Category: Consumer Behavior

Consumer Behavior: Price Attention & Memory

Introduction

Consumer behavior is the study of how individual customers, groups or organizations select, buy, use, and dispose ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It refers to the actions of the consumers in the marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions. (Consumer Behaviour 2014) The study of consumer Behaviour helps everybody as all are consumers. It is essential for marketers to understand consumers to survive and succeed in this competitive marketing environment.

Consumers make price based decisions every day. They consistently observe and compare prices and make buying decisions based on spot prices. They take decisions based on the knowledge they obtain by observing the prices in different stores and advertisements. Some buy products regardless of the quality and the price it is sold. One study showed that only 47% to 55% of consumers were able to recall its correct price (Dickson and Sawyer 1990; Le Boutillier, Le Boutillier, and Neslin 1994; Wakefield and Inman 1993). This could have resulted due to lack of motivation and attention by the consumer or by the distractions present in the store itself. Moreover, it could also be due to the cognitive challenges faced by the brain which enables the consumer to recall the actual price of the product. As explained by the psychologist Daniel Schacter in his book ‘The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers’

Purpose of the research

The overall purpose of the research is to understand the concept between price attention and memory when purchasing items also through this research we would be able to determine whether the marketing factors effect a consumers buying power or whether people consider the price when buying goods from shops. Hence this research is done to either approve the listed hypothesis or to reject one.

Hypothesis

A hypothesis, in a scientific context, is a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables or a proposed explanation for some observed phenomenon. The researcher’s prediction is usually referred to as the alternative hypothesis, and any other outcome as the null hypothesis — basically, the opposite outcome to what is predicted. Nevertheless, both is proposed and one hypothesis is rejected after the research has been completed. (WhatIs.com)

Hypothesis 1

Null hypothesis (H1) Men are better at recalling price than woman

Alternative hypothesis (H2) Women are better at recalling price than men

As it is believed that men are more superior than woman, many agree that men have better memory than woman. Men tend to recall things that they have seen just once.

Hypothesis 2

Null hypothesis (H5) When buying variety of items people tend to forget the prices more often

Alternative hypothesis (H6) People do not forget the prices even if they are purchasing variety of items

It is evident that no man can remember a list of items which they have seen just once. Same goes to the prices, even though they have seen the price of the item before buying it they are also exposed to the prices of other irrelevant products which confuses them and that memory is blocked by other memory which the person just saw.

Hypothesis 3

Null hypothesis (H9) Recollection of price of grocery is much less than cosmetics

Alternative hypothesis (H10) Recollection of price of grocery in not less than cosmetics

The price of grocery varies widely and it changes due to various reasons. It can be either overpriced due to bad weather or it can be cheap due to over stock of good or other valid reason. However, when we look into cosmetics they usually have a fixed price which makes it easier to remember the price of products being bought. Additionally, people look for products which are of good quality and cheaper items.

Methodology

“Methodology is the philosophical framework within which the research is conducted or the foundation upon which the research is based” (Brown, 2006)

To get the results for the research the whole procedure took more than a week to complete. Firstly, a small interview was conducted in order to prove the hypothesis. It only included some basic information regarding the consumer. For example; how much the person earn a month? Gender, and what the person do for a living? Is he married or not. After doing such, accompany the person to shopping, observe his/her behavior while he/she is selecting the required products. Note how much time is spent on selecting the products needed and how absent minded or how much attention is paid to the price while shopping. Also note any unusual behavior when the person checks the price of the products before actually buying it. After the person has done shopping ask for the receipt. Now explain to the person that you are going check how good his memory is. Also explain that any value close to the actual value would be fine. For example, the person bought a tooth brush which cost MVR25 but he guessed it as 24 hence his recollection of price is correct also any decimal values will not be considered as some products have values such as MVR2.345 the answer would have been correct if he says it cost MVR2 only. After you are done with the recollection of prices ask whether the person really needed to buy the products or was he/she doing it for someone else. The chances of while buying goods for others the person sometimes gives exact amount of money to buy them that is for everyday household items.

Results/Analysis and finding

In Fig 1 shows a table in which a 23-year-old male went shopping for his mom. Whose occupancy range about MVR4500-8000. It took him half an hour to figure out which items to buy. He bought a mob, mop bucket, broomstick and a soft bun which was for himself. There were three different types of mop and broomstick. From his behavior he was trying to buy an item which would satisfy his mom. An item both cheap and has good quality. After he was done shopping when he was asked to recall the price as shown in Fig 1 he was able to correctly remember the price of only two items. His overall recall percentage is 96%. As the number of items purchased were less he was easily able to remember values close to the actual price. His average difference percentage is 4% which showed that he had distractions all around him but due to less variety he scored pretty well.

According to Fig 2 a 27-year-old male went shopping for his family. He did have a list of items with him while shopping. His occupancy ranges between MVR8000-12000. From his behavior and talks I was able to grasp he had kids as well. He was very focused as he had to buy mostly cosmetic products. In Fig 2 shows that he had recall percentage of 92% with an average difference of 5.8. After he done shopping he was able to recall only 3 items actual price. Other items he was able to recall very close values as he was very focused on buying cheap but quality products which matches his families need.

Fig 3 shows middle aged women who earns more than MVR10000 a month with 2 kids and came for monthly shopping. She mostly bought grocery items and a few cosmetic items. She had bought about 24 varieties of items from the same store. But she was done shopping in an hour. When buying the grocery, she did ask for the prices of the items but didn’t careless and bought them anyways. When asked about the price of the items she could not recall the exact amount, when questioned she answered saying the prices vary nevertheless the prices here are affordable on top of that variety of items are available unlike other shops where only one item is available and have to go to different shops to buy the missing item. Out of 24 items she correctly recalled only 6 items price. She also had mentioned while shopping she normally does not remember the price of the items she purchases as she only goes for shopping once or twice a month. The average difference of the recollection is 7%.

In Fig 4 a 22-year-old female went shopping with her sister. Of course in order to do the research I also went along with them. They had bought cosmetics which they choose very precisely. To them the price mattered however they had an average recall percentage of 97% with an average of 3% as a difference in in the prices. They did not buy a variety of items however they had bought 7 items in which they recalled successfully the price of 5 items.

The seven sins of memory

“The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers” is a book by the chairperson of Harvard University’s psychology department Daniel Schacter, PhD, a longtime memory researcher. As he has noted that same brain mechanisms are involved both memory’s strengths and sins. He explains that, these sins shouldn’t be taken as flaws in the architecture of memory, instead these should merely be considered as the costs paid for the benefits of memory. The Seven Sins of Memory can also be related with Seven Deadly Sins, which is the idea behind the book. (Shretha) In this research some of the sins were observed.

• Transience–the reduction of accessibility of memory over time. While a degree of this is normal with aging, decay of or damage to the hippocampus and temporal lobe can cause extreme forms of it. (MURRAY, 2003)
• Absent-mindedness–lapses of attention and forgetting to do things. This sin operates both when a memory is formed (the encoding stage) and when a memory is accessed (the retrieval stage). (Schacter, D. L. (2008)
• Blocking–temporary inaccessibility of stored information, such as tip-of-the-tongue syndrome.
• Suggestibility–incorporation of misinformation into memory due to leading questions, deception and other causes.
• Bias–retrospective distortions produced by current knowledge and beliefs. Psychologist Michael Ross, PhD, and others have shown that present knowledge, beliefs and feelings skew our memory for past events, said Schacter. For example, research indicates that people currently displeased with a romantic relationship tend to have a disproportionately negative take on past states of the relationship.
• Persistence–unwanted recollections that people can’t forget, such as the unrelenting, intrusive memories of post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Misattribution–attribution of memories to incorrect sources or believing that you have seen or heard something you haven’t.

Lack of data collecting methods and sample size

Primary data was mainly used however the primary data collected was not enough to make an assumption about the whole market. It is very certain that with the results of only five people, we cannot generalize it for the whole population. Even if we do, the results are uncertain and it can either be too biased as the sample size we have chosen are random and the people selected are related to us and they almost have the same attitude and cultural preferences towards products and people. For the research only five samples were selected which is too small to make an assumption about the whole population based on the five peoples results which varies accordingly.

Recommendation: more data could have been collected with a wide range of sampling size. This would greatly give more efficient and realistic results. Also more data could have been obtained if the target market was big.

Limited time

Overall the research process went very smoothly however one of the major limitation when doing the analysis was the limited time. It was very difficult as there was too much stress and a lot to be covered with in the short period of time. When evaluating the consumers about the price recall of the goods they bought most of them were in a hurry to go home. They all seemed a little too distracted while recalling the prices. One of them literally just guessed the prices and stormed off. It was difficult to convince people it would take only a minute or five for the whole process to be over.

Recommendation: more time should have been spent with the participants so that their rational and irrational behavior can also be evaluated more. the selected participant could have been a person who had cleared his/her schedule just for shopping and a person not in a hurry which would have given accurate results as expected.

Lack of promotional activities/awareness

The store selected is known to do a lot of promotional activities however the amount of promotional activities they have done is not enough to grab the attention of customers who are not focused on the price but the quality of the product. People who earn more than MVR10000 a month mostly does not consider price as a factor when purchasing goods however they do consider the quality and reliability of the products brand they want. Moreover, the store does not have labeled prices of some of the products stacked in the shelves. It also influences consumers price attention and memory.

Recommendation: More promotional activities could have been done to influence a person’s memory on price of the products they purchase. Prices of the goods should have been labeled accordingly so that it does not affect the results of the research.

References

• Brown. (2006). methodology – Research -Methodology. Retrieved from Research-Methodology: https://research-methodology.net/research-methodology/
• Margaret Rouse. (2019). What is hypothesis? – Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved from WhatIs.com: https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/hypothesis
• MURRAY, B. (2003). American Psycological Accociation. Retrieved from The seven sins of memory: https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct03/sins
• Your article Library. (2019). Consumer Behaviour: Meaning/Definition and Nature of Consumer Behaviour. Retrieved from Consumer Behaviour: Meaning/Definition and Nature of Consumer Behaviour: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/marketing/market-segmentation/consumer-behaviour-meaningdefinition-and-nature-of-consumer-behaviour/32301

Consumer Behavior: Value Dimensions

Personalized value can be described through consumption benefits which are connected to the customer as a person – beliefs that guide people on how to behave throughout the day and life activities (Rokeach, 1968; Kahle, 1989)

The self-concept in personalization value is a more significant level than the self-concept in social value where the customers is not worried on not getting respect from other individuals, it is more of how they see and respect themselves. This is explained as the higher version of self-esteem because customers want to respect themselves and not because they want the respect from others. It is how customers perceive themselves (Burns, 1979).

As every individual has his/her own values, it also means that they will perceive products differently (Oliver 1996, Huber, 2001). This can be explained through an easy example. One person is concerned about their health or is just living a healthy lifestyle which means that when buying food, this person will read the ingredients and that are preferably nutrients and less additives. The second person is just living a lifestyle in which he/she does not care about calories or nutrients, he/she values food on its taste or on the portion. The consumption value is defined as what the customers gets from the product based on their beliefs that are aligned with things they feel are important in their life (ex. principles, characteristics) (Khalifa, 2004).

