There are many factors that affect our buying behavior, all of which marketers have to take into account before making decisions. These factors are primarily cultural, social, personal, and psychological. Culture strongly influences the decisions we make as consumers, and changes from place to place. Within each culture, there are subcultures which group people based on shared value systems, as well as social classes which group people based on common interests and beliefs. Social groups also influence a person's behavior. These groups include membership groups, aspirational groups, reference groups, and even social networks. Even within a family there are various buying behaviors. For example, in the United States, statistics show that women influence 91% of home purchases, and 92% of vacation purchases. Personal factors are factors such as age, occupation, economic situation, and lifestyle which all directly affect a person's decisions. Psychological factors are motivations, perceptions, and beliefs and attitudes which inspire and influence people's buying behaviors.
A consumer's buying behavior also changes between products. For example, a person buying a new car or refrigerator will do extensive research before selecting and purchasing it. But when that same person realizes that he needs a more basic item such as salt, it is unlikely for him to start researching the different brands of salt, and will instead just go to the nearest store and buy whatever brand he sees first. The difference in these are dependent on how much consumer involvement is required in the purchase and how significant of a difference exists between brands. There are essentially four types of these behaviors: complex, dissonance-reducing, habitual, and variety-seeking. The marketing strategy that the leading brand uses won't necessarily be the same as a weaker brand's, as weaker brands will have to use things like promotions, lower prices, and advertising to lure customers away from their competitors and to their brand.
Finally, it is important to understand the decision process that every buyer goes through before making a purchase. This process usually begins with a need recognition, which can be triggered by internal stimuli such as thirst, or by external stimuli such as an ad on TV. This recognition is then followed by a search for information in which you make use of sources, whether it be personal, commercial, public, or experiential, to gather information about the product you need. Once enough information is gathered, the buyer will evaluate the alternatives, eventually leading to a purchase of the most preferred one. Once the product is bought, the buyer's satisfaction (or lack of it) will ultimately affect his post-purchase buying decisions. These are all critical components of understanding the decisions buyers make when purchasing a product, as well as their behaviors throughout the entire buying process.
