Factors Influencing Buying Behaviour: A Case Study of Apple's Macbook Air

This report discusses the factors that influenced the purchase of Apple's Macbook Air, including social media, brand personality, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The decision-making process is also analyzed.

Marketing and
Management
Macbook Air

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Introduction
It is important to understand the buying behaviour of a consumer in terms of the purchase made.
Buying decisions are influenced by several cultural, social and personal factors (Solomon, Dahl,
White, Zaichkowsky & Polegato, 2014). Influencing factors largely guide the buying decisions
made by customers. Recently, I purchased Apple’s Macbook Air. This report throws light on the
factors that influenced me to buy this product as well as the decision making process of the entire
purchase.
Brief description of the product
The Macbook Air is a flagship product of Apple Inc. The laptop is handy, easy to use and very
reliable. It comes with a 13.3 inch screen. The model was released in 2018. It offers a hard drive
size of 128GB and an 8GB RAM. The laptop comes with a touchpad and supports Bluetooth.
The price of the product including all taxes is AED 4050.
Influence to buy the product
The primary influence for me was the dire need to buy a laptop. I had been using my previous
laptop since over 8 years. The old laptop was giving me a hard time. I lost a lot of precious data
as well. This is when I decided to buy a new laptop. I am an ardent Apple user. I also have an
iPhone, iPad and a really old iPod as well. My loyalty towards the brand combined with
affordability made to shortlist Macbook Air.
Besides this, social media plays a significant role in influencing purchase decisions of customers
(Bronner & Hoog, 2014). This is not just true for laptop but for predominantly every purchase I
make. I tend to search hashtags and understand public opinion regarding any product. Social
media is being increasingly used as a platform for influencer marketing. Various influencers
including actors, stand-up comedians and talent artists are becoming influencers on social media.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs aims to identify different needs of individuals that need to be
fulfilled in a hierarchical manner (Niemela & Kim, 2014). The laptop definitely fulfils my social

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needs as it allows me to remain connected to my social circle. However, I have realized that the
product also fulfils my esteem needs. There is a unique sense of pride and privilege that comes
with being an owner of Macbook Air. All my friends praised me and congratulated me.
Brand personality of the product
Brand personality of any product refers to the human characteristics that can be associated with
the product. Every product has certain characteristics and these attributes combine together to
form the brand’s personality (Peretz & Supphellen, 2015). There are various human attributes
that are associated with the Apple’s Macbook Air. Firstly, the product is light weight and hence
easy to use. It can be easily carried everywhere. Therefore the first attribute of the product’s
brand personality is ease of use. Secondly, the brand of the product ‘Apple’ is a highly trusted
brand. Hence reliability is another brand attribute. A lot of prestige and privilege comes with
buying an Apple product. Apple customers form communities and exchange information based
on owning Apple products. This offers a sense of social acceptance and unity.
Besides this there are other emotions and characteristics that are associated with Apple Macbook.
This includes passion, innovation, creativity, endurance, style, glamor, liberty, trend,
independency, freedom and honour. There is a lot of innovation and creativity that goes behind
the launch of every new Apple product.
Decision making process
Several steps are involved in the process of buying a product or a service. In order to buy
Apple’s Macbook Air, the following steps were a part of the decision making process.
Step 1: The first step to any decision making process is Need recognition (Pappas, 2016). In this
step, the primary need to own a particular product (not specific brand) is identified. Since my
previous laptop was not functioning properly, I felt the need to buy a new laptop.
Step 2: After need recognition, the next step is information search. There are different ways to
search information. I researched on the internet and I also read various tech blogs on the latest
laptops. I also spoke to my friends regarding their laptop choice in order to get firsthand
information.

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Step 3: The third step is Evaluation of alternatives. In this step, all possible alternatives are
evaluated. In this particular case, I shortlisted 6 laptop models and started analysing one against
the others. Two of the models were of HP, one Acer, one Lenovo, one dell and one Macbook
Air.
Step 4: The fourth step is making the final purchase decision. After analysing all the
alternatives, I finally decided to buy MacBook Air. I received positive feedbacks about this
laptop from friends. I made the choice of buying the laptop from an Imagine Store rather than
online. The online stores were offering a greater discount but I felt more comfortable buying it
straight from the store as the executives there would be able to guide me with the installation
better.
Step 5: The last step is the post purchase evaluation. In this step, people evaluate their purchase
decision and understand if they are happy with their purchase decision or not (Chen, Nguyen &
Klaus, 2015). I am extremely satisfied with the Macbook Air. Price is an important factor that
influences purchase decisions. And Apple’s Macbook was the most expensive of all the
alternatives. However, I believe the brand truly offers value for the money paid. The
functionality of the laptop as well as the after sale service offered by the brand is up to the mark.
Conclusion
Buying behaviour of any customer before any purchase is influenced by a variety of factors. This
includes price, place, availability, brand ambassadors, packaging as well as promotion strategies
adopted by the brand. My recent purchase involved buying a new laptop. Upon shortlisting and
evaluating various options, I finally decided to buy the Macbook Air. The purchase decision was
influenced by several factors including opinions of my friends, customer reviews read online and
the strength of the brand name. I am completely satisfied with my decision and very likely to
recommend the product to others.

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References
Bronner, F., & de Hoog, R. (2014). Social media and consumer choice. International Journal of
Market Research, 56(1), 51-71.
Chen, C. H., Nguyen, B., Klaus, P. P., & Wu, M. S. (2015). Exploring electronic word-of-mouth
(eWOM) in the consumer purchase decision-making process: the case of online holidays–
evidence from United Kingdom (UK) consumers. Journal of Travel & Tourism
Marketing, 32(8), 953-970.
Niemela, P., & Kim, S. (2014). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life
and Well-Being Research, 3843-3846.
Pappas, N. (2016). Marketing strategies, perceived risks, and consumer trust in online buying
behaviour. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 29, 92-103.
Peretz, A., & Supphellen, M. (2015). Brand Personality and the Utilitarian Brand. In Marketing
in Transition: Scarcity, Globalism, & Sustainability (pp. 406-406). Springer, Cham.
Solomon, M. R., Dahl, D. W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J. L., & Polegato, R. (2014). Consumer
behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). London: Pearson.