Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior
Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services for the satisfaction of their wants. There are different processes involved in consumer behavior. Initially, the consumer tries to find which products he would like to consume, then selects only those products that promise the most utility. After selecting the goods, the consumer makes an estimate of the available money that he can spend. Finally, the consumer analyzes the current prices of the goods and makes the decision about the goods to consume. Meanwhile, there are several other factors that influence consumer purchases, such as social, cultural, personal, and psychological. The explanation of these factors is given below.
1. Cultural factors
Consumer behavior is deeply influenced by cultural factors such as: buyer culture, subculture, and social class.
• Culture
Basically, culture is part of every society and is the important cause of people’s desires and behavior. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies from country to country, so marketers must be very careful when analyzing the culture of different groups, regions, or even countries.
• Subculture
Every culture contains different subcultures like religions, nationalities, geographic regions, racial groups, etc. Marketers can use these groups by segmenting the market into several small slices. For example, marketers can design products according to the needs of a particular geographic group.
• Social class
Every society has some form of social class that is important to marketers because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is similar. In this way, marketing activities could be tailored according to different social classes. Here we must keep in mind that social class is not only determined by income, but there are also other factors, such as: wealth, education, occupation, etc.
2. Social factors
Social factors also affect the buying behavior of consumers. Important social factors are: reference groups, family, role and status.
• Reference groups
Reference groups have the potential to shape a person’s attitude or behavior. The impact of peer groups varies across products and brands. For example, if the product is visible, such as dress, shoes, car, etc., the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference groups also include the opinion leader (a person who influences another because of his or her special ability, knowledge, or other characteristics).
• Family
Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the member of a family. Therefore, marketers are trying to find the roles and influence of husband, wife, and children. If the purchase decision for a particular product is influenced by the wife, marketers will try to target women in their advertising. Here we must point out that purchasing roles change with the change in consumer lifestyles.
• Functions and status
Each person has different roles and status in society depending on groups, clubs, family, organization, etc. to which he belongs. For example, a woman is working in an organization as a finance manager. She is now playing two roles, one of finance manager and one of mother. Therefore, her purchasing decisions will be influenced by her role and status.
3. Personal factors
Personal factors can also affect consumer behavior. Some of the important personal factors that influence buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic situation, occupation, age, personality and self-concept.
• Age
Age and life cycle have a potential impact on consumer purchasing behavior. It is obvious that consumers change the purchase of goods and services over time. The family life cycle consists of different stages, such as young singles, married couples, unmarried couples, etc., which help marketers to develop appropriate products for each stage.
• Occupation
A person’s occupation has a significant impact on their buying behavior. For example, a marketing manager in an organization will try to buy business suits, while a low-level worker in the same organization will buy sturdy work clothes.
• Economic situation
The economic situation of the consumer has a great influence on their purchasing behavior. If a customer’s income and savings are high, they will buy more expensive products. On the other hand, a person with low income and savings will buy cheap products.
• Lifestyle
The lifestyle of customers is another important factor that affects consumer buying behavior. Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and expresses himself in the things around him. It is determined by interests, opinions, activities, etc. of the client and shapes his entire pattern of action and interaction in the world.
• Personality
Personality changes from person to person, from time to time, and from place to place. Therefore, it can greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. In reality, the Personality is not what one wears; rather it is the totality of a man’s behavior in different circumstances. It has different characteristics like: dominance, aggressiveness, self-confidence, etc., which can be useful in determining consumer behavior for a particular product or service.
4. Psychological factors
There are four important psychological factors that affect consumer buying behavior. These are: perception, motivation, learning, beliefs and attitudes.
• Motivation
The level of motivation also affects the buying behavior of customers. Each person has different needs, such as physiological needs, biological needs, social needs, etc. The nature of needs is that some of them are the most pressing while others are the least pressing. Therefore, a need becomes a motive when it is more pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction.
• Perception
The selection, organization, and interpretation of information to produce a meaningful experience of the world is called perception. There are three different perceptual processes which are selective attention, selective distortion, and selective retention. In case of selective attention, marketers try to attract the customer’s attention. Whereas, in case of selective distortion, the clients try to interpret the information in a way that supports what the clients already believe. Similarly, in selective withholding, marketers try to withhold information that supports their beliefs.
• Beliefs and Attitudes
The customer has specific beliefs and attitudes toward various products. Since such beliefs and attitudes shape the brand image and affect consumer buying behavior, marketers are interested in them. Marketers can change the beliefs and attitudes of customers by launching special campaigns about it.