Consumer Behavior: Social Influences, Consumer Decision Making, and Psychological Influences

1. What Is
Consumer
Behavior?
By Katelyn Renee Cress

2. Consumer Behavior: Social Influences
1. While many things influence consumers, consumers are largely influenced by social factors, reference groups,
individuals who they surround themselves with, or individuals who they aspire to be like.
2. Consumers are influenced by opinion leaders, individuals who are experts in the field, or those who they look
up to and strive to be like; consumers are also influenced by their families being socialized to be consumers at
an early age.
3. Subcultures, I.e., smaller groups within a large group, can also influence consumers.
■ For instance, in Asian-American cultures, a great emphasis is placed on the family so it is
important for marketers to understand roles within the family.

3. Consumer Behavior: Social Influences
1. Different groups influence consumers, I.e., sometimes consumers are influenced by groups they are part of.
○ For instance, a college student might be influenced by a sorority or fraternity and that group might impact
attitudes on what they want to purchase.
2. Consumers are also influenced by aspirational groups, I.e., a group they might want to be part of in the future.
○ This group might impact what they purchase or influence attitudes on products or services.
3. There are also non-aspirational groups, I.e., a group that a consumer wants nothing to do with; what they do might
negatively influence an individual away from a product or service.

4. Consumer Behavior: Consumer Decision Making
Process
The consumer purchase decision process is made up of five key stages:
1. Problem recognition
2. Information search
3. Alternative evaluation
4. Purchase decision
5. Post-purchase behavior

5. Consumer Behavior: Consumer Decision Making
Problem Recognition
○ The first stage of the process is working out what you or the customer needs, I.e., the
customer feels like something is missing and needs to address it to get back to feeling normal.

6. Consumer Behavior: Consumer Decision Making
Information Search
○ This is the search stage of the process, I.e., information is not only gathered about stuff and
on things but from people by-way-of recommendations and through prior experiences we may
have had with various products.
■ In this stage, a customer is on the verge of thinking about risk management, I.e, a
customer might construct a pros vs. cons list to help make their decision.

7. Consumer Behavior: Consumer Decision Making
Alternative Evaluation
○ This stage is essentially when inquiries are being asked, I.e., Is this the right product for me?
Do I need a different product?
■ Once the customer has determined what will satisfy their want or need they will set
about seeking out the finest deal which may be based on price, quality, or other factors
that are important to them, I.e., customers may read many reviews and compare prices,
ultimately choosing the one that satisfies most of their guidelines.

8. Consumer Behavior: Consumer Decision Making
Purchase decision
○ The customer has now decided, based on the knowledge gathered, what to purchase and
where to purchase what they desire.
■ At this stage, a customer has essentially evaluated all the facts and come to a logical
conclusion, made a decision based on emotional connections/experiences, or
succumbed to advertising/marketing campaigns, or most likely a combination of all of
these has occurred.

9. Consumer Behavior: Consumer Decision Making
Post-purchase behavior
○ The review stage is a crucial stage for the company and for the customer alike, I.e., Did the product
deliver on the promises of the marketing/advertising campaigns? Did the product match or exceed
expectations?
■ If a customer finds that the product has matched or exceeded their own expectations they will
potentially become a brand ambassador influencing other potential customers, ultimately
improving the chances of the product being purchased again.
● In contrast, the same can be said for negative feedback which can halt a potential
customer’s journey towards a product.

10. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
1. Consumers have needs and wants, I.e., some needs are more physical like to satisfy hunger or thirst while
others are more psychological like need for recognition, esteem, or a sense of belonging.
○ Motivation is what is referred to as our drive to meet those needs.
2. One of the most well-known models that integrate these two ideas is called Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
○ Maslow's hierarchy of needs has five levels: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and
self-actualization.
○ Maslow believed that you had to satisfy the most basic needs before satisfying higher-level needs on
the pyramid.

11. Consumer Behavior: Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs
1. Physiological needs are essentially the most basic needs to survive, I.e., food, water, or shelter.
2. The next level refers to safety needs, I.e., security and protection, with security being either physical or financial.
3. The following level deals with social needs, I.e., our need for friendship, belonging, and love.
4. The next level deals with esteem or as some people call it, personal needs. This deals with our need for status,
respect from others, and prestige.
5. The highest level is self-actualization which is essentially our need to reach our full potential.

12. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
1. Perception is how people select, organize, and interpret information to fabricate a meaningful picture
of the world.
○ On a daily basis, consumers are exposed to a myriad of messages ranging from labels viewed
while grocery shopping to commercials on TV.
○ Selective exposure, or selective attention, is when consumers pay attention to some
messages but ignore others.

13. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
1. Selective comprehension, or selective distortion, will occur as consumers try to make sense of
information and interpret it in a way consistent with current beliefs and ideas.
○ For instance, a life-long, brand-loyal Ford buyer will purchase that brand regardless of how the
vehicle performs.
2. Selective retention means that consumers cannot retain information concerning all things or
messages they are exposed to on a daily basis. Many companies counteract this by providing
product brochures or reminder advertising to stay top-of-mind.

14. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
Consumer Behavior towards brands is learned through experience.
Learning results through four interrelated variables:
1. Drive
2. Cue
3. Response
4. Reinforcement.

15. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
Drive is internal motivation that is a call to action, I.e., unfulfilled needs are the underlying drivers that lead
to motivation.

16. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
● Cues are the stimuli that suggest a specific way to satisfy your motivations.
○ There are often many cues competing for a customer’s attention, some of which can be
created by marketers and others that are simply part of the external environment.

17. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
● A response is an action taken by the consumer to satisfy the purchase, I.e., the consumer’s
reaction to a cue.
○ While there can be many responses to each cue, the response the consumer chooses is often
heavily contingent on their prior experiences.
■ A marketer’s understanding of consumer behavior could potentially enable them to elicit
the desired response.

18. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
● Reinforcements are the person being either satisfied or dissatisfied with the result.
○ The reward - the pleasure, enjoyment, and benefits - that the consumer receives after buying
and using a product or service is called reinforcement.
■ Reinforcement is critical to the learning process and can notably impact future
responses.

19. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
1. Attitudes and beliefs are another psychological influence on consumer behavior.
○ An attitude is a response towards a brand, product, and or service that is consistent.
○ Beliefs are consumers’ views based on actual knowledge or opinions.

20. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
1. Lifestyle can be defined as how a consumer spends their time and money.
2. Marketers strive to understand consumers in terms of:
○ Activities they are involved in ranging from their occupation to what they like to do socially
○ What consumers’ interests are, I.e., family and what they do recreationally
○ What consumers’ opinions are on topics ranging from themselves to social issues to various products
they use.
3. Psychographics combines psychology, demographics, and lifestyle to build profiles on consumers.
○ A popularly used model for this is called VALS.

21. Consumer Behavior: Psychological Influences
Key psychological influences on consumer behavior are motivation, perception, learning beliefs and
attitudes, and lifestyle.

22. Works Cited
Richardson, C. (2017, October 14). Psychological Influences on Consumer Behavior. prezi.com.
Retrieved December 6, 2021, from
https://prezi.com/sdku6qmg1mls/psychological-influences-on-consumer-behavior/?utm_campaign=s
hare&utm_medium=copy.
Richardson, C. (2016, May 13). What is consumer behavior? - Youtube. Retrieved December 6, 2021,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOt82lqWAtY.
Sharing More About the Technology That Powers Airbnb. Airbnb Newsroom. (2019, April 13). Retrieved
December 3, 2021, from
https://news.airbnb.com/sharing-more-about-the-technology-that-powers-airbnb/.