CHAPTER 1 Understanding Consumer Behaviour CHAPTER SUMMARY The goal of this chapter is to introduce students to the topic of consumer behaviour. The chapter defines what consumer behaviour is, what factors affect it, and why it should be studied. In this chapter, the topics to be discussed include (1) what consumer behaviour is, (2) what factors affect it, (3) who benefits from studying it, and (4) how marketers apply consumer behaviour concepts. Consumers’ motivation, ability and opportunity (MAO) affect their decisions. These factors influence what consumers are exposed to, what they attend to and what they perceive, how they categorise or interpret information, how they form and change attitudes and how they form and retrieve memories. Each of these aspects of the psychological core has a bearing on consumer decision making. Decision making itself is based on problem recognition and the search for information, involves some judgement and decision-making processes and affects others’ decisions as well as one’s own postdecision satisfaction level. Consumer behaviour thus also includes recycling and disposition behaviours. Furthermore, consumer decisions are affected by the consumer’s culture, defined as the myriad groups and social systems to which individuals belong, that influence the values and beliefs they hold and the symbols they use to communicate group membership. Factors associated with both the psychological core and culture can influence outcomes such as symbolic consumer behaviour and the diffusion of new consumer behaviour throughout a market. The study of consumer behaviour also necessitates an understanding of ethics – the situations in which consumers and marketers may act unethically to obtain benefits. Studying consumer behaviour can provide useful input to marketing strategies like market segmentation, target market selection and positioning. It can also guide marketing tactics like product, pricing, distribution and promotion decisions. Furthermore, the study of consumer behaviour can be of interest to ethicists and consumer advocacy groups and can be helpful in designing laws and regulations that protect consumers. Finally, it can help consumers to improve their own lives by making the environment more user friendly, safer, cleaner and healthier.