The Factors Affecting Buyer Behavior - Term Paper Example

BUYER BEHAVIOR INTRODUCTION Every day people buy different kind of goods be it consumable or industrial goods. One common thread is that everyone is a consumer since everyone needs some of form of goods. There are various factors that affect the consumers’ consumption power majorly due to the different buying power, preferences and needs. The factors affecting the consumer behaviour are often external or internal in nature. Other factors that affect the consumer trends in the market include self-concept, perception, age, belief values, social class and personality (Pervin 2005). Though consumer behaviour may be regarded as the process of acquiring and using goods and services, the process goes beyond a mere buying and selling of the products. Scholars argue that the decision making process often starts before the actual buyer and seller contact. The pre purchase decision is often heavily influenced by both internal and external factors on the part of the consumer. Therefore consumer behaviour is a multidimensional in nature and rationally complex and has more than meets the eye. The background of personality theorist could be traced back to Hippocrates in 400BC who claimed that personality is determined by a balance of the fluids in the body. His finding was that individuals can fall under the category of melancholic that are regarded as depressed people, the phlegmatic who are seen as the calm people and the sanguine considered outgoing, very active and optimistic in nature (Malouff et al 2006). Part A Current consumer trends especially the university students shows that the products that are bought by the students are heavily influenced by the advertising power. Beyond this the consumer research shows that there is a great influence from psychographic profile of the consumers. Motivations and personalities of individuals influence heavily on the kind of products that they buy in the market. The marketers are currently quick to notice these trends and make the best kind of strategies in gaining the market share based on their personality finding. (Sheth et al. 1999) defines personality as the individual’s ways that are consistent that affect how they respond to the environment in which they live. It therefore arises from the blend of both genetic factors and the external environment that an individual is brought up in. the interaction between the individual and the social factors determine the extent and the level of once personality. Personality may be good based or service based. The service based personality results when the individuals seek to establish long lasting relationships with the suppliers, sellers and manufacturers. Product oriented personality on the other hand relate to the level and extent in which a consumer will patronize a particular product (Mischel 2000). Personality and motivation are often inseparable in establishing the consumer behaviour. Motivation is defined as a goal oriented decision making process that arises from self drive of the individuals. The major difference between the personality and motivation relates to the fact that motivation is more abstract that personality itself. Motivations are heavily close associated with the external environment but they are harder to measure and observe unlike the personality. It may be observed that motivation often forms part of the personality which is holistic in nature. Every business enterprise conducts an analysis of potential clients before penetrating into the market. The categorization of potential consumers from the perspective of their behavioral and cultural traits often determines the consumer likelihood of buying the product. The business enterprise has to determine whether most of the consumers are service oriented or merchandise based in personality. For the merchandise based the company ensures that the products are more appealing to the consumers, while the service based personality the business entities seek to provide close ties with the consumers. (Arnould et al 2004) identifies five motives behind every personality that influence their decision making process while buying products and services; these are; a. Achievement motive- essentially this determines the drive an individual has over their evaluated performance. b. Power Motive- this is domineering in nature, an individual seeks to influence the rest of the society. c. Affiliation motive-this is the drive of the close networks and social relationship that the consumer has having an influence in the type and quantity of the products that the consumers buy. d. Self –esteem motive- the need of consumers to consider themselves better than the rest of the crowd affect their decision making process in the kind of goods and services that they buy. The personality theorists fall under the following categories (Carver & Scheier 2006); a. Psychoanalytic theories. b. Humanistic theories. c. Trait Theories. d. Biological and Genetic theories. e. Social-Cognitive Theories. Psychoanalytic Theories This is closely associated with Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) who founded his theory to the unconscious mental processes that affect the individual’s behaviour. It was his finding that the unconscious part has a big role in determining an individual behaviour. He strongly suggested that aggressive and the sexual needs of individuals have a major impact on the personality of the individuals. To further his theory of psychoanalysis Freud came up with three hypothetical models of the mind which he referred to as the Psyche. The first model he referred to it as topographic model of the psyche which illustrated the organization of the mind of the individual, secondly he opined about a structural model of the psyche which generally is about the working of the personality and finally he came up with a psychogenetic model of