advertising by using high-speed photography or airbrushing
Does subliminal perception work? little evidence that subliminal stimuli can bring
about desired behavioural change
• Attention: Attention is the extent to which processing activity is devoted to a
particular stimulus
• Perceptual selection: People attend to only a small portion of the stimuli to
which they are exposed
Personal Selection factors
• Experience: the result of acquiring and processing stimulation over time
• Perceptual vigilance: consumers are aware of stimuli that relate to their
current needs
• Perceptual defence: People see what they want to see - and don’t see what
they don’t want to see
• Adaptation: the degree to which consumers continue to notice a stimulus
over time
Factors that lead to Adaptation
• Intensity
• Duration
• Discrimination
• Exposure
• Relevance
Stimulus Selection Factors
• Size
• Colour
• Position
• Novelty
Stimulus Organisation: Gestalt Principles
• A stimulus will be interpreted based on its assumed relationship with other
events, sensations, or images
• Human brains tend to relate incoming sensations to others already in their
memory based on some fundamental principles (Gestalt Psychology)
• Gestalt psychology (German) literally mean a whole pattern is greater than the
sum of its parts. This principle of organisation involves:
a. Closure Principle people tend to perceive an incomplete picture as
complete (e.g. Land Rover ad)
b. Principle of Similarity consumers tend to group together objects that
share the same physical characteristics
c. Figure-ground Principle
- one part of a stimulus will dominate (the figure) and other parts will
recede into the background (the ground) E.g. Jeans ad
• A message has three components
1. Object: The product that focuses the message
2. Sign: The sensory imagery that represents the intended meanings of the
object
3. Interpretant: The meaning derived

Perceptual Positioning
• Consumers interpret product stimulus by what they already know about the
product category & characteristics of existing brands
• Perceptual of a brand consists of: Functional attributes (e.g. its features, price
etc) Symbolic attributes (e.g. image & what we think it says about us when we
use it) .Consumers evaluation of a product is
typically is the result of what it means rather than what it does
Positioning Strategy

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 Positioning Strategy is a fundamental part of a company’s marketing efforts as it
uses elements of the marketing mix to influence the consumers interpretation of
its meaning. Some dimensions used to establish a brand in the market place

.Lifestyle .Competitors .Price Leadership

.Occasions .Attributes .Users
.Product Class .Quality

Chapter No. 3

The Learning Process

• Learning:
– A relatively permanent change in behavior caused by experience
• Incidental Learning:
– Unintentional acquisition of knowledge
• Learning is an Ongoing Process:
– Constantly being revised
– Can be either simple association (logo recognition) or complex cognitive
activity (writing an essay)
Behavioral Learning Theories
• Assume that learning takes place as the result of responses to
external events.
• View is represented by two major approaches to learning:
– 1) Classical Conditioning
– 2) Instrumental Conditioning
• People’s experiences shaped by feedback they receive as they go
through life
• Actions result in rewards and punishments, which influences future
responses to similar situations.
The Consumer as a “Black Box”

A Behaviorist Perspective on Learning

Type 1: Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov’s Dogs
– Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – Naturally capable of causing a response.
Something you do automatically.
– Conditioned stimulus (CS) – Does not initially cause a response. This is
the part you have to learn
– Conditioned response (CR) – Response generated by repeated paired
exposures to UCS and CS. Eventually, through learned association and
repetition, the CS will cause the CR.
– These are enduring connections, hard to break in consumers’ minds.
Type 1: Classical Conditioning
• Needs repetition to make it stick
– Time 1=Awareness
– Time 2=relevance
– Time 3=reminder
• Pair positive stimuli to create a desirable association
• Brand names and emotions connected, increased brand equity
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 – Transfer meaning from UCS to CS
– Coke, Marlboro, Nike, Xbox
• Mosteffective when CS precedes UCS
– Not as effective in print: can’t control order in which consumer sees the
info
– Link can be extinguished if it is too general, can be confused with other
CS-CR linkages
Stimulus Generalization
• Stimulus generalization:
– Tendency of a stimulus similar to the CS to evoke similar, conditioned
responses. Piggybacking on others’ UCS-CR.
• Can be used for:
– Family branding
– Product line extensions
– Licensing
– Look-alike packaging: Store Brands like Genuardi’s brand of tissues
looking like Kleenex box of tissues.
– Masked branding: Deliberately hiding a product’s true origin (Plank Road
Brewery (Micro-Brew) owned by Miller):
Stimulus Generalization
• TIDE
– Liquid Pleasures
– Downy
– Febreeze
• DISNEY
– Visa
– Mobile Phone
“Anti-Generalization”:
Masked Branding

Type 2: Instrumental Conditioning

• Occurs as the individual learns to perform behaviors that produce
positive outcomes and avoid behaviors that yield negative outcomes
• A.K.A. “Operant Conditioning”
• Occurs one of three ways:
– Positive reinforcement: Positive response to behavior
– Negative reinforcement: Negative outcome avoided
– Punishment: Negative response to behavior

