Executive Summary
Two mobile phone customers are analyzed in this report. One consumer A, purchased Samsung Galaxy S21 5G to replace Samsung S7 after losing his previous phone. Customer B purchased iPhone 12 Max as an upgrade from iPhone 11. Customer B has a habit of upgrading to the newest iPhone upon its launch. The two mobile phone consumer behaviors are analyzed in this paper. In addition, the paper evaluates the internal and external factors that influenced their buying behavior.
The two consumers expressed a difference in their buying behavior as they are influenced by different factors. Factors affecting consumer behavior are internal, external, and situational factors (Jha et al., 2017, p 192). Internal factors are within a consumer’s control, while external factors are beyond the control of the buyer. Situational factors, on the other hand, are influenced by the marketer, such as in-house promotions (Jha et al., 2017, p. 192). Marketers should understand these factors and address them in their marketing activities. Qalati et al. (2019, p. 162) believe that understanding the target market goes a long way in improving a product’s sales.
Introduction
When deciding to purchase a product, different consumers behave in diverse ways. Their behavior is influenced by various factors,, some are controllable while others are beyond their control. These factors also interact uniquely with every consumer defining the difference in character (Alshurideh, 2019, p. 48). However, it is difficult for a marketer to react to the behavior of a single consumer. Therefore, they must understand the factors influencing consumer behavior and predictably address them.
The factors affecting consumer behavior can be classified into three categories; external, internal, and situational factors. The internal factors are ones within the consumers’ control, especially their personality. Some of the internal influences include style, feelings, beliefs, motivations, and attitudes. Different consumers have different internal influences depending on their personalities and preferences. Moreover, external factors influencing consumer behavior are beyond a consumer’s control. Some of the external factors include reference groups, culture, and social class (Garga et al., 2019, p. 5). On the other hand, the situational factors influencing consumer behavior are dependent on a company’s marketing activities, such as promotion offerings available to the consumer.
This document contains some of the internal and external influences faced by two consumers when purchasing two different mobile devices. Customer A settled on a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G+, which was the latest model of the Samsung smartphone with the most advanced features. The other interviewee – Customer B – bought an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which retailed at $1399, and other Apple accessories from brick-and-mortar Apple Stores available in the locality. For customer A, the purchase was limited; they purchased the phone because he lost his former one. On the other hand, customer B’s buying behavior was habitual since she purchases the newest phone from Apple upon its release.
Internal and External Influences
Internal Influences
The difference in buying behavior of the two consumers vividly illustrates different internal factors that affect the consumer market. The internal factors are ones within the consumers’ control, especially their personality. Some of the internal influences include style, feelings, beliefs, motivations, and attitudes. Alshurideh and D.M (2019, p. 46) argue that different consumers have different internal influences depending on their personalities and preferences. For consumer B purchasing mobile phones is her lifestyle influenced by various motivating factors such as feelings and attitude. However, for consumer A, purchasing a mobile phone is an occurrence, and the behavior is also influenced by various internal factors. Some of the internal factors addressed in this paper are motivations, lifestyle, learning, and socialization.
First, different consumers are motivated by different factors to buy a commodity. Motivation is a driving force to satisfy a particular need. When motivated, consumers work to achieve a specific set goal (Jha et al., 2017, p. 191). People have different motivating factors according to their personality and needs. Considering the case of customer A, she is motivated to purchase the phone by her feelings and attitude about using the latest product from Apple. She likes to enjoy the best experience from the phone. A good and enjoyable experience is the need she yearns to meet from the purchase. The motivation pushes her to set the goal of purchasing every phone upon its release. On the other hand, consumer B is motivated to purchase a phone by the need to replace their lost phone. If they still had their phone, likely, consumer B would not have made the purchase. The two consumers have different motivating factors while purchasing a mobile phone that meets their needs. A marketer needs to understand the motivating factors of different consumers when designing a market mix.
Additionally, consumers’ lifestyle is an essential internal factor that marketers should consider in marketing. In general terms, lifestyle can be defined as the attitudes, opinions, and interests of potential consumers. Lifestyle is a broad view of a consumer’s everyday practices. Both consumer A and consumer B choose their preferred mobile phones according to their opinion about quality. Consumer A needed to settle on a high-quality smartphone; thus, they purchased the latest Samsung phone. Similarly, they did not evaluate the phone before purchase but believed it was high quality since it is the latest model. The two consumers have a good attitude towards the corresponding products; thus, they purchased them.
Haba et al. (2017, p. 1) perceive learning and socialization as critical factor that affects consumer behavior. Learning develops from past experiences or socialization. People behave in a particular manner because of the acquired information (Haba et al., 2017, p. 1). Broadly, a consumer may prefer one product to another because they have either had an experience with the product or they got information about the product when socializing with other people. In this case, consumers A and B prefer buying specific products from their acquired information. Consumer A needed to settle on a high-quality mobile smartphone; thus, they purchased the latest Samsung phone. Their belief originated from previous experience with a Samsung phone and the information search on the internet. For consumer B, she did not research much about the product, but she had an experience with the former model; thus, she believed a new model is an improved experience.
External Influences
External factors influencing consumer behavior are beyond a consumer’s control. Some of the external factors include reference groups, culture, and social class, and induced consumer perception (Garga et al., 2019, p. 5). Some of the external factors that are likely to influence consumers A and B, in this case, are culture, social class, and induced consumer perception. Consumer A and B may differ in most of these external factors, hence, influencing their buying behavior. However, the author did not have access to the interviewees for further questioning about the external factors. Therefore, this paper shall apply information derived from evidence in the organization’s marketing collateral or other credible sources to help in contributing to the discussion.