In spite of the fact that the substance of society lies on its convictions, conduct, standards and qualities that are normally shared by people (Leung, 2005) which allows social desire and comprehension of the good, pretty, and others. Each individual has its own assessment so not every person has a similar point of view of what is fortunate or unfortunate and what is significant or not. Some social qualities might be recognized extensively and some might be acknowledged by the small group of individuals (Lai, 1995). Also, values in general can be performed differently for each individual because everyone is unique and has their own life goals.

People will value the product in a way of it fitting into their own characteristics and what they are looking for. They tend to accept and also reject what is and is not in line with characteristics. Personalised value is more of a self-orientation because people tend to only think of themselves and will buy product that has effect on them and based on their reaction on product (Holbrook, 1996). The value is gained when product value meets characteristics of customer value. Personal characteristic has an important role in determining the ideal product quality. This point of view suggests that the customer has distinctive objective or reason in buying a product, thus has diverse impression of value (Zeithaml, 1988). Consumers can value the products based on their physical traits, or on their image that they represent. It is when product image is matching the self-image (Sirgy, 1986).

Some other variables from consumer behavior that can be connected with personalized value, which I mentioned and wrote about in previous answers, are consumer and product characteristics which are connected in a way that people tend to purchase products that are matching their needs and wants, also the self-image which is also connected with our perception of ourselves and what we think is good for us.

REFERENCES

1. Rokeach, M., 1968. The role of values in public opinion research. Public Opin Q, 32(4): 547–559
2. Kahle, L., 1989. Using the list of values (LOV) to understand consumers. J Consum Mark, 6(3): 5-12
3. Burns, R.B., 1979. The self-concept in theory, measurement, development, and behavior. New York: Longman
4. Oliver, R., 1996. Varieties of value in the consumption satisfaction response. Advances in Consumer Research, 23: 143–147
5. Huber, F., A. Herrmann and R.E. Morgan, 2001. Gaining competitive advantage through customer value oriented management. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(1): 41-53
6. Khalifa, A.S., 2004. Customer value: A review of recent literature and an integrative configuration. Management Decision, 42(5–6): 645–666
7. Leung, K., R.S. Bhagat, N.R. Buchan, M. Erez and C.B. Gibson, 2005. Culture and international business: Recent advances and their implications for future research. Journal of International Business Studies, 36(4): 357-378
8. Lai, A.W., 1995. Consumer values, product benefits and customer value: A consumption behavior approach. Advances in Consumer Research, 22(1): 381-388
9. Holbrook, M.B., 1996. Customer value – a framework for analysis and research. Advances in Consumer Research, 23(1): 138–142
10. Zeithaml, V.A., 1988. Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: A means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3): 2-22
11. Sirgy, J.M., 1986. Self-congruity: Toward a theory of personality and cybernetics. New York: Praeger

Using Induced Hypocrisy To Nudge Consumers To Choose Eco-friendly Products

Abstract

Induced hypocrisy is a two-step dissonance paradigm, consisting of normative commitment and mindfulness of past transgressions. The inconsistency between one’s belief and action lead to psychological discomfort, such as guilt, motivating people to adopt attitude or new behavior that better aligns with the belief. This paper explores individual role of normative commitment and mindfulness and the moderating role of norm salience in the context of eco-friendly product consumption. This paper predicts that while mindfulness can induce enough guilt to promote attitudinal change, it induces less change compared to both commitment and mindfulness. The effect is predicted to be magnified by high injunctive norm salience.

At the end of World War II, consumers saw a sudden rise in their disposable income and were eager to spend (Cohen, 2004). On top of this trend, purchasing material goods were no longer viewed as indulgences (Cohen, 2004). Instead, consumers were praised as patriotic for contributing to the ultimate success of American way of life (Cohen, 2004) and gratified for their successes with material goods ranging from television sets via cars to home. This mass consumption has now come to rear its ugly head, as it is found to be causing environmental harm. While the impact of some consumption, such as cars, is more obvious, the negative impact clothing consumption is less visible but just as potent. For instance, the fashion industry is the second-largest water polluter, and textile production makes up 10% of global carbon emissions (McFall-Johnsen, 2019).

People are more cognizant of the effect of climate change and consider them to pose a serious threat in their lifetime. In response, people are turning toward the consumption of eco-friendly products. Such products include clothing made from organic cotton and recycled fibers. While people express their desire to purchase such products, there is a disconnect between their beliefs and actual behavior in that they often make a decision that goes against their belief (Davari & Strutton, 2014). For instance, they may decide to opt for a conventional t-shirt at H&M instead of choosing a shirt that is made from recycled fiber due to the price difference. With this disparity between belief and behavior, there needs to be new methods of encouraging people to actually follow their beliefs.

Previous research that looked at using social norms to change people’s behavior (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990). There are two types of social norms: descriptive and injunctive norms. Descriptive norms describe a perception of what most people do in a social context, and injunctive norms describe perception of what most people would approve or disapprove (Cialdini et al., 1990). Norms can motivate and direct people’s action when they are made salient and guide them to act in norm-consistent ways (Berkowitz & Daniels, 1964).

There is other literature that looks at motivations for behavioral change, such as theory of cognitive dissonance. Festinger proposed that people experience cognitive dissonance when they hold two conflicting cognitions (Festinger, 1957). People experience an uncomfortable feeling of psychological discomfort and become motivated to reduce that feeling by behavioral change. Aronson added onto Festinger’s work, stating that dissonance arouses from inconsistencies between self and behavior that violates that self-concept (Thibodeau & Aronson, 1992). Relating back to discrepancy between green beliefs and behavior, this would mean that this discrepancy would lead people to feel psychological discomfort and motivate them to change their behavior.

In the 1990s, Aronson and colleagues introduced induced hypocrisy paradigm, which is a form of cognitive dissonance, and demonstrated that under certain conditions, induced hypocrisy is a social influence technique. This theory proposes that inducing people to realize what they are practicing does not match what they are preaching, forcing them to reassess their behavior and ultimately take appropriate action to settle the discrepancy (Aronson, Fried, & Stone, 1991). This effect has been shown to successfully increase the use of condoms (Aronson et al., 1991; Stone, Aronson, Crain, Winslow, & Fried, 1994), water conservation (Dickerson, Thibodeau, Aronson, & Miller, 1992), recycling behavior (Fried & Aronson, 1995), and driving safety (Fointiat, Morisot, & Pakuszewski, 2008). Considering that inducing hypocrisy in people have led to an increase in more desirable behavior, one could use this paradigm to close the gap between one’s green beliefs and behavioral intentions.

H1: If hypocrisy is induced to arouse psychological discomfort within people who hold eco-friendly values, then there will be a greater motivation to reduce this discomfort by indicating a higher intention to purchase eco-friendly products.

There are two steps to induce hypocrisy, in which people advocate for something that is socially desirable and then reflect back on their past transgressions. The first step is the salience of normative behavior. Participants can be instructed to make a speech to publicly advocate for a socially desirable behavior in front of a video camera or write a speech promoting the behavior (Priolo et al., 2019). Increasing the salience of norms, especially injunctive norms, led to a stronger behavioral change (Fointiat, 2008). In the second step, participants are instructed to recall their past behavior that does not conform to what they have advocated for earlier. In doing so, dissonance is aroused, and the participants are then motivated to reduce the psychological discomfort by acting accordance to what they have publicly advocated.

In the most recent meta-analysis by Priolo et al. (2019), they made a tentative conclusion that the first step may not be needed to induce hypocrisy for attitudinal and behavioral change. They proposed that being mindful of one’s own transgression is enough to make the normative behavior salient. This implies that the norm has to be prevalent and widely accepted in the society such that it immediately comes to mind when people reflect back on their actions. If it is so, then there should be no significant difference in people’s behavioral intention between hypocrisy condition that involves both steps and mindfulness. Thus, I hypothesize that

H2: Injunctive norm salience will moderate the relationship between induced hypocrisy and intention to purchase eco-friendly products in that there is a higher intention to purchase when injunctive norm salience is high compared to when it is low.

Priolo et al. (2019) also found that the effect of hypocrisy was weak and could not conclude that induced hypocrisy arouses psychological discomfort. Regardless, prior studies have consistently shown that hypocrisy induction creates feelings of guilt and discomfort (Son Hing, Li, & Zanna, 2002). To lessen the negative feelings induced by hypocrisy, people will increase their intention to purchase eco-friendly products.

H3: Guilt will mediate the effect between induced hypocrisy and intention to purchase eco-friendly products.

Participants

Participants will be recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (N = 200) and will be paid 75 cents for their time. A measure of attitude toward environmental conservation will be measured and whether participants partake in eco-friendly practices to filter out for those who have a positive attitude toward environmental conservation but do not actively partake in those activities. All participants will be residents of the United States, all over the 18 years of age. I first determined the sample size given an estimated effect size from a previous unpublished exploratory study, by means of G*Power application (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009). Assuming that there will be a moderate effect size of r = .30 (Priolo et al., 2019) and power of .95, G*Power estimated a total sample size of 147. In case of incomplete surveys and participants failing attention checks, I will try to recruit 51 more participants.

Materials and Procedures

The design of this study is adapted from Stone et al.’s (1994) paper. This study will employ a 2 (hypocrisy vs. mindfulness) X 2 (norm salience: low vs. high) between-subjects design. I will vary whether or not subjects make a public commitment to advocating for environmentally friendly practices, such as purchasing eco-friendly products, and the degree to which they were made mindful of their past failures to be environmentally conscious. I will also manipulate whether or not subjects are reminded that most people would disapprove (injunctive norm) if they do not act environmentally friendly.

After reading the disclosure form, subjects in the hypocrisy condition will be told that they would be helping develop persuasive messages for persuading others to act environmentally friendly. They were told that part of their participation will involve making a short message on the importance of choosing eco-friendly products and posting the message on a public online forum. To help the subjects compose their message, they were given a list of facts about the importance of environmental conservation and the negative impact of fashion industry (e.g., “Fast fashion industry is the number two water polluter in the world.”). For those in the high norm salience condition, there will be an extra statement that reminds the subjects that with the rapidly increasing effects of climate change, many people would not approve of them if they do not purchase eco-friendly products in favor of the cheaper, conventional products. Subjects in the low norm salience condition will not have the extra statement.

The subjects in the mindfulness only condition will be told that they will read a short list of facts about the importance of environmentalism and then asked to write down their most recent transgression, when they did not choose eco-friendly products when they had the choice to do so. Subjects in the hypocrisy condition will also be asked to write down their most recent transgression.

Dependent Measures

To test the effectiveness of the manipulations, I will use self-report measures of eco-friendly product purchases. The self-report measures are designed to measure subjects’ past behavior and future intent to purchase eco-friendly products. The two questions were “In the past how often did you buy eco-friendly products, despite their higher cost?” (1-Not often, 9-Very often) and “In the future how likely are you to buy eco-friendly products, despite their higher cost?” (1-Not very likely, 9-Very likely). In addition to these two dependent measures, a control question on price sensitivity will be asked (1-Not very sensitive, 9-Very sensitive). To test the mediator, the subjects will complete an affect measure adapted from Son Hing et al.’s (2002) study on guilt after reflecting back on their past transgression. Participants will rate how well each affect word (e.g., guilty) describe how they are feeling.

