Dimensional of Consumer Behaviour

There are three important dimensions of consumer behaviour :

(1) Pre-purchase Behaviour : In this dimension of consumer behaviour, we study what happens when the customer feels the presence of a need, which puts him in a state of imbalance or discomfort. Here, the marketer is interested in knowing how the consumer takes decision to satisfy a need, the product he decides to buy, where, when, and how the product would be bought. Most of the pre-purchase behaviour essentially takes place in the consumer's mind and therefore constitutes covert or non-observable behaviour.

(2)Purchase Behaviour : In this dimension of consumer behaviour, the marketer studies how the consumer does the actual buying or purchase of a product in the market. The type of activities or act a marketer studies here includes the consumer's shopping habit,his product motives; that is what makes him to choose certain brands instead of others, his buying motives, that is what makes him buy from some retail outlet instead of others;  and impulse buying, that is, what makes him to buy what he never to buy.

(3) Post-purchase Behaviour: In this dimension of consumer behaviour, the marketer studies what happens when the consumer is using the product he has purchased. Here he studies how the consumer rates or evaluates the product during or after usage. He finds out how the consumer feels, whether he is satisfied or dissatisfied with the product. He also study how the consumers dispose of products after usage.