Consumer Behavior When Purchasing A Car Marketing Essay

Consumer Behavior When Purchasing A Car Marketing EssayImagine you atomic number 18 a take aimr who is about to purchase a machine. You may imagine it to be any consumer (male or female, in full sentence employment or student, married or single, old or young, well-to-do or poor, children or no children, etc) but be sure to clearly state the personal characteristics you imagine this intermiticular consumer to have. It may also be utile at this point to establish whether you are able to gain information on your imaginary chosen consumer (from sources such(prenominal) as Mintel) so that you have plausible sources from which to base your report on. Please note that this consumer lead not be youYour report is expected to describe and inform the characteristics that affect consumer behaviour and outline the consumer decision-making wreak as it relates to buy a railroad car for this consumer. You should also discuss the relevance of the decision-making process to Marketers of c ars in general and provide recommendations of how they back end crook the stages of the decision-making process.IntroductionThe terminal consumer sort includes the customers of specific goods and the people using the goods. It is usually used to refer to any human merchandise behavior and use of products and services.Today, consumer behaviour is a multidisciplinary erudition that investigates not only the consumer decision-making process and the acquisition of product, but also the further activities of the consumer after the purchase of the product, such as using, evaluating and rejecting the product or service (Blackwell et al. 2001).In the sit essay, the theory of consumer behavior and the consumer decision-making process exit be examined together with the example of a 35 year old woman, married with one kid, brisk in a big city that wants to buy a car.The main features of consumer behaviorTo better understand consumer behavior, it should be taken into depend the factor s that most twist the decision-making process. These factor are the followingConsumer Behavior IncentivesAccording to the definition given by Wilkie (1994) people buy and consume goods to satisfy their needs and desires. It could be express that consumer behavior is a behaviormotivated to meet specific goals, needs and desires.In most cases though not all of the consumer behavior, people buy and consume goods as a means to satisfy some of the needs material and sometimes emotional. It should be noted that consumers motives are not al ways obvious to third gear parties and as a result the use of theories and conduct of researches are necessary for better understanding of consumer behavior. In the present example, the woman wants a car to go to work, pick up kids from school and go to super-market. These are her stated needs. The car marketer should find out the emotional needs of the particular customer.A part of consumer behavior derives purely from functional motives), such as when someone buys bricks to build a house, buys a car to satisfy transportation needs while an new(prenominal)(prenominal) part of his/her behavior is stimulated by selfexpressive motives (Wilkie, 1994), as when someone buys a gift for to thank a family member or buy a car to satisfy his prestige needs. Blackwell et al.(2001),in contrast with this position argue that the needs of consumers should not be divided into two major categories, but in subcategories that should include and explain better the different consumer needs. Some of these needs are the physiological needs, the need for health and safety (as it is the case of the car safe travels), love and companionship, the need of pecuniary resources, the need for pleasure, the need for the creation of the social image of the individual ( buy a specific car brand to enhance personal prestige), the need of possessing (everybody has a car) and the need of information (Blackwell et al. 2001233-245).At this point it should be me ntioned that most consumer behaviors wish to fulfill more than one target or needs, thus not only talk about one motive, but about a group of motives which motivates consumer behavior. In the present example, the groups of motives are transportation, social image and possession needs.In addition, while some motives may be visible to consumers and third parties, others may be more difficult to determine, for example when the decisions that should be taken are more complex and tight linked to the feelings of the consumer.The activities of consumer behaviorThe act of consuming cannot be addressed unilaterally. It should be taken into account the thoughts, feelings, plans, decisions, markets and experiences accumulated by the act of consumption. Certainly, a researcher of purchasing behavior who focuses on the act of consumption and does not consider it globally, may omit other equally important activities (advertising, opinions of others, collection of information, evaluation of alte rnatives, purchase decision, case of payment, product use, etc.) that are contained within it and they are equally important. These activities can be distinguished into deliberate and coincidental. For example, the activity of the decision of buying a product can be described in most cases as a deliberate consumer behavior as it is the case of the car where the consumer has to plan in advance the car purchase. On the other hand, when a consumer visits a store to buy a specific product in mind, s/he sees a multitude of other goods and not a few times he can buy some of these without having a plan. Such consumer behavior maybe classified as impulsive. This differentiation is particularly useful to researchers of consumer behavior and advertisers, who understand the mechanisms of behavior more comprehensively (Wilkie 1994).The process of consumer behaviorThe concept of process which includes various activity stages is a very useful approach to better understand consumer behavior. This process has three stages. The first stage of the activities of pro- buying could include the actions to select the product which is followed by the indorsement stage of purchase of the product and finally the third stage of the after-purchase, which includes actions such as the depreciation of the product. The activities before buying the car could be