This article will outline a few of the factors driving this shift and summarize the overall impact of changing consumer behavior on the consumer products market. We will take a closer look at these “Conscientious Consumers” and at what gets them to the point where they make a commitment, open their wallets, and spend money.

Emerging Cultural Codes – The Foundations of Change

In our culture, consumers are becoming more conscientious on many levels. Even the way in which consumers are making decisions and expressing preferences is undergoing a fundamental change. The business community is overflowing with articles, books, and conference workshops about this topic. Who are these Conscientious Consumers, and how will companies that provide consumer products connect with them?

The shift in consumer behavior is being attributed to technology, the desire for engagement enhanced by the surrounding context of the brand itself, self-determination and identity, and sustainability of our environment, to name just a few factors. All of this is most certainly in play, but is merely the surface expression of a much deeper groundswell of change.

A new set of cultural codes are emerging that define the way people behave in all areas of their lives. How consumers behave is one of the most visible aspects of this change, and probably the most studied, because it is the basis of profitability for so many companies. As such, consumer behavior provides an interesting insight into the dominant and emerging codes that define the very nature of the culture that we live in. These codes can be seen as the foundation on which all trends, fashions, and fads are built and will be the starting point for our look at today’s consumers.

The Context of Cultural Change

Cultural evolution and its impact on social, and hence, consumer behavior is a continuum that can be traced back to the beginnings of commerce and trade. History provides interesting insights into consumers of the past, and also highlights the dominant codes that determine consumer behavior today, allowing us to make reasonable predictions about how that behavior will change going forward.

Looking Back

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Brands that appealed to this core cultural need prospered, which meant a huge demand for mass manufacturing and standardized products. This consumption drove incredible growth and prosperity. The 1960s marked some return to the notion of individuality, but not enough to become the dominant cultural code.

Recession in the 1970s slowed things down significantly; conversely, the 1980s and 1990s were all about “bigger and better.” Everyone was very status-oriented, as evidenced by the wholesaling of previously “luxury” brands, supersized cars, affordable diamonds, ubiquitous designer labels, and so on.

What Consumer Behavior Means

What is interesting about this perspective on consumer behavior is that consumers have not really changed at all. They continue to consume in a way that expresses the dominant cultural themes defining the era in which they live. They consistently seek to represent the values and display the status markers that garner approval and represent success, as defined by their culture. So it is the times that have changed. To understand the Conscientious Consumer, we need to understand the social context in which they consume, and how that impacts their preferences and influences their interpretation of value.

What Do Consumers Want?

So what cultural environment is the backdrop to this Conscientious Consumer? A few cultural codes stand out as far as driving the way people consume. Consumers are looking for engagement with the brands they purchase. Consumers want a sense of self-determination and the opportunity to establish an individual identity. A growing distrust of large corporations means that people are replacing corporate reliance with self-reliance.

The unprecedented new access to information through technology makes consumers significantly more informed and sophisticated than they were even five years ago. Finally, awareness, responsibility, and sustainability via purchases of “green” products are the new status markers, and consumers are looking to take these cultural values into account in their spending.

The Conscientious Consumer

So why the term Conscientious Consumer? Conscientious means several things in this context. Because consumers are smarter and better informed, their purchasing is either price-savvy, as in a bargain, or reflects the social values named above. Consumers rely on peer-to-peer formats such as social networking to gather information; ads and corporate product representations are not taken at face value.

Consumers rely heavily on word-of-mouth to guide and then reinforce their choices, and spend often considerable time researching options on-line before they buy. Consumers focus as much on the experience of purchasing as on the attributes of the product they buy, and are prepared to spend even more if the product has the new status markers.

Consumers are looking for more control in their purchasing process and want the opportunity to differentiate themselves and emphasize their individuality. Consumers have a new interpretation of value: what does the product say about who they are and what is important to them? Consumers are well-informed, well-connected with other consumers, and the basis of their decision making is well-thought-out, as it pertains to cultural codes and values.

