The Science of Consumer Behavior

Question:

Provide recommendations to the marketer of ANY ONE of the holiday options featured in the survey questionnaires - what are the characteristics of her/his likeliest customers and how might she/he best attract them by applying the theories of learning and memory? 

Answer:

The main aim of this report is to highlight the science of consumer behavior; firstly, the report chooses three questionnaires out of five provided questionnaires. In addition, these questionnaires are mainly about making decisions among six different holiday destinations. Secondly, the report highlights the behavior of the chosen respondents based on the theories of personality and demographics, of consumer behavior. The report also makes use of these theories to highlights the differences between their rankings of evaluation criteria. Lastly, this report also provides recommendations to the marketer of any of the holiday options highlighted in the questionnaires.

Consumer behavior is defined as the processes that are involved when a customer or group of customers purchase, users, select, services, experience or ideas to satisfy their desire and needs. The process of the consumer behavior has three phases, which includes pre-consumption, consumption, and post-consumption. The main aim of the consumer is to co-create values by his/her active involvement in the process (Kardes et al 2014).

Discussion

This part of the report highlights the behavior of the first respondent: (holiday decision survey of respondent 1)

In questionnaires, all the selected individuals are provided with six-holiday destinations option. The first alternative includes destinations such as Spain, France, and Italy, which will cost the individuals 10,990 dollars per head. The second option is Las Vegas, and it will cost them 1,888 dollars per person. The third option is New Zealand, which will cost the individuals 1,633 dollars per person. The fourth option is Hong Kong, which will cost them 2,510 dollars. The fifth option is Gold Cost him 614 dollars and the sixth and the last option is Barossa Valley, which will cost him 1,190 dollars (Data provided). 

The first respondent of the survey is a 19-year-old University student in Australia and also a shop assistant. Currently, he is studying an undergraduate degree. The household and own pretax income of the individual was 39,000 dollars last year. And he makes his decision while choosing a holiday location. And it can be inferred from the evaluation report that the individual will choose the option six, which is Las Vegas (Data provided). 

The second respondent of the survey is a 43-year-old Canadian married woman, currently she is working as a management consultant. Last year her family's household pretax income was 278,000 dollars and her pretax income was 152,000 dollars. And all the decision regarding holidays plan is taken by her husband. And from the survey, it can be inferred that if given a chance the woman will choose the option of Barossa Valley (Data provided).

The third respondent of the survey is a 59 years old single lady from New Zealand. Currently, she is working as an office manager and studying TAFE. Last year her family and own pretax income was 71,000 dollars. And all the decision regarding a holiday is taken entirely by the woman. In addition, she will choose the option of New Zealand as her holiday destination, which is clearly highlighted in the survey questionnaires.

There are mainly three primary theories of personality, and they are Freudian, Neo-Freudian, and the Trait theory. These theories help in identifying the influence of personality on the attitude of the customers. 

Freudian theory 

The Freudian theory of personality is structured on the grounds of unconscious needs, and they are Id, superego, and ego (Sarker et al 2014).

Id: it is the stockpile of instinctual and primitive requirement, or drives that include thirst, hunger and sex and these are needs are controlled by the pleasure principle and immediate satisfaction. Here the individuals always search for immediate satisfaction ("Personality and consumer behaviour", 2016).

Superego: the internal expression of an individual towards society’s ethical and moral code of conduct, which helps the individual to satisfy their needs in a way that is accepted by the society ("Personality and consumer behaviour", 2016).

Ego: Ego is the conscious control of the individual that help them balancing the demands generated by the id and the superego ("Personality and consumer behaviour", 2016).

 In the Freudian theory, the id is considered as the devil and the Superego is considered as an angel. And the ego is considered as the brain in between id and superego that help the individuals to balance the demand of both the id and the superego (Sarker et al 2014). 

Neo-Freudian theory of personality

Social relationship plays a vital role in the development and formation of personality. According to, Alfred Adler individual seek to gain rational goals in their life. Individual also strive for superiority to reduce their inferiority feelings (Sarker et al 2014).

Whereas according to Harry Stack Sullivan individual continuously tries to establish rewarding and significant relationships with other to reduce anxiety and tension. And according to Karen Horney there are three personality groups and they are:

• Complaints: the main aim of the complaint individual is to be wanted, loved and appreciated.

• Aggressive: an aggressive individual move against others. The main motive of an aggressive individual is to win and excel administration.

• Detached: detached individual moves away from other. His/her main aim is to be independent, to be self-reliance and to be free from obligations.

Trait theory:

The trait theory of personality concentrate more on measuring the personality regarding traits, and it is less qualitative than the Freudian and Neo-Freudian Theories. Different tests can be performed to measure traits in customers such as their connection to worldly possessions or materialism, how friendly the individual is to innovation and their likelihood to reject or accept foreign products (Sarker et al 2014).

