Consumers tend to react differently when it comes to purchasing of items. Their reaction is mainly affected and influenced by behaviors around them which have an impact on them psychologically. That type of influence is known the psychological factors and it involves peer pressure, learned behavior, general advertising, image, convenience, and price. Peer pressure is when one decides to make decisions based on information and influence gained from other people. In situations where a consumer is making decisions concerning the buying of certain brand peer pressure may be key in decision making. There are instances where one refers to their friends on the brands they use for certain purposes. They then use the referrals they get to make such decisions which then prompts them to buy the brands. Such influence is known as peer pressure. Peer pressure is mainly seen when it comes to fast moving brands that are essential. Before one becomes a loyal customer, they need to be satisfied with the product and that desire for satisfaction leads them to inquire from their peers and friends. If one is referred to a product that pleases them then they end up buying the product in which they end up being loyal customers (Jonsson, 2010).
Secondly, is learned behavior which consumers make decisions based on information they gain from the advertisement of products especially those that they do not have experience with. It is through one's experience once with a product after purchase that one learns on whether a product is satisfying or dissatisfying. There is advertisement that comes up in order to remove a certain mentality that is known of the product. Such information is used to change their perspective due to a new information about it. It is what makes up the learned behavior which is defined by the experience one has with a product both good and bad eventually leading to a decision that they find the best suit to satisfy them (Priest, Carter & Statt, 2013).
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Thirdly is general advertising which is the creating of awareness of a product to the customers and due to their interest in the results, they decide to purchase the good. It is mainly done to new products in the market and those that are undergoing rebranding. Their aim is normally to satisfy a need in the market and therefore motivate the customers to purchase the goods. The image is another factor that is considered psychological. The image is the appearance of the product which includes packaging. The way a product is packaged is key to a customer in that it should be attractive, convenient in size and the materials used. A products attractiveness helps ensure that the product looks appealing to the customer (Sherman, Mathur & Smith, 1997).
Convenience in size is where the product amount is enough for personal use. In the case, those with businesses can still get a packaging that is economically convenient to them. Convenience, in this case, is mainly distance to where the products are found. Distance to the nearest retail shops is critical in determining a customer’s decision. There are situations where a certain product is found in most retail shops including those near residential areas. Such products tend to get customers at a faster rate as compared to those that are found in specific retail shops. Therefore convenience is critical in determining customer purchasing decision and it sticks in their psychological awareness. Such a customer will always buy those products found in the nearby retail shops as compared to those in the specific ones. They will always buy those products without even confirmation due to the fact that they are always available conveniently (Khan, 2007).
Price is the most crucial factor in a customer’s decision making to make a purchase. Price is the amount of payment a customer is to pay for a product. It is clearly critical that the price of a commodity is equivalent to the value it presents to the customer. Value for the money is an aspect that many customers tend to look out for. A commodity that is too expensive as compared to the value it brings many not be acceptable to many as compared to a product that is affordable and yet it meets it value (Callwood, 2013).
The case of discussion is that the customer is purchasing groceries, baby clothes, and essentials. The customer is seen to use price as the decision factor when it comes to the baby’s clothes, convenience for groceries and learned behavior for essentials. There are also other factors that may be used for each in making decisions. Firstly for groceries, one could say need due to the fact that these products are a basic need and therefore it is critical they are bought. Since one is already doing shopping and they need groceries they should purchase them and therefore one can say the psychological factor of need is critical in the decision making process. Secondly is baby clothes that we see the customer considering price in the decision-making process. One could say that image is another factor that could lead to the purchasing of the clothes. It is seen that the clothes are defined as ‘cute’ that means they are appealing to the customers and therefore they make a decision to purchase them due to that factor too (Sheth, Mittal & Newman, 1999).
Appearance or image as discussed before can entice a customer into the purchasing of the clothes. Essentials decision in purchasing is seen to have been made due to learned behavior. Another psychological factor that is considered could be peer pressure and general advertising. Essentials tend to be things that are commonly discussed by friends and they tend to compare brands among themselves and therefore tend to influence each other. Therefore it is seen that the customer goes and takes the certain products without even comparing prices and mainly it is due to the brands. The best prefer the brands she knows off and that brings about the probability of general advertising as a determinant too. As discussed it the creating of awareness of a product to customers. Once they know about a product, they tend to make a decision about it (Sherman, Mathur & Smith, 1997).
In the case of discussion, it is seen that the groceries are purchased due to convenience. Convenience is a psychological factor that is seen in the situation in that the customer prefers to buy the products that are readily available and near the residence unlike going to a grocery store which may be further. In fact, considering the customer is carrying out shopping activities for items that may be required for a week, it is best if the customer gets all items from the same store. It is seen that the customer goes to buy all the products at Walmart which is few miles away from the customer’s residence. Therefore rather than buying essentials and baby clothes from one store and groceries from another, it is convenient to get everything from one store which helps in saving time and cost of transport (Priest, Carter & Statt, 2013).
The essential decision is seen to be made through learned behavior. According to the customer, they have learned the items they are buying and have compared them to other brands. The comparison led to the decision that the brand of preference is the best for the customers. Learned behavior is where the client studies the products and actually samples them. If the product leads to customer satisfaction, they will end up buying the products again, therefore, becoming a permanent customer. In this case, the customer understands that for baby diapers thin is better and it is because that means they stay for less time. To the customer, less time is best because that means they will not affect the child’s skin which is something to be observed critically (Khan, 2007).
Baby clothes are items that are seen also purchased by the customer. They are mainly items that were bought randomly due to the fact that the customer was pleased by the appearance. The customer purchases the clothes due to the fact that they are cheap and affordable. As discussed earlier, a price is something crucial when it comes to purchasing of items to a customer. On seeing affordable clothes, the customer is impressed and due to that factor, the customer purchases a couple of them. According to the customer, there was value for the money to be spent on the clothes and therefore did not hesitate to purchase them. Price is critical and therefore it determines one's decision to purchase products which are critical (Jonsson, 2010).
In conclusion, customers tend to have certain behaviors that help them in making decisions on whether to purchase a certain product or service. The psychological factors are the most critical and they are mainly decided by factors that also surround the customer. A customer tends to directed by factors such as price, learned behavior, convenience, advertisement, and image. Such factors affect one's psychological standing and therefore it ends up shifting one’s purchasing decision making. It is critical for brands to observe psychological factors when they want to entice a person’s choice of product brand. Such factors are very critical and have led up to the decisions they make in the end and even decides where their loyalty lies on a brand's choice (Callwood, 2013).
References
Callwood, K. (2013). Psychological Factors That Influence Consumer Buying Behavior.
Jonsson, C. V. (2010). Consumer Psychology.
Khan, M. (2007). Consumer and Advertising. New Age International Publishers, New Delhi .
Priest, J., Carter, S., & Statt, D. A. (2013). Consumer Behaviour. Edinburgh Business School, Hariot–Watt University, UK .
Sherman, E., Mathur, A., & Smith, R. B. (1997). Store environment and consumer purchase behavior: mediating role of consumer emotions. Psychology and Marketing , 14 (4), 361-378.
Sheth, J. N., Mittal, B., & Newman, B. I. (1999). Consumer behavior and beyond. NY: Harcourt Brace .
