Oh god shave me! unravelling the consumer behaviour puzzle

Customer behaviour is so unpredictable! It is dictated by many uncontrollable issues. Most of the customer actions and reactions are dictatedby thoughts and experiences with the products and services. They are locked inthe black box called our mind which marketers would very dearly like to explore, unravel and reap life timebenefits!

Akio Morita, Chairman of Sony Corporation was keen on launching a new product that would propel Sony into the mega corporation league. He zeroed down onto aninvention that his entire team, especially his marketing team wasnot very enthusiastic about – a small personal music player. This small unassumingproduct was extensively researched. The results were not encouraging.There was a lukewarm response from the potential customers.

At that time personal music was unheard of. Music was played loud and it was meant for everyone! As a kid I had visited Golconda fort. The fort was magnificentand so was the cacophony of sounds that punctuated my eardrums. It was a noisy and a very loud Sunday celebration! Music was blaring from all corners of the fort.

And the loudest music wasplayed by the NRIs (Non-resident Indians). Their huge garishlycoloured two in ones(radio cum cassette player)were everyone’s envy. Press a button and the cassette player would open its mouth with an almighty clank!

One of my friend wrylycommented “Do you know on the seventies and the eighties, five peoplewere needed to carry a dead NRI to the cemetery?” This one bowled me. I asked him “why?” “Four to carry the NRI and the fifth to carry his omnipresent two in onemusic player”.

Such was the power and sway of the radio cum cassette players. Music was universal and music was meant to be enjoyedone by all. So a product that woulddeliverpersonalizedmusic was an absolute no-no. And the market research also confirmed the same. Akio Morita was hell bent. He insisted that the personalized music player named “Walkman” would be hit. Reluctantly Sony Corporation launched Walkman and the product went on tocreate waves!

It defined the way we look at music and music suddenlybecame something that is personalized. Allof us who put on earphones and enjoy music should thank Akio Morita for being so stubborn and determined. Walkman is the father of allpersonalized music players including the ever so popular I-Pod!

So did the marketing research fail? No not at all. Marketing research is effective when the customersare asked about known productand services. They form opinions, likes and dislikes about something they have seen, used and experienced.When they wereasked about a product they have not seen, used and experienced they often give their views based on their imagination.

Their present view/vision about the future is influence by their past experiences. It is like a cricket player planning his future game based on his past performances. That could be a fatal error, all of us including the fictional cricket player have to plan the future based on the future itself and not based on past experiences and past performances.

And weall know that there are no boundaries for imagination. Even the great Akio Moritawas taken in by the marketingresearch spin. The first introduced Sony Walkmans had two audio ports One each for two friends to share the music. This feature was later withdrawn. Now when I seetwo youngsters sharing music with a single earphone set, I ponder “may be Akio Morito was right”.

• He was a visionary par excellence.
• The most interesting thing about consumers is no one can exactly predict how they will behave or how they won’t behave. I urge the readers to go through the following scenarios. All of them are taken from real life. Try to analyze the behaviour and jot down the answers. Then later go on to the answers section. The answers I am sure will zap you out of your early morning slumber!

Sample the following:

1.Why is that women are not enthusiastic users of machines that can automatically knead the chapatti or poori dough?
2.Why did an obviously convenient product like a cream that does not allow hair to grow on a man’s face become a successful product? (only 1 out of 100 surveyed men wanted to buy but not for the intended product use)
3.Why during Deepavali demand for one litre paint (usually customers buy paint in 20 litre cans) goes up in the state of Maharashtra?
4.Why do products with names like Pantene and Hero Puch do not sell well inspite of being excellent products?Both are brands of well-known multi National companies with impeccable pedigree.
5.Why antacid tablets sales are more in Gujarat than any other state in India?
6.Why does Glycodin (a cough syrup) sell well in shops near student hostels?
7.Why do small washing machines sell very well in Punjab?
8.Why are Indian Tractors more spacious and roomier than tractors in USA and other developed countries?

The answers:
1.Why dough making machines not popular:Kneading of dough is an intensely emotional experience for the lady. It is like to giving birth to a baby. Very painful but at the same time extremely satisfying and fulfilling. That is why women can’t give a convincing answer for their preference to the traditional method of making dough by hand.

Try putting a little bit of burning wax on your palm. It is very painful but it is an experience most people love. Similar are examples of bungee jumping and experiencing risky rides in amusements parks. We want to get scared. It is like looking at death in its face and coming out a winner! We want toshow to the world that we are brave. Adrenaline rush is an ultimate addiction. People who seek ultimate thrills are dubbed adrenaline junkies. They go to any extend to feel the adrenaline rush!

2.Why a hair removing cream is not a popular masculine Product:Shaving of the beard again is an intensely manly. It is very assuring for a man to be reminded that he is a man albeit in a very painful way. All the time ‘smooth beard’ is very feminine. The only man who wanted to buy the product wanted to use the product to remove his underarm hair.

3.Why cattle loving farmers in Maharashtra buy one litre paint:The cattle loving farmers use the one litre paint to decorate the horns of their cows and buffaloes. This was encashed by a paint company which introduced exclusive paints for painting the horns of livestock. The company created a separate brand for this paint. This was done so that the regularcustomers don’t feel upset that the paint that is used for their houses is the same paint that is used to paint the horns of cattle.

4.Pantene and Hero Puch not great brand names:These words have very negative meanings; the first sounds women’s’ under garment and the second sounds like fresh vomit!

5.Antacid popularity in Gujarat:Antacid is not consumed for curing acidity. It is used to make very soft and fluffy Doklas.

6.Glycodinpopularity near boy’s hostels: Glycodin is a very cheap and easy way of getting intoxicated. That is why the label tells the users not to drink and drive.

7.Small washing Machinepopularity in Punjab: The small washing machines are used to make lassi (sweet butter milk) for customers.

8.Why Tractors are larger and roomier in India:In USA a tractor is a tractor – it is used to irrigate the fields. In India a tractor is more than a tractor, it is a rural vehicle. It carries the family to the market and to social gathering marriages and is the lifeline that connects the village to the nearest town.

Keeping all this in mind it is a very brave heart who can confidently say that he knows the exact behavior of his customers. Well.....well his customers will teach him a lesson that he will not forget in a life time. Ask Rahul Bajaj. Bajaj Chetak was the product that everyone loved. It had a waiting list that lasted for years. Indians beseeched their NRI friends and relatives to gift them an out of turn foreign quota Bajaj Chetak. It was a product that was most demanded as a dowry item.

But sadly the customer preferences changed while the product did not. The erstwhile customers of Bajaj Chetak proved to be fickle gods. They happily deserted the product and made Bajaj Chetek what it is today – a dodo, immensely loved but extinct.

Don’t blame the customer. He would tell you things as he sees them. It is for the marketer to sift through the data and unravel the mystery, understand what is happening and why it is happening! Once we understand consumer behaviour, we can board the gravy train and laugh our way to the bank!