Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior can be broadly classified as the decisions and actions that influence the purchasing behavior of a consumer. What drives consumers to choose a particular product with respect to others is a question which is often analyzed and studied by marketers. Most of the selection process involved in purchasing is based on emotions and reasoning.

The study of consumer behavior not only helps to understand the past but even predict the future. The below underlined factors pertaining to the tendencies, attitude and priorities of people must be given due importance to have a fairly good understanding of the purchasing patterns of consumers

1. Marketing Campaigns

Advertisement plays a greater role in influencing the purchasing decisions made by consumers. They are even known to bring about a great shift in market shares of competitive industries by influencing the purchasing decisions of consumers. The Marketing campaigns done on regular basis can influence the consumer purchasing decision to such an extent that they may opt for one brand over another or indulge in indulgent or frivolous shopping. Marketing campaigns if undertaken at regular intervals even help to remind consumers to shop for not so exciting products such as health products or insurance policies.

2. Economic Conditions

Consumer spending decisions are known to be greatly influenced by the economic situation prevailing in the market. This holds true especially for purchases made of vehicles, houses and other household appliances. A positive economic environment is known to make consumers more confident and willing to indulge in purchases irrespective of their personal financial liabilities.

3. Personal Preferences

At the personal level, consumer behavior is influenced by various shades of likes, dislikes, priorities, morals and values. In certain dynamic industries such as fashion, food and personal care, the personal view and opinion of the consumer pertaining to style and fun can become the dominant influencing factor. Though advertisement can help in influencing these factors to some extent, the personal consumer likes and dislikes exert greater influence on the end purchase made by a consumer.

4. Group Influence

Group influence is also seen to affect the decisions made by a consumer. The primary influential group consisting of family members, classmates, immediate relatives and the secondary influential group consisting of neighbors and acquaintances are seen have greater influence on the purchasing decisions of a consumer. Say for instance, the mass liking for fast food over home cooked food or the craze for the SUV’s against small utility vehicle are glaring examples of the same.

5. Purchasing Power

Purchasing power of a consumer plays an important role in influencing the consumer behavior. The consumers generally analyze their purchasing capacity before making a decision to buy and products or services. The product may be excellent, but if it fails to meet the buyers purchasing ability, it will have high impact on it its sales. Segmenting consumers based on their buying capacity would help in determining eligible consumers to achieve better results.