Factors That Influenced Consumer X to Purchase a Ferrari - Case Study Example

Buyer Behaviour By Name of Student Course Professor Institution City/State Date 1.0. Introduction Consumer behaviour refers to the process whereby an individual makes a decision on what, where, when, from whom and how to purchase a good or a service (Rani, 2014). This report critically analyses the factors that influence a consumer’s choice for a product. Some of the factors are internal, for example, perception, learning, motivation, personality, and attitudes. Other factors are external which include group influence and culture. 2.0. Internal Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour Perception refers to how a consumer views a certain product. It could be based on the individual’s selectivity, expectations, and experiences. Motivation refers to an urge that makes an individual to seek satisfaction by buying a certain product. Learning refers to the changes in the content of a consumer's long-term memory it changes the feelings or emotions towards a product. Personality refers to a set of traits and characteristics that an individual has, for example, sincere, competent and confident (Gajjar, 2013). Attitude refers to a learned predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way when given an item. 3.0. External Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour Group influences this is when a consumer’s choice is based on the perspectives and values that are held by a group he is a member. If a customer exhibits low confidence in the purchase of an item, it shows that the group has high influence. Individuals learn about new items from reference groups and friends by observing and seeking advice from them. Social factors also affect consumer choice, for example, family, role, and status of an individual. Social class also affects consumer choice, that is, upper, lower, working, and lower classes have unique buying behaviours (Rani, 2014). Culture influences the purchase of a product as an individual starts to acquire values, perceptions preferences and behaviour right from when he is a child. 4.0. Factors that Influenced Consumer X to Purchase a Ferrari 4.1. Internal Factors 4.1.1. Personality and Perception A consumer gets a consistent behaviour from the interaction of his physiological and psychological characteristics. Consumers choose brands that can show character traits such as confidence and ambition (Gajjar, 2013). Consumer X said that driving a Ferrari makes him feel more confident than when he is driving any other car. Personality changes from person to person and thus, consumer choices vary. Perception refers to how an individual selects, organises and interprets the information he has received. Consumers purchase commodities that they have a positive perception on. Consumer X said that he has always loved Ferrari this shows that he had a good impression of the car brand. This could have been influenced by constant advertisements on TVs. He also had a very clear description of the car features and colour this shows that he had high learning involvement and used the information on his short-term and long-term memory during the purchase. This, therefore, reveals that his perception was influenced by the exposure he got from the advert, the attention he gave to it and how he interpreted the information. 4. 1.2. Learning and Motivation Learning occur through action, and it can make the consumer to have a positive or negative impression about a brand (Rani, 2014). A consumer may deliberately expose himself to a stimulus for him to get more information about a certain brand. Consumer X said that he researched about Ferrari, and this exposed him to a lot of information, which improved his perception of the brand. He also noted that before he bought his car, he had satisfied all his other basic needs. This shows that the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need theory of motivation came in play. It states that all individuals acquire the same motives through genetic acquisition and social interaction. It further notes that some of these motives are more basic than others are. The more basic ones are fulfilled to a minimum level prior to activating the other motives. The perceptive element of attitude lies on the consumer’s knowledge and beliefs about the product. He said that he bought a Ferrari because it is a high-quality car that performs well; this demonstrates a manifest motive since the buyer knows and freely admitted his reasons for purchase. The behavioural component shows how a consumer responds towards a particular product. Latent motives were also in play in that he did not admit that the Ferrari would indicate that he is a successful man. 4. 1. 