a. Influence of mobile apps and online reviews on consumer behaviour

The case shows that digital touchpoints influence consumer behaviour at two different points in the buying journey — apps mainly during and after purchase, online reviews mainly before purchase.

1. Mobile apps drive spending even without a buying feature. The app studied had no purchase option, yet customers who downloaded it and kept using it raised their spending by 21–30 percent over three months. This means the app works as an engagement and reminder channel, not merely a transaction channel. Repeated, low-effort brand contact keeps the brand top-of-mind, lowers search and information costs, and makes the next purchase more likely to go to the same brand.

2. The two interactive features act through different mechanisms.

• Information lookups (point balance, transaction history, reward items) reduce uncertainty and give the consumer a sense of control. Visible point balances also create a goal-gradient effect: as the customer nears a reward threshold, the gap to be closed motivates extra purchases — the classic "points pressure" effect in loyalty programmes. This is why researchers could track purchase behaviour simply through accrual of reward points.
• Check-ins (identifying location at affiliated stores) connect the digital app to the physical store. They act as situational cues and reminders at the moment of decision, increase store visits, and add a social/gamified element that reinforces habit.

3. Combined use produces the strongest effect. The highest spending increase occurred among customers using both features. This is consistent with involvement theory and the service-profit chain logic: the deeper the engagement (cognitive + behavioural), the stronger the attitudinal loyalty and the greater the share of wallet. Apps therefore build loyalty not by rewarding alone but by making the relationship convenient and interactive.

4. Online reviews work as electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and social proof. Product reviews and social media posts shape brand perception before purchase. Consumers treat peer comments as more credible than marketer-controlled advertising, and ratings act as social proof that reduces perceived risk. The case also shows negativity bias: viewers of negative comments subsequently bought less, so a small number of negative posts can damage a brand far more than an equal number of positive posts help it.

5. The effect on the poster differs from the effect on the viewer. Posters of negative comments actually purchased more when the company interacted with them. A response gives the complainer a voice, signals service recovery, reduces post-purchase dissonance and restores trust — turning a critic into a loyal customer. This means eWOM is not only a medium of information but also a relationship channel.

6. The influence is not uniform. The youngest customers were most likely to use the app, so age, digital literacy and involvement moderate the effect. Apps and reviews are also only two of several influences — price, product quality, availability and past experience still matter. Managers should therefore read app usage and review sentiment as part of a multi-touch view of the consumer journey, not as the single cause of sales.

b. How the new generation uses mobile apps to solve daily problems

My opinion: for today's young consumers the smartphone is no longer a gadget but basic infrastructure. They do not "use an app" as a separate activity; they route ordinary daily problems through apps as the default first option. This is a genuine behavioural shift, though it is uneven and carries real risks.

Where apps have become the default solution:

• Money and payments — mobile wallets, QR payments, mobile banking, bill payment for electricity, water, internet and taxes; splitting bills, sending money to family, micro-savings and insurance.
• Mobility — ride-hailing, maps and navigation, bus and airline ticketing, vehicle service booking, fuel and parking payments.
• Food and household — food delivery, grocery and pharmacy delivery, online shopping with doorstep return.
• Health — booking doctor appointments, telemedicine, lab report access, medicine reminders and fitness tracking.
• Education and work — online classes, e-books and notes, exam results and admit cards, freelancing and gig work, remote meetings, skill courses.
• Government and civic services — digital identity, passport and licence applications, land revenue and tax filing, complaint and utility portals.
• Information and decisions — search, price comparison, product reviews, ratings and social media before almost every purchase.

Why this generation behaves this way:

• They are digital natives — apps were part of daily life from childhood, so there is no learning barrier.
• Cheap data and near-universal smartphone ownership make the marginal cost of using an app almost zero.
• Apps offer convenience, 24×7 availability, personalisation and instant feedback, which match a preference for speed and control.
• Ratings, reviews and peer recommendations substitute for the advice earlier generations got from family and shopkeepers.
• Network effects: once friends, shops and services are on a platform, staying off it becomes costly.

The limits I would flag:

• The habit is not universal — rural connectivity, cost of devices, English-heavy interfaces and low digital literacy exclude many users, including older people.
• Over-reliance creates attention problems, comparison pressure and reduced face-to-face problem solving.
• Privacy, data misuse, fraud, phishing and loan-app traps are real costs of convenience.
• Fake reviews and manipulated ratings weaken the very trust the system depends on.
• Small businesses become dependent on platform commissions and algorithm visibility.

