Consumer Behaviour

Ever wondered how our attitudes are formed? Who influences them? Was your sister just born a spoilt brat with attention issues?

The answer isn’t as simple as you would think. We are influences by the world around us, our attitudes formed through our family and friends, through our own experiences, through marketing, the mass media… and the biggest influence the internet. (Solomon et al., 2019).

Attitudes have an array of underlying functions. The theory of attitudes explains how attitudes exist because they serve a function for the person (Solomon et al., 2019).

The Functional Theory of Attitudes on four key areas:

• Utilitarian → related to basic principles of reward and punishment
  • Showing people that it can be served a utilitarian purpose that they may not have considered. E.g., disinfecting spray can work for 24 hours
• Value -expressive → express consumer’s central values or self-concept
  • Suggests that attitudes express consumers’ general values, lifestyles, and outlook. E.g., latest personal communications devices → oriented towards new electronic devices
• Ego-defensive → protect the person from external threats or internal feelings
  • The protection of the individual self provided by attitudes. Replace their uncertainty with a sense of security and personal confidence.  
• Knowledge → formed as a result of a need for order, structure or meaning
  • The marketers would try to satisfy the “need to know” and to improve the consumer attitudes toward the brand by emphasising its advantages over competitive brands e.g., how the advanced design toothbrush control gum disease

Thank You can be reflected in utilising the ‘value-expressive’ area of this theory (Han-Chiang et al., 2017). Here, Thank You tailors their products and advertisement around consumers central values or their self concept. As Thank You prides themselves on being a way to try to ‘end global poverty’ (Thank You, 2019), they focus on promoting not only their products, but their way of life to their consumers. Emphasising their values and attitudes as a main touch point for creating a better self.

Another Attitude theory is the structural models of attitudes.

The Structural model looks at attitudes from three components. The affect, cognition, and conation (Solomon et al., 2019: Chih et al., 2015).

The Cognitive component:
– A consumer’s knowledge and perceptions acquired via direct experience with the attitude object plus information from various sources. The resulting perceptions take the form of beliefs
– With Thank You, consumers require their attitudes about the brand through understanding the message the brand stands for. Through direct experience for example, a consumer may purchase a water bottle from the Thank You brand, and then follow up on the tracking ID provided to see the impact their purchase has done. This therefore creates a positive self-concept and tailors the individuals attitudes towards the brand as a company that gives back.

The Affective component:
– A consumer’s emotions or feelings about a particular product or brand
– After purchasing products by the Thank You brand, you are given a code that you can plug into their website to track your impact. This creates strong emotions for the brand as it provides the consumer with feelings that help to foster repeat purchase, not only to support the brand, but to add to the movement Thank You have created.

The Conative component:
– The likelihood a consumer will undertake a specific action or behave a certain way with regard to the attitude object
– Through personal experience, I have seen how Thank You has impacted the lives of a consumer. A girl I know has a strong belief towards what Thank You stands for, and will only purchase their products when possible over leading competitors. She grew this attitude towards the brand during highschool and ever since continues to take such action and chooses to preach what Thank You stand for.

References:

Chih, W.H., Liou, D.K. and Hsu, L.C., 2015. From positive and negative cognition perspectives to explore e-shoppers’ real purchase behavior: an application of tricomponent attitude model. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 13(3), pp.495-526.

Han-Chiang Ho, Nora Lado, Pilar Rivera-Torres, (2017) “Detangling consumer attitudes to better explain co-branding success”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 26 Issue: 7, pp.704-721, https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-11-2015-1039 

Solomon, Michael R, Russell-Bennet, Rebekah & Previte, Josephine 2019, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having and Being, 4th ed., Pearson Australia, Melbourne, VIC.

Thankyou. (2019). Life-Changing Personal Care, Water and Baby Products – Thankyou. [online] Available at: https://thankyou.co/

As consumers, we all have a reason for purchasing a certain product, brand, or service. The motivation surrounding our buying decisions can be closely linked to a number of theories that look at determinants of customer wants and needs.

It is important as marketers to understand the motivation of consumers to gain insights into why they purchase your brand, along with what their motive for purchasing your brand is (Solomon et al., 2019).

Global social enterprise, Thank You, reflects an important expectation theory – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Expectation theories explain how behaviour is pulled by achieving desired outcomes (Solomon et al., 2019).

Self-actualisation is also referred to self-fulfilment, occurs when all these needs have been satisfied and we (not always) “expect that a new discontent and restlessness will soon develop, unless the individual is doing what he is fit for” (Maslow 1943).

