Welcome to Topic 2: Buying Behaviour – Research and Trends.
Building on the understanding that consumer behaviour is interdisciplinary with many aspects to consumer purchase decisions, there is much that marketers need to be aware of. Buying behaviour is complex, and there is a lot to learn and understand. There are many ways to research to understand historical behaviour, identify current behaviour and investigate trends. Consumer researchers work for retailers, government, manufacturers, not-for-profit organisations, universities, marketing research firms across different industries and disciplines. You can find them in shopping centres interviewing shoppers, in laundromats conducting observations, in malls recruiting consumers for focus groups, running large scale polls online, or working in laboratories running sophisticated experiments. Consumer researchers work on many different topics capturing data on everyday household products, public policy issues, high tech installations, professional services but there are few limits to what can be investigated (Solomon 2020).
In this topic, you will learn:
- What consumer research is
- External secondary data sources for consumer research
- Primary consumer research tools
- Consumer behaviour trends.
These relate to the Subject Learning Outcomes:
- Explain the basic psychological and sociological principles, theories and models influencing consumer behaviour.
- Discuss the current trends in consumer behaviour and apply them to the marketing mix.
Welcome to your pre-seminar learning tasks for this week. Please ensure you complete these prior to attending your scheduled seminar with your lecturer.
Click on each of the following headings to read more about what is required for each of your pre-seminar learning tasks.
Read Appendix II and Chapter 2 (pp. 31-35 & 41-43) of the prescribed text - Solomon, MR 2020, Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being, 13th edn., Pearson Education Ltd.
Task: Take notes, in your reflective journal, on the key points of this reading for use in the seminar. You can access the reflective journal by clicking on ‘Journal’ in the navigation bar for this subject.
Read the following two (2) journal articles and summarise key insights from the articles in your own words. Submit your notes to your reflective journal.
- Utama, AAGS, Nair, RK, Cheng, WE, Kee, DMH, Chen, Z, Cheng, MR, Cheng, Z & Talesara, S 2021, ‘Influences of advertisements on buying behaviour’, International journal of accounting & finance in Asia Pacific, 4(3):17-30.
- Eger, L, LKomárková, L, Egerová, D & Mičíka, M 2021, ‘The effects of COVID-19 on consumer shopping behaviour: Generational cohort perspectives,' Journal of retailing and consumer services, 61(2021):1-11.
Watch the following videos:
- Management Adda 2020, Consumer research process |Marketing mix| Marketing research | How to do market research techniques!, streaming video, YouTube.
- FROOMLE 2020a, 5 Key trends in e-commerce personalization, streaming video, YouTube.
- FROOMLE 2020b, Consumer behaviour to keep top of mind in 2021, streaming video, YouTube.
- Van Belleghem, S 2020, 8 Customer experience trends for 2021, streaming video, YouTube.
Task: Identify five (5) key takeouts from the videos and add these to your reflective journal.
Watch the following video:
- Trend Hunter 2021, 2022 Trend report webinar – 2022 Trends, opportunities & consumer insights, streaming video, YouTube.
Task: Identify all key 2022 trends from the videos and submit your answers to your reflective journal.
Read and watch the following content.
This topic has discussion forum activities, which will enhance your knowledge and give you the opportunity to interact with your peers. You can access the activities by clicking on the following links. You can also navigate to the forum by clicking on 'MKT101 Subject Forum' in the navigation bar for this subject.
Select at least one of the following forums to respond to:
What is consumer research
Consumer research is defined as
The process and tools used to study consumer behavior(Schiffman & Wisenblit 2019, p. 419)
Researchers use primary research techniques and analyse secondary data to find answers to answer research questions. The most important and often difficult step in research is to define the research objective. The next step is to determine and collect relevant secondary data that may provide some initial answers. This process is often referred to as desktop research and sources may be internal or external. For example, internal data might exist in the form of company reports, audits, sales data, loyalty programs, customer inquiries, warranty cards, customer profiles or personas. It may also exist in large electronic data sets detailing customer online interaction with organisations (Hoyer et al. 2018).
