my buying behavior essay

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3.1 Factors That Influence Consumers’ Buying Behavior

Learning objectives.

• Describe the personal and psychological factors that may influence what consumers buy and when they buy it.
• Explain what marketing professionals can do to influence consumers’ behavior.
• Explain how looking at lifestyle information helps firms understand what consumers want to purchase.
• Explain how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs works.
• Explain how culture, subcultures, social classes, families, and reference groups affect consumers’ buying behavior.

You’ve been a consumer with purchasing power for much longer than you probably realize—since the first time you were asked which cereal or toy you wanted. Over the years, you’ve developed rules of thumb or mental shortcuts providing a systematic way to choose among alternatives, even if you aren’t aware of it. Other consumers follow a similar process, but different people, no matter how similar they are, make different purchasing decisions. You might be very interested in purchasing a Smart Car, but your best friend might want to buy a Ford F-150 truck. What factors influenced your decision and what factors influenced your friend’s decision?

As we mentioned earlier in the chapter, consumer behavior is influenced by many things, including environmental and marketing factors, the situation, personal and psychological factors, family, and culture. Businesses try to figure out trends so they can reach the people most likely to buy their products in the most cost-effective way possible. Businesses often try to influence a consumer’s behavior with things they can control such as the layout of a store, music, grouping and availability of products, pricing, and advertising. While some influences may be temporary and others are long lasting, different factors can affect how buyers behave—whether they influence you to make a purchase, buy additional products, or buy nothing at all. Let’s now look at some of the influences on consumer behavior in more detail.

Situational Factors

Have you ever been in a department story and couldn’t find your way out? No, you aren’t necessarily directionally challenged. Marketing professionals take physical factors such as a store’s design and layout into account when they are designing their facilities. Presumably, the longer you wander around a facility, the more you will spend. Grocery stores frequently place bread and milk products on the opposite ends of the stores because people often need both types of products. To buy both, they have to walk around an entire store, which of course, is loaded with other items they might see and purchase.

Store locations also influence behavior. Starbucks has done a good job in terms of locating its stores. It has the process down to a science; you can scarcely drive a few miles down the road without passing a Starbucks. You can also buy cups of Starbucks coffee at many grocery stores and in airports—virtually any place where there is foot traffic.

Physical factors that firms can control, such as the layout of a store, music played at stores, the lighting, temperature, and even the smells you experience are called atmospherics . Perhaps you’ve visited the office of an apartment complex and noticed how great it looked and even smelled. It’s no coincidence. The managers of the complex were trying to get you to stay for a while and have a look at their facilities. Research shows that “strategic fragrancing” results in customers staying in stores longer, buying more, and leaving with better impressions of the quality of stores’ services and products. Mirrors near hotel elevators are another example. Hotel operators have found that when people are busy looking at themselves in the mirrors, they don’t feel like they are waiting as long for their elevators (Moore, 2008).

Not all physical factors are under a company’s control, however. Take weather, for example. Rainy weather can be a boon to some companies, like umbrella makers such as Totes, but a problem for others. Beach resorts, outdoor concert venues, and golf courses suffer when it is raining heavily. Businesses such as automobile dealers also have fewer customers. Who wants to shop for a car in the rain?

Firms often attempt to deal with adverse physical factors such as bad weather by offering specials during unattractive times. For example, many resorts offer consumers discounts to travel to beach locations during hurricane season. Having an online presence is another way to cope with weather-related problems. What could be more comfortable than shopping at home? If it’s raining too hard to drive to the GAP, REI, or Abercrombie & Fitch, you can buy products from these companies and many others online. You can shop online for cars, too, and many restaurants take orders online and deliver.

Crowding is another situational factor. Have you ever left a store and not purchased anything because it was just too crowded? Some studies have shown that consumers feel better about retailers who attempt to prevent overcrowding in their stores. However, other studies have shown that to a certain extent, crowding can have a positive impact on a person’s buying experience. The phenomenon is often referred to as “herd behavior” (Gaumer & Leif, 2005).

If people are lined up to buy something, you want to know why. Should you get in line to buy it too? Herd behavior helped drive up the price of houses in the mid-2000s before the prices for them rapidly fell. Unfortunately, herd behavior has also led to the deaths of people. In 2008, a store employee was trampled to death by an early morning crowd rushing into a Walmart to snap up holiday bargains.

Social Situation

The social situation you’re in can significantly affect your purchase behavior. Perhaps you have seen Girl Scouts selling cookies outside grocery stores and other retail establishments and purchased nothing from them, but what if your neighbor’s daughter is selling the cookies? Are you going to turn her down or be a friendly neighbor and buy a box (or two)?

Thin Mints, Anyone?

(click to see video)

Are you going to turn down cookies from this cute Girl Scout? What if she’s your neighbor’s daughter? Pass the milk, please!

Companies like Pampered Chef that sell their products at parties understand that the social situation makes a difference. When you’re at a friend’s Pampered Chef party, you don’t want to look cheap or disappoint your friend by not buying anything. Certain social situations can also make you less willing to buy products. You might spend quite a bit of money each month eating at fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s and Subway. Where do you take someone for your first date? Some people might take a first date to Subway, but other people would perhaps choose a restaurant that’s more upscale. Likewise, if you have turned down a drink or dessert on a date because you were worried about what the person you were with might have thought, your consumption was affected by your social situation (Matilla & Wirtz, 2008).

The time of day, time of year, and how much time consumers feel like they have to shop affect what they buy. Researchers have even discovered whether someone is a “morning person” or “evening person” affects shopping patterns. Have you ever gone to the grocery store when you are hungry or after pay day when you have cash in your pocket? When you are hungry or have cash, you may purchase more than you would at other times. Seven-Eleven Japan is a company that’s extremely in tune to time and how it affects buyers. The company’s point-of-sale systems at its checkout counters monitor what is selling well and when, and stores are restocked with those items immediately—sometimes via motorcycle deliveries that zip in and out of traffic along Japan’s crowded streets. The goal is to get the products on the shelves when and where consumers want them. Seven-Eleven Japan also knows that, like Americans, its customers are “time starved.” Shoppers can pay their utility bills, local taxes, and insurance or pension premiums at Seven-Eleven Japan stores, and even make photocopies (Bird, 2002).

Companies worldwide are aware of people’s lack of time and are finding ways to accommodate them. Some doctors’ offices offer drive-through shots for patients who are in a hurry and for elderly patients who find it difficult to get out of their cars. Tickets.com allows companies to sell tickets by sending them to customers’ mobile phones when they call in. The phones’ displays are then read by barcode scanners when the ticket purchasers arrive at the events they’re attending. Likewise, if you need customer service from Amazon.com, there’s no need to wait on the telephone. If you have an account with Amazon, you just click a button on the company’s Web site and an Amazon representative calls you immediately.

Reason for the Purchase

The reason you are shopping also affects the amount of time you will spend shopping. Are you making an emergency purchase? What if you need something for an important dinner or a project and only have an hour to get everything? Are you shopping for a gift or for a special occasion? Are you buying something to complete a task/project and need it quickly? In recent years, emergency clinics have sprung up in strip malls all over the country. Convenience is one reason. The other is sheer necessity. If you cut yourself and you are bleeding badly, you’re probably not going to shop around much to find the best clinic. You will go to the one that’s closest to you. The same thing may happen if you need something immediately.

Purchasing a gift might not be an emergency situation, but you might not want to spend much time shopping for it either. Gift certificates have been popular for years. You can purchase gift cards for numerous merchants at your local grocery store or online. By contrast, suppose you need to buy an engagement ring. Sure, you could buy one online in a jiffy, but you probably wouldn’t do that. What if the diamond was fake? What if your significant other turned you down and you had to return the ring? How hard would it be to get back online and return the ring? (Hornik & Miniero, 2009)

Have you ever felt like going on a shopping spree? At other times wild horses couldn’t drag you to a mall. People’s moods temporarily affect their spending patterns. Some people enjoy shopping. It’s entertaining for them. At the extreme are compulsive spenders who get a temporary “high” from spending.

A sour mood can spoil a consumer’s desire to shop. The crash of the U.S. stock market in 2008 left many people feeling poorer, leading to a dramatic downturn in consumer spending. Penny pinching came into vogue, and conspicuous spending was out. Costco and Walmart experienced heightened sales of their low-cost Kirkland Signature and Great Value brands as consumers scrimped 1 . Saks Fifth Avenue wasn’t so lucky. Its annual release of spring fashions usually leads to a feeding frenzy among shoppers, but spring 2009 was different. “We’ve definitely seen a drop-off of this idea of shopping for entertainment,” says Kimberly Grabel, Saks Fifth Avenue’s senior vice president of marketing (Rosenbloom, 2009). To get buyers in the shopping mood, companies resorted to different measures. The upscale retailer Neiman Marcus began introducing more mid-priced brands. By studying customer’s loyalty cards, the French hypermarket Carrefour hoped to find ways to get its customers to purchase nonfood items that have higher profit margins.

The glum mood wasn’t bad for all businesses though. Discounters like Half-Priced books saw their sales surge. So did seed sellers as people began planting their own gardens. Finally, what about those products (Aqua Globes, Snuggies, and Ped Eggs) you see being hawked on television? Their sales were the best ever. Apparently, consumers too broke to go on vacation or shop at Saks were instead watching television and treating themselves to the products (Ward, 2009).

Personal Factors

Personality and self-concept.

Personality describes a person’s disposition, helps show why people are different, and encompasses a person’s unique traits. The “Big Five” personality traits that psychologists discuss frequently include openness or how open you are to new experiences, conscientiousness or how diligent you are, extraversion or how outgoing or shy you are, agreeableness or how easy you are to get along with, and neuroticism or how prone you are to negative mental states.

Do personality traits predict people’s purchasing behavior? Can companies successfully target certain products to people based on their personalities? How do you find out what personalities consumers have? Are extraverts wild spenders and introverts penny pinchers?

The link between people’s personalities and their buying behavior is somewhat unclear. Some research studies have shown that “sensation seekers,” or people who exhibit extremely high levels of openness, are more likely to respond well to advertising that’s violent and graphic. The problem for firms is figuring out “who’s who” in terms of their personalities.

Marketers have had better luck linking people’s self-concepts to their buying behavior. Your self-concept is how you see yourself—be it positive or negative. Your ideal self is how you would like to see yourself—whether it’s prettier, more popular, more eco-conscious, or more “goth,” and others’ self-concept, or how you think others see you, also influences your purchase behavior. Marketing researchers believe people buy products to enhance how they feel about themselves—to get themselves closer to their ideal selves.

The slogan “Be All That You Can Be,” which for years was used by the U.S. Army to recruit soldiers, is an attempt to appeal to the self-concept. Presumably, by joining the U.S. Army, you will become a better version of yourself, which will, in turn, improve your life. Many beauty products and cosmetic procedures are advertised in a way that’s supposed to appeal to the ideal self people seek. All of us want products that improve our lives.

Gender, Age, and Stage of Life

While demographic variables such as income, education, and marital status are important, we will look at gender, age, and stage of life and how they influence purchase decisions. Men and women need and buy different products (Ward & Thuhang, 2007). They also shop differently and in general, have different attitudes about shopping. You know the old stereotypes. Men see what they want and buy it, but women “try on everything and shop ‘til they drop.” There’s some truth to the stereotypes. That’s why you see so many advertisements directed at one sex or the other—beer commercials that air on ESPN and commercials for household products that air on Lifetime. Women influence fully two-thirds of all household product purchases, whereas men buy about three-quarters of all alcoholic beverages (Schmitt, 2008). The shopping differences between men and women seem to be changing, though. Younger, well-educated men are less likely to believe grocery shopping is a woman’s job and would be more inclined to bargain shop and use coupons if the coupons were properly targeted at them (Hill & Harmon, 2007). One survey found that approximately 45 percent of married men actually like shopping and consider it relaxing.

One study by Resource Interactive, a technology research firm, found that when shopping online, men prefer sites with lots of pictures of products and women prefer to see products online in lifestyle context—say, a lamp in a living room. Women are also twice as likely as men to use viewing tools such as the zoom and rotate buttons and links that allow them to change the color of products.

What Women Want versus What Men Want

Check out this Heineken commercial, which highlights the differences between “what women want” and “what men want” when it comes to products.

Marketing to men is big business. Some advertising agencies specialize in advertisements designed specifically to appeal to male consumers.

Kimberly – Grandpa Reading – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Many businesses today are taking greater pains to figure out “what men want.” Products such as face toners and body washes for men such as the Axe brand and hair salons such as the Men’s Zone and Weldon Barber are a relatively new phenomenon. Some advertising agencies specialize in advertising directed at men. There are also many products such as kayaks and mountain bikes targeted toward women that weren’t in the past.

You have probably noticed that the things you buy have changed as you age. Think about what you wanted and how you spent five dollars when you were a child, a teenager, and an adult. When you were a child, the last thing you probably wanted as a gift was clothing. As you became a teen, however, cool clothes probably became a bigger priority. Don’t look now, but depending on the stage of life you’re currently in, diapers and wrinkle cream might be just around the corner.

If you’re single and working after graduation, you probably spend your money differently than a newly married couple. How do you think spending patterns change when someone has a young child or a teenager or a child in college? Diapers and day care, orthodontia, tuition, electronics—regardless of the age, children affect the spending patterns of families. Once children graduate from college and parents are empty nesters, spending patterns change again.

Empty nesters and baby boomers are a huge market that companies are trying to tap. Ford and other car companies have created “aging suits” for young employees to wear when they’re designing automobiles 2 . The suit simulates the restricted mobility and vision people experience as they get older. Car designers can then figure out how to configure the automobiles to better meet the needs of these consumers.

Car Makers Design Special Aging Suit

The “aging suit” has elastic bindings that hamper a car designer’s movement and goggles that simulate deteriorating eyesight. The suit gives the designer an idea what kinds of car-related challenges older consumers face.

Lisa Rudes Sandel, the founder of Not Your Daughter’s Jeans (NYDJ), created a multimillion-dollar business by designing jeans for baby boomers with womanly bodies. Since its launch seven years ago, NYDJ has become the largest domestic manufacturer of women’s jeans under $100. “The truth is,” Rudes Sandel says, “I’ve never forgotten that woman I’ve been aiming for since day one.” Rudes Sandel “speaks to” every one of her customers via a note tucked into each pair of jean that reads, “NYDJ (Not Your Daughter’s Jeans) cannot be held responsible for any positive consequence that may arise due to your fabulous appearance when wearing the Tummy Tuck jeans. You can thank me later” (Saffian, 2009).

You’re only as old as you feel—and the things you buy.

Viola Ng – – CC BY-ND 2.0.

Your chronological age , or actual age in years, is one thing. Your cognitive age , or how old you perceive yourself to be, is another. A person’s cognitive age affects his or her activities and sparks interests consistent with his or her perceived age (Barak & Gould, 1985). Cognitive age is a significant predictor of consumer behaviors, including people’s dining out, watching television, going to bars and dance clubs, playing computer games, and shopping (Barak & Gould, 1985). Companies have found that many consumers feel younger than their chronological age and don’t take kindly to products that feature “old folks” because they can’t identify with them.

If you have ever watched the television show Wife Swap , you can see that despite people’s similarities (e.g., being middle-class Americans who are married with children), their lifestyles can differ radically. To better understand and connect with consumers, companies interview or ask people to complete questionnaires about their lifestyles or their activities, interests, and opinions (often referred to as AIO statements). Consumers are not only asked about products they like, where they live, and what their gender is but also about what they do—that is, how they spend their time and what their priorities, values, opinions, and general outlooks on the world are. Where do they go other than work? Who do they like to talk to? What do they talk about? Researchers hired by Procter & Gamble have gone so far as to follow women around for weeks as they shop, run errands, and socialize with one another (Berner, 2006). Other companies have paid people to keep a daily journal of their activities and routines.

