CONSUMERS' BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS MARKETING SERVICES

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1 CONSUMERS' BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS MARKETING SERVICES Shweta Sharma Assistant Professor, JCD Institute of Business Management ABSTRACT Consumer behavior is a psychological study of the consumers that how they find, recognize and base their decisions to purchase a particular product. Various marketing tactics are adopted by the marketers to promote the product and sales. By and large, consumers don't often go with the product just because of their attributes, whereas, he considers how these attributes shall prove helpful to them. Sometimes, we buy under some influence or sometimes we buy particular product or particular service from a particular place only. The present study shall explore the various attributes and factors that affect that consumer behaviour towards various marketing services and how the consumer base their decisions on these various factors. Keywords: Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Services, Advertisement, Attributes 1. INTRODUCTION In our daily routine of our life, everyone is consumer. When we purchase any product or service, we come under the definition of a consumer. We do purchase according to our needs depending on various factors. It's always upon us what to buy or what not to buy. There are some factors, forces and reasons to influence our buying decision. Also there is a buying decision process that works while purchasing some good or service. 1.1 Need recognition Need of any service or product is the primary step in this process. Nothing is purchased without any need. However, it is not necessary that we will purchase all that we need. Needs may be functional, social or for the change 1.2 Exploring the desired product Next step to the need is to find the solution of the problem that from where it should be purchased. After that the consumer will evaluate different options and make a decision to choose one of those alternatives. 1.3 Purchase decision After that consumer will decide the brand, value and quality of the product or service and will proceed for the purchase. His purchase will depend upon the need and exploration of the product or service that he has made earlier. He will also apply his earlier experiences while purchasing. 41 P a g e

2 1.4 Reviewing purchase After purchasing the product or service, consumer will review his decision whether the purchase was in accordance to his need. Whether this product or service has properly fulfilled his needs. For example, one has purchased a burger and after eating he will say, it was good but on the other hand, he believes that junk food is not good for his health and will decide to eat something else next time. This will affect his next purchase. Agents of consumer behaviour: Age Cultural Domestic Education Life Style Perception Personal Personality Psychological Social Social II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Gangal (2011) analyze the impact of advertising on consumer buying behavior. Market provides a key to gain actual success only to those brands which match best to the current environment i.e." imperative" which can be delivered what are the people needs and they are ready to buy at the right time without any delay. The study, based on an analytical approach on a survey of 200 randomly selected consumers in Agra city, examined the role played by advertising in influencing consumers buying behavior for Nestle, which is one of the leading nutrition, health and wellness company. Results reveal that consumers are highly influenced by advertising in their preference for the brand. The mean value of the consumers preference for Nestle is 4.36 which is the highest in comparison to the various brands. The major reasons for this preference are its attractive advertising policy and rich quality. In this reference, the survey reveals that TV advertisements of Nestle influence the buying of consumers the most. The creative presentation and language of TV advertisements of Nestle are successful to convey Message, Emotion, Value system regarding the product. The study clearly reveals that the advertisement has its impact on buying behavior of consumers. Therefore, it is advisable to companies to emphasize their advertisement campaign not only to retain their market but to height it also. Brosekhan (2008) concluded that consumers are the kings of markets. Without consumers no business organization can run. All the activities of the business concerns end with consumers and consumer satisfaction. Customer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Consumer buying behaviour has become an integral part of strategic market 42 P a g e

