Understanding consumer behavior is a very important aspect for marketers. It is also important to be cognizant of the factors that influence consumer behavior. While different factors affect different consumers individually, there are those factors that affect a group, tribe, culture or people in the same geographical location. Human beings have an innate desire to belong to a group, to identify with, and appear similar to others who speak the same language, eat the same food, and dress in similar attires (Noel, 2009). Customers seek comfort and reinforcement of those who share their values, beliefs, and even interests. This inevitably has consequences on the market trend. For instance, the family unit is very strong in India. In most parts, the dressing code is conservative. This dictates the market trend. However, other trends like the fashion abroad can undermine preference of local dressing code. This paper will demonstrate that consumers are more likely to make purchases that identify with their clan but this is not always absolute.
People who share a clan also share similar values, ideals, and belief system. They tend to attach similar values and interpretations to situations. They also behave in a certain shared manner. They pass these values to succeeding generation and hence perpetuate a clan’s values and attitudes. These people tend to develop fondness for similar products and portray the same purchasing behavior. Examples from India explicate how clans affect consumer behavior. The family unit is intact and in most parts, their culture is conservative especially in West Bengal region. Females traditionally wear sarees. The Western part, on the other hand, is more liberal because of the effect of foreign culture. For a marketer selling sarees, West Bengal would be a more lucrative market than the Western part. The same applies to the Eastern region of India. The common attire for this region is Dhoti Kurta. For a marketer, it rewards to be aware that the clan in these regions sets the values including the dressing code.
Clan also determines gender roles, behavior, and value system. Most societies expect women to appeal attractive and appealing all the times. They are thus more likely to buy make-ups than men are. This is because many societies do not mind men’s appearance. Creams and other facial products are a reserve for women. However, other trends may undermine the product trend in this respect. Men who are working in formal employment can use more facial creams than women who work as casual laborers (Kardes, Cronley & Cline, 2011). In other clans, for instance in India, the society laughs at men who apply facial creams and make-ups in spite of their employment.
Studies show that the clan (or group) has a big influence on an individual’s concept of self (Noel, 2009). While other individual traits like age and employment affect self-image, marketers should not downplay the effect of the clan. A clan sets culture and this culture bequeaths to an individual his concept of property. There are those clans that discourage individual’s ownership of property and instead encourage communal sense of ownership. This has a bearing on consumer behavior. Those from clans that encourage individual ownership of property like in Europe and United States are likely to spend more on luxurious products than those from a collective ownership background (Kardes, Cronley & Cline, 2011).
The other aspect that a clan bequeaths to consumer is concept on distribution of possessions. In all clans, there are rich, moderate, and poor people. Those with more resources are more likely to spend more because they have higher disposable resources. An interesting consumer behavior for marketers to note is that poor people do not buy bulk, but the many small items that they buy can constitute more bulk than that consumed by the rich. Distribution of possession affects market trends in the products consumed (Noel, 2009). Rich people will posses luxurious products like cars, expensive clothes, and other products. Poor people, on the other hand will concentrate on the essential products but by dint of their high population, they will consume more.
Clan influences the culture of giving gift in a society. Every society in the world esteems and encourages people to share gifts with others. In many societies, it is expected that for instance, parents give their children gifts when they perform well or marries. People who are in love exchange gifts especially on occasions such as valentine, Christmas, and New Year eve. This is a common consumer behavior among people who share a religion, culture, and value system. An individual can therefore buy a product in order to conform with others even if he or she would not have ordinarily bought it. Gift forms part of the concept of self that greatly influences consumer behavior.
In conclusion, people who share a clan have a homogenous culture, belief systems and attitude. This does not rule out individual’s uniqueness but marketers should be aware of both the general and specific consumer behavior. With intense competition and variety in the market, an understanding of even the minor details influencing consumer behavior is very important.
References
Kardes, F. R., Cronley, M. L., & Cline, T. W. (2011). Consumer behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning.
Noel, H. (2009). Consumer behaviour. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Academia.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