Four Types of Learning Outcomes

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Type 2: Instrumental Conditioning
• Called instrumental conditioning because the behavior is instrumental
in either gaining reward, avoiding consequences
• Can be reinforced regularly (frequent flier tickets after certain
number of segments) or irregularly (slot machines) to generate
behaviors
Instrumental Conditioning Strategies
• Reinforce Consumption:
– Thank you
– Rebates
– Follow-up phone calls
• Frequency Marketing:
– Reinforces regular purchases by giving them rewards with values that
increase along with the amount purchased
• Frequent flyer miles
• Coupons/discounts for loyal shoppers
Cognitive Learning Theory
• Argues people are problem solvers who use info to process and think
about their decisions
• Conditioning occurs because people think about the link between
CS/UCS and CR
– Not simply an automatic response
– Develop hypotheses and act on them
• Example: Observational learning
– Occurs when people watch the actions of others and note
reinforcements received for their behaviors
– Learning occurs as a result of vicarious, rather than direct, experience.
Components of Observational Learning

The Role of Memory in Learning

• Memory
– A process of acquiring and storing information such that it will be
available when needed.
– Internal (what you remember) and external memory (info from
marketing stimuli)
• Stages of memory
– Encoding stage
• Information entered in a recognizable way
– Storage stage
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 •Knowledge integrated into what is already there and
warehoused
– Retrieval stage
• The person accesses the desired information
The Memory Process

Memory Systems
• Sensory Memory:
– Very temporary storage of information we receive from our
senses
• Short-Term Memory (STM):
– Limited period of time & limited capacity
– Working memory (i.e., holds memory we are currently
processing)
• Long-Term Memory (LTM):
– Can retain information for a long period of time
– Elaboration rehearsal is required: Process involves thinking
about a stimulus and relating it to information already in
memory
Memory Systems

Storing Information in Memory

• Most research shows that STM and LTM are interdependent.
• Depending on the task, different levels of each are activated,
different processing occurs
• Called Activation Models of Memory:
– The more effort it takes to process information, the more likely
that information will be placed in LTM.
Retrieving Information for
Purchase Decisions
• Factors Influencing Retrieval:
– Physiological Factors (e.g. age)
– Situational Factors:
• Amount of attention paid to the message
• Viewing environment: Commercials shown first in a series
of ads are recalled better than those shown last.
• State of Retrieval when trying to recall (mood congruence)
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 • Familiarity with the item
• Salience of the brand (prominence in memory)
• Pictorial v. verbal cue
Pictorial versus Verbal Cues
• There is some evidence for the superiority of visual memory over
verbal memory.
• Pictorial ads may enhance recall, but do not necessarily improve
comprehension.
Pictorial versus Verbal Cues

Pictorial versus Verbal Cues

Products as Memory Markers

• Products and ads can serve as powerful retrieval cues.
• Ads and products that remind consumers of their past also help to
determine what they like now.
– ifilm: 50 Years of Disney
Memories of the Past as Retrieval Cues

Nostalgia Appeal

Fossil’s product designs evoke memories of earlier classic

designs

Measuring Memory for Marketing Stimuli

• Recognition Versus Recall:
– Two basic measures of impact.
• Typical recognition test: Subjects are shown ads and asked if they
have seen them before.
• Tends to be more reliable, doesn’t decay over time
• More important when info is present (shopping)
• Typical recall test: Subjects are asked to independently think of
what they have seen without being prompted first.
• More important when no product data (referral)

What is learning

Refer to permanent change in behavior caused by experience”

We learn from our experiences, by observations, by doing something and by
experiments
Theories of Learning

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1)Behavioral learning theories (Assume that learning take place as a result of
responses to external events)
2) Cognitive learning theory ( People make decisions on the basis of their knowledge
and experiences)
Principle of Repetition
“ When product is overexposed in market its original allure is lost e-g Lacoste T-
Shirts”
Principle of Stimulus generation
“ People respond in the same way to similar stimulus as they respond to original “ e-g
Mouth wash me too type or soap
Stimulus Discrimination Principle
‘ Companies asked consumers not to buy copy or pirated product because result will
not be the same”
Marketing Applications of Behavior learning principles
• Application of repetation ( Show Ads only three times the purpose are as
follows
1) Create awareness
2) Relevance to consumers
3) Reminder
Application of conditional product association
• Examples include pepsi pour in glass( It refer that there is a sequence created
in the ice cube sound and pouring the pepsi into the glass.
Application of Stimulus generation
• Family branding
• Product line extension
• Licencing
• Look like packaging
Application of stimulus discrimination
• Use only original products in order to get maximum benefits and true taste of
the products. Marketers focus on usage of pure products in real form and
guarnteed by company.
The memory process
• External input
• Encoding ( Info. Placed in memory)
• Storage (Info. Is retained in memory)
• Retrieval (Info. Stored in memory is found as needed)

Chapter No. 04

MOTIVATION & VALUES

Motivation
“ Refer to the processes that lead people to behave as they do”
“ Motivation is what get you started , habit is what keep you going”
• Motivation occurs when a need arouse
Types of Need
• Utilitarian ( A desire to achieve practical benefits e-g Miles per gallon for car,
eat more vegetable because its having more benefits for an individual or group
• Hedonic Need ( An experiential need involving emotional responses e-g when
think about juicy burger or black berry set.
• Goal based need ( Refer to get desired benefits and satisfaction of need )
Motivational Strengths
The degree to which a person is willing to expand energy to reach one goal as
opposed to another reflects his or her underlying motivation to attain that goal”
MOTIVATION THEORIES
• DRIVE THEORY ( Focus ob biological needs that produces un pleasant states.
Tension refer to unpleasant state that exist if a person consumption needs are
not fulfilled)

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 • EXPECTANCY THEORY( It suggest that behavior is pulled by expectations of
achieving desirable outcomes)
Motivational Direction
Motivation are goal oriented in that they drive us to satisfy a specific need”

Chapter No. 05
Q.No. What is Attitude, define Function of attitude, forming attitude, &
attitude Models?

