Discussion
Consumer behavior can be described as how consumers buy and consume goods and services. Consumer bahaviour is basically concerned with studying the various consumers purchasing and consumption patterns. Consumer behavior will address the fundamental questions of how, why and when consumers buy goods.
It is also concerned with how consumers consume goods and later dispose them. It looks at the various reasons why consumers buy a certain bundle of goods. Consumer behavior is also concerned with the time period when consumers buy certain types of goods and services (Schiffman, 2010).
Consumer behavior varies from place to place and also among individuals. This variation can be attributed the following reasons: variations in cultures and beliefs, variation in consumer tastes and preferences and the purchasing powers of consumers. Consumers have different tastes and preferences.
These varied tastes and preferences largely determine how consumers are going to buy certain goods and services. For example, consumers in china have different tastes and preferences compared to those in another country like France (Schiffman, 2005).
Also, consumer cultural practices have an impact on how consumers behave with regards to product purchase and consumption. The cultural and religious practices have a positive correlation to consumer’s preferences.
For example, in most parts of Africa, some religious practices forbid the use of some animal products. Such a generation is likely to consume less meat products which in turn affect the consumption pattern in that area.
Consumer behavior is also largely affected by consumer purchasing power. This is determined by the availability of capital or money a consumer has for purchasing goods and services. If consumers have a lot of cash, then they are likely going to spend more and purchase more goods and services (Schiffman, 1997).
On the other hand, if consumers have less money, then they are going to have a low purchasing power which will eventually affect their purchase behaviours. For example, in most developed countries, there is a high level of consumption of goods and services.
This is attributed to the fact that, the economy of such countries is stable and most consumers have enough money to spend on consumption. On the other hand, in most parts of the developing countries, consumers, on average, have low purchasing power which reduces their consumption trends.
Consumers in such countries have less cash at their disposal hence they cannot afford most of the goods and services (Tyagi & Kumar, 2004).
China is considered one of the largest economies in the world, being ranked as the third best economy in the world. Australia, on the other hand, is considered one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
With these differences in economic gaps, consumer behavior differs greatly in these two countries. Consumer behavior in Australia and China, however, has some similarity as well. These are discussed in the paragraphs below.
Similarity between consumer behaviour in china and Australia
Consumer behaviour may also involve activities that are geared toward unmasking the best marketing strategy for a product. This will include studies to determine the most influential way of reaching a large number of customers. With the advent of information and communication technology, most consumers in China and Australia prefer reading newspapers, listening to radios and watching television (Alon, 2003)
From the research conducted, more that 60% of interviewed consumers in China pointed out that they are influenced to buy a product trough listening to the various advertisements in the media. Also, more than 65% of respondents interviewed in Australia indicated that, they are largely influenced to buy a product through media advertisements.
The following table indicates the findings obtained from the research undertaken
Another similarity between consumer behaviour in China and Consumer behaviours in Australia is the spending power of consumers. Consumers in both countries have a high spending power which is attributed to the rising wages in the two countries.
Wages have risen in both countries and this has increased the consumer’s purchasing powers in the two countries. Consumers are able to purchase goods they want, which has shifted the ambition of the various consumers.
This drift in ambition is in line with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Primary needs in both countries are highly met, and as a result, most consumers in these two countries are concentrating on satisfying Maslow’s upper needs (Chan, 1999).
Differences between the consumer behaviours in China and Australia
There exist some differences between the consumer behaviour in China and in Australia. These differences are attributed to the economic growth level of the two countries. China is considered as a developed country and it is experiencing the age of mass consumption while Australia on the other is a developing economy. As a result, quite a number of differences exist between the two countries, in terms of consumer behaviour.
Firstly, there is a difference in the kind of goods and products being purchased in both countries. China is at the age of mass consumption and most consumers in China are basically involved in buying goods and services for leisure. Such goods and services may include travelling, palatable goods and clothing and fashion products.
On the other hand, Australia is a growing economy and has not fully developed to the stage of mass consumption (Blackwell & Engel & Miniard, 2006). As a result, most consumers are involved in the purchase of technological and engineering products.
