1. UNIT – II
INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS
OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Motivation

2. Definitions:
◦ Motivation has been variously defined by scholars.
◦ Berelson and Steiner:
◦ “A motive is an inner state that energizes, activates, or moves and directs or channels behaviour
goals.”
◦ Lillis:
◦ “It is the stimulation of any emotion or desire operating upon one’s will and promoting or
driving it to action.”
◦ The Encyclopedia of Management:
◦ “Motivation refers to degree of readiness of an organism to pursue some designated goal and
implies the determination of the nature and locus of the forces, including the degree of
readiness.”

3. From definitions given earlier the following
inferences can be derived
◦ Motivation is an inner feeling which energizes a person to work more.
◦ The emotions or desires of a person prompt him for doing a particular work.
◦ There are unsatisfied needs of a person which disturb his equilibrium.
◦ A person moves to fulfill his unsatisfied needs by conditioning his energies.
◦ There are dormant energies in a person which are activated by channelizing them
into actions.

4. Nature of Motivation
◦Motivation is a psychological phenomenon which generates
within an individual.
◦A person feels the lack of certain needs, to satisfy which he
feels working more.
◦The need satisfying ego motivates a person to do better than
he normally does.

5. Types of Motivation:
◦Positive Motivation
◦Negative Motivation

6. Need
◦ Needs are the core of the marketing
concept.
◦ The study of Motivation refers to all
the processes that drives in a person to
perceive a need and pursue a definite
course of action to fulfill that need.

7. ◦ What are Needs − Every individual has needs that are required to be fulfilled. Primary
needs are food, clothing, shelter and secondary needs are society, culture etc.
◦ What are Wants − Needs are the necessities but wants are something more in addition
to the needs. For example, food is a need and type of food is our want.
◦ What are Goals − Goals are the objectives that must be fulfilled. Goals are generic and
product specific in nature. Generic goals are general in nature, whereas product specific
goals are the desires of a specific nature.
◦ Needs and fulfillment are the basis of motivation. Change takes place due to both
internal as well as external factors. Sometimes needs are satisfied and sometimes they
are not due to individual’s personal, social, cultural or financial needs.

8. Theories of Motivation
Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy-widely accepted
theory of human motivation
He identifies five basic levels of human
need which rank in order of importance
from lower-level needs to higher level
needs.
This theory signifies the importance of
satisfying the lower-level needs before
higher level needs arise. According to
this theory, dissatisfaction motivates
the consumer.

9. Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy
◦ Physiological Needs − Food, clothing, air, and shelter are the first level needs. They are known
as the necessities or primary needs.
◦ Safety or Security Needs − Once the first level needs are satisfied, consumers move to the next
level. Physical safety, security, stability and protection are the security needs.
◦ Social Needs − After the safety needs are satisfied, consumers expect friendship, belonging,
attachment. They need to maintain themselves in a society and try to be accepted.
◦ Esteem Needs − Then comes esteem needs such as self-esteem, status, prestige. Individuals here
in this stage want to rise above the general level as compared to others to achieve mental
satisfaction.
◦ Self-Actualization − This is the highest stage of the hierarchy. People here, try to excel in their
field and improve their level of achievement. They are known as self-actualizers.

10. Motivational Theory and Marketing Strategies
◦ Marketers must understand the motives of their potential customers to enjoy good sales. A buyer
has several motives and each change with various elements. In such cases the marketers can readily
help their customers by changing their marketing strategy so that the conflict is resolved.
Following are the major conflicts that may arise −
1. Approach Conflict − This conflict arises when a consumer has two different choices of similar
products or services. He gives equal importance to them but is unable to choose one over the other.
2. Approach Avoidance Conflict − This type of conflict happens when the consumer decides in favor
of a product but is unhappy with a particular feature of the product and wants to avoid it. Under such
circumstances, the marketer may produce few modifications in the existing product and make it suitable
for the consumer.