A number of research organizations examine lifestyle and psychographic characteristics of consumers. Psychographics combines the lifestyle traits of consumers and their personality styles with an analysis of their attitudes, activities, and values to determine groups of consumers with similar characteristics. One of the most widely used systems to classify people based on psychographics is the VALS (Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles) framework. Using VALS to combine psychographics with demographic information such as marital status, education level, and income provide a better understanding of consumers.

Psychological Factors

Motivation is the inward drive we have to get what we need. In the mid-1900s, Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, developed the hierarchy of needs shown in Figure 3.4 “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” .

Figure 3.4 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow theorized that people have to fulfill their basic needs—food, water, and sleep—before they can begin fulfilling higher-level needs. Have you ever gone shopping when you were tired or hungry? Even if you were shopping for something that would make you the envy of your friends (maybe a new car) you probably wanted to sleep or eat even more. (Forget the car. Just give me a nap and a candy bar.)

The need for food is recurring. Other needs, such as shelter, clothing, and safety, tend to be enduring. Still other needs arise at different points in time in a person’s life. For example, during grade school and high school, your social needs probably rose to the forefront. You wanted to have friends and get a date. Perhaps this prompted you to buy certain types of clothing or electronic devices. After high school, you began thinking about how people would view you in your “station” in life, so you decided to pay for college and get a professional degree, thereby fulfilling your need for esteem . If you’re lucky, at some point you will realize Maslow’s state of self-actualization . You will believe you have become the person in life that you feel you were meant to be.

Following the economic crisis that began in 2008, the sales of new automobiles dropped sharply virtually everywhere around the world—except the sales of Hyundai vehicles. Hyundai understood that people needed to feel secure and safe and ran an ad campaign that assured car buyers they could return their vehicles if they couldn’t make the payments on them without damaging their credit. Seeing Hyundai’s success, other carmakers began offering similar programs. Likewise, banks began offering “worry-free” mortgages to ease the minds of would-be homebuyers. For a fee of about $500, First Mortgage Corp., a Texas-based bank, offered to make a homeowner’s mortgage payment for six months if he or she got laid off (Jares, 2010).

While achieving self-actualization may be a goal for many individuals in the United States, consumers in Eastern cultures may focus more on belongingness and group needs. Marketers look at cultural differences in addition to individual needs. The importance of groups affects advertising (using groups versus individuals) and product decisions.

Perception is how you interpret the world around you and make sense of it in your brain. You do so via stimuli that affect your different senses—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. How you combine these senses also makes a difference. For example, in one study, consumers were blindfolded and asked to drink a new brand of clear beer. Most of them said the product tasted like regular beer. However, when the blindfolds came off and they drank the beer, many of them described it as “watery” tasting (Ries, 2009).

Consumers are bombarded with messages on television, radio, magazines, the Internet, and even bathroom walls. The average consumer is exposed to about three thousand advertisements per day (Lasn, 1999). Consumers are surfing the Internet, watching television, and checking their cell phones for text messages simultaneously. Some, but not all, information makes it into our brains. Selecting information we see or hear (e.g., television shows or magazines) is called selective exposure.

Have you ever read or thought about something and then started noticing ads and information about it popping up everywhere? Many people are more perceptive to advertisements for products they need. Selective attention is the process of filtering out information based on how relevant it is to you. It’s been described as a “suit of armor” that helps you filter out information you don’t need. At other times, people forget information, even if it’s quite relevant to them, which is called selective retention . Often the information contradicts the person’s belief. A longtime chain smoker who forgets much of the information communicated during an antismoking commercial is an example. To be sure their advertising messages get through to you and you remember them, companies use repetition. How tired of iPhone commercials were you before they tapered off? How often do you see the same commercial aired during a single television show?

Another potential problem that advertisers (or your friends) may experience is selective distortion or misinterpretation of the intended message. Promotions for weight loss products show models that look slim and trim after using their products, and consumers may believe they will look like the model if they use the product. They misinterpret other factors such as how the model looked before or how long it will take to achieve the results. Similarly, have you ever told someone a story about a friend and that person told another person who told someone else? By the time the story gets back to you, it is completely different. The same thing can happen with many types of messages.

A Parody of an iPhone Commercial

Check out this parody on Apple’s iPhone commercial.

Using surprising stimuli or shock advertising is also a technique that works. One study found that shocking content increased attention, benefited memory, and positively influenced behavior among a group of university students (Dahl, et. al., 2003).

Subliminal advertising is the opposite of shock advertising and involves exposing consumers to marketing stimuli such as photos, ads, and messages by stealthily embedding them in movies, ads, and other media. Although there is no evidence that subliminal advertising works, years ago the words Drink Coca-Cola were flashed for a millisecond on a movie screen. Consumers were thought to perceive the information subconsciously and to be influenced to buy the products shown. Many people considered the practice to be subversive, and in 1974, the Federal Communications Commission condemned it. Much of the original research on subliminal advertising, conducted by a researcher trying to drum up business for his market research firm, was fabricated (Crossen, 2007). People are still fascinated by subliminal advertising, however. To create “buzz” about the television show The Mole in 2008, ABC began hyping it by airing short commercials composed of just a few frames. If you blinked, you missed it. Some television stations actually called ABC to figure out what was going on. One-second ads were later rolled out to movie theaters (Adalian, 2008).

Different consumers perceive information differently. A couple of frames about The Mole might make you want to see the television show. However, your friend might see the ad, find it stupid, and never tune in to watch the show. One man sees Pledge, an outstanding furniture polish, while another sees a can of spray no different from any other furniture polish. One woman sees a luxurious Gucci purse, and the other sees an overpriced bag to hold keys and makeup (Chartrand, 2009).

Learning refers to the process by which consumers change their behavior after they gain information or experience. It’s the reason you don’t buy a bad product twice. Learning doesn’t just affect what you buy; it affects how you shop. People with limited experience about a product or brand generally seek out more information than people who have used a product before.

Companies try to get consumers to learn about their products in different ways. Car dealerships offer test drives. Pharmaceutical reps leave samples and brochures at doctor’s offices. Other companies give consumers free samples. To promote its new line of coffees, McDonald’s offered customers free samples to try. Have you ever eaten the food samples in a grocery store? While sampling is an expensive strategy, it gets consumers to try the product and many customers buy it, especially right after trying in the store.

Another kind of learning is operant or instrumental conditioning , which is what occurs when researchers are able to get a mouse to run through a maze for a piece of cheese or a dog to salivate just by ringing a bell. In other words, learning occurs through repetitive behavior that has positive or negative consequences. Companies engage in operant conditioning by rewarding consumers, which cause consumers to want to repeat their purchasing behaviors. Prizes and toys that come in Cracker Jacks and McDonald’s Happy Meals, free tans offered with gym memberships, a free sandwich after a certain number of purchases, and free car washes when you fill up your car with a tank of gas are examples.

Another learning process called classical conditioning occurs by associating a conditioned stimulus (CS) with an unconditioned stimulus (US) to get a particular response. The more frequently the CS is linked with the US, the faster learning occurs and this is what advertisers and businesses try to do. Think about a meal at a restaurant where the food was really good and you went with someone special. You like the person and want to go out again. It could be that classical conditioning occurred. That is, the food produced a good feeling and you may associate the person with the food, thus producing a good feeling about the person.

Attitudes are “mental positions” or emotional feelings, favorable or unfavorable evaluations, and action tendencies people have about products, services, companies, ideas, issues, or institutions 3 . Attitudes tend to be enduring, and because they are based on people’s values and beliefs, they are hard to change. Companies want people to have positive feelings about their offerings. A few years ago, KFC began running ads to the effect that fried chicken was healthy—until the U.S. Federal Trade Commission told the company to stop. Wendy’s slogan that its products are “way better than fast food” is another example. Fast food has a negative connotation, so Wendy’s is trying to get consumers to think about its offerings as being better.

An example of a shift in consumers’ attitudes occurred when the taxpayer-paid government bailouts of big banks that began in 2008 provoked the wrath of Americans, creating an opportunity for small banks not involved in the credit bailout and subprime mortgage mess. The Worthington National Bank, a small bank in Fort Worth, Texas, ran billboards reading: “Did Your Bank Take a Bailout? We didn’t.” Another read: “Just Say NO to Bailout Banks. Bank Responsibly!” The Worthington Bank received tens of millions in new deposits soon after running these campaigns (Mantone, 2009).

Societal Factors

Situational factors, personal factors, and psychological factors influence what you buy, but only on a temporary basis. Societal factors are a bit different. They are more outward and have broad influences on your beliefs and the way you do things. They depend on the world around you and how it works.

Culture refers to the shared beliefs, customs, behaviors, and attitudes that characterize a society. Culture is a handed down way of life and is often considered the broadest influence on a consumer’s behavior. Your culture prescribes the way in which you should live and has a huge effect on the things you purchase. For example, in Beirut, Lebanon, women can often be seen wearing miniskirts. If you’re a woman in Afghanistan wearing a miniskirt, however, you could face bodily harm or death. In Afghanistan women generally wear burqas , which cover them completely from head to toe. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, women must wear what’s called an abaya , or long black garment. Interestingly, abayas have become big business in recent years. They come in many styles, cuts, and fabrics and some are encrusted with jewels and cost thousands of dollars. To read about the fashions women in Muslim countries wear, check out the following article: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1210781,00.html .

Even cultures that share many of the same values as the United States can be quite different. Following the meltdown of the financial markets in 2008, countries around the world were pressed by the United States to engage in deficit spending to stimulate the worldwide economy. The plan was a hard sell both to German politicians and to the German people in general. Most Germans don’t own credit cards and running up a lot of debt is something people in that culture generally don’t do. Credit card companies such as Visa, American Express, and MasterCard must understand cultural perceptions about credit.

Subcultures

A subculture is a group of people within a culture who are different from the dominant culture but have something in common with one another such as common interests, vocations or jobs, religions, ethnic backgrounds, and geographic locations. The fastest-growing subculture in the United States consists of people of Hispanic origin, followed by Asian Americans, and African Americans. The purchasing power of U.S. Hispanics continues to grow, exceeding $1 trillion in 2010 4 . Home Depot has launched a Spanish version of its Web site. Walmart is in the process of converting some of its Neighborhood Markets into stores designed to appeal to Hispanics. The Supermarcado de Walmart stores are located in Hispanic neighborhoods and feature elements such as cafés serving Latino pastries and coffee and full meat and fish counters (Birchall, 2009). Marketing products based on the ethnicity of consumers is useful but may become harder to do in the future because the boundaries between ethnic groups are blurring.

Care to join the subculture of the “Otherkin”? Otherkins are primarily Internet users who believe they are reincarnations of mythological or legendary creatures—angels, demons, vampires—you name it. To read more about the Otherkins and seven other bizarre subcultures, visit http://www.oddee.com/item_96676.aspx .

Zior_ – Another Vampire Photo – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Subcultures, such as college students, can develop in response to people’s interests, similarities, and behaviors that allow marketing professionals to design specific products for them. You have probably heard of the hip-hop subculture, people who in engage in extreme types of sports such as helicopter skiing or people who play the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons.

Social Class

A social class is a group of people who have the same social, economic, or educational status in society 5 . While income helps define social class, the primary variable determining social class is occupation. To some degree, consumers in the same social class exhibit similar purchasing behavior. In many countries, people are expected to marry within their own social class. When asked, people tend to say they are middle class, which is not always correct. Have you ever been surprised to find out that someone you knew who was wealthy drove a beat-up old car or wore old clothes and shoes or that someone who isn’t wealthy owns a Mercedes or other upscale vehicle? While some products may appeal to people in a social class, you can’t assume a person is in a certain social class because they either have or don’t have certain products or brands.

Table 3.1 “An Example of Social Classes and Buying Patterns” shows seven classes of American consumers along with the types of car brands they might buy. Keep in mind that the U.S. market is just a fraction of the world market. The rise of the middle class in India and China is creating opportunities for many companies to successfully sustain their products. For example, China has begun to overtake the United States as the world’s largest auto market 6 .

Table 3.1 An Example of Social Classes and Buying Patterns

In a recession when luxury buyers are harder to come by, the makers of upscale brands may want their customer bases to be as large as possible. However, companies don’t want to risk “cheapening” their brands. That’s why, for example, Smart Cars, which are made by BMW, don’t have the BMW label on them. For a time, Tiffany’s sold a cheaper line of silver jewelry to a lot of customers. However, the company later worried that its reputation was being tarnished by the line. Keep in mind that a product’s price is to some extent determined by supply and demand. Luxury brands therefore try to keep the supply of their products in check so their prices remain high.

The whiskey brand Johnnie Walker has managed to expand its market share without cheapening the brand by producing a few lower-priced versions of the whiskey and putting them in bottles with different labels.

Carlos Ayala – Johnnie Walker Black Label – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Some companies, such as Johnnie Walker, have managed to capture market share by introducing “lower echelon” brands without damaging their luxury brands. The company’s whiskeys come in bottles with red, green, blue, black, and gold labels. The blue label is the company’s best product. Every blue-label bottle has a serial number and is sold in a silk-lined box, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity 7 .

Reference Groups and Opinion Leaders

Reference groups are groups (social groups, work groups, family, or close friends) a consumer identifies with and may want to join. They influence consumers’ attitudes and behavior. If you have ever dreamed of being a professional player of basketball or another sport, you have an aspirational reference group. That’s why, for example, Nike hires celebrities such as Michael Jordan to pitch the company’s products. There may also be dissociative groups or groups where a consumer does not want to be associated.

Opinion leaders are people with expertise in certain areas. Consumers respect these people and often ask their opinions before they buy goods and services. An information technology (IT) specialist with a great deal of knowledge about computer brands is an example. These people’s purchases often lie at the forefront of leading trends. The IT specialist is probably a person who has the latest and greatest tech products, and his opinion of them is likely to carry more weight with you than any sort of advertisement.

Today’s companies are using different techniques to reach opinion leaders. Network analysis using special software is one way of doing so. Orgnet.com has developed software for this purpose. Orgnet’s software doesn’t mine sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, though. Instead, it’s based on sophisticated techniques that unearthed the links between Al Qaeda terrorists. Explains Valdis Krebs, the company’s founder: “Pharmaceutical firms want to identify who the key opinion leaders are. They don’t want to sell a new drug to everyone. They want to sell to the 60 key oncologists” (Campbell, 2004).

Most market researchers consider a person’s family to be one of the most important influences on their buying behavior. Like it or not, you are more like your parents than you think, at least in terms of your consumption patterns. Many of the things you buy and don’t buy are a result of what your parents bought when you were growing up. Products such as the brand of soap and toothpaste your parents bought and used, and even the “brand” of politics they leaned toward (Democratic or Republican) are examples of the products you may favor as an adult.

Companies are interested in which family members have the most influence over certain purchases. Children have a great deal of influence over many household purchases. For example, in 2003 nearly half (47 percent) of nine- to seventeen-year-olds were asked by parents to go online to find out about products or services, compared to 37 percent in 2001. IKEA used this knowledge to design their showrooms. The children’s bedrooms feature fun beds with appealing comforters so children will be prompted to identify and ask for what they want 8 .