development which is a model showing the development of the personality (Pervin 2005). His topographical model sought to categorize the mind into unconscious, conscious and preconscious. He was of considered opinion that the unconscious part of the individuals was the backdrop of their thoughts, feelings and the self urges. He argued that these background feelings and urges are the main external influences of our respective actions. His structural model also found out a three from categorization of id, ego and superego. Freud argued that the superego was the major determinant of the individual’s moral guidance, societal and parental values therefore the basis on which most of the decisions are based. He found out that a conflict between the ego and the superego resulted in three forms of anxiety; neurotic, moral and reality. Lastly as concerns the psychogenetic model he argued that a child develops through different stages. How individuals solve the crisis that occurs during the development influences the adult personality. The stages are named and defined according to erogenous zones. The stages are grouped into five classes; the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage and genital stage (Brown et al. 2003). Other theorists who agreed and followed Freud line of thought include Carl Jung and Karen Horney. Humanistic Theories. This presents an optimistic view of the individual’s personality. The capacity of the personal growth is the foundation of the theorists’ main arguments. The main emphasis as to what influences the human personality is traced to the relationships and individual experiences rather than the unconscious motivations. They take the subjective approach that each person’s unique experiences and perception influences their behaviour (Montgomery 2003). The main proponent of this theory is Carl Rogers who saw and observed the humans as good intrinsically and having the desire to acquire consistent self improvement. He argued that how individuals react is heavily influenced by how others view, approve and react to them. He developed an analysis of conditions of worth to which responses of a growing child determine how one grows. If due to the positive traits and attitudes one develops into full potential and capacity one achieves a level he referred to as self actualization. Scientifically it is hard to measure the level of self actualization. His client centered therapy approach is the main foundation of today’s psychology and guidance and counseling. He was of the view that therapists are in the position to help the client by a careful analysis to revert back to the level of self actualization. The humanist theorist also embraces the personal construct theory which views the human beings as hypothesis generators. The subjective basis of the theory is that each individual is capable of determining their subjective psychological factors and based on this they have varying perception of the world. An objective analysis of the individual anticipation determines how they will react to the environment. This theory has been opined by George Kelly (1905- 1967). He argued that as opposed to the trait theorist individual’s categorization vary according to their different and divergent dimensions. His view was that people become negative when the construct system fails to tackle with the discrepancies (Malouff et al 2006). Trait Theories This theory seeks to label personality according to the way individual’s ways are reflected based on the enduring and consistent aspects of personality. Raymond Cattell was the first to come up with a factor analysis of the individuals. The factor analysis is a variable structure that illustrates and summarizes the kind of relationships that determine structures of personality. Initially the theory sought to categorize individuals into three body types who are endomorphic, mesomorphic and ectomorphic. Cattell believed that the traits and language of individuals determined their personality. He developed the Lexical Criterion of importance in his personality research. He collated a total of 4500 trait names to which he reduced to 171 key trait names. From his data he got three analyses (Pervin 2005); a. L-data- this refers to the assessment of the person on their actual record of behaviour in a lifetime. This could be found in the report cards and friends ratings. b. Q-data- these refer to data obtained from the questionnaires describing different characteristics. c. T-data- this is achieved through psychometric tests that are done objectively. This was developed into sixteen traits. The theory has been echoed by Hans Eysenck (1916-1999). He developed three super traits of extraversion, introversion and neuroticism. PART B An observance of the students showed a majority of them sought to buy the following products in a hierarchical system and the percentage of the budgetary allocations given to the products; 1. Alcohol and tobacco…………………………………………..76% 2. Clothing and shoes…………………………………………….67% 3. Food and non-alcoholic beverages……………………………..62% 4. Party and socializing related expenses………………………....56% 5. Academical expenses…………………………………………..36% 6. Other expenses………………………………………………….20% The main hypothesis on the finding is that cultural, environmental and genetical factors are in the interplay in determining the preferences and the choices of the students on what they are going to buy. Based on the observance and interview of the students these data can be subjected through a personality test measurement. According to French and Karas the five factors that determine the dimensions of personality are neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness and openness. The tabular forms below illustrate the facets of the tenets of these dimensional measurements of the personality tests (Costa & McCrae 2005). Personality Dimensions Characteristics Neuroticism Vulnerability, depression