Study regarding consumer behavior in Romania.

Rahau, Loredana ; Neagu, Gheorghe ; Forgaciu, Flavia 等

1. INTRODUCTION

Marketing research, the success of decisions based on lessons learned and measures taken to respond to buyer pressure led to the regulation, stimulation and boosting of the economy. The most illustrative example is the American success. Since the second decade of the twentieth century, most notable representatives of the Chicago School, psychologists and sociologists, have formulated the thesis, which became subsequently paradigm that the human point sense of human is found in obtaining a desirable behavior from consumers. The behavioralist thesis inspired by the pragmatism of the American society places primerely influencing and determining the behavior considered acceptable. This paradigm has expanded successfully inside the market field by marketing studies that have been developed since the fifth decade of the last century. Currently, globalization leads to the generalization and universalization of the market, multiplication of producers, diversification of goods and services, competition (Iliescu & Petre, 2004). Under these terms, knowledge of purchase consumption and behavior in order to make correct and profitable decisions is essential. In marketing, studies production decissions and marketing decisions depend fundamentally on the purchase and consumption.

Bibliographic research on purchasing consumption and behavior has allowed formulation of several conclusions:

--the need to study the behavior of consumers and customers is generated by deciphering the feedback between production and consumption, sale and purchase;

--investigation and analysis of feedback sent by the buyer to the manufacturer and distributor is required in order for the manager to take and implement decisions that meet the needs, tastes and expectations of the purchaser;

--accelerated dynamics of consumer attitude and the increased capacity of individual and group expertise, of different categories of buyers pressurize producers to adjust their production to the constraints caused by growing consumer expectations and informed opinion;

--psychological factors have an increasingly important share in definiting purchase consumption and behavior, and motivation, perception, taste, beliefs and preferences are the subjective, but very active and persuasive substrate of consumption and behavior of buying. Family and reference groups (neighbors, friends, work colleagues) play an important role in guiding and supporting the purchasing consumption and behavior (Forgaciu, 2008);

--cultural factors, expressed through a set of values, perceptions, patterns, aspirations, patterns of behavior, undertake a major role in the formation and manifestation of dot-matrix of buyer's behavior (Plaias, 1997);

--increases more the impact of the brand on to the activation of consumer potential, as well as the ability to represent and personalize the products by purchasers;

--role of media in producing and transmitting information about products, brands, as well as consumer advice has become a tool that mediates between production and consumption (Petre & Nicola, 2004).

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH RESULTS

Premise from which we started this research is that marketing studies are needed in order to meet the needs, desires and expectations of people as buyers and consumers. Producers and intermediaries need to permanently know standing opinions, tastes, consumer habits and attitudes of individuals in order to influence their behavior in a beneficial way (Mihut & Pop, 1997). We considered that the information that may be collected through market studies may relate to both targets and actual behavior, specificall to what people do in real mode (to inform, buy, consume) as well as subjective or mental behaviors (What they think, What their incentives are, their perceptions and attitudes at the time of purchase or consumption of a product). The study of purchasing behavior and consumption was carried out for milk products. The purpose and goals of the case study, with special emphasis on the X brand, consisted of:

--the extent to which subjects of the sample know (spontaneous y or assisted) the brands of dairy products;

--frequency of consumption of brands (the last 12 months, last 3 months, last month);

--assessing by qualifications the various brands of dairy products (brand X, A brand, I mark, D mark, etc.);

--image of functional attributes of the brands (brand X, A brand, mark I, mark D, etc.).

--benefits of consuming the X mark on the consumer health;

--the image of brand X;

--customizing the mark brand X;

--reasons for the refusal to use brand X;

--reasons to consume brand X;

--the consumption of brand X (period, frequency, occasions, way of consumption, choises of products, consumtion inside the family unit;

--brand new products of X mark;

--general consumer habits and health;

--future attitudes.

The survey is a pilot research having mainly a didactic purpose, but was designed and conducted scientifically, using structured and representative sampling. The instrument used is the questionnaire, which was applied to the subjects (respondents in the target group). The target market included the following:

--the target "A" (mother) market:

i. mothers with children between the ages of 2 and 15, consumers of brand X;

ii. mothers with children between the ages of 2 and 15, with knowledge of brand X;

--the target "B" (adult) market:

i. adults between the ages of 16 and 54, consumers of brand X;

ii. adults between the ages of 16 and 54, with knowledge of brand X;

--the target "C" (senior) market:

i. seniors between the ages of 55 and 65, consumers of brand X; ii. seniors between the ages 55 and 65, with knowledge of brand X.

