The Hindu Business Line : Complex dynamics of consumers’ choice

A neatly packaged portrait of the consumer is that he is principally a rational and prudent human being, and before choosing a service or a product, makes meticulous enquiries about the reasonableness of the price, quality, safety, reliability of the claims made on its behalf, after sales service, promptness in attending to complaints and courtesy in dealings.

It is further presumed that he consults as many buyers and users as possible on their experiences in order to arrive at a considered judgment, and then makes the purchase.

Another theory which is the basis of the exhaustive market research made by companies with a product or service to offer is that the compelling motive force is the need or want felt by the average customer, and the intensity of it drives him to get it even if it be at a premium. Sometimes, snobbishness too enters into his decision-making, even when he finds the choice on this account pinches his pocket. For instance, he may go in for the latest gizmo or gadget, or a wall TV, when the one he already has is good enough for all practical purposes,

He can, of course, be overtaken by the urge to keep up with the Joneses, constantly upping the ante to be ahead of them. It would be rash to think that this is some kind of a typology that puts consumers into water-tight compartments. In the day-to-day world, the same person may act differently at different times, depending upon latent pressures of family and friends, the force of circumstances and temperamental ups and downs.

Hence, it is impractical to categorically lay down that a particular consumer will behave in the same manner all the time. The influences working on his mind at any given time are complex and manifold and are not amenable to any precise determination before he actually exercises his choice.

Once he decides to buy, emotional fixations take over. For instance, he may be so obsessed with pricing that he may go to great lengths to get the item at lowest prices, putting himself to great trouble and expense just to have the satisfaction of saving a small amount. Americans are noted for this tendency of driving miles and spending more dollars in petrol than the money saved in lower prices!

Emotion mining

The Oriental stereotype is one who is said to get emotional fulfilment only after prolonged haggling, leading wholesalers and distributors to adopt a system of weighted pricing to allow for its being eventually beaten down.

Gimmicks such as freebies tagged to purchases and sales promotion campaigns at supposedly discounted prices are also intended to tug at the consumers’ emotional chords impelling him to purchase something that may not serve any immediate or relevant purpose. Even jingles of advertisements may create an overpowering fascination for the product or service, while any unpleasantness with a salesperson or at a shop may banish the product for life.

The consumer is an emotional slave of a brand whether it is a battery, toothpaste or soap. Even where he has come to a justifiable decision to buy, he cannot simply shake off his brand fixation. In seminars on societal transformation, the task of bringing about attitudinal change often crops up, as if it is something that can be accomplished by merely mentioning it. Try persuading your spouse to change his/her toothpaste or soap from one brand to another!

No wonder, already ‘emotion mining’ is emerging as a distinct field of research to access, measure, and leverage consumers’ emotions and to build up exhaustive databases to highlight the role emotions play in defining and motivating customer experience.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

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