CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR BEHAVIOUR – 3 : PERCEPTION INDUVIDUAL DETERMINATS OF BEHAVIUOR INTRODUCTION To understand the buyer and to make a customer out of him is the main purpose of the study of consumer behaviour. Though this problem has been analysed from different view points under different premises, it still remains a complex one. On the other hand the buyer is a riddle. He is a highly complex entity. His needs & desires are innumerable. Some are latent, some manifest and some others are highly dominant. These have different priorities in the his scheme of things. The buyer has his own ideas & plans about realising these needs & desires. The first & foremost task of the marketer is to get close to the buyer and understand his need-structure & priorities. There are four major factors which influence the behaviour of the consumers. They are : 1. Psycholog Psychological ical factors factors influe influencing ncing Customer Customer Behavi Behaviour our 2. Social Social Psycholo Psychological gical factor factors s influenci influencing ng Custome Customerr Behaviour Behaviour 3. Sociologi Sociological cal factors factors influ influencin encing g Custome Customerr Behavio Behaviour ur 4. Economic Economic factors factors influenci influencing ng Customer Customer Behaviour Behaviour
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS These are the factors which are the personal attributes of an individual. We shall study Five of them : Attitude, Motivation, Perception, Personality and Learning.
Perception Different people see things, events, and ideas from different view point, and hold different opinions, views for them. In other words t hey have different “Perception” of the world.
Definition of perception : Perception is defined as the process by which the individual selects, organises, and interprets various stimuli into a meaningful & coherent picture of the world. Marketers are deeply interested in such perceptions the consumers hold about their products & services, brands, company etc.
Elements of perception : The following are the elements of perception : 1. Sens Sensati ation on – is the imme immedi diat ate e & dire direct ct resp respon onse se of the the sens sensor ory y orga organs ns to stim stimul uli. i. A stimulus is a single input of any of the senses. Human beings have sensory receptors called sensory organs. They are : a. Eyes Eyes for for sig sight hts s & seei seeing ng,, b. Ears Ears for for sou sound nds s & hea heari ring ng,, c.
Nose Nose for for smel smells ls & sme smell llin ing, g,
d. Tongu Tongue e for for tast tastes es & tast tastin ing, g, e.
Skin Skin for for textur textures, es, touch touch & feel feeling ing,,
2. Mark Market eter ers s try try to stim stimul ulate ate the sens sensor ory y orga organs ns of a cons consum umer er to crea create te a favo favour urabl able e perception towards their products.
3. Absolute Absolute thresh threshold old – is the minimum minimum level level that the the individual individual can can experienc experience e a sensation. sensation. In other words, he can distinguish the difference between something & nothing. This level varies from person to person & vary with time, place & environment. Marketers often try to provide stimuli more than this level. 4. Different Differential ial Threshold Threshold or Just Just Noticeable Noticeable Differen Difference ce (JND) – is the minimal minimal differenc difference e that can be detected between two similar stimuli. German scientist Ernst Weber discovered that the JND between two stimuli is not absolute, but an amount relative to the intensity of the first stimulus. Thus marketers try to change certain attributes which are just short of JND. 5. Sublimina Subliminall Perceptio Perception n – there are certai certain n types of stimul stimulii which are not not strong strong enough enough to exceed the absolute threshold, but somehow stimulates the subconscious mind & get recorded recorded there, there, sometimes sometimes without the knowledge knowledge of the percepto perceptor. r. At a later stage this might might surfac surface e as some some form form of expres expressio sion n or perce percepti ption. on. Here Here the market marketers ers try to stimulate the subconscious mind of an individual. Some think it’s unethical, but there are several positive outcome of this method if a pplied in a constructive way.
Information processing : is a series of activities where the stimuli are perceived & processed to convert/transform them to informatio information, n, and then stored (very similar to computer computer data processi processing). ng). Later this info is used in selecting a product. 1. Exposure Exposure : Exposur Exposure e occurs occurs when our senses senses detec detectt some external external cue from from the various various things we come in contact with. We are all exposed to a plethora of marketing ads continuously. This becomes the starting point of all information processing. But people tend tend to percei perceive ve things things they need need or want. want. The The strong stronger er the need, need, the greater greater the tendency tendency to ignore ignore unrelated unrelated stimuli. Hence “Selective “Selective Perceptio Perception” n” occurs occurs when the consu consume merr selec selects ts the stimul stimulii from from the enviro environme nment nt on the basis basis of intera interacti ction on of expectations & motives with the stimulus itself. These factors give rise to four important concepts concerning perception : a. Sele Select ctiv ive e expo exposu sure re – wher where e the the cons consum umer ers s want want to avoi avoid d unpl unplea easa sant nt or pain painfu full messages & seek those which are sympathetic, interesting and pleasant. b. Selective Selective attention attention or perceptu perceptual al vigilance vigilance – where where the consumers consumers exercis exercise e selectivity selectivity in terms of their attention to commercial stimuli. They have a heightened attention rega regard rding ing the the stim stimul ulii that that meet meet thei theirr need needs, s, & mini minima mall atte attent ntio ion n to the the ones ones irrelevant to their needs. People also vary in terms of kind of info like price, quality, features etc., forms of messages & type of medium they prefer. c.
