Theory Of Varied Consume Choice Behavior And Its Importance Essay, Research Paper

Theory Of Varied Consume Choice Behavior and Its Importance

For decades, scholars and practitioners have been frustrated by the very

limited capacity of either psychological or marketing models to predict

individual choices on particular occasions. This paper discusses a theory

which explains the degree to which the extant models omit important influences

that produce varied individual choice behaviour. The focus of this paper is on

the sequences of product purchases. Discretionary actions and activities are

also covered.

THE THEORETICAL AND APPLIED RELEVANCE OF VARIED BEHAVIOUR

The assumption that consumers make rational, utility-maximizing choices

has played an important role in economic thought. As long as preferences remain

unchanged, the consumer is expected to choose the most preferred of the

available products. Thoughts about consumers’ behaviour towards substitutes

hold a similar position. If a consumer’s preference for the most preferred

alternative product declines or the product is currently unavailable, the

consumer is expected to choose a close substitute. From the firm’s strategic

point of view, this means that the marketer of a secondary brand should make

its brand similar to the most popular brand.

Careful consideration of the preceding description of consumer choice

behaviour and the firm’s selection of a strategy immediately leads one to

question the general applicability of these assumption / thought. Although

consumers often display stable preferences, sound choice behaviour seldom

remains constant. Instead, consumers frequently change their choices of

products or brands. Furthermore, the choices made on different occasions often

involve two very different products or brands. In summary, changing, varied

behaviour is the rule. Managers often avoid the use of simple “me-too” brands,

recognizing that consumers are seeking more than simple substitutes. This

tendency is seen directly in a number of product categories in which successful

products are seldom replaced with highly similar products. Instead, a degree of

product newness is viewed as being essential to maintain consumer interest.

The theory of consumer choice behaviour that is presented in this paper

is designed to explain the typical degree of variability that consumers exhibit

in a series of related choices. Should this theory more accurately describe

individual choices, than the meaning and predictive power of many models must be

questioned. For example, the results from all preference-based mapping methods,

such as MDPREF (Carroll, 1972) and the Schonemann-Wang (1972) models, should be

interpreted with great care. In these cases, the analyst must resist jumping to

the conclusion that the choice objects that appear close to each other have

similar characteristics. All simple attribute-based choice models, such as the

widely used conjoint method, must also be interpreted carefully. Here one must

resist the assumption that the set of most preferred items will necessarily have

similar characteristics. Typically, the set of most preferred or most

frequently chosen products will contain items that are very different. These

products do not necessarily satisfy the notion that the objects’ attributes will

surpass the total utility produced. For example, sometimes a consumer may want

a cold beverage and at other times the same consumer may want a hot beverage.

Furthermore, the more of one kind of beverage that an individual consumes, the

less likely the consumer will make the same choice on the next occasion. Unlike

the reasons that produce constant-purchase and / or constant-use behaviour,

different motives produce changes in purchase and use. To predict the choice

made on the next occasion, one needs to account for the consumer’s prior choice

behaviour.

A THEORY OF VARIED CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Psychologists have long recognized that individual judgements and

choices contain an important random element that leads to inconsistent behaviour.

Thurstone’s Law of Comparative and Categorical Judgement modelled individual

judgements and choices. The random component present in most contexts of

interest to marketing professionals include larger variables that are too costly

to measure or for which practical measurement methods have not been developed.

Consider the purchase of breakfast cereal. At the point of purchase, a

favourite brand may be out of stock, the customer may be distracted, the

shopper’s child may make the selection, or a clerk restocking part of the

assortment may contain choice. Although this list contains only a few of the

conditions which can affect consumer choice, it demonstrates the difficulty of

observing and recording all of the relevant influences. All unmeasurable

influences are labelled inexplicable causes of varied behaviour.

