1. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Post Graduate Dipl in Fashion Buying & Mgmt
Marketing the Fashion Brand
Amanda Ratcliffe

2. “Marketing Managers are not in charge anymore
........consumers are.”
(Wipperfuerth, 2006)

3. Objectives
 Why consumer behaviour is important to strategic
planning
 How an individual’s make-up affects consumption
behaviour
 The factors which affect consumer buying decisions
 A variety of models to better explain CBB
 The strategic implications of consumer buyer behaviour

4. Some definitions of Consumer Buyer
Behaviour
 “The behaviour consumers display in searching for, buying,
using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that
they expect will satisfy their needs” (Schiffman & Kanuk,
1994)
 “…an investigation into the way individuals make decisions on
how to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on
personal & household products.” (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2000)
 …the consumer may act as buyer, payer, user or any
combination of these roles at a time” (Sheth, 2001)

5. Think of a fashion item that you
bought recently…
 What was it?
 How did you find out about its availability?
 Did you consult with anyone else over this
purchase?
 Where did you buy it from?
 When did you buy it?
 How did you pay for it?
 Would you buy it again?

6. Defining Consumer Behaviour
Definition
…the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select,
purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to
satisfy needs and desires (Solomon).
Key Concepts
Processes Individuals/Groups
Select,Purchase, Products, Services,
Use, Dispose Ideas, Experiences

7. Customer Types
Organisational
Private Consumers
Customers
Purchase:
Purchase: For use in the operation of a
business or organisation.
 To manufacture other products
For personal or household use
 For resale to others
ORGANISATIONAL
CONSUMER PRODUCT PRODUCT
2

8.  Consumers can be buyers or users… or
both!
 Consumers can act as individuals or on
behalf of an organisation
 Fashion designers have two markets – the
fashion buyer and the consumer

9. Consumer behaviour
Aims Measurement
Understanding Predicting
Describing
Fashion consumers
Market
Target markets
Research
Fashion channels
methods
Marketing mixes

10. A Simplified Model of Consumer Decision Making

11. Individual Factors
 Motivation - An activated state that causes a person to
initiate goal-directed behaviour.
 Motive - An aroused need that energises behaviour and
directs it towards a goal.
 Need - The gap between actual and desired states.
 Incentive - Something believed capable of satisfying a
particular motive.

12. Factors affecting Consumer Behaviour
 Cultural factors
 Social factors
 Personal factors
 Psychological factors

14. Culture
 Culture: “ the concepts, values and tangible items (such as
buildings and foods) that make up a particular society”
(Dibb et al, 2001)
 Culture is the source of most of our values, norms, and roles.
 The term culture is very difficult to define clearly, it encompasses so
much about the way a society lives.
 A culture consists of values, beliefs, and customary behaviours learned
and shared by the members of a particular society.
 Culture undergoes change over time – slowly
 Rapid change can occur as a result of outside pressures These can
impact quickly on the nature of markets.
 Cultural shifts

15. Culture and consumer behaviour

16. Subcultures
 Subcultures: “Sub-divisions of culture according to geographic
regions or human characteristics, such as age or ethnic
background.” (Dibb et al, 2001)
 Within a society there is a dominant culture.
 However, there are also cultural differences. These can be
based on;
 Geography (Counties; Provinces, Countries eg Scandinavia)
 Language: Gaeltacht? Belgium 2 Languages, Switzerland)
 Age: Tweenies, Teenagers, “Grey Power”
 Lifestyle: Punks, Surfers etc


17. Social factors
 Group Theory advocates the importance of Reference Groups :
 “Actual or imaginary individual sor groups conceived of
having significant relevance upon an individual’s
evaluations, aspirations or behaviour” (Solomon et al,
1999)
 The set of individuals with whom individuals compare
themselves to guide their attitudes, knowledge and or
behaviour
 Family, friends, colleagues, clubs, organisations etc.
 Aspirational; Football clubs, Celebrities etc.
 Associative (those of which we are a member & with whom we identify)
 Dissociative groups

18. Social factors cont’d
 Reference groups influence CBB by
 Exposing persons to new behaviours & lifestyles
 Influencing attitudes & self concept
 Creating pressures to conform
 Group influence varies across product & brand

19. Social Factors: Family
Family
 The most powerful social group in any society
 Learn within the family
- what to believe
- how to behave
- what needs are socially accepted
 Who is the decision-maker within the family?

20. Sociological factors
 Social groups
 Norms of dress
 The family
 Women buying men’s underwear for them
 Geodemographics

21. Who Buys?
The Buying Decision Making
Process
Buyer Gatekeeper
Decider
(Decision
Maker)
User Influencer
Initiator
5

22. Irish Social Classification (mrbi)
Grade % of Heads of Description
household
AB 10 Upper middle, middle class
C1 20 Lower middle class
C2 25 Skilled working class
DE 30 Other working class; those at
lowest level of subsistence
F1 8 Large farmers
F2 7 Small farmers; farm labourers

23. Personal factors
 Age
 Family life cycle stage
 Occupation
 Economic status
 Lifestyle
 Personality & self-concept

24. Life cycle stages
Middle-aged
divorced no
children
Young Middle-aged
divorced no married no
children children
Empty Empty
Young Young Middle-
At home nester nester Solitary
couple no parents aged
single married married retired
children parents
working retired
Young M-aged M-aged
On own divorced divorced divorced
young with with no dep’nt
children children children
On own
middle-aged
D Jobber, Principles and Practice of Marketing, © 1998 McGraw-Hill 13

