Consumer Behavior and Its Influence on Buying Decisions

This essay discusses how individuals learn culture and how micro-cultures such as age, gender, religion, and status influence consumer behavior and buying decisions. The author explains the different ways of learning culture and how each micro-culture affects consumer decisions in various ways.

Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 1
Consumer Behavior
Name:
Institution

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 2
Introduction
Consumer behavior is the study of buying behavior of consumers. Consumer behavior
helps individuals to understand why they can buy goods and services or not from the market. The
culture of a community may influence consumer behavior. In this essay, I am going to discuss
how I learn the culture and the micro-culture that I belong to and how they influence the
decisions I make as a consumer.
I learn culture in different ways with the main forms comprising of formal, informal and
technical. For formal learning, I get it from people who are older than me, either in my family or
out of the family setting. I derive the informal culture by imitating the behavior of the selected
individuals such as television heroes, friends, and family (Zhang & Kim, 2013). Technical
learning is the last form I use to learn culture by learning instruction which I later apply in the
consumer buying environment.
I belong to the following micro-cultures which influence my buying behavior. The age-
based micro-culture refers to the idea that individuals belong to the same age bracket, thus they
share similar consumer tastes, preferences, and beliefs. The gender and sex roles micro-culture
are the societal expectations for women and men among members who belong to the same
cultural group. Regional micro-culture involves culture and lifestyles that I encounter as I travel.
My tastes such as drinks, food preferences, and sports differ from other people. I also belong to
the status and religion micro-culture.
The micro-culture influences my consumer decisions in several ways (Gentina, Butori,
Rose & Bakir, 2014). For instance, religion micro-culture affects my consumer buying decisions
because of the culture and beliefs that my religion holds. Example, people who belong to

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 3
different dominions such as Muslims and Christians. In a clothing perspective, Muslim do not
put on min dresses or dresses that expose their bodies, while Christians are not restricted to that
(Goodrich & Mooij, 2014). This, in turn, affects the consumer buying decisions since they
cannot buy some goods due to their religious culture and beliefs. On the age-based micro-culture,
I consume goods which people in my age bracket consume. Sometimes it goes along with peer
influence. I make my decisions based on my age and the influence of my peers. My decisions
can be influenced by the trending fashion or celebrities.
Another micro-culture that affects my consumer is the status level which can either be
upper, middle, or lower class (Suki, 2013). My status greatly impact my buying behavior such
that I buy expensive gadgets and other luxurious items which is influenced by my status level.
However, if I belonged to a lower status level, I would hardly purchase luxurious items because I
would concentrate majorly on the basic commodities. In addition, my consumption decisions are
affected by regional movements. For instance, the goods found in certain regions like drinks,
food preferences may affect my consumption decision. This may be brought about by different
cultural beliefs since I may not be used to the kind of food consumed in certain places.
Conclusion
Consumer behavior influences decisions individuals make before they satisfy their needs.
People learn culture in different ways under different circumstances. The different micro-culture
such as status, religion, regional movements, gender and sex roles to a greater extent influence
the decisions consumers make.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 4
References
Gentina, E., Butori, R., Rose, G. M., & Bakir, A. (2014). How national culture impacts teenage
shopping behavior: Comparing French and American consumers. Journal of Business
Research, 67(4), 464-470.
Goodrich, K., & De Mooij, M. (2014). How ‘social’are social media? A cross-cultural
comparison of online and offline purchase decision influences. Journal of Marketing
Communications, 20(1-2), 103-116.
Mohd Suki, N. (2013). Young consumer ecological behaviour: The effects of environmental
knowledge, healthy food, and healthy way of life with the moderation of gender and
age. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 24(6), 726-737.
Zhang, B., & Kim, J. H. (2013). Luxury fashion consumption in China: Factors affecting attitude
and purchase intent. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 20(1), 68-79.