Mind Mapping Consumer Behaviour — (Part 3)
This is last post to my series on mind-mapping consumer behaviour.
So far I had discussed about how brands persuade consumers to buy or invest in a product (Part 1) and various factors that directly or indirectly influence someone’s decision while making a purchase (Part 2).
Let’s talk about Hedonism and Utilitarianism.
Hedonism is the cult of pleasure. In consumer behavior, it refers to pleasurable aspect of consumption. (Source: Hirschmann, 1982)
For example, the smell of a body moisturizer rather than its ability to keep the skin soft and supple or the fine dining where the presentation and the smell of the food is priorities over the nutritional value.
As designers we always aim to design products that induce some emotional reaction in the users. Succesful product forms a positive attachment with its users, making their life simpler or a sense of belonging.
Hedonism is sometimes considered opposite of utilitarianism, which is the cult of practicality. Utilitarian products may include cleaning products, energy (electricity, fuel), basic food. (Source: Blythe, 2013)
A good balance of hedonic and utilitarian features, would make a product desirable for the user.
Hedonist behavior encourages consumption. Today, we have a consumer society. We perceive ourselves with respect to what we consume rather than what we produce. All of this consumption activities, helps us build an identity, define what we are and what we do.
This brings us to next interesting concept of perception and branding — How we define ourselves and the ways this defines our buying behavior.
Perception is a result of all the input that one process and forms an opinion about a situation. An individuals perception about a subject could be radically different from his peer’s. The factor affecting perception are:
- Subjectivity — Judging everything from personal point of view
2. Categorisation — The pigeonhole of information and prejudging events and products
3. Selectivity — The part of perception that deals with rejecting unnecessary stimuli
4. Expectation or Past experience — Existing information and attitudes that cause people to interpret information in a specific way(Source: Blythe, 2013)
Branding is all about perception. Brands try building an image that is most favorable, by building great products, store experience (decor, salesperson service, in-store music), after sale services, offers and deals.
Steve Jobs loved having full control of the user experience of all Apple products, from hardware to software, everything was integrated into a closed end-to-end integration. It was this love for controlling the customer experience, he came up with idea for Apple stores wherein he could control the experience for buying an Apple product. Jobs recruited Millard “Mickey” Drexler to design trial Apple stores.
On May 19, 2001, first Apple store opened in Tyson’s corner, Virginia, with gleaming white counters, bleached wood floors and a huge “Think Different” poster. Average footfall in Apple store was 250 a week. By 2004 Apple stores were averaging to 5,400 visitors a week. That year the stores had $ 1.2 billion in revenue, setting a record in retail industry for reaching the billion-dollar milestone.(Source: Isaacson, 2012)
Perception and choices of an individual also depends on the cultural background, his social circle and attitude. All these factors can be classified under sociological issues.
Sociological issues in consumer behavior
“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ” — Aristotle
Our social class and culture is derived from people around us and the place we live in. We tend to buy things which are approved from society for us, or product which help us maintain a status or make us belong to a group. The environment of an individual includes social and physical environment. The social environment consists of people that we interact with and with those we are directly or indirectly involved. The physical environment includes environment that has to deal with visual and sensory experiences.
If we take an example of two types scenarios; one that of a shopping mall in an urban locality and the other of a traditional market. If a same product is sold in both places, the perceived value of the same product is different for both the settings. The customer behavior is affected by the environment that he or she experiences moreover by the fellow shoppers’ social status.
Brands also use cultural bonding, to build up brand image and association. Positioning statements typically identify the set of associations ( benefits, quality, user imagery etc.) that the brand should own.(Source: Holt, 2004) Marketers also understand the importance of social ‘identity’. One way this is used in advertising, is by having celebrities to endorse a product. Some examples are: Virat Kohli (Pepsi), Amitabh Bachchan (Gujarat Tourism) and Neymar Jr.(Nike).
Case study of Coca-Cola advertisements
Coca-cola is great example for emotional branding. In United states, Coke was originally launched through mind share techniques — as a nerve tonic, hangover cure and stimulant for brain. But beginning with its innovative advertising and public relations during World War II, Coke was soon transformed into Iconic brand.
The Coca-cola company shipped Coke to the troops on the front lines and celebrated the war effort in blizzard of print ads. People started relating Coke with national pride and formed a significant emotional bond.
By late 1960s, with civil right protest and youth culture disenchanted with companies, Coke came up with a campaign that centered on the slogan “It’s the Real Thing.” The television ad “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” was released in the U.S. in July, 1971, and the response was immediate and dramatic. The ad campaign was an instant hit. The company was successful in establishing a connection that many American found symbolic with their identity as citizens. The ad conveyed that an act as simple as sharing a Coke could heal intractable social divides.(Source: Holt, 2004)
Consumer behavior is affected by many factors. It is a complex response to all the external stimuli that influences our decisions to buy or consume.
The aspects on which an individual relates to the brand or a product keeps changing based on his changing environment and priorities. With changing technology, now user’s are more inclined towards having better product experience.
Understanding the consumer behaviour and decision patterns will help the designers empathise with the users. All these factors should be taken in consideration right from conception of the product. This will definetly improve the user satisfaction of the product or service, and eventually help the brand stand out from rest of the competitors.