Consumer Behaviour Towards Milk Products

Consumer Behaviour Towards Milk ProductsConsumer look is the study of when, why, how, and where hoi polloi do or do not debase products. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economicals. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making act upon, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand peoples wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Consumer behavior is influenced by demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, perceptions, motivation, knowledge, carriages, beliefs, and feelings. Consumer behavior concern with consumer select consumer actions in the direction of fulfiling conveys leads to his behavior of every individual depend on thinking swear out.Consumers with similar incomes and socio-demographic characteristic, facing similar relative prices, and equipt with similar in establishation, tend to choose similar baskets of goods ( Connor, 1991). There is much research on dairy products that show that socio-economic factors and consumers demographic factors take in a major shock on their consumption of dairy products (e.g. Bogue and Ritson, 2006 Armstrong et al., 2005 Valli and Traill, 2005 Tendero and Bernabeu, 2005 Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006 Viaene and Gellynck, 1997 Kotler, 1997). In addition, cultural diversity may have an essential influence on consumption (Valli and Traill, 2005). There ar wide-ranging differences in the quality of life indicators between urban and rural atomic number 18as (Sengul and Sengul, 2006). Also there are differences among the urban and rural populations in cost of their socio-economic and demographic characteristics. node behavior study is based on consumer buy behavior, with the node playing the three distinct graphemes of uptaker, payer and buyer. Rel ationship grocery storeing is an influential asset for customer behavior analysis as it has a keen touch on in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through with(predicate) the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer family relationship management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. partakeionate functions potful be categorized into social choice and upbeat functions.The idea that customers prefer one product or one proceeds over another is not new. The ability to locate and measure the elements of such resource decisions with any accuracy and reliability has only recently become available.Research into this area of consumer behavior has brought understanding to some of the major issues with standard customer ecstasy research. Most importantly, we have come to realize that high customer satisfaction does not assure continued customer preference.CONSUM ER BEHAVIOURCULTURAL FACTORSCultureSub-CultureSocial ClassSOCIAL FACTORSReference GroupFamilyRole and StatusPSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORSMotivationPerceptionLearningAttitudesBeliefsPERSONAL FACTORSAge and animation-CycleOccupationEconomic lieuLifestylePersonality telephone number 1.2 Factors affecting Consumer BehaviorConsumer behavior is defined ad the mental and emotional process along with the physical activities of the people who purchase/consume goods and services to satisfy their get goingicular necessarily and wants. Consumer is the some important person to the seller because the marketer takes in to consideration on the liking and disliking of the consumer and he produces the goods and services accordingly.Consumer behavior is important for the three persons.For consumerAs a consumer most of the time leave behind omit time in the market and a circuit on decision making that what to buy and how to buy and meeting and conferencing with different types of peoples and friends w ith different types of good and services.For manufacturerConsumer behavior is also important for producer because producer design and manufacture different types of product and services keeping in view the wants and postulates of consumer.For scientistThe knowledge of consumer behavior is also important for scientists, whether the scientist is working for utile organization or non profitable organization.One of the advantages of consumer behavior back tooth be seen when looking at advertisers and how they advertise by keeping the consumers in mind. Advertisers spend a lot of money to keep individuals and groups of individuals (markets) interested in their products. To succeed, they need to understand what makes potential customers behave the way they do.The advertisers goal is to get enough relevant market data to develop accurate profiles of buyers that is baseally to find the common ground and symbols for communication. This involves the study of consumer behavior, the mental and emotional process and the physical activities of the people who purchase and use goods and services to satisfy particular needs and wants. Along side the behavior of organizational buyers (the people who purchase the products and services for use in business and government). The basal mission of advertising is to reach prospective customers and influence their awareness, attitudes and get behavior. This can be done successfully only through knowing the consumer preferences, behavior towards divers(a) stimuli i.e. consumer behavior.1.2 CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS, ATTITUDES AND MOTIVES TOWARDS MILK PRODUCT1.2.1 Consumer PerceptionsAs a consumer, decision making is a very important factor as good decision making willing see the Prosper but poor decision making could cost it a lot. In the fact, consumer perceptions influence all the decision of consumer. Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their env ironment. The perception is important in the study of consumer behavior because people or consumer behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver, in the object or stone pit being perceived, or in the context of the situation in which the perception is made.Factor in the perceiverAttitudesMotivesInterestsExperienceExpectationsFactor in the situationTimeWork settingSocial settingFactors in the take aimNoveltyMotionSounds coatBackgroundProximitySimilarityPERCEPTIONSFigure 1.3 Factors that influence perceptions. Perceptions and Individual Decision Making, Organization Behavior (Fifth Edition)When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristic of the individual perceiver. Personal characteristic that affect perception take a persons atti tudes, personality, motives, interests past experiences and expectations. sign of the target being observed can affect what is perceived. Loud people are more likely to be noticed in a group than the quiet ones. For example of the take out product is the milk product with more benefit and promotion are more likely to be noticed in consumer mind than the low promotions. So, too, are extremely attractive or unattractive individuals. Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its mise en scene also influences perceptions.Based on study by Grunert et al. (2000) mentioned that consumer perception of dairy product quality was characterized by four major dimensions, hedonic, wellness-related, convenience related and process related. The information of the product itself rather than the physiologic properties of the product influenced consumer acceptance of dairy product. Watanabe et al. (1997) classified consumer characteristics of milk consumption a nd indicated that men, middle-aged people, and people with no calcium concerns favourite(a) soda and alcoholic beverages. People with relatively stronger health concerns consumed more milk products. Hsu and Kao (2001) evaluated product attributes and demographic factors that influenced purchases of fluid milk products in Taiwan using consumer stack data. Their result revealed that larger households purchases more fluid milk products. Households with higher income and household shoppers with higher educational levels tended to reduce purchases of flavoured milk products.1.2.2 Consumer AttitudesAs a consumer, each of us has a vast number of attitudes towards products, services, advertisements, direct mail, the internet, and retail stores. Within the context of consumer behavior, an appreciation of prevailing attitudes has considerable strategic merit. To get at the heart of what is unprompted consumers behavior attitude research has been used to study a wide range of strategic mar keting questions. For example, attitude research is frequently undertaken to determine whether consumers will accept a proposed new-product idea, to gauge why a firms target audience has not reacted more favorably to its new promotional theme, or to learn how target customers are likely to react to a proposed change in the firms packaging design.1.2.1.1 The Attitude-Toward-Object ModelThe attitude towards object model is especially suitable for measuring attitudes towards a product or service category or specific labels. According to this model, the consumers attitude toward a product or specific strike offs of a product is a function of the presence and evaluation of certain product-specific beliefs and attributes. In other words, consumers generally have favorable attitudes towards those brands that they believe have an adequate level of attributes that they evaluate as positive, and they have unfavorable attitudes towards those brands they feel do not have an adequate level of desired attributes or have too many negative or undesired attributes.Conducting consumer attitude research with children, especially gauging their attitudes towards products and brands is an ongoing challenge. What are needed are new and effective measurement approaches that allow children to express their attitudes toward brands.1.2.1.2 The Attitudes-Toward-Behavior ModelThe attitude toward behavior model is the individuals attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object rather than the attitude toward the object itself. The appeal of the attitude toward behavior model is that it seems to hold back somewhat more closely to actual behavior than does the attitude toward object model.1.2.1.3 Theory of Reasoned Action ModelThe theory of head-grounded action represents a comprehensive integration of the attitude components which is the consumer in this case, that ultimately are the building blocks of preference on multinational milk brand. The model is designed to provid e a better understanding of how consumer preference is formed and, correspondingly, to provide the means to accurately predict consumer preference behavior. Figure 1.3 provides an overview of customer preference formation from the theory of reasoned action point of view.In order to understand preference it is need to determine the functional or transaction demands involved in the purchase, the desired affectional outcomes, and the subjective norms consumers use to determine their desire for one milk product or brand over another. The primary assumption of the model is that individuals make considered purchases. In some cases the consideration may be minimal and the purchase behavior almost habitual. In another the period of consideration (incubation) may be wide and each element of the consideration process carefully examined.Belief that the behavior leads to certain outcomesAttitude towardThe behaviorEvaluation of the OutcomesPreference BehaviorIntention to buy milkBeliefs that specific referents think I should or should not perform the behaviorSubjective comparison normMotivation to comply with the specific