Marketing to children has come under increasing scrutiny. Some critics accuse companies of deliberately manipulating children to nag their parents for certain products. For example, even though tickets for Hannah Montana concerts ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars, the concerts often still sold out. However, as one writer put it, exploiting “pester power” is not always ultimately in the long-term interests of advertisers if it alienates kids’ parents (Waddell, 2009).

Key Takeaway

• Situational influences are temporary conditions that affect how buyers behave. They include physical factors such as a store’s buying locations, layout, music, lighting, and even scent. Companies try to make the physical factors in which consumers shop as favorable as possible. If they can’t, they utilize other tactics such as discounts. The consumer’s social situation, time factors, the reason for their purchases, and their moods also affect their buying behavior.
• Your personality describes your disposition as other people see it. Market researchers believe people buy products to enhance how they feel about themselves. Your gender also affects what you buy and how you shop. Women shop differently than men. However, there’s some evidence that this is changing. Younger men and women are beginning to shop more alike. People buy different things based on their ages and life stages. A person’s cognitive age is how old one “feels” oneself to be. To further understand consumers and connect with them, companies have begun looking more closely at their lifestyles (what they do, how they spend their time, what their priorities and values are, and how they see the world).
• Psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized that people have to fulfill their basic needs—like the need for food, water, and sleep—before they can begin fulfilling higher-level needs. Perception is how you interpret the world around you and make sense of it in your brain. To be sure their advertising messages get through to you, companies often resort to repetition. Shocking advertising and product placement are two other methods. Learning is the process by which consumers change their behavior after they gain information about or experience with a product. Consumers’ attitudes are the “mental positions” people take based on their values and beliefs. Attitudes tend to be enduring and are often difficult for companies to change.
• Culture prescribes the way in which you should live and affects the things you purchase. A subculture is a group of people within a culture who are different from the dominant culture but have something in common with one another—common interests, vocations or jobs, religions, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and so forth. To some degree, consumers in the same social class exhibit similar purchasing behavior. Most market researchers consider a person’s family to be one of the biggest determinants of buying behavior. Reference groups are groups that a consumer identifies with and wants to join. Companies often hire celebrities to endorse their products to appeal to people’s reference groups. Opinion leaders are people with expertise in certain areas. Consumers respect these people and often ask their opinions before they buy goods and services.

Review Questions

• Explain what physical factors, social situations, time factors, and/or moods have affected your buying behavior for different products.
• Explain how someone’s personality differs from his or her self-concept. How does the person’s ideal self-concept come into play in a consumer behavior context?
• Describe how buying patterns and purchase decisions may vary by age, gender, and stage of life.
• Why are companies interested in consumers’ cognitive ages and lifestyle factors?
• How does the process of perception work and how can companies use it to their advantage in their marketing?
• How do Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and learning affect how companies market to consumers?
• Why do people’s cultures and subcultures affect what they buy?
• How do subcultures differ from cultures? Can you belong to more than one culture or subculture?
• How are companies trying to reach opinion leaders?

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Principles of Marketing Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The goods on consumer behavior

Research by consumer psychologists aims to promote consumers’ well-being in sustainability, health, and money management

Vol. 52 No. 4

• Applied Psychology
• Marketing and Advertising

People’s decisions about how to spend their money can have a huge impact on their own lives and on the planet. Credit card debt, climate change, plastic pollution, dietary choices—all these and more, to some extent, depend on companies’ decisions about what to sell and consumers’ decisions about what to buy.

That’s why some consumer psychologists and researchers in related fields, like marketing and business, are interested in tackling these social issues through the lens of consumerism. Consumer researchers are working to understand how and why consumers make beneficial choices in areas including sustainability, health, and financial well-being. They’re also studying how to convince companies of the value of improving their supply chains or offering customers healthier, more responsible choices.

“Good, responsible scholars are trying to think about not only what is good for individuals but also what is good for society,” said Lynn Kahle, PhD, a consumer psychologist and director of the sports marketing program at Pace University in New York City.

Sustainable consumption

One big challenge facing society is switching over to a more ecologically sustainable way of life. Making sustainable choices can be a tough sell for consumers, said Katherine White, PhD, a consumer psychologist at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia in Canada. “It’s this really interesting trade-off between some kind of cost to the self in order to do something for others,” White said. (A trade-off not dissimilar to many of the public health interventions enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.) The potential benefits of individual sustainable behaviors—recycling, choosing reusable goods, installing solar panels, eating less meat—are fuzzy and in the future, White said, and the status quo is largely set up to enable less-sustainable choices. But to tackle problems like climate change and environmental degradation, both systems and individuals will have to change, she said. “It’s probably the most challenging behavior-change question of our time.”

When consumer psychologists first began studying sustainable behavior in the 1970s, their focus was largely on how to identify consumers who were already prone to go green, said Remi Trudel, PhD, an associate professor of marketing at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Over time, though, researchers have begun to focus on how to influence more people. “The biggest question is, how do we nudge people into behaving more sustainably?” Trudel said.

In a 2019 review, White and her colleagues organized research on the topic into a framework they call SHIFT ( Journal of Marketing , Vol. 83, No. 3, 2019 ). SHIFT stands for social influence, habit formation, individual self, feelings and cognition, and tangibility—each a key factor in whether a consumer makes green (or not-so-green) choices. Social influence is one of the most powerful tools available, White said. For example, a study in California led by New York University Stern School of Business associate professor of marketing Bryan Bollinger, PhD, found that every installation of solar panels on a home in a given ZIP code increased the likelihood of another install by 0.78 percentage points ( Marketing Science , Vol. 31, No. 6, 2012 ).

Habits refer to everyday behaviors, like getting coffee every morning in a disposable cup rather than bringing one’s own mug, White said. Any way to make the greener choice easier can help break unsustainable habits, she said. Individual self refers to what resonates with any given person. It’s relatively easy to connect with individuals who already care about sustainability, White said. But sometimes advertisers, marketers, and companies need to work a little harder to link a person’s preexisting values to sustainability.

For example, religious and cultural values can play a role in how people approach environmental values, said Elizabeth Minton, PhD, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Wyoming. “Western consumers view what’s important as sustaining the family unit, sustaining the community, and sustaining the loved ones,” Minton said. Framing sustainability—protecting the environment—as a way to protect family and community, then, becomes a way for marketers to encourage demand for sustainable products.

Research into feelings and cognition has found complex patterns. Some research suggests that while negative emotions such as guilt can prompt environmentally friendly actions, guilt should be deployed with care. For example, after the United Kingdom instituted a policy of charging a small sum for disposable plastic grocery bags, mass communications researcher Sidharth Muralidharan, PhD, of Southern Methodist University, conducted an online survey that found that women who reported high guilt over forgetting to carry reusable bags were more likely to carry them more consistently, but men with high levels of guilt weren’t, suggesting women were more susceptible to “green guilt” than men. In a follow-up experiment, Muralidharan and his colleagues exposed consumers to guilt-inducing advertisements based around either saving the environment or saving money by carrying reusable bags. They found that the environment-based ads were less effective at inducing guilt than the savings-based ads ( Journal of Advertising Research , Vol. 58, No. 3, 2018 ). In other words, guilt must be directed toward an effective target—which is not always related to sustainability—to work.

Finally, tangibility in the SHIFT framework refers to the need to link an action to real consequences, given that the outcome of any behavior is uncertain, White said. Focusing on the near-term benefits of sustainability, such as preventing current environmental degradation, can help, according to research led by Audhesh Paswan, PhD, a professor of marketing at the University of North Texas ( Journal of Consumer Marketing , Vol. 34, No. 5, 2017 ).

One big question is how younger generations of consumers will approach sustainable consumption. Gen Z—the colloquial term for anyone born between the late 1990s and around 2010—tends to hold consumer brands to high standards, said Brent Coker, PhD, a lecturer in marketing at the University of Melbourne. They’re savvy to marketing strategies and don’t like empty platitudes, he said, which can lead to anger at brands they perceive as doing social (or environmental) harm. However, social media marketing can lead to impulse purchasing in Gen Z, according to research by marketing lecturer Elmira Djafavora, PhD, of Northumbria University Newcastle ( Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services , Vol. 59, 2021), which could feed overconsumption.

Promoting health

Another area where consumers might need to put aside their immediate impulses for long-term benefits is when making health choices. As with sustainability, consumers may well be aware that a choice—such as buying a sugary beverage—isn’t in their ultimate best interest, but still make that choice nonetheless.

“We know that incentives and information don’t always work as well as we would hope them to,” said Leslie John, PhD, who has a doctorate in behavioral decision research and is an associate professor at Harvard Business School. “What I’ve been trying to do is use insights from psychology to make these tools much more effective at actually changing behavior.”

In one study, John and her colleagues explored whether putting warning labels on sugary beverages discourages their purchase. In a real cafeteria setting, the researchers tested three different types of warning labels: One label simply listed the caloric content of the soda. Another read, “Warning: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.” A third label contained the same text but with accompanying images of an obese abdomen, a person self-injecting insulin, and rotten teeth. The researchers found that only the graphic warnings had a statistically significant impact, reducing the share of sugary beverages purchased from 21.4% to 18.2% ( Psychological Science , Vol. 29, No. 8, 2018 ). At the same time, in a result that could incentivize firms as well as policymakers, the study also showed that the warning labels didn’t reduce drink sales overall, as consumers chose to buy bottled water instead.

“They’re still buying something; they’re just buying something healthier,” John said of the consumers in the study.

Food-labeling research often lands at the intersection of politics and science. Christina Roberto, PhD, the director of the Psychology of Eating and Consumer Health (PEACH) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, focuses her research on what she calls “strategic science,” which means that she collaborates with policymakers to develop research questions. For example, in 2018, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health approached Roberto for insights on what kind of label they could use to educate consumers about foods high in salt. Roberto and her colleagues tested a variety of label options for the department, including a saltshaker inside a triangle as required on New York City menus, and a traffic light option with red representing high-salt items. The saltshaker performed the worst in tests of consumer understanding of the symbols, while the traffic light was the clearest. Unfortunately, the traffic light was a legal no-go, Roberto said, because the interpretation of which items got the red light could easily be challenged by food companies in court.

The researchers were also able to show in their data that putting text that read “sodium warning” next to the saltshaker symbol significantly boosted consumer understanding of the label. “We basically said, ‘Look, if you have to compromise and you have to use the saltshaker triangle, at least get the words ‘sodium warning’ next to it,’” she said.

That labeling strategy went into effect in September 2019 in Philadelphia restaurant chains with 15 or more locations. Boosting the potential effectiveness of the warning was a win, Roberto said, because if Philadelphia had used New York’s symbol without changes, that symbol likely would have become the standard for any other cities or states planning to institute sodium warning labels. Now, she said, there is an existing label with a stronger evidence base that new cities can choose to adopt in the future.

Money matters

Consumer psychologists are also tackling big-picture issues in the realm of money management, an area of great interest since many Americans are in precarious financial positions. According to a Congressional Research Service report, unemployment was elevated throughout 2020, peaking at 14.8% in April ( Unemployment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: In Brief, 2021 ). Savings rates rose sharply, however, hitting 33% of people’s disposable incomes that same month as Americans halted their spending. As of February 2021, the savings rate had declined to 13.6% ( Bureau of Economic Analysis , 2020 ).

Researchers tackle consumer spending and saving in multiple ways. One strategy is to study what types of spending make people happiest. On that front, the research is clear: Buying experiences generally makes people happier than buying stuff. Experiential consumption also seems to trigger a greater sense of gratitude than material consumption, and it can even make people more generous to others in lab-based economic games, according to research led by psychologist Jesse Walker, PhD, an assistant professor of marketing at The Ohio State University ( Emotion , Vol. 16, No. 8, 2016 ).

“This is kind of cool because it suggests that these social benefits of experiential consumption don’t just apply to the consumers themselves but to those around them as well,” said Amit Kumar, PhD, a psychologist and assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, who coauthored that research.

Experiential consumption seems to make people happier because it strengthens social ties, Kumar said. People tend to bond over conversations about their trips to Italy more than they do about that new furniture set they bought at Ikea. That’s an important thing to know when weighing how to spend your hard-earned money, Kumar said.

But there can be a dark side to the glow of experiential purchases. People are more willing to go into debt for experiential purchases than for material purchases, according to research by Eesha Sharma, PhD, an associate professor of business administration at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business ( Journal of Consumer Research , Vol. 44, No. 5, 2018 ). This seems to be because experiences are often time-dependent, Sharma said. If you decide to delay the purchase of a dining room table from July until December, it doesn’t feel like you’ve missed out on owning the table. If you delay your summer beach trip from July until December? Well, then you’ve missed summer vacation altogether.

In general, consumers tend to maintain positive illusions about their own money management, said Emily Garbinsky, PhD, a psychologist and assistant professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame. Garbinsky is researching ways to “gently shatter” these illusions at the point at which people make savings decisions, perhaps during the use of banking apps. There is evidence from other research that software nudges can boost real-world savings. For example, a field experiment using TurboTax’s free edition led by Duke University professor of psychology and behavioral economics Dan Ariely, PhD, nudged low- and middle-income tax filers to save a portion of their tax refunds. Compared with a control group that received no messaging, the taxpayers who were presented a message about the importance of emergency savings and given choices of ways to save their refund increased deposits to their savings accounts by 50% ( Behavioral Science & Policy , Vol. 3, No. 2, 2017 ).

Garbinsky’s work also zeroes in on how emotions affect money management decisions. She and her colleagues have found, for example, that couples who share bank accounts are more likely to make utilitarian purchases than hedonic ones, in contrast with couples who keep separate bank accounts ( Journal of Consumer Psychology , Vol. 29, No. 3, 2019 ). These results held in both lab and field experiments, as well as in analyses of real banking transactions. Other research under review suggests that couples who pool finances may have more relationship satisfaction, though the findings are correlational.

Often, consumer researchers study single decisions, such as how much money people save or how much debt they’re willing to take on—but money decisions don’t occur in a vacuum, Sharma said. If you’re borrowing money to save more for retirement, for example, it might look beneficial from a savings perspective but disastrous from a debt perspective.

“It’s really important for future research to look at multiple financial decisions together,” she said. “Research that integrates multiple financial decisions, looks at trade-offs, looks at decisions over time, will lead to a more nuanced and better understanding of these choices.” 

Further reading

Communicating sustainability for the green economy Kahle, L. R., & Gurel-Atay, E. (Eds.), Routledge, 2014

How psychological insights can inform food policies to address unhealthy eating habits Roberto, C. A., American Psychologist , 2020

Sustainable consumer behavior Trudel, R., Consumer Psychology Review , 2019

The elusive green consumer White, K., et al., Harvard Business Review , July/August 2019

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3.1 Understanding Consumer Markets and Buying Behavior

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• 1 Define consumer buying behavior.
• 2 Explain the nature of the buyer’s black box.
• 3 Describe how consumer behavior is characterized into types.

Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior Defined

How many buying decisions did you make today? Perhaps you stopped on the way to work or class to buy a soft drink or coffee, went to the grocery store on the way home to get bread or milk, or ordered something online. You likely make buying decisions nearly every day and probably don’t give most of those decisions much thought. But the way you make those decisions is significant for marketers, because if they can understand why you buy what you buy and when you buy it, they can use that information to boost revenue.

Consumer buying behavior refers to the decisions and actions people undertake to buy products or services for personal use. In other words, it’s the actions you take before buying a product or service, and as you will see, many factors influence that behavior. You and all other consumers combine to make up the consumer market .

