Lesson 15 : Analyzing Consumer Market and Buyer Behavior
Psychological factors
A person’s buying choices are influenced by four major psychological factors-motivations, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes.
Motivation- A person has many needs at any given time. A need becomes motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of intensity. Motivational researchers hold that each product is capable of arousing a unique set of motive in consumers.
Learning- When people act they learn. Learning involves changes in an individual’s behavior arising from experience. Learning theory teaches marketers that they can build up demand for a product by associating it with strong drives, using motivating cues and providing positive reinforcement.
Perception- Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. A motivated person is ready to act. How the motivated person actually acts is influenced by his or her perception of the situation.
Beliefs and attitudes- A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. An attitude is person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings, and action tendencies towards some object or idea. Through doing & learning, people acquire beliefs & attitudes. These in turn influence their buying behavior. If doing and learning are effective, it will result in behavioral change.
People play five roles might in a buying decision:
Initiator:A person who first suggests the idea of buying the product or service.
Influencer:A person whose view or advice influences the decision.
Decider:A person who decides on any component of a buying decision-whether to buy, what to buy, how ( buy, or where to buy)
Buyer:The person who makes the actual purchase
User:A person who consumes or uses the product or service.
Gatekeeper:Controls information or access or both, to decision makers and influencers.
Consider an obese’s interest in changing food habits after listening from the physician. Her interest might have been initially stimulated by a friend (initiator). In searching for information, she may have consulted the dietician (influencer). She made the final decision (decider) of changing the menu. She sought a menu for a month from the dietician (buyer) and started following it strictly (user). As time progresses, the decider controls herself in making future decisions (gatekeeper).
Participants