External Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior: Fashion Clothing - Coursework Example

Title: External factors influencing consumer behavior: Fashion clothing Name Institution Date of submission Introduction The current researchers on consumer behavior have laid focus on psychological and social factors influencing purchase decision. Durmaz (2014)states that the latest models have a clear cut of how external factors subjects consumers to subconscious processes thus playing a major role in making them realize the need of having a product/service, objective of acquiring and general perspective of the product/service. As a result, this has made consumer purchase decision making complicated process. External factors affecting consumer decision process during purchases are those factors that are external to the company and cannot be controlled. These factors include cultural aspects, social class, family, reference groups, opinion leaders and sub-cultural aspects (Azevedo, Pereira, Ferreira & Pedroso, 2008). In regard to the consumer behavior literature, these factors have been considered to influence the emotional perspective, value perspective and cognitive part of consumer during purchase process. This paper examines how the external factors influence the consumer behavior individuals on the consumption of fashion clothes. The context of discussion integrate economic, cognitive and emotional models which demonstrates how these factors influence decision-making at every stage of consumer decision making process. Social class Social class involves societal division into hierarchies which are more or less homogeneous (Boone & Kurtz, 2004). The division is based on the relative ranking of power, wealth and prestige. A consumer belonging to different social classes normally have different needs as well as consumption patterns which are influenced by the subjective, reputational or the objective actions within the social class he/she belongs. With the research done by Azevedo, Pereira, Ferreira & Pedroso (2008), consumers purchase products identified to be of their social class. Fashion clothing is majorly considered in upper and middle social class. Consumers in these two social classes are more concerned about the new brands of clothes. The normally follow what celebrities wear thus making decision from these exposures. Friends also in the same social class give pressure to the consumer since they need to be associated together in the same social class. Apparently, these choices are normally limited since the value and price perspective of the products of these individuals lies on the same ground of wealth. Also, the social networks in the social class has shared opinions of the new fashion clothing in the market which can harm or give a positive reputation to the brand (Pavitt, 2014). The cognitive model focuses on the stage in purchase process where a consumer seeks and evaluates the information about brands (Yakup, Mücahit & Reyhan, 2015). Consumers in upper and middle social class follow change in fashion through TV shows, clothing magazines and fashion trends in social media platforms like Instagram. They are not much concerned about prices when making decision on purchases, however, they consider much the physical appearance value they get when they wear particular fashion cloth. In contrast, consumers in lower social class more concerned about prices and in most cases they don’t monitor fashion trend. In this case, they often make decision based on the long term value served by the cloth for instance the durability of the outfit. Contrary to the consumers in upper and middle class, consumers in lower class are rarely influenced by their friends in the process of making decision during purchases. Basically, fashion clothes consumers in upper social class are more attracted to social benefits of the cloth while these in lower social class are more focused on price of the cloth Schiffman, Kanuk & Hansen (2012) Consumer for fashion clothing is influenced based on the social class he or she belongs. Cultural aspects According to Spiers (2011) culture comprise of social habits and values derived from beliefs and customs which directly influence customer behavior in a society. Throughout his or her life an individual is influenced by the values around which are entrenched form cultural environment. Cultural factors play a major role when it comes to perception, habits and behavior of a consumer especially with the new fashion clothes. For instance, in West where it is very common to invite friends and family members for occasions like dinner where they can wear dinner clothes. In the contrary, regions like Japan in occasions like dinner will require a person to wear customary outfits. Also, when it comes to gifts, it is hard for cultures like Japan to present fashion clothes to the loved ones. However, they look for outfits that adhere to their customs (Mooij, 2004). Marketers in this case should be aware of the cultural aspects before presenting their fashion style outfits to the targeted consumers (Yakup, Mücahit & Reyhan, 2015). As a result, the consumer from this culture may look for alternative based on the cognitive perspective entrenched from cultural behaviors. According to ‘cue theory’ cultural aspects forms the basic decisive factor in human desire which will affect choice during purchase decision process. As far as cultural values are concerned, consumers look for clothing that present their physical features and are valid within the culture. According to Spiers (2011) fashion clothing may not sell well in cultures with strong values since the customs do not allow such kind of clothes. Sub-cultural aspects This influence occurs within small groups which have shared values as beliefs, special interest or geographical location. It can be divided into nationality, religion race and geography (Laroche FRSC, Papadopoulos, Heslop & Bergeron, 2003). Consumers in these subcultures do not have the same consumption patterns of fashion clothing since their decisions are determined by the specific values within the group he or she belongs. Fashion clothing is normally associated with high prices. Some religions may not allow the wearing of these types of clothes since they believe it may lead to coveting which is considered a sin. When it comes to geographical aspect, Islamic regions may not embrace the fashion of the western culture. Therefore, clothing which are considered fashion in the West may not carry any value in the Islamic region. According to Lee (2010), consumers who are moving the world of fashion of clothes are the generation Y. This generation are very much sophisticated especially when it comes physical appearance. They like looking classy especially during career pursuance in advance colleges and universities. Students in universities have shared common