Analysis of Customer's Purchasing Behavior - Marketing Management

This study has dealt with the analysis of customer’s purchasing behavior. During the study, the focus has been made on the purchasing or buying patterns of a particular customer who is 31 years old female. The study has also analyzed demographic and psychographic characteristics of the customer along with the personal traits. It has been identified that the buying behavior of this type of customers is guided by four key factors – price, availability, taste and quality of the products and services. The study has also indicated that the buying behavior of the customers differs in the contexts of high-involvement product and lo-involvement products.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Executive summary
This study has dealt with the analysis of customer’s purchasing behavior. During the study, the
focus has been made on the purchasing or buying patterns of a particular customer who is 31
years old female. The study has also analyzed demographic and psychographic characteristics
of the customer along with the personal traits. It has been identified that the buying behavior of
this type of customers is guided by four key factors – price, availability, taste and quality of the
products and services. The study has also indicated that the buying behavior of the customers
differs in the contexts of high-involvement product and lo-involvement products.
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Table of contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 4
Description of the consumer........................................................................................................4
Description of the customers considering personality traits.........................................................5
Analyzing overall purchasing behavior of the consumers............................................................6
Nominated high involvement product...........................................................................................9
Compare and contrast the consumer behavior for overall purchase..........................................11
Overall key insights.................................................................................................................... 12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 12
Reference list............................................................................................................................. 13
Bibliography............................................................................................................................... 13
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Introduction
Understanding consumer decision making process is very important for fulfilling consumers’
demand and satisfying them to the higher extent. In order to understand the decision making
process or purchasing behavior of the consumers it is important to analyze their purchase trend
(Wang & Yu, 2017). The purchasing behavior of the consumers can be better understood by
analyzing the purchasing data of the consumers in the contexts of type of products, price level,
time involvement and other available information.
The key purpose of this study is to analyze the purchasing behavior of a customer or consumer
considering the factors like, high cost-low costs and high involvement-low involvement of the
consumers during purchase. The findings in this study will help to understand how decision
making process of the consumers evolves and how the companies can satisfy their customers
in the best manner. At the same time, the findings will also make the marketing strategies
making process of the company easier.
This report starts with the description of the customers. Customers’ description has been
provided considering different factors like, demographic factors, personality traits and
psychographic factors. After that the reports moves towards the analysis of overall purchasing
behavior and decision-making process of the consumer and along with that the study will also
identify and analyze the factors that influence consumers towards purchase. After that the report
compares and contrasts the buying behavior of the consumers considering overall purchase.
Description of the consumer
Description of the customers considering demographic factors
Age 31
Gender Female
Marital status Married
Family One child and husband. Parents live nearby and have regular contact. Other
family members also stay nearby.
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Education level Master degree in business administration
Income $60,000 per year
Occupation Human Resource Manager in a nationalised company
Generational cohort Generation Y
Value segment Real conservatism and Conventional family life
Description of the customers considering psychographic factors
 Very punctual and organized in daily life
 Loves to spend time with friends and family
 Very conscious about maintaining own health and health of family members
 Very responsible at the workplace and family
 Loves shopping at stores
 Prefers shopping products at standard price
 Tech-savvy
Description of the customers considering personality traits
In order to understand the buying behavior of the customer or consumer, it is important to have
a clear knowledge regarding the personality trait of the consumer. Here, Big Five Personality
Traits model is used to identify the personality traits of the consumer. The application of this
model is shown below:
“Big Five” trait Outofservice.com Truity.com
Openness 80.00% 91.00%
Conscientiousness 96.00% 90.00%
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Extraversion 59.00% 43.00%
Agreeableness 71.00% 77.00%
Neuroticism 41.00% 37.00%
Considering the results identified under the big five traits model, it can be stated that the
consumer is open minded, which means that she loves to experience new things. The
percentages under the trait of conscientiousness are also indicating that the consumer is self-
disciplined. At the same time, it is also indicating that the consumer prefers to follow a plan to
perform her daily activity systematically. She does not like any sudden change in her life. The
Extraversion percentages are at moderate level, which indicates that she is not much fond of
outgoing and social activities. She takes part in the social activities but to a limited level. The
percentages under Agreeableness are indicating that the consumer is very tactful and friendly.
This personality trait helps her maintaining good relationship with other people and avoiding
controversies. Neuroticism scores are low, which means the consumer is not much moody or
frustrated in her life.
