Chapter 5 Summary: Analyzing Consumer Markets

           Understanding how people think and their buying process will help any marketing professional to better reach their target consumers and encourage sales. There are several factors that influence consumer behavior but they are broken down into three main categories: cultural, social, and personal factors.

            Cultural factors are the main influence in a person’s buying process. The way you were raised by your family, religion, racial groups, and social class all belong to the cultural factor. Social factors are the second important consideration in the buying process. Groups that you are a member of such as religious, professional, clubs, neighborhoods, etc. are all included in this group. Groups that you choose to be a part of, hope to be a part of, or groups you choose not to be a part of are also all considered social factors. An example would be if a person belongs to a smoking or non-smoking group. The fact that they smoke or not would affect their buying of not only cigarettes, but even where they chose to eat or if they chose to buy something from someone who smokes because the item might smell. Lastly, there are personal factors such as age, stage of life, occupation, and personality. I may not chose to by a RV but someone in the baby boomer generation might because either they are retired or close to being retired and have the time to go camping.

            The chapter also discusses the buying decision process. There are five stages: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior. I’ll walk you through an example of my latest purchasing process. We recently bought a house and decided that the sectional couch we have was not suited for our living room. It didn’t fit properly and didn’t look like it belonging in the living room because of it’s style and age. Therefore, we recognized the problem; we need a new couch.

             I started doing some research online and looking at furniture stores to get an idea of what I was looking for. I knew that I didn’t want microfiber again because my dogs nearly ruined the other one and I wanted something more durable. After my information search, I evaluated the alternatives buy looking at leather as an option. I decided I wanted a brown or black leather couch with recliners at both ends and preferably one that had a nail head trim. They started out at least $1,200 for a couch, not including tax, warranty, and delivery. We decided that we were not willing to spend that kind of money because with two dogs and a baby, the couch will not last five years.

        I continued searching and found a used one on Craigslist. It was a $2,500 couch, only three years old and was in great condition because they kept in a formal living room that was hardly ever used. We decided that was the couch for us and purchased it. Post purchase behavior can mean buyer’s remorse or satisfaction in the product you chose to purchase. We are satisfied with our purchase.

         If marketers aim to enhance the buying experience in all of the five steps through information they collect from the consumer then they can create a more effective marketing plan, therefore creating more revenue for the product and increasing customer loyalty.

Source: Kotler, Philip, and Kevin Lane Keller. A Framework for Marketing Management. 5th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2012.