Major Factors to Modify Consumer Purchasing Behavior - Term Paper Example

Influential Factors This paper looks into critical factors that shape and modify consumer purchasing behavior. Though considered obvious in most scholarly and schools of thought, the following factors form the basis on which consumer behavior is shaped; cultural background, personality traits, situational factors, societal norms, and psychological factors. A great link between their role in consumer behavior and how they differ in different parts of the world is vividly explained in the paper. Therefore, diversity and dictates how best these factors are applicable in marketing. Through research, the paper reveals every bit of each influential factor and ranks them in accordance to their ability to influence and shape consumer behavior. In its defense, the paper takes into consideration material presentation in class, debates on consumer behavior, and independent but logical reasoning. Subjective and objective aspects revolving around influential factors like the mind map subjects, acted like a guide in formulating logical reasoning on the subject matter. The research findings revealed that all the mentioned situational factors had an influence on consumer behavior either directly or indirectly. However, the degree of influence depended upon environmental, judgmental, prior information on the product, and tastes and preferences. The research ranks the situational factors basing on personal experience and may not necessary follow the same order in other circumstances or with other individuals. Introduction According to research findings published in the International Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, consumer behavior is the incorporation of emotional, mental, and physical human capabilities in marketing (Jeddi et al., 2013). Through the combined synergy, behavior can be traced in product selection, purchase, use and disposal of products and services. For the synergy to bear fruits, it requires active involvement of cultural, situational, social, personal, and psychological factors. The paper discusses the mentioned factors and ranks them in accordance to their degree of influence on consumer purchasing behavior. The essay provides a vivid description on how hierarchy of influential factors plays a critical role in customers when purchasing products. To establish the connection between these factors, it is important to relate them and see how ne affects the other, and find out if they are dependent on each other. Through such an understanding, it can be easy for organizations to link human emotions and actions o their business strategies to rip maximum profits by igniting the right emotions in customers. Through correct application of mind maps, this research paper brings out a clear perspective on how influential factors affect business decision processes in organizations. However, even by so doing, companies must remain ethical in their quest to ignite emotional buying in customers. Personal factors have a great influence on consumer purchasing power because they define personality traits, money expenditure, and human feelings. However, external factors like culture and societal norms influence customer purchasing power. Even with this, personal factors prove to be the greatest driver of consumer behavior. Presentation of hierarchy of influential factors on consumer behavior Ranking of influential factors is from the least; Cultural factors, social factors, situational factors, psychological factors to the greatest; personal factors. Cultural factors are ranked last is because they prove to be of less importance than social factors. The major argument is that people have a sound mind and thus can change and adapt themselves accordingly. Therefore, cultural perceptions, beliefs, preferences, and values can be modified at any time to conform to new cultures. People have in the recent past borrowed and adopted new cultures, mainly because of the colonial era in most parts of the world. While most African countries rejected the idea of women wearing trousers, tight clothing, and revealing garments, most women have become attracted to this new style and want to be associated with it. This gives an indication that people are not rigid and can change in accordance to the current conditions, if need be. As evident in my mind map, every college student craves for a classy smart phone; an iPhone to be specific. It is almost inevitable for a college student to survive without an electronic gadget, and thus buying one is the only way to fit in. Social factors are ranked second in the hierarchy. Humans are social beings and thus their lifestyles are defined by societal norms like family values, references groups, social status, and roles. The tendency of human beings to be associated with certain things in their lives divides them into social groups. Family values build a strong perception in people on what to buy and what to ignore. In my mind map, my family and peer groups encouraged me to purchase an iPhone because it is the most reliable and trustworthy company when it comes to smartphones. Due to their positive reviews, I was encouraged to get and Apple brand. Reference groups like classmates, friends, and workmates influence people into coming up with conclusive purchasing decisions. This is because reference groups share similar beliefs, goals, expectation, and a sense of belonging. In college, most students refer to themselves as ‘comrades.’ This sense of belonging encourages them to join same social clubs, go to house parties, wear rhyming attires, and purchase smart phones. Purchase situation is ranked third, and is dependent on the physical environment, emotional state, and time of purchase. People make decisions on whether to buy some products or not immediately they enter a store and spot a nice product. The immediate environment of the store determines whether they buy or not. Common atmospheric influencers include music, color, store arrangement, smell, and social settings, and virtual shopping situations. Good physical environment in a store creates a positive emotional state in customers who might in return be influenced to purchase even when they never intended to purchase some items. For instance, if the store is offering a Thanksgiving Sale, the physical environment, where the stores place on-sale products can create a functional quality and friendly customer service. In addition, customers make decisions depending on the time they have. This means they make quick decisions after scanning through the store environment. For instance, when customers shop at hours when the store is about to be closed, they may have little time to access the store environment and thus end up making deliberate decisions by choosing the available options. Psychological factors are vested in the brand of the product that customers find appealing. For instance in my mind map, I had to carefully selected my phone of choice because I had used a number of phone brands and thus knew their functionality. Since I had enough knowledge on most technological gadgets, I had to chose the iPhone because it had the best functionality