Consumer behaviour is based on factors that influence buyers, users, and payers of particular goods and the decisions they make (David, et al., 2010).
Today’s consumers purchase the goods and services according to their needs and wants, but mostly they purchase the goods and services due to influence of economic, cultural and social factors from their society.
Consumer behaviour is equally important to marketers because it determines the products, the price, the distribution, and the advertisements that are appropriate in a specific market segment. In this essay, we will discuss about how the changes of economic, cultural, and social factors affect consumer behaviour.
In addition, the paper will look at how I have been personally affected by these factors on my consumption and how my consumption patterns would be changed.
Economy refers to the state of national economy with respect to levels of employment, interest rates, wages, currency exchange rates, disposable income and aggregate household savings (Widing, et al., 2003).
Economic factors impact on how many times a consumer purchase and where and what is the consideration of buying products. Consumers purchase the goods and services by ‘money’; every purchase is made by use of money. Consumers cannot buy, pay and use anymore if do have financial problems.
If a country’s economy is high, then consumers are most likely to buy more commodities, but there are times when the economic status of a country is low. When the economy is low, people may loose their jobs and this leads to less purchase of items.
The supply and demand of a commodity also determines the consumer behavior, because as the demand of a commodity goes up, the prices increases and many suppliers may decide to supply that commodity. When the price of a commodity goes up, then the demand decreases.
Interest rate is another factor because when bank rates are high, consumers will not borrow money and hence they will not buy many commodities. When there is inflation, the dollar value is affected and hence this establishes the consumers buying power (Kotler, 2003).
Personally, I prefer using the concept of substitute products when the economy is bad. It implies that my idea of economic factors is linked to my income level. For instance, when I experience low purchasing power, I would prefer buying fruits instead of ready-made juice because fruits are cheaper.
Cultural factors also determine the consumer behavior. There are many cultural groups; a small group in a given geographical area has their unique purchasing behaviors.
Culture is a major factor that determines what a person wants because of the buying behavior adopted from parents and other relatives. According to East & Wright (2008), when young children are growing up, they learn the basic wants and needs which depends on their parents or relatives preference.
However, there comes a time when there are new products in the market and this influences them to shift from their preference. When marketers advertise about new products in the market, they greatly make people to shift their buying behavior, which is called cultural shifts. This is because we prefer new products because we believe that they have improved features and thus, good for consumption.
Kotler (2003) affirms that social factors also greatly influence peoples buying behavior. Within the cultural groups, there are sub-groups that are divided according to social class, religions, or racial differences.
Groups with high income will go for quality and expensive items and their buying habit is more often as compared to the low class. Wealthy people also buy items in large quantities. They buy each time they go to the shopping mall because money does not limit their buying.
Some religions like the Muslims may also have their own unique buying taste. The place where people live is also another important factor. People who live in cold places, for example, will buyer clothes that fit to that weather as well as those that live in places whose climate is hot. Likewise, youths may have their own buying liking and the old people may have different tastes.
In this regard, the economic, social and cultural aspects affect my buying habits. Economic factors greatly affect my buying behaviour because I buy items according to my economic status; that is, my income level. I especially buy them at the end of the month when I get my salary.
When an item’s price is increased, I prefer going for the cheaper products, which may be of different quality, but of the same type. This implies that I prefer using substitutes and complements where necessary.
For instance, the prices of pizzas, hamburgers, and hot dogs are all about the same; these are substitutable fast foods. If the price of pizzas increases considerably, while the prices of hamburgers and hot dogs do not, I would probably buy more hamburgers and hot dogs and fewer pizzas because of the price.
In effect, I will be substituting hamburgers and hot dogs for pizzas because of the relative high price of pizzas. With complementary goods, the situation for substitutes is reversed. Products like soda and parmesan cheese can be consumed with pizza because they are complementary goods. If the prices of soda and parmesan cheese decrease, I would definitely buy more pizzas.
Social and cultural factors are equally important in my buying preferences. For example, when I go in a shopping mall I prefer to buy items that we have used for years with my parents, especially items like soap and bread. In buying clothes, I look at the new trends as well as the brand and quality.
I sometimes look at what my age mates wear and buy them because I do not want to be left out. When it comes to food, I prefer what my social group use.
I can easily identify brand name that tells something about food as a restaurant product; something like Burger King is easy to remember, and it is a trend in itself. The brand name also helps in identifying quality differences and hence, making proper buying decisions.
In conclusion, in order to get many consumers to purchase items, a marketer should come up with good marketing plans and assess the consumer buying behaviours.
Sharma (2006) concurs that the marketer should consider the lifestyles, social class, occupations and income of people in a given area to come up with a good marketing plan. It will be to the advantage of a company because it will always be ahead of its competitors.
They should also study consumer behaviours and the factors that influence them to change their purchase behaviours, especially those related to both social and cultural factors. Therefore, marketers should design products and marketing programs that are consumer oriented.
Reference List
David, L., Kurtz, H., Mackenzie, F., and Snow, K., 2010, Contemporary Marketing, Ontario: Nelson Education Limited.
East, R. and Wright, M., 2008, Consumer Behaviour: Applications in Marketing, California: Sage Publishers.
Kotler, P., 2003, Marketing Management, Millennium Edition, New York: Prentice Hall.
Sharma, K. A., 2006, Consumer Behaviour, New Delhi: Global Vision Publishers.
Widing, R., Sheth, J.N., Pulendran, S., Mittal, B., and Newman, B.I., 2003, Customer Behaviour: Consumer Behaviour and Beyond, Melbourne: Thomson.