Conclusion: the new generation has effectively outsourced routine problem solving to apps, and this raises efficiency and access. But the benefit is conditional on digital literacy, trustworthy platforms and consumer protection. The sensible position is to treat apps as a powerful tool to be used deliberately, not as a substitute for judgement.

c. "Electronic word of mouth communication is considered as one of the most influential media among the new generation consumers" — do I agree?

Yes, I largely agree, and the case supports this, though with important qualifications.

Reasons in favour:

1. Reach and speed. A single review or post can reach thousands of consumers instantly and remain searchable for years. Traditional word of mouth is limited to one's immediate circle; eWOM is global, permanent and free.
2. Perceived credibility. Consumers see peer reviews as independent of the marketer's interest, so they trust them more than advertising. This is why product reviews and social media posts influence brand perception in the case.
3. Social proof and risk reduction. Ratings aggregate the experience of many buyers and reduce perceived purchase risk, especially for experience goods where quality cannot be judged before buying. Herd behaviour follows.
4. Point-of-decision access. Because the review sits on the same phone used for shopping, it is read at the exact moment of choice — in the store, on the app, at checkout. No other medium is that close to the decision.
5. Two-way and participatory. The new generation does not just consume eWOM; it produces it — posting, commenting, sharing, tagging. Influencers act as opinion leaders in a modern two-step flow, and content can go viral without any paid media.
6. Asymmetric power of negative eWOM. The case shows viewers of negative comments bought less. Negative information is weighted more heavily than positive, travels faster and does more damage — evidence of how influential this medium really is.
7. It is also a relationship channel. Posters who had interaction with the company bought more. So eWOM does not merely inform; it can repair or destroy the relationship, depending on how the firm responds.
8. Declining trust in formal institutions and advertising has shifted credibility toward peers, which further strengthens eWOM's influence among younger consumers.

Qualifications I would add:

• Few produce, many consume. Only a small proportion post comments, while many more read and rely on them. So a handful of voices shape the perceptions of a large audience — influential, but also fragile and unrepresentative.
• Authenticity risk. Fake, paid or competitor-planted reviews and review bombing can mislead consumers. Once users suspect manipulation, the medium loses the credibility that made it powerful.
• Effect varies by context. Influence differs by product category (experience versus search goods), involvement level, price and demographics. The case itself shows age differences in app use.
• Not the only influence. Product attributes, price, availability, service quality and personal experience still determine repurchase. eWOM shapes perception; it does not replace the product.
• Platform dependence. Its reach depends on algorithms and platform policies that firms and consumers do not control.

Conclusion: eWOM is one of the most influential media for the new generation because it is fast, credible, participatory and available at the point of decision, and its negative side is disproportionately powerful. But it is influential rather than decisive on its own. The managerial implication is clear: firms should treat eWOM as a two-way relationship to be managed — monitor it, respond to complaints quickly, encourage genuine advocacy, and protect review authenticity — rather than as publicity to be bought.

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups, and organisations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. For an MBS-level answer, its application lies in the fact that marketing management is essentially the management of demand, and demand originates in consumer behaviour. The knowledge of consumer behaviour converts marketing from guesswork into a systematic, evidence-based decision process. Its major applications in business decisions and marketing management are explained below.

1. Market segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) Consumer behaviour knowledge reveals that buyers differ in needs, motives, lifestyles, values and consumption patterns. Marketers use this to divide the market into homogeneous segments (geographic, demographic, psychographic, behavioural), select the most attractive segment, and position the product in the consumer's mind. For example, psychographic segmentation based on lifestyle and personality helps a company position a motorcycle as a "youthful thrill" rather than mere transport.

2. Product decisions Understanding consumer needs, perceptions, learning and attitudes guides:

• New product development — ideas are generated from unmet consumer needs and tested through concept testing.
• Product design, features, quality and packaging — based on what consumers notice and value.
• Branding and brand equity — brands are built on consumer beliefs, associations and experiences.
• Product line and mix decisions — extending, widening or pruning lines according to consumer preference and usage.
• Product life cycle strategies — modifying products as consumer tastes change.

3. Pricing decisions Perception of price, price–quality inference, reference prices, price sensitivity and perceived value all come from consumer behaviour research. It helps in setting introductory prices (skimming or penetration), psychological pricing (odd pricing, prestige pricing), discounts, and price changes without adverse consumer reaction. Consumers' value perception, not cost alone, determines the ceiling price.

4. Distribution (place) decisions Consumer shopping behaviour — where, when and how they buy — determines channel choice, store location, store atmospherics, shelf placement and the growth of online versus offline retail. Knowledge of convenience versus comparison shopping explains why FMCG goods need intensive distribution while specialty goods need selective outlets.