interest when it comes to fashion clothing. Some of them are fashion designers within the institution and this subject a consumer to regular experience of fashion clothing. Reference groups Reference groups when it comes to clothing include many figures like sports heroes as well as all the other celebrities. According to Pentecost & Andrews (2010) consumers of fashion clothing often use attitudes of the reference group for the basis of determining his or her purchase behavior. When it comes to normative reference groups-parents, workmates and teachers-they provide consumers with the latest fashion in the market. For instance, female teachers in schools often complement each other on the type of fashion they wear. In this case, the complements to an individual create a desire of which she can go for the fashion the other workmate is having. Parents also act as reference group whereby their children would like to have a physical appearance in terms of clothing like their parents. The attractiveness of fashion clothes and credibility created by the possessors as well influence a consumer’s decision making during purchase. According to Schiffman, Kanuk & Hansen (2012), influence by reference group is among the subconscious factors which forms consumer behavior for products and services which are normally used in public settings. In this case fashion clothes, a consumer may be influenced through information, utilitarian or value expressive. For example, in the West where the purchasing power fashion clothes is high, consumers are more likely to go for the fashion clothes in the market since the consumers often come across different reference groups starting with their parents until the celebrities in the television shows. Also, the value perspective may trigger some of consumers but not so much (Opoku, 2012). In developed nations like United States and United Kingdom where they embrace innovativeness and fashion, consumers are subjected to informational influence by reference groups like families in order to cope with the demands of the environment. Consumers use recommendations from credible reference groups to make informed decision about the kind or new fashion brands he/she opts to purchase. Sometimes one may want to be associated with certain groups in order to achieve praise. This is a utilitarian influence form reference groups where a consumer making a decision to go for fashion clothes in order for him/her to be seen as he/she can afford. This happens mostly to consumers of the same social class in the society. Value-expressive influence is expressed when a consumer wants to portray similar aspects to a particular group. The group’s beliefs and values will make the consumer completely carried away. Consumers of fashion clothes for example would see beneficial aspects of having being complemented the way the reference group is being complemented. Apparently, this belief which is expressed virtually will influence the purchase decision of the consumer. Opinion leaders Opinion leaders are also one of the reference group where consumers source the information of the product before they purchase (Chakravarthy & Prasad, 2011). Clothing especially the fashion ones are often bought as presents or as a gift. Therefore, word of mouth by the people around the consumer can influence the customer in accepting to purchase certain fashion trends with the relative price. For instance, consumers may look for new fashion design clothing in order to present to his or her friends as anniversary (wedding or birthday) gifts. The consumer has to seek for information about the price, brand and even the accessibility of the fashion clothing from friends or relatives (Pentecost & Andrews, 2010). As a result, the information provided by friends will help him or her in making decision on what the kind of clothe he/she is going to purchase as per the stated price. Friends in this case act as opinion leaders who provide the information to the consumer which will lead him/her to purchase a specific fashion design present in the market. A review of literature on external influence on consumer behavior especially has showed that it varies across products and services and it is based on conspicuousness (Schiffman, Kanuk & Hansen, 2012). According to Samli (2013) product conspicuousness entails the extent in which the product is noticed by the consumers in the market. This is determined from two dimensions: whether a product is a luxury or a necessity. Luxury, for instance fashion clothing, is not owned by every consumer therefore it is more conspicuous. Thus the influence may only come from the pressure form social class and specific reference groups. Culture and subcultures may influence consumer behavior but not so much when it comes to fashion clothing. When a product is a necessity, it is easily noticeable in many market segments by the consumers (Opoku, 2012). The two dimensions show that there is a large degree of influence of consumer behavior on the generation Y when it comes to fashion clothing. This external influence often comes from social class and reference groups. Some reasons could clarify why the consumer behavior influence on fashion clothing is more disposed to social class and reference groups. For example, according to Pavitt (2014), peer influence from social class is very low with the products which are less noticeable, however, they may have a great influence when it comes to fashion clotting. In conclusion, based on the theory of cue utilization theory Laroche FRSC, Papadopoulos, Heslop & Bergeron (2003), consumers may use various indicators stating the suitability of the product from external sources. This result to influence of consumer behavior especially when the stimuli of the consumer in an environment with norms, shared values, opinion leaders or social class is subjected to ongoing cognitive process (Boone & Kurtz, 2004). External factors provide informational perspective which influence consumer perception and emotional responses towards a product thus applying these influences at every stage of purchase decision making process. The issue of uncertainty also is found to be making consumers consider various external views about a product during decision making for purchase. Basically, from this discussion, the external factors offer perceived emotions which help the consumer during purchase decision process and thus they respond accordingly to the stimuli created by these perceptions. References Azevedo, S., Pereira, M., Ferreira, J., & Pedroso, V. (2008). Consumer Buying Behaviour in Fashion Retailling: Empirical Evidences. SSRN Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1303718 Boone, L., & Kurtz, D. (2004). Contemporary marketing, interactive text. Mason, Ohio: South-Western. Chakravarthy, S., & Prasad, B. (2011). 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