11. INDIVIDUAL
DETERMINANTS OF
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Personality & Self Concept

12. Personality
To understand a buyer needs and
convert them into customers is the main
purpose of the consumer behavior
study.
To understand the buyer habits and his
priorities, it is required to understand
and know the personality of the buyer.
Personality signifies the inner
psychological characteristics that reflect
how a person reacts to his environment.

13. Personality
Personality shows the individual
choices for various products
and brands.
It helps the marketers in deciding
when and how to promote
the product.
Personality can be categorized based
on individual traits, likes, dislikes etc.

14. Personality
Though personality is static, it can
change due to major events such as
death, birth or marriage and can
also change gradually with time.
By connecting with the personality
characteristics of an individual,
a marketer can conveniently
formulate marketing strategies.

15. Various theories of personality-Trait Theory
◦ Traits are the features of an individual or tendency of an individual in
a particular manner. Traits help in defining the behavior of
consumers.
◦ According to the Trait theorists, an individual’s personality make-up
stems out of the traits that he possesses, and the identification of
traits is important.

16. Trait Theory: Following are the few of the most
common traits
Outgoing Sad Stable Serious
Happy go
lucky
Relaxed
Self-
assured
Practical Imaginative

17. Trait Theory:
◦ Trait theory is representative of multi-personality theories.
◦ Trait theory is based on certain assumptions, such as traits which are
certainly stable in nature and a limited number of traits are common
to most of the people.
◦ According to the Trait theorists, an individual’s personality make-up
stems out of the traits that he possesses, and the identification of
traits is important.

18. Trait Theory:
The trait theories can be of two broad categories, viz., Simple trait theories and
general trait theories.
Simple Trait Theories
In simple trait theories, a limited number of traits are identified, and people are
categorized and classified based on these traits.
General Trait Theories
In general trait theories, a large variety of traits are identified.

19. Product
Personality
◦ Product personality refers
to the set
of personality characteristi
cs that people use to
describe a
specific product.
◦ Product personality can
affect users' interaction
with and evaluation of
a product. Accordingly, it
may be desirable to design
products with a
predetermined personality.

20. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud
◦ Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology, became famous with his
psychoanalytic theory of personality. In fact, the theory is regarded as
the cornerstone of modern psychology. Sigmund based his theory on
certain assumptions which is as follows −
◦ Unconscious needs or drives lie at the heart of human
motivation and personality.

21. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud
◦ The socialization process that takes place within people in a social set
up has a huge impact on individual behavior.
◦ Freud explained much of how the psyche or the mind operates, and
proposed that, human psyche is composed of parts within our
awareness and beyond our awareness.
◦ He said that all behavior within an individual cannot be explained,
much lies in the subconscious.

22. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud
◦ Id − According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality, the id operates
based on the pleasure principle, which stresses on immediate fulfillment of needs.
The id is the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy
which satisfies basic urges, needs, and desires.
◦ Ego − Ego is that state of awareness which thinks of you as separate from the
other. It always thinks of the glories of the past and hopes of the future and
focuses on guiltiness. It always thinks of what was and what could be.
◦ Super Ego − The superego provides guidelines for making judgments. It is the
aspect of personality that holds all our moral standards and ideals that we acquire
from both parents and society.

23. Neo-Freudian Theory
There were a group of psychologists who believed that social
interaction and resultant relationships formed the basis for the
growth and development of personality. Here, they disagreed with
their contemporary, Freud, who believed that personality was −
• Biological and rooted in genetics, and
• Was groomed as a result of early childhood experiences.
This group of researchers who laid emphasis on the
process of socialization came to be known as the Neo. To
form a personality, social relationships are very important.

24. Neo-Freudian Theory
Based on this, consumers are classified into three
personality types −
Complaint Personalities − They prefer love and affection and so they
move towards them and so they prefer known brands.
Aggressive Personalities − They tend to move against others, and
they show off their need for power, success etc. which is quite
manipulative.
Detached Personalities − They are not much aware of brands and are
more self-reliant and independent.
Marketers also tend to use Neo-Freudian theories
while segmenting markets and positioning their
products.

