Consumers and Consumption Flashcards
Customer V.S Consumer
= The Oxford English Dictionary (2016) defines a customer
(buyer) as: “a person who buys goods or services from a shop
or business.”
SOLOMON ET AL. (2014) = A consumer is generally thought of as a person who identifies a need or desire, makes a purchase, and then disposes of the product during the consumption process.
ARNOULD ET AL. (2004) = We define consumer behaviour as individuals or groups acquiring, using, and disposing of products, services, ideas, or experiences.
(Consumer Profiles) Economic consumer
= Quite sensitive to price, quality, and assortment of merchandise. Personnel and the store are viewed as tools in their purchase of goods.
(Consumer Profiles) Personalising consumer
= Shops where they are known by name. Strong personal attachments are formed with store personnel
(Consumer Profiles) Ethical consumer
= Shops where they feel they should shop
(Consumer Profiles) Alphabetic consumer
= Shops only because they have to
The Circle of Consumption
Production = Creating/making available
↓
Acquisition = receiving. finding e.g. upcycling, inheriting, purchasing
↓
consumption = collecting, displaying, wearing, eating
↓
Disposal = giving away, throwing away, recycling
↓
REPEAT
Belk and Sherry (2007)
(Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour (Kotler, 2014)) Psychological Influences
= Motivation
= perception = how we see goods and brands
= learning (memory) = prior experiences
= beliefs and attitudes = our own world view
= personality and ‘the self-concept’
marketers demonstrate a ‘desired state’ to make ppl buy things
(Psychological Influences) The Self-Concept
= Self-concept is how someone thinks about, perceives or evaluates themselves
= People project a role that is reinforced by exterior accoutrements appropriate for the role
= People buy products that contribute to the self-concept
(Psychological Influences) Identity
= Personality describes qualities individuals have
= Identity requires some element of choice
= We mark ourselves as having the same identity as one group of people and a different one from others
= Football clubs, fan fiction, Trekkies, harry potter fans
= Identity is marked by similarity and difference
= It is a combination of how you see yourself and how others see you, linking the personal with the social
(Psychological Influences) Self-Categorization Theory
Turner (1987)
= ‘This is a set of related assumptions and hypotheses about the functioning of the social self-concept. The concept of self is based on comparison with other people and relevant to social interaction’. (Turner 1987:42)
= Turner suggests that people have a repertoire of group memberships that ‘both describe and prescribe one’s attributes as a group member’ (Hogg 1996:67)
= Each in-group has a shared social membership and associated stereotypes consisting of a range of beliefs and actions aligned with people in the group.
= Self-Categorization Theory, therefore, focuses on the components of social identity, the recognition of an individual’s membership to a social group.
(Psychological Influences) Goffman: ‘presentation of self in everyday life’
= We are all acting out parts in a play
= Roles not identities
= We act out a whole range of different roles, performing for an ‘audience’
= What we wear, what we say, how we behave give clues to
who we are trying to be
=> Identity can be created by image e.g. what you wear
presents an identity to the world as we judge people
based on our own experience, pre-conceptions and
knowledge of stereotypes
(Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour (Kotler, 2014)) Personal Influences
= Occupation
= Education
= Economic situation
= Age & lifecycle stage
(Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour (Kotler, 2014)) Social Influences
= Household type
= Reference groups
= Aspirational groups
= Roles & status
(Social Influences) Reference groups
Schiffman et al. (2014) = “A reference group is a person or group who serves as a point of comparison for an individual when forming values or attitudes.”
Socialisation
= The process of becoming an effective and integrated member
of society by attaining and replicating norms, customs and
ideologies in order to maintain continuity
Compliance
= Adherence without belief: acquiescence
Conformity
= The social pressure to behave in similar ways to other people
(Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour (Kotler, 2014)) Cultural Influences
= Culture
= Subculture
= Social Class
Paul (2008, p100) = “The personality of society – the continuously evolving totality of learned and shared experiences of life that give meaning to rituals, norms, traditions, languages, symbols and common values amongst members of an organisation or society.”
(Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour (Kotler, 2014)) Environmental Influences
= Political - Local, National, International governments
= Economic
= Social
= Technological
= Environmental factors are those things which are going on around us, not just the natural environment
= They influence us in various ways, particularly our consumption patterns
= One particular factor, being ‘Green’, is becoming increasingly important for consumers.
= In groups, discuss the various ways that consumers are incorporating being ‘green’ into their every day lives…
(Environmental Influences) The 2 Sides of Consumption = Shaping vs Mirroring
One could agree that advertising shapes society due to the fact that we see so much of it everyday = the ‘shaping’ argument states that advertising can shape the target audiences values
(Davies, Spencer, Quinn, & Gerhardstein, 2002; Pollay, 1986)
On another end, advertising could be said to be mirroring our society, reflecting the opinions that a consumer already has = the ‘mirror’ perspective assumes that advertising reflects values that already exist
(Holbrook, 1987)
