How to understand the Consumer Culture & Behavoiur

It's a myth that the Customer & Consumer are the same, but it's not, so first let us understand the difference between the Customer & the Consumer... 

Customers versus Consumers: The term ‘customer’ is specific in terms of brand, company, or shop. It refers to person who customarily or regularly purchases particular brand, purchases particular company‘s product, or purchases from particular shop. Thus a person who shops at Bata Stores or who uses Raymonds clothing is a customer of these firms. Whereas the ‘consumer’ is a person who generally engages in the activities - search, select, use and dispose of products, services, experience, or ideas.

Consumer has a motive for purchasing a particular product. Motive is a strong feeling, urge, instinct, desire or emotion that makes the buyer to make a decision to buy. Buying motives thus are defined as those influences or considerations which provide the impulse to buy, induce action or determine choice in the purchase of goods or service. These motives are generally controlled by economic, social, psychological influences etc.

The buying motives may be classified into two:
1. Product Motives 
2. Patronage Motives

Product motives may be defined as those impulses, desires and considerations which make the buyer purchase a product. These may still be classified on the basis of nature of satisfaction:

a) Emotional Product Motives - Defined as those impulses which persuade the consumer on the basis of his emotion. The buyer does not try to reason out or logically analyse the need for purchase. He makes a buying to satisfy pride, sense of ego, urge to initiate others, and his desire to be unique.

b) Rational Product Motives - Defined as those impulses which arise on the basis of logical analysis and proper evaluation. The buyer makes rational decision after chief evaluation of the purpose, alternatives available, cost benefit, and such valid reasons.

Patronage Motives may be defined as consideration or impulses which persuade the buyer to patronage specific shops. Just like product motives patronage can also be grouped as emotional and rational.

a) Emotional Patronage Motives - those that persuade a customer to buy from specific shops, without any logical reason behind this action. He may be subjective for shopping in his favourite place.

b) Rational Patronage Motives - those which arise when selecting a place depending on the buyer satisfaction that it offers a wide selection, it has latest models, offers good after-sales service etc.

Knowledge of buyer motives of consumers is useful for marketers to anticipate market trends and formulate effective marketing strategies.

The study of consumer behavior helps everybody as all are consumers. It is essential for marketers to understand consumers to survive and succeed in the competitive marketing environment.

The purpose of studying a discipline is to help oneself to better appreciate its contributions. The reason to study consumer behavior is because of the role it plays in the lives of humans. Most of the free time is spent in the market place, shopping or engaging in other activities. The extra time is usually passed in knowing and thinking about products and services, discussing with friends about them, and watching advertisements related to them. The usage of them significantly reveals our life styles.

Consumer behavior is said to be an applied discipline as some decisions are significantly affected by their behavior or expected actions. The two perspectives that seek application of its knowledge are micro and societal perspectives. The micro perspectives involve understanding consumer for the purpose of helping a firm or organization to achieve its objectives. The people involved in this field try to understand consumers in order to be more effective at their tasks. Whereas the societal or macro perspective applies knowledge of consumers to aggregate- level faced by mass or society as a whole. The behavior of consumer has significant influence on the quality and level of the standard of living.