Consumers are the end-use of a product or a service. Several characteristics are affecting consumer behavior that has been identified in the modern business world. Consumer satisfaction and repeat purchases are very important for organizational growth. When selecting a suitable market segment for a product, the organizations should conduct a proper analysis of consumer behavior in that particular market segment.
Characteristics affecting the consumer behavior are external features that create an uncontrollable impact on the product or service. The organization has no control over the characteristics. They simply have to adjust the product qualities to be in line with consumer behavior.
01. Culture
Culture is one of the main characteristics that shape consumer behavior in a particular set of people in a certain ethnicity or a geographical area. Since culture is the most basic reason for a person’s wants and needs, culture can play a huge role in increasing the market share or decreasing the market share. This has a psychological value where the people tend to buy the product if they believe it creates a positive cultural benefit. On the other hand, people tend to reject a product if their cultural belief is against that product.
Cultural differences and the cultural requirements may vary from a social group to a group or form one country to another. The marketers are trying to recognize culture shifts to discover new unmet opportunities in the market to provide a new product.
02. Subculture
Each culture has several subcultures to it. Subcultures are a set of people who share common values based on similar types of life experiences. Subcultures include racial groups, age groups, nationalities, and religions. Many subcultures help to create market segments for the organizations and the organizations provide specifically designed products to cater to the subculture needs. Since the subculture requirements vary from culture to culture, the organization might have to release an array of products to satisfy the entire customer segment if they are providing to a large market segment.
03. Social Class
Social class is another division in a society based on the people who share similar values, behavior, and interests. Social class is determined by several factors such as income, occupation, wealth, education and other factors. When producing a product or selecting the best market segment for the product, organizations thoroughly evaluate the social class as it is one factor that decides the consumer buying power.
In certain social classes, purchasing certain prestige products are considered necessary to maintain the social class. Certain products are aimed for a particular social class as that product is most suitable for that class or maybe only that class has the ablest to afford the product. The organization needs to identify which social class can purchase the maximum number of products to maximize the organization’s market share. The product categories who are mainly concerned about the social class are clothing, automobile, travel and leisure, and home furnishing products.
04. Groups
Opinion of many groups can make a huge impact on consumer behavior. There can be membership groups or reference groups If the group is creating a positive image about the product, people tend to purchase the product and if the group is creating an adverse opinion about the product, there is a possibility that the product will not meet many sales in that particular market.
The above mentioned are four main characteristics affecting consumer behavior. There are many more characteristics affecting consumer behavior based on the industry type, geographic type and the type of society. It is vital for any organization to identify these differences before launching the product to the market if they are planning to succeed in the market.