25. Self-Concept
Self-concept is defined as the way, in which
we think, our preferences, our beliefs, our
attitudes, our opinions arranged in a
systematic manner and how we should
behave and react in various roles of life.
Self-concept is a complex subject as we
know the understanding of someone’s
psychology, traits, abilities sometimes are
difficult.
Consumers buy and use products and
services and patronize retailers whose
personalities or images relate in some way or
other to their own self-images.

26. Self-Concept
◦ Traditionally, individuals are considered to be having a single self-
image which they normally exhibit.
◦ Such type of consumers are interested in those products and services
which match or satisfy these single selves.
◦ However, as the world became more and more complex, it has
become more appropriate to think of consumers as having multiple
selves.

27. Major aspects of Self-concept
◦Self-Concept is Organized
◦ We all have various views about ourselves. We all may think we are kind,
calm, patient, selfish, rude and what not. It doesn’t matter what
perception you have about yourself, but the one perception that
facilitates all these insights is organized self-concept.
◦ When a person believes in something that matches his self-concept he
sticks to his view and does not agree to change the same and even if
does, it takes a lot of time.

28. Major aspects of Self-concept
◦Self-Concept is Learned
◦ It is believed that self-concept is learned, and no person is born with a self-concept. It
develops as and when we grow old. Our self-concept is built when we meet people
socially and interact with them. We are the ones who shape or alter our self-concept
and its quite natural that we may have a self-concept different for ourselves as
compared to what people think about us.
◦ For example − If an individual thinks, he is very generous and helpful,
it may not necessarily be the case with others. Others may see him as a
selfish person.

29. Major aspects of Self-concept
◦Self-Concept is Dynamic
◦ Our self-concept in life is not constant and it may change with instances that take place
in our lives. When we face different situations and new challenges in life, our insight
towards things may change. We see and behave according to the things and situations.
◦ Thus, it is observed that self-concept is a continuous development where we let go
things that don’t match our self-concept and hold on those things that we think are
helpful in building our favorable perception.
◦ Self-concept is the composite of ideas, feelings, emotions and attitudes
that a person has about their identity and capabilities.

30. INDIVIDUAL DETERMINAN
TS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIO
R
Consumer Attention & Perception

31. Perception
◦ Our human brain attempts to make sense out of the stimuli to which
we are exposed, and our perception approximates reality.

32. Perception Influencers
◦ The following are the factors/theories, which can influence our perception
◦Exposure
Exposure is the extent to which it encounters stimulus. Exposure is not enough
to significantly impact the individual.
For example, in our daily life, we come across several hoardings,
advertisements, banners etc. However, we don’t pay much attention to them or
tend to seek it out, but, if we want to purchase something, say, a motorbike, we
may deliberately take effort and seek out such advertisements. Attention is a
matter of degree. Our attention may be quite high when we read the directions
mentioned on a road map and quite low when a commercial comes on the T.V.

33. Perception Influencers
◦ The following are the factors/theories, which can influence our perception
◦Weber’s Law
Weber’s law gives a theory concerning the perceived differences between similar
stimuli of varying intensities. The stronger is the initial stimulus, the greater is
the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as
different.
For example, If there is a one and half inch reduction in the size of a five-inch
candy bar, it won’t get noticed a bit but if the two-inch-long chewing gum gets
reduced, then it would be noticed.

34. Perception Influencers
◦ The following are the factors/theories, which can influence our perception
◦Subliminal Stimuli
Subliminal Stimuli represent the words or pictures so as to be unidentifiable to
the viewer's conscious perception.
Images may be flashed before the eye too quickly for the conscious mind to
apprehend.
For example, in 1957 in a drive-in theater in New Jersey, messages such as
"Drink Coke" and "Eat Popcorn" were flashed on the screen and sales of these
refreshments increased considerably as a result.

35. Elements of Perception
◦ Sensation
◦ Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to
stimuli. A stimulus may be any unit of input to any of these senses.
◦ Examples of stimuli include products, packages, brand names,
advertisements and commercials. Sensory receptors are the human
organs that receive sensory inputs. Their sensory functions are to see,
hear, smell, taste and feel. All these functions are called into play, either
singly or in combinations, in the evaluation and use of most consumer
products.

