If it's hair you bought, it is almost certainly polygonal hair, which means you won't ever get the "animating individual strands" that you hope for.  This type of hair is solid sheets of polygons, like strips of transparent flat plastic, with the texture painted onto it.  There is some polygon hair that can simulate what you're looking for, but be aware it tends to have a lot of polygons and can greatly increase your render times, because the geometry is so complex.  

One example you might like to play with is Jolie Filie hair by Aery_Soul.  It is still polygonal hair, but with a nice, complex geometry with many separate "strands".  It has a huge number of very diverse morphs and is very flexible and powerful.  It's also fairly expensive (representative of the high quality and craftsmanship).

Oops, forgot to add:  The only way to really get what you sound like you want is to learn to use the Hair Room (dynamic hair).

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