Assignment Sample on RESE1134 Research Methods 

TOPIC – USE OF MARKETING PSYCHOLOGY TO INFLUENCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Introduction

Over the years the market and the marketing strategies have changed on a massive scale together with the “purchasing behaviour” of the customers. This is because both the aspects of “marketing strategies” and that of the aspects of “purchasing behaviour” are interlinked. Both of these aspects influence each other on a number of grounds such as the behaviour of the customer is influenced by the cultural diversity or the influence of geographical demography can change the customer behaviour in buying any kinds of product and services based on his or her requirement. The notions of quality and quantity also influence the characteristics or the nature of the buying behaviour of the customers within the market. Sometimes the aspects of “brand”, “ethical behaviour”, “online buying platforms”, “nudging“, and many more. Therefore, the major factor lies in four main elements which are, “social”, “cultural”, “personal” and finally “psychological”.

Research question

Identification of the changes in the psychological aspects of the customer’s behaviour on the strategies of marketing is the primary aim of the study. Therefore, the research question of the study is:

RQ: What is the influence of marketing psychology on consumer behaviour?

Critical discussion on the use of marketing psychology to influence consumer behaviour

Consumer behaviour influenced by cultural diversity

One of the major aspects in this journal is the influence of the customer’s behaviour of purchase based on the diversity in the cultural aspects. In society, it is evidenced that there are a number of cultural groups and they show unique characteristics from the other cultural groups within the society (Etrata et al. 2021). Based on their culture their preferences seem to be quite different from each other. According to Etrata et al. (2021), it is acknowledged that culture is the prime factor in segregating the various groups based on the different cultures of the society. The term “diversity” is also intermingled with the aspect of “culture” and the notion of diversity is influenced by the factors like “race”, “gender”, “ethnicity”, “religion”, and “sexual orientation”. The study has suggested that “work ethics”, “status of the family”, “appearances” and other factors are made by society.

All these factors both directly and indirectly affect the relationship and the interaction of the marketing strategies and the customer purchasing behaviours. On the contrary Antonio et al. (2021) mentioned that this journal focuses on how the notions of “the process of decision-making”, “customer’s psychology on the terms of purchasing services and goods” from the market. The researcher has made an analysis by a random collection of 100 respondents as per their reviews over a questionnaire on the online platform (Antonio et al. 2021). Using the quantitative method, and the “one-sample t-test“, the researcher acknowledged the fact that the most important cultural factors that influence the buying behaviour depend on the “basic values”, “wants”, “needs”, “preferences”, “behaviour” and “perceptions” of a person (Etrata et al. 2021).

Ways age of the brand influence customer’s attitude towards firm’s ethical behaviour

In this journal, the focus has been given on the aspects of “evaluations of brands” by the customers based on the unethical behaviour of the concerned firm. According to the author Zhang et al. (2019), the aspects of “brands”, “credibility”, “ethics”, “and business ethics” are catered to show the changes in the behaviour of the customers. In this journal, the critic shows how the “brand age” influences the three kinds of “evaluations of the brand” that are “perceived quality”, “credibility of the brand”, “behavioural intentions” (Zhang et al. 2019). All these follow the notion of brand crisis and there lies an interesting fact that the attitude of the customers is highly influenced by disclosing the age of the brand in the market. On the contrary, Chi et al. (2019) mentioned the relationship between the “post-crisis intentions” of the customers and the age of the brand promotes the credibility of the brand for the concerned company.

The behaviour of nudging in the dynamics of marketing

In making an intensive study on the journal the concepts of “nudging” are interlinked with that of the “behavioural economics” are evidenced. In this research, the idea that the aspects of economics are catering to the change in the thought process is acknowledged thereby focussing on the transformation of the “quantitative-based optimisation approach” to the “qualitative approach of consumer-centric” (Singh, 2019). The critic emphasised the fact that the genres of “management”, “psychology”, and “decision-making” are immensely influenced by the concept of “nudging”. As per the critic the concept of “nudging” can be used in both the business aspects relating to the government as well as private, on the contrary, Singh, (2019) suggested that this can be used to reshape the behaviours of the components such as the customers, civilians, and also the employees for the concerned company within the market primarily over the digital marketing platforms. The concept of nudging tends to open several avenues such as it will help in the better understanding of the change in the purchasing behaviour of the customers and will eventually help the customers to make decisions that are “informed” in nature.