25. M&S: Lifestage Typologies
 Carefree
 Kids are us
 Family Ties
 Freedom Finders
 Golden Years

26. Personality
 Lifestyle
 Self image
 how we see ourselves
 Ideal self image
 how we like to see ourselves
 Social self image
 how we think we are seen
 Ideal social self image
 how we would like others to see us

27. The Extended Self
 External objects that we
consider a part of us
 Youare what you drive &
wear
 Levels of extended self
 Individual
 Family
 Community
 Group
ALLMYLIFEFORSALE.COM

28. Psychological factors
 Motivation
 Perception
 Learning
 Beliefs & attitudes

30. Motivation: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Physiological Needs  Esteem Needs
 Water,  Feeling of self-worth,
 Success,
 Food,
 Prestige,
 Air
 Self-Actualisation
 Safety Needs
 Becoming all that one is
 Protection, shelter
capable of being,
 Social Needs  Self-fulfilment
 Acceptance, People endeavour to satisfy a
 Affection, number of these daily
 Depending on age, income,
 Feelings of belonging,
country etc
 Friendship,

31. Adapted pyramid of needs for fashion
products

32. Sheth’s 5 Sets of Needs
 Functional Needs
 “does what it says on the
 Epistemic Needs
tin..”
 Express tendency to
 Social Needs explore the unknown
 More sophisticated
 Travel, books, courses
 Goods & services that
 Situational Needs
provide assocs. With certain
 Contingent on time & place
societal segments
 Brands  Unplanned
 Emotional Needs
 Express love, regret etc  Needs become motives
when they drive us to act

33. Two High-End Watches for Different
Psychological Segments

34. Perception
 The process by which people select, organise and
interpret information to form a meaningful
picture of the world
 Affects how we act
 People form different perceptions due to
 Selective exposure
 Selective attention
 Selective distortion
 Selective retention

35. Lacoste’s campaign uses a very plain
background so the symbol really shows.

36. Beliefs & Attitudes
 Attitudes describe a person’s relatively consistent evaluations,
feelings and tendencies towards an object or idea
 Belief: a descriptive thought that a person holds about something
 Beliefs make up product & brand images
 Favourable attitudes are NB for marketers – much more
profitable than turning around a negative one
 Persuasion: either by
 Targeting existing attitudes (Because you’re worth it…)
or
 Modifying the target audience’s point of view (Dove Pro
Age)

37. Learning
 Knowledge of brands, sizes, stores, preferences
 Learn through experience
 Learn through family and peers

38. Learning and LTM
 Learning describes changes in an individual’s behaviour arising
from experience
 Learning represents changes in the content or organisation of
information in consumers’ long-term memories
 Marketing communicators attempt to alter consumers’ long-term
memories, knowledge structures, by facilitating learning of
information that is compatible with the marketer’s interest

39. The Learning Process
Drive
Stimuli
Cue
Response
Reinforcement

40. Choice Criteria used when Evaluating
Alternatives
Technical- Social-
Reliability Status
Durability Social belonging
Convention
Performance
Fashion
Style/looks
Comfort
Delivery
Convenience Economic- Personal-
Taste Price Self-image
Value for money Risk reduction
Running costs Morals
Residual value Emotions
Life style costs
5

41. Decision Making
 How do consumers make their choices?
 An important determinant is the situation in which a
decision is made.
 Three categories of consumer decision-making
behaviour:
 Routinised response behaviour,
 Limited problem solving, and
 Extensive problem solving.

42. The consumer decision-making process and level of
purchase involvement
Stage Low Involvement High Involvement
Need recognition Major personality
Minor important
problem awareness
Information search Limited search Extensive search
Evaluation of Few alternatives Many alternatives
alternatives and the evaluated on few evaluated on many
purchase choice criteria choice criteria
Purchase Decision Uncomplicated / Complex decision rules
impulse Compensatory ?
Post-purchase Limited evaluation Extensive evaluation
evaluation of the media search
alternatives
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43. Opinion leadership
 Influence exerted when a consumer is faced with
choice
 Information is both sought from and/or given by the
OL
 Fashion marketers ‘create’ opinion leaders

44. Consumer Types - Diffusion

45. A modern view of consumer behaviour

46. Consumer Behaviour Is Interdisciplinary
 Psychology
 Sociology
 Social psychology
 Anthropology
 Economics

47. Why study consumer behaviour?
 (Micro) Marketing Implications
 Marketing Concept
 Market Segmentation
 Influencing Product/Service Choices
 (Macro) Societal Implications
 Understanding Popular Culture--e.g., Lady Gaga, Nike, the
Oscars
 Understanding Consumer Culture around the World--e.g.,
Christmas as a Global Holiday
 How does Marketing Affect Consumers?--e.g., Happiness, Envy,
Materialism
 An increasingly significant part of human behaviour

48. Strategic Implications of Consumer Behaviour
 Contemporary marketers rely on CB to increase effectiveness in
light of increasingly complex env’t
 Market research: qualitative & quantitative data
 Increasing importance of psychographics
 Market segmentation
 Brand / product postioning (Burberry / chav disaster)
 Symbolism & semiotics: the study of meaning
 Use of logos; hi-impact packaging; animation
 Product innovation & value decisions
 Brands judged relative to others
 Use of perceptual maps

49. Developments in Consumer Behaviour
 E-shopping: Vast consumer choice
 Growth of global / international marketing:
 The “euro”consumer ?
 The global consumer?
 Deviant consumer behaviour (I know I shouldn’t but..)
 Ethical implications for marketers
 Economic psychology:
 Choice conflict (among equally reputable brands)
 Loss / regret aversion