UUnniivveerrssiiddaaddee NNoovvee ddee JJuullhhoo

–– UUnniinnoovvee ––

Curso:

MMeessttrraaddoo eemm AAddmmiinniissttrraaççããoo ddee EEmmpprreessaass

Disciplina:

CCoommppoorrttaammeennttoo ddoo CCoonnssuummiiddoorr –– 22000066

AAsssseessssmmeenntt ooff cchhaannggeess iinn ccoonnssuummeerr bbeehhaavviioorr

dduuee ttoo tteecchhnnoollooggyy aaddvvaanncceemmeennttss

Aluno:

LLuuiizz VVaalléérriioo ddee PPaauullaa TTrriinnddaaddee

Professora:

DDrrªª CCllááuuddiiaa RRoossaa AAcceevveeddoo

Page 2 of 24

AAbbssttrraacctt

The main objective of the present study is to investigate and understand

the possible relationship between technology advancements and changes in

consumer behavior. The secondary objective is to add a contribution to further

studies concerning this subject taking into account that there are numerous

kinds of technologies available and the degree or intensity of their influence on

consumer behavior may change considerably.

For this purpose, firstly we have made a review of some definitions of

what is considered to be technology, followed by a study of what drives

companies to pursuit technology advancements along time and some concepts

regarding consumer behavior.

The investigation was supported by structured interviews conducted

with a group of seven male and female individuals chosen by convenience and

the main result we drawn from this study is that there are evidences confirming

the relationship.

Key-words: consumer behavior; technology advancements; diffusion; self-

image; motivation

Page 3 of 24

11 –– IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN

Along the recent past (within ten to fifteen years timeframe) the world

has experienced great technology leaps that in a way or another have caused

some sort of influence on people’s lives.

Such technology advancements cover a large array of possibilities

including information technology, telecommunications, means of

transportation, entertainment, media, medicines, illness treatments and many

others.

Given that, what the present article aims to investigate and discuss is

what kind of change (if any) in consumer behavior such technology

advancements has been able to cause.

Nevertheless, to start with, it is important to review some concepts and

definitions of what technology is considered to be.

Figueiredo [2005?] points out that technology has been present among

mankind since primitive time because man had to create basic devices made of

wood, bones, rocks and animal fur in order to hunt, build shelter, fish and also

to create the necessary conditions for the tribe survival.

This author also argues that technology has not had the same meaning

along time. In fact, according to him, what happens is an interactive process in

which the technological modifications cause impacts on economic relationships,

political scenario, social environment and also within businesses.

Additionally, Figueiredo [2005?] also warns that whereas the word

technology is usually connected with ideas or concepts of society

modernization, innovation, competition and new market development by

organizations, there is still too many misuse of the word in contexts that he

does not consider to be the most appropriate.

According to him, given the fact that it is such an ancient and wide

meaning word there is no accurate and absolute definition of it.

It is important though to distinguish that, on the other hand, technology

is not solely technique, machinery and applied science [id, 2005?].

Page 4 of 24

The contemporary and widely accepted concept of technology states that

it is “the use of rational knowledge – technical or scientific – in order to satisfy

needs, will or fantasies by means of the creation, distribution and production of

goods and services” (Salomon apud Figueiredo, 1984. p. 128).

In addition, it is important to highlight that in the late 1960’s (id., 2005?)

started the use of derived terminologies such as high-technology (what

comprises microelectronics, information technology, robotics, aerospace

technology and biotechnology) and industries of technology-intensive products

on the economic literature.

As Barbosa (1998) also presents, the US State Department conducted a

survey in 1978 among 120 multinational American companies in order to assess

their positioning regarding technology transfer and from the study it was

identified that their definition of the word was that “technology is the

knowledge necessary for the productive functioning of an enterprise.”

In other words, we notice that this perspective is strongly business and

activity oriented and does not consider the possible implications on the external

environment or even the late as a possible primary source of the advancements

instead of the organization.

