How do cultural, social, individual, and psychological factors influence consumer decisions?

"Cultural, social, individual, and psychological factors have an impact on consumer decision-making from the time a person recognizes a need through post-purchase behavior. We will examine each of these factors in more detail. It is important to understand the relevance of these influences on consumer decision-making.\n\nCulture is the set of values, ideas, attitudes, and symbols created to shape human behavior. Culture is the part of customs and traditions of a group of people that is transformed into its art, food, costumes/clothing, architecture, and language, as well as other unique manifestations of a specific group of related individuals. Culture is environmentally oriented. For example, the nomads of Finland have developed a culture for Arctic survival. Similarly, the natives of the Brazilian jungle have created a culture suitable for jungle living. Culture by definition is social in nature. It is human interaction that creates values and prescribes acceptable behavior. Culture gives order to society by creating common expectations. Sometimes these expectations are codified into law; for example, if you come to a red light, you stop the car. In some cultures, a young man undergoes a special rite of passage from youth into adulthood, such as a bar mitzvah in Jewish culture. In other cultures, young women have a rite of passage but young men do not, such as a quinceañera in Hispanic culture. As long as a value or belief meets the needs of society, it will remain part of the culture. If it is no longer functional, the value or belief fades away. For example, the value that very large families are “good” is no longer held by a majority of Americans. This is because most Americans live in an urban rather than a rural environment, and children are no longer needed to perform farm chores.\n\nMost consumers are likely to seek out the opinions of others to reduce their search and evaluation effort or uncertainty, especially as the perceived risk of the decision increases. Consumers may also seek out others’ opinions for guidance on new products or services, products with image-related attributes, or products where attribute information is lacking or uninformative. Specifically, consumers interact socially with reference groups, opinion leaders, and family members to obtain product information and decision approval. All the formal and informal groups that influence the buying behavior of an individual are considered that person’s reference groups. Consumers may use products or brands to identify with or become a member of a group. They learn from observing how members of their reference groups consume, and they use the same criteria to make their own consumer decisions. A reference group might be a fraternity or sorority, a group you work with, or a club to which you belong.\n\nA person’s buying decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics unique to each individual, such as gender and personality. Individual characteristics are generally stable over the course of one’s life. For instance, most people do not change their gender, and the act of changing personality requires a complete reorientation of one’s life. Physiological differences between men and women result in different needs, such as health and beauty products. Just as important are the distinct cultural, social, and economic roles played by men and women and the effects that these have on their decision-making processes. Men and women also shop differently. Studies show that men and women share similar motivations in terms of where to shop—that is, seeking reasonable prices, merchandise quality, and a friendly, low-pressure environment—but they don’t necessarily feel the same about shopping in general. Most women enjoy shopping; their male counterparts claim to dislike the experience and shop only out of necessity. Furthermore, men desire simple shopping experiences, stores with less variety, and convenience. When it comes to online shopping, gender differences continue. According to recent research, women tend to shop based on their future needs, while men tend to shop when their need is immediate. In addition, women tend to make impulse buys more frequently than men, who tend to think logically when making purchase decisions. Each consumer has a unique personality. Personality is a broad concept that can be thought of as a way of organizing and grouping how an individual typically reacts to situations. Thus, personality combines psychological makeup and environmental forces. It includes people’s underlying dispositions, especially their most dominant characteristics. Although personality is one of the least useful concepts in the study of consumer behavior, some marketers believe that personality influences the types and brands of products purchased. For instance, the type of car, clothes, or jewelry a consumer buys may reflect one or more personality traits.\n\nAn individual’s buying decisions are further influenced by psychological factors such as perception, beliefs, and attitudes. These factors are what consumers use to interact with their world. They are the tools consumers use to recognize their feelings, gather and analyze information, formulate thoughts and opinions, and take action. Unlike the other three influences on consumer behavior, psychological influences can be affected by a person’s environment because they are applied on specific occasions. For example, individuals will perceive different stimuli and process these stimuli in different ways depending on whether the individual is sitting in class concentrating on an instructor’s lecture, sitting outside of class talking to friends, or sitting at home watching television."