Unit 2: The consumer as an individual
Consumer Behaviour notes · PTU syllabus (BBA 511-18)
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Unit summary
Each consumer brings needs, personality, perceptions, learning and attitudes to every purchase. This unit covers consumer motivation, personality theories and self-concept, perception and its elements, learning theories, and consumer attitudes and their functions.
After this unit you can
- Explain consumer motivation, needs and goals
- Explain psychoanalytic and trait theories of personality
- Explain the elements of consumer perception
- Explain learning theories and the functions of attitudes
PTU syllabus topics
- Consumer motivation — needs and goals
- personality theories (psychoanalytical and trait)
- consumer perception — concept and elements
- theories of consumer learning (behavioural and cognitive)
- consumer attitude and its functions
Learning is
A response to stimuli
Mental problem-solving
Key ideas
Classical and operant conditioning
Information processing, involvement
Marketing use
Jingles, rewards, repetition
Detailed comparisons, informative ads
Topic 1
Consumer motivation
Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them to action, produced by tension from an unfulfilled need. Needs can be innate (physiological) or acquired (esteem, power); goals can be generic or product-specific. Marketers apply Maslow's hierarchy — safety needs (insurance ads), social needs (soft drinks shared with friends), esteem needs (luxury brands).
Topic 2
Personality and self-concept
Personality is the set of inner psychological characteristics that determine how a person responds to the environment.
- Psychoanalytic (Freudian) theory: behaviour comes from the id (urges), superego (conscience) and ego (balance) — used in motivational research on symbolic product meanings.
- Trait theory: personality is measured by traits such as innovativeness, dogmatism, materialism and need for cognition.
- Self-concept: consumers buy brands that fit their actual self, ideal self or social self. Brand personality gives brands human traits (Royal Enfield — rugged; Apple — creative).
Topic 3
Consumer perception
Perception is the process by which a person selects, organises and interprets stimuli into a meaningful picture.
- Sensation
- Immediate response of the senses to stimuli
- Absolute threshold
- The lowest level at which a stimulus is noticed
- Differential threshold (JND)
- The smallest noticeable difference between two stimuli
- Selective perception
- Noticing what fits needs and interests
- Perceived risk
- Uncertainty about outcomes: functional, financial, social, physical
Example
A brand reduces pack size slightly without consumers noticing — below the JND — while a price cut is made large enough to be noticed.
Topic 4
Consumer learning
Learning is
A response to external stimuli
Active mental problem-solving
Theories
Classical conditioning, instrumental (operant) conditioning
Information processing, involvement theory
Marketing use
Jingles, repetition, loyalty rewards
Informative ads, comparisons for high-involvement goods
Topic 5
Consumer attitudes
An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way towards an object.
- Tricomponent model: cognitive (beliefs), affective (feelings) and conative (intention).
- Multi-attribute (Fishbein) model: attitude = sum of beliefs about attributes weighted by their importance.
- Functions (Katz): utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive and knowledge.
- Changing attitudes: change beliefs about the brand, change the importance of attributes, add new attributes, or change beliefs about competitors. Cognitive dissonance theory explains attitude change after purchase.
Key terms
- Motivation
- The drive arising from an unfulfilled need
- Self-concept
- How consumers see themselves
- JND
- The just noticeable difference between stimuli
- Perceived risk
- Uncertainty about the consequences of a purchase
- Tricomponent model
- Cognitive, affective and conative attitude components
Quick revision
- Needs: innate vs acquired; goals: generic vs product-specific.
- Personality: Freudian, trait; brand personality and self-concept.
- Perception: sensation, thresholds, JND, selective perception, risk.
- Learning: behavioural vs cognitive; attitude functions: utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive, knowledge.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Define consumer motivation.
- Q2.What is brand personality?
- Q3.What is the just noticeable difference?
- Q4.Name four types of perceived risk.
- Q5.State the functions of attitudes.
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the role of motivation and personality in consumer behaviour.
- Q2.Explain the elements of consumer perception.
- Q3.Compare behavioural and cognitive learning theories.
- Q4.Explain the models and functions of attitudes and strategies to change them.
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