The psychology of consumption. Lecture 1

A lecture on the psychology of consumption should begin with the fact that consumer behavior cannot be predicted in detail and accurately.

The manufacturer and merchant, in order to calculate the number of units and types of goods, have to study how objective sides the formation of demand for goods, as well as subjective factors that determine the desires and the system of consumer assessments - the psychology of the consumer.

Introduction. Basic concepts of consumer psychology.

Social psychology of consumption is the field of social psychology that studies psychological features consumer behavior and attitudes towards goods and services.

In particular, the social psychology of consumption studies the consumer cycle, the main element of which is consumer choice; attitude to the product or its attributes and consumer preferences as a special form of this relationship; psychological factors of consumer behavior; factors influencing the subject-object relation to goods and services.

The object of consumer psychology - consumption as a social process. The consumer is not considered as an object since this is one of social roles, and consumption is influenced by the same factors as other social processes.

The subject of consumer psychology- psychological patterns of consumption. In Russia, the attitude to a product or service is the central theme.

Consumer Behavior- this is a social activity directly involved in the acquisition, use and disposal of products, services, ideas (including the decision processes preceding and following this activity).

Consumer- an individual or organization that buys, uses, owns and disposes of a product or service. Consumers can be people, groups of people, as well as organizations of various sizes and profiles of activity that use goods, services, ideas.

The role of businessmen and psychologists in an organization is to

(1) that goods meet the needs of buyers for the benefit of both buyers and sellers;

(2) in the peculiar direction of the needs of the buyer;

(3) in creating new needs by releasing new products (for example, back in the 80s there was no need for detergents and dish sponges, but it was marketers who created them).

To consider human consciousness in the process of consumption, the concept of economic consciousness is used.

consumer behavior

The following types of consumer behavior are distinguished:

Cyclic, repetitive actions and actions of the individual (for example, in a situation of everyday shopping)

Marginal acts of consumer behavior (for example, when a consumer moves from one status to another)

Acts of consumer behavior as a result of the influence of consumer schemes and stereotypes, which are formed as a result of socio-cultural patterns, elements of subculture.

Spontaneous consumer acts and reactions under the influence of certain circumstances or provoked by an emotional state.

Unique actions and deeds that are the result of the individual experience of the individual.

Kazantseva S.M. Sociocultural determinants of consumer behavior. - Diss. for the competition … cand. sociological Sciences. - Tyumen, 1997.

This model is the relationship between the consumer's decision to purchase and the factors that determine it, and proceeds from a number of premises:

The starting point of consumer behavior is the life (organizational) style, or way of life. A consumer (or an organization) buys/consumes products in order to maintain or improve their lifestyle (organizational) style, which is in interaction with a number of factors

The consumer has a dual nature. On the one hand, a member of several social groups and therefore subject to the influence of social or external factors. On the other hand, the consumer is individual, and therefore his lifestyle is influenced by a number of internal, psychological factors. Internal, psychological, factors are considered as processes of the consumer's reaction to external influences.

The desire to maintain or improve one's lifestyle shapes consumer attitudes and needs. In a certain situation, the consumer is aware of the problem (need or opportunity to improve or maintain lifestyle), thereby starting the process of purchasing decision.

Decision making process:

Consumer awareness of a problem

Information retrieval

Evaluation and selection of purchase alternatives

Purchasing Use and Solution Evaluation

PP factors are divided into

External (social, external impact on the consumer)

Internal (psychological)

Among the external factors: Marketing activities, Influences formed by the social environment, Culture, Reference groups, Family, etc.

Consumer psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the peculiarities of thinking and behavior of an individual as a consumer of goods and services, the subject and object of advertising, and also deals with the study of the psychological characteristics of the consumer market.

Knowing the nature of the average buyer, it is easier to develop more effective advertising, predict demand, put forward new proposals that are likely to be in demand, predict fashion, and so on. Today, no product is sold without taking into account the psychology of the consumer.

How do marketers find out what the consumer wants and how he actually feels about the goods and services available? There are a few research methods consumer opinions:

surveillance,
polls,
projective methods,
focus groups (groups specially created for research).

For example, there is such a projective technique as “ Personification". It helps to optimize the design of the product, to make it seem more human, animated, communicative. In the course of personification, the product is visualized as an anthropomorphic creature, that is, it is presented as a person that it could be. So there are talking, having hands, feet and face toothbrushes, chewing gums, detergents and so on. On the shelf in the store there is such a product, as if saying to the buyer: “Take me to you! We have a lot in common!".

age,
social status,
moral,
mood,
habits,
subjective acceptability of the price,
time spent shopping
purchase purpose.

