Market Psycogology - Consumer Behaviour

INTRODUCTION.

Consumer Behaviour according to Bennett (1989) in Blythe (2008) is "The dynamic interaction that affects cognition , behaviour and environmental by humans which conduct the exchange processes in their lives". In this above definition it shows that there are three sciences involved in understanding consumer behaviour; Sociology, Psychology and Anthropology. This review will focus on three psychological theories named: Perception, Memory and Learning and how these theories are applied by marketers to effect changes in consumer behaviour.

LITRETURE REVIEW.

Perception is one of the key theories used by marketers in understanding consumer behaviour. Although it has been rarely researched on, but there is a clear indication that it is of high relevance in determining consumer behaviour. According to Hilton et al (2010 pg.266) ""Managers perceptions affect their actions" {Verdu,Gomez-Gras & Volberda 2006,p6},then it is likely that consumer perceptions also affect their purchasing actions"

Perception by Assael (2004 pg 146) is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets stimuli into a coherent picture. Different schools of thought ({Assel 2004{148); Antonides et al 1998{112} Arnould et al 2004{300}) are all in cohesion on the fact that for a perceptive action to be made there is the need to employ various sensory organs. With the visual organ being one of the strongest means with which conclusions on which how consumers perceive their immediate environment are drawn. But in the case of this study, it is their immediate business environment.

The mind is a phenomenal thing. A person instantly perceives even random or accidental events as meaningful (Bloomer.C, 1976{pg 11}) hence the importance of perception to the marketer. It is imperative that the marketers portray the product in the way it would like to be perceived in its entirety (packaging, distribution channels etc), in a way that it will be remembered by the target market in order to affect the consumers purchasing habits because" the mind cannot give equal attention to every stimulus that impinges it" (Bloomer 1976{pg 13}). Consumers assembles information to construct a map of what is going on in the outside world (Blythe.J, 2008 pg94) perceptual mapping are factor to subjectivity , categorization, selectivity, expectation and past experiences. Marketers understanding of these factors help in creating advertising campaigns that trigger the right kind of association in the consumer, which they need to influence buying behaviour.

There are different ways or routes to creating perception, routes by auditory processors, visual processors and kinaesthetic processors (Blythe.J. {2008})Perception through visual associations has been proven to be the most effective way of creating valuable memory associations