Results

Any participant that did not provide complete data will be excluded from the analyses. Assuming that preliminary analysis does not reveal any main or interactive effects of price sensitivity, I will move on to analyzing the two main dependent measures. Since there are four conditions, one-way ANOVA will be used for analysis. Following my prediction, I expect that there will be a main effect of hypocrisy in that the mean of hypocrisy (advocate + mindfulness) is significantly higher than the mean of mindfulness only. In addition, I expect that there will be a main effect of norm salience in that the mean of high norm salience is significantly higher than the mean of low norm salience. Most importantly, I expect that there will be an interaction between hypocrisy and norm salience. Simple effects analyses would reveal that high norm salience would have a higher intention to purchase eco-friendly products in the future among the subjects in the hypocrisy condition and that low norm salience would have the lowest intention to purchase eco-friendly products in the future among the subjects in the mindfulness only condition.

Effect of hypocrisy mediated through guilt

The primary purpose of this analysis is to examine whether induced hypocrisy would have a positive effect on future intention to buy eco-friendly products, mediated by psychological discomfort, or more specifically guilt. I will enter the variables of interest into a mediational model and compute the bias-corrected 95% bootstrap confidence intervals for indirect effect using 10,000 bootstrap samples using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013). The mediation model will test for significant indirect effect through guilt. Assuming the hypothesis is correct, the mediational analysis will indicate that induced hypocrisy is operating through feelings of guilt. To lessen the feelings of guilt, the participants will be more willing to engage in an eco-friendly activity, such as future purchase intention.

Discussion

Overall, this study examined the magnitude effect of inducing hypocrisy (public advocacy + mindfulness). As predicted, hypocrisy (public advocacy + mindfulness) would have the highest intention for purchase. Guilt would be magnified by high injunctive norm salience. For mindfulness only condition, Priolo et al. (2019) have previously conclude from their meta-analysis that there is no statistically significant difference between having both steps of inducing hypocrisy and just having the transgression recall step, indicating that the process itself makes the normative behavior salient. This would explain a high intention to purchase eco-friendly products for mindfulness only + high norm salience condition. Just being mindful of one’s hypocritical behavior is enough to induce guilt, and this guilt is magnified by injunctive norm. There may be a theoretical contribution with this result in that being mindful of past transgression is enough to induce guilt to change people’s behavior. However, to induce the highest level of guilt and higher intention to change behavior, this study would indicate that both steps are needed. Finally, mindfulness + low norm salience would produce the lowest intention to purchase out of four conditions. Even though the participants may be aware of their past transgressions, they may dismiss their guilt because they are aware that others would not scrutinize their behavior.

References

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4. Davari, A., & Strutton, D. (2014). Marketing mix strategies for closing the gap between green consumers’ pro-environmental beliefs and behaviors. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 22(7), 563–586.
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12. McFall-Johnsen, M. (2019). The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from Business Insider website: https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10
13. Priolo, D., Pelt, A., Bauzel, R. St., Rubens, L., Voisin, D., & Fointiat, V. (2019). Three Decades of Research on Induced Hypocrisy: A Meta-Analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(12), 1681–1701.
14. Son Hing, L. S., Li, W., & Zanna, M. P. (2002). Inducing Hypocrisy to Reduce Prejudicial Responses among Aversive Racists. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38(1), 71–78.
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16. Thibodeau, R., & Aronson, E. (1992). Taking a closer look: Reasserting the role of the self-concept in dissonance theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(5), 591-602.
17. High Salience Hypocrisy Mindfulness 7.6 6.9 Low Salience Hypocrisy Mindfulness 6.6 4.4000000000000004

The Impulse Consumer Behavior Of Generations Of X, Y And Z

Introduction

Consumers buy spontaneously when they suddenly feel the strong desire to immediately buy product offerings without taking into account the consequences of buying a bid. Impulse buying is not only associated with low costs, but also with low liability. This may also be due to the high quality and associated products (Aruna, and Santhi, 2015). It can also be assumed that impulsive purchases are associated with hedonistic purchases, when the thirst for adventure, thrills, excitement and the feeling of flying can lead to a decline in self-restraint. Impulse purchases are relatively uncommon and exciting, emotional and not rational and are perceived as bad rather than good. It can also be assumed that no pre-order phases are relevant. A marketer can take a number of steps to increase the likelihood of a customer buying spontaneously in a given environment. As the term implies, the purchase was not specifically planned. The process is fairly widespread and can have a significant impact on marketers (Aruna, and Santhi, 2015). This paper mainly focuses on impulse behaviour of generations of X, Y and Z.

Aims of the research

The objectives of this research is to determine the impulse buying behavior of generations X, Y and Z. from the main objective the following secondary objectives came up:

• To find out the motives that urge the respondents to impulse buy
• To find out in what state the respondents make an impulse purchase
• To find out whether technology and online shops have an impact on impulse buying behavior
• To determine whether the impulse purchases are online or offline
• To find whether the respondents regret impulse purchasing a product or service
• To find out whether the respondents have made impulse purchases in the past six months.

Literature review

There are several studies indicating a significant and growing trend towards unplanned purchases. Men and women differ significantly in terms of the affective components of the process, including the overwhelming desire to buy positive buying sensations and components of the cognitive process, including cognitive considerations and unplanned purchases, with the exception of ignoring the future (Aruna and Santhi, 2015). Product category, frequency of purchase, brand comparison and age were important factors for planned purchases and impulse purchases (Chan, Cheung, and Lee, 2017). Participants whose resources were depleted felt a greater need to buy than subscribers whose resources were not spent, were willing to spend more and actually spent more money in unexpected buying situations (Aruna and Santhi, 2015). There is no unified stance on this unplanned consumer behavior and incentives that trigger impulse buying. If competition in the market is high and all types of companies are promoting their activities, stimulating growth in the consumer goods market can be a strong competitive advantage (Chan, Cheung, and Lee, 2017). The central relationship between shop window, credit card, promotions (discounts, free products) and consumer behavior (Aruna and Santhi, 2015). Therefore, incentives should be realized in this business by creating a desire through sensory marketing and the ability to touch products, through clear and visible information on promotions and promotions, so that the consumer remembers what he needs. Unplanned purchases in pharmacies, supermarkets, department stores and shops. The above study highlights impulse buying in terms of consumer behavior in different countries. The literature suggests that Generation Y or adolescents around the world have different types of impulse purchases. Therefore, this study is gaining in importance in the analysis of impulsive buying behavior of young people (Aruna and Santi, 2015).

In earlier studies, impulsive buying behavior was defined as an unplanned purchase because consumers made a purchase without buying intent. However, many researchers agree that the concept of impulsive buying behavior should not be limited to an unplanned purchase, but should also consider the impact of the stimulus and thus the local decision. Later, the researchers recognized the importance of behavioral motivation impulses (Khan, Hui, Chen, and Hoe, 2016).

Consumer behavior and introduced theoretical foundations that focus on impulses of impulse buying behavior. According to previous results, situational, personal and demographic factors may be among the factors that determine impulsive buying behavior (Blut, Xiao, and Grewal, 2019). Currently, however, there is limited research to investigate the relationship between these factors and impulsive buying behavior (Khan, Hui, Chen, and Hoe, 2016).

Methodology

Study Design and Approach: This study followed the descriptive design of the study using a single transversal approach.

Collection method and data collection. The task force for this study included full-time generations X, Y and Z in the United Kingdom. The study structure included the residents of the United Kingdom. From this sample structure, a non-probabilistic sample of one area was selected. An approach was used in which 122 questionnaires for volunteer work were administered to the three generations. The questionnaires were evenly distributed to both male and female from generation X, Y and Z

Research Instrument: For the purposes of this study, a standardized, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the required data. This questionnaire consists of two sections. The first section queried the subjects’ demographic data, and the second section used published research scales to measure the impulse buying behavior of generations X, Y and Z. A six-point Likert scale was used to measure the responses of the samples.

Thematic considerations: Before the questionnaires were distributed, they were submitted to the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Business and Information Technology for approval and ethical explanation of the campus. The questionnaire was rated as low risk and an ethical resolution was issued.

Data Analysis: IBM Social Statistics Package (SPSS) version 23.0 for Windows was used to analyze the collected data. The statistical analysis included the descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics includes measures of frequency, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion or variation and measures of position.

Discussion and conclusion

The study focuses on the definition of impulsive buying behavior between generations X, Y and Z. Of the 122 respondents, 51.64% were men, 45.08% were women and 3.28% did not want to say so. The distribution by age was as shown in the results, with the representation of all three generations. According to the results, 85.83% of respondents have made impulsive purchases in the last six months, but 14.17% have not. Motivated respondents were discounts and offers, great shopping pleasure, social trends and peer pressure, and the fear of missing out on something (FOMO). This discovery is similar to the discovery by Sundström et al. (2013), suggesting that consumers with discounts and the ability to make a deal are easy to win. The inspiration of friends, mainly through images in social networks, affects the impulsive tendencies of the buyer. Other triggers that have a positive impact on the buying decision include free shipping and free returns, as well as the feeling that the retailer feels reliable to the consumer.

Respondents make impulsive purchases when excited, bored, sad, angry and drunk. This discovery is similar to the discovery by Sundström et al. (2013), suggesting that consumers seek immediate rewards, coupled with a sense of material happiness. Respondents in the study view impulsive purchases not as something negative, but as a way to achieve rapid stimulation in a bored state of mind.

The category of goods that respondents normally buy spontaneously are clothes, shoes, jewelry and watches. This is because these are products that you buy out of complacency and that make you happy. The highest percentage of respondents sometimes regret having made an impulse purchase. Some reasons why you think this product is unusable for the home and for cost overruns. This discovery is similar to the discovery by Sundström et al. (2013), suggesting that respondents in the study do not express regret, but tend to rationalize their purchases as useful products for them, even though at second glance they may well realize they do not need those three pairs of shoes.

In conclusion, the present study is an attempt to provide an integrative idea of the consumer behavior of impulses by examining multidimensional factors that influence the consumer impulse buying behavior of the X, Y, and Z. The main contribution of this research to science is the integrative consideration of factors such as situational and personal factors with their size, which influence the buying behavior of X, Y and Z pulses in a generation.

Consumer Behavior: Does Nostalgia Sells?

“People become especially nostalgic when they are anxious about the present, and, especially, the future. The past is safe because it is completely predictable. Connecting with the past through familiar, loved brands transports people to another time by evoking the same feelings they experienced so long ago.”

Overview – Nostalgia as a Selling Point

Nostalgia is one of life’s greatest feelings that can be incredibly gratifying. Everyone is easily drawn back to a better, simpler time in her/his life. In a time where everything is monetized, can Nostalgia be a selling point too? In post-modern society, films and shows are one of the major vessels to deliver nostalgia to the masses. Everyone is well aware of the status held by Star Wars. The original three were a cultural phenomenon that fully impacted and altered the entertainment industry for the next 40 or so years (Wohler, 2017). ‘Stranger Things’ by Netflix is another show banking on nostalgia. It is an 80s show and is the 3rd most watched series in Netflix history, as per Variety.com.

