Source:

https://eeledge.wordpress.com/marketing-concepts/consumer-buyer-decision-

process/
Consumer Buyer Decision Process
The consumer buyer decision process is composed of three interlocking parts: the
characteristics affecting consumer behavior, the different types of consumer behavior, and the
actual decision process itself. To further explain and connect this concept to the real world
and my personal life, I will discuss how the consumer buyer decision process can be applied
to myself and the restaurant and food industry.
CHARACTERISTICS AFFECTED CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior Graphic

As the graphic above shows, a buyer is influenced by cultural, social, personal and
psychological factors when they are making decisions as consumers. Each factor can be
broken down into future subcategories that help determine how and why consumers make the
decisions that they make. First I will go over the cultural factors and the subcategories that
are within the factor itself.
Cultural Factors
The cultural factor is composed of three subcategories that have a broad influence on a
consumers buying behavior: culture, subculture, and social class.
Culture
Culture is the most basic aspect of a consumers life that influences the values and beliefs that
they live their life with. The culture that an individual is exposed to teaches that individual
what values, behaviors, perceptions, and wants they must take into account when making
purchasing decisions. Family and friends are also factors that have a sizable influence on a

consumers buying behavior. Personally, I have grown up believing in the values of hard
work, individualism, compassion, originality, achievement and success, as well as being
healthy. All of these values stem from my upbringing in a work printed family and growing
up in a generation that is focused on being healthy and making more nutrition conscience
choices. Due to these values, I tend to find myself choosing to eat at restaurants that are run
by entrepreneurs who care about the food and the quality of the product they are producing.
Subculture
A consumers subculture is a smaller, more defined category that influences buying behavior.
Because subcultures include factors like nationality, religion, racial groups, and geographic
region affiliation, these factors can often not be changed (or changed with a level of ease) by
consumers. Marketers have found that it is beneficial to target consumers based on their
subculture because they are often the reason that consumers belong to the market segments
that they do. An example of a subcultural factor that influences a customers behavior in the
food and restaurant industry is religious beliefs. Those individuals who are part of the
Orthodox Jewish subculture must eat according to a kosher diet, and therefor must chose
restaurants that fit their religious needs.
Social Class
There are seven different social classes that the members of society can belong to in
America: Lower Lowers, Upper Lowers, Working Class, Middle Class, Upper Middles,
Lower Uppers, and Upper Uppers (p. 141). The social class that a consumer is a part of is
difficult, but not impossible. A consumer can use his or her income, occupation, education,
and wealth to move throughout the different levels of social classes. Social classes encourage
consumers to keep up with the trends that are affiliated with their classes, and therefor have a
notable influence on the decisions a buyer makes. As a member of the Upper Middles due to
the attained social class my parents have achieved, I feel the pressures of my social class and
feel it is necessary to eat at nice restaurants rather than go to fast-food drive thru
establishments like lower class individuals view as a night out.

Social Factors
Social factors like groups and social networks, family, and roles and status influence how a
consumer forms their individual buying behavior.
Groups and Social Networks
Groups that consumers are a part of influence their buying behavior in the aspect that the
consumers feel as thought they have to justify the purchases they make to the group members
they associate with. Similarly, the social networks that a consumer is a part of offer the
consumer a way to communicate and show off the buying decisions they make. As a resident
of the Southern California area, I live in class proximity to Los Angeles that has a diverse
assortment of high class restaurants and fun eateries. When my peers or myself go to one of
these establishments, we feel it is necessary to share the experience with every social network
and group we belong to. If one restaurant will impress more people in their social networking
groups, a consumer will most likely chose the restaurant with the more impressive reputation.
Growing up in a generation that is obsessed with social networking, I fully understand the
influence that a consumers groups have on buying behavior.
Family
One of the most influential factors to buying behavior is a consumers family. Whether it is a
supportive or unsupportive influence, the opinions of family members greatly shape the
decisions a consumer makes. Rebellious children often shape their buying behavior around
opposition to their parents advisement on buying certain products; husbands and wives often
form their behavior around decisions that will promote unity and peace within the
relationship; and parents try to use their buying behavior as a responsible role model for
their children to follow in the future. Personally, I find myself mimicking the buying behavior
of my parents when it comes to restaurants and the food industry. I value establishments the
provide quality products, with little thought to the cost because food is important part of our
lives.
Roles and Status
Roles and status refers to the positions held within the groups and social networks that a
consumer is a part of. When purchasing products, consumers often pay attention to their roles

and status because they feel as though the products they buy should reflect their positions.
Consumers can hold many different roles at one time. For example, when I am supporting my
favorite sports team, the Los Angeles Kings Hockey team, I wear clothing the reflects the
support I have for the team. My role as a future bakery owner affects the buying decisions I
make when I shopping. While my peers are spending their money on clothes and going out, I
am spending my money on cookbooks, baking supplies, and items that will helped me further
my dreams.
Personal Factors
Personal factors are the factors about a person that that come together to make up their
individuality such as age, life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and
personality and self-concept.
Age and Life-Cycle Stage
Age and life-cylce are commonly used tools to help marketers identify a consumers buying
decisions because as a person ages and moves throughout the different life-cycle stages, their
tastes change. The changes in taste that consumers experience often have a direct influence
on the buying decisions they make. Marketers can market specific products to segmented age
groups that will adopt the product to ensure success. An example of how my age influences
my buying behavior in the restaurant industry is my level of taste. As a person ages, their
taste and palette changes. With age, I have noticed myself going to nicer restaurants than I
would have gone to with friends in middle-school or high-school.
Occupation
The occupation that a consumer has affects the goods and services that that consumer will
want or need to purchase. A consumers occupation is what defines them usually. An example
that comes to mind is my father. As a project manager for a mechanical engineering company,
it is important that his clothing purchases reflect his occupation and authority. In contrast,
when I own my bakery one day, I will not be buying suits and business attire to wear
everyday. Instead, I will be purchasing clothes that make it easy for me to move around and
that I do not mind getting dirty. On the other hand, I still want to look professional so that I
attract high quality customers