Most consumers are women, as they are in the family, as a rule, are engaged in purchases and advertising is more focused on women's perception. But apart from gender great value plays age buyer: if you need to sell children's goods or confectionery, marketers are guided by the psychology of children; fashionable clothes and gadgets - for teenagers; food and household appliances- for adults medicines- for pensioners.

Wealthy people focus on the quality of the goods, not paying attention to the high cost. People below average income they pay attention to the price, and then to the quality, but the choice is still made, focusing on the cost.

The shopper who came into the store after work just to buy bread is one type of buyer, and the one who came on a day off is more likely to have fun- a completely different type. If time the purchase is limited, and the goal is specific, the buyer will quickly take a familiar, familiar product, the one that he usually buys, and leave. If time is unlimited, the buyer will consider different options for the product and “price the price”.

When there is no clear goals, the temptation to buy an unnecessary, but attractive thing is much higher. People who go shopping with a shopping list are less likely to buy unnecessary items because they write down their goal on a piece of paper and keep it in front of their eyes at all times. This simple action allows you to save money and not buy too much, unless, of course, you can resist the temptation.

Motives of consumer behavior

In addition to the personal characteristics of the buyer, consumer psychology takes into account two significant aspects of his behavior:

striving to meet needs
wish fulfillment.

When a person buys a product to satisfy needs, his motives are very clear. If the consumer is driven by some desire, it is more difficult to identify its motives.

To motivate consumers to buy a particular product is designed to advertising. Advertising is always seductive and often deceptive, which is why it is often considered unethical and inhumane. She promises that along with the purchase, the individual will get some benefit (love, respect, prestige) or, on the contrary, scares her with trouble if the advertised product is not purchased.

motives encourage people to act. Those motives that encourage the purchase of a product, psychologists organize into several groups:

Aesthetic. These are the strongest and longest lasting motives. A person is attracted by what is beautiful, new, fresh, harmonious, bright, goes well with things already in use, with which you can decorate yourself or your home.

The consumer always pays attention to the volume, color and shape of the product. Wrinkled and soiled things no one wants to buy, and an attractive wrapper, label or packaging box can compensate for many of the shortcomings of the product.

Utility. Answers to the questions “How to use the thing?”, “How long will it last?” and “Can it be repaired if it breaks?” determine the desire or unwillingness to purchase the product. The psychology of the consumer is such that he always wants an easy-to-use, high-quality, long-lasting and quickly repairable product.
Motives of prestige. The higher the level of material well-being of a person, the more often he seeks to buy things and services that can emphasize his status. These motives are very strong, so manufacturers are not afraid to raise the cost of status goods and make them as expensive as possible.

An expensive purchase raises a person's position in society, even if his social status is not too high. People driven by the motive of prestige can for a long time to limit oneself in food, essentials and rest in order to acquire a desired, expensive, prestigious thing.

Achievement motives. These motives are awakened when a successful and popular person is involved in advertising a product. People look up to many famous personalities, want to be like them, achieve similar or identical career heights. It seems that the product advertised by the idol is the key to success, so its importance (and with it the desire to buy) increases significantly.
Tradition motifs. Such motivation arises against the background of associations with state symbols, homeland, home, parents, and traditions of the people. For example, looking at a product in color scheme state flag, at the consumer with more probabilities will arise positive emotions, feelings of patriotism and belonging and, consequently, the desire to buy a "native" thing.

Consumer psychology, like any other area of psychological knowledge, although amenable to study and analysis, is not an exact science. There is a lot of illogical and contradictory in it. But it is precisely these contradictions that support a strictly rational economy. If a person did not tend to succumb to the influence of advertising and sometimes make completely thoughtless spending, consumer market would be largely limited.

The whole history of mankind is inseparable from nature. Man, as a biological species of the animal world, is a part of the biosphere, and not something scornful. 1 for many centuries the human race lived in respect (and even in fear) for natural environment, realizing its crucial importance for themselves. A psychological turning point occurred after the industrial revolution. The principles "Man is the king of nature", "Earth is for people" and the like govern modern society. Scientific and technological progress gave people a sense of power, the ability to easily satisfy their needs at the expense of natural resources. Philosophers substantiated the "objectivity" of the constant growth of human material needs, and politicians undertook to translate this "law" into practice. Majority life modern people built not on the idea of natural human needs, but on consumer principles, on the philosophy of pleasure. From childhood, a person is taught that the value of a thing does not depend on its convenience, necessity, condition, but on fashion, prestige. 1 that it is necessary to achieve material well-being by all means, not paying attention to the environment - neither to nature, nor to people. This philosophy also manifests itself at the societal level in the form of public policy most countries (primarily the US).

