Today’s marketing professionals need a strong understanding of consumer behavior to do their jobs well. What is consumer behavior? In simplest terms, it refers to the study of how and why customers make certain buying decisions.
From a marketing standpoint, understanding consumer behavior is essential because it can set the stage for more effective advertising and marketing strategies. However, with many factors influencing consumer behavior, marketing professionals need to dive deep into its nuances to truly understand it.
What Is Consumer Behavior?
In understanding the overall concept of consumer behavior, it can be helpful to break it down into the underlying psychological, social, cultural, and personal factors that shape consumer purchasing decisions.
Psychological Influences on Consumer Behavior
Psychological influences can play a major role in consumers’ buying decisions and motivations. Specifically, a consumer’s underlying world view, motivations, attitudes, and beliefs can significantly shape their buying behavior.
Social Influences on Consumer Behavior
These days, there’s no denying the influence that social factors can have on consumer preferences and buying behavior as well. Family members and friends, for example, can have a drastic impact on a consumer’s preferences. Social class and cultural background can also strongly influence a consumer’s motivations, tastes, and buying decisions.
Personal Influences on Consumer Behavior
On top of social and psychological influences, other personal factors, such as a consumer’s age, gender, and lifestyle choices, can also shape their individual preferences and choices.
Types of Consumer Behavior
According to the American Marketing Association, there are four different types of consumer behavior, each differentiated by some unique factors and characteristics. Marketers should have a well-rounded understanding of these types of consumer behavior and their impact on buying decisions.
Complex Buying Behavior
With complex buying behavior, consumers are highly involved in the decision-making process. This includes conducting their own extensive research on different products or services, often due to the high cost or received risk associated with the purchase. Complex buying behavior is most common when a consumer is purchasing big-ticket items, such as major household appliances, vehicles, and the like.
Dissonance-Reducing Buying Behavior
Meanwhile, dissonance-reducing buying behavior occurs when consumers experience buyer’s remorse after making a purchase. When this happens, they are more likely to seek reassurance or additional information to justify their purchasing decision and put their minds at ease.
Habitual Buying Behavior
Habitual buying behavior is characterized by low consumer involvement. With this type of buying behavior, consumers are more likely to make repetitive purchases of products and brands with which they are already familiar. This may be due to brand loyalty or simply for the sake of convenience.
Variety-Seeking Buying Behavior
Variety-seeking behavior, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of habitual buying behavior. With variety-seeking behavior, consumers are actively seeking out new alternatives to the products or services they usually buy. Usually, these are driven by a desire for change or novelty. For instance, a consumer who always drinks hot coffee may be tempted to try out a new variety of tea or even a popular iced coffee brand.
Factors That Influence Consumer Behavior
When it comes to fully answering the question, “What is consumer behavior?” you must consider the factors that influence it. There are numerous internal and external factors that ultimately impact consumer decision-making and purchasing decisions, ranging from psychological influences to environmental factors.
Marketing and Advertising
If you’ve ever been influenced by a commercial or even a viral video on social media, then you know first-hand how effective marketing and advertising can be when it comes to buying behavior. Marketing campaigns, advertising messages, and even brand positioning can shape consumer perceptions about a product/service and, ultimately, influence purchasing decisions.
Economic Factors
A consumer’s own economic situation can also have an inherent influence on their ability or willingness to spend money on certain products or services. Economic factors can be personal, or they may have an external influence. For example, high rates of inflation may mean that a consumer’s money doesn’t go as far as it used to, whereas elevated interest rates may leave consumers less likely to finance their purchases.
Personal Situations and Experiences
One of the most influential factors when it comes to consumer behavior is a buyer’s own personal experiences. Consumer-specific circumstances, such as life events and past experiences, can drastically influence their buying preferences and choices.
Environmental Factors
Finally, marketers must take environmental factors into consideration when it comes to consumer behavior. Sustainability concerns, social responsibility, and ethical considerations can all impact purchasing decisions.
For reference, consider that 78% of today’s consumers consider sustainability important, and 34% of consumers are also willing to pay more for an eco-friendly brand, product, or byservice (per a 2021 global sustainability study by Simon-Kuchner & Partners, Strategic Marketing Consultants). A different global survey by PWC Consulting Firm from 2023 indicates as many as 70% of consumers would “pay more for sustainably produced goods to some or to a great extent.” While it’s true that people aspire to purchase more of these “green” goods in theory, the reality is that a far smaller share actually follow through—whether due to factors related to convenience or cost.
The Consumer Decision-Making Process
Although the exact process of reaching a buying decision can vary greatly from one consumer to the next, there are some basic stages that most consumers follow when making a purchasing decision. Marketers need to understand the nuances of each stage to influence consumer choices more effectively.
Problem Recognition
During this initial stage of the decision-making process, consumers identify their specific needs or wants in a product or service. For instance, a consumer may realize they need a new smartphone because their current one is outdated or malfunctioning. They might consider factors like the latest features, battery life, and camera quality as essential.