A survey conducted by PwC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers) amongst senior executives found that highly data-driven organisations that have in-house data analytic and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities reported significant improvements in their decision-making processes (Stobierski 2019). For example, Netflix uses detailed subscriber profiles, data analytic models, and AI technology to discover customer behaviour and buying patterns that save them an estimated $1 billion. This, in turn, allowed the company to increase customer retention and lower its spending on content production (Motley Fool 2016).
“Big data ...Everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.” (Ariely 2013)
Consumer research process
As implied by Dan Ariely, a renowned behavioural economist from Duke University, in his 2013 ‘tweet’, the reality is that not every company has access to big data, data mining, data analytic and AI capabilities like the big online players (such as Apple, Amazon, IBM, Facebook, Netflix, Google and Microsoft). Instead, most companies have to rely on secondary data and primary research tools. Some external secondary data sources are free, while others can be expensive to secure from syndicated research companies. For example, free data includes government census data which marketers use to estimate the size of a market (Schiffman & Wisenblit 2019). After analysing secondary data, the next step is to conduct primary research to collect new data in the form of qualitative and/or quantitative research. Information may be collected from a few people or a large representative population sample. Qualitative studies are often referred to as motivational research as it seeks to identify hidden motivations and needs. Popular methods used are in-depth interviews and/or focus groups. Popular quantitative research techniques include surveys, experiments, and observational research. These tools use numerical data to quantify a problem that may relate to consumer opinions or consumer attitudes towards a product or brand (Schiffman & Wisenblit 2019).
External secondary sources for consumer research
| Secondary research | |
|---|---|
| Data source | External: government, industry, publications |
| Benefits | Lower cost, quicker |
| Disadvantages | Not specific, not current |
Consumer research can consist of both primary and secondary sources. Primary research sources are concerned with collecting data directly, such as surveys, and this will be discussed later in this topic. First, let’s take a look at external secondary sources for consumer research. Different organisations study consumer behaviour for various reasons, primarily to inform marketing decisions or protect consumers. Companies that have in-house marketing research have the advantage of collecting and synthesising data that competitors will not have access to. For example, large retail chains use electronic scanners to determine best-sellers and worst-sellers and understand how consumers respond to promotions, discounts, and coupons (Hoyer et al. 2018).
Some marketing research companies specialise in a particular type of research while others offer ‘full service’ performing various marketing research services. The GfK Group, for example, conducts brand awareness research, media research, in addition to consumer behaviour research. Companies such as PayPal, PepsiCo, and Intel, choose research firms specialising in neuroscience to help optimise their marketing messages and develop new products and services. Advertising agencies and media planning firms also conduct research to better understand what advertising messages and media will appeal to their clients’ target markets. IKEA, for example, asked MEC Global and Ogilvy & Mather to develop a marketing campaign to increase the amount its customers spend during each transaction. The agency researchers studied the 35-year-old IKEA customer and found that these shoppers associated IKEA with accessory merchandise but not major furniture pieces. Instead, these customers wanted to be inspired by creative ideas for their living spaces. Based on these consumer behaviour insights, the agencies developed a multimedia campaign (TV, print, online ads, brand community) that showcased how IKEA stores offer choices for furnishing entire rooms with personal flair using accessories and IKEA furniture sets. In addition, consumers were encouraged to publish photos of their rooms in the IKEA brand community to inspire other consumers. The campaign resulted in an overall sales increase of more than 7 per cent, and the sales of living room sets rose by 9 per cent (Hoyer et al. 2018).
The following are examples of some of the specific types of secondary consumer behaviour data.
Government secondary data
Government bodies and agencies collect lots of data about businesses, the economy, and the population at large. Great depositories of marketing-applicable information are available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and data.gov.au. The CIA’s World Factbook and studies prepared by the United Nations can also provide some interesting global data. State and local governments can also be beneficial for examining particular consumer behaviour topics (Schiffman & Wisenblit 2019).
Periodicals and articles
Business-relevant secondary data from magazines, newspapers, books, and periodicals are accessible via online search engines, for example, ProQuest and LexisNexis. These two engines provide access to major newspapers such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review. In addition, these sites also provide access to marketing journals and other marketing publications such as Marketing Research, Brandweek, Journal of Marketing, Advertising Age, Marketing News, Journal of Consumer Research, and European Journal of Marketing (Schiffman & Wisenblit 2019).
