the changing behavior of consumers in retailing

8/10/2019 The Changing Behavior of Consumers in Retailing

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THE CHANGING BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS IN

RETAILING

Modern Distribution has suffered various changes in the last eras in terms of the stores design and varietyof offers (products, services and brands) and price schemes. It is one of the zone with the highest rate of

hire significantly contributing to the national GD and a mature mar!et with a increasing number of

individuals gradually informed and very demanding, able to gather different information about products

and services and aware of the need to save money but !een for brands that wonders them.

"ith the evolution of the digital mediums, consumers are becoming increasingly stylish, connected and

have high e#pectations of the retail e#perience. $nline retail is now surrounded in consumer%s behavior

and will force changes to the traditional retail operative mode, those retailers that do not transfer to the

new model will not continue. Good shopping e#periences, both in online and offline stores, lead to

satisfaction that leads to promise and, therefore, rises the chance for the customer to become &oyal (and

recommend the online and off line store to their closest contacts).

Factors affecting consumer e!a"iour

i# Cu$tura$ factors

'ultural factors have come from the different components related to culture or cultural environment from

which the customer belongs.

%# Cu$ture an& societa$ cu$ture'

'ulture is important when it comes to understand the needs and behaviors of an individual. hroughout

his e#istence an individual will be influenced by his family or his friends and his cultural environment

and society that will teach% him values and preferences as well as shared behaviors to their own culture.

*or a brand, it is important to understand and ta!e into account the cultural factors inherent to each

mar!et or to each situation in order to adapt its product and its mar!eting tactic. +s these will play a role

in the perception, habits and behavior or e#pectations of consumers. *or e#ample, McDonald%s is a

brilliant e#ample of adaptation to the specificities of each culture and each mar!et. ery well aware of

the importance to have an offer with specific products to meet the needs and tastes of consumers from

different cultures, the fast-food giant has for e#ample. +ll the materials used by McDonald%s in +rabic

and Muslim countries are certified halal. he fast food chain has not offering any product with bacon and

por!.

(# Su)cu$ture'


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+ society is composed of a number of sub-cultures in which people can find. ubcultures are groups of

people who share the same values based on a common e#perience and similar lifestyle in general.

ubcultures are the nationalities, religion sand ethnic groups, age groups and gender of the individual etc.

he subcultures are often considered by the brands for the splitting up of a mar!et in order to adapt a

product or a communication strategy to the values or the specific desires of this segment. *or e#ample in

recent years the segment of ethnic% cosmetics has greatly e#tended. hese are products more suited to

non-'aucasian peoples and to types of s!in pigmentation for +frican, +rab or Indian peoples for e#ample.

ii# Socia$ factors

ocial factors are among the factors influencing customer behavior significantly. hey are as follows/

%# Reference grou*s an& memers!i*s grou*s'

he membership groups of an every individual are social groups to which they belongs and which will

influence them. he membership groups are usually associated to its social origin, age and place of

residence, wor!, hobbies and leisure, etc. Mostly, reference groups are defined as those that offer to the

individual some points of contrast more or less direct about his behavior, lifestyle, desires and consumer

habits. o they influence the image that the individual has himself as well as his behavior. "hether it is

membership group or non-membership group.

(# Fami$+'

he family is may be the most influencing factor for every individual. It create an environment of

socialization in which an individual will change, will shape his personality and attain values. 0ut also

develop attitudes and opinions on several sub1ects such as politics, society and social relations or himself

and his needs. 0ut also on his customer habits his perception of brands and the products he purchase. "e

all !ept for several of us and for some products and brands, the same purchasing habits and consumption

patterns that the ones we had !nown in our family. *or e#ample if you have never drun! 'o!e during

your babyhood and your parents have defined it as a product full of sugar and not good for health%. here

is very less chance that you are going to purchase it when you will grow up that someone who drin!s

'o!e since childhood.

iii# ,ersona$ factors

Decisions and purchasing behavior are obviously also influenced by the characteristics of each customer.

2. Age an& -a+ of $ife/


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+ buyer does not buy the same products or services at the age of 34 or 54 years. he lifestyle, values, and

environment, activities, hobbies and customer habits change throughout his life.

