The 3 factors that influence consumer behavior
Understand the factors that most influence consumer behavior, its subdivisions, and why this subject is vital for marketing.
In a highly competitive world, the one who stands out is the one who presents the best strategy for their target audience. One of the ways to define the best strategy is to understand what your consumer thinks says, and does so that you can influence them directly and indirectly.
Studying deeper the consumer behavior can help you to:
- Anticipate the main trends
- Attract and retain consumers
- Develop better advertising campaigns
- Act with more foundation to manage marketing actions and make decisions.
One of the ways to understand the behavior of any person is to understand their history or, in marketing terms, understand the customer journey. In this journey, several factors influence decisions.
The factors that influence people to buy are:
-
Social factors
We understand by social factors, positive or negative influences coming from groups. The main reference group is the family. It is widespread to see and hear people buying a product because “the mother uses it” or “the uncle indicated it.”
The family reference strategy is common in commercials, as in this case, where a child supportively teaches his grandfather how to eat a cookie:
-
Cultural factors:
The cultural fact considers several points, including cultural traditions, religion, geographic location, ethnicity, and nationality.
Following the previous example of cookies, in the commercial below, we identify the same idea of a kid “teaching” someone in his family but adapted to the cultural context. In India, yoga is something familiar and part of the country’s culture.
-
Personal factor
Personal factors refer to each consumer’s individuality, such as age, lifestyle, profession, economic situation, personality, and values.
These factors are usually quite strong and used to build a connection with a product and the brand.
Suppose you were curious about establishing a stronger connection between the consumer and the brand; check out what is branding and its importance. Branding is a great marketing tool to start the process of conscious and unconscious connection!
In your opinion, which of the 3 factors are most important when planning an effective marketing action?
Please share with me your ideas!