Further on, Herrera (apud Barbosa, 1998) shows a very similar point of

view when he says that “technology can be defined as the group of instruments,

tools, elements, technical knowledge and skills that are used to satisfy needs of

the society and to increase the control over the external environment.”

Porter (1985, p. 164) is another author who views technology as a tool at

company service meant to leverage its activities (or Value Chain as he has

coined it) and create sustainable competitive advantage for the company.

According to him, technology plays an important role in determining relative

cost position or differentiation.

As we can see, those perspectives tends to consider technology not as the

value added offering represented by a product or service, but rather the

improved mean to produce goods.

Page 5 of 24

Moreover, we see that Rimoli (2006) considers technology as being the

available and useful knowledge applied both to manufacture process as well to

products.

Additionally we consider relevant to bring into light the derived

concepts of innovation and invention and for this purpose we refer to Da Silva

and Egler (2004) who briefly explains that invention and innovations are not

alike. He cites Lynn Browne to make his point clearer in the sense that

invention is considered as the discovery of techniques that make possible new

ways of doing things while innovation is about the commercial use or

application of such inventions.

To sum up, from the perspectives shown, it is possible to notice that

there is a great deal of possibilities on what concerns the definition of

technology. Nevertheless, we highlight that among all of them there is an

important common factor that technology is a driver of change (be it within the

business or the external environment). So that it is expected that may be a great

chance that technology may also be able to cause change in consumer behavior

as firstly stated.

22 –– UUNNDDEERRSSTTAANNDDIINNGG TTEECCHHNNOOLLOOGGYY CCHHAANNGGEESS

We have already seen a number of definitions and concepts regarding

technology and more importantly that even though some authors differ on their

point of view (in a smaller or greater scale) the common point is that technology

is a driver of change.

Consequently, we understand that besides that another important

question that arises on this study is: what primarily drives companies to pursuit

changes or advancements on their offer to the market and launch new or

improved products from time to time?

This questioning is of great relevance because the core of the present

article is about possible consumer behavior changes but we notice that actually

Page 6 of 24

this factor is a two sided history because this represents one aspect whereas the

other one is related to companies’ need to launch new products.

On this regard, Hyysalo (2003) says that “the continuous pursuit of

competitive advantage has meant that firms have to adopt novel kinds of

technical solutions and try to reach new customers before there is an

established body of knowledge about them available”.

Taking into consideration that competitive advantage is a relative factor

valid only when comparing two or more companies, we notice that according to

the argument presented by Hyysalo, companies are pressured all the time to

follow the path of new product development and launching in order to be

ahead of competitors.

This is similar to Porter’s (1985) idea of competitive strategy when he

claims that companies aim to achieve a distinguished position within its market

segment (what he calls industry) and as profitable and sustainable as possible

when comparing to other players.

In addition, we can also understand that companies see that their future

depends strongly on new products because the older and well know present

solutions and offerings to the market, the smaller their competitive advantage.

Nevertheless, new product or technology advancements on themselves

are not enough. Before that it is necessary anticipate needs and desires of the

target customers. If companies fail to pay attention to this point, chances are

that the new product does not meet its objectives.

Mohr (2005) also highlight that successful high-tech companies, for

instance, do not follow the path of new product development and then try to fit

it to any given market. Instead of that, they must constantly monitor the market

and the target audience in order to get useful data and information about them

and incorporate them into the development process.

Hyysalo (2003) also presents an important warning concerning the

misunderstanding of what customer need really is. He argues that “the term

‘user need’ is often applied without a clear definition, being mixed with wants,

preferences, requirements, and son on.”

Page 7 of 24

In order to back his claim, Hyysalo makes use of psychology studies

which state that needs emerge internally and cause some sort of energy or

charge into the individual in a way that he is compiled to act toward it.

The importance of this understanding for organizations relies in the fact

that if needs are triggers of action into individuals, the derived question is:

what action is he going to take or what artifact, device, product or service he

may make use in order to satisfy the needs?