Perce Perceptu ptual al defen defence ce – where where consume consumers rs subcons subconscio ciousl usly y scree screen n out out stimu stimuli li that that are threat threateni ening ng or damagi damaging ng even even if the exposu exposure re has alread already y taken taken place place.. Likewi Likewise se sometimes sometimes they unconsci unconsciousl ously y distort distort the information information that is not matching their need needs, s, valu values es,, & beli belief efs. s. This his may may be due due to psyc psycho holo logi gica call fact factor ors s or any any unfavourable past experience.
d. Perce Perceptu ptual al blocki blocking ng – where where consumer consumers s protec protectt themse themselve lves s from from being being exposed exposed by blocki blocking ng such such stimul stimulii from from consc consciou ious s awarene awareness. ss. They They do it for self self protec protectio tion n because of the visually overwhelming nature of the world we live in. 2. Attent Attention ion : Normally Normally all the stimul stimulii of a message message come come thro’ the variou various s sensory sensory organs organs simultaneously. But an individual can remember only one of them, usually the strongest and tries to take action on that basis. Marketers try to exploit that situation to their advantage, to leave an impact in the consumer. This is known as attention.
a.
Stimulus Stimulus – is is the one which prompt prompts s an individu individual al to initiate initiate an action action by by creating creating an attention. It has the following characteristics : Size & Intensity; Colour & Movement; Position; Format & Design; Isolation; Contrast or Distinction; Information extent.
b. Indivi Individua duall factor factors s – The attention attention of a consu consumer mer depend depends s on the follow following ing factor factors s : Interest & Needs; Ability; Involvement, etc. c.
Situational Situational factor factors s – Often the situati situation, on, conditi condition, on, environm environment ent or the surroun surrounding ding of the the cons consum umer er have have an affe affect ct on its its atte attent ntio ion n of cert certain ain stim stimul uli. i. Henc Hence e the the marketers should devise certain methods to help overcome that.
3. Interpret Interpretation ation – Just like peopl people’s e’s exercis exercise e of selective selective percept perception ion on the basis of certain certain psycholog psychological ical principle principles, s, the interpret interpretation ation of these these stimuli stimuli is also highly individu individual al because it is based on what the individuals expect to see in the light of their previous experience, motives, interests, reasoning at the time of perception. In the case of any ambiguous stimuli, the individuals usually interpret these in such a way to serve their own needs, interests, wishes, etc.
Consumer Imagery : Consumers have a number of enduring perceptions or images of themselves. Products & brands have also a symbolic value for consumers, who evaluate them on the basis of their consistency (congruence) (congruence) with the perception of themselves. This is the consumers’ self-image & they attempt to preserve or enhance it by buying products & brands or patronising services which they believe are congruent with their self-images and avoiding which are not. This phenomenon is known as consumer imagery. 1. Product Product Image Image - where the the consumer consumer compar compares es his self-im self-image age with his his perceptio perception n of the product or brand. 2. Service Service Image Image - where the consu consumer mer compare compares s his self-image self-image with with his percep perception tion of the the service or its provider.
Perception in Marketing : Marketers have realised that understanding the perception process of consumers help them to design better ways to help them perceive favourably. The main methods of stimuli are thro’ advertisi advertising, ng, communic communication ation,, messaging messaging,, company company news etc. Thus the marketers marketers have to develop specific stimuli thro’ these methods so that the consumers perception about their products clearly & enduringly. These are some techniques : 1. Bran Brand d deve develo lopm pmen entt & Perc Percep eptu tual al Mapp Mappin ing g – This This tech techniq nique ue help helps s the the mark market eter ers s to determine how the products or services appear to the consumer in relation the other competitive brands on one or more relevant attr ibutes of the products or services. 2. Retail Retail Stores Stores – In retail retail stores normally normally all all the brands brands in a particular particular category category of product products s are arranged at the same place, so they have a direct competitive setting. The brands which claim to be special in any respect should be specially displayed to gain attention.
© Himansu S M / 12-Sep-2009
