Factors Which Influence Consumer Buying Behavior - Coursework Example

Buyer behavior consumer report Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Executive Summary Consumer buying behavior is an important aspect in the marketing function. This report discussed that understanding the factors which influence the decision of the consumer helps in formulating a marketing strategy which will improve the performance of the organization through customer satisfaction. The report further discussed the various factors which influence the decisions making process by the consumer. The internal factors discussed which influence the consumer while making a decision to buy includes perception, learning, motivation, personality and attitude. On the other hand, the report discussed the external factors which influence and they include group influence, social class and culture of the consumer. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Internal factors influencing the buyer’s decision making 4 The External Factors 6 Recommendations 7 Conclusion 8 Introduction For any marketing function to be effective, the marketing manager should be able to understand the buying behavior of the customers. This is important because it helps to develop a marketing strategy which could improve the experience of the customers. In understanding the buying behavior of the customers, the marketing manager should be able to assess the factors which influence the behavior of the customers (Belch & Belch 2001). These factors can be internal or external but both influences the behavior of the customers. The importance of understanding the buying behavior of the customers is that it helps the marketing manager to effectively strategize on how to improve the satisfaction of the customers. In this regard therefore, this report will discuss the internal and external factors which influence the buying behavior of the customers regarding buying a jeep car. It also provides recommendations on how to improve the marketing function. Internal factors influencing the buyer’s decision making The first factor which influences buyer’s decision making is the perception of the customers. Perception is the way the product is being received by the customer when the marketing is done. It influences the customer’s decision making in that if the perception of the customer is good, then the buyer will make a decision to buy the product, but if the perception of the customer is negative, then the buyer will not make a decision of buying the brand (Belch & Belch 2001). The customer will buy the Jeep car if he perceives it well and thinks that the shoe brand can satisfy his needs. The perception of the brand can be influenced by a number of factors such as the marketing strategy and the attractiveness of the message being passed across. Another internal factor which affects buyer’s decision making is learning. This is the process of acquiring new knowledge which can change the long term memory of the customer. Through learning, a consumer can be influenced while making a buying decision (Blackwell & Engel 2006). In the first place, learning can be acquiring the information about the culture of the buyer. When the consumer understands his or her culture, he will be able to make a decision whether to buy the product or not. In addition, learning through experience can determine the behavior of the consumer. If from the past experience the customer was satisfed with the product, he will make a decision to buy the product again since it satisfies his need. The most common types of learning include conditioning learning and cognitive learning (Blackwell & Engel 2006). When learning, the strength of learning is influenced by the value the consumer places on learning and the involvement of the consumer which could be high or low and finally the reinforcement placed to improve the learning process. In addition, motivation also influences the decision making process of the consumer. There are a number of motivational theories which influence the buyer’s decision making. There is Maslow hierarchy of needs which explains that human beings make decisions which are influenced by the satisfaction of the various needs like the basic needs. There is also McGuire’s Psychological motive theory which breaks down the satisfaction of the human needs into specific like cognitive motives and affective motives which influence the decisions of the consumer. For instance, a consumer can be motivated to make a decision to buy a product which could satisfy his physiological needs after which the consumer can be motivated to make a decision to buy a product which can satisfy his safety needs (Kuester 2012). In this regard therefore, a consumer could not make a decision to buy a product which can satisfy the needs of the next level before satisfying the basic needs thus Maslow theory of motivation influence the consumer decision making process. Same case applies to McGuire’s Psychological motive theory where the decision of the consumer could be influenced by the various motives identified like growth motive. For instance, a consumer could not make a decision to buy a Jeep car before satisfying the basic needs like food shelter and clothing. Moreover, personality can also influence the consumer while making a buying decision. These are the internal traits which influence the behavior of the consumer. The first personality trait which influences the behavior of the consumer is the extroversion which is the trait that influences if the consumer could like to be associated with a group of people or not (Kuester 2012). Instability on the other hand determines the mood of the consumer which determines if the consumer is attracted by the product or not hence influencing the decision of the consumer. Emotions