2.2 Consumer Behavior

When several products meet the same need, people choose based on price, features that set products apart, availability and advertising.

For big decisions, like a car or a home, many people use a rational process: they compare options step by step and pick the one that best fits their needs. That usually leads to a better choice, but it costs time and effort to gather information. Most small purchases, like a drink on the way to school, are habits or routines that take almost no thought.

• Personal factors: age, sex, education, income, budget, job and lifestyle. They shape what you need and what you can afford.
• Psychological factors: your values and beliefs, perceptions, learning (what past experiences taught you) and motivations. They shape your attitude toward a product and whether you're willing to buy.
• Social and cultural factors: friends, family, social status, cultural norms and media. They shape what seems acceptable or desirable to buy.
• Situational factors: store design (noise, lighting, layout), timing and whether the product is in stock. They create short-term conditions that make buying more or less likely, like candy at the checkout line.

A purchasing pattern is your usual routine for buying: when, how often and how much. Where you live and work, your income and the habits of your family and friends all shape it.

Laws change patterns by controlling what people can buy and when and where. Consumer protection laws, for example, keep fraudulent or unsafe products off the market. When a law makes a product hard to get, people often switch to substitute products that meet the same need.

Technology changes patterns by making new products and ways of shopping possible. The internet in the 1990s and smartphones in the 2010s changed how people shop, find information and get entertainment.

Psychologist Robert Cialdini identified mental shortcuts that make people more likely to say yes to a request. Marketers build sales tactics on them.