The Buyer’s Black Box

It stands to reason that the hundreds of millions of people who make up the global consumer market don’t all buy the same products and services. Why do certain people prefer different items than others? The answer lies in the factors that influence consumer buying behavior. One model of consumer buying behavior is what’s known as the buyer’s black box , which is named as such because little is known about what goes on in the human mind. It’s also known as the stimulus-response model.

As illustrated in the model shown in Figure 3.2 , consumer buying behavior is based on stimuli coming from a variety of sources—from marketers in terms of the 4Ps (product, price, promotion, and place) , as well as from environmental stimuli, such as economic factors, legal/political factors, and technological and cultural factors.

These stimuli go into your “black box,” which consists of two parts: buyer characteristics such as beliefs and attitudes, motives, perceptions, and values, and the buyer decision-making process, which is covered later in the chapter. Your response is the outcome of the thinking that takes place in that black box. What will you buy, where, when, how often, and how much?

Types of Consumer Buying Behavior

Buying behavior is not influenced solely by the external environment. It’s also determined by your level of involvement in a purchase and the amount of risk involved in the purchase. There are four types of consumer buying behavior, as shown in Figure 3.3 .

Complex buying behavior occurs when you make a significant or expensive purchase, like buying a new car. Because you likely don’t buy a new car frequently, you’re highly involved in the buying decision, and you probably research different vehicles or talk with friends or family before reaching your decision. By that time, you’re likely convinced that there’s a significant difference among cars, and you’ve developed your own unique set of criteria that helps you decide on your purchase.

Dissonance-reducing buying behavior occurs when you’re highly involved in a purchase but see little difference among brands. Let’s say you’re replacing the flooring in your kitchen with ceramic tile—another expensive, infrequent purchase. You might think that all brands of ceramic tile in a certain price range are “about the same,” so you might shop around to see what’s available, but you’ll probably buy rather quickly, perhaps as a result of a good price or availability. However, after you’ve made your purchase, you may experience post-purchase dissonance (also known as buyer’s remorse) when you notice some disadvantages of the tile you purchased or hear good things about a brand you didn’t purchase.

Habitual buying behavior has low involvement in the purchase decision because it’s often a repeat buy, and you don’t perceive much brand differentiation. Perhaps you usually buy a certain brand of organic milk, but you don’t have strong brand loyalty. If your regular brand isn’t available at the store or another brand is on sale, you’ll probably buy a different brand.

Variety-seeking buying behavior has the lowest customer involvement because brand switching is your norm. You may not be unhappy with your last purchase of tortilla chips, but you simply want to try something new. It’s a matter of brand switching for the sake of variety rather than because of dissatisfaction with your previous purchase.

Link to Learning

The 4ps and consumer behavior.

Watch this short, humorous 4Ps video as a way to help you remember the concept. This video also includes several examples of target markets and how a marketer might respond.

Consumer behavior is an important marketing topic, and depending on the marketing program at your institution, you may have the opportunity to take a consumer behavior course and learn more about the topics covered above. Studying consumer behavior is important in marketing because it will teach you how to best know your customer, an integral aspect to marketing a product or service. You can also watch this selfLearn-en video to get a stronger grasp of consumer behavior.

As mentioned, environmental factors have an impact on consumer behavior. Can you think of a recent environmental influence that has had a significant impact? The coronavirus pandemic has probably been the most influential in recent years, and for many reasons! We still have a lot to learn about the impacts of the pandemic, and new information is being released daily about changing human behavior and the impact on marketing. For example, in this Google article, the author shares a cultural anthropologist’s insights for understanding consumer behavior and how it relates to three core needs all people experience—self-care, social connection, and identity—and how these needs correlate to recent YouTube video trends. Learn about how marketers can respond to this trend.

Continually trying to understand environmental influences will keep you on the cutting edge and ahead of the competition. It’s a great practice to always be looking for the latest information so that you can shift your strategies as needed. Bain & Company is an example of one company that wanted to understand how the pandemic changed consumer behavior. The company ran a survey in 2021 to better understand the impact of the pandemic, and it found five trends from the data.

A survey from Accenture , one of the top-ranked consulting firms in the world, found that the pandemic caused 50 percent of consumers to evaluate their purpose and what’s important to them. Read more about the findings in this article.

Always be looking for information to be the best marketer you can be!

Knowledge Check

It’s time to check your knowledge on the concepts presented in this section. Refer to the Answer Key at the end of the book for feedback.

• Dissonance-reducing buying behavior
• Variety-seeking buying behavior
• Complex buying behavior
• Habitual buying behavior
• technological
• Product choice
• Brand choice
• Social stimuli
• Purchase timing
• the consumer market
• the buyer’s black box
• consumer buying behavior
• complex buying behavior

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• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-marketing/pages/3-1-understanding-consumer-markets-and-buying-behavior

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Topic: Business , Commerce , Customers , Shopping , Information , Products , Shoes , Computers

Words: 1300

Published: 03/27/2020

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I like shopping too much though I hate impulse buying. Just like anyone else who strives to lead a decent life, I am compelled to always incur both fixed and current expenses. With regard to current expenses, I am not able to account for the current expenses I have incurred since 16th January 2014. As a matter of fact, in the past one month, I have bought many items on daily basis. However, I am able to identify belongings I have acquired over the same duration but whose acquisitions are made once and can only be replaced after a relatively longer period of time. Most of such items are those I have always longed to own but I have not been lucky to raise enough cash to buy them. I always strive to acquire things I admire. My buying habit is mainly influenced by three factors: necessity, quality, utility, and price. Besides, where I buy from and the brands I prefer depend on how much I am convinced that the items would satisfy the three factors mentioned above: necessity, quality, utility, and price. Since 16th January, I have made three purchase decisions that are very important to me. With this regard, I bought one pair of shoes, a pair of trousers, and a laptop. I had planned to buy these items before but I had never had enough cash. The three items were bought from different stores due to various factors. I bought my laptop on 26th January from a store run by Sears Company in Las Vegas. This was prompted by the company’s product promotion strategy whereby the company offered a discount of 40% for purchases made between 20th to 27th January. The offer was advertised on all media outlets and it encouraged me to buy the laptop. Besides, I had searched for information related to laptop products. As a result, I went further and inquired from my brother and sisters. In that process I got more information about various prices from various stores around our home. Through my efforts to search for information in various places with regard to the three products, I learnt much information about various brands of shoes, trousers, and laptops. Consequently, I was able to decide what brand to buy and from where to buy it based on the perceived extent to which it would satisfy my needs and preferences. For instance, I gathered much information with regard to prices of various brands of shoes across the US. I then compared prices from different stores and quality of shoes offered. Eventually, I decided to go for the shoes in Nava’s Supermarket. This is because it was the best alternative that offered the minimum price and the best quality based on my judgment. Although there were other alternatives in other supermarkets I had been told of, I decided to purchase some of the products in this supermarket due to various reasons. Firstly, my brother and sister recommended Nava since its staff value customers and also offer items and products with some gifts attached. For example, inside the pair of shoes I bought, there was free pair of socks. I also decided to buy my shoes from the supermarket since previously I had been involved in impulse buying from the supermarket when I was travelling to my grandmother place. I also psychologically felt the need to buy basic needs more since I never had enough shoes and a pair of trousers, which are basic needs (clothes). On the other hand, my need for laptop was mainly to help me in academic purposes and also to watch movies. Therefore, the need to use laptop in doing academic research and to watch movies motivated me more to buy this laptop. I also had positive attitudes towards the supermarket. Moreover, almost all my friends also were fond of buying their products and services from the supermarket. This culture of all my friends buying their products from this supermarket also influences me to buy my products from the supermarket. Furthermore, the best situational and social influences that motivated me to buy these products at that time was because, I was in the best mood and attitude. I also learnt more about these products from my friends and parents. Other factors that influence me to buy these products from the supermarket were due to their neat and stable packaging of their products. Besides, the branding of the pair of trousers I purchased met both my physical and economical needs. The trouser was black in color thus mostly appealing to my visual senses. These products were also of high quality and were made from high quality materials. In that sense it is clear that I bought these products after realizing that I lack most of them hence there was need to add more trousers and shoes. In addition, I also made a decision to buy a laptop since I lack any to use in my academic research papers. After making clear and proper decisions to buy these three products, that is a pair of trousers, a pair of shoes and a laptop I decide to look for reliable information that could help me find the best services around. The available information I got was from various sources. To begin with I learnt from my friends that Nava’s supermarket was offering best quality products and at a cheaper price. Furthermore, my mother was also fond of buying food products and home equipment’s from the supermarket thus, encourages me to also buy mine from the same supermarket. Again every evening in the process of watching news especially weekends there was an advertisement in Super sport demonstrating about how the supermarket provides the best after sales services and warranty to their customers. Therefore, this is what motivated me further to go for this supermarket. Besides, there was also an advertisement that prices of laptops will be low by giving of 10% discount to those who buy laptop from the supermarket as by 20th January to 27th January. For that reason, I did all that I could to ensure that I bought these products at the supermarket within this time period in order to enjoy this discount that was given to all customers. To be categorically I bought my products from Nava’s supermarket on 25th January. This was after careful and thorough evaluation of all the other options hence coming up with the decision to buy them from the supermarket. Therefore, from my point of view, my buying behaviors usually depend on social, personal, and psychological influences and these are the key influences that motivated me to buy these products. Again cultural, economic and social factors also played a role in the process of my buying behaviors For instance, the main motivator that prompted me to buy these products was majorly due to lack of them and influences that I got from my family members and friends. In addition, I carefully analyzed various situations like the location and the price distribution that made me chose Nava’s supermarket since it was cheaper and offers a lot of after sales services including warranty to customers. Besides, my perception and attitude towards the supermarket was also positive due to my prior shopping from the supermarket thus, allowing me to buy products from the supermarket. All in all, my major decision of buying these products was mainly influenced by psychological, social, cultural factors and even economic factors. Finally, I like buying especially when the place where I am going to buy my products is that which recognized customer’s needs. For that matter I went to Nava’s supermarket since it was the best alternative that provided one of the marketing and promotional strategies that appeal to my senses most including their prices and the discount given.

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Understanding the ever-evolving, always-surprising consumer

For many consumers around the world, a return to normalcy feels so close, yet so far away, in light of the alarming spread of COVID-19 variants. Although it’s unclear what the next 12 to 24 months will bring, what’s almost certain is that consumers won’t simply revert to doing exactly what they did in 2019. In this episode of the McKinsey on Consumer and Retail podcast, three consumer-behavior experts share their insights into how consumers’ spending patterns and purchasing behaviors are changing, and what companies should do given those changes. An edited transcript of the conversation with executive editor Monica Toriello follows. Subscribe to the podcast .

Monica Toriello: Over the past several weeks, people in some parts of the world have resumed their prepandemic habits. Maybe you’ve recently seen a movie at a theater, or flown on an airplane, or even just stopped for a cup of coffee on your way to the office for the first time in over a year. But a return to “normal” won’t look the same for everyone. Today, we’ll hear from three people who intensively study consumer behavior. They’ll share fascinating insights into how consumers are changing and what companies should do about it.

Kari Alldredge is a McKinsey partner based in Minneapolis. Kari has been advising consumer-goods companies for more than 20 years on a variety of topics, and she leads McKinsey’s work in consumer-goods growth transformation. She is an author of several articles, including a recent one on COVID-19’s impact on demand and costs in the consumer-packaged-goods [CPG] industry .

Anne Grimmelt is a senior knowledge expert in McKinsey’s Consumer Packaged Goods Practice. She is based in Stamford, Connecticut. Anne has been one of the driving forces behind McKinsey’s consumer-sentiment survey , which was launched in 2008 and during the pandemic has expanded to 45 countries. It provides a rich fact base for how consumers are feeling about their finances and how their buying behavior is changing.

And our third guest is Anjali Lai, a senior analyst at Forrester. Anjali, who is based in New York, helps chief marketing officers [CMOs] and other business leaders to understand the shifts in consumer behavior and consumer decision making and then to figure out what these changes mean for the future of brands and industries.

[To comply with Forrester’s Citation Policy, this transcript excludes Anjali Lai’s comments. Listen to the full episode on McKinsey.com or on Apple, Google, and other podcast platforms.]

A ‘reversal of fortune’ for big brands

Monica Toriello: Kari, Anne, Anjali, it’s great to have you here today. All three of you have been keeping your fingers on the pulse of consumers, both before and throughout the pandemic. Have there been any surprises? Are consumers doing things that you didn’t expect? Or is there anything that seemed to be going one way in, say, March or April 2020 but is going in a different direction today?

Kari Alldredge: In 2019 or early 2020, the topic on the minds of large branded consumer-packaged-goods manufacturers was portfolio shaping: how to reimagine their portfolios, how to move away from center-of-store food products and big brands and instead engage with consumers in very different, more targeted, niche-oriented ways. The degree to which the pandemic pushed people back toward big brands in the center of the store, and toward cooking at home, has been a complete turnaround, a reversal of fortune, for large CPG companies.

Some of those changes could have been anticipated, but others are quite shocking: the notion that bread baking would become a phenomenon among millennials, or that pet ownership would skyrocket to the extent that it has, and that those same millennials would be willing to spend more than they spend on their daily Starbucks to feed their new pets.

So, many of those companies that were desperately searching for growth 18 months ago now have the opposite problem: their supply chains can’t keep up . The big question for all of them is which of those consumer behaviors are truly going to persist  and be “sticky” coming out of this pandemic? Certainly, the dog that you adopted is likely to stay at your home. But when you go back to ordering your daily Starbucks and spending $7 a day on a coffee, are you going to spend the same amount to feed your pet? Those are the questions that are on many company leaders’ minds.

Anne Grimmelt: As Kari said, we saw a complete shift. Prepandemic, the growth was in smaller, niche brands, but early in the pandemic, it was large CPG players that really gained scale because their products were available on the shelf. They were also brands that were trusted by consumers, so consumers felt good buying them. If you look at point-of-sale data from IRI or Nielsen, you see that large companies—those with more than $2.5 billion in retail sales in the US market—picked up most of the share growth early in the pandemic, whereas smaller and midsize companies, as well as private label, were really not picking up growth.

In the second half of 2020 and in early 2021, small and midsize companies are regaining their sales growth. And we expect that private label is going to be powerful again , because if you dive into the why—why did consumers pick a new brand, and why did they pick the brands they chose?—it was about availability, it was about purpose, but it was also about value . It was about price points. Going forward, value is going to be even more important, and private label will gain strength in the future.

Trust as a strategic imperative

Monica Toriello: All three of you to some extent have written about customer loyalty: how to win it and how to retain it, particularly in an environment where people are willing to try new brands. Anne and Kari, you found that 39 percent of consumers tried new brands during the pandemic. And Anjali, in your research, you found that small brands are particularly good at earning consumers’ trust and consequently their loyalty. In a recent blog post, you wrote, “Now is the time for companies to embrace trust as a strategic imperative.” What does that mean? How should companies do that?

Even relatively mundane CPG companies are thinking about the end-to-end consumer journey, including consumer experience pre- and postpurchase. Kari Alldredge

Kari Alldredge: I’m seeing two interesting things in response to the trends you just talked about, Anjali. One is the degree to which even relatively mundane CPG companies are thinking about the end-to-end consumer journey, including consumer experience pre- and postpurchase, as they try to understand how to serve their existing consumers but also look for new ways to better meet consumer needs. The notion that there is a pre- and postpurchase experience related to a can of soda or a can of soup is a relatively novel idea, right? But, increasingly, the most forward-thinking companies are doing research across that entire journey to be able to understand the needs of consumers as they’re considering the range of options that are available to them—all the way through to satisfaction with usage and even disposal of the packaging of products.