Besides that, not only this outcome must be taken into consideration but

also wonder what is the reach of technology advancement. How many people,

what regions of the world or what group of individuals are they able to get to?

And for this purpose we can once more refer to Da Silva and Egler (2004)

explanation when he says that nowadays many geographic regions all over the

globe, no matter how poor or destitute some of them may be, are somehow

reached by technology innovations of some sort.

So that, from these concepts we can draw the idea that due to the need to

stay in business, prosper and beat competitors, companies are propelled to

frequently develop and launch new products.

On what regards customers (or companies’ target audience) they have

some kind of internal stimulus that causes them an appropriate reaction and

even though innovation degree or intensity may differ from one region of the

globe to another it is considered that there is no place untouched by them

somehow.

33 –– BBAASSIICC CCOONNCCEEPPTTSS OOFF CCOONNSSUUMMEERR BBEEHHAAVVIIOORR

Recalling Hyysalo (2003), it is said that the anticipation of costumers’

future needs and desires is an old challenge before managers and we add that

on the quest to decrease this uncertainty to a minimum possible there have been

a number of studies concerning consumer behavior.

Page 8 of 24

Previously on this article we have seen that consumers face a process of

stimulus generation that causes some sort of reaction in order to deal with it.

Those ideas lead us to the concept of consumer decision process, or

briefly, the understanding of how companies communicate themselves with

their target audience, how they receive or interpret the message and what

action is taken afterwards.

Such is the basis of a simple model of consumer behavior and as said by

Assael (1987, p. 10), the core of the model is the consumer decision making.

So that, for any company be successful in its activities it is of great

importance to be acquainted with the way consumers react to external

influences in order to improve and fine tune its message to him.

Any model is a simplification of real life as warned by Assael (1987, p.

26) with limitations that, according to him include: identification of only

common elements in decision making; its improvements may not be equally

important for all kinds of products or all usage situations; individual

differences are expected and the complexity level of decision making varies.

However, he also adds that despite those points, managers should take

into consideration the following positive points: it encourages a total and

integrative view of consumer behavior; it helps identify areas of information

necessary for making marketing decisions; it encourages quantifications of

these variables; it provides a basis for markets segmentation and the

development of marketing strategies.

Indeed what those ten points calls our attention to is the fact that a model

of consumer behavior is not flawless but on the other hand it is a valuable and

useful tool available for management marketing planning and decisions.

On the discussion of consumer behavior, Assael (1987, p. 11) presents a

simplified model in order to highlight the main factors in action during this

process:

The model is made up of the following five components:

Page 9 of 24

1) CCoonnssuummeerr DDeecciissiioonn MMaakkiinngg:: it is the model core and it is related to

the individual process of perception and evaluation of the available

choices to meet his needs or demands.

2) TThhee IInnddiivviidduuaall CCoonnssuummeerr:: this factor covers aspects such as

consumer demographic, life-style, personal characteristics, values,

perceptions and attitudes.

3) EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaall IInnfflluueenncceess:: this is represented by the culture where

the person belongs to, his social class, reference groups that he is part

of and situational determinations.

4) MMaarrkkeettiinngg SSttrraatteeggiieess:: this is the company’s battlefield and the area

under its control. Here it is where the company makes use of its

market knowledge in order to address the best and most effective

message possible in order to achieve the consumer and influence his

decision making.

5) CCoonnssuummeerr RReessppoonnssee:: given the previous four influent factors it is

expected some kind of response (action) from the consumer and

either he chooses your company’s product or service or not this is a

valuable feedback information to the company in order to improve its

message or maybe perform any necessary corrections.

Latter on Assael (1987, p. 45) discuss in depth about a more complete

model of complex decision making but, in general, the above simplified model

presents the main foundations for a good understanding of the process.

Both simplified and complex model of consumer decision making are

also presented by Lamb (2005, pp. 77-110) and the only point we consider

important to highlight is the fact that on what concerns environmental

influences, this author split it into two parts called: nonmarketing-controlled

information (for example a friend advice) and marketing-controlled information

(advertising, for instance).

