If we’re being honest, I freely admit that I am a Sitting Around In Gym Shorts Ordering Stuff I Probably Don’t Need From Amazon type of consumer. For the purposes of this post, however, I am both an individual and an organizational consumer. The latter is true because I am a small business owner and while I don’t sell physical goods, I do provide customized digital services, all of which require at least some COTS software to produce. But as Chapter 1 assures me the textbook “concentrates on individual consumer behavior” (Kardes et al, 2015), so will I.
All kidding aside, I am a reasonably careful consumer, at least when shopping for myself. There are a few things I will pay a premium for, like good shoes and a Major League-quality baseball glove because, well, my feet support the rest of my body, and who doesn’t need a great ball glove? Past that you’ll find me in the clearance section more often than not. All of this is an indication it’s time to talk about:
What influences your buying decisions, and how?
My personal buying decisions paint me as a need-based consumer (DJ Team, 2020), and I am willing to spend time thinking in terms of cost-benefit analysis before any significant purchase. When I decide I need something, I am unlikely to buy it right away. What I am not is an impulse buyer. You won’t find me standing in line to check out adding things to my cart, no matter how conveniently they’re displayed (Abbamonte, 2018).
Of course there are exceptions to my patient buying habits, like earlier this week when I was told in no uncertain terms we needed a new washing machine. Yesterday. And while I was at it, “go ahead and get the dryer too.” Needless to say, within half an hour I had been to Lowe’s and had delivery scheduled for the next day. I may be slow, but I'm not a complete moron.
So while for me need is an influencer, I happily will spend whatever money I have on my loved ones. In both cases my purchase activities include research, but I am far more likely to buy, say, my wife or daughter things they don’t necessarily need if I happen to know they want them. Still, I suppose there is a certain level of pride that makes me spend time and effort to find the best possible price; I still won’t pay retail if I don’t have to.
Which stage actually leads to your purchasing decisions?
Reviews are useful to me, which is one of the reasons Amazon is so successful, at least in my view. I find value in reading about real consumer experiences and how something worked, or didn’t. Of course, not all reviews are created equal: I am aware some are bought and paid for. Still, I have chosen hotels more than once because of posts I found in TripAdvisor.
But, I tend to consider reviews as part of the research process rather than the research process itself. The more important a purchase is, the more effort I will make to find and read everything I can about it. This includes reviews, blog articles, tech specs, and more. Rarely do I find myself wishing there was more information to be had. When I am satisfied I know all I reasonably can know, I am ready to buy.
About marketing research and marketing design
I live at least partially in the world of marketing, and as I’ve mentioned above, research plays a key role in my buying decisions. That said, I prefer the research come from independent third parties, though it can be challenging to tell the difference. It’s an interesting contradiction to me, the difference between the internet and the shop down the street. I’d never order a dish at a restaurant after asking a server, for example, which he or she likes more because, why should I expect my tastes to be the same? Yet isn’t that exactly what I’m doing by putting faith in online product reviews? I’m not smart enough to explain this.
As for design, the user experience, or customer journey, is important: I know this as someone responsible for creating them and as one who travels them myself. But I do make an effort to look past the marketing hype. A company isn’t going to win me over by being flashy.
But, how does that make you feel?
I experience all sorts of moods, and I am quite capable of expressing them through feelings. In fact I can get emotional about purchases good and bad. For example, We’ve needed a new comforter for the bed, and being the savvy shopper I am, I found one that looked perfect, on final markdown at what I determined to be a reasonable price. At the moment of purchase I felt pretty good. Of course you know where this is going: the item that arrived looked almost nothing like the pictures, and since I had done such a great job finding the lowest possible price, that “final markdown” came with the caveat that it was not returnable. Now? My bedroom looks a bit like a bordello, I imagine, and my mood? Not so great. Perhaps I should have bought one from Amazon.
References
Abbamonte, K. (2018, September 26). 10 Tactics Retailers Can Use to Encourage Impulse Buying. Retrieved from https://www.shopify.com/retail/10-tactics-for-impulse-buying
DJ Team. (2020, June 25). Types of Consumers: Who Buys and When. Retrieved from https://www.demandjump.com/blog/types-of-consumers-in-marketing
Kardes, F; Cronley, M; Cline, T. (2015). Consumer Behavior 2nd Edition. Boston: MA