Consumer behavior

and marketing strategy

Introduction
European and international perspective

Doc. Dr. Ing. Elena Horská,

Department of Marketing FEM SUA in Nitra
 Theory of consumer behaviour
• The field of consumer behavior covers
a lot of ground:
• it is the study of the processes involved
when individuals or groups select, purchase,
use or dispose of products, services, ideas
or exeriences to satisfy needs and desires.
• Consumer behavior is the dynamic
interaction of affect and congition, behavior
and the environment by which human beings
conduct the exchange aspects of their lives.
Consumer behavior as a field of study

Consumer behavior is a very new field and, as it

grows, it is being influenced by many different
perspectives.

The pyramid of consumer behavior theory:

Micro consumer behavior (individual focus)
Macro consumer behavior (social focus)
 Interdisciplinary research issues
in consumer behavior I.

• Experimental psychology: product role in perception, learning and

memory processes (which part of magazine are most likely to be
read)
• Clinical psychology: product role in psychological adjustment (do
thin models make the average woman feel overweight?)
• Microeconomics: product role in allocation of individual or
family resources (factors influencing the amount of money
spent on magazines in a household)
• Social psychology: product role in the behaviors of individuals as
members of social group (ways that ads in a magazie affet
readers´attitudes towards the product)
• Sociology: product role in social institutions and group relationships
(patterns by which magazine preferences spread through a social
group)
 Interdisciplinary research issues
in consumer behavior II.

• Macroeconomics: product role in consumers´relations with the

marketplace (effects of the price of fashion magazines and expense of
items advertised during periods of high unemployment)
• Literary Criticism: product role in the verbal and visual communication of
meaning (ways in which underlying messages communicated by models
and ads in a magazine are interpreted)
• Demography: product role in the measurable characteristics of a
population (effects of age, income and marital status of a magazine´s
readers)
• History: product role in societal changes over time (ways in which our
culture has changed over time)
• Cultural Anthropology: product role in a society´s beliefs and practices
(e.g. readers´definition of masculine vs. Feminine behaviour)
 Literature and futher studies
(some suggestions)

• Solomon: Consumer behaviour

• Kanuk: Consumer behaviour
• Peter – Olson: Consumer behaviour and
marketing strategy
• Kulcakova – Richterova: Spotrebiteľ na trhu
• Horská, Nagyová, et al: Európsky spotrebiteľ a
spotrebiteľské správanie (in printing)
 Consumer´s versus marketer´s perspective

• Pre-purchase issues:
– How does a consumer decide that he/she needs a
product?
• Purchase issues
– How do situational factors such as time pressure or
store displays, affect the consumer´s pruchase
decision?
• Post-purchase issues
– What determines whether a consumer will be satisfied
with a product and whether he/she will buy it again?
 Three elements
for Consumer Analysis

Consumer affect and cognition

(thinking, belief,
feelings, understanding stimuli)

Consumer
Consumer behavior Environment
(where to go, what to buy, (social stimuli, culture,
how to pay) Subculture, physical stimuli, ad)
 Practical implications
of consumer studies

• Understanding consumption and its

meanings
• Explain consumer decison making and
behavior
• Predict consumer choice and behavior
 Consumer behavior:
people in the marketplace
• Global marketplace .... Same people, same
approach, standardization....

• Regional marketplace .... Where is it?

• Local marketplace .... Differences among people

• European marketplace .... How is European

consumer?
 ... Considerations
on globalization
from business sphere
„...Strategies and sources are solved at global level in our
company, .... We produce regionally and sell locally. ... We
support our brand and take care of local customer
preferencies...“
(Herbert Baum, exprezident Campbell´s soup)

„ ... Consideration on globalization and regionalization point at

fact that company Nestle looks for balance between the global
strategy and local conditions...“
(Peter Brabech – Lemathe, Nestle)
 Think global, act local...
• In the 1970s the argument was framed as
„standardization vs. adaptation.“

• In the 1980s it was „globalization vs. localization.“

• In the 1990s it was „global integration versus local
responsibilities.“

• In the twenty-first century, standardization versus

adaptation is simply not the right question to ask.
Rather, the crucial question facing international
marketers is what are the most efficient ways to
segment markets.
 Adaptation
• Adapting the offer to the local
requirements and consumer needs:
– Product
– Price
– Place
– Promotion
 Standardization
• Standardizated products for global
markets and global customers which are
the same in all the world (a world is one
global village):
– Product
– Price
– Place
– Promotion
 Global products are related to:
• Health, fitness, wellness
• Convinience products
• Enjoyment marketing, experiences, having
fun in consumption
• Country-of-origin/regional specialities
• Higher levels of Maslow hierarchy of
needs
• Extra value added
 On the middle of the road: from
adaptation towards standardization
 On the middle of the road: from
adaptation towards standardization
????
• Mc´Donalisation
• Coca-Colonization
• Americanization: U.S.
cultural imperialism
 On the middle of the road: from
adaptation towards standardization
• look for differences and uses the principle
of adaptation to meet requirements of local
customers

• look for similarities and tries to find the

effective model satisfying the majority of
customers
 G-localization
• Combination of standardization and
localization in terms:
– to behave as the home firm
– to accept the local patriotism
– to change the local consumer behaviour
continuously, no rapidly
– consumers to perceive the market changes
as the natural development, no aggressive
marketing.
 G-localization ...
because of respecting ...
• Focus on market responsibilities:
– Cultural differences
– Regionalism: is the grouping of countries into
regional clusters based on geographical
location
– Deglobalization: moving away from the
globalization trends and regarding each
market as special, with its own economy,
culture and region
 European consumer
How should
we define an European consumer?

Which approach to use?

– National?
– Regional?
– Global European one?

• Do we know something about our European neighbours?

According to research associated with VanderMerwe and L´Huillier (1989),
companies in Europe can compete effectively in Europe by accurately
targeting customers close to one another,
but not necessary living in the same country.
The six clusters identified by VanderMerwe and L´Huillier (1989) are:
• the UK and Ireland,
• Central and Northern France, Southern Belgium, Central Germany and
Luxembourg,
• Spain and Portugal,
• Southern Germany, Northern Italy, Southeastern France and Austria,
• South Italy and Greece,
• Northern Germany, the Netherlands, Northern Belgium, Iceland, Norway,
Finland and Denmark.

These studies did not consider countries of the Central and Eastern Europe. In
present time they play an important role in processes of the European
economic integration and present challenges for Western companies entering
their markets.

Based on the common features of historic background, geographical location,

culture and consumer habits we can distinguish between Central European
cluster, South – East European cluster and Baltic States. Of course, there are
still certain internal differences within such roughly defined clusters.
European Marketing and Consumer Approach

Global approach Who is a target

customer?

Local approach

What is a plan for

territorial expansion?
Regional approach