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Consumer Psychology
Corina Zamfir1
Abstract: Between producer, seller and consumer there have been and developed over time, relationships, communication and adaptation to the needs of the consumer society, depending on the factors determined by the geographical position, financial situation, social and cultural level, religion.
Being a constantly developing consumer society, it was necessary to adapt the offer according to the demands of the market but also according to the degree of development of the competition, imposing the necessity of the survey among the consumers, measuring the needs and offering viable solutions.
The consumer does not have an innate self image, it is formed through adaptation, learning, the desire for evolution and determining a purpose. The way we choose products will coincide with what we think about us.
Keywords: consumer; behaviour; advertising; decision; information; evaluation; shoppin
Consumer behavior, defines a process by which an individual responds to a need, this process combining the cognitive decision-making phase and the action phase, completed by purchase and consumption.
For the success of a bushman it is necessary a wide research in relation to the behavior of the consumer, as well as a separation of the notions of comparator (the one who performs the operation of purchasing the products) and that of the consumer (the person who benefits from the act of consumption). Of course, there are frequent cases where the buyer is also a consumer.
The purchasing decision process is made up of five purchasing decision stages:
1 Student, Faculty of Communication and International Relations, Specialization: Psychology, Danubius University of Galați, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Blvd., 800654 Galati, Romania, Tel.:
+40372361102, Fax: +40372361290, Coresponding author: [email protected].
New Trends in Psychology, Vol. 1, no 2/2019, pp. 94-98
95 1. Awareness of need;
2. Search for information;
3. Evaluation of variants;
4. Evaluation of the acquisition;
5. Evaluation of the purchased product.
Awareness of Need
This need arises when the stock of the desired assortment or the enlargement of the assortment it possesses is exhausted or worn out. The impulse may appear due to the gap between the actual and the desired state (eg, the famine leads to the impulse to find food, after balancing the states, individually it may try to satisfy other needs).
Awareness can be instantaneous, when the product used has broken down or it can be evolutionary, there is a desire to change old objects with other professional ones, like changing the way of life or food.
Searching for Information
The consumer is determined to analyze the previous experience of the product category, the choice will be made on that product that satisfies his requirements or he will perform an external search through the market study, reading the prospects and advertisements of the producers’ discussions with friends about the proposed acquisition. At this stage the consumer is vulnerable, can be influenced by the marketing policy of the merchants, the product has aggressive advertising on MEDIA, the offer of multipack type, when purchasing more identical products, product promoted in the unit as “at least good”, discount to short-term products or out of stock and last but not least the aggressiveness of the traders in BLACK FRIDAY.
Another factor that can influence the information search process refers to the characteristics of the environment (social class, culture, family, groups). In this case, the sources of risk are different: financial in the case of expensive products, insecurity in use, psychological and social risks or those related to the performance
96 of the product. The reduction of the perception on the risk can be realized by the lenders, the ratio - price, other forms of insurance.
In the elaboration of the marketing strategies the need is taken into account of the necessity of knowing the consumer to whom they are addressed, they in a society vary according to age, income, sex, occupation, religion and many other factors.
Evaluation of Alternatives
The evaluation of the solutions for solving the problems leads to the decision-making process, the formation of the consumer acquisition decision. The selection of the factors that will serve as support in the evaluation process is complex, taking into account measurable characteristics (color, weight, warranty period) but also cinemeasurable characteristics (the brands that produce that object) Often the product exceeds the evaluation power of the individual and tunes choose a series of alternative criteria such as the price, the image of the store, the type of brand (eg in the case of cosmetic products will be chosen the most expensive, these inducing a high quality, another indicator is the country of origin, the consumer expects high quality from Japanese electronics, German cars and Swiss chocolate).
Following the research, the consumer experiences several types of brands in order to obtain an experience.
Buying
This process depends on the consumer's attitude towards the different brands, the more favorable the attitude, the more likely it is to buy. Depending on the unavailability of the product from the favorite brand, it is oriented to another brand or is oriented to another place it can find it. In this stage of purchase there is an important problem in choosing the place of sale, he can choose the brand and then the place, the place and then the brand or both.
The choice of the commercial place depends on a number of factors, the geographical situation of the store, the assortment range offered, the price level, the behavior of the sellers, the mode of service, the environment, the quality of the customer, the advertising, the method of payment, the types of services offered, other objects of
97 interest in around the store (mall, cinema, school, offices). Due to the development, the technologicalization and the lack of time of the consumer, their tendency is towards online shopping, depending on their impulses and needs, the products being brought directly to the destination.
Post- Purchase Evaluation
After the purchase made, follows the process of evaluating the consequences of the purchase made, this process being very important for the producers who want the customer loyalty. Consumer satisfaction is determined by the confirmed expectations for that product, which proves that the cosum experience is favorable.
There are cases in which the product does not confirm expectations and the cognitive dissonance is installed, settling the distrust in the choice, fear, bad opinion.
The Main Reasons Being:
short choice time;
not all brands were analyzed;
not all the existing offers have been calculated;
the entourage brings unfavorable comments.
The dissonance is unfavorable for the producer; a satisfied consumer transmits the information to ten other persons but one dissatisfied one transmits another twenty persons.
Due to the competition and the desire to satisfy as much as possible the needs of the clients and to keep them loyal, the big companies cyclically resort to opinion polls among the consumers, acting on their needs. The way we choose our products will coincide with what we think about ourselves, from the desire to look like something else we will observe what others use, because the process of identification is perfect, the result of the decisions we are.
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Bibliography
Iliescu, Dragos & Petre, Dan (2008). Advertising and consumer psychology. Bucharest: Comunicare.ro.
Gueguen, Nicolas (2006). Consumer psychology. Iași: Polirom.
Teodoru, Constantin Mircea (2004). Consumer behaviour. Cluj-Napoca: Science Book.
