Consumer behavior and related terms. The slideshow is study material provided to Delhi University B.Com students to discuss the topic

1. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND RELATED TERMS
Consumer Behaviour
Ostrow and smith have defined consumer behaviour as action of
consumers in the market place and the underlying motives of those
actions.Marketing expects that by understanding what causes consumers
to buy particular goods and services, they will be able to determine what
product are needed in the Marketplace, what are obsolete and how best to
represent the required goods to the consumers.
it includes the study of what they buy, why they buy, when they bye, how
often they buy it, and how often they use it. The goal of studying consumer
behaviour is to satisfy their needs.

2. Consumer
At times the terms 'consumer' and customer' are used interchangeably. But the term
'consumer' is used to Represent situations where a product can be consumed and
customers is used to denote the situation where the product cannot be directly
consumed.
different types of consumers:
1. individual consumer- who buy goods, service, ideas, etc. for personal use or for
household use;
2. organisational/ business/ industrial consumers- who buy goods, services, ideas,
etc. for presenting them for the ultimate users including personal/ individual
consumers.
for example, if the purpose is to use furniture for self/ family, one acts as an individual
consumer. However, in the case of furniture purchased by the office, it is an
organisational purchase.

3. Buyer/ User
The term buyer refers to one who buys a product. But the buyer might not be
the user of a product. For example, Manika buys a shawl for her mother.
Manika if the buyer but her mother is the user of the shawl.
Consumer behaviour vs. consumption behaviour
consumer behaviour is a case of micro behaviour whereas consumption
behaviour is macro behaviour. In other words, consumer behaviour is to do
with an individual person while consumption behaviour with the mass or
aggregate of the individuals. consumer behaviour, as a study, focuses on the
decision process of the individual consumer of consuming units. In contrast,
consumption behaviour, as a study, is to do with explanation of the behaviour
of the aggregates of consumers or the consuming units, either at a given point
of time or over a period of time.

4. Consumer behaviour vs. Buyer behaviour
The sphere of consumer behaviour includes the activities of both
final and intermediate users. The former is called as end users
or ultimate users are consumers in true sense; while the
intermediate users are the industrial users who do not consume
the goods and services but add further value before they are
consumed by the final user.
The phrase ‘buying behaviour’ means the reference made to
both end users and intermediate users. Hence, the phrase
‘consumer behaviour’ includes only the end users and their
actions.

5. Blackwell, Miniard and Engel Have described the following five rules in the
buying decision making process:
1. Initiator : the person who begins the process of considering a purchase.
information may be gathered by this person to help the decision.
2. Influencer: the person who attempts to persuade others in the group
concerning the outcome of the decision. influencers typically gather
information and attempt to impose their choice criteria on the decision.
3. Decider: individual with power and authority to make the ultimate choice
regarding which product to buy.
4. Buyer : the person who conducts the transaction. The buyer calls the
suppliers, visits the store, makes the payment and effects delivery.
5. User: The actual consumer or user of the product

6. Importance of studying buying behaviour
1. Consumers do not always act or act as the theory would suggest- for
example, consumer Of the past reacted to price levels as if price and quality
had positive relations. today, consumer free value for money, less price but
with superior features.
2. Consumer preferences are changing and becoming highly diversified.
3. Consumer research has vividly pointed out that consumers dislike using
identical products and prefer differentiated products to reflect their special
needs, personality and Lifestyle.
4. Meeting of special needs of consumers requires market segmentation.
5. Rapid introduction of new products with technological advancement has made
the job of studying consumer behaviour more imperative.
6. Implementing the Marketing concept cause for studying the consumer
behaviour.

7. Bibliography
1. Chhabra, T.N.,Introduction to principles of marketing, Sun India publication
2. Philip Kotler