Consumer Buying Processes and Influential Factors - Essay Example

?Table of Contents Introduction 2. Consumer Behaviour 2 Social 2.2 Personal 2.3 Psychological 2.4 Situational 3. Consumer Decision Making Process 4. Personal Determinants of Consumer Behaviour 5. Conclusion Consumer buying processes and influential factors 1. Introduction Understanding consumer behaviour is essential for those who are interested in creating effective marketing plans. Many organisations will have specific departments that are dedicated toward examining consumer behaviour and making direct links to the products and services that are offered by a company. The foundation of consumer behaviour is based up a relationship that is established with the provider of a product or service. The level of that relationship, of course, is dependent upon the type of product or service and the connection between the consumer and the product that is linked within the transaction is central to understanding consumer behaviour. 2. Consumer Behaviour Relationship marketing is intended to create a trust between the consumer and the brand which will in turn help the marketer to develop a better understanding with of the consumer’s wants and needs. The marketer can then create a more substantial response to the consumer’s need, thus creating a mutually beneficial relationship (Raju 2009, p. 27). Much of the relationship marketing that is done is not based upon rational concepts such as quality and value, but on emotional concepts. In Western countries, as an example, convenience foods that are served quickly have become a part of the cultural landscape, their part within the Western diet an integral addition in food consumption and consequentially, as an example of consumer behaviour that is often based upon brand loyalty associated with emotional context over other more rational factors such as quality or good taste. For emerging nations, the shift from traditional to global cultures is happening at an advanced rate, thus creating a bit of confusion within socio-cultural understanding as Western concepts of aesthetics push the consumer to participate with the event of purchasing foods from these sources with the relationship developing at a different pace (Raju 2009, p. 27). McDonald’s in the U.K. (Daily Mail Reporter 2009) Rational factors, such as awareness, price, and income, are key factors that consumers will consider when making a purchase based on economic decision making processes. Brands become a source of comfort in reducing buyer anxiety when the assessments that are insinuated upon a product by the connotation of a brand mythology create ease of the unknown within the consumer. The concept of the brand will allow the consumer to make a decision based upon the attributes that are conferred upon the product (Heding, Knudtzen, and Bjerre 2009, p. 33). Most products are developed with branding that will reach beyond the rational and attach to the emotional needs of the consumer. In the brand-consumer exchange relationship, the exchange has the primary goal of achieving the transaction, a onetime event in which a good is purchased based upon consumer perception of the economic rationale for the value of the transaction (Heding Knudtzen and Bjerre 2009, p. 34). There are four major categories that can be used to determine the factors that affect consumer behaviour. These can be broken down into social, personal, psychological, and situational (Drummond and Ensor 2005, p. 289). These categories can be combined in various different ways in order to explain consumer behavior. Some factors will have a social, psychological set of elements, where another set of factors will include social personal elements. However, there are distinct characteristics that will influence behaviour in regard to these four categories. 2.1 Social Social factors will include elements such as culture, subculture, social class, reference groups, family and roles and status (Durmmond and Ensor 2005, p. 289). Culture can be identified by a series of elements that are associated with values, ideas, attitudes and other meaningful symbols that create methodologies for communicating, interpreting and evaluating the world (Needham 1999, p. 38). Cultural norms will have an influence on the way in which a consumer will behave. Concepts that have attached themselves to the traditions of a culture will encourage the consumerism of a customer towards a brand that has developed an identity with the commonalities of a culture. However, there is a definitive set of influences on consumer behaviour that is associated with identifying with resistance and sub-culture in order to connect to the spirit of rebellion within an individual. Soft drinks, clothing, and music all find ways to motivate consumer behaviour based upon branding that is done in order to influence the counter-culture. Holt (et al 2003) determined that there are two types of myths under the cultural branding typology. These two types are affirmative myths and myths of resistance, which address both sides of cultural branding. The affirmative myth will connect to the consumer through positive and confirmative influence. The myths of resistance are based on the idea that there is a rebellious spirit within most people that has the need to be thrilled. In associating themselves with a product that represents a sense of resistance or rebellion, they can create the sensation of going against established authority through a benign source (p. 260). Sub-cultures create collectives in which groups come together with shared beliefs and tend to exhibit those shared beliefs through consumer choices. According to Parsons and Maclaren (2009), there is a recent phenomenon in which a group of middleclass people within the U.K. now choose to downsize their lifestyles, creating a smaller carbon footprint and lowered levels of consumption. This subculture represents a lifestyle that rejects expensive choices and luxury living. This subculture requires that demands be met for consumer needs that include lower priced holiday arrangements as based upon the lifestyle that is being experienced (p. 98). Reference groups who are experiencing similar problems often guide people towards purchases as well as familial associations. The role that an individual holds within either reference groups or in families will often determine the consumer behaviour that is exhibited. As an example, Drummond and Ensor (2005) show that first time mother’s will often shape the way in which they frame their expectations due to associations to others who have experienced their condition or who have used certain services. This is extended into family groups who will influence an expectant mother in the way in which they expect their experience and consumer activities to be conducted (p. 71). 