5. Promotion and communication decisions This is perhaps the most direct application. Consumer behaviour informs:

• Advertising message and appeal design — rational vs emotional appeals, fear, humour, sex appeals.
• Media selection — matching media habits of the target segment.
• Sales promotion and personal selling — based on buying motives and decision roles.
• Publicity and public relations — shaping attitudes and word-of-mouth. The hierarchy of effects (awareness → interest → desire → action) and the AIDA model are applied here.

6. Understanding the buying decision process Knowledge of problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase behaviour helps marketers intervene at each stage — triggering need recognition through advertising, supplying information through dealers and websites, influencing evaluation through attributes, and reducing cognitive dissonance through after-sales service and reassurance.

7. Understanding buying roles Consumers act as initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and user. Marketers identify the actual decision maker (e.g., children influence cereal purchase, women decide household durables in many Nepali households) and target communication accordingly.

8. Customer relationship management and retention Knowledge of post-purchase satisfaction, loyalty, complaining behaviour and switching behaviour helps firms design CRM programmes, loyalty schemes, complaint handling and retention strategies. Retaining an existing customer is far cheaper than acquiring a new one.

9. Branding, differentiation and competitive strategy By understanding how consumers perceive competing brands (perceptual mapping), firms identify gaps and differentiate on attributes consumers actually care about, gaining competitive advantage.

10. Public policy, social marketing and ethics Consumer behaviour knowledge is used by government and NGOs in social marketing — family planning, immunisation, anti-tobacco, sanitation campaigns — and in framing consumer protection laws. It also warns marketers against manipulative practices such as deceptive advertising or exploiting vulnerable groups.

11. Forecasting demand and inventory planning Understanding purchase timing, seasonality and reference group influence helps in sales forecasting, production scheduling and inventory management (e.g., festival demand during Dashain–Tihar in Nepal).

12. Digital and e-commerce decisions Online consumer behaviour — browsing, reviews, social media influence, cart abandonment — directly shapes website design, recommendation engines, influencer marketing and omnichannel strategy.

Conclusion Consumer behaviour knowledge is thus the foundation of marketing management. It converts the marketing concept ("know and satisfy the customer") into concrete decisions on product, price, place and promotion, supports segmentation and positioning, strengthens customer loyalty, and guides ethical and socially responsible marketing. In the modern competitive and digital environment, a firm that ignores consumer behaviour risks producing what it can make rather than what the consumer will buy.

Store Choice Factors and Determinants of Store Loyalty

1. Introduction

In retailing, store choice refers to the process by which a consumer selects a particular retail outlet from among the available alternatives for purchasing goods and services. Store loyalty refers to a consumer's consistent preference for and repeated patronage of a particular store over time, often accompanied by a willingness to recommend it and resistance to switching to competitors. Store choice is a one-time or situational decision, whereas store loyalty is a cumulative outcome of repeated satisfactory store-choice decisions. Understanding both is vital for retailers because loyal customers reduce marketing costs, increase lifetime value, and provide a stable revenue base.

2. Store Choice Factors

Store choice factors can be grouped into consumer-related factors and store-related (retailer-controlled) factors.

A. Consumer-Related Factors

1. Demographic characteristics — Age, income, family size, occupation, and education influence store choice. Higher-income consumers may prefer specialty or premium stores, while price-sensitive consumers prefer discount or value stores.
2. Psychographic and lifestyle factors — Values, personality, shopping orientation (recreational vs. economic shopper), and time pressure affect where consumers shop.
3. Shopping motives — Whether shopping is task-oriented (convenience, speed) or recreational (experience, enjoyment) determines the type of store chosen.
4. Perceived risk — Financial, functional, social, and time risk perceptions push consumers toward trusted, well-known stores.
5. Past experience and habit — Prior satisfactory experiences create routine or habitual store choice.

B. Store-Related (Retailer-Controlled) Factors

1. Location and accessibility — Proximity to home or workplace, travel time, parking availability, and public transport access. Location is often the single most important determinant.
2. Merchandise assortment — Breadth (variety of product lines) and depth (variety within a line), quality, availability of preferred brands, and stock consistency.
3. Price and value — Price levels, promotional pricing, discounts, and overall value for money.
4. Service quality — Helpfulness, courtesy, and knowledge of sales staff; speed of billing; after-sales service; return and exchange policies.
5. Store atmosphere and ambience — Layout, cleanliness, lighting, music, temperature, and overall shopping ambience.
6. Convenience — Store timings, ease of finding products, checkout speed, and availability of facilities such as credit, home delivery, and online ordering.
7. Promotion and communication — Advertising, loyalty programmes, loyalty cards, and word-of-mouth reputation.
8. Physical facilities — Parking, trial rooms, escalators, rest areas, and accessibility for the disabled.