36. Elements of Perception
◦ The Absolute Threshold
◦ The lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation is
called the absolute threshold. The point at which a person can detect a
difference between “something” and “nothing” is that person’s absolute
threshold for that stimulus.
◦ The Differential Threshold
◦ The minimal difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli
is called the differential threshold or the just noticeable difference

37. Elements of Perception
◦Subliminal Perception
◦ People are motivated below their level of conscious awareness. People
are also stimulated below their level of conscious awareness; that is, they
can perceive stimuli without being consciously aware that they are doing
so.
◦ Stimuli that are too weak or too brief to be consciously seen or heard
may nevertheless be strong enough to be perceived by one or more
receptor cells. This process is called subliminal perception because the
stimulus is beneath the threshold, or “limen” of conscious awareness,
though obviously not beneath the absolute threshold of the receptors
involved.

38. Consumer Imagery
◦ Consumers formulate perceived images about product, services,
prices, product quality, retail stores and manufacturers, this
phenomenon is called as consumer imagery.

39. ISSUES IN CONSUMER IMAGERY
◦ Product positioning and repositioning
◦ Perceived quality
◦ Perceived risk
◦ Price-quality relationship
◦ Perceived price

40. PERCEIVED POSITIONING
◦ The marketer creates an image of the product/service offering
and/or the brand in the mind of a consumer.
◦ Positioning is how consumers perceive a product relative to the
competition.
◦ Companies want to have a distinctive image and offering that stands
out from the competition in the minds of consumers.

41. Perceptual Map
◦ A two-dimensional graph that visually shows where your product
stands, or should stand, relative to your competitors, based on criteria
important to buyers.
◦ The criteria can involve any number of characteristics—price, quality,
level of customer service associated with the product, and so on.

42. PRODUCT REPOSITIONING
◦ The product/service offering may require a repositioning with change
in the market like, entry of competitor brands, changing customer
preferences etc.

43. PERCEIVED RISK
◦ It refers to a feeling of uncertainty that arises within an individual
when he fails to predict the consequences of product choice, usage
and resultant experience.
◦ Reasons: Lack of information, newness of the product/service
offering, complexity of the offering, high price, etc.

44. TYPES OF PERCEIVED RISK
◦ Functional risk: uncertain about the product’s attributes, features and overall benefit.
◦ Example: will the microwave oven function well once I take it home?
◦ Physical risk: the dangers that the product usage could bring with itself.
◦ Example: will it lead to shocks and short circuit in times of voltage fluctuation?
◦ Financial risk: the consumer assesses the benefit versus cost of the product.
◦ Example: is the microwave at Rs. 20000, will it serve me for 5 years?

45. TYPES OF PERCEIVED RISK
◦ Social risk: this is the kind of risk that a consumer faces when he doubts the product
purchase and usage to sanctions and approval by the social group or class to which he
belongs.
◦ Example: will my old mother approve of such a product and at this high price (would
she consider it worthy)?
◦ Psychological risk: this kind of a risk is perceived when a consumer fears social
embarrassment.
◦ Example: is the microwave aesthetically appealing enough not to cause ridicule?

46. TYPES OF PERCEIVED RISK
◦ Time risk: the consumer is uncertain and doubts whether his time has been wasted by
making a wrong choice or that he would have to spend time again if the product does
not perform as expected.
◦ Example: will the microwave oven function well or would I have to replace it soon?

47. Attention
◦Attention always precedes perception. Attention is the central
process and perception is not at all possible without
attention.
◦The process of attention serves the various functions in the
organization of our perception and other cognitive functions.

48. Functions of Attention
◦Alerting Function
◦ Attention here refers to a state of focused awareness with the
readiness to respond. Distraction in such a case occurs with some
interference which prevents the individual to continue with the task.
◦ For example, when a teacher in a class asks the student to pay
attention, it means the student can create such conditions where he
prepares himself to be alert.

