Consumer_Behavior

Environmental and Consumer Influences Analysis Most challenges of a good marketing campaign are to understand the reasons behind consumer’s actions when shopping so that a business can sell a product or service successfully. The factors that influence the consumer purchasing decision can be extremely complex because of a combination of psychological and sociology aspects. Goebel (2012) “Apple, Inc. was flawless in their execution when they rolled out the new iPhone and iTouch because they knew what made consumers act. They knew the emotional hot buttons. They knew how to create enough excitement about a new line of entertainment gear that for many, a simple “want” transformed into a self-justified, immediate need.” Apple has changed the way consumers think and use cell phones. Understanding various psychological, this analysis will discuss the social and external factors that affect the consumer’s decisions to purchase the I-phone. Beginning with the social factors, a purchase of a cell phone can be influenced by friends, family, and perhaps colleagues. The role of perception becomes clearer to consumers and the roles they play to the decision of a consumer. Consumers may perceive that they simply are following with what the majority of society is choosing; to gain more reliable products and avoid purchasing the wrong product. A consumer may decide to purchase an I-Phone because he or she wants to be acknowledged and appreciated by family and colleagues. Perhaps they want to hear how much wiser they are for purchasing the product. Simply, the consumer is looking for acceptance into a specific group. Social factors can have a huge impact on a young person. Peer pressure is the biggest influence on a young person simply because of the desire to fit into a group. The feeling of being left out with a specific group of friends, coworkers or family can influence the decision to purchase the I-Phone, and because of this, the psychological phenomenon exists. Social class, lifestyle, and reference group are important factors that influence the consumer’s decision-making process. The social class of a consumer has a huge impact on the purchase of the I-Phone and determining whether it is feasible. For some in the mid-to-upper class, the cost of the I-Phone is no problem, but for others the cost is difficult, especially in these economic times. The cost of an I-Phone is high. The major reason for most people not being able to buy an iPhone is its cost and hence people who belong to a social class for which cost does not matter, iPhone is an obvious choice to distinguish them. Personality and personal image of a consumer is also an important factor that can influence the buying decision. Goebel (2012) “Personal image is also an important emotional hot button. Having an iPhone is a social statement. Likewise are having a nice car and home. People want the best they can afford and, more often than not, the best they can’t afford. That’s why the most powerful commercials focus on image and not price. Image, fear, wants and dreams are all powerful emotional forces that drive the decision to buy. If used in a timely fashion, they will be the forces behind higher down payments and profit.” Finally, a consumer’s attitude is an important factor that can influence his or her buying decisions. If a consumer has positive attitude towa his peers and believes that he or she make good choices when purchasing gadgets, the consumer is more likely to buy the same gadget for himself and this can be true vice-versa as well. Some external factors, which influence consumers to purchase a I-Phone are social factors like social proofing, blogging, and online reviews. Apple uses social proof for launching and increasing the sales of I-Phone and shares its sales to the public to manipulate the emotional responses of consumers. Social proof is nothing but when people do not know which phone to buy, tend to rely on the behavior of others to decide what to buy. Forums and blogs discussing the experience of using I-Phone also have influence in the consumer purchasing decision. In fact Apple goes to the extent of deleting any negative reviews on the Internet about the I-Phone, proving the massive impact that such reviews have. Another external factor that has been playing an important role in influencing the consumer purchasing decision I-Phone is technology and specifically the media and communication technology. Various media outlets, including TV, radio news, print, and web, cover every new release of an iPhone model. The technology plays a key role here because the media can reach many countries and to so many people simultaneously; the company intentionally creates hype and takes advantage of this technology. In fact Apple itself maintains its official website fully equipped with solid marketing strategies to keep its I-Phone branding before the news media. An artificial hype and excitement is created to lure customers. For instance, As Steve Jobs notes in the press release, “We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.” Through such statements that company could transform a simple want into an immediate need. More interestingly, the entire manner in which the company takes the advertising and marketing, the consumers find it increasingly tempting to buy the iPhone and this temptation sometimes skips the general traditional steps in a buying process. The last external factor to consider with consumer purchases of the I-Phone is the culture. Parent and family members can have a huge role in the decisions of buying a cell phone. In some cultures, parents are restricting the use of cell phone to children due to the ability of logging into the Internet. It is safe to conclude that there are various factors, which influence the consumer-buying behavior and decisions regarding buying or not buying a product. In the case of a product like the I-Phone, peer pressure has a huge impact on influencing the consumers to buy the phone. There are also other factors like social media, networking, technology, culture, and perceptions, reference group, which also play a role in influencing the buying decision. It is also important to note that various factors work for one set of consumers and other factors work for the other set of consumers. So, the consumer decision-making cannot be interesting. References Aimonetti, J. (2010). Apple defensive over Consumer Reports findings, deletes forum threads. Retrieved from http:// http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20010351-233.html Goebel, G. (2012, February). Three Factors That Affect Purchase Decisions. Auto Dealer Monthly, (), 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.autodealermonthly.com/30/2833/ARTICLE/Three-Factors-That-Affect-Purchase-Decisions.aspx