Syndicated research companies
Syndicated research services collect information about consumers and make this data available for commercial use. For example, Nielsen Media Research’s MyBestSegment or Roy Morgan’s Value Segments provide marketers with demographic and lifestyle profiles of consumers residing in the United States and Australia. Ipsos Mendelsohn collects information on magazine audience profiles used by advertisers. Some syndicated research firms maintain consumer panels that keep track of both individual and household purchases capturing products, brands, media habits, and much more. Some companies collect online data from their communities and discussion forums and then sell it to research firms and marketers (Schiffman & Wisenblit 2019).
Gathering secondary data before embarking on primary research offers several advantages. It may help researchers refine primary research studies' objectives, support the selection of the most suitable research tool, and inform questions. Researchers need to pay attention to the accuracy, timeliness, and suitability of secondary data.
Below you will find a list of academic journals, professional associations, governments, online companies, social media companies and search engines that publish data on consumer behaviour research. You may find these suitable for your Marketing Assessments and, of course, future employment or entrepreneurial endeavours.
Hint: Check out these resources when you start to research for your assignments.
|
Journals
|
Associations
|
|
Government
|
|
| There are also many professional consultancy firms and syndicated research firms that publish data on consumer research. Leading firms include: | |
|
Professional services and syndicated research firms
|
Other excellent sources
|
Primary and secondary data can provide unique insights that identify very different perspectives regarding the complex world of consumer behaviour once combined.
Primary consumer research tools
| Primary research | |
|---|---|
| Data source | Internal: survey, focus groups, observations |
| Benefits | Focussed, targeted, specific |
| Disadvantages | Expensive, takes longer |
Following secondary data analysis, marketers can use either qualitative or quantitative research to answer their specific research question. Qualitative studies (which involves words and meanings), such as depth interviews and focus groups, are well-established tools suited to generate new product ideas or understand how to best position a new product or service. The objective of the qualitative study will determine the type of interview and data instruments required, which are often based on open-ended and free-response type questions. Most qualitative research questions have their roots in psychoanalysis and clinical aspects of psychology and use visual materials to stimulate deep thinking.
The following table outlines various tools for primary research alongside a brief description for each.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Survey | A written instrument that asks consumers to respond to a predetermined set of research questions. |
| Focus group | A form of interview involving 8 to 12 people who, led by a moderator, discuss a product or other marketing stimulus. |
| Interview | One-on-one discussion in which an interviewer asks a consumer questions related to consumption behaviour and decisions. |
| Storytelling | Consumers are asked to tell stories about acquisition, usage or disposition experiences. |
| Photography and pictures | Showing photographs or pictures to consumers (or asking consumers to take photos or draw pictures) as a way to elicit comments about marketing stimuli. |
| Diaries | Asking consumers to maintain a written or online diary about product purchasing, media usage and related behaviour. |
| Experiments | Conducting experiments under laboratory conditions to determine whether and how specific marketing phenomena affect consumer behaviour. |
| Field experiments | Conducting experiments such as market tests in the real world, to determine actual consumer reaction to market stimuli. |
| Conjoint analysis | A research technique designed to determine the relative importance and appeal of different levels of an offering's attributes. |
| Observations and ethnographic research | Observing consumers at home or in stores to understand behaviour and gain insights that will lead to more effective marketing decisions. |
| Purchase panels | Tracking what consumers buy on different occasions or in different places. |
| Database marketing | Combining all research data about consumers and their purchases into a database that can be analysed to identify behaviour patterns as insights for developing marketing programs. |
| Netnography | Tracking and analysing online comments and consumer activities to understand consumers' thoughts, feelings and actions relative to marketing stimuli. |
| Psychophysiological reactions and neuroscience | Examining physiological reactions (e.g. eye movements) and applying neuroscience techniques (e.g. measuring brain activity) to understand consumer behaviour. |
Quantitative research, on the other hand, involves numbers and statistics. Primary data collection methods for quantitative research are questionnaires that can either be self-administered or conducted by an interviewer.
