Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organisations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society (Kuester, 2012). These helps the marketers to answer questions such as why people choose one product or brand over another, how they make these choices, and how companies use this knowledge to provide value to consumers. Specifically, we considered a number of internal factors that influence consumer behaviour including motivation and learning to help us in understanding the consumer.

Solomon, et al (2010:177) defines motivation as “the process that cause people to behave as they do … Motivation occurs when a need is aroused that the consumer wishes to satisfy. Once a need has been activated, a state of tension exists that drives the consumer to attempt to eliminate or reduce the need.”

Dr Abraham Maslow formulated a widely accepted theory of human motivation based on the notion of a universal hierarchy of human needs. This identifies five basic levels of human need which rank in order of importance from lower level needs (biogenic) to higher level needs (psychogenic). This theory says that individuals need to satisfy the lower needs before higher level needs arise (Maslow, 1965).

Physiological needs are the lowest or the first level needs. These include food, water, air, clothing, and shelter. Once the first level needs are satisfied, the individuals go for the next level where they need an uninterrupted fulfilment of the above needs. This is known as safety or security needs. Next, social needs are need to maintain in a society and try to be accepted. Then comes the egoistic need of a person that must be satisfied. Self-actualisation is the extreme or highest end of the hierarchy, where individuals try to excel in any field attaining very high order or achievement.

Marketers need to know how to satisfy a need at what level, by studying the need hierarchy. For example, if you wanted market self-improvement program to help the people in the Sub-Saharan Africa, to find their way out of poverty. You will soon realise that this would be a failure because you were trying to market self-actualization product to a target population, a large portion of which has not even satisfied their most basic physiological and security needs.

Theories of learning is define by Schiffman and Kanuk as the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply to future related behaviour.

In order for learning to take place, certain elements must be present. Marketers must teach consumers where to buy, how to use, how to maintain, and how to dispose of products. Most of the learning in incidental, some of it is intentional. Basic elements that contribute to an understanding of learning are motivation, cues, response, and reinforcement.

There are two approaches to the study of learning, the behavioural approach and cognitive approach. According to the behavioural theorists, learning takes place in response to events/happenings in a person’s external environment. On the other hand, cognitive theorists believe that learning takes place as a result of a person’s conscious and deliberate information processing and storage activity.

When a person acts or responds in a predictable manner to a known stimulus, then he is said to have “learned”. The important factors are “inputs” or stimulus and the “outcomes” or response of learning. These are two distinct types: classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning.

Classical conditioning says that all living beings learn from or taught by “repetition”. In the context of consumer behaviour, unconditioned stimulus may be a well-known brand, like Amul milk and milk products, whose product quality is well known. This previously acquired perception of Amul is the “unconditioned response”. The conditioned stimulus may be a new product (Amul ice-cream) having the same brand name. The “conditioned response” would be trying the ice-cream because of the belief that the product may have the same quality attributes as the Amul name is associated with.

Instrumental conditioning suggests that living beings learn by a method of trial-and-error, and finding out the particular stimulus having the best response. A few accidental connections between a ritual and favourable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behaviour in spite of many unreinforced instances (Skinner, 1947). For example, the consumer, who tries several brands and styles of jeans, finally finds a particular brand and style that fits her figure best, has in fact undergone instrumental learning. Presumably, this is the brand she is likely to continue buying.

Cognitive learning occurs as a result of internal mental processes. For example, observational learning takes place when a consumer performing a behaviour as a result of seeing someone else performing it and being rewarded for it. This perspective views people as problem solvers who actively use information from the world around them to master their environment (Solomon, 2006). Marketers do not need to reward or punish real people, they can just show in ads what happens to people who do or do not use their products.

References:
Kuester, S 2012, MKT 301: Strategic Marketing & Marketing in Specific Industry Contexts, University of Mannheim, pp. 110.

Solomon, et. Al (2010) Consumer Behaviour A European Perspective 4th Edition. England: Prentice Hall.

A.H. Maslow, ‘Higher and Lower Order Needs,’ in C.L. Stacey and M.F. DeMartino (eds.), Understanding Human Motivation, Cleveland/New York: The World Publishing Company, 1965.

Skinner, B.F (1947) Superstition in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology.vol 1 p38.

Solomon, et al (2006) Consumer Behaviour 4th Edition. London: Prentice Hall.