search at auto-magazines, advertisement exposure etc., whereas at the third stage there could be activities like the evaluation of technical service etc.The treatment of consumer behavior as a process, stresses the importance of the stages that precede and follow the one of the purchase (Wilkie 199417), and gives guidelines to analyze the reason why a consumer makes specific purchases.Diversification of consumer behaviorTwo elements that could signalize the consumer behavior of the individual are the the time and complexity of the decision.Time refers to when the decision is taken and the duration of the completion of the process. C omplexity refers, in turn, to the number of activities involved in making a decision but also to the difficulty of this decision. Buying a car is a complex decision since it involves product and price comparison, ways of payment etc. Since it is a complex decision it is also time consuming.Relating these two concepts, it is understood that the more complex a decision is, the more time is needed for the decision. It is understandable that the more complex a decision is the greater will be the activities of the pre-purchase. In the present case, the activities could be talking to friends, look at car magazines, go to car exhibitions etc. Many times, however, the consumer to avoid a possible delay, which may lead to a not so profitable market s/he has not seen offers for the product so s/he acts with less detail than he could. In other words, s/he tries to simplify the decision-making process in the following ways (Wilkie1994) The consumer is not always looking for the high hat purch ase, but for a good acceptable purchase. S/he is goaded by information, advice and recommendations of third parties. The opinion of friends and family can play a significant role in the car buying decision. S/he trusts brands and stores purchased in the other(prenominal) and has remainedsatisfied with them. The salesman should check the previous brands purchased by the customer.Several times, the process of satisfying needs, is confronted with the simplification of the decision making process. As for example, the purchase of a relatively audacious product which should have the required by the consumer quality standards. Many consumers face such dilemmas, maintaining an agility on the purchasing process, therefore they can take favor of these situations.Roles and Consumer BehaviorA consumer in the decision process and after having made the decision,may have more than one roles, for example s/he can be the person that affects the final decision of the purchaser or user (influencer) . S/he could be practicing these three roles at the same time as when shop alone or when shopping only for himself. Consumer behavior, may influenced by others, so the role of the individual who affects the final decision may be played by people of the individuals wider social environment a friend / the family or otherwise it could be the salesman. In the present example this woman could be influenced by her maintain in her decision. Moreover the role of the user in many cases could not be the purchaser and / or influencer, but a third person who will use the product purchased. It is understandable, that the possible combinations of these three roles could be outnumbered by those already mentioned, depending on the consumer, the external environment but also his personality. The woman, for example, may be influenced by her husband but she has her own personality thus she may choose the car brand that is more suitable to her.The roles of consumers mentioned above are born by socia l interactions. Very few purchases are made driven solely by the ego consciously or subconsciously peoples decisions take always into account their social circle. It is also important to note that the roles change during the lifetime of the consumer. For example, a child rarely can be an influencer and even more rarely buyer. The purchases of a childless young man usually involve himself, and a consumer with children buys largely for his family and certainly is influenced by the needs of other family members as it is the case in the present example.Extrinsic factors and Consumer BehaviorIt is a fact that the consumer is influenced by his/her environment, a fact that highlights the ability to adapt to different circumstances, depending always on the needs that should be met. This exogenic influence impacts on the consumer decision-making process. These factors areCulture refers to beliefs, values and opinions partaked by members of the society where people live and has a catalytic effect on peoples behavior during their life byputting limits in peoples understanding on which products and services are acceptable. The subcultures, are groups of people who belong in the broader context of culture and share similar values and attitudes. A subculture could be working women with childrenSome examples are those of gender, ethnicity, race, age and religion. Also, the social class that someone belongs to is a factor that may influence consumer behavior (Pinson Jolibert 1998). Like what is his/her job, income and education level that s/he has.One of the main factors affecting the purchasing behavior is the family. Especially in Mediterranean societies, where the family groundwork is still strong, people are influenced by consumer habits as children and later as adults. The social surroundings and the reference groups to which people belong is an equally important factor, since universal conversations and contacts affect consumer habits.For example, if someone play s ports, s/he will definitely be affected by the advice of his/her coach regarding his/her dietary habits and clothes preferences.The external conditions such as inflation and unemployment or an illness in the family are factors that will determine the amount to be spent to purchase a product and when it is best to purchase a specific commodity. The marketing environment in conjunction with the presence at mass media is an area that in recent decades has gained immense office of influence in todays consumer. For example, usually the ads aim to influence consumer for a particular product of a certain brand, while the factor culture does not purpose specific brands but more goodsfor consumption. 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