What factors influence consumer behavior
It is easily deductible that we do not all consume in the same way, due to a large number of variables, either because we do not have the same tastes, the same income or the same age. In any case, despite how different people are from each other, there are products for almost all tastes and needs. For these products to exist, it is necessary for companies to study carefully what factors influence consumer behavior, which we will explain in this article.
Internal factors
These correspond to individual and internal characteristics of the individual and his personal experience and situation, without the influences of the outside world. They are grouped in the following four:
- Motivation: the consumer must have a predisposition and therefore a motivation to obtain that product that can meet their needs, and since we have different needs, we will also have different motivations.
- Perception: all people continuously receive stimuli from the outside, but the same stimulus is perceived differently by each person. Therefore, the way we perceive our senses that surrounds us will determine our preferences.
- Experience: depending on the experiences we have had before with a brand or a specific product, we will decide if it is convenient to repeat, creating a habit or trying something new after a bad experience.
- Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics: of course we can not access the same products if our income is low or if it is very high, just as we will not demand the same products if we are 15 years old than 85. On the other hand, our decision will always determine other factors such as our usual interests or activities.
External factors
They are those influences that we receive, sometimes in a very intense way, from the world that surrounds us, and that influence our behavior as consumers. They are the following:
- Cultural environment: formed by the set of customs and norms that have been created in the society in which we live, and that generate behavioral models common to the group of people who live in that cultural environment. The needs in the culture of a sub-Saharan tribe will not be the same as in the culture of a large Asian city.
- Social groups: in a more concrete way than the previous one, the social group or social groups to which we belong also have an important influence on our decisions, since in them we will find people of trust related to us, whose opinion will probably be very much taken into account. account.
- Family: this is undoubtedly the group with the greatest influence on our personality and our way of acting, since the way we have been taught to live will probably be very similar to the way we will act later when we deviate from the family nucleus.
- Personal influences: refers to those specific people in whom we have placed a lot of trust, and whose opinion will prevail in us over any other we obtain, since we take for granted that what they tell us, they do it in a sincere and accurate way. It can also be valid for those leaders and experts in a field, who make value judgments about it.
- Situation at the time of purchase: here there may be many external variables that influence our decision at the time of purchase, from the status of the product packaging, the available size of the packaging or the existence of special offers.
