What is Consumer buying behavior and what are the different types of consumer buying behavior? Consumer buying behavior refers to action taken by the consumer before buying any product or services from the market. In everyday life, consumers do many decisions in buying products.
The consumer buying decisions are researched by many large business organizations in detail in order to answer the questions about what consumers purchase, why they purchase, when they purchase, how much they purchase and where they purchase.
Marketers can examine properly about purchases of consumers to figure out that how much they purchase, what and where they purchase. In understanding about why consumer buying behavior is not easy task and the reply to this question is embedded in the head of the consumer.
The main question that should be enquired by the marketer is how the consumers react to different marketing struggles that the business organization may use?
The business organizations that actually want to know about the reaction of consumers against different characteristics of products, advertising appeals and prices have an effective competitive gain over their competitors. The stimulus-response model of buyer behavior is the beginning point.
The 4Ps of marketing are included in the marketing stimuli which are product, price, place and promotion. Main Major events and forces in the purchaser’s environment are included as other stimuli like technological, cultural, economic and political.
The buyer black box is the place where all these inputs move in and then they are converted into a group of observable buyer reactions like brand choice, product choice, purchase timing, dealer choice and purchase amount.
The marketer should try to figure out how the stimuli are converted into reactions inside the black box of consumers. This black box has two components.
First one is the characteristics of purchaser that influence that how purchaser will comprehend and make responses to the stimuli. Second one is the purchaser process of decision making itself influencing the behavior of purchaser.
Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behavior
Following are the factors effecting consumer buying behavior.
- Cultural
- Personal
- Social
- Psychological
Cultural Factors
The consumer behavior is strongly and broadly affected by cultural factors. The function played by the culture, subculture and social class of the purchaser should be properly understood by the marketer.
So cultural factor includes the following components
- Culture
- Subculture
- Social Class
Personal Factors
Personal factors also influence the buyer’s decisions. It includes the following.
- Age and life-cycle stage
- Occupation
- Economic Situation
- Lifestyle
- Personality and self-concept
Social Factors
Social factors also impact on the behavior of buyer. It further includes the following components.
- Groups
- Family
- Roles and Status
Psychological Factors
Following are four main psychological factors that influence the buying choices of consumers.
- Motivation
- Perception
- Learning
- Beliefs and Attitudes
Types of Consumer Buying Behaviors
Following are four types of consumer buying behavior.
- Complex Buying Behavior
- Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behavior
- Habitual Buying Behavior
- Variety Seeking Buying Behavior
These are discussing one by one here below.
Complex Buying Behavior
When consumers are highly involved in the purchase or comprehend important variations among brands then they show complex buying behavior. Consumers can be potentially involved when the product is risky, expensive, and highly self-expressive and purchased infrequently.
Typically, the product category should be properly known by the consumer. For example, purchaser of personal computer may not have understanding of much about the features of personal computer. There are many characteristics of product that has no meaning like “megs of RAM”, “super VGA resolution” or “Pentium Pro chip”.
The purchaser will go through an acquiring process, first building beliefs about product, then attitudes and finally making meaningful purchase selection. The information collection and evaluating behavior of consumers are considered by the marketers of enhanced-involvement products.
They require assisting purchasers about product-class features and their relative significance, and about what the brand of the business organization offering on the important features.
Marketers require distinguishing the features of their brands by highlighting the benefits of brand by using print media along with long copy. Store salespeople and acquaintances of purchaser should be motivated by the marketers in order to effect the final brand selection.
Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behavior
Dissonance-reducing buying behavior happens when consumers are potentially involved with an infrequent, risky or expensive purchase, but view little differences among brands. For example, high-involvement of decision is made when consumers want to purchase carpeting because carpeting is self-expressive and expensive.
Yet purchasers may view many of the carpet brands in a provided price range to be similar. In this case purchasers may shop around to understand what is present, but purchase relatively rapidly because of the reason that perceived brand variations are not enough. They may react primarily to purchase convenience or to a good price.
The consumers might face post purchase dissonance after they have purchased when they figure out particular disadvantages of the carpet brand bought or hear beneficial things about brands which they have not bought.
In order to cover this kind of dissonance, after-sale communications of the marketer must give evidence and assistance to help consumers feel better about their brand selection.
Habitual Buying Behavior
In case of low consumer involvement and little important brand variations, habitual buying behavior happens. For example in case of product of salt consumer does not show their much involvement. Rather they actually go the shop and buy a brand.
If same brand is purchase by the consumer than it shows habit rather than potential brand loyalty. Products are frequently purchased by the consumers when they have low involvement with much minimize cost.
The consumer behavior in such cases does not go through sequence of belief-attitude-behavior. Consumers do not seek highly to get information about the brands, measure brand features, and make heavy decisions about which brand to purchase.
Instead they received information passively though reading magazine or watching television. Brand familiarity is made though repetition of ads rather than creation of brand conviction. Not strong attitudes are shown by the consumers towards a brand.
In fact they choose the brand on the basis of its familiarity. Consumers may not measure the selection even after purchase because they are not much involved with the product.
Thus, the buying process contains brand beliefs created by passive acquiring, followed by buying behavior, either which may or may not be followed by measurement.
Price and sales promotion are mostly used to induce product trail by marketers of low product involvement with few brand variations because they purchasers are not brand loyal. Only few key points should be included in the ad copy while advertising for a low involvement product.
Imagery and visual symbols are significant because they can be linked with the brand and can be remembered easily. Increased repetition of short-duration ads should be contained in ad campaigns.
Television is low involvement medium that is compatible for passive understanding so it is more effective than print media. Classical conditioning theory must be used for advertising planning in which purchasers understand to specify particular product by a symbol repeatedly linked to it.
By connecting the products to some involving issues, markers can struggle to change over low-involvement products into high involvement ones. By connecting Crest toothpaste to preventing cavities, Proctor & Gamble have done this.
Being good enough, these strategies can enhance the involvement of consumers from minimize level to a better level. However, consumers are not motivated by marketers into highly involved purchasing behavior.
Variety Seeking Buying Behavior
In case of low consumer involvement and with important comprehended brand variations, consumers undertake variety seeking behavior. An increased number of brand switching is performed by consumers in such situations.
For example, when purchasing biscuits, some beliefs were held by consumers and without much evaluation & selection of biscuit brand, they bought them.
While purchasing next time, the consumer switches to another brand in order to exit from the feeling of boredom or try something different. Switching of brands happens because of variety rather than because of dissatisfaction.
The marketing strategy may variety for the leader of market and minor brand, in such product categories. Habitual buying behavior will be encouraged by the market leader by maintain shelves fully stocked, dominating space of shelf and running advertising of frequent reminders.
On the other hand, variety seeking buying behavior will be encouraged by the challenging business organizations by offering lower prices, coupons, free samples, special deals and advertising that shows reasons for struggling something new.
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