Consumer behaviour - Assignment PDF

October 2021 Final
Research gaps on social and personal norms:
Consumer behaviour (usage behaviour in the present study) is not only an individual
phenomenon concerned with cognitive processes and independent or individual behaviour,
but also a social phenomenon which involves shared social feelings or cognition, group
influences, social circumstances, social identity, influence from social norms. As a
consequence, in a social setting theories concerning shared social will and action should be
applied to consumer satisfaction and intended or actual behaviour .It is possible that the
sometimes skewed relationship between satisfaction and behavioural measures like loyalty,
consumption, and purchase retention is related to social aspects of consumptions. Oliver
(1997) theoretically proven this relation to be strong. However, some studies have
concluded that the relationship is weak, and that in the worst-case circumstances, there is
no link at all (Seiders, 2005). After conducting a longitudinal and phenomenological study on
customer satisfaction, a more dynamic, comprehensive, and context-dependent approach
to analyse satisfaction and behaviour was presented by Fournier and Mick (1999). Better
knowledge of the social variables that influence satisfaction and its relationship to
behaviour is one of their many future development recommendations.
Understanding the many ways that users influence one another, as well as the involvement
of and behavioural, motivational and cognitive factors in these interactions, has never been
more important than it is today.
Only few studies has focused on the influence of social norms on satisfaction with mobile
technologies especially m-health services.
When assessing the acceptance of technology innovation like m-health service the social
context of the m-health user should not be neglected because if the social context is on
favour of using the m-health service , this can plays an important role in the continue usage
of the service.
The study's goal was to see if age had an influence on how entertainment and subjective
norms impact m-shopper satisfaction and WOM. The findings revealed that satisfaction can
be obtained in the case of adult m-shoppers as an effect of subjective norms (group
influence).As a result, the researchers empathised that influence of reference groups
(friends, relatives) should not be forgotten to achieve users’ satisfaction. Infect, they
recommended that normative social pressure can be used to induce subjective norms
related to m-health service use and to make m-health users not to be isolated from the
service.

Literature review:
...........The majority of studies have examined the impact of social norms on attitude-
behaviour linkages using perspectives from the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991)
and reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In these studies, social norms are defined
as expectations or perceived social pressure from relevant persons in general (subjective
norms) or specific groups or individuals (normative beliefs), and they're utilised to evaluate
the influence of the social environment.
Subjective norms are the beliefs that a significant person or group of people will approve
and support a particular behaviour. These norms are determined by the perceived social
pressure from others for an individual to behave in a certain way also their motivation to
comply with their perceptions. Individuals' decision-making and whether or not they take
action are influenced by these factors. The idea of social norms came from subjective norms
which also have significant impact of intentions and behaviours. Social norms are ethical
standards and rules of conduct that are widely accepted in society and can be seen as a type
of societal pressure. These norms referred as the shared standards of acceptable
behaviours.
Theory:
The most common approach to incorporate social variables in the explanation of intentions
and behaviour is to employ the concept of social norm within the framework of the theory
of reasoned action (TRA) or the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and theory of reasoned
action (Ajzen, 1991; Armitage and Conner, 2001). However, the social norm concept relates
to people' perceptions of relevant other's expectations (family, friends, groups) and
motivation to meet those expectations, omitting social interactions that may occur during
joint decision-making or individual decision-making that impacts others.

Social norms, service quality, satisfaction and usage behaviour:
Before engaging in any behaviour, people generally consider the social norms and the
difference between their behaviours and that of others. As we live within a society,
technology usage behaviour has characteristics of externality and interactivity. Thus, the
behaviour of others could affect the technology usage behaviours of individuals. Individuals
are also more likely to participate in behaviours that are congruent with the groups to which
they belong in order to obtain social support and meet social needs [26]. Social norms, for
example, can encourage people to exercise more. Huber et al. observed that social
descriptive norms play an essential role in explaining citizens, what their neighbours are
doing, and can stimulate community recycling behaviour. As a result, the public and
surrounding people's views and behaviours about the usage of mobile health services will
have a significant impact on everyone who lives inside that social sphere. Individuals will
adjust their behaviour in response to the positive or negative reactions of others, including
general public. In other words, the stronger the social norms felt by m-health service users,
they are more likely to continue to use the m-health services.
The relevance of subjective norms in attitude regarding intention to use was highlighted by
Nysveen (2005) and Schierz (2010). The concept was applied by Nysveen in a mobile
environment. According to Schierz (2010), when consumers lack reliable knowledge or
information on usage details, such as when shopping for products or services in the early
stages of development or diffusion, the relevance of group opinions for individual attitude
formation increases (Schierz et al., 2010). Since subjective norms integrate perceived
expectations from relevant persons or groups with the intention to comply with those
expectations, Chang and Chin (2011) studied the influence of subjective norms on
complaints intentions on the event of dissatisfaction. According to Okazaki and Navarro
Bailon (2010), the opportunity to receive supportive messages from others affects
participants' satisfaction with a mobile phone-assisted smoking cessation programme.
If the users have subjective knowledge (for example, group support) or personal experience
(satisfaction), the advantages people obtain from technology use rise, resulting in
satisfaction. One of the most significant factors in obtaining satisfied technology users is
that they feel like they're part of a group (subjective norms), making subjective norms a key
determinant of satisfaction. Besides Ansari (2012) stated that users actually adapt the
technology in accordance to their individual needs and lifestyles, and not just adopt it for
simple use. In the context of the present study users’ satisfaction level of the m-health
service can get increased, when they consider the fact that, continue usage of m-health
service will make them a part of the well-established group, if the group also believes the
same.
San-Martín, Prodanova and Jiménez (2015) studied perceived entertainment and group
influence (subjective norms) in purchasing, as determinants of satisfaction with m-shopping
and WOM. Subjective norms emerged as an effective approach to obtaining satisfied m-
shoppers in the study.