Most of us spend more time consuming or buying than we do working or sleeping. We consume products such as cars and fuel, services such as haircuts and repairs, and entertainment such television and movies. Given the time and money that we devote to consuming we should try to make ourselves better at it in order to be able to develop an ability to consume wisely.
Marketers each year spend billions of dollars trying to influence what, how and when we buy and also spend billions of dollars on studying our behaviours. Having knowledge of consumer behaviour not enables marketers to market their products more effectively but also allows them to have a better understanding through research about the various factors, apart from brand perception and the buying process that influence their choice. By definition, the field of consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups or organizations, and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. My essay herein will provide definitions on some of the concepts of Consumer Behaviour that are related to Consumer choice such as self-concept, the image a person has of themselves and consumer influence factors, and will then discuss in detail various author opinions, along with my introspect on the same.
Various research studies have been published in the last thirty to forty years about the relationship between self-concept and consumer consumption. Self-concept by definition is (Science Daily, 2008) the “Self-concept or self-identity is the mental and conceptual awareness and persistent regard that sentient beings hold with regard to their own being...” One of the research works that I read before beginning the writing of this essay is called “Possessions and the extended self” by Russell W. Belk. Belk speaks in detail about how consumers believe that their image or identity...