What is the role of consumer behaviour in marketing?

Consumer Behavior is a study of the public actions or reactions towards a product or a trend of products. 

Consumer behavior is the essence of insights analysis and is crucial for marketing. It tells your why the consumer makes his decision, how and what his/her preferences are. Those insights are explored, expanded and included in the marketing mix.

Consumer Behavior refers to the study of buying tendencies of consumers. An individual who goes for shopping does not necessarily end up buying products. There are several stages a consumer goes through before he finally picks up things available in the market. Various factors, be it cultural, social, personal or psychological influence the buying decision of individuals.

Marketers need to understand the buying behavior of consumers for their products to do well. It is really important for marketers to understand what prompts a consumer to purchase a particular product and what stops him from buying.

What marketers need to understand?

The psychology of consumers (what they feel about a particular product and their brand on the whole).

How consumers are influenced by their immediate surroundings, family members, friends, coworkers and so on.

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.

Consumer behavior predict how customer or consumer will behave.Every customer or consumer behave in a certain way according to their needs and wants.

Consumer Behaviour refers to the study of buying tendencies of consumers. An individual who goes for shopping does not necessarily end up buying products. There are several stages a consumer goes through before he finally picks up things available in the market. Various factors, be it cultural, social, personal or psychological influence the buying decision of individuals.

Marketers need to understand the buying behaviour of consumers for their products to do well. It is really important for marketers to understand what prompts a consumer to purchase a particular product and what stops him from buying.

The psychology of consumers (what they feel about a particular product and their brand on the whole).

How consumers are influenced by their immediate surroundings, family members, friends, co workers and so on.

What a consumer thinks when he goes out for shopping .

A marketer needs to first identify his target consumers and understand their lifestyles, psychologies, income, spending capabilities, mentalities to offer them the right product.

Individuals from lower income group would never be interested in buying expensive and luxurious products. He would first fulfill his basic physiological needs like food, air, water etc. Trying to sell a Mercedes or a Rado watch to someone who finds it difficult to make ends meet would definitely be a disaster.

Kellogg’s K special would hardly find any takers in the low income group. In this segment, individuals would be more interested in buying fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses which are necessary for their survival rather than spending on health supplements.

It is really essential for the marketers to understand the needs of consumers. Find out what they are actually looking for?

There are ideally two different ways which enable marketers to understand their consumers.

• Primary Research
• Secondary Research

Primary Research - Primary Research refers to a research methodology where marketers interact with consumers directly and gather as much information as they can. Information is generally collected through surveys, questionnaires, feedback forms, interviews etc.

Secondary Research -Secondary Research often refers to relying on information which has been collected by others at some point of time.

The background and family status of an individual also influence his/her buying behaviour.

Selling a laptop to an individual who is not much educated would be pointless. Remember consumers would show interest in your products only if they are of any use to them or their immediate family members. A low grade worker would never be interested in purchasing business suits or formal shirts.

Canned juices are a hit among middle and higher income group where individuals are really conscious about their health and fitness. Individuals who live hand to mouth would never spend on sugar free tablets, health supplements, or for that matter “Diet Coke”.

It is also important to give complete information to end-users. Do not hide anything from them. It is not ethical. All tobacco products come with a warning. Individuals should be familiar with not only the benefits but also the side effects of the products.

Marketers must also take into account:

• Age group of consumers
• Geographical location
• Lifestyle of consumers
• Social Status of consumers

i fully agree with the answers been added by experts..........thanks.

It is about how the consumer reacts towards the product in matter of buying, quality, when and how, making choice ...etc Therefore its i essential in marketing in order to set the right marketing strategy !

Thank You

full agree with all expert answers above

There are four main roles of consumer behaviors in Marketing

• The most obvious is for marketing strategy—i.e., for making better marketing campaigns. For example, by understanding that consumers are more receptive to food advertising when they are hungry, we learn to schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon. By understanding that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, we learn that (1) companies that introduce new products must be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success and (2) it is important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many subsequent customers’ brand choices.
• Social marketing involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than selling something. Marty Fishbein, a marketing professor, went on sabbatical to work for the Centers for Disease Control trying to reduce the incidence of transmission of diseases through illegal drug use. The best solution, obviously, would be if we could get illegal drug users to stop. This, however, was deemed to be infeasible. It was also determined that the practice of sharing needles was too ingrained in the drug culture to be stopped. As a result, using knowledge of consumer attitudes, Dr. Fishbein created a campaign that encouraged the cleaning of needles in bleach before sharing them, a goal that was believed to be more realistic.
• As a final benefit, studying consumer behavior should make us better consumers. Common sense suggests, for example, that if you buy a 64 liquid ounce bottle of laundry detergent, you should pay less per ounce than if you bought two 32 ounce bottles. In practice, however, you often pay a size premium by buying the larger quantity. In other words, in this case, knowing this fact will sensitize you to the need to check the unit cost labels to determine if you are really getting a bargain.

There are several units in the market that can be analyzed. Our main thrust in this course is the consumer. However, we will also need to analyze our own firm’s strengths and weaknesses and those of competing firms. Suppose, for example, that we make a product aimed at older consumers, a growing segment. A competing firm that targets babies, a shrinking market, is likely to consider repositioning toward our market. To assess a competing firm’s potential threat, we need to examine its assets (e.g., technology, patents, market knowledge, awareness of its brands) against pressures it faces from the market. Finally, we need to assess conditions (the marketing environment). For example, although we may have developed a product that offers great appeal for consumers, a recession may cut demand dramatically.

Market research is often needed to ensure that we produce what customers really want and not what we think they want.

Primary vs. secondary research methods.  There are two main approaches to marketing.  Secondary  research involves using information that others have already put together.  For example, if you are thinking about starting a business making clothes for tall people, you don’t need to question people about how tall they are to find out how many tall people exist—that information has already been published by the U.S. Government.  Primary research, in contrast, is research that you design and conduct yourself.  For example, you may need to find out whether consumers would prefer that your soft drinks be sweater or tarter.

Research will often help us reduce risks associated with a new product, but it cannot take the risk away entirely.  It is also important to ascertain whether the research has been complete.  For example, Coca Cola did a great deal of research prior to releasing the New Coke, and consumers seemed to prefer the taste.  However, consumers were not prepared to have this drink replace traditional Coke.

Secondary Methods.  For more information about secondary market research tools and issues, please see my handout.

Primary Methods. Several tools are available to the market researcher—e.g., mail questionnaires, phone surveys, observation, and focus groups.  Please see my handout for advantages and disadvantages of each. The below flow chart suggests appropriate choices for different types of information needs.