Definition: Attitude is lasting, general evaluation of a person, object, ads or issue

e.g. using toothpaste (Colgate or Sparkle) it depends upon consumer attitude which
toothpaste is use.

Function of Attitude: It refer how attitude facilitate social behaviour, there are four
function of attitude:
1. Utilitarian: if we like a product or services we develop positive attitude and if
we dislike a product we develop a negative attitude.

2. Value: a person forms a product attitude not because of object benefits, but
because of object benefits, what product say about him or her as a person e.g.
what type of person read reader digest.

3. Ego: Attitude that forms to protect the person either from external threats or
internal feeling, e.g. product promises to have macho man image (Marlboro),
choice of new generation is Pepsi.

4. Knowledge: Some attitudes are formed as the result of a need or order,

structure of meaning. This need is often present when a person is in an impious
situation, e.g. Abbott want that every body should know about dangi virus.
Forming Attitudes: Pepsi is better than coke? Why.
There are three type of forming.
1. Classical Conditioning: Pepsi name repeatedly paired with a jingle (Pepsi
choice of new generation) or when reema come on T.V people got that Lux
commercial is on.

2. Instrumental Conditioning: Refer to consumption of attitude object is

reinforced Pepsi quenches thrust) in this the product is forcedly purchase like
safeguard fight against germ.

3. Complex cognitive process: Waseem Akram drink Pepsi and by seeing

Waseem we came to know a develop a perception and attitude that active
person always drink Pepsi.

Attitude Models: There are two type of attitude models:

1. Multi attribute attitude Model: This type of model assume that a consumer
attitude towards as attitude object will depends upon belief he or she about
several or many attributes of the object.

2. Fishbien Model: it measure three components of attitude:

a. Salient Belief people have (Haram & Halal)
b. Object attributes
c. Evaluation of each of the important attribute
Using attitudes to predict behavior
• Intention vs behavior
• Social Pressure
• Attitude towards buying ( refer how someone feeds about buying or using an
object)

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Chapter No. 08 & 9
CHANGING ATTITUDES THROUGH COMMUNICATION
Persuasion (Which refer to an active attempt to change attitude)

Some principles that influence people to change their attitudes

 Reciprocity (People are more likely give if they receive)
 Scarcity
 Authority ( Which source is delivering the message)
 Consistency
 Liking
 Consensus
Before design a campaign we must consider
 Who will be shown in ad
 How should message be constructed (Positive vs negative)
 What media should be used
 What characteristics of target market might influence the ad acceptance
(Status or Fantasy)
Traditional Communication Model
Updated communication Model
The Source
(The medium by which we are exposed to a message)
Two important characteristics
 Credibility ( Hype or Biases)
 Attractiveness ( What is beautiful is good, Celebrities)
The Message
 Should the message be conveyed in word or picture
 How often should the message be repeated
 Should the conclusion be drawn
 Should both side of argument be presented
 Should negative emotions such as fears ever be aroused
 Should the AD be funny
Consumer as Decision Maker
Steps in Decision Making
 Problem Recognition
 Info Search (Internal and external)
 Evaluation of alternatives
 Product choice
 Out comes

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Chapter No. 10.

Situational Effects on Consumer Behaviour:

What are things effecting consumer behaviour when consumer go to market to

purchase some thing. Organization create situation to change the consumer
behaviour and to attract him.

1. Store Image:
• Location: Location is very important, basically creating convenience for
consumer make a good image of store in consumer eyes. Stores are
established in those places where large people have, or central place.
• Merchandise: Merchandise is that stores which sell all type of items.
Merchandise is to put items in such a way which make convenience for
consumer to find out the products. In merchandise the product are
placed in specific row and column.
• Staff: staff is most important point of store image. If your staff will
educated and helpful the image of store will be good. They welcome the
consumer, they asked from consumer what they want and give him
assistant, so good staff also change the behaviour of consumer.
2. Atmospheric: (Color, Scents, Sound) to create atmosphere.
a. Color: Beautiful colourings of stores which make good environment
affect the consumer behaviour.
b. Scents: Fragrance: to create beautiful atmosphere by lighting and
fragrance in store, clubs, make such atmosphere which change the
behaviour of consumer.
c. Sound: instrumental music in hotel, tea shops, also play in important
role in making good atmosphere which change the behaviour of
consumer.

In-Store decision making:

How consumer will take decision while buying and how store keeper take decision
while selling the products.

Marketer of seller thinks what decision take to facilitate consumer while buying
product.

In consumer point of view we have 5 points:

1. Store Environment: to create such environment by which consumer take

enjoyment.

2. Likely hood: To make such a setup of a store that has the same at every
branch of the same store. So people will directly will go to that place where the
required product lying due to same location, it is make convenience for
consumer and change his behaviour.

3. Unplanned buying: unplanned buying is that the consumer goes to purchase

for some thing and they see another thing and make mind to purchase so this
type of decision is unplanned mean they have not planned that they will
purchase this thing.

4. Impulse buying: surrender usage which he or she cant resist. Guest were
come to your home & the dinner set in your house is not suitable for placement
on front of guest, so in emergency people go to purchase dinner set this
emergency purchasing is called impulse buying.