Analyzing overall purchasing behavior of the consumers
If the data regarding the consumer purchasing behavior in the excel sheet is considered, it can
be identified that the purchasing behavior of this particular consumer is influenced by several
factors like, alternatives or change, convenience, health, price, quality and taste. Considering
the results of the analysis in the excel sheet, it can be stated that convenience is the most
important factor that influence the purchasing decision making of this consumer. The count cost
of convenience is 8, which indicates while purchasing, this consumer considers convenience
factor at first. While analyzing the psychological factors of the consumer, it has been identified
that this consumer is very punctual, which indicates that she manages time very efficiently. This
is one of the reasons for which she focuses on convenience factor most. At the same time, the
excel sheet is also indicating that health, quality and taste are also important factors that play
major role in the decision-making process of the consumer. The following diagram is showing
the fact:
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Change/
alternative Convienience Health Price Quality Taste
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
8
3
1
4
5
Count of Main Purchase Factors
(Source: Created by author)
If the purchasing behavior of this consumer is analyzed using the motivation-need theory of
Maslow, it can be stated that the purchasing behavior of this person is highly motivated by
mainly three needs – self-actualization need, esteem need and social need. The following
diagram is showing the fact:
Esteem Psychological Safety Self Actualisation Social
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
6
2 1
9
4
Count of Motivational Needs
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(Source: Created by author)
Considering the above diagram, it can be stated that the score for self-actualization is 9; score
for esteem need is 6 and score for social need is 4. There are also two other types of need that
have affected the purchasing behavior of the consumer and these two types of need are –
psychological need and safety need. If the personal traits and psychological characteristics of
the consumer are considered, it can be identified that she is organized and responsible towards
her work and family. At the same time, the consumer prefers to follow a plan or systematic way
of work, so that she can be successful at any field. These characteristics of the consumer have
influenced the self-actualization need. On the other hand, the big five traits analysis has
indicated that the consumer is open-minded and she loves to spend time with her family and
friends. These characteristics have influenced the social need of the consumer. The
consciousness of the consumer towards maintenance of health has influenced the safety need
of the consumer.
Therefore, the above discussion has cleared out how the purchasing behavior of the consumer
is related to het characteristics. Considering the factors behind the purchasing behavior of the
consumer, it can be mentioned that the consumer considers her taste first while making any
purchasing decision. On the other hand, the data in the excel sheet is also indicating that the
consumer mostly prefer to shop at night. However, she also shops in the afternoon and
morning. However, the tendency of purchasing the products and services in the morning is
lesser than the afternoon and night. At the same time, it can also be identified that the consumer
is comfortable to shop online as well as offline. Moreover, the consumer is tech-savvy.
Therefore, companies can attract this type of consumers online and off-line. However, it is also
important to note that this particular consumer likes to shop at the stores. Hence, there are more
chances that the companies can sell more products to this customer through stores or outlets.
If the payment method applied by the consumer is considered, it can be identified that most of
the time, the consumer preferred to use the debit card for paying the bill. This is because the c
consumer is tech-savvy and so she prefers to carry her debit and credit card. At the same time,
it can also be stated that the consumer prefers to maintain safety while purchasing any goods or
services.
Analyzing the overall purchasing or buying behavior of the consumer, it can be stated that she is
a need-based consumer, who prefers to shop whenever it is needed. This type of consumers
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makes plan before shopping. In order to attract this type of consumers, companies need to
focus particular on the needs of the consumers.
Nominated high involvement product
In this study, the focus has been made on the soft drink, which has been described below
Product name Diet Coke (Coca Cola)
Size 1 ltr
Calories 0
Fat 0
Sodium 40mg
Total carbs 0gm
Protein 0gm
If the decision making process of the consumer is analyzed in detail, it can be identified that
there are four different factors that have influenced the decision making process of the
consumer and these four factors are – price, easy availability, quality and taste.
Price is one of the major factors that the consumer has considered while purchasing diet coke.
As this is a frequently purchased product, the consumer has considered price as one of the
major factors while making purchasing decision because most of the time, consumers do not
want to spend much money for purchasing frequently used products. Moreover, as a healthy
drink, diet coke is available at standard price range, which influenced the consumer for
purchasing this product. While analyzing the characteristics of the consumer, it has been
identified that she likes to buy the products that are priced at a standard range or affordable
range. At the same time, price is such a factor that has not been influenced by any peer.