Now, thanks to scientific and technical progress, the possibilities of the world economy exceed human needs. Therefore, a (relatively small) proportion of humanity is interested artificially stimulates consumer demand. The economy does not work to satisfy the natural needs of the consumer (people), but to artificially created demand. Due to targeted propaganda implemented through advertising, movies, articles, TV shows, etc., the consumer is constantly instilled with the philosophy of an objective need for a constant change in things, devices, equipment, structures.

The psychology of human selfishness leads to much greater expenditure of natural resources than is necessary for the civilized existence of mankind, not to mention the regime of a thrifty lifestyle limited by natural needs. The use of natural resources increases over the years according to the expotential law, that is, according to the law of the growth of the planet's population, but at a faster pace. For example, over the past hundred years, the number of people has increased four times, and water consumption - seven times, the extraction of natural energy - ten times.

Given the inevitable increase in the number of people on Earth, conservation consumer psychology will inevitably lead to the rapid depletion of natural resources and increase to an unacceptable level of environmental pollution. An urgent reorientation of mankind to the psychology of thrift, the limitation of demand to natural needs is necessary. The needs of people must be brought into line with the possibilities of the natural environment.

In this regard, the UN document "Agenda for the 21st Century" (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) notes: "One of the main reasons for the constant degradation of the environment around the world is the pattern of consumption and industrially developed countries. Excessive pretensions, the wasteful lifestyle of the richest part of humanity, is a huge burden on the environment. We must consider new concepts of wealth and prosperity."

Assessment of influencing factors

It is recommended to evaluate the influence of the considered causes on the state of the environment according to the following dependence:

where SPRi - harm environment as a result of using the i-th natural resource; CnPRi - consumption of the i-th natural resource; KKPRi - concentration coefficient of the i-th resource in the environment; Kn is the resource renewal coefficient in nature.

In turn, resource consumption is determined by the needs of people and the efficiency of use.

where H is the number of consumers (people); KVPRi - coefficient of natural resource use; Pli and Pki - the needs of the i-th natural resource - individual (human) and collective; m - the number of individual human needs, for which the l-th natural resource; z - the number of needs of a collective nature.

O.S. Posypanova
Economic psychology: psychological aspects of consumer behavior
Monograph. - Kaluga: Publishing house of KGU im. K.E. Tsiolkovsky, 2012. - 296 p.

Chapter 1. Conceptual foundations of the psychology of consumption as a direction of economic psychology

1.3. Basic concepts, principles and provisions of the psychology of consumption in America and Western Europe

Basic terms of consumer psychology

consumer psychology, According to the definition of the American Society of Consumer Psychology, the study of human reactions to a product or service, provided with information and experience of use.

Goals of consumer psychologists (according to the official position of the Society of Consumer Psychology) are to describe, predict, influence, and / or explain consumer reactions to information about a product and service.

Thus, subject of American consumer psychology are consumer reactions(responses), under reactions refers to any consumer response to a product or service. Consumer responses include affective (emotions), cognitive-cognitive (trust, judgments, opinions, attitudes), and behavioral (purchase decision) components. (And in Russian psychology there is still a dispute between economic consciousness and economic behavior!)

It is important to note that consumer psychology develops mainly in line with behaviorism. Therefore, the main concepts are "consumer information" (analogous to the behaviorist "stimulus"), consumer responses(analogous to "reaction"), and all the processes mediating this connection (in Russian psychology called factors). Thus, the schema of neobehaviorism (S-I-R) is preserved.

In the psychology of consumption, two types of consumer reactions are distinguished. These are instinctive reactions and responses after researching the product. instinctive reactions- those that the consumer has no control over - they just happen. This is attraction when observing a person of the opposite sex, and anxiety in case of a threat, anger in conflicts. The body inadvertently responds to physical changes. There may be changes in breathing, blood flow, hormone levels, etc., but there is no way to prevent a reaction. Many purchases are made on their basis. Answers after product research (learningresponses) soften or change the instinctive response. Moreover, according to Richard F. Taflinger (1996), instincts and responses after product exploration form subconscious opinion, which is opposed to conscious decision making, since instincts exist entirely outside the control of conscious opinion, and product exploration is rarely associated with consciousness (to question of cognition).

Under information about products and services, the whole range is understood "marketing incentives"(These include, for example, promotional messages, labels, coupons, point-of-purchase displays, free consumer magazines, and of course verbal communication with the seller, friends and family).

