IMPORTANCE OF STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN

ADVERTISING

Consumer behaviour plays central role in advertising. Before

launching advertising campaign, the advertiser must be aware of

behavioral pattern of consumer. Study of consumer behaviour

determines message-content, message-source, type of media, media

scheduling, etc. Stud of consumer behaviour helps the advertiser to

harmonize advertising efforts with the possible buyer behaviour.

Importance of study of consumer behaviour is clear from following

points:

(1). Study of Consumer Behaviour Helps in Selecting Message-

Contents: Message-contents here refer to the information to be given

in the advertisement. It includes ad-appeal, information regarding

product, price, its availability, etc. The decision regarding message-

contents is taken keeping in mind the characteristics of consumer and

his behaviour. If the product is to be used by kids, ladies, usually

emotional appeal is given. Humorous appeal can also be made if

product is to be used by kids. If product is to be used by male persons,

rational appeal can be given in the advertisement.

(2). Study of Consumer Behaviour helps in Selecting message

source person:

Message-source person refers to person conveying the ad-

message. Message source person can be sports person, film actor,

doctor, direction, dentist, common consumer, etc. Appropriate model

can be selected after studying the traits of the consumers.

(3). Study of Consumer Behaviour helps in selecting media and

media mix: Media here refers to radio, T.V., newspaper, magazine,

internet etc. Media mix here refers to selecting combination of media

for conveying the message. If the product is to be used by

professionals then ad should be given in professional magazines,

newspapers, internet etc. If the product is to be used by children then

T.V. is an appropriate media.

(4). Study of Consumer behaviour helps in Decisions regarding

Media Scheduling:

Media scheduling here refers to selecting time, place and frequency of

advertising. If the product is to be used by children then ad should be

shown in television in afternoon programmes, as they will be busy in

school in the before noon time. If the product is to be used by little

kids, then ad should be shown on cartoon-channels in television.

(5). Helps in Understanding buying motives to be highlighted

in advertisement:

Different persons buy the product with different buying motives. E.g. a

person may purchase a watch for knowing time; the other person may

need watch for knowing time and also for showing his high status.

Another person may need watch for gift purpose; here his

consideration will be low price but giving look of high price. The

advertiser must know the buying motives to be highlighted in the

advertisement. Knowledge of buying motive can be gained only

through study of buyer behaviour. Thus, study of buyer behaviour

helps to identify buying motives to be highlighted in the

advertisement.

(6). Effective Advertising Campaign: Study of consumer behaviour

helps to design the advertisement in a more systematic and scientific

manner. It ensures effective advertising campaign.

Thus, advertiser must consider the possible buyer behaviour,

while designing message, selecting media, media scheduling etc. So,

study of buyer behaviour is must for making the whole advertising

campaign more effective.

2. BUYING MOTIVES AND ADVERTISING

A motive is an inner urge that moves or prompts a person to

action. It is an incentive which induces a man to work. Buying motive

means ‘why a person buys the product’. A person will buy a product

only if it satisfied some wants and gives satisfaction to the user.

Different persons may have different buying motives. The advertiser

must know the various buying motives which induce persons to buy

the product. The advertising appeal is selected considering the buying

motive. The advertisement must stress upon the fact that advertised

product is most appropriate for filling the buying motive. The

important buying motives include:

1.Convenience and Comfort

Convenience refers to saving in time, physical and mental

exertion. Products like washing machine, pressure cooker, geyser,

computers, cooking range, mixer grinder, etc. are purchased for

convenience motive. The advertisers of such products should give

convenience and comfort appeal in their advertising message. Such

appeal will match with their buying motive and will make ad more

effective.

2. Physiological Motives

It refers to basic needs. Food, textiles, houses and flats are

purchased for physiological motives. In the ad of houses/flats by

colonizers, physiological motives are highlighted and the target

customers are convinced to buy the flat/house to meet physiological

needs/motives.

3. Social Motives

It refers to need for belongingness. To satisfy social

needs/motives, persons join different clubs like Lions club, Rotary club,

etc. In the advertisements of clubs, social motive should be

highlighted.

4. Curiosity

It refers to desire for learning and knowing more and more. It is

an important motive in tourism industry. Curiosity motivates tourists

to visit different places. It refers to desire to know and see unknown

things. Books, novels, games, tourism, packages, encyclopedias, etc.

are sold ion the basis of curiosity-motive. The advertisement of the

product must arouse curiosity to buy the product. Advertisement of

films, TV serials should arouse the curiosity to view the film.

5. Esteem Motives

It refers to motives of distinction, appreciation, recognition,

achievements, status, pride, vanity, etc. Premium products are

purchased to fulfill esteem motives, for example A.C., car, big fridge,

jewellery, etc.

6. Economy

It refers to buying the product with less money. Human wants

are unlimited, but there are limited means to satisfy these wants. So

people prefer products that give more economy. This economy can be

in the form of less maintenance cost, low price, low operating cost,

good resale price, etc. For example, advertisers of motor bikes

highlight fuel efficiency/better mileage in their advertisements, so as to

arouse economy-motive of its prospective customers.