and anxiety, hostility, self consciousness and impulsivity Agreeableness Altruism, compliance, modesty, trust and straightforwardness. Conscientiousness Dutifulness, selfdispline, achievement striving and modesty. Extraversion Assertiveness, activity, warmth, positive emotions and gregariousness Openness Values, feelings, esthetics, fantasy and ideas. Analysis The first conclusion we can argue from the perspective of neuroticism may be the basis of students over indulgence in alcohol and tobacco. These would echo the finding of humanistic theories. Often the students are in the process of self actualization. The dilemma caused by their growth patterns account for the better part of their indulgence in alcohol. But while the data illustrate most students are engaged in the negative vices, there are also lots of students who are into positive values whose budgetary allocations on academic books and foods are in the higher side. The attitudes found in neuroticism of vulnerability, impulsivity and anxiety may be the main drive of the students indulgence in alcohol and tobacco. The drugs offer a temporary gratifying effect that helps the students ‘deal’ with the intrinsic dimensions. The data also illustrate that the students are into socializing and parting. This personality trait would be explained by the social cognitive theorist. They have developed five systems of determining the personality traits of individuals. These are encoding, expectancies and beliefs, affects, goals and values and competencies and self regulatory plans. These would be fairly explained by the Sigmund Freud of psychoanalytic approach. He argued that as the humans developed there were two impulses, the Eros and Thanatos. Eros means that a person or an individual had great drive for growth, life and love while thematic means that the drives of aggression and death determine once personality. This external and internal stimulations and the need for self actualization may be the main reason behind the drives and instincts of the students to party and buy a majority of the products related to alcohol and tobacco. It is paradoxical that they spend a lot of budgetary allocation on social events and products rather than academic books, the pleasure principle propounded by Freud may explain this situation (Malouff et al 2006). Students seek to have their needs satisfied immediately and in pursuit of pleasure find themselves in misplaced opinions and choices. Hans Eysenck one of the main pioneers of trait theories opines that one of the main super trait that determines ones personality is extraversion. Extraversion according to Hans is that tendency to seek the company and relationship of others. This trait may explain the reason most students may have lot of budgetary allocations on alcohol and clothing and shoes. The need to be accepted and to seek group recognition. In analysing the students’ behaviour we can’t fail to underscore the importance of biological factors in determining the choices that individuals make. Eysenck argued that most individuals close relation between their extraversion and introversion is determined very strongly by the inhibition theory. This essentially means that heredity and origins has a great influence on what someone amounts to. He argued that extraverts have strong nervous system and this explains their greater need to seek for excitement. The introverts according to his arousal theory have weak inhibitory factors and tend to be very reserved. These theory juxtaposed to the students scenario would mean that most of them tend to have strong extraversion accounting to the products behaviour of allocating budgetary bulk on the social products. The theory on extraverts was successfully interrogated by Campbell and Hawley (1982) cited in (Gao et al, 2009) who gave some students some questionnaires to test their auditory and visual stimulation. The findings showed that the extraverts took more study breaks and moving around the library while the introverts preferred to study in very quiet and reserved environment. That would mean that the data collected analysed more extraverts and less introverts who would definitely have a bigger allocation of their money on academics. Biological theory has been associated with sensation seekers as observed in most students. These have been associated with high optimal level of epinephrine, norepenephrine and adrenaline. Theorists have found out that the sensation seekers who have high optimal of these chemicals tend to have multiple sexual partners, have more liberal and non conforming attitudes and would engage in drugs and risky sports (Pervin 2005). While no specific theory can convincingly argue for a particular trait and student product behaviour, nonetheless there is a great correlation between the personality and the products that they buy. In conclusion thus personality and external environment play an important role in determining the products that the students are likely to buy. REFERENCES Arnould, E., l. Price, and G. Zinkhan. (2004). Consumers. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Brown, S., R. Kozinets, & J. Sherry. (July 2003). Teaching old brands new tricks: Retro branding and the revival of brand meaning. Journal of Marketing, Vol 67,no 2, pp. 78-93 Carver, C.S., & Scheier, M.F. (2006). Perspectives on Personality. 3rd edn. Needham Heights, MA, Allyn and Bacon. Costa P. T, & McCrae R. R. (1995). Domains and facets: hierarchical personality assessment using the revised NEO personality inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, vol. 64, no.1, pp. 21-50. Gao, L., Wheeler, S., & Shiv, B. (2009). The "Shaken Self": Product Choices as a Means of Restoring Self-View Confidence. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(1), 29-38. Malouff, J. M., Thorsteinsson, E. B., & Schutte, N. S. 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