and was compatible with my lifestyle and everything I ever wanted in a phone. Since the phone in question was an Apple brand, I was automatically motivated to the level of utilitarian, and thus was convinced beyond doubt to purchase it. The iPhone is an innovative gadget in this century and thus my attitude was shaped by it. It could fit my college lifestyle and was at a pocket friendly price. While psychological factors influence consumer brand, it is as well attached to personal factors ranked highest in the hierarchy tree. Personal factors are dependent on individual’s inner thoughts, emotions, behavior, and intentions portrayed in a customer, and are shaped by culture, and society. According to Freudian Theory, personality defines human ego and super ego, and identity. The theory emphasizes that humans rely on an unconscious mental process when looking for products to buy in stores. In my mind map, being identified with Apple products influenced me to buy an iPhone. My ego influenced me to run a series of checks on online stores to make comparison on features, price, and reviews attached to my preferred product. My super ego convinced me that the iPhone was a total fit and could an acceptable societal norm. from the mind map illustration, it is evident that personal factors are cultivated by cultural and societal factors, motivation, and situational factors. From the explanation, it is explicit that it defines lifestyles, and thus most companies use such business intelligence to attract customers into buying their products. Using Horney’s Neo-Freudian Theory of Personality (Adaval, 2013), it is easy to validate the debate because it supports and acknowledges that personality is caused by social, psychological, cultural, and purchase situational factors. Discussion of Selection Mind Maps From the hierarchy ranking, it is evident that our personal mind maps did not exhibit the final tallies. However, it was clear that social factors remained dominant across all categories. Obviously, most customers prefer to ‘fit in’ and live by the current trends in society. Other research study findings reveal that most consumers purchase goods depending on current trends. While ‘personal factors’ was ranked first in the list, on average it came third in our personal mind maps. However, it was concluded that consumers need to be fully aware and be informed about their personality, and what best works for them in order to enjoy the purchasing experience. While this was a true observation, personality remains a major influence on consumers’ purchasing power. All influential factors discussed earlier, apart from psychological factors, were ranked in a reverse order. Therefore, social and cultural factors were on top of the list from our mind maps, but our combined arguments ranked them low in the hierarchy. Discussion of debates Collaborative discussion on personality influenced our perceptions and thus the ranking. A keen analysis on textbook materials, especially on matters pertaining to ‘personality’ gave a real proof and thus we ranked personality at the top of the hierarchy table. Class debates made it clear that personality plays an important role in marketing and consumer behavior. From the arguments, it was evident that personality is linked to other influential factors to form an umbrella-like relationship. This is because it portrayed cognitive, affective, behavioral, and motivational characteristics. Most research findings reveal that organizations segment their markets depending on personality, because they shape behavior and buying characteristics. While some people possess materialistic personalities, others have innovative personalities and thus can eager to try out different products (Mullen & Johnson, 2013). Marketers use emotional marketing techniques by incorporating them in product design, color, and functionality. Such positioning strategies are meant to reflect what customers want, which in return builds a long lasting relationships with customers. A good example is NIKE, which has used its brand image to attain a competitive advantage and inspire and encourage millions of people around the world to engage in sports. It uses a unique slogan, “Just Do It,” because it is an identity of human active characteristics, especially in sports. However, purchase situation had conflicting arguments that differed with personal factors. Part of the group believed that former was not an important factor because it has little relationship with internal consumer environment. Therefore, it could not affect human moods, feelings, attitudes, and emotions. The argument in support of this thinking was based on the fact that internal factors have more influence on consumer purchasing behavior than external factors. However, it was concluded that purchase situation was an unpredictable factor and thus could not be measured easily. Social and cultural factors had opposing arguments too. Since they were tied together, it was already difficult choosing which could come before the other. For instance, college lifestyles are influenced by social factors. Therefore, most students make decisions based on social expectations, influence, and attitude. If a student buys a laptop, it is likely to happen that other close friends may buy the same laptop brand but with different design, make, color, and functionality. Cultural factors are cross-breeds of heritage, origin, and socioeconomic status. However, such factors tend to be swallowed by social factors in a college set up. It was concluded that social factors have a stronger influence on consumer purchasing power than cultural factors. Discussion of surprises It was discovered that stress has a great influence on consumer behavior because it affects reasoning, decision making, and the ability to choose what is needed. In addition, anxiety was a stimulus that increased motivation in customers. When under stress, people often feel pressured to make decisions that may be against their will. Conclusion The sample size for the research was small and thus could not make justifiable conclusions on the subject matter. However, it was interesting to note that consumers were influenced by a series of factors, with personal factors leading the way. From the discussion, it is clear that personal factors incite emotions, thoughts, behavior, and influence final decisions. This explains why people spend their lives trying to satisfy their urges and would do anything withing their reach to get access to such products. Organizations’ business intelligence concedes with the fact that people consume daily and thus spend most of their time making decisions on what to consume. This becomes a habit defined by social, cultural, personal, psychological, and situational factors. References Adaval, R. (2013). Numerosity and Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(5). Jeddi S., Atefi Z., Jalali M., Poureisa A., & Haghi H. (2013). Consumer Behavior and Consumer Buying Decision Process. International Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences 3(5): 20-24. Mullen, B., & Johnson, C. (2013). The psychology of consumer behavior. New York: Psychology Press. Read More