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MODELS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Having discussed the buyer decision process, we now turn our attention to modelling consumer behaviour. There are as many authors on the subject of consumer behaviour as there are models. In general they can be classified into two types: economic and psychological. Economic models assume buyers seek to satisfy their needs by maximizing the utility of their budget constraint. These buyers operate in conditions known as perfect information, which means all the information the buyer needs to make an informed decision is readily available. Though information is freely available in this world, money is not. As such, buyers in economic models weigh the potential benefits from various choices, and select those that maximize their utility. If the utility gained is more than expected, the customer is delighted. If it is less however, they will be disappointed and will readjust the value they ascribe to that product for future references.
While economic models provide satisfactory conclusions, the assumption of perfect information seems highly unlikely in prac- tice. What’s more, believing people carefully rationalize every decision is suspect; spontaneity is a human trait as well.
Psychological models assume that there are many different types of consumers, each influenced by different cultural, social and personal factors. Though more complex and harder to quantify, marketers generally prefer psychological models to explain consumer behaviour.
cuLTuRaL facToRs
Culture according to the United Nations is the ‘set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs’. Since culture affects how a person sees and interacts with the world, it is the most important determinant in any psychological model.
Some of the key dimensions by which researchers understand culture are by the hierarchical distance in the society, that is the distance between those of high status and those of lower status, and
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