One of the basic concepts is "choice". Main question consumer psychology: "Why do we choose what we choose?" (Why We Choose What We Choose). Let's pay attention - we do not buy, but choose. The psychology of consumption studies not purchases (which is the prerogative of the science "Consumer Behavior"), but choice. The choice of goods, according to the provisions of the Society for Consumer Psychology, most economists and marketers, is carried out before purchase/use. (In other words, consumer behavior occurs when goods evaluated and selected). Thus, consumer behavior is the result, the product of choice. .That is, choice is a more psychologized concept. Moreover, most external and internal incentives (factors, determinants) influence the choice, and not the purchase/use.

It is emphasized that the choice is always multi-alternative, that is, there is a huge range of goods and services, and accordingly, many options to choose from. And the task of the psychologist of consumption is to study why a person consumes this and not another product. In fact, the psychology of consumption for this uses not only psychological knowledge, but also economic, cultural, and marketing.

In addition, it is noted that the choice maltiatributiven. The multi-attribute product model was proposed by psychologists Fishbein and Rosenberg in the fifties of the last century. Attributes are understood as features, properties, signs of the goods, the most significant for the consumer. It is believed that the product has a range of attributes. And when introducing to the market or improving the product, it is necessary to study whether the newly introduced features will be attributes. The main property of an attribute is that it is a symbol of something: prestige, status, taste, etc. Hence the theory symbolizing consumption("symbolic consumption"), actively developed in Consumer Behavior and the psychology of consumption.

In contrast to classical consumption studies, symbolic consumption argues that individuals consume not actual products, but also (or even instead) and symbolic meanings of those products, defining symbols of the image, social position, and thereby express their self-identity. (e.g. Elliott, 1994; Fries and Konig, 1993). In addition, Wicklund and Gollwitzer (1982) demonstrate that people acquire and use material symbols as compensation for perceived inconsistencies in their self-concept. This process is called symbolized self-realization. For example, by displaying a recognized masculine symbol, such as strutting on a motorcycle, a young man may compensate for his lack of a sense of being a man. These works show how material possessions have become an important symbol of identity: through this prism we perceive ourselves and feel similar to others or different from others. Russian researcher V.I. Ilyin considers the symbol in consumption in a slightly different way: symbols mean words, gestures, objects that carry special meaning and recognizable by representatives of this culture. Symbols can include a certain type of clothing, make-up, car brand, use of jargon, etc. Going beyond the limits of necessary consumption, we will certainly find ourselves in the world of symbols, which manifests itself in different ways in the system of social communications.

American consumer psychology operates somewhat differently. research methods, than Russian . Research methods widely used in cognitive, social, clinical, and developmental psychology—such as covariate structure modeling, latency-based response methodology, and computer modeling—can also be found in consumer psychology. Complex physiological measures, scaling procedures, and multivariate statistical methods are also used by consumer psychologists. And, of course, surveys and experiments are key. Classical testing is rarely used.

Areas of research in the psychology of consumption

There are two main areas of consumer psychology: (1) the study of the process of choosing a product and (2) the study of factors influencing this choice.

We have identified the main research topics of consumer psychology in America.

First, this peculiarities of consumption of advertised goods. The main question here is how much advertising is a “traffic engine”, and how to increase advertising exposure. Here, ethno-psychological nuances in consumption and advertising (the “whitening” syndrome in advertising, “black” language, cross-cultural perception of advertised goods), erotic themes and their effectiveness in consumption, and even resistance to advertising pressure are considered. By the way, one of the founders of consumer psychology was John B. Watson, who applied psychology to advertising. He believed that psychology cannot be recognized as a science until it demonstrates its usefulness in practice. They developed the first advertisements for Johnson & Johnson's baby products, where he played on mothers' troubles and feelings of incompetence in properly caring for their children. He discovered and exploited not only the power of emotional appeal in advertising, but also the impact of experts recommending products and presenting products as new or improved.

Secondly, this is a completely unknown area for Russian psychology - psychological characteristics Internet shopping: comparison of reasons, motives for purchases in online stores and brick-and-mortar stores, personal characteristics of the Global Internet Shopper, problems of trust, interests, reliability, the impact of website design on a purchase, etc.

Thirdly, this is a new area of psychological study for us. brand and psychological promotion of branding. A brand is a company/product that has subjective significance for a large number of consumers. Psychologists mainly study brand associations - the main psychological component of the brand, leading to subjective significance. the main task psychologists in branding - to make sure that the product is strongly associated, for example, with taste, prestige, safety, etc., and more than similar products. It is believed that consumers have 2 ways to create brand associations: product research based on associative memory (a process focused on past experience) and research based on adaptability (a process focused on future experience). It also explores perceptions, ideas about the brand, cross-cultural differences in judgments about the brand.

