Consumer Insight: Psychological Factors Influencing Munich Trip

This report explores the author's personal consumer behavior during a trip to Munich, Germany, analyzing the psychological factors that influenced their purchasing decisions. Initially believing in their immunity to marketing manipulation due to their understanding of consumer behavior theories, the author discovered that unfamiliar cultural circumstances significantly impacted their choices. The report delves into key psychological factors such as perception, learning, attitudes, beliefs, and motivation, using theoretical frameworks to explain how these factors shaped purchasing decisions related to activities, shopping, and dining. The author reflects on an unexpected purchase of a puppy, highlighting the influence of empathy and attitude on their behavior, ultimately concluding that real-world experiences can reveal previously unknown aspects of one's consumer psychology. This report provides valuable insights into the complexities of consumer behavior and the impact of psychological factors in unfamiliar environments and is available for students on Desklib.

Marketing Consumer Insight
(What I have learnt about my purchasing behaviour during
the trip to Munich)
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MARKETING CONSUMER INSIGHT
Introduction
I am currently pursuing a major UK curriculum. I tend to have an interest about human nature
is the purchasing habits of individuals and groups and the psychological factors behind the
purchase. I have studied the theories of purchasing behaviour and have witnessed them
working in the real-life situations. I knew that organisations use these theoretical constructs to
advertise their products and services. It was clear to me that I could avoid the forces (social,
psychological and biological factors) and manipulative marketing campaigns and chose my
purchase solely relying on my consciousness and sense of reason. But when I visited Munich
as a residential trip, I came to encounter unfamiliar circumstances which were quite different
from that of United Kingdom. I realised that those unaccustomed conditions made me drop
my sense of reasoning regarding my purchases.
It made me influenced by the factors I have thought to have victory over. Further, this
happened even without my conscious apprehension. One day after our return to United
Kingdom, I was seeing the photographs of the trip that one of my friends had taken with his
digital single lens reflex camera. Suddenly I realized the fact that everything that I was doing
in Munich as a consumer was driven by the psychological factors of purchase. Additionally,
I have discovered many novel things that I was unaware of regarding my purchasing
behaviour. I was amused finding out these things about myself in the first place. I discovered
at least five things about my purchasing behaviour which I was previously ignorant of. Then
I decided to write an article for my blog which will be titled ‘What I have learnt about my
purchasing behaviour during the trip to Munich!’ So, I am writing this blog now.
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Concept of purchasing behaviour before travelling to Munich
As a student of business practices, I had to encounter many theoretical frameworks of
purchasing behaviour of the customers. These frameworks formed a basis for me to
comprehend the topic. Without the base of understanding formed by these theories, I couldn’t
have rediscovered myself as a consumer. Before starting any discussions on the theoretical
aspects of psychological factors of consumer behaviours, we must first learn who a consumer
is (Rani 2014, p.60).
Who is a consumer?
A consumer is an individual or an organization that pays a price for any product or service
that seems to be useful for her. The consumers are also targeted by the organisations to sell
their products or services (Gao and Simonson 2016, p.545). We can comprehend the concept
of a customer as someone who is the end user of any product of service in the market. Every
business organisation implements various strategies to convince the potential consumers to
buy a certain product or service. There are many important decisions that the consumer or
purchaser has to make about their purchase. There are many brands in the market which
provide similar types of products. It is the decisions of the customers to choose from this
huge number of options available to them. These decisions, however, is not only a subject of
consumer’s personal preferences and conscious choice. Many psychological factors are there
to influence the purchasing behaviour of the consumer. I am the consumer in this case and I
have travelled to Munich.
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Figure 1: Psychological Factor Affecting Consumer Buying Behaviour
(Source: Gao and Simonson 2016, p.548)
Now, what the psychological factors are? – One might ask. So, before entering into any
further discussions regarding, I must give you (the readers) a brief introduction about what
the psychological factors are and how they can influence our decisions regarding buying a
particular service or product.
What are the Psychological Factors?
