Buying Decision
Influences on the buying decision can be described as factors that have a persuasive ability on the consumer behavior, they include environmental, organizational, interpersonal, and individual. These factors play a key role on whether a customer buys what one is selling or not. Consumer behavior is a study that focuses on the factors that persuade people to buy certain goods and support particular brands. Marketers’ main role is to increase the sales of a business through attracting new customers and retaining those they already have. This is achieved through monitoring, evaluating, and controlling consumer behavior.
Marketer and Non-marketer Influence
Marketers influence buying decisions by creating advertisements on a regular basis, engaging with customers on an emotional level, trendsetting and shaping the contexts. Thus, regularly held advertisements have a significant impact on consumers’ buying decisions. Customers pick one brand over others just because they saw the first one’s advertisement more frequently. For example, customers tend to have trust in some brands more compared to others simply because they may have better blog posts, more visually appealing material, and employ influencers who help customers associate the brand favorably. An example on engaging with customers on an emotional level is that people may fail to recall when or where they came across a specific certain advertisement, but whenever they are in a store and see an item on the shelves, they are instantly overwhelmed with a certain emotion, such as comfort, delight, or confidence.
Buying decision is also influenced by factors that come from non-marketer sources. Factors like cultural factors, social factors, and personal behavior. One of the major variables affecting a customer’s purchasing decisions is culture. These variables refer to a specific community’s set of principles, preferences, beliefs, and ideology. Buyers acquire the ability to identify appropriate actions and decisions when making purchases at a young age. For instance, some purchasing trends are simple to comprehend because of cultural restrictions on the use of goods like alcohol or beef, or because of cultural expectations for particular dress styles.
Culture also affects who purchases specific goods and in what quantities, such as family size, an example on social factors is family, a family has a big influence on how people behave when they go shopping. Thus, a person forms preferences as a child by observing their family members purchase goods, and they maintain those choices as they get older. Finally, consumers’ personal factor has an impact on what they buy. These individual characteristics range from individual to individual, leading to diverse views and buying decision. For example, what a child buys, is not the same as what an adult would buy.
Micro-environment and the Macro-environment
Micro-environment and the macro-environment make up the business environment of an organization. Most organizations conduct their business activities in an environment that comprises of a variety of factors that influence their activities directly and indirectly. A micro environment describes factors that are close to the organization and have an impact on its capacity to serve their customers. This environment has a direct influence on the organization as a whole. These factors include employees, suppliers, media, shareholders, competitors, and customers. A macro-environment refers to external factors that influence an organizations performance. These factors are beyond the control of the organization, as a result, any changes in the macro-environment pose a great threat to the organization. Macro-environment factor include technology, demography, politics, culture, and the economy.
The Relationship Between the Two
Even though the two business environments are different, understanding them both is necessary to fully appreciate one’s enterprise in its overall context. To monitor and understand how numerous things effect the business, one must be aware of them. The two environmental elements are beyond the control of any organization, they nonetheless have an impact on decisions an organization makes.
How Might a Small Firm Seek to Influence These Environmental Elements
Firms may have an influence on this environmental element by developing a marketing plan that is strategic. The effectiveness of any marketing initiatives is significantly influenced by the macro and micro-environments; as a result, these environmental aspects should be carefully taken into account when developing a strategic marketing plan. For instance, small businesses may conduct a PESTLE analysis to fully understand and pinpoint environmental risks and opportunities. Performing a PESTLE analysis gives small firms a comprehensive understanding of the political, economic, legal, social, environmental, and technological aspects that may have an influence on the business.
Channel of Distribution
A channel of distribution is a system of intermediaries who facilitates the distribution of goods from the producer to the end consumers and the transfer of payments from the customers back to the producers. Producers may relax knowing that their goods and services will reach their intended customers with ease if they use a trustworthy distribution channel. Along with securing the flow of commodities, it helps firms generate sales and build their brands. The channel of distribution can either be direct or indirect.
Varying Types of Distribution Channels
The type of distribution channel to be used depends on the type of product. For instance, highly perishable products such as milk and most farm products require a shorter distribution channel for them to reach the intended customer while they are still good. A product that is extremely technical or designed specifically for consumers, like a computer system or software for a business, must be purchased from the manufacturers directly.
A channel design is a devised strategy of getting goods and services from the manufacturers to their target customers. Finding the idea approach to showcase one’s brand identity, goods and services to potential clients is its main goal. A channel design frequently works in tandem with strategic marketing to comprehend client wants and desires and encourage them accordingly. The criteria around which channel strategy decisions are made include analyzing the needs of the consumers, setting objectives for the channel, identifying and evaluating alternatives. Making a customer persona blueprint can assist one in choosing the channels to invest in and determining how to position oneself in each channel in ways that seems genuine and relates to the values and requirements of the audience. For instance, if one is running a complex tech business with clients in need of assistance in installing their products, working with value-added resellers and associates can help the channel strategy of their sales.