Nostalgia is being used to popularize the sales of merchandise and show spinoffs. Millennials are the biggest consumers of nostalgia which makes them the perfect target market for industries ranging from tech to entertainment. Using nostalgia, companies are trying to fill the void in their creativity department.

The Big question is, Is Nostalgia a selling point or just a fad? It’s success in entertainment industry doesn’t duplicate well with other industries and thus needs a deep dive into the question. Interestingly for the time being, irrespective of whether Nostalgia can be a selling point or not, consumers are buying memorabilia that can give them the comfort of the yester years and thus every marketer is trying to encash on it, but for how long? Can this effect be extended, or the reality is different from what meets the eye. I will discuss counter views and my personal views in this paper and try to reach a conclusion on the notion of considering Nostalgia as a selling point.

Motivation behind the research

Nostalgia is driving sales throughout the globe, be it Nokia phones, Netflix shows, Audi Cars or Coca-Cola. Nostalgia has become such an important tool in marketing that without knowing, Nostalgia is evolving into an industry. Nokia 3310 mobiles are in the shops. Star Wars films fill the screens. Vinyl record stores overflow with hipsters. Pauline Hanson (Australian Politician) is in Parliament. Actually, let’s not bring politics into this! Wait a minute, does anyone know what year it is?

In the post-modern era monetization of humans’ natural emotions have been the greatest marketing gig, be it the Valentine’s day for love, Christmas for festivity or anniversary celebrations to commemorate togetherness. Nostalgia is not far from these emotions. Nostalgic marketing taps into the yearning for a time in the past as well as the fondness attached with memories. The current state-of-affairs across the globe in terms of political, social and economic developments creates a perfect storm to stir up nostalgia. Brands that tap into this emotion are rewarded with emotional connection with the customers, which is priceless.

Life as a kid always seems much better, isn’t it? No worries, no responsibilities and no troubles. Marketers play to this and do what they always do: joyously focus on the positives and quietly downplay the negatives. Today nostalgic marketing is bigger than ever. Suddenly all the brands across globe are trying to get into it. Tried and tested is great but dated and out-of-touch? Not so much (Grant, 2017). Still, using Nostalgia as a selling point is akin to walking on a tight rope. Go too far, you lose connection with the consumers as the Brand will look tired and lazy due to a lack of originality.

Wait a minute, nostalgia should work for brands which have a long history such as Disney, McDonald and Cadbury, but a quick look across the stores and we will see new brands trading on a heritage they don’t have. So, what makes nostalgia work for some while still eluding others from success? What kind of companies can use nostalgia and to what extent? Is it growing and continue to grow or is it just a bubble waiting to burst? All these moments, questions and facts, inspired me to enquire further into the myth or reality of Nostalgia as a selling point.

Nostalgia as a Marketing tool

Nostalgia marketing is all around us and drives our purchases, without us realizing about it. Some of the brands like Facebook (by connecting us with our friends and memories), Nokia (with its flip phone) and Coca – Cola (the iconic bottle) stands testimony to this statement. Chanel is still using Marlin Monroe’s photo to sell Chanel No. 5 while the movies such as Star Wars and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are running in theatres, thanks to their ability to tap into the nostalgic memories of the yesteryears. In fact, brands such as Netflix and Disney are working on projects that specifically creates experience of the past for the adult consumers to relive their past. Shows such as

Friends and Pokemon enjoy a loyal fanbase, thanks to nostalgia. As per Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, emotional needs are more important than functional need and every marketer knows this. Thus, a positive nostalgia can evoke fond memories and take the target audience to a happy place. Marketers who can tap into this can use the positive emotions stirred by their brands to stir happy emotions and sway purchase decisions.

With disposable income and an open mind, Gen Y are being recognized as the biggest consumer demographic for nostalgia however, Gen X and Gen Z are equally important target segments because Gen X wants to relate themselves with familiar products while Gen Z wants to explore the old time, as a new experience (Lobo, 2014). Thus, nostalgia continues to be a prime way of selling old stuffs even today and seems to continue in future too. Some of the brands who have been successful in using Nostalgia as a selling point are

1. Spotify (Music Industry). It used nostalgia by using original characters from the hit movie “The NeverEnding Story” to appeal to the millennial audience to use Spotify.
2. Versace, Michael Kors, Burberry (Fashion Industry). Fashion is in love with nostalgia, from the classic 90s-era tartan at Burberry and grunge references at Miu-Miu, to 80s acid-washed denim at Stella McCartney and metallic jumpsuits at Isabel Marant. A sense of pre-smartphone time surfaced through the return of familiar trends and designers reviving their greatest hits (Hunt, 2018).
3. Pepsi & Coca-Cola (Food Industry). Pepsi & Coca-Cola both designed nostalgic promotions for reviving their old products and appealing to the loyal customers of those products. While Coca- Cola designed limited supply sale of ‘Surge’ a popular drink discontinued in 2014, Pepsi came with “Crystal Pepsi” as part of a limited run in 2016.
4. Adobe & Nintendo (Tech & Gaming Industry). Adobe promoted their “Adobe Photoshop Sketch” application for the iPad Pro using a picture of Bob Ross, a beloved 80s artist who saw resurgence in popularity in 2016. Similarly, Nintendo came out with mini-NES which was intended to give customers a chance to re- experience the reasons why they fell in love with Nintendo.
5. Netflix (Entertainment industry). Netflix came up with ‘Stranger Things’, a sci-fi thriller set in 80s. The show was such a big hit that Netflix went on to renew the series for 3 additional seasons, all set in 80s. Similarly, many movies like Ghostbuster, IT etc. have been remade to make Gen Y and Gen Z experience the thrillers of 80s and 90s.
6. Other industries (Social Media, Cars, mobiles, camera etc). Recently Nokia relaunched its iconic phones Nokia 3310 and flip phones to encash on the nostalgia these models carry. Even on social medias, the craze for retro looks is catching on and that’s why many camera manufacturers modified their camera settings to include a filter titled ‘Retro’.

Nostalgia – Is it real or a fad?

Brian Fargo, founder of inXile Entertainment, spent a decade creating sequels and spiritual successors to classics. Recently, Fargo gave a little indication that he was stuck in the past. ‘We can’t rely on nostalgia to sell,’ Fargo said. ‘Nostalgia is a two-edged sword because people’s emotional attachment to the incredible experiences they had playing these games to begin with, were are at a moment in time that can never be recreated.” (Sinclair, 2018) There’s a group of people who would love nostalgia, but that group is shrinking every year. Experience economy is growing every year and new experiences relate more to the current generation than the past experiences. The current generation believes that “the past is as elusive a dream as the future. Always distorted, always yearned for, and always seen as better. It keeps us from the truth of the present and the pain of reality” (Martin, 2014). IPG Mediabrands’ UM unit recently released findings of a global study wherein it identified 4 major cultural shifts: Nostalgia is one, dubbed as ‘Retrograde’ by UM, and the other three are centred around creating new experiences through ‘Recreate’, ‘Resist’ and ‘Reglocalize (global reach and local connection)’ (Mandese, 2019).

While Gen X and Y relate more with Retrograde/Nostalgia, Gen Z is more attached to creating new experiences through Recreate, Resist and Reglocalize. For newer brands, using nostalgia to sell can lead to cynicism from consumers. It’s very hard to sell a historic brand story based on a brand history that never existed. So, is Nostalgia a fad? Probably, its’ more of a tactic to drive sales and it’s just something that is relevant to the brand at that point. One example of this is McDonald’s – highlighting the past as it’s relevant to its present given it’s the brand’s 40th year in Australia (Wilson, 2011).

While looking at the future, companies should reduce their reliance on nostalgia. Continually relying on the past may display the brand as becoming tired and consumers could believe it’s either outdated and/or not for them. The fast pace of our lives and the technological advances have served to de-personalize relationships and remove some of the emotions of our most cherished past-times. No wonder people are trying to “turn back the clock” and recapture some the analog charm of using devices that were almost on the brink of extinction. The question is how long can brands keep on assuming that people will hold on to their pasts? (Valentine, 2016)

Personal View

In a world changing at a breakneck-speed, nostalgia gives you an escape route like wrapping yourself in a comfortable blanket of ‘the good old days’, when things were simpler such as not being worried about embarrassing social media photos and posts.

Nostalgia inspires people to spend money for the instant gratification in the form of happy memories. No matter how tech savvy we become, we will still be human and as humans, we will continue to be governed by our emotions. That’s why, Nostalgia as a selling point will continue to exist, especially if marketers are smart enough to discover the value of connecting with customers on a more in-depth, emotional level.

Funny part is that, you don’t need a long history to enjoy the power of nostalgia. Connecting with old ideas and beloved concepts is a free tool that any company can use. With a little planning, even the most modern company can join the retro revolution and design a heart-warming nostalgia marketing strategy (Harvey, 2017). With the current state-of-affairs, nostalgia is certainly here to stay, and big brands know this. The competition is on how innovative these companies can get with Nostalgia without losing their creative shine. Going back in time for a nostalgic throwback can be worthwhile for both the young and old. How? The younger generation gets a taste of what it was like before their time, however, the older generation, who experienced the product originally also gets to relive their moments. See, that’s why nostalgia is becoming a selling point.

Recently, I saw a Cadbury introducing retro boxes just in time for Christmas. The retro box was £20, while the original box was available for $4. Which would Gen Y prefer? Retro, of course. I can imagine Gen Z going for the retro boxes too, just to get the “blast from the past” feeling and show their grandchildren what they used to have as a gift.

Interestingly what I have experienced is, the people buying most of the retro themed stuff are predominantly from Gen Z. They never experienced the time when these items were common, yet they are heavily invested in recreating old times. Through the power of nostalgia – many retro items have gone viral in recent years. Why am I mentioning this? Well, I think that nostalgia can also be felt by people who never had the original experience and that’s why I believe Nostalgia will continue to be the biggest selling point in the near future too.

Bibliography

1. Grant, R. (2017, 06 21). Past masters: the power of nostalgic marketing. Retrieved from Marketing: https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/past-masters-power-nostalgic-marketing/
2. Harvey, S. (2017, 10 24). Passion for the past: Nostalgia marketing and the retro revolution. Retrieved from fabrikbrands.com: https://fabrikbrands.com/nostalgia-marketing/
3. Hunt, K. (2018, 01 02). Why Nostalgia Promises To Be Big In 2018. Retrieved from Elle: https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/longform/a40698/why-nostalgia-promises-to-be-big-in-2018/
4. Lobo, R. (2014, 03 27). Millennials: the perfect consumers? Retrieved from The New Economy: https://www.theneweconomy.com/strategy/millennials-the-perfect-consumers
5. Mandese, J. (2019, 7 5). UM Study Finds Opposing Cultural Shifts: Nostalgia Vs. New Experiences. Retrieved from Media Post: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/337836/um-study-finds-opposing-cultural-shifts-nostalgia.html
6. Martin, L. (2014, 7 17). The Science Behind Nostalgia And Why We’re So Obsessed With The Past. Retrieved from Elite Daily: https://www.elitedaily.com/life/science-behind-nostalgia-love-much/673184
7. Sinclair, B. (2018, 05 3). We can’t rely on nostalgia to sell. Retrieved from gameindustry.biz: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-03-we-cant-rely-on-nostalgia-to-sell
8. Valentine, J. (2016, 06 01). Nostalgia, Just a fad or here to stay? Retrieved from Pattern: https://www.patternindy.com/nostalgia-just-a-fad-or-here-to-stay/
9. Wilson, N. (2011, 11 11). Around The Table: Is nostalgia across communications a fad? Retrieved from Marketing: https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/around-the-table-is-nostalgia-across-communications-a-fad/
10. Wohler, D. (2017, 12 16). Nostalgia As A Selling Point In Film. Retrieved from Odyssey: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/nostalgia-film-selling-point

Satisfaction And Regret As The Factors For Consumers Repurchase

Abstract

Nowadays, online sales are not only very common in China, but also popular all over the world. How to determine the purchasing intention of online consumers is very important. By analyzing the purchasing behavior of online consumers, the factors of consumers’repeated purchases may be the satisfaction of goods and the brand. Loyalty and product regret will determine whether consumers buy again.