can also influence the decision of the consumer. Emotions are the feelings which influence the behavior of the consumer. A consumer can make a decision out of emotions. For instance, if a consumer is activated or is excited, he will make a decision to buy a product out of the emotions and if the consumer is bored, he can make a decision to buy a product which could improve his moods (Khosla 2010). For instance, if a consumer is excited he will make a decision to buy a product to present it as a gift. When a student passes the exam, he or she can be excited and will buy a gift for the teacher and the parents as well. Finally, the attitude also influences the decision making process by a consumer. Attitude determines the reaction of a consumer towards a product. A consumer will develop a positive attitude towards a product if he beliefs the product has the attributes to satisfy his desires (Kotler & Chernes 2012). The affective component determines the feelings of the consumer towards the product while behavioral component determines the way a consumer responds towards a certain product and this influence the decision making process of the consumer. The External Factors The external factors which influence the decision of the consumer include the group influences. A group is the association of two or more people. A reference group can influence the behavior of the consumer. Some consumers could like to be associated with some reference groups. The behavior of the reference group can influence the decision made by the consumer (Shimp 2003). For instance, if a consumer is a fan of Arsenal football club, he will buy shirts which are labeled Arsenal because the Arsenal fans wear the kind of shirts. In this instance, the referent group has influenced the decision being made by the consumer to buy the shirts. This is possible because the group member will have to behave and practice norms which are in relation to the group and also the culture of the group. The reference groups influence the consumption process of the consumer. This is because an individual will want to be associated the product which best fits the reference group (Kuester 2012). For instance, if the reference group is a group of professors and almost all of them drive Jeep car, this will influence other professors also to buy the Jeep. This is because the reference group of the consumer is fond of using the car, all the consumers who belong to this group or who will want to be associated with this group will buy the product which best fits the group like the other group members. The group therefore influences the decision making process by a consumer. Communication in a group can be through word of mouth where the group members learn the importance of certain product from the experience of other members (Kuester 2012). Communication can also be through opinion leaders where there are some individuals who provide information to the group members about the product for instance Jeep car. This information then influences the decision making process by other group members. On the other hand, culture and social class influences the behavior of the consumers. The consumer will make a decision to buy a product which depending on the social class. There are various social classes which consumers belong to. The social classes can be segmented according to the occupation, education level and ownership (Shimp 2003). A consumer will make a decision to buy a product which can best fit in the social class he belongs to. For instance, a civil servant can make a decision to buy a house which is equivalent to what other civil servants live in. In this regard, therefore, the different social classes influence the decision making process of the consumer. People who are highly educated for example will buy Jeep car unlike other consumers who are not highly educated (Shimp 2003). This is because the income level is different, hence the educated consumers can earn more than what the less educated consumers earn. In this effect, the education level can influence a consumer to buy the car in line with what his education level demands. Recommendations In order to improve the marketing function in an organization, the marketing manager should conduct market research in order to determine the changes in the business environment. This will help to supplement the factors influencing the buyer when making a decision to develop an effective marketing strategy. Moreover, the marketing manager should segment the market into various segments. This will help to ensure that the needs of the different market segments have been met and this will improve the marketing function of the organization. Conclusion It is important for the marketing manager to understand the factors which influence the decision making process of the consumer. This is important as it helps the marketing manager to develop effective marketing strategies which influence the behavior of the consumers. The internal factors which influence the decisions made by the consumer include perception of the consumer about the product, learning process, motivation and personality as well as attitude. The external factors include group influence and culture. References Belch, E & Belch, A 2001, Advertising and Promotion, 5th edn, McGraw Hill Irwin, New York. Blackwell, M & Engel, R 2006, Consumer Behaviour, 10th Ed., Thomson Learning. Kuester, S 2012, MKT 301: Strategic Marketing & Marketing in Specific Industry Contexts, University of Mannheim. Khosla, S 2010, "Consumer psychology: The essence of Marketing", International Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 220–220. Kotler, P & Chernes, A 2012, Strategic Marketing Management, McGraw Hill. Shimp, A 2003, Advertising and Promotion, 6th edn, Thompson, USA. Read More