3 planning. In order to develop a framework for the study consumer behaviour it is helpful to begin by considering the evolution of the field of consumer research and the different paradigms of thought that have influenced the discipline. As described in this article, a set of dimensions can be identified in the literature, which can be used to characterize and differentiate, the various perspectives on consumer research. It is argued that consumer behaviour itself emerged as a distinct field of study during the 1960s; and is characterized by two broad paradigms, the positivist and the non-positivist. The positivist paradigm encompasses the economic, behavioural, cognitive, motivational / trait / attitudinal, and situational perspectives; these perspectives are referred to as the traditional perspectives as they pre-date the development of the non-positivist paradigm. The positivist paradigm, which is still the dominant paradigm, emphasizes the supremacy of human reason and that there is a single, objective truth that can be discovered by science. The opposing, non-positivist paradigm, envelops the interpretive and postmodern perspectives, which have emerged more recently during the period post-1980 to date. The rational view and the ideology of a homogenous social culture and thereby deny the complex social and cultural world in which consumers live. The traditional, positivist perspective takes a very utilitarian approach to the benefits from consumption. While the non-positivist perspectives place much greater emphasis on the symbolic dimensions of choice. The objective of non-positivist research endeavour is to achieve a better understanding of consumer behaviour with no specific intent to influence consumer processes. This article aims to identify different streams of thought that could guide future consumer research. McKechnie (2006) Examines existing models of buyer behaviour and evaluates their relevance to financial services in the light of the specific characteristics of the sector and its products. Reviews empirical work relating to both personal and corporate buying behaviour and suggests the IMP framework as a basis for future conceptual work because of its emphasis on the relationships and interactions in the buying process. III. OBJECTIVES Present study in hand is of empirical nature with the following objectives (i) To study the consumers' behaviour towards various marketing services affecting purchasing pattern. (ii) To investigate role of advertisement upon the consumers' purchasing decision. IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In the research, a sample of 200 customers has been taken from the various shops and market of Sirsa city. Study has been conducted by administering them a well-designed questionnaire. Research design is the blend of descriptive and exploratory research design. Strata wise respondents have been taken. Analysis: Present study has been conducted to find out the various characteristics of service market that can influence the consumers for a particular product or service. Herein below are some characteristics of the service marketing that can influence the consumer buying behavior. 43 P a g e

4 To a great extent Sometimes Never Brand Price Quality Service Distance Advertisement Promotional Schemes Brand is preferred because of its image. However, by and large, branded products are costly, so some people go with unbranded products. During the survey, out of the 200 respondents, 98 respondents admitted that they most often purchase branded products; however, 44 respondents go with branded products for sometimes. On the other hand, 58 respondents never purchase branded products. Price is the major factor that can affects the buying decision of consumer. However, during the survey, 106 respondents admitted that not all the times, price affects their buying decision, however, 74 respondents always base their buying decision on price. Only 20 respondents never weight the price of product. Quality is also an important factor affecting the buying decision. During the survey, 177 respondents admitted going with quality. Remaining 23 respondents go with quality sometimes; however, none has ever compromised with the quality. Pre and post purchase services are add On to make the consumer buying decision, however, with other prominent factors, 111 respondents sometimes base their buying decision on service. On the other hand, P a g e

5 respondents always base their buying decision on services and only 10 respondents never consider service while purchasing. Distance also affects the buying decision of the consumer. As 150 consumers admit that distance affects their purchasing decision, followed by 34 respondents who believe that distance affects their buying decision to some extent. However, 16 respondents never consider distance while purchasing. Advertisements affects the buying decision of consumer to some extent, as admitted by the 150 respondents that they are tempted by the advertisements, however, 34 respondents somehow get bewitched with the advertisements and 16 respondents never get lured by the advertisements. Promotional schemes affects the buying decision of consumer to some extent, as admitted by the 31 respondents that they are tempted by the promotional schemes, however, 79 respondents somehow get bewitched with the promotional schemes and 90 respondents never get lured by the promotional schemes. V. CONCLUSION Advertising and Sales Promotion play a vital role to tempt the consumers. Various factors like Age and gender have important role to bewitch the consumers due to advertising and sales promotion. However, Sales promotions and advertising are always affective at some purchase stages. Quality and advertisements are the two important factors to tempt maximum consumers. However, distance and price of the product also played a major role in this regard. Services, promotional schemes and brand are lagging behind to attract consumers. VI. SUGGESTIONS 1. As quality of the product or service is the most preferred element to attract the consumer, so there should be no compromise with the quality. 2. Advertisements also play an important role to tempt the consumers, so advertisement upto acceptable degree should be done. 3. Services, however, during the survey have been considered as a secondary element but is an important element. So, there should be no compromise with the quality of services. 4. Distance of availability of products often changes the buying decision of the consumer. It upon the service provider to ensure the availability of services. REFERENCE [1]. Lovelock Christopher and Wirtz Jochen (2011), Services Marketing People, Technology, Strategy. pg 14, 7th ed., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall [2]. Zeithaml Valarie, Mary Jo Bitner and Gremler Dwayne, Services Marketing [3]. Philip Kotler, (1995) Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations. 2nd ed. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India. [4]. P.W Reed, (1994) "Marketing Planning and Strategy" Aslib Proceedings: 45. [5]. S Seetharama, (1990) Guidelines for Planning of Libraries and Information Centers. IASLIC: p P a g e