49. Functions of Attention
◦Selective Function
◦ The most important function of attention is selectivity. The selective function
acts as a filter that allows information in and the unwanted information out.
Here, the attention is focused on stimulus of ongoing interest, others being
ignored.
◦ For example, when you are in a tea party organized by your friend, you take a
plate of snacks and cup of tea and stand chatting in your group of friends.
While you are chatting, if you suddenly hear your name from some other
group, your attention is diverted and you might start paying attention towards
the group where you heard your name. This example shows that we can
selectively attend to one task at a time and the ongoing task in this case is
ignored.

50. Functions of Attention
◦Limited Capacity Channel
◦ It has been observed that we have quite limited capacity to process
information that is available in the outside world. It means, we can process
one task at a time. The task that requires multi-tasking cannot be carried out
simultaneously because we have limited capacity to process the information.
◦ For example, it is difficult to study or learn something from your book while
you are listening to music. It is difficult as the task requires a lot of
attention, so it is difficult to perform both simultaneously unless one task is
highly practiced and done in routine to carry out these functions.

51. Functions of Attention
◦Vigilance Function
◦ Maintaining attention on a continuous task for a long time leads to vigilance. It has
been observed that, attending to a task for long, particularly if the task is
monotonous leads to poor performance.
◦ For example − When you go on writing the same thing for 700 times, you tend to
make mistakes after some time and this is because of central fatigue occurring due
to monotonous task.
◦ Thus, attentional processes serves the tuner function in filtering
information selected for further processing that finally leads to perception.

52. INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANT
S OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer Learning

53. Consumer Learning
◦According to Kotler’s Definition, learning involves changes
in an individual’s behavior arising out of the experience.
◦Most of the human behavior is learned over time, out of the
experience.

54. Features of consumer learning
◦Consumer learning is a process. A process which continually
changes and acquires new knowledge.
◦This knowledge can be obtained from reading, discussing,
observing, thinking, etc.
◦Newly acquired knowledge or personal experience, both
serve as feedback.

55. Elements of Consumer Learning
◦ Motivation is the driving force of all important things to be learnt.
◦ Motives allow individuals to increase their readiness to respond to
learning. It also helps in activating the energy to do so. Thus the
degree of involvement usually determines the motivation to search
information about a product.
◦ For example, showing advertisements for summer products just
before summer season or for winter clothes before winters.

56. Elements of Consumer Learning
◦ Cues: Motives encourage learning and cues stimulate the direction to
these motives. Cues are not strong as motives, but their influence in
which the consumer responds to these motives.
◦ For example, in a market, the styling, packaging, the store display,
prices all serve as cues to help consumers to decide on a particular
product, but this can happen only if the consumer has the motive to
buy. Thus, marketers need to be careful while providing cues,
especially to consumers who have expectations driven by motives.

57. Elements of Consumer Learning
◦ Response signifies how a consumer reacts to the motives or even
cues. The response can be shown or hidden, but in either of the cases
learning takes place. Often marketers may not succeed in stimulating a
purchase but the learning takes place over a period of time and then
they may succeed in forming a particular image of the brand or
product in the consumer’s mind.

58. Elements of
Consumer
Learning
◦ Reinforcement is
very important as it
increases the
probability of a
particular response
in the future driven
by motives and
cues.

59. Consumer Behavioral Learning Theories
◦ Classical Conditioning theory refers to learning through repetition. This is
referred to as a spontaneous response to particular situation achieved by repetitive
exposure. It is such a kind of a behavioral theory which says, when a stimulus is
connected to or paired with another stimulus, it serves to produce the same
response even when used alone.
◦ For example, if you usually listen news at 9 pm and have dinner too at 9 pm while
watching the news then eventually the sound of news at 9 pm may make you
hungry even though you are not actually hungry or even if the dinner is not ready.

60. Consumer Behavioral Learning Theories
◦ Instrumental Theory is developed by B F SKINNER, an American
psychologist, he was the first to develop this model of learning. Instrumental
theory suggests that human beings learn by trial and error method and then find
out a particular stimulus that can yield best results. Then, this is subsequently
formed as a habit
◦ This theory is very important and applies to many common situations in the
context of consumer behavior.
◦ It suggests that consumers learn by means of trial-and-error method in which
some purchase behaviors result in a more favorable outcome.

61. INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS O
F CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer Attitude

62. Consumer attitude
◦ Consumer attitude may be defined as a feeling of favorableness or un-
favorableness that an individual has towards an object.
◦ As we, all know that an individual with a positive attitude is more
likely to buy a product and this results in the possibility of liking or
disliking a product.

63. Consumer attitude
◦ Consumer attitude basically
comprises of beliefs towards,
feelings towards and behavioral
intentions towards some objects.

64. Consumer attitude
◦ Belief plays a vital role for consumers because, it can be either
positive or negative towards an object.
◦ For example, some may say tea is good and relieves tension, others
may say too much of tea is not good for health. Human beliefs are
not accurate and can change according to situations.

65. Consumer attitude
◦ Consumers have certain specific feelings towards some products or
brands.
◦ Sometimes these feelings are based on certain beliefs and sometimes
they are not.
◦ For example, an individual feels uneasy when he thinks about cheese
burst pizza, because of the tremendous amount of cheese or fat it
has.

66. Consumer attitude
◦ Behavioral intentions show the plans of consumers with respect to
the products. This is sometimes a logical result of beliefs or feelings,
but not always.
◦ For example, an individual personally might not like a restaurant, but
may visit it because it is the hangout place for his friends.

67. Functions of Attitudes
◦ Adjustment Function − Attitudes helps people to adjust to different
situations and circumstances.
◦ Ego Defensive Function − Attitudes are formed to protect the ego.
We all are bothered about our self-esteem and image so the product
boosting our ego is the target of such a kind of attitude.

68. Functions of Attitudes
◦ Value Expression Function − Attitudes usually represent the values the
individual posses. We gain values, though our upbringing and training. Our
value system encourages or discourages us to buy certain products. For
example, our value system allows or disallows us to purchase products such
as cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc.
◦ Knowledge Function − Individuals’ continuously seeks knowledge and
information. When an individual gets information about a particular
product, he creates and modifies his attitude towards that product.

69. Attitude formation Theories/Models of Attitude-
Tri-component Model
◦ Cognitive Component − The first component is cognitive
component. It consists of an individual’s knowledge or perception
towards few products or services through personal experience or
related information from various sources. This knowledge, usually
results in beliefs, which a consumer has, and specific behavior.

70. Attitude formation Theories/Models of Attitude-
Tri-component Model
◦ Affective Component − The second part is the affective component.
This consists of a person’s feelings, sentiments, and emotions for a
particular brand or product. They treat them as the primary criteria
for the purpose of evaluation. The state of mind also plays a major
role, like the sadness, happiness, anger, or stress, which also affects the
attitude of a consumer.

71. Attitude formation Theories/Models of Attitude-
Tri-component Model
◦ Conative Component − The last component is conative component,
which consists of a person’s intention or likelihood towards a
particular product. It usually means the actual behavior of the person
or his intention.

72. Attitude formation Theories/Models of Attitude-
Multi Attribute
◦ As suggested by the name, this model breaks down the consumer's
overall attitude (that is, view of each brand) into smaller components.
◦ These components are the individual product features, functions and
perceived benefits – which are collectively known as
product attributes.

73. ATTITUDE FORMATION
THEORIES/MODELS OF ATTITUDE-MULTI
ATTRIBUTE

74. Attitude formation Theories/Models of Attitude-
Cognitive Dissonance
◦ The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes,
especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change.
◦ In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance occurs when a person
holds contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, and is typically
experienced as psychological stress when they participate in an action
that goes against one or more of them.

75. Attitude
formation
Theories/Models
of Attitude-
Cognitive
Dissonance

76. Attitude Change Strategies
◦ Changing The Basic Motivational Function.
◦ Associating the product with an admired group or event.
◦ Resolving two conflict attitudes.
◦ Altering components of the multi-attribute model.
◦ Changing the consumer beliefs about competitors' brands.