Page 10 of 24

44 –– CCHHAANNGGEESS OOFF CCOONNSSUUMMEERR BBEEHHAAVVIIOORR AANNDD TTEECCHHNNOOLLOOGGYY AADDVVAANNCCEEMMEENNTTSS

Technology is subject to evolution along time and on this regard, Porter

(1985, p. 194) address an important concept explaining that this evolutional

process ultimately leads to the optimal product configuration in a way that after

some time it is reached what he called as “the dominant design”.

It means that after a period of time, a product in a given category reaches

a development level due to successive improvements made by the

manufactures that it no longer represents an innovation. Instead, this kind of

product is subject solely of slight modifications while there is still demand for

it.

The concept of performance trajectory as explained by Bower and

Christensen (1995) can also be considered as another influencing factor towards

innovation by companies. The idea behind this concept states that any product

or even a category is subject to a trajectory that leads it to a critical performance

where it no longer evolves significantly, after a series of improvements over

time.

On what regards the degree or amount of innovation added to a product,

Rimoli (2006) and Mohr (2005) explain that the innovation is considered as

incremental when only some slightly differences or improvements are added to

the existing product or, on the other hand, radical when it represents a

breakthrough in the category.

For example, when an automaker launches a new model of one of its car

in a given year, it represents an incremental innovation despite the fact that it is

a new product. On the other hand, when the same automaker develop and

launch a model equipped with an engine capable of working with four kinds of

fuels (gasoline, alcohol, natural gas and solar energy, for instance) then it

represents a breakthrough innovation.

Given that, it is possible to realize that we have got a two sided situation

where:

Page 11 of 24

1) Technology advancements is a fact, a reality and also a necessity for

companies strive in the marketplace, prosper and stay in business;

2) Customers receive or are subject to stimulation and react somehow to

them.

Due to that, we believe that consumer behavior is a function of (or

influenced by) technology advancements and their spread among a target

audience. This spread of the rate to which an innovation becomes known and it

is adopted by the market is better known as diffusion of innovation.

So we consider that technology advancements are strongly related to

diffusion of innovation because this is the main driver of advancements,

novelty or improvements.

The most widely accepted and used model to explain the spread of

diffusion adoption by customers (EVERETT, 1976) divides them into five profile

categories as follows:

1) IInnnnoovvaattoorrss:: represented by the first 2.5% of all those individuals who

adopt a product. Those consumers are eager to try new ideas and

products. They are risk takers.

2) EEaarrllyy aaddoopptteerrss:: the next 13.5% of consumers that are prone to adopt a

product.

3) EEaarrllyy mmaajjoorriittyy:: the following 34% adopters. They are characterized as

those who carefully weight the pros and cons before adopting a new

product.

4) LLaattee mmaajjoorriittyy:: the next 34% to adopt. They usually adopt a new

product because most of their friends or reference groups already

have.

5) LLaaggggaarrddss:: the last 16% to adopt. They are independent and not

influenced by tendencies. By the time they adopt an innovation, it has

probably become outmoded and replaced by something else.

Alongside the diffusion of innovation, we shall also add to the discussion

the product life cycle concept, which provides us a way to determine the stages

Page 12 of 24

of a product’s acceptance by consumers from introduction up to its decline or

phase out.

We have already warned on this article that a model is a simplification of

real life and it is not flawless, however, it is extremely valuable to provide us a

picture of a market situation and it is useful as a support for management

decisions.

If we integrate both diffusion of innovation and product life cycle curves

we would have a situation as shown on exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1: Relationship between diffusion of innovation and product life cycle

Source: the author (based on Lamb, 2005. pp-269-272)

Certainly that the situation shown on exhibit 1 is not that strict and it is

subject to variations according to the product category or another market

circumstances. However, we notice that as the product life cycle evolves from

the birth toward its death or phase out so does the profile of consumers to

adopt it suffer changes.