*or e#ample during the life, a customer could change his diet from unhealthy products to a healthier diet

and during mid-life with family earlier needing to follow a little later a low cholesterol diet to elude

health problems.

(# ,urc!asing *o-er an& re"enue'

he buying power of an individual will have of course, a significant influence on his behavior and buying

decisions based on his income and his capital. his obviously affects what he can afford and his

perspective on money and the level of importance of price in his buying decisions. 0ut it also plays a role

in the !ind of retailers where he goes or the !ind of brands he purchase. +s for social status, some

customers may also loo! for the social value% of products they purchase in order to show e#ternal

indications% of their incomes and their level of buying power.

.# Lifest+$e'

he lifestyle of an individual comprises all of its activities, interests, values and opinions. he lifestyle of

a customer will influence on his behavior and buying decisions. *or e#ample a customer with a healthy

and balanced lifestyle will select to eat organic products and go to specific grocery stores, will do some

1ogging regularly (and therefore will purchase shoes, clothes and specific products) etc.

i"# ,s+c!o$ogica$ factors

+mong the factors the factors influencing customer behavior, psychological factors can be divided into

various categories such as motivation, perception and learning.

%# Moti"ation'

Motivation is what will drive customers to develop a buying behavior. It is the e#pression of a want is

which became pressing enough to lead the customer want to satisfy it. It is generally wor!ing at a

subconscious level and is 6uite difficult to measure.

(# Learning'


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&earning is done through action. "hen we act and we learn. It indicates a change in the behavior resulting

from the e#perience. he learning changes the performance of an individual as he obtains information and

e#perience. *or e#ample you are sic! after drin!ing mil!, you have a bad e#perience, you associate the

mil! with this state of discomfort and you learn% that you should not drin! mil!. herefore, you will not

buy mil! anymore.

.# ,erce*tion'

erception is the way through which an individual chooses, organizes and then interprets the

information which he receives in order to do something that ma!es sense. he perception of a

condition at a given time may decide if and how the consumer will act.

%# Bu+ing Be!a"iour

+lthough we are living an economic crisis and there is no disbelief that this atmosphere is shifting

buying behaviors, there are still chances for the new distribution players because the consumers will last

to evolve and modern distribution should evolve with them (Gibson, 3423).'onsiderate the current

mar!et in its several areas of trade must go outside studying the economic process to accepting mar!eting

strategies that involves producing and distributing consumer goods or services .he consumer has played

such a vital role in the mar!et since the 2784%s that science, such as sociology, anthropology, economy,

sociology and management have been studying him companies try to define the right planning

approaches, using mar!et research and study%s results to create positive relationships with consumers, as

they wish to satisfy their needs and desires. 9aw!ins and 'oney (3442) state that the consumer behavior

is the study of people, sets of people and societies and the processes that are created for selecting,attaining, using and classifying consumer goods and services, encouraging ideas and e#periences that

please their desires and wants: it also studies the effect of these processes both in public and in private

ingesting. $ther authors are inclined to find the study of consumer behavior as the set of physical and

intellectual activities played out by consumers as a result of their decisions, the manner in which they

pursue, pic!, buy and use products and services to satisfy a latent need (;hrenber et al2774, ;ngel 2eference groups and *amily), the mar!eting influencing

factors (rice, roduct, romotion and lacement) and the situational influencing factors (physical

atmosphere, social atmosphere, weather, nature of the 1ob and individual?s physical situation). Inspirationis another factor for several authors: han! (3443) said that motivation is an internal force that draws the

consumer behavior towards the satisfaction of wants. o ma!e a purchase the consumer uses motivation

to satisfy a need that was generated from desire. +ccording to ;ngel et al (2774) motivation is where

ingesting starts, where it all arises, with the ac!nowledgement of a need. In fact, motivation is energetic

factor that is always fluctuating because once a previous set of needs are fulfilled, new ones arise. "hat

outcomes consensual is the fact that the consumer buying process is understood as learning, information

processing and decision ma!ing activity, divided in numerous subse6uent steps/ problematic

identification, info research, substitutions evaluation, purchasing decision and post-purchase behavior


