Marketing communication: principles and practice

Habitual approach
We can see that learning theory is relevant here too. The cognitive and
reinforcement approaches emphasize the modification of consumer behaviour
and thus help to explain the changes that occur in purchasing. But there is
much stability in markets too. Brands and stores are patronized over long
periods. There is clearly a major habitual aspect to consumption.
When similar situations (context) prompt the same behaviour, we can 
say that people display habits. These habits simplify our responses to our
surroundings by removing the need to make decisions. This absence of
problem-solving or planning before action does not imply irrationality or a
lack of reflection. Often, people think about their actions after the event.
Repeated brand purchase, for example, would not arise if an experience were
unsatisfactory.
HOW CAN WE EXPLAIN BUYER BEHAVIOUR?
There have been many attempts to explain and predict the behaviour of
people in the roles of buyer and consumer. The field of consumer behaviour
has grown extensively over the past 30 years. Classic generic models of a
supposed purchase decision process are to be found in all marketing
textbooks. Are they really very helpful? Perhaps only immersion in the actual
world of the consumer/buyer can yield a proper understanding and reveal
what motivates particular purchases. Ritson (2000), for example, has
suggested that asking customers to tell their ‘story’ – how they started by
knowing nothing about a brand and later came to buy it – might give a better
understanding from the buyer/consumer’s point of view. In each market
segment, the purchase process may differ in detail.
Simple models of consumer response to marketing activity assumed that
attracting a consumer’s attention would automatically lead to desire for the
product and the action of purchase. For example, the AIDA (proposed
around 1900 by E. St Elmo Lewis – see Strong, 1925) model describes a
process of consumer thinking (or communication effect) shifting logically
from grabbing attention, to creating interest, that leads to desire, that drives
action (i.e. purchase and consumption). Later, it was realized that, more
realistically, attention and interest are more likely to arise from recognition
of a need. Today, few still cling to the idea that consumers are passive