5. POP (point of purchase): different setup is creating to create attraction. Put

some thing with the store door so when the people inter in the store he first

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 look will be on these product so they will change the consumer mind, like
chocolate at start of store a beautiful shirt hanging on the store door going to
change the decision of marketing.

Post Purchase Satisfaction:

Satisfaction pertaining to the dissatisfaction of consumer / buyer after purchasing a

product, Post purchase behaviour is the attraction of organization.

They have two types:

1. Quality: when ever some purchase some thing and the quality of these thing
was not found good and you not satisfied from his out come so the consumer
think that this store have a poor quality store so they not will go to purchase
again product from that store, and some time the purchased quality found very
good so the consumer want to purchase again and again from that store.

2. TQM: (Total Quality Management): Mean Zero Default perfection, there will no
defect in product, quality, usage, in features which fully satisfied you. 100%
perfect from manufacture to the final consumer. Warranty, guaranty,
replacement after expiry, it build sense of security.

Chapter N0.11

What is a reference Group ?

“ An actual or imaginary individual or group conceived of having significant relevance

upon an individual evaluation , aspiration or behavior “

Reference group influence consumers in three ways

• Information

• Utilitarian (Consultation with others before purchase)

• Value expressive (Image)

CONFORMITY

“ Refer to change in beliefs or action as a reaction to real or imagined group pressure

“

Factors Which effect

• Cultural Pressure

• Fears of deviance (Sanctions)

• Commitment

• Group size and expertise

• Interpersonal Influence (Research)

WORD- OF –MOUTH

Is product information transmitted by individual to individual “

OPINION LEADERSHIP

Refer to people who are knowledgeable about product and whose advice is taken
seriously by others”

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ORGANIZATION DECISION MAKING VS CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

General model

A general model of the buyer decision process consists of the following steps:

1. Problem recognition;
2. Gathering Information
3. Alternative education
4. Purchase decision
5. Post-purchase behavior/buyer's remorse (cognitive dissonance)

AWARENESS - before anything else can happen the potential customers must
become aware that the product or service exists. Thus, the first task must be to gain
the attention of the target audience. All the different models are, predictably, agreed
on this first step. If the audience never hears the message, they will not act on it, no
matter how powerful it is

• INTEREST - but it is not sufficient to grab their attention. The message must
interest them and persuade them that the product or service is relevant to
their needs. The content of the message(s) must therefore be meaningful and
clearly relevant to that target audience's needs, and this is where marketing
research can come into its own.

• UNDERSTANDING - once an interest is established, the prospective customer

must be able to appreciate how well the offering may meet his or her needs,
again as revealed by the marketing research. This may be no small
achievement where the advertiser has just a few words, or ten seconds, to
convey their message.

• ATTITUDES - but the message must go even further; to persuade the reader
to adopt a sufficiently positive attitude towards the product or service that he
or she will purchase it, albeit as a trial. There is no adequate way of describing
how this may be achieved. It is simply down to the magic of the advertiser's
art, or based on the strength of the product or service itself.

• PURCHASE - all the above stages might happen in a few minutes while the
reader is considering the advertisement; in the comfort of his or her favorite
armchair. The final buying decision, on the other hand, may take place some
time later; perhaps weeks later, when the prospective buyer actually tries to
find a shop which stocks the product.

• REPEAT PURCHASE - but in most cases this first purchase is best viewed as
just a trial purchase. Only if the experience is a success for the customer will it
be turned into repeat purchases. These repeats, not the single purchase which
is the focus of most models, are where the vendors focus should be, for these
are where the profits are generated. The earlier stages are merely a very
necessary prerequisite for this!

This is a very simple model, and as such does apply quite generally. Its lessons are
that you cannot obtain repeat purchasing without going through the stages of
building awareness and then obtaining trial use; which has to be successful. It is a
pattern which applies to all repeat purchase products and services; industrial goods
just as much as baked beans. This simple theory is rarely taken any further - to look
at the series of transactions which such repeat purchasing implies. The consumer's
growing experience over a number of such transactions is often the determining
16
factor in the later - and future - purchases. All the succeeding transactions are, thus,
interdependent - and the overall decision-making process may accordingly be much
more complex than most models allow for.

FOLLOWING POINTS ARE IMPORTANT

1) In organization there are many people involved while in

consumer decision only one person take the decision or very few
involved
2) Organization and industrial products are buying according to
technical specification where as few attention give towards
individual purchase decision or there is no so much technical
depth involved as compared to organization purchase.
3) Impulse buying is rare in organization buying where as common
in consumer buying. (Impulse buying refer to un-planned
buying)
4) Decisions are more risky in organization buying decision where
as less risky in consumer decisions because of the difference of
money involved.
5) Organizations deals normally require face to face deal where as
consumer deals are not limited to face to face meeting. He or
she can online order or can order by mail.

