Consumer behavior refers to the activities, processes and influencing factors that consumers show when acquiring, using and disposing of products or services. Consumer behavior is at the heart of marketing because it directly affects the demand, price, promotion and distribution of a product or service. Therefore, understanding and predicting consumer behavior is an important task for marketers and an important research object for market research companies.

Champ Consulting (Shopper Insights) is a company specializing in market research and data analysis. Champ Consulting is committed to providing customers with in-depth consumer insights to help them develop effective marketing strategies and programs. Champ Consulting has a team of senior market research experts, data scientists and business consultants, as well as a set of advanced data acquisition, processing and analysis technology platform. Shangpu Consulting has provided high-quality market research services to customers in many industries and fields around the world, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, e-commerce, finance, medical care, education, etc.

From the perspective of Shangpu Consulting, based on its many years of market research experience and data analysis, this paper puts forward four insights into consumer behavior, namely:

Dynamic changes in consumer demand

The consumer's decision-making process is complex and diverse.

Consumer buying behavior is influenced by context

Consumer satisfaction is inconsistent with loyalty

These four insights are detailed below.

1. the dynamics of consumer demand

Consumer demand refers to the effect or goal that consumers expect to achieve for a product or service. Consumer demand is the main driving force of its purchase behavior. However, consumer demand is not fixed, but changes dynamically with time, environment, personal and social factors. For example, with the development of science and technology and the improvement of living standards, consumers' demand for the functionality, quality, safety, convenience and personalization of products or services will continue to increase. With social changes and cultural diversification, consumers' social, emotional, aesthetic, and moral needs for products or services will continue to change. With personal growth and experience accumulation, consumers' needs for products or services will continue to evolve in terms of cognition, attitudes, preferences, and values.

By continuously tracking and monitoring changes in consumer demand, Shangpu Consulting provides customers with timely market information and feedback to help them adjust and optimize the design, development, pricing, promotion and distribution of products or services to meet consumers' current and future needs, thereby increasing market share and competitive advantage. Champ Consulting uses a variety of data sources and methods to collect and analyze changes in consumer demand, including:

Online and offline questionnaires: through a well-designed questionnaire, collect data on consumers' expectations, satisfaction, loyalty, and willingness to recommend for products or services, as well as basic consumer information, purchase behavior, and use behavior. data.

Focus group interview: by inviting a group of representative consumers to conduct semi-structured or unstructured interviews, we can deeply understand the data of consumers' feelings, experiences and evaluations of products or services, as well as the data of consumers' motivations, obstacles and demands.

Consumer diary method: by allowing a representative group of consumers to record their own data on activities, processes and influencing factors related to products or services, as well as their own thoughts, feelings, feedback and other aspects within a certain period of time.

Network analysis method: through the use of network platforms, such as social media, forums, blogs, etc., to collect data on consumers' comments, ratings and sharing of products or services, as well as data on the interaction, influence and dissemination of consumers.

Eye tracking method: by using an eye tracker, it records the location, time and order of the eyes of consumers when watching pictures, videos, advertisements, etc. related to products or services, so as to reflect the attention, interest and preference of consumers to products or services.

Through the comprehensive use of these data sources and methods, Shangpu Consulting can comprehensively and deeply grasp the changes in consumer demand and provide customers with valuable insights and suggestions.

The decision-making process of 2. consumers is complex and diverse.

The consumer's decision-making process refers to the series of activities and stages that consumers go through when purchasing a product or service. The consumer's decision-making process usually includes the following five stages: problem identification (Problem Recognition), Information Search (Information Search), evaluation selection (Evaluation of Alternatives), Purchase Behavior (Purchase Decision) and post-purchase behavior (Post-Purchase Behavior). However, the activities of consumers at each stage are not simple and consistent, but complex and diverse. For example, at the problem identification stage, consumers may be motivated to buy due to their own needs, or they may be motivated to buy due to external stimuli, or they may be pressured to buy due to social influences. In the information search stage, consumers may find relevant information in an active, purposeful, and limited way, or they may receive relevant information in a passive, unconscious, and unlimited way. In the evaluation and selection stage, consumers may compare different products or services according to their own preferences, standards and goals, or they may influence their choices according to the opinions, suggestions and evaluations of others. In the purchase behavior stage, consumers may execute the purchase behavior according to their own decision-making results, or they may change or abandon the purchase behavior due to emotional, psychological, environmental and other factors. In the post-purchase behavior stage, consumers may be satisfied or dissatisfied with their purchase behavior, or they may reflect or evaluate their purchase behavior, or even take behaviors such as re-purchase or return.