Summary – Have a Conscientious Consumer-Friendly Product

The Conscientious Consumer is shaping the consumer landscape and should be the subject of a great deal of attention for any company wishing to sell products into this market. Learning how to reach out to Conscientious Consumers by being a presence in popular on-line sites is critical.

Designing a distribution strategy that optimizes the opportunity for engagement with the Conscientious Consumer will give your brand “legs” that will enable it to participate in any future marathon. In brief – be a Conscientious Consumer-friendly product and move in tune with the shifting landscape so that you can create a vibrant connection with your best customers.

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This method of buying products and services allows consumers to enjoy and utilize products immediately while paying for it over several months or years and fits into a budget that is manageable.

This type of purchase is called a Retail Installment Contract, which is between the retail establishment or merchant and the consumer. The consumer signs a contract and agrees to pay the merchant a monthly payment until the purchase amount of the product plus the interest is paid in full. When the contract is paid in full, the consumer has full ownership of the product.

Many businesses would be unable to stay in business if they did not sell goods and services on terms. Products and services ranging from $500.00 to $15,000.00 are usually financed – sold by using a Retail Installment Contract. A good example would be purchasing a car. The car is financed for 60 to 72 months and the buyer can drive the car as long as the payments are made each month.

Buying a home would not be considered a consumer Retail Installment Contract. A home is financed by a mortgage with a payment term of 30 years.

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Merchants can be traditional brick and mortar retail and service stores, in-home direct sellers, direct-mail, infomercial sellers, and internet sellers.

Merchants that are selling products or services that range between $500 and $15,000 may lose many sales opportunities unless they offer financing to the buyer. By utilizing a consumer finance company, merchants are not required to have deep pockets to carry the sales financing themselves.

A finance company buys (at a discount) the installment sales contracts of retail merchants, which provides an immediate cash flow to the merchant. The merchant can stock more products and make more sales.

A merchant can sell new Retail Installment Contracts as they are originated and their current in house portfolio of consumer receivables to generate immediate cash for restocking, capital improvements, and provide working capital.

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Under the successful format of Reliance digital that serves customers with consumer electronics, Reliance Retail announces the launch of its new store at Gurgaon which succeeds the stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The new destination of Reliance digital is at S-218, IInd Floor, Ambiance Mall, Gurgaon.

Reliance digital from Reliance Retail is a unique store concept built around Reliance Retail’s core philosophy – customer centrality and a hassle free store experience.

Reliance Retail is a one stop shop for all technology solutions

Reliance digital is a one stop shop for all technology solutions in the field of consumer electronics, home appliances, information technology and telecommunications. Reliance Retail covers an area of more than 42,000 sq. ft thus being the largest consumer durable store in India and will offer over 5,000 products spread across more than 150 brands along with countless solution bundles recommended to meet the diverse customer needs.

Reliance digital from Reliance Retail presents Microsoft Connected Home” this is a first of its kind wireless home networking that brings together music, movies, entertainment across a single platform in your home. This technology will help create homes where everyone is connected across various interfaces used in any home from gaming deceives / LCD TV / Computers etc. The objective is to demonstrate and demystify technology yet showcase how a product can talk to each other.

Reliance Retail’s Reliance Digital has 95 highly skilled and trained staff

Reliance Retail’s Reliance Digital has 95 highly skilled and trained staff who can counsel and guide customers to buy product that exactly cater to their spelled out needs. Reliance Retail Reliance Digital will remain open seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Pioneering a service trend in the country, Reliance digital introduces “RelianceresQ”, an end to end solution related to all your technology products. RelianceresQ, through a network of in-house service centers will provide the consumers with pre sales and post sales support services.

Reliance digital will continue to offer all its customers RelianceOne, a common membership and loyalty program across all its formats, which follows the philosophy of ‘Earn Anywhere, Spend Anywhere’. Reliance digital will also provide easy and attractive finance options for your purchases.

Reliance Retail Reliance digital will be large format stores spread across 15,000 to 35,000 sq. ft. and will come up in 70 cities across India.

 Reliance Retail

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