Consumer Buying Behavior As we discussed the decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a person works through the purchase decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is limitless. However, marketers are well served to understand the KEY influences. By doing so they may be in a position to tailor their marketing efforts to take advantage of these influences in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer (remember this is a key part of the definition of marketing). For the purposes of this tutorial we will break these influences down into three main categories: Internal, External and Marketing. However, those interested in learning more about customer buying activity may want to consult one or more consumer behavior books where they will find additional methods for explaining consumer buying behavior. For the most part the influences are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are all interconnected and, as we will see, work together to form who we are and how we behave. For each of the influences that are discussed we will provide a basic description and also suggest its implication to marketers. Bear in mind we only provide a few marketing implications for each influence; clearly there are many more. Consumer Buying Behaviour What influences consumers to purchase products or services? The consumer buying process is a complex matter as many internal and external factors have an impact on the buying decisions of the consumer. When purchasing a product there several processes, which consumers go through. These will be discussed below. 1. Problem/Need Recognition How do you decide you want to buy a particular product or service? It could be that your DVD player stops working and you now have to look for a new one, all those DVD films you purchased you can no longer play! So you have a problem or a new need. For high value items like a DVD player or a car or other low frequency purchased products this is the process we would take. However, for impulse low frequency purchases e.g. confectionery the process is different. 2. Information search So we have a problem, our DVD player no longer works and we need to buy a new one. What’s the solution? Yes go out and purchase a new one, but which brand?
More importantly, the decision to purchase is done subconsciously. This means that the majority of the time, your consumer is not even aware of their decision to buy or not to buy your product. In fact,
1.2. Compare Buyer behavior and decision making process in different situation (P 1.2) ......... 4
... of consumer behaviour, lays emphasis on the objectivity of science and the consumer as a reasonable and sensible decision maker. While, the interpretive point of view is in contrast to that of the positivist, in that it emphasises on the importance of the subjective meaning of the consumers individual experience, hence, it suggest that whichever behaviour a consumer performs is subject to diverse interpretations to a certain extent than just a single explanation to it.
This is where the customer makes the final choice and ends up effectively purchasing the product. This may differ from the purchase decision, time lapse between purchase decision and the actual purchase, product availability.
Consumer Interview We are a part of a materialistic society, due to this we all participate in consumer decision making processes. The world of consumerism is always looking to understand how consumers make their purchasing decisions. The price of a product heavily influences how a consumer will make their decision. When making an inexpensive purchase, consumers do not spend extended periods of time considering the purchase.
This report aims to provide a mix review of theories and personal case study. I will apply two consumer behaviour theories in relation to my own purchase decisions.
From buying a hamburger to buying a house people use a process in order to make a decision on what to buy. (book cite) describes this as the consumer decision process (pg.175). Utilizing a consumer decision process model, marketers are able to better understand how consumers are purchasing products and services. The five step consumer decision process model includes need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase, and post purchase. Not all purchases require following all five steps to a T, but consumers, whether they know it or not, follow a version of this model when making a purchase. Companies also use this model in order to effectively market their products and services. A company
Retailers should analyze their product mix and customer knowledge needs before positioning the price. Price has a significant influence on consumers' purchase behavior and consequently on firm sales and profits.
There are many factors that affect and influence marketing decisions. “It can be said that the economy is the heartbeat of a country as it affects every consumer and business” (Cant and van Heerden, 2013: 42). Inflation, interest rates, unemployment, consumer income , exchange rates , monetary policy etc , all play major roles in our economy.
Consumer Decision Making Process A key factor in successfully marketing new/existing products or implementing a product Extension is a thorough understanding of the motivation, learning, memory, and decision Processes that influence consumers purchasing behavior. Consumer purchasing behavior theories have found their way into managerial decision making to help companies more effectively develop and launch new products, segment the market, determine market entrance and in brand management. Therefore, a better understanding of how consumers decide what to purchase is critical to the success of a product. There are numerous theories and models describing the consumer purchasing decision process.
An influence is something that has the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself. Throughout life, people are faced with influences, good and bad. Whether it’s the influence someone may have on a person or from a personal experince, they shape a person into whom they are today. Influences can affect someone’s behavior, motivation, health, actions, and the list goes on. Not all influences are bad, some can be very helpful and have major impacts on a person’s life.
Gjin Biba et al. (2006) examined the shopping trip patterns to highlight the role of various factors exerts on consumer choices regarding both shopping location and type of retail establishment i.e. the competition between on the one hand, regional and super regional shopping centres, on the other hand big boxes and power center were analysed. Four hypotheses are tested pertaining to shopping trip purpose, transportation mode, trip attributes and customer profile. The study suggests that several trip and household attributes impact customers’ choice for either big boxes or traditional shopping centers: transportation mode and car ownership; day of the week, departure time and place and trip length; respondent’s gender and age as well as type of household.
He listed these five factors as follows: “(1) informing, (2) influencing, (3) reminding and increasing salience, (4) adding value, and (5) assisting other company efforts.” (p.246). To clarify that, the first most important aspect is informing people, which means company needs to enhance the awareness of the consumer about their products by mentioning its advantages and features. Advertising also affects the products in two ways. Firstly, by basic demand, which builds consumer desires for old products of the company and secondly, refers to a new brand of the company.
The research on consumer behavior assists the organization recognize and forecast the purchase behavior of the consumers while they are purchasing a product. Thus, the study of consumer behavior helps the marketers not only to understand what consumer's purchase, but helps to understand why they purchase it (Kumar, 2004). There are a lot of elements which can influence the purchase decision of consumers such as social influences, cultural influences, psychological factors and personal factors (Super Professeur, 2011). Understanding these factors helps the company to market the product on right time to the right consumers in order to generate more profits. On the other hand, if the marketers fail to understand these components that might influence consumers, they will fail to convince the consumers to purchase that product or will fail to meet the demands of consumers. However, consumer behavior is one of the stimulating and challenging areas in marketing studies being a human activity focused on the products and services. Thus understanding the behavior of the consumers is a great challenge. Moreover, it is not easy to get a full picture of consumer behavior as customers make plenty of different buying decision every day and they usually do not know exactly what influences their purchase. In short, basing on all
In today’s competitive world where organizations looking for high profitability and market share, consumers have very important role. Companies are looking for capture consumers in order to get larger market share. For this reason organization developed a number of techniques and tools. One of such tools is consumer behavior which has been come from economic theory. Consumer behavior is mainly studying the factors and situations that can affect purchase decisions of consumers. Consumer behavior is being very important discipline of management sciences which help out to understand of customers’ decision making.