Understanding Consumer Behaviour in Ethical Branding

Consumer Behaviour 0
Consumer Behaviour
Student’s Name
3/4/2019

Consumer Behaviour 1
The trends in the global economy have led to advancement in technologies and have created
more aware customers. Such increased awareness creates pressure on the companies to be
more socially responsible and develop the products that contribute towards the sustainability
of the environment. The customers are getting more aware and create pressure on the
companies to maintain the brand image by effectively contributing to society. The increase in
ethical consumers has led to the development of corporate social responsibility (Dominique,
2011).
Ethical consumers are defined as the people who make deliberate and conscious consumption
choices based on their personal beliefs and values. These consumers choose the products that
are in favour of the human right, environment-friendly or animal protection. They make the
decisions that support the society in some way. They have politically, social, religious, social,
environmental motive in making the purchase decision. These consumers know that they are
buying at a huge rate and try to align their moral value while making purchasing decisions.
They do not consider the price while making the purchase decision. The increasing awareness
among the customers has made the companies more socially responsible towards the society
and has developed the emerging need to effectively contribute towards the environment by
taking the responsible actions (Solomon et al, 2013).
Contrary to the above, it is believed that there is always an attitude-behaviour gap in
customers. They say that they support the companies by being socially responsible and make
the purchasing decision in favour of the society but it is a myth. The consumers consider the
price as the main decision in purchasing of the product. The behaviour of the consumers is
unpredictable and has developed the emerging need to understand consumer behaviour in
order to attain profits and sustain the competitive advantage in the competitive world (Diallo
et al, 2013).

Consumer Behaviour 2
Understanding customer behaviour has become imperative for understanding the marketing
environment and adopts the strategies that favour the company. The behaviour pattern of the
customer is analysed by how they select the product from various alternatives, what they feel
about the different alternatives, how the consumers get influenced from the environment and
their behaviour while doing research and shopping (Rizkallah, 2012).
It is analysed that the social class of the person is the main factor in analysing the lifestyle of
the consumers. Bourdieu’s theory of social class states that the taste of the consumers is
determined by their class. The persons having the same social class have the same taste and
become a crucial part in understanding the behaviour of the consumers. It helps the company
to develop the strategies in accordance with the tastes of the customers so that the company
can influence them (Cappellini, Marilli and Parsons, 2016).
An ethical consumer is considered as a myth because it is considered as unattainable heroic
that the person aspires to become. It is stated that an ethical consumer is a myth because the
consumer hardly cares about how and from where the product is made. However, it depends
upon the social class and the purchasing behaviour of the consumer (Alwi, Ali and Nguyen,
2017).
There are numerous factors that influence the decisions of the consumers and provide insight
into the company to develop the product according to the expectation of the customers. It
includes the external and internal aspects that determine the behaviour of the customers.
Internal factors include the perception of the customer, their preferences, attitude, personal
needs, motivation, and self- concepts (Rani, 2014).
The personal needs and the motive of the consumer defines the buying behaviour of the
customer. Any product that the human need or the motive to satisfy the need determines the
buying behaviour of the consumers. The organization designs its products according to the