FAMILY LIFE CYCLE

How did your parents react when you left home? Did your mother want to camp out
in your dorm room to make certain you were okay and wouldn't make a mistake she
was sure would ruin your life, and did she keep your room just as you left it, a shrine
to your childhood, and a place you could return any time you wanted? Were you glad
your mother was always there to do your laundry and were you eager to tell her
everything you did because you knew it made her happy to know?
On the other hand, when you left home for college, did your mother breathe a sigh of
relief, wish you all the luck in the world, and turn your room into her study? And were
you glad to be out of the house, away from all her rules and regulations, and were
fairly mum about your activities, and didn't ask for her opinion on what courses you
should take?
Each family approaches the transition from living-at-home to launching-into-the-world
a little differently. As a family moves from one stage of life to another, they have to
navigate new territory in which the rules of the game have shifted. It can be very
stressful.
During the middle of a stage within a family's life cycle, patterns of behavior become
comfortable and everyone rather knows what is expected of them. Then, seemingly
suddenly, there is a shift. A "child" (though now in her twenties or, often these days,
even in her thirties) begins her own family and the parents need to back away.
Intrusions into their daughter's life may be welcomed by her, because she is used to
relying on her parents for support. But in-laws butting into her life may not be
welcome by her new husband. Such is the making of mother-in-law jokes.
Few of us make the transition from one stage to another seamlessly. But it is helpful
to know that there is a pattern of life that flows through all families. Of course, the
age at which an individual leaves home and the time when he or she enters into a
relationship and has children will vary considerably from one person to another, and
from one culture or era to another. Nevertheless, the stages of the family life cycle
remain the same.
The following description of these stages

17
Stage One: Single young adults leave home
Here the emotional change is from the reliance on the family to acceptance of
emotional and financial responsibility for ourselves. Second-order changes (see
sidebar) include differentiation of self in relation to family of origin. This means we
neither blindly accept what our parents believe or want us to do, nor do we
automatically respond negatively to their requests. Our beliefs and behaviors are now
part of our own identity, though we will change and refine what we believe
throughout our lives. Also, during this period we develop intimate peer relationships
on a deeper level than we had previously and become financially independent.
Stage Two: The new couple joins their families through marriage or living
together
The major emotional transition during this phase is through commitment to the new
system. Second-order change involves the formation of a marital system and
realignment of relationships with extended families and friends that includes our
spouses.
Stage Three: Families with young children
Emotionally we must now accept new members into the system. This isn't hard
initially because babies come to us in sweet innocent packages that open our hearts.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the night we may wonder what we've gotten ourselves
into. Nevertheless, we adjust the marital system to make space for our children,
juggling child rearing, financial and household tasks. Second-order change also
occurs with the realignment of relationships with extended family as it opens to
include the parenting and grand parenting roles.
Stage Four: Families with adolescents
Emotional transitions are hard here for the whole family because we need to increase
the flexibility of a family's boundaries to include children's independence and
grandparents' frailties. As noted above, second-order change is required in order for
the shifting of the parent-child relationship to permit adolescents to move in and out
of the system. Now there is a new focus on midlife marital and career issues and the
beginning shift toward joint caring for the older generation when both children and
aging parents demand our attention, creating what is now called the sandwich
generation.
Stage Five: Launching children and moving on
This is one of the transitions that can be most emotionally difficult for parents as they
now need to accept a multitude of exits from and entries into the family system. If
the choices of the children leaving the nest are compatible with the values and
expectations of the parents, the transition can be relatively easy and enjoyable,
especially if the parents successfully navigate their second-order changes, such as
renegotiation of the marital system as a couple rather than as simply parents. Other
developmental changes include development of adult-to-adult relationships between
us and our grown children, inclusion of in-laws and grandchildren, and dealing with
the disabilities and death of our own parents.
Stage Six: Families in later life
When Erik Erikson discusses this stage, he focuses on how we as individuals either
review our lives with acceptance and a sense of accomplishment or with bitterness
and regret. A family systems approach, however, is interested in how the family as a
unit responds and sees the key emotional principle as accepting the shifting of
generational roles. Second-order changes require us to maintain our own interests
and functioning as a couple in face of physiological decline. We shift our focus onto
the middle generation (the children who are still in stage five) and support them as
they launch their own children. In this process the younger generation needs to make
room for the wisdom and experience of the elderly, supporting the older generation
18
without overfunctioning for them. Other second-order change includes dealing with
the loss of our spouse, siblings, and peers and the preparation for our own death and
the end of our generation.
FAMILY DECISION MAKING
1) Household decisions ( Normally in all societies the house hold decisions
taken by house wife. It varies from society to society . The dominance in
this regard refer to females in all parts of the world and cultures.)
2) Gender role in decision making ( In major buying or purchase decision
like home buying , car , other high end products normally the elders or
most dominant person in the family took the decision and his or her
decision will be the final . As in our society because of the male
dominancy the most important decisions regarding purchases took by
males members of the family)
3) Joint decision making ( It refer to the participative decision making of the
whole family and each and ever member contribute his or her advice in
this regard in-order to reach final buying decision
CHILDREN AS DECISION MAKERS
1) Influence of parents ( Childrens normally took decisions based on the
influence of the decision s made by their parents in remote or recent
past.
2) Television ( New opportunities and avenues have been created by this
medium to influence the decision of the childrens through carton
network and other marketing tools, it gave children a great exposure
of selection and choice)
3) Cognitive development ( with the passage of time the children on the
basis of their experiences, exposures, experiments and use of senses
are able to make their own choice of buying
Chapter 11.

RACE & ETHNICITY

In 1986, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone remarked that the average
American intellectual standard is lower than the average Japanese standard because
of the blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. He has often said that the source of Japan's
strength lies in its "racial homogeneity." Eleven years later, University of Texas Law
School Professor Lino Graglia triggered a firestorm of criticism for his remarks that
"Blacks and Mexican-Americans are not academically competitive with whites in
selective institutions. It is the result primarily of cultural effects. They have a culture
that seems not to encourage achievement. Failure is not looked upon with disgrace."

