Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services to satisfy their desires. There are different processes involved in consumer behaviour. At first the consumer tries to find the goods that he would like to consume, and then he chooses only those goods that promise the greatest benefit. After selecting the goods, the consumer estimates the available funds that he can spend. Finally, the consumer analyzes the prevailing prices of the commodities and takes the decision on which commodities he should consume. Meanwhile, there are many other factors affecting consumer purchases such as social, cultural, personal and psychological. Below is an explanation of these factors.
1. Cultural factors
Consumer behavior is strongly influenced by cultural factors such as: buyer culture, subculture, and social class.
• culture
Basically, culture is a part of every society and is the important cause of an individual’s desires and behaviour. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies from country to country, so marketers need to be very careful in analyzing the culture of different groups, regions, or even countries.
Subculture
Every culture contains different sub-cultures such as religions, nationalities, geographical regions, ethnic groups, etc. Marketers can use these groups by dividing the market into different small segments. For example, marketers can tailor products to the needs of a particular geographic group.
• Social class
Every society has some form of social class which is important to marketers because the purchasing behavior of people in a particular social class is similar. In this way marketing activities can be designed according to different social classes. Here we should note that social class is not only determined by income but many other factors such as: wealth, education, profession, etc.
2. Social factors
Social factors also influence the purchasing behavior of consumers. The important social factors are: reference groups, family, role and status.
• Reference groups
Reference groups have the power to shape a person’s attitude or behaviour. The influence of reference groups varies across products and brands. For example, if the product is visual like clothes, shoes, car, etc., the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference groups also include an opinion leader (a person who influences others because of his or her special skill, knowledge, or other characteristics).
• family
Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the family member. So marketers try to find the roles and influence of husband, wife and children. If the decision to buy a particular product is influenced by the wife, marketers will try to target women in their ads. Here we should note that purchasing roles change with the change in consumer lifestyles.
• Roles and status
Each person has different roles and status in society depending on the groups, clubs, family, organization, etc. that he belongs to. For example, a woman works in an organization as a financial director. She now plays two roles, one being the finance manager and one being the mother. Therefore, their purchasing decisions will be influenced by their role and status.
3. Personal factors
Personal factors can also influence consumer behaviour. Some of the important personal factors that influence buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic status, occupation, age, personality and self-concept.
• age
Age and life cycle have a potential impact on consumer buying behavior. It is clear that consumers change the purchase of goods and services over time. The life cycle of a family consists of various stages such as young singles, couples, unmarried couples, etc. which helps the marketers to develop suitable products for each stage.
Occupancy
A person’s occupation has a significant impact on his purchasing behaviour. For example, a marketing manager in an organization will try to buy work suits, while a low-level worker in the same organization will buy durable work clothes.
• Economic situation
The economic situation of the consumer has a significant impact on his purchasing behavior. If the customer’s income and savings are high, he will buy more expensive products. On the other hand, a person with low income and savings will buy cheap products.
• lifestyle
Customer lifestyle is another import factor that influences consumer purchasing behaviour. Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed through the things in his surroundings. It is determined by customers’ interests, opinions, activities, etc. and constitutes its entire pattern of representation and interaction in the world.
• a personality
Personality changes from person to person, from time to time and from place to place. So it can greatly affect the buying behavior of customers. Indeed, personality is not what one wears; It is the sum total of man’s behavior in different circumstances. It has various characteristics such as: dominance, aggressiveness, self-confidence, etc. which can be useful for determining consumer behavior for a particular product or service.
4. Psychological factors
There are four important psychological factors that influence consumer buying behaviour. These are: perception, motivation, learning, beliefs and attitudes.
• incentivize
The level of motivation also influences the buying behavior of customers. Every person has different needs like physiological needs, biological needs, social needs etc. The nature of needs is such that some are more urgent while others are less urgent. So the need becomes a drive when it is more urgent to direct the person to seek satisfaction.
• Imagine
Selecting, organizing, and interpreting information in a way that produces a meaningful experience of the world is called cognition. There are three different perceptual processes which are selective attention, selective distortion, and selective retention. In the case of selective attention, marketers are trying to capture the attention of customers. Whereas in selective distortion, clients try to interpret information in a way that supports what clients actually believe. Similarly, in selective retention, marketers try to retain information that supports their beliefs.
• Beliefs and attitudes
Customer has a definite belief and attitude towards different products. Since these beliefs and attitudes shape the brand image and influence the consumer’s buying behavior, so marketers pay attention to them. Marketers can change the beliefs and attitudes of customers by launching special campaigns in this regard.