Factors Impacting Consumer's Decision of Buying a Car - Assignment Example

Impacts of internal and external factors on consumer decision of buying a car Name of Student Institution affiliation Introduction The main objective of this research is to find out how internal and external factors influence the decision of a person to make a major purchase. Consumer behavior is a psychological process a consumer undergoes in recognizing needs, looking for the ways to solve the needs, make decision on what to purchase (that is, whether or not to purchase a product, the brand to be purchased and where to make the purchase), internalize information, make plans, and implementation of the plans (being involved in making comparisons of the selling stores of the brand and making the purchase) (Maniard et al., 1992). For my case, I am going to analyze how these factors made Mr. Parker, an American and a manager of one of the top companies in the country, came up with a decision of purchasing his new BMW, V6. Many at times, we tend to ignore the impact of culture in our decision making process but in real sense, it has a great impact. For instance, an American cannot make a purchase without bargaining with several store owners in order to come up with the best bargain (Solvic 1995). Likewise, physical factors influence our behavior. Moreover, a self-imageof a person is also a determinant of what we purchase. Social factors cannot also be neglected. This is because most of the time we tend to buy things because some people in our inner circle have them or some people whom we admire or we take as role models have them (Solomon, 1999). Decision making process and Consumer choice The consumer decision making process contains several steps. The steps are; problem recognition, search of information, evaluation of alternatives, and finally the purchase. However, post purchase stage can also be included if a customer finds out that the product is not satisfactory and meeting the expectations.In reality, these stages can overlap where a consumer can go back and forth between the steps (Hoyer & MacInnis,2001). For instance, a person can go back to alternative identification when already he is evaluating a known alternative. Moreover, the consumer involvement tends to vary with the kind of product. Generally, the involvement is higher for expensive products like car and house or if theproduct is of high significance to the life of the consumer (for example word processing program). Internal influences that affect consumer choice The recognition internal factors that influence consumer behavior are vital. These factors are intangible but play a very significant role in the decision making process of a consumer and most importantly, the buying scenario. Concepts which include perception, learning and memory, motivation, personality, attitudes and emotions are considered the internal factors. The combination of external and internalfactors leads to the formation of lifestyle and habits which are the ultimate prime basis of the general consumer actions and behaviors. Perception This refers to how a product or a brand is perceived by the consumer who is interested in purchasing it (Solomon et al., 2004). These include the sublime perceptions or those that are obviously known by the consumer (Rath et al., 2008). Exposure, interpretation, attention, and memory are the four review stages that a consumer has to go through. Exposure refers to the magnitude of chances the consumer has encountered or seen the brand. This can be through the internet, newspaper advertisements, and media. The attention perception refers s to the amount of time the consumer dedicates whenever he comes across information regarding the brand. In this case, Mr. Parker confessed that he was ever interested in the BMW V6 model following its adverts in the media, internet and newspapers. Moreover, he paid a lot of attention to the adverts and took his time to learn the advantages and limitations of the vehicle not forgetting the functionality. He added that he dedicated at least an hour a day to look for new information regarding the model in the internet or the newspapers. Learning This is a significant internal influencer on decisions made by consumers. Theseare the conscious and subconscious processing of information that alters memory and behavior. The level a consumer involves himself in learning depends on the size and importance of the purchase(Best et al., 2004). Mr. Parker admits he took his time to learn about the model of the vehicle since it would cost him a fortune hence and he wanted to spend on something he knew very well. Also the advertisements that were being brought in the media by the marketers’ help the information about the car are in his long-term memory. Motivation Motivation is the force behind the purpose and activates behavior (Best et al., 2004). Hence it is the construct that initiates or stimulates behavior. Sheth et al. (1999) argue that drive/arousal and goal-object are the two major component of motivation To achieve the goal of finding the motivating factors, the Means-End chainsis used, wherein the logical progression of consequences of a product are considered as they lead to the end benefit that is needed.. Mr. Parker joined the company as a foreman and now that he was promoted to the production manager position, his salary was increased. This made him move some forward steps as far as class is concerned. This is when he realized that he needed a better car to fit his social class; also he needed a new car to replace his Toyota RAV4 which was not accelerating well. Personality Personality plays a major role in the internal consumer behavior. A person’s lifestyle and characteristics are usually reflected in their purchase. Consumers also purchase products in order to improve or boost their personality(Best et al., 2004). For this case, Mr. Parker admits that he came to a decision of buying the BMW in order to boost his personality given that he was promoted in his working place and therefore the people around him were going to change hence, he wanted to be in, if not the same level, then not far with them. Attitude This is the description of the way a person feels about an aspect in the environment around him. Attitude to the greater extent cuts across all the internal and the external factors. Attitude is a normally used to foresee the consumer behavior or purchase pattern of a consumer since they are semi-permanent and can take some time to change (Sheth et al., 2004) .In this research I found out that, Mr. Parker saw BMW as a car with big engine, hence fast acceleration, which makes him have a feeling of performance, power, and hence would improve his self-esteem. External factors These are elements that constitute to human behavior motivation that arise from outside sources (Rath et al., 2008). These elements include: culture, family status, social life, demography and marketing activities. Culture Cultural influences have often been taken for granted when analyzing consumer decision. However it is a very important aspect and major element in consumer decision.Culture includes art, beliefs, morality, knowledge, laws, value systems, customs, traditions, habits and other human capabilities members of a society can acquire (Best et al., 2004). Solomon et.al (2004) furtherargues that culture determines the guidelines or boundaries of actions and behaviors there are accepted and common place, or norms. Culture therefore helps in consumers’decision to make a purchase in one particular store and not the other. Mr. Parker admits that since he is an American, and Americans are associated with making bargains in more than one store, he is not an exception. He went to several stores to inquire about their prices before settling on one store where he purchased his car. Group In the consumer behavior arena, groups play a very influential role. A person can call upon his favored group or a group of those whom he favors most to help him I his purchase decisions. This is a group a person can base his behaviors on and can also be those whom he admires or are role models (Moorthy et al, 1997). Mr. Parker affirmed that for him to come to a conclusion to buy the car, he was influenced by Mr. Morris, a technical director in the same company he works in. Mr. Morris is one of his best friends and owns the same model of BMW car. Ever since he joined the company, he ever worked to emulate him since he is a hardworking guy. Also his decision was influenced by a circle of friends who convinced him that the car model will suit him, his social status and family. Conclusion In conclusion, the consumer choice is not a one stop thing but includes stages and factors that drive it. The factors are internal and external hence depends on the consumer himself and the people or the environment that surrounds him. We can see that Mr. Parker came to a decision of purchasing his BMW car after numerous analysis and dedication. The issue of boosting his personality as a result of changed social status and improvement in position were the major motivators. Also the way he perceived the car model made him make the choice. The external factors like his American culture and the group that he is associated with were also significant in his choice. References Best, R., Coney, K., & Hawkins, D. (2004).Consumer behavior: Building marketing strategy (9thed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Cohen, M. (2006).Why customers do what they do: Who they are, why they buy, and how you can anticipate their every move. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies. Hoyer, W. D., & MacInnis, D. J. (2001). Consumer behavior. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Miniard, W., Deepak S, and Daniel, I (1992), “Peripheral Persuasion and Brand Choice,” Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (2), 226–39. Moorthy, S., Ratchford, B. and Talukdar, D. (1997). Consumer information search re-visited. Journal of Consumer Research, 23 (4), 263-277. Rath, P., Bay, S., Petrizzi, R., & Gill, P. (2008). The why of the buy: Consumer behavior and fashion marketing. New York: Fairchild Books, Inc. 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