It has been said that race is the plague of civilization. In 1977, Andrew Young, at that
time the chief U.S. representative to the United Nations, claimed that a race war in
South Africa would inevitably precipitate racial conflict in the United States. Some
countries, like Great Britain and Australia, eliminate the potential for conflict by
simply denying or severely limiting entry.

However, American society has always been enriched by its waves of immigrants.
John Kennedy observed how Alexis de Tocqueville saw the United States as "a society
of immigrants, each of whom had begun life anew, on an equal footing. This was the
secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who
dared to explore new frontiers ..." In 2004, the Census Bureau predicted that in the
year 2050 minority groups would comprise one-half of the total American population

19
of 420 million. Hispanics will comprise roughly one-quarter of the population, blacks
15%, and Asians 8%.

As the proportion of Americans increasingly becomes Hispanic, black and Asian,

inequalities grow. According to the Pew Hispanic Center's 2004 "The Wealth of
Hispanic Households: 1996 to 2002" study, "the median net worth of Hispanic
households in 2002 was $7,932. This was only nine percent of $88,651, the median
wealth of non-Hispanic White households at the same time. The net worth of Non-
Hispanic Blacks was only $5,988. Thus, the wealth of Latino and Black households is
less than one-tenth the wealth of White households even though Census data show
their income is two-thirds again as high."

Here we consider some of the sociological facets of race and ethnicity, and how they
are interwoven with other dimensions of social stratification.

ETHNICITY AND RACE: GENERAL INDEXES

MINORITY GROUP = A group typically numerically inferior to the rest of the population
of a state, in a non-dominant position, whose members--being nationals of the state--
possess ethnic, religious, or linguistic characteristics distinguishing them from the
rest of the population. Typically, members of a minority group share a sense of
solidarity and a desire to preserve their culture, traditions, religion, or language. A
minority group can sometimes be a numerical majority in a minority group position.
Minority group status is not a matter of numbers; it is determined by the presence of
distinguishing features such as discrimination. Central features characterizing a
minority group are:

• The members of a minority group suffer various disadvantages at the hand of

another group;
• A minority group is identified by group characteristics that are socially visible;
• A minority is a self-conscious group with a strong sense of "oneness";
• People usually do not become members of a minority group voluntarily; they
are born into it;
• By choice or necessity, members of a minority group tend to marry within the
group."

AFRICAN AMERICANS

The only group to have involuntarily immigrated to the United States, to have been
forcibly stripped of its culture, African or black Americans has as a group yet to
receive its fair share of the American dream. Of those surveyed in a Fall 1995
TIME/CNN poll, 56% of blacks did not believe that discrimination against them would
ever diminish (compared to 27% of whites). And while near two-thirds of whites
thought that race relations would eventually improve, only 44% of blacks agreed.

But it is worth remembering how much change has occurred in recent decades. Read,
for instance, about the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till or the lynching
postcards of last century (see also Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in
America; for state lynching rates 1882-1927 click here). As recently as the 1960s,
Southern blacks could not even drive on the same road as whites, having to pull over
to the side and wait until the road was again theirs. (See the National Park Service's
"We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement.") In March of 1995
Mississippi lawmakers finally ratified the 13th Amendment, the one abolishing
slavery--130 years after the fact. Click here to see the 1997 Gallup Poll Social Audit
on Black/White Relations. Other fact-filled resources include the National Urban
20
League's annual report on the progress of African Americans, "The State of Black
America 2000: Blacks in the New Millennium" and The Journal of Blacks in Higher
Education.

The thirtieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death in 1998 produced
considerable stocktaking. Take a look at PBS Frontline's page "The Two Nations of
Black America", which features economic trends data and interviews with Eldridge
Cleaver, Julian Bond, Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, and William Julius Wilson. Also
worth a look is Voices of Civil Rights, an online archive of materials from the civil
rights movement.

For history of African Americans in film see Michael Mills' Midnight Ramble

Certainly one mechanism by which the American melting pot works is through the
intermarriages of different racial, ethnic, and national groups. By 1980, according to
the U.S. Census, only one quarter of American-born, non-Hispanic whites was married
to someone with an undivided ethnic heritage identical to his or her own. Take, for
instance, the case of Italian Americans: of those born before 1920, some 8 percent
had mixed ancestry, compared to over 70 percent of those born after 1970.

The melting pot has not, however, melded that many unions across racial lines.
Roughly 99 percent of African American women and 97 percent of African American
men marry one of their race. This is not to deny that considerable changes have
occurred in recent decades. For every 100,000 married couples in the United States,
in 1990 there were 396 black-white unions, compared to 126 in 1960.

Public attitudes and state laws have not historically promoted biracial marriages.
Until the 1967 Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision, sixteen states, most of
them Southern, had anti-miscegenation laws preventing such couplings. Since 1972,
the NORC General Social Surveys have included the question "Do you think there
should be laws against marriages between Blacks and whites?" In the 1972-75 period,
some 38 percent of white Americans agreed with the statement. By the 1990s, only
18 percent agreed. Looking at levels of agreement by birth cohorts over time,
observe that support for miscegenation laws consistently declines the younger the
cohort and that cohort consensus remains basically constant over time.