C. Situational Factors

1. Time availability — Urgent purchases lead to convenience stores; leisurely shopping permits larger outlets.
2. Purchase occasion — Routine, emergency, or special-occasion buying.
3. Social surroundings — Accompanied shopping, reference group influence.
4. Task definition — The specific purpose of the shopping trip.

3. Determinants of Store Loyalty

Store loyalty is determined by a combination of attitudinal and behavioural factors:

1. Customer satisfaction — The most fundamental determinant. Repeated satisfaction with merchandise, price, and service builds loyalty. However, satisfaction alone does not guarantee loyalty unless it is high.
2. Perceived value — Customers remain loyal when they believe they receive superior value relative to the price paid and relative to competitors.
3. Store image and reputation — A favourable, consistent store image (quality, trust, fairness) strengthens loyalty.
4. Switching costs — Loyalty programmes, accumulated reward points, membership benefits, and the effort of learning a new store increase switching costs and lock in customers.
5. Interpersonal relationships — Personal bonds with staff and familiarity with the store create emotional loyalty.
6. Location convenience — A store that is close and easy to reach enjoys habitual loyalty even without strong emotional attachment.
7. Merchandise uniqueness — Exclusive brands, private labels, or unique assortments unavailable elsewhere create loyalty.
8. Trust and perceived fairness — Honest pricing, reliable quality, and fair complaint handling build trust, which is a key driver of loyalty.
9. Alternative attractiveness — The greater the attractiveness of competing stores, the lower the loyalty; conversely, weak competitors strengthen loyalty.
10. Variety seeking tendency — Consumers with high variety-seeking behaviour are less loyal regardless of satisfaction.
11. Corporate reputation and social responsibility — Ethical and socially responsible retailers attract and retain loyal customers.
12. Loyalty programmes and relationship marketing — Tiered rewards, personalised offers, and CRM initiatives directly build repeat purchase behaviour.

4. Relationship Between Store Choice and Store Loyalty

Store choice factors operate at the evaluation stage (pre-purchase), while loyalty determinants operate at the post-purchase stage. A consumer first chooses a store based on location, assortment, price, and service. If these factors consistently meet or exceed expectations, satisfaction develops, which, reinforced by switching costs and relationship bonds, converts into loyalty. Thus, store choice factors are the inputs and loyalty determinants are the processes that convert those inputs into repeated patronage.

5. Conclusion

Store choice is influenced by consumer demographics, psychographics, perceived risk, and retailer-controlled variables such as location, assortment, price, service, and atmosphere. Store loyalty, on the other hand, is determined primarily by satisfaction, perceived value, store image, switching costs, trust, interpersonal relationships, and loyalty programmes. Retailers must therefore manage both the functional attributes that attract customers and the relational and experiential attributes that retain them. In competitive retail markets, the ability to convert store choice into store loyalty is the key to sustainable competitive advantage.

Consumer Learning: Classical Conditioning Theory

1. Meaning of Consumer Learning

Consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience that they apply to future related behaviour. It is a relatively permanent change in behaviour resulting from experience. Marketers study learning because most consumer behaviour is learned rather than innate — our taste for a brand, our fear of a product category, or our habit of buying from a particular shop are all learned responses.

2. Classical Conditioning Theory

Classical conditioning is a stimulus–response (S–R) theory of learning. It was first demonstrated by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) through his famous experiments with dogs. The theory states that learning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, and eventually the neutral stimulus alone is able to produce the same response.

2.1 Pavlov's Experiment

Pavlov presented meat powder (a natural stimulus) to dogs and observed that they salivated (a natural response). He then rang a bell (a neutral stimulus) just before presenting the meat powder. After several repetitions of this pairing, the dogs began to salivate merely at the sound of the bell, even when no meat powder was given. The bell had become a conditioned stimulus, and salivation at the bell a conditioned response.

2.2 Key Elements of Classical Conditioning

2.3 The Conditioning Process

The process works in three stages:

1. Before conditioning: US → UR (meat → salivation). The CS produces no relevant response.
2. During conditioning: CS is repeatedly paired with US (bell + meat → salivation).
3. After conditioning: CS alone produces CR (bell → salivation).

