Consumer attitudes are formed by several aspects
They can be influenced by the people’s beliefs, intentions or feelings towards certain types of goods and objects (Attitudes 2010). Besides, the attitudes make consumers prefer different brands or even favor certain stores and prefer them to the other ones. Of course, these attitudes are very individual and vary from one buyer to another.
For example, consumer attitudes about ice cream can be different. Someone believes that ice cream is refreshing on a hot day and this belief will make this person purchase a bucket of ice cream. The other person does not enjoy eating cold food; this is why ice cream would not be their choice of a dessert. It is impossible to suit all of the potential clients because there will always be opposing opinions about every type of goods.
Effect is an emotive part of the attitude; it is based on the way a person feels about a certain product, it could be related to some individual experiences (What Can Attitudes Tell Us about Consumers? n. d.).
For example, someone dislikes sushi because the ones had food poisoning after eating sea food. Some other customer purchases mint biscuits because they remind them of childhood. Behavioral intention is the possibility of a consumer to purchase certain goods. This variable is inconsistent.
The marketers try to influence the beliefs using changing the affect factor. Classical conditioning approach works through the pairing of goods with commonly liked stimuli, for example, by involving beautiful women into the advertisements of the products.
Besides, the advertisements add another attractive trait to the goods, making them well known. The product people saw or heard about before is more likely to be purchased than an unknown new product.
The key elements that influence the customer’s decision-making process can be cultural, individual, social, and psychological
It is crucial for a successful marketer to understand how these factors work to make their product more attractive and maintain their marketing campaigns (What Is Consumer Behavior? 2014).
In most cases, the marketers’ strategies are focused on the psychological factors that influence decision making and encourage people to purchase certain goods. This aspect includes people’s self-perception and image. To stay in the trend people would gladly buy fashionable clothing, accessories, and electronics.
Even food can be fashionable. This is how cheaper replicas or variations of goods are promoted, they represent expensive and fashionable things, yet they cost much less. In order to make certain goods’ reputation better, the marketers engage celebrities in the advertisements. This makes the promoted goods fashionable and desired.
Another strategy the marketers use to promote their products is scheduling the most suitable time for the advertisements. For example, advertising beer and snacks in the breaks of sports programs or after the half-time of football games. The marketers of food products study their potential groups of clients and find out the time when these people are hungry. This strategy helps them make the customers crave for the promoted goods.
Studying these factors and strategies is useful for consumers because it makes them re-think their attitudes towards purchasing and decision making. The person-oriented towards extended problem solving is more involved into the process of evaluation of the products, while the person, whose problem solving is low, is more likely to buy things on impulse (Grewal & Levy 2012).
Humans live in groups
They have families, friends, colleagues from work, school mates. We are used to dividing our society into various groups and relating to some of them. Normally, the members of one group share certain behavioral patterns. Such reference groups are able to create a strong impact on an individual. The group influences are widely used in the sphere of marketing.
The references can be of three main types. Aspirational reference includes the individuals against which the customers would mainly compare themselves. This is why makeup companies use celebrities for advertising their products. The good looking stars represent the image women would generally want to be like. Associative references represent the equals because the opinion of the members of our groups often means a lot to us.
This is why teenagers shop in two stages. First, they go to a store with their friends a pick out things that will be approved by the group and after that bring the parents that would buy the chosen items (Group Influences 2010). Dissociative reference involves the group’s people would not want to be like.
The store called The Gap uses this kind of reference to work though the dissociation of young people from their parents and the older generation that wears old-fashioned clothing.
Reference groups shape individuals’ purchasing decisions. Besides, the marketers’ strategies are based on the observation that the members of one group share behavioral habits and needs.
Opinion leaders are the people that are in charge of groups and can form and influence the group’s actions and choices. Normally, the marketers believe that if statistically, the group is interested in a certain product, other people that associate themselves with this group will also purchase this product (Reference Groups n. d.).
References
Attitudes 2010, Consumer Psychologist.
Grewal, D & Levy, M 2012, Marketing, Irwin Australia, Sydney.
Group Influences 2010, Consumer Psychologist.
Reference Groups n. d., Boundless. Web.
What Can Attitudes Tell Us about Consumers? n. d. Crab.
What Is Consumer Behavior? 2014, WiseGeek.