THINKING ABOUT RACIAL STEREOTYPES

The dust has yet to settle from Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray's The Bell
Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. Therein it is claimed that the
social and economic advantages whites have over blacks is due to their greater
intelligence. Among the many shortcomings of the authors' logic and methodology is
the simple fact that there is only one species of the human race; it cannot be broken
into biological units such as race. Further, in studying the variability of intelligence
between those in our racial taxonomy, molecular biologists have found that more
than 85 percent is among individuals within the same race.

Nevertheless, most of us hold preconceived theories about attributes of those in

various groups and view others through their stereotypes. For instance, three-
quarters of African-Americans believed in 1994 that whites are "insensitive to other
people" and 42 percent said that Asian-Americans are "unscrupulously crafty and
devious in business" (Harper's Magazine, 1994). Stereotyping is undoubtedly a
natural process, used by individuals to simplify the world and to make life somewhat
predictable. Nevertheless, we always need to remember the maxim of W.I. Thomas
that if people believe something to be true it will be true in its consequences.

21
Let's examine Americans' perceptions of the intelligence of whites and blacks. In
1990, the National Opinion Research Center asked a random sample of non-
institutionalized, English-speaking Americans 18 years of age and older a series of
questions dealing with characteristics of various racial and ethnic groups. Included
were the following: Do the people in the following groups tend to be unintelligent (1)
or do they tend to be intelligent (7)? Whites? The intelligence of Blacks? Here
analyzed are the differences in intelligence scores given by white and black
Americans. If, for instance, a person gave an intelligence score of 4 for whites and 4
for blacks, then that person sees no racial difference; if one scores whites as 4 and
blacks as 5 then that person sees blacks as generally being more intelligent than
whites. Presented in the graphs below are the mean difference scores given by
whites and blacks broken down by age and by education.

How do you interpret these correlations? Consider framing them in terms of Derrick
Bell's ("Dr. King's Legacy: A Help or Harm in the Racial Struggle?" Trinity's Martin
Luther King keynote speech presented on Jan. 17, 2000) thesis that blacks are the
key societal glue, the social stabilizers, of American society as they are always
perceived to be below everyone else. Even the poorest whites still see themselves
better than blacks and thus do not agitate the system for social change. And the new
immigrants from Asia and Latin America have learned this mindset as well. In sum,
without racism the American melting pot does not work.

To investigate how racism might take the fizz out of class conflict, consider the
following table from the GSS:

% WHITES AGREEING THAT "LARGE DIFFERENCES IN INCOME

ARE NECESSARY FOR AMERICA'S PROSPERITY (n=706)

EDUCATION: HS DROPOUT HS GRAD SOME POST- 4+ YEARS

TOTAL
SECONDARY COLLEGE

Believe blacks
smarter or as
34% 28% 25% 16% 24%
smart as
whites

Believe whites
are smarter 38% 31% 42% 43% 37%
than blacks

From the TOTAL column on the right we observe that whites believing that they are
smarter than blacks are more likely to agree that national prosperity requires large
differences in income--an important belief for a status quo that features one of the
largest gaps between the haves and have-nots in the developed world.

HISPANIC AMERICANS

As recently as 1950, the Census counted fewer than 4 million U.S. residents who
would fall under the catch-all category "Hispanic" (see Linda Robinson's Hispanics
don't exist" on the supposed 17 major Latino subcultures in the U.S.). By 2001 there
was an estimated 37 million Hispanic Americans, or nearly 13% of the total
population, and their numbers were growing nearly five times faster than the general
public (see Census Brief, "The Hispanic Population"). According to a 2003 Census

22
Bureau report, Hispanics surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group. For
one perspective of the implications of this demographic fact, read Samuel
Huntington's controversial "The Hispanic Challenge" (Foreign Policy, March/April
2004).

ASIAN AMERICANS

The Census Bureau reported in 1990 that the Asian population grew nearly seven
times as fast as the general American population and three times as fast as the black
population. Nearly 23% of Asian-Americans are of Chinese heritage and about 19%,
or 1.4 million people, trace their roots to the Philippines. Japanese-Americans, who in
1960 represented 52% of the Asian-American population, now represent 11.7%, just
ahead of East Indians, at 11.2%, and Koreans, at 10.9%.

• Asian-Nation "an exploration of the historical, political, social, economic, and

cultural elements and issues that make up today's Asian American
community." maintained by C.N. Le.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

• The Japanese American Internment

• "Suffering Under a Great Injustice" Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese-
American Internment at Manzanar from the Library of Congress's American
Memory
• A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution from the
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
• War Relocation Authority Camps in Arizona, 1942-1946 "In this era of renewed
concern over the potential impact of racial profiling, the University of Arizona
Library's exhibit on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II
is a well-timed reminder of the inanity of such actions, to say nothing of their
disruptiveness in the lives of (otherwise) ordinary American citizens." The
Scout Report, January 18, 2002

Chapter 12.

AGE AND CONSUMER IDENTITY

As we grow older our wants and demands change. Young, middle aged and old have
different approaches towards consumption and Preferences

THE TEEN MARKET ( HOW TO APPEAL YOUTH)

According to Packaged Facts, they were a $79.7 billion market in 2006, and that
figure is expected to grow to $91.1 billion by 2011. What teens like has a good
chance of appealing to those who remain young at heart.