Lifestyle
As defined by Kotler and Armstrong in the textbook used for my class, lifestyle is a persons
pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions (p. 147). The
generation I am a part of is starting to lean more towards the health conscious and are buying
products that support their lifestyles. For example, I am a person who tries to and enjoys
eating healthy foods that taste good. Because of this lifestyle that I live, I am more inclined to
make purchases at stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes as opposed to Grocery Outlet or
Safeway. Although the stores that I shop at usually cost more, I believe that the value of the
products Im purchasing are worth the extra charge.
Personality and Self-Concept
Personality is more well-known as the individual qualities of a per on that make them who
they are and set them apart from their peers. A consumer is defined by certain personality
traits that affect their buying behavior. When it comes to restaurant choices and food
preferences, I feel as though I am more sophisticated than a large majority of my peers. I
would rather spend $30 for a dinner in Pacific Grove, than spend $10 at Buffalo Wild Wings
Happy Hour as opposed to most of my peers. Also, the level of excitement that a consumer
adapts into their personality affects the way they make choices about food. My family and
myself are all pretty adventurous food connoisseurs who find it exciting to try new foods. On
the other hand, my older sister is more reserved in all aspects of her personality, and has
difficulty in trying and liking new foods.
Psychological Factors
Psychological factors are best defined as the factors that influence a consumers mind on the
buying behavior they engage in. The factors within the psychological category are
motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.
Motivation
Motivation is made up of the subconscious factors that push a consumer to buy a product.
Motivation often drives consumers to buy one product rather than another which does not
satisfy their needs as well. One of the best ways to interpret a consumers motivation is
through Maslows Hierarchy of Needs:

Source: http://tarotelements.com/4994/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-pyramid/
The pyramid explains how consumers are influenced by different motivators. From the most
basic survival level at the bottom to the top level which focuses on being content with ones
self, consumers subconsciously rely on this pyramid to shape their buying decisions.
Perceptions
Perception is the way that different consumers interpret information. Every consumer
interprets information differently and therefor every consumers buying behavior is unique to
the perceptions they have. Perception can also be categorized into subcategories like selective
attention, selective retention, and subliminal advertising. When it comes to my own buying
behavior in restaurants, I tend to exhibit selective retention which means that I only focus on
the good things about a restaurant. Using selective retention is what causes me to become a
regular at so many restaurants because my mind choses to focus on the positives the
restaurant displays, rather than the mistakes they make.
Learning
A consumers learning is the way in which they alter the opinions or behavior they have when
buying. The buying behavior of a consumer is constantly changing due to the new
information they are being exposed to. As I educate myself about food and restaurants though
reading cookbooks, experimenting with recipes, and endlessly watching the Food
Network and Cooking Channel (my family members and friends can attest to this), I am
learning and reshaping my buying behavior as a consumer.

Beliefs and Attitude

The beliefs and attitudes that a consumer lives with shape not only their buying behavior, but
every aspect of their lives. Both factors are extremely difficult to change and are often pulled
from the family and peers of the consumer. An attitude is a predetermined feeling that a
consumer has towards a product or service and either drives them to purchase more from a
company or avoid them completely. When it comes to restaurants and fast-food chains, both
factors have a large influence. For example, many consumers have a bad attitude that is
associated with McDonalds establishments and refuse to eat their product regardless of the
circumstances. On the other hand, these factors can be beneficial to a company. My family
and I have a very positive attitude about the Red House Cafe in Pacific Grove and are now
considered regulars even though they live five hours south of the location.
TYPES OF BUYING DECISION BEHAVIOR
Once a consumers decision behavior is determined using the factors above, it is necessary
for marketers to identify which kind of buyer that individual is categorized as. There are four
types of buying behavior that consumers can be a part of: complex buying behavior,
dissonance-reducing buying behavior, habitual buying behavior, and variety seeking buying
behavior. The four different types of behavior are expressed in the graphics below:

Types of Consumer Buying Behavior

As you can see, the different types of buying behavior are dependent upon the level of
involvement they chose to put forth into the buying decision, as well as the level of
differences between the brands being analyzed. Every consumer has different behavior and
can even identify with different behavior when buying different products or services.
BUYER DECISION PROCESS
After identifying the factors that influence consumer behavior and the different types of
behavior that consumers can approach purchases with, marketers can analyze the process of
the actual buying decision. There are five steps that buyers follow: need recognition,
information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase
behavior.

Buyer Decision Process Map

Rather than explaining the different steps with definitions, I will use a real life example of a
purchase decision to explain what each step involves. As a person who hopes to be a wellknown competitor in the bakery and dessert industry one day, I will analyze a consumers
decision process when they are looking for baked goods.

Consumer Decision Buying Process Applied

CONCLUSION
As you can see, the consumer buyer decision is not simple. Although it may feel like there is
nothing more involved in making decisions than seeing a product that you like, there are
factors that affect every way, shape, and form that a consumer views a product or service that
is marketed by a company. In order to be successful, it is important that companies hire
marketers who understand the complexity that is involved in every step of the consumer
buyer decision process. Before this class I would have never been aware of the steps that are
taken in order to make an appropriate and well informed buying decision as a consumer.