Scope of Consumer Behaviour

The scope of consumer behaviour is the wide variety of activities, consumer engage in as they research, buy, use and dispose-off products. The scope of consumer behaviour is discussed below:

Scope of Consumer Behaviour

1. Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Management:  Effective business managers realize the importance of marketing to the success of their firm. Marketing may be defined as, ”The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individuals and organizational objectives”. A sound understating of consumer behaviour is essential to the long-run success of any marketing program. In fact, it seen as a cornerstone of the marketing concept, an important orientation of philosophy of captured in three interrelated orientations consumer’s needs and wants, company objectives and integrated strategy.

2. Consumer Behaviour and Non-profit and Social Marketing:  Can crime prevention, charitable contributions, or the concept of family planning be sold to people in much the same way that some business firms sell soap? A number of writers have suggested that various social and non-profit organizations can be viewed as having services or idea that they are attempting to market to target group of “consumers” or constituents. Such organizations include governmental agencies, religious orders, universities, and charitable institutions. Often these groups must also appeal to the public for support in addition to attempting to satisfy some want or need in society. Clearly, a sound understanding of consumer decision processes can assist their efforts.

3. Consumer Behaviour and Government Decision-Making: In the recent years the relevance of consumer-behaviour principles to governmental decision-making has become quite evident. Two major areas of activity have been affected:

1. Government Services: It is increasingly evident that government provision of public services can benefit significantly from an understanding of the consumers, or users, of these services. Numerous analysts have noted that frequently failing mass-transportation systems will not be viable alternatives to private automobile travel until government planners fully understand how to appeal to the wants and need of public.
2. Consumer Protection: Many agencies at all levels of government are involved with regulating business practices for the purpose of protecting consumer’s welfare. Some government programs are also designed to influence certain consumer action directly (such as the use of auto seatbelts) and discourage others (speeding, drug abuse, and so on).

4. Consumer Behaviour and Demarketing: It has become increasingly clear that consumers are entering an era of scarcity in terms of some natural gas, and even water. These scarcities have led to promotions stressing conservation to encourage reduction of electrical use serves as one illustration.

In other circumstances, consumers have been encouraged to decrease or stop their use of particular goods to believe to have harmful effects. Programs designed to reduce drugs abuse, gambling and similar types of consumption are examples. These actions have been undertaken by government agencies, nonprofit organisations and other private groups. The term “demarketing” refers to all such efforts to encourage consumers to reduce their consumption of a particular products or service.

5. Consumer Behaviour and Consumer Education: Consumer also stands to benefit directly from orderly investigations of their own behaviour. This can occur on an individual basis or as a part of more formal educational programs. For example, when consumers learn that a large proportion of the billions spent annually on grocery products is used for impulse purchases and not spent according to preplanned shopping lists, consumer may be more willing to plan purchases in an efforts to save money. In general, as marketers discover the variables that can influence consumer purchases, marketers have the opportunity to understand better how they affect their own behaviour.