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Consumer Behaviour And Marketing Communication
Cognitive dissonance is caused by the lack of agreement among the buyers cognitions regarding the
product purchased and the possible alternatives to buying that were avoided by the consumer’s act of
buying. What worries the consumer is the thought that his purchase decision may have been wrong. The
higher the importance of the purchase decision and the greater the attractiveness of possible alternatives,
the higher the concentration of the cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance can be reduced by the
seller having his salesmen congratulate buyers on the wisdom of their purchases, running advertisement
directed at recent buyers to assure them they have taken a right purchase decision or packaging reassuring
statements about the products in the information booklets or brochures that is delivered to the consumer
with the product. [19].
CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN COMMUNICATION
CULTURE DEFINED: Culture has been defined as a distinctive way of life of a group of people, their
complete design for living.
It is the man-made part of man’s environment, the sum total of his knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws,
customs and any other capabilities and habits he acquires as a member of a particular society.
Cultural attitudes and values of the whole society, affect the way we do things, see things, use things and
judge things. The adjustment of man to his environment – biologically, psychologically and historically
depends of his cultural existence, and every society has a culture. An individual is constantly influenced by:
• CULTURE: distinct national lifestyle.
• SUB-CULTURE: a segment of culture within the national culture which may be created by
religion, ethnic or age.Influences from social class, reference groups and family life style can affect the individual and can result
into the creation of sub cultures within a culture.
A culture tends to lose its homogeneity and break down into sub-cultures as population increases. Sub-
cultures develop to help the individual satisfy his needs for a more specific identity.