As socio-demographic variables the following were used: gender, age, level of education and residential environment. For example, the adult sample is given in Table 1:

The questionnaire includes a number of 40 closed questions and 10 opened questions. In the questionnaire were used Likert-type scale, with notes grades from 1 (minimum) to 5 (maximum), but also the Osgood differential, with feedback through qualifiers (very good, good, medium, weak, very weak). Some questions demanded a single answer and others could be awarded multiple answers. Administering the questionnaire was conducted by students of the University "Dimitrie Cantemir" in Targu Mures. Data processing was done carried out by a program developed for this purpose. Quantitative and qualitative information was processed by histogram and other forms of graphic representation.

Conclusions regarding the purchase and consumption behavior of individuals in the case of dairy products with priority for brand X, are the following:

--with regard to the degree awareness of various brands of milk products, the best known are: A mark (73% of respondents), the mark M (68%) and the X mark (63%), so the brand X, the object of study case, is located in position 3 as degree of knowledge;

--there are large differences between spontaneous awareness and assisted knowledge, the latier being 25% higher than the first;

--the mark X is known in particular by mothers with small children and women, but less so by men;

--with regard to the consumption of dairy products, consumer behavior is expressed thus: X is the preferred brand for 33% of subjects, mark A of 35% and D mark of only 28%;

--the biggest consumption of brand X is achieved by the family of respondent mothers with small children as well as adults who take care of small children (grandfather/ grandmother, pensioners);

--those between 16-25 of age know only very little about brand X. Specifically, 75% do not know the X mark at all 95% have never used it;

--X brand consumers or those who only know the brand associate it the following qualities: as energizer, as provider of resistance to disease, contribute to strengthening the immune system. Among the functional attributes of brand X, the most frequently expressed are: attributes associated to health; attributes associated to product quality; attributes associated to the credibility of the mark; attributes associated to the natural (organic) quality;

--the majority of subjects (65%) describe brand X by attributes such as quality, naturalness energy and health;

--mark X is a active, friendly, sociable, optimistic and educatied character;

--among the varieties of brand X, the most commonly used are: Natural X (32%), X Multifruct (46%) and X berries (30%);

--with regard the family consumption, we found that the largest consumers are children (82%), followed by the other respondents (24%), usually mothers and grandmothers. At the household/ family level, the consumption of brand X is closely related to family structure and composition, meaning that the presence of children determines the consumption;

--family income is an essential determinant of brand consumption. While in families with income below 1,000 RON only 38% consume brand X in families with an income over 2000 RON over 85% consume this brand;

--the level of training and education is a factor in determining consumer behavior. Among consumers of brand X or buyers for their children, 57% have high education, 28% have secondary education and 15% have general studies;

--reffering to the habits of consumption, the highest consumption is recorded during winter (64%) and autumn (46%);

--occasions in which the brand X is consumed are breakfast and dinner;

--expectations of buyers towards brand new X products aim requirements such as containing plant extract (89%), multivitamin (76%), iron (68%), royal jelly (68%) and minerals (48%).

3. CONCLUSIONS

The pilot study we conducted, which may be considered also as a case study can be regarded as a methodological exercise in the area of market research from the feedback of the buyer and consumer perspective. This does not invalidate the value of information collected and conclusions drawn. They are valid for the investigated sample, without the possibility of generatizing so a macrosocial level. In the structured sample batch the information is valid, and the conclusions contain the constituent elements of the behavior of buyers and consumers of the selected product (brand X). For the future we intend to develop this pilot study within a wider project, conducted on a representative sample at national level.

4. REFERENCES

Forgaciu F. (2008). Purchase decision within families, Challenges of European Integration, Risoprint Publisher House, ISBN 973-751-893-4, Cluj-Napoca

Iliescu D.& Petre D. (2004). The Psychology of the consumer, comunicare.ro, ISBN 973-711-001-3

Mihut I.& Pop M. (1996). The consumer and the management of the supply, Dacia Publisher House, Cluj Napoca

Petre D.& Nicola M. (2004). Introduction to Advertising, comunicare.ro, ISBN 973-711-004-8

Plaias. I. (1997). Behavior of consumer, Intelcredo Publisher House, ISBN 973-97879-5-9, Deva

Tab. 1. The structure of the sample adult

Total Women

 16-25 25-34 35-54 55-65

 27 3 1 6 2

Total Men

 16-25 25-34 35- 55-65

 27 4 2 6 3