With the current state of our society, we are addicted to always consuming something. This can be content from websites such as YouTube, or it could be things we use in our day-to-day life like food, clothes, and electronics. The targeted ads that give you the exact thing you are looking for is just part of the game. The closer this industry is to predicting what, when, and why you will buy something, the more control they will have over you. However, as a society we need to see the impact this has on us and the environment. Therefore, this article will give an insight on your consumer behaviour and some factors that influence it.

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This article will cover the following points:

1.      What is consumer behavior?

2.      How do you decide what to buy?

3.      What influences your shopping behavior?

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What is consumer behavior?

The ultimate aim of this industry is to predict how to make people buy things. Consumer behavior as a subject focuses on studying people’s attitudes and behavior towards buying things (e.g., emotions, preferences, etc.). Thus, it is defined as the purchasing process including all the steps from searching to buying the product in line with what they need. However, we must admit that we don’t always buy the things we need, sometimes a cute clothing piece could catch our eyes and we could buy it even though we have plenty of clothes to wear [4].

How do you decide what to buy?

There are a few theories that explain how your buying process plays out psychologically.

• A Traditional Theory of Decision Making: This model consists of five stages:

1. The consumer starts by recognizing the fact that they want to buy something.
2. The person searches for information related to what they want to buy.
3. The consumer compares each of the product alternatives that are out there. For example, the consumer asks questions such as: “should I buy it from this brand or the other one? Which one is reviewed better or used more? Which one is cheaper?”
4. After the evaluation of possibilities, the consumer makes a choice and buys the relevant product.
5. Lastly, the consumer decides if she or he is satisfied with the purchase. If not, they won’t go back to the same brand or the product. For instance, you may find yourself asking: “Did this match my expectations? Was this the right choice?” [4]

• Solomon’s model: In this model, the decision-making process is seen as a continuum because of the effort that goes into each decision-making step. This model has 3 continuums: habitual buying behavior, limited problem solving and extensive problem solving. Usually, we all have products that we always go back to buy. For example, if you are always satisfied with the same lip color you would not search for a new one. However, if you find a similar quality lipstick with a cheaper price tag then you may give it a try. You will either try to give it a bit more thought by comparing the products (i.e., using limited problem-solving) or you will go for extensive problem-solving strategies where you research every brand to find better products that might be a bit more expensive and unfamiliar which will also take more time[4].

Figure 1. Solomon’s model [3]

• McKinsey’s Dynamic Model of the Consumer Decision Journey: This model has 4 sequential stages:

1. Initial consideration - the person looks at alternatives of brands and how their products are perceived/made;
2. Active evaluation/the process of researching potential purchases - the consumer selects certain brands that they are interested in;
3. Closure - the consumer chooses a product and moves on with the purchase. It is important to mention that loyalty to a specific brand has an influence when deciding what to buy. For example, if you like buying underwear from a specific brand and you have not had any problems, you would not switch to another brand, but you are more likely to continue to be a loyal consumer unless another brand convinces you to try their product instead;
4. Post-purchase experience - after you make the purchase, you will see if everything goes according to plan. This is an ongoing process since using a product takes time depending on what it is (e.g., skincare products vs clothing products). This model also supports the traditional one explained above [1,2].

Figure 2. McKinsey’s dynamic model of the consumer decision journey[2]

What influences your shopping behavior?

In this section, we introduce some elements that affect your shopping behavior.

• Emotions - Emotions can have a bigger impact than you think when you are buying a product. Specific emotions will make you more likely to buy a product. For instance, sunscreen ads will try to provoke emotions such as regret, guilt and challenge so that you feel like you need to use sunscreen to protect your skin against sun damage [3].
• Regulatory focus - According to the Regulatory Focus Theory, there are two possible ways to attain a goal. You can either be focused on achievement of ideals and gains (promotion focus) or try to avoid the bad outcomes such as losing (prevention focus). How you frame a product can be the final push on a consumer either saying yes or no to it. Presenting the right alternatives to the right people will increase the chances that they buy the product. For example, if you are a promotion focused customer, then “buy one get one” will be more attractive for you because you will be gaining more from it. However, if you are someone that is focused on avoiding loss, you wouldn’t aim to buy more than you actually need [5].
• Scarcity - An object is seen as more attractive when it is less accessible. Personally, I think that with influencers making certain products a trend, this is seen a lot. It is found that promotion focus increases consumer behavior and how much one buys something, whereas prevention focus decreases it[3].
• Authority - This one is a bit self-explanatory: essentially people are more likely to see something as necessary when someone with higher authority delivers it. A parallel example not in the consumer field could be when a famous person gives a speech and you are more likely to pay attention to it[3].
• Liking - When your favorite celebrity wears a certain brand you are more drawn towards it. This is simply because we are more drawn to agree with people who we admire [3].

Recommendations

At Shrink It Out we believe that it is important to track your consumer behavior and buy in a sustainable way. It is crucial to understand that buying many things without purpose does not only hurt your wallet, but it also hurts the environment. Search for sustainable options, don’t buy more food than you actually need.

1.      Neuromarketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEtE-el6KKs&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

2.      Is there a buy button inside the brain? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rKceOe-Jr0&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

3.      How do shops track your consumer behavior? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeQ7C4JLpug&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

4.      Can fast fashion be eco-friendly? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00NIQgQE_d4&ab_channel=DWPlanetA

5.      18 Sustainable brands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZfp-rUcCIU&ab_channel=inspiroue

6. Thrift Plus: an online sustainable second-hand thrift store https://thrift.plus

References:

1. Court D., Elzinga D., Mulder S. & Vetvik O.J. (2009) The consumer decision journey, McKinsey Quarterly.
2. Satell, G. (2015, October 21). Marketers need to drastically rethink the customer decision journey. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2015/10/12/marketers-need-to-drastically-rethink-the-customer-decision-journey/?sh=29ae53c7260a.  
3. Solomon   M.,   Bamossy   G.,   Askegaard   S.,   Hogg   M.K.   (2006) Consumer Behaviour. A European perspective, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall Financial Times.
4. Stankevich, A. (2017). Explaining the consumer decision-making process: Critical literature review. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 2(6).
5. Werth, L., & Foerster, J. (2007). How regulatory focus influences consumer behavior. European journal of social psychology, 37(1), 33-51.