In the case of Thank You, consumers can be seen to pass through the stages of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

• Psychological needs: consumers have the need to purchase Thank You products to satisfy basic needs such as water (which happens to be the core product of Thank You)
• Safety: knowing that purchasing a product from Thank You contributes to helping the lives of people struggling in another country.
• Belongingness: the thought that purchasing from Thank You provides a sense of love and friendship through giving back to those in need
• Ego Needs: Thank You products may be purchased in order for someone to feel accomplishment by contributing to the greater good, but also seen as a sign of prestige or status
• Self-actualisation: Self-fulfilment can be achieved once an individual fully understands and respects the mission that Thank You strives themselves on. Here, through giving back and gaining knowledge on the enriching experiences Thank You provides to not only the consumer, but the charity they are associated with, we can gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in ourselves.

References:
Maslow, A.H., 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological review, 50(4), p.370.
Solomon, Michael., Russell-Bennett, R. and Previte, J. (2019) Consumer Behaviour, Australian Edition, 4th Ed., Pearson, ISBN: 9781488616952

Ramya, N. and Mohamed Ali, S.A., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying behavior. International journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.

Solomon, Michael., Russell-Bennett, R. and Previte, J. (2019) Consumer Behaviour, Australian Edition, 4th Ed., Pearson, ISBN: 9781488616952

As consumers, we tend to try and influence what other people think of us through our purchasing decisions. Impression management means that we work to “manage” what others think of us (Solomon et al. 2019). The phrase “you are what you consume” is often thrown around, which can be seen as an influence for purchase behaviours.

This all ties into our real and ideal selves, concepts used to explain how we see ourselves and how we think others see us (Solomon et al., 2019).

Real and actual selves:

Ideal self: our conception of how we would like to be

Actual self: our more realistic appraisal of the qualities we have

Actual self image – how consumers see themselves

Ideal self image – how consumers would like to see themselves

Social self image – how consumers feel others see them

Ideal social self image – how consumers would like others to see them
(Solomon et al., 2019)

Brand Personality:

Brand personality is the set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person (Solomon et al., 2019). Thankyou is a social enterprise with a strong brand personality. If Thankyou were a person they would have strong personality traits congruent with someone who is knowledgeable and conscious about the environment, passionate about social change, and helping change the lives of others for the better.

Consumers too are susceptible to interpersonal influences. This can be described as the need to enhance one’s image to the expectations of others. Consumers of Thankyou may be more inclined to purchase their brand to appear more environmentally and ethically conscious by their peers, but may not even be purchasing the brand to contribute to their cause.

References:

Solomon, Michael., Russell-Bennett, R. and Previte, J. (2019) Consumer Behaviour, Australian Edition, 4th Ed., Pearson, ISBN: 9781488616952

https://thankyou.co/products/botanical-sweet-orange-almond-body-wash

Ramya, N. and Mohamed Ali, S.A., 2016. Factors affecting consumer buying behavior. International journal of applied research, 2(10), pp.76-80.

Instrumental conditioning “occurs when a consumer learns to perform behaviours that that produce positive outcomes and to avoid those that yield negative outcomes” (Solomon et al, 2017). This learning process is closely associate with psychologist BF Skinner, who through his work focussed on the effects of instrumental conditioning on animals such as rats and pigeons (Solomon et al, 2017). Instrumental conditioning behaviours are made deliberately to obtain a goal that are more complex than that of conditional learning.

Models surrounding instrument conditioning in relation to marketing, show how firms use discriminative stimuli upon the instrumental nature of the consumer’s behaviour. Foxall (1999) produced a model of this manner in which marketing firms operate to influence consumer behaviour (Reed et al. 2002). Foxtell argued that marketing firms manipulate the stimuli present when consumers are in a shopping environment .

Social enterprise Thankyou, utilises instrumental conditioning throughout their advertising practices. Thankyou uses positive reinforcement through their “track your impact” page on their website. Here, consumers who purchase any Thankyou item receive a tracker ID on their product, which you can then plug into the website to see exactly where your purchase is contributing, to what project and its overall impact (Thankyou, 2019). Positive reinforcement comes in the form of a reward, the response is strengthened when therefore the appropriate behaviour is learned (Soloman et al 2017). By providing details on the exact impact you’re providing as a consumer, it creates positive reinforcement which leads to repeat purchasing.

references:

Solomon, M., Russell-Bennett, R. & Previte, J. (2018) ‘Consumer Behaviour, Australian Edition’, 4th Ed., Pearson Publishing

Thankyou. (2019). A Guide To The New Track Your Impact – Thankyou. [online] Available at: https://thankyou.co/blog/2018/07/a-guide-to-the-new-track-your-impact [Accessed 8 Apr. 2019].

Reed, P, McCarthy, J, Latif, N & DeJongh, J n.d., ‘The role of stimuli in a virtual shopping environment: A test of predictions derived from conditioning models of marketing firms’, Journal of Economic Psychology, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 449–467, viewed 8 April 2019, <https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edselc&AN=edselc.2-52.0-0036297817&site=eds-live&gt;.

