Purchasing Decisions of Consumers - Essay Example

Running Head: Purchasing Decisions Purchasing Decisions [Institute’s Purchasing Decisions of Consumers Introduction The need for carefully examining and evaluating consumer behavior was never as intense as it is of today. In fact, it has become an essential part of ‘strategic market planning’ and ‘marketing management’ as a whole. Marketers today spend abundant of time towards studying the behaviors of their consumers and the factors that affect their buying behavior and purchasing decisions. Moreover, due to increased information available to buyers, arrival of internet and globalisation, changing demographics, many positions and diverse groups of customers have developed their own set of needs and buying patterns. Despite the fact that it has made the life of marketers troublesome but at the same time, keeping a close eye on buying behavior of all consumers has become predictable and unavoidable. This paper is an attempt to examine the factors that affect the buying behavior and purchase decisions of undergraduate students for clothing or apparel. Discussion Another way of looking at this topic would be through the study of Neal and Pettigrew (2007). Their research indicates that the purchasing decisions of any young consumer would indicate a pattern along with mental and cognitive orientations (pp. 227). The same would be dominating the consumer throughout his purchasing choices. These crucial cognitive orientations fall into eight board categories namely, “perfectionism consciousness, brand consciousness, novelty and fashion consciousness, impulsive and careless consumer, confused by over choice consumer, recreational and hedonistic shopping consciousness, price and value consciousness and habitual and brand loyal consumer” (Neal & Pettigrew, pp. 227, 2007). However, important here to note is that the extent to which they apply to young consumer differs greatly from demographic regions, thus, indicating the importance of region factor. For example, for developed and developing markets like Australia, United States, New Zealand, India and Greece, three factors, namely brand consciousness, novelty and fashion consciousness (Hatch & Roberts, pp. 341-357, 1995) and habitual and brand loyalty dominate the scene. However, research reveals that for the British undergraduate market, two other factors, time-energy conserving and store loyal customers (Hatch & Roberts, pp. 341-357, 1995), also become a part of discussion. In contrast, the Germans indicated that they are more “variety seekers”. Moreover, they also showed signs of being sensitive towards all factors excluding price and value consciousness and habitual and brand loyalty (Hatch & Roberts, pp. 341-357, 1995). Reference groups have a great influence on almost all the purchasing decisions of youth. Authors have defined reference groups as forces that directly or indirectly may have an influence on the attitudes and behavior of the consumer. There are many kinds of reference groups. Aspirational Reference groups are the ones with which students usually idealise and compare themselves. They consider themselves as indirect and virtual members of these groups led by athletes, celebrities, and others. However, associative reference groups are the ones with which these students are actually associated with for example, their colleagues, friends, coworkers, neighbors, family, church, and others. Finally, there are whose association, membership, attitudes and beliefs are usually reject by others and thus they become ‘dissociative reference’ groups (Lysonski, Durvasula & Zotos, pp. 10-21, 1998). Furthermore, related to these reference groups are the opinion leaders of these groups who remain critical in directing the behavior of most of the undergraduate and youth segment. Marketers try their best to reach opinion leaders of these reference groups. In Japan, Shiseido’s Neuve nail polish was a big hit and their success largely came due to hitting the right opinion leaders to make the craze. In this case, the opinion leaders were the high school girls (East, Wright, & Vanhuele, pp. 515-528, 2008). Hot topic is another good example in the same regard. Since 1988, Hot Topic has paid special attention towards monitoring the styles and attitudes of urban opinion leaders. Hot Topic realised that ‘Aspirational Reference’ groups relating to music have the most impact on the clothing styles of youth. Therefore, with their more than 690 stores in United States and Puerto Rico, marketers of Hot Topic put all their energy in understanding the music trends and identifying the opinion leaders of all types of music whether it is pop, rock, hip-hop, jazz, punk rock, or even the most unclear musical tastes (Solomon, pp. 68-72, 2009). Furthermore, in order to keep up with the ever-changing music trends and styles of opinion leaders, almost all the employees of Hot Topic regularly attend concerts and music shows. Along with customer inputs, Hot Topic has developed clothing and accessories for almost all bands and music stars (East, Wright & Vanhuele, pp. 515-528, 2008). With gross profit of 312 million US dollars in the year 2009, Hot Topic has been able to attract youth in considerable numbers (Solomon, pp. 68-72, 2009). Personal factors would certainly affect the buying decisions of almost all the customers regardless of any other factors. However, undergraduates are most likely to be influenced by a couple of personal factors for their clothing choices, namely, “personality and self-concept” and lifestyle and values”. Personality refers to the personal traits that a person possesses and which determines his reaction to the external motivation. Conversely, there is an idea of brand personality as well. It refers to set of specific traits that could be attributed to the brand. In this regard, Levi’s would be rugged, MTV would be exciting, and CNN’s link would be with capability. For example, Levis for years have been trying to target the American segment of youth. For the same, it has been trying to create a brand personality that it very similar to the general personality of American youth. They found that American youth is more inclined towards showing themselves as unruly, youthful, genuine, and disobedient American. Therefore, over the years, through all marketing communication channels, it has built a similar brand personality and thus has been very successful