Consumer Behaviour: A Case study By:

Garima Keswani (030) Kapil Bindal (035)

Case 1
The moment an individual enters into wedlock, his/her partner influences his buying decisions to a great extent. In most families, wife accompanies her husband for shopping be it grocery, home appliances, furnishings, car etc.An individual would always discuss with his/her partner before any major purchase. After marriage, individuals generally do not like spending on himself/herself; rather they do it for their partner or family. A young bachelor would not mind spending on alcohol, attending night parties, casinos but the moment he has a wife at home, he would instead spend on household and necessary items. No bachelor likes to invest money on mutual funds, insurance policies, mediclaims etc but for someone who is married buying an investment plan becomes his first priority. Women generally are inclined towards buying toiletries, perfumes, dresses, household items, furnishings, food products while men would rather love to spend on gadgets, cars, bikes, alcohol etc.Both have different tastes but when they come together, they mutually decide on what to buy and what not to buy. A Bachelor would never purchase Womens Horlicks or Kelloggs K special or a female perfume but when he has a wife at home; he would love to purchase them for his wife. A young girl who has never purchased shaving creams or mens perfume all through her life for herself would not mind purchasing for her husband, father or father in law. A working woman would have different needs as compared to a housewife

Summary
SUMMARY The case talks all about the impact of family, friends & society on the buying behaviour of the consumer. When a person single handedly goes for buying things, he/she acts according to his/her personal choices & preferences. There is no other person to influence the buyers decision except his/her own will. But, apart from will there are some abstract factors like Culture, habits of buying, orthodox mindset etc acc to which one gets influenced. The case talks about people getting married & then the trend of changing buying behaviour. Obviously, when a married man goes for buying stuff, he does not only buy what he wants, but he priorizes what his spouse & children need. Also, if he was to buy a new mobile phone (say) after only 6 months, being a bachelor, he would not do it after he is married. Thus, his buying frequency of mobile phones decreases. Various such examples, not only in the case of spouse & children, but influence of relatives, parents, grandparents etc. also determines what, why & how to buy for an individual. Thus, marketers need to keep in mind that the task is not only to sell the product to customer but make it suitable for families to say a yes to the same.

Relation of case with CB

The above factors being the various factors affecting consumer behaviour, THE SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS are the ones which are prominent in our case. i.e. family, friends, relatives & their influence on the buying behaviour. Here, the person after getting married is accompanied by her wife for shopping be it grocery, home appliances, furnishings, car etc. An individual would always discuss with his/her partner before any major purchase. After marriage, individuals generally do not like spending on himself/herself; rather they do it for their partner or family. A young bachelor would not mind spending on alcohol, attending night parties, casinos but the moment he has a wife at home, he would instead spend on household and necessary items. No bachelor likes to invest money on mutual funds, insurance policies, mediclaims etc but for someone who is married buying an investment plan becomes his first priority.

answers
Question 1) What are the ways in which family members influence the buying decisions made by head of the family? Answer 1) There are various roles that family members play: 1. Influencers: Those family members who provide information and advice and thus influence the purchase. The housewife tells her family about the new eatery that has opened in the neighborhood and her favorable description about it influences her husband and teenaged children to also patronize the restaurant. Family member(s) who provide information to other members about a product or service. 2. Gatekeepers: Those family members who control the flowof information about a product/service thus influencing the decisions of other family members. The teenaged son who wants a racing bicycle, may withhold from his father much of the relevant information on all brands except the one that he fancies, thereby influencing his fathers decision in favor of his preferred brand.

) Deciders: Family members who have the power to other spouse. unilaterally or jointly decide whether or not to buy a product or service. 4. Buyers: Those family members who actually buy a behaviour of the other spouse by offering a reward. particular product or service. A housewife may be the person who actually buys all the foodstuffs, rations and laden reaction to influence the other spouses behaviour. toiletries, which are consumed by all the family members.Family member(s) who make the actual purchase. 5. Preparers: Those family members who transform or prepare the product into the form in which it is actually consumed. The housewife may prepare the family meal using raw vegetables, lentils, spices, oil and other ingredients. Family member(s) who transform the product into a form suitable for consumption by other family type of family vacation.

 6. Users: Those family members who use or consume a particular product or service. All family members may use In a consumer behaviour context, advertising or an in-store the car, watch the television, and listen to the stereo music shopping experience (e.g., a point-of-purchase display or system Family member(s) who use or consume a particular product or service. 7. Maintainers: Family member(s) who service or repair the product so that it will provide continued satisfaction. 8) Disposers: Family member(s) who initiate or carry out the disposal or discontinuation of a particular product or a service.