2.4 Key Principles

• Repetition: The association must be repeated several times for learning to occur. However, too much repetition leads to advertising wearout, where the consumer tunes out the message.
• Stimulus Generalisation: A response learned to one stimulus is also evoked by similar stimuli. This is why me-too products and family branding work — a new product carrying a trusted brand name benefits from the association built for the parent brand.
• Stimulus Discrimination: The consumer learns to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli. Marketers encourage this through product differentiation so that buyers do not accept substitutes.
• Extinction: If the CS is repeatedly presented without the US, the association weakens and the CR disappears. This is why brands must keep advertising to maintain the learned association.
• Spontaneous Recovery: Even after extinction, the CR may reappear after a rest period if the CS is presented again.

3. How Consumer Learning Occurs Through Classical Conditioning

In the consumer context, the unconditioned stimulus is usually a product or brand that already evokes a natural, favourable response — for example, a soft drink that satisfies thirst or a food that satisfies hunger. The conditioned stimulus is a neutral cue that the marketer pairs with it — a jingle, a logo, a celebrity, a colour, or a pleasant scene. Through repeated pairing in advertisements, the neutral cue comes to evoke the same pleasant feeling on its own. The consumer then "learns" to associate the brand with that feeling, and this learned association influences purchase behaviour.

Marketers apply this theory in several ways:

• Pairing the brand with a liked stimulus: Advertisements repeatedly show the product together with attractive models, happy families, music, or humour, so that the product itself begins to evoke those positive feelings.
• Using well-known celebrities: A popular film star or sportsperson acts as the US; the brand becomes the CS, and the consumer transfers the star's appeal to the brand.
• Building brand equity: Repeated pairing of a brand name with pleasant experiences creates a conditioned association that becomes brand loyalty.
• Creating favourable brand associations: Colours (red for Coca-Cola), slogans, and mascots become conditioned stimuli that trigger recognition and preference.

4. Example: Coca-Cola and Festive Advertising

Consider the advertisement of a soft drink such as Coca-Cola during the festive season. The advertisement shows a happy family celebrating together, with bright lights, cheerful music, and smiling faces. Here:

• The unconditioned stimulus is the pleasant, festive atmosphere and the natural human desire for happiness and belonging, which automatically produce a positive emotional response (the UR).
• The conditioned stimulus is the Coca-Cola bottle, its red colour, and its logo, which are initially neutral.
• Through repeated pairing of the bottle with the festive scene across many advertisements and seasons, the bottle alone begins to evoke the same positive feeling — the conditioned response.

As a result, when a consumer later sees the red Coca-Cola bottle in a shop, the learned association with happiness and celebration is triggered, increasing the likelihood of purchase. The brand has, in effect, been conditioned into the consumer's mind. Similarly, a toothpaste brand repeatedly paired with a dentist's recommendation or a "fresh morning" scene conditions consumers to associate the product with freshness and confidence.

5. Evaluation and Limitations

Classical conditioning explains many low-involvement, habitual purchases well, but it has limitations:

• It assumes a passive consumer who merely responds to stimuli, ignoring cognitive processes such as thinking, reasoning, and information search.
• It works best for low-involvement products (soft drinks, toothpaste, soap) and less well for high-involvement purchases (cars, houses) where consumers evaluate alternatives carefully.
• It cannot explain learning that occurs without direct experience, such as observational learning or reasoning.

6. Conclusion

Classical conditioning theory holds that consumer learning occurs through the association of a neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus, so that the neutral stimulus alone comes to produce the same response. Marketers exploit this by repeatedly pairing their brands with pleasant stimuli — celebrities, music, festive scenes, and attractive imagery — to build favourable brand associations, brand equity, and purchase behaviour. Although it presents a simplified, stimulus–response view of the consumer, it remains one of the most widely used explanations of how consumers learn about and respond to products.

Reference Group

A reference group is any person or group that serves as a point of comparison (or reference) for an individual in forming either general or specific values, attitudes, or behaviour. In consumer behaviour, it refers to the groups with which a consumer identifies and whose norms, values, attitudes, and purchasing patterns the consumer uses as a standard for evaluating his or her own beliefs and actions. A reference group may be a group to which the individual actually belongs (a membership group) or one to which he aspires to belong (an aspirational group).

Reference groups are broadly classified as:

• Membership groups – groups to which the person actually belongs, such as family, friends, colleagues, and religious or professional associations.
• Aspirational groups – groups the person hopes or aspires to join, such as a group of successful executives or a celebrity circle.
• Dissociative (negative) groups – groups the person does not wish to be associated with and whose behaviour he deliberately avoids.

Reference Group Influence on Consumer Behaviour

Reference groups influence consumers in three principal ways: informational influence, normative (utilitarian) influence, and value-expressive influence.

