CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY AND BUYING BEHAVIOR - Research Paper Example

Consumer Psychology and Buying Behavior CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY AND BUYING BEHAVIOR Consumer psychology is an area of study that deals with a consumer’s perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and thoughts that influence how consumers relate to and buy services and goods. It is the study of organizations, groups, individuals. The various methods, which they use in selecting and securing the disposal of ideas, experiences, services, and products. In addition, the various impacts these processes have on society and consumers.

It looks at the motivation, social persuasion, and process of decision making to help comprehend the reasons for shoppers purchasing some products not others. There are four main types of behaviour buying theories. These are habitual buying, complex buying, variety seeking buying, and dissonance reducing buying. This paper seeks to outline the key consumer psychology and buying behaviour theories that are addressed in the following journals: “consumers and brands a study of the impact of self image congruence on brand preference and satisfaction” and “how well does advertising images of health and beauty travel across cultures a self-concept perspective”.

Research shows that the congruity between product image and self-image affects the product preference of a consumer and their intentions to buy an item. This congruence with self-image could also facilitate positive attitudes and behaviour towards products. The study conducted in “Consumers and brands a study of the impact of self-image congruence on brand preference and satisfaction”, was seeking to understand the consequences of congruity of self-image on brand preference and the consumer satisfaction in the UK’s precious jewellery sector.

Results indicated that congruity of self-image acted as a vitally powerful predictor of brand preferences of consumers as well as acting as a suitable predictor for satisfaction of the consumer. The respondents with above average self-image, congruity levels were found to be more likely to enjoy higher satisfaction levels, as well as increased likelihood to buy the brand. This was when compared to those who had below average self-image congruity levels (Gordon, 2006 p140). For this case study, the consumers were found to be dissonance-reducing buyers (Gordon, 2006 p141).

They were highly involved in the jewellery purchase since the product was expensive. There was minimal difference between the brands of jewelry that existed. The consumers were also found to be complex buyers as they were buying highly valued products, and they looked for detailed information before making the purchase. How well does advertising images of health and beauty travel across cultures a self-concept perspective Bjerke R. Polgato studies women’s ideal self-image in terms of beauty and health (Mowen & Michael, 2001 p110).

The hook up between two advertising beauties and the ideal beauty and health images of female consumers in relation to looking like those particular models were tested. This was done in five cities, in Europe. The respondents identified their ideal hair and eye colors for beauty and health. The study showed a variation in self-image that was ideal in terms of types that were beautiful and healthy. It emphasizes the need for advertisers to understand the consumer psychology of these women in terms of the cultural, contemporary, and important characteristics of a beauty type that is ideal with regard to beauty and health before the development of advertising that is standardized and communicates these appeals.

The consumer behavior theory uncovered by this study was variety seeking buying behavior (Bernhardt, 2011 p111). The women interviewed preferred to experiment and shopped around for various products and settled on those that they felt brought out their beauty and were healthy for use. There was also an element of complex buying behavior since the women interviewed admitted to seeking information about the product they were about to buy. In conclusion, both journal articles brought out the fact that, with beauty products, women are more concerned with the way their self-image will be affected by what they buy as well as by the health and beauty aspect of the products.

This is their consumer psychology. Both sets of consumers exhibited complex buying behavior, with the first one also exhibiting dissonance reducing buying behavior and the second exhibited variety seeking buying behavior. References Bernhardt, Kenneth. The Changing marketing environment : New theories and applications. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 2011. Gordon, Evans M. Jamal A. Consumer Behaviour 1St Edition. Sussex: John Wiley & Sons , 2006. Mowen, John C, and Michael Minor. Essentials of consumer behavior.

Upper Saddle river: Prentice Hall, 2001.