Introduction

Because China has a huge population, with the development of Internet technology, the business led by Alibaba is becoming more and more popular in China. There are many e-commerce platforms, such as Jingdong, Suning and so on. As the number of platforms available to consumers increases, so does the number of products available. In 2018, the turnover of Taobao reached 21.53 billion yuan in a single day. So understanding consumers’preferences, understanding consumers’ purchases and determining the factors that determine consumers’repurchase can increase the frequency of consumers’ repurchase. If companies can better understand their customers, they can present products or services more effectively and continuously improve them in order to strengthen their competitive advantage. According to the analysis of single Festival customer data, By analyzing the data from unotice Public Opinion System, we can get a better understanding of the specific and accurate social situation.Using quantitative research method and consumer purchase data analysis, price cheap will affect consumer satisfaction, the degree of efforts to search for other products, and the attractiveness of other alternative products will affect whether consumers regret the product and whether consumers will repeat it. Decision of next purchase.Market orientation and customer satisfaction research show there is direct connection between customer satisfaction and organizational performance (Garver and Gagnon, 2002)[1]

Research objectives

Specific survey is now China’s online consumers who are the main group, male or female, they mainly buy high-end durable goods or cheap alternatives, so as to infer their repurchase perception of goods.

Mainly understand what is the biggest problem of online operators, according to data analysis, what is the most complaint situation of consumers in single festivals, and investigate the competing products available online, so that consumers can have many choices.

Literature Review

Documents overwhelmingly describe the subjective emotional intentions of consumers, emphasizing that the main intention of consumer repurchase is the emotional dominance of consumers. Some neglect the objective factors such as the speed of express delivery during singles’Festival and the service attitude of businessmen.

Significance of the research

Customer repurchase and brand loyalty, brand emotional binding are important factors affecting product revenue. Understanding the determinants of online consumer repurchase is the purpose of this study[2]. The general scope of concern is the consumers who shop online, especially in China where online sales have become very popular. The consumers who sell online on single festivals are the main ones. In 2018, sales of Taobao Singles Day in China reached 21.53 billion yuan. Chinese people like to use Wechat and pay for Taobao, which makes online sales more convenient.At present, it is believed that the reasons affecting online consumers’repetition of purchases lie in their satisfaction with the goods and regret for the products, while the main factors affecting their satisfaction with the goods are the degree of repetition. Because of the degree of efforts to search for product information, firmness to product, loyalty to brand and emotional binding to brand. The factors affecting regret for purchasing include the degree of effort to search for products, the attraction of alternative products, and the firmness of the products. This is a theory for determining the determinants of online consumers’repeated purchases. Determining the determinants of online consumers’ repurchase in the network environment will clarify the company’s development route and marketing methods for the product. Once this factor is clear, it will increase the company’s revenue for the product and the company’s product. Product development goals.

Population and unit of analysis

The survey data were collected from the ‘2016 Double Eleventh Consumer Survey’ published by the Joint Questionnaire Network of Yibang Power Network. According to the public opinion data of Red Mai, among the people who participated in the ‘Double Eleventh’ shopping, 35.29% thought that ‘cheaper price than usual’ was one of the main factors causing shopping desire. In addition to the people who only thought that ‘Double Eleventh’ had preferential surprises, 16.72% thought that the purpose of online shopping was ‘excellent’. Vouchers; there are a few people who feel ‘fresh’ and this group accounts for 13.00%. Iculty in returning goods, and 21% of other factors. The most worrying purchasing problem for consumers on Singles’Day is business deception, with 62% of them raising the price first and then lowering the price, 45.1% worrying about less inventory, 59.1% worrying about slow delivery, 51% worrying about inconsistencies between goods and publicity, 21.6% worrying about poor after-sales service,.Men’s consumption is 48.7% and women’s consumption is 51.3% in Singles’ Day. Among them, 72.9% purchased clothing, shoes and hats, 12.9% jewelry, 38.7% electronic digital, 60.7% daily necessities, 14.4% maternal and infant products and 18.6% fresh products. Another data comes from the Red Mail Public Opinion Detection System. Red Mail Public Opinion Data shows that consumers’shopping habits generally stay longer, at least 5-15 minutes, accounting for 41.01% of the total population, while the number of shoppers who spend a long time (15-30 minutes) to select the best quality businesses is not small, accounting for 31.65%. Taobao, which has a large number of low-end customers, has become the shopping paradise, ranking first in sales performance, accounting for 29.25%. Taobao, accounting for 29.25%. Compared with 29.25%, Taobao, which has a large number of low-end customers, still has the highest attention on the website, followed by B2C websites such as Jingdong, Suning and Dangdang, which have attracted many middle and high-end users on Taobao.

Through data analysis, Cheap price is not only the main purpose of consumers’purchase, but also an important measure of satisfaction with commodities..the time spent by consumers in searching for goods shows that most consumers’ behavior has returned to rationality, thus avoiding impulsive consumption and perceptual consumption. For a person who has no experience in online shopping, considering the purchase of goods through cost performance ratio has become the driving force of online shopping family, and reached a consensus. There is a psychological consensus that the longer consumers spend searching for goods, the more firm they are about the goods and have a sense of repurchase. The more time consumers spend searching for a product, the more confident they will be in buying it, and the more likely they will buy it back. For clothes, shoes and hats, jewellery is the least, which shows that consumers tend to purchase daily necessities, which belongs to rational consumption. Consumers are more concerned about the purchase of goods and prices, quality and reality do not match. The fraudulent behavior of merchants will directly lead consumers to abandon repurchase and regret the purchase behavior. At present, the number of online shoppers is basically the same as that of males and females. At present, consumers mostly choose Taobao. Taobao can not be replaced in the short term because of its low commodity price. However, the emergence of Jingdong, Dangdang and Jumei also attracts a large number of consumers. The variety of consumers’choices increases, which also increases the probability of regret and reduces the probability of repurchase.

Sample

The data in this paper collect from Red Mai Network Public Opinion Monitoring System (also known as unotice Public Opinion System, Red Mai Public Opinion Monitoring System) which is an innovation of Red Mai Juxin (Beijing) Software Technology Co., Ltd. in applying search engine and Chinese information processing technology to enterprise public opinion information service. According to unotice Public Opinion System’s online purchasing products for singles’day consumers, influencing factors of consumers’ purchasing, information collection of consumers’satisfaction, information analysis of the determinants of consumers’ repurchase is adopted.

Finding

The time consumers search for goods will affect consumers’decision-making

The main reasons that affect consumers’regret are that consumers are cheated, there are too many products available, and they encounter products with lower prices and better quality

Consumers’efforts to search for products will affect consumers’ satisfaction and regret for products. final decision.

Online shopping habits moderate customer satisfaction and adjusted expectations, and online shopping experience can be considered as a key driver of customer satisfaction. In addition, the results confirm that customer satisfaction is an important driving force for adjusting expectations and online repurchase intention.[3]

Woodruff argues that perceived value represents customer cognition of the nature of relational exchanges with their suppliers, and satisfaction reflects customers’ overall feeling derived from the perceived value.[4] A price-quality comparison is often viewed as a critical determinant to purchase decisions and switching behavior and consequently, can create strong exit barriers.[4]

In other words, when consumers see products that are more valuable and cheaper than what they previously saw, they give up buying back, and regret arises at the moment. On the contrary, when they get a good experience in the process of shopping, the probability of buying back is high[5].

Reference

1. (Liu, He, Gao, & Xie, 2008)Liu, X., He, M., Gao, F., & Xie, P. (2008). An empirical study of online shopping customer satisfaction in China: a holistic perspective. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 36(11), 919-940.
2. (Chiu, Chang, Cheng, & Fang, 2009)Chiu, C.-M., Chang, C.-C., Cheng, H.-L., & Fang, Y.-H. (2009). Determinants of customer repurchase intention in online shopping. Online information review, 33(4), 761-784.
3. Lin, C., & Lekhawipat, W. (2014). Factors affecting online repurchase intention. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(4), 597-611.
4. (Clemes, Gan, & Zhang, 2014)Clemes, M. D., Gan, C., & Zhang, J. (2014). An empirical analysis of online shopping adoption in Beijing, China. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(3), 364-375.
5. (Li & Hong, 2013)Li, H., & Hong, J. (2013). Factors influencing consumers’ online repurchasing behavior: a review and research agenda. IBusiness, 5(04), 161.

Consumer Behavior: Mitsubishi Xpander In Indonesia Automotive Market

Company Background

Mitsubishi was first established as a shipping company by Yataro Iwasaki (1834-1885) in 1870. In 1873, its name was changed to Mitsubishi Shokai Mitsubishi’s name consists of two parts: ‘Mitsu’ which means ‘three’ and ‘hishi’ (which being ‘bishi’ which means under ‘my title’) and therefore there are three rhombus, which are reflected in the famous company logo. This is also interpreted as ‘three diamonds’. Mitsubishi as a broad-based company, plays an important role in the modernization of Japanese industry.

At first it was a brilliant idea that sparked from a way of thinking brilliantly in taking advantage of opportunities. This opportunity arises in line with government policies to finance investment, both foreign capital and domestic capital. On May 19, 1973 PT. Mitsubishi Krama Yudha Motors and Manfacturing which has authorized capital, and the capital is paid for $ 42,866,250. Approval of a joint venture occurred on January 18, 1973 between PT. Krama Yudha (KY), Mitsubishi coorporation (MC), and Mitsubishi Motors and Manufacturing. PT. Mitsubishi Krama Yudha Motors and Manufacturing is a company with foreign investment. (Mitsubishi, 2019).

Vision Statement

1. Making a global company by producing and remaining in the fierce competition and emerging in the Asian market where growth is very good.
2. Manage a safe and advanced factory by implementing QCD (Quality, Cost, Delivery) control by having responsibility for the environment and placing top priority to gain consumer trust.
3. Increase satisfaction to Shareholders, Shareholders, Government, Directors, and all Employees (Mitsubishi, 2019).

Mission Statement

1. Decrease in Costs.
2. Quality Improvement.
3. Supervision of delivery schedules.
4. Conduct smooth and good preparation for new capital products.
5. Improvement in the fields of management, safety and environment (Mitsubishi, 2019).