1. Informational influence. The group acts as a source of credible information. When a consumer is uncertain about a product — especially a technically complex or high-risk purchase such as a laptop, camera, or insurance policy — he seeks information and expert advice from group members. The group's knowledge reduces perceived risk and shapes the consumer's beliefs about product attributes. This influence is strongest when the purchase is visible and the product is complex.

2. Normative (utilitarian) influence. The group sets norms and rewards conformity while punishing deviation. A consumer conforms to group expectations to gain approval or avoid disapproval. For example, a student may buy a particular brand of smartphone or wear a certain style of dress because his peer group expects it. This influence is strongest for publicly consumed goods (clothing, cars, mobile phones) where the brand is visible to others, and weakest for privately consumed necessities (salt, toothpaste).

3. Value-expressive influence. The consumer adopts a group's behaviour or buys a product because he wants to be like or identify with the group, even without any reward or punishment. Advertisers exploit this by using celebrities, athletes, and admired personalities to endorse products, so that consumers feel psychologically attached to the reference group by using the same brand.

Factors affecting the degree of reference group influence:

• Product conspicuousness – influence is high for conspicuous, conspicuous-visible products and low for private necessities.
• Consumption visibility – the more the product is seen and identified by others, the greater the normative influence.
• Product involvement and perceived risk – high involvement and high risk increase informational influence.
• Consumer characteristics – consumers who are insecure, highly conforming, or strongly attached to a group are more susceptible; opinion leaders and innovators are less susceptible.
• Group characteristics – cohesive, small, frequently interacting groups exert stronger influence than loose, large groups.

Types of reference group influence on product and brand choice:

Marketing implications. Marketers use reference group influence by (a) using opinion leaders and celebrity endorsements, (b) creating brand communities and online forums where consumers share information, (c) using testimonials and social proof in advertising, and (d) targeting aspirational groups through lifestyle imagery. Understanding reference groups helps marketers design promotional strategies that match the type of influence most relevant to the product and the target consumer.

Difference in Consumer Buying Decision Process in High and Low Involvement Purchase Situations

Consumer involvement refers to the level of perceived personal importance and interest a buyer attaches to a purchase. The decision process differs markedly between high and low involvement situations.

1. Number of stages. In high involvement purchases (car, house, laptop), the buyer passes through all five stages — need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase behaviour — and often returns to earlier stages. In low involvement purchases (soap, salt, toothpaste), the buyer often skips or compresses the information search and evaluation stages, moving almost directly from need recognition to purchase.

2. Information search. High involvement buyers undertake extensive internal and external search — friends, dealers, advertisements, online reviews — and consider many brands. Low involvement buyers rely on limited internal search and simple cues such as brand familiarity, price or shelf position.

3. Evaluation of alternatives. High involvement buyers evaluate brands on many attributes, apply compensatory rules and weigh trade-offs carefully. Low involvement buyers use simple heuristics or buy the same brand routinely out of habit.

4. Perceived risk. High involvement purchases carry significant financial, social and psychological risk, so buyers take more time, seek reassurance and may postpone the decision. Low involvement purchases carry little risk, so decisions are quick and repeatable.

5. Post-purchase behaviour. High involvement buyers experience stronger post-purchase dissonance and engage in more post-purchase evaluation, complaining or recommending. Low involvement buyers show little dissonance and low brand loyalty unless habit is formed.

6. Marketing implications. For high involvement products, marketers use detailed advertising, personal selling, demonstrations and after-sales service. For low involvement products, they use mass advertising, attractive packaging, price offers and wide distribution to build brand recall and habit.

In short, high involvement buying is a deliberate, extended, multi-stage process, while low involvement buying is routine, quick and based on limited evaluation.

Functions of Attitude

Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond consistently toward an object, person, or situation. They are not merely stored opinions — they serve specific psychological purposes for the individual holding them. Psychologists (notably Katz, 1960, and Smith, Bruner and White, 1956) have identified the following functions:

1. Utilitarian (Instrumental) Function Attitudes help people maximise rewards and minimise punishments. We develop favourable attitudes toward objects that satisfy our needs and unfavourable attitudes toward those that frustrate them. For example, an employee develops a positive attitude toward a supervisor who recommends him for promotion. This function guides behaviour toward goal attainment.

2. Knowledge Function Attitudes help organise and make sense of a complex, ambiguous environment. They provide a frame of reference that simplifies information processing and gives meaning to new experiences. For example, a consumer with a strong attitude toward a brand can quickly evaluate new products from that brand without detailed analysis.