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(0ettman2757, Dibb et al 3442, @obber 3442, 0oyd et al 3443, Aotler2775, and 0rassington B etit

344C). *or every company it is very essential to detect the elements on this decision process, to identify

the changes occurring in the persons over the time and to prepare suitable answers, in the form of

products or services (>ousseau344


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temporary feeling, one can feel satisfied with a product%s performance a service and an attendance action

(&oveloc! 3442).+ccording to Aotler (3444 p.8


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/# Lo+a$t+

he first step towards consumer loyalty is consumer satisfaction and several times erroneous for loyalty

itself satisfaction is happened by a repeat buying behavior and loyalty is materialized prior to the

purchasing decision process so loyalty materializes in intention or willingness to repeat an ac6uisition.+ccording to >eich heled (277) there are two types of loyalty- consumers who are loyal to the point of

sale (the customer !nows in which point of sale their favorite products or brands can be found and there is

low ris! involved) and the consumer that is loyal to the brand (when the consumer has already bought and

!nows what to e#pect then the ris! is automatically reduced) being loyal to a brand is revealed in the

consumer%s action of purchasing a specific product or brand. eth and obel (3442) also mention two

types of loyalty- loyalty behavior and loyalty attitudes. here is loyalty behavior when the consumer re-

purchases and which indicates that the consumer is satisfied with the product. &oyalty attitude e#ists

when the consumer%s motivation to buy a company%s product is handiness or force of habit. he authors

said that this type of loyalty builds unstable relationships and if rivals offer better conditions this buyer

will not be immune.

C!anges in Consumer

%# 0it! t!e gro-ing use of t!e internet an& t!e continuous a&o*tion for ne- tec!no$og+ a

consi&era$e numer of in&i"i&ua$s start en1o+ing to u+ing on$ine an& as a conse2uence3

ecome satisfie&3 a$so &e"e$o*ing a sense of commitment an& $o+a$t+#

(# 4es*ite t!e increasing use of internet an& t!e continuous a&o*tion of ne- tec!no$og+ it is

e5*ecte& t!at a consi&era$e numer of in&i"i&ua$s sti$$ !a"e a *reference to go for s!o**ing

in *!+sica$ stores an& -anting to !a"e &irect interaction -it! t!e *ro&ucts an& *eo*$es an&3

t!oug!3 fee$ing satisfie&3 committe& an& $o+a$#

.# Numer of in&i"i&ua$s !a"e a *reference mar6et *$a+ers t!at ena$e t!em to co$$ect

information an& &eci&e on t!e com*$etion of t!e *urc!ase in on$ine an& off$ine stores#

Conc$usion

+s a new techni6ue for doing business one can say that e-commerce has changed the way customers

purchase goods and services in a diary basis, with that tendency to rise, in a part due to the actual crisis

situation and the need to save money (which lead the individual to consider the costs related to travelling

through different stores in order to collect information and get the best prices and promotions), consumers

are getting used to shop in an online store instead of going to a physical one ("en et al, 3422)

If we compare the traditional stores the offline and face-to-face commerce model the online option

presents some advantages such as products and services specially selected to be sell online (not available

in offline stores) so plenty of detailed information and advices and specially no temporal or spatial

limitations. In fact it is undisputable that the shopping environment is changing and we are now starting

to face an increasingly mature channel and easy to manage also secure to use and with very interesting

and appellative layouts which really satisfy the consumers and ma!e them wish to return.

It seems very important that according to the study, that retail players consider the fact of having both off

and online stores if they really need to !eep their customers and con6uer potential ones. $nline consumer

retention it is in fact, a warm issue in both I and the mar!eting areas. "hat are the !ey factors that can

not only satisfy the consumer but e#ceed his or her e#pectations and leading to the intention to purchaseH

"hat !ind of promotional actions to develop so that people shall use both channels and in this way can


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achieve a win-win perspectiveH his cross-channel plan may become one differentiation factor in a sector

that has been struggling essentially based on price and promotions

>eference

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Sumitte& +

8AMRAN 8HAN

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the changing behavior of consumers in retailing

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