Consumer Behavior in the E-Marketplace

Retailing in the twenty-first century is highly occupied with the virtual marketplace as a large number of companies are engaged in developing boundary-less markets for consumers and delivering value by offering an abundance of shopping convenience. E-shopping is influenced by the attributes of time, product attractiveness, and competitive advantage. It has been argued in the chapter that shopping behavior of consumers has shifted from conventional shopping to the virtual marketplace with the increasing applications of Internet forcing retailers to redefine their roles to ensure their place in the Internet age. The discussions also focus on the omni-channel strategy of most global retailers to acquire and retain consumers by facilitating the shopping experience irrespective of time and place. In addition, to the arguments for and against the borderless markets, discussions in the chapter also critically examine the shifts in the consumer behavior driven by the growth of information and communication technology over the years.

Consumer Perception

Sensation and perception refers to different stages in the processing of stimuli that influence consumer behaviors. The five senses involved in sensation and perception—touch, smell, taste, hearing, and vision—have important implications for marketers. Consumers often make inferences about the quality and performance of products on the basis of sensory cues. Product packaging can also be an important cue from which consumers can derive information and make evaluations about the performance of the product. This chapter also discusses non-conscious processing of environmental cues and how unconsciously perceived stimuli affect a variety of consumer behaviors. The research presented in this chapter on sensory cues and unconscious processes can help managers to develop effective sensory marketing strategies.

Routes to Market

Emerging markets are characterized in the twenty-first century with several routes to markets providing convenience of shopping across the competing companies. It has been argued that the changing shopping environment demonstrates new opportunities and challenges for retailers and consumers. Self-service technology has deeply penetrated the retailing of products, and services and consumers are well acquainted with shopping through vending machines and teller machines in most countries. Discussions in the chapter explore the future of technology-led retailing and consumer experiences against the psychographic limitations. As the competition is growing in the global marketplace, most companies are involving consumers to co-create the marketing technology and guide the consumerism in the market. Hence, this chapter delineates that firms are fostering to develop sustainable value chain by building local capacity through 4As, comprising awareness, acceptance, adaptability, and affordability, as a measure of co-creation.

Consumer Relationships with Brands

A brand can be one of a firm's most valuable assets; however, the value of a brand is contingent on the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of its consumers. A brand can legally belong to a firm, but its value is in consumers' hands. Thus, it is important to know how a brand can connect with its users and how to build strong brand relationships that lead to consumer loyalty and advocacy for a brand. Brands can also influence the adoption of new products by helping consumers to reduce the uncertainty of new product adoption. This chapter addresses how marketing strategies can enhance brand relationships.

Ethnicity and Consumerism

Ethnic consumers are spread over the global markets, and consumer behavior is largely driven by ethnocentrism. Such development in the market has prompted companies to consider developing multicultural marketing strategies to cater to the consumers of all segments. This chapter discusses various attributes of multicultural marketing in reference to marital culture, language, religion, and social institutions. The discussions in the chapter argue that ethnic marketing not only enhances the value and lifestyle of the consumers in a niche but also sets a fashion trend at the high-end markets. Besides ethnicity issues, the discussions on the sociology of minority marketing are distinctly discussed based on an extensive review of literature. As most multinational companies are reaching at the bottom of the pyramid consumer segments, the discussions in the chapter argue that ethnic consumers are becoming vulnerable to their value and lifestyle getting influenced by global strategies.

Building and Changing Consumer Attitude

Developing consumer attitude is a prolonged and complex process. Consumers build perceptions on products, services, and marketing policies of companies by considering the extent of competitive advantage being offered. Consumer attitude is built when the consumer perceptions stay for sustainable period and are endorsed by their peers in an interactive manner. This chapter discusses various strategies for emerging companies to develop positive consumer attitude for their products and services in reference to consumption culture, shopping trends, varying consumer preferences, and shopping ambiance. The process of consumer attitude formation is delineated in the chapter and discussions argue about building customer-centric marketing strategies for the companies to develop a win-win marketing platform.

Social Group Influences

Continuous growth in information and communication technology over the twentieth century has turned consumers more community-oriented in making buying decisions. The interaction of consumers with society and family has shifted its focus from conventional to virtual platforms. Social media plays an important role in determining consumer behavior. Increasing consumer education and social interactions are driving consumers to critically examine the corporate marketing policies, competitive advantages, and value for money to get associated with the vital brands in the marketplace. This chapter maps the consumer dynamics in setting the behavior and decision-making parameters moving through the changing social and group influences. The discussions in the chapter argue that social media has emerged as a powerful tool to develop consumer behavior. Accordingly, most companies are engaged in empowering consumers through various customer-centric strategies for sustainable business growth.

Consumption Experiences

Understanding consumption experiences becomes increasingly important as competition intensifies and goods and services become more and more commoditized. Emotions, which aid in the formation of deep emotional bonds between consumers and products and increase consumer loyalty, represent a central feature of consumption experiences. This chapter addresses three types of consumption experiences—cross border, counterfeits, and sport—to show how extraordinary experiences build deep emotional connections with consumers. Understanding consumption experiences is of the utmost importance for marketers, because such an understanding can help them to design engaging and memorable products and services that consumers will want to enjoy time and time again. Consumption experiences are also a medium through which to understand human needs, values, and behaviors, as well as how consumers construct narratives that explain the way they live these experiences.

Consumer Well-Being and Happiness

The products and services people consume can contribute to their happiness and well-being. In fact, many societal problems—such as chronic diseases, suboptimal financial decisions, and environmental pollution—are related to consumption activities. Thus, there is a need to understand, and to develop better models to explain, how individuals make consumption decisions, especially those decisions that have an important impact on their well-being. This chapter includes an analysis of how consumption activities can influence consumer happiness. Specifically, it addresses the question of whether it is possible for consumers to increase their happiness through consumption activities. Research has shown that experiences make people happier than material possessions.

Cross-Cultural Variations in Consumer Behavior

The global marketplace is getting congested with inter-market segmentation comprising consumers of various ethnic groups. Such attributes of markets have posed uphill challenges to the companies to develop marketing strategies that caters to the consumer preferences of varied cultural backgrounds. The cross-cultural variations often build discontentment among consumers as their preferences are not meticulously attended by the companies. This chapter defines culture and describes the cross-cultural drivers with a focus on cultural diversity, gender, society, and personality perspectives. The discussions in the chapter argue that the cultural interventions have become very subtle with the increasing market competition, and uniform marketing strategy does not cater to the cross-cultural consumer segments.