According to Yeung (2016), psychological Factor is such a term which has many
implications. The applied meaning of the term changes with respect to the topic of the
discussion. In general, we can define psychological factor as the elements of human psyche
that are unconscious (for majority of people) driving force for one’s activities and decision’s
in order to get psychological pleasure. For consumer behaviour we can point out four major
aspects of human psyche as the psychological factors of purchase– perception, learning,
attitude and beliefs and motivation (Durden 2019, p.80).
Figure 2: Major Psychological Factors
(Source: Business Jargons 2019, p.148)
Perception
It is one of the most important factors that decide how we see the world around us. From
choosing our government to purchasing a bar of chocolate is very much dependent on our
perceptions. Our perception helps us to construct meaning of activities we see and do every
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day. However, perception is a very personal thing. Everybody has their own perception and
each of their actions is motivated or justified by it. Perception is not something that a person
born with. Perception is formed overtime during the physical and mental growth of an
individual. The norms of the society we live in, the values of our primary caregivers during
childhood, the traumas we had to face and every bit of information we come across help to
shape our perception in the way it is.
Figure 3: Perception Pyramid
(Source: Business Jargons 2019)
Let us take an example of how society can influence our perception and ultimately our
buying habits. Travelling is considered to be a premium product in our current society. There
are various companies that has successfully connected and developed plans to travel to
various destinations all around the globe. Since, status and power are two of the most
desirable things in human lives, most of the people choose travelling to be able to satisfy their
needs. This is how societal standards can impact our perception and virtually force us to buy
a certain product. In this example, we must notice that the firms have understood the fact that
if they could associate the needs of the people their psychological state with their brand,
many people would be left with no choice but their product. This is because their perception
about control and position will motivate them to choose the varied tour plans. This way an
organisation can use the knowledge of the psychological factors of their customers to make
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them buy a certain product. One may even interpret this statement other way around
according to their ‘perception’– the psychological factors of the customers influence the
marketing decision of the organisations.
Learning
In our society, learning is basically a conditioning process. People are exposed to particular
stimuli again and again so that they can develop a particular type of response towards it.
However, one can learn through cognition and experience. Since, the conditional learning
prevalent is our society; most of us have to go through some kind of conditioning. Being
exposed to conditional learning make us prone towards more conditioning in life (Juneja
2019, p.129).
Figure 4: Learning Pyramid
(Source: Shrestha 2019, p.225)
The organisations make use of this fact and practise perpetual advertising of their product and
service in front of their potential customers, highlighting the benefits and satisfaction that the
purchaser will get after buying the product. I have studied that a continuous exposure to this
kind of advertising make the consumers conditioned of the stimuli. If the customer is learned
via cognition, they will try to use their sense of reasoning while choosing a product or service
for themselves. But I have also noted that cognitively learned person can also be manipulated
by the marketers if the circumstances around them change to a quite high degree. I
experienced this during my trip to Munich.
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Attitudes and Beliefs
Both attitude and beliefs are shaped by perception of the individual and the kind of learning
she was exposed to. They are crucial in terms of decision making. The attitude of an
individual towards her life has an impact on the kind of product she buys. The marketers can
associate a particular attitude with a product or service to attract customers who has a similar
attitude towards life. Therefore, one who has a masculine identity will be drawn towards the
brand unconsciously, just to confirm their attitude in the society he lives.
The belief is a more complex thing than attitude (Karimi et al. 2015, p-140). However, the
individual with strong beliefs about something will surely make their beliefs play a role in
their purchasing decisions. The beliefs might be superstitious, political, religious or about
self. For example, recently I have studied that there are nations around the world that people
do not prefer travelling to due to a rise of terrorism, political conflict or other negative
factors. Additionally, I have also focused on understanding my personal views and needs
before planning for the trip to Munich (Vice 2019, p.27). Therefore, we can conclude that
attitude and beliefs are two most important factors that influence the consumer decision.
Motivation
How motivation can influence the purchasing decision of a consumer, is described well by
Maslow. In his need hierarchy, he argues that people are motivated to achieve certain things
in accordance with their immediate needs. The concept of need is however relative and
depends on the socio-economic position of the individuals. The needs will provide the
motivation to a consumer to buy a specific entity. The organisations can decode the needs of
their potential customers and use it in the marketing to attract more and more people to buy
their product or service.