referentsFigure 1.3 Basic Structural Model of Customer Preference FormationSource Adapted from Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein, Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior (Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall, 1980), 84.The important contribution of the reasoned action model is the realization that consumers utilize the model in all purchase experiences of milk to a lesser or greater extent. Of equal importance is the realization that the components used to make a preference decision are also the ones employed by a consumer to evaluate the performance success of the milk product or service purchased and the company responsible for them. Therefore, as the components of preference on milk brand change, the elements influencing satisfaction change accordingly. The relationship is dynamic and fluid therefore static or predetermined satisfaction analytic packages often miss the most important elements of preference and can produce a false sense of security on the part of companies who think that since their customer satisfaction scores are high they must in produce have relatively loyal customers.The theory of reasoned action assumes a consequence for the action taken. People prefer some product, someone, or some service because they determined the object was best aligned with companys performance and emotive requirements as judged through our comparative norms. People evaluate the performance in light of how well the product, person or service meets their preference expectations.(www.icrsurvey.com//Customer%20Preference%20Formation_1205.doc)1.2.3 Consumer MotivationMotivation is one of the important factors that can influence the consumer behavior. Motivation is the processes that delineate for an individuals intensity, direction and assiduity of effort towards attaining a goal. The famous theory in the development of motivation concepts is the Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs.HIRARCHY OF NEEDS THEORYIt is probably safe to say that the most well-known(a) theory of motivation is Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs. The hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs. These needs arePhysiological includes hunger, thirst, shelter, fire and other bodily needs.Safety includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm.Social includes affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship.Esteem includes internal venerate factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement and external esteem factors such as lieu, recognition and attention.Self- actualization the drive to become what one is capable of becoming includes growth, achieving ones potential and self-fulfillment. necessity 3 Social NeedNeed 1 Physiological NeedNeed 2 Safety NeedNeed 4 Esteem NeedNeed 5 Self ActualizationFigure 1.2.3 Maslow Hierarchy of Needs ModelAs each of these needs bec omes substantially satisfactory, the future(a) need becomes dominant. In basis of the figure 1.2.3, the individual moves up the steps of the hierarchy. From the standpoint of motivation, the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So, if the consumer wants to motivate someone, according to Maslow, the consumer need to understand what level of the hierarchy that consumer is currently on and focus on satisfying the needs at or above that level.While customers have different motivations for consuming the things they do, all consumers have motivations that guide them to want, and purchase certain goods or services. Some motivations for consumption could include the need for status, social acceptance, security or individuality while other motivations are unconscious and can be utilized by marketers to hook consumers into buying a product they never knew they always wanted.Beyond more emotional appeals there is the very real and tangible model of needs proposed by Abraham Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs gain. Maslows theory indicates that most consumer motivations can be attributed to where they fall on the pyramid of needs he developed. The lower level on Maslows pyramid begins with basic physiological needs (dinking fluids, eating, sleeping, etc.), and climbs all the way to the highest level on the pyramid to the need for beauty (as cited in Lindquist Sirgy, 2003, p. 250-251). Maslow believed that a person moved through each level of need sequentially. In other words, once the needs in one category were met completely, a person would move up to the next most immediate category, and his or her purchasing motivations would change as a result of the new category to which he or she would become a part of (as cited in Lindquist Sirgy, 2003, p. 250-251).Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders. Physiological and safety needs were described as lower order needs and soci al, esteem and self-actualization as higher-order needs. The differentiation between the two orders was made on the premise that higher-order needs are satisfied internally (within the person), whereas lower-order needs are predominantly satisfied externally (by things such as pay, union contracts and tenure).Unfulfilled Needs, Wants, and Desires tautnessLearningDriveBehaviorGoal or Need FulfillmentCognitiveProcessesTension ReductionFigure 1.4 Model of Motivation ProcessSource From Jeffrey F. Dugree et al. Observations Translating Values into Product Wants, Journal of Advertising Research, 36, 6, (November 1996)The figure above is presents a model of the motivational process. It portrays motivation as a state of need-induced tension that drives the individual to engage in behavior that he or she believes will satisfy the need and olibanum reduce the tension. Whether gratification is actually achieved depends on the course