BUSINESS | PSYCHOLOGY

How to Use the Basics of Buyer Behaviour to Sell More

Understanding how consumers behave will be crucial for brands as we emerge from lockdown

Understanding consumer behavior is an essential duty of sales and marketing professionals. It’s a key function for startups and entrepreneurs. Without sales, there is no business.

So what are the basics of buyer behavior? Blackwell defined it as:

“Consumer behaviour is a range of activities that people do to obtain and consume products or services.” (Blackwell et al 2006).

In other words, consumer behavior is the study of ‘why people buy’.

It’s as simple as that.

This article will discuss the five categories and each subcategory of this vital marketing concept.

The Decision-Making Process

In theory, once a marketer knows the reasons why consumers buy certain services, products, or brands it should be easier to develop strategies or campaigns to influence consumer behavior. In theory.

To understand consumers, there are key questions we need to ask:

1. Who is the customer?
2. What are their choice criteria?
3. When do they buy?
4. Where do they buy?
5. How do they buy?

The best approach to answer these questions is to develop personas.

The decision-making process spreads across five stages. Steps that influence why, when, where, what, and how consumers act when making decisions.

1. Need Recognition

This occurs when a discrepancy develops between an actual state and the desired state, triggered by various stimuli — internal or external.

• Internal — These are states of discomfort such as psychological (boredom) or physical (hunger)
• External — Marketplace cues that guide the consumer to feel, desire, or believe a need. For example, through word of mouth or an advert.

The role of innovation and new product development weigh heavily on cues.

2. Search Behaviour

These are the actions taken by consumers to identify and obtain information to solve a problem. The types of search are:

• Internal: This is when retrieval of information from memory takes place, from past experience, desire, or performance.
• External search: The gathering of information from outside sources.

External sources include:

• Personal
• Commercial
• Public
• Experiential

Online search is a great way to uncover keywords or search terms that buyers use in specific locations.

3. Alternative Evaluation

Consumers compare other options, identified as capable of meeting their needs, the problem initiated during the decision process.

№1 — High involvement: Consumers are more involved in the decision-making process for products with high personal relevance, and risk.

So high-involvement is present in the following situations:

• Expensive products /services — Car, engagement ring or a home
• Where the performance risk is high — A laptop of a smartphone
• Complex products /services— Dental or Plastic surgery

High involvement products and services are also high in ego significance.

№2 — Low involvement: The rationale behind this is twofold:

• These are the products or services that we buy out of habit, with little thought, routine purchases like groceries, or TV subscriptions.
• Low involvement can be emotional. Like the gratification, we get from going to the cinema or enjoying a meal in a restaurant.

№3 — Choice criteria: So how do consumers choose between brand alternatives? This boils down to choice criteria:

• Economic — Price, residual value, value for money, and lifestyle cost.
• Technical — Reliability, performance, durability, comfort, convenience, taste, style, and look.
• Personal —Value, morals, image, and emotions.
• Social — Status, fashion, convention, and belonging.

4. The Choice Process

Choice covers alternative brands and services. That said, purchase intention is not the same as a purchase. The actual transaction is influenced by:

• Social attitudes
• Brand loyalty
• Unexpected factors (like face masks)

There are five purchase sub-decisions that marketers must be aware of and how each relates to their proposition:

1. Brand
2. Vendor
3. Timing
4. Quantity
5. Payment method

5. Post-Acquisition Evaluation

Consumer satisfaction and post-purchase behaviors are the overall attitudes they have towards a product or service after acquired and used.

Festinger described “Cognitive Dissonance” as:

“Post decision related psychological discomfort about a purchase” (Festinger, ’57)

Alternative Mechanisms

To reduce conflict brought on by “Cognitive Dissonance”, brands do the following:

1. Offer extended money-back guarantees
2. Reinforce consumer decisions with advertising
3. Distribute brochures (online, offline) — features and benefits
4. Offer loyalty and reward programs
5. Initiate ‘word of mouth’ reinforcement

Characteristics of Buyer Behaviour

The characteristics of behavior include cultural, social, and personal:

Cultural Behaviour

№1 — Cultural: As children, we develop a set of values, preferences, perceptions, and behaviors through family or social influences.

№2 — Subculture: This includes nationality, race, religion, and geographical regions. Sub-cultures are important market segments, so marketers must design campaigns tailored to their needs.

№3 — Social Class: These are enduring divisions of society that tend to be hierarchical in form, with members who share similar interests, values, and behaviors. Although this is not always the case in today’s diverse cities.

Social Behaviour

№1 — Groups: There are three types:

• Membership — the peer group in which they belong
• Aspirational — like celebrities, and
• Dissociative — no desire to be associated with a group

№2 — Family: Marketers must know who makes the buying decisions for family products:

• Stay at home parent
• Teenager, or
• Influence of pre-teens

Family members represent one of the most influential reference groups.

№3 — Opinion Leaders: Every industry has thought leaders, expert names that businesses turn to for changes impacting their business.

Personal Behaviour

№1 — Age: Different life cycle stages bring different societal needs, demanding relevant products, and service opportunities.

№2 — Economic: Product and service choice are hugely affected by one’s economic circumstances due to disposable income and spending power.

№3 — Occupation: Those who have different lifestyles. Marketers aim to identify occupational groups with an interest in their proposition. Also, a brand can specialize in products/services for certain occupational groups.

№4 — Lifestyle: People from the same social class, subculture, or occupation can lead to different lifestyle choices. This is embedded in a person’s pattern of living, expressed in interests, activities, and behaviors to some degree.

Final Thoughts

Now that you understand the five stages of the consumer decision-making process allow me to recap 5 key takeaways:

1. Need — Know your customers, what they want, when, how, where, and why. Meet their needs.
2. Search — Find ways to influence internal and external search criteria.
3. Alternative — If you’re a new entrant, position your brand as a comparable alternative to more established competitors.
4. Choice — When you know your customers you can position your brand, your proposition to be a perfect fit at the perfect time.
5. Evaluation — Engage in aftersales and communicate with your customers, they are your future revenue.

Remember, buyer behavior can change. It’s malleable. You can influence it, but so can your competitors and your consumers.