in this section (East, Wright & Vanhuele, pp. 515-528, 2008). As mentioned above, “lifestyle and values are also crucial for this undergraduate segment largely. Lifestyle refers to the living patterns of an individual highlighted by his activities, interests, and opinions. On the other hand, values refer to the fundamental belief system of an individual” (Solomon, pp. 68-72, 2009). Like all other consumers and sectors, lifestyles and values affect the purchasing decisions of undergraduates whether it is for clothing or for other products. Marketers that sell different type of clothes find certain relations in buying behaviors of undergraduates with their lifestyle groups. For instance, undergraduate students that go on to purchase suits, tuxedos and formal clothes are more likely to be living an achievement oriented lifestyle. Therefore, the brand marketers are more likely to link their brand with achievement and success. However, with the passage of time, even in this undergraduate segment, new groups of lifestyles and values are coming on the scene (Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman & Hansen, pp. 403-405, 2009). For example, undergraduates today have developed a “time famine lifestyle” where they are short of time and at times have to engage in multitasking. Most of these students would be talking on the cell phone while driving, ride bicycle for exercise, eat and write or read their books simultaneously, take little naps in classes or buses and others. Most undergraduates realise that their time is more valuable to them than money. Therefore, they look for convenient purchases of clothing and quick processing. Therefore, marketers of clothing directed at this segment are aiming at becoming more convenient in terms of design and location, and more consumer friendly (Kotler et al, pp. 403-405, 2009). Along with lifestyle, values are becoming a crucial driver of purchases of this segment. Many young people are developing a sense of responsibility towards this planet and thus have embodied deeply into themselves the values of sustainability, environmentalism, ethically responsible and green. Therefore, these undergraduates are looking for clothing products that are organic, environmental friendly, without fur, recycled etc. For example, in 2006 in UK, spending on ethical and organic clothing grew by more than 72 percent and reached the level of 52 million Euros. Furthermore, there is a significant portion of contribution from undergraduates in this segment and that increased over the past years (Solomon, pp. 68-72, 2009). Nevertheless, undergraduates have also indicated the impact of social class in their clothing purchases unlike any other segment of the market. Undergraduates from different classes would have different tastes and would have unique definition of being fashionable. For instance, undergraduates from the lower middle class engage in themselves in extensive purchasing of T-shirts and caps, especially those clothing that offers an exclusive identification point for their association to their reference group (Hatch & Roberts, pp. 341-357, 1995). These people would prefer to have trademarks, names, logo, and symbols on their clothing and they become the prime target of licensed goods (Davis, pp. 671-677, 1995). In contrast, upper class consumers would choose clothing that gives them a subtle, fine, and classy look. Most probably, their apparel would be free from all the reference groups and sporting associations. Additionally, the social class of an undergraduate would not only influence his decision of “what to buy” but also of “where to buy”. Undergraduates, like other people, would favor shopping from stores that appeal to their own social class (Lysonski, Durvasula & Zotos, pp. 10-21, 1998). For example, when Gap wanted to target the price conscious yet fashionable teens and adults, it created Old navy stores, a new brand, to attract these customers, rather than rebranding itself or introducing low price clothing products in its own stores. This move has been successful has since now Gap targets upper class, modern and luxury seeking, price insensitive customers through its own stores and targets the lower income class, fashion reoriented, price conscious, teens and adults through Old Navy stores (Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman, & Hansen, pp. 403-405, 2009). Conclusion The paper offers handful insights regarding the inclinations in buying behavior of undergraduate students and youth towards apparel. Quite understandably, these are of a significant value to any marketer. Firstly, the marketers of fashionable products and clothing cannot work with a global approach for all customers since their needs and purchasing decisions vary greatly with their geographical locations. Secondly, hunt for opinion leaders and relevant reference groups hold immense importance. In past, companies have successfully created buzz of their products through finding the right opinion leaders of their targeted customers. Thirdly, a through evaluation of current or desirable personality traits and lifestyles of targeted undergraduates is significant for clothing marketers. It has become imperative that the brand personality has to be in line with the self-concept, personality, lifestyle, and values of the undergraduates. Lastly and quite understandably, marketers of apparels cannot afford to avoid the implications of social class of undergraduates. References Neal, C, Quester, P G., & Pettigrew, S. (2007). Consumer behaviour: implications for marketing strategy. McGraw-Hill. Solomon, M. R. (2009). Consumer behavior: buying, having, and being. Prentice Hall. Kotler, P., Keller, K., Brady, M., Goodman, M., & Hansen, T., (2009). Marketing Management. Prentice Hall. East, R., Wright, M., & Vanhuele, M. (2008). Consumer Behaviour: Applications in Marketing. SAGE Publications Ltd. Lysonski, S., Durvasula, S. & Zotos, Y. (1998). Consumer decision-making styles: a multi-country investigation. European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 34 (12), pp. 10-21. Hatch, K. & Roberts, J. A. (1995). Use of intrinsic and extrinsic cues to assess textile product quality. Journal of Consumer Studies and Home Economics. Vol. 61 (4), pp. 341-357. Davis, L.L. (1995). Effects of physical quality and brand labeling on perceptions of clothing quality. Perceptual and Motor Skills. Vol. 91, pp. 671-677. Read More