Another interesting thing I’m seeing is a recognition that marketing is a dialogue, and a recognition of the degree to which consumers now “own” or shape the narratives of many brands. This, too, was happening before the pandemic but was vastly accelerated during the pandemic. The notion that a marketer positions the brand and delivers a message and a promise to consumers is really becoming quite an antiquated one, I think, as consumers themselves—through reviews, ratings , blogs, videos, and social-media posts—shape the identity of many of these brands. Recommendations from friends and family become part of the brand’s identity and are critical to shaping both loyalty and consumer trust.

We found in our research that about 33 percent of millennial and Gen Z consumers say they choose to buy a brand from a company that has their values, versus about 12 percent of baby boomers. Anne Grimmelt

Anne Grimmelt: Our research corroborates that. We found in our research that about 33 percent of millennial and Gen Z consumers  say they choose to buy a brand from a company that has their values, versus about 12 percent of baby boomers. But every demographic group is leaning toward that.

Another finding from our research is the reasons why consumers change to a new brand. It is definitely the younger generation that more often indicates that it’s because of purpose. It’s because of what the company stands for, how it treats its employees, et cetera.

Purpose: More than just a buzzword

Monica Toriello: We’ve been hearing a lot about purpose and values, but I also hear some skepticism in certain pockets of the corporate world as to whether an emphasis on corporate purpose  actually pays off. Because there is an attitude–behavior gap, right? What’s your response to a CEO who says, “Consumers like to say they care about purpose and values, but when they’re at the point of deciding to buy something, they truly only care about convenience or price or quality. Purpose is just a buzzword.”

Kari Alldredge: It’s necessary but not sufficient. I think there’s an increasing recognition that alignment with a consumer’s values may put you in the consideration set but won’t drive you over the line to purchase. You still have to have product superiority, whether that’s taste superiority, functional superiority, or a price-to-value equation that works for that particular consumer.

We talk a lot about the pandemic, which definitely shone a light on health in general, but there are other crises—like social justice  and climate change —that have come to light over the past year and a half and that have really shaken the corporate community. These crises have helped companies understand that some of these factors are fundamental in how consumers perceive themselves and the world around them, to the point where we now actually see some change happening.

One of the things that I was struck by was the speed and seriousness with which many of the household-cleaning companies responded to the pandemic and the heroic efforts to convert production capacity to manufacture things like wipes and sanitizer. Yes, some of that was for financial gain, but I think there really was an almost wartime mentality that I saw companies get new energy from.

I think about center-of-store food manufacturers who, prepandemic, maybe viewed themselves as being a bit sleepy and not exciting in terms of attracting the best talent. Now when you hear them talk about what they do, there’s real pride in the fact that they fed America, or they kept America safe. It really changed the way they think about the importance of what they do.

Subscribe to the McKinsey on Consumer and Retail podcast

Sources of insight.

Monica Toriello: All three of you are experts in consumer behavior. But consumers are changing fast and they’re changing constantly. Anjali, in another recent blog post, you wrote, “Rather than expect consumers to settle into a defined postpandemic normal, CMOs should prepare for a constant evolution of consumer needs and expectations over the next 12 to 24 months.” So beyond reading the latest consumer research and analysis, what are the best ways for CMOs and CEOs to understand where consumers are and where they’re headed?

Kari Alldredge: One of the best sources of insights is their online channel partners and their own D2C [direct to consumer] sites . Companies should mine online data to get a quick pulse on the way consumers are thinking or feeling. They should look at ratings and reviews using advanced analytics to understand and see trends and what’s selling on sites like Kroger.com, Walmart.com, or Amazon.com. They could even develop products that they can quickly test in an online environment and then change and adjust, as opposed to thinking about mass development of a product that gets pushed out to thousands and thousands of brick-and-mortar retail stores.

Consumers don’t always know what they want, and they can’t predict how their behavior will change. So traditional consumer research—which asks consumers how likely they are to purchase something—is becoming less relevant or reliable than actual data in market. That’s why data from e-commerce sites can be so valuable.

Anne Grimmelt: Another very powerful way to understand consumers  is by looking at what your peer companies do. You can go to industry conferences like the CAGNY [Consumer Analyst Group of New York] conference and hear a company like L’Oréal talk about how they use their D2C and their online-sales platform to see what type of color lipstick people try—not buy , but try —on their online platform. That information is critical for them to know where to innovate. What are the colors that people want and what are the products that people like to try out on the digital platform?

Similarly, I think it’s very important to keep an open mind beyond your own borders, to realize what’s happening elsewhere in the world. Going back to the topic of purpose, for instance, it is very much alive in the US but it’s also very much alive in Europe. Learning about the power of what consumers demand and how purpose is driving consumer decisions about CPG companies—and what companies in Europe are doing to meet consumer demand—can be valuable, wherever you are in the world.

Kari Alldredge: I think we also shouldn’t underestimate the resilience of consumers and the gravitational pull of life as we knew it before the pandemic. One thing that surprised me even in the past several weeks is the degree to which behaviors have bounced back. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past 18 months it’s that I don’t have a crystal ball, or if I did, it is certainly broken—because there is no part of this last 18 months that I ever could have in a million years predicted.

At the beginning of the pandemic, one company I work with asked every board member, “When you look back, what’s the one thing that will be blazingly obvious that we either should always have done or never have been doing?” And one of the things that came up was shaking hands: “We’re never going to shake hands again.” But I attended a graduation ceremony in the beginning of June—so, early into the recovery—and what was striking to me is that the dean of that school shook the hand of, and physically embraced, every single one of the thousand students who crossed that stage. And this was at an institution that had been, like most educational institutions, incredibly thoughtful and conservative about their public-health response. Literally days after restrictions were lifted, the urge to connect was so strong that it looked as if the pandemic had never happened.

People are resilient. Hundreds of years of behavior certainly have been meaningfully changed by the past 18 months, but I think a lot of the old behaviors will bounce back pretty quickly.

Monica Toriello: So if you could gather all the CEOs and CMOs of consumer companies in one room and leave them with one message, what would it be? What is the one thing they need to do to position themselves for success in 2021 and 2022?

Anne Grimmelt: My one-liner would be, “Be open to change and be agile .”

Kari Alldredge: I would say, “Listen; don’t tell.”

Kari Alldredge is a partner in McKinsey’s Minneapolis office, and  Anne Grimmelt is a senior knowledge expert in the Stamford office.  Monica Toriello is an executive editor in the New York office.

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Related articles.

McKinsey on Consumer and Retail Podcast: Insights from experts on business and management

Global surveys of consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis

COVID-19’s impact on demand and costs in the CPG industry

Environment Influence on Buying Behavior Essay

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Introduction

Presentation of hierarchy of influential factors, discussion of selection mind maps, discussion of debates, discussion of surprises, discussion of ethics, any influential factors for further research.

This paper inspects the powerful variables that are more noteworthy concerning the buying behavior and states of mind towards settling on a buying choice. The paper highlights the significance of identity attributes, social foundations, societal standards, purchase circumstances and mental thinking. These compelling variables characterize how a man carries on and settles on a choice when purchasing merchandise and items in the commercial center. The paper unravels each powerful component and creates a chain of importance positioning framework to delineate the significance and adequacy of every variable.

While making the chain of importance, the paper considered the principle focuses that the group members talked about. The material exhibited in the course reading material, and the group members’ judgment of every component. By and large, the paper considered both subjective and target points of view of the compelling components. The paper presumed that every component did have an impact somehow, yet each was measured in an unexpected way. The paper will uncover our own positioning of powerful elements and our thought processes in picking each. The paper will likewise give our solidified pecking order of the influential factors on buying behavior and the thinking behind it.

Buying behavior is the study of how, when, why and where people do or do not source for goods or services. It attempts to assess the influence of the clients from external factors such as high salaries and income, the growth of urban lifestyle, among others. It is a common practice for the customers to purchase goods and services for a number of reasons. These reasons may include reinforcing self-concepts, maintaining a given lifestyle, becoming part of a particular group or gaining acceptance in a group they already belong, and or expressing cultural identity. This paper explores the important hierarchical factors that influence the actions of the consumers.

The theme under study is a portrayal of how the chain of the importance of powerful elements drives the customers to settle on an official conclusion on purchasing behavior. It is essential to acknowledge how one variable is influencing another on the grounds that we need to comprehend the buyers’ activities, sentiments, and considerations that can apply to business technique, shape society and settle on dependable choices as a purchaser.

The layout of the paper structures as uncovering the methodology of how we categorize the persuasive components by mirroring the significance of each. We utilize our group personality maps and level headed discussions to portray how those compelling elements settle on in the choice procedure. At that point, we examine about the shocks and morals that we experienced in organizing this paper. We further incorporate monetary variables that were not examined in the chain of importance and think of a finish of what we have found out about the impacts from shopper behavior.

The paper relies on past and present literature to present the facts which are both theoretical and practical. Since shoppers vary crosswise over through individual variables, these distinctions help to mark the marketing communication. Albeit outside impacts, for example, the society and social norms can influence buyers by the social surroundings that encompass them in a regular schedule. The individual components drive the most to purchase as buyers essentially experience a decision-making process by contemplations and activities as per our meaning of buying behavior.

Despite the fact that culture is conceived with family values, convictions, observations, and inclinations, the customers may adjust to another society of convictions and practices when they touch base to the new environment. Case in point, in the U.S. society, espresso is the first decision for morning refreshment. Be that as it may, if buyers go to Asia, they may attempt tea as the refreshment of the decision.

The presentation of a chain of command of persuasive variable positions ranges from the minimum impact of cultural elements, social components, purchase situations and psychological elements to the most prominent impact of the elements of buying behavior.

Cultural elements

The cultural elements are less imperative than social variables for the individuals can change their contemplations and recognitions by the cultural assimilation process. Along these lines, the individuals can change their purchasing behavior upon which culture they have a place into adjusting to the social environment. In my social class as an undergraduate, I am compelled to purchase a tablet. Since most undergrads have possessed tablets, I need to own a tablet to fit into the school social environment.

Social components

The adjustment of taking in the college subculture has driven me to attempt new items, thoughts and administrations that incorporate me into another utilization design. I begin to purchase college items and joining the college clubs because of the societal impacts of another subculture. I categorized the social elements to be second vital determinant because of the societal impacts that encompass individuals with a day by day life premise. The social elements like family, reference gathering and the status impact the buying behavior on the grounds that individuals expect to identify with a particular group.

The family can assume the solid part on affecting buyer behavior in light of the fact that they may share their contemplations and proposals that rouse their relatives to purchase the specific item. My family prescribes to me that Samsung brand is the best organization to purchase a cell phone. Their positive convictions towards the Samsung brand rouse me to purchase a Samsung cell phone. Peer groups, for example, companions and colleagues can likewise impact shopper behavior since individuals have interfaced with them in their day by day life. In addition, the peer groups share an arrangement of desires and perceive themselves as members from a typical social group.

Purchase situation

Purchase situation is the third persuasive element that affects the behavior of the consumer. At the point when purchasers visit a shop, the ambiance of the store can impact them. For example, the climate components like the smell, music, shading, social settings and virtual shopping circumstances are likely to influence the consumers. In the event that the physical environment of the store is encompassed with great climate, the buyers may have a positive bearing and they will have a tendency to purchase the item from the shop. The purchase circumstances can have an unequivocal influence on the purchaser’s responsive state. Additionally, time imperatives can change the purchasers’ examination of information. The buyers have a tendency to settle on straightforward decisions than those in less strained circumstances because of time stress. My group contended that if customers go shopping just before the shop closes, they do not have sufficient time to ponder and consider the appropriate product. Rather, they will pick the quickest choice.

Psychological factors

In spite of the fact that purchase circumstance pushes the shoppers to purchase the item, the psychological variables apply when the customers pick a brand of the item. Psychological motives are classified into 16 categories. There are two criteria that determine the four major categories, for instance, whether the mode of actions is cognitive or effective, and whether the motive is centered on the preservation or growth. The four major categories are further subdivided into two groups, for instance, whether the deeds of the consumer have been initiated or are a response; and whether the behavior of the consumer occurs internally or externally (Adetule, 2011, p. 132). The cognitive motives include cognitive preservation motives and cognitive growth motives. The cognitive preservation motives include the need for uniformity, which occurs internally and actively.

Personal factors

Other than psychological factor, personal factors are a big determinant. Here we explore the taste and preference of the consumer. At the same time, the consumer’s lifestyle that encompasses the latest trends in technology is very significant. Consumers tend to identify with a particular image that fit their lifestyles. Along these lines, the individuals can change their purchasing behavior upon which lifestyle they have a place into adjusting to the social environment. Appendix 1 shows the purchasing mind map utilized by my group.

My group members also utilized the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to explain the concept of buying behavior. Abraham Maslow developed the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and suggested that people have desires that affect their activities. The higher the hierarchy of needs, the more psychologically healthier a person becomes (Maslow 1943, p. 372). The five needs are physiological needs, security needs, love, self- esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. When the basic needs are satisfied, people advance to the security needs.

The next stage after this is having the need for sense and belonging. People at this level are looking for friendship and desire to belong to a group. At the next level, people need the recognition and appreciation of the others; it is the self-esteem and self-respect level (Maslow 1943, p. 372). Finally, there are self-actualization needs, which people seek to fulfill themselves in the pursuit of self-development, job satisfaction, and creativity. In the past, the management rewarded consumers focusing on the physiological needs and security needs, while currently the management reward system has chosen to satisfy the higher needs of the consumers such as self-esteem needs and self-actualization needs.

The mind maps perceived by my group did not coordinate our recently made chain of the importance of impacts. All things considered, ‘social’ was the most powerful component among our psyche maps, setting first and second on our grade. Numerous buyers yearning to assimilate with the patterns present in the society. This designates numerous buyers to make buys based on the patterns society considers fit. The individual component, which we picked first on our progressive rundown, was set third in our list. Our group’s open deliberation about alternate components additionally helped shape our new chain of command. Our classifications changed in light of the fact that our introductory choices were taking into account untimely understandings of every variable.

When we had the opportunity to profoundly mull over and break down every impact, our points of view and dispositions towards them advanced. We had the capacity to make improved verdicts and study every element to fit our new positioning framework. Our positioning framework changed on the grounds that the discourse we occupied with obliged us to research data about the identity, along these lines making it our central subject for a group debate. We established a private relationship with the thought of identity being a more solid component. Our choice to place identity as the first in our list may have seemed one-sided. Notwithstanding, we are firm adherents that identity sorts are exceptionally differing and best characterize who we are.

Our talk identity helped shape our positioning of the persuasive figures the pecking order of impact. By breaking down and returning to the course reading material on identity, we reasoned that it ought to be set on of our chain of importance rundown as the most imperative component of shopper behavior. The discussions held in class fortified our comprehension of identity and gave us a chance to investigate a few angles. We contended that identity was the most imperative impact and legitimized that suspicion with its genuine definition. We decided to decipher identity as an umbrella term for some variables that affected the consumers’ point of view when making a purchase.

Some solid attributes that were embedded in the identity definition were subjective, full of feeling, behavior, and motivation. We talked about how specialists sort their business sector into distinctive arrangements of identities that repress diverse purchasing practices and attributes. A few individuals have money-oriented identities, which are ordinarily envious in nature, focused, and take a stab at the obtaining of their peer’s items. Explores likewise recognize inventive identities, which are imaginative and willing to attempt new item discharges without a second thought.

