CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
The consumer market consists of individual households who
buy goods or services for personal consumption.
Consumer behavior is influenced by choice, taste, tradition,
income, culture and brand loyalty.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Choice
In certain industries, for example, toothpaste or bath soaps
consumers have a wide selection from which to choose.
Producers must, therefore, devise strategies to keep their
clients.
Taste
Individuals will select a product because they simply like the
product. This product may satisfy all the features they are
looking for in the product, for example, the colour of the
fabric, the weight of the chicken or the smell of the perfume.
Tradition
Others may make a decision based on family tradition. So
their decision to buy a particular product will be based on
what their parents bought in the past.
Income
One’s income affects one’s ability to purchase. For example,
the highly priced and certain types of motor vehicles can only
be purchase by highly paid salaried worker while person with
smaller incomes would have to be content with more
affordable and lower priced vehicles.
Brand Loyalty
Marketers try to build loyalty to their products because once
customers have tried and are satisfied with a particular brand,
it is difficult to persuade them to switch to another brand.
For example, one may have a particular preference for a
certain brand of cell phone, let’s say Nokia, then one would
continue to purchase this make of phone throughout one’s
lifetime.
Price
The price of a product may be the attraction that moves
an individual to purchase a good or service. This is one
major reason why firms have sales because they are
aware that consumers are attracted to low prices.
However there, are some goods that are bought because
of their high prices. To some consumers a high price
denotes quality or improves one image, for example the
purchase of designer clothes eg Levi Jeans.
Peer pressure
Some individual are influenced by decisions made by friends
to purchase a product. Thus their motivation for purchasing
the product is not based on their own will but the influence
or pressure from friends.
Belief System
People’s religious beliefs influence their choice of spending.
For example, it is the practice of some Christians not to eat
pork.