To engage respondents and motivate them to complete surveys, researchers aim to make the questions interesting, easy to understand, easy to complete, and unambiguous. Researchers consider the sequence of questions and include words that consumers are familiar with.
To assess customer attitudes, scale questions are used as primary measures, such as Likert scale, behaviour intention scales, semantic differential scales and rank-order scales. In a Likert scale, the level of “agreement” or “disagreement” with a series of statements can be measured. The semantic differential scale is expressed via a series of bipolar adjectives (for example, “expensive/inexpensive”, “good/bad,” “hot/cold,” “like/dislike”) anchored at a continuum of odd numbers (e.g. five or seven point).
Consumer behaviour intention scales can measure the likelihood that consumers will act in a certain way in the future, for example, purchasing a product repeatedly or recommending it to a friend. With a rank-order scale, respondents are asked to rank items in order of preference to evaluate quality or value for money, which can provide important insights for product design, positioning, or pricing improvements. Customer satisfaction surveys measure how satisfied the customers are with relevant features and attributes of a product or service. Mystery shoppers can reveal significant product and service improvements as service staff identify them as everyday consumers (Hoyer et al. 2018).
Researchers who study consumer behaviour in other countries need to understand social and cultural differences, the legal context, education and literacy levels, language requirements, and translation intricacies. A specific research tool applied in a Western country may not be appropriate in an Eastern country or may yield different data results due to different collection procedures and categorisation schemes. For example, if marketers in the US include both husbands and wives in a focus group to explore attitudes towards household furniture, the same approach would not work in a country such as Saudi Arabia or Japan (Hoyer et al. 2018).
Consumer behaviour trends
Do you find it hard to imagine a time when texting, Facebooking, Instagramming, Tweeting, Snapchatting, TikTocking, or pinning favourite items on Pinterest were not an accepted part of your daily life. You may just be a digital native?
Just ask your parents, they will remember it well. The digital revolution significantly influenced marketing and consumer behaviour during the last decade and continues to evolve at an accelerated pace. The internet and social media networks have revolutionised how consumers access people, places, products, services, virtual experiences at the click of a button 24/07. Consumers are always on and expect companies to respond in real-time. Consumers expect to find relevant content anytime, anywhere, in their desired format, and on a device of their choice, often crossing several digital platforms before making a purchase decision (online or offline). Consumers prefer applications that are responsive and offer easy navigation for their convenience. They enjoy a pleasant information-gathering research experience as much as the actual buying of a product. Some companies find it challenging to keep up with ever-changing consumer expectations and demands. We have entered a new digital era, The Internet of Things (IoT), which is a term that refers to “the growing network of interconnected devices embedded in objects that speak to one another” (Hoyer et al. 2018, p. 39). IoT enables autonomous vehicles, digital assistants (Siri & Alexa), smart automated homes, robots, machine learning (artificial intelligence (AI)), and machine-to-machine communication, which will eventually profoundly change our lives and habits (Hoyer et al. 2018).
Our society has also evolved from a mass culture to a diverse culture where consumers have an infinite number of choices, seek tailored products and services and personalised experiences. Marketers must identify key consumer trends in specific market segments. These trends are not about specific brands or styles in Vogue, but instead, underlying drivers and values that influence consumer behaviour. Consumer trend forecasting is big business, and many of the leading firms outlined in the previous paragraph, such as Euromonitor and GfK publish consumer trend reports that alert companies of changing consumer priorities. For example, over recent years, we have seen a trend from purchasing physical products to consuming experiences where people can connect. As marketers, it is crucial to track where the consumer is at and where they are going to ensure we reposition an existing product or launch a new one in time (which usually requires substantial lead time). It indeed still meets the needs and motivations of the consumer to stand a much better chance of success (Solomon 2020).