Brands likewise tackle identities to speak to their buyers. Every brand name utilizes a situating procedure that takes after the customers’ practices and identities. Organizations do this exceptionally well to fulfill dependable associations with their customers (Bennett & Rundle-Thiele, 2002, p. 200). Case in point, Nike has made a fine showing of depicting their image to advance aggressiveness, diligence and has propelled a large number of individuals around the globe to be dynamic. Their trademark relates to people or groups who are motivated and inspired to engage in sports.

The element that attracted the most resistance was the purchase circumstance. A group member accepted that purchase circumstance was not as critical in light of the fact that it was not an inner component. It did not straightforwardly influence our temperament, the state of mind, or feelings. This restriction was taking into account the thought that inward elements are more persuasive than outside elements.

In the course of making this paper, the group members found the impacts of stress on decision-making. There are pivotal segregating variables that exist between the buyers who are active and the buyers who are not. These variables are versatility issues, age, and level of training. The choice of the users to lean toward unlimited satisfaction is impacted by their demographic attributes and mental qualities. The customers favor consumption bundles that offer them fervors and increase the value of their lives. Before the clients settle on a choice, they inquire whether their well-being is safeguarded (Gratton & Jones, 2004, p. 410). The yearning for security increases as the client develops to be more seasoned.

The demeanor to consume can be classified into different groups, for example, rest and unwinding, training, experience, mingling, and a break from everyday examples of life. Similarly, other researchers reasoned that the noteworthy push and force inspirations of the sightseers were: the longing to look for learning, and the inclination to be safe (Dahesh, Nasab, & Ling, 2012, p. 143). The more established customers were, for the most part, propelled to go off the longing to unwind, associate, learn, and to pick up fervor. The inspiration for the shopper is moving towards the yearning to rest or unwind the longing for physical activity or wellness, and the craving for instruction. The more youthful buyers are more instructed when contrasted with the older ones. In this manner, they generally complete a data seek before they continue with their consumption (Burns & Bush, 2000, p. 129).

Consumers make their decisions based on the available time. Business chiefs are endeavoring to set up and keep up an environment that is greater for the fulfillment of consumers, who are endeavoring together in groups towards the achievement of foreordained objectives. A few studies have been completed to scout the examples of the behavior of the consumers. The profiles of the consumers are differing as to their likelihood to shop at merchandising channels, their decision of shopping centers, and their wellsprings of data concerning the accessible shopping exercises.

Consumers compete for access prizes in their environment, such as promotion and motivation increments. Consequently, integrating ethics among buyers at different levels of management plays an essential role in motivating them to put more efforts in their job roles and responsibilities. Subsequently, the administration’s satisfaction is improved considerably. The satisfaction inequality is directly correlated to the union and individual satisfaction.

This paper mainly explored the concept of consumer performance in line with the past and present available literature. Many of the available studies have not explored the affective motives that guide buying behavior. Affective motives have a major influence on the experiences of the consumers’ consumption process with regard to their judgments on post-purchase satisfaction (Adetule, 2011, p. 132). In this case, it is assumed that the satisfaction of the consumer is dependent on the performance of the product, the perceptions of the consumer in relation to the product, and the manners of the consumers.

The ratio between the performance and the perception rises as the level of the consumer’s satisfaction also rises. The ratio depends on the nature of the experiences that the consumers have in relation to the experience they had envisaged or desired. The dissatisfaction of the consumers comes about when there is a major disparity between what the consumers had expected and what they actually experience in terms of the performance of the products. This paper recommends that future researchers should explore the concept of affective motives.

Buying behavior arises from the fact that customers have expectations on satisfaction levels and job positions. If they perceive that they are unfairly satisfied or paid, they are likely to reduce their effort in chasing after the product. Moreover, the development of the perception of being under-satisfied is likely to contribute to the negative demeanor amongst users. Examples of such behaviors include sabotage, lack of cooperation and cohesion amongst clients. This aspect might significantly reduce the overall organizational satisfaction.

Motivating the shoppers’ higher satisfactions improve a business’s competitiveness in the market, hence improving the likelihood of attracting and maintaining more. High satisfaction acts as an incentive in promoting consumer loyalty. High levels of satisfaction are positively correlated with the loyalty and positive bearings of the clients. This strategy is mainly prevalent in societies that have adopted individual satisfaction-related motivation systems.

Adetule, J. (2011). Handbook on management theories. Bloomington: Author House. Web.

Bennett, R., & Rundle-Thiele, S. (2002). A Comparison of Attitudinal Loyalty Measurement Approaches. Journal of Brand Management, 9 (3), 193-209. Web.

Burns, A., & Bush, R. (2000). Marketing Research. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall. Web.

Dahesh, N., Nasab, A., & Ling, C. (2012). The Study of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust and Switching Barriers on Customer Retention in Malaysia Hypermarkets. International Journal of Business and Management , 7 (7), 141-150. Web.

Gratton, C., & Jones, I. (2004). Research methods for sport studies. Chicago: Psychology Press. Web.

Maslow, A. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50 (4), 370-396. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2020, May 16). Environment Influence on Buying Behavior. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environment-influence-on-buying-behavior/

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1. IvyPanda . "Environment Influence on Buying Behavior." May 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environment-influence-on-buying-behavior/.

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How Anxiety Affects Our Buying Behaviors

Anxiety is associated with impulse buying, safe choices, and an urge to splurge..

Posted March 30, 2020 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

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"When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping." – The Joker

Many of our buying, hoarding, and consuming values and behaviors are closely related to anxiety . As the Coronavirus pandemic rages on around us, and our day-to-day lives are upturned and disrupted, most of us are experiencing anxiety to a lesser or greater extent. How does anxiety affect our buying activities? What can we do to buy and consume prudently in these anxious times? In this blog post, I want to take up these questions. Let's consider what the consumer psychology research has discovered about the role of anxiety.

1) Anxiety increases our likelihood of buying impulsively

Anxiety promotes impulsive shopping . Shopping impulsively, a.k.a., retail therapy , helps us feel better and gain some control over a situation that feels out of control. One study found that when sad people made shopping choices, it alleviated their sadness. Those who are prone to anxiety may be even more vulnerable to impulsive shopping consistently. In another study , consumers who had a higher stress reaction – which the authors defined as "systematic individual differences in the frequency and intensity of responding to situational cues with negative emotional states (anxiety, anger , distress, and guilt )" – were also likely to have an impulsive buying tendency. Some scholars argue that a constant state of anxiety, regardless of the source, can eventually lead to compulsive shopping or increase its frequency among compulsive buyers as shopping becomes a routine way to alleviate anxiety and emotional distress.

2) Anxiety increases our preference for options that are safe and provide a sense of control

When we are anxious, we naturally seek comfort and control over the situation. Some social psychologists believe that the state of our feelings provides a useful source of information for making decisions. For instance, someone who's sad may use retail therapy as a way of repairing their mood. When we are anxious, on the other hand, this is a signal that our environment is uncertain and out-of-control. When making purchase decisions in this state, we gravitate towards choices that are safe and reliable as a way to reduce the risk and uncertainty we are experiencing in our lives. In one research study , anxious participants expressed a greater preference for a car that was loaded with safety features like an anti-skid system compared to a luxury car. Under conditions of sudden and extreme anxiety, this emphasis on seeking security and asserting control can lead to harmful behaviors like panic buying and hoarding .

3) Anxiety increases our "urge to splurge" on luxury brands

Anxiety that is associated with questions about our mortality and future survival also has a paradoxical effect on buying behavior. In a nutshell, it promotes materialistic values and decisions . Many people rely on buying and consuming as one of the core ways to generate meaning in their lives and to experience happiness , even if it is short-lived. Consider those who drive an expensive Alfa Romeo sedan or carry a ten-thousand-dollar Hermes Birkin bag. These, and other luxury brands, do not provide a level of functional product quality compared to, say, a Toyota car or a Coach bag, that justifies their hefty price premium. The stratospheric prices of luxury brands bestow what marketing experts call " added luxury value," defined as "brand-related social status effects, which include the perception of enhanced attractiveness , social protection, being perceived as an expert, or for the experience of something new." Where luxury products are concerned, it's not about what the product does. It's mostly about the meaning that is created by purchasing, displaying, and using the product.

When our anxiety increases, as one well-cited article's title suggests, we experience " an urge to splurge ." Consumer psychologists who wrote this article invoked Terror Management Theory , which postulates that when an event occurs to show us how tenuous our hold on life is (much like the Coronavirus pandemic is doing right now), we act out in ways to push back our natural terror of death. We create meaning and defend our worldviews. Many people are materialistic and value their roles as consumers of acquiring, consuming, and showing off their possessions. The anxiety created by life-threatening events makes them even more materialistic and defend their materialistic worldviews. As the article's authors eloquently put it :

"Cash, and the fantastic appeal of what money can buy—for example, the spa-tanned and gym fit, cosmetically and surgically enhanced, dressed and jeweled "to kill," perpetually young sexually alluring, thinner-than-a-piece-of-linguini woman; the buff swashbuckling "player" with the sculpted hair and personally tailored Armani suit fondling the keys to his Mercedes with one hand and the aforementioned woman with the other—provide a way for humans to distance themselves from the disturbing realization that they are animals destined to die."

How to cope with anxiety and still buy prudently?

Anxiety is associated with values and buying behaviors that are bad for our financial and psychological well-being in the short- and long-run. And these outcomes, in turn, contribute further to our anxiety , producing a vicious loop. In the past few weeks, the Coronavirus pandemic has raised our anxiety and dramatically changed our buying behaviors . In some ways, the constraints imposed by the pandemic like self-isolation suppress immediate materialistic shopping. Many stores are closed, and many online sellers are prioritizing the sale and delivery of essential goods.

It is harder to shop impulsively for discretionary items under such circumstances. However, regulating other anxiety-fostered behaviors like buying necessaries in large quantities as a way of feeling secure requires more effort from us. How to do this? An effective approach is to revert to our routines and usual shopping habits as much as possible. This will be especially useful for those who are prudent consumers, whose regular routines favor steady drip-by-drip buying and measured consumption.

Utpal M. Dholakia, Ph.D. , is the George R. Brown Professor of Marketing at Rice University.

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OPINION article

Factors affecting impulse buying behavior of consumers.

• Instituto Superior de Gestão, Lisbon, Portugal

In recent years, the study of consumer behavior has been marked by significant changes, mainly in decision-making process and consequently in the influences of purchase intention ( Stankevich, 2017 ).

The markets are different and characterized by an increased competition, as well a constant innovation in products and services available and a greater number of companies in the same market. In this scenario it is essential to know the consumer well ( Varadarajan, 2020 ). It is through the analysis of the factors that have a direct impact on consumer behavior that it is possible to innovate and meet their expectations. This research is essential for marketers to be able to improve their campaigns and reach the target audience more effectively ( Ding et al., 2020 ).

Consumer behavior refers to the activities directly involved in obtaining products /services, so it includes the decision-making processes that precede and succeed these actions. Thus, it appears that the advertising message can cause a certain psychological influence that motivates individuals to desire and, consequently, buy a certain product/service ( Wertenbroch et al., 2020 ).

Studies developed by Meena (2018) show that from a young age one begins to have a preference for one product/service over another, as we are confronted with various commercial stimuli that shape our choices. The sales promotion has become one of the most powerful tools to change the perception of buyers and has a significant impact on their purchase decision ( Khan et al., 2019 ). Advertising has a great capacity to influence and persuade, and even the most innocuous, can cause changes in behavior that affect the consumer's purchase intention. Falebita et al. (2020) consider this influence predominantly positive, as shown by about 84.0% of the total number of articles reviewed in the study developed by these authors.

Kumar et al. (2020) add that psychological factors have a strong implication in the purchase decision, as we easily find people who, after having purchased a product/ service, wonder about the reason why they did it. It is essential to understand the mental triggers behind the purchase decision process, which is why consumer psychology is related to marketing strategies ( Ding et al., 2020 ). It is not uncommon for the two areas to use the same models to explain consumer behavior and the reasons that trigger impulse purchases. Consumers are attracted by advertising and the messages it conveys, which is reflected in their behavior and purchase intentions ( Varadarajan, 2020 ).

Impulse buying has been studied from several perspectives, namely: (i) rational processes; (ii) emotional resources; (iii) the cognitive currents arising from the theory of social judgment; (iv) persuasive communication; (v) and the effects of advertising on consumer behavior ( Malter et al., 2020 ).

The causes of impulsive behavior are triggered by an irresistible force to buy and an inability to evaluate its consequences. Despite being aware of the negative effects of buying, there is an enormous desire to immediately satisfy your most pressing needs ( Meena, 2018 ).

The importance of impulse buying in consumer behavior has been studied since the 1940's, since it represents between 40.0 and 80.0% of all purchases. This type of purchase obeys non-rational reasons that are characterized by the sudden appearance and the (in) satisfaction between the act of buying and the results obtained ( Reisch and Zhao, 2017 ). Aragoncillo and Orús (2018) also refer that a considerable percentage of sales comes from purchases that are not planned and do not correspond to the intended products before entering the store.

According to Burton et al. (2018) , impulse purchases occur when there is a sudden and strong emotional desire, which arises from a reactive behavior that is characterized by low cognitive control. This tendency to buy spontaneously and without reflection can be explained by the immediate gratification it provides to the buyer ( Pradhan et al., 2018 ).

Impulsive shopping in addition to having an emotional content can be triggered by several factors, including: the store environment, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and the emotional state of the consumer at that time ( Gogoi and Shillong, 2020 ). We believe that impulse purchases can be stimulated by an unexpected need, by a visual stimulus, a promotional campaign and/or by the decrease of the cognitive capacity to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of that purchase.

The buying experience increasingly depends on the interaction between the person and the point of sale environment, but it is not just the atmosphere that stimulates the impulsive behavior of the consumer. The sensory and psychological factors associated with the type of products, the knowledge about them and brand loyalty, often end up overlapping the importance attributed to the physical environment ( Platania et al., 2016 ).

The impulse buying causes an emotional lack of control generated by the conflict between the immediate reward and the negative consequences that the purchase can originate, which can trigger compulsive behaviors that can become chronic and pathological ( Pandya and Pandya, 2020 ).

Sohn and Ko (2021) , argue that although all impulse purchases can be considered as unplanned, not all unplanned purchases can be considered impulsive. Unplanned purchases can occur, simply because the consumer needs to purchase a product, but for whatever reason has not been placed on the shopping list in advance. This suggests that unplanned purchases are not necessarily accompanied by the urgent desire that generally characterizes impulse purchases.

The impulse purchases arise from sensory experiences (e.g., store atmosphere, product layout), so purchases made in physical stores tend to be more impulsive than purchases made online. This type of shopping results from the stimulation of the five senses and the internet does not have this capacity, so that online shopping can be less encouraging of impulse purchases than shopping in physical stores ( Moreira et al., 2017 ).

Researches developed by Aragoncillo and Orús (2018) reveal that 40.0% of consumers spend more money than planned, in physical stores compared to 25.0% in online purchases. This situation can be explained by the fact that consumers must wait for the product to be delivered when they buy online and this time interval may make impulse purchases unfeasible.

Following the logic of Platania et al. (2017) we consider that impulse buying takes socially accepted behavior to the extreme, which makes it difficult to distinguish between normal consumption and pathological consumption. As such, we believe that compulsive buying behavior does not depend only on a single variable, but rather on a combination of sociodemographic, emotional, sensory, genetic, psychological, social, and cultural factors. Personality traits also have an important role in impulse buying. Impulsive buyers have low levels of self-esteem, high levels of anxiety, depression and negative mood and a strong tendency to develop obsessive-compulsive disorders. However, it appears that the degree of uncertainty derived from the pandemic that hit the world and the consequent economic crisis, seems to have changed people's behavior toward a more planned and informed consumption ( Sheth, 2020 ).