Market Situation

Automotive industry in Indonesia

The automotive industry sector is predicted to still grow positively in 2019. The stretch of road infrastructure development from west to east Indonesia is expected to become one of the catalysts for the growth of the automotive industry next year with a target of achieving 1.1 million units of new car sales.

In addition, with the target of economic growth in the range of 5.3%, it still gives entrepreneurs hope for improving economic conditions. Especially with Indonesia’s vehicle ownership ratio still low at around 87 vehicles per 1,000 populations, the potential for vehicle ownership is still large (Investments, 2019).

Competitors

The tight competition in the Low Multi-Purpose Vehicle (LMPV) segment has made producers compete to be the best. But most recently, the competition converged to belong to the Toyota Avanza and Mitsubishi Xpander as the two best-selling LMPVs. The LMPV class is a favorite for consumers, because it can accommodate all family needs in activities. Therefore, other manufacturers also do not want to miss enlivening, such as the Honda Mobilio and Suzuki Ertiga. Nissan Livina and Chinese manufacturer Wuling with Confero.

Problem/Need Recoqnition

Market induced

Typically, the majority of Indonesian people is when a new product is launched, it did not take long for them to think of having. Having a new car seems to elevate their status in the public eye. Sometimes they do not see in terms of needs and only satisfy the appetite of consumers. They easily get their vehicles by means of installments.

New Stage in life

A new stage in life raises new ways to meet needs. Before marriage, people will choose small cars that can accommodate their mobility. There is no need to load many passengers but can be reached by their financial condition. For those who live in urban areas, they may prefer to use a motorbike because they can avoid severe congestion in Indonesia. But when people get married they start glancing at LMPV or MPV to accommodate family members or be used to support their business.

Information Search

Level of Risk

Before Mitsubishi manufacturers launched Xpander, the consumer stigma towards Mitsubishi vehicles was quite risky. From maintenance costs, which are relatively expensive, compared to competitors, the resale value has declined considerably. However, it seems that at this time consumer perceptions of the Mitsubishi brand began to change. This was demonstrated by consumer enthusiasm from when Xpander was launched. Xpander is considered to be a ‘game changer’, so the stigma about risk that was previously understandable.

Level of Product Knowledge

Using the internet is the fastest and most accurate way to get product information. Another way to go to automotive exhibitions is immediately see physical products. Alternatively, you can also go to the dealer to test the drive product. Prospective buyers are now very critical and they will compare all the advantages and disadvantages of the product with its competitors’ products.

3.3 Evaluation

List of evoked set and why

Customers evoked sets are the main competitors like Toyota, Honda, Suzuki and Nissan. This is all because all Japanese manufacture provides vehicles for all needs. Consumers end up with some evoked sets because many information channels can accessed as a comparison material, this will help consumers when making a purchase decision.

Compensatory and non compensatory rules

Potential buyers in Indonesia mostly use compensation rules when buying vehicles. Example: in addition to mobilizing activities, vehicles can converted to support business activities or become online taxis. This can provide benefit and compensation for the owner.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation criteria includes a dimension or the specific attributes that are used in assessing alternative options, criteria alternative can appear in various forms, for example, in buying a car a consumer may consider the criteria, safety, comfort, price, brand, country of origin of the manufacturer and also the spec as prestige , happiness, pleasure and so on (Gerber & Bothma, 2008).

Purchase

Availability of products

The persistently high consumer interest in Xpander, of course, has an impact on the length of the pivot period for consumers. The high demand for Xpanden and the length of the queue, has made Mitsubishi increase its production capacity to 10,000 units per month by building new factories in Indonesia. So that customers can enjoy this variant within 1 month of ordering (Charm, 2019).

Retail factor

Mitsubishi’s big name is certainly often heard, especially in the automotive world. Mitsubishi often wins the world rally championship (WRC). Many models are a mainstay for the people of Indonesia. However, actually Mitsubishi is more known as a manufacturer of powerful cars. Some of the cars that are quite well known in the era are the Mitsubishi Lancer, Eterna, Galant, and Pajero, which are quite popular models in Indonesia (Mitsubishi, 2019).

Post purchase evaluation

Post purchase feeling

The customer experience after having xpader, most of them are very satisfied with the comfort and features that Mitsubishi attaches. When compared with competitors in the segment, Mitsubishi Xpander provides a very high standard and changed the game in low MPV segment. Complacency certainly perceived by the customer, because according to the expectations of what they expect (Gerber & Bothma, 2008).

Post Purchase Cognitive Dissonance.

When there are some people who feel that Xpander is not in line with expectations. He could sell his car, because the used car market for Xpander demand is still very high and this variant is still relatively new on the market (Gerber & Bothma, 2008).

Social Influence of buying behaviour

Family

The family is quite large influential factor in the purchase of vehicles, especially in the segment LMPV. Because most of them have considerable financial condition. So that the vehicle purchased must accommodate the needs of every member of the family, even for business. When going to buy a car they will exchange ideas on the desired car (Ahmed, Ameen, Shaikh & Memon, 2015).

Social class

Indonesians are greatly affected by the recognition of social status. They want to be seen by their community for their achievements. Vehicles can be used as a benchmark for their status, even if they get it in installments. But the car is their own pride (Shavitt, Jiang & Cho, 2016).

Psychological influences on Buying Behaviour

Motivation

Several aspects that motivate customers in choosing a vehicle are in terms of the delivery process, delivery time, negotiation process, dealer facilities, document/administrative handling, salespeople, and sales initiation. Mitsubishi in its press release said that since 2008, they revitalized passenger vehicles by making improvements and improving overall quality in all aspects starting from increasing product variants and quality, developing networks and dealer facilities, and the main ones, of course, followed by an increase in mindset and human resource capabilities. itself thoroughly (Durden, 2018) .

Perception

Customer perceptions of the Mitsubishi Xpander that are considered important and in accordance with customer expectations are robust engine performance, smooth car suspension, using environmentally friendly engines, adequate safety features,, high comfort features, comfortable acceleration, versatile family car that meets the needs of its users, and customers are satisfied with Mitsubishi Xpander products (Durden, 2018) .

Personal factor influences on buying behavior

Personality

The characteristics of Avanza owners are definitely family-oriented people, because this variant includes family cars. Then have a modern lifestyle, because of its futuristic design coupled with features with the latest technology. Love the high engine performance, because Mitsubishi is famous for its reliable engine power. The last is risk taking, negative stigma such as expensive maintenance costs, low resale prices that are not a barrier for people to choose Mitsubishi (Juneja, 2019).

Ages

The age range for this variant is in the age of 25-35 years. When someone starts a family and starts doing business. Especially for those who live in urban areas. They need a means of mobilization that suits their needs (Juneja, 2019).

Marketing Strategies Recommendations

Product

• Design is a very important factor, many prospective buyers choose Mitsubishi Xpander because it has a dashing and futuristic exterior design. Unique dynamic Shield design with no mainstream lighting layout.
• Field Cabin: With the largest dimensions, the Expander has the most spacious cabin, even the second row seats can be sliding sideways.
• Ground Clearance Height: Xpander is the highest in its class, which is 205 mm, moreover there is no axle bump at the bottom, making its cruising better than Avanza.

By presenting quality products that are very good, indirectly is a means of promoting the product itself. People are interested in buying Xpander because of the quality and performance that it has on the product (Mitsubishi, 2019).

Price

The price of Mitsubishi Xpander cars is able to compete and is in accordance with the ability of consumers to buy. Price conformity indicators with benefits according to consumers are appropriate for Mitsubishi Xpander products, this is due to the many latest features that are owned by Mitsubishi Xpander cars so consumers feel the price offered is in accordance with the benefits felt by consumers (Gerber & Bothma, 2008).

Place

In total there are approximately 320 motorcycle dealerships scattered across Indonesia. Prospective customers can easily visit Toyota showroom for purchase. Additionally Mitsubishi is also actively participates in the exhibition event held yearly regular vehicles such as Indonesian international motor show (Mitsubishi, 2019).

Promotion

The new campaign for Mitsubishi Xpander, starting with ad impressions on various national television channels and witnessed on the official Mitsubishi Motors Indonesia YouTube channel starting July 1, 2018. ‘Roadshow tons of real happiness’, is a form of unique and fun promotion in the form of an amusement park carnival. To show Xpander as the only full-featured Small MPV and a great power capable of bringing tons of happiness to Indonesian families (Mitsubishi, 2019)..

Conclusions

The discussion above is a bit much gives an overview of consumer behavior in Indonesia against the decision to buy a vehicle LMPV Mitsubishi Xpander. It also exposes the business strategies undertaken by Mitsubishi automotive manufacturer to the automotive industry in Indonesia. Proven Mitsubishi has managed to attract the attention of consumers, this is indicated with a huge enthusiasm and the very high demand from variant Xpander. Where this segment for more than 15 years ruled by the other Japanese manufacturers, namely Toyota. Mitsubishi managed to map the needs and desires of consumers in Indonesia. Xpander be the answer to the needs of the family, affordable transportation but has full features and exceptional comfort. So that a high level of customer satisfaction that can be beneficial for Mitsubishi to produce other new variants in the future.

Reference List

1. Ahmed, R., Ameen, N., Shaikh, E., & Memon, F. (2015). Influence of Children on Family Purchase Decisions (1st ed.). GRIN Verlag GmbH Cite this publication.
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Consumer Perception: Blind Product Test For Various Chocolate Brands

Introduction

Consumer perception is known as a marketing concept, which includes the opinion that consumers have about products and the knowledge and understanding they have regarding these offerings (Izadi Manesh et al., 2015).

Consumer perception includes how consumers view different products and services provided. Several factors affect consumer perception such as advertising, personal experiences, reviews, social media and public relations. Businesses are successful when it is able to retain consumers who continue to purchase its products that helps the business to be profitable. Consumer behaviour is often influenced by consumer perception, which is why businesses consider it as something significant and hence spend a lot of resources to know about it more and use it to their advantage (Mahajan, 2018).

Chocolate is one product that people love and have not stopped buying despite the economic situation being difficult in the world. Chocolate industry continues to grow although there are more people who are health-conscious these days. In fact, most customers consider chocolate as their most craved food worldwide. Consumer preferences for chocolate are different in various parts of the world (Mitrovic, 2014).

For this research, a blind product taste test was conducted for a group of consumers in Fuvahmulah for three different chocolate brands that is Lindt, Mars, and Cadbury. The purpose of the study is to understand consumer perception of customers toward these chocolate brands. The aim is to understand why consumers have different preferences when eating chocolates and to see if assumptions made prior to the study is true or correct.

This report contains various parts. In the next section, the hypotheses formulated for the study will be explained. After that, the procedure used to carry out the study will be described. Later, findings from the study will be interpreted and analysed. Finally, the report will end with the conclusion, marketing implications and limitations of the research.

Procedure / Methodology

For the study, primary data collection method was used with a questionnaire. To conduct the blind taste test for three chocolate brands that is Lindt milk chocolate bar, Mars, and Cadbury dairy milk, a group of 10 participants from Fuvahmulah in Maldives were selected to take part in the study voluntarily. The participants included family members and friends, as they were accessible. The sample for the study consisted of five female consumers and five male consumers between the ages of 18-44 years old. Since the purpose was to understand the perception of these customers about the chocolates without seeing the brand, the chocolate names were not revealed to them at any point during the test while they were taking part in it. However, a chocolate number was given to each chocolate that represented a particular chocolate brand used in the study. To get better results, the participants were also blindfolded so that no participant could look at the chocolate secretly.