Perception is the process by which an individual selects, views and organises stimuli in their environment to interpret the world around them. Consumers engage with advertisements from companies no matter where there are, at every moment of the day, and therefore enter a process to filter out the important ones.

Social enterprise, Thankyou commits 100% of their profit from their ever-growing product line to ending global poverty. Thankyou effectively uses not only their brand name, but their slick packaging to influence consumer perception to purchase their products and their cause.

So how do consumers choose what they pay attention to? There are number of stimulus selection factors that consumers take into consideration when viewing a product or advertisement. Factors such as size, colour, position and novelty all have an effect on how customers perceive advertisements.

Thankyou effectively utilises effective principles for designing effective ads. Including, but not limited to;

• Attracting attention – through their simplistic brand logo and design that catches and keeps attention

• Convey relevant information – through ease of access to knowledge and resources that support their brand image and mission statement.

• Convey emotions – through effectively portraying their passion and willingness to help and gain attention to their mission of ending global poverty

• Build up brand knowledge – through providing a system that allows you to track exactly which project your money from your purchase is helping to fund. This further increases brand image and knowledge through the transparency the company provides and emphasises as their overall goals.

But of course, I got suckered in by the amazing deal they had on offer and all the extremely positive reviews they had online, and first hand by my Aunty.
Although I was turned off by the extreme price tag, I still unconsciously went through the process of consumer behaviour. The three decision making steps of need recognition, pre-purchase search and evaluation of alternatives all came into play.

Step one: need recognition.

• I was in need of new cleaning supplies, particularly a mop, because I’m an adult and had an upcoming inspection at the apartment I rent.

Step two: pre-purchase search

• I instantly went on my phone and googled the bran KOH and began reading up on the background of the company and all the reviews as the brand claims to provide a universal cleaner that will replace all of your at home cleaning products

Step three: evaluation of alternatives

• I was pretty happy with the current products/brands that I had previously used that my mum had placed in a care package when I moved out of home. The habitual decision of re-purchasing the same or similar brands was always an option, but there was something about this company that had me hooked on the idea of forking out a ridiculous amount of money

Fast fashion or ethical fashion?

A dilemma many consumers deal with when making their purchasing decisions. But Ethical business is good business, right?

According to a Unilever study, consumers are paying closer attention to sustainability issues and are increasing altering their support and loyalty for such brands (Unilever, 2016). In this study, 54% of consumers stated that they have the desire to buy sustainable products (Unilever, 2016).

Globally, ethical fashion has shown to suggest that consumers beliefs about ethical fashion have an impact on their purchasing behaviours, which can be seen through multiple studies all over the world (Shen, Wang, Shum, 2012).

So, what does this mean for fast fashion brands in the future?
Will the push for consumer and social well-being dominate and push away multimillion dollar fashion conglomerates for a more sustainable future?

References:

Instagram.com. (2019). Claudia Sulewski (@claudiasulewski) • Instagram photos and videos. [online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/claudiasulewski/ [Accessed 18 Mar. 2019].

Unilever global company website. (2019). Commitment to sustainability delivers even faster growth for Unilever. [online] Available at: https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2016/Commitment-to-sustainability-delivers-even-faster-growth-for-Unilever.html [Accessed 18 Mar. 2019].

Gilliland, N. (2019). How Unilever is targeting the ‘conscious consumer’ – Econsultancy. [online] Econsultancy. Available at: https://econsultancy.com/how-unilever-is-targeting-the-conscious-consumer/ [Accessed 18 Mar. 2019].

Shen, B., Wang, Y., Chris K.Y. Lo & Shum, M. 2012, “The impact of ethical fashion on consumer purchase behavior”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 234-245.

Glamping, an emerging concept in camping which intertwines ‘glamour’ with ‘camping’ (Brochando & Pereira 2017).

Not a fan of being one with nature? But need some time to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life? Glamping may be your new best friend.

Glamping offers outdoor lovers what some would call an ‘outdoor hotel experience’, that removes the discomforts often associated with traditional camping ventures.

Even with the popularity and increasing demand for diverse camping offerings (e.g., glamping), there is a lack of academic research out there. Brooker and Joppe (2013), have noted that “The emergence of glamping has created an area in need of academic research”. Brochando and Pereira (2017) have presented a study sought to identify the main dimensions that glamping has to offer.

Within this study, Brochando and Pereira (2017) discovered that tangibles are an important component of glamping, but further research needs to take place in order to fully understand what drives consumer behaviour.

The growing demand from consumers for comfort and luxury in this sector has led to the expansion of glamping. Removing the discomfort and inconvenience of tents, glamping replaces these with pre-erected, homelike accommodation to tailor to individual consumers wants and desires. (Brochando & Pereira 2017).