of action pursued. The specific goals that consumers wish to achieve and the source of action they take to attain these goals are selected on the basis of their thinking processes (cognition) and previous learning. Therefore, marketers must view motivation as the force that induces consumption and through consumption experiences, the process of consumer learning.1.3 RESEARCH PROPOSAL1.3.1 The Factors impact Consumer Behavior towards Milk ProductConsumer purchases are strongly influenced by cultural, social, personal and mental characteristics. It is difficult for marketers to control such as factors but they should take these into account because it does provide marketers with a guideline.1.3.1.1 Cultural FactorsCultural factors have a significant impact on customer behavior1. CultureCulture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behavior. Growing up, children learn basic values, perception and wants from the family and other important groups.Marketing are always trying to spot cultural shifts which efficiency point to new product s that might be wanted by customers or to increased demand. For example, among this particular family was believed that fresh milk has the highest nutritious value among all types of milk and fitness has raised opportunities (and now industries) servicing customers who wish to buyLow calorie viandssHealth club membershipExercise equipmentActivity or health-related holiday etc2. Subculture individually culture contains sub-cultures groups of people with share values. Sub-cultures can include nationalities, religions, racial groups, or groups of people sharing the same geographical location. Sometimes a sub-culture will create a substantial and distinctive market segment of its own. For example, people from one country only accept one zestfulness of milk, it is plain milk. So the people will only buy plain milk and do not want to choose other milk flavor.3. Social classThese are relatively permanent and ordered divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests a nd behaviors. For example, high class people who really very concern about their health especially their body shape will only buy low fat milk instead of other types of milk.Cultural factors exert a colossal and deep influence on consumer behavior. The marketer needs to understand the role played by the buyers culture, subculture and social class.http//tutor2u.net/business/marketing/buying_cultural_factors.asp1.3.1.2 Social FactorsA consumers behavior is also influenced by social factors, such as the consumers small groups, family, and social roles and status. Because these social factors can strongly affect consumer responses, companies must take them into account when purpose their marketing strategies.1. Reference GroupsGroups are a persons behavior is influenced by many small groups. Groups which have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership groups. References groups are groups that serve as direct or indirect points of comparison or reference in t he forming of a persons attitudes or behavior. Marketers try to identify the reference groups of their target markets. The importance of group influence varies across products and brands, but it tends to be strongest for conspicuous purchases. For example, an individual may choose a selected milk brand based on their group reference. References by the group can also known as mouth to mouth advertising. The reference group may sustain the experience faced by the customer.2. FamilyFamily family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. We can distinguish between two families in the buyers life. The buyers parents make up the family of orientation. From parents a person acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, and economics and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love. The family of procreation-the buyers spouse and children-exerts a more direct influence on everyday buying behavior. The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society, an d it has been researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of a large variety of products and services. Consumers are also affected and influenced by the presence of a family member. For example, the parents normally decide what milk product they want to purchase but the children can decide what the flavor is.3. Role and statusRoles and Status a person belongs to many groups-families, clubs, organizations. The persons position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status. Role consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to the people around them. Status reflects the general respects given to role by the society. People often choose products that show their status in the society. Apart from that, consumers are also affected by their role they play and the status they hold in the society. For example, a general managers role and status will definitely di ffer from the role and status of a clerk. Bearing this in mind, the needs of customers also change.1.3.1.3 Personal FactorsA buyers decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyers age and life-cycle stage, line, economic situation, life style, and personality and self-concept.These factors are shared into1. Age and life cycleAge and Life-Cycle State people change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. The types of milk people buy change during their lifetimes. As people grow older and mature, their desires change. The make up of family cycle also change their behavior. For example, when one person was a kid, he always drinks chocolate milk. tho as he grows older, his preference in chocolate milk change becomes low fat plain milk or yogurt. Marketers often define their target markets in terms of life-cycle stage and develop appropriate products and marketing plans.2. OccupationOccupation a persons occupation affects the goods and servi ces bought. Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have an above-average interest in their products and services. A company can even specialize in making products needed by a given occupational group. For instance, blue angel collar workers would buy cheaper milk brand whereas executives will prefer to buy more expensive brand.3. Economic SituationEconomic Situation a persons economic situation will greatly affect product choice. A person with higher purchasing power will be more willing to spend on famous cheese whereby, someone with middle income will choose local cheese, which offer better values. Marketers of income-sensitive goods closely watch trends in personal income, savings, and interest rates. If economic indicators point to a recession, marketers can take steps to redesign, reposition, and re-price their products.4. LifestyleLife Style people coming from the same subculture, social class, and even occupation may have quite different life styles. Life st yle is a persons pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions. Life style captures something more than the persons social class or personality. The life-style concept, when used carefully, can help the marketer gain an understanding of changing consumer values and how they affect buying behavior. People who always consume and wear branded stuff might always want to consume only famous milk brand comparing to people who consume milk despite their famous brand.5. Personality and self concepts (self-image)Personality and Self-Concept each persons distinct personality will influence his or her buying behavior. Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to ones own environment. Many marketers use a concept related to personality-a persons self-concept.1.3.1.4 psychological FactorsA persons buying choices are also influenced by four major psychological factors motivation, per ception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.MotivationMotivation a person has many needs at any given time. A need becomes a motive when it aroused to a sufficient lever of intensity. A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction. Motivation is based on Maslows hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow, a person tries to satisfy the most important need first, which is known as the survival needs or the psychological needs. When the important need is satisfied, it ceases to act as a motivator and the person will later on try to satisfy the next important need, known as safety needs. Base on Maslow theory, it is stated that a person should meet their basic and physiological needs like food, shelter, and clothes. It can be applied to milk as well whereby a person with low income will think how to eat food which can fulfill their body need such as rice before they consume milk which is nutritious but can not satisfy their hunger.PerceptionPe rception a motivated person is ready to act. How the person acts is influenced by his or her perception of the situation. Two people with the same motivation and in the same situation may act quite differently because they perceive the situation differently. Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Learning when people act, they learn.LearningLearning is the reinforcement process, which an individual gained through the experiences. The practical significance of learning theory of marketers is that they can build demand for a product by associating it with strong drives, using motivating prompts, and to the same drives as competitors and providing similar cues because buyers are more likely to exchange loyalty to similar brands then to dissimilar ones. Or it may design its brand to appeal to a different set of drives and offer strong cue inducements to switch (discrimination).Belief and Attitu desBeliefs and Attitudes through acting and learning, people acquire their beliefs and attitudes. These in turn influence their buying behavior. A belief is a descriptive melodic theme that a person has about something. Marketers are interested in the beliefs that people formulate about specific products and services. If some of the beliefs are wrong and prevent purchase, the marketer will want to launch a campaign to correct them. People have attitudes regarding religion, politics, clothes, music, food, and almost everything else. An attitude describes a persons relatively consistent evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea. Attitudes put people into a frame of mind of liking or disliking things, moving toward or away from them.Based on study (Morrison, 2002) attitude describes a persons relatively consistent evaluations consistent evaluations, feelings and tendencies toward and object or an idea.(Morrison, Alastair M, Ph.D., Hospitality and Travel Marketing , 3rd Edition, Thompson Learning, United States)SUMMARYMarkets must be understood before marketing strategies can be developed. The consumer market buys goods and services for personal consumption. Consumers vary tremendously in age, income, education, tastes and other factors. Marketers must understand how consumers transform marketing and other inputs into buying responses. Consumer behavior is influenced by the buyers characteristics and by the buyers decision process. Buyer characteristics include four major factors cultural, social, personal, and psychological. A persons buying behavior is the result of the complex interplay of all these cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. Many of these factors cannot be controlled by marketers, but they are useful in identifying and understanding the consumers that marketers are trying to influence.