There are four common types of consumer behavior: habitual buying, complex buying, variety-seeking, and dissonance-reducing buying (American Marketing Association, 2024). Habit buying behavior involves purchasing products or services at a regular cadence and with little to no thought. These products/services are often provided by household brand names that place a lot of effort into building customer loyalty. If a product or service is no longer available, the customer may engage in variety-seeking behavior to establish a new habit.
Let's use Costco as a case study. Costco provides a wide range of products. Some are seasonal. Others are there for a limited time, while others are more permanent. For example, without giving it any thought, you may purchase the same toilet paper and paper towel from Costco every month. If Costco no longer provides these products, you might find yourself seeking a new location that provides it or new products altogether. Notice that there is an underlying service. Costco services the industry by providing a holistic range of products for home necessities in one location for medium-to-large families at a low price.
Generally, buyers go through the following phases in the purchasing process: awareness, consideration, preference, purchase, and post-sale service (Cespedes, F. & Nunes, P., 2003). Here is an example of the habitual purchase experience:
Let’s walk through the Costco scenario we mentioned earlier. You realize you are running low on a paper towel, which brings awareness to the fact that you need to purchase more. You might consider getting a smaller batch or a single roll if you are running critically low. Otherwise, you will likely wait until your next Costco trip. You walk into Costco and see your usual paper towel out of reach; however, another option is within reach. You stick to your preference and call someone to help bring down your usual paper towel. During the week, you use the paper towels to clean spills and are happy with the efficiency of the product.
Other examples of products/services that trigger habitual behavior are nail salons, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, and salt. Creating an offering that pulls people away from a product or service that triggers habitual behavior can be challenging for a new business. Imagine trying to create a product that captures some of Bounty's paper towel market share.
So, how do we market to these folks? Here is one approach: complete a gap analysis. Is there a complementary product or service that your competitor does not offer? Is there a niche market that your competitor does not target? Find it and focus your efforts on that target market. Kelwig (2024) noted some behavioral factors: age, gender, race, profession, education, and religion. How can you ethically leverage what you know about these factors within your target market to implement an effective marketing campaign? There are various approaches. Here is one example:
A barbershop owner in an oversaturated market noticed that many of his male clients have long hair. He often heard discussions where clients spoke about washing their hair at home after a haircut and visiting their routine hairstylist at a different location to style their hair. The owner added two hair styling stations, two washing stations, and hot towel treatments to improve their market position. They also hired two talented hair stylists. Unlike most barbershops in the area, they hired someone to create a website and initiated a social media marketing campaign. In the next year, their business skyrocketed.
American Marketing Association (2024). Consumer behavior. American Marketing Association. https://www.ama.org/topics/consumer-behavior/
Cespedes, F. & Nunes, P. (2003). The customer has escaped. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2003/11/the-customer-has-escaped
Kelwig, P. (2024). Understanding customer behavior: model, examples, and segmentation. Zendeski. https://www.zendesk.com.mx/blog/consumer-behavior/
Klein, A. (2023). 9 items you shouldn't buy at costco. Real Simple. https://www.realsimple.com/items-you-shouldnt-buy-at-costco-7509549
Sadewo, B. (2023) Costco thorncliffe park draws big crowds at opening day. Toronto. https://manage.wix.com/dashboard/7f5c167e-4ab8-4d9e-9cfa-fd2e8d7382ae/blog/create-post
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