Next, we study the features information impact that accompanies the choice of product (in other words, marketing incentives): the effectiveness of all types of information - advertising, information from the seller, from friends, on packaging, etc., problems of textual information overload and psychological methods structuring information. The question of the resistance of contradictory marketing information in the case of a multi-alternative choice is also being studied. It is noted that with a multi-alternative choice, the most advantageous products are similar to those that were used earlier and the attractiveness of the product

are being explored socio-psychological factors, influencing the consumer (Influence of Social Comparisons on emotions, satisfaction with purchases and desire to buy new goods, gender characteristics of social comparisons).

In addition, the “slippery” topic for Russian psychology is being actively studied. attitudes, relationships(Attitudes) and traditionally sociological we have the topic of opinions, judgments (Judgments) about products. Relations are divided into explicit and implicit. It is noted that it is necessary to study the implicit relationships and unconscious information processing as accessible only to psychologists. It is noted that implicit associations differ from explicit ones.

Actively researched gender specifics of consumption: differences in motives, needs, goals of shopping for men and women. For example, according to British and American studies in psychology and marketing, women and men have different attitudes towards material possessions (e.g. Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton, 1982; Kamptner, 1991; Wallendorf and Arnould, 1988; Dittmar (1989, 1991), Gilligan, 1982; Williams, 1984). According to the rankings, women are more likely to choose items of sentimental value, while men are more likely to choose items related to leisure and finance. In addition, there are differences in attitudes towards goods: women saw their property as important because of the emotional comfort they provide, and they display relationships with others in a symbolic form, while men were better at the features of the property associated with the use , with activity and self-expression. These differences can be interpreted as reflecting male and female gender identities.

Paradoxically, much of the research is devoted to consumption risks.

Psychological features are being studied product/service life cycle(JCT). Life cycle refers to the time a product has been on the market. The life cycle cycle consists of the following main stages: product creation, market launch, growth, maturity, decline. Standard life cycle graphically expressed by a Gaussian curve. The task of the psychologist here is to find and implement psychological methods for prolonging or increasing the life cycle.

"Psychology of Price" is one of the branches of consumer psychology. (In Russia, the analogy can be called the psychology of money). According to price psychology, there are two types of prices: the price as economists understand it, equal to “cost plus profit” and the price as psychologists understand it, that is, the monetary expression of value, in other words, how much it would not be a pity for a consumer to give money for a particular product and Is it profitable for the market?

Note that not all consumption phenomena are explicable. Some stand out choice anomalies- inexplicable, the most striking manifestations of the irrationality of the consumer. Suppose one of the anomalies lies in the fact that in some types of consumption people put off the most interesting, tasty, pleasant “for later”. This mechanism has not been fully elucidated. Another phenomenon that is difficult to explain in terms of psychology is "predisposition to diversity" - when choosing several products, people choose more diverse products when they choose them all at the same time, and similar, similar, the same type when they choose them sequentially. Another anomaly is some people after giving them free samples of goods for testing, they do not buy them, even if they really liked these goods, but wait for the next sampling, sale or trial sets. then "they can't look at this product". A lot of experiments have been carried out, many theories have been created, but the authors themselves note that they are all ineffective in explaining consumption. Therefore, the explanation of these anomalies comes down to one thing - the inexplicable irrationality of choice.

In addition to theoretical ones, there are also practical problems . We list some of the interesting ones: the impact of alcoholism on the specifics of consumption; psychological effectiveness of “Free Applications” (samplings, bonuses, sachets); "effects of affects" - the influence of emotions, affects, on the purchase, satisfaction with the purchase, etc.; visual components in consumption (Visual Rhetoric); emotional responses to music in television advertisements.

The results of familiarization with the goods

Different authors distinguish different product research results(actually related). The preliminary results of the study of the product include the following. One of the first results is consumer grade(evaluation) - a decision on how good a product is, how convenient it is, etc., that is, whether it satisfies basic needs. Another result is the identification consumer benefit(consumer benefit). Consumer benefit refers to the resources that the product will bring (convenience, beauty, economy, low cost, etc.) and what problems it will relieve (the main ones are time saving, ease of use compared to analogue products). Note that benefits cannot be reduced to benefits alone. For example, saving money and beauty is a manifestation of benefits, but not benefits.

Another important answer is satisfaction choice. There are two main components of satisfaction/dissatisfaction - emotional and cognitive. It is noted that it depends not only on the product itself, but also on the expectations set for the product, and on the time of searching for the product.

The end result of studying the product - generating conclusions(conclusions) about the choice, purchase / use (infiriens-making), i.e. buy - do not buy, use - do not consume.

Principles of consumer psychology

Jane Spear (1999) highlights several principles of consumer psychology.

(1) Gestalt principle. This principle is based on the concept of Gestalt psychology. It is believed that in order to analyze the popularity of any product or company, it is necessary to find out what cultural values it carries in itself, and refer to the ratio of its perceived and real attributes.

