The people from the higher social class

Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer Behaviour
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR1
Influence of external factors on consumers of BMW
Impact of the reference groups and the family
There are various kinds of external factors like the reference groups along with the
family that have effect on the consumers of BMW. It can be stated that there exists
congruency in between the group membership and the brand usage that is dependent on fit in
between member group and that of self. The customers will have self-brand connections that
are positive in the event of a member group using the brand. The people from the higher
social class would be able to buy the products of the luxury brand BMW and they would also
be able to influence people of the same class in buying the luxury car (Bmw.com 2019). It
has been found that the consumers belonging to the same class exhibit the same kind of
buying behaviour. The individual members of the families serve the various kinds of roles in
the decisions by drawing on the shared family resources (East et al. 2016). The children
belonging to the upper strata of the society also influence the family purchase as they would
want to portray a positive image before the friends that they can gain in the event of owning
the luxury vehicles of the brand BMW.
Impact of the social class and culture
The social class along with the culture has a great amount of influence on the
purchase of the BMW. The people of the higher middle class and the upper class buy the cars
as they want to indulge themselves in a lavish manner. The people in the higher classes want
to pay the premium for buying the luxury cars as they feel that it would provide them with the
sense of the individuality that can provide them with a distinctive position in the society. The
people of the higher class want to purchase the products of the luxury brand as it can make
them feel superior when compared to the other people in the social structure. The decision
can be perceived as being emotional and the unique qualities of the BMW make the people

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR2
buy the popular brand (Parsons, Maclaran and Chatzidakis 2017). The people in UK and
America have a strong material culture and they are proud regarding the car culture
prevailing in the country. The people in these countries use the cars as the symbols of their
place in the society.
Impact of the market forces
There are various kinds of market forces that have effect on buying of the luxury cars.
There are enforcement legislations that are related to the CO2 emission in various countries
that have effect on the buying of BMW. The political stability within a country has effect on
the buying decision of the customers. The fluctuations in the GDP can have implications on
the spending of the customers and the global inflation rates would have effect on the purchase
of the luxury cars of the brand (Szmigin and Piacentini 2018). The countries having the
financial crisis would have a detrimental effect on the buying of the luxury cars of BMW.
Buying patterns of the luxury car would be hardly hit in the event of recession taking place
within a particular country.
Decision making process of consumers of BMW
Recognition of Problem
The consumer decision making process can be divided into the five stages-
recognition of problem, searching of the information, evaluating the alternatives, purchasing
decision and the post-purchase behaviour. The people recognize the need of a comfortable
personal vehicle that makes them buy the cars of the luxury brand. The people want to buy
the luxury car that has superior functionality along with the high quality.
Searching of information
The information can be searched in relation to BMW with the help of the personal
connections like the friends and the family. A person can also get abundant information in