2.2 Personal Personal factors will have an influence on how a consumer will behave. Factors such as age, occupation, and financial considerations will influence the way in which behaviour will be shown (Drummond and Ensor 2005, p. 72). A person who has lived six decades is going to have different factors in which they create a purchase than that of someone who has lived only two decades. In other words, someone who is sixty will have different needs than someone who is twenty. Their life experience is going to give them different ways of assessing value just as their association to culture in regard to the changes they have experienced within the time period they have lived. 2.3 Psychological Psychological factors for consumer behaviour include motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes (Drummond, Ensor and Ashford 2008, p. 54). A person is motivated to purchase something due to a product’s association with fulfilment of a need. The perception that is involved in creating the fulfilment of a need is supported by the beliefs that a person has developed about a product. Perception is created through associations that are often made through branding. Freud suggested that the reasons that a person will take an action are often masked by psychological factors that are difficult to determine by outside observers (Drummond, Ensor and Ashford 2008, p. 54). The psychological reasons for consumer behaviour are created through the learned belief systems that have developed and are then influenced by the various factors within a life that support those learned belief systems. 2.4 Situational Why a person will exhibit certain consumer behaviours are often determined by the situation with which a person must cope. An example of this is the amount of money that a person will spend on holiday when stockings, for instance, were forgotten during the packing process as opposed to the amount of money that one will spend on the same item when specifically shopping for them. How much a person will spend on a bottle of water from a grocery is different than how much a person will spend on one in a fine dining restaurant. There are many reasons a person will change their consumer habits when the situation determines certain types of behaviour. Situational decisions can include aspects of socio-cultural, technological, economic, competitive, political, or regulatory influences in creating a rational purchase for the situation. 3. Consumer Decision Making Process The decision making process that is navigated when a consumer goes into a purchasing situation is defined through five steps; problem recognition, information search, information evaluation, decision, and post-purchase evaluation (Pride and Ferrell 2007, p. 179). A consumer will first recognize that there is a problem that needs to be addressed through a purchase. Once the purchase solution is recognized, the consumer is going to go through a system of information search which may include an understanding of what a product will do for the consumer and where the product can be found. Information can be found through referring to what others have used to solve the problem, what is recommended as the best options by both industry and non-industry evaluations, or through referring to what others within the social sphere of the consumer have used. The information will be evaluated by creating criteria for the product that will represent the best solution to the problem with the auxiliary issues being taken into consideration before making a choice. The decision is made when all aspects that are relevant to the needs of the consumer have been evaluated and considered for the product that best represents a solution. Concepts such as value, previous purchases of the product, and availability will influence the final decision. Once the product is used as a solution, it is evaluated in order to determine if the product will be purchased again and if value had been reached by using the product. 4. Personal Determinants of Consumer Behaviour Purchasing behaviour is determined by the motivation to fulfill a need. According to Kurtz, Mackenzie and Snow (2009), a need is determined the consumer’s actual and desired states. They state that “Marketers attempt to arouse this sense of urgency by making a need ’felt’ and then influencing consumers’ motivation to satisfy their needs by purchasing specific products” (p. 139). The feeling that there is an unsatisfied need will push a consumer towards action. Taking action will relieve the tension that is felt when a need is present, thus putting an individual back into a state of equilibrium (Kurtz, Mackenzie and Snow 2009, p. 139). Needs can be further defined in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow identified five level of needs in which a person will seek fulfilment. The five needs are listed as physiological needs, safety needs, social/belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualizing needs (Kurtz, Mackenzie and Snow 2009, p. 140. Consumer behaviour will often climb through these needs within the decision making process, the brand often having an effect on how those needs are fulfilled. In order to better understand this concept, the example of a food purchased can be used. A person feels hunger and will seek out food to fill the physiological need. The food that is sought out will then need to be clean, safe food in which there is no chance that illness can be contracted from eating the food. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Lednichenko 2010) The next level becomes tricky because where someone eats can associate them with a social group. A fast food restaurant can associate them with groups that have little to no regard for the health quality of their food or it can equate them with groups that are looking for fast food with financial value. Where food is purchased, especially if it is slightly above the socio-economic norms, can fulfill esteem needs. The last level, self-actualization, can be fulfilled by trying new foods that are considered sophisticated or by using one’s mind in the determination of quality as might be seen by choosing wine or assessing sushi purchases. The buying situation will be affected by self-image, perceived risk, social factors, and hedonic factors (Drummond and Ensor 2005, p.74) When a situation demands a high involvement purchase, these four factors will help in determining what choice will be made. Using a motor vehicle as an example, in buying this major item a series of factors will go into making the appropriate choice. The vehicle chosen will be assessed for its affect on self-image. How a person perceives themselves can be enhanced, or sometimes, altered to an extent by the choice that is made in buying a vehicle. Some vehicles are associated with utility while others are associated with a fast lifestyle, dangerous and full of mystery. Sometimes the choice will be made by what the vehicle will be used for, but other times it will be made through the story about one’s life that it will begin to tell to others in their social sphere. Aston Martin (SSIP 2011) The perceived risk in making a purchase will also have an effect on the choices made by the consumer. The financial risk will be one of the first considerations that a person will make. If the price is higher than expected, the individual will have to determine if the difference in price is worth the value that is gained from adjusting price expectation. The social value that is gained from spending more on a vehicle may be one of the factors that helps to determine if the price difference will create value to the consumer. Social value can be assessed based upon perceived expectations of one’s social group in balance with one’s own sense of self perception. Lastly, if purchasing a car that is fast and sleek, expressing a sense of financial independence through an exorbitant expenditure gives one pleasure, then all of the other factors will fall into place. If buying a car that is defined by good value gives pleasure, then that will help to fulfill the other factors involved in making the purchase. 5. Conclusion The ways in which purchases are made are directly associated with the ways in which they fulfil needs within Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. A product may very easily give to the consumer a simple fulfilment of a physiological need, but more often the choice of brand will have some association with another of those needs. A consumer will make choices based upon social, personal, psychological, and situational factors that can overlap in order to create a choice in making a purchase. Consumer behaviour is studied by marketers in order to help in determining how an organisation can best position their product to fill the needs of those who are loyal to the brand, as well as attract those through creating a perceived need. Understanding consumer behaviour is vital in creating a sound marketing plan and in providing substantive branding that creates associations to fulfilment that a consumer may or may not recognize, but will want to have within their lives. References Daily Mail Reporter. 23 January 2009. McDonald’s set to beat the crunch with best ever year of McSales in Britain. Mail Online. Accessed 10 January 2011 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1127067/McDonalds- set-beat-crunch-best-year-McSales-Britain.html Drummond, Graeme, and John Ensor. 2005. Introduction to marketing concepts. Oxford: Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann. Drummond, Graeme, John Ensor, and Ruth Ashford. 2008. Strategic marketing planning and control. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier. Heding, Tilde, Charlotte F. Knudtzen, and Mogens Bjerre. 2009. Brand management: research, theory, and practice. London: Taylor and Francis, Inc. Holt, Douglas B., Luis Munez Rodrigo da Cunha, Manuel de Sousa Coutinho, Lus de Cacegas, and Mary Elizabeth Herbert Herbert. 2003. How brands become icons: the principles of cultural branding. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. Kurtz, David L., H. F. MacKenzie, and Kim Snow. 2009. Contemporary marketing. Toronto: Nelson Education. Accessed on 8 January 2011 from http://books.google.com/books?id=lf7VKtZcJlgC&pg=PA139&dq=personal +factors+in+consumer+behaviour&hl=en&ei=geIrTd-AAsO78gbHs6GICQ &sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=on epage&q=personal%20factors%20in%20consumer%20behaviour&f=false Lednichenko, Olga. 2010. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is predetermined in order of importance. Psychology, philosophy, harmony, love. Accessed on 8 January 2011 from http://maslowhierarchyofneeds.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/maslows- hierarchy-of-needs-is-predetermined-in-order-of-importance/ Needham, David. 1999. Business for higher awards. Oxford: Heinemann. Parsons, Elizabeth, and Pauline Maclaran. 2009. Contemporary issues in marketing and consumer behaviour. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Pride, William M., and O. C. Ferrell. 2007. Pride-Ferrell foundations of marketing. London: Houghton Mifflin. Raju, M. S. 2009. Marketing Management. New Delhi: McGraw-Hill. SSIP. 2011. Exotic Car Pictures SSIP. Accessed on 10 January 2011 from http://www.ssip.net/manufacturers/aston-martin/model/aston-martin- vanquish-s/ Read More