Customer’s behaviour is influenced by social groups

Analysing through this journal it is evidenced that the author Fernandes et al. (2019), focuses on the aspects of how the social group seems to influence the buying behaviour of the customers within the market which can be both digital and offline platforms. This paper provides knowledge on the insights over the various kinds of products based on the influences on the “consumer segments” by the presence of social groups. The critic has taken three social groups as “value expressive”, “utilitarian” and “informational”. All these groups tend to influence the “product conspicuousness”, “customer behaviour” which is argued by Panda et al. (2019). The study has been conducted on the social groups by influencing the young adults, housewives, women, and susceptible groups. The results also analysed that the luxurious products seem to have more susceptibility. However, it can be acknowledged from the review of literature, the social groups have significant impact on customer behaviour.

The decision of the consumers on the marketing of WeChat

The hypothesis is made on the “marketing of WeChat” that analyzes the decisions and the changes in the psychology of the customers. The critic has also analysed the variables and the analysis of the principal components. According to the research conducted by Yan, (2018), the purchasing behaviour of the customers is not very mature in WeChat marketing based on the “psychological response” and “marketing stimulations”. The aspects of “psychological response” and “marketing simulations” are referred to here as the variables independent that of the “intentions of purchase” as intermediate variables. On the other hand, as argued by Yen, (2018) the decision of the customer buying aspect is taken as a dependent variable that includes “empirical research methods”, “statics analysis”, “characteristics of marketing mix”, “environment of marketing” and “research of consumer factor“. In making an in-depth analysis it has been acknowledged that in order to understand and better grasp the needs of the consumers and to initiate effective marketing strategies all these aspects are important (Yan, 2018).

The behaviour of the customers on the aspect of return on online platforms

This paper targets to analyse the “online return behaviours” of the customers. As per the critic, it has been noted that the return behaviour of the customers is categorised into two sects namely, “legitimate return behaviours” and “opportunistic return behaviours”. As per the author, Pei et al. (2018), the findings acknowledge that the factors that influence these two above-mentioned factors are “desire for uniqueness”, “impulsiveness”, “risk perceived”, “compatibility of the product”, and “social influence“. While on the other hand, the researcher mentions that the aspects of “opportunistic return behaviours” are better understood with the help of “immorality”, “social influence”  and “self-monitoring“. Therefore from the analysis, it is acknowledged that there will be an increase in the rate of “intention of the consumer’s’re-patronage” if focussed through “legitimate return behaviour” (Pei and Paswan, 2018). On the other hand, as argued by Pei and Paswan, (2018) there is a stark contrast that “opportunistic return behaviours” may decline the intentions of “customer’s’re-patronage”.

Customer’s influence on buying digital goods

The research done by the fellow researcher, this paper focuses on the aspects of “hedonistic buying” for digital goods like that of the online and virtual items from the market. Surveying recent times, scholars and marketers are highly interested in the development of goods that are digital. The reason for this lies in the fact that the profitability and the popularity of these digital goods are rapidly increasing day by day. According to Hsieh et al. (2018), the environment of online games creates the hedonistic approach of buying over digital goods. In the research, several findings are acknowledged that focuses on the intentions of purchase are influenced by online and offline social groups. On the contrary, “the scene of virtual community” and “sense of community” seem to moderate the effects of social influence (Tseng et al. 2018).

Customer’s attitude on cause brand associations

The paper focuses on the marketing strategy of “CBA or Cause brand associations” which further influences the “CRM or Cause-related marketing” and also “CSR or Corporate social responsibility”. The paper suggests that the aspects of CBA are creating a positive influence on the company, brand, associations and this tends to increase the intentions of purchase. The researcher Rohit et al. (2018) also contrasted the effects of changed attitude and communications which also focuses on showing a contradiction that a negative relationship also exists between the newly received information and existing attitude. This is also viewed by the critic that the concept of CBA seems too sceptical in use in most cases ( Deepa et al. 2018).

