Factors affecting consumer behavior

Buying Roles Decision process Techniques

The field of Consumer Behavior: “studies how individuals, groups, and

organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires.”

Buying behavior is influenced by:◦ Cultural factors◦ Social factors◦ Personal factors◦ Psychological factors

Influence Factors

Cultural Social Personal Psychological

Exert broadest and deepest influence

Culture Subculture Social classes

Major U.S. Social Classes

Lower Lowers

Upper Uppers Lower Uppers Upper Middles

Middle Class Working Class Upper Lowers

Influence Factors

Cultural Social Personal Psychological

Reference groups◦ Membership

Primary vs. secondary

◦ Inspirational vs. dissociative

Family Social roles and

statuses

Influence Factors

Cultural Social Personal Psychological

Age Stage in life cycle Occupation Economic

circumstances Lifestyle Personality Self-concept

Eight Psychographic Groups

ActualizesFulfillersAchieversExperiencers

BelieversStriversMakersStrugglers

Influence Factors

Cultural Social Personal Psychological

Motivation Perception Learning Beliefs Attitudes

In addition to understanding how these factors influence consumers, marketers must identify and understand:◦ Who makes the buying decision◦ The types of buying decisions◦ The stages in the buying process

Understand

Buying roles Buying behavior Buying decision

process

Initiator Influencer Decider Buyer User

The buying centre has three principal aspects: composition: the size, hierarchical levels and

functional areas involved; influence: those individuals with the most

influence in the buying process; roles: the identification of different roles played

by buying centre members.  A buying centre includes all members of the

purchasing organization who play any of six roles in the purchase process:

Initiator: The initiator is a person who first suggests or think of the idea of buying the particular product. For example, publisher of a book initiates the professor to ask the students of his class to purchase the book. Here publisher is the initiator, the first person to initiate the buying process.

 Influencer: Influencer is a person who explicitly or implicitly has some influence on the final buying decision of others. Students are influenced by the advice of the professor while taking a decision to purchase a book. Here professor is the influencer

 Decider: The decider is a person who ultimately determines any part or whole of the buying decision, i.e., whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, when to buy or where to buy. Children are the deciders for buying the toys, house lady for kitchen provisions, and head of the family for durable or luxury items.

Buyer: The buyer is the person who actually purchase. Buyer may be the decider or he may be some other person. Children (deciders) are the deciders for purchasing the toys, but purchases are made by the parents.

User: User is the person who actually uses or consumes the services or products. 

pros: The six buying roles help

the sales person structure large scale sales in complex corporate environments. Successful inside selling requires planning and preparation before making first contact.

 

cons: The concept does not include

the political aspect of decision making. The sales person must consider multiple, often conflicting goals.

  The model omits the selling

side. A complex transaction often requires the involvement of multiple individuals from the selling party, e.g. mixed teams consisting of sales people and product engineers. This group of actors is called the Problem-Solving Unit (PSU).

Understand

Buying roles Buying behavior Buying decision

process

Complex buying behavior

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior

Habitual buying behavior

Variety-seeking buying behavior

Understand

Buying roles Buying behavior Buying decision

process

Problem recognition

Information search Evaluation of

alternatives Purchase decision Post purchase

behavior

Post purchase Behavior:◦ Consumers’ expectations are compared to

performance◦ Post purchase satisfaction influences future

behavior Purchasing behavior Word-of-mouth communications

 Experience and knowledge technique:  buyers behavior is estimated on the basis of experience and knowledge gained by the marketing executives because of their close association with the customers. Through experience, they come to know what are the main buying motives for their products and why?  

 Traditional or questionnaire technique: A questionnaire is prepared by the marketer with the help of psychologists under this technique. The questionnaires so prepared, are sent to the selected consumers for their return to the company after they are duly filled in. The completed questionnaires received by the company are analyzed and results are extracted about the buyers’ motives and behavior.  

Depth Interview Technique:  probing the unconscious mind. It is time consuming technique and requires considerable patience. no direct question is asked by the interviewer but the interviewer talks with the consumer in free atmosphere so that the interviewee may express their views intensively. It is possible for the skilled interviewer to go deep and uncover information buried below the conscious mind. 

 Projective technique: provides the subject with a stimulus situation that gives him an opportunity to impose upon it his own private needs and his particular perception and interpretation. The main projective techniques are as follows: 

           (i)       The Thematic Appreciation Test (T.A.T.)            (ii)      The Sentence Completion Test (S.C.T.)            (iii)     The World Association Test (W.A.T.)            (iv)     The Paired Pictures Test (P.P.T.)