3. Ego-Defensive Function Attitudes protect the self-image from internal conflicts and unacceptable impulses, and from external threats. They serve as defence mechanisms against anxiety. For example, a manager who feels insecure may develop a harsh attitude toward subordinates to protect his own self-esteem. Prejudice often serves this function.

4. Value-Expressive Function Attitudes allow individuals to express their central values, beliefs, and self-concept to others. They affirm who the person is. For example, a person who strongly values environmental protection expresses this through a positive attitude toward eco-friendly products, thereby reinforcing his identity.

5. Social-Adjustment (Social Identity) Function Attitudes help individuals fit into social groups and gain approval. People adopt attitudes that are rewarded by their reference groups. For example, a new employee adopts the work-related attitudes prevailing in his department to gain acceptance among colleagues.

6. Impression-Management Function Related to the social-adjustment function, attitudes are sometimes held or expressed to create a favourable impression on others, even when they do not reflect the person's true beliefs. This is common in organisational settings where image matters.

Conclusion These functions are not mutually exclusive — a single attitude may serve more than one function simultaneously. Understanding these functions is important for managers, marketers, and administrators because changing an attitude requires identifying the function it serves; an attitude serving an ego-defensive function, for instance, is far more resistant to change than one serving a knowledge function.

Role of Consumer Motives

Consumer motives are the inner drives, needs, and urges that impel a buyer to act in order to satisfy a want. They are the "why" behind every purchase decision, and understanding them is central to marketing because all marketing effort is ultimately aimed at motivating the consumer to buy. Their role can be explained as follows:

1. Trigger purchasing behaviour. Motives activate the consumer — they create the tension or urge that moves a person from a passive state to an active search for a product or service. Without a motive, no buying decision process begins.

2. Direct and channel behaviour. Motives do not merely start behaviour; they give it direction. A hunger motive directs the consumer towards food, a status motive towards branded or premium products. Thus motives determine what the consumer buys and where he or she buys it.

3. Explain product and brand choice. Consumers with different dominant motives choose different products for the same basic need — one buys a motorcycle for economy, another for prestige. Marketers use this to position products against the motive segment they wish to serve.

4. Determine the intensity of effort. Stronger motives lead to more vigorous search, greater willingness to spend, and more time and effort in shopping. Weak motives produce casual, low-involvement buying. This helps marketers decide the level of promotional push required.

5. Basis of market segmentation. Consumers can be grouped by the motives that dominate their buying — convenience, economy, status, security, comfort. Each motive group forms a distinct segment with its own needs, and this is the foundation of motive-based (benefit) segmentation.

6. Guide advertising and promotional appeals. Advertising works by arousing and channelling motives. Appeals such as fear, love, pride, health, and economy are effective only when they match the consumer's underlying motive. Knowledge of motives therefore decides the message, media, and appeal used.

7. Influence pricing and product design. A product designed to satisfy a prestige motive can carry a high price; one aimed at economy motive must be low-priced and functional. Motives thus guide decisions on quality, features, packaging, and price.

8. Help predict consumer response. Since motives are the cause of behaviour, an understanding of them allows marketers to forecast how consumers will react to a new product, a price change, or a promotional campaign, reducing the risk of marketing decisions.

Conclusion: Consumer motives are the starting point of consumer behaviour. They explain why consumers buy, what they buy, how strongly they buy, and how they respond to marketing stimuli. A marketer who correctly identifies and appeals to the right motives can design products, prices, and promotions that satisfy consumers and achieve organisational objectives.

Trait Theory of Personality

Trait theory is one of the major approaches to studying personality. It assumes that personality is composed of a set of stable, enduring characteristics called traits that predispose a person to behave in consistent ways across situations and over time. Traits are relatively permanent, differ from person to person, and can be measured quantitatively. Unlike psychoanalytic theory (which focuses on unconscious conflicts) or behaviourism (which focuses on situational learning), trait theory emphasises individual differences and the consistency of behaviour.

Key Assumptions

1. People possess broad predispositions called traits.
2. Traits are relatively stable and consistent across situations.
3. Traits can be measured and compared between individuals.
4. Traits are the basic units of personality that explain and predict behaviour.

Major Contributors and Their Theories

1. Gordon Allport (1897–1967) Allport identified about 4,500 words describing personality traits and classified them into three levels:

• Cardinal traits – a single dominant trait that governs almost all of a person's behaviour (e.g., extreme altruism).
• Central traits – 5 to 10 general characteristics that describe a person (e.g., honesty, sociability).
• Secondary traits – less consistent, situational preferences (e.g., liking a particular food).