Solomon (2020, pp. 41-42) predict that the following consumer trends will impact future marketing strategies:
| Consumer trends | Predicted outcome |
|---|---|
| Sharing economy | Blurring of boundaries between producers and consumers and preference for leasing or renting over owning physical products. |
| Simplification | Priority on decluttering, owning less and experiencing more. |
| Authenticity and personalisation | Consumers prefer more individualised and curated products and experiences over mass-produced ones (artisanal products/maker movement). |
| Healthy and ethical living | A continued focus on wellness, physical fitness, and environmental sustainability. This priority is likely to divide along social class lines, as growing economic inequality makes it difficult for less affluent consumers to afford healthy and sustainable products. |
| Social shopping | Consumers often do not decide alone. They refer to reviews or ask their friends or family for immediate feedback, making shopping a committee decision rather than individual one. |
| Interconnection and the IoT | The rapid growth of AI will facilitate the popularity of wearable products and the growth of smart homes. |
Other trends to consider include diversity and multiculturalism, blurring of gender roles, and a desire for anonymity to avoid data hacking and cyberbullying.
Knowledge check
Complete the following three (3) tasks. Click the arrows to navigate between the tasks.
Key takeouts
Congratulations, we made it to the end of the second topic! Some key takeouts from Topic 2:
- Consumer research provides marketers with the insights required to make informed decisions about marketing programs to achieve desired results.
- Researchers use both primary and secondary research techniques to find answers to their research questions. Research is a process that consists of defining the research objective, collecting relevant secondary data, designing qualitative or quantitative research tools, conducting the research, analysing data, and preparing a report.
- Secondary data consists of internal and external data and reports available through government, journals, professional services, syndicated research firms, associations, and other sources.
- Tools for qualitative and quantitative primary research investigating consumer behaviour can include surveys, focus groups, interviews, experiments, observations and ethnographic research, purchase panels, neuroscience techniques and depends on the budget and time constraints of research projects.
- Our society has also evolved from a mass culture to a diverse culture where consumer behaviour keeps evolving. Consumers have an infinite number of choices and seek tailored products and services and personalised experiences. Therefore, marketers must stay abreast of key consumer trends in specific market segments to adopt products, services, and experiences based on current and future needs.
Welcome to your seminar for this topic. Your lecturer will start a video stream during your scheduled class time. You can access your scheduled class by clicking on ‘Live Sessions’ found within your navigation bar and locating the relevant day/class or by clicking on the following link and then clicking 'Join' to enter the class.
Click here to access your seminar.
The following learning tasks will be completed during the seminar with your lecturer. Should you be unable to attend, you will be able to watch the recording, which can be found via the following link or by navigating to the class through ‘Live Sessions’ via your navigation bar.
Click here to access the recording. (Please note: this will be available shortly after the live session has ended.)
In-seminar learning tasks
The in-seminar learning tasks identified below will be completed during the scheduled seminar. Your lecturer will guide you through these tasks. Click on each of the following headings to read more about the requirements for each of your in-seminar learning tasks.
This learning task will allow you to reflect on the pre-seminar learning tasks and share your thoughts with your peers. By this stage, you will have completed your pre-seminar learning tasks and have written these in your reflective journal.
Your lecturer will assign you to a breakout room to reflect on your notes and complete this worksheet. In your discussion consider how you may apply your new knowledge of consumer behaviour trends to a new business idea and/or entrepreneurial enterprise. If you are unable to attend the seminar, you can download a copy of the worksheet and save this in your reflective journal.
This learning task is a discussion on consumer behaviour research. Your lecturer will assign you to a breakout room during the seminar. Your responses can be completed in the worksheet (downloaded for Learning Task 1).
In your groups, answer the following questions:
- Have you ever participated in a consumer behaviour research study (for example, an interview, survey, focus group, field experiment etc.)? Share this with your group.
- What motivated you to participate in this consumer behaviour research study?
- How did you find the experience?
Now that your group have reflected on a personal experience you have had with consumer behaviour research, your group should discuss the meaning of the following statement is:
Consumer research helps marketers become more customer-focused to have better-designed products, better-designed information, and better-designed customer service.
Be prepared to present your group's reflection and key points to the class.
Welcome to your post-seminar learning tasks for this week. Please ensure you complete these after attending your scheduled seminar with your lecturer. Your lecturer will advise you if any of these are to be completed during your consultation session. Click on each of the following headings to read more about what is required for each of your post-seminar learning tasks.
This learning task will be completed during the consultation session.
