Buying Decision Process and Consumer Behavior

For any product, it is essential to know what factors influence the consumer behavior. It is defined as the study of how individuals, groups and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. In layman’s terms, it refers to the selection, purchase and consumption of goods and services for the satisfaction of their wants.

According to basic marketing principles, there are 3 major factors responsible for influencing a customer’s needs. They are as follows:

1.     Cultural factors: Basically, culture is the part of every society and is an important cause of personal wants and behavior. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies from country to country therefore marketers have to be very careful in analyzing the culture of different groups, regions or even countries. A drink like red bull does very well in countries like USA and India for the same reason.

2.     Social factors: Social factors also impact the buying behavior of consumers. The important social factors are: reference groups, family, role and status. They are as follows;

·        Reference Groups: Reference groups have potential in forming a person attitude or behavior. The impact of reference groups varies across products and brands. A visible product such as red bull connects a certain amount of image with consuming the drink.

·        Family: Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the member of a family. In the case of red bull, a father or older brother consuming red bull will influence the younger kid to have the same drink.

·        Role and Status: Each person possesses different roles and status in the society depending upon the groups, clubs, family, organization etc. to which he belongs. Therefore their buying decisions will be influenced by their role and status. A person who has a high standard of living will never settle for anything cheaper or less known than red bull as he/she connects it to a status symbol.

   3.          Personal Factors: Personal factors can also affect the consumer behavior. Some of         the important personal factors that influence the buying behavior are lifestyle, economic       situation, occupation, age, personality.

·        Lifestyle and economic situation: When people start associating a product to their image and reputation, it starts affecting their consumption of the same. A consumer who has a high standard of living will prefer drinking the costly red bull over any of its cheaper competitors.

·        Occupation and age: This too is an important element of consumer behavior. A student or youth who is into sports would much rather buy and consume red bull than an elderly man who is retired.

The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid defines diagrammatically as to WHY a consumer buys and product. It is as follows:

 To understand how consumers actually make buying decisions, marketers must identify who makes and has input into buying decision, people can be initiators, influencers, dealers, buyers, or users. Different marketing campaign might target to each type of person.

Consumer Purchase Decision Model for Red Bull Energy Drink

A. Problem Recognition

 Red Bull is mainly marketed to people who feel the need for an extra energy boost in their lives, e.g. athletes, but also stressed-out business people, students, etc.

B. Information Search

Since Red Bull is a relatively low involvement product, value is accessed primarily through an internal search.

C. Alternative Evaluation

 Evaluative criteria for Red Bull Energy Drink include:

Ø  Red Bull has the image of being a premium product, and will thus best satisfy the consumer’s need for additional energy when compared to the competition.

Ø  Recent controversy over the possible negative side effects of Red Bull may also impact the evaluation process.

Ø  The traits associated with the brand personality of Red Bull – speed, power, and recklessness - may also factor favourably into the evaluation process, given that they are similar to the traits of the potential consumer.