Consumer behavior. iPhone 6 - Essay Example

Consumer Buying Behaviours Consumer buying behaviour can be referred to as that behaviour of consumers who purchase goods for their personal use and not for business or commercial purposes. One requires the knowledge of the underlying factors that influences purchases and the consumption process in order to understand this buying behaviour. Usually, the buying process undergoes five stages, which include recognition of a problem, searching information, assessment of alternatives, actual purchase and post purchase evaluation (Pride and Ferrell 209). The paper focuses on the factors that influence the consumer buying behaviour taking the case of a recent purchase of an iPhone 6. These determinants/factors are social, psychological, cultural, personal and situational influences. Each of the determinants has various contributors, which are critically analysed in this paper. The factors influencing the consumer behaviours and their respective contributors can be explained using a simple mind map as shown below. Factors influencing Consumer behaviour Situational Factors These influences result from the location, time and circumstances that surround a consumer. The main contributors of this factor include the emotions, urgency and social situation. All the determinants can influence the decision of buyers at all stages of the purchasing process. The emotions or feelings may include the moods and conditions of a person at particular moments (Pride and Ferrell 210). For example, illness, fatigue or having cash can make the consumer to buy a product. The recent purchase could be because I had money and good moods that made me buy the iPhone 6. The time factor can influence the decision of consumers in buying commodities. For example, the recent purchase occurred due to the urgent need of a phone for reading school notes while at home. People opt to skip the stages of the buying process due their immediate needs for particular products. The social surroundings also influence consumer behaviour (Pride and Ferrell 212). For example, the decision to buy the iPhone 6, last month was influenced by my friends who accompanied me to the shopping mall. Psychological Factors These factors are related to the general consumers’ behaviours. They are internal, but, are influenced by external forces. The motives, perceptions and the attitudes of people influence their decision in buying goods. Motives can be described as the internal forces, which direct a person towards buying a product or achieving certain goals. Some motives are stronger than others (Pride and Ferrell 213). They contribute to the psychological processes of individuals. The recent purchase of the iPhone 6 was characterised by my friend, who had a similar phone. His phone contains advanced and latest applications and thus enabling him to use it for many purposes. In addition to the phone features, he keeps on reminding me to buy that phone and so to say, the recent shopping was influenced by his motivational talks. Creating perceptions involves selecting and interpreting information about something to make a personal meaning. One can make opinions about a product through seeing, hearing, touching and other sensual behaviours. These perceptions about a commodity are always the targets of salesmen and advertisers (Pride and Ferrell 215). For example, I had a perception that every product released by Apple Inc. is excellent and more advanced before buying the new iPhone 6. Also, the stereotypes or the preconceived opinions towards a product or company can influence the consumer behaviours. Attitudes usually change over time and thus people with positive attitudes towards a product are likely to purchase it than those with negative attitudes. Personal Factors The primary concept of the personal factors is the personality of an individual. It refers to the social ranking of a person in the society (Pride and Ferrell 216). The decision to buy an iPhone 6 was partly influenced by the fact that I always need to be ranked as a person with strong personalities who can purchase expensive items. Mostly youths tend to buy many items and live in expensive lifestyles as compared to the aged who prefer cheap and simple lives. The age and lifestyle aspect affected my decision to purchase the phone. Cultural factors As stated earlier, subcultures, social classes and pop culture are the key contributors to the cultural influences that affect the consumers’ behaviour. Subcultural beliefs and behaviours originate from those people living in an area on their own, or their cultures differ from the surrounding culture. For example, the African Americans spend their money mostly on clothing, food and entertainment unlike the natives who divert more to savings and travelling (Pride and Ferrell 218). For this reason, being a Black American, I purchased the iPhone mainly for entertainment purposes. The social structure of any society categorises people in different social groups. These groups/classes tend to behave in a similar manner and hence their consumption behaviours. The decision was partly affected by the social class attributed to me in school and at home. Another factor is the pop culture, which refers to the set of beliefs and behaviours of a certain dominant culture, for example, the American culture. The popular culture can influence other minority cultures even in buying of goods (Pride and Ferrell 220). Social factors Note that the social factors are partly linked with cultural and situational factors, in that, there is an influence of friends, family and reference groups in the purchase of commodities. Friends can influence one’s decision to buy or consume a good, as well as his/her family. As stated earlier, my friends partly contributed to my final decision on buying the phone. In a sociological perspective, reference groups can also be described as social classes (Pride and Ferrell 222). For example, people in the same football club or music group tend to behave in a similar manner and hence they can affect one’s behaviours and attitudes towards a product. Works Cited Pride, William and Ferrell, O C. Foundations of Marketing. Australia: South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Read More