2. Raymond Cattell (1905–1998) Using factor analysis, Cattell reduced Allport's list to 16 source traits (e.g., warmth, dominance, emotional stability), measured by his 16 Personality Factor (16 PF) questionnaire. He also distinguished surface traits (observable behaviours) from source traits (underlying causes).

3. Hans Eysenck (1916–1997) Eysenck proposed a three-dimensional model:

• Extraversion–Introversion
• Neuroticism–Emotional Stability
• Psychoticism (added later)

These dimensions were linked to biological factors such as cortical arousal and the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

4. The Big Five Model (Costa & McCrae; Goldberg) The most widely accepted modern trait theory identifies five core dimensions, remembered by the acronym OCEAN:

Strengths

• Provides a scientific, measurable framework for comparing personalities.
• Traits show cross-cultural stability and have a biological basis.
• Useful in personnel selection, career counselling, and clinical assessment.

Limitations

• Describes personality rather than explaining how traits develop.
• Underestimates situational influences on behaviour.
• Trait labels may become static and oversimplified.
• Relies heavily on self-report measures, which can be biased.

Conclusion

Trait theory offers a practical and empirically supported way of describing personality through stable, measurable characteristics. The Big Five model represents its most refined form and is widely accepted in contemporary personality psychology, though it is best used alongside other approaches for a complete understanding of human personality.

Family Purchase Roles

In family buying decisions, the family acts as the consuming unit, and different members play different roles in the decision process. A single person may play more than one role, and roles may shift with the product, the situation, and the stage of the decision. The recognised family purchase roles are:

1. Initiator The family member who first suggests or thinks of buying a particular product or service. For example, a child who first asks for a new television set, or a wife who suggests buying a refrigerator.

2. Influencer The member whose views or advice carry weight in the final choice, even though that member may not actually buy the product. For example, a teenager who persuades the family to choose a particular smartphone brand based on its features.

3. Decider The member who has the authority to make the final buying decision — what to buy, whether to buy, when to buy, and from where. In many Nepali families, the father or the main earning member plays this role for high-value items.

4. Buyer The member who actually goes to the market and makes the purchase — selects the outlet, negotiates the price, and pays. The buyer need not be the decider; for instance, the mother may buy groceries while the father decides on the monthly budget.

5. User The member who actually consumes or uses the product or service. For example, children are the users of a bicycle even though the father is the decider and buyer.

6. Gatekeeper The member who controls the flow of information into the family and can allow or block a product from being considered. For example, a mother who screens advertisements and decides which product information reaches the children or the spouse.

7. Disposer The member who decides how and where the product is disposed of after use — resold, given away, or thrown out. This role matters for marketers dealing with trade-ins and recycling.

Explanation / Marketing Significance

• These roles show that the family is not a single decision-maker but a group of participants, so marketers must address the right member with the right message.
• Advertising should target the initiator and influencer to create interest, the decider to build conviction, and the buyer to close the sale, while product design must satisfy the user.
• The roles vary by product category (groceries vs. durables), family life cycle stage, culture, and income level — for example, in nuclear urban Nepali families, joint decisions are more common, while in traditional joint families the eldest male may dominate.
• Understanding these roles helps in market segmentation, message design, media selection, and sales promotion targeted at specific family members.

Social class's influence in consumer behavior

Social class refers to the relatively permanent and homogeneous divisions in a society into which individuals or families sharing similar values, interests, and behaviors can be categorized. It is measured by a combination of occupation, income, education, and wealth rather than by income alone. Social class influences consumer behavior in the following ways:

1. Product and brand choice: Members of different social classes buy different products and brands. Upper-class consumers tend to buy premium and status-symbol products (luxury cars, designer clothing), while lower-class consumers buy functional, value-for-money products.

2. Spending patterns: The proportion of income spent on different categories varies by class. Lower classes spend a larger share on basic necessities (food, rent), whereas upper classes spend more on education, travel, recreation, and investments.

3. Shopping and store choice: Social class affects where people shop — upper classes prefer specialty and departmental stores, while lower classes rely more on discount stores, local markets, and mass merchandisers.

4. Media habits and information search: Different classes expose themselves to different media. Upper classes read newspapers, magazines, and use digital platforms more; lower classes depend more on television and radio. This shapes how marketers reach them.

5. Reference groups and aspiration: Consumers often emulate the consumption of the class just above them (aspirational reference group), which marketers use through status appeals and celebrity endorsement.

6. Innovation adoption: Upper classes generally adopt new products and innovations earlier, acting as opinion leaders, while lower classes adopt them later.

Conclusion: Social class thus acts as an important segmentation and positioning variable. Marketers study the class structure to design products, pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies that match the values and purchasing capacity of each class.