Before you set off to target teens, here are eight tricks to help crack this audience:

Take the message to them: Today's teens are so tech-savvy that if you don't make
your pitch with that in mind, you might as well throw your hard-earned money out the
window. They are chatting to their friends via instant messenger, email and social
media. They are connecting and obtaining information from their computer, smart
phone and, in some cases, game console. "To reach this demographic, in the hopes of
having anything meaningful with them, you have to take the message to them," says
Jon Gaskell, co-founder of SmartyPig, an Internet piggy bank that tries to teach teens
about money.

23
While SmartyPig teaches users about the importance of setting goals and saving for
what you want, it also allows them to socialize and share with friends and family the
ups and downs of saving for a specific goal. Next up: a mobile application because
"this was something our younger customers demanded," says Gaskell.

Take them seriously: One of the biggest mistakes companies make, says Gaskell,
is underestimating the teen market. "When people have access to information, a
greater amount of information than any other demo, they will know fast what they
want. You need to be ready to change and enhance and meet their expectations or
they will leave you."

But that doesn't mean setting up a profile page rife with corporate information and
speak. "Don't over-sell them," says Simon Podd, head of U.K. sales for Bebo.com, a
social networking site popular among teens. "Definitely don't treat the profile page as
an ad. They have to feel like they're having a conversation with that brand while in
their bedroom or on their mobile phone. By befriending a brand's profile page, they're
giving you permission to contact them so don't abuse it."

That means giving them some added value for spending time with you. That could be
offering the occasional freebie. It could mean giving them the inside track on
something that their peers would like to know. It could be allowing them to share with
their friends and family.

Be ready to listen: If you're willing to get on the social media bus, be ready to listen
and respond to comments from your customers. Given how teens live online as much
as offline, they're going to give you an earful. So address comments and update
regularly. "At the end of the day, you're speaking to the end user," says Podd. "If they
come back and it's not been updated, they will never come back."

Make it fun: Teens, more than any other audience, like to participate. So be creative
when pitching your product or service. Bebo.com helped U.K. drugstore brand Boots
create a photo contest, in which users uploaded photos of themselves in full make-
up. The winner would become the face of Boots campaign. Contests go over well with
this age group. So do polls, quizzes and giveaways, says Marisa Sandora, editor in
chief of teen magazines QuizFest and ASTROgirl. "They are looking for added value."

Short and sweet: It's true: they don't have a very long attention span. Hence, get to
the point with lots of color and a funky design. QuizFest and ASTROgirl are filled with
pull quotes, captions, sidebars and big headlines. "You have to have lots of entry
points," says Sandora.

The popularity of texting has also changed the way teens speak, so deploy those
"LOLs" and "OMGs" in a way that isn't condescending.

Placement is key: Teens want to be cool. For some companies, that may mean
getting snapped next to a teen idol. Members Only, the iconic 1980s clothing
company, is once again hip in part because designer and creative director Kelli
Delaney was strategic in placing the garments on celebrities like Zac Efron, Miley
Cyrus, and Taylor Swift. "When Miley wears our $700 bomber, we see a spike in
retail," says Delaney.

She also cultivates relationships with the bloggers who teens turn to for gossip and
information and the right stores. "If it's the wrong message, they can turn on you on a
dime," warns Delaney. "The boutique stores like Intermix and Scoop are what drive
the teen retail scene. Of course, they will go to national department stores, but that's
for hanging with their girlfriends. When they go to boutiques, it's like their own
personal stylist, and it gives them the look and image of their favorite stars."

BABY BOOMERS
24
The United States Census Bureau considers a baby boomer to be someone born
during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964. [9] The Census Bureau is
not involved in defining cultural generations.

Bernard Salt places the Australian baby boom between 1946 and 1961.[13][14]

Characteristics

Size and economic impact

Seventy-six million American babies were born between 1946 and 1960, representing
cohorts that would be significant on account of its size alone.[citation needed] This cohort
shares characteristics like higher rates of participation in higher education than
previous generations and an assumption of lifelong prosperity and entitlement
developed during their childhood in the 1950s.

The age wave theory suggests an economic slowdown when the boomers start
retiring during 2007-2009.[15]

Cultural identity

Boomers grew up at a time of dramatic social change. In the United States, that social
change marked the generation with a strong cultural cleavage, between the
proponents of social change and the more conservative. Some analysts believe
this cleavage has played out politically since the time of the Vietnam War, to
some extent defining the political landscape and division in the country.

In 1993, Time magazine reported on the religious affiliations of baby boomers. Citing
Wade Clark Roof, a sociologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the
articles stated that about 42% of baby boomers were dropouts from formal religion, a
third had never strayed from church, and one-fourth of boomers were returning to
religious practice. The boomers returning to religion were "usually less tied to
tradition and less dependable as church members than the loyalists. They are also
more liberal, which deepens rifts over issues like abortion and homosexuality."

It is jokingly said that, whatever year they were born, boomers were coming of age at
the same time across the world; so that Britain was undergoing Beatlemania while
people in the United States were driving over to Woodstock, organizing against the
Vietnam War, or fighting and dying in the same war; boomers in Italy were dressing in
mod clothes and "buying the world a Coke"; boomers in India were seeking new
philosophical discoveries; American boomers in Canada had just found a new home
and escaped the draft; Canadian Boomers were organizing support for Pierre
Trudeau. It is precisely because of these experiences that many believe those born in
the second half of the birth boom belong to another generation, as events that
defined their coming of age have little in common with leading or core boomers.

The boomers found that their music, most notably rock and roll, was another
expression of their generational identity. Transistor radios were personal devices that
allowed teenagers to listen to The Beatles and The Motown Sound.

25