There are two important types of explicable causes of varied behaviour. The

first type of the explicable cause of varied behaviour has to do with an

individual’s motives that indirectly or incidentally produce patterns of varied

behaviour, while the second one has to do with an individual’s direct motives

where varied behaviour is valued. Purchasing for multiple uses in an example of

the first type of motive. An example of the first type of motive is the

purchasing of one kind of paint for prime raw wood and another kind of paint to

obtain a durable finish coat. An example of the second type of motive is the

purchasing of a new piece of clothing to keep up with the current trend or to

relieve the boredom produced by repeatedly wearing an older style. These two

types of motive for varied behaviour are explored in more detail in the

following subsecctions.

INDIRECT VARIED BEHAVIOUR

There are two major kinds of motives that indirectly produce varied

behaviour. These have to do with multiple needs and changing conditions.

Multiple needs may arise due to multiple users, multiple uses by the individual,

and multiple contexts in which the product class is used. Although only one

member in a household may need low-calorie products, a record of the beverage

purchases made by the principal household purchasing agent will typically show

occasional change from high- to low- calorie products and / or the simultaneous

purchase of both high- and low-calorie beverages. In a similar manner, when an

individual uses a food product such as rice in separate dishes and as an

ingredient in other dishes, from time to time purchases may change from instant

rice to regular rice or to wild rice so that the most suitable product will be

available to use. Closely related is the use of the product in multiple

contexts. Here, an individual may buy a common table wine to serve at regular

evening meals but buy a premium wine to serve to guests at a dinner party.

Changing conditions include new choice sets, changing tastes, and new

constraints. Over time, more classes of choice objects are presented to the

consumer with new and / or changed alternatives. The products in a product class,

the candidates available to voters, and the services offered by financial

institutions all illustrate the a choice set. A previously preferred product

may no longer be available, a candidate’s declining health may encourage voters

to switch loyalties, and a new financial service may offer important advantage

to a large number of individuals who use the older services. Changes in

individual choice behaviour can also be due to changes in individual tastes or

preferences. As individuals mature, their needs change, and as individuals are

exposed to persuasive messages about products, candidates, or services, their

preferences may change. Finally, an individual may change his or her choices due

to new constraints such as a new legislation or changes in their disposable

personal income.

DIRECT VARIED BEHAVIOUR

Direct varied behaviour is primarily motivated by the desire for variety.

Two kinds of motives must be recognized. The first category deals with the

interpersonal variety or change that takes place to the individual’s own

possessions and experiences. The second category deals with the interpersonal

variety or change that occurs to possessions and experiences of others.

Interpersonal variety can result when an individual becomes bored with

repeated exposures to similar possessions or activities. For example, a record

collection that contains the works of one or a few artists may be diversified

for the sake of variety or contrast. An individual may switch away from a

favourite brand to gain information about new products or to help reconfirm

their regular purchase pattern. Notice that the decisions motivated in this way

have little or no social content, but that the varied behaviour provides a

direct personal reward.

Rarely will a given choice object deliver just the mix of attribute needed

to keep the relevant attributes near their ideal levels. For this reason,

individuals must change their choice from time to time to maintain desirable

levels of each attribute. With this in mind, consider an individual who wants to

maintain his or her physical fitness and who acquires products and services with

attributes that contribute their desire to maintain their physical fitness. When

past choices lead to an excessive focus on fitness, this individual will tend to

choose products and activities that contribute to other desired attributes or

goals, such as intellectual stimulation and artistic interests. As satiation or

deprivation grows, the individual is progressively more strongly motivated to

choose different alternatives so that an ideal balance of each attribute can be

attained.

Seeking interpersonal variety has a strong social content. Here, the

individual is faced with maintaining a balance between two conflicting motives.

First, the need for affiliation encourage one to change his or her choices to

keep in phase with the changing behaviour of valued peers and / or differentiate

them self from the behaviour of undesirable others. Second, the need for

distinction and individuality motivates changes in behaviour that will create

desirable differences between the individual and his or her valued peers. These

separate forms of interpersonal varied behaviour can only be understood as they

relate to the possessions and actions that have social meaning to the individual.

