Consumer Behavior: Definitions, Attention, and Data Ethics
Definitions of Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior is defined in various ways by social scientists and marketers:
- Definition 1: It is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services, and how consumers’ emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behavior.
- Definition 2: It is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
A third perspective views consumer behavior as an interdisciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, marketing, and economics.
Among the common elements, we see that it is a study of the individual and the way he or she behaves in the market for products, services, and ideas. This study is firmly rooted within the social sciences. The elements that differentiate the definitions often relate to the degree of scientificity with which each is observed. The first and second definitions fall primarily within the field of marketing, while the third indicates the various social science disciplines that contribute knowledge to marketing.
Ultimately, we can define consumer behavior as a study of the behavior of individuals and groups in relation to their consumption patterns. It is a behavior related to economics and can be studied from sociology, psychology, anthropology, and other social sciences, which help marketing obtain social knowledge.
Information Overload and Consumer Attention
We live in an ‘information society.’ Consumers are often in a state of sensory overload, exposed to far more information than they are capable of or willing to process.
The communication sent by the market often saturates consumers with information. These vast amounts of information make consumers unable to pay attention to all messages, and their brains even create protection systems against them, paying attention only to those messages that may be of interest.
Consequently, the market fiercely competes to reach the consumer with its messages in order to capture their attention. Consumer attention today is a highly desirable commodity for marketing because without it, there is no way to inform the consumer.
Perceptual Selectivity
Consumers today are very selective with their messages. They practice what is called the Psychic Economy, selecting interesting messages in the various media they use. In fact, the consumer only takes small doses of the selected information—those they consider sufficient. This process is called Perceptual Selectivity.
Perceptual selectivity involves two key aspects:
- Exposure: This is the degree to which people notice a stimulus that is within range of their sensory receptors. Consumers concentrate on certain stimuli and are unaware of others. Selective exposure and adaptation are highly important here.
- Attention: This is the degree to which consumers focus on stimuli within their range of exposure. Consumers are exposed to so much advertising that marketers try to design campaigns in a very creative way to gain their attention.
The Societal Marketing Concept
Societal marketing is the approach marketers should adopt to improve marketing actions, always keeping the consumer’s well-being in mind. The Societal Marketing concept maintains that a company would be better off in a stronger, healthier society. Marketers that incorporate ethical behavior and social responsibility attract and maintain loyal consumer support over the long term.
The three aspects societal marketing must fulfill with regard to the target audience are:
- Improve
- Preserve
- Enhance
Sensation and the Process of Perception
We live in a world full of sensations, some of which come to us from elements of the external environment, such as colors, cold, and heat. Others come to us from people, such as voice, touch, bodies, smells, and so on.
We pay attention to one sensation or another according to our personality, needs, interests, etc. We make decisions based on the interpretation of these stimuli.
Perception is the process by which these stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted. Schemas are our organized collections of beliefs and feelings.
Understanding Hedonic Consumption
To explain Hedonic Consumption, we must first refer to the external stimuli that reach people from multiple channels. These stimuli function as sensory data, relate to the senses, and generate internal experiences in individuals. For example, a smell or a song can generate pleasant memories that may trigger a purchase.
When this happens, the Imagery Fantasy is generated, which is the internal response to this sensory data. Hedonic Consumption is defined by the fantasy and emotional aspects of a consumer’s interaction with products.
Targeting, Microtargeting, and Data Ethics
The Cambridge Analytica Case Study
This case occurred during the U.S. presidential election leading up to the pre-Biden administration, in which Donald Trump was elected. The problem arose in the communication strategy of the campaign on social networks. Trump’s team contacted the communication strategy company, Cambridge Analytica.
This company requested a database of American citizens with specific characteristics that made them likely to vote for Trump. It was the company Facebook that sold this database to Cambridge Analytica, violating the data protection law of people subscribed to the social network.
Defining Targeting and Microtargeting
Based on this data, Cambridge Analytica carried out two marketing strategies: the first based on traditional targeting, and then moving on to a more specific and better-defined targeting known as the microtargeting campaign, which is widely used in online marketing and communication strategies.
We define Targeting as the action that follows segmentation. The segment that the company views as prospective customers is selected and pursued with distinct offerings. The next step is Microtargeting, which consists of creating micro-segments based on the information previously received. This makes it easier to influence them once you have information on issues such as lifestyle or certain behaviors of the target. This allows for the generation of an attractive discourse for the target, reaching them in an exclusive way and with personalized messages.
Targeting, microtargeting, and positioning are strategies commonly used in marketing. They are especially effective in the field of e-commerce. Their commercial use does not inherently imply negligence in marketing practice; indeed, the negligence was not that Cambridge Analytica used them. The negligence was the sale of profile data from the Facebook platform and the purchase of the same. These techniques can be used ethically to send commercial messages tailored to the profile, characteristics, and needs of consumers. This is the great contribution that online communication offers to marketing.