For this learning task your lecturer will assign you to a breakout room to create a survey on consumer trends. You will be required to use Microsoft Forms (accessible via your Office 365 suite) and share a link to collaborate with your peers. See instructions here to share the collaboration link. Your survey must include a minimum of five (5) questions.
Once you have created your survey, generate a link to share your online survey and post the link and explanation of the purpose of your survey to Topic 2: Forum activity 3. See instructions to share a Microsoft Forms link.
After posting your survey link, select a survey link from your peers and complete their survey questions. Each member of the group should complete at least one (1) survey. By the end of the seminar, you will have some responses to your survey to share. See instructions to check your responses.
It is time to start preparing for Assessment 1. The first step is to prepare an outline and start researching content to include in your report. Use your reflective journal to save notes and relevant links.
Don’t forget to reach out to learning support to help you get started on your report.
Each week you will have a consultation session, which will be facilitated by your lecturer. You can join in and work with your peers on activities relating to this subject. These session times and activities will be communicated to you by your lecturer each week. Your lecturer will start a video stream during your scheduled class time. You can access your scheduled class by clicking on ‘Live Sessions’ found within your navigation bar and locating the relevant day/class or by clicking on the following link and then clicking 'Join' to enter the class.
Click here to access your consultation session.
Should you be unable to attend, you will be able to watch the recording, which can be found via the following link or by navigating to the class through ‘Live Sessions’ via your navigation bar.
Click here to access the recording. (Please note: this will be available shortly after the live session has ended.)
- Forbes Expert Panel 2021, 15 Consumer behavior trends emerging this year, Forbes Business Council.
- Charme, T, Coggins, B, Robinson, K & Wilkie, J 2020, The great consumer shift: Ten charts that show how US shopping behavior is changing, McKinsey.
- Brenner, M 2021, 5 Consumer behavior trends marketers are watching in 2021, Marketing Insider Group.
- Torkington, S 2021, The pandemic has changed consumer behaviour forever – and online shopping looks set to stay, World Economic Forum.
References
- Ariely, D 2013, Tweet, 3 January, Twitter, https://twitter.com/danariely/status/287952257926971392?lang=en
- Eger, L, LKomárková, L, Egerová, D & Mičíka, M 2021, ‘The effects of COVID-19 on consumer shopping behaviour: Generational cohort perspectives, Journal of retailing and consumer services, 61(2021):1-11.
- FROOMLE 2020a, 5 Key trends in e-commerce personalization, streaming video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5moEUjlImw
- FROOMLE 2020b, Consumer behaviour to keep top of mind in 2021, streaming video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDcXI0KENwY
- Hoyer, WD, MacInnis, DJ, Pieters, R, Chan, E & Northey, G 2018, Consumer behaviour, Asia-Pacific edn., Cengage Learning.
- Hunter, T 2021, 2022 Trend report webinar – 2022 Trends, opportunities & consumer insights, streaming video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pC4oBDaWUE
- Management Adda 2020, Consumer research process |Marketing mix| Marketing research | How to do market research techniques!, streaming video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJLFn68i8Ik
- Motley Fool, 2016, How Netflix's AI saves it $1 billion every year, https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-netflixs-ai-saves-it-1-billion-every-year-2016-06-19
- Schiffman, LG & Wisenblit, JL 2019, Consumer behavior, 12th edn., Pearson Education Ltd.
- Sethna, Z & Blythe, J 2019, Consumer behaviour, Asia-Pacific edn., Sage Publications Ltd.
- Solomon, MR 2020, Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being, 13th edn., Pearson Education Ltd.
- Stobierski, T 2019, The Advantages of data-driven decision-making, https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/data-driven-decision-making
- Trend Hunter, 2021, 2022 Trend report webinar – 2022 Trends, opportunities & consumer insights, streaming video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pC4oBDaWUE
- Utama, AAGS, Nair, RK, Cheng, WE, Kee, DMH, Chen, Z, Cheng, MR, Cheng, Z & Talesara, S 2021, ‘Influences of advertisements on buying behaviour’, International journal of accounting & finance in Asia Pacific, 4(3):17-30.
- Van Belleghem, S 2020, 8 Customer experience trends for 2021, streaming video, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPBxw0qYkPE