Before the taste test began, the procedure for the study was explained to all of the 10 participants once they were gathered around a table and seated. Once everyone was ready, each participant was asked individually to answer the first four questions in the questionnaire that was developed for the study. These questions were basic such as the gender, their age, their favourite chocolate name and the type of chocolate they prefer. After this was filled, they were asked to keep the questionnaire somewhere safe and close by to answer remaining questions in it.

After that, all participants were blindfolded one by one and once everyone was prepared, a single plate was kept on the table in front of each person with a piece of chocolate on it. The participants were told that the first piece of chocolate they taste would be named chocolate number 1 although it was really Lindt milk chocolate bar whose name was kept hidden from them. They were told that chocolate number 2 would be given the second time when in fact it was Mars. Finally in the final stage of the test, they were told that the last one was named chocolate number 3 although it was Cadbury dairy milk chocolate. The actual brand name was not revealed to participants at any time during the study. However, participants were asked to remember the chocolate number along with its taste to help themselves when filling out the questionnaire later.

Participants were asked not to give their opinions aloud during the test as it could affect the perception of others taking part in the study. Once the final stage of taste test was completed, participants were given back their questionnaire to answer remaining questions they had left out earlier and it was collected for analysis once done.

References

1. Izadi Manesh, F., Naami, A., & Hajipoor Shoshtari, A. (2015). Investigating the effect of CRM factors on consumer perception: Evidence from banking industry. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 3(2), 117-122. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.uscm.2014.12.010
2. Mahajan, E. (2018). Consumer Preference and Perception Chocolates in North Karnataka. International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science, 7(3), 146-149.
3. Mitrovic, J. (2014). How different chocolate brands influence our chocolate perception and buying behavior? (Doctoral dissertation).

Lifestyle Factors Influencing Purchase Behavior Of Youth In India

ABSTRACT

Lifestyle is an approach centered on way one leads life. Lifestyle is the way in which the people live, spend their time and money. Lifestyle of an individual is his way of expressing his feelings, attitudes, interests and opinions. The Lifestyle of individuals has always been of great interest to marketers. They deal with everyday behaviorally oriented facets of people as well as their feelings, attitudes, interests and opinion. A lifestyle marketing perspective recognizes that people sort themselves into groups on the basis of the things they like to do, how they like to spend their leisure time and how they choose to spend their disposable income. There is transition of positioning the products from functional attributes to featuring the product as representing a lifestyle. The research study aims to study the various lifestyle factors influencing purchasebehaviour and findings from this study will provide useful insights to enable marketers to understand lifestyle segments of youth in India.

Introduction to Lifestyle

Lifestyle is. the interests, opinions, behaviours, and. behavioural orientations of an individual, group or culture. The term “Lifestyle” was first introduced in 1929 by Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler in his book “The Case of Miss R”. Alfred explained the meaning of lifestyle as “a person’s basic character as established early in childhood”. The broader sense of lifestyle. as a “way or style. of living” has been documented. since 1961.The first to introduce the concept of lifestyle patterns and the potential of its relationship with marketing, was Lazer (1963) as credited by Plummer (1974). Lazer defines lifestyle “…a systems concept. It refers to the distinctive mode of living, in its aggregative or broadest sense….it embodies the patters that develop and emerge from the dynamics of living in a society.” The usage of the term ‘lifestyle’ has gained momentum since 1963 and various methods of determining lifestyle patterns and its relationship to consumer behavior. It has been used and developed in multiple facets of consumer behavior. The lifestyle concepts were related to interest of people have, how they spend their time and resources, and views they hold about themselves and other people (Kucukemiroglu, 1999).

Invariably it is necessary for the marketers to understand consumer lifestyle. With the frequent change and adoption of different lifestyles marketers continue to understand these changes to get closer to consumer insights. Lifestyle trends and pattern in India were way different when compared to pre and post liberalization. Indian consumers today have numerous choices, alternatives and are well informed and knowledgeable. Marketers are catering to their demands and today consumer is controlling market trends. Post liberalization, the high rate of industrialization, growth of service sector and better employment opportunities have increased the consumer’s disposable income, developed new lifestyles. Customers are accepting the global brands, trends and adopting global lifestyle gradually. There has been growing demand for multinational products/brands in all the categories of products in the last two decades.

Lifestyle in India is being increasingly used in various business sectors such as professional services, consultations, Retail, Apparels, FMCG, Credit card Users etc., India is fasting growing economies in Asia. In A brief report on Lifestyle Products in India, (2013), the Indian consumer today is not price sensitive and prefers a life full of luxury and comfort. The demand for luxury products is expanding its ambit from conspicuous-consumption consumers of the early years to the truly affluent households that wish to stand apart from the crowd. The report “A brief report on Lifestyle Products in India” (2013) indicates that India’s consumer class to grow nearly twenty-fold (from 50 million at present) to 583 million by 2025, with more than 23 million people likely to be listed among world’s wealthiest citizens. The increase in young working population especially the women and growing opportunities in service sector will be the growth drivers for luxury products. 60 percent of India’s population is below 30 years and the demand for lifestyle products among the youth will be growing rapidly.

Problem Statement

The lifestyles of the people who comprise each segment are an important consideration. The extent of their purchasing power and their decision making process in allocating their discretionary income are of paramount concern. Individuals associate themselves to different lifestyles to express themselves or their personality. It is important to study the lifestyle of Indian youth and how marketers can use lifestyle segmentation to strategies to reach out the consumer at the primitive level. Therefore, this study to understand lifestyles factors that influence the purchase decision and buying behavior of Indian youth.

Objective of the Study: To investigate the relationship of lifestyle and purchase decision of youth in India.

Review of Literature

Lazer (1963) was the first to introduce the concept of lifestyle patterns and the potential of its relationship with marketing. The same is been credited by Plummer (1974). Lazer defines lifestyle “…a systems concept. It refers to the distinctive mode of living, in its aggregative or broadest sense….it embodies the patters that develop and emerge from the dynamics of living in a society.” Joseph T. Plummer defines (Plummer J. , 1974) as a single system, Lifestyle can be differentiated into two concepts, one being the model of lifestyle and other being market segmentation, and that in order to understand lifestyle segmentation, every element in the system under investigation, such as activities, interests, opinions and demographic variables, can be used to understand the overall market. Harold W. Berkman and Christopher Gilson define lifestyle as “unified” patterns of behavior that determine and are determined by consumption. They referred the term “unified pattern of behavior” as behavior in broad sense.

The market segmentation based on Psychographics it’s a behavioral approach to market segmentation based on an analysis of what people activities, their buying behaviors, and the media exposure; also how they feel about life, based on attitudes, opinions, interests, and values. The psychographics concepts started with the classic study of buyers’ personality traits by Koponen (1960), which lead to several research attempting to correlate consumer behavior with standardized personality inventories (Wells, 1975).

Plummer, (1974) credits Lazer (1963) as first to introduce the concept of lifestyle pattern. Since 1963, methods of, measuring lifestyle pattern and their relationship to consumer behavior has been developed and refined. Lifestyle as used in lifestyle segmentation research measures people’s activities in terms of (1) how they spend their time; (2) their interests, what they place importance on in their immediate surroundings; (3) their opinion in terms of their view of themselves and the world around them; and (4) some basic characteristics such as their stage in life cycle, income, education, and where they live. The term lifestyle is used in literature in three different spellings (Veal, 1993) as mentioned in the research paper by A.J.Veal, it is presented as two separate works: life style, as a hyphenated word: life-style, and as one work: lifestyle. As per the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest use of the term ‘life-style’ was by Alfred Adler, the psychologist, who used it in the year 1929 to ‘denote a person’s basic character as established early in the childhood which governs his reactions and behaviour’.

Methodology of study

The study is descriptive in nature and the data is collected in Bengaluru. Bengaluru is the most heterogenic and cosmopolitan mix of people. The youth in Bengaluru represent people from all parts of the country and are a clear mix of people. Youth are defined as those aged 15-29 in the national youth policy 2014. This age of people constitutes 27.5% of India population. In 2011 census counted 563 million young people from 10 to 35yrs, according to the 12th five-year plan Vol II (2013). This study included Shopping Goods. All the products that consumers desire to compare the product features, price, brand and information about the product are included in shopping goods. In this study the shopping goods were categorized as electronic products, home décor, apparel, personal / beauty care, wellness, and healthcare products.

This research study adopted Survey Method for data collection. Sample collection technique adopted is multistage random sampling technique from 100 respondents. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was adopted as tool of data collection. All the questions were closed ended and five point Likert scale was used to measure the degree of agreement (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). The data collected and was tabulated for analysis. The statistical tools used for analyzing the data are Percentage analysis, correlation and factor analysis. This study includes both Primary and secondary data.The study included shopping goods (as defined in the conceptual definition). The questionnaire constituted of four sections, Part A consisted of questions based on demographic and personal data of respondents, Part B constituted the buying behavior for shopping goods, Part C constituted the questions related to youth lifestyle and last Part D consisted of statements related to lifestyle. The reliability of the scales was tested by calculating their coefficient alphas (Cronbach’s alphas) to determine the degree of internal consistency between the multiple measurements.The Cronbach alpha calculated for the study is was found to be 0.833 indicating reliability value. The finding obtained from the analysis is used to represent a conceptual model wherein the relationship among the variables is established.

Limitations and Scope of Study

The study was conducted in Bengaluru, hence cannot be generalized to other territories. The limitations of data collection for field survey is applicable to this study. The various data collected is subjected to the respondent biasness. The respondents included students, working professionals and housewife. A further detailed classification can be included for further studies. Considering the time and cost factor the study included only few shopping goods only. There is also a wide scope for conducting further research in the display of brands of shopping goods in rural and urban areas. The study was also limited to shopping goods, there is further scope of conducting similar studies for other types of products.

Data Analysis and Findings

To examine the appropriateness of factor analysis KMO measure of sampling adequacy is an indicator. The values between 0.5 and 1.0 indicate that factor analysis is appropriate. The values below 0.5 indicate that factor analysis would not be meaningful. It is clearly seen that Kaiser – Meyer – Olkin measure of sampling adequacy index is 0.723. And hence factor analysis is appropriate for the data collected for the study.

To study the factors influencing the lifestyle of youth factor analysis was used to identify the factors. With the Eigen value greater than one though Varimax rotation the principal component method of factor analysis was used. The result was obtained through rotated component matrix.

The total of 5 independent groups were extracted accounting to total of 76.93% of variations in the 27 lifestyle variables. The six factors constitute of 22.78%, 18.16%, 13.49%, 12.39% and 10.12% respectively.

Factor – I: It is inferred that out of 27 lifestyle variables, 7 variables have a relatively high tightly grouped factor loadings on Factor I and this factor is termed as “Brand Consciousness”. Factor II is formed with six variables is termed as “ProductCompetency Consciousness”. Factor III also includes six variables and is termed as “Product Facade Consciousness”. Factor IV is formed with three variables and is termed as “Price Consciousness”. Factor V is formed with five variables and is named as “Product Information Consciousness”.

