The marketer must understand the buying behavior involved before committing to a marketing strategy covered in the last article. The consumer buying behavior can be broken up into five decision making steps and the social and psychological determinants.
The decision making steps involved with the consumer buying behavior is problem recognition, research information, evaluate alternatives, pick an alternative, and the optional post purchase. First when a consumer is deciding upon a product or service they will have to recognize the problem. For example, the consumer needs AA batteries. The consumer then will research the information relevant to the product. The consumer will evaluate the available alternatives such as the brand of Duracell or Energizer AA batteries. The consumer will pick between the alternatives and may decide to purchase the same AA batteries the next time they need batteries.
There are many social determinants involved with the consumer buying behavior. The cultural trends, social class, and reference groups will have an influence on your decision making process. Cultural trends refer to the present era you are making the purchase in. For example, during the hippy era hemp became a popular fashion statement. The social class refers to your particular class level. For example, if you’re a white collar worker in upper class you may invest in an expensive watch to flaunt your class level. The reference group refers to the primary, secondary, and aspiration groups of people that influence your decision making process. The primary includes family and friends, secondary includes acquaintances, and aspiration includes role models like teachers and celebrities.
the psychological determinants include attitudes toward particular products. Attitudes are formed by the stimulus-response theory which makes up the initial drive, cue reaction, response, reinforcement or extinction of the decision making process. The initial drive is like when you are driving down a highway and see a billboard advertisement for a restaurant. When you decide your hungry you are reacting and when you get off of the highway you are responding to the advertisement. The experience from eating at the restaurant will decide whether the decision to stop for this restaurant is reinforced and you repeat the decision or extinct the decision to eat there again.
This is the basics of the consumer buying behavior in business. As I’ve stated in previous business articles, we must be educated consumers in order to make the right buying decisions that fit our needs. If you like or dislike a product or service, vote with your wallet.
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