Consumer Buying Behaviour
This article covers meaning, types, factors, process & example of Consumer Buying Behaviour from marketing perspective.
What is Consumer Buying Behaviour?
Consumer buying behaviour is a set of actions, steps or processes followed by the consumers in a marketplace before (and after) buying a product or a service. These actions are the result of the attitudes, preferences, intentions and decisions. These actions or steps can be both online and offline given the modern business paradigm.
Consumer Buying Behaviour just not only covers the purchase part but also covers the usability and even the disposal of the products or services. This is part of the Post Purchase Evaluation but is a critical part of the buying behaviour.
Consumer Buying Behaviour Process
The consumer buying behaviour can be broken down into a series of tasks.
Let us see them one by one:
1. Problem recognition
During this stage, the consumer becomes aware of an unfulfilled need or want. For example, his old laptop may be broken and a need arises for a new laptop.
2. Information search
In this stage, the consumer gathers information relevant to solving his problem. Example, collection of information about various laptop models.
3. Evaluation
The various alternatives are evaluated against the consumer’s wants needs, preferences, financial resources etc.
4. Purchase
In this stage, the consumer will commit to a particular choice and make the final decision. The choice maybe influenced by price and availability.
5. Post purchase evaluation
In this stage, the consumer evaluates whether the purchase actually satisfied her need or not.
4 Types of Consumer Buying Behaviour
Following are the types:
1. Complex
High degree of consumer involvement with significant brand differences.
Example - Cars.
2. Dissonance Reducing
High degree of involvement with little brand differences.
Example - Carpeting
3. Habitual
Low involvement with little brand difference.
Example - Salt
4. Variety seeking
Low involvement with significant perceived brand difference.
Example -Chocolates
Factors influencing Consumer Buying Behavior
Various factors influence the consumer’s buying behavior. They can be broadly categorized as below:
External factors
1. Influence of a group
This includes the influence of culture, family and reference groups on the buying behavior of the consumer
2. Environmental/situational
Factors like season, time of day, temperature and humidity etc. also affect the decision making process.
3. Economic conditions
Internal factors
Lifestyle, Personality, Motivation etc.
These factors hold different level of importance for different kinds of products. For example, consider a cold drink brand, Pepsi. The sales of Pepsi will be majorly influenced by the environmental factors like season and temperature. The influence of group is minimal in this case. On the other hand, while purchasing a car, the consumer’s decision majorly rests on group influence and his internal factors. The environmental factors have almost no role in this purchase.
Consumer Buying Behaviour Example
Buying a chocolate can be an example of consumer buying behaviour. A customer might think of various chocolates with various cocoa content. The customer might be looking for a high cocoa content chocolate for oneself but some other members in the family may want a more balanced chocolate. Depending on various factors, the customer might buy multiple chocolates or may be 1 depending on the need and financial budget.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Consumer Buying Behaviour along with its overview.
Browse the definition and meaning of more similar terms. The Management Dictionary covers over 1800 business concepts from 5 categories.
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