Consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘those activities directly involved in
obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services, including the
decision processes that precede and follow these actions’ (Engel et al., 1995).
There are environmental influences affecting this behaviour such as ethnicity
and culture, social group, regional preferences, as well as food availability and
household technology. There are also differences among individuals, not only
their age and sex, their education, their standard of living, but also their
physiological and psychological make-up. Individuals have their own food
choice, which to a greater or lesser extent overrides preferences defined by
culture or religion. In the last 30 years, multidisciplinary social science
research has increased knowledge of food consumer behaviour and food
choice.
Consumer behaviour occurs in sequential stages and at each stage there is a
use of knowledge to make decisions. General consumer behaviour has six action
stages as shown in Fig. 5.1 (Engel et al., 1995). This sequence can be followed
by a further divestment stage where, with food products, the consumer chooses
between the options of disposal or recycling of the waste and the packaging.
Parallel to these seven consumer actions is the information processing conducted
by the consumer. When the consumer recognises the need, there is an internal
search in their memory and may be an external search of the supermarket
shelves, the menu, and information from other people, media or consumer
reports. They may also have been exposed to TV advertising or to promotions in
the supermarket; or even to the aroma of bacon sizzling or bread baking in the
retail outlet. Engel et al. identified five steps in the use of information by the
consumer for knowledge building:
1. Exposure to information, communication, the product.
2. Attention given to the information.
3. Comprehension of the information, as it is analysed against the knowledge
and the attitudes stored in the memory.
4. Acceptance or rejection of the incoming information.
5. Retention of the new information in the memory as knowledge.