Buying Behaviour
Every business needs to consider how the consumer goes about buying, e.g. is it on impulse, or following a certain amount of consideration? Buyers tend to go through the following process:
A perceived need arises when something stimulates or encourages action, eg an advert that catches the eye. Needs are the basic forces that motivate people to do something.
A goal is established for meeting the need. Goals motivate behaviour, which may be to achieve a particular condition, obtain certain objects, gain specific experiences, or undertake selected activities.
A goal-object is identified. The goal-object is the type of item whose purchase will help achieve the goal.
A specific goal-object is chosen for purchase, based on evaluation and analysis of those available.
The goal-object is purchased.
The individual uses the goal-object.
The individual evaluates the goal-object following purchase.
The process from may take anything from seconds for an impulse buy, to months, or even years, for a carefully considered purchase.
Exercise 1. Buying Behaviour
Moscow. A Monday morning in February.
Natasha is having a bad day. She has a very highly paid but extremely stressful job in the centre of Moscow. The weather is grey and cold and the traffic into work was slow moving, noisy and smelly. Her morning was filled with meetings and negotiations that were difficult and argumentative.
On her way to lunch she passes a travel agents and sees a poster showing the beautiful, secluded and warm beaches of Crimea.
Describe what Natasha’s thoughts might have been as she went through each of the steps of the buying process that ended in buying a 10 day holiday in Yalta in August.
A perceived need
A goal
A goal-object is identified
A specific goal-object is chosen for purchase
Do you think Natasha would have bought the holiday right there and then – on impulse or would she have taken several days to make her decision?
Once she has made and used the purchase what factors would help her evaluate the worth of her purchase?
How long from the moment her holiday starts will it take before she can make such a judgement as to whether or not it was good value and if she should repeat this type of purchase?