34%34%13.5% 16%2.5%

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Innovators Early

Adopters

Early

Majority

Late

Majority

Laggards

Page 13 of 24

During the product first stage (introduction) usually it is adopted by

innovators and early adopters. Also during this stage, the product is still

relatively expensive, not many people can afford to buy it and the company has

not yet been able to recover its development investment, alongside the fact that

usually there are very few competitors.

The following two stages (growth and maturity), on the other hand is

characterized by large volumes sold, significant price decrease and a greater

market reach. It is also the period where the company manages to get the return

of investment. However, there is a greater number of competitors.

On the last stage of the product life cycle (decline), the volume sold tend

to be considerably smaller because most of the market were already served

during the previous stages and the market as a whole is shifting toward a new

technology. The consumers characterized as laggard are more prone to buy at

this stage for a number of reasons, but one of them it is because they are not

driven or strongly influenced by trends.

Another interesting theory meant to predict how and when consumers

will shift from a current product or solution to a new option is presented by

Wood and Swait (2002) where they claim that two consumer characteristics

(Need for Cognition and Need for Change) can lead to four unique patterns of

change behavior: thinkers and changers; thinkers but not changers; changers

but not thinkers and neither thinkers nor changers.

The model is strongly psychological-based and aims to explain an

individual’s motive for change.

According to the authors, there have been identified several components

of general consumer innovativeness such as: optimal simulations level; variety-

seeking; novelty-seeking, exploratory tendencies, information-seeking and

cognition.

It is also said that, due to its nature, an individual’s characteristics are

hard to define and so that what it is usually done is the identification of traits

drawn from typical behaviors (also called Response Patterns out from some

stimulation).

Page 14 of 24

55 –– QQUUAALLIITTAATTIIVVEE SSUURRVVEEYY

As a mean to assess the degree to which technology advancements may

cause changes in consumer behavior or not, we have made use of the

comparing evolution from conventional fixed telephones lines during the 1980’s

toward mobile telecommunications in the 1990’s onward.

Graph 1: Evolution of telecommunications in Brazil

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Te

lep

ho

ne L

ine

s (

millio

ns)

Fixed Lines

Mobile Lines

Source: the author (based on data from Teleco World and PORTO; POCHMANN – 2006)

Graph 1 gives us a detailed view of the evolution of telecommunications

in Brazil along the past 33 years, where it is possible to notice that

fixed/conventional telephone lines have grown on a slower pace than mobile

lines and seems to have reached stabilization from 2001 onwards.

On the other hand, since its introduction in Brazilian market in 1990, the

mobile telecommunications technology has grown rapidly in a way that in less

than 14 years it matched the number of fixed lines around 50 millions and

Page 15 of 24

nowadays it has already reached over 90 millions (WEINBERG, 2006)

outnumbering fixed lines in 43%.

Given that scenario, we understand that for the purpose of the present

article, we consider that individuals aged 25 years upwards would have better

conditions to establish fairer and more accurate comparison between the two

types of telecommunications possibilities (or technologies), given the fact that

most of the younger consumers were already raised during the mobile era.

The strategy used on this qualitative research was structured interview

with a group of seven individuals chosen by convenience. The interviews took

place during the second half of August 2006 and they were conducted by the

author.

Chart 1: Summary of interviewed profiles

Age Range

30 year: one person

Between 31 and 40 years: four people

Between 41 and 50 years: one person

Between 51 and 55 years: one person

Gender

Female: four people

Male: three people

Educational Level

Incomplete graduate level: two people

Complete graduate level: four people

Complete post-graduate level: one person

Source: the author

Prior to the interview process itself, we conducted a pre-test with a

group of four individuals with similar profile of the chosen group on the first

Page 16 of 24

half of August 2006 in order to assess the data gathering instrument before the

actual interview could take place.

As Acevedo and Nohara (2004) explain, this procedure is strongly

recommended because it enables the researcher perform any correction or

improvements on the instrument if necessary before its usage on field. The

profile of the final interview respondents can be described on Chart 1.

