Consumer Behaviour – An Overview
The term consumer behaviour has been viewed from many vantage points by many authors. A consensus of opinions seems to be a mirage. The study of consumer behaviour explains who the consumer is, what are his preferences and what influence his action.These questions are vital to any form that wishes to achieve the goal marketing concepts.We need to look at some authors’ views here on the subject matter.
According to Watson (1975, P.135) saw consumer behaviour as “the way people act in the exchange process”. In this wire, Engel (1978, P. 212) define consumer behaviour as “those act of individuals directly involved in obtaining and using economic goods and services including the decision processes that precedes and determine these act”. However, this definition throw a more light to subject matter but in its entirely, does not find a further meaning of the subject. The definition of consumer behaviour as “the decision process and physical activity individual engage in which evaluating, acquiring and using economic goods and services has not battered the other definition.
According to Williams (1982, p243) seems to gain wide acceptance. He defined consumer behaviour thus “All purchase release before, during and after the purchase itself as performance by buyers and consumers of products and services and those who influence the purchase.
The latest definition embraces all the point mentioned by the other authors and goes further to include the influence of the consumer on environmental forces. This forces consists of learning personalities, attitude, self concept and perception, the environmental forces influencing the consumer by societal clam, family welfare group and culture, others are promotional communication, the state of the economy and price/quality relationship.
2.2 MARKETING APPLICATION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR THEORY.
Perception could be define as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets information input to create a meaning picture of the world. The perception of product offered and organization ,making them are critical to the establishment of exchange relationship perception could be highly selective perception). And yet others forget what they have seen and heard selective retention.
ATTITUDE
Attitude is considered important in the field of marketing. This is because it plays a pivotal role in the major models describing consumers behaviour. It is defined by Eze (1995 p 3510 as the sum total of marks inclinations and feeling, prejudices, bias, preconceived, notions, ideas, fear, threat and conviction about any specific topic. They are formed through past learning experience with the product, service or ideas, or through relation with reference group such as family, social and working groups.
We have various kinds of human’s attitude, which could be discussed as follows:
1. Appreciative attitude
2. Non-appreciative attitude
3. Damaging or vandalizing attitude
Appreciative attitude could infer from consumers when there is positive reaction towards goods or services. This could happen in a situation where consumers are patronizing a product constantly.
Non-appreciative may be inferred from consumers when they are not patronizing the goods or services and as a result they may start criticizing while their interest is not there.
Damaging or vandalizing attitude, this juncture, consumers any not like certain goods or service despite the kind of enjoyment they derive from it. This vandalizing attitude as in their minds. Sometime, it is very common in most of our major towns, cities on our public utilities. Like public telephone booths/PHC, transformers and installations and cables, which are being damage by undesirable people in the society.
2.3 HOW TO MEASURE ATTITUDE.
A classiest G Allport has proposed many component with which attitude could be measured.
According to Allport (1986) such components includes:
1. Cognitive: The manner in which attitude of objective is perceive.
2. Affective is perceived.
3. Behaviour: Feeling of like or dislike toward the object.
Hoston Corroborated Allport “New mains family that attitude, no matter their structure can be characterized as varying on certain dimensions?
According to him the most obvious dimension of an attitude is its directions. This involves whether the attitude is favourable or unfavourable and that the degree of each situation and can be rated. Apart from the two extreme situations another aspect of attitude dimension is neutral point. Hoston thinks that the neutral point would be the zero point in the scale titory and this zero point could be interpreted to mean the situation, where the person is not aware of the issue in question or many are aware but have no interest. On the magnitude of attitude that if this degree of favorable or unfavourableness, hoston conclusion is the difficulty of changing attitude tends to be directly related to the extremity of the attitude and that low extreme attitude is easier to change. Equally importance is the centrality of attitude which Hosten said reflects the importance of the attitude to the person where constrained by lack of purchasing power.
The same journals reported that rapid devaluation of Naira at foreign exchange market (FEM) has further push the cost of production beyond the reach of the ordinary consumer Obaseki (1993, p 521).
2.4 PROMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION.
It is said that one major influence on consumer behaviour is then information the consumer receive from marketing organization. Marketing information interacts with such factors as culture group influence and personal influence to create an environment that enhances exchange behaviour.
THE ECONOMY:
The state of a country is economy affects consumers consumption of goods and services. In a period of economics depressing the tendency is tat consumers will reduce the rate of which they consume economic goods and services.
PRICE/QUALITY RELATIONSHIP
The price of a product or service is a major determinant of how many units of such a product should be bought. Price is a value expressed in terms of Naira or Kobo or any other medium of exchange. In economics price can be used as a measure of quality. Consumers to be extent consider price as an indicator of quality especially when a purchase is made without knowledge of relevant information.Essentially, consumers’ perception of quality with price.
—This article is not complete———–This article is not complete————
This article was extracted from a Project Research Work/Material Topic
“ATTITUDE OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS PUBLIC UTILITIES.
(A CASE STUDY OF POWER HOLDING COMPANY FORMERLY
CALLED NEPA)”
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