7. Fashion

Fashion changes with change in time. Certain things are

considered to be in fashion while some products are considered out of

fashion. People buy products which are in fashion, and in style. People

buy stylish readymade garments to look fashionable. This motive is

very strong among young women and men. Advertiser or readymade

garments, jewellery, cosmetics, hair colour, etc. should use fashion

appeal in their ads.

8. Love and Affection

Every person is influenced by the feeling of love and affection

This love can be for one’s children, parents, brother, sister, wife, etc.

People buy products for their loved-ones. The advertiser can induce

the prospective customer to buy the advertised product to show love

for others. Advertisements of baby care products also use this appeal

in which mother’s love towards the child is highlighted.

9. Health

People prefer to buy the products which are good for health.

Health-motive persuades the persons to buy certain products like

health-drinks, sugar fee tablets, vitamin tablets, almond oil,

Chyawanaprash, etc. low cholesterol ghee. The advertiser should

highlight the good effect of product on the health.

10. Durability

Durability means long lasting feature of the product. It refers to

high quality, long life, reliability, less maintenance, etc. In buying the

consumer durable goods like ACs, washing machine, electric

appliances, car, TV, fridge, scooter, etc. durability is an important

consideration. The advertisers of such products must highlight the

durability of their products in their ad message. People get ready to

pay higher price for durable and good quality products.

11. Credit Motive

This motive refers to the desire of buyer to get the product on

credit at low rates of interest. To emit this buying motive of buyers,

marketers launch easy installment schemes at low rate of interest and

highlight such credit schemes in their advertisement. E.g., Maruti

Udyog Ltd. Launched an installment scheme under which a person

could buy maruti-800 car on monthly installment of Rs.2599/-. This

scheme was highlighted in the advertisement on Maruti Car. This ad

attracted many buyers to buy Maruti Car.

12. After-Sale Service Motive

The buyers want good after sale services for the product they

purchase. The marketers provide good guarantee/warrantee, after-

sale services and highlight this in their advertisement. Thus,

marketers can give appeal of good after-sale service to meet this

buying motive of buyers and attract the customers to their products.

13. SEX AND ROMANCE

Sex and romance is an emotional buying motive. It is prevalent

in both male and female segments, where each group tries to attract

the other group. Products like readymade garments, jewellery,

shaving products, cosmetics, etc. are advertised by using sex appeal in

their advertisements.

Thus, buying motives must be considered while deciding the ad-

appeal, ad-message and slogan of ad. The effectiveness of

advertisements can be enhanced by matching the ad appeal/ad

message with the buying motives of its target customers.

Difficulties in the Study of Buyer Behaviour

The study of buying behaviour is significant for advertising

campaign. But the study of consumer-behaviour involves many

problems. Main difficulties in the study of buyer behaviour are

discussed below:

(1). Dynamic and not Static

Consumer is a human being and the human behaviour is ever

changing. It never remain static. It changes with change in fashion,

economic conditions, socio- conditions etc. Sot it is quite possible that

by the time the results of study of buyer behaviour are ready the buyer

behaviour may have changed.

2. Multiple Factors

Buyer behaviour is affected by many factors viz. income level,

age, sex, education, geographic condition, culture, religion, family

structure, government policy etc. the effect of all these factors cannot

be studied in isolation. The study of all these factors is very complex.

3. Difficulties with the Sampling method of Studying Buyer

Behaviour:

The consumers are large in umber. It is very difficult to study

the buying behaviour of all consumers. So a few consumes are

selected as sample. On the basis of the study of such samples, the

consumer behaviour of whole consumer group is estimated. But this

sampling method has many limitations viz.

a). Number of Selected Consumers may be Insufficient

Consumers maybe lacs in number. But only a few hundred

consumers are selected as sample. This small number may be

insufficient to understand the buyer behaviour of whole group.

b). Selected Samples may not be Representative of whole

Buyer Group: A few sample consumers are selected, their consumer

behaviour is analyzed; on the basis of their study, the consumer

behaviour of entire consumer group is estimated. But it is quite

possible that these selected may not exactly represent the whole

consumer group. They may be different with regard to personality, life

style, culture etc.

C). Wrong Sampling Methods:

There are various random and non-random sampling techniques

for selecting the sample. All sampling techniques have their own

merits and demerits. Generally in marketing research, convenience

sampling method is used, i.e., to select the easily approachable

consumers as sample instead of selecting the sample consumers at

random. But this method sampling is often criticized for this biasness.

4). Wrong Respo9nse given by buyer

To conduct the study of consumer behaviour, questionnaire

method or interview method is used. Under these methods, some

questions are asked from the consumer. These questions can be with

regard to their age, liking, taste, preference, income, education, etc. It

is quite possible that the respondent consumer gives wrong answer tot

these questions or he may tick the wrong answer in the multiple choice

questions given in questionnaire without properly reading the

questions. So wrong response given by buyer sample may render the

study of buyer behaviour futile.

5). Inexperienced Experts

The persons entrusted with the task of study of buyer behaviour

may be inexperienced. They may not have enough expertise to handle

the complex task of study of human behaviour. Insufficient expertise

and experience may render the study of buyer behaviour wrong.

6). Costly

The process of studying buyer behaviour is very costly. It

requires the services of experts. It involves huge cost. Small business

firms cannot afford to incur hug cost of the study of buyer behaviour.