Information Search
Next, consumers work to gather as much information as possible about the potential products and services that may suit their needs. This usually includes a great deal of online research, as well as reaching out to family and friends for recommendations or referrals.
Evaluation of Alternatives
Next, consumers typically take the time to compare and evaluate different options based on their specific criteria. If cost is a factor, this may include a close comparison of pricing and perceived value of the product or service.
Purchase Decision
After careful consideration and weighing of options, most consumers are able to reach a decision during this stage. At this time, the purchase of the product or service is made.
Post-Purchase Evaluation
Even after the purchase is complete, the decision-making process isn’t quite over. During this important stage, consumers tend to assess their overall satisfaction with the purchase. If they are satisfied, they may have a higher opinion of the brand/company from which they purchased and they may be more likely to buy from them again in the future. Otherwise, they may seek our other brands for future purchases.
Collecting Data on Consumer Behavior
Marketing professionals rely on a variety of methods to gather data on consumer behavior. This data can then be used to reveal valuable insights that can inform future marketing strategies.
Surveys and Questionnaires
One of the most useful tools to gauge consumer behavior in marketing is that of surveys and questionnaires. Precisely, these can be used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data directly from consumers. This can provide valuable insights into their preferences, feelings, and motivations behind buying behavior.
Focus Groups and Interviews
Some brands also use focus groups and interviews as a means of gathering more in-depth qualitative data about consumer attitudes, motivations, and decision-making processes. Marketers may conduct focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific commercial or advertisement, or they may rely on interviews to understand consumers’ feedback on a product.
Observational Research
An observational approach to research, whether it be in-person or online, can also review a lot about consumer behavior as it occurs in real-life settings. This type of research can provide extremely valuable insights into consumer purchasing patterns and preferences.
Analyzing Purchase Data and Online Behavior
Finally, marketers can gain a better understanding of consumer behavior by analyzing purchase data, website data, and even social media interactions. This type of quantitative data analysis can tell marketing teams a great deal about consumer preferences, trends, and purchasing patterns that can inform future marketing decisions.
Customer Behavior Segmentation
Marketing teams also use different types of customer behavior segmentation, or a method where customers are sorted based on different behaviors, to tailor their strategies to different groups.
Demographic Segmentation
With demographic segmentation, consumers are sorted by factors such as age, gender, income, and education.
Geographic Segmentation
Sometimes classified as a demographic component, geography can rightfully be placed into a category of its own. Thanks to its potential for highly granular and targeted data, location can be an effective lens through which to conceptualize and deliver new products based on consumer needs.
Psychographic Segmentation
With psychographic segmentation, consumers may be grouped based on such factors as lifestyle, personality, values, and interests. This type of segmentation can help marketers create nuanced customer segments for more effective marketing.
Behavioral Segmentation
In behavioral segmentation, data such as website interactions, purchase history, and engagement with marketing campaigns is used to segment customers based on their actions and preferences.
The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing
Today’s professionals need to have a strong understanding of all the different aspects of consumer behavior in marketing to develop the most effective marketing strategies, craft targeted campaigns, and build strong relationships between brands and customers.
Market Segmentation and Targeting
Distinctly, marketing professionals can apply their understanding of consumer behavior to successfully segment markets and identify target audiences for specific products or services. This can drive sales while maximizing the return on investment (ROI) of individual marketing campaigns.
Product Development and Innovation
In the meantime, consumer research can inform future product development and innovation with brands. This ensures that new offerings are truly meeting the needs and addressing the unique pain points of the target buyer segment.
Pricing Strategies
Knowing how to assess consumer behavior can also help marketing professionals better understand how consumers perceive the value and price sensitivity of specific goods and services. This knowledge can help brands determine optimal pricing strategies to maximize sales.
Promotion and Advertising
Lastly, consumer behavior insights revealed from marketing teams can guide the creation of effective advertising and promotional campaigns. When these marketing campaigns are created with consumer needs and interests in mind, they are more likely to resonate and lead to sales.
Learn More About Marketing and Consumer Behavior at JWU
All purchasing decisions are influenced, at least in part, by the fundamentals of consumer behavior. From consumers’ past personal experiences and life events to income and even ethical considerations, there are so many factors that go into how consumers choose to spend their money.
As a marketing professional, you stand to gain a lot from an in-depth understanding of how consumer behavior works and how it can be used to improve marketing/advertising outcomes. Completing a marketing degree program can be a great way to expand your knowledge of consumer behavior as it applies to your own work in the field.
At Johnson & Wales University, we offer an online Bachelor’s in Marketing, an online MBA in Marketing, and even an online Digital Marketing and Social Media Degree program to help you sharpen your skills and knowledge. Get in touch to learn more about these programs or get started with your online application today.
For more information about completing your degree online, complete the Request Info form, call 855-JWU-1881, or email [email protected].