Theory Of Varied Consumer Choice Behaviour And It S Implicati Essay
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INTRODUCTION
For decades, scholars and practitioners have been frustrated by the very limited capacity of either psychological or marketing models to predict individual choices on particular occasions. This paper discusses a theory which explains the degree to which the extant models omit important influences that produce varied individual choice behaviour. The focus of this paper is on the sequences of product purchases. Discretionary actions and activities are also covered.
THE THEORETICAL AND APPLIED RELEVANCE OF VARIED BEHAVIOUR
The assumption that consumers make rational, utility-maximizing choices has played an important role in economic thought. As long as preferences remain unchanged, the consumer is expected to choose the most preferred of the available products. Thoughts about consumers’ behaviour towards substitutes hold a similar position. If a consumer’s preference for the most preferred alternative product declines or the product is currently unavailable, the consumer is expected to choose a close substitute. From the firm’s strategic point of view, this means that the marketer of a secondary brand should make its brand similar to the most popular brand.
Careful consideration of the preceding description of consumer choice behaviour and the firm’s selection of a strategy immediately leads one to question the general applicability of these assumption / thought. Although consumers often display stable preferences, sound choice behaviour seldom remains constant. Instead, consumers frequently change their choices of products or brands. Furthermore, the choices made on different occasions often involve two very different products or brands. In summary, changing, varied behaviour is the rule. Managers often avoid the use of simple "me-too" brands, recognizing that consumers are seeking more than simple substitutes. This tendency is seen directly in a number of product categories in which successful products are seldom replaced with highly similar products. Instead, a degree of product newness is viewed as being essential to maintain consumer interest.
The theory of consumer choice behaviour that is presented in this paper is designed to explain the typical degree of variability that consumers exhibit in a series of related choices. Should this theory more accurately describe individual choices, than the meaning and predictive power of many models must be questioned. For example, the results from all preference-based mapping methods, such as MDPREF (Carroll, 1972) and the Schonemann-Wang (1972) models, should be interpreted with great care. In these cases, the analyst must resist jumping to the conclusion that the choice objects that appear close to each other have similar characteristics. All simple attribute-based choice models, such as the widely used conjoint method, must also be interpreted carefully. Here one must resist the assumption that the set of most preferred items will necessarily have similar characteristics. Typically, the set of most preferred or most frequently chosen products will contain items that are very different. These products do not necessarily satisfy the notion that the objects’ attributes will surpass the total utility produced. For example, sometimes a consumer may want a cold beverage and at other times the same consumer may want a hot beverage. Furthermore, the more of one kind of beverage that an individual consumes, the less likely the consumer will make the same choice on the next occasion. Unlike the reasons that produce constant-purchase and / or constant-use behaviour, different motives produce changes in purchase and use. To predict the choice made on the next occasion, one needs to account for the consumer’s prior choice behaviour.
A THEORY OF VARIED CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Psychologists have long recognized that individual judgements and choices contain an important random element that leads to inconsistent behaviour. Thurstone’s Law of Comparative and Categorical Judgement modelled individual judgements and choices. The random component present in most contexts of interest to marketing professionals include larger variables that are too costly to measure or for which practical measurement methods have not been developed. Consider the purchase of breakfast cereal. At the point of purchase, a favourite brand may be out of stock, the customer may be distracted, the shopper’s child may make the selection, or a clerk restocking part of the assortment may contain choice. Although this list contains only a few of the conditions which can affect consumer choice, it demonstrates the difficulty of observing and recording all of the relevant influences. All unmeasurable influences are labelled inexplicable causes of varied behaviour.
There are two important types of explicable causes of varied behaviour. The first type of the explicable cause of varied behaviour has to do with an individual’s motives that indirectly or incidentally produce patterns of varied behaviour, while the second one has to do with an individual’s direct motives where varied behaviour is valued. Purchasing for multiple uses in an example of the first type of motive. An example of the first type of motive is the purchasing of one kind of paint for prime raw wood and another kind of paint to obtain a durable finish coat. An example of the second type of motive is the purchasing of a new piece of clothing to keep up with the current trend or to relieve the boredom produced by repeatedly wearing an older style. These two types of motive for varied behaviour are explored in more detail in the following subsecctions.
INDIRECT VARIED BEHAVIOUR
There are two major kinds of motives that indirectly produce varied behaviour. These have to do with multiple needs and changing conditions. Multiple needs may arise due to multiple users, multiple uses by the individual, and multiple contexts in which the product class is used. Although only one member in a household may need low-calorie products, a record of the beverage purchases made by the principal household purchasing agent will typically show occasional change from high- to low- calorie products and / or the simultaneous purchase of both high- and low-calorie beverages. In a similar manner, when an individual uses a food product such as rice in separate dishes and as an ingredient in other dishes, from time to time purchases may change from instant rice to regular rice or to wild rice so that the most suitable product will be available to use. Closely related is the use of the product in multiple contexts. Here, an individual may buy a common table wine to serve at regular evening meals but buy a premium wine to serve to guests at a dinner party.
Changing conditions include new choice sets, changing tastes, and new constraints. Over time, more classes of choice objects are presented to the consumer with new and / or changed alternatives. The products in a product class, the candidates available to voters, and the services offered by financial institutions all illustrate the a choice set. A previously preferred product may no longer be available, a candidate’s declining health may encourage voters to switch loyalties, and a new financial service may offer important advantage to a large number of individuals who use the older services. Changes in individual choice behaviour can also be due to changes in individual tastes or preferences. As individuals mature, their needs change, and as individuals are exposed to persuasive messages about products, candidates, or services, their preferences may change. Finally, an individual may change his or her choices due to new constraints such as a new legislation or changes in their disposable personal income.
DIRECT VARIED BEHAVIOUR
Direct varied behaviour is primarily motivated by the desire for variety. Two kinds of motives must be recognized. The first category deals with the interpersonal variety or change that takes place to the individual’s own possessions and experiences. The second category deals with the interpersonal variety or change that occurs to possessions and experiences of others.
Interpersonal variety can result when an individual becomes bored with repeated exposures to similar possessions or activities. For example, a record collection that contains the works of one or a few artists may be diversified for the sake of variety or contrast. An individual may switch away from a favourite brand to gain information about new products or to help reconfirm their regular purchase pattern. Notice that the decisions motivated in this way have little or no social content, but that the varied behaviour provides a direct personal reward.
Satiation may induce changes in choice behaviour. It is assumed that preferences and choices are based on the attributes delivered by choice objects. An individual usually wants to maintain some most-preferred level of each attribute, such as the levels of calories and protein provided by food...
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