Interpersonal form of varied behaviour do not share this social dimension but

both the interpersonal motives are higher-older processes such that the

predictions of an individual’s choice on the next occasion cannot be fully

understood without knowledge of the possessions or past actions of one or more

individua ls.

THE UNIFIED THEORY

The elements motivating varied behaviour, can be summarized in the

simple diagram of Appendix 2. The portion of the theory dealing with explicable

direct causes of varied behaviour involves consideration of the post-decision

level of the attributes provided by alternative choice objects in relation to

the desired levels of these attributes. The potential utility provided by any

choice can be expressed as the sum of the post-choice improvements in the level

of each attribute. This improvement is measured by the closeness of the post-

choice levels of the N object’s attributes to the ideal levels of these

attribute and by similar measures covering information, affiliation, and

distinction. See appendix 3. Note that the weights indicate the importance of

each attribute ?i’.

The model appears to be computationally feasible and is likely to produce

improved predictions of individual choice, especially in those cases where

interpersonal and / or interpersonal motives are important.

SOME KEY MEASUREMENT ISSUES

Variety has been treated as a primitive term. There are two measures of

- structural variety and temporal variety.

Structural variety is defined on an unordered set of objects at a point

in time. The more distinct the characteristics possessed by each object, the

greater the potential variety possessed by the set. For example, a set of

marbles that vary in size, weight, material, colour, and surface treatment can

differ along just these five dimensions. By way of contrast, residential

structures or automobiles can vary along dozens of important characteristics or

dimensions. These facts lead to a geometric representation of variety in which

objects can be plotted or located along each dimension, just as one might locate

cities by their longitude and latitude on a common map. The larger the average

distance between objects located in a perceptual map spanned by the attributes

of the objects, the greater the objects’ structural variety.

Temporal variety is concerned with the variety of a temporally ordered

set such as the recreational activities that an individual engages in during a

week or the amount of books that an individual reads over a period of time.

Here, it is natural to consider the structural variety (the degree of difference

or similarity among objects) but the variety conveyed by the sequence presents

additional aspects that must be considered. How often each object or element

appears in the sequence and the differences between contiguous objects or

elements in the sequence must be considered.

The two types of variety is concerned with a set of objects, either at a

point in time or over a given time interval. The two measures of variety are

either object or element specific, but they become individual specific as well

when the owner of a collection of objects is identified. In general, we expect

the distribution of individuals’ variety measures to vary across the types of

objects or elements being observed.

IMPLICATION OF VARIED CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour varies from one individual to another individual. In

conclusion, the following is a list of varied consumer behaviour implications :

1. In most settings and for a major portion of all buyers, strong brand loyalty

is unattainable. Unproductive efforts to increase market shares and / or brand

loyalty should be avoided.

2. When large numbers of buyers want a different brand on successive purchase

occasions, a dominant market share cannot be attained by a single brand.

Instead, carefully positioned multiple-brand or multiple-product offerings are

required.

3. Buyers’ needs for information and stimulation determine the rate and type of

new product introductions that should be made in product classes dominated by

direct, interpersonal variety motives.

4. Buyers’ needs for socially relevant independence and identification

determines the types of new products and the rate with which they should be

introduced in product classes dominated by interpersonal motives. Not only must

the behaviour of buyers be monitored but also the behaviour of relevant social

influences must also be understood.

5. The motives for varied behaviour should be recognized and exploited in

marketing communications. For example, a small-market-share brand can emphasize

the change-of-pace or boredom-chasing benefits of occasionally switching to that

brand.

6. Since variety segments can be effectively developed, product positioning

efforts and marketing communications should exploit the homogeneity of each

segment and the between-segment differences.

7. The scope and nature of the uncontrollable and inexplicable influences must

be recognized by decision-makers to they can concentrate their efforts on those

factors which are subject to managerial control.

REFRENCES

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