Consumer Who? Consumer You!
Understanding consumer behavior is a vital part of modern marketing strategies for successful businesses. It includes "all consumer activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, mental, and behavioral responses that precede, determine, or follow these activities (Kardes, 2020)." The better a company understands its consumer's behaviors, the more accurately it can reach them with products and services they truly desire.
What type of consumer are you?
Majority of the time I am an individual consumer, which means I make purchases for my own personal needs, or for my friends and family. This can range from the coffee I buy myself in the morning from Starbucks, to the flowers I got my friend for her birthday last week. At my job at Buffalo Exchange however, I act as an organizational consumer by purchasing clothes from sellers in order to resell them in our store to individual consumers.What influences your buying decisions, and how?
One of the major influences on if I buy something or not is the degree of how much I need or require it versus if I just want it. Essential items such as food and household supplies are not hard to make decisions about, but frivolous expenses are more of a luxury that can be forgone. It takes more effort to make decisions about spending money on things I know I don't need because having so many options makes it complex. Another factor that influences my purchases is how much pleasure and gratification I will get out of it. How will I use it, and for what purpose? I want to maximize my happiness out of the things I buy for the best price possible. If a product or service doesn't make me feel good or it doesn't benefit me in some capacity, I don't want it. Finally, I consider if I can afford it, and if I have space for it. If I can't, then I move along to the next best alternative.Which stage actually leads to your purchasing decisions?
The stage that ultimately results in me buying something is after I have evaluated all the alternatives. This approach can honestly be a bit exhausting, as I have to be absolutely sure that I have narrowed down my options to the best result. For example, when buying myself clothes at the mall I like to browse all the stores I'm interested in first before making a final decision. I will go to Charlotte Russe, Hot Topic, Forever 21, etc. before circling back to the shop that had the item I liked best out of all. Though this process takes time, I've found it brings me the most satisfaction and can save me from buyer's remorse.When making a buying decision, how are you influenced by marketing research and marketing design?
Marketing can definitely play a role in my buying decisions through branding. If I've never heard of a brand or product, I see it as a risk to buy because it's not popular or tried and true. Brand awareness is very powerful and I find myself trusting and relying on that as a quality indicator. The few times I have bought off-brand products I felt weird about it, even though they could have been totally legit. When a company puts effort into their marketing and brand, I feel that they put similar effort into their product. Conversely, if a company can't even invest in nice packaging to draw me in, I have little confidence they invested in their product. This could be a total lie, but it's hard not to think that way. Judging books, or in this case products, by the covers is hard not to do.
Do you experience any post-purchase behavior?
Due to the intense evaluation and scrutiny I conduct of products and their alternatives, I mostly feel satisfied about my purchases. However, there have been times where I felt regret because I believe I wasted my money on something that didn't serve me or was not up to par when it came to quality. An example of this is when I bought large backdrops and backdrop holders for a photoshoot but only ended up using them one time. Now they sit in my storage taking up space, and I feel bad they aren't getting the use that I thought they would. It feels like a negative reflection of my ability to make good decisions and not be wasteful.
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