what is it, how is it formed and its types

The buyer comes across as a doubtful person who is afraid of making the wrong choice.

He asks a lot of clarifying questions and listens with interest to information about products. Consumer anxiety increases if he needs to make an expensive purchase.

When communicating with this type, it is important to satisfy the need for information, especially focusing on the advantages and useful properties of the product.

In this case, the buyer purchases a product that is usual for himself or selects the necessary product from several familiar offers.

Often these are everyday and inexpensive food products or household chemicals.

Manufacturers, focusing on habitual purchases, often use bright packaging or interesting design solutions. Regular customers are retained due to the practicality and reliability of the product.

At retail outlets, such products attract attention through promotions and discounts.

This type of consumer is ready to choose from numerous options and experiment.

As an example, this could be the choice of seasonal clothing or household appliances.

Such buyers are attracted through test samples, bonus offers, additional services and advantageous placement of goods on the sales floor.

The buyer is looking for his ideal product. He is interested in quality characteristics, functionality, design and cost.

He knows what he wants, is ready to choose for a long time, listen carefully to the consultant and request the maximum number of products for comparison.

In this case, the seller needs to appear as an expert and devote the maximum amount of time to provide comprehensive information on all units of product of interest.

1. Awareness. The process of awareness is influenced by desires, physical and emotional state, and the potential benefits of the product.
2. Collection of information. A potential buyer, realizing the need for a product or service, looks for data about it. To do this, it uses Internet resources, advertising, printed articles and consumer reviews.
3. Analysis and evaluation. After receiving information, it is important for the consumer to form an opinion about various models and characteristics in order to understand which product will be durable, easy to use and beneficial for the personal or family budget.
4. Final decision. At this stage, the final choice is made and the client buys the product online or offline.
5. Product use and forming an opinion about it. If the product matches or exceeds the consumer’s expectations, then the buyer is satisfied. He can recommend the product to others and form a loyal attitude towards the brand or retail chain.

When developing marketing strategies, it is taken into account that when making impulsive purchases, the client does not realize the problem in advance and does not analyze and compare products for a long time.

When purchasing everyday goods every day, the client does not collect information, most often, does not analyze and does not generate feedback on satisfaction with the product.

In addition to the habitual and impulsive behavior of customers, another model of consumer behavior is the search for new experiences.

Sometimes the buyer wants to try something new or improved, get a positive experience, or increase the functionality of his or her life.

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In this case, the formation of consumer behavior will probably go through all the classical stages.

Impact on consumer behavior exerts the principle of rationality. That is, how much a particular buyer needs a product and how it can improve his life (the influence of personal tastes, wishes and financial capabilities plays a role).

Market consumer behavior depends on the variety of choices. The buyer in the modern world can choose, compare and study both the characteristics of goods and their manufacturers.

A potential buyer tends to rely on the knowledge of others or expert opinions when choosing a product. Much less often the client is independent in his own decisions.

They are quite diverse and are always subject to change (even among the same buyer).

Associated with age, marital status, income level, lifestyle and personal characteristics of a person.

Those factors that are formed by the social environment or influence it directly at the moment (fashion trends, religious preferences or upbringing environment).

Consumer behavior is influenced by his personal perception, attitudes and characteristics of behavioral reactions.

Buyer behavior in this case is formed on the basis of the influence of various social groups (family, work team, associations of interests or hobbies).

These factors imply the influence of the country’s climate, the lifestyle of its citizens, traditions, life and way of life of the population.

In this case, buyer behavior is shaped by advertising, the arrangement of goods on shelves, the colorfulness of packaging, the influence of brands, reviews and reactions of other people.

Not only your own financial capabilities influence purchasing power, but also the economic situation in the country and the world – stability, inflation expectations, etc.

The client may be affected by the place of purchase (directly in the store or on an online platform), as well as the form of payment (cash, non-cash) and the possibility of deferred or credit purchase.

To begin with, clearly define your target audience. Next, a step-by-step algorithm of actions is used.

Segmentation depends on the specifics of the product and can be divided into:

• age,
• family,
• geographical,
• behavioral,
• other characteristics.

For example, you need to sell a smartphone to a student. Who is this student, what does he do besides study, what are his interests, what platforms and instant messengers will he use, what camera does he need for photos and videos?

It is important to create a detailed portrait of a specific character with special needs.

When making assumptions, ask specific questions:

• what are the needs of the target audience segment,
• how the consumer wants to purchase the product,
• what characteristics are preferable for him,
• how quickly he is ready to make a purchase,
• how much money are you willing to spend,
• Is additional service needed?
• How to turn a customer into a loyal customer.

To do this, they use focus groups, discussions on forums and social networks, as well as open statistics.

Here you need to draw up a detailed map of the representative of each segment of the target audience.

It is important to understand how he goes through the stages of making purchasing decisions and how he makes the final choice.

All perceived barriers to purchasing a product should be removed if possible.

Where might difficulties, objections or refusal to purchase arise for the client? And why? How to fix this?

It is also necessary to predict the reaction to changes.

At this stage, both verbal responses and emotional reactions of the participants are recorded in detail.

Problems that can be solved using the obtained data:

• Improving communications with clients.
• Increasing consumer loyalty.
• Improving sales performance by identifying consumer needs and weaknesses in marketing strategies.
• Improving the quality of service.
• Implement changes based on customer preferences.
• Expanding the line of goods and services and their effective distribution in the sales area.
• Strengthening competitive advantages.
• Implementation of targeted, effective advertising aimed at various segments of the target audience.
• Attracting new clients.

For example, they ask customers to write a review, recommend a friend, or share a QR code in exchange for a discount or additional service.

This is what Starbucks did, offering to share a hashtag and get coffee as a gift.

For this purpose, you can use the knowledge of neuromarketing research.

For example, Alpro used colorful, emotional packaging to create product recognition and retain loyal customers. Sales were up 4% by enhancing familiar products with color changes alone.

Clothing manufacturer Moosejaw uses bloggers to discuss products on social media. Communication is simple, easy, honest and emotional (the impression of a friendly conversation is created).

Thus, users become more loyal to the brand, and also freely express complaints, to which the company can quickly respond.

Often, economic calculations are not always unreliable, since buyer behavior is not always rational.

For example, PepsiCo, intending to assess the risks associated with rising prices for chips, turned to financial and neuromarketing analysts.

The calculations of the former said that if prices rise, revenue would fall by 30%, while the studies of the latter stated that losses would amount to no more than 9%.

As a result, the neuropsychologists were right, and the company lost 7% of its revenue.

Any product being considered for purchase must fit into a person’s normal life and be comfortable for them.

The Philips company, using a picture on the packaging of the iron where the user is holding it in his left hand, received a lot of negative feedback. Since it seemed unusual for working with such an object and even dangerous.

By changing the packaging, where the iron is in the right hand, all objections were removed, and sales problems no longer arose.

The buyer is the central element of market relations.

Taking into account the patterns and principles of consumer behavior, companies effectively manage their products and services, attract new customers and retain old ones, and quickly respond to market changes.

Cover photo: Freepik