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Figure 5: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
(Source: Vice 2019, p.29)
These are basic psychological factors that I think have a significant impact on purchasing
decision of a consumer. This theoretical framework I was acquainted with before going to
Munich. But once I got there, I realized that there are several more things that are influential
in customer decision making.
What I have learnt about my purchasing behaviour during the trip to
Munich
I am typically a British person. I carry the values that are very British. When I reached
Germany, I was aware that there is cultural difference. However, I was not sure what the
implications of cultural differences are. I have a very empathetic attitude towards life. I knew
very well how marketers use advertisement to draw persons with this type of attitude. But a
small pet shop owner in Munich understood my attitude towards life and advertises for a
recently orphaned puppy. After a while I was convinced by his words and bought the puppy
(She lives with me now, by the way!). I do not regret my decision. But I am quite surprised
that even though I know most of the theoretical concepts related to psychological factors of
purchasing habits, I was convinced unconsciously. I realized that I am an attitude driven
person with regards to my purchasing behaviour.
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Figure 6: The City of Munich
(Source: New Europe 2019, p.257)
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Conclusion
I thought that I have a good understanding about myself and my surroundings. The books I
have read, the films I have seen, the people I have met and the places I have visited over the
years – everything gave me insights about my fellow human beings and about the entire
construct called the society. I cultivated these insights and have come up with a predictable
structure (at least for myself) through which I could evaluate and explain the behaviours of
people and the world around me in general.
I also made myself believe that I comprehend my behaviours in different circumstances. The
social, psychological and biological driving forces that influence my behaviours were
apparently on surface of my conscious mind. I had a firm believe that since I had recognized
these external forces influencing my behaviours and intentions, I would be able to have a
control over these forces and overcome them. However, everything I thought I knew about
myself and my world fall apart during our trip to Munich from 25th to 29th March, 2019.
After this trip I am starting to form new ideas about myself and about human behaviours in
general.
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References
Business Jargons 2019. What are the Psychological Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior?
- Business Jargons. [online] Available at: https://businessjargons.com/psychological-factors-
influencing-consumer-behavior.html [Accessed 14 May 2019].
Durden, O., 2019. Psychological Factors That Influence Consumer Buying Behavior. [online]
Smallbusiness.chron.com. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/psychological-
factors-influence-consumer-buying-behavior-80618.html [Accessed 14 May 2019].
Gao, L. and Simonson, I., 2016. The positive effect of assortment size on purchase
likelihood: The moderating influence of decision order. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 26(4), pp.542-549.
Juneja, P. 2019. Psychological Factors affecting Consumer Behaviour. [online]
Managementstudyguide.com. Available at:
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/psychological-factors-affecting-consumer-
behaviour.htm [Accessed 14 May 2019].
Karimi, S., Papamichail, K.N. and Holland, C.P., 2015. The effect of prior knowledge and
decision-making style on the online purchase decision-making process: A typology of
consumer shopping behaviour. Decision Support Systems, 77, pp.137-147.
New Europe. 2019. About Munich. [online] – SANDEMANS New Europe. Available at:
https://www.neweuropetours.eu/munich-walking-tours/ [Accessed 15 May 2019].
Rani, P., 2014. Factors influencing consumer behaviour. International journal of current
research and academic review, 2(9), pp.52-61.
Shrestha, P. 2019. Pavlov Classical Conditioning - Psychestudy. [online] Psychestudy.
Available at: https://www.psychestudy.com/behavioral/learning-memory/classical-
conditioning/pavlov [Accessed 14 May 2019].
Vice. 2019. People Boycotting PepsiCo After It Sued Farmers Over Patented Potatoes May
Have Saved the Day. [online] Available at:
https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/8xznyv/people-boycotting-pepsico-after-it-sued-farmers-
over-patented-potatoes-may-have-saved-the-day [Accessed 14 May 2019].
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Yeung, R.M., Brookes, M. and Altinay, L., 2016. The hospitality franchise purchase decision
making process. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(5),
pp.1009-1025.
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