Synopsis on A Study on Consumer Behaviour With reference to selected products

Submitted by MOHD SALEEM

Department of Business Administration OSMANIA UNIVERSITY Hyderabad 2012

INTRODUCTION
Management is the youngest of sciences and oldest of arts and consumer Behaviour in management is a very young discipline. Various scholars and academicians concentrated on it at a much later stage. It was during the 1950s, that marketing concept developed, and thus the need to study the behaviour of consumers was recognized. Marketing starts with the needs of the customer and ends with his satisfaction. When everything revolves round the customer, then the study of consumer behaviour becomes a necessity. It starts with the buying of goods. Goods can be bought individually, or in groups. Goods can be bought under stress (to satisfy an immediate need), for comfort and luxury in small quantities or in bulk. For all this, exchange is required. This exchange is usually between the seller and the buyer. It can also be between consumers. Consumer behaviour can be defined as the decision-making process and physical activity involved in acquiring, evaluating, using, disposing of goods and services. This definition clearly brings out that it is not just the buying of goods/services that receives attention in consumer behaviour but, the process starts much before the goods have been acquired or bought. A process of buying starts in the minds of the consumer, which leads to the finding of alternatives between products that can be acquired with their relative advantages and disadvantages. This leads to internal and external research. Then follows a process of decisionmaking for purchase and using the goods, and then the post purchase behaviour which is also very important, because it gives a clue to the marketers whether his product has been a success or not. After early 1960s the consumers have become more conscious of their responsibilities and are trying to garner as much information as possible for decision making regarding purchasing of goods and services. This consumerism made the firms to revisit their earlier strategies and take note of behaviour of consumers towards their products and services.

Consumer behaviour is the buzzword now days; firms who underestimate their consumers will have no choice to serve them. Competition is intensifying day by day and the firms have to evolve their strategies based on the behaviour of the consumer, on a continuous basis, to stay ahead and win the race Consumer behaviour now as a disciple of study continues to attract the attention of the firms, consumers and students of human behaviour. In fact one should remember that everyone this universe, in some form or the other is a consumer of some product or service. The findings generated by studying consumer behaviour could be utilized by marketers to come out with their plans of action. And try to revitalize and renew the interest of consumers in their products and services. Also new products which the consumers require could be introduced by the marketers based on the research findings generated. In many books and published works the authors normally do not distinguish between a customer and a consumer however in some cases, some authors have tried to draw a line between a customer and consumer. The study in connection also stuck to the viewpoint expressed by many plaudits and used the terms interchangeably. The markets are consumer driven these days. To understand the consumer is no easy job as his behaviour is mostly unique and unpredictable. This has made the firms to step into the shoes of the customer and understand him from his point of view in selection and purchase of products and services. Consumer behaviour is influenced by a variety of variables and it is important to understand the nature of these variables and draw inferences out of these. Marketers use this knowledge to come out with new products and services that satisfy their consumers needs and wants. So researching on consumer behaviour is a very vital exercise and the result got, could be used by people for a variety of purposes.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Engel, et al. (1986, 5) define consumer behaviour as those acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining, using, and disposing of economic goods and services, including the decision processes that precede and determine these acts. Simple observation provides limited insight into the complex nature of consumer choice and researchers have increasingly sought the more sophisticated concepts and methods of investigation provided by behavioural sciences in order to understand, predict, and possibly control consumer behaviour more effectively. Psychology, social psychology, and sociology are the disciplines most widely employed in this endeavour which has become a substantial academic industry in its own right. Christopher (1989) studied the shopping habits of consumers to form an idea of whether or not the store concepts, product ranges and strategies of the companies are appropriate towards consumer requirements. He believed that consumer behaviours are unpredictable and changing continuously changing; while trying to under try to understand how individual or group make their decision to spend their available resources on consumption-related items. These are factors that influence the consumer before, during, and after a purchase (Schiffiman and Kanuk, 1997), for example, feedback, from other customers, packing, advertising, product appearance, and price (Peter & Olsonetc, 2005). The essence of this approach is critical for organizational success, so that they can have a better understanding of their customer behaviours (Solomon et al., 2006). The physical action or behaviour of consumer and their buying decision every day can be measured directly by marketers (Papanastassiu and Rouhani, 2006). For that reason many organizations these days are spending lot of their resources to research how consumer makes their buying decision, what they buy, how much they buy, when they buy, and where they buy (Kotler, Amstrong, 2001). To get a well coherent result, organizations normally looked at these behaviour base their analysis on difference conceptions; whether customers buying behaviour were measured from different perspectives, such as product quality and better service, lower price structured etc (Papanastassiu and Rouhani, 2006) Different theories and researchers have claimed that when organization fully meet all aspects of its customer needs, the result enhances their profitability (Chaudhuri, 2006), and also enable them to develop a better tackling strategies for consumer (Asseal, 1998).

Possibly, the most challenging concept in marketing deals with the understanding why buyers do what they do and what method or philosophy are they using to evaluate the product after the transactions and what might be the effect on future transaction (Schiffman, 2004). The reason why marketer chooses to learning about consumers buying behaviour is, from a business perspective; to be able to be more effectively reach consumers and increase the chances for success (Sargeant & West, 2001). Therefore the field of consumer behaviour has taken a tremendous turn in the commercial world and became the fundamental concepts of achieving company goal (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007). More recently, different researchers and author have given their definition and meaning of consumer behaviour. For Michael R. Solomon (2001) consumer behaviours typically analyze the processes of group selected or individual purchases/dispose of product, service, concept or experiences to satisfy their need and desires. Additionally, Kotler (1996) suggested that consumer behaviours have a huge impact in a firm marketing decision making process every year. There is a risk that what a consumer does will inflict on his or her behaviour and generate consequences. (Snoj, Pisnik Koda & Mumel, 2004). The user and the purchaser can be different person, in some cases; another person may be an influencer providing recommendations for or against certain products without actually buying or using them (Solomon 1999; Solomon et al. 1999). In this case, most of the large consumer electronics retailers tend to gathered more information about customers motivating factors and what influences their buying behaviours Solomon & Stuart (2000). To get in-depth understanding consumer behaviour concepts will gives us an idea on how its plays significance role in our life and in the whole trend of business profit to various firms which will allow the researcher to get the analysis and determine product positioning, develop the message and targeting strategy in order to reach to the market (Holskins J, 2002).

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The Rationale behind the study is to highlight the findings of Consumer Behaviour on selected consumer products : 1. To identify the factors influencing the behaviour of consumers in the selection and use of a particular product category. 2. To interpret and analyze the socio-economic and psychological profile of different strata of consumers. 3. To study the motivational factors which influence consumers in their opinion. 4. To study the influence of retailers on consumers in selecting a particular product for consumption or usage.

SCOPE OF STUDY
The study of consumer behaviour deals with understanding consumption patterns and behavior. It includes within its ambit the answers to the following: - What the consumers buy: goods and services 1. Why they buy it: need and want 2. When do they buy it: time: day, week, month, year, occasions etc. 3. Where they buy it: place 4. How often they buy it: time interval 5. How often they use it: frequency of use The scope of consumer behaviour includes not only the actual buyer but also the various roles played by him/ different individuals.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS AND METHODOLOGY

INDEXING
CHAPTER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 INTRODUCTION REVIEW LITERATURE OBJECTIVES SCOPE OF STUDY RESEARCHHYPOTHESIS & METHODOLOGY INDEX BIBLIOGRAPHY TOPIC PAGE NO 1-2 3-4 5 6 7 8 9-10

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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