3. Emotions and Attitudes Beliefs are convictions that consumers have about a certain product that they acquire from learning and from friends (Jain and Haley, 2009). It is important for marketers to ensure that they change consumer’s negative beliefs and attitudes by launching special campaigns that aim at changing consumers negative views. Consumer X said that he had worked so hard for him to afford that car. This shows that his emotions also played a significant role in influencing his decision. His desire to own that car was his driving force, which ultimately made him buy it. He admired the people he saw driving the car and made mental images of him driving it, these emotions increased his desire for the car. The affective component of attitude represents the consumer’s feelings towards a product it is based on experience. Marketers can improve the effective component through more advertisements that aim at showing more benefits that a buyer would get from purchasing a product. The behavioural component can be altered to affect the consumption behaviour, for example, giving consumers trial periods can make help them clear the doubts they have about a certain product (Rani, 2014). Consumer X was given a one-week trial period, and he said that the experience made him love the car more. 4. 2. 0. External factors 4. 2. 1. Culture Cultural values play a vital role in a person’s decisions including the decision to purchase a commodity. Consumer’s decision to purchase a product is influenced by family, friends and the cultural or societal environment as they teach him the preferences, values and behaviours of their culture. Consumer X said that his friends and family supported him in his decision to buy the Ferrari. It is important for sellers to understand the cultural factors in every market to ensure that its product and marketing strategies adapt to it, as this will influence consumer’s habits and expectations (Rani, 2014). Cultural trends also affect consumers choice. Consumer X noted that there are so many people buying Ferraris and that tempted him to buy it too. Marketers should use a language and behaviour that is acceptable in the target population’s culture (Mothersbaugh, Best and Hawkins, 2007). 4. 2. 2. Social Classes Society possesses some form of social classes and marketers should analyse the buying behaviour of each social class and come up with products that suit each class of people. There are similar lifestyles, values and behaviours of people in the same social class. Marketing strategies should be tailored to meet the needs of different social classes (Shiffman, 2015). Consumer X noted that he is in the upper class this, therefore, shows that many people in his social class love Ferraris. 5. 0. Group Influence and Social Factors They include groups such as member groups, aspirational groups and reference groups as well as roles, status and family. Reference groups influence consumers decision to buy a product (Stávková, Stejskal and Toufarová, 2008). Consumer X belonged to a social group, and he said that most of the members had a Ferrari. He also said that the group has some people who know a lot about the car and greatly influenced his decision to buy. Members of such group tend to buy similar products as it gives them a sense of belonging. Marketers should analyse the needs of such groups and make products that meet their requirements. Family plays a key role in determining whether a consumer will purchase a commodity or not (Shiffman et al., 2013). Consumer X said that his wife and children also wanted him to buy a Ferrari and that this motivated him a lot. This therefore, shows that marketers should make sure that their advertisements target the whole family as this would help then to increase their sales. If the wife determines the husband choice, then the adverts should be directed to women. 6. 0. Social Roles and Status The social position held by a person in the society influences his taste and preferences. According to Rani (2014), a CEO who drives Volkswagen Golf is not likely to be taken seriously. Consumer X may have bought a Ferrari due to its high quality and the level of external social success that the car shows. If a person holds a high position in the society, he is likely to buy brands associated with royalties. Marketers should make brands that have images that show important social roles and status (Abutalibov and Guliyev, 2016). 7.0. Conclusion Marketers have an opportunity to increase their sales by developing strategies and advertisement campaigns that are in line with the ways of thinking and the needs of their target consumers (Rani, 2014). This, therefore, means that they must carry out numerous studies on consumer’s perceptions and ensure that they make products that suit the consumers changing tastes and preferences. Since consumer’s primary focus is to buy a product that gives him the greatest utility, marketers should ensure that all the necessary information is available to consumers and that they remove all the negative perceptions of a product. List of References Abutalibov, R. and Guliyev, S.M., 2016. Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviours of Azerbaijani Youths. Available at SSRN 2743075. Gajjar, D.N., 2013. Factors affecting Consumer Behaviour. International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(2). Jain, S.C. and Haley, G.T., 2009. Strategic marketing. Cengage Learning. Mothersbaugh, D.L., Best, R.J. and Hawkins, D.I., 2007. Consumer Behaviour: Building Marketing Strategy. Rani, P., 2014. Factors influencing consumer behaviour. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, 2(9), pp.52-61. Schiffman, L., O'Cass, A., Paladino, A. and Carlson, J., 2013. Consumer behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU. Schiffman, L.G., 2015. Consumer behaviour. Pearson Education India. Stávková, J., Stejskal, L. and Toufarová, Z., 2008. Factors influencing consumer behaviour. ZEMEDELSKA EKONOMIKA-PRAHA-, 54(6), p.276. Read More