Through in-depth analysis of the consumer's decision-making process, Shangpu Consulting provides customers with effective marketing suggestions and solutions to help them attract and influence consumers at each decision-making stage, and improve consumers' purchase intention and behavior. Champ Consulting uses a variety of theoretical models and analytical methods to explain and predict consumer decision-making processes, including:

Consumer behavior model (Consumer Behavior Model): By decomposing consumer behavior into three parts: input, process and output, describe the influence of internal and external factors on consumers in the decision-making process, as well as the results and feedback generated.

Multi-attribute evaluation model (Multi-Attribute Evaluation Model): Calculate the consumer's overall evaluation and preference for each product or service by decomposing the consumer's evaluation of different products or services into three parts: attribute, weight, and utility.

Consumer Mental Account Model (Consumer Mental Accounting Model): By decomposing consumers' purchases of products or services into three components: income, expenditure, and savings, analyze how consumers classify different types of income and expenditure into different categories of mental accounts and adjust their purchases according to the balance or imbalance of their mental accounts.

Consumer Cognitive Dissonance Model (Consumer Cognitive Dissonance Model): By decomposing consumers' sense of inconsistency with their own purchasing behavior and results into three parts: cognitive elements, relationships, and intensity, this paper discusses how consumers can reduce or eliminate their sense of inconsistency by changing their own or others' cognitive elements, or reducing the relationship and intensity between cognitive elements.

Through the flexible use of these theoretical models and analytical methods, Champ Consulting can accurately and effectively reveal the decision-making process of consumers and provide useful insights and suggestions to customers.

3. consumer buying behavior is influenced by context

Consumer purchase behavior refers to the specific activities that consumers show when they actually purchase products or services. Consumer buying behavior is not entirely determined by their personal characteristics and decision-making process, but by their situation (Situation) influence. Context refers to a series of objective environment and subjective psychological factors associated with purchase behavior, including time, place, atmosphere, interpersonal, mood and so on. The impact of a situation on a consumer's buying behavior can be positive or negative, significant or subtle. For example, during festivals or promotions, consumers may be stimulated by time and price to increase their purchasing behavior; in shopping malls or websites, consumers may be induced by layout and design to change their purchasing behavior; accompanied by friends or family, consumers may be advised or influenced by them to adjust their purchasing behavior; in a happy or depressed mood, consumers may be tempted by their own emotions or impulses to indulge or inhibit buying behavior.

By accurately identifying and controlling consumers' purchasing situations, Shangpu Consulting provides customers with effective marketing strategies and programs to help them create situations conducive to consumers' purchasing behavior at the right time, place, atmosphere, interpersonal relationship and mood, so as to improve consumers' purchasing frequency and amount. Champ Consulting uses a variety of technical tools and tools to collect and analyze consumer buying scenarios, including:

situational simulation method (Situation Simulation Method): By designing different types and degrees of situational variables, such as time, place, atmosphere, interpersonal, mood, etc., to simulate consumers' purchasing behavior in different situations, in order to test the impact of the situation on consumers' purchasing behavior.

situational observation (Situation Observation Method): By observing and recording consumers' purchasing behavior in different situations in real or virtual purchasing scenarios, as well as the related environmental and psychological factors, to analyze the impact of the situation on consumers' purchasing behavior.

