Compare and contrast the three major influences on the consumer's decision-making processes.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The consumer buying decision process can be affected by numerous influences, which are categorized as situational, psychological, and social. Situational influences result from circumstances, time, and location that affect the consumer buying decision process. Situational factors can influence the buyer during any stage of the consumer buying decision process and may cause the individual to shorten, lengthen, or terminate the process. Situational factors can be classified into five categories: physical surroundings, social surroundings, time perspective, reason for purchase, and the buyer's momentary mood and condition. Psychological influences partly determine people's general behavior and thus influence their behavior as consumers. Primary psychological influences on consumer behavior are perception, motives, learning, attitudes, personality and self-concept, and lifestyles. Even though these psychological factors operate internally, they are affected strongly by external social forces. Forces that other people exert on buying behavior are called social influences. They are divided into six major groups: roles, family, reference groups and opinion leaders, digital influences, social classes, and culture and subcultures.