(2) Iceberg principle says that we can only see the superficial reasons for buying behavior; moreover, they only seem to be rational, actually explaining behavior. In fact, a person is controlled by hidden unconscious causes and factors (underwater, invisible part of the iceberg). For example, even if a person buys closed shoes to protect their feet, their desired, preferred shoes may well be open platform sandals, and shoes are bought only out of necessity. This principle is consistent with the idea of the irrationality of economic man.

(3) Dynamic principle states that people and their motivations are constantly changing under the influence of social, economic, or psychological factors. A millionaire who grows up in dire poverty can spend half his life buying the cheapest margarine, because it takes a long time for the psychological drive to adjust to the economic condition;

(4) Principle image and symbols postulates that the image on the package, the images associated with the product are a stronger consumption factor than the quality of the product and its composition, since they are symbols of something sacred or important to a person. This arises due to the influence of elusive associations with these images.

Since the beginning of the last century, American psychologists have been solving the problem of consumer irrationality - a person's tendency to perform actions that defy the clear laws of logic, utility, and utility. Irrational behavior is the opposite of rational behavior - logical, balanced, calculated by formulas, having patterns, constructed according to a plan.

George Loewenstein. The Creative Destruction of Decision Research // Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 28 December 2001.

Tversky, A., Kahneman, D. The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice // Science, 1981, Vol. 211, pp. 453 - 458.

Miller, D. The study of consumption // Material Culture and Mass Consumption. Blackwell Pub., 1994, pp. 133-157.

Hawkins, S. A. & Hastie, R. Hindsight: Biased judgments of past events after the outcomes are known. // Psychological Bulletin, 1990, Vol. 107, 311-327.

Ashesh Mukherjee, Wayne D. Hoyer The Effect of Novel Attributes on Product Evaluation // Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 28 December 2001.

For example, Fred van Raij W. Postmodern consumption // Journal of Economic Psychology. Vol. 14, 1992, pp. 541-563.

George Loewensteyn The Creative Destruction of Decision Research // Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 28 December 2001.

For example, MUTHUKRISHNAN V., KARDES FRANK R. Persistent Preferences for Product Attributes: The Effects of the Initial Choice Context and Uninformative Experience // Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 28 June 2001.

For example, Ganzach Y., Mazursky D. Time dependent biases in consumer multi-attribute judgment.

Jacoby J. Consumer behavior: a quandrennium // Annual Review of Psychology, 1998.

Sobel Marc J., Bayes and Empirical Bayes Prosedures for Comparing Parameters // Journal of the American Statistical Association, Volume 88, Issue 422 (Jun., 1993), 687-693.

For example, Abelson, R.P. Script processing in attitude formation and decision-making. In: J.S. Carroll & J.N. Payne (eds.), Cognition and social behavior. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum., 1976.

Holdbrook M.N. What is Consumer Research? // Journal of Consumer Research, Vol 14, June 1987, p.130.

From this article you will learn:

What is consumer psychology

Where is consumer psychology used?

What are the principles of consumer psychology

How to use consumer psychology in practice to your advantage

There are two types of buyer behavior. The first is the consumer's focus on satisfying their needs, the second is the client's desire to realize their desires. It is hardly necessary to consider in detail what the psychology of the consumer is, if the basis of his motivation is solely the desire to satisfy his needs. In this case, it is enough to find out when, where and what kind of purchases he made. If we are looking for an answer to the question of why these particular acquisitions were made, then we are already considering a more complex phenomenon of motivation. Read more about this in our article.

Theoretical aspects of the study of consumer behavioral psychology

Desires largely determine consumer behavior. The material and psychological factors are presented in the book The Powerful Consumer by George Catona. In the original, this work is called "The powerful consumer". The Hungarian psychologist argued that recession, exuberance and inflation can be seen as both a consequence and a cause of consumer behavior. To understand the reasons behind the consumer's propensity to make a certain choice, the expression of his desires, as well as his preferences, it is necessary to use knowledge of disciplines such as economics, anthropology and psychology.

The term "psychology of behavior" can be called everything that we know about consumer behavior, but it is more accurate to use it in situations where the question concerns the reasons why the consumer behaves this way and not differently. The answers that are given to the question "Why?" usually refer to desires, not needs.

For a more complete understanding of the psychology of behavior, several basic provisions must be taken into account.

Gestalt principle.

To answer the question of why a particular product is chosen by the consumer, it is necessary to consider this problem more broadly. So, if we need to understand why a person purchased a particular brand of soap, it would be wiser to study the gestalt of behavior, which is associated with both bathing and washing. Thus, the study of many issues related to the psychology of the consumer begins after a deep analysis of his behavior.

