1. The Buyer Black Box By: Mr. SHEETAL KUMAR. MBA12010036 BATCH:2012-14 DVHIMSR DHARWAD

2. Definition & Difference between a customer and consumer According to CL Naryan and RJMarkin “Consumer behavior is the study of how, why and what people do when they buy products or avail some services. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process both individually and in groups” ‘Customer’ is used as a single unit, purchases could be made both by individuals and groups of people involved in the decision making process. The term ‘customer’ refers to the purchaser of product or service. They may or may not be the ultimate consumer. The term ‘consumer’ refers to the end user of a product or service

3. Types of consumer  Personal consumer Buys goods and services for his/her personal use (such as cigarettes or haircut) or for household consumption (such as sugar, furniture, telephone service etc) or for one of his family member (such as a pair of shoes for the son) etc.  Organizational consumer Includes profit and non-profit organizations like state Government school, hospitals who buy product and equipment and services required for running these organization. They buy advertising services to communicate to their customer. So, they purchase products and services to satisfy the needs or organization.

4. The Buyer’s Black Box Buyer characteristic Buyer decision procedure Cultural Social Personal Psychological Recognition of problem The search for information Evaluation Decision Purchase decision Post purchase Behaviour  The buyer characteristics These aspects are internal to each person so it is difficult for the Co. to have perfect information or to influence them. Depending on those factors, the consumers are going to have different needs, process of evaluation preferences and decision making process. For Ex.: If the consumer has to buy an expensive durable item, this process is going to be longer and difficult then need for daily consumed goods.

5. Micro factors influencing consumer behavior Social factors Reference group Family Roles and status Personal factors Age and life cycle stage Occupation and economic condition Personality Lifestyle Buyer Cultural factors Culture Sub-culture Psychological factors Motivation Perception Beliefs and attitude Learning

6. Cultural factors & Sub-Culture  Cultural: Culture is a set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviours learned by a member of society from family, place of residence and other important institution. Cultural and religious festivals have huge impact on Indian marketer. Ex: Festivals like Diwali, Holi, Dussehra, Durga Puja, Ganesh Chaturti, Ramzan, Christmas. All these festivals constitute to main buying period across India.  Sub-Culture: It provides more specific identification and socialization for members belonging to particular religion, racial group or geographical regions

7. Social factors a) Reference group A person’s reference group consists of all members of the group who have a direct (face to face) or indirect influence on his/her attitudes and behaviour b) Family orientation Parents and siblings (very often a person acquires orientation towards religion, politics, sense of personal ambition, self worth etc) exert a significant influence c) Role and Status A person’s position in each group can be defined in terms of the role and status of the person plays or has.

8. Personal factors  Age : Consumer preferences undergo considerable changes with age i.e., tastes for various items such as entertaining goods, clothing, food will change as a person grows.  Family Stage life cycle: Consumption is shaped by the family life cycle and the number, age and gender of people in the household at any point of time. Ex: marriage, after marriage etc.  Personality: is a set of distinguishing human psychological traits that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to environmental stimuli.  Occupation and economic condition These 2 factors significantly influence the consumption pattern and product choice. The latter includes disposable income (level of stability) saving and assets, debts, borrowing power and attitude towards spending and saving.

9.  Lifestyle and status Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in activities, interests options etc. Psychological factors  Motivation It is the internal feeling that makes and person to buy a certain product in order to satisfy a necessity Perception : is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. Beliefs and attitudes : People can have a positive and negative feeling about a product this feeling can be a consequences of their personal experiences or because of interaction with other people. Based on beliefs of the customer, what is attitude of their will come to know. Learning and experience : Consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire knowledge and experience from different sources which they apply in future for related events.

10. Buying decision process Problem recognition Information search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase decision Post purchase behaviour

11. Buying decision process  Information search An aroused consumer is inclined to search more information. The major sources of information for consumers. Personal  Family, friends, neighbours. Commercial  Sales persons, dealers, packaging displays, advertising, websites. Public  Mass media, consumer retain of organization Experiential  Handing, examining, using the product  Evaluation of alternatives The consumer collects competitive brand information and makes a final choice on his own way.  Post-purchase behaviour Consumers may notice several defects or in adequacies in the product after purchasing it or they may hear about the positive attributes of other brands.

12. Conclusion Email:sheetaldvhimsr36@gmail.com To any marketer, consumer remains an enigma shrouded in mystery, how to reach him, retain him, understand his mind & thus earn market place. Thus buyer black box provides an understanding why consumers behave in a particular manner.