55..11 –– AAsssseessssmmeenntt ooff tthhee RReessuullttss

From the reading of the material obtained during the interviews,

alongside the main objective of the present article, we defined four main

analytical dimensions as a mean to better structure the result. They are the

following:

1 – Access to the conventional technology and its affordability;

2 – Perceptions draw out of the possession of the technology and roles

played by them;

3 – Signs of new paradigms brought by the new technology;

4 – Perception of any change in behavior or their life due to the new

technology.

55..11..11 –– AAcccceessss ttoo tthhee ccoonnvveennttiioonnaall tteecchhnnoollooggyy aanndd iittss aaffffoorrddaabbiilliittyy

On this first dimension, we noticed that most of them said that the

biggest problem regarding the access to the conventional fixed telephone lines

back in the 1980’s was its price as well as the long time required to have the

good available at home, what according to their information could vary from 7

~ 8 months up to 5 years.

If we take a deeper view on this situation, it is possible to notice that it is

contrary to established marketing principles, especially when taken into

account that fixed telephone lines was already a mature technology by that time

Page 17 of 24

because this technology was already present in the market at least for a couple

of decades earlier.

While during the introductory stage of a new product or service it is

expected that few people can afford to buy it (Kotler, 1998. pp. 224-225),

according to the answers presented by the interviewed, the situation around

this technology was that it was not affordable and it took too much time to

receive it.

Additionally, also according to Kotler (ibid, 1998), once a product reaches

the growth stage on its life cycle, usually the following factors take place

simultaneously: sales both in volumes and revenues tend to increase;

company’s profit is higher than in the previous introductory stage and prices

are significantly lower.

55..11..22 –– PPeerrcceeppttiioonnss ddrraaww oouutt ooff tthhee ppoosssseessssiioonn ooff tthhee tteecchhnnoollooggyy aanndd

rroolleess ppllaayyeedd bbyy tthheemm

What regards the possession of this technology it is emblematic to notice

the fact that, according to their point of view, it was not usual for themselves,

close friends or relatives posses more than one telephone line. Moreover, they

have said that people who could afford to do so were perceived as belonging to

a higher social class. One of the respondents (female; aged 30 years and

incomplete graduate level) said that “among her family or friends it was not

common people have more than one telephone line and those who had it were

considered to be rich”.

In a way, we consider that due to the circumstances of that time, their

perception of establishing direct relationship between possessed quantities of

that technology at home and the individual social class does make sense

because, as they have put it, the telephone line was expensive and difficult to

get. It was almost as a specialty item.

We consider that this picture is related to the concept of consumer self-

image, or perceptions of self (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000. pp 111-113) where

Page 18 of 24

each individual develops an image of himself according to certain sets of traits,

skills, habits, possessions, relationships and behavior.

On this sense, we consider that when respondents said that people who

could afford possess more than one telephone line were more affluent, in fact

they had constructed his or her self-image as well as other people’s image based

on this relationship.

Yet on this dimension, caught our attention the fact that, most of the

respondents said that the telephone line was usually registered in the name of

their father (four people), two people reported as being registered in the name

of their mother and the other person as registered after her brother-in-law.

One of the interviewed (female; aged between 31 and 40 years; complete

graduate level) used the expression “man of the house” as a mean to stress that

situation.

55..11..33 –– SSiiggnnss ooff nneeww ppaarraaddiiggmmss bbrroouugghhtt bbyy tthhee nneeww tteecchhnnoollooggyy

This dimension who aims to investigate interviewers’ perceptions on

what regards the shift from one technology to another, or else, from

conventional fixed telephone lines to mobile.

We highlight that the majority of them perceived that the new

technology was more affordable than the previous one and also that it was

faster to receive the good.

It is also interesting to notice that one person (male; aged between 31 and

40 years; complete graduate level) stressed that on her opinion, conventional

telephone lines “are no longer a must have good”.

We understand that this report represented the perception of a better or

improved technology replacing the previous one.