First, it is essential to identify a potential consumer’s culture when evaluating their buying behavior (Auf et al., 2018, p. 4). A person’s culture is a significant factor that influences a person to prefer one product to another. A culture is developed from an individual’s societal beliefs and practices. A culture can be established in a community, a family, a social group, or at an individual level (Auf et al., 2018, p. 4). For instance, a family may have the belief that one should buy only what they need; excessive buying is wastage. Such a culture limits a consumer to buy only the necessity. In the example of consumers A and B, consumer B has developed the culture to buy a new mobile phone every time it is launched. However, consumer A may belong to a culture that prohibits them from excessive buying; hence, they purchase a new phone only when they need it, in this case, after they had lost their previous one.
Moreover, people belonging to different social classes possess different buying behaviors. Social class differentiates people in society mainly by their level of income. Popularly, social classes are divided into three; high, middle, and low-income classes (Gauns et al., 2018, p. 49). In different classes, people influence each other toward a specific buying behavior influenced by various factors such as price and quality of commodities. For instance, consumers A and B are influenced into buying the corresponding phones by both price and quality. However, for consumer B, quality seems to be of a higher essence than price. Gauns et al. (2018, p. 49) state that in a low-income consumer market, price and quantity may be of more importance than quality.
Similarly, induced consumer perception is a primary factor that influences buying behavior (Abbas et al., 2018, p. 6). Perception is how an individual feels, thinks, and views a particular product. Consumer perception is formed by experience, learning, or hearsay. Also, a marketing message goes a long way to form a particular perception of a product. Taking the example of consumers A and B, it is clear that they bought a mobile brand from the same company as their previous phones. Customer A purchased a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G+, an improvement of his previous Samsung S7. On the other hand, customer B purchased iPhone 12, while her previous phone is the iPhone 11. Conclusively, the two customers have a formed perception of the electronic companies, and as a result, buy products from them.
Most Important Influences
Consumers are affected by both internal and external influences to a varying degree. The internal influences are formed by controllable factors such as personality. On the other hand, the external factors are the customer’s uncontrollable factors, such as culture. A market should evaluate the degree of influence of each factor when determining a marketing strategy. However, the internal factors are most essential to a customer since they can easily control them. Considering consumers A and B, internal factors such as motivation and attitude had a stronger influence on their purchasing decision.
Summary of Target Market
Consumer A and B are both target markets for the mobile phone industry, which have different consumer behaviors and prefer different mobile phone brands. The two consumers are influenced by different factors in buying their respective products. However, some common factors are influencing their purchase, such as quality. This section includes a summary of the target market based on an interview with the consumers and the internal and external influences of consumer behavior.
To begin with, consumer A needed to settle on a high-quality mobile smartphone; thus, he purchased the latest Samsung phone. The purchase was to replace his lost Samsung S7, which also had the best features at the time of purchase. It is vivid that the consumer prefers the best quality Samsung mobile phone each time he purchased a phone. The most critical feature in this type of target market is quality. Also, consumer A settled on the phone because he believed it has advanced features and it would be a durable phone. The consumer’s buying behavior is limited; he spends only on whatever products he needs; thus, durability is of much importance to him. For this kind of consumer, the features and quality of a mobile phone are essential as compared to its outer appearance. The consumer wants to extract as much value from the product as the money he offers to purchase it.
The internal factors influencing the buying behavior of consumer A are motivation, lifestyle, learning, and socializing. The consumer is motivated to buy a phone by the desire to fulfill a need; replace his lost phone. He specifically buys a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G+ because he believes it is a quality and long-lasting phone. The action portrays that he prefers quality items when shopping, and a quality lifestyle. Also, it is clear that he has a habit of saving; thus, he goes for a product that lasts longer. In addition, he is influenced by learning, whereby he gathers a great experience from the former Samsung mobile, thus would wish to advance on the experience.
Secondly, consumer B purchased an iPhone 12 Pro Max together with other Apple accessories from a brick-and-mortar store. Her purchase was habitual; she purchases every Apple iPhone upon its launch. She settled for the product because it was an improvement on her former phone. The consumer does not look at the quality of the product; rather, she carefully evaluates the outer casing of the phone. The durability of the phone is not very important to her at the time of purchase because she looks forward to purchasing an improved iPhone when launched. According to Abbas et al. ( 2018, pp. 5), the target market for Apple iPhones is spending thrifts whose primary objective is to stand out from the rest.
The factors influencing the purchase of consumer B are motivation, lifestyle, learning, and socializing. Also, social class and induced consumer perception are likely to influence the consumer. Consumer B is motivated to buy a new phone to fulfill the desire to stand out or to acquire the best iPhone experience. It is also her lifestyle to buy a new phone every time it is launched; thus, she believes in having the best. From her former experience of buying every new iPhone, she learned that the phone offers a new experience every time, a factor that pushes her to purchase the phone. Moreover, the consumer is likely to belong to a high-income social class which influences her to spend on Apple iPhones due to competition in the class.
Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour and Implications to Marketing
Conclusion
Consumers behave differently to the various product in the marketplace. There are various factors affecting consumer behavior; internal influences, external influences, and situational influences. Some of the internal influences include; style, feelings, beliefs, motivations, and attitudes. Different consumers have different internal influences depending on their personalities and preferences. The internal influences are within the consumers’ control. On the other hand, external influences of consumer behavior include reference groups, culture, and social class, and induced consumer perception. The external influences are beyond the consumer’s control.
Therefore, marketers need to understand the different factors that influence consumer behavior before developing a marketing mix. Also, it is critical for marketers to identify their target market needs and address them in their marketing message. For consumer A, a marketer should assure him of quality and the best exchange for his money. However, for consumer B, a marketer should focus on the self-worth and uniqueness of the consumer.
References
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