Consumer Buying Behavior
A consumer buying behavior is influenced by many factors while choosing what to buy. One of the most common factors that influence what a customer is going to buy is the social factor. This can be explained when a customer is buying things because he/she wants to feel as if they are part of a group often referred to as group or social status. The role played in these groups can be broken down (Khosrowpour, 2009, p.22). First, in such a group there are people who are known as initiators. These people come up with the idea of purchasing a given product first. This people play an extremely critical factor in influencing the group mentality about a product. When dealing with social factor in studying what influences a buyer to buy a given product. It is essential to know how the idea to buy a given product comes up (Khosrowpour, 2009, p.29).
While dealing with the social factor one has to understand that, in every group, there is one person who always stands out; this character is known as an influence. Most of the time the influencer is probably the initiator, however, not always. The influencer has to have a strong command over the group (Kotler, 2000, p23). One must have earned the trust of the group members in order to be able to advise the customers and influence their buying. After the influencer has done his job in influencing the customer on what to buy, the decider comes into play. The decider is the one with the finical capability to choose whether one can buy the product in question. The decider at most occasions is the buyer but not necessary to do so. The buyer might be most likely the person who uses the product.
Reference
Khosrowpour, M. (2009), Consumer Behavior, Organizational Development, and Electronic
Commerce: Emerging Issues for Advancing Modern Socioeconomies. Hershey, PA:
Information Science Reference
Kotler, P. (2000), Marketing Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