Iceberg principle.

This principle tells us that the necessary information is not always open to us in full view. Given this, it turns out that much of the behavior of the buyer, as well as his social behavior, including such actions as voting in elections or not drinking alcohol, is due to reasons that are deeply hidden. Scientists, studying the motives of consumer behavior, do not directly ask the question: “Why?”, since in this case the respondent will have to explain the personal motives of a particular purchase, and this is most often impossible to do.

dynamic principle.

A person is constantly motivated to do something. His behavior is influenced by society, as well as economic and psychological attitudes. Information collection methods that focus on obtaining data on behavior at the time the survey is conducted often ignore the most relevant information.

Asking a person the question of how much he receives, we are not interested in how stable his financial situation is in this moment whether that consumer's income is increasing, staying the same or decreasing, and these subtleties are much more important than information about his income level at the time of the survey. From the point of view of psychologists, buyers, financial position who are deteriorating, improving, or unchanged, are in fact in three completely different categories, even if their earnings are the same at the time of the survey.

Image and symbolism.

At the heart of the production of any product is a certain plan. So, after watching an advertisement, the consumer has a vague image in his head, which is formed from a melody, background, rhythm, country or candidate, a general configuration. results of many scientific research confirm our tendency to instantly change our minds and reinterpret a neutral statement if we find out that a person we like or dislike is associated with it. Our reaction is related more to the signature (identification characteristic) of the information received, and not to what it carries.

It is these four provisions (formed on the theses of anthropology, depth psychology, futurology and symbolism) as the most important methods that underlie innovations in the psychology of consumer behavior as a science. The application of these principles helps to more consciously approach the understanding of the motives of the buyer's behavior. It is necessary to distinguish between interpretive studies (based on genetic and structural methods) and descriptive studies (in which methods of description and explanation are used, as well as predicting the behavior of the subject).

Of course, the data obtained by applying the latest methods are very important, but they do not form the basis of the entire study. If our goal is to motivate the client, to determine his actions, then we must be able to explain his behavior, so to speak, to interpret. That's when we can distinguish and exclude the deliberate lies of our respondents, then we will be able to build the right model of consumer behavior.

Today, in the study of the psychology of behavior, a method is used in which respondents are given the opportunity to most fully tell about their behavior, but at the same time excluding the attempt of "self-diagnosis". The interviewer does not ask the person why he bought that car and not another, but specifically leads the interviewee to tell in detail about what life circumstances prompted him to make a decision to buy a car - this helps the researcher to make a reliable analysis of the real motives of such consumer behavior.

At the beginning of the study of the psychology of consumer behavior, concrete and reasonable assumptions are made regarding the behavior of the buyer. They can be based on the knowledge of such disciplines as cultural studies, depth psychology, futurology or symbolism. And the question of why the client buys only this soap and no other may well underlie the analysis of the psychology of his behavior. Turning to the first principle, we study the established norms of behavior (rituals, habits) of the consumer associated with the use of this product.

So, if we are talking about soap, then we consider the connections that exist between this product and the direct process of bathing or washing. The buyer can associate soap not only with the feeling that he is physically clean, but also with the performance of ritual ceremonies of a religious nature (baptism and washing), when the body is cleansed of guilt and everything vicious (the “iceberg” principle).

Following the dynamic principle, the researcher of the psychology of consumer behavior can identify the most important changes in him. The latter may be related to the level of income: it rises, falls or remains at the same level. After all, even with the same income, the behavior of buyers may differ.

In the process of communication (in other words, in communication), people are constantly exchanging some kind of information, and important role here is symbolism. Most often, it happens that it is easier for the buyer to catch a non-verbal image than a well-defined speech message. When they say, “wake up the beast in you,” people understand it in a figurative sense, that is, “feel the power in yourself,” but its literal perception will seem absurd. More often, the consumer buys the image of the proposed product, rather than its specific merits, or votes not for the program that the candidate promises to implement, but for his image.

Do we need new products? The psychology of consumer behavior also studies such situations as “the choice of the lesser of two evils”, when the client is faced with the question: “To buy or not to buy?”, And in these cases, he is guided, among other things, by moral aspects. As long as we only try to understand the behavior of the buyer, everything seems normal. But there are companies that are interested in more than just specific consumer behavior. They literally impose this or that product on him, push him to perform certain actions.

Economists probably most often take as a basis a far from practical model of the desires and needs of the buyer, which resembles a pie. The more pieces cut off from it, the less left. According to them, human needs and desires are limited. However, the results contemporary research psychology of consumer behavior indicate that, on the contrary, the desires and needs of people are constantly growing.

