CONSUMER DECISION RULES

Consumer Decision Rules are classified into two categories: Compensatory and Non Compensatory.

Compensatory Decision Rule

• A shopper evaluates store or brand alternatives in respect of each salient attributes and assigns weight or summated score for each store or brand in a consideration set.
• The computed value reflects the store’s relative edge as a potential purchase choice.
• The shopper will choose the store or brand that has the highest score.
• The positive effect of a store or brand compensates or offset the negative effect.

Non Compensatory Decision Rule

• Donot allow customers to balance positive assessment of store on one dimension against a negative evaluation on other dimension.
• Positive attributes won't compensate the negative attribute of a store or product.

Three Non Compensatory rules are:

1. Conjunctive Decision Rule – Here the shopper establishes a specific, minimal acceptable level as a cut off point for each dimension. If a particular store falls below the cutoff point, it is dropped from the consideration set.
2. Disjunctive Decision Rule – A shopper sets up a specific minimal acceptable level as a cutoff point for each dimension. The shopper accepts the store or brand if it meets or exceeds the limit established in any one dimension.
3. Lexicographic Decision Rule – Shopper first ranks the dimensions in terms of their perceived salience or importance. He then compares the various brand alternatives in terms of a single attribute that is considered most important. If one brand scores sufficiently high in this top ranked dimension, then it is chosen and the process ends. Where there are two or more surviving brands, this process is repeated with a second highest ranked dimension until reaching the point of selecting one brand.

Marketers should have a clear idea about the buying rules employed by their target market.

The following consumer segments have been identified on the basis of the specific shopping rules followed by them:

• Practical Loyalists – shoppers who look for ways to save on the brands and products they would buy anyway.
• Bottom line price shoppers – shoppers who buy the lowest priced items without regard for brand.
• Opportunistic Switchers – those who use coupons or sales to decide among brands or products that fall in their set.
• Deal Hunter – shoppers who look for the best bargain and are not brand loyal.

Situational Variables on Shopping Behaviour

Situational variables refers to all those factors particular to a time and place of observation which do not follow from a knowledge of personal and stimulus attributes. These can be classified into four distinct dimensions of situational influence:   

1. Physical Setting

• Covers the geographical location of the retail, environment in which the consumer reads the catalogue or access the store.
• Shoppers who travel for half hour or more are called far shoppers and those who travel for less than half hour are near shoppers.
• Those who shop before 3pm are early shoppers and those who shop after 3pm are late shoppers.
• It also includes weather of a place, placement of merchandise, access to information in a store, background music, colour scheme etc.

1. Social Setting

• Describes the presence or absence of others.
• Includes security staff in the store, interaction with sales staff, friends or relatives accompanying the shopping and even the proximity of other shoppers.
• The shoppers who are accompanied by other people are called Social shoppers. Those who are unaccompanied are solitary shoppers.

1. Temporal Aspect

• Time of day and constraints upon the time available for shopping have a great effect in the shopping behaviour.
• Seasonal variation in a particular product and the time of purchase of particular product. Eg. Milk is purchased by households typically in the morning.
• Shoppers who spent less than an hour are Quick shoppers and those who spent more than an hour are Slow shoppers.

1. Task Definition

• It is more individual specific and relates to the need of the shopping.
• Middle class people tend to shop reasonable dress from unbranded retail outlets. However during festive occasions like Diwali, they tend to spend more on branded dress. 

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