How Do Consumers Make Purchasing Decisions - Essay Example

Consumers make decisions to buy different goods and services every day and one notable aspect about this practice is that it is not uniform across the globe. Consumers around the world vary tremendously in age, income, education level, and tastes and these impact on their behaviour towards purchasing certain products and services (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). It can thus be noted that consumer behaviour is mainly influenced by both internal and external factors. As such, this paper seeks to discuss how these factors influence the consumer decision making process for a major purchase such as a car. The paper will critically discuss how each factor varies among people from different backgrounds in making a decision to buy a car of their choice.

People buy cars for different purposes. Some people believe that expensive cars for instance are meant for prestige while other ordinary individuals think that a personal car is just a convenient mode of transport. It can be seen from the outset that individual buying behaviour of a car is influenced by various factors that are going to be discussed in detail below. There are many internal factors that influence people to make decisions to buy different cars. First and foremost, it should be noted that age is very important in as far as decision making to purchase a car is concerned. It can be seen that preferences of cars significantly differ between the young and older generations. Young working class people often prefer small cars which at the same time are fuel savers. These vehicles at the same time are relatively cheaper in terms of their price as well as maintenance. On the other hand, older people who at times are rich and affluent prefer to buy expensive sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and these are fuel guzzlers. They do this for prestige as well as to ascertain their class position in society. These people also want to display their wealth to the other members of the society through driving Porsche cars that are beyond the reach of many people.

The other issue that should be noted is that consumer behaviour is largely learned behaviour and there are mainly two types of learning namely classical conditioning that uses established relationships and stimulus. More often than not, attention leads to creation of stimulus within the individual. This will compel him to act. For example, individuals may learn that certain models of cars are easy to maintain, then their interests are stimulated such that they would end up making decisions to purchase the vehicle. On the other hand, cognitive learning entails that our behaviour is always determined by the way in which we see and understand things (Sinclair and Fawcett, 1991). Basically, learning describes the changes in human behaviour that arise from experience and these form what is termed attitude. This refers to a person’s constant evaluation or feeling towards something (Strydom, 2006). This leads to the development of a mindset of liking or disliking something by the individuals. Whenever there is strong liking of the product, there are likely chances that the decision will buy it. When for instance a person dislikes a certain model of a car, he is unlikely to buy it.

Consumer buying behaviour of assets such as vehicles is also influenced by personality. This is used to describe the individual’s social dimension (Meyer, Moore and Viljoen, 1989). Someone said to have a strong personality could be someone who can use his influence or someone who impresses people easily. It encompasses the physical, psychological and spiritual characteristics that determine an individual’s behaviour. In the same vein, occupation and lifestyle are the other factors that influence individuals to buy different cars. Lifestyle is about the pattern of an individual’s living as expressed through activities, interests and opinions (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Some people are used to luxurious lives and this can be seen through buying expensive cars. However, there are some people who are simple and easy going and these often prefer buying simple cars that are easy to maintain.

People have different needs as illustrated by different theories of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the most popular theories of motivation which states that the needs of people can be classified in a hierarchy depending on their importance. A need becomes a motive when it is strong enough to cause a person to act (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). In this case, a person who belongs to a working class may realise that a personal car is a need to drive to and from work. After considering all the benefits of owning a car, this person is motivated to buy one that is suitable to him to use for different errands apart from using it as transport to work. Other people buy cars to realize their self-actualisation needs having attained all other lower level needs as illustrated by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In the same vein, Kotler and Armstrong (2010) suggest that people who have been motivated by needs are ready to act and this depends on their perceptions. Perception is described as a process by which people select, organize and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world around them. Perceptions are influenced by people’s culture, experiences as well as different senses. When making a decision to buy a car, the consumers are mainly influenced by the sense of sight. This helps them to make comparisons between different cars that are offered in the market.

There are also various external factors that influence the behaviour of consumers to buy different cars. For instance, social class of consumers does not only determine how much money people earn but how they spend it as well (Strydom, 2006). A society is often divided into groups also known as social classes comprising of people sharing similar income levels, values, interests and behaviour. People who belong to the upper class in society would seek to assert their status through buying expensive cars while those who belong to the middle and at time lower classes go for affordable cars. These groups prefer cars that save fuel since their levels of income would not permit them to live lavish lifestyles against the background of other pressing issues. On the other hand, groups also influence the buying behaviour of consumers of certain products and goods. Consumers often refer to reference groups when they make decisions to purchase goods (Cant, 2000). These reference groups are often comprised of opinion leaders who have great influence over other individuals. The consumers often seek and trust the advice they get from the opinion leaders since these are believed to have great knowledge about different products offered in the market. With reference to the aspect of buying cars, there are certain people who have a wealth of knowledge in the motor industry and people often seek their advice when they want to buy cars. In most cases, people in different societies want to identify with opinion leaders and this greatly influences their behaviour towards buying different models of cars.

Consumer buying behaviour is also influenced by culture which broadly shapes how consumers in a society meet their basic needs and wants. It must be noted that every society has a culture and the critical components of culture are beliefs, values and perceptions of its people (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). We learn these from the people around us which means that cultural influences on buying behaviour may vary greatly from country to country by virtue of the fact that cultures vary from place to place. Some people who are individualistic often buy expensive vehicles since they are only concerned about themselves and their immediate families. However, there are also other groups that ascribe to collectivism and these often prefer quite simple and affordable cars. They are not particularly concerned about material things to a larger extent since they believe in socialism. The behaviour and buying pattern of cars of people who belong to this group are similar and these are mainly influenced by their cultural values and norms. Some people believe that material goods are less important than social relations and this is the reason why they do not prioritise buying very expensive cars. They would rather buy cheap cars and use their financial resources to meet other pressing issues in their lives.

Over and above, it can be observed that consumer buying behaviour is mainly influenced by both internal and external factors. As discussed above, consumer buying behaviour is something that is learned by individuals. Given that a car is different from other products and services offered in the market, research has shown that individuals are significantly influenced by internal factors such as occupation, lifestyle, level of income, perception as well as age among other important factors. There are also different reasons why people buy cars and this has a great impact on their behaviour towards making final decisions to buy different cars that are offered by different manufacturers.