Five Environmental Influences that Affect Consumer behavior

In this post I will be discussing the five environmental  influences that affect consumer behavior and how they affect their behavior.  I decided to for this blog to do best buy which we know is a one of the largest electronics retail centers.  They sell everything from cds to brand name TV's and appliances.   Now since were are talking about the environmental  influences we can ask one very important question. How does these environmental  influences affect how a consumer behaves and ultimately make a purchasing decision when it comes to buying electronics. The first influence that affects consumers behavior is culture.  Culture is defined as the complexity of learned meanings, values, norms,  and customs shared by members of a society.  We can take for example the different generations of Americans. There is the Greatest Generation which  was anyone who was born prior to 1946. There is the baby boomers who were born between 1946 and 1964 and many of the younger generation's parents are baby boomers.  Generation X were born between 1965 and 1976 while generation Y was 1977-1994 also known as the Millennials. Then there is the Generation Z who were born after 1994.  These are different cultures with different values, beliefs, attitudes and motives that affect how they behave when they buy.  For example Generation Y is more likely to purchase more of the high end electronics, we can argue they are more connected due to technology such as cell phones, computers, video games and other electronics.  These products would be more appealing so a marketer will see this and tailor their products to target certain products towards that group.  Compare that to the Greatest Generation as you recall are those who were born prior to 1946 they prefer printed cook books and shop at smaller stores. They are not into the digital era where technology is everywhere so marketers will know not to push  to sell a plasma TV or the latest in cell phones.  Subculture may also affect how a consumer buys. Subculture according to the book maybe focused how age, geographic location, religious, racial and or ethical differences. Take example the many age groups in our country, thy have different taste of music. Much of the younger generation listens to hip hop and rap music compared to the the older generation such as the baby boomers who grew up with the oldies such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys. So Marketers must understand this diversity in order to tailor what types of music they must try to market.  Subculture is definitely important because of such diversity  marketers can't be one dimensional meaning they can't just market their product for one group because people have different tastes of music in this case.  Social class can definitely be a defining factor for consumer behavior.  I have mentioned their is three defined social classes in the U.S and each social classes behave differently when making purchasing decisions. For example take a middle class family where their median income is $50k or more. They go into Best Buy to purchase a brand new TV, they look at several flat panel models. Now there is several brands such as Sony as well as a couple of others.  They are also looking at getting at least a 52" for their basement to enhance their home movie experience. Compare that to a lower class family where the median income is less than $30K a year, of course this family can only afford maybe a 32" or less because a 52" costs at least $1000 or more. As you can see social class can't be overlooked by marketers because this factor is a important to help marketers make decisions on how to best market their products.  Reference groups is the last factor that affects consumer behavior.  It is a group whose presumed perspective or values are being used by an individual as the basis for his or her judgments, opinions and actions. For example the current generations are increasingly staying up to date on the latest technology. They are constantly being pressured to have the latest technology to be cool. Take example having the latest smart phone with hundreds of applications in order to stay connected with family and friends. The perceived  beliefs that you must have the latest smart phone or you will fall behind but that you aren't cool because you don't have the latest smart phone.  Many cell phone companies are definitely guilty of this but it is an effective way to gain consumers attention especially the group who are technology savvy.  These influences affect much of the behavior of a consumer and to a larger extend drive what we call the marketing world. Without these diverse behaviors marketing would become stagnant and would not show the tremendous growth that has been seen over the last decade.

Citation:

1.) http:\\www.bestbuy.com