Consumer behavior

We all go shopping once in a while, be it for our daily necessities or luxury items and services, and many a times we end up buying such products or services, which we had not thought of buying or would rarely use. Like the other day, when I had gone to buy noodles and biscuits from the departmental store, a lady in the store advertised a brand of serum by applying it on my hair and talking about its brilliant qualities. I actually ended up buying it. Have you ever thought why these kind of instances happen? This is because we, as consumers, are nothing but puppets to a wide array of variables, which affect our purchase behavior. We buy products or services to satisfy our needs, desires, ego, and what not. A host of factors are at work, which affect our consumer behavior, many of which we are not consciously aware of. Before going to these factors, let us first try to briefly understand what consumer behavior means.

Consumer behavior refers to those acts of individuals (consumers) directly involved in obtaining, using and disposing of economic goods and services, including the decision processes that precede and determine these acts. It is the study of why, how, what, when, where, and how often do consumers buy and consume different goods and services. Consumers are differently affected by a large number of factors, which lead to different purchase behaviors, and a study of consumer behavior helps to understand these differences.

We often think that we buy things, which we need or like and can afford. But we are unconsciously using a lot of other factors to determine our decisions, the broad categories of which are, psychological, personal, social and cultural factors. Psychological factors, such as needs and motivations, perceptions, attitudes, the learning process, beliefs, attitudes, all operate across different types of people differently, and affect their purchase behaviors. Some people are very impulsive buyers, whereas others are not. It all depends on one’s psychological construct. Apart from these psychological factors, personal factors such as age, sex, education, occupation, income, lifestyle and personality also play their roles. An 80- year old gentleman will most likely not be lured by the same kind of food or clothing as a young chap of 20 years. People also often buy products and services not because they are in need of them, but to showcase their status. So you may be buying an AUDI or BMW not because you really need such an expensive car, but to showcase your status; products thus becoming status symbols. Social groups to which we belong, such as family, friend circle etc. also influence what we buy. ‘They have it and so we should have it too’- kind of mentality also entices buying many a times. Another set of factors at work are cultural factors which encompass one’s learned beliefs, values and customs.

Why is the study of consumer behavior so important? This is because the knowledge of consumer behavior enables the marketer to understand the needs and aspirations of different consumers and this helps in developing appropriate marketing strategies to influence their purchase decisions. It is because of the widespread use of this study that we see newer and newer modes of promotion or marketing now-a- days. Advertisements try to hit the areas or themes which will majorly positively influence a person into buying something. For example, Cadbury celebrations tries to target the festive related sentiments of the Indian crowd by advertising the product is association with Indian festivals like Diwali etc. This attracts people to buy and gift the package of celebrations during the festival, sometimes instead of sweets. This is an example of cultural specific factors affecting consumer behavior.

Thus, if the marketer can identify the factors which evoke consumers towards buying, he or she can design effective marketing strategies using these factors, and make the consumers buy the products or services. So aren’t we puppets in the hands of so many factors which influence our purchase behavior without us even realizing them?

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