VaasaMBA INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR MKTG320 WHAT IS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR? What is a consumer? What is a buyer? Is there a difference? What is behaviour? So what is the study of consumer behaviou[.]
INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR MKTG320 WHAT IS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR? What is a consumer? What is a buyer? Is there a difference? What is behaviour? So… what is the study of consumer behaviour? https://digitalsynopsis.com/advertising/h onest-advertising-slogans/ GLOBAL CONSUMERS IN A GLOBAL VILLAGE? •Do travel, global media and technology make us all the same? •Marshall McLuhan coined the concept of a ‘global village’ – this meant that new technologies ‘abolished the spatial dimension’ •CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS, people have embraced the internet and other new technologies to ENHANCE THEIR CURRENT ACTIVITIES •The internet has NOT changed people It has reinforced existing habits that, instead of converging, tend to diverge • Once basic expenses have been covered, countries become similar in their penetration of goods, but what people DO with their possessions does not converge • This means that as national wealth converges across countries, it’s ability to explain declines, and cultural variable can explain cross-country differences far, FAR better • CULTURAL VALUES ARE AT THE ROOT of consumer behavior Culture is pervasive in ALL ASPECTS OF CONSUMPTION and consumer behavior and should be integrated into all elements of consumer behavior theory • Therefore, one of the greatest myths of global marketing is of global consumers living in a global village HOW THE MYTH EXISTS Because people adopt some consumption symbols from people in other parts of the world, the assumption has been that other aspects of our behavior will, likewise, change Examples: In particular, western international news journals have made us believe that a homogenization process would work towards universal (American) values Also in academia, the belief is that convergence of technology, global media, increased trade and travel act to bring people together GLOBALISATION •In business press “Globalization” is Americanization •Globalization discourse dominated by Anglo-Saxon authors who see their own country’s brands everywhere and think it makes people the same Source: Newsweek THE REALITY? FEW PEOPLE watch international (English language) TV regularly CNN has had to introduce national language versions How young people spend their leisure time varies Watching TV and meeting friends are activities young people everywhere enjoy, but 45% of Portuguese young people watch TV – only 8% of German youth so GLOBAL YOUTH CULTURE • Assael, 2004: Consumer behavior, a strategic approach: • Teens across the world Watch the same television shows and similar commercials Develop the same consumption patterns Find being with friends and watching television to be the most enjoyable ways to spend time • Travel and global communications have spurred the development of common norms and values LEISURE ACTIVITIES YOUNG PEOPLE IN EUROPE 70 60 Watch TV Meet friends 50 Play sports 40 30 20 10 Source: Young Europeans, Eurobarometer, 2007 ECONOMICS… In Economics, the rational man thesis suggests people will maximize their own utility and will prefer lowpriced, high quality goods This fits ‘scarcity societies’, where people choose between one thing and another When there is no scarcity, people make decisions less rationally Wealth is not as useful as culture for understanding people Generally, the older the product category, the stronger the influence of culture (Eg, food) With more income: Americans will buy more cars, Dutch will buy more luxurious campervans, Spanish will eat out more What will the Emirati’s do? What they do????? GLOBAL COMMUNITIES This idea focuses on SIMILARITIES…the idea that an 18 year in Paris has more in common with an 18 year old in New York than with their own parents However, these people are only superficially alike They may have the same type of phone or computer, but they may have bought it for different reasons and they use it in different ways and places (Eg, text, phone, messaging) These differences are related to culture Young people use computers in different ways (Eg, 16% of respondents in Amsterdam said entertainment was their main reason for using technology, comparerd with 9% in Helsinki and London, and only 4% in Milan) Western magazines suggest that Asian teens, in the way they behave and dress themselves, increasingly resemble American and European teen and mistake it for western individualistic behavior – but this behavior is not driven by individualistic values Young Asians may be typically western on the surface, but traditional values like hard work remain next to aspiration towards money and display of success via wearing branded goods Many westerns make a mistake when they think Japanese are extreme based on their behavior between ages 18 and 25, not realizing that these are the only ‘free’ years of a Japanese person’s life After they graduate they are very focused on work and conform to typical Japanese behaviour Within cultures, segmentation is useful But between cultures, is it? Even business people reflect their cultures – the French like having meetings at restaurants, the Dutch prefer sandwiches in the office TECHNOLOGY DOES NOT UNIFY •Technology and media bring together, they don’t make us the same •Which technology people buy and how they use it depend on the habits of the groups to which they belong, the environment in which they live and grow up: their culture •Differences in ownership and usage of technology across nations Examples