Last Updated on July 1, 2024 by admin
The consumer market consists of all individuals and households who buy or acquire goods and services for personal consumption. Consumer behavior could be likened to mean the way the consumer behaves or how consumers respond to various marketing stimuli that company might arrange.
What is consumer behavior?
consumer behavior is what” consumers display in searching for purchasing ,using the evaluating products, service and ideas which they expect will satisfy their needs” From what ever we know of “the consumer” and although marketing management produces itself for being proactive marketing management is always predicated on what behavioral characteristics have been noted in response to certain marketing stimuli in the past and adjusted for any minor or major variations in what those characteristics attempts to forecast what behavior the consumer is likely to exhibit in response to future occurrence of the marketing stimuli or variants thereof,within circumstances.
‘consumer behavior is the actions and decision processes of people who purchase goods and services for personal consumption’. Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, and how the consumer’s emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behavior.
Major factors influencing consumer behavior
Consumers do not make their decisions in a vacuum. Their purchases are highly influenced by cultural,social,personal and psychological factors. The following are factors that contribute towards consumer buying decision and behavior
1. Cultural factors:
Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behavior.The child growing up in a society . learn a basic set of values, perceptions,preference and behavior through socialization involving the family and other institutions.
Sub -culture: Even culture contains smaller groups of sub-cultures that provide for specific identification and socialization for it’s members.
Religion groups: such as catholic, Presbyterians, celestial and Islam represents sub cultures with specific preference and taboo . Other cultural groups are: tribal, geographical and social class.
2. Social factors:
A consumer behavior is also influence by social factors such as consumer’s reference, groups, family and social roles and statues
i Reference Group: A person’s group are groups that have a direct face or indirect influence on the person’s attitudes of behavior. Groups having a direct influence on a person are called membership groups. These are groups to which the person belongs and interacts.
ii.family: Members of the buyer family can exercise a strong influence on the buyer’s behavior. There are two families in the buyer’s life: They are the family of orientation and family of procreation which could either be politics, economics and a sense of personal ambition.
Others could be one’s spouse and children, the family is the most important consumer buying organization in the society. Marketers are interested in the roles and relative influence of the husband, wife and children in the purchase of a large variety and services.
3. Personal factors
This includes Age and life cycle state:—people change the goods they buy over their lifetime. They eat baby food in the early years ,most food in the growing and mature years. A person’s economic will greatly affects product choice ….People’s economic circumstances consist of the special income, savings, assets, borrowing power and attitude towards saving versus saving.
On other hand, occupation and a person;s communication pattern are also influenced by his or her occupation.A blue collar worker will buy work clothes ,work shoe lunch box. A company president will buy expensive suits, air travel , and country club membership. A company can specialize in producing products needed by a particular occupational group.
Person lifestyle and pattern of living in the world as expressed in the person;s actives ,interests and opinions . Lifestyle portrays the whole person interacting with his or her environment. lifestyle reflects something beyond the person’s social class on the one hand and personality on the other.
Four types of buying Behavior
A. Complex Buying behavior: Consumers go through complex buying behavior when they are highly involved in a purchase and aware of the significant difference existing among brands. If the product is highly expensive brought in frequently ,risky and highly expensive, consumers are involved
Dissonance reducing buying behavior : The consumer is highly involved in a purchase but sees little difference in the brand, based on the fact that the purchase is expensive, infrequent and risky. In this case the buyer fairly quickly because brand differences are not pronounced. The buyer may respond primarily to a good price of convenience of purchase at the time or place.
Habitual buying Behavior: Many products are bought under condition of low consumer involvement and the absence of significant brand difference.
Consumer behavior in these cases does not pass through the normal belief/attitude/behavior sequence . Consumers do not search extensively for information about the brand, evaluate their characteristics and make a weighty decision on which one to buy.
Variety seeking buying behavior : some buying situation are characterize by low consumer involvement but significant brand difference.Here, consumers are often observed to do a lot of brand switching.