Moreover, contrary to what happened during the 1980’s, when there

were only conventional telephones lines available, the new technology

represented by the mobile phones follows a more consistent evolutional process

Page 19 of 24

on what regards its life cycle. This pattern is expressed by the respondents

when they say that it became cheaper and more accessible.

55..11..44 –– PPeerrcceeppttiioonn ooff aannyy cchhaannggee iinn bbeehhaavviioorr oorr tthheeiirr lliiffee dduuee ttoo tthhee nneeww

tteecchhnnoollooggyy

This last dimension aimed to investigate the existence of any sign of

change in behavior due to the new technology and on this regard we observed

that two factors emerged out from their answers: firstly, caught our attention

the rate to each of them changes from one model of mobile phone to another.

We noticed cases of people who have changed it twice within a year (female;

aged 30 years; incomplete graduate level) up to another one who have changed

it three times within four years (male; aged between 31 and 40; complete

graduate level).

The reasons behind such changes varies from individual to individual

and from the answers we got on the interviews included, for example: wish to

acquire a more advanced model; in order to have a lighter and smaller model;

due to cloning problems and even due to change of country of residence.

Secondly, they highlighted that the new technology enabled them to be

accessible anywhere at anytime and this is seen as a positive change in their

lives.

However, despite all those aspects presented, we noticed that not all

interviewed had a positive view of this new technology. One person (male; 51

and 52; incomplete graduate level) demonstrated a negative view toward this

technology and said that “it is a slavery tool”. He pointed out that,

unfortunately, people have become too dependent of it.

Page 20 of 24

66 –– FFIINNAALL CCOONNSSIIDDEERRAATTIIOONNSS

As already discussed in the present article, according to psychology

studies (HYYSALO, 2003) consumers needs are internally arouse and, as a

consequence, they are compelled to act toward it.

This process, also known as motivation, represents an individual’s state

of tension out of a unfulfilled need and, be it consciously or subconsciously, the

person makes the best possible to reduce, relieve or even eliminate it through

the appropriate behavior (SCHIFFMAN, 2000. p. 63).

Assail (1987, p. 32) considers that individuals develop patterns of

behaviors in such a way that become deeply fixed in their personality and this

established pattern would be the motives. It means that in order to deal with

certain internal or external stimuli the individuals have a set of general pattern

of behavior already developed.

On exhibit 2 we can see a model of the motivation process.

Exhibit 2: Motivation process

Source: adapted from SCHIFFMAN (2000, p. 64)

Unfilled needs,

wants and

desires

Tension Drive Behavior

Goal or

need

fulfillment

Learning

Tension

reduction

Cognitive

process

Page 21 of 24

From the model, it is possible to notice that consumer behavior is directly

related to unfulfilled needs and the tension that triggers an appropriate action.

However, there are numerous sources of need arousal as Schiffman has

pointed out (2000, p. 75) and they can be grouped within three categories: the

individual’s psychological condition; emotional or cognitive process or stimuli

coming from the external environment where he/her is part of.

For the purpose of the present study we consider that technology

advancements does fir within this last category and consequently it is possible

to produce changes in consumer behavior.

Assael (1987, p. 30) explains this process as input variables that

influences consumers’ psychological set during his/her decision making

process.

Considering the model of this author, technology advancements could

also be classified within the external input variables just like Shiffman but as a

component or sub-category named marketing stimuli.

So that we understand that the assessment we have made from the

interviews conducted with seven individuals and structured on four

dimensions, shows evidences that technology advancements are able to cause

some sort of changes into consumers behavior because, as an external source of

influence into individuals unfulfilled needs or desires, as previously discussed,

it can affect the motivation process.

On what regards the study limitations we say that it has made use of

consumers’ perceptions toward one technology (telecommunications devices)

into two periods of time (during the 1980’s and at the present time) as a mean to

represent such phenomena. However, it does not allow us to indistinctly extend

our considerations to other kinds of technologies because there may be

considerable changes in intensity and also there is no absolute guarantee that all

of them really cause changes.

Page 22 of 24

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