On the other hand, the quality of the product is also a major factor behind the purchasing
decision of the consumer. As the consumer is conscious about the maintenance of health
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condition, quality became one of the major factors during the decision-making for purchasing
diet coke. The consumer does not want to buy any soft drink that has negative impacts on
health. Due to this, she has preferred diet coke over the other soft drinks produced by Coca
Cola. On the other hand, in the case of diet coke, the above table is indicating that the product
includes 0 fats, 0 calories, 0 protein and 0 total carbs. It only includes 40gm sodium, which is
good for health. This was the reason for which the consumer has preferred to buy this product.
Another important factor that has influenced the consumer for purchasing diet coke is easy
availability. At present diet coke is available almost every grocery store. The availability of the
product is high. This particular consumer is very conscious about time management. Due to this
she does not prefer to buy such a product or soft drink that is not available easily. As she is a
working lady, she generally does not have much time to search for healthy soft drinks. Due to
this she has preferred diet coke, which is healthy and easily available at stores. At the same
time, as diet coke is a healthy drink which the consumer prefers to consume every day.
Therefore, easy availability is very important for this product.
Taste is another important factor that has influenced the purchasing decision of the consumer.
As it is a beverage item the consumer has focused on its taste. This consumer does not prefer
to consumer any soft drink that tastes extremely sweet. Due to that she has not preferred to buy
any fruit juice and any soft drink that is extremely sweet in taste.
Therefore, from the overall analysis, it can be stated that the consumer has critically analyzed
the soft drink before purchasing the same from stores. The analyzing is clearly indicating that
the consumer wanted to buy such a product that tastes good and healthy. At the same time, the
consumer has preferred diet coke because of easy availability and affordable price range.
Compare and contrast the consumer behavior for overall purchase
The above analysis of the consumer purchasing decision has been done on a high-involvement
product. However, if the comparison and contrast is made on the consumer’s purchasing
behavior in respect to the low-involvement products, there might be some differences in the
buying behavior. In the case of the high-involvement product, the consumer emphasizes more
on the particular factors like, price, quality, taste and availability that are important for the
consumer (Mittal, 2017). In the other words, it can also be stated that the consumer thinks
deeply while making decision regarding the purchase of high-involvement products. On the
other hand, a low-involvement purchase is that in which the consumer does not think critically
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while making buying decision (Muzellec & O'Raghallaigh, 2018). While making any decision for
purchasing low-involvement products, consumer does not think much about the particular
factors. However, it is important to be mentioned that consumer does not avoid the factors while
making decision for buying low-involvement products (Zhu et al., 2017).
At the same time, it can also be stated that in the case of making purchasing decision for the
high-involvement products, the stages under the need hierarchy theory becomes more effective
(Hettich et al., 2017). It means while making purchasing decision for the high-involvement
products, the consumer focuses more on her needs at different stages of need hierarchy like,
need at self-actualization stage or need at safety stage or needs at esteem stage; whereas, in
the case of low-involvement product, the consumer does not think about her need hierarchy
while making purchasing decision.
Therefore, it can be stated that, while making marketing strategies, the consumers must
consider the type of product for which marketing strategies are being prepared.
Overall key insights
The review of consumer buying behavior is indicating that she is a need-based consumer and
critically analyzes the product before purchasing. Therefore, it will not be possible to sell any
product to this consumer. However, as she wants to try new products to meet her needs,
companies can sell new products that meet her needs. However, the companies need to focus
on the quality of the products because the consumer is very conscious about the quality of the
product. While analyzing the purchasing behavior of the consumer in the context of diet coke, it
has been identified that she had prefer to buy diet coke because it is healthy. At the same time,
the consumer also considered the availability of the product. As diet coke is available easily at
the stores, she has preferred to buy that product.
From the analysis, it has also been understood that there are certain factors that always
influence the buying behavior of the consumers. It becomes habit of the consumer to the
products that fulfills their needs in respect to those factors. Therefore, while developing the
product mix, the company must consider these factors, so that the consumer feels familiar while
purchasing. Considering these factors companies can influence the consumers for repeat
purchase. It can also be stated that considering these factors is also important for generating
and maintaining continuous flow of revenue in the business. Moreover, the companies must
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consider other opinions and characteristics of the consumers while deciding the marketing
strategies.
Conclusion
In this study, it has been identified that consumer buying decision depends on several factors.
These factors may vary from one consumer to other consumers. This study has been conducted
on a consumer, who considers price, easy availability, quality and taste as the most important
factors while making the purchasing decision. The study has also recommended that the
companies must consider these factors while developing product mix and marketing strategies
for their products and services.
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Reference list
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