Consumer Behavior and Society

The items that people buy and consume are representative of the type of society in which they live. For example, how does society treat tattoos? In recent years, tattoos have been more readily accepted as a form of self-expression. In years past, getting a tattoo was a taboo practice, accepted first for military personnel and blue-collar men. Then society accepted it for men in general and, long after, for women.

Fairly recently, as the U.S. consumer market became more enthralled with “ink”—enough to warrant reality television shows about people who get and create tattoos and their lifestyles—the U.S. military issued a policy of acceptable parameters regarding tattoos. Yet employers still frown on the messages that they imagine employee tattoos might send to their customers.

Think about what these decades of changes have meant for the ink industry and other related spin-off industries, such as tattoo removal services and television entertainment. What other industries may be or have been impacted by these changes in consumer and societal attitudes toward tattoos?

For more information about the tattoo industry, consider this 2014 market research on the tattoo industry. (See Report OD4404 - Tattoo Artists. Click on the tabs or download as a PDF.)

Consumer Behavior and Personal Growth

Studying CB helps consumers make better decisions by understanding each of the elements in Figure 1.3. 

Figure 1.3. Consumer Reasons for Studying CB

This section is based on life stages. Many college students are acquiring large amounts of credit card debt, contributing to the total American consumer debt, which approached $12 trillion in 2013 (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2014). Several topics can be particularly helpful in enlightening consumers about consumer behavior, including the following:

1. consequences associated with poor budget allocation;
2. the role of emotions in consumer decision making;
3. avenues for seeking remedy for unsatisfactory purchases;
4. social influences on decision making, including peer pressure; and
5. the effect of the environment on consumer behavior.

The Motorola "Brick" phone of the 1980s led to smartphones being widely used today. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, a large population of children ages 10–14 own a cell phone. Restrictions are being put on mobile phone users ranging from safety issues while driving to etiquette issues for phone use in public places.

Further debates are looming. One can hear people using cell phones at theaters, in bathrooms, on airplanes, and at the dinner table. What are your thoughts on mobile phone etiquette? Do you engage in mobile phone activities that infringe upon or even endanger others?

Your thoughts represent your individual usage, preferences, and attitudes toward cell phone usage. Understanding consumer needs, attitudes, and behaviors (NABs), like product usage, for groups of consumers (segments) helps marketers select and satisfy appropriate segments to target with the decisions they make about the four Ps.