Understanding Consumer Behaviour

In our most recent article, we touched on why would people
want your product or service. And certainly, the most common
answer would be to satisfy their needs. Yet the underlying
reason why people would want to buy your product is simply
because you know your customers.

Let's know why people buy.

SATISFY NEEDS. Ok. People, whether as individuals, groups, or
organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services,
ideas or experiences to fill their needs and wants.

Too simple. Just think of everything a human needs to survive,
enjoy and grow; then you can come up with something unique or
something you can build on to start or take your business to the
next level.

IMPULSE. Some people buy for no apparent reason. They do not
have any particular product in mind nor an intention of buying in
the first place -- they just acted on impulse.

Like the lottery, your product could have been chosen by chance.
So, if only you could continuously improve your product not just
features but design and packaging as well; then try to make it
omnipresent if possible -- your product could hit the jackpot.

Imagine a flock getting hold of your product. Would you want to
end the story there? Definitely not. We want better business,
growth. All you need to do now is take steps in moving them up
the customer ladder.

INFLUENTIAL FACTORS. These would include referrals, ad
endorsements, set of values, perceptions, preferences, and
behaviours brought about by family and other key institutions.
(101 Best Marketing Practices, F.M. Lao)

See, people buy goods and services over a lifetime, shaped by
family life cycle, age and gender of people in the household, or
psychological life-cycle stages such as: marriage, childbirth,
illness, relocation, career change, or retirement, giving rise to
completely new needs.

Likewise, occupation influences consumption patterns or even
personality characteristics or lifestyles which affect buying
behaviour.

How do you get your business rolling with these data?

• Create the image of an ageless society where people define themselves more by the activities they are engaged in rather than by their age.

• Device campaigns that appeal to many demographic segments (multicultural marketing strategies).

• Reach-out and direct messages at opinion leaders, i.e. reference groups, family, social roles, and status.

• Search for relationships between your product and lifestyle groups, e.g. achievement-oriented buyers for computers.

• Target consumers on the basis of their core values, which are belief systems that underlie consumer attitudes and behaviours.

• Understand how various products fit into the plans, goals and lives of consumers.

Take note...
"To know your customer is to know your future." - Jeffry J. Fox