This part of the assignment highlights the differences between the individual ranking of evaluative criteria and their choices of holiday destinations. The first individual chooses the second destination option provided in the questionnaires, which is Las Vegas. While choosing the holiday destination he has laid more emphasis on the cost. His score for cost was 50; the second emphasis was given to the activities that are included in the package. In addition, the third emphasis was given to the food. In addition, the individual gave the least importance to transportation, duration, and accommodation. Based on the above criteria he ranks each destination option accordingly to his preferences. According to his ranking criteria option 2 comes first, and then comes option 5, then option 4, followed by options 6 and option 1.

The second respondent chooses Barossa Valley, as her holiday destination. She is married Canadian women and all the decision regarding holidays are taken by her husband. While choosing the destination she gave more importance to the duration of the tour, next she laid emphasis on the activities included in the package, which is followed by cost, accommodation, food and transportation. Based on her evaluation criteria she has ranked the different destination options accordingly. In her list option six comes first, and then comes option 1; followed by option 4, option 5and option 3.

The third respondent is a single woman from New Zealand, and ironically, she chooses New Zealand as her holiday destination. While choosing her destination she laid more emphasis on the activities included in the package, and then she put emphasis on the cost, which is followed by duration, transportation, food, and accommodation. According to her preferences, she ranked the options provided in the questionnaires. In her list option, 3 comes first, and then comes option 6, followed by option 2, option 4, option 1 and option 5. 

So, from the above discussion it can be highlighted that different consumers have different preferences while choosing their holiday destination. It was also noticed that all three respondents have chosen a different location based on different criteria.

Recommendation

The marketer can attract more customers by applying the theories of learning and memory. The marketers need to study their customers thoroughly and they need to think according to the perspective of the customers and they also need to segment their customer accordingly so that they can be approached effectively and different promotional techniques can be applied to different segment of consumers. The marketer needs to approach and condition their customers differently according to their customer’s information processing level.

For instance, if we want to promote a particular brand of ice cream, then different customers need to be approached differently, based on the perception of the customers. The customers who do not consume ice cream need to be approached differently than the customers who consume different brand of ice cream.

The strategy of the marketer can also be region wise, in case of any products or services that are famous in certain parts of the country but may not be that popular in that region, so the marketer need to concentrate on the area where the demand is low and should try to find innovative ideas to promote their product. The difference in the consumption level can also arise due to the difference in the income level, so the marketer needs to set the price accordingly in the region, where the income level is low.

 There also exist, customers, for whom utility come first and for them the marketer produce cheap goods and they use ads and other promoting techniques to promote their product, so it is important for the marketers to segment their consumers based on their perspective. 

Conclusion

Therefore, the above report has perfectly highlighted the science of consumer behavior; firstly, the report chooses three questionnaires out of five provided questionnaires. In addition, these questionnaires are mainly about making decisions among six different holiday destinations. Secondly, the report has highlighted the behavior of the chosen respondents based on the theories of personality and demographics, of consumer behavior. The report has also applied these theories to highlights the differences between their rankings of evaluation criteria. Lastly, this report has provided recommendations to the marketer of any of the holiday options highlighted in the questionnaires.

References 

A STUDY OF INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON CONSUMER IMPULSE  BUYING BEHAVIOUR. (2016). Academia.edu. Retrieved 30 May 2016, from http://www.academia.edu/2948605/A_STUDY_OF_INFLUENCE_OF_DEMOGRAPHIC_FACTORS_ON_CONSUMER_IMPULSE_BUYING_BEHAVIOUR

Fang, S. R., Chang, E., Ou, C. C., & Chou, C. H. (2014). Internal market orientation, market capabilities and learning orientation. European journal of marketing, 48(1/2), 170-192.

Freling, T. H., & Forbes, L. P. (2013). An empirical analysis of the brand personality effect. Journal of Product & Brand Management.

French, A., & Smith, G. (2013). Measuring brand association strength: a consumer based brand equity approach. European Journal of Marketing, 47(8), 1356-1367.

Juster, F. T. (2015). Anticipations and purchases: An analysis of consumer behavior. Princeton University Press.

Kardes, F., Cronley, M., & Cline, T. (2014). Consumer behavior. Cengage Learning.

Kline, P. (2014). Psychology and Freudian theory: An introduction. Routledge.

Learning by Consumers: Meaning, Theories and Marketing Strategies!. (2015). YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library. Retrieved 30 May 2016, from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/consumer-behaviour/learning-by-consumers-meaning-theories-and-marketing-strategies/64116/

Mullen, B., & Johnson, C. (2013). The psychology of consumer behavior. Psychology Press.

Mullen, B., & Johnson, C. (2013). The psychology of consumer behavior. Psychology Press.

Personality and consumer behaviour. (2016). Academia.edu. Retrieved 30 May 2016, from http://www.academia.edu/9473006/Personality_and_consumer_behaviour

Sarker, S., Bose, T., Palit, A., & Haque, E. (2013). Influence of Personality in Buying Consumer Goods: A Comparative Study between Neo-Freudian Theories and Trait Theory Based on Khulna Region. International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 2(3), 41-58.

Solomon, M. R. (2014). Consumer behavior: buying, having, and being. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Williams, P. (2014). Emotions and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(5).