how perceptions, attitudes, lifestyle, culture and society affect the buying decision

Before developing their marketing plans, marketers need to use both rigorous scientific procedures and more intuitive methods to study consumer behavior, which is influenced by four factors: cultural (culture, subculture, and social class), social (reference groups, family, and social roles and statuses), personal (age, stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality, and self-concept), and psychological (motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, and attitudes).

Research into all of these factors can provide clues as to how to reach and serve consumers more effectively. To understand how consumers actually make their buying decisions, marketers must identify who makes and influences the buying decision. People can be initiators, influencers, deciders, buyers, or users, and different marketing campaigns might be targeted to each type of person. Marketers must also examine buyers’ levels of involvement and the number of brands available to determine whether consumers are engaging in complex buying behavior, dissonance-reducing buying behavior, habitual buying behavior, or variety-seeking buying behavior