Consumer preferences undergo continuous changes in our times so understanding the entire buying route becomes an essential necessity for business success. Consumer behaviour models establish a systematic understanding of complex customer processes which delivers significant marketing strategies from gathered insights.
If you know what your target audience thinks and desire about then you can create product, services and experiences that your target audience definitely likes.
The following post will examine fundamental consumer behaviour models while showing their application for developing customer-oriented experiences.
What is a Consumer Behaviour Model ?
The process of buying complicated procedures can be transformed into straightforward sequential actions through consumer behaviour models. The AIDA model represents one widely used approach in marketing that stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. This model demonstrates that a customer proceeds from product awareness to developed interest until they experience desire for ownership before they act by purchasing.
Why it is Important?
The understanding of these consumer behaviour models proves essential for businesses because it enables them to develop personalized marketing approaches. Here’s why it matters:
- Better Targetting: Companies that understand consumer development stages create messages which directly address whatever customers are thinking at that particular moment.The same company implements various advertising approaches when communicating with first-time product spreaders versus those who already plan to acquire.
- Optimized Marketing Spend: Companies achieve better marketing ROI through targeted investment strategies instead of funding expansive and ineffective campaigns that miss their mark.Higher conversion rates combine with better return on investment because of this approach.
- Insight into Trends:Businesses benefit from market trend detection through these models that enable them to spot changing consumer behavior which allows fast adaptation to marketplace changes.
Types of Consumer Behaviour Models
We should explore two main categories of consumer behaviour models which we will call traditional and contemporary to understand their individual advantages.
Traditional Consumer Behaviour Models:
- Learning Model:
This model describes how customers gradually learn new behavioral patterns. - Economic Model:
This model assumes consumers weigh price and income against perceived product value - Psychoanalytical Model:
Freudian theory suggests that subconscious motivations and emotional conflicts drive purchase decisions, such as the desire for luxury cars or fashionable clothes. - Sociological Model:
This segment analyzes how social factors—family, friends, cultural background, and social class—influence buyer choices. Trends spread through social networks and digital platforms.
Learning Model of Consumer Behaviour
Consumers have two tiers of purchasing behavior, similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy: basic needs and learned requirements. Basic survival needs—food, shelter, and clothing—form the base. Hungry people seek immediate necessities like milk, eggs, or bread. Higher levels involve psychological wants, such as trendy restaurants or specialty items, which satisfy needs for esteem and accomplishment. Companies can use this model by starting with necessities and then encouraging customers to buy premium items, thus improving the buying experience.
Economic Model of Consumer Behaviour
The Economic Model delivers its solutions through carefully selected logical decisions. The model assumes human beings behave in a rational manner while they compare costs versus benefits for maximum return on their resources including money and time.
Key Ideas:
- Rational Choices: People analyze both advantages and disadvantages before making their purchase.
- Budget Limits: The set spending boundaries control our actions.
- Price Matters: People tend to acquire greater quantities of items when offered at reduced prices.
- Perfect Info: Users are expected to maintain total knowledge about prices along with every option available for purchase.
- Income Effects: Increase in personal income leads to higher purchasing volume yet income reduction forces us to seek out better discounts.
- Substitutions: Two items with equivalent functionality should be evaluated through their value while making a selection.
How Does It Apply to Your Business?
The model matches perfectly when you operate in the field of basic practical products and services. My decision to buy storage bins on Amazon involved selecting the product which offered the highest number of containers at the lowest possible cost. When your business applies this model it enables price setting and product marketing for meeting practical customer needs.
If you go by the Economic Model of Consumer Behavior most routine purchases happen when consumers seek maximum value for their money.
Psychoanalytical Model of Consumer Behaviour
This model emphasizes that purchase decisions are not just logical; They are also driven by the discovery of subconscious psychological requirements, desires, feelings and status and self -values. This approach allows luxury brands to create emotional resonance messages and experiences.
Does This Model Apply to Your Business?
For Luxury Brands: High-end brands and experience providers must use this proven business model for success. Purchasers choose goods and services because they desire the unique story or image that sets them apart from others.
For B2B or More Structured Markets: While emotional drivers vary in business types, including B2B Mother -i -law, unconsciously remain valuable. Develop extensive customer profiles that go beyond the basic details to understand the user’s motivations, concerns and goals. This deep understanding will inform the message as emotionally educated and linked.
