Global Consumer Behaviour

Global Consumer
Behaviour
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Household and Household decision-making ..............................................................................3
Influences on household consumer decision-making.................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Marketing is that department of an organisation which is responsible for promotion of
business and products of the company. It undertakes various aspects before deciding on
marketing strategies and promotional mix. Most of the marketing strategies are designed around
consumers. Thus, understanding consumer behaviour becomes vital for the company (Moore and
Berger, 2015). This report undertakes the process of understanding the behaviour of UK
consumers in perspective of Sony Corporation. Sony Corporation (popularly known as and
hereafter referred as Sony) is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of consumer and
professional electronic products, video games, computer hardware, telecommunication
equipments and robots. It is also one of the most comprehensive media companies in the world
dealing in music record labels, production of films and TV shows,etc. This report presents an
insight about the influence of family life cycle on household consumer decision-making.
Influence of children in family purchase decisions are also discussed in the report.
Main Body
Household and Household decision-making
Consumer Behaviour study is to find out what factors influence and inspire decisions of
consumer purchases and disposals. This behavioural study helps in planning and executing
effective marketing plan (Solomon and Lowrey, 2017). It aims at exploring, explaining and
finally predicting how an individual behaves in a marketplace. For example, there is a
professional photographer who uses latest high end professional camera of a certain company.
He finds out that his peer has a Sony camera which is better in technology, has better features
and is more advanced to his camera. Based on his observation and his discussion with his peer,
he would automatically think about purchasing a new Sony camera to stay updated in the market.
He would also advise his peers not to purchase the other company's camera (Zandstra, Lion and
Newson, 2016).
Marketing strategies revolve around influencing consumer decision-making. Basic unit of
individual decision-making is individual consumer and the most basic unit of group purchasing
decision-making is family. UK government defines the term household as “One person or a
group of people who have the same accommodation as their only or main residence and the
group, either share at least one meal a day or living accommodation i.e. living room or sitting
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room” (Household – definition and meaning, 2020). Household can be two types of social units
of people living under one roof. It can be family household wherein the in-mates are related to
each other by blood or law. Another, can be non-family household, wherein in-mates are non-
related acquaintances or friends living together. Household decision-making is a collective
decision-making process in which more than one person is involved in taking decision as to what
products shall be purchased or what services shall be availed to be used by one person or more
than one in the household (Rapoport and Rapoport, 2019). There are multiple factors that affect
household decision-making process which are below mentioned: Personal factors - These are those characteristics that are specific to a person and may be
different in all members of a household. These factors include aspects such as age,
income, life style, personality, different interpersonal needs of housemates, etc. For
example, a young person would definitely seek better technology and advance features
over pricing factors while choosing a smartphones. On the other hand, an elderly would
have price as deciding factor and would not mind having less features in phone. Psychological factors – These are those factors that make thought process of every
housemate different from others. These factors include perception, belief, attitude or the
level of utility or involvement with the product, power and responsibility of the
housemates, etc. This makes every person reacts differently to different marketing tools
(Smetana and et.al., 2016). Therefore, marketers always keep into account psychological
factors while designing campaigns so that they can attract maximum people with
different mindset.
 Social and cultural factors – These are those factors which are influenced by social
characteristics of a person. Social influencers can include people such as friends and
relatives, acquaintances and references, etc. Factors such as status in society, culture and
tradition in the social class of the household, living conditions, education level, etc. also a
have lasting impact over the consumer decision-making. Companies generally use social
influencers like celebrities to influence these aspects of consumer decision-making.
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