Situational Questionnaire Method (Questionnaire situation): By designing a questionnaire containing different situational variables and purchasing behavior indicators, consumers are asked to recall and evaluate their purchasing behavior in different situations to measure the impact of the situation on consumer purchasing behavior.

Situational experimental method (Situation Experiment Method): By manipulating different situational variables in the laboratory or in the field, and controlling other variables to remain unchanged, measure the purchase behavior of consumers in different situations to verify the impact of the situation on consumer purchase behavior.

Through the comprehensive use of these technical means and tools, Shangpu Consulting can effectively identify and control the purchase situation of consumers, and provide customers with powerful insights and suggestions.

4. consumer satisfaction is inconsistent with loyalty

Consumer satisfaction refers to the consumer's perception of the gap between the effect or goal of a product or service and its expectations. Consumers' satisfaction is an important factor affecting their subsequent behaviors and attitudes. Generally speaking, when the effect or goal provided by the product or service exceeds or equals its expectation, the consumer will feel satisfied; when the effect or goal provided by the product or service is lower than its expectation, the consumer will feel dissatisfied. However, not all satisfaction translates into loyalty, and not all dissatisfaction leads to churn.

Consumer loyalty refers to the tendency and behavior of consumers to continue to buy and recommend products or services. Consumer loyalty is an important factor affecting its long-term value and profit. Generally speaking, when consumers are satisfied with a product or service, they will tend to buy and recommend it to others again; when consumers are dissatisfied with a product or service, they will tend to turn to competitors or look for alternatives. However, the relationship between consumer satisfaction and loyalty is not one-to-one correspondence, but is affected by many factors. For example, in a highly competitive market, even if consumers are satisfied with a product or service, they may be attracted by other products or services to change their purchasing behavior; in a less competitive market, even if consumers are dissatisfied with a product or service, they may continue to buy the same product or service due to lack of choice or inertia. Therefore, increasing consumer satisfaction does not necessarily increase consumer loyalty, and vice versa.

By accurately measuring and improving consumer satisfaction and loyalty, Champ Consulting provides customers with effective marketing strategies and programs to help them attract new customers while maintaining existing customers, thereby increasing market share and profitability. Champ Consulting uses a variety of metrics and methods to evaluate and promote consumer satisfaction and loyalty, including:

Satisfaction Index (Satisfaction Index): By calculating the average feeling of consumers on the gap between the effect or goal provided by the product or service and their expectations, it reflects the overall satisfaction of consumers with the product or service.

Loyalty index (Loyalty Index): By calculating the average performance of consumers' willingness to repurchase products or services, willingness to recommend, switching costs, and steering barriers, it reflects the overall loyalty of consumers to products or services.

Satisfied-Loyalty matrix (Satisfaction-Loyalty Matrix): By dividing consumers into four quadrants according to their satisfaction index and loyalty index, they are: high satisfaction-High loyalty (High Satisfaction-High Loyalty), high satisfaction-Low loyalty (High Satisfaction-Low Loyalty), low satisfaction-High loyalty (Low Satisfaction-High Loyalty) and low satisfaction-Low loyalty (Low Satisfaction-Low Loyalty) To analyze different types of consumer groups and formulate corresponding marketing strategies and programs.

Satisfied-Loyalty model (Satisfaction-Loyalty Model): By establishing a causal relationship model between consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and considering other influencing factors, such as product quality, brand image, price sensitivity, competitive intensity, etc., to predict and optimize consumer satisfaction and loyalty The relationship.

Through the comprehensive use of these indicators and methods, Shangpu Consulting can effectively measure and improve consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and provide customers with powerful insights and suggestions.

Based on its many years of market research experience and data analysis, this paper puts forward four insights into consumer behavior from the perspective of market research companies. They are: dynamic changes in consumer demand, complex and diverse consumer decision-making process, consumer purchase behavior is affected by the situation, and consumer satisfaction and loyalty are inconsistent. This paper aims to provide valuable reference and enlightenment for marketers, help them better understand and meet the needs of consumers, improve consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and thus enhance market competitiveness.