Sociological Model of Consumer Behaviour
Sociological models say that our product options are strongly influenced by social relationships, such as family and colleagues and societal norms. Opinions from experts and peers our purchase decisions, both people and online.
How family tradition/upbringing shape buying habits?
Young people model their purchasing preferences after family customs. Kids develop brand preference for life because they notice and adopt what their family uses.
Family members often share product information and traditional brand choices that direct our choices. Our families establish guidelines about cash and things that ultimately steer our buying choices from one generation to another.
Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) Model of Consumer Behaviour Model
EKB is a way to understand how people decide what to buy. It includes five steps process namely recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase. Customer goes through these stages according to this model.
How you can use this model:
- You can offer information to your target audience during the evaluation stage so that it can influence the process of the consumer decision making.
- Focus on providing the post-purchase services to improve customer satisfaction .
- Improve your website SEO or use paid media to improve your visibility during the information search phase of this model.
Black Box Model of Consumer Behaviour Model
Black Box Model is a way to look at how your consumer make decision without knowing what’s going on in their minds. You can imagine a “Blackbox” where you can see what is going in (like ads, prices and promotions) and what is coming out(like the buying decision), but you can’t see what is happening inside the mind.
How you can use this model for your business:
External influences are the things that companies control like marketing message ,pricing, etc. While internal are your customers internal feeling which are very personal to them. So by understanding that your ads are going to interact with your consumer’s personal feelings, you can:
- Design ads that makes your customer feels good or make them excited.
- Adjust your marketing strategies according to the responses you receive from your customers.
Hawkins Stern Impulse Buying Model of Consumer Behaviour Model
Hawkins Model Explains that how your consumer make impulse purchases.
There are four main types of impulse buying:
- Pure Impulse: This impulse occurs when you do not have a shopping plan. For example, suddenly buying a thing that catches your eyes as you pass the store.
- Reminder Impulse: A reminder impulse occurs when something reminds you of a need, such as your favorite drink makes you thirsty while shopping.
- Suggestion Impulse: Purchase is triggered by friends or external factors such as ads and recommendations.
- Planed Impulse: You Know what type of product you want initially but make the final decision when you see something that catches your attention.
Howard Sheth Model of Consumer Behaviour Model
Howard Sheth Model examines how consumers puts mental and physical effort into buying decision biased on how well they know the item.
Three levels are involved in this model:
1.Extensive problem solving: This happens when you are buying something new. In this you spend a lot of time looking for information, comparing options and thinking about your decision.
How you can serve this kind of users: For these customers, create a trust by providing extensive information, reviews and admirers. Offer demo, detailed product guidance and other help positions.
2.Limited Problem Solving: During this time, the user disturbs his choice before making the final decision. Consumers check many options based on price, what they say before the emotions and the decision to buy others.
How to reach this kind of audience: Company should focus on providing means to customer to compare the choices user have in their mind.
3.Habitual response behavior: When consumers have a good solution, they cling to that brand or product to their needs change, or that they find nothing better.
How you can serve this kind of audience: For these consumers, you can prioritize the trust and loyalty of the building through exemptions to promote excellent customer support, loyalty programs and frequent brand preference and repeat shopping.
Nicosia Model of Consumer Behaviour Model
The Nicosia model reflects the company’s marketing and interaction between consumer characteristics, and says how advertising forms the brands’ opinion. Adjusting the consumer’s needs increases the emotions and exploration of the positive brand.
In addition, it is important to hear the response from the audience to improve the offers and build loyalty.
Webster and Wind Model of Consumer Behaviour Model
Webster and Wind Model helps us understand that how big companies make big purchase decision. This means that buying in the big organisation is complex process and involves many people and rules.
So you need to focus on offering detailed information that aligns with a company’s procurement policy, you make it easier for them to choose your solution.
Conclusion
By understanding consumer behaviour models gives you clear roadmap to connect with your audience. By exactly knowing how your consumer are making decision, you can make personalized marketing to meet their specific needs and preferences.
These models breaks down highly complex buying process of consumer into simple steps. Hence understanding of consumer behaviour models is an essential business strategy.