MU study to ascertain how ads influence buying behaviour

“We don’t know how people choose and in what way media influences their buying behaviour. Currently,there exists very ad hoc studies on this aspect based on perceptions. There exists no hard evidence based on actual experimental work and our study is an attempt at this,” said professor Neeraj Hatekar,coordinator of the centre.

The study is being conducted in collaboration with the industry. The first experiment will involve around 40 postgraduate students of the university,who are presently staying in hostels. “We will conduct a detailed survey on the kind of FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods like toiletries and grocery items) students buy each month. We will create a database detailing the products used by them,characteristic of each product and relevant information on them. Subsequently,next month,we will ask them not to buy anything. Instead,each student will be given Rs 500 and they will be asked to do their shopping with it. Details of their purchase plans will be noted,” he said.

However,while one half of the group will be asked to shop,another will be first shown a film which will have various commercials inserted at regular intervals. Subsequently,after the film is screened,the second group will be asked to shop. The study will see if the two groups deviate from their purchase plans. The idea is to find out if the deviance between what the students said in their plan and what they ultimately buy,is more pronounced within the group which were shown the advertisements.

The study will also look at aspects like what kind of commercials influence people more,which are the ones that lead to large deviations and the frequency among others.