After the creation of radio, the recording industry immediately began to develop. Now a person can use not one channel, but many different ones. This, it would seem, should reduce the size of the "pie". But here the rules of psychology of a different quality apply: the more musical and other kinds of entertainment available to the consumer, the more they want to get.

The growing popularity of studying the psychology of consumer behavior has positive influence on the overly rational-logical theories followed by economists and marketers. For example, it is a recognized fact that during economic crisis the consumption of luxury goods is increasing, although, in principle, it should be the other way around. There is clearly little explanation of such a situation from the standpoint of logic.

The thing is that during such periods a person has a feeling of insecurity, and he wants to have things that symbolize high quality and stability. Therefore, regardless of whether he has such an opportunity or not, he still purchases a more expensive product (a gem, a ticket to the Maldives or a Toyota Land Cruiser).

5 tips on how to use consumer psychology to your advantage

Tip 1. The payment process should be simple and painless.

It has been proven in practice that people are more willing to spend non-cash funds. This is explained by the peculiarity of psychological perception: the “pain of payment” (unpleasant sensations when parting with money) comes later, after payment. According to researchers in the psychology of consumer behavior, paying with bank card the client experiences positive emotions from the purchase, he does not experience the negative that is characteristic of situations when he parted with cash.

Application in practice. Provide an opportunity to pay for goods or services using a bank card on the website or in the office of the company. Even better, if you provide the service "Autopayment". In this case, the client will not experience stress every month, paying the loan in cash.

Tip 2. Allow customers to pay in instalments.

In his study, Harvard Business School professor John Gourville compared two methods of raising money for charitable causes. The first is a one-time payment of $350. The second was in the form of daily payments, which amounted to one dollar. As a result, it turned out that it is easier for a person to give money if his daily payment is not higher than the amount of the daily expense (four dollars in 2003).

Application in practice. For example, a provider offers a tariff with a monthly payment of 900 rubles. We divide this amount by the number of days in a month (30) and get 30 rubles - a fee for each day of using the tariff. She's small though total amount will remain unchanged. To enhance the effect, you can compare this amount with some very insignificant one, for example, with the price for one box of matches.

Tip 3. Apply the snap effect.

Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman, along with Israeli psychologist Amos Tversky, conducted an experiment in which they twisted a roulette with markings from zero to one hundred so that the arrow pointer always fell on the numbers 10 and 65. Those who participated in the study were asked to write down dropped number and asked:

Participants' responses varied, but the average score (after seeing the numbers 10 and 65) was 25% and 45%. This phenomenon has been called the anchoring effect, and it comes into play when people have to deal with numbers of an arbitrary nature before they need to evaluate some unknown value.

Application in practice. When a consumer chooses a product, invite him to take part in a marketing study, where his answer is tied in advance to a higher price for the service. It is important that in this question the amount beneficial to the company is sounded.

The human brain is designed in such a way that, if possible, it tries not to do unnecessary calculations. Thus, the “Default” option, that is, the refusal to make any choice, is considered in the psychology of consumer behavior as the best solution. This phenomenon has scientific explanation. In a study of the possibility of controlling customer behavior, psychologists Eric Johnson and Daniel Goldstein randomly divided participants into three groups. Each was asked to imagine that they had settled in a country that had a donation policy. Only 42% of the participants in the first group expressed their desire to become donors, 82% of the members of the second group also decided to support this policy, in the third group this figure was 79%.

Application in practice. Give your new customers the opportunity to use the first week for free high speed internet(100 Mbps). Also, offer them the option to opt-out of this service at a time convenient for them. From the eighth day, if the subscriber has not done anything, transfer him to a paid tariff while maintaining speed, and if he refuses, change the tariff to the one he chooses from the next day. So did one of Russian companies. As a result, the majority of customers agreed with the default choice, and the average price of the tariff increased by 18%.

Tip 5 Use a conflict of interest.

Harvard University professor Sunita Sah and her colleague, author of "The Burden of Disclosure: Increasing Adoption of Dubious Recommendations," describe an experience in studying the psychology of consumer behavior. The subjects were asked to choose between cubes A and B, each of which had its own set of prizes. Moreover, the prizes that people received when choosing the A cube were better than the prizes corresponding to the B cube. Of all the participants, 92% chose the A cube without third-party prompts.

In the same case, when the subjects were misled into thinking that die B had the best prizes, 52% of the subjects opted for it. But if the consultant, offering the B cube, said that he was financially interested in their choice, then the indicator increased to 81%.

Application in practice: during a conversation with a client, mention that when a consumer selects a certain product, a bonus will be paid to the manager. This technique works in any area of business, but it also has by-effect: Customers may feel that they are under pressure, and this can affect their loyalty to the company.