Results and Discussions

The youth lifestyle and their buying behavior has been of great interest to the marketers to know and understand their consumers better and to get into their insight. The aim is always to build relationship to get closer to the consumers to understand them better and to influence their purchase decision. The way the product is placed and displayed plays an important role in decision making.

The changing consumer lifestyle and its influence on buying behavior, makes it important to marketers to understand these changes. Consumers exhibit their lifestyle by using the brands there are loyal. Building brand image would enable the marketers to want the consumer to associate their lifestyle to their brands. Consumer use brand image as a tool to display their lifestyle.

Price has been a crucial element when it is referred with purchase of shopping goods. Youth are exhibiting lifestyle of price consciousness. The demographic variables and lifestyle and their relationship enables the marketers to develop lifestyle products. Price being one of the 4Ps need to the positioned in the minds of consumers to enhance their lifestyle. Discount and offers attracts the youth and is one of the tool of promotion. The deep relationship between demographics and lifestyle variables helps the marketers to create apt consumer profile. All the other marketing strategies can be aligned to the consumer profile for effective targeting and positioning.

The consumers today are more curious to know about the product, with the help of internet huge data is available. It becomes important to the marketers to provide relevant information to the consumers to assist them to take decisions in their favor. The information gathering is part of the youth lifestyle to be updated and modernized. Thus it is important to understand that the factors influencing the lifestyle are relevant and has an influence on the purchase decisions.

Conclusion

Brand and product appearance has become part of the lifestyle of youth in India. It has become evident from the study that consumers are looking for the products that reflect their lifestyle. According to the study it can be concluded that consumer give importance to brand, product components, product price and product competency. The consumers are keen and take interest in gathering the information about the products that reflects their lifestyle. Lifestyle has become a means to express oneself.

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Impact Of Social Media Advertising On Consumer Buying Behaviour

Meaning of Social Media Advertising

Social media platforms. Social networking websites

Social networking refers to the use of applications and websites to find people to establish communication with each other and build a good relationship with others. It enables the firm to directly communicate with its customers. People around the world can communicate in an informal manner, share ideas and interests among themselves. This strategy makes the consumers to feel better than the traditional methods of selling and advertising. Eg. Facebook, Telegram, LinkedIn, Skype are some of the social media platforms used by businesses to promote and sell their products.

Following are the social media platforms:

• Facebook is the largest social networking widely used. It is the first app to have surpassed the landmark of 1 billion users accounts. Apart from connecting with friends all over the world, one can also access different apps on Facebook to sell or buy products online, to market or promote a business, brand or any other products or services by using Facebook ads.
• Telegram is a site that is used for messaging and it is available in more than 8 languages. Telegram is focused on the privacy and security of the messages that are sent to others using its platform. Telegram can be used on multiple devices at the same time. The users of telegram can also send photos, videos, stickers, and audio of any type.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking sites and it is available in 20 different languages. LinkedIn is used by most of professionals across the globe as it serves as an ideal platform to connect with different kinds of businesses; LinkedIn also helps companies to hire ideal candidates. It has around 400 million members and it revolves primarily around the B2B market. It is a site that is uniquely suited for social media marketing campaigns. LinkedIn has 3 types of ads i.e. sponsored content, sponsored in mail and text ads.
• Skype is an app which is specialized in providing video chat, voice calls between computers, tablets and mobile devices through the internet. Video conference calls can also be done by using Skype. Skype-to-Skype calls are free of charge whereas the calls made through mobile phones and telephones are charged through debit – based user account system called Skype credit.2.

Microblogging

In this type of social media a user can post or broadcast short messages, updates or news on social networking sites by the company or by entrepreneurs to other subscribers of the service all around the world. Blogs are Web pages developed by the company that contains information about the product & services and allow customers to view and share information to others. It allows the user to create some innovative online pages and share the contents using hashtags. Eg:- Twitter and tumbler

• Twitter has provided unparalleled access for users around the world to share short messages, posts, photos etc. It has also revolutionized breaking news to connect with both niche and mainstream influencers. It is a viable network for organic engagement, it helps to advertise and promote their product and service. There are no charges a company or a brand needs to pay in order to reach their followers. It enhances the value of the platform even when running paid ads.
• Tumbler has been owned by yahoo since 2013. These apps serve as social media cum microblogging platforms. This is used to find and follow things that people like. It moreover provides the flexibility to customize almost everything. It can be also used for posting any kind of news, lifestyles also include multi-media to a short-form blog.

Media sharing

Media sharing is publishing the user’s own digital photos & videos. This type of apps enables the user to share photos and videos with other users either publicly or privately. Media sharing services can help businesses to show their product and service to potential customers. It raises awareness of the company brand, builds closer relationships with the customer. Some people use media sharing just for their personal purpose while companies are also using the same as part of their marketing strategy. Showing people a picture or a photo or a video of the product or service will often be more powerful and appealing than writing about it. Eg:-Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Youtube.

• Instagram was launched as a unique special networking platform that is completely based on sharing photos and videos. Sellers of the product who are able to incorporate visual media into their campaigns tend to perform best on this social media channel.
• Snapchat This is an app of an image messaging social platform that enables users to chat with friends by using pictures and posts. It also allows users to explore news and even check out the live stories that happening around the world.
• Pinterest is an American social media platform. Pinterest enables people to discover information of products or services by using images, videos, etc. As of August 2019, Pinterest had reached over 300 million users. Pinterest was launched on March 2009 and has over 1600 employees.
• YouTube is a platform where different kinds of videos in various languages can be shared. Companies can also upload their videos and can get feedback, likes, and dislikes for the video. People can also subscribe to the videos of brands or companies to be updated whenever a company comes out with a new ad of a product or feature. The headquarters of Youtube is located in San Bruno, California.

Blogging

Weblog shortened to a ‘blog’, is a Web page that contains dated posts, by one or multiple users often pertaining to a particular topic. Like most new innovations on Internet, many entrepreneurs saw a marketing potential in having a blog and blogging took off from there, but also, a blog can be a home business in and of itself. A blog features diary-type commentary and links to articles on other websites. Eg:- blogger, MySpace BloggerBlogger is a blog-publishing service that allows multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Google is hosting these blogs and they are generally accessed from a subdomain of Blogspot.com, MySpace

• MySpace is a social media website that is available in 14 different languages. It was founded on August 1st, 2004. The headquarters of MySpace is located in Beverly Hills, California. The largest social networking site from 2005 to 2008 was MySpace. MySpace helps users to interact with people around the globe.
• Blogs are web pages that are developed by companies and which contain information about the products and allow customers to view and share useful information to people around the world. Blogs have a positive impact as well as negative impacts which are doing the job of marketing: When consumers post their views, comments, and feedback through blogs it helps the businessman to understand their customers’ likes and dislikes regarding their product. And it also helps the companies to understand how they can improve their product which is a positive impact.

Crowdsourcing

This is a source that provides or obtains needed services, ideas or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, particularly those from the online community. It can be in the paid form or unpaid typically via the Internet. Crowdsourcing often leads to innovation, problem-solving, or efficiency. It is powered by new technologies, social media, and the Web. It can take place on many different levels and across various industries. For example, Designhill is one of the largest crowdsourcing websites that provide services to clients in the field of graphic designing. Clients can choose from the packages that the company provides to avail the services.

Reasons why Social Media Advertising is better than traditional advertising

1. Marketing ExpenseTraditional advertising is expensive (print, TV ads, etc). Companies have to frequently market for long periods of time and use prime space thereby rendering it very expensive for businesses with limited budgets. Social Media Marketing is more affordable. Companies can advertise and can test various campaigns with any sized budget.
2. FlexibilityIt’s hard to change traditional advertising. From a tactical perspective, you may still be in a contract to execute multiple advertisement insertions and can’t make changes without a penalty. From a creative standpoint, it takes longer and more money/time to change your messaging. Social media, and digital marketing in general, is much more flexible. Companies can change tactics, be more creative. Companies can edit, pause and generate new messages, even test variables on social media.
3. Generating a DialogTraditional Media is a one-way street. Companies do not get into a dialog with potential customers. There’s no chance for immediate contact through this advertising medium. Social Media Marketing, is just that: SOCIAL. It’s built for a two-way conversation. Marketers can engage in a dialog with customers online by hosting an online event. Queries of potential customers can be answered and this helps to generate business which is not possible in traditional mediums of print or tv advertisements.
4. Measurement & AnalyticsAttribution models have improved for ancient media, however, the action somebody took which may be directly attributed to ancient ads continues to be a bit fuzzy. And often the analytics and reporting are not in real-time or as detailed as needed to make strong business decisions. Reporting and analytics area unit vise on digital platforms and specifically Social Media Selling platforms like Facebook. Statistics are updated in real-time, with detailed information on actions taken down to specific ads and specific targets and companies can clearly see which ad messages or audiences are performing better.
5. Target AudienceTraditional media is still very wasteful. Marketers do their best to target their audience based on demographics, geographies, and listening, watching, or reading habits, but it’s still a pretty broad audience. They are often left communicating to groups who may never show any interest in their product or service. Audience targeting is wherever social media selling platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter extremely shine. Due to tools available online for segmenting and predicting a behavior pattern of customers who browse particular products online it provides businesses with the ability to build very specific messages or advertisements to target their potential consumers. In addition, marketers can segment audiences in order to serve each one the message that resonates most with them.

Advantages of Social Media Marketing

Following are the advantages of social media marketing.

• Builds brand credibility. Social media allows regular interaction between companies and customers. Constant interaction with customers enables a company to know about their problems and also devise suitable strategies to provide better services/products. This will help the company enhance its credibility in the market.
• Customer loyalty. To run any business nowadays one should have a strong customer loyalty base. People can address their problems through social media easily. By listening to customer opinions, customer satisfaction rises thus creating brand loyalty.
• Less Advertisement cost. The best way for a company to cut down marketing costs is to advertise online. By doing so saves on cost and also gives the marketer a wide reach. It only focuses on the key customers by narrowing down the target customer, thus avoiding wasteful expenditure.
• Large customer base. Almost half of the world’s population is on social media. A company can tap maximum target customers through social media itself if they use the right plans which can increase their sales thus increasing profits.

Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing

Following are the demerits of social media marketing.

• Clarity of Message The message a marketer wants to convey about its products and services has been clear and concise. The customers looking at it should be able to connect to it. If it is not the attractive audience will not pay attention as the internet is flooded with online advertisements.
• Negative Feedback It is possible to tarnish the image of business competitors who may engage in negative publicity on social media. News and messages spread like wildfire on social media and hence can ruin the reputation of a company within no time.
• Works only on a targeted segment of online users. A huge segment of customers is still not on social media. Hence a company has to marketer even in the traditional modes along with online marketing thereby not bringing down the cost of advertising.
• Trust, privacy, and security issues. This is one of the major hurdles when it comes to marketing through social media. Consumers are sometimes hesitant to shop online due to the increasing number of online frauds like hacking, phishing, etc most consumers prefer not to purchase products or transact online. Trust builds up when there are no security issues. At the same time, there are chances of leak of private information of the consumer which can hamper the buying process.