Customer’s attitude in the purchase of “Environment-friendly product”

The “socio-psychological factors” that will contribute to the change in the attitude of the customers will be more environmentally friendly. According to the author Malik et al. (2017), the conceptual model has been constructed that focuses and tests upon the model of “SEM or Structural equation modelling”. Certain dimensions are also acknowledged that focus on the “environmental knowledge or EK”, “IPI or Interpersonal influence”, “PSE or Perceived seriousness of the environment”, “LTO or Collectivism and long term orientation”. All these aspects seem to have positive effects on “CEA or Customer environmental attitude”. Though the paper informs about the limitations of “Convenience sampling testing” but on the contrary, the author Chirag talks about that most often the statistics collected from socio-economic aspects may tend to fluctuate thereby deviating from the model over time.

Cultural value influences on “Green purchase behaviour”

It is noted that the paper takes up the initiation to explore the impact of the aspects of “collectivism” and “LTO or long term orientation” on the purchase behaviour of the customers. The aspects of inconveniences regarding the green purchase are also focussed on providing to the personal level which is further influenced by the cultural values. According to the researcher Nguyen et al. (2017), the journal also focuses on communicating messages that stress the aspects of eco-friendly products for purchase. While conducting the study, certain limitations are also addressed such as the non-inclusion of the “endogenous variables”. This may further add up to the “egoistic values” and “customers’ altruistic values”. On the contrary, Antonio et al. (2017) has mentioned that the study is restrained to the appliances of energy efficiency and the research is further developed on gender being the only moderator.

Conclusion

An intensive study is being conducted on the usage of psychology within the marketing strategy that over time continuously influences the “purchasing behaviour” of the customers within the market. The aspects of the consequent change in the buying behaviour of the customers are acknowledged by making an analysis on the 10 research peer-reviewed papers that identifies the diverse ranges that significantly influence the purchasing behaviour of the customers. Certain strategies are also analysed that help to better acknowledge the change in the customers’ attitudes that relate to the aspects of the purchase.

References

Etrata, Antonio E,Jr, Phd., Bautista, N.I., Palmiano, J.S. and San Juan, Y.,Maria Louise, 2021. Does Cultural Diversity Influence Consumer Behavior? Management Review: An International Journal, 16(1), pp. 44-61.

Fernandes, S. and Panda, R., 2019. Influence of Social Reference Groups on Consumer Buying Behavior: A Review. Journal of Management Research, 19(2), pp. 131-142.

Hsieh, J. and Tseng, C., 2018. Exploring Social Influence On Hedonic Buying Of Digital Goods – Online Games’ Virtual Items. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 19(2), pp. 164-185.

Malik, C. and Singhal, N., 2017. Consumer Environmental Attitude and Willingness to Purchase Environmentally Friendly Products: An SEM Approach. Vision, 21(2), pp. 152-161.

Nguyen, T.N., Lobo, A. and Greenland, S., 2017. The influence of cultural values on green purchase behaviour. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 35(3), pp. 377-396.

Pei, Z. and Paswan, A., 2018. Consumers’ Legitimate And Opportunistic Product Return Behaviours In Online Shopping. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 19(4), pp. 301-319.

Rohit, D. and Panda, R., 2018. Cause-Brand Association And Consumer Attitude: A Review. Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, 9(1), pp. 61-71.

Singh, S., 2019. Nudging Behaviour in Marketing Dynamics: Behaviour Economics and Marketing – An Interlinking. Drishtikon: A Management Journal, 10(2), pp. 39-58.

Yan, J., 2018. The Research on Consumer Decision of WeChat Marketing Perspective. Management & Engineering, (32), pp. 10-18.

Zhang, C., Kashmiri, S. and Cinelli, M., 2019. How Does Brand Age Influence Consumer Attitudes Toward a Firm’s Unethical Behavior?: JBE. Journal of Business Ethics, 158(3), pp. 699-711.

Appendix

Literature review table

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