Selling, buying, marketing, and thinking about money has become nothing but the main
central force of today’s society. People use money to purchase the products and services that they
need and/or want almost daily, and money is an important factor with consumer behavior,
specifically the forces that drive consumer behavior and the decision-making process. Consumer
behavior and the decision-making process has been researched throughout the years, as people
change so does consumer behavior. Throughout all the changes one feature still remain the same:
the consumer culture remained the same. This paper is to understand the driving forces behind
the consumers buying behavior, such as where they derive from and how they affect the purchase
decision process. These two approaches are to help understand an organization’s marketing
strategy.
The Four Forces that Influence Consumer Behavior
The consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of the ultimate consumer,
there are four forces that influence the individual: big data, human behavior, technology, and
trends. A purchase decision is the result of each and every one of these factors. By identifying
and understand each of these forces that influence customers, brands will have more of an
advantage to develop a strategy, a marketing message, and advertising campaigns that are more
efficient and are more in line with the needs and ways of thinking of their consumers. This is a
real asset to better meet the needs and even wants of customers and increase revenue.
Big Data
Nowadays, there are huge amounts of data that are being exchanged and collected in the
business world every day and each amount of data type is being developed at a very high speed.
For the e-commerce industry, data comes from various sources like online transactions, search
history, and social media. All of these sources can be analyzed and provide companies with
insight about their consumers. Big Data is the most efficient way to dig out insights and develop
strategies for companies that are able to deeply understand the changes among customers need.
In addition, respond to customers and supply chains quickly, get feedback of products, develop
the understanding of products and services, and improve the strategy to fit the market. Big Data
also has great effects on customer satisfaction and impulsive purchasing behavior. “Big data
could precisely capture the intention and preference of consumers, offer recommendations fitting
the demand of consumers” (cite). While on the other hand, big data can help marketers to
understand customers and firms can develop more personalized promotion strategies to increase
sales and revenue. Based on the influence factors of big data, it can be said that this force is an
integral part of marketing and consumer behavior.
Human Behavior
Modern consumer behavior is motivated by human behavior. Human behavior includes
how people think and make decisions; these factors can be illuminating for marketers. By
studying consumer behavior can provide professional marketers with the knowledge they need to
develop effective communications that motivate people to purchase goods and services. People
get motivated to purchase due to their human motives, which also influence modern consumer
behavior. “These motives include evading physical harm, avoiding disease, making friends,
attaining status, acquiring a mate, keeping a mate, and caring for family” (Griskevicius &
Kenrick, 2013, p._). These motives affect consumer choices are influenced by these motives
mentioned to help fulfill the desire to accomplish all of the needs.
Another factor of human behavior that contributes to consumer behavior and the
decision-making process is self-image. Self-image helps to explain and predict different aspects
of consumer behavior. “Consumers buy products and brands they believe to possess symbolic
images similar and/or complementary to their self-image, that is, to achieve image congruence”
(cite). By consumers associating themselves with certain brands and products, consumers curate
their own unique self-image and assimilate the brand’s showcased qualities. The brands we
associate ourselves with aid us in the careful construction of our own identities as we choose to
present it to others. In other words, smart brands advertise themselves by showcasing the
qualities we want to see. Brands like these allow consumers to curate their own aesthetic (self-
image) by associating with them. The crucial role in crafting this type of image is by the
companies advertising messages and how the brand positions itself. This is the game between
marketers, since they have to craft messages and brand identities that help inspire consumers to
strengthen their self-image or even try to perfect it.
Technology
Often a company leadership faces numerous challenges when it comes to the rapid
changing of technology. Since the emergence of information technology, the company
communication with its consumers took a turn and now technology has placed the power in the
customer’s hands with the internet infused smart phones, laptops, and tablets. However, these
devices are always being improved with the newest versions, making the previous or older
products obsolete even they are four to six months old.
Almost everybody who has a smart phone, laptop, or tablet live two lives, a vibrant
online life and a kind of boring ordinary offline life. For the people who have social media are all
connected in one platform or another throughout their network of friends. Also, everyone has a
phone and most likely a laptop or a tablet which keeps us updated, active, and informed online.
“ExactTarget Marketing content verified this from a study they did, whereby 91% of consumers
indicated that access to content across all devices was important” (cite). With all of these
technological advancements, it brings together the world as one big community from smart
phone to speed of light data. Companies need to meet the consumers where they are and satisfy
their needs. Social media platforms and live chats place companies right in front of the customer.
With all of these technology tools it gives companies with a wider data collection pool, track
research, and develop the big data. “This concept redefines how we see consumer behavior in
action and the information it provides for marketing strategies” (cite). Technology, as a force of
consumer behavior, gives an understanding of behavioral economics, shows the consumer
purchase decision phase in action, and how consumers react to all different types of marketing
strategies.
Trends
Consumer behavior trends are the habits or behaviors that are prevalent among
consumers of goods and services, whether it is negative or positive, for different brands. Trends
track more than simply what people buy and how much they spend. The data that is collected on
trends could also include data about how consumers use a product, how they communicate about
a brand on their social media. These trends are determined by the nature of the individual and the
nature of the environment in which they live. All of this information is important to collect about
consumers in order to develop and implement the qualitative and quantitative research methods.
The opinions, attitudes, needs, and behavior of consumers is all pretty critical information to
learn and provide any information of what consumers may want or need.
Consumer Purchase Decision Making Process
“The consumers' purchasing decision-making process is a process that consists of five
stages: Identify the Need, Information Research, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase Decision,
Post-Purchase Decision” (Koc, 2011). This process has five stages of the purchase process and
represents a class example of the consumer especially within the important purchasing decision.
As a result of all of these factors, consumers spend a significant amount of time and effort in
gathering information and evaluating product alternatives for all types of products and service in
order to make a decision which makes this process critical to understand.
Identify the Need
Information Research
Evaluation of Alternatives
Purchase Decision
Post-Purchase Decision
Economic Decision-Making
Economic decision-making refers to “the process of making business decisions involving
money” (cite). All economic decisions require the use of some sort of accounting information, in
the form of financial reports. Anyone using accounting information to make economic decisions
must be willing to devote the necessary time and energy to make sense of the accounting reports.
If someone has worked with accountants, you may have noticed that they are sticklers for more
precise and detailed-oriented. But being accountants has brought them accuracy and discipline to
decision making.
The decision-making process should be following a certain “recipe”, but it will enhance
with two more ingredients, which are relevance and reliability. “If either of these qualities is
missing, accounting information will not be useful,” Pearson Education says (cite). These two
qualities can improve the quality of economic decisions since relevance and reliability mean a lot
to decision making. Relevance has to deal with economic information being timely and has
predictive value, also means that there should be a certain expectation of a return on a
consumer’s investment. In addition, reliability means that this information should be accurate
and conservative. In regard to the assets and revenue do not misrepresent the value of items but
understate the wealth and net income of a business rather than overstating it.
Individual Behavior
Group Behavior
Consumers are a tribal bunch, and the groups they choose to be in are significant to how
consumers view themselves and live their lives day to day. Similarly, to the way consumers pick
their friends, consumers purchase brands they think represent standards they relate to.
Consumers are easily influenced by different types of reference groups that they want to be a part
of or aspire to be. When it comes to group influence, consumers avoid certain brands that they
believe would put them into a group that they do not want to be included in, so this affects their
decision making. By associating your company’s product or service with a group your target
market loves are how the company can use group influence/behavior to boost the company’s
sales.
Conclusion
