Consumer Behaviour

Service : Coffee shops
Coffee shops are essentially a low involvement service as most of our consumers felt that it was affordable for them to frequent coffee shops on a regular basis, and there were a few close substitutes to visiting coffee shops like pubs and staying at home. Majority of the respondents also saw significant difference in various coffee shop outlets, like Costa Coffee, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Mocha. Some differentiated these outlets on the basis of occasion that they would visit a particular outlet, like Mocha would be used to visit a friend after a long time, while to hang out with their regular college group they would prefer a Cafe Coffee Day, all this was irrespective of their preferences. But the most common response were typically that these outlets varied on the ambience, menu, and service. Thus, being a low involvement service with significant difference in various brands, typical consumer behaviour while visiting coffee shops could be summarised as Variety Seeking Behaviour. These consumers mentioned that they would switch between outlets if they went there a week before, or just on impulse without any reluctance.
Another feature of coffee shops that reinforces the aspect that buying behaviour for this service is typically variety seeking is the fact that most coffee shops tend to maximise on the no. Of outlets they have in the vicinity, some to the extent, that outlets of the same brand can be found across the street. (Eg. In Connaught Place, New Delhi, there are 7 Cafe Coffee Days, out of which some are even within 30 mtrs of each other!)
But there were some consumers that felt that the coffee shops that they visited did tell a lot about their personality, it was also observed that these people had a specific outlet in mind which they frequented often on a daily basis. Thus, their behaviour would tend more towards Complex Buying Behaviour. This   involvement may arise from personal factors related to whether the product’s image...