CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

The first studies addressing behavior and consumption date back to the early twentieth century and are based on the economist’s perspective: “the economist argues that the human being is positive and that its desire for objects is the result of rational decisions.” In the 1930s, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories emerged. They have provided the bases of the psychology of consumer behavior: “the psychologist notes that the human being is emotional and that its consumption is driven by conscious and unconscious emotions.” Sociology defines that “humans are social and therefore consumption is influenced by the rules of the groups to which the individual belongs.” In these approaches lie the foundations of the forms of market segmentation discussed here.

Below we present an illustrative hypothetical case. The intention is to find out whether two individuals belong to different market segments. It involves two individuals who live in different cities. The first individual has an income exceeding five thousand dollars per month, higher education, married, two children, and owner of his house. The second person has an income of two thousand dollars per month, high school, single, no children and lives with his parents. On the other hand, the two individuals are engaged in social causes and use their mobile phone every day. The geographic and socioeconomic approaches would lean towards a classification into distinct segments. A psychographic and behavioral approach could also lead to this. What would have to be taken into account, then? At this point, the analysis of an anthropological approach can be relevant.

In Anthropology, the behavior of a potential consumer is directly related to the culture and society to which the individual belongs. The needs are invented and sustained by the current culture. Thus, the objects are desired to be donated or shared, or to fulfill social obligations. For the anthropologist, consumption translates many of our social relations; it is a code that allows us to interpret social roles, living life in society. Therefore, by consuming, the individual is exercising a system of classification of the world deriving from him or herself. Consumption can be inclusive or exclusive. It is inclusive when it adds others to a group (“it creates bridges”); exclusive when it restricts access to the group, when it segregates (“it creates barriers”). One should understand the metaphorical character of the goods and services purchased. It is based on this meaning that it is possible to realize the reasons that promote consumption. What is consumed is part of an active information system. And why do people want what they want? It is always about control. And how about their tastes? The social structure. Then, from the anthropological perspective, consumption is similar to a code that translates many of our social relations and is used to classify goods, services and, consequently, individuals and groups.

Diversity and the need to belong is a fundamental characteristic of individuals today. The idea is the duality that exists in our time, where there is the possibility of a variety of styles, modes, of different versions of “I” or personalities. It is a recent phenomenon that is opposed to a status of other times when there were “models” established and recognized by society and legitimized by it . People were raised according to patterns and models and reproduced these same patterns and models throughout life. Each individual had to follow one of the profiles accepted by society.

This period is called modernity and refers to society, culture and the individual until the twentieth century. These authors demonstrate the disruption of this pattern, giving rise to the so-called post modernity (XXI century). In modernity, there was a search for objectivity, rationality and universality. In contrast, post modernity rejects order and coherence. It accepts that the world experiences chaos and fragmentation and therefore the capacity for generalizations should be seen as limited; there are no universal truths, the physical and human diversity, uncertainty, the lack of definitive explanations are recognized. In the context of the twenty-first century, there is a plurality of types; each one rehearses the possibility of being unique and thus more loyal to their own beliefs. This change is a result of the processes that society has undergone over time. On the one hand, we have identity; how we distinguish ourselves from other beings. On the other hand, the origin, the pole in which identity is defined: the environment and the other (individual). A mental adjustment is required from the individual as a result of the social and cultural environment. And also the physical adaptation to the physical environment where the individual lives.

However, there is perhaps a side effect of this phenomenon: the need to belong, to be part of a group, of not being unique and therefore isolated. The social individual is associated with gregarious characteristics. The conflict is then established as the “unique individual” must find aspects in common with other individuals in order to integrate, be part of a group. But why be part of a group? Because group structures promote protection for their members. It is integration that generates the bonds, affections that humans still need. However, the individual may belong to many groups, each representing one of the “personalities”, which vary in time and in the context of their daily lives. Consumers look for several symbolic meanings through their consumption habits, which take place in the environment where they are continuously involved.

Therefore, by employing the segmentation process and its methods (criteria, bases, types, etc.) analyzed so far, it fails for not considering the possibilities of various “personalities” existing in one person. Thus, it requires reassessment of the example of the two individuals in which, in principle, it was prone to classify them into different market segments. The fact that the two individuals are engaged in social causes and that they use their mobile frequently leads us to cultural and social factors, to the symbolic character of these characteristics. Under this other perspective, it can be noticed that they may be part of the same group and the same market segment. Thus, anthropology can provide another important basis for the market segmentation process and corroborate with Marketing analyzes.