Marketing communication: principles and practice

C O N S U M E R B E H A V I O U R A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N
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BOX 3.1COMMENT: RATIONAL CONSUMPTION
Consumer choice is assumed to be undertaken on rational grounds by many
textbooks. Indeed, the entire marketing enterprise depends on and perpetuates this
notion. Yet consumer behaviour is complex and not readily understood. See Gabriel
and Lang (1995) and Barnes (1995) for implications of this for marketing management.

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SOME FURTHER KEY CONCEPTS
We could write a whole book on consumer behaviour (actually it’s been done
before!). That is not the aim here. Rather, we need a comprehensive basis
for critically considering essential aspects of the challenge in managing
communication systems for marketing purposes. There is a considerable
toolkit available for this purpose (see Table 3.4 for some guidelines on further
reading and the bodies of knowledge that are examined in classes on
consumer behaviour, marketing management, and corporate communication
management).
Freedom of choice
The decision-making emphasis seems to exaggerate the degree of freedom
that consumers have to choose. As East (1997) points out, to be free requires
that we know that we can choose from more than one option without
coercion, and that we can reject all options if they are unsatisfactory. But
the cognitive approach sets the consumer up as resisting the commercial
persuader by their own purposeful and goal-oriented actions. Consumers
may have much autonomy, with only partial influence from providers, but
they are not really fully in control. With little time to invest in consumption
choices, we find ourselves putting petrol in our cars and selecting from almost
identical brands in the supermarket. Alternative products may not be
available, and we can become dependent (in a psychological sense) on
cigarettes, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals. 
Frustration arises when no options are available. Some minor frustrations
lead to thoughtful problem-solving behaviour, while some modes of
consumption are rational responses to frustrations. There is a lesson here
for product designers – seek designs that avoid common frustrations. Service
breakdown usually results in an aggressive response. Other related concepts