Such products include electronic and electrical devices, educational materials and products as well as manufacturing products. From the research conducted, more than 70% of Chinese indicated that they spend most of their wages on luxury products even if they do not require them.
On the other hand, more than 69% of Austrians indicated that, they spend most of their wages in investments and buying technological developed products and services.
Secondly another notable difference in the consumer behaviour between China and Australia is the underlying reason for purchase of the products.
China is considered a country with rich cultural practices. The Chinese people are known all over the world for having a rich culture that is well respected and observed with keenness. On the hand, the Australians do not have unified cultural practices that are observed throughout the year (Blackwell & Engel & Miniard, 2006).
These cultural practices largely affect how consumers buy goods in the two countries. For example, in China, most cultural practices encourage the preservation of the beauty of their skin because they consider their skin to be holy.
As a result, most Chinese will do everything possible in order to maintain their skin. This leads to most Chinese buying cosmetic products that will help them preserve their skin.
On the other hand, Australians have no binding cultural practices. They are, therefore, not much concerned with buying beauty and cosmetic products. From the research conducted, more than 64% of respondents in China revealed that they are ready and willing to buy cosmetic products as a cultural practice of preserving their skins.
Thirdly, another difference that exists in the consumer behaviour between the two countries is the manner in which the consumers purchase their products and services. Most consumers in Australia will budget for what they are going to buy and wills stick to their budget during the time of purchase (Hoyer & Macinnis, 2008).
On the other hand, most Chinese consumers will buy goods without budgeting and if they have a budget, very few Chinese consumers will stick to it. Some Chinese consumers will decide what to buy when they are in the selling stores while others will be moved to buy goods simply because of promotions (Chan, 1999).
From the research conducted, more than 65% of interviewed Chinese consumers indicated that they decide on what to buy while they are in the stores. 15% of interviewed consumers indicated that they decide what to buy because of the promotions being carried out on the products, while 10% indicated that they stick to their budgets, whenever they visit stores.
Also another major difference is about the knowledge the consumers have for the various products. Consumer knowledge about product will largely affect the nature and manner in which they will purchase a product.
In china, according to the research conducted, most consumers are well knowledgeable about the various products and services. They are well endowed with knowledge about products, authenticity of products and the genuineness of products (Chan, 1999).
On the other hand, most Australia’s consumers indicated that they are not familiar with advanced knowledge about products, and it was hard for them to distinguish genuine products from products that are not genuine.
They indicated that, this is attributed to the fact that there are no well-developed mechanisms in Australia that enhance product knowledge awareness.
Most Australian consumers indicated that there are no valid forums that can be used to educate them on consumer goods and services (Schiffman, 1997).
The lack of education forums to educate and sensitize consumers on knowledge about products largely contributed to the ignorance among various Australian consumers. This ignorance eventually affected the purchase behaviour and consumption trends.
The following table indicates the number of consumers who were aware of the the product they are buying
From the above data, it is evident that most consumers in China are well knowledgeable about what they buy, while in Australia, most consumers do not have much information about what they buy.
In China, more than 83% of interviewed consumers indicated that they have full knowledge about the products and services they buy. On the other hand, In Australia, close to 60% of consumers indicated that they have knowledge about the products and services they buy.
This disparity in consumer knowledge largely influences the consumer behaviours because they will dictate the buying habit and product preference options among consumers.
Reference List
Alon, I., 2003. Chinese economic transition and international marketing strategy. Westport: Praeger.
Blackwell, R & Engel, J & Miniard, P., 2006. Consumer behavior. Mason: Thomson.
Chan, T., 1999. Consumer behaviour in Asia: Issues and marketing practice. London: Routledge.
Hoyer, D & Macinnis, J., 2008. Consumer behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western. Limited.
Schiffman, L., 1997. Consumer behaviour. Sydney: Prentice Hall.
Schiffman, L., 2005. Consumer Behavior. India: Prentis Hall.
Schiffman, L., 2010. Consumer behaviour: a European outlook. Harlow: Pearson Education
Tyagi, C & kumar, A., 2004. Consumer behaviour. New Delhi: Atlantic.