What affects your decision when buying products?

Source: cdn.warc.com

Have you ever wondered what affects your decisions when picking products? What makes you choose between Pepsi and Coke? How you decide between muffins and cupcakes? In this blog post I will guide you through all the factors that come to scene when making purchasing decisions.

As stated on The Consumer Factor website, decision making is affected by four types of factors:

1. Cultural factors
2. Social factors
3. Personal factors
4. Psychological factors

Cultural factors

 Cultural factors are customs and usual practice of consumers. In different countries we get different practices of life. For example, in Western Countries it is common and quite normal to invite colleagues home for a couple of drinks, while in Japan that is considered quite unusual and does not fit in local customs. So, the commercial for a beer or other beverages can be really different from country to country. In America it can show friends drinking and watching a football game, while in Japan it can show two people in restaurant.

Social factors

 Different social factors (family, friends etc.) are used for each product. Some products seek advertisement in relation to family and friends (for example barbecue or picnic baskets), while other products need more individual approach (for example medicine or hygiene related products).

Personal factors

 Personal factors also affect the amount of popularity the product will reach, among different people. A consumer does not buy same products at 20, 50 or 70 years. Also, different products have different consumers targeted. There are special products for individual hobbies, activities, lifestyles and environments. The group of people a products tries to attract shapes the way it will be advertised.

Psychological factors

 The most important portion of psychological factors is perception. This is what determines how consumers feel, think and see the product. This is one of most important factors that affect consumers. The impression commercials leave on the consumers is really important for good sales. Also, the way the product and packaging look can affect the product’s sale.

We see that there’s lots of things that need to be tweaked to make a perfect product. Lots of factors that need to get to their best shape, only to maximize product’s potential. If a company knows how to utilize all the factors, it can improve its product's popularity and sales.

FUTURE RESEARCH: Concentrating on individual factors (for example Social, Cultural etc.).