Question 2) Discuss the impact of family on the consumer buying.

Answer 2) Many factors influence purchasing. A consumer's family is one of the most significant factors because a family helps shape an individual's attitudes and behaviors . One way to understand the family's impact on consumer behavior is to identify the decision maker for a purchase. A decision maker for a purchase can be a husband, wife, or even a child, and sometimes decisions are made in collaboration. Often, the decision maker changes based on the type of purchase or the size of the purchase. A new refrigerator, for example, is likely to be a joint decision, while a week's groceries might be selected by a single member of the family.

 Influence of Family on Consumer Behavior Families influence purchases in many ways. At first, the influence of parents is significant because of how parents help their children to develop political and religious beliefs, lifestyle choices, and consumer preferences. Most people are who they are because of their parents. A spouse and children, however, can exert an even more significant force on a consumer's purchases. Interaction between spouses and the number and ages of children play a particularly powerful role on buying behaviors. These family influences affect how consumers look at purchases more directly than most other social influences on consumer purchasing.

 Family Life Cycle Another aspect of understanding the impact of families on buying behavior is the family life cycle. Most, though certainly not all, individuals and families pass through an orderly sequence of life stages that can be used to understand their purchasing patterns. A typical adult starts in the bachelor stage of being young and single and then moves to being part of a married couple without children. Then the married couple transition to Full Nest stages, where the family has dependent children living at home. Finally, the individual reaches the "solitary survivor" stage of being an older single person. Consumer behavior and purchasing is different in each of these stages. Understanding the family life cycle is beneficial for marketers because it helps in defining target customers.

Question 3) What are the resulting implications for marketers?

Answer 3) Marketers are interested in understanding and influencing consumer behavior to increase demand for their products and services and, ultimately, to increase sales. Consumer behaviors have a number of implications on marketing strategy. It is important for organizations to thoroughly understand the markets they are attempting to influence and how consumer behaviours impact consumers' buying decisions. Psychographics of Consumers Psychographics are consumer attributes that serve to identify consumer activities, interests and opinions (AIOs). Studying consumer behaviors to understand the types of activities consumers engage in, the things they're interested in and the opinions they have can help marketers in two key ways: First, understanding AIOs can help marketers identify the appropriate communication tools to connect with target consumers. In addition, understanding AIOs can help marketers craft messages designed to influence or capitalize on their existing opinions. Reference Groups -- Influence and Opinion Consumers are influenced by others, and savvy marketers know this. The use of testimonials and spokespeople to strengthen a brand is common among many marketers -- consider the use of sports figures such as Tiger Woods to Peyton Manning to endorse products from golf clubs to cars to apparel. Word-of-mouth can be a powerful influence on buying behavior, and marketing strategies are often designed to leverage word-of-mouth. The increasing popularity and use of social media help marketers to take even more advantage of reference groups in helping to spread messages about their products and services.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is a popular model used in marketing circles that helps marketers determine whether a central or peripheral route of communication would be most appropriate for a given audience based on their level of loyalty or connection to a product, service or cause. A central route is popular for communicating with consumers who are more highly involved with the product or issue, while peripheral means of communication (a combination of multiple approaches) are suitable for influencing less-involved consumers. An effective illustration of ELM is political campaigning. Party-to-party communication can take a central route; while attempts to influence a change in parties or among independents require peripheral communications. Consumer Decision-Making Consumer decision-making determines the likelihood that a consumer will consider or purchase a particular product. In general, consumers seek to increase pleasure and avoid pain. They wish to minimize the risk of decisions they make and will invest more time in researching purchase decisions that represent a higher level of risk. For instance, low-cost, low-involvement products like shampoo will require less effort and consideration on the part of consumers than high-cost, high-involvement products like cars, computers or homes. Knowing this, marketers will spend more effort to communicate in more detail with consumers whose choices represent a higher level of risk

Conclusion
Marketers make decisions for their marketing strategies based on the consumers demographics like income, education level, occupation, age & location. This is known as segmenting the market. Marketers must also understand the values of the consumer, this will provide them with more success in their marketing campaigns. They will be unsuccessful in any marketing campaign that does not take into account & reflect the value of the consumer. Values impacting consumer choices are their knowledge, beliefs, morals & customs, it has a significant impact on the products that consumer seek & purchase. Thus, it becomes all the more important that along with customers values, values of the family & people related to the consumer be considered. Thus, considering the family influence is equally important, since MAN is a SOCIAL ANIMAL & cannot live in solace. So, family & friends are bound to influence him & hold importance. Thus, not one but more factors need focus w.r.t marketers. SO, MARKETERS, BUCK UP!!