Consumer buying behaviour | Collaborative Activity

Sanaullah Abro
consumer buying behaviour collaborative activity

Consumer buying behaviour | Products! Whether it is a book, DVD, a video game, clothes, furniture, food & drinks and even a car, these products are more than just material possessions or tools we own but rather is an extension of self. They are what identifies me and others, who I am, who I want to be and where I belong.

Marketing professionals, therefore, endeavour to better their chances by creating and advertising products that contribute to one’s unique identity. For this reason, the study of consumer behaviour is important to companies. Companies want to know what consumers buy, where they buy and most importantly why they buy. (Kotler et al 2017, p.158 – Principles of Marketing)

According to Kohler et al. 2017, p.159 there are four factors that in fact influence consumer behaviour. These are:

  1. Cultural
  2. Social
  3. Personal
  4. Psychological

Recently I purchased a six-pack of Lucozade bottles. The advertisement made for the product was the motivating factor for me to make such a purchase. Lucozade produced a short film entitled “Made to Move” which showcases the current heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s humble beginnings and life-changing past.

In relation to my purchase of the Lucozade bottles, the personal factor which Kotler highlighted is what affected my buying behaviour prominently. Why? Simply because of brand personality. (Kotler p. et al. 2017, p.169) Lucozade brand personality was shown in that short film, those personalities being sincerity and competence. (Aaker et al. 1997, p.348) Further to explain the antecedents of brand personality, Aaker makes It clear that “personality traits come to be associated with a brand in a direct way by the people associated with the brand”.   Hence because of this Lucozade marketing, I was able to gain the hardworking, sincere and competent personality trait of Anthony Joshua and transfer that directly to the brand.

This perfectly ties in with my opening statement of identity. The fact that I saw Anthony Joshua’s personality displayed in the product, motivated me to purchase the product because I saw my identity reflected. This ideology is what many marketers use – a person’s self-image (Kotler et al. 2017, p. 169) of “we are what we consume”.

Keep Reading:

Watch Our Latest Videos:

For this very reason, I believe that the personal factor is also supported by the psychological factor and the two are not in conflict as our sense of identity/self-image comes with the products we possess and is built on a number of things but in particular our belief and attitude (Kotler et al. 2017, p.174).

The belief I have in terms of competence and sincerity and hard work that I carry as an emotional charge is what helps transfigure my behaviour and attitude as a consumer to buy Lucozade as the brand image reflects my own image. This is called an attitude object (A..) (Solomon et al. 2016, p. 283).

With this in mind, Lucozade has thus been able to develop a marketing strategy, with culture in mind by focusing simply on marketing segmentation. (Fahy and Jobber 2015, p.118).