Customer Buying Behavior

This pyramid illustrates the different stages of information that might have influences on the buyer. As you can see that on the top is the buyer, and following it are the psychological, personal, socail, and cultural influences a buyer might encounter.

According to the textbook, the study of how and why people purchase goods and services is termed consumer buying behaviour . The term covers the decision-making processes from those that precede the purchase of goods or services to the final experience of using the product or service.

In my opinon, customer buying behavior depends on many different aspects. For instance, it depends on their income, style, transportation, needs, wants, and outside influences such as friends and/or family. Factors that influences customers are quite complex, so it is hard to pin-point exactly what their next moves will be. Being a consumer myself, I'm still very inconsistent with my buying behavior. I never know what exactly that I want, or where to go get it, what color, style, etc. It's usually take a day trip to find what I sort of had in mind.

This image is here to show the different things a customer might think about prior to purchasing an item. They could be thinking about the amount of usage if they were to buy a certain something, or the cost of the item. Like I said earlier, there are many things that will go through a person's head, or brainstorming sort of deal before they make a decision.

According to Darrel Zahorsky, there are five stages of consumer buying behavior:

1. Need Awareness: The beginning point of most purchasing is your potential buyer recognition of a need in their life. This need can be established by encountering a problem or prompted by a company's marketing.

2. Information Search: With the rise of the Internet, it has never been easier for buyers to research their purchase. Make sure your small business is in the game by providing educational material on your website.

3. Check Options: After an information search, the customer will evaluate all the available options. Options include wanted features, pricing, and company credibility.

4. Purchase Decision: This is the moment when the customer wants to buy. Deals are easily lost when you keep selling to the customer. There's an old adage in sales, when the customer says, "I'll take it," keep your mouth closed, and close the deal.

5. Post Buying Behavior: An overlooked piece of consumer buying behavior is what occurs after the purchase. The buyer will look for reinforcement from media, friends, and other sources confirming they made the right decision. Cognitive dissonance or "buyer's remorse" happens when the buyer begins to feel the purchase wasn't right for them.

SOURCES:

http://www.knowthis.com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/consumer-buying-behavior/what-influences-purchasing.htm

http://www.clickz.com/842101

http://sbinformation.about.com/od/advertisingpr/a/behavior.htm

http://www.knowthis.com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/business-buying-behavior/buying-center-decision-making.htm