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Aragoncillo, L., and Orús, C. (2018). Impulse buying behaviour: na online-offline comparative and the impact of social media. Spanish J. Market. 22, 42–62. doi: 10.1108/SJME-03-2018-007

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Keywords: consumer behavior, purchase intention, impulse purchase, emotional influences, marketing strategies

Citation: Rodrigues RI, Lopes P and Varela M (2021) Factors Affecting Impulse Buying Behavior of Consumers. Front. Psychol. 12:697080. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.697080

Received: 19 April 2021; Accepted: 10 May 2021; Published: 02 June 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Rodrigues, Lopes and Varela. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Rosa Isabel Rodrigues, rosa.rodrigues@isg.pt

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Consumer Buying Behavior

The word food refers to any nutritious substance that our body intake to sustain life, therefore, each and every human needs it. According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943), in the physiological needs stage, food is one of the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person’s search for satisfaction. However, despite of the fact that food is a basic need, people still have their own picture of choosing what they want to eat.

Food is not just a food – the selection and consumption of food has always been a matter subject to a complex network of cultural and individual factors. These factors were affected by the consumers buying behavior. According to Kardes (2011), consumer buying behavior is a study of how consumers decide to buy a product. It entails all the consumer activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, mental and behavioral responses that precede, determine or follow these activities. This buying behavior could be a big part on how consumers choose what food to eat.

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Buying behavior explains why people do have differences in buying food. This happens because of the factors that affect the human needs or wants and how the foods are presented to them. The study will be completed to determine what factors that affect the consumer buying behavior towards food consumption, what could be the significant relationship between the factors affecting the consumer and the factors affecting the food itself. B. Statement of the Problem This study will help to understand how people were affected by their buying behavior towards food consumption. Specifically, this study will require answering the following questions:

What is the profile of the consumer in terms of:

• Marital Status

What is the consumer’s buying behavior towards food consumption in relation to: 

• Nutritional Value of Foods
• Taste of Foods
• Aesthetic Appeal of Foods
• Price of Foods

What are the significance relationships between the profile of the consumer and their buying behavior towards food consumption? C. Conceptual Framework Figure 1. Research Paradigm of the Study The Figure 1 illustrates the research paradigm of the study which specify the input, process and output that will be pondered in conducting in the study.

In the input box, it presents the profile of the consumers in terms of gender, age, marital status, and religion that have a significant relationship with the customers buying behavior towards food consumption in relation to the nutritional value, taste, aesthetic appeal and price of the food. In the process box, it reveals how the study will gather its data which is through a survey questionnaire that will be answered by the respondents and it will be interpreted and analysed. In the last box, the output box, presents the significant relationship between consumer’s profile and their buying behavior towards food consumption.

D. Significance of the Study The researcher will intend to give information about the buying behavior of consumer when it comes to ingestion of food. Moreover this study will address itself to: researchers and other interested practitioners, who are also searching some answers and related references on their researches, may this study help them to widen the results they need; owners of food-related establishments, who need more information about their customers buying behavior ; students and other individuals for them to gain some understandings. E. Scope and Limitation

The study will revolve around the city of Tanauan and the citizens will be the respondents of the said study. They will be given survey questionnaires as part of the data gathering procedure. However, not all will be given a chance to answer the questionnaire. There will be sample from the total population of Tanauan City. It is limited on how honest the respondents would answer the questions. The results will portray how successful the study will be. The study will run for about five months. F. Definition of Terms

Aesthetic Appeal

• It concerns with the appearance of the food. Consumer- A person or group of people who are the final users of products and or services generated within a social system.
• Consumer Buying Behavior- The process by which individuals search for, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services, in satisfaction of their needs and wants.
• Food- Any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body.
• Food Consumption- The ingestion of food to provide for all humans and animals nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth.
• Nutritional Value of Foods- It refers to its capacity to nourish the body with the substances needed to live and grow. II.

Review of Literature Consumer Buying Behavior According to Kuester (2012), consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. There are a lot of things that affects customer buying behavior. According to Perner (2008), consumer behavior includes the psychological processes that consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making decisions, interpret information, make plans and implement these plans.

Food Consumption

As part of human’s basic needs, food has been a huge segment in people’s life. Filipinos, as a portion to their culture, they really love to eat. Daez (2012) stated that Filipinos love food and it has become commonplace for Filipino households to serve their guests a “mini-fiesta” whether they are hungry or not. Filipinos have a huge variety of cuisine that originated from its 7, 107 islands. Having colonized by different countries, the cuisine of the Filipinos evolved through time. Though, Filipinos eat too much unhealthy foods, like street foods and most likely fast food chains’ foods.

Nutritional value of foods has never been one of the major factors in Filipinos’ eating lifestyle. It is always been the taste that they look forward. Demographic Factors affecting Buying Behavior Demographic variables are the most common means to define segments because such customer segments can be easily identified and accessed. Gender. According to Levy (2001), gender is a good predictor of shopping behaviors. Men show little ability or interest in honing their shopping skills, while women view the supermarket as a place where they can demonstrate their expertise in getting the most value for their money.

Men and women even buy different products. Age. Most of the time, age defines the need of an individual. However, it depends on different aspects. Piddock (2010) stated that growing children seem to be forever hungry, while older, retired people eat less than working men and women. Marital Status. People’s buying behavior may even change if he or she was already married. Having a family plays a big role on how consumers buy foods. According to Weitz (2001), when families make purchase decisions, they often consider the needs of all family members. Not like if a person is single, he only thinks of himself.

And how more if there is a kid at home? Children were the biggest factor in family when it comes to buying behavior. Weitz (2001) also stated that children play an important role in family buying decisions. It’s estimated that children between ages 4 and 12 themselves spend or influence their parents’ purchases. Religion. As part of the culture, religion greatly affects how consumers buy their foods. According to Waibel, religious leaders of the day developed rules about the consumption of foods and drinks, and religious practices, restrictions, and laws evolved.

Specific laws about what can be consumed remain in most religions today. The lack of mechanisms to refrigerate or preserve foods led to certain rituals, such as the draining of blood from slaughtered animals, while restrictions on the eating of foods known to spoil easily, such as eggs, dairy products, and meats, were devised for safety reasons.

Research Methods

This chapter includes the discussion of research design, the data gathering instrument, the participants of the study, the data gathering procedures essential for the collection and elucidation of data.

It also discusses how the data will be collected and treated. A. Research Design Triangulated Research. A method that is a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. According to O’Donoghue and Punch (2003), triangulation is a “method of cross-checking data from multiple sources to search for regularities in the research data. ” It is a quantitative research since the study will collect the demographic data of the consumer like gender, age, marital status and religion. It is also a qualitative research since it will also focus on the consumer buying behavior towards food consumption.

This method was chosen by the researchers for the reason that according to Altrichter et al. (2008) contend that triangulation “gives a more detailed and balanced picture of the situation. ” Descriptive-Correlational Study. A design used to describe the statistical association between two or more variables. The study will look for the significant relationships between the consumer’s profile and their buying behavior towards food consumption. B. Participants of the Study The participants of the study will be the residents of Tanauan City. For the researchers to come up with the total number of respondents, stratified sampling will be used.

The researchers will create subgroups of the respondents and draw samples from each group. C. Research Instrument A research instruments plays a big part in gathering data. It is the mirror of the statement of the problem. To gather information, survey questionnaires will be answered by the respondents. It will be the main data gathering instrument for the study. D. Data Gathering Procedure E. Data Analysis Procedure In this study, the data and information that will be gathered, collected and organized will be assembled for review of statistics as follow; Weighted Mean.

It is the central tendency of a collection of numbers taken as the sum of the numbers divided by the size of the collection. This process will be used in taking the average for the profile of the consumers. Z-test and F-Test. This process will help in determining the consumer buying behavior towards food consumption. Frequency Distribution of percentage formula. This formula will be used to show the consumer’s profile and the factors that affect their buying behavior towards foo consumption.

• Altrichter, H., Feldman, A., Posch, P. & Somekh, B. (2008).
• Teachers investigate their work; An introduction to action research across the professions. Routledge. p. 147. (2nd edition).
• Daez, M. (2012, November 18). Eating for the Right Reasons. The Philippine Star. Retrieved December 28, 2012, from http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2012-11-18/867921/eating-right-reasons Kardes, F., Cronley, M., Cline, T., (2011).
• What is Consumer Behavior? Consumer Behavior. Cengage Learning. p. 8. Kuester, Sabine (2012): MKT 301: Strategic Marketing & Marketing in Specific Industry Contexts. University of Mannheim. p. 110. Levy, M., Weitz, B., (2001).
• Consumer Behavior. Retailing Management, Fourth Edition. pp. 153-158. Maslow, A.H. (1943).
• A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm O’Donoghue, T., Punch K. (2003).
• Qualitative Educational Research in Action: Doing and Reflecting. Routledge. p.78. Perner, L. (2008). Consumer Behavior.
• University of Southern California Marshall. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Consumer_Behavior.html Pidock, S., (2010, August 27).
• Factors that affect Food Intake. Retrieved February 11, 2013, from http://www.helium.com/items/1930235-factors-that-affect-food-intake Waibel, R.,
• Religion and Dietary Practices. Retrieved February 9, 2013 from http://www.diet.com/g/religion-and-dietary-practices

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Factors Affecting Purchasing Behavior

Checked : Suzanne S. , Luis G.

Latest Update 21 Jan, 2024

Table of content

Cultural factors

Social factors, personal factors, psychological factors, how marketing affects buying behavior, types of purchasing behavior, complex purchasing behavior, purchase behavior aimed at reducing dissonance, habitual buying behavior, purchase behavior aimed at the search for variety.

Purchasing behavior is the consumer's behavior, understood as any individual who buys products or services for personal use, motivated by a series of cultural, personal, social, and psychological factors. These are studied in marketing precisely to understand what, where, and why consumers buy different products. The study of purchasing behavior aims to analyze consumer behavior both individually and collectively, that is, by investigating how groups (family, friends, associations) affect the purchasing, consumption, disposal, and product search habits.

This multidisciplinary research area, of great importance for the marketing sector concerns the analysis of each activity carried out before the purchase (information search, visit the store, etc.), up to post-consumer behavior. This type of   analysis   provides companies with important data on the   market   and on the target audience, allowing identification of consumption trends for the different types of customers.

To understand where, when, how and why consumers make a certain purchase it is useful to refer to knowledge belonging to different areas such as psychology, sociology, social anthropology, and behavioral economics, since the factors that affect the behavior of purchase of the consumer can be very different in nature. In the book "Marketing Principles," Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong distinguish different types of factors.

The culture has a strong impact on values, desires, and the way we perceive reality, reaching even to influence households' purchasing behavior, which in turn affects the entire range of stimuli to which individuals are exposed from an early age. Culture affects the eating habits, clothing, the type of activity, or services that people need more or less, with consequent implications in the choice of products and brands. Companies operating internationally must pay close attention to this type of factor to adapt its communication and its products to the various cultural and even religious contexts: a successful branding strategy cannot fail to take into account the value and identity aspects that influence people's behavior.

The social factors can greatly influence the purchasing behavior: think, for example, the influence that family, friends, community, and social status can have on people's choices. Each individual can be conditioned by different groups of belonging, by governmental institutions and social structures that can vary according to culture (if you belong to the middle class, working class, etc.).

Currently, social networks also have a strong influence on consumer purchasing behavior, and the power of word of mouth has been amplified by these platforms and by the strength of influencers, who, in fact, share their purchasing choices with the follower community, also conditioning their decisions. Therefore, the study of purchasing behavior must also analyze all these interveners to try to understand consumer choices.

Obviously, factors such as age, sex, personality, economic condition, and lifestyle must be absolutely taken into consideration. As explained in the book by Kotler and Armstrong, the family life cycle also affects people's purchasing behavior. While traditionally, the family life cycle included "unmarried young people and married couples with children, "currently, the companies are increasingly attentive to the growing number of unmarried couples, single parents, homosexual couples, and couples with adult children, for example.

Individuals' profession, the time they spend at home and at work affect the choice of products: think of the tendency to buy more and more prepackaged food, for example, by those who return home late from work and have little time to prepare meals.

Of course, the economic situation also has a major impact on purchasing behavior and lifestyle. The latter - which concerns the activities, hobbies, interests, and opinions of individuals - offers important insights to marketers on the values of consumers and on which concepts and models of life must focus the communication of a brand since, in the case of products such as Harley Davidson, more than buying a product, feeds a lifestyle. Obviously, people's personalities also have a great influence on their choices: "the basic idea is that brands also have a personality and that consumers are led to choose those with a similar personality.

Elements such as motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, and attitudes can affect our purchasing choices, as described by Kotler and Armstrong. In this regard, Maslow proposed the pyramid of needs, which, despite some criticisms, still remains one of the most widely, used theories to explain people's motivation. According to Maslow, there is a specific hierarchy of needs that tend to guide individuals' behavior.

As for the motivation that drives people to buy, more and more marketing experts agree that there are factors that guide purchasing behavior, and the consumer is not aware. It is that is, of the unconscious factors that can affect the propensity to buy or not a certain product or brand. In this regard, various researches highlight the impact of emotions on purchasing decisions and how, for example, the emotional bond towards a brand can affect consumer preferences and brand loyalty.

These unconscious factors can affect the perception of reality, consequently being able to condition consumer choices: think in this regard of cognitive distortions and how these can condition attention and memory of an advertisement or a brand, pushing an individual to buy or not, without realizing it. It is no coincidence that the use of research techniques such as neuromarketing is growing, aimed at understanding consumer behavior through the study of unconscious processes that affect choices.

It is necessary to take into account all the factors mentioned in order to be able to implement marketing strategies capable of affecting the consumer and guiding his choice towards the purchase of a product. Therefore, consumer behavior depends on many factors, ranging from psychographic characteristics to culture, from employment to lifestyle. However, a lot depends on the company's commitment throughout the entire customer journey and on the way it interacts with people at every single touchpoint.

In this perspective, the marketing, branding strategy, and the overall communication strategy of the company can influence not only the consumer's perception of a brand or a product but also that of the relative competitors and the product category in a broader sense. There are many ways in which marketing stimuli can influence purchasing behavior. From mere (repeated) exposure to brand communication to content marketing strategies, from efforts to optimize the customer experience to the involvement of online users: the consumer's purchasing behavior also depends on all these elements.

Depending on the degree of consumer involvement with a brand, it is possible to distinguish different types of purchasing behavior, as explained by Kotler and Armstrong in their book. Obviously, this involvement tends to vary a lot, depending on the type of product. There are categories that can be described as "high" or "low" involvement, and therefore there are purchases that are made in a routine manner and others that require "to more" from the consumer.

There is talk of this type of behavior when there is a high involvement by the consumer in the purchase in question and a significant difference between the brands available. As explained by the two experts mentioned above, we speak for example of "products with high prices, with risk elements, characterized by an infrequent purchase or with a high degree of self-expression, "towards which consumers tend to be particularly involved, making the purchasing behavior "more complex," since it takes more time for the consumer to collect information and to evaluate the choice.

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It is recorded when there is a high degree of involvement with the purchase (because it is expensive or infrequent), but there is little difference between the brands available. In this case, the purchase is made relatively quickly, considering that the consumer does not find it difficult to choose between taking action. In this case, since these are still high-involvement purchases as explained by Kotler and Armstrong, "consumers could face a post-purchase dissonance (post-sale discomfort) If they become aware of any weaknesses of the product purchased or of any advantages of competitor products. For this reason, post-sales communication for this type of purchase should be able to reassure consumers by providing "support and positive confirmation of the purchase choice.”

We talk about purchases with low consumer involvement and with the low difference between the brands to choose from. Think, for example, of inexpensive products, such as table salt, for which brands tend to be purchased in an almost undifferentiated way. In these cases, any loyalty to the brand will be determined by the familiarity with it and the purchasing habit.

When we talk about purchases with low involvement and a significant difference between the brands to buy, there is a tendency on the part of the consumer to want to try other brands: think, for example, buying fruit juices or biscuits. In these cases, considering that these are usually low-cost products, the consumer tends to change brands very easily, even for the simple desire to try something new.

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Buying College Essays Is Now Easier Than Ever. But Buyer Beware

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As the recent college admissions scandal is shedding light on how parents are cheating and bribing their children's way into college, schools are also focusing on how some students may be cheating their way through college. Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market that makes it easier than ever for students to buy essays written by others to turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it.

It's not hard to understand the temptation for students. The pressure is enormous, the stakes are high and, for some, writing at a college level is a huge leap.

"We didn't really have a format to follow, so I was kind of lost on what to do," says one college freshman, who struggled recently with an English assignment. One night, when she was feeling particularly overwhelmed, she tweeted her frustration.

"It was like, 'Someone, please help me write my essay!' " she recalls. She ended her tweet with a crying emoji. Within a few minutes, she had a half-dozen offers of help.

"I can write it for you," they tweeted back. "Send us the prompt!"

The student, who asked that her name not be used for fear of repercussions at school, chose one that asked for $10 per page, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"For me, it was just that the work was piling up," she explains. "As soon as I finish some big assignment, I get assigned more things, more homework for math, more homework for English. Some papers have to be six or 10 pages long. ... And even though I do my best to manage, the deadlines come closer and closer, and it's just ... the pressure."

In the cat-and-mouse game of academic cheating, students these days know that if they plagiarize, they're likely to get caught by computer programs that automatically compare essays against a massive database of other writings. So now, buying an original essay can seem like a good workaround.

"Technically, I don't think it's cheating," the student says. "Because you're paying someone to write an essay, which they don't plagiarize, and they write everything on their own."

Her logic, of course, ignores the question of whether she's plagiarizing. When pressed, she begins to stammer.

"That's just a difficult question to answer," she says. "I don't know how to feel about that. It's kind of like a gray area. It's maybe on the edge, kind of?"

Besides she adds, she probably won't use all of it.

Other students justify essay buying as the only way to keep up. They figure that everyone is doing it one way or another — whether they're purchasing help online or getting it from family or friends.

"Oh yeah, collaboration at its finest," cracks Boston University freshman Grace Saathoff. While she says she would never do it herself, she's not really fazed by others doing it. She agrees with her friends that it has pretty much become socially acceptable.

"I have a friend who writes essays and sells them," says Danielle Delafuente, another Boston University freshman. "And my other friend buys them. He's just like, 'I can't handle it. I have five papers at once. I need her to do two of them, and I'll do the other three.' It's a time management thing."

The war on contract cheating

"It breaks my heart that this is where we're at," sighs Ashley Finley, senior adviser to the president for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She says campuses are abuzz about how to curb the rise in what they call contract cheating. Obviously, students buying essays is not new, but Finley says that what used to be mostly limited to small-scale side hustles has mushroomed on the internet to become a global industry of so-called essay mills. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but research suggests that up to 16 percent of students have paid someone to do their work and that the number is rising.

"Definitely, this is really getting more and more serious," Finley says. "It's part of the brave new world for sure."

The essay mills market aggressively online, with slickly produced videos inviting students to "Get instant help with your assignment" and imploring them: "Don't lag behind," "Join the majority" and "Don't worry, be happy."

"They're very crafty," says Tricia Bertram Gallant, director of the Academic Integrity Office at the University of California in San Diego and a board member of the International Center for Academic Integrity.

The companies are equally brazen offline — leafleting on campuses, posting flyers in toilet stalls and flying banners over Florida beaches during spring break. Companies have also been known to bait students with emails that look like they're from official college help centers. And they pay social media influencers to sing the praises of their services, and they post testimonials from people they say are happy customers.

"I hired a service to write my paper and I got a 90 on it!" gloats one. "Save your time, and have extra time to party!" advises another.

"It's very much a seduction," says Bertram Gallant. "So you can maybe see why students could get drawn into the contract cheating world."

YouTube has been cracking down on essay mills; it says it has pulled thousands of videos that violate its policies against promoting dishonest behavior.

But new videos constantly pop up, and their hard sell flies in the face of their small-print warnings that their essays should be used only as a guide, not a final product.

Several essay mills declined or didn't respond to requests to be interviewed by NPR. But one answered questions by email and offered up one of its writers to explain her role in the company, called EduBirdie.

"Yes, just like the little birdie that's there to help you in your education," explains April Short, a former grade school teacher from Australia who's now based in Philadelphia. She has been writing for a year and a half for the company, which bills itself as a "professional essay writing service for students who can't even."

Some students just want some "foundational research" to get started or a little "polish" to finish up, Short says. But the idea that many others may be taking a paper written completely by her and turning it in as their own doesn't keep her up at night.

"These kids are so time poor," she says, and they're "missing out on opportunities of travel and internships because they're studying and writing papers." Relieving students of some of that burden, she figures, allows them to become more "well-rounded."

"I don't necessarily think that being able to create an essay is going to be a defining factor in a very long career, so it's not something that bothers me," says Short. Indeed, she thinks students who hire writers are demonstrating resourcefulness and creativity. "I actually applaud students that look for options to get the job done and get it done well," she says.

"This just shows you the extent of our ability to rationalize all kinds of bad things we do," sighs Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. The rise in contract cheating is especially worrisome, he says, because when it comes to dishonest behavior, more begets more. As he puts it, it's not just about "a few bad apples."

"Instead, what we have is a lot ... of blemished apples, and we take our cues for our behavior from the social world around us," he says. "We know officially what is right and what's wrong. But really what's driving our behavior is what we see others around us doing" or, Ariely adds, what we perceive them to be doing. So even the proliferation of advertising for essays mills can have a pernicious effect, he says, by fueling the perception that "everyone's doing it."

A few nations have recently proposed or passed laws outlawing essay mills, and more than a dozen U.S. states have laws on the books against them. But prosecuting essay mills, which are often based overseas in Pakistan, Kenya and Ukraine, for example, is complicated. And most educators are loath to criminalize students' behavior.

"Yes, they're serious mistakes. They're egregious mistakes," says Cath Ellis, an associate dean and integrity officer at the University of New South Wales, where students were among the hundreds alleged to have bought essays in a massive scandal in Australia in 2014.

"But we're educational institutions," she adds. "We've got to give students the opportunity to learn from these mistakes. That's our responsibility. And that's better in our hands than in the hands of the police and the courts."

Staying one step ahead

In the war on contract cheating, some schools see new technology as their best weapon and their best shot to stay one step ahead of unscrupulous students. The company that makes the Turnitin plagiarism detection software has just upped its game with a new program called Authorship Investigate.

The software first inspects a document's metadata, like when it was created, by whom it was created and how many times it was reopened and re-edited. Turnitin's vice president for product management, Bill Loller, says sometimes it's as simple as looking at the document's name. Essay mills typically name their documents something like "Order Number 123," and students have been known to actually submit it that way. "You would be amazed at how frequently that happens," says Loller.

Using cutting-edge linguistic forensics, the software also evaluates the level of writing and its style.

"Think of it as a writing fingerprint," Loller says. The software looks at hundreds of telltale characteristics of an essay, like whether the author double spaces after a period or writes with Oxford commas or semicolons. It all gets instantly compared against a student's other work, and, Loller says, suspicions can be confirmed — or alleviated — in minutes.

"At the end of the day, you get to a really good determination on whether the student wrote what they submitted or not," he says, "and you get it really quickly."

Coventry University in the U.K. has been testing out a beta version of the software, and Irene Glendinning, the school's academic manager for student experience, agrees that the software has the potential to give schools a leg up on cheating students. After the software is officially adopted, "we'll see a spike in the number of cases we find, and we'll have a very hard few years," she says. "But then the message will get through to students that we've got the tools now to find these things out." Then, Glendinning hopes, students might consider contract cheating to be as risky as plagiarizing.

In the meantime, schools are trying to spread the word that buying essays is risky in other ways as well.

Professor Ariely says that when he posed as a student and ordered papers from several companies, much of it was "gibberish" and about a third of it was actually plagiarized.

Even worse, when he complained to the company and demanded his money back, they resorted to blackmail. Still believing him to be a student, the company threatened to tell his school he was cheating. Others say companies have also attempted to shake down students for more money, threatening to rat them out if they didn't pay up.

The lesson, Ariely says, is "buyer beware."

But ultimately, experts say, many desperate students may not be deterred by the risks — whether from shady businesses or from new technology.

Bertram Gallant, of UC San Diego, says the right way to dissuade students from buying essays is to remind them why it's wrong.

"If we engage in a technological arms race with the students, we won't win," she says. "What are we going to do when Google glasses start to look like regular glasses and a student wears them into an exam? Are we going to tell them they can't wear their glasses because we're afraid they might be sending the exam out to someone else who is sending them back the answers?"

The solution, Bertram Gallant says, has to be about "creating a culture where integrity and ethics matter" and where education is valued more than grades. Only then will students believe that cheating on essays is only cheating themselves.

( Getty Images )

How To Buy a House: Steps To Buying a House for the First Time

The steps to buying a house for the first time might seem complicated—particularly if you’re a homebuyer trying to purchase real estate with no prior experience. Between down payments , credit scores, mortgage rates (both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate), property taxes, interest rates, and closing the deal, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There’s so much at stake with a first home!

Still, if you familiarize yourself with how to buy a house beforehand, it can help you navigate the real estate market with ease. So let’s get started with what to know about buying a house for the first time!

How to buy a house? Follow these steps to buying a house for the first time

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn what it takes to buy a house for the first time, from beginning to end. Whether it’s your first time in the real estate market or you’re an experienced homeowner who wants to brush up on your skills, this is everything you need to know about how to buy a house.

Step 1: Start saving a down payment

One of the most important steps to buying a house for the first time? Figure out your finances. Buying a new home (particularly for the first time) requires a mortgage, where a lender fronts you the money and you pay it back over time. However, in order to get a mortgage, you’ll need some sort of down payment.

So how much do you need?

Ideally a down payment on a mortgage should be 20% of the home’s price to avoid added fees, but if you don’t have that much of a down payment, don’t worry. A mortgage down payment can be as low as 10%, 5%, or even 0% for certain types of mortgages (e.g., VA loans or a USDA loan ).

If saving up a downpayment is a real challenge, find out everything you can about government programs. A HUD home is a property owned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They require lower down payments for eligible participants and often sell at below-market prices.

Step 2: Check your credit score

Did you forget to pay off a couple of credit cards? Unfortunately, it’ll affect your credit score .

In addition to having a down payment, a first-time home buyer will need a decent credit score. This three-digit number is a numerical summary of your credit report, a detailed document outlining how well you’ve paid off past debts, such as credit card and college student loans.

A lender will check your score and report in order to estimate the odds that you will deliver your monthly payment, too.

In turn, the lender will use this info to decide whether or not to loan you money, as well as how much and at what interest rate . If a lender sees some late payments on your credit cards or other blemishes in your credit report, this can lower your odds of getting a loan with a great interest rate, or perhaps even jeopardize your chances of getting any loan at all.

So , it’s essential to know your credit score and take steps to bring it up to snuff with those overextended credit cards and high-interest debts. Here’s more on  how to check your credit score and what number is best for buying  a first home.

Step 3: Get pre-approved for a mortgage

Another one of the most important first-time home buyer steps? Seeking pre-approval from a lender for a home loan. This is where you meet with a loan officer, ideally a few at various mortgage companies.

Each mortgage lender will scrutinize your financial background—such as your debt-to-income ratio and assets—and use this info to determine whether to loan you money, and what size monthly payment you can realistically afford. This will help you target homes in your price range. And that’s good because a purchase price that’s beyond your financial reach will make you sweat your mortgage payment and put you at risk of defaulting on your loan.

As a buyer, just keep in mind that mortgage pre-approval is different from mortgage pre-qualification. Pre-qualify and you’re undergoing a much simpler process that can give you a ballpark figure of what you can afford to borrow, but with no promise from the lender. Getting pre-approved is more of a pain since you’ll have to provide tons of paperwork, but it’s worth the trouble since it guarantees you’re creditworthy and can truly buy a home.

Before they even meet with a lender, one step homebuyers can take to begin understanding what they can afford as a monthly mortgage payment is to plug their info into an online home affordability calculator . This will calculate the maximum amount you can afford as a monthly payment.

Step 4: Find a real estate agent

Want a trusty home-buying guide by your side? Most first-timers will want a great real estate agent—specifically a buyer’s agent , who will help them find the right houses, negotiate a great real estate deal, and explain all of the nuances of home buying along the way.

Here’s how to find a real estate agent in your area. Note: There is a difference between a real estate agent and a Realtor ® ; the latter is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and adheres to a code of ethics. Consider having a Realtor additional insurance so that you’ll get the help you need to ace the process.

Step 5: Go shop for a home!

This is the fun part! As a homebuyer, you can peruse thousands of real estate listings on sites such as Realtor.com , then ask your agent to set up appointments to see your favorites in person.

Since the sheer number of homes can become overwhelming, it’s best to separate your must-haves from those features you’d like but don’t really need. Do you really want a new home, or do you prefer a fixer-upper ? Make a list of your wants and needs to get started, and whittle down your options.

Step 6: Make an offer

Have you found your dream home? Then it’s time to make an offer to the seller. Be prepared to write a check to the seller—it’s called “ earnest money ,” and it’s different from the deposit.

Here’s more on how to make an offer on a house  that a seller can’t refuse.

Step 7: Get a home inspection

A home inspection is where you hire a home inspector to check out the house from top to bottom to determine if there are any problems with it that might make you think twice about moving forward. Think: termites , faulty foundation, mold , asbestos, etc. Sure, a lot can go wrong, but rest assured that most problems are fixable.

Step 8: Get a home appraisal

Even if you got pre-approved for your home loan, your lender will want to conduct a home appraisal. This is where the lender checks out the house to make sure it’s a good investment. It’s similar to a home inspection, but for your lender.

Here’s more about how to buy a house and the home appraisal process  and what to expect as a buyer.

Step 9: Head to closing

Closing, which in different parts of the country is also known as settlement or escrow , brings together a variety of parties who are part of the real estate transaction, including the buyer, seller, mortgage representative, and others.

Closing is the day you officially get the keys to your new home—and pay all the various parties involved. That will include your down payment for your loan, plus closing costs, the extra fees you pay to process your loan.

Closing costs can be sizable, averaging anywhere from 2% to 7% of the home price.

Here’s more on closing costs for homebuyers .

Step 10: Move in!

Done with closing? Got your loan? Congratulations, you’ve officially graduated from a homebuyer to a homeowner! See, the long-term process of buying a first home wasn’t so scary after all, right? Now, it’s time to kick back and enjoy the many benefits of becoming a homeowner.

Judy Dutton is executive editor at Realtor.com covering news